Thread: Lucid Dreams and the Transpersonal

Title: Lucid Dreams and the Transpersonal.
Researcher: Ina


Introduction and background:

In 1913 Frederik van Eden wrote that in lucid dreams: “…the reintegration of the psychic functions is so complete that the sleeper remembers day-life and his own condition, reaches a state of perfect awareness, and is able to direct his attention, and to attempt different acts of free volition.” (Frederik Van Eden (1913) A study of dreams. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol. 26).
There has been implicated that lucid dreams have some relationship with transpersonal experiences – “experiences in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche or cosmos.” (Walsh&Vaughan,1993, p 3). These experiences can include peak experiences- moments of higher happiness, ecstatic moments, moments of rapture (Maslow); mystical experiences, transcendental experiences and many more.
Moreover LaBerge has referred to the (fully) lucid dreams as “instances of transcendental experiences, experiences in which you go beyond your current level of consciousness. Lucid dreamers (at least during the dream) have gone beyond their former views of themselves and have entered a higher state of consciousness” (LaBerge, S, 1985,p 243).
Furthermore, lucid dreams have been strongly associated with transcendental meditation and dream yoga practices.
Lucidity is not a very common phenomenon as some may think, and only about 20% of the US population has experienced it. In all 3 of my short lucid dreams when I realised I was in a dream, the impact was great. My joy at that moment of realisation was great. I felt free, my mind was very clear and at the same time a fear came over me because I thought I had just opened up to a world that I new nothing about controlling. All my lucid dreams were triggered by me flying. Maybe this is why at the same time as feeling free and happy I felt scared. I was doing something (flying) that normally is not possible and I guess I didn’t know how to deal with it. It lasted only a few seconds.

All of these seem to suggest that a possible connection between lucid dreams and the transpersonal is very likely. What I want to explore is this possibility. If lucid dreams are indeed forms of transpersonal experiences then this could be used to help a lot of people come closer to the transpersonal.

So the aim of this research is to explore any relationships between lucid dreams and transpersonal experiences. Is there a connection between these two? Is the theory far from what actually happens? How do lucid dreamers experience lucid dreaming? What is the impact of lucidity on the participants’ lives, how does it affect them?


Methods and Information from participants:

Firstly participants will have to complete a small general lucid dreaming questionnaire. Then they will be asked to write reports of some of their lucid dreams, for example, the most positive, significant dream that they had, or the most negative etc. The participants have to provide in depth reports of their experiences of lucid dreaming. They are asked to do so in as much detail as possible so if I read the report I can know exactly what the experience was like for them. They should not stop writing until they feel they have said everything there is to be said.

The questionnaire form can be found here http://geocities.com/askondra/index.html


Number of participants needed:
As many as possible! If you take part in this research you will be helping me greatly in completing my MSc thesis.

Participants will have to complete the entire lucid dream questionnaire. And write reports on some of their dreams describing their experience in full detail so it is clear what the experience was really like. Complete confidentiality is assured.


Approximate time required to complete the experiment:
Until I get enough results submitted.
Because of the nature of the research it is not possible to say how long it takes to complete this survey. This is entirely up to participant. If you can write all the reports in one day, then that is great. But considering that you will be describing your experience in such detail and depth this might take a little longer. So no pressure, take your time to write the reports and send them back to me. Please send your completed questionnaire to my email. Do not post it in the forum as other participants might be influenced by your responses.
When enough information is gathered and analysed I will post the results of the experiment and discuss my conclusions.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me on the forum or email me. My email addresses can be found on my profile.

Useful Links:

Frederik Van Eden (1913) A study of dreams. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol. 26 http://lucidity.com/vanEeden.html

Walsh&Vaughan (1993) Paths beyond ego: the transpersonal vision.

Stephen LaBerge (1985) Lucid Dreaming

The lucidity institute: www.lucidity.com

Association for Transpersonal Psychology: http://www.atpweb.org/transperspect.asp