Lucid Dreams -- how much time journaling required?

[Luke Avedon]

Hello,

I have found that naturally as my meditation deepens a bit I have more vivid dreams and sometimes lucid dreams.

I had some what of an interest in developing this but then I recently read B. Allan Wallace's book on dream yoga.  He claims that meditation practice is a key ingredient but equally important is writing your dreams out for one hour in the morning.    I didn't want to cut into my meditation time so I decided not to write down my dreams at all.

What if I just wrote down a mind map of sorts of key ingredients for a few minutes ect? Or maybe if one is meditating correctly the journaling can be quite light.   Jeffrey has been quite good at giving estimates of what level of time commitment he feels is required to reach these certain states--any guidance on this is appreciated.

--Luke

[Jhanananda]

Hello Luke, I have enjoyed reading your posts here.  I thought I would respond to this one, because I have journaled my dreams for as long as I have kept up a daily meditation practice.  I recently retrieved my early journals and it is a good sized box.  I am also a writer, and have found writing a useful exercise in mindfulness. 

I agree with B. Allan Wallace, that journaling one's dreams is an essential exercise in building lucidity in the dream state; however, requiring an hour a day be set aside for dream journaling seems excessive to me, especially considering that a daily meditation practice that leads to depth is far more important than the journaling.

How I worked it into a daily practice was, as soon as I became aware of the body in the morning I would immediately reflect upon as many dreams as I could recall, and I would write them down in sequence as recalled.  I did not go into great detail in my descriptions of dreams because I did not want to erode any of my meditation time, which I looked at as the number 1 important component to my spiritual/contemplative life.  After journaling my dreams, I then meditated to depth, then I dressed for work, and had breakfast, etc.

[Luke Avedon]

Thank you Jeffrey,

That is very helpful advice.  I'm glad to hear it is worthwhile even if only a few minutes are available.

--Luke

[Cybermonk]

Hi Luke,

Well... I too have been trying over the years to get a handle on the lucid dream
stuff. So, I've read, studied and racked my research around, trying to simply
have a lucid dream on demand. Same with the OBE state.

So far, sometimes I can do it, sometimes not. It's definitely worth putting time
into, since it appears the dream state, once lucid, can be used as a simulation
state. Apparently.... just about anything you can imagine and some you can't,
can be simulated in the dream state. According to others.... "anything" is not
an exaggeration. The subconscious mind can "presto" most anything into
awareness. The problem is how to stay in control. If you have a hidden fear,
like someone dangling you off a high bridge,  "presto" you've got a nightmare.

So.... how to control this stuff? It looks to me like getting the ole equanimity
viewpoint is first.
Then... writing down your dreams daily, as little, or as much as you need too,
is next. Why? Apparently.... when you are in the simulation phase, ie dreaming,
your subconscious usually fills in the landscape of your dream from what
you know. So... if you dream of a city, you can sharpen and stabilize your
dream by writing down everything you can remember about the simulated
city in your dream. Next time you dream... the city is clearer, more detailed,
so perhaps you'll notice this and "presto", you're lucid.
So.... if you want to learn how to ride the dream bicycle, then keep a jpurnal
in real time.
So it goes......
Party on,
Kimo

[Jhanananda]

In my experience lucid dreaming is the precursor to the OOBE.  The OOBE is essentially a hyper-real dream, but one has control.  And, I agree with you, developing equanimity is required to reduce the trauma of the unpleasant hell-planes that one can end up in in an OOBE.  Equanimity is developed at the 3rd stage of the religious experience, so getting good at meditating, and meditating several times a day, is how one gets to the 3rd stage of the religious experience.  How one gets lucid in the dream state is through journaling ones dreams.

[Luke Avedon]

Thank you for the helpful advice Kilmo and Jeffrey.

I have been playing with just making a short "mind-map" in a notebook when I wake up.  Then looking at it through out the day and being sure that I can remember the dream exactly as per the keywords in the "mind-map".  This seems to save quite a bit of time from writing a whole narrative and prevents me from cutting into my meditation time.

[Jhanananda]

Short notes on dreams so that meditation time is not reduced sounds like a good idea Luke.  That is essentially what I have been doing, and it seems to have worked.