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Living in a Lucid Dream

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Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#91

Post by dalmo3 »

RandallBrown wrote: post #47
jowdones wrote: post #35

When I lucid dream, usually I also have the ability to "fly" and in time I learned one thing. As much as I love to use the "fly" ability to explore, I must not steer too far away from the point I am currently. Otherwise I can examine in quite vivid details the stuff around but if I leap too far it's like my mind says "sorry dude, you've reached end of simulation area, here's where you wake up".

I've had a handful of lucid dreams and I always try to fly. It works great for a little while but you're right, once you get too far away, it usually wakes you up or sometimes for me the flying just stops working and I come back down.

> the flying just stops working

That's hilarious. I always come back down slowly unless I make an effort to fly up again.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#92

Post by dalmo3 »

zw123456 wrote: post #87

I have been lucid dreaming for many years and about five years ago, I started keeping my tablet on the nightstand and when I wake up, if I remember it, which I generally do, I use speech to text to record it. If I don't do that I often forget them. I have categories, the movie type are like 3rd person and it plays out like I am watching a movie. A ride along dream is like first person, I feel like I am riding along w…

I have a very similar experience. A worthy distinction is that in my dreams I'm either a) fully aware it's a dream but have no control or b) fully in control of myself without realising it's a dream.

Only once I was both aware and in control, but it didn't last long.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#93

Post by fsiefken »

hosh wrote: post #71
wruza wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve explored it in my 30s and it wasn’t like you described. Once I’m aware, I can change the plot by soft transition, remove the eerie elements, somewhat control flights, etc. But not too much because something monitors “glitches the matrix” and disconnects me for cheating. Not that I didn’t know who I am or what is or isn’t absurd, but thinking about it long enough wakes me up. I believe your lucidness is not too d…

I think that depends upon the dream space you find yourself in. If it is an internal dream space for yourself, you tend to have more control (if you do have control). However, I've been in many shared spaces that have varying rules on how much things can be changed. Many of them are what I describe as "sim" spaces. There are also spaces where it is procedurally-generated -- for example, deliberately taking a path you…

Hi hosh, you mention shared dream space, how do you know for certain the others are real dreamers and not just imagined, anticipated or dreamed ones by your own consciousness?

If they were real this would imply solid proof of ESP - which I think would be all over the news, or at least mentioned in the Noema magazine article by Claire Evans. Is there a subculture of dream parapsychologists publishing this in underground channels I am not aware of? Are these hypothetical dream parapsychologists using scientific rigor and peer review I wonder? Or do people 'just know'?

You mention "procedurally generated" and the dream "sim" space pausing because of computation, I am working in IT and can't square that with with a dream space taking place in the mind. The mind doesn't operate like a computer or has procedures that take so much time that the dream space is paused. My dreams do not pause. How do you know the pause itself is not your imagination of an imagined procedurally generated dream scene? The idea of perceived reality as computational simulation was popularized by the The Matrix, that this is a popular metaphor doesn't mean shared lucid dreaming are computed somehow.

Because of these questions I wondered if this comment is LLM generated or a kind of fantasy or metaphor. After reading your profile this doesn't seem to be the case, you are serious and generally knowledgable about matters of consciousness. I am puzzled.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#95

Post by jcul »

tetris11 wrote: post #62
wruza wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve explored it in my 30s and it wasn’t like you described. Once I’m aware, I can change the plot by soft transition, remove the eerie elements, somewhat control flights, etc. But not too much because something monitors “glitches the matrix” and disconnects me for cheating. Not that I didn’t know who I am or what is or isn’t absurd, but thinking about it long enough wakes me up. I believe your lucidness is not too d…

> soft transition This completely. I learned early on to not get excited, and to not immediately do the things I want to do, e.g. fly at breakneak speed into space, but gently learn to hover and then build speed and to undetail my surroundings so that a change in speed won't be too jarring that I wake up.

I haven't had a lucid dream for a long time, but used to make this mistake too and wake up.

I love the parent comment's description about the system detecting a "glitch in the matrix".

Though I feel it is just if you rouse your consciousness enough you will just break the sleep state.

I do wonder if lucid dreaming affects how rested you are from sleep.

My intuition is that the mind resting comes during deeper sleep and during REM the mind is kind of freewheeling anyway.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#96

Post by LawrenceKerr »

crazygringo wrote: post #15

I frequently have lucid dreams, in that I'm entirely aware of that fact that I'm dreaming while in the dream. What I find interesting, however, is that if I have a dream I forgot to study for my test, or I'm naked at school because I left my clothes somewhere else, or the school play starts tonight and I haven't memorized a single line... the fact that I know I'm dreaming doesn't help at all . Because the problem is…

Did you ever try though? Did you try to initiate a lucid dream with the conscious intention of recalling your waking state?

A lot of limits in lucid dreams are entirely self-imposed and often broken through or bypassed with conscious intention.

I participated in lucid dream research years ago, and definitely could recall exactly where I was sleeping and more details about my waking state, while executing the experiment task inside the lucid dream.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#97

Post by LawrenceKerr »

liendolucas wrote: post #44

Surprised to see that a lot of people experience lucid dreams. Are there any solid techniques to trigger them?

It's pretty easy. If you're the type of person who rarely dreams, it takes about a month or so.

First consciously cultivate interest in your own dreams (through dream journaling, and consciously looking forward to your dreams before sleep). That's the basis.

Then, if it doesn't happen spontaneously, to force a breakthrough you can always set multiple alarms (tip: a smart watch with a vibratory alarm, or... make a baby), to wake yourself and keep yourself on the edge of sleep - into that hypnopompic state (between 2-4 AM works best for most people). It takes a lot of effort, concentration & patience. The only thing about this way of entering a lucid dream, is that you're likely to consciously experience sleep paralysis first, and many people don't like that even though it's harmless and a perfect gateway into lucid dreams.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#98

Post by LawrenceKerr »

jowdones wrote: post #35

When I lucid dream, usually I also have the ability to "fly" and in time I learned one thing. As much as I love to use the "fly" ability to explore, I must not steer too far away from the point I am currently. Otherwise I can examine in quite vivid details the stuff around but if I leap too far it's like my mind says "sorry dude, you've reached end of simulation area, here's where you wake up".

Did you try moving & touching stuff while flying far away?

The thing about flying very far is that you're probably in the same fixed Superman position, not really moving your dream body anymore. If you don't move, your consciousness shifts awareness towards your physical body and you wake up. Try it next time: just stop & don't move, don't do anything, you're likely to wake up.

So doing the opposite, moving your dream body a lot & touching dream stuffs, tends to prolong your dream. That's why teleportation works better for moving to different areas.

Funny enough, not moving your body is also how your consciousness shifts and enters the dream state when awake.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#99

Post by hosh »

fsiefken wrote: post #93
hosh wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that depends upon the dream space you find yourself in. If it is an internal dream space for yourself, you tend to have more control (if you do have control). However, I've been in many shared spaces that have varying rules on how much things can be changed. Many of them are what I describe as "sim" spaces. There are also spaces where it is procedurally-generated -- for example, deliberately taking a path you…

Hi hosh, you mention shared dream space, how do you know for certain the others are real dreamers and not just imagined, anticipated or dreamed ones by your own consciousness? If they were real this would imply solid proof of ESP - which I think would be all over the news, or at least mentioned in the Noema magazine article by Claire Evans. Is there a subculture of dream parapsychologists publishing this in undergrou…

Sometimes I see threads here on HN related to the occult or the very weird spaces psychonauts explore and I forget the audience I am talking to. I generally have to compartmentalize; this is the kind of stuff I talk to in other communities, forums, and private Discord channels, not here. I would have thought other lucid dreamers here would have encountered this kind of stuff, but I guess not. What I said here is relatively tame compared to the weirdness you can get diving into this.

Put it this way, permaculture is weird for all but a minority of folks here, even if it stays within the bounds of known science. This stuff with consciousness is the kind of hill people die on.

I don’t know if you really want to jump into this rabbit hole. There are many entrances, and given the reception, I am reluctant to speak further. But if you are really curious, Hank Wesselman’s work can be a good starting point. One of his books specifically talks about “reenchantment”, in reference to the disenchantment of the scientific inquiries of the 19th century that lead us to our modern worldview.

Re: Living in a Lucid Dream

#100

Post by PaperOliver »

After I learned to lucid dream real life became much less interesting in comparison. It felt like I came alive at night in my sleep, everything in the dream world was so vivid. I learned I could create any environment I wanted, like when Neo trains in the matrix. I would practice things (like tai chi) but it is a bit boring when the other characters don't have free will, so it was like interacting with robots.

The end game for me was going behind the curtain - into the dream control room. It was a room filled with screens each showing a dream I had experienced, even abstract dreams from the age of 3 or 4. From here I could enter any of the dreams through the screen. In the room was a man, like Morgan Freeman (it was like in the film The Dark Knight where he tracks everyones phone), he was the only person I ever met while lucid dreaming who seemed like a real person.

After some visits to this dream control room, I overcame my addiction to lucid dreaming, I stopped being active in my dreams and watched them like someone would watch a film. I knew it was a dream but I chose not to participate.

At this time I was also experimenting with astral projection. I really wanted to have a shared out-of-body experience which could be validated. I got my flatmate to place things in certain areas around our flat to see if I could find them while meditating, but I couldn't.

Being deeply involved in spirituality really distances you from most people in our society. I gave up meditating to better connect with the kind of people I am surrounded by.

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