Thread: Lucid Dreaming Book Club Suggestions

Dreaming Yourself Awake: Lucid Dreaming and Tibetan Dream Yoga for Insight and Transformation by B. Allan Wallace. This one has good meditation techniques embedded.
Dreaming the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Dreaming for Healing and Becoming Whole by Robert Moss
Lucid Dreaming, Plain and Simple: Tips and Techniques for Insight, Creativity, and Personal Growth by Robert Waggoner and Caroline McCready - A book for beginners, very good.
Dreamgates: An Explorer's Guide to the Worlds of Soul, Imagination, and Life Beyond Death by Robert Moss - This one has a really cool audiobook that includes shamanic drumming played by the author.

The Art of Dreaming by Carlos Castaneda.

We're going to be voting again in a few days, so if you have any book suggestions, now is a good time to add them in.

Hello fellow dreamers, I just found this forum and it seems very cool. I've spent the last couple of years writing a book that has to do with the question - can we leave our body? It's a novel (scifi/technothriller), and it's meant to bridge the gap between the people who already see that there is more, and the people who don't question enough. It's not meant to be a how-to guide or anything, but more of a story that shows what could be possible if science were to realign to focus on the right things. It's largely about the discovery of consciousness as a force of nature. I wanted to post my book here on the off chance, you all might be interested and want to maybe read it and share your thoughts. It is self published, but I've rewritten it six times and believe the story is fairly solid. There may still be the occasional small misspelling or grammar issue, but I'm pretty sure the vast majority have been found (I keep updating it, if I find more), so please don't hold this against me.

In a recent post in /r/astralprojection which kind of blew me away in terms of interest from people. [link removes] Which also started some pretty good conversations. Also, here's a blurb on it that I think gets a person's mind in the right place.

Thanks all and have a good one.

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In the 1950s a guy named Nils Aall Barricelli first began to try model evolution. The computers they had were really limited in what they could do, and the actual processing was very restricted, but the idea was pretty revolutionary. Nils was obsessed with creating an artificial world, and after many tries, he did... somewhat.

One of his first successes was in an area called cellular automata. It was a simulation where he used numbers on a grid and by creating rules, he allowed a world to unfold. Over time, he could watch the numbers mutate and move. They'd form bonds and group together. He considered these "organisms" and would refer to them as such. In reality they were just numbers in the world of arithmetic. He didn't even have a user interface, but they were to some degree... organisms and they were replicating. He'd created a world. A simple world, but a world nonetheless. He provided rules and would watch as evolution unfolded in front of him.

Within this numbered world, he watched blocks of code, or viruses, as they would form, march forth, and destroy these living organisms. He'd see as one cell would become many and he'd see the worlds he'd created fade between chaos and stasis. He was continually having to add or adjust rules to maintain order.

He was working with a joke of a computer, but it was game changing at the time. But then in 1954 he started involving imagery. Soon after this, anyone could watch as these worlds unfolded before their eyes. The screens showed what looked like satellite imagery. Individual dots or cells would merge and migrate and move. Evolution could now be visible through the aid of a computer. Evolution that used only math. It must have been amazing to experience, and to see for the first time.

Can you imagine that realization, to know that computers would be the future? It would lead to many new ideas such as early AI, animation, and so much that we take for granted these days, but it was incomplete. His worlds would always crumble. They had too many limitations. They could expand, but they couldn't move beyond the confines of the computer.

His issue was or is... that he only focused on math. It's simply not enough to expect life and existence to stay the same. Think about everything that is understood about quantum theory. There are super states, there is vagueness, there is uncertainty... there is choice.

Link if anyone is interested - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58121351-worlds

I saw that you had first made a thread in the off-topic sub-forum and that it was subsequently removed, or perhaps you deleted it.

delusionalwrit, while I appreciate the difficulties and vastness of putting one's own work out there, I do think it's not appropriate to come to a forum like this simply to try and get people interested in your work; this isn't Reddit and forum etiquette does work differently, I believe. If you want to approach this forum's community so that they take interest in your work, it only makes sense to reciprocate if you actually have a genuine desire to do so by participating in the community. Otherwise, it's effectively just spam, isn't it?

Originally Posted by DarkestDarkness

I saw that you had first made a thread in the off-topic sub-forum and that it was subsequently removed, or perhaps you deleted it.

delusionalwrit, while I appreciate the difficulties and vastness of putting one's own work out there, I do think it's not appropriate to come to a forum like this simply to try and get people interested in your work; this isn't Reddit and forum etiquette does work differently, I believe. If you want to approach this forum's community so that they take interest in your work, it only makes sense to reciprocate if you actually have a genuine desire to do so by participating in the community. Otherwise, it's effectively just spam, isn't it?

He asked permission from me before posting and asked if it was okay to add his lucid dreaming book to the suggestion thread. I gave him permission to post it.

As far as I'm concerned, I think it's a good thing to support authors who are writing about lucid dreaming. That does not mean anyone has to read his book or even look at it, but he is welcome to add the suggestion as anyone else would be welcome. That said, you are right Dark that an active member who posts here is more likely to have his stuff read.

I've never been against self promotion from others, but I can appreciate that others are very against "spam" and however they define it. I did anticipate getting email notifications if anyone responded to my post, but I guess it was removed. To me, I've spent the last two years working - too much, and have finally forced myself to find time to get out into this social media world. What I've found is a wall of rules. I guess I don't understand why my post would have been removed from a section about novels related to dreams, but I assume I did something wrong. Is the expectation to be able to start other kinds of conversations and then kind of vaguely and a little sketchily (seems like manipulation) add that I wrote a book. I do believe in honesty and being direct, and my book is the best thing I have to offer to others. Sure, I could speak vaguely, but how better to find people I might enjoy having a conversation with than posting about the concepts and theories I'm most excited about. I don't understand today's internet.

That is fair enough, there wasn't a way of knowing/seeing that I suppose.

I made an assumption and possibly worded myself more strongly than I thought I had done. Because, I was not disinterested in what they'd said especially since some of it felt related to Dreamgates which we've just been reading. I just felt it looked a bit abrupt here, I think it would have fit in better in the introduction section, since it does pertain directly to themself.

Edit: I understand your sentiment delusionalwrit, please consider that I feel that I was pre-emptively heavy-handed about this. I too can't claim to understand today's (or any other day's) internet, so we have that in common to be sure.

Originally Posted by MoonageDaydream

He asked permission from me before posting and asked if it was okay to add his lucid dreaming book to the suggestion thread. I gave him permission to post it.

As far as I'm concerned, I think it's a good thing to support authors who are writing about lucid dreaming. That does not mean anyone has to read his book or even look at it, but he is welcome to add the suggestion as anyone else would be welcome. That said, you are right Dark that an active member who posts here is more likely to have his stuff read.

Thanks Moonage, I don't seem to really understand the world of forums these days. I can remember when Linked In had 26 million emails and downloaded everyone's contact book, but now I regularly get told I'm the spammer. All I can think is that I believe I'd care about anyone's project if they worked years on it, but I think I must be the rarity in the online world. Oh well, back to writing I suppose. Thanks for your time though and have a good one.

Loved reading both of your posts with very good points of view and respectful, too. Thanks guys.

Dark, I do see your point, especially as you didn't know of the PM conversation we had and this being his first post. And I apologize. I should have consulted you guys beforehand to see how you felt about it. Next time I will give a heads up first.

Honestly, it's fine. As I expressed, I made an assumption too; if either of you had first put a post that there was an OK specifically through PM, that could have worked too.

Anyway, I am not opposed to seeing it as a choice in the club and I'd likely have an interest in reading it myself, especially given the feeling of genuine response from delusionalwrit. It's easier to assume a bot or a mass copy-pasted post, more often than not. That's why prejudice tends to win out in many situations, the negative assumptions are more easily made, I guess.

And I think you can and should run the club at your discretion MoonageDaydream, you're the one putting in the effort.

Hello! Delusionalwrit feel free to PM anyone on the staff if you have questions or concerns about the forum or the forum rules, we would be happy to help you!

Back on Topic. Anymore suggestions?

Originally Posted by delusionalwrit

What I've found is a wall of rules. I guess I don't understand why my post would have been removed from a section about novels related to dreams, but I assume I did something wrong.

Hi delusionalwrit, I hope you can see we are a friendly forum and no one means to chase you off. Let's go over the rules involved. First, to post such a link requires permission and we have decided you are not spam and we want to give you an opportunity; so all is good there. Next, you are not allowed to copy and paste basically the same post in two locations, so your deleted post did not have specific permission and was basically copy and paste.
Artist Corner is a good place to let people know about your book. I am publicly giving you permission here to make one more thread (put it in Artist's Corner) to share your book, but the thread must be written from scratch so it is not a "copy and paste" situation. I see the last section is sort of a promo book summery, so you can include that.
Aside from that hopefully you will join the community and have some fun with our forum, you will find it a great place to get ideas for future writings. Good luck on sharing your original work.

Originally Posted by DarkestDarkness

Honestly, it's fine. As I expressed, I made an assumption too; if either of you had first put a post that there was an OK specifically through PM, that could have worked too.

Anyway, I am not opposed to seeing it as a choice in the club and I'd likely have an interest in reading it myself, especially given the feeling of genuine response from delusionalwrit. It's easier to assume a bot or a mass copy-pasted post, more often than not. That's why prejudice tends to win out in many situations, the negative assumptions are more easily made, I guess.

And I think you can and should run the club at your discretion MoonageDaydream, you're the one putting in the effort.

I understand. I world of bots has gotten out of control. It's very difficult though to thread the needle between assumed spammer and spending all day posting in various forums - ha. Either way, thanks for the time and I'd always be interested in hearing thoughts if you do ever get around to reading it. I've been conflicted on trying to only find readers who already care about this stuff or trying to get more "out there" and find readers who typically read Jack Ryan and Dan Brown or stuff like that. People will apparently get very upset about books - I've had a few people who really enjoy the book and then a couple who have become furious and left awful reviews. The public sphere may not be for me...

Hope you have a nice weekend.

Tom
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Thanks Sivason. I have definitely become gunshy over posting in different places. Some people seem so interested, and this gives me hope/motivation, but then others get so upset. I'll post again and try to keep it original. hope you have a nice weekend. Let me know if I break any other rules - ha (hopefully I won't).

Originally Posted by delusionalwrit

I understand. I world of bots has gotten out of control. It's very difficult though to thread the needle between assumed spammer and spending all day posting in various forums - ha. Either way, thanks for the time and I'd always be interested in hearing thoughts if you do ever get around to reading it.

You have no idea. As a mod, we do our best to separate spambots, attention seekers and scam artists from those who are genuine members who want to share their work.

Originally Posted by delusionalwrit

I've been conflicted on trying to only find readers who already care about this stuff or trying to get more "out there" and find readers who typically read Jack Ryan and Dan Brown or stuff like that. People will apparently get very upset about books - I've had a few people who really enjoy the book and then a couple who have become furious and left awful reviews. The public sphere may not be for me...
.

Any fans in any genre are rabid about anything... Not just books or even lucid dreaming. You can NOT always please everyone. Just try not to let them get to you personally.
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Back on topic..
Nice Suggestions guys, keep em' coming!

Just a quick update: this thread, as well as all of the book club threads, have been moved to a new sub forum specifically for the book club. It is located in the General Lucid Discussion forum.

Ok that's it!

A book I've often started but never finished: Wherever You Go, There You Are -- Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Astral Dynamics: The Complete Book of Out-of-Body Experiences by Robert Bruce (Currently half-way through, it's pretty good)

Deep Time Dreaming: Uncovering Ancient Australia by Billy Griffiths (Can't wait to read this, it's actually a history book about Aboriginal culture, written by an archaeologist. If you didn't know, dreaming is an integral part of Aboriginal culture).

I believe the older, original version of Astral Dynamics is still available for free download. The newer version is not free. I remember it as a good read and is probably worth reading again.

I would like to discuss the Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche (lama of Bon Tibetan beliefs); "The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep"

It is a deeply spiritual type work focusing on using the dream state to prepare for life in the Bardo realms/in-between lives state, after death, yet prior to the next incarnation. There are lots of exercises and plenty of discussion of the Tibetan belief system.

Sharing a member's new book: Spiritual Revelations in Higher Dimensions by Vincent Field. Here's the link to the post he made about his book, so you can read about it here: Link to Post

Adding:

Originally Posted by Labyrinthus

I would like to discuss the Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche (lama of Bon Tibetan beliefs); "The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep"

It is a deeply spiritual type work focusing on using the dream state to prepare for life in the Bardo realms/in-between lives state, after death, yet prior to the next incarnation. There are lots of exercises and plenty of discussion of the Tibetan belief system.

Hey. We actually read that book, it was the very first one we read as the Book Club. If you want you can visit the thread to add your own thoughts about the book. Link to Thread

Hi,

I've been lucid dreaming for around 3 years but have struggled to be committed to practice for various reasons in the past 6 months. Consequently, I've had zero lucid dreams in this time. I found that when reading books or listening to Audibles it got into my head better than say reality checking 10 times a day and then they would happen. I've had around 30 so far.

Could you please advise me on what would be your top 5 books/audibles? I really want to get back to where I was and just looking for some help.

Thanks.