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climbed higher and higher. I climbed to about four-hundred feet, then I descended back to
about two-hundred feet, so that I could see the scenery more closely. I looked down without
any panic at all. I noticed that I could see everything well--equally well as in the body, and
very clearly. But I saw there was no sun, and I felt it was dark out. I could see fine, however,
and everything appeared in a pale, almost gray light. It was like seeing a picture from an
infrared camera.
I glided softly, somewhat slowly over the houses, eyeing the details of the neighborhood
houses. I kept a close eye on all the details of everything as I moved, and I verified that I
once again was in a real, waking situation. The details didn't change, nor did my speed. And
the tremendous detail I saw around me, assured me I was seeing reality and not a dream. I
reasoned that:
1. In dreams I notice very few details, only those that are necessary to the immediate
story unfolding around me. This wasn't a dream. Besides, I was fully awake and
conscious.
2. Even in ordinary reality we screen out and ignore most of the details of our
surroundings. So I knew I was experiencing reality with more clarity than normal
in-the-body life.
3. Since what I saw didn't change, (I was looking for changes) I knew my eyesight was
at least normal, and that I wasn't dreaming. Dreams have a bad habit of changing the
scenery to produce certain situations and emotions.
4. I verified and studied the details I saw below. The details were all the same as waking
life.
I flew to the east about three city blocks. I looked to the north, and I saw a man come out of
a house that was on the north side of Lowry Avenue. He stood and looked at me, up in the
air. So I brought myself softly down across the street, on the south side of Lowry, also to the
west (I was now kitty-corner to where he was standing). He walked across the street toward
me, and he came up to me. Just as he began to speak, I lost consciousness and entered the
dreamlike semiconscious state. In this state the man and I exchanged a few words, and I lost
consciousness. The man was about 30 years old, with short brown, wavy hair, very friendly,
with kind eyes. He wore casual clothes. He was a little taller than me, perhaps six feet tall. I
can't remember anything we said while I was in the dreamlike semiconscious state.
This OBE brings up a very important question: What's the difference between a lucid dream and an
OBE? I do believe that occasionally people confuse one experience for the other. It's very difficult to tell
the difference in some cases. Some people believe OBEs are poorly developed lucid dreams. Others
believe lucid dreams are poorly developed OBEs.
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A comparison of the two experiences is given in chapter 6 of With the Eyes of the Mind (An Empirical
Analysis of Out-of-Body States) by Gabbard and Twemlow (1984). The authors found the following
differences between OBEs and lucid dreams:
Lucid dreams occur in 50%-70% of the population, whereas OBEs occur in 14%-25% of the
population.
There are two types of lucid dream: The first type occurs during REM sleep, and they are known
as Dream Initiated Lucid Dreams (DILDs). The second type occurs at the beginning phases of
sleep, and they are called Wake Initiated Lucid Dreams (WILDs). Both types of lucid dreams
occur only during sleep or the onslaught of sleep. Typical OBEs are initiated from a waking state,
much like WILDs are, but some OBEs unexpectedly occur from a waking state. Several people
have reported OBEs during which they have unexpectedly "fallen out of their body" from total
consciousness, as described in chapter 9. Some of these occur when the physical body is active,
such as walking down the street.
Lucid dreamers can consciously program their dream, whereas OBEers are usually passive
observers.
Lucid dreamers have an integrated body image, whereas OBEers view themselves as separated
from the physical body, which is inert and thoughtless.
Lucid dreamers have consciousness that is vivid, even mystical, whereas OBEers experience a
more normal form of consciousness.
Lucid dreamers view their experience as a production of their mind, whereas OBEers view the
experience as objective reality.
Lucid dreamers have brain waves typical of dreaming, whereas OBEers don't exhibit dream-like
brain waves.
Lucid dreamers have Rapid Eye Movements (REMs), whereas they are not observed during an
OBE.
Lucid dreamers don't typically see their physical body, but OBEers usually do.
In addition, the authors felt that fewer lucid dreams have a lasting positive lasting impact on the
subject, whereas OBEs usually a highly positive lasting impact.
In a lucid dream, typically one does not dream about being in one's bedroom, as is common in the
out-of-body state.
After a lucid dream, the subject accepts the "unreality" of the lucid dream after awakening. After
an OBE, the subject usually asserts emphatically that the experience was "real."
Many Lucid Dreams contain sexual content. In fact, author Patricia Garfield indicates that "fully [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]