The conscious detection of physical sensations and bodily reactions is considered to be real, but the conscious experiences that we have in daydreams and night dreams are considered illusions of a subjective mind. Real or illusionary, the consciousness of a person remains constant whether experienced through the medium of a physical body with subjective mind. The reality of our dreams differs from the physical reality, only because the reality of dreams does not include any solids. When we dream, we consciously experience an abstract reality that was acquired through sense experiences and mind perceptions of the physical world. The reality of dreams is made up of perceptions, concepts, possibilities, memories and emotions in constant motion, motion generated by daily additions of new relational links. It is a reality that presents only reflections of a physical sense-detectable world, we are able to detect and experience this mental reality with the identical consciousness that we detect and experience the physical reality but without the restrictions of having to experience it through the medium of a body. This means in the reality of dreams we are not constricted by a body and that is why the conscious experiences in dreams require less direction and control. In dreams we are able to for example fly. In the world of dreams we don’t use mental information to help us protect and control our bodies because all our experiences are through the medium of mind. Whatever can be imagined can play out in the reality of dreams because we don’t need a body while in a dream. We don’t have to consciously make sense of what is happening to our bodies in order to survive the experiences of dreams as we would have to do in this physical experience. 

 

After the conscious aspect of me has completed a daily cycle of detecting, experiencing, reacting, perceiving, imagining, predicting, judging, making choices, thinking and acting, it will withdraw from the physical reality into the reality of rest. My consciousness will not only release the extent of control that it possesses over my body and my environment but also the measure of control that it has over the generations that I call my mind. In the reality of dreams my consciousness is passive. It is able to passively observe how logical and emotional memories intertwine with related possibilities. However, when my consciousness transitions back to the physical reality while still in a dream it may try to claim back control. Lucid dreaming is the term to describe a dream in which the consciousness of a person switches from being a passive experiencer to an active controller.

 

The reality of dreams is a fast-moving reality; that is why we easily forget our dreams. Solidity slows the consciousness of physical reality down while the reality of dreams are not weighed down by physicality as such, but may be influenced by the memories of having experienced solidity. Have you ever had a dream where you are trying to run away but you are unable to move your legs? This is a conscious experience of not being in control of your legs while experiencing the mental reality of dreams. It requires no effort to in the reality of dreams to mentally experience soaring up into the air. 

​

The dream world is a mental reflection of the physical world in which possibilities can be experienced. That means in dreams we can consciously have experiences which are not possible on the physical plane, yet dreams are closely connected to the memories of physical reality. While in the physical world we have a measure of conscious control over gravity enabling us to lift our feet as we walk but not enough conscious control that would allow us to defy gravity and fly.

​

-Preface by Celia Claase