Abstract
Lucid dreaming (LD) began to be scientifically studied in the last century, but various religions have highlighted the importance of LD in their doctrines for a much longer period. Hindus’ manuscripts dating back over 2,000 years ago, for example, divide consciousness in waking, dreaming (including LD), and deep sleep. In the Buddhist tradition, Tibetan monks have been practicing the “Dream Yoga,” a meditation technique that instructs dreamers to recognize the dream, overcome all fears when lucid, and control the oneiric content. In the Islamic sacred scriptures, LD is regarded as a mental state of great value, and a special way for the initiated to reach mystical experiences. The Christian theologian Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD) mentions LD as a kind of preview of the afterlife, when the soul separates from the body. In the nineteenth century, some branches of the Spiritism religion argue that LD precedes out-of-body experiences during sleep. Here we reviewed how these religions interpret dreams, LD and other conscious states during sleep. We observed that while Abrahamic monotheisms (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) recognize dreams as a way to communicate with God to understand the present and predict the future, the traditional Indian religions (Buddhism and Hinduism) are more engaged in cultivating self-awareness, thus developed specific techniques to induce LD and witnessing sleep. Teachings from religious traditions around the world offer important insights for scientific researchers today who want to understand the full range of LD phenomenology as it has emerged through history.
Highlights
The term “lucid dreaming” (LD) was coined by Van Eeden (1913), to describe a kind of dream during which “the reintegration of the psychic functions is so complete that the sleeper remembers daylife and his own condition, reaches a state of perfect awareness, and is able to direct his attention, and to attempt different acts of free volition” (Van Eeden, 1913, p. 446)
We review how Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Spiritism interpret dreams, LD and other conscious states during sleep
In order to cultivate those lucid and non-lucid dream states, the practitioner is oriented to perform diverse yoga techniques, which include calm abiding meditation, mind flexibility routines during the day, awareness and remembrance of dreams and, during the sleep, visualization of Tibetan symbols, and syllables associated to parts of the body at four different moments during the night (Wangyal and Dahlby, 1998)
Summary
The term “lucid dreaming” (LD) was coined by Van Eeden (1913), to describe a kind of dream during which “the reintegration of the psychic functions is so complete that the sleeper remembers daylife and his own condition, reaches a state of perfect awareness, and is able to direct his attention, and to attempt different acts of free volition” (Van Eeden, 1913, p. 446). In order to cultivate those lucid and non-lucid dream states, the practitioner is oriented to perform diverse yoga techniques, which include calm abiding meditation, mind flexibility routines during the day (such as imagination of the world and his/herself as a dream), awareness and remembrance of dreams and, during the sleep, visualization of Tibetan symbols (tingles), and syllables associated to parts of the body at four different moments during the night (Wangyal and Dahlby, 1998) Lucid dreams, in this tradition, are supposed to arise specially in the last part of the night, in a clear coincidence with the classical physiological occurrence of more robust REM episodes. These experimental approaches to dreaming, treating it as a realm of consciousness capable of being actively explored and intentionally cultivated, is very different from the approach developed in the traditional Abrahamic religions, as the sections will show
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