Lucid Dreaming

In this article we come closer to solving the Guardian’s riddle about the fact that we are free to choose anything we want in life and how to go about it. One of the keys to the riddle lies in what we call dreaming. A person spends a third of their lifetime asleep. Unfortunately, scientific research can only offer us a limited understanding of the human sleep state and so what exactly happens to a person when they are asleep remains a mystery. Philosophical interpretations of dreams are no more enlightening, spanning from one extreme to another. Some say that dreams are an illusion whilst others claim that life itself is nothing more than a dream. Who should we believe? The Transurfing model of the universe supports neither position. When adults remember their dreams they tell themselves that what they saw was not real. The mind is comforted by the interpretation that dreams are a product of the imagination, somehow generated in a state of rest. We know that children up to the age of four fail to distinguish between what they see in a dreaming and a waking state. They believe that the content of their dreams is happening in the same space as the rest of their life. When a child wakes terrified from a nightmare they are convinced that the monster is still somewhere in the bedroom and nothing their parents can say will comfort them. Gradually, the child’s mind begins to accept the idea that dreams are not real. We discussed previously how the mind quickly and willingly organises any new information that it receives according to abstract references and yet it takes a whole four years to convince the mind that dreams are not real. This must be the only thing that the mind cannot willingly accept. Most people have no memory of their life before the age of four and so as adults they cannot bear witness to the confusion the mind must have experienced upon wakening from a dream when it was still believed to be real. Every night when the mind switches off it falls innocently into a kind of trap. It does not occur to us to take a critical view of events whilst we are asleep. Even on waking we are surprised by how real and very natural the virtual reality of our dreams appears. The mind is accustomed to finding a rational explanation for everything and so despite the fact that people see quite bizarre events in their dreams, for some reason, in the moment of dreaming the mind responds as if they were quite normal. Whenever we notice or experience something unusual the mind will instantly provide a rational explanation. And despite this we do not question the reality of what is happening in the world around us when we are in a conscious, waking state and the same is true of dreaming. Despite the mind’s incessant need to control, the simple question “is this real?” slips through the prism of control and the mind falls into the dream trap. Sometimes, if we are lucky, something quite miraculous happens and we wake up in a dream, suddenly aware that we are dreaming. Usually this happens when we dream about something extraordinary or have a nightmare. The rational mind is shocked into part waking and we understand what to do next in the dream. At this point the unconscious dream state shifts into lucid dreaming. In lucid dreaming a person can take part in their dream as if it were a virtual game, at the same time understanding that it is just a dream. If you have never experienced lucid dreaming or are reading about it here for the first time, you can be certain that it is not a product of our imagination. Numerous books have been published on the topic and there are many individuals who practice the technique consistently. It is not difficult to try lucid dreaming because it can be brought on by the power of intention. To ‘wake up’ in a dream you have to train your mind to ask the question: “Is this real?” It is not that difficult to do if you are motivated. The process of training the mind is quite straightforward but it does require your focused attention. Over the course of a day you need to ask yourself whether what you are seeing is real at least ten times. Your inner Guardian will assist you. Instruct your inner Guardian to keep asking you whether you are asleep. It is important that you answer each time as conscientiously as possible so that the rational mind retains a critical attitude rather than it becoming a routine procedure. Shake yourself a little to increase your alertness, look around, assess the situation and ask yourself whether everything is as usual or whether something strange is happening. If you are persistent enough you will eventually ‘wake up’ in your dream. You will probably find that it is quite difficult to remember to ask yourself this question even ten times a day and so you have to be really motivated if you want the technique to work. Depending on the strength of your intention you may begin to experience lucid dreaming within a few days or perhaps a few months. It can be helpful to use a chiming clock. You can then program your inner Guardian to ask you whether you are asleep or not every time the clock chimes. The sound of the clock will be like a bridge to consciousness. When you are asleep and the clock chimes your inner Guardian will become more alert out of habit which should in turn waken your rational mind causing you to ‘wake up’ in the dream. You can use other bridges between waking and sleeping as long as you are using a sound that can be heard whilst you are asleep. Avoid linking your question to signals you cannot rely on such as the sound of an incoming telephone call. Unless you receive a call in the middle of the night you will not get the necessary trigger until you see a phone call in your dream. As you can see, the basic principle is to develop the habit of regularly asking yourself whether what is happening is real. Try to answer the question with awareness rather than mechanically. It is important to train yourself to assess the situation critically and respond to the question conscientiously because for many dreamers the one thing that shifts them into lucid dreaming is recognising an anomaly, a contradiction or quirky element in their dream that normally, they would pay no attention to. Why practice lucid dreaming? At the very least it is fun to consciously play with your dream like in a virtual game rather just have it ‘happen’. No science fiction book or computer game can compare with lucid dreaming where you can do anything your imagination can conjure up. When an unpleasant situation arises in a dream you can will it to change. For example, in a dream where someone is chasing you if you think that what is happening is real it will be very difficult to escape. If you are aware that you are dreaming, you will probably try to wake up from the dream which does not always work. However, once you are aware that it is just a dream you can act much more effectively by simply looking back at your pursuer and thinking: “Go away!” (Get lost! Disappear!). The pursuer will vanish immediately. You can even mentally lift them up and make them turn cartwheels in the air. As long as two simple conditions are fulfilled the dreamer can control everything that happens in their dream. Firstly, they have to be aware that they are dreaming and secondly, there has to be the realisation that ‘here’ they can do anything. For example, if you are dreaming lucidly and want to fly nothing could be simpler. All it requires is your intention. An important distinction should be made between desire and intention. The desire alone to rise up into the air will lead to nothing, in dreaming as in waking. It is the same with raising your hand. You can say to yourself, that you want to raise your hand but you do not necessarily move it. Then you suddenly decide to act and you raise your hand, transforming desire into action by the power of intention. You do not think about how you are going to raise your hand, you just do it and it is the same with flying in a dream. You simply decide to rise up into the air and you can fly wherever you want to. Returning to the example of the nightmare about being chased, the desire alone to be free of the pursuer is not enough. When fear takes hold, the rational mind loses the advantage at every turn of events. It is as if someone else decides the rules of the game. Even if you are aware that you are dreaming you will remain powerless to act until you decide to take control. Whilst you play the role of the passive victim the game will have control over you. It makes no difference that the game is a product of your own imagination. You are still effectively a slave to your imagination as you tremble in fear and run. In lucid dreaming you can choose the role you want to play. You can even stop and decide to swop roles with your pursuer, who will oblige you and turn on their heel. Imagine how comical that would be! To any question that starts: “Is it possible to do such and such in a lucid dream?” the answer is yes. You can talk to people, the living and the deceased. You can do whatever you want with people and objects in your dream; fly around on other planets, solve problems, compose music, rehearse a scene, travel, etc. In comparison to what you can experience in a lucid dream, serious drugs are merely child’s play and a lot more harmful. You can also bring information back from a dream. The only thing you cannot do is bring a material object back from a dream into physical reality. At least, I personally have never heard of this being done. If you find that do not remember your dreams note what direction you sleep in. It is considered best to sleep with your head to the north. Avoid sleeping with your head to the west as this can have a negative impact on your health. I cannot explain why exactly but it is connected with the impact of the Earth’s magnetic fields on the body. Try sleeping with your head to the north and your dreams should become more vivid and diverse. Do not worry if you have no desire to practice lucid dreaming or perhaps have tried to induce lucid dreams without success. Lucid dreaming does play a certain role in Transurfing but it is not essential to practicing the technique. In addition, lucid dreaming carries a subtle threat. You are probably wondering why I introduced the topic so positively if now I intend to caution you. Lucid dreaming is a secret door that opens into the unknown.