Lucid Dreaming As A Religion?

most religions require daily or weekly practice as part of the faith.
is our practice of LDing that much different?
Before you ask, a diety or god is NOT a requirement of religion

Another statement and then a question.
I have heard that the brain hallucinates while it dies. This is why several people have "gone to heaven" for a short amount of time, and then came back to life.

What if the afterlife, if there is one, is just one GIANT, ETERNAL lucid dream.
think of it. Eternity to master the techniques of control and spawning. I dont know about you, but i would never get bored. If conciousness after death is possible, as you christians believe, then is my idea impossible? It seems to me that lucid dreaming is a gift to humanity, so it must be there for some reason.

I am a firm believer that there is no afterlife, but i will not say its impossible.

just some food for thought for atheists and theists alike.

Not really.
Lucid Dreaming doesn't fit the definition of religion:

Quote:

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# a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny; "he lost his faith but not his morality"
# an institution to express belief in a divine power; "he was raised in the Baptist religion"; "a member of his own faith contradicted him" [/b]

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That's from the Princeton dictionary.
Lucid Dreaming fits neither:
-Lucid dreaming is NOT supernatural--its been repeatedly scientifically validated.
-There is no "divine power" that lucid dreaming implicitly requires a belief in.

Are you sure you would not get bored after say 9999999999999999999 years?

megabenman, i would not get bored after 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 999999years


Tsen,
keep in mind that the definition of religion has been morphed over the years to conform to popular beliefs. The true meaning of words change all the time. See the word: nuts.
And i dont care what princton says. Religion to me is a daily BELIEF.

This is all beside the point. The reason i wrote this topic was to put out the possibility that the afterlife is one giant lucid. Thats all.

Lets not turn this into a childish fight like the "for all you people whining about the war" topic turned into.

Oh yea, one more thing, Tsen

*a specific fundamental set of beliefs and PRACTICES generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.

*something one believes in and follows devoutedly: a point or matter of ethics or conscience

thats what Websters has to say :withstupid:

Yeah, well I guess this all depends on your definition of "religion". I think LD'ing is probably straying a lot closer to religion than we might like to think, sometimes. But it is missing some huge things - it's not like there is a diety involved, or a bigger power, or ethics or conscience. Not really.

religion [ri-lij-uhn]
–noun
1. Something said for the sake of exciting a laugh; something
witty or sportive (commonly indicating more of hilarity or
humor than jest);

2. Something not said seriously, or not actually meant;
something done in sport.

...doesn't sound like LDing to me? :bigteeth:

seriously though doesn't religion technically need a god? and that is why buddism isn't technically a religion?

i have heard people say atheism is a religion.

hmmm..

a-without
theo-god

IT MEANS WITHOUT GOD!!!!! but people still call it a religion

Buddhists believe that we dream because of psychological stuff uprooting in a messed up way. They meditate to eventually be rid of that 'karma' and become enlightened. That's why we practice LDing, so we can recognize in dream and try to see what our minds our telling us. They also believe that if you do not become enlightened in this lifetime then the afterlife will be much like a dream. Your consciousness will rise up with situations and themes that you habitually react to and it can end up like a nightmare (hell). If we recognize that we are dreaming, or dying we have a greater chance of enlightenment, or not returning to another life with built up karma.

That's what I believe Hell is. Not some fiery pit with a devil but a place in the mind that we cannot escape. If we recognize it and change it! Now thats heaven!! Nice topic. :)

This is probably the source that people derive that lucid dreaming fits into a cult category. :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Howetzer

This is probably the source that people derive that lucid dreaming fits into a cult category. :(
[/b]

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This bible for teenagers we use in my World Religion class has these tips for everday living in between each book. One of them gives you peer pressure scenarios. An example of something a teenager would say to another teenager is, "It's not a cult. It's just a way to have fun." Then a list of reasons of why not to take part in cultish activities.
I don't know, that makes me smile everytime I think about it.
Pointless

Anyway. LDing as a religion would be tough to justify. What are the ethics? Does it provide sincere morals based on it? Obviously there are rituals and practices, but to me its like trying to justify a car as living. It performs the life functions, (Respiration- Gasoline into motion. Regulation- Gauges..etc.. Growth- Additions/modifications. Nutrition- Different levels of octane in gasoline. Transport- Movement of exhaust from engine to tailpipes. Synthesis- Exhaust from gasoline. Reproduction- Not needed to survive). I mean in theory it kind of sounds plausable, but you kind of feel like you are pushing it. (Technically some of the examples I gave don't even fit like a car can't perform nutrition heterotrophically or autotrophically so techincally it can perform nutrition so technically it is not alive :)) You know what I mean?

Anyway, just my opinion.

If someone calls it a religion
He gets enough people to call it there religion
its a religion
and buddhism donest strictly have a god
and it doesnt need to b supernatural beliefs because scientology is a religion
Imran

lucid dreaming is more of a way of life then a religion. what would be the point to the "afterlife" if it was just a lucid dream? that would be non productive and repetitive. scientology seems to be more of a way of life then a religion to me... especially if you take in the fact that they say its "a religion for all religions" meaning you can be a mormon and be a scientologist, or a buddist or whatever.

boredome wouldn't be a factor...

I wouldn't say Lucid Dreaming by itself could be a religion... although there are many MANY philosophical questions that can be derived from the phenomenon; so I can definitely see why you would make that connection.