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5

Lucid Dreaming

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p. 133

"Lucid dreaming was first labeled as such ... by ... Frederik Willems van Eeden (1860-1932 ...) and first considered scientifically by Celia Green in her 1968 book, Lucid Dreams ... .

p. 134

Others in the 19th and early 20th centuries described lucidity in reporting their dreams; e.g., Mary Arnold-Forster (1921) in her book Studies in Dreams which recounts ... autosuggestion leading to incubation and lucidity, and the Marquis d'Hervey de Saint Denys in his 1869 book Les re^ves et les moyens de les diriger; observations pratiques (now published as Dreams and the Means of Directing Them; de Saint Denys 1982; see also Hobson 1988:34) which describes the results of dream incubation and lucidity. ...

A dream is lucid if we are aware within the dream that we are dreaming and that we are not awake (Green 1968; Gackenbach 1991a ...)."

"Stephen LaBerge (b. 1947) who took his Ph.D. at Stanford University in 1980 on the topic of lucid dreaming ... has shown that lucid dreaming can be a learned skill (1980), has led the way in developing techniques for eliciting lucidity in dreamers ..., and has demonstrated that lucid dreamers can communicate with researchers while still dreaming ... ."

[quoted from LaBerg & DeGracia 2000] "In our view, the distinction between lucid and nonlucid dreams is not a clear-cut as the definition suggests and fails to do justice to the subtlety of the actual experience. We find the contemporary distinction has misplaced focus away from what we consider essential variations in dream cognition underlying dream lucidity".

{During any dream wherein the dreamer is not alarmed by the uncertainties as to location, purpose, etc., this absence of alarm must indicate a fundamental awareness of being elsewhere than in the ordinary waking-world, where such certainties would be cause for alarm. Because no dreamer would seem ever to the alarmed at any of this, it is definite that every dream is basically a "lucid dream", even if the overt words indicating this (such words as, "This is a dream!") do not come manifestly to mind in such circumstance. [written Feb 28 2015]}

"Hugh George Callaway (1885-1949) was an English ... occultist who was also an avid lucid dreamer from an early age. Under the pseudonym, Oliver Fox,

he published many of his ... out-of-body experiences (OBEs) in articles that were later republished after his death in a book with the ... title, Astral Projection (1962)."

{It is inaccurate to call astral travel in the manifest material world "dreaming"; it is likewise unreasonable to designate it as "out-of-body", for one then is, indeed, very much ensconced in a manifest astral body (visible to one's self, if often invisible to persons occupying material bodies); much as one is likewise in occupancy of a dream-body during dreaming. [written Feb 28 2015]}

p. 136

"LaBerge (1985:83) shares a dream had by Miranda, one of his laboratory dreamers who had been instructed to signal when she was in a lucid state, and then again when she had a sexual experience with a male :

p. 137

... In her report, she said that she seemed to be lying in bed still awake, with someone's hands rubbing her neck.

her neck.

{The nape of the neck is the location of cakra Vi-s`uddhi ('wide purity'; but \s`uddhi\ must be cognate with Hellenic \kusthos\ 'vulva').}

Recognizing ... she was dreaming, and ... to float into the air, ... she ... made the agreed-on signal as she floated through her bedroom wall. ... Continuing to fly, she found herself over a campus resembling Oxford ... . The dream continued with Miranda{'s} finding a random male and signaling her intention to begin a sexual adventure, had [sexual intercourse with] an orgasm, signaled again to the researchers, and woke up."

p. 137

"Here is one ... dream reported by Robert Waggoner (2009:36) :

... Somehow I become lucid and ... I effortlessly fly from room to room ... . ... One woman notices me and acts seductively. ...

p. 138

I continue flying into outer space. I begin to fly past the planets. ..."

p. 138

"I was engaged ... in the Tibetan Tantric Buddhist ... "foundation" practice called the "man[.]d[.]ala offering" (Tib. kyil khor; see MacDonald et al. 1988 on the use of mirrors in shamanic traditions generally). I made a contraption out of the glass from a round ... mirror glued to the bottom of a small bowl. Gripping the upside-down bowl with the mirror-side up ..., I built a man[.]d[.]ala from saffron-dyed rice held under the mirror in a ... tub. I would build the sacred landscape of Mount Meru ... while reciting a mantra ...

p. 139

until it was completed. ... the mirror and ... imagery penetrated into my dream life where I had repeated experiences in which I was aware I was dreaming and ... was sometimes aboard a boat. I recall sailing across a placid sea ... . I was often aware within the dream ... that the mirror itself was the mind of "pure" potential ... . ...

LaBerge (1997:30) quotes a dream report from the mathematician J. H. M. Whiteman (1961:57) : ... The dream ... was

... more keenly followed than usual. ... a vivid sense of cold flowed in on me and held my attention with a strange interest. ... the dream became lucid. Then suddenly, ... a new space burst forth ...; the darkness itself seemed alive. ..."

p. 140

"As anyone knows who has taken interest in their dream life, all it takes to increase dream recall is the intention to do so. ... There are many techniques available for increasing dream recall (see e.g., Fox 1962; Garfield 1974; Gackenbach and Bosveld 1989; Waggoner 2009:265-268). ...

p. 141

Many techniques for stimulating engagement in and recall of dreams operate by decreasing the abruptness of

the warp

{i.e., 'torque' imposed on awareness (not 'vertical loom-threads' which are figurative in Tantrik and in Taoist lore)}

between S[tates]O[f]C[onsciousness] ... . Every transition from one SOC to another involves a relatively rapid reorganization (or warp) of the ... mediating consciousness... Sleep onset and its associated hypnagogic {read "hypnagogia"} are an example of a warp. ...

My claim is that there is no lucidity without P[rae]F[rontal]C[ortex] involvement (see Hobson, Pace-Schott and Stickgold 2003:45).

p. 142

"Within the literature on dream research are to be found a number of techniques for incubating dream lucidity (LaBerge 1985, 2009:Chap. 3; LaBerge and Rheingold 1990; Waggoner 2009; Green 1968 ...). ...

p. 143

Ritual action in the waking state can produce experience had in A[ltered]S[tates of]C[onsciousness], and in particular, dreaming. ... The ritual may incorporate ... psychotropic substances, ... dancing, chanting, drumming, praying, flickering lights, ... mystery plays, masked dancers, ... or ordeals like long distance running ..., or doing scary things ... ."

p. 143

"Stephen LaBerge uses a method of lucid dream incubation

{This is not traditional dream incubation, which always is involved with invoking a deity to send a dream, and are usually performed in a temple dedicated to that deity.}

he calls mnemonic induction of lucid dreams (MILD). The method simply applies ritualized mnemonic devices ... . One visualizes the thing you will be doing later in the dream when you wish to become lucid, or remember to do

p. 144

some task. ... LaBerge goes on to ... several steps ([1985]:141) :

1. During the early morning, when you awaken ... from a dream, go over the dream several times ... .

2. Then, ... say to yourself, "Next time I'm dreaming, I want to remember to recognize I'm dreaming."

3. Visualize yourself as being back in the dream ...; only this time, see yourself realizing that you are, in fact, dreaming.

4. Repeat ... until ... you fall asleep.

MILD is a straightforward way of ritualizing

{This is not what is traditionally known as ritual, which always a specific action performed to gratify some deity, so that the deity will be pleased grant the favor requaested.}

control over the sleep onset warp, pairing a rehearsal of dreaming with an intentional task.

Visualization practices ... are common cross-culturally ... ."

{Yea : How-be-it, such "Visualization practices" always involve visualizing a deity's (or a deity's assistant) performing the prayed-for task on one's behalf.}

"dream researcher Paul Tholey (1937-1998) developed a set of methods for incubating and manipulating dreams. One of these is called the reflection technique (Tholey 1983a) which was tailored ... to maintain awareness while entering sleep onset -- ... important to ... Tibetan dream yoga ... . This "... a subject develops while awake a critical reflective attitude toward his momentary state of consciousness ..., then this attitude ... transferred to the dream state" (ibid:80)."

"Another of Tholey's methods is called the intention technique in which one "should ... imagine that he is in dream situations which would typically cause him to recognize that he is dreaming.

Even better would be an attempt to carry out a simple action in the dream simultaneously" (ibid:80). This is a rehearsal technique that ritualizes an association ... with dream-typical situations in the waking state.

{Religious rites (performed while awake) generally may be understood as substitutes for the aequivalents to actions which might be performed during dreaming (if only the would-be performer were mindful even while dreaming to perform those actions at that time). [written 25 Oct 2017]}

"Yet another method mentioned by Tholey is a very common one that he calls the autosuggestion technique. Referring back to Heinrich Juergen's first use of the term autosuggestion in his 1953 work, Traum-Exerzitien ["Dream Exercises"], Tholey notes that "the subject suggests to himself ... that he is going to experience a lucid dream. ...

The effectiveness of suggestive formulas {the correct plural form is \formulae\} can be improved by special relaxation techniques" (ibid:81)."

{Solitary-style techniques tend to be productive of jitteriness. Most personalities have a general tendency to be inclined to their most relaxed state-of-mind during a celebratory party called for a special occasion. This fact would suggest employing a communal rite.}

"Waggoner notes that the following methods and tips seem to help some dreamers to reach lucidity ([2009]:73-74) :

Sleep in a different location;

vacations, holidays and other changes in daily routine;

taking up yogic practices ...;

changes in the weather; and

sleeping in particular locations like sacred sites."

""dreaming is perception independent of sensory input,

{There is at least as much "sensory input" in any dream as in any waking situation; for, whereas waking-state sensory input is from the mere material world (a simple and relatively insignificant situation), yet in the dreaming-state sensory input is intaken from the vastly intricate multi-subtle-planed dream-universes (of enormous significance and ineluctable validity, persisting throughout aeternity).}

and thus without external constraints" (LaBerge 1994:28)."

{Whereas the mere material world is incapable of even entertaining the impotent notion of supposed "constraints"; yet the dreaming-universe in its universe-dominating omnipotence is in control is every detail of every events which may ever occurr in the material plane. [written 25 Oct 2017]}

"There are

(1) relatively mundane dreams that seem to be based on mnemonic consolidations and reorganizations;

(2) ... relatively fantastic ... dreams, often based on complex rebus-like wordplay;

(3) dreams based on somatic states ...;

(4) dreams based on somatically rich metaphor;

(5) dreams based on problem-solving and deep intuition ...;

(6) lucid-control dreams;

(7) the variety of nightmare; and

(8) a Jung-type archetypal-mythological form of dreaming

(Hunt 1989:76; numbering added by author).

These are not exclusive types, but rather natural types ... that overlap and intermix."

"philosopher Gordon Globus presents a wonderful critique of the essentially anti-creative views of Freud in his book Dream Life, Wake Life (1987), He then goes on to show that dreams are the product of intentionality, thought and abstraction. What populates our dreams are ...

abstract images

{Mayhap : but only if the indestructible subtle bodies of the omnipotent rulers of the omniverse can be described as "abstract images".}

that represent the intentional meanings of -- sometimes surreal -- unconscious thought.

{Yea : But these are the intentionality by deities, thought by deities, and abstraction by deities; for, the dream-universe is the universe of the sempiternal supernatural deities who control the material universe, and who control the thought-processes of mortals, including those thought-processes whereof mere mortals are "unconscious ".}

As Globus (ibid:61) puts it :

[quoted] The role of memory of concrete waking experiences is to provide

something abstract (e.g., not a particular horse but the meaning of "horse," {meanings, however, may themselves be construed in the meta-language}

{Incorrect grammatical nomenclature : \horse\ is a concrete common substantive (instead of being a concrete propre substantive, as the name of a particular horse would be); it is not an abstraction (which must contrast against concretes).}

not a particular three-phase movement but the meaning of "three-phase movement"). ...

{This sort of expression is (unlike the word \horse\) a true abstractive, being an abstract substantive expression (with an adjectival qualifier), abstracted from a verb (\to move\). Again, G.G. is contrasting a propre (particular) expression as against a common (universal) expression.}

Lurid dreams demonstrate the creative power of intentionality in remarkable fashion."

{Lurid dreams propound the power of divine intentful "creativity" (actually, shaping or moulding of ectoplasmic forms) in the "remarkable fashion" characteristic of inscrutability as to divine intent.}

"As my latefriend and colleague, John McManus, like to say, "There are no errors in the unconscious.""

{More accurately (and more meaningfully) there is no error in the divine reality of the divine world, which is where the putative "unconscious" is really located.}

p. 150

"It is not clear to me that lucid dreamers "control" their dreams entirely -- I certainly have never been able to do so --

{Of course, no mere mortal can ever "control" a divine world; though, by way of courtesy, divine dreamworld-entities may sometimes behave as suggested by the mortal.}

but the self-aware ego

{"selfhood" is a mere illusion, and the "ego" (ahamkara) is an egotistic delusion}

is certainly capable of guiding events by directing attention to this, rather than to that aspect of the unfolding dream

(e.g., go down this tunnel and not that one).

{Choosing whither to travel within a divine dream-world is certainly a project of far lesser ambition than demanding to "control" such a world (which demand would be praeposterously praesumptuous, if not egregiously impious).}

With respect to cross-cultural data, one does not run into the exercise of control over dreams very often.

{In no traditional culture (excepting the uncultured absurdity of atheistic materialism) would anyone ever even dream of forcing one's own personal control upon a transcendent divine world, for in every traditional cuture (excepting, again, blasphemous atheistic materialism) all mortal folk are quite leery of offending supernatural beings.}

I suspect that this emphasis [on a mortal's willfully controlling the divine world] in lucid dremwork is an

{To call this deviancy "ethnocentricity" is to employ a euphemism. It is outright foolhardy defiance against the will of heaven.}

p. 151

artifact of Western {read "atheistic"} ethnocentricity {read "rebellion against the deities"}."

"I am in agreement with LaBerge (2010) that

no hard and fast distinction can be made between "normal" dreaming and lucid dreaming. Rather, one kind of dreaming phases into the other by degrees ... ."

{At all time when dreaming,one is somewhat (at least!) aware of the fact that behaviour there is not governed by rules identical with those of the ordinary world (which is why one is not thrown into a dither of panic at every oddity there).}

"the "searchlight" of awareness will focus here and not there, pick out salient features and disattend others. There is no way we can be aware of everything in the dream any more than we can be aware of everything during our waking perception, nor can we recall every nuance of the dream."

p. 153

"Lucid dreams in which there is no emphasis upon ... "doing its control thing" have been called "quasi-lucid dreams" (Purcell et al. 1985) ... . Walters and Dentan (1985b:86) define "quasi-lucid dreams" as those in which "dreamers are aware of dreaming but do not control the content of their dreams." ...

p. 154

My feeling is that one would be hard-pressed to find records of lucid drems among traditional peoples of the strict Western ... sort, whereas lucid dreams of the "quasi" kind are very likely universal (Walters and Dentan 1985a), if by that we refer to a continuum of awareness in the sense postulated by Purcell, Moffitt and Hoffman (1993) ... . ...

While it is true that some traditional people have reported being awake to the fact they are dreaming (Tedlock 1999:94-98 ...), it is usually incidental to the dream experience which is usually already vivid and significant.

Henceforth, when I speak of lucid dreams and lucidity, I am talking about dreaming in which I am inferring that ... some degree of awareness of the dream qua dream may ... be present. My suspicion is that the latter characteristic is ... present, but not reported."

p. 156

"Fernando Santo-Granero (2003) describes dreams ... in eastern Peru ... to show how the Yanesha ... pay attention to their dreams and use what we would call "lucid dreaming techniques" to manipulate events ... ."

p. 157

"the Lacandon Maya in Chiapas ... pay a great deal of attention to their dreams, and often carry out ritual retreats in which dreaming plays a large role."

p. 158

"Robin Ridington (1988b:Chap. 9) ... among the Dunne-za (Dene Tha, or "Beaver") Indians of the Doig River area of British Columbia ... recorded ... teaching

p. 159

by elder Naachin, or Dreamers. They are considered to be prophets and are specialists in journeying on the Trail to Heaven, the pathway that all people follow to the afterlife. ... The Dreamer is able to traverse the Trail to Heaven at will in their {his or her} dreams. He (ibid:99),

[quoted] ... is able to leave his body on earth and fly like a swan along a trail of song that is the Yagatunne, the Trail to Heaven. ... Dreamers are people who can fly through to heaven and return to their bodies on earth. ...

The journey on the Trail to Heaven is an intentional one. It indicates lucidity and considerable control over events, and remarkably keen memory for songs and other information retrieved from the dead ancestors."

p. 159

"we now ... present a list of indicators of probable lucidity that is of use with dream reports from traditional peoples. There are, of course, lucid dream questionnaires used by Western dream researchers, probably the best known being Jayne

p. 160

Gackenbach's and its refinements (LaBerge and Gackenbach 1987). ...

Here are some of the indicators I have found useful in evaluating the degree of vividness and lucidity in ethnographic dream reports :

Aware one is dreaming while dreaming ...

Ritual ... used in incubating the dream

A dream yoga is being used to produce dreaming

Carrying out intentional exercises or commands

... "like being awake"

"... sensory clarity ... and an expansive emotional thrill or numinous religious feeling" (Tedlock 1999:94)

Vivid and brilliant colors ...

Wanting ... to "be a dream"

Exercise of control : change scene, make it stop, fly away, go somewhere else

De'ja` vu -- ... memory of past dreams within the present dream

A plot line of significant duration (indicating working memory

Recursivity : dreams within dreams within dreams, etc.

Meditation or trance within the dream

Meaningful dialogue, especially when important information is exchanged or given, songs sung

Carrying out an intention formulated in waking life in the dream -- going on an intended journey

Awareness of ... out-of-body experiences

Self-interpreting dream -- the dream is meaningful within the dream"

"Dreaming ranges along a continuum of lucidity[,] from being hardly aware of the dream as it is unfolding[,] to extreme lucidity where one knows one iw dreaming in the dream and can carry out missions, exercises, experiments and even communicate {with persons in the waking world} from within the dream. ...

Lucidity is characteristic of "big," important,"culture pattern" dreams had by peoples around the world. It is particularly a quality of shamanic dream journeys.

We have taken the position that dreaming is actually experience while dreaming, and that ... dreaming is much the same as waking consciousness."