My Mum Still Thinks It Could Be A Sect

[krookedking]

Well...Lucid dreaming sounds a bit dangerous to my mum, even after showing her the intoduction to DV and stuff... Especially after she tiped "dangers with lucid dreams" on google where some people wrote their point of view.... Just to say, what can I tell/show her to make her change her mind? Not that she's really bothering (as if she could have any influence on the way I dream), but I wish she would be just a bit more open-minded and less skeptic...

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Hmmm, show her some sucess stories, or some dream journals on this forum maybe, get her excited about it, jus tell her you have done some indepth research into it, you know what your doing and can show her too, or just tell her that its common sense that there isn't really any danger in lucid dreaming, hope this helps

[krookedking]

Well, she's heard a bit of it from myself but then she wants scientific/psychologic comments on it.... Anyway it doesn't matter she's quite open-minded on this....at least she's not just saying: "not possible"

[Lunalight]

Look up Steven LaBerge; he's the authority on lucid dreams, he's written a few books about it. I'm sure one mentions that's it's completely safe.

[King and God]

Pointless to even tell about things like this to people like that. My mom is the same.

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Well, she's heard a bit of it from myself but then she wants scientific/psychologic comments on it.... Anyway it doesn't matter she's quite open-minded on this....at least she's not just saying: "not possible"[/b] Ok try this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dreaming , its got loads of info on lucid dreaming, scientific the lot, hope it helps

[Marvo]

Ask yourself, if you're lucid, does it change the dream at all? No, it doesn't. Being aware, however, does, but not in a bad way.

[Miles]

You could probably suggest her to buy 'Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming' by Stephen LaBerge. It's not that expensive, also you may be able to borrow it somewhere. Dr. Stephen LaBerge is a leader in the scientific study of lucid dreaming and is therefore very well known around us Lucid Dreamers. Besides learning how to induce LDs through various techniques the book also covers topics as 'Creative Problem Solving' (via LD) and 'Overcoming Nightmares'. Those are only two of a good number of benefits you obtain from being able to lucid dream. Regarding lucid dreaming as being dangerous. There are way enough threads (at least I think so) about that topic. You may want to look some of them up and show them to your mother. Indeed there are no scientific evidences that lucid dreaming could deal serious harms to ones self as far as I know. Hope this helps you at least a bit. Take care, Miles EDIT: Dang, took too long to write xD

[mini0991]

Don't worry. It's mainly safe, nothing can hurt you, and it's more natural than many of the other things you do in life. She might be afraid because it seems "new age-ish", but that's anything but the truth as it's a scientifically proven phenomonon.

[Bonsay]

Well, techincally she is right, with the sect part (if the dictionary is correct). A faction united by common interests or beliefs. There are "dangers" or unwanted things might happen, sure. Everything is dangeorus, so is breathing, crossing the street, eating fish... As long as you know what you are doing, as long as you are in controll, everything should be ok. But in the end, it's just dreaming. Something that you do no matter what.

[Burns]

I honestly don't understand why people think that dreaming could be harmful. I mean, EVERYONE dreams EVERY night. So you're just aware it's a dream... how is that dangerous??

[Adrenaline Junkie]

I honestly don't understand why people think that dreaming could be harmful. I mean, EVERYONE dreams EVERY night. So you're just aware it's a dream... how is that dangerous?? [/b] Its common sense to know that dreams aren't harmful, and how can lucid dreams be harmful, your in complete control, figures eh?

[Virtuozo]

Right , I have a question that you could ask your mum. 'What exactly do you mean by DANGER?' I mean , does she mean like physical danger? mental danger? What!

[BeautifulDreamer]

Buy Stephen Laberge's Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. In the very first chapter, it tells how safe it is and such.

[MindDaguerreotype]

Like Virtuozo, I think you should ask her what exactly she's afraid of... For the thread title:did you mean "Cult" instead of "Sect" (french/english translation trap) ? Since nobody is going to take your money or brainwash/control you by just doing LDs and reading a message board, I think the two main aspects of a cult are clearly out of the way ! About giving her texts of Laberge saying it's not dangerous... since he would be "our guru" by her definition, this will not help much... so you should first point that he was doing his Ph. D at Stanford University, to give him credibility. Oh, nothing that will help but... I read your post yesterday night, and this morning had a dream about a song played on TV about LDs being different than cults... which prompted me to do a RC and gave me my morning lucid so thanks !

[CryoDragoon]

I looked up "Dangers with Lucid Dreaming" on Google... clicked the first page that came up... Went to the chapter "Possible Dangers of Lucid Dreaming"... And what is the SECOND thing I see there? You can guess thrice... But you're not gonna need that since I'm gonna quote it here for you: "Alienation: Most people have never even heard of lucid dreaming, much less ever experienced it. Some people are also less than open-minded and receptive to new ideas. Don't be surprised if someone considers this whole phenomenon "weird"� or "crazy"� (which it is not). Don't preach, either; it's not your job to convince anyone." Behold! The Danger of Lucid Dreaming is your mom herself!!! O_O But anyway: I honestly have no idea how to convince your mom... Show her the entire website... Let her read the passages that say this is not a cult 500 times... Maybe you should let her read the entire website 500 times... I don't know. Maybe try to have a conversation or a discussion (rationally, of course) about these "Dangers" she speaks about... And see whether she can say something that actually makes sense... P.S. I'd like to know what kind of "dangers" your mother was expecting from this all... (I'm just curious...)

[slimslowslider]

Funny, I Googled in "Dangers with lucid dreaming" and nothing came up (presume you didn't use quotes Cryo?) Tried "danger with lucid dreaming" and got 2 replies - both the same: Lars' Lucid Dreaming FAQThere is no danger with Lucid Dreaming. But if you have a bad hearth you might have a hearth attack if you crash a car, or during sexual intercourse. ... www.faqs.org/faqs/dreams-faq/lucid-dreaming-faq/ - 47k - Cached - Similar pages So they say there is no danger with lucid dreaming except that you might die!!!!! Unless they really do mean hearth attack (some kind of pyromania episode?) I've never heard of this before - but I suspect the chances are that LDing is no different to normal dreaming in this regard -except with LDing you could possibly perfom open heart surgery on yourself. Apart from this, the 'dangers' she may have found would be that LDing searches come up with a lot of Occult/ Astral Projection etc sites. That's where her 'cult' alarm bells may start ringing? There has been some concern, discussed at length on this site, that by 'controling' your dreams you are disrupting the natural flow of dreams from your unconscious. This, to my mind, is crap written by someone who can't LD! Search DV... Loss of sleep? No, even the best LDers don't have more than a few minutes each night. Headaches? La Berge reckons that active REM is the most likely cause - grinding your teeth, clenching your jaw etc with the stress and tension of unresolved issues (which LDing could help address). Most LDs are very pleasant , and you wake feeling euphoric/ excited. However, during long periods of multiple nightly LDs (V rare&#33 this can get quite intense. The last time this happened to me I was living alone, having just split with my long-term partner, in a 600 year old cottage in the middle of nowhere. The house had HISTORY (It's name in Welsh was 'Meadow of the Grove' - the grove being a stand of oak trees planted over the decapitated head of a celtic monster - when the trees were cut down earlier this century - half the residents of the village died in one year - 17 people! Part of it was made using beams from a Spanish Armada Galleon that founded on the rocks out to sea - the carpenters marks and carvings of sailors were still visible. Plus a witch had lived there etc etc). I was also getting nightmares - sometimes going lucid to a happy ending - but also just waking me in terror. It was quite a time - but then Spring came and all was OK again, except my LDs tailed off Becoming uncertain about the difference between reality & dream? Unlikely. With all the emphasis on RCs and a general increased waking awareness I would think that one's discrimination would improve. Also the kinds of things people report doing with their LDs may worry her. Perhaps she doesnt like the idea of you have lots of LD sex or killing zombies? PS Good luck with you Mum - she's just looking out for you, but like many of us, suffers a 'fear of the unknown'?

[krookedking]

Hi, thanks for all the posts! Here is my mom herself: "I appreciate your help as I wanted to understand a bit more what LD was and if there was any danger in interrupting the natural flow of dreams. I do not think this justifies me being called a bitch. Anyway, I will do some reading about it and wish my son sweet dreams!!!!! "

[Seeker]

What a stupid bitch. Pointless to even tell about things like this to people like that. My mom is the same.[/b] Glad you are not talking about MY mother that way. Good advice here folks. Knowledge is the answer, just keep a steady flow of information. Possibly point her to Lucidity.com as well.

[Oneironaut Zero]

I do not think this justifies me being called a bitch.[/b] I agree.

[ExoByte]

Me too. Make sure she also knows that the comments of King and God don't reflect those of the Dreamviews community...

[PenguinLord13]

Right , I have a question that you could ask your mum. 'What exactly do you mean by DANGER?' I mean , does she mean like physical danger? mental danger? What! [/b] That's a good point. What is danger? It is a word that is used to describe so many things that in my opinion it is lost its meaning completely. Also, I think that some people just will never believe in the possibility of LDing not being some kind of cultish new-age bullshit that has the same effects as acid on your brain. It may be that you should just continue with LDing yourself and ignore what your mom is saying if you can't change her mind. It is not like she can say, "I forbid you from Lucid Dreaming! No argument about this young man" or something like that. (Well, she technically can, but that isn't exactly something you can enforce.) I would say just show her some resources and try to convince her, but if it doesn't work then just let her believe what she will and LD anyways.

[krookedking]

Thanks....and don't worry, she is not upset (I told her the rude message didn't reflect the community here....). Thanks all....

[Seeker]

Thanks....and don't worry, she is not upset (I told her the rude message didn't reflect the community here....). Thanks all....[/b] Good! I'm glad she is not upset. So... does you mother have any interest in learning how to lucid dream? Seems to me that would be a good way to settle her unrest. We'll be glad to help and won't even break out the kool-aid [EDIT: If she likes, she can set up an account of her own. Please let me know though in case the spambot software kicks out her application.]

[i_speel_good]

Good idea, Seeker