Lucid Dreaming 2 of 2

Then I have the dream that provoked this post. I woke knowing my body was Next I was in a small apartment talking with someone I never met before (in my waking hours) about something I have never thought about before. There was a hanging question (or perhaps assumption) in the air, about if I would help.

This is the part of Lucid Dreaming that fascinates me. I appeared in this apartment somewhere, and I was the only one who was surprised I was there. The other person expected me and knew I should be there talking with them. We both knew why I was there before I was aware I was in conversation.

I had to make several decisions as the dream progressed. I had to decide how best to help, and the other person needed to decide how much personal information to share with me about their situation for me to be more effective.  We also had individual roles as in real life. they had their own personality, and they made decisions and took action as the dream progressed.

So what is really going on in Lucid Dreams? Is my logical brain listening in and filling in voids in the dream that make no sense? Are other people in the dream to fill in the blanks helping me resolve a situation? Or, did the experience really take place in someplace other than normal dreamland, where we all can go or maybe do go, but most of us do not realize we do?

At any rate IMHO, Lucid Dreams are over rated because they are in not provable as being a dream or not. Lucid Dreams follow a line from an old song, “…is that all there is?” They happen, and we go back into a normal sleep, or wake up wondering if what seemed so real, really is.

I wish in Lucid Dreaming there existed tangible, repeatable proofs, or total lack of proof. Not what there is now, a compilation of what various people think as proof, or put forth as fact. Sometimes people corroborate a dream from a previous time with shared knowledge of what took place and where. I have had this experience only once.

I have read, if one were to take the learning’s from Lucid Dreams, and apply them in the waking side of life, they are a powerful valuable tool. What makes Lucid Dreams valuable is applying what was done in the Lucid Dream to our waking life. If one resolves problems or circumstance in a dream, one can be an expert in waking life too using the same process.

Perhaps as some think, Lucid Dreaming is our mind trying to work something out, and in the process has invoked extra help from parts of our brain which rarely involves itself in our dream state. Or maybe Lucid Dreams are real, and we are fortunate to be able to experience them because they take place somewhere not bounded by our physical world and its restrictions.

If you search on lucid dreams, there are websites, forums, and the ever present sites that sell you there dream for a price. My Lucid Dreams have always been varied, and for the most part enjoyable. Since I was a small child until lately, they have never followed a theme.

 

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Lucid Dreaming 1 of 2

Before I knew what Lucid Dreams were, I was having them. As a child I would fly through the air over miles and miles of trees. I could soar for what seemed like hours and hours. Take off and landing was not much different than Superman, or other super heroes who just jump into the air and fly off.

The term Lucid Dream when I first heard it sounded really neat! I did not know what Lucid Dreams were when I first saw the words. They seemed to happen to only a few people who must of know things I did not.

It was some time later when I came across Lucid Dreaming again and realized I had done this since I was a kid. For me Lucid Dreams have been a part of my sleep time as long as I can remember. Maybe that is part of the reason my sister say’s in people like me, our brains do not work right.

Lucid Dreams are different from normal dreams. In a normal dream, one sort of follows a script which may or may not make sense. In the start of a dream you may be walking through the woods carrying balloons. Without any continuity in the dream you are part of a conversation while seated in a lobby of a building. You also do not realize how unconnected the sequence of the dream is.

Lucid Dreams

Lucid Dreams on the other hand follow a rational pattern. They may take place in situations that are odd, but they maintain a sense of flow. You do not generally jump from scene to unconnected scene in a Lucid Dream. You may make decisions that change the course of your dream. You can control the dream rather than being a passive character int he dream. You are usually aware this is not a normal dream while it is happening. Lucid Dreams are very interactive dreams.

When having a Lucid Dream, you think, act, and make decisions based on the situation and can to some extent control the dream. A common thread to both types of dreams is whatever is taking place may not be something you have ever done, or are aware you have experience with. However in Lucid Dreams you can change the flow of the dream.

In what seems to be about half the Lucid Dreams I have, I find myself around someone with a problem. Whether or not I have any [awareness] experience with their problem is irrelevant. I find myself participating, going from becoming aware I am in a Lucid Dream state to participating in the dream itself.

These are where the unknowable parts of dreams take place. Are these dreams as some have suggested body parts making us aware of something? Are they another person’s dream, someone or something is trying to work out a conflict and we are pulled into their dream? Do they take place in other worlds, as physical as this one where we exist, at least for as long as the dream lasts?

Almost always my Lucid Dreams of late have strangers with problems that need solving. Occasionally these dreams are about me. I am usually with someone else or a small group. The dream situation is mine alone, though it may be odd. The other person(s) with me are usually stranger(s) except in the dream itself.

Why Lucid Dreams are different, and if are they anything special fall into the area of belief and opinion. Some people think they are nothing more than another type of dream. Other people think they are every bit as real as you are reading this post. For me, I hop back and forth over the fence.

Some of my Lucid Dreams are so real and logical. After these experiences I am sure they take place in a different world than the one we live our waking life in. If it were real, and could be felt or touched, I would agree Lucid Dreams are is as real as our awake time. Then due to the lack of aware physical sensation, I hop back over the fence and think Lucid Dreams are dreams with a little more specialized brain involvement.

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Spirituality Measured With a New Ruler

You have your own personal spiritual system in place. You know what you believe is true for you and not something you believe because your parents or friends believe it. You have strong reasons for what you believe you believe. You feel you have all your bases covered.

One small thought for you consideration. Are you spiritually any farther along than your local neighborhood Atheist who’s believes you live until you die? As far fetched as it may seem to any “True Believers”, it is time truth be heard over popular fiction.

Some people keep their belief system in a box, taken out on the weekend for an hour or so, and then put back in the box until the next week. Other people try to be spiritual daily  according to their belief system, and for the most part they succeed.

We individually are sure we are the fortunate ones. Most people around us, family and close friends included are not in the same league as us spiritually. We do everything correct, and they do some things sort of correct. Due to our perception, we think we are correct and almost everyone else is wrong.

If this is true; if perception is stripped away, would we find each of us is pretty much the same? We all generally do the right things most of the time, and we individually feel we have the edge on everyone else.

In some small way those right things we do, somehow outshine our family, friends, and neighbors. Not to mention those people who live further away with whom we have no type of bond. Those far away people, well they live their lives in a way that does no good for anyone! Why do we think like this?

In truth, or at least my perception of truth, you and I, and everyone does what we perceive to be the ‘right thing’ as much as we are able. I accept I do not do the right thing all the time. I know no one who does do the right thing all the time.

Even people whom we pay to lead us spiritually, be they Guides, Guru’s, or Preachers, do not do the right things all the time. If they were interested in only doing the right things all the time, you would not be paying them for their services. They would be offering their services for free and working for a living as you are!

How many people out there, be they acclaimed Preachers, Guru’s or Spiritual Leaders of any type, offer what they know for free? They fall back, on the, “I need to make a living to you know” defense. I do not find that reason very defensible, having someone who wants to help me, demand money for improving me spiritually?

If there were no money involved, would these people still be there to lead? Some of these enlightened leaders are millionaires, and you probably have to watch your spending each month to keep your life on solid financial ground. There is nothing wrong with making a living, but not on the backs of people who struggle to find that space where they can become the type of person they want to be.

Which brings me back to the Atheist next door. Since Atheist’s generally believe we live until we die, there are no Guru’s telling any Atheist how to live a better life, and requesting payment in the process. Atheists do not need to review their belief system and see how it fits in any situation. Nor does an Atheist follow the rules and conventions of an organized belief system hoping for a reward in the after life.

The average Atheist is a lot like you or me with one small exception. When an Atheist does the right thing at the right time, it is done because they want to do the right thing, or think they should do the right thing. That one small difference more than levels the playing field of belief systems in the hope of living a better life, and having further reward at the end.

How empowering a concept that is? Having a belief system of nothing, no reward, no level of attainment, no eternal bliss for having a few boxes checked off a list of things we are supposed to be doing! Doing something good for another person because you want to, not because you may be punished if you do not?

Before you become angry and think I am promoting throwing away your carefully tuned beliefs, read to the end. The idea of holding up an imaginary Atheist as a spiritual leader for the rest of us to follow is an important one.

Not one figure who was/is seen as transcending the restrictions of living doubted for one second where they would be after their physical death. Few Atheists have any doubt about where they will be after physical death either. Grouped together, all these people did or do the right thing to make life better for someone else without any expectation of reward in the present or beyond.

All the rewards of this earth and beyond do not compare with doing service for another because you can and want to help someone who has a need. Helping someone not for the expectation of reward or advancement, but because you want to and are able to make a positive change in two lives at once.

None of us really have the ability to change anyone’s life. All we can do is place our intent with our action, and do what we are able to help people because we want to. The rewards that come from a life lived in this way are far greater than any checklist of actions to undertake than we would ever conceive.

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Real Life and What You Don’t See

I wish I had something informative to write on this day that most people would find useful and be able to immediately put to use in their life. I do not for this post. What I have is information that you may not want to read. Information better left to others and other places and times. Today, this is something I am thinking about, and I think everyone should think about it too if they profess some concept of good verses evil or right verses wrong balance in the world.

I was watching a movie the other day, “Fallen“, about a demon and a Police Officer. Since then this dilemma thought has been nagging at me. Someone you know or come in contact with on a frequent basis is being deceived and tormented by what we have named Demons. What they really are, we really do not know. What their purpose really is we do not know either. But they exist, as surely as you and I exist.

I always receive affirmations they exist when I write a post such as this one. My typing becomes riddled with more than the usual mistakes, and almost every sentence has either misspellings or a grammatical errors on a higher level than my usual than my usual grade school level grammar. I do not like writing about this topic. I would rather write about something fun, and enjoyable. Those beings we named Demons would prefer I type out a nice post about the wonders of hot dog casserole, planting bulbs in the garden, or some other happy silly subject.

Some subjects prefer to be left unsaid and unwritten. They prefer an out of sight, out of mind existence. If no one thinks about them or discusses them, they have free reign to do what they want, whatever that is. I am not, some crazed Thumper who can’t take their focus off the worst life has to offer, and the eternity that follows. In the circle my life is on, I have seen the best and worst of life. I know my life circle is not too much different than yours.

What brought me to write about his is I know someone who’s whole life has been twisted warped by what we call a demon. Their focus, their day, their reason for existence has been twisted into something any normal person would never want to see. For this person, their whole waking day, day after day, is looking and waiting for something horrible beyond imagination, and they want it to happen.

Whether there is only one demon, or their is the unnamed horde of demons running this person’s life, is really not important. The situation is, this is happening to someone I know, and it is probably happening to someone you know too.

It started I am sure, with the most worthy intentions. Over time, those most worthy of intentions have been slanted, restructured, and refocused. To state it simply, over a long period of time, one persons focus has changed from wholesome and honorable to something less. Skipping over the detestable interim they believe there is goodness at the end of it all. How long the transition lasts is another matter, another way of measuring what we refer to as time.

I have seen people like this before, as you have too, if you choose to remember. In a split second their visage changes, and they do something wrong, totally out of character. Once the deed is done, their expression changes back instantly. I have never asked, but I always wonder when it happens. I want to ask, do you know what you just did or tried to do? Did you mean to do that?

A very cautious driver looks you in the eye and swerves into your lane, runs a stop sign or red light, or cuts you off. Someone says something cutting, or breaks something. Someone says something distasteful, who normally would never utter the like. People commit these totally irrational acts, and are nonplussed over them. I have to wonder if they realize what happened, and did they do it, or did they lose control for an instant, and the act was done by something else?

I do not want turn this into a scary tale about the Bogey Man, or make you think your soul is in jeopardy. I do wonder however if you are aware of the occasional odd happenings around you? People doing something out of character, saying or doing something that is not like them. In one instant, are you aware of them and how they look. It happens so fast, I think most people, including the people who are the doers do not even notice.

Noticing takes awareness. It takes knowing that what you think you are seeing, the everyday things that happen during your day which you think you see, may not really be what is going on. Knowing that not everything is an accident. Life can becomes so trivial, so mundane that we see what we expect to see and nothing else. We do not see as the movie, ‘Men in Black’ portray during a scene of what passes for late night characters in a big city. We see what we expect to see.

As you go through your day watch your world unfold with new eyes. Pretend everything you see, from being stuck in traffic, to conversation, to how people act, and then it changes. It changes so quickly, if you were not looking for it, you do not see it. You will be surprised over what is really happening when you really look. It may scare you, the extent happenings you never noticed until you look for them. People willfully trying to do harm, and in an instant, it is over, as if it never happened.

Whatever they are, whether we choose to call them Demons,  or give them another name, they are all around us. They are always looking for someone new to get close to and maybe into. They are looking for someone new, someone like you or I. Someone to change and torment.

Don’t expect the Bogey man to jump out of a dark corner at you. Don’t expect an attack from some winged creature as you are wait for the bus,  or someone hiding by your car on a dark night. Don’t expect your bed to start shaking as you try to sleep. For the most part, those are stories and ideas meant to scare the already scared. Instead, look for things happening that are much more subtle, things that happen instantly, and then are gone. as if they never happened.

Be aware. Be aware of your thoughts and actions. Make sure the thoughts you have are your thoughts, and not injected thoughts you normally would never think. Be aware of the sudden impulsive urge to do something you would never normally do. We live a life measured in decades. Demons or whatever you choose to call them seem to have all the time in the world, and at times, patience to match.

You are the owner of your house, and no one else has access to it unless it is okay with you. Saying no, and meaning it, and demanding ‘It’ get away from you is all that is needed to protect you. Steeling yourself, and wrapping yourself in prayer does not hurt, if you feel the need. Anything else is added drama that has no real effect other than entertainment value, though you are providing the entertainment, not watching and enjoying the drama.

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Speaking With the Dead Through Dreaming

Holding a seance is a hit or miss proposition, with a miss being the more likely outcome. Ouija Boards should be avoided and can be dangerous because of how the process works. Ouija boards are generally thought to channel only low level energy, and are not suitable to contact anyone who has passed on.

Asking out loud for a sign from someone who passed on is common, and is a good option for many. People find coins in unusual places taking them as a sign their passed love one is around. Other people find things missing, only to turn up in unusual places, somewhere the object would not usually be placed. For example a ring is missing from the jewelry box, is found a few days later in a cereal bowl. Generally any object being moved has some connection to the person passed on or a close connection to only one person.

Other people say they are touched, or woken. People who experience this are not comfortable being touched by something or someone they can not see. After they become used to it many people say are comforted by the touch. A few people who claim to be touched by loved ones, say it happens when it is important they wake up because something is wrong. I know one woman who claimed her mother who passed on has woken her daily since she was sixteen, about thirty years at the time.

The easiest and thought to be the safest way to contact someone who has passed is in a dream state. Dreaming and meditation have a lot in common, but we all dream. Many of us do not have the time, patience, or make up to meditate and reach a state where we are open to other realms.

There are some steps that need to be done if dreaming is to be effective. Remembering your dreams is vital. We are so used to dreaming we never think about what we dreamt when we wake. Within a minute or two of waking our dreams have for the most part vanished from our memory.

To help remember your dreams there is no fancy tool, or technique. The only tool I know of is a notebook and something to write with. It does not matter how the notebook is made, and whether a pencil or pen is used. Only that the notebook is next to your bed, and easy to write in.

If you wish to keep a fancy dream diary, I suggest you keep a separate notebook. One for when you first wake up and write down your dreams, and the second where you can write down your dream from the notes you initially wrote. This way your notebook will always be next to where you sleep, and your diary will be neat and complete.

Make a habit of writing down your dreams within the first minute or two of waking. More than one dream may be remembered. Write them down quickly. Wait until later, and there may be a blank spot where the dreams should be. Once writing down dreams becomes a habit it is time for the next step. The next step is to take an active approach to sleep and your dream state.

Before getting ready for bed, determine a dream purpose. Let that purpose be as simple as possible until it too becomes second nature. Decide what your dreams should be about. Some of the simple ideas may be: conflict resolution, how to see something in a different perspective, problem solving, flying, or something that happens in dreams that is fun to remember.

It is important not to make your dreaming stressful. Simply let your thoughts flow, reviewing and comparing dream possibilities as they happen. Once a decision is made about your  dream, let the idea go. Once in bed, and starting to fall asleep, think briefly about your dream purpose in the same way of remembering something is needed from the grocery store in the morning.

Within a short period, your dream notebook will start have dreams that are focused on the previous nights dream purpose. When this starts happening the time has some to start making a dream purpose of seeing and talking with a passed loved one.

The reason this works, I think is because the process becomes a shared venture. Being open and receptive to the idea of meeting and talking with someone passed, makes actual contact more likely. Both parties are taking an active role in the process which means less energy is expended by only one which makes contact easier to accomplish.

Some people have frequent dreams of family members and friends. Others dream of who they wanted to see, but they won’t communicate, and stay distant. For a few people, in one nights sleep, they get what they need, and find peace.

I hope you are one of the fortunate people and this method works for you if you choose to try dreaming someone into your dream. If after giving it a fair try and you do not seem to be making progress, I suggest you try learning to meditate. It may be you are not able relaxed enough to be able to be receptive as  your mind is too busy on other matters.

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Where We Go and Speaking With the Dead

There is a resurgence of people who want to contact loved ones who have passed on. I think it may be one of those aspects of our culture that comes and goes over the generations. If so, it too will fade away again only to be rediscovered again years from now.

Contacting the dead is not as simple as holding a séance, and the person you want to contact showing up and having a chat about old times. Then after too short a visit, off they go to wherever they were before they arrived to speak with you. Nor is it as television would have you believe.

While no one can prove what really happens once we leave our bodies, there is a lot of evidence in the form of stories and documents which cross cultures and deserve the merit of consideration.

When some of us die, we hang around for a few days and something draws us away from this world. The time we hang around our family and friends is thought to be as short as a few hours to as long as a few weeks. We always leave to somewhere else.

When some of us die, our emotional state from our trials and tribulations leaves us needing attention and healing. When we pass on, someone is there to usher us into a sort of hospital stay, where we heal. During this time we are unable to communicate with anyone as we are in a spiritual coma of sorts.

When we die, we go to wherever we thought we were going from when we were alive. Some of us we rise into Heaven, others we are pulled into Hell. Others go to somewhere we created in our mind of where we would go. A few of us go into a realm of complete isolation where we reflect on our life and how we chose to live it.

Others cross a rainbow bridge which separates flesh and blood from spirit. Some of us go on to live a life we never knew, living around people and places we never lived. Living in remote canyons, jungles, forest lands, or places that are not physically possible in this world.

Some of us go to large city like places where the buildings are made of grayish white marble, and we live in great family units of generations living together. Some of us, cross a river, bridge, or other structure where previously passed family and friends are waiting for us to join them.

Some of us, either upon exhaustive reflection before or after our passing, due to the nature of our end, wander the earth without going anywhere in particular. We are spiritual nomads, either not knowing how, or not wanting to leave this world behind.

These are a few of the possibilities of what awaits us when our bodies wear out and we find ourselves clothed in our spiritual bodies. Some people believe in our spiritual bodies we do a lot of what we do here, and life on one side of this life is a lot like life on the other side. We create, study, teach, and confer with one another, and solve problems.

Some of us believe that when we wake with a unique idea that solves a tough problem or enhances our life, those on the other side were working the same problem and they found a solution first, managing to transfer it to us in our sleep. The answer came from a parent or relative on the other side.

With all these possibilities, if any or all are true, it is easy to understand the difficulty in making meaningful contact with loved ones who have shed their bodies and moved on. Most contact with the spiritual world are said to be positive. Brief meetings full of love, happiness, and feelings of contentment are common outcomes. Laughing and happiness are common traits of those on the other side when the other side for those who choose to contact us.

It may simply be be the process of communication between the physical and spiritual realms is very difficult. Perhaps few choose to spend their time trying to contact us. We are likely to become frightened and not open to this type of communication.

Perhaps learning from people who meditate deeply, almost everyone can learn to communicate with those passed on. Perhaps almost everyone can, but few willingly choose to seriously try to communicate with the departed. Perhaps the communication arrives and we do not hear it, or we are not aware of it. If you seriously wish to try to contact a departed Parent or other family member, I have a few ideas that may help you in the next post.

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