ADVAITA-L Digest - 28 May 1996 to 29 May 1996

[Srinivas Sista]

Kartik wrote,

> Hi,
>
> True. It's possible to be aware of the dream while dreaming. And it's quite an
> experience. :-) But is it by deduction (inference by logic) that we come to
 that
> conclusion in the dream?
>
> Please don't misunderstand this, just citing an example: if someone were to
> push you from a cliff and you did land safely on soft "ground" (say, a
 mattress)
> would you consider that to be a dream?
>
> More probably, is it not intuition of some sort that helps us realize the
> unreality of the dream (in lucid dreaming) ?
>
> Regards,
> Kartik
>

I think so too.
Sometimes I deduced it by noticing the familiar surroundings(of the dream
sequence). And then I told myself, that it has to be a dream and then
I willed to fly and flew. However, it was more like following a method
rather than an awareness of the unreality of the dream (this never happened
to me). But the feeling that something is odd, or recognizing familiar
surroundings is not under my control. The deduction obviously came after
such perception(that initial click). Sometimes I woke up after such
encounters, but sometimes I drifted back into other dreams without
awareness. Which makes me a proponent of the idea that 'Grace' is
required for 'realization' :-)

Srinivas.