I recently started lucid dreaming after finding your first book in the library of my school. I have since had 3 lucid dreams within two weeks of trying the techniques outlined in the book. Though I consider this successful as a beginner, I’ve run into some frustration. Each dream I had, I was able to recall my mission. First I wanted to ask a dream figure what they represented. When I became lucid and asked this, the dream figure blankly stared at me. The next two dreams I had, I decided to bypass the figures and speak directly to the dream as you talk about at length in your book. First, asking the dream to produce a man I was fighting earlier in the dream so I could ask him what he represents (nothing appeared) and secondly to simply “show me something good,” to which nothing appeared either times I asked.
I am wondering if there is a reason why my dreaming mind might be silent when I ask it questions. Is this common among beginners? Is there some kind of bias that might be causing this to happen? Any kind of guidance into what might be going on here would be much appreciated.
Hi A.M.,
Congrats on your lucid dreams! Having three lucid dreams in the first two weeks sounds very auspicious — so I hope that you continue to explore the path of lucid dreaming.
To your questions about your experiences:
- As I try to point out in my books, all dream figures are not created equally. Some dream figures are “hollow” — they have little ability to respond, have a vacant look in their eyes, and provide no info or silly info. However, some dream figures show a lot of responsiveness, intentional actions, may ask you questions, and seem largely as conscious as you! So there is a wide range of dream figures. Some time when you are in a lucid dream and notice that a dream figure seems ‘aware’ then ask it a open ended question, like “Who are you?” or “What do you represent?”
- When it comes to interacting with the ‘awareness behind the dream’ (by ignoring the dream figures and asking questions of your unconscious mind), this has some important points to understand. In lucid dreams, our Beliefs, Expectations, Focus, Intent & Will play an important role since they ‘influence’ what we perceive and experience in the lucid dream. If we ‘expect’ to have trouble moving through a wall, then that expectation will be reflected in our experience. When we change the expectation, then our experience changes! 😉 So I want to suggest that you set this area aside for now, and explore lucid dreaming on your own. By doing that, you will begin to see how your thinking (your beliefs and expectations) get reflected in your experience — and more. Then later, when you reach out to the unconscious or larger awareness, you will do so from a place of greater understanding and confidence (and receive more impressive results).
So uncertainty (or lack of experience) turns out to be a kind of ‘bias’. But with experience, then this gets settled out and you can proceed with a sense of certainty and understanding.
Again, congrats on your lucid dreaming!