Forum: Practical Dharma

i experienced a series of lucid dreams again during my vipassana sitting/lying down practice. i won't bore you with the details of the content of the dream but i'd like to share a lesson in dream awareness i learned this morning.

next time you find yourself in lucid dream try this: look for a source of light (e.g. the moon, the sun, lamp, etc.). once you become aware of the light, focus on it, merge with it. something will happen, a shift in awareness, a shift in dream scenery, prolonging the lucid dream, or maybe even insight into the nature of the dream state.

give this a try, then let us know what happens.

~C

Hi C,
That's an interesting approach to the lucid dream. Another one which I've found useful is sort of the opposite: In the dream, look at your hands. Then touch objects. The tactile sense (focus of attention) serves to increase the vividness of dream objects.

yes, looking at the hands in the dream state is also a good way to get lucid in the dream. i remember learning this from Castaneda's "The Art of Dreaming". this is one of the dream signals i use. for example, when i look at my hands in the dream i'll notice its shapes-shifting features, sometimes the colors change. the real challenge, of course, is to *remember* to look at them in the dream, let alone touch objects and feel the sensations

~C