Dream Practice: Lucid Dreaming reaches the mass level

note: This is a superficial introduction to lucid dreaming, but it’s good that the concepts are hitting the mass level via TV. One commentator noted that it promotes” the popular (and dangerous) misconception that human beings can bend all the forces of the universe to their selfish wills”. The Taoist approach to dream practice is to increase your free will so that you can use to create greater harmony, balance, and quicken your pace of self-development. By shifting out of the density of physicality, the resistance level to your free will drops dramatically in the astral plane. Grasp of Five Shen theory allows you to go much deeper in your dream work. – michael

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LIVING IN DREAMWORLD
RESEARCHER STEPHEN LABERGE BRINGS LUCID DREAMING TO THE MASSES
By David Wright and Melia Patria
ABC Nightline
November 30, 2007

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3936448

Somewhere in between the Cinderella school of dreaming and the darker
dreamscape of “The Matrix” lies Stephen LaBerge, an expert in a technique
called lucid dreaming.

He believes that what happens to people in their dreams is as real an
experience as what happens in real life.

By becoming aware that they’re dreaming while they’re asleep, lucid dreamers
say they can learn to consciously control and manipulate the dreamscape,
allowing them to live out their wildest fantasies in a virtual reality with
no earthly boundaries.

A renowned lucid dreaming expert, LaBerge spent more than a decade
researching the science of lucid dreaming at Stanford University. In his
most groundbreaking experiment, he showed that lucid dreamers can
consciously signal from the dream world while in REM sleep.

The author of several books on the topic, LaBerge developed a plethora of
techniques to help people gain lucidity, including the NovaDreamer, a
special sleep mask.

LaBerge believes that, with proper training, people can actually control
their dreams, provided they learn how to recognize that they’re dreaming
while still asleep.

In a way, he is teaching people how to live their dreams.

“All you have to say is, ‘This is a dream. Anything is possible.’ If there’s
somewhere I wanna go, I’m there,” LaBerge said.

Dreams as Adventure Sports

In lucid dreams, one can fly like a superhero, master martial arts with no
fear of injury, or have a tryst with a total stranger.

“[It’s] the place where you can do anything without external consequences.
So it’s a place you can safely explore how to live, what to do, what you
might want to do,” LaBerge said.

You might seek out a dead relative, try to conquer a lifelong fear, or you
might even try to hold a conversation with God.

“There’s sort of two activities that people like to do the most in lucid
dreaming. The first is, all right, you can violate the laws of physics and
say, ‘Look, I can step in the air, and I can fly,'” LaBerge said. “The other
part is saying, ‘What about the laws of society?'”

People also approach LaBerge about learning to have vivid dream sex.

“You know we have T-shirts that say ‘Dream Sex is the only Safe Sex’ and the
lucid dream gives you an opportunity for that kind of simulation experience
where you know you’re safe,” LaBerge said.

Learning How to Control Your Dreams

LaBerge teaches others how to master lucid dreaming at his Dream and
Awakening Retreat <http://www.lucidity.com/DAA/program.html> held at the
Kalani Oceanside Retreat on the Big Island of Hawaii, a setting picture
perfect for dreamers. “Nightline” followed him for a week and meet several
aspiring lucid dreamers, acolytes who came from far and wide.

Among them was New Yorker Chris Moss, 34, founder of the Moss Real Estate
Group.

“I think the benefits of lucid dreaming are just totally profound,” he said.

“I actually came on a whim,” said Katherine Schneider, 28, who owns a health
food store in Las Vegas. “I saw an advertisement on Yahoo and read about the
Lucidity Institute <http://www.lucidity.com/> and just decided to come down
here and check it out.”

Frank Pascoe, 49, an aspiring dream researcher from Oregon, said he already
has the ability to control his dreams but wanted to learn about the lucid
dreaming community.

Others expressed the wish to fly, or to take a spiritual journey to find out
more about who they are.

Homemaker Evetta Hauser came from Arkansas because she had been studying
lucid dreaming. She told “Nightline” about a recurring nightmare she’s had
her whole life.

“There was this zombie. And he was getting closer and closer and he grabbed
me. And I knew I couldn’t get away from him,” Hauser said.

According to Hauser, lucid dreaming allowed her to confront her monster.

“And I said, ‘This is a dream, and I’m going to turn you into a blue
butterfly.’ And I slung him over my shoulder and turned him into a blue
butterfly,” Hauser said.

Teaching people how turn their zombies into butterflies is a big part of
what Dream Camp is all about.

“All you have to do is recognize, ‘This is a dream. Of course, I’m being
chased by this person who’s gonna chase me as long as I run.’ So what do I
do? I stop and say, ‘Wait! I’m afraid, but I’m afraid of something that
can’t hurt me, because it’s a dream. I know that,'” LaBerge said.