They've been made by "enthusiasts" who are trying to prove the existence of lucid dreaming, as opposed to true scientists who
will, in most cases at least, try to disprove a theory until results show otherwise. Otherwise results are very often biased toward positive results[/b]
. I
scientists are no less 'enthusiasts' who are trying to validate various hypotheses, and hopefully construct a theoretical framework which agrees with their interpetation of reality.
i would argue that scientists ultimately attempt to prove a theory (with controls of course if they are worthy of their title), rather than disprove it. in instances where they are trying to disprove a theory, it is without fail another individual's theory which clashes with their own. meaning they are still trying to prove their own theory, and only secondarily disprove another.
science is a tool used by subjective humans, and thus every scientist is seeking ultimately to validate their own subjective over-arching theory of life it-self.
'm not saying all authors of lucid dreaming do this, but some of them quite obviously do. Lucid dreaming is still, for the most part a "fringe phenomenon" and while this no way determines whether or not it's legitimate, it has an aura to it which attracts people who are less than impartial when it comes to analysis.
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i certainly agree to some extent. however, i find it important to note that tibetan buddhists were some of the earliest proponents and refiners of the art of lucid dreaming. buddhists as a whole strike me as being just as objective as western scientists, and perhaps even more so. because they fully realize that each individual is subjective, and has no self which is unchanging. therefore, in order to experience objective, unchanging 'reality', they must perceive with an objective, unchanging mode of perception.
buddha was 'awake', and nothing more. he was awareness itself.
there are different degrees of lucidity in waking life, as well as dreamscape. the same mind creates them both. i personally have experienced greater awareness while in a lucid dream than i have in waking life. the memory is more vivid and clear than any waking memory.
in this particular lucid i was as aware and 'in the moment' as i am now, even moreso. i could easily remember everything about my waking self and could have easily recited my name, birthday, address, childhood memories, the square root of 1 000 000, the seven characteristics of biological life, and my opinions and ideals.
i had complete awareness that my physical body was asleep in bed, awash in paralyzing chemicals, and i was aware within a dream. i knew that everything around me (which equalled the vividness and stability of waking life) was created by my mind..the same mind which interpets anything i have EVER perceived, whether waking or asleep.
how do you know you are 'awake' right now? because you are aware.
awake, aware, conscious, lucid...they are all the same thing. IMO awareness, or 'wakefullness', is not restricted by whether one's physical body is paralyzed or not. it is a re-cognition that all is mind.
everything you are experiencing this moment, and will ever experience, is a result of being lucid. unless one is aware of this fact, i would not define them as awake, regardless of what physiological state their body is in.
physiology is what limits our psychology. psychology is limited by our purity of awareness.
i'm rather murky today, so i didn't put that as clearly as i would have liked, but i hope you get my point.
one definition of our subject of discussion is - "Dreaming is the subjective experience of imaginary images, sounds/voices, words, thoughts or sensations during sleep, usually involuntarily"
the key word is imaginary. images. the reality you and i perceive, and western scientists seek to explain, is not absolute. it is imaginary/conceptual.
consciousness of that fact is true lucidity, and i can personally vouch for the fact that this 'wakefullness' is possible whenever one realizes they are in a dream.
everything is a dream, regardless of physiological state. to 'perceive' anything is to experience it as external, and outside our 'self'. true objectivity can only happen when one is the 'object'.
true objectivity is the totality of all existence, to the point where nothing is external. All That Is can be the only 'object' that is truly real, and not an imaginary dream.
and there is no way of 'proving' that objective reality.
ultimately one can only know, not prove. and i know that at different times i have been completely awake while physically asleep, and completely asleep while physically awake.
i hope you practice lucid dreaming until you know this for yourself. it is very liberating, and changes the way one views reality as a whole. i believe in a more objective, aware manner.
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