Monday, May 20, 2013

Dreaming, Lucid Dreaming, and Astral Travel Primer

    My sister recently shared something regarding instructions to lucid dreaming. The post basically gave instructions for forcing yourself into what they called sleep paralysis, and suggested that would be inducing lucid dreaming. She felt it would be more like Astral Projection than Lucid Dreaming and would be terrifying, so I'll try my best to explain this. Keep in mind that I'm by no means an expert on either subject, though I do have at least some experience with both.

    The original post basically suggested that just prior to falling into true sleep that you could force yourself to stay awake and begin to hallucinate and are, thereby 'Lucid Dreaming.' To begin, there are a number of things going on here, all dealing with the various levels of consciousness that humans can normally experience, being the first, second, and third levels of consciousness (not to be confused with 1st 2nd and 3rd dimension) that humans normally deal with. Those are generally termed the subconscious, conscious and super-conscious levels of awareness. For the most part, humans spend the vast majority of their time in the subconscious and conscious levels.

    When we are awake, we are in the conscious level of thought. When we fall asleep, the conscious mind slows down and falls into a state of suspension between these two levels. When we begin dreaming, we fall down fully into the sub level. The article suggests that we can take advantage of this level of suspension and retain our consciousness as we go into that sub level state. This is, in itself, true, and can be quite helpful for self-discovery, but it is also incomplete and a wrong way to go about it. It can be terrifying as well. The reason for this is that the various levels of consciousness operate in completely different ways. The conscious mind, which holds our attention while we are awake, is what we normally experience. We can see and feel, hear, and smell things that are going on around us, and as this is our normal state, it is the most comfortable for us to process.

     The subconscious mind operates not on concrete evidence of thought, but basic thought patterns that have no evidence we can experience and process. Our dreams are how our subconscious mind communicates to our conscious minds. We actually make a lot of decisions in this state, due to the simplification of the process...we have less to take in and if we can understand its language, interpret easier. So a dream is in essence a conversation with ourselves. This operates on many levels of our experience, which is why it can be tough to figure out exactly what our subconscious mind is telling us.

     Sometimes our dreams are a classifying and filing of recent events. If you've ever played a game all day, then dreamt about it at night, this is what is happening. Whether we process what we are experiencing when we played the game or not, our minds are still taking it in, and if we don't process it consciously, we will subconsciously. These dreams have a purpose, but not a whole lot of meaning to our lives, as their content is largely mundane.

   The next type of dream has to do with slightly more important things going on in our daily lives: issues we are currently struggling with. Perhaps physical ailments, money issues, relationship woes. These are important for our daily lives, but are more of a day-to-day importance still than for our life paths as a whole (though they will eventually add up to this). The upper end of this type of dream deals with life lessons. These are things we have chronic issues, or have a leading role in our current life on earth and our soul's path as a whole.

    This level of dreaming is where Lucid Dreaming becomes useful, as we can process in real time the messages we are receiving from our subconscious minds. Now, while this takes place in our subconscious minds, the superconscious mind does sneak things in, using the language of the conscious mind. The reason for this is it is generally much easier for our superconscious to speak to use through the subconscious  as we have more experience in that state than in trying to raise our conscious level to the superconscious and communicate directly. In fact, many people never directly speak to their superconscious minds except in times of great duress, when it is a make or break situation. Those are the solitary moments when we suddenly escape danger in the nick of time, or get a message while waking that prompts us to take immediate action, and they seem to come out of nowhere. These can be those 'aha' moments of sudden but momentary enlightenment.

    So what the article suggests is to take control of that moment between sleeping and waking. This can be done, but not likely by anyone that has not first learned the language that the subconscious mind as well as trained themselves in lucid dreaming. Without those first two steps, this will be difficult (though not impossible) but more importantly, will throw you into a world that has a language that you haven't consciously learned. This can most certainly be terrifying, and it certainly is not the same as hallucinating. When you Lucid dream, you are asleep, and you are dreaming, but are simply aware that you are.

     So how can this be dangerous? What I've gathered is that a nightmare is pretty close to lucid dreaming due to the realness of the experience. It is easier for me to recognize that I'm dreaming if the dream is particularly bad. I've actually had to come to terms with this personally due to the frequency of my own bad dreams, which is what prompted me to study this stuff in the first place.

   The first thing to understand is that the subconscious mind speaks in a very vague language. Here we call it symbolism, where an object, idea, or experience is actually representative of something else. This is hard to write rules about as things mean different things to different people. I once had a friend that, when she had dreams that someone died, she would soon after receive news that someone was about to have a baby. I don't have this experience, but it illustrates how each of our conversations in dreaming with our subconscious are very personal and are tailor-made for ourselves. This is why it is best to do most dream interpreting for yourself, as you know best what a dream really means.

   That said, there is a basic structure that will hold true for most people. I won't go too into detail as it would be too long and there are a ton of dream books out there that can help you on your way. As an example, though, is that buildings in dreams would generally represent our 'house.' These are things that make up our basic structure, so you can easily relate that basic notion to any building that you find yourself in while dreaming. For example, if you had a dream that took place in a temple, your subconscious may be speaking to your spiritual being. If you had a dream about a bank robbery, it might be telling you something about your finances. If you had a dream about a prison, it could be telling you about constraints that either you have put on yourself or are being placed on you by external forces. The surrounding symbols would then detail what the message is really about.

    This understanding of symbols is sort of like lucid dreaming 101. It is the alphabet of subconscious thought. It is not a good idea to alter your consciousness unless you understand the place that you are going to, and inducing it externally is akin to altering your state of mind using drugs. This takes you to a level of consciousness that you might not understand and probably aren't ready to experience. It can be overcome, but make no mistake, there is a reason that when we begin a dream that we pass from the conscious to subconscious levels. It is due to the language of that level, and the chance we might misinterpret what is going on and eventually panic.

     Lucid dreaming is very simple...it is being aware that you are dreaming. That is all. Once you become aware that you are dreaming, you then control your actions. This can be both good and bad. This can help you understand what is going on and what messages you are being told, but it can also confuse the conscious mind. If someone is only used to operating from their conscious minds, they will apply that knowledge to their lucid dreams and will begin to have control issues. They may attack problems the same way as if they were awake dealing with the physical world, and as dreams operate in vague symbols, the tools we use here may or may not work there. We may find ourselves battling ghosts or imaginary demons with only the physical tools we are used to grabbing with our hands, with knowledge of gravity, with the experiences of pain we've had in our lives, and then be stuck in a lucid nightmare.

     If you want to begin to try lucid dreaming, ignore what the article said and start from square one, and for that I have a few suggestions. The first step is to let the dream happen naturally, and it is NOT easier if you are more tired. The more tired you are, the less likely that you will fall into the dream state, as all your energy would be focused on healing your physical body. The second is, while sleeping, try and catch when you are dreaming. Don't try to take control of the dream, just be aware that you're dreaming. Then if anything hellish may happen, you probably won't have control over what you're doing, but you will at least be able to recognize that you are, in fact, only dreaming and that you will survive the experience. This is like watching how something is done before actually stepping in and doing it yourself. Be an observer at first. You can then build up to taking action later when you are more comfortable.

     The third step is to keep a dream journal by your bed, and write down every dream you have...whether important or not. Write down what happens, what symbols you saw, the impressions you got, and what type of dream you just had. This only takes a couple minutes, but must be done the minute you wake up...no fumbling for a pad and pen, you must be able to reach over and start writing. It helps for remembering what happened, and you are also still in that in-between state of sub and conscious thought. You will still be more in tune with the language of symbols, and will be able to give better interpretations, or at least, a better rough draft interpretation or first impression. Be sure to write what type of dream it is though. If you dreamt you ate a cheese burger, there probably isn't a whole lot of significance to the dream, but write it down anyway and take note of it. For more important dreams, go back later in the day/week/month and reread what you wrote down. You may consciously think of a more important definition of what happened, and can further hone your grasp of the language of symbols.

     Those will help train you to learn the language and understand when you are awake in a dream. Then when you have an understanding of that, you can then begin to work in your dreams. An example of how to use the process from my experience is that I have is recurring dreams. It's easy to lucid dream in these as they've happened before and I don't even have to think about it to know that I'm dreaming. In these, I will either try to take advantage of what is going on and figure out solutions or I will simply let the dream run its course without interference, but look for signs of meaning I may have missed before or differences from previous experiences. Remember, taking control of your dreams can be useful, but only if you put it to use. That is, to have a purpose for lucid dreaming. Don't consciously enter into that state without having a reason to do so. If you don't you will not really need to be there consciously and possibly have a bad experience.

     Now, lucid dreaming usually takes place in the subconscious mind. That doesn't mean that you cannot enter the superconscious state while there, as the post suggests, but it is very tough. It is easier to enter the superconscious while awake, alert, and fully rested. The more tired you are, and the lower your consciousness level, the harder it is and further you have to raise your awareness. It can be done, but it isn't an efficient way to go about it. Actually, that entering of the superconscious while in a dreamlike state isn't lucid dreaming or astral travel at all, it is called pathworking, but if you're reading this, that's years away from where you're at now.

    So then, what is astral projection (astral travel)? It is when you raise your conscious level to where your spirit can leave your body. I've heard many think they won't be able to find their bodies again and be frightened of it, but really the bond between the physical body and the spirit is incredibly strong, so while you may consciously be outside your body, you are still bound to it. Some call it the 'tether.' I wouldn't say it is impossible to lose that connection, but it is incredibly unlikely you would even be able to do so, even if for some odd reason you knew how. Further, when you astral travel, you are not hallucinating at all. Not one bit. It is a conscious experience and you are dwelling outside your body. If you are having hallucinations, you aren't astral traveling. The greatest fear I've ever had in astral travel is gravity...a consequence of normally living in the conscious state.

    Further, astral travel takes place in superconsciousness, and is not lucid dreaming at all. Remember, it is a raised consciousness level, not a lowered one. This is very, very hard to do well. Many can get to that state, but not leave their body, or leave for only a few feet and only for a short while. Some would have difficulty doing this at all, because in the modern world, we have a lot working against our vibration levels. Our diet, our water supply, our air, our living habits, our electrical system, sedentary lifestyles, stress levels, our integration into the modern world...these are all working against us. That said, these are things everyone can do, but it requires dedication and a lot of practice. In fact, what people may confuse for astral travel is actually a dream of flight.

     So to sum up this ramble:

Existence = 1st Dimension
Dreaming = subconscious state of thought (2nd Dimension, also partially 2nd to 3rd activity)
Lucid dreaming = entering a subconscious state while in a conscious state of thought (2nd to 3rd)
Consciousness = awareness (3rd Dimension)
Meditiation = the process of entering a superconscious state of thought (3rd to 4th)
Superconsciousness (4th Dimension)
Astral Travel = Heightened conscious state of thought to the point of not having to reside in your body, though still bound to it.  (exploring the 4th)
Pathworking = Entering a subconscious state while in a superconscious state of thought (a highly advanced form of meditation) (4th to 5th)
5th dimension = ?
6th dimension = ?
7th dimension = ?
8th dimension = ?
9th dimension = ?
10th dimension = ?
11th dimension = ?
12th dimension = ?

These all take place in the 1st through 4th dimensions. Pathworking is between the 4th and 5th. In essence, pathworking and meditiation are the same type of activity, but take place one dimension away from each other. Astral Travel is mostly just exploring the 4th dimension, though not entirely for spiritual means. This is like learning to walk, but not actually walking anywhere in particular. I have no names beyond those dimensions, as I haven't made it there ever. I'm sure someone has come up with them on the internet, but I try not to get ahead of myself. If you're wondering, I'm still on the pathworking level. Pathworking is very, very difficult. I should try it again though as I kind of threw up my arms and gave up last time.

Anyway, I hope that made at least a little sense.




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