By far the most useful notion I've come across related to lucid dreaming is that of the presence of an awareness that lies beyond the visible dreamscape. It has helped me develop a much stronger connection with the dreamworld. In my experience, its energy signature, the energy pattern it presents when summoned during sleep, can function as an interdimensional portal that is accessible outside the realm of dreams. It opens to pathways of the psyche previously unknown to me and facilitates the passage and communication between levels of consciousness as well as the reception of information and guidance outside my habitual scope.
From the moment the idea first entered my mind I was captivated by the enormity and the beauty of it. I heard Robert Waggoner talk about it in a video interview by Iain McNay. In that interview Robert says, referring to his first conscious interaction with it: “... I realized something crucial for me which was there might be an awareness behind the dream.”
The notion fascinated me. That same night I did as Robert suggested. When lucid I asked the awareness to make itself known and explain the significance of a dream character whose presence was baffling me. Out of nowhere, an invisible force came forth and surrounded me. It was irrefutable. There was an intelligence present in the dream that responded the instant I called upon it. It gently but firmly enveloped me and pulled me upward through the several levels of the old building structure I was in, to the top of what felt like a belfry or tower. There I was given the answer I'd requested written on two translucent fortune cookie wrappers.
That was the first of a series of lucid dreams that came in quick succession over the nights that followed. In those initial dreams, the moment I solicited it, a magnetic forcefield was activated, a field of energy that embraced it all and that I could feel at the heart of me. It was powerful, all knowing, all encompassing. It possessed an understanding that seemed to me, boundless. I knew it was there to help me and guide me. It didn't speak to me directly as Robert's did. Some of the answers it gave were mysterious. All were poetic. They came in different forms: I was transported somewhere to witness a dreamscape or action that held the key to my query; I was given a symbol that represented my answer; I was handed the solution in some kind of written form...
The communication with the larger dream awareness had an incredible impact on my psyche. It changed my lucid dreaming significantly and opened up possibilities that, if not for it, I may never have known were there. During those first interactions I established a strong, lasting, ever present connection with the non-visible awareness that inhabits my dreams and, it soon became clear to me, if conjured, my waking life.
The first reference in my journal to the awareness overflowing into wakefulness came after our second meeting:
“I become lucid at some point and remember to call out to the awareness. The awareness comes forth. It's powerful beyond anything I've ever encountered before. I realize it holds the answers to anything I need to know. I can sense its presence in and around me. I can feel it at my core. All pervasive, it reaches much further than what seems, in comparison, my very limited scope. I feel a new reverence for the dreamscape. I'm enthralled.
I remember to ask it why I'm here, meaning what is my purpose for this lifetime. The awareness immediately responds. The dreamscape shifts to take the form of my answer. I see myself from a distance, as observer witnessing a scene that unfolds. I'm in a dark tunnel holding the string of a balloon in my left hand. Upon closer observation I see that the object floating in the air is not a balloon but the face of Christ. Its features remind me of a Byzantine icon. It's very large. The string in my hand that links me to it is thick; more like a connecting cord, organic in nature, an umbilical cord of sorts.
I adhere to no religion. The dream is referring, not to the biblical figure, but to Christ Consciousness, the recognition of the divine in all things. The awareness is telling me my objective in this life is to achieve that state of higher consciousness.” (21 February 2014)
That dialog in images with the awareness was key for me. It shed light on the meaning of my existence, gave sense to many of my apparently incongruent past actions and helped me bring together my until then disperse life force into one unified flow. I was very grateful for having received such insight.
But, just as important as this, was that the sensation of the awareness had been deeply imprinted in me. I could feel it in every atom. I realized from that moment onward that the communication with the awareness I'd encountered during sleep was not limited to dreamtime. The bond I'd made with it seemed to have carried into wakefulness. Shortly afterwards I wrote:
“... the dream consciousness I've interacted with in the past three lucid dreams... seems to be present in waking reality... I should maintain and feel the presence during waking time.” (22 February 2014)
I began to invoke the dream awareness on and off throughout the day when in need of answers or guidance. I was able to activate the same sentient energy field while in meditative states, once free of the spacetime continuum. It didn't seem to make any difference whether I was awake or asleep. I could feel the same force come alive around me and surround me like a protective cloak that permeated everything. The answers came as needed, just as in sleep, only adapted to physical form.
The key was to bring forth the exact energy imprint as in the dream state. My body has memorized it and I'm able to replicate it almost exactly when awake. It feels similar to calling upon the inner self in dissociated states. But it's not exactly the same. The presence of the dream awareness in waking is stronger, steadier... It's a deeper, more informed, less filtered version of it. This might be because it's coming directly from the dreamtime. The sensation that's triggered when it emerges is akin to that of becoming lucid in dreams. Only here I'm becoming hyper awake in wakefulness.
A shift in perspective takes place then and I perceive waking reality from the energy standpoint of the awareness behind the dream. There is a merging of states that occurs as the waking self opens up to integrate a flow of consciousness that's coming from another realm. As the two meet the dreamlike nature of physicality becomes immediately apparent, with no effort. It's automatic. It generates a hybrid state in which I'm harnessing both worlds. This gives rise to the inescapable sensation that the world of matter is constructed not out of solid objects. They are but symbols projected outward, born of the psyche. They're therefore malleable and can be interacted with and impacted exactly as in dreams. I can clearly sense my role as generator of the waking dream and my incidence on the material landscape. I'm able to catch glimpses of my full creative power.
The same all-knowing guiding force that I access in sleep becomes accessible to me in wakefulness. This is invaluable. As stated above, the guidance I can access through this practice feels surer than the one received from the level of the inner self I had tuned into in waking previously. It feels like a more profound, more detailed, less distorted flow of information of that same inner guidance.
Recently I've started to take the interaction with the awareness in another direction. I'm experimenting with using it as portal into lucid dreaming, which is paradoxical, since that's where I encountered it first. It seems to work as an entryway into WILDs. I activate its energy pattern in my body. I hold it there as I drift through hypnagogia. This creates some sort of energetic tunnel or pathway through which my consciousness can move into the dream state without losing focus:
“I tune into the awareness behind the dream and hold it in my body. Hypnagogic images begin to take form. I see a room in the house I grew up in. The dream is opening up in front of me though I'm not yet asleep. I move forward and into the room with determination, attempting to enter the dream that's beginning to solidify. As I'm doing this I clearly feel how my waking consciousness morphs into dreaming consciousness. I feel the moment of transition, the exact point where the waking self yields to its dreaming counterpart and lets it take over. It's amazing. An unbelievable sensation. I'm now surrounded by the dreamscape, fully lucid. I know my body sleeps.” (25 March 2019)
In this instance I was able to pinpoint the exact moment of transition from one form of awareness to another. Sometimes there's a gap between the hypnagogic state and the reemergence of conscious awareness in the lucid dream. There's so much ground to cover still.
I continue to explore the potential of the larger awareness that dwells in my dreams. It's a magic entryway to the crisscrossing fabric of consciousness. I'd like to use this gate for the achievement of the purpose the larger dream awareness indicated I'm here for: the recognition of the presence of one same source energy in it all. Unity of consciousness.
I'm very grateful to Robert Waggoner for this incredible contribution to the world of lucid dreams. It's a master key to the golden territory of the unknown.
This article was released in issue from
March 2020
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