I don't know if this qualifies as Lucid Dreaming or not - but about 1-2 times per month I will find myself in a frustrating dream. I attempt to salvage the dream by removing the frustration, but eventually just decide to end it and wake up.
Example: Just last night I dreamt I was on a jet flight and was stuck with this super annoying passenger. He was bugging the crap out of me - and everyone else on the plane. At some point I got fed up with everything and I step in and decided to have the plane land far short of the runway on a city street just so I could get off the plane and away from this guy. I remember looking out the passenger window and 'flying' the plane down thru this city street, the wings get knocked off by the buildings. I remember the potholes and even a stretch of cobblestone. Beautiful landing. The plane comes to a stop - I get off and away from this guy, then it's back to dream mode - in other words, back to more frustration. Cuz this guy reappears and tells me he going to go to O'Hare with me but first he's got to take a leak . . . Anyways, sorry about the boring details, but the nuts and bolts are the following: 1) frustration in a dream 2) I 'step in', put the dream on hold, and attempt to remove the frustration 3) if I am successful, dream will continue 4) either way, eventually the 'frustration stack' will get to me and I decide to wake up and end it 5) my first thought upon waking is always regret - I should have given the dream one more chance. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_re...@...> wrote: > > Consider this an Edg-like rap, in the tradition of > determining whether anyone here on FFL is interested > in the odd things I am, and wants to "swap stories." > It's also a rap addressing ED's complaint that nobody > ever talks about their "spiritual experiences." > > I recently posted a rap about Lucid Dreaming. It is > pasted in at the bottom of this post. What I'm inter- > ested in is whether anyone on FFL has had experiences > of this sort, and wants to rap about them. No "experts," > no dogma, just rappin'...trying to figure things out. > > The Rama fellow I studied with for many years taught > Lucid Dreaming. He taught it in the context of Tibetan > Dream Yoga, but the techniques were the same as those > I've later found in Native American shamanism and > other disciplines. The "Tibetan connection" is that > in that tradition Lucid Dreaming is seen as analogous > to (or synonymous with) the Bardo state between death > and rebirth, and thus developing a facility with > "waking up in the dream, and being able to manipulate > the dream state" is seen as valuable to a culture in > which the teachings of The Tibetan Book Of The Dead > are assumed as a given. If you can wake up in a normal > dream, and use your intention there in the astral, then > it is assumed that you might also be able to do the > same thing in the Bardo, and thus have a shot at a > cooler rebirth. > > Basically, the definition of Lucid Dreaming I am using > for this rap, and calling for stories about, has to do > with the *interactive* nature of Lucid Dreaming. It is > *not* the same as "witnessing dreams," because that > phenomenon is usually described as passive. Depending > on the spiritual culture, the "witness" in "witnessing > dreams" may be considered to be the self, or the Self. > For the purposes of this rap, that distinction doesn't > matter. All that matters is when that self or Self > decides to "wake up" and take an interactive, > *intentional* role in the dream. > > For example, if you wake up in the dream and find yourself > in a room that has purple wallpaper, and you don't like > the color purple, you can change the color of it in an > instant. Just *intend* the color blue, and zap!, you're > in a blue-colored room. If you find yourself in a location > that doesn't quite do it for you, you can switch locations > equally quickly and easily. That sorta thing. > > In the Rama trip, he first taught all of his students the > basics of Dream Yoga or Lucid Dreaming, and had us prac- > tice on our own for some time. Then, after enough students > reported gaining a facility with it, he started having > "dream seminars." They were fun. > > What he'd do is announce that on a certain night he was > "open for business" as a spiritual teacher, but in the > dream plane. He wouldn't tell us where, or how to "get > there." That was our challenge, or task. To accomplish it, > you'd have to first wake up in the dream, and then focus > on his "vibe" or energy, and see if you could find the > group. If you did, there was often a talk going on, or > a demonstration of some abilities or siddhis, or just a > party. Interestingly, many times students would see other > students that they recognized in the "dream seminars," > say something to them, and then ask them later in the > waking state to repeat it back to them. They were often > able to do so. Go figure. > > Anyway, I always thought that Lucid Dreaming was FUN, and > so I continued practicing it after I left the Rama trip, > first from books on the subject, but later with a group > that my girlfriend at the time (a Native American who was > interested in such things) stumbled onto in Santa Fe. > Again, the same sorts of scenarios took place. It was fun, > but I lost interest in the group about the same time the > girlfriend lost interest in me. She was 24 years younger > than I was, so this did not exactly take me by surprise > or devastate my world. :-) > > I guess the coolest Lucid Dreaming story I could tell is > the funniest (from my point of view, anyway). For whatever > reason, I just don't DO nightmares. I can count the number > of nightmares or "bad dreams" I've had in my life on one > hand. But in one of these rare "bad dreams," I had awakened > in the dream and found myself being pursued by astral bad- > asses who clearly intended to do me harm. I ran from them, > and "astral teleported" to other locations to try to get > away from them, but nothing worked. They kept following me, > and kept threatening me. So I decided, in the dream, to > wake up *from* the dream. > > Voila. I found myself in my own bed at home. The rare "bad > dream" had been bad enough that I was still feeling some > uneasiness from it, so on impulse I reached over and grabbed > the katana (Japanese samurai sword) that I keep by my bed. > (Old habit from my martial arts days...don't ask.) Anyway, > I brought the sword back into bed with me and closed my > eyes and tried to go back to sleep, since it was still the > middle of the night and I had to work the next morning. > > Voila. I'm back in the same dream, with the same "having > woken up in the dream" mindstate, and faced with the same > badasses. But there's a difference. This time I had the > sword with me. > > To paraphrase W.C. Fields, "I hacked my way through mounds > of (astral) flesh." Bye-bye badasses. I woke up laughing, > and the badasses never appeared in my dreams again, ever. > > Anyway, that's just a fun story, provided as a "seed story" > to see if anyone here has similar Lucid Dreaming stories > to share or rap about. If so, cool. If not, cool. At least > I tried... > > > > Thinking back to recent discussions about > > dreaming here, and the obvious fact that no > > one involved in that discussion had ever > > practiced lucid dreaming, I realize that I > > should explain a little more about it. > > > > It is non-meditative in nature, and involves > > simple mental and physical practices with the > > goal of awakening in one's dreams and learn- > > ing to control them. There is no goal of > > "enlightenment" or anything like that in mind. > > > > That said, the thing that I have heard people > > on this forum describe as "witnessing" of dreams > > and/or deep sleep is viewed in lucid dreaming > > circles as a preliminary step. It can be easily > > achieved by almost everyone, within a month or > > two of doing their exercises. > > > > But *in their view* (which I am not trying to > > elevate or glorify or defend, merely to explain), > > mere passive witnessing of dreams is *not the > > point*. In their view, the *next step* after > > developing this witnessing aspect of dreaming > > is *waking up in the dream*, being able to > > take an active (as opposed to passive witness) > > role in them, and direct them. > > > > Sample exercises that lucid dreamers practice > > while learning how to do this all tend to > > involve *intention*. Once the "witness" thing > > is a given, you decide before sleeping to *do* > > something to alter the course of the dream. > > You might try to find your hands (many will > > recognize this from Castaneda), or travel to > > a particular place, or remember to say a > > certain phrase. If you can do that, it has > > a kind of "snap" effect, and snap! you are > > awake in the dream. At that point you can go > > anywhere and do anything you want. > > > > Once one has gotten to this point, other exer- > > cises can be done, and in a group. For example, > > the group of students can agree to "meet" in > > a predetermined place in the dream. Once there, > > they can experiment with telling each other > > things or doing things that they can then > > check on with the other students in the waking > > state, to see if the other person experienced > > the same thing you did when "talking" to them > > or interacting with them in the dream. > > > > It's a real trip, lemme tell you. I studied > > lucid dreaming with Rama, and then on my own > > from books, and then later in a group of people > > who were interested in the phenomenon, and were > > working with a Yaqui teacher in Santa Fe to > > master it. It was way fun, and I got fairly > > good at it. > > > > But, to be honest, after a few months it lost > > its charm and I didn't continue it. Now it's > > like I have the "option" to wake up in my > > dreams if I want, but most of the time I don't, > > and just let what happens happen. > > > > I'm bringing it up just to make the point that > > "witnessing" does not mean the same thing or > > have the same value to all spiritual seekers. > > In the TMO, it is often viewed as a goal, or > > a "symptom" of enlightenment. Among this group > > of lucid dreamers I worked with, it was clearly > > viewed as a preliminary step, one that was a > > stepping stone to more interesting things. > > > > It's all POV. Sometimes it's good to consider > > the possibility that the POV you've been taught > > is "highest" may not be. >
