But I must admit that when  I  have meditated in order
to  acquire  a  lucid  dream,   I  have  failed  consistently.
The  unpleasant  result  has  been  that   my  dreams  have
admonished  me  severely  because  of  such confounded
motives! I am slowly learning to tread gently.
      Except on rare  occasions when  I  have passed into a
lucid dream without  a  break in consciousness,  most of
my lucid experiences have begun with  a "normal" dream
in  which something  unusual  has arisen  to convince me
that  I am dreaming.  The  situations  in  the dream which
have  provoked  lucidity  with the greatest  frequency are
of two basic interrelated types.
      The  first  and  perhaps  the  most  common  stimulus
during   the  initial   stages   in   the  process  has  been  a
stressful  experience  in  which  I  have  been confronted
with a threat in the form of  a person, animal or unknown
force.  In  this  type  of  dream  the desire  to  escape has
usually   resulted  in  aborting  the  stressful  dream.  But
sometimes the stress is alleviated through the arousal of
lucidity. In this case,  I  have been catapulted into greater
awareness  out  of  apparent  necessity.  The  fear  itself
seems  to  encourage  the  development  of  lucidity  as a
coping  mechanism  which enables a creative interaction
between  myself  and  the feared situation.  It is probable
that  the  resolution  of  such dreams  has  had  a  healing
effect in my waking life, as well.
     An example of this type of lucid dream is as follows:

      I   am   being  pursued   in  the  area  of  my   freshman
residence by a group  of men.  As  I  run  fearfully through
the neighborhood,  dodging  in between houses,  I  become
aware    that   I   am   dreaming    and   that    the   fear   is
unnecessary.  I realize that  I have a choice either to go to
meet my pursuers or to meditate.  I  feel  a need to return
and work through the conflict.  So  I  try  to fly to the area
where  they  are located.  I  will myself upward until  I  am
high  above  the earth.  But  before  I  get  to  the  place, a
pleasant   vibration   courses   through   my   body,   and  I
awaken.

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