The Dream of God: How Do Religion and Science See Lucid Dreaming and Other Conscious States During Sleep?

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.

Spontaneous and induced out‐of‐body experiences during sleep paralysis: Emotions, “AURA” recognition, and clinical implications

“…In some cases, dreamers can modify the dream environment. For these reasons, LDs have been proposed as a tool to overcome recurrent nightmares (de Macêdo et al, 2019; Holzinger et al, 2020; Mota‐Rolim et al, 2020).…”

“…In many different cultures, OBEs have been interpreted as spiritual experiences in which the mind or “soul” “leaves” the physical body (de Sá & Mota‐Rolim, 2015, 2016; Irwin, 1988; LaBerge et al, 1988; Mota‐Rolim et al, 2020). From a neuroscientific perspective, OBEs are linked with self‐consciousness, which depends on multiple neurocognitive mechanisms and processes, including the experience that our body belongs to us, embodiment sensation, and being aware of the present moment (Ronchi et al, 2018).…”

I dream therefore I am: A review on lucid dreaming in Western philosophy.

“…This point is also discussed by contemporary neuroscientists, as LD has a higher γ wave activity (∼40 Hz) in the frontal region of the brain, than the common (nonlucid) dream, but less than in the waking state (Mota-Rolim et al, 2008; Voss et al, 2009). Thus, LD can indeed be considered an intermediate state between dreaming and waking states of consciousness (Mota-Rolim et al, 2020).…”

“…There is a correspondence between subjective looking movements in the dream and objective observable movements of the eyes, as stated by the scanning hypothesis (for reviews, see Arnulf, 2011; Hong et al, 2018). However, the scanning hypothesis is highly debated, and more work is necessary to clarify whether it is physiologically possible to move the eyes consciously and voluntarily during a pure REM sleep episode, that is, without microawakenings (Mota-Rolim et al, 2020). …”

“…Regarding the neurophysiological processes that underpin LD, it was first observed that during lucid REM sleep there is an increase in occipital alpha oscillation (8–12Hz; Ogilvie et al, 1982; Tyson et al, 1984), which was also observed later (Mota-Rolim et al, 2008). Because α oscillation is related to an eyes-closed, relaxed waking state, this result indicates that LD could be a transitional phase from REM sleep to waking (Mota-Rolim et al, 2020). More recently, it was also found that LD has an increase in frontal gamma oscillation (∼40 Hz; Mota-Rolim et al, 2010; Voss et al, 2009, 2014).…”