In the early morning hours when our physical bodies are fully rested, our consciousness begins to drift from the deeper layers of sleep into the upper alpha layers and we spend more time in the dreaming state. Then, as we drift nearer to the waking state, close to the Alpha-Beta border, we may become aware of incongruities in our dreams and suddenly realize that we must be dreaming!
It is at this point of recognition that we can become lucid - awakening fully within the framework of the dream. Instantly everything becomes brighter, clearer, and far better comprehended than only a moment before. We find ourselves reasoning with great clarity, able to act swiftly and take full control of the drama unfolding about us. We are mysteriously able to change the script or rewrite the play, making things happen in accordance with our slightest desires. We seem to be in a whole new world with no limits to our abilities.
Sometimes this lasts for only a moment or two before we are once more swept back into the dream; then again, we may remain lucid right up to the time we awaken in the morning. Apparently it takes an alert sense of balance and awareness to maintain the lucid state. There are many who have never experienced a lucid dream, some have done so only on rare occasions, while others have long and frequent lucid dreams as well as excursions into other planes of existence.
Dr. Stephen LaBerge of the Sleep Research Center at Stanford University in California defines lucid dreaming as our "untapped human ability with astounding potential for self-exploration." He points out that learning to dream lucidly is like "having a personal laboratory or playground for trying out new behaviors and ways of being." He describes lucidity as an "expanded mental state" (Rubin).
Tibetan masters, as well as mystics from many other cultures, have always maintained that dreaming true, as it is sometimes called, is a level of high spiritual consciousness - a place where wisdom and knowledge can be greatly expanded and therefore a much-to-be-desired state. Fortunately, lucidity is a teachable, learnable skill for those of us who desire to know more; and there are many ways to improve our chances of having lucid dreams as well as for prolonging the experience.
In the early morning hours when our physical bodies are fully rested, our consciousness begins to drift from the deeper layers of sleep into the upper alpha layers and we spend more time in the dreaming state. Then, as we drift nearer to the waking state, close to the Alpha-Beta border, we may become aware of incongruities in our dreams and suddenly realize that we must be dreaming!