How will I ever know the difference between a lucid dream and OBE?

[dust8879]

This is something I'm really struggling with. I don't know if these experiences are just lucid dreams and nothing more. I don't have enough experience to tell the difference. Last night I was awake at some point, and as I was falling asleepI heard this roaring sound, and then it changed to this whooshing sound in my ear. My body felt like it was being melted slightly, and I also felt this very, very strong tingling go down my spine.


Then I saw my bedroom. I started to do reality checks. I looked at my hands like Castaneda said. I realised I was in a non physical reality, but I was only 70%. I wasn't too confident, but I decided to try and walk through my wall like last time, and I couldn't believe. I bumped my head into the wall. I couldn't get through. Why did this happen? Was this just a dream? If it was, why did I feel weird sensations seconds before I could see my room? Did I just imagine it? I could also hear voices outside that sounded like kids playing, but it was about 4AM. So was it a dream?

[Xanth]

Forget about the labels for a second.
What does your direct experiences tell you?

[deepspace]

Re: How will I ever know the difference between a lucid dream and OBE?

Answer: None.

[AAAAAAAA]

Answer: None.

You need something to work with first. For some people this is really easy, but if you're like me, you'll need something to work with to start with before you start getting any experience. Best thing you can do is to keep practicing and the better you get at things like OBEs and lucid dreams, the easier it will be to eventually tell the difference.

[EscapeVelocity]

Maybe you will realize the difference when you answer the question, "Is it teaching me something?"

[dust8879]

Forget about the labels for a second.
What does your direct experiences tell you?

Well, my experiences are too short at the moment to tell much from it. But there is definitely an eerie feeling when I have these experiences. Once I looked back and saw my own body and that was quite scary. Before when I walked through my bedroom wall to get outside it showed me I wasn't in my physical body, but I was disappointed that I couldn't walk through it again the next time.

[dust8879]

You need something to work with first. For some people this is really easy, but if you're like me, you'll need something to work with to start with before you start getting any experience. Best thing you can do is to keep practicing and the better you get at things like OBEs and lucid dreams, the easier it will be to eventually tell the difference.

Thank you for the reply. I was reading Jurgen Ziewe's book and he seemed to say that when you become lucid in a dream, if the scenery remains the same, then you have already reached the astral plane. If it changes instantly, then you were in the dream world. I don't know how true this is because I guess only more experience will help me.

I'll working at becoming lucid in my dreams and then try to reach the astral dimension from there. I want to avoid the roaring sounds and electricity feeling that goes down my spine. It's very unpleasant.

[Volgerle]

I was reading Jurgen Ziewe's book and he seemed to say that when you become lucid in a dream, if the scenery remains the same, then you have already reached the astral plane. If it changes instantly, then you were in the dream world.

He is right (good book by the way). The dream "world" / plane / zone is a kind of more private "place" already in the astral (for most experts on OBE), but it is pretty fluid and unstable as your thoughts / desires / emotions (of your subconscious) immediately manifest. This might also be the case when you get (more) lucid because you might still be in your dream world then. But when you suddenly reach a more stable environment and get even more lucid you are most likely on a more collective part of the astral plane / NPMR. (It's a bit like leaving your private room or your house and take a walk on the streets of your city to meet other people: You can move around and re-arrange things in your private room a lot and give your walls new paint and change furniture or whatever, but you are not allowed or even able to change the views of a public place or street to your liking so fast.   ) It is however - just like the degree of lucidity that can change all the time - more of a continuum and therefore sometimes the transition can be almost unnoticeable.

[Xanth]

Well, my experiences are too short at the moment to tell much from it. But there is definitely an eerie feeling when I have these experiences. Once I looked back and saw my own body and that was quite scary. Before when I walked through my bedroom wall to get outside it showed me I wasn't in my physical body, but I was disappointed that I couldn't walk through it again the next time.

Ok, fair enough.

For now, I'd say forget the labels... you'll quickly find they're useless anyway.
Continue to have experiences, then at some future time, compare them.  But, compare them using the same basis... what I mean by that is don't categorize them (at least immediately) a this or that (dream, lucid dream, astral projection, etc).  Compare them ALL as non-physical experiences...

But for now, just experience and have fun.  Don't worry about what they are just yet.

[dust8879]

He is right (good book by the way). The dream "world" / plane / zone is a kind of more private "place" already in the astral (for most experts on OBE), but it is pretty fluid and unstable as your thoughts / desires / emotions (of your subconscious) immediately manifest. This might also be the case when you get (more) lucid because you might still be in your dream world then. But when you suddenly reach a more stable environment and get even more lucid you are most likely on a more collective part of the astral plane / NPMR. (It's a bit like leaving your private room or your house and take a walk on the streets of your city to meet other people: You can move around and re-arrange things in your private room a lot and give your walls new paint and change furniture or whatever, but you are not allowed or even able to change the views of a public place or street to your liking so fast.   ) It is however - just like the degree of lucidity that can change all the time - more of a continuum and therefore sometimes the transition can be almost unnoticeable.

Ok, thank you for explaining. This makes a lot of sense.

[dust8879]

Ok, fair enough.

For now, I'd say forget the labels... you'll quickly find they're useless anyway.
Continue to have experiences, then at some future time, compare them.  But, compare them using the same basis... what I mean by that is don't categorize them (at least immediately) a this or that (dream, lucid dream, astral projection, etc).  Compare them ALL as non-physical experiences...

But for now, just experience and have fun.  Don't worry about what they are just yet.

Thank you for your advice. I'll just see them right now as np experiences like you said. I've just been doing reality checks every day and last night I was about to check my hands, but the dream was fading anyway. But it's a good sign that I thought of doing it in the dream.

I'll try not to use any more labels. I also think I need to change my attitude towards dreams and think of them as more meaningful like other cultures in history used to. It still amazes me that there's another world right there, and I don't need to pay any money or travel to any countries to reach it. It's incredible.