Lucid dreaming and Christianity

[redgirl1502]

So, I am a writer and often base my stories off of dreams that I have. Recently, I woke up at a very important part in a dream and I wanted to go back to that dream to see what would happen. So I did a little research and found that I could do that by lucid dreaming. I have been trying to lucid dream for months now but have been unable to. I have spent these months doing research on the subject of lucidity. I have heard on more than one occassion that lucid dreaming can often lead to OBA's and astral projections, which I want absolutely NO part of. I have also heard multiple times that meditating can increase your chance of lucidity, but the idea scares me. Meditation is like Bhuddist or Hindu or something, and I am strongly Christian. Then I started thing 'Why have I not been able to lucid dream after all these months of trying? Most people have it down in only a few days.' I know that God does not withhold good things from us, so why haven't I been able to do this? Is lucid dreaming bad? The only things I would do in lucidity would be to find out more about my subconscionce in order to gain more ideas and depth too my stories as well as to learn more about myself. I would like to know, what is your opinion on the subject? Is lucid dreaming bad? Is there a way to meditate while remaining in a Christian practice?

 

[paul1149]

I have had lucid dreams, and open visions where I took an active role in how the vision played out. Nothing wrong with that. I would be leery though of seeking these things in their own right. Everything we do and experience, especially in the spiritual realm, should have as its object to draw closer to God and His will. I have also been into the Eastern religions, and into a deep introspection that was unhealthy. I learned from this that there is nothing that I want, even including self-knowledge - apart from the leading and blessing of God. Because without that blessing it will be a distraction that will draw me away from Him in general, and may well do some specific damage.

 

[talitha]

There is such a thing as Christian meditation, which is good, but there is also meditation that amounts to a blending of Eastern religion into Christianity, which is of course not good. Before you try something, you need to be sure what it is you're getting into. I would caution you against seeking these things out on your own. Ask the Lord about them - see if he will provide you with a mentor or a community to help you in your search for these deeper things and keep you safe from what amounts to playing with fire. I would say that just wanting to find out the end of a dream so you can write a book is not the motivation for going there. Our motivations for spiritual seeking must be to know God and hear his voice so that we can obey him and spread his kingdom.

 

[eudaimonia]

I think a little clarification might be necessary as there is no risk or sin involved with lucid dreaming, and that becomes quite clear once we have an accurate understanding of what lucid dreaming is all about. Simply put, lucid dreaming is when you are aware that you are dreaming. That's it, nothing special, just a a conscious realization that one is in a dream state. Many people confuse being able to control their dreams with lucid dreaming but neither awareness nor control are dependent on the other. In fact most people have experienced lucidity; ever had an incredibly weird dream that you just "knew" you were dreaming? A lot of research has been done on this topic and it is noteworthy that lucid dreaming is strictly associated with stage 1 REM sleep while out of body experiences have no such association and have been observed in stage 3, fully conscious, meditative, and various states of the brain that could not be categorized. (OOBEs in my "opinion" are demonic in origin and should be avoided). So, to recap lucid dreaming should really be called conscious dreamin, kinda like day dreaming. I've spoken to a few Christians that have experienced lucidity and have learned to control their dreams, thus using their dreams to fulfill that darker side of humanity that they wouldn't otherwise. So, the question I beg would be this. Let's pretend you are a unmarried and you use the controlling of your dreams to "have fun" with that person you are attracted to, does this constitute as sin since you are "aware" of your actions? Food for thought.

Blessed Peace

 

[montehehe]

first and foremost, let's thank the Lord that you're seeking out His will in this area of you life (ie, can i remain obedient in the Lord and actively pursue lucid dreaming). i myself would be too scared to even attempt lucid dreaming, since i've done a little research on it and have seen what it's associated with - OOBEs, New Age practice, etc. let me say, though, that i have experienced lucid dreaming to the point of attempting to change the course of my dream. interestingly enough, as soon as i attempted to change the course of my dream i found myself being spiritually attacked. one quick tangent: the Lord has allowed me to experience being spiritually attacked in my sleep, during that time which i'm "spiritually aware". praise God that He's used that experience for me to grow in my faith (there is SO much power in the Lord's name and His blood) among other things; something to mention another time in another thread.

another time i experienced lucid dreaming i was jumping over buildings. and because i knew it was a dream and would soon end, i attempted to jumped over as many buildings i could.

this link may provide you with some more information:

www dot gotquestions dot org/lucid-dreaming dot html

lastly, Scripture that i am reminded of when people ask me why the Lord would allow me to be attacked, sometimes tormented, at night. [2 Corinthians 12:7-10] mind you, the Lord has granted me peace and comfort despite said experiences.

blessings.

 

[humblewatchman]

If you boil it all down, lucid dreaming is about "control". It is not natural nor acceptable to try to control our dreams and their outcome. You have discovered this yourself by the difficulty you have had in trying to accomplish lucid dreaming.

Dreams are the one place where our controlling and deflective intellect does not get in the way of Gods messages... and that is why He talks to us so fluidly in them. If we try to control them, we pollute what He is trying to say, and we are so easliy deluded by our own egos/minds/hearts.

@ eudaimonia You said " Let's pretend you are a unmarried and you use the controlling of your dreams to "have fun" with that person you are attracted to, does this constitute as sin since you are "aware" of your actions? Food for thoughtl"...Jesus said "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart". Another translation says "But I tell you that whoever looks at a woman and cherishes lustful thoughts has already in his heart become guilty with regard to her." So here, you can see that sin occurs in our thought life, and in our fantasies. We must be not try to find fleshly ways to control God's plans for our lives and to not corrupt the meaning of His messages to us in our dreams.

In my opinion, it is ok to meditate on the Lords words and to vsiualize sitting next to him on a park bench while conversing with Him. But when "control" plays a role, we have crossed a line. We are to reliquish our fleshly ways, and walk in the Spirit in the control of the Lord with our hearts and minds fully submitted to Him.