Why DILD really does suck.

This morning I was having a particularly vivid dream, and at some point in the middle of the dream I started to become slightly lucid. I started to hear the Inception "bong, bong" music and this made me say out loud, "if I'm hearing that music, I must be dreaming". And did I go on and become fully lucid? No, I got sucked right back into non-lucidity a few seconds later.

This is obviously just one anecdote, but it illustrates the main problem with the notion of becoming lucid within a dream: even if you manage to get some tiny bit of lucidity, it's a steep uphill battle to maintain it. Unlike a WILD, where you start the whole process in reality, and hence are grounded in reality, a DILD starts in non-reality, and is "grounded" is non-reality. The momentum is so clearly in the wrong direction that you can literally say out loud "I AM DREAMING RIGHT NOW", and still not become lucid. Anyone who has faith in DILD obviously doesn't understand this.

/end rant

All my lucid dreams have been because of DILDs. I would simply spot something unusual and know I was dreaming. I had one this morning, but in all my DILDs I never lost lucidity. My only "battle" has been to remain in my dream. I lasted a bit longer today by rubbing my hands together.

I would avoid projecting your lack of faith in DILD to those who put faith in it or whatever means to become lucid.

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Originally Posted by cmind

... And did I go on and become fully lucid? No, I got sucked right back into non-lucidity a few seconds later.

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Looks like you lack awareness, that would enable you to gain lucidity.

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Originally Posted by cmind

... even if you manage to get some tiny bit of lucidity, it's a steep uphill battle to maintain it.

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What do you mean by "tiny bit"? If you gain lucidity in a DILD, you are lucid the same way as in WILD. If you do it right, there is nothing tiny about it.

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Originally Posted by cmind

Unlike a WILD, where you start the whole process in reality, and hence are grounded in reality, a DILD starts in non-reality, and is "grounded" is non-reality.

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If you not skilled, you will lose lucidity, no matter which way you gained it. And once you have it, you have to fight to keep it, some more, some less than others.

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Originally Posted by cmind

The momentum is so clearly in the wrong direction that you can literally say out loud "I AM DREAMING RIGHT NOW", and still not become lucid.

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Sure, if you lack awareness, that happens.

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Originally Posted by cmind

Anyone who has faith in DILD obviously doesn't understand this.

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Try to tell that to the majority of lucid dreamers, who get majority of their lucids via DILD.

I don't understand why are you so opposed to DILD. If you don't like it, or you having better success with WILD, good for you. There is no need to be so hostile against anything, that's not WILD.

People are smart, let them choose.

I don't think you were even a little bit lucid - it sounds like just a dream in which you said you were dreaming.

Calling it reality and non-reality is the wrong way to look at it - they're both real. A dream is a very real occurrence, and created by exactly the same mental processes that during waking life interpret signals from the sensory organs. What they actually are is conscious and unconscious constructions. In a WILD you enter the unconscious realm consciously, in a DILD you become conscious in an unconscious construct. By thinking of them as real and non-real you give precedence to one and degrade the other.

Do you have a better track record with WILD?

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Anyone who has faith in DILD obviously doesn't understand this.

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Most of my lucids have come from DILD. I wouldn't say it is an uphill battle. You simply don't have control of the process the way you do when you WILD.

I'm just now trying WILDing more seriously. I prefer it, but ultimately, I just want to be lucid. If I can DILD, then sprinkle that sand in my eyes!

o/***

When talking to DVA students, I grant you that, WILDs seem to be the type of lucid dream that carry the highest level of awareness and lucidity and vividness and everything we all want in a lucid dream. As a DILDer and WILDer, I can honestly say that isn't always necessarily the case. I have had extraordinarily vivid DILDs, with strong awareness and excellent control. I have also had WILDs what were crazy, fuzzy, blurry and stupid (even though I went seamless from being awake, to vibrations, to the lucid dream, fully aware).

Nothing but good news here though: if it IS truly a matter of awareness, then the induction method isn't really important. Whatever gets you lucid, keeps you lucid, and therefore helps you reach your goals within the lucid, is what's important. DILD WILD DEILD FILD POOPOOILD, they're just letters. Every moment of a dream where you KNOW you are truly dreaming in that moment, is a gift. What you do from that point is up to you, and is just a matter of practice and time to make those moments turn into an adventure where you can accomplish those goals.

tl:dr The lucid onset isn't as important as what you do with it. :P

Well, I have to say that I understand your frustration. Becoming semi-lucid only to lose it is frustrating. Even more frustrating is having the weirdest dream that places you in an impossible situation and still not gain lucidity. If I could lucid dream every night I would do it. But I can't. However, I do it enough to still want to induce them. My favorite induction is MILD as I slip of to dreamland in NREM dreams. I don't plan on having a DILD... ever. But when they happen DILD's are great.