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| More common, though, is for lucid dreamers to lapse
back into their normal state of being unaware that they
are dreaming. Carlos Castaneda suggested that upon
becoming lucid in a dream one should look down at one's
hands, then back at the dreamscape, then back at one's
hands, and continue doing that to maintain lucidity.
Once, in a lucid dream, I was able to remember that
suggestion. I tried it and it worked. I was able to walk
though the streets of an unfamiliar dream city, reveling
in the experience of remaining lucid. The elation and sense of freedom that accompany a lucid dream continue after awakening for hours and sometimes for days. There is a tradition of dream yoga in Tibetan Buddhism that teaches techniques for inducing lucid dreams and westerners as diverse as P.D. Ouspensky and Henry David Thoreau have written about the experience of lucid dreaming. The foremost contemporary authority on lucid dreams, Stephen LaBerge, writes in his book, Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming: "According to my own experience, and the testimony of thousands of other lucid dreamers, lucid dreams can be extraordinarily vivid, intense, pleasureable, and exhilarating. People frequently consider their lucid dreams as among the most wonderful experiences of their lives." Here are several accounts of lucid dreams presented in LaBerge's book: |
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