Lucid Dreaming

Big Frank had indicated that there would be a follow-up on lucid dreaming. Essentially another name for lucid dreaming is conscious dreaming. When the dreamer is having a lucid dream it is possible for this person to not only be aware that he or she is in a dream, but also participate actively in the dream by even manipulating the the dream experience to suit the dreamer. For those interested in a more comprehensive summary of lucid dreaming go to this article in wikipedia or the lucid dreaming website.

There are many techniques for inducing lucid dreams: recalling dreams is a good first step and reviewing them afterwards, waking during a dream and then going back to sleep, and reality testing techniques can help make yourself aware during a dream that it is in fact a dream (looking at your hand, looking at your digital watch to see the numbers randomly change, flipping on a light switch because light levels don't change in dreams, or looking in a mirror because the images there are often blurred or distorted). Then when you can discover when you are dreaming the next step is to begin to manipulate and control the dream.

As you can imagine there are many many benefits of being able to dream lucidly. You can dispel nightmares, you gain a sense of control, and you can have a lot of fun (think about it - in the extreme you create the dreamworld; you are becoming god-like!). In many yoga traditions lucid dreaming is used to become aware of the insubstantial nature not only of dreams, but of your waking life too! In this way one can awaken to the true reality of the self.

Big Frank isn't quite there just yet, but he is on the road. He is thinking that perhaps in this state, for example, if the guest bearing bad news appears he could, in the dream, turn it into good news! It is conceivable that with practice and growing expertise that one would then begin to view dreams the way most people view life now - a state of consciousness where you have some control. In fact, it is possible that one could begin to prefer the dream-state because it hypothetically offers more control than the waking state. In fact, over time Big Frank or you could create your own paradise - would anyone really want that; and would that be a paradise?