Because you have had lucid dreams, OBEs and three NDEs (plus an array of psychic experiences), how are these three states similar?
I think they are all part of a continuous spectrum of experiences that consciousness allows for. I think sleep is a state that may make it easier to access some of that ‘bigger consciousness’ which I experienced with such vividness in my NDEs. Of course, sleep isn‘t a requirement to have an OBE or NDE. And a lucid dream just doesn‘t have that intense, pure experience of knowledge and love that characterizes an NDE.
I‘ve had a number of OBEs and lucid dreams that didn‘t include any sense of that larger self, but there have been others that were much closer to what I experienced in my NDEs. I sometimes have what I‘d call ‘experiences of light’, where I can see/feel/hear that NDE light. That is often associated with feeling ‘bigger than myself’, which is often the precursor to a full-blown OBE.
I don‘t have to OBE to have the experiences of light though. I‘ve had such experiences in lucid dreams as well as when I‘m awake. But I think the boundary between sleep and awake might be a little less obvious for many NDErs, which could explain why we seem to be more open to unusual experiences.
What has been your strangest experience with lucid dreaming?
That‘s a tough one, since there is a lot to choose from.
If you had asked that about OBEs the answer would have been obvious. The strangest OBE was the night my husband saw both my OBE self, and my body seemingly asleep in bed, at the same time.
I guess the oddest lucid dream was one I had when I was 12-years-old. I was not one of the popular kids at that age. I thought I was always going to be unpopular, and ugly, without many friends (and certainly without a boyfriend, which was probably my big concern at that age). Then I had this lucid dream in which I talked to my future self.
My very popular, 19-year-old self. At 19, life was pretty good. I was in university studying Fine Arts. I had been playing drums in a punk band for fun while going to school. I was doing all the things that I loved. And there was no shortage of guys asking me out. That dream was a real turning point for me. I knew everything was going to be OK.
Interestingly enough, I had the second part of that dream when I was 19. That time I dreamed about talking to my younger self to let her know how well things were going.
As someone with a deep interest in science, do you feel that science doesn’t get it, or science ignores the potentially revolutionary aspects of lucid dreaming, OBEs and NDEs? It would seem that examining these experiences closely would lead to a better understanding of consciousness and the nature of reality.
It‘s the lack of curiosity that really gets to me. Scientists should be curious, but as someone who went through the indoctrination of a graduate level education in science, I can tell you that in my experience, academia does not reward curiosity.
I think there are scientists who would like permission to be openly curious and explore these kinds of topics, but right now that is very difficult to do.
Final thoughts, suggestions, tips or techniques?
I find it strange to be asked for tips and techniques. You should understand that I‘ve never tried to have these experiences on purpose. There have been times in my life when I tried very hard to find a cure for these experiences. It‘s taken me a long time to start accepting them as being normal human experiences.
I guess I can point out that one thing that has seemed to facilitate OBEs lately has been listening to binaural beat recordings. I‘ve been testing such recordings for a company called Sacred Acoustics.
