Physical VS. Non Physical Vision/Sight Issues

[TheGuardian]

One of my main focuses I'm working on regarding the nonphysical at the moment is working with mentally making a distinction between non-physical vision and physical vision and I have a few things to say about it.

First off, one of my main problems that makes me lose focus in Lucid Dreams pertains to sight. I've noticed after quite a few experiments that one of the things that, for me, terminates lucidity/awareness is whenever my dream body loses the ability to see. I guess my brain works more visually, as when I'm swimming physically, I've noticed that I can stay underwater longer when I'm wearing goggles. I don't know what a rational explanation for that is, but it's something I've noticed. In dreams, when I try to spin around, my mind loses focus, when a lot of other people find that spinning helps maintain focus. When I do it, so much sensory input comes in that it overloads me. Maybe my mind is trying too hard to generate a landscape with a full 360 viewpoint? Another thing I've noticed is that when I do a forward somersault, my mind again overloads as it is trying too hard to interpolate the imagery from all the viewpoints as I am moving. Maybe it is a spatial issue, but I've had other experiences that have led me to further believe it is more of a vision based problem.

A few days ago, in my strongest recorded lucid dream, somehow one of my 'dream' eyes got closed and I started panicking as I was beginning to lose focus. However, with some weird mental feat, I managed to open my left eye within the dream without opening my eyes in the waking world. (Which usually is what happens during the transitory period when I am losing focus) This was a huge milestone for my lucid growth as I've never managed to regain focus in such an intense way. I managed to retain that focus to extend my dream to a personal record length.

Now, last night, I had a dream where I was getting some sort of magical lessons. It felt like water aerobics as it took place at a swimming pool, but instead of doing things in the pool, we were practicing popping bubbles magically. The group was having a graded contest on popping bubbles in the most artistic fashion, and a few people went and I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to throw my magical energy like a boomerang, popping all the bubbles in a chain. My teacher wouldn't let me do that as she I was the 'transferred beginner student' who joined the class later than everyone else, but since it was a semi-lucid dream, I knew that I had the power to successfully achieve my goal. Class ended and I didn't get my turn, but the teacher kept me after class to talk to me about my plan. I tried insisting on letting her let me practice, and I managed to convince her to let me turn on the machine and try without getting graded just to prove I could do it. We then took long route to the machine and I started getting erotic feelings. I then tried deciding an age for the teacher for her to be a professional but not be too old for me. I decided 25 was the youngest she could be for the profession so I just accepted that. At the machine, for some reason (perhaps my desires were molding the dream too much) I had to be naked in order to pop the bubbles. The dream was at a low level of lucidity where my desire to fulfill the plot of the dream was fighting will my control and conscious wishes, so I was more dead-set on popping the bubbles than playing around with my attractive precocious professor.  I intended of remaining lucid long enough to get both things done, but alas, my vision issue came into play. While I was pulling my shirt over my head in order to remove it so I could pop the bubbles, the moment my eyes were covered by the shirt, I immediately lost all my focus and was forced into waking up. Quite a disappointment really.

That last incident led me to become seriously invested in finding a way to overcome this roadblock to lucid dreaming, as I'm starting to account my vision for one of the primary cause of early dream terminations.

Also, on a semi-related note, I recently bought a Mind-Fold because I saw people on the forum recommending it. It perfectly blocks out light, but for some reason when I wave my arm/hand in front of it, I can sort of 'see' a shadow/outline of my hand. Am I imagining seeing my hand based on my brain expecting to see it because of the motion, or is the light somehow passing through the Mind-Fold to actually cause me to see the motion outline?

[CFTraveler]

I recently came across an article describing what some meditators perceive as a form of 'learned synesthesia'.  If I remember where I saw it I'll bring back a link, but it could explain it.  The theory is that your visual cortex is 'filling in the blanks' with information from your tactile systems.  This is easy to test, if another person waves their hands and you can see it, it's not that.

[Lionheart]

 Hello Guardian, I really enjoy your posts!  

MJ and I set up our Christmas Mall Kiosk November 3rd. So I have been busy with it. On November 4th I was walking to the Mall restrooms and notice a "used" book store on my route. After using the bathroom, I went in and went back to the New Age section and searched for some kind of reading material to pass the time in the Mall (the X-mas shoppers have not begun to shop yet). Low and behold, the only book I found that peeked my interest was Far Journeys by Robert Monroe.

I have always stated that I enjoy to experience the NPR, but am not a "nuts and bolts' guy. Well this book has shown me the "nuts and bolts'. I am on page 120 now and am just fascinated by this book. Robert is the first person to be able to describe EXACTLY what I am experiencing on a daily basis. He speaks about what I call Looping Dreams/Scenarios, Rescripting, almost everything I have asked for answers to. The only thing we don't have in common is I don't "leave" the body, like he does. Meaning, I don't put any effort into rolling out, looking for my etheric body, body double etc.. I just simply get there by either Phasing or Dreaming. In both of them I am consciously aware, although Phasing I am aware the entire time and Dreaming I awaken right in the middle of the scenario. Robert calls Dreaming, "Sleeper's Class".

One thing that really got my attention was his definition of NVC (Non Verbal Communication) and how it showed itself in various Quests and Challenges.

I use the Mindfold as well. I love that thing and have done my own hand tests. I find that the more you become consciously aware of EVERYTHING around you all the time. The more special things start to occur. Like for instance blindfolding yourself, but still seeing your hands moving in front of your face or if you want to really shock yourself, Mindfold yourself and let someone else do the hand moving. You will be shocked by the results.

In the Mall as people are walking by me, I can also hone in on their vibrations. Opening your awareness creates many different possibilities.

I personally would love to have a area on this Forum named NPR Plus or NPR Extra, where serious minded practitioners could explore and experiment with various different techniques and even begin to try to create target areas or experiments in the NPP that we can talk about and compare our notes on.

This area would be for serious travelers only and any of the basic questions that we receive on a daily basis here (that we have answered hundreds of times over) would be promptly removed to the proper section of the Forum.

I have searched the web for such a Forum. I was hoping Xanth's Forum would become more like that, where serious practitioners could go and try to learn what we could about the NPR, but on more of a Collective level.

[Szaxx]

I'll second that idea Lionheart.
I've just found this post and found it interesting. Sight being our primary physical sense and thoughts being the primary non physical attribute, I can see a few problems arising. In the NP generally my point of perception is in the natural assumed position but not always. I have been in 3 different locations simultaneously and left to organise this input for myself. It's a strang task to undertake and very helpful in some experiences.
Your sight issue may be related to the primary physical aspect of sight controlling your mind. The actions taken for granted in the physical do not apply in the NP. You need to let the thought process have more control of your perception. Basically put the input from feelings of what you know instinctively of your immediate environment before sight.
You read a book page by page (eyes)
You can know the book by feeling its contents ( imprinted download)
Its far quicker and the info recieved comes extremely fast.... Sound familiar.
Have a think on this, your priorities are too linked to the five basic senses. You recieve a sixth and attempt to interpret it with the five you know.

[TheGuardian]

Hey guys! I'd like to report an interesting improvement that happened last night. I managed to trigger lucidity in a dream environment and I started doing some experiments regarding my sight.

I was trying extra hard to keep awareness, and I managed to do a few things that I thought was impossible for my mind to overcome. Mostly, I managed to close my dream eyes AND reopen them within the same environment without anything changing. I think one of my reasons I lose focus was because I'm afraid my mind doesn't have enough RAM (so to speak) to save a dream environment and 'unload' it via sight and then reload it once I get my sight back. However, this dream proved otherwise as I managed to do the test of closing and reopening FIVE times before I decided to explore. My fifth experiment even involved me spinning around with eyes closed and then reopening them, and even there I guess I had enough confidence to keep focused. After all, thought is reality in the dream world.

The funny thing is after I got full control over my sight, I went through a tunnel and for some reason I couldn't walk on the slope without slipping so I had to walk up using the handrail as a guide, but I couldn't do it. It was a mental roadblock because the other dream characters were able to walk up and down it with ease. It felt like a public place as it had a great flow of people, but once I finally reached the top, it was a small room with no exits similar to the Red Light District in Amsterdam. (One of the year-long research papers I did in high-school was on human trafficking) There was an escort in the room and I was started getting sexual desires, but I was arguing with myself whether I should follow as it was a dream and no-one was at risk of being trafficked, or if I should ignore it and try to explore my dream more. I woke up before I got to make a choice, for better or worse.