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sleep, and they are called Wake Initiated Lucid Dreams (WILDs). Both types of lucid dreams
occur only during sleep or the onslaught of sleep. Typical OBEs are initiated from a waking state,
much like WILDs are, but some OBEs unexpectedly occur from a waking state. Several people
have reported OBEs during which they have unexpectedly "fallen out of their body" from total
consciousness, as described in chapter 9. Some of these occur when the physical body is active,
such as walking down the street.
Lucid dreamers can consciously program their dream, whereas OBEers are usually passive
observers.
Lucid dreamers have an integrated body image, whereas OBEers view themselves as separated
from the physical body, which is inert and thoughtless.
Lucid dreamers have consciousness that is vivid, even mystical, whereas OBEers experience a
more normal form of consciousness.
Lucid dreamers view their experience as a production of their mind, whereas OBEers view the
experience as objective reality.
Lucid dreamers have brain waves typical of dreaming, whereas OBEers don't exhibit dream-like
brain waves.
Lucid dreamers have Rapid Eye Movements (REMs), whereas they are not observed during an
OBE.
Lucid dreamers don't typically see their physical body, but OBEers usually do.
In addition, the authors felt that fewer lucid dreams have a lasting positive lasting impact on the
subject, whereas OBEs usually a highly positive lasting impact.
In a lucid dream, typically one does not dream about being in one's bedroom, as is common in the
out-of-body state.
After a lucid dream, the subject accepts the "unreality" of the lucid dream after awakening. After
an OBE, the subject usually asserts emphatically that the experience was "real."
Many Lucid Dreams contain sexual content. In fact, author Patricia Garfield indicates that "fully
two-thirds" of her lucid dreams have sexual content. Lucid dream sex is convincingly real; it feels
the same as real sex. OBEs, however, rarely have sexual content. When OBEers report having
"astral sex," the experience is not anything like physical sex. It's more like an ecstatic mind-trip, a
transfer of energy, or a euphoria, but it doesn't feel like physical sex.
Lucid dreams--like normal dreams--are not easily remembered, unless one is conditioned. Memory
is a key factor of having Lucid Dreams. OBEs, however, are usually remembered vividly for years,
without prior conditioning.
Also, an out-of-body experience is a typical feature of a Near Death Experience (NDE). One can hardly
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think that Lucid Dreams occur during an NDE, especially because the physical body doesn't
spontaneously go into REM sleep during an NDE.
Perhaps the most convincing argument is this: I've had lucid dreams in which I had complete control,
then dispelled the dream only to wake up in an out-of-body state. When this happens I've noticed that the
scenery in a lucid dream seems artificial, unlike OBE scenery. It's even possible to change the scenery
with your mind. Here is an example:
05/17/86 Sat - OBE #126
This morning I was in the beginning of a dream in which I found myself walking through
the hallways of a hospital, and there were other people in the hallways. I realized I was
dreaming, and became lucid.
First, I wanted to play with the lucid dream state for a little while, so I started gliding
through the hallway. Then I levitated my feet and began to fly down the hospital corridor at
a good speed. The hallway ended, but instead of hitting the wall I decided to change my
focus and create a tunnel that I could fly down. With an act of will, a hole appeared in the
wall ahead, and a tunnel formed. The hospital scene slowly blended into a tunnel scene, the
hallway becoming the tunnel. In real life, a tunnel of this size (without lights) would appear
to be darker toward the end of the tunnel. The dream-tunnel I created didn't seem to end, and
it appeared lighter in the back and darker in the front. There was a strange kind of grayish
light, almost like a fog, that obscured where the end of the tunnel.
I started flying down the tunnel at a great speed, but I knew it was an illusion. I got bored
with flying, so I slowed myself down, lowered my feet and focused myself back in the
hospital. I was in the same hallway. I turned and started floating myself back down the
hallway in the opposite direction, turned left, and down toward the main desk. Then I
stopped completely and decided that I didn't want the illusion of the dream anymore.
I closed my eyes, to unfocus from the dream. The dream scenery melted away and my
vision went black. I was floating out of my body. Then I decided to have some fun, and I
started flying wildly in all directions, doing loop-the-loops and having a ball. I turned about
twenty loops of great size, just like a jet airplane, but I was unable to open my eyes for some
unknown reason. Still, the sensation of flying was a blast.
I was having great fun flying so freely, and I decided to try an experiment: I decided to try
to fly to the sun. I stopped and stood straight up. I reached up over my head with an
imaginary line of force, and I kept reaching, trying to touch the sun with my line of force.
When I decided that my line of force had reached the surface of the sun, I tried to "feel"
what it was like at the end of the line. It really didn't feel any different, just a little "denser"
(that's the only way I can describe it.)
Then I started pulling myself straight up, along that line of force, toward the sun. I
accelerated tremendously toward the sun, until I was traveling what I felt to be near the
speed of light. After about three minutes of this tremendous speed I still didn't feel any
change, so I stopped and I tried to see where I was, but I wasn't able to see anything. With
that, I blacked out and woke up inside my body.
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If I had remembered any astronomy from my childhood, I would have known it takes more than eight
minutes traveling at the speed of light to reach the sun. And I might not have been traveling at the speed
of light.
The difference between the out-of-body experience and the lucid dream is not always apparent. I guess
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