Monthly Archives: December 2014

My Experiences with Lucid Dreaming

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I was fourteen years old when I first heard about lucid dreaming.  The instructions I heard back then on how to “wake up” during a dream were to focus on your hands.  The idea, as I recall, was to look at your hands once you realized you were dreaming.  I don’t remember what you were supposed to do next, and perhaps that is the reason that the couple of times I did manage to look at my hands, my brief moment of being aware of dreaming passed and I slipped back into the dream unconscious.

I’ve never really tried to cultivate dream awareness, but every once in awhile I have a lucid dream – or at least a moment of lucidity during a dream.  I’ve had dreams where I became aware that I was dreaming, but still couldn’t control my actions and watched myself struggle to make a cell phone call.  I’ve also had repetitive dreams of driving a car without brakes.  These usually trigger me into some awareness of being in a dream state and I simply know that I need to find something to hit to stop the car.  Instead of feeling out of control during the dream I have the awareness to know that I’m dreaming and cannot be hurt, yet still cannot control the car without colliding into something.

My best trigger for lucidity is not being able to see.  This is another common theme in my dreams and it also seems to frequently happen when I am driving a car.  I just cannot get my eyes open.  These days, about 75% of the time, I am able to realize that when I cannot open my eyes I am dreaming.  After the realization, I loosen up, and I just tell myself that I don’t need to see in order to drive.  I have other senses I can use.

While lucid dreaming is exciting, I have never formally pursued the activity because I had never thought it was valuable given my goal of enlightenment.  Then, earlier this year, one of my meditation teachers mentioned he was interested in learning more about lucid dreaming.  I was surprised by his interest, since I know him to at least at third path and cannot imagine a lucid dreaming practice would be something of value to such a person.  Then again, if you are at third path, you might not be too worried about reaching enlightenment and lucid dreaming might just be an extracurricular activity.  Still, his interested made me wonder if there might be some value in the practice.

Four Stages of Enlightenment

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The Four Paths or Four Stages of Enlightenment are an organizing structure that is part of Theraveda teachings.  The first path is stream-entry.  The second path is a once-returner.  The third path is a non-returner and the fourth path is an arahant or enlightened person.

Sometimes people consider obtainment of first path, “enlightenment”, so you have to watch your terms.  This distinction is used because people that have reached first path cannot be reborn in any lower realm (hell, hungry ghosts, animal) and have insight into reality that clearly sets them apart from ordinary humans.

The technical attributes of the different stages have to do with removal of specific limitations.  The limitations that fall away at each stage and consequently define that stage are referred to as fetters.

The ten fetters are:

  1. view that one is a separate self
  2. belief that rites and rituals alone could lead to liberation
  3. doubt or uncertainty, especially about the teachings regarding liberation (i.e. the eightfold noble path)
  4. sensual desire
  5. ill will
  6. craving for material existence
  7. craving for existence in the formlessness realm
  8. conceit
  9. restlessness
  10. ignorance

The first three fetters are eliminated when one reaches the first path (stream-entry or aryahood).  Someone that has reached second path has significantly weakened the next two fetters as well as eliminated the first three.  A non-returner (third path) person has eliminated the first five fetters.  Elimination of the last five fetters results in enlightenment or obtaining fourth path (arhat).

 

 

Lucid Dreaming

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One is lucid dreaming when one is aware that they are dreaming during the dream.  This is the most basic of definitions.

Many people that lucid dream will also play around with the dream and do things they would not normally do during awake hours.  They may fly, walk though fire, or engage in activities that they normally would refrain from.  In addition, they may change events or characteristics of the dream much like in the movie, Inception.  While all this may occur in a lucid dream, the only attribute necessary to make the dream “lucid” is the fact that the dreamer is aware they are dreaming.

Lucid dreaming should not be confused with people that astral project during their sleep.  Such people actually leave their body and travel about during their sleep.  I have known several people that astral project during sleep (which can be a problem when your ex-boyfriend does too) and what they describe does not sound like a dream state.  I have also read that people can share dreams, but I don’t know anyone that has ever talked about this.  I’m curious how it is different from an astral projection meet-up – or if the difference is just in the person’s perspective and the words used to describe it.