I use to be really good at having lucid dreams. I still have them occasionally but not as much as I use to. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, a lucid dream is a dream in which you know you are dreaming. "So what?", some might ask. The big deal in this art is that you have something in this dream that is usually overlooked. You are aware of the reality of your condition. All the images,sounds,characters and thoughts are being generated by your mind; the same mind you have when awake. When you realize this, you are free to do what ever you like. The fascinating thing about dreams and reality to me is that they both take place between your ears. Your brain is a wonderful weaver of reality. When awake the brain takes in information from the senses(the eyes,ears,skin,nose, etc.) and translates that into a holographic-like image and projects it "out there" and we call it reality. However, much of our reality is filtered by conditioning. We have certain "belief filters" that condition our perception of reality. Religious beliefs, cultural beliefs, educational beliefs, the way we were raised and everything that was given to us, we take on as reality. With all these filters in place, we only perceive reality from a small window that excludes the bigger picture.
The lucid dream gives us a chance to realize that there is more going on here than first realized. The same mind that weaves reality via the senses also weaves the reality we percieve in the dream state. To the mind it is no different and that is why we assume it is all "real" no matter how absurd the situation might be. The dream and reality share the same space. Its kinda like putting on a pair of sunglasses and assuming the whole world has darkened as a result. Your awareness tells you this isn't true; its only darkened because of the filter you put over your eyes. Take off the glasses and you get a better idea of what reality is like. The same is true in a lucid dream. You remove the filter "this is real" from the dream and suddenly you are closer to knowing that all that you are experiencing is a projection of your mind. The same can be done in the waking state if we step back from our egocentric conditioning and see, if only for a moment, that there is much more going on here than just what we perceive through our little windows. To some people dreams are meaningless and somewhat of a bore to hear about. I believe dreams are an invitation to look at the universe and see that we are not simply projected and seperate from it, but realisticly a part of the whole. This could be like taking an existential bungee jump! It can be quite frightening and exhilarating at the same time, so it may not be for the weak of spirit. To realize there is more to the universe than just the "you-niverse" can be life altering, but I say take the leap and enjoy. "God" just wants to have fun!
