The Funhouse Mirror: Distinguishing 'Awareness' from 'Consciousness' in the Dream State
In my last post, I discussed how Stephen LaBerge used EEG technology to prove that lucid dreaming is real. But proving it exists is just the beginning. The real question is: What can this state teach us about the nature of reality?
I recently revisited a lecture by Dr. LaBerge that touches on the psychophysiology of dreaming, and it completely shifted my understanding of the difference between Consciousness and Awareness.
The Mirror of the Mind
LaBerge uses a powerful metaphor: The Mirror.
He suggests that Awareness is the mirror itself. It is the primordial state of the mind: beginningless, endless, uncaused, and unsupported. It is the "light" that allows us to see.
Consciousness, on the other hand, is the reflection against that surface. Consciousness is always "of" something (a thought, a feeling, a visual). It is a state of duality.
The problem is that in our ordinary waking state, we rarely possess "reflective consciousness" (seeing things as they are). Instead, we have "Refractive Consciousness." Like a funhouse mirror, our perception is distorted by our fears, wishes, and desires. We don't see reality; we see a version of reality bent by our own biases.
Lucid Dreaming as the "Pure" Lab
This is where lucid dreaming becomes a tool for spiritual awakening.
In the waking world, scientific studies are done on the waking state. But in a lucid dream, we have the unique opportunity to study the "pure mind." When we wake up inside a dream, we realize that the experiential reality of the world is not outside of ourselves; it is in our mind.
This realization allows us to spot the "funhouse mirror" effect in real-time. We see how our expectations instantly create the dream world.
The Drop and the Ocean
One of the most profound concepts LaBerge touches on is the fear of death, or "annihilation."
In the dream state, we can play with identity. We realize that we have been identifying with only one droplet of water, forgetting that we are actually the vast sea. This touches on the concept of Non-Duality. While it is hard to articulate non-duality inside a dream (since language itself is dualistic), we can experience the metaphor of it.
We realize that "Here I am." That awareness is at the root of all experience.
Transforming Nightmares with Love
So, how do we apply this? LaBerge suggests that life is not a "vale of tears" or a mistake, but a "notebook for the soul." We are here to learn.
A powerful practice he suggests is embracing the nightmare. In a lucid dream, if you encounter a figure you want to run away from, you can choose instead to seek them out and embrace them. You can extend a wish of goodness to the very thing that scares you.
As LaBerge beautifully puts it: "I don't need to see your reality papers before I react with love."
By practicing this in the dream world, where the feedback loop is instant, we learn to transfer that same unconditional love to our waking reality. We stop fighting the reflection in the mirror and start polishing the glass.
