This   dream   and  others   of   a  similar  nature  have
revealed  to  me what  I  consider  to be a very  important
principle of lucid dreaming especially as it relates to the
confrontation  of  fear   or  problems.   The  principle  is:
Once lucidity arises  I  am  able  to  release myself from
the compulsion  to  confront  a problem on its own level.
Instead,  I  am  free  to pray or meditate in the midst of a
situation that would normally draw me into an emotional
entanglement.  In  the above dream, however,  I  chose to
return to confront my attackers in order to assert myself
in relation to them.  This seems  to  be valuable and even
necessary  at  times,  leaving   me  with   an   exhilarating
sense  of  having  overcome  a fearful situation.  Overall,
however,  I  have found  that lucidity  is  a  fragile faculty
especially   during   the   beginning   stages,  and   can  be
quickly submerged by an over-confident exercising of it
in  relation  to  dream  images,   as  is  suggested  by  the
"premature"   awakening  from  the  above  dream.  I  feel
that  for myself there is  a  need  to regard lucidity  as an
opportunity   to  cooperate  with  or  forgive  the  dream
elements rather than  an opportunity  to exercise control
over them.
      Since  I  possess   a   limited   understanding   of   the
workings of the unconscious, I prefer to approach it with
an attitude  of healthy respect.  It  is  possible that during
the few dreams  in which  I  have attempted to change the
dream content,  I  was  in effect saying,  "I  know  what is
best   for   me."   And  this  I  know  is   rarely   the   case!
Whenever    I   consider   changing   the   dream   content
according to my momentary fear or desire I am probably
violating  the functioning  of  a  deeper  level  of  myself
from which  the dream content originates.  So instead of
approaching lucid dreaming  in  this manner  I  have tried
to alter and improve my responses to the dream content.
In  this  way  I  have  hoped   to  engender  a  creative  and
growing  relationship  to  the  dream.  In  my opinion it is
unfortunate   that  at  this  time  when  lucid  dreaming  is
being introduced into popular literature,  there is such an
emphasis upon the manipulative  capacity of the dreamer.
Such an approach to this potentially powerful experience

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