I’ve noticed that as the waves of techniques, tips, and testimonials regarding lucid dreaming pass relentlessly across these forums, one fundamental of LD’ing seems to be consistently untouched by the flow: Memory. The other two fundamentals -- self-awareness and expectation/intention -- are talked about often, but somehow memory gets, well, forgotten. So I thought I would start a thread about memory, in the hopes that some productive discussion emerges about it. That discussion could be scientific, philosophic, psychological, or even mystical, I don’t care -- just as long as we’re making some effort to have memory gain its place on the pantheon of what matters in LD’ing. Here, to start things off, are a few of my thoughts, which may or may not include a few things to discuss:

First, you might assume that memory mentioned regularly, in the form of dream recall or prospective memory in MILD -- and it is -- but those are only functions of memory, and not memory itself. In the simplest of terms, memory in the context of lucid dreaming, and this thread, is the same as memory in the context of waking life: the storehouse of a lifetime of information, sensations, experiences, relationships, emotions, images, and everything else that combines to form, ultimately, an individual. Memory defines who we are; without it and its context we cease to exist. Our physical forms might still be here, but without memory we are little more than waking-life dream characters. And of course, without access to memory in dreams we are no more than dream characters, period.

Given all that, the role memory plays in LD’ing becomes obvious. Yes, for lucidity it is important to be self-aware in a dream, but that self-awareness has minimal meaning or spiritual volume until a dreamer is also able to tap her memory. In other words, a person who is self-aware in a dream but who cannot access memory can do little more than realize that she is dreaming – this is very nice, sure, but it only represents the tip of the iceberg of LD’ing. In order for a dreamer to be fully lucid, to have her entire being in a dream, memory must be accessible. But those are just words; let’s get a bit more practical:

Again, the memory I speak of here should not be confused with dream recall. Dream recall is certainly important, but that importance lies in adding to memory rather than accessing it. In the case of memory as a LD’ing fundamental I'm talking about accessing your waking-life memory processes when lucid; remembering, during the dream, that you have a waking-life existence, that you consciously stepped away from that existence a few minutes ago, and that you still have a sleeping body right where you left it. This might seem a little silly at first glance, but it is critical toward drawing your waking-life awareness into your dream. This is the case for two major reasons (and plenty more, most likely):

First, the core of non-lucid dreaming consciousness, the basis of your dream-character “you,” is that the DC “you” cannot remember that the dream started a few minutes ago (most non-lucids have a built-in assurance – thanks mainly to absent memory -- that the current dream scene is both real and has always been there), and that you are sure that your DC body is the real thing. It is not that your mind is addled or your so-called “dream logic” is flawed, as it is popular to believe; no, your cognition is working fine in dreams. What is missing, or rather what is inaccessible during NLD's, is your storehouse of experience and knowledge from which you could gather that there really are, say, no swimming pools on the moon.

Remembering those things I said above, like that your sleeping body is right where you left it, should help re-attach your consciousness to your core memory and allow your self-awareness to assert itself with proper waking-life awareness. This action will redefine the “reality” of the dream, the rules of the dream, and perhaps even the dream itself. So, you cannot have true -- and certainly not strong -- waking-life self-awareness in your dream if you do not remember that the dream-character body you are currently occupying is not your physical body.

Second, once you’ve passed this initial hurdle, you likely will have switched your brain’s memory-access circuits back to the “on” position, from the “off” position to which they are naturally set during sleep. This will allow you to remember your current dream goals, prolonging techniques, the waking-world histories of the dream-characters populating your dream (giving you opportunity to wonder/explain what they’re doing there), and a host of other things. Basically, you will be truly awake in the dream when memory is accessed, and waking-life self-awareness (aka: lucidity) will have opportunity to prosper.

Again, it is certainly possible, and quite common, to have low-level lucid dreams without memory access switched on, but you will never get much further than that initial feeling of “knowing” this is a dream. For instance, you will still be surprised by events around you because your dreaming mind is still in control, you will have difficulty doing things like flying because you still believe your dream-character body is real, and you might for the same reason have a tendency to believe that the other dream-characters around you are the real things, and not just avatars of people you know (or don’t, as it were)... now for the dream-sharers and astral-projectors out there, there’s no reason not to believe that those avatars represent actual people trying to contact you, but you must remember that they are just representations and not the real thing; there is a difference.

It is also possible, with memory absent, to have a non-lucid dream during which you think you are lucid. I used to get these "False Lucids" all the time, as my dreaming mind obliged my expectations and gave me all the things it assumed I wanted to fulfill my current lucid fantasy. So I did all the cool stuff without a grain of waking-life awareness or actual control, all because I failed to remember my true nature and condition -- and the fact that the dream world I was in was created just moments earlier.

Here is one quick hopefully helpful hint to ease that effort: it is a good thing to always include some mention of memory during your reality checks and when you set your intention before sleep. For instance, when practicing reality checks during waking life (and everyone should be doing that!), don’t just confirm that the clock didn’t change, or that your hand still has five fingers, but, when you're done checking your state, take another moment to remember exactly what you were doing say, fifteen minutes earlier. And when you set your intention at bedtime, add a simple “I will remember” to your stated plans.

tl;dr: the memory I speak of here is, I suppose, nothing more -- and nothing less -- than the memory you access during waking life. It is the experiential, foundational background that defines your individual self. That memory must be present during a LD seems to me to be a no-brainer -- while I’m awake. When I’m asleep, and memory access is turned off, the story is much different, and it can take real effort, and strong self-awareness, to access waking-life memory.