Is lucid dreamless sleep really lucid?

Alcaraz-Sánchez, A. (2023) Is lucid dreamless sleep really lucid? Review of Philosophy and Psychology, (doi: 10.1007/s13164-022-00663-9) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Recently, the construct ‘lucid dreamless sleep’ has been proposed to explain the state of ‘clear light’ described by Tibetan Buddhist traditions, a special state of consciousness during deep sleep in which we’re told to be able to recognise the nature or essence of our mind (Padmasambhava & Gyatrul 2008; Ponlop 2006; Wangyal 1998). To explain the sort of awareness experienced during this state, some authors have appealed to the sort of lucidity acquired during lucid dreaming and suggested a link between both phenomena (Thompson 2014, 2015; Windt 2015a; Windt et al. 2016). Whilst these authors appeal to a non-conceptually mediated form of lucidity, which doesn’t consist of reflective awareness and propositional thought, the question as to whether the state of clear light should be considered a lucid state similar to lucid dreaming still arises. I argue that the concept ‘lucidity’ used to describe this sort of state is imprecise and that two theoretical notions of lucidity should be distinguished. The first one, which I call the technical notion, requires the recognition of the hallucinatory character of my current experience. The second, the broader notion, involves the seeming recognition of being directly acquainted with the phenomenal character of my experience. I spell out these two notions of lucidity and argue that only the latter could apply to the state of clear light sleep.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Alcaraz Sanchez, Miss Adriana
• Authors: Alcaraz-Sánchez, A.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
• Journal Name: Review of Philosophy and Psychology
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 1878-5158
• ISSN (Online): 1878-5166
• Published Online: 04 November 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Author
• First Published: First published in Review of Philosophy and Psychology 2022
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
302136		AHRC DTP 2	Monica Callaghan	Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)	AH/R012717/1	Arts - Scottish Graduate School Arts & Humanities