Thread: New, But Not Really

Hi, all. I’m a long-time lurker here. I’ve never found forums a very natural form of communication—mostly because what’s natural for me is to immediately drag a conversation off-topic, and not being able to do so takes most of the fun out of it—but it seems to be going pretty well this time around, so I figure I’m overdue for an introduction.

Dreaming has been an interest of mine for almost 11 years now, and I’ve been lucid dreaming for eight years of that, on and off. But it’s been a while since I’ve been in touch with people who are anywhere near as interested in dreaming as I am, and I’m looking forward to having the chance to talk about it here. (I’m a member of a Buddhist lineage in which dream yoga is a practice, so there’s some interest there, but not as much as you might think). It always fascinates me to see how different other peoples’ dream lives are from my own, whether lucid or not.

I think I‘ve explored just about everything having to do with dreaming at one time or another, especially the philosophical questions it involves and interpretation. I’ve read Freud, Jung, and a whole host of modern theorists, therapists and the like. But I’ve had enough of analysis for the time being and am looking forward to spending more time on music and poetry, both in my waking and dreaming lives.

Welcome to the conversation! By the sounds of things your input will be a great addition to the forum.

Welcome/Hi again!

Do you practice Buddhism much?

I take bits and bobs from Buddhism, recently Mahayana Buddhism, particularly the Bodhisattva vows.
The Bodhisattva vows resonated so strongly with me that as soon as I came into contact with them, I held them dearly.

I've always been loosely interested in Buddhism, but I get more and more interested as time goes on. However I mostly practice Advaita Vedanta.

How's that for some off-topic (on-topic: I intend on getting into the yogas of sleep and dream soon)

Originally Posted by slash112

Welcome/Hi again!

Do you practice Buddhism much?

Hey Slash,

Yes, it’s a big part of my life. There’s meditation, naturally, and there are a couple other practices that I do regularly. But since I practice Vajrayana Buddhism, and the idea with Vajrayana is that every aspect of your life becomes practice, I've still got a ways to go.

I get the impression that there’s a lot of interest in Buddhism in the lucid dreaming community. If I remember correctly, my first real contact with Buddhism came through researching lucid dreaming. Although I think my initial reaction was “What’s so great about light, anyway?” The bit where I actually became interested didn’t happen until later.

Awesome avatar, BTW.

Good to see someone remotivated for lucidity.

Originally Posted by LeaningKarst

I‘ve explored just about everything having to do with dreaming at one time or another, especially the philosophical questions it involves and interpretation. I’ve read Freud, Jung, and a whole host of modern theorists, therapists and the like. But I’ve had enough of analysis for the time being and am looking forward to spending more time on music and poetry, both in my waking and dreaming lives.

It's always interesting to see the psychoanalytic (Freud's work) and psychodynamic (post-Freud) of dream interpretation, though I personally feel that dream interpretation require a harmonic blend of nomothetic approach (the general framework of dream meaning) and idiographic approach (the individual's framework of dream meaning). Freud's theory is a nomothetic approach as he sets a general framework for dream interpretation.

Originally Posted by NeoHenry

It's always interesting to see the psychoanalytic (Freud's work) and psychodynamic (post-Freud) of dream interpretation, though I personally feel that dream interpretation require a harmonic blend of nomothetic approach (the general framework of dream meaning) and idiographic approach (the individual's framework of dream meaning). Freud's theory is a nomothetic approach as he sets a general framework for dream interpretation.

For my own part, I’m philosophically committed to the impossibility of a general interpretive framework for dreams—or for anything, since I don’t think meaning works that way. In practice, that seems to put me close to Jung on most counts—at least, if I’ve understood him correctly. But I think frameworks can be very helpful if you’ve got a knack for when to apply them.

It would be nice to see more people who are into philosophy devoting thought to dreams. It’s like a wide-open field for speculative thinkers, and how often do you get that nowadays?

Hello and welcome Music and poetry is a great way to motivate yourself to become lucid! Wishing you lots of lucid dreams ~