China and Lucid Dreaming

[Pantalimon]

Hi there,

I hope some of you will know what lucid dreaming is? If not the short answer is any dream where you realise your dreaming. Your body is asleep and paralyzed but in your brain your mind is bright and awake and awareness in now in your brains own created dream world, in amazing reality.

Anyway I've been sent by English speaking lucid dreamers to find out if Lucid dreaming is known about/practiced widely in China. Are there massive lucid forums and websites devoted to lucidity like there are in Europe and the english speaking web world?

If you do lucid dream/astral project and know more about lucidity in China I'd love to hear, in the big europe based lucid forums we are always discussing buddist practices that seem to have very strong links with lucidity. I personally think that the Chinese with their close intergration of the spiritual into life could really expand out knowlege on the subject.

P.s I got as far as Hong Kong but that was a year before the change over, maybe a visit for the olympic year would be good

[Quest]

That sometimes happens when I only have 1 hour(e.g. from 7am - 8am) to *sleep* before the next day. Dreams like that were usually short, but fast paced. I would be able to plot out and experience a whole day's events in maybe 5-10 minutes of realtime dreaming. Then I would wake up and fall into another dream again. It would go on intermittently for a few times before I finally fall asleep. I think my mind was awake to keep myself from oversleeping that one hour, but my body was too tired so it started dreaming. Following those dreams I would experience what Cantonese call 被鬼砸(压), in which my mind would be fully awake, but would not be able to move my body. I would feel horrible if I just let it be, so I would have to struggle hard to wake up (I think it is a known disease/phenonmenon, and I would like to know the scientific name for it).

Other than that I remember I have experienced those *normal* lucid dreams only twice in my life, but my mind couldn't keep up for long in those dreams; I realized I was dreaming for only a short moment.

[geraldc]

Isn't lucid dreaming/astral projection how Tibetan monks were supposed to reach shangri la.

[Quest]

A nice person sent me the following links:

http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P2.html#pp

http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/paralysis.html

http://www.angelfire.com/co/SleepParalysisLucid/index.html

[Pantalimon]

Following those dreams I would experience what Cantonese call 被鬼砸(压),

Although I don't know what your characters mean I can tell you that what you are experiencing is sleep paralysis. In the west its related to a phenomenon called old hag, something you don't even want to know about. You can turn this to your advantage and lucid dream from this state though.

Isn't lucid dreaming/astral projection how Tibetan monks were supposed to reach shangri la.

They use clear light (passive lucid dreaming) a slightly different but related technique.

Quest http://www.lucidcrossroads.co.uk/guide.htm might help with sleep paralysis and getting into a lucid dream or stopping the experience.

I imagine that anyone in china can own a net domain/website?

[Pantalimon]

Does anyone have any links to chinese language websites involving lucid dreaming or astral projection?

[Jamie]

I would experience what Cantonese call 被鬼砸

Ah, yes, the old hag was sitting on my chest just the other day, only instead of a hag she was an invisible demon. I've never been able to turn this situation into a lucid dream, even though I am fully aware it is a hallucination. I wish I could. Terrifying experience. :-

[Jamie]

I think it is a known disease/phenonmenon, and I would like to know the scientific name for it

It is called Hypnagogic (as you fall asleep) or Hypnopompic (as you wake up) Hallucinations.

[BeijingSlacker]

The film Waking Life is quite good. Anyone esle likes it?

[Pantalimon]

The film Waking Life is quite good. Anyone esle likes it?

Yes great film, very intresting set of philosophers and thinkers interviewed in this film.

[BeijingSlacker]

Dont really know much about lucid dreaming

I wonder why people would bother to have lucid dreaming when a joint of pot can do as much, if not more.

[Jamie]

I wonder why people would bother to have lucid dreaming when a joint of pot can do as much, if not more.

Lucid dreaming isn't illegal.

[Pantalimon]

Dont really know much about lucid dreaming

I wonder why people would bother to have lucid dreaming when a joint of pot can do as much, if not more.

Sorry BeijingSlacker but you really don't know much about lucid dreaming if you think the experience is anything like any state of being stoned?

Your reading this post sat at your computer, look around the room. Pick up some of the objects around you, look closely at them, feel the textures, feel the weight in your hand. This is how real a lucid dream can be and you can do anything, be anyone, be anywhere.

Being stoned is not the same, its not even close.