Conscious but not lucid

[Rawnrr]

I have had many lucid dreams for all my adult life (and probably as a child too, just cannot remember that far back). But last night was something different.

This may be hard to explain, but I had a dream where I was consciously aware...but I was not aware of who I was or that it was a dream. Basically I "woke up"(figuratively speaking) in a place where everything around me had that amorpheous misty dream like quality. and I had no idea who I was or that I had a body somewhere dreaming (hence why I hesitate calling this lucid, even though I was conscious.
It was like you sitting at your desk now, and suddenly forget who you are as the world turns into a misty shapeless form. Kinda scary huh?

In the dream I must have had a bit of subconscious flow-through as it initially "felt" kinda like my room when I was a kid (subconscious trying to protect my mind with something comforting and safe), but like I said, it was shapeless and did not really help provide comfort. At one point I had a feeling my brother walked in the room, and I asked him what all the noise was (as it sounded like alot of people just outside the room), but he did not respond and since i could really not see any form of him anyway, I doubted his presence and he faded away. The noise of all those voices was driving me nuts and I had to get out of there, so I ran/flew/whatever (hard to describe movement if you have no form and there are no dimensions of up or down or anything), so I "moved" as far and fast as I could, but the sound kept flowing after me like a tidal wave. I felt like I was going insane. I saw some spectral forms that I assumed were people, and tried to get them to help, but they faded like mist as well.

I woke up soon after.

It was just so strange, to be so conscious, but not lucid. Aware of being, but not aware of self....and whatever that flood of voices was just terrified me.

Rawn

[Rawnrr]

In thinking about the dream now that I am awake, I would speculate that I "awoke" some part of my awareness at a level of consciousness on the other side of my "personal consciousness", beyond where things have form in any way recognizable to my "personal awareness". As such I was not able to relate to anything I experienced (except the vague shadow recognitions of my room and brother...which was likely some subconscious bleed through).

Now that I am awake, i find it a very interesting experience...but was scary while dreaming it ;)

[Miss Hepburn]

This is exactly why, for myself, I have a FIRM foundation in
'spiritual stuff'...I hate fear and scary things......so I
reach out to what I subconsciously am grounded in...for some, they might
call out to Krishna, Jesus, their Guru...I do NOT want to be alone
in strange misty places where I have no sense of things, let alone no body.



But, how exciting for you!

[Rawnrr]

Yeah...and calling out to an entity like that could have been a very interesting experience as well when in that state. To be so conscious and have a chance to commune with such a being would definitely be something "cool" ;)

[wstein]

Originally Posted by Rawnrr

This may be hard to explain, but I had a dream where I was consciously aware...

I refer to this as 'aware dreaming'. This happens for me almost as often as more typical lucid dreaming. One can learn to 'add' lucidity to this type of dreaming (while dream is still in progress).

[very advanced] In the advanced lucid dreaming technique of split consciousness, quite often the in-dream (first person) aspect is fully conscious but not aware it's in a dream. This is an especially useful way for a 'watcher' (lucid fly on the wall perspective) aspect to observe yourself acting as you would while awake. Makes for some insightful and sometimes embarrassing viewing. Extremely helpful in identifying unknown habits or biases.

Originally Posted by Rawnrr

Now that I am awake, i find it a very interesting experience...but was scary while dreaming it ;)

I may have had a similar experience a couple of nights ago. After a meditation session trying to bond with a spirit guide, I lay down and stretched out on my bed and drifted into sleep. As a dream began to emerge I was pulled back to a semi-conscious state which had the effect of making the dream feel as if I was on the receiving end and not the actual dreamer.

The dreamscape was a singular image of varying shades of grey.
I was aware of being on the side of a hill or slope, approximately 50 yards from, and looking down on a middle eastern dwelling place with a low dry stone wall. Three characters, wearing robes and khol, moved through the scene like in an old black and white newsreel - fast and jerky, and ghostly. They either stood as if engaged in conversation, or they passed by the dwelling place.

Whenever I tried to focus on details the dream images would fade out to grey. So if I relaxed and allowed the images to pass through the mind I had no control whatsoever of how the characters moved or behaved. This was a little bit scary, even from a distance.

But as I couldn't help from focusing on the details, for example, what might be further to the right of the dwelling place, the ground would look dusty, arid, patchy ... like sheep in a field ... or the grey patches were dead bushes set in a field of green (the only other color than grey) ... or was it clouds and trees ... or leaves on a tree .. or just many levels of grey tones ... tiny cubes ... energy levels ... pixels ... grey matter ...

I'm glad to have had the chance to post this. I didn't want to start a thread about it. The dream was like that. It happened and there was no definitive explanation to it. Maybe this has been my first trance. I had the feeling that with practice I might have been able to enter the scene and move around like in an unfamiliar computer game.

t.

[Rawnrr]

Originally Posted by thistle

I may have had a similar experience a couple of nights ago. After a meditation session trying to bond with a spirit guide, I lay down and stretched out on my bed and drifted into sleep. As a dream began to emerge I was pulled back to a semi-conscious state which had the effect of making the dream feel as if I was on the receiving end and not the actual dreamer.

The dreamscape was a singular image of varying shades of grey.
I was aware of being on the side of a hill or slope, approximately 50 yards from, and looking down on a middle eastern dwelling place with a low dry stone wall. Three characters, wearing robes and khol, moved through the scene like in an old black and white newsreel - fast and jerky, and ghostly. They either stood as if engaged in conversation, or they passed by the dwelling place.

Whenever I tried to focus on details the dream images would fade out to grey. So if I relaxed and allowed the images to pass through the mind I had no control whatsoever of how the characters moved or behaved. This was a little bit scary, even from a distance.

But as I couldn't help from focusing on the details, for example, what might be further to the right of the dwelling place, the ground would look dusty, arid, patchy ... like sheep in a field ... or the grey patches were dead bushes set in a field of green (the only other color than grey) ... or was it clouds and trees ... or leaves on a tree .. or just many levels of grey tones ... tiny cubes ... energy levels ... pixels ... grey matter ...

I'm glad to have had the chance to post this. I didn't want to start a thread about it. The dream was like that. It happened and there was no definitive explanation to it. Maybe this has been my first trance. I had the feeling that with practice I might have been able to enter the scene and move around like in an unfamiliar computer game.

t.

Sounds similar....not sure i can add much to comment about it, since mine was a new one for me and I am still figuring it out ;)

[Rawnrr]

Originally Posted by wstein

I refer to this as 'aware dreaming'. This happens for me almost as often as more typical lucid dreaming. One can learn to 'add' lucidity to this type of dreaming (while dream is still in progress).

[very advanced] In the advanced lucid dreaming technique of split consciousness, quite often the in-dream (first person) aspect is fully conscious but not aware it's in a dream. This is an especially useful way for a 'watcher' (lucid fly on the wall perspective) aspect to observe yourself acting as you would while awake. Makes for some insightful and sometimes embarrassing viewing. Extremely helpful in identifying unknown habits or biases.

Very interesting....it is good to know that this "is a thing" ;)

Any idea what all the noise/voices were?

Rawn

[wstein]

Originally Posted by Rawnrr

Any idea what all the noise/voices were?

no, not enough to go on

[Squatchit]

Originally Posted by Rawnrr

The noise of all those voices was driving me nuts and I had to get out of there...

Have you heard of H-band - a term expressed by Robert Monroe? It's discussed a little here...

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_out_of_body_experiences/robert_monroe_and_the_h_band_noise-t12178.0.html;msg127140

The last post explains it well.

I once stuck my head in (what I assumed) was the H-band. That was NOT a good idea.