OTHER WORLDS: OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCES AND LUCID DREAMS by Lynne Levitan and Stephen LaBerge, Ph.D. 其他世界:灵魂出窍体验与清醒梦 由林恩·莱维坦和斯蒂芬·拉贝尔博士著作。
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“Out of body” experiences (OBEs) are personal experiences during which people feel as if they are perceiving the physical world from a location outside of their physical bodies. At least 5 and perhaps as many as 35 of every 100 people have had an OBE at least once in their lives (Blackmore, 1982). OBEs are highly arousing; they can be either deeply disturbing or profoundly moving. Understanding the nature of this widespread and potent experience would no doubt help us better understand the experience of being alive and human. “出体”体验(OBE)是个人经历,在这种经历中,人们感觉自己从身体外部的位置感知物理世界。每 100 人中至少有 5 人,甚至可能多达 35 人一生中至少经历过一次 OBE(Blackmore,1982)。OBE 具有很强的刺激性;它们可能既令人深感不安,也可能深具感动。理解这种广泛而强烈的体验的本质无疑将帮助我们更好地理解活着和作为人类的体验。
The simplest explanation is that OBEs are exactly what they seem: the human consciousness separating from the human body and traveling in a discorporate form in the physical world. Another idea is that they are hallucinations, but this requires an explanation of why so many people have the same delusion. Some of our experiments have led us to consider the OBE as a natural phenomenon arising out of normal brain processes. Thus, we believe that the OBE is a mental event that happens to healthy people. In support of this, psychologists Gabbard and Twemlow (1984) have concluded from surveys and psychological tests that the typical OBE experient is “a close approximation of the ‘average healthy American.’” (p. 40) 最简单的解释是,灵魂出窍(OBE)正是它看起来的样子:人类意识与身体分离,以一种非物质的形式在物理世界中旅行。另一种观点是,它们是幻觉,但这需要解释为什么这么多人有相同的错觉。我们的一些实验使我们考虑将灵魂出窍视为一种自然现象,源于正常的脑部过程。因此,我们相信灵魂出窍是发生在健康人身上的一种心理事件。支持这一观点的是,心理学家 Gabbard 和 Twemlow(1984)通过调查和心理测试得出结论,典型的灵魂出窍体验者“与‘普通健康美国人’非常接近。”(第 40 页)
Our conception, also proposed by the English psychologist Susan Blackmore, is that an OBE begins when a person loses contact with sensory input from the body while remaining conscious (Blackmore, 1988; LaBerge - Lucidity Letter; Levitan Lucidity Letter). The person retains the feeling of having a body, but that feeling is no longer derived from data provided by the senses. The “out-of-body” person also perceives a world that resembles the world he or she generally inhabits while awake, but this perception does not come from the senses either. The vivid 我们的概念,亦是由英国心理学家苏珊·布莱克莫尔提出的,认为灵魂出窍(OBE)始于一个人失去与身体的感官输入的联系,同时仍然保持意识(布莱克莫尔,1988;拉贝尔 - 清醒信;莱维坦清醒信)。这个人仍然保留着拥有身体的感觉,但这种感觉不再来自感官提供的数据。“灵魂出窍”的人也感知到一个与他或她在清醒时通常居住的世界相似的世界,但这种感知同样不是来自感官。生动的
body and world of the OBE is made possible by our brain’s marvelous ability to create fully convincing images of the world, even in the absence of sensory information. This process is witnessed by each of us every night in our dreams. Indeed, all dreams could be called OBEs in that in them we experience events and places quite apart from the real location and activity of our bodies. 身体和外部世界的出体体验(OBE)是我们大脑奇妙能力的结果,它能够在没有感官信息的情况下创造出完全令人信服的世界图像。这个过程在我们每晚的梦中都能见证。实际上,所有的梦都可以被称为出体体验,因为在梦中我们经历的事件和地点与我们身体的真实位置和活动完全不同。
WHAT ARE OBES LIKE? OBE 是什么样的?
So, we are saying that OBEs may be a kind of dream. But, even so, they are extraordinary experiences. The great majority of people who have had OBEs say they are more real than dreams. Common aspects of the experience include being in an “out-ofbody” body much like the physical one, feeling a sense of energy, feeling vibrations, and hearing strange loud noises (Gabbard & Twemlow, 1984). Sometimes a sensation of bodily paralysis precedes the OBE (Salley, 1982; Irwin, 1988; Muldoon & Carrington, 1974; Fox, 1962). 我们说,灵魂出窍(OBE)可能是一种梦境。但即便如此,它们仍然是非凡的体验。绝大多数经历过灵魂出窍的人表示,这种体验比梦境更真实。体验的共同方面包括处于一种“超出身体”的状态,感觉到能量,感受到震动,以及听到奇怪的巨大声音(Gabbard & Twemlow, 1984)。有时,身体麻痹的感觉会在灵魂出窍之前出现(Salley, 1982;Irwin, 1988;Muldoon & Carrington, 1974;Fox, 1962)。
To the sleep researcher, these strange phenomena are remarkably reminiscent of another curious experience, called sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis occurs sometimes when a person is waking from or falling into REM sleep, the state in which most vivid dreams occur. During REM sleep, the muscles of the body, excluding the eye muscles and those responsible for circulation and respiration, are immobilized by orders from a nerve center in the lower brain. This prevents us from acting out our dreams. Occasionally, this paralysis turns on or remains active while the person’s mind is fully awake and aware of the world. 对于睡眠研究者来说,这些奇怪的现象令人想起另一种奇特的体验,称为睡眠瘫痪。睡眠瘫痪有时发生在一个人从快速眼动(REM)睡眠中醒来或进入 REM 睡眠时,这种状态是最生动的梦境发生的时期。在 REM 睡眠期间,身体的肌肉(眼部肌肉和负责循环与呼吸的肌肉除外)会受到来自下脑神经中心的指令而被固定。这防止我们在梦中行动。偶尔,这种瘫痪会在一个人的意识完全清醒并意识到周围世界时启动或保持活跃。
Some of the experiences people have reported during sleep paralysis are: “I feel completely removed from myself,” “feeling of being separated from my body,” “eerie, rushing experiences,” and hearing “hissing in the ears,” and “roaring in the head.” These events appear to be much like the OBE sensations of vibrations, strange noises, and drifting away from the physical body (Everett, 1983). Fear has also been described as a common component of sleep paralysis (see the “Question and Answer” in NightLight, Vol. 2, No. 1 for a discussion of overcoming fear in sleep paralysis.) 一些人报告在睡眠瘫痪期间的经历包括:“我感觉完全与自己脱离”,“感觉与我的身体分离”,“诡异的、急促的体验”,以及听到“耳中发出嘶嘶声”和“头中轰鸣声”。这些事件似乎与出体体验(OBE)的震动、奇怪的声音和远离身体的感觉非常相似(Everett, 1983)。恐惧也被描述为睡眠瘫痪的一个常见组成部分(有关克服睡眠瘫痪中的恐惧的讨论,请参见《NightLight》第 2 卷第 1 期的“问答”)。
WHEN DO OBES HAPPEN? 肥胖何时发生?
So, it seems possible that at least some OBEs arise from the same conditions as sleep paralysis, and that these two terms may actually be naming two aspects of the same phenomenon. As a first test of this idea, we should ask how many OBEs actually occur at times when people are likely to experience sleep paralysis -that is, do OBEs happen when people are lying down, asleep, resting, or while awake and active? 因此,似乎至少有一些体外体验(OBE)是由与睡眠瘫痪相同的条件引起的,这两个术语实际上可能是在命名同一现象的两个方面。作为对这个想法的初步测试,我们应该询问有多少体外体验实际上发生在人们可能经历睡眠瘫痪的时刻——也就是说,体外体验是在人们躺下、睡觉、休息或清醒且活跃时发生的吗?
Researchers have approached the question of the timing of OBEs by asking people who claim to have had OBEs to describe when they happened. In one of these, over 85 percent of those surveyed said they had had OBEs while they were resting, sleeping or dreaming. (Blackmore, 1984) Other surveys also show that the majority of OBEs occur when people are in bed, ill, or resting, with a smaller percentage coming while the person is drugged or medicated. (Green, 1968; Poynton, 1975; Blackmore, 1983 ) 研究人员通过询问声称经历过体外体验(OBE)的人,来探讨 OBE 发生的时间。在其中一项调查中,超过 85%的受访者表示他们在休息、睡觉或做梦时经历过 OBE。(Blackmore, 1984)其他调查也显示,大多数 OBE 发生在人们躺在床上、生病或休息时,只有一小部分是在服药或用药时发生的。(Green, 1968;Poynton, 1975;Blackmore, 1983)
Survey evidence favors the theory that OBEs could arise out of the same conditions as sleep paralysis. There is also considerable evidence that people who tend to have OBEs also tend to have lucid dreams, flying and falling dreams, and the ability to control their dreams (Blackmore, 1983, 1984; Glicksohn, 1989; Irwin, 1988). 调查证据支持这样一种理论:出体体验可能源于与睡眠瘫痪相同的条件。还有相当多的证据表明,倾向于经历出体体验的人也倾向于做清醒梦、飞行梦和坠落梦,并且能够控制他们的梦境(Blackmore, 1983, 1984;Glicksohn, 1989;Irwin, 1988)。
Because of the strong connection between OBEs and lucid dreaming, some researchers in the area have suggested that OBEs are a type of lucid dream (Faraday, 1976; Honegger, 1979; Salley, 1982). One problem with this argument is that although people who have OBEs are also likely to have lucid dreams, OBEs are far less frequent, and can happen to people who have never had lucid dreams. Furthermore, OBEs are quite plainly different from lucid dreams in that during a typical OBE the experient is convinced that the OBE is a real event happening in the physical world and not a dream, unlike a lucid dream, in which by definition the dreamer is certain that the event is a dream. There is an exception that connects the two experiences – when we feel ourselves leaving the body, but also know that we are dreaming. 由于出体体验(OBE)与清醒梦之间的紧密联系,该领域的一些研究人员建议出体体验是一种清醒梦(法拉第,1976;霍内格,1979;萨利,1982)。这个论点的问题在于,尽管经历出体体验的人也很可能会有清醒梦,但出体体验的发生频率要低得多,并且可能发生在从未做过清醒梦的人身上。此外,出体体验与清醒梦明显不同,因为在典型的出体体验中,体验者确信出体体验是真实发生在物理世界中的事件,而不是梦境;而在清醒梦中,梦者根据定义确信该事件是梦境。有一个例外将这两种体验联系起来——当我们感到自己离开身体,但也知道我们在做梦时。
In our studies of the physiology of the initiation of lucidity in the dream state, we observed that quite of few of the lucid dreams we collected contained experiences like OBEs. The dreamers described lying in bed, feeling strange bodily 在我们对梦境状态中清醒体验的生理学研究中,我们观察到我们收集的许多清醒梦包含了类似于体外体验的经历。梦者描述自己躺在床上,感到身体奇怪。
sensations, often vibrations, hearing loud humming noises, and then rising out of body and floating above the bed. 感觉,通常是震动,听到响亮的嗡嗡声,然后脱离身体,漂浮在床上方。
Those studies revealed that lucid dreams have two ways of starting. In the much more common variety, the “dream-initiated lucid dream” (DILD), the dreamer acquires awareness of being in a dream while fully involved in it. DILDs occur when dreamers are right in the middle of REM sleep, showing lots of the characteristic rapid eye movements. We know this is true because our dreamers give a deliberate prearranged eye-movement signal when they realize they are dreaming. These signals show up on our physiology record, so that we can pinpoint the times when lucidity begins and see what kind of brain state the dreamers were in at those times. DILDs account for about four out of every five lucid dreams that our dreamers have had in the laboratory. In the other 20 percent, the dreamers report awakening from a dream and then returning to the dream state with unbroken awareness – one moment they are aware that they are awake in bed in the sleep laboratory, and the next moment, they are aware that they have entered a dream and are no longer perceiving the room around them. We call these “wake initiated lucid dreams” (WILDs). 这些研究揭示了清醒梦有两种开始方式。在更常见的类型中,“梦中发起的清醒梦”(DILD),做梦者在完全沉浸于梦中时意识到自己正在做梦。DILD 发生在做梦者正处于快速眼动睡眠(REM)阶段时,表现出大量特征性的快速眼动。我们知道这是真的,因为我们的做梦者在意识到自己在做梦时会给出一个故意预先安排的眼动信号。这些信号会出现在我们的生理记录中,因此我们可以准确确定清醒状态开始的时间,并查看做梦者在这些时刻的脑状态。DILD 大约占我们实验室中做梦者经历的每五个清醒梦中的四个。在另外 20%的情况下,做梦者报告从梦中醒来,然后以不间断的意识返回梦境——一瞬间他们意识到自己在睡眠实验室的床上醒着,下一瞬间,他们意识到自己进入了梦境,不再感知周围的房间。我们称这些为“醒来发起的清醒梦”(WILD)。
A casual look at the dream reports and physiological records led us to think that the OBE-type dream content was happening mostly in WILDs. So, we analyzed the data scientifically in the experiment described below. 对梦境报告和生理记录的随意观察使我们认为,OBE 类型的梦境内容主要发生在清醒梦中。因此,我们在下面描述的实验中对数据进行了科学分析。
THE LABORATORY STUDY 实验室研究
The data we studied consisted of 107 lucid dreams from a total of 14 different people. The physiological information that we collected in conjunction with each lucid dream always included brain waves, eye-movements, and chin muscle activity. These measurements are necessary for determining if a person in awake, asleep, and in REM sleep or not. In all cases, the dreamer signaled the beginning of the lucid dream by making a distinct pattern of eye movements that was identifiable by someone not involved with the experiment. 我们研究的数据包括来自 14 个不同人的 107 个清醒梦。我们在每个清醒梦中收集的生理信息始终包括脑电波、眼动和下颌肌肉活动。这些测量对于确定一个人是清醒、睡着还是处于快速眼动睡眠阶段是必要的。在所有情况下,做梦者通过做出一种明显的眼动模式来信号清醒梦的开始,这种模式可以被不参与实验的人识别。
After verifying that all the lucid dreams had eye signals showing that they had happened in REM sleep, we classified them into DILDs and WILDs, based on how long the dreamers had been in REM sleep without awakening before becoming lucid (two minutes or 在确认所有清醒梦都有眼部信号显示它们发生在快速眼动睡眠(REM)中后,我们根据梦者在变得清醒之前在 REM 睡眠中未醒来的时间长短,将它们分类为自发性清醒梦(DILDs)和诱导性清醒梦(WILDs)(两分钟或更长时间)
more for DILDs, less that two minutes for WILDs), and on their report of either having realized they were dreaming while involved in a dream (DILD) or having entered the dream directly from waking while retaining lucidity (WILD). 更多的是 DILD,WILD 则少于两分钟,并且根据他们的报告,或者在做梦时意识到自己在做梦(DILD),或者在保持清醒的状态下直接从清醒状态进入梦境(WILD)。
Alongside the physiological analysis we scored each dream report for the presence of various events that are typical of OBEs, such as feelings of body distortion (including paralysis and vibrations), floating or flying, references to being aware of being in bed, being asleep or lying down, and the sensation of leaving the body (for instance, “I was floating out-of-body”). 除了生理分析,我们还对每个梦境报告进行了评分,评估其中是否存在典型的出体体验(OBE)事件,例如身体扭曲的感觉(包括瘫痪和震动)、漂浮或飞行、意识到自己在床上、在睡觉或躺下,以及离开身体的感觉(例如,“我在漂浮,感觉自己出体了”)。
RESULTS: MORE OBE-LIKE EVENTS IN WILDS 结果:野外更多类似 OBE 的事件
Ten of the 107 lucid dreams qualified as OBEs, because the dreamers reported feeling like they had left their bodies in the dream. Twenty of the lucid dreams were WILDs, and 87 were DILDs. Five of the OBEs were WILDs (28%) and five were DILDs (6%). Thus, OBEs were more than four times more likely in WILDs than in DILDs. 在 107 个清醒梦中,有 10 个符合出体体验(OBE)的标准,因为梦者报告感觉自己在梦中离开了身体。20 个清醒梦是自发入睡(WILD),87 个是梦中意识(DILD)。5 个出体体验是自发入睡(28%),5 个是梦中意识(6%)。因此,出体体验在自发入睡中的发生概率是梦中意识的四倍多。
The three OBE-related events we looked for also all occurred more often in WILDs than in DILDs. Almost one third of WILDs contained body distortions, and over a half of them included floating or flying or awareness of being in bed. This is in comparison to DILDs, of which less than one fifth involved body distortions, only one third included floating or flying, and one fifth contained awareness of bed. 我们寻找的三个与出体体验(OBE)相关的事件在清醒梦(WILD)中发生的频率也高于梦中清醒(DILD)。几乎三分之一的清醒梦包含身体扭曲,超过一半的清醒梦包括漂浮或飞行或意识到自己在床上。这与梦中清醒相比,后者中不到五分之一涉及身体扭曲,只有三分之一包括漂浮或飞行,五分之一包含对床的意识。
The reports from the five DILDs that we classified as OBEs were actually much like those from the WILD-OBEs. In both the dreamers felt themselves lying in bed and experiencing strange sensations including paralysis and floating out-of-body. Although these lucid dreams sound like WILDs, we had classified them as DILDS because the physiological records showed no awakenings preceding lucidity. However, it is possible that these people could have momentarily become aware of their environments (and hence been “awake”) while continuing to show the brainwaves normally associated with REM sleep. The science of the EEG is not sufficiently advanced that we can tell what people are experiencing by looking at their brainwaves. Anecdotes from dream reports indicate that people sometimes become aware of sensations from their sleeping bodies while dreaming – for example, the dream in which you are trying to run while your legs become 我们将五个被分类为 OBE 的 DILD 报告实际上与 WILD-OBE 的报告非常相似。在这两种情况下,梦者都感到自己躺在床上,经历奇怪的感觉,包括麻痹和漂浮出体。尽管这些清醒梦听起来像 WILD,但我们将它们分类为 DILD,因为生理记录显示在清醒之前没有觉醒。然而,这些人可能在继续显示通常与 REM 睡眠相关的脑电波的同时,短暂地意识到他们的环境(因此“醒着”)。脑电图的科学尚未足够先进,以至于我们可以通过观察脑电波来判断人们的体验。梦境报告中的轶事表明,人们有时在做梦时会意识到来自他们睡眠身体的感觉——例如,梦中你试图奔跑,而你的腿却变得
heavier and heavier, perhaps because you are feeling their true immobile condition. 越来越沉重,也许是因为你感受到了它们真正的静止状态。
OBES AND WILDS OUTSIDE THE LABORATORY 实验室外的 OBES 和 WILDS
Our laboratory studies showed us that when OBEs happen in lucid dreams they happen either when a person reenters REM sleep right after an awakening, or right after having become aware of being in bed. However, we wondered if this relationship would apply to OBEs and lucid dreams that people experience at home, in the “real world.” 我们的实验室研究表明,当出体体验发生在清醒梦中时,它们要么发生在一个人刚刚醒来后重新进入快速眼动睡眠,要么发生在刚意识到自己在床上之后。然而,我们想知道这种关系是否适用于人们在家中、在“现实世界”中经历的出体体验和清醒梦。
Not being able to take the sleep lab to the homes of hundreds of people (the DreamLight may soon give us this capacity!), we took a survey about OBEs and other dream-related experiences, somewhat like the past studies referred to earlier. The difference between our survey and previous ones is that in addition to asking if people had had OBEs, we asked specifically about certain events that we know to be associated with WILDs, namely, lucid dreaming, returning directly to a dream after awakening from it, and sleep paralysis. 由于无法将睡眠实验室带到数百人的家中(DreamLight 可能很快会给我们这个能力!),我们进行了关于 OBE 和其他与梦相关经历的调查,类似于之前提到的研究。我们调查与以往的不同之处在于,除了询问人们是否经历过 OBE,我们还特别询问了我们知道与 WILD 相关的某些事件,即清醒梦、从梦中醒来后直接返回梦境以及睡眠瘫痪。
A total of 572 people filled out our questionnaire. They were either students in an introductory psychology course or readers of the NightLight. About a third of the group reported having had at least one OBE. Just over 80 percent had had lucid dreams. Sleep paralysis was reported by 37 percent and 85 percent had been able to return to tt dream after awakening. 共有 572 人填写了我们的问卷。他们要么是入门心理学课程的学生,要么是《夜光》的读者。大约三分之一的参与者报告说至少经历过一次出体体验。超过 80%的人经历过清醒梦。37%的人报告过睡眠瘫痪,85%的人在醒来后能够返回 tt 梦境。
People who reported more dream-related experiences also reported more OBEs. For example, of the 452 people claiming to have had lucid dreams, 39 percent also reported OBEs, whereas only 15 percent of those who did not claim lucid dreams said they had had OBEs. The group with the most people reporting OBEs (51%) were those who said they had experienced lucid dreams, dream return, and sleep paralysis. 报告更多梦境相关经历的人也报告了更多的体外体验(OBE)。例如,在 452 名声称经历过清醒梦的人中,39%的人也报告了体外体验,而只有 15%没有声称经历清醒梦的人表示他们有过体外体验。报告体外体验人数最多的群体(51%)是那些表示经历过清醒梦、梦境回归和睡眠瘫痪的人。
We would expect people who can return directly to dreams after an awakening to be prone to having WILDs, and therefore also to have frequent lucid dreams. Indeed, in this survey, people reporting frequent dream return also tended to report frequent lucid dreams. Thus, we believe that the fact that dream return frequency was linked with OBE frequency in this study 我们预计能够在醒来后直接回到梦中的人容易经历清醒梦,因此也更可能频繁做清醒梦。实际上,在这项调查中,报告频繁梦境回归的人也倾向于报告频繁的清醒梦。因此,我们认为在这项研究中,梦境回归频率与出体体验频率相关的事实。
gives further support to our laboratory research finding that WILDs were associated with OBEs. 进一步支持我们实验室研究的发现,即 WILD 与 OBE 相关。
WHAT DO WE KNOW NOW? 我们现在知道什么?
Our two studies have compared the frequency of OBEs in the two types of lucid dream, and surveyed the relative frequency of OBEs and dream-related events in a large number of people. We have thereby learned that when OBEs happen during lucid dreams, they generally happen in lucid dreams that arise from brief awakenings in REM sleep, and that people who have certain special dream experiences are more likely to have OBEs that people who do not. These dream experiences include returning to the dream state after an awakening, lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis. 我们的两项研究比较了两种类型清醒梦中出体体验(OBE)的频率,并调查了大量人群中出体体验和梦境相关事件的相对频率。因此,我们了解到,当出体体验发生在清醒梦中时,它们通常发生在快速眼动(REM)睡眠中短暂觉醒后产生的清醒梦中,并且拥有某些特殊梦境体验的人比没有这些体验的人更可能经历出体体验。这些梦境体验包括在觉醒后返回梦境状态、清醒梦和睡眠瘫痪。
Above we described our operating theory that OBEs occur when people lose input from their sense organs, as happens at the onset of sleep, while retaining consciousness. This combination of events is especially likely when a person passes directly from waking into REM sleep. In both states the mind is alert and active, but in waking it is processing sensory input from the outside world, while in dreaming it is creating a mental model independent of sensory input. This model includes a body. When dreaming, we generally experience ourselves in a body much like the “real” one, because that is what we are used to. However, our internal senses in the physical body, which when we are awake inform us about our position in space and the movement of our limbs. This information is cut off in REM sleep. Therefore, we can dream of doing all kinds of things with our dream bodies -flying, dancing, running from monsters, being dismembered – all while our physical bodies lie safely in bed. 上述我们描述了我们的操作理论,即当人们失去来自感官的输入时,OBE(体外体验)就会发生,这种情况在入睡时会出现,同时保持意识。当一个人直接从清醒状态进入快速眼动(REM)睡眠时,这种事件的组合尤其可能。在这两种状态下,思维都是警觉和活跃的,但在清醒状态下,它处理来自外部世界的感官输入,而在梦境中,它则创建一个独立于感官输入的心理模型。这个模型包括一个身体。在做梦时,我们通常会体验到一个与“真实”身体非常相似的身体,因为这正是我们习惯的。然而,我们在物理身体中的内部感官,当我们清醒时,它们会告诉我们在空间中的位置和四肢的运动。在快速眼动睡眠中,这些信息被切断。因此,我们可以在梦中想象用梦中的身体做各种事情——飞翔、跳舞、逃避怪物、被肢解——而我们的物理身体则安全地躺在床上。
During a WILD, or sleep paralysis, the awake and alert mind keeps up its good work of showing us the world it expects is out there – although it can no longer sense it. So, then we are in a mental-dream-world. Possibly we feel the cessation of the sensation of gravity as that part of sensory input shuts down, and then feel that we are suddenly lighter and float up, rising from the place where we know our real body to be lying still. The room around us looks about the same, because that is our brain’s best guess about where we are. If we did not know that we had just fallen asleep, we might well think that we were awake, still in touch with the physical world, and that something mighty strange was happening – a departure of the mind from the 在梦魇或睡眠瘫痪期间,清醒而警觉的思维继续展示它所期望的世界——尽管它无法再感知到这个世界。因此,我们处于一个心理梦境中。我们可能会感受到重力感的消失,因为那部分感官输入关闭,然后感觉自己突然变得轻盈,漂浮起来,从我们知道自己真实身体静止躺着的地方升起。我们周围的房间看起来差不多,因为这是我们大脑对我们所处位置的最佳猜测。如果我们不知道自己刚刚入睡,我们可能会认为自己是清醒的,仍然与物理世界保持联系,并且发生了一些奇怪的事情——思维的离开。
physical body! 物质身体!
The unusual feeling of leaving the body is exciting and alarming. This, combined with the realistic imagery of the bedroom is enough to account for the conviction of many OBE experients’ that “it was too real to be a dream.” Dreams, too, can be astonishingly real, especially if you are attending to their realness. Usually, we pass through our dreams without thinking much about them, and upon awakening remember little of them. Hence, they seem “unreal.” But waking life is also like that – our memory for a typical, mundane day is flat and lacking in detail. It is only the novel, exciting, or frightening events that leave vivid impressions. If we stop what we are doing, we can look around and say, “Yes, this world looks solid and real.” But, if you look back and try to recall, for instance, brushing your teeth this morning, your memory is likely to be vague and not very life-like. Contrast this to a past event that excited or alarmed you, which is likely to seem much more “real” in retrospect. 离开身体的奇异感觉既令人兴奋又令人不安。这种感觉,加上卧室的真实意象,足以解释许多经历过体外体验(OBE)的人坚信“这太真实了,不可能是梦”的原因。梦境也可以令人惊讶地真实,尤其是当你关注它们的真实感时。通常,我们在梦中游走,没怎么思考它们,醒来后对它们记忆模糊。因此,它们似乎是“虚幻的”。但清醒的生活也是如此——我们对一个典型的平凡日子的记忆平淡且缺乏细节。只有新奇、刺激或令人恐惧的事件才会留下生动的印象。如果我们停下手中的事情,可以环顾四周说:“是的,这个世界看起来坚固而真实。”但是,如果你回想一下,比如今天早上刷牙的情景,你的记忆可能会模糊且不太生动。与此相比,过去让你感到兴奋或不安的事件,在回顾时往往显得更加“真实”。
Lucid dreamers often comment to themselves in dreams, “I know this is a dream, but it all seems so incredibly real!” All this goes to show that the feeling that an event is real does not mean that it is happening in the physical world that we all share when we are awake. This is not to deny that that inner experiences are real, in that they have deeply profound effects on our lives. However, as lucid dreaming so amply demonstrates, we can learn to distinguish between our personal dreams and events in the consensus dream we call physical reality. When we do, we find that what we thought was one thing – the waking world – is actually another – a dream. 清醒梦者常常在梦中对自己说:“我知道这只是一个梦,但一切看起来都如此真实!”这一切表明,事件真实的感觉并不意味着它正在我们醒着时共同分享的物理世界中发生。这并不是否认内心体验的真实,因为它们对我们的生活有着深远的影响。然而,正如清醒梦所充分展示的那样,我们可以学会区分个人梦境和我们称之为物理现实的共识梦。当我们这样做时,我们发现我们认为的某件事——醒着的世界——实际上是另一件事——一个梦。
Proof that some or even most OBEs are dreams is not enough to allow us to say that a genuine OBE is impossible. However, in the interests of lucidity, if you have an OBE, why not test to see if the OBE-world passes the reality test? Is the room you are in the one you are actually sleeping in? If you have left your body, where is it? Do things change when you are not looking at them (or when you are)? Can you read something twice and have it remain the same on both readings? If any of your questions and investigations leave you doubting that you are in the physical world, is it not logical to believe you are dreaming? 证明一些甚至大多数的出体体验(OBE)是梦境并不足以让我们说真正的出体体验是不可能的。然而,为了清晰起见,如果你经历了出体体验,为什么不测试一下出体体验的世界是否通过现实测试呢?你所在的房间是你实际睡觉的地方吗?如果你已经离开了你的身体,它在哪里?当你不看它们时(或者当你在看它们时),事物会发生变化吗?你能否两次阅读同样的东西,并且在两次阅读中保持一致?如果你的任何问题和调查让你怀疑自己是否在物理世界中,难道相信自己在做梦不是合乎逻辑的吗?
Another point to consider is that a dream doesn’t always 另一个需要考虑的点是,梦并不总是
have to happen in REM sleep. Most do, but there are probably quite a few other conditions in which people can lose touch with sensory experience and enter a mental world. Some such states that we know of are hypnotic trance, anesthesia, and sensory isolation. OBEs have been reported from these states (Nash et al., 1984; Olson, 1988). Thus, the argument that an OBE cannot be a dream because the experient wasn’t asleep doesn’t hold water. 必须在快速眼动睡眠中发生。大多数确实如此,但可能还有相当多的其他情况,人们可以失去对感官体验的联系,进入一个心理世界。我们知道的一些这样的状态包括催眠状态、麻醉和感官隔离。从这些状态中报告了出体体验(Nash 等,1984;Olson,1988)。因此,认为出体体验不能是梦境,因为体验者并没有睡着的论点并不成立。
THE "IN-THE-BODY" EXPERIENCE “体内体验”
To end this discussion of the origins of the OBE, an event considered unbelievable by many and metaphysical by others, let’s consider the state of affairs that is considered normal: the “inthe-body” experience. What does it mean to be in a body? Saying that one is in a body implies that the self is an object with definite borders capable of being contained by the boundaries of another object – the physical body. However, we do not have any evidence that the self is such a concrete thing. What we think of as “out-of-body” in an OBE is the experience of the self. This experience of being “in” a body is normally based on perceptual input from the senses of both the world external to the body and the processes within the body. These give us a sense of localization of the self in space. However, it is the body, and its sense organs, that occupy a specific locus, not the self. The self is not the body or the brain. If we think that the self is a product of brain function, even this does not make it reasonable to state that the self is in the brain – is the meaning contained in these words in this page? It may not make any sense on an objective level to say that the self is anywhere. Rather, the self is where it feels itself to be. Its location is purely subjective and derived from input from the sensory organs. 为了结束关于 OBE 起源的讨论,这一事件被许多人视为难以置信而被其他人视为形而上学的,我们来考虑被认为是正常的状态:“在身体内”的体验。处于身体内意味着什么?说一个人处于身体内暗示自我是一个具有明确边界的对象,能够被另一个对象的边界所包容——即物理身体。然而,我们没有任何证据表明自我是如此具体的东西。我们所认为的 OBE 中的“出体”体验实际上是自我的体验。这种“在”身体内的体验通常基于来自身体外部世界和身体内部过程的感知输入。这些感知使我们在空间中感受到自我的定位。然而,具体的位置是身体及其感官所占据的,而不是自我。自我既不是身体也不是大脑。如果我们认为自我是大脑功能的产物,即使如此,也并不合理地说自我在大脑中——这些话的意义是否包含在这一页中?在客观层面上说自我在任何地方可能都没有意义。 自我实际上是它感觉到自己的地方。它的位置完全是主观的,源于感官器官的输入。
Putting aside the question of the essential nature of the self, perception is undeniably a phenomenon tied to brain function. So, when we find ourselves experiencing a world that seems much like the one we are used to perceiving with our usual equipment – eyes, ears, etc., all things linked to our brains, it would be logical to assume that it is our usual brain creating the experience. And, if we were to really leave our bodies -severing all connection with them – it would be illogical to assume that we would see the world in the same way. Therefore, although no amount of contradictory evidence can rule out the possibility of a real “out of body experience,” in which an 撇开自我的本质问题,感知无疑是与大脑功能相关的现象。因此,当我们发现自己经历的世界似乎与我们习惯用眼睛、耳朵等通常的感知工具所感知的世界非常相似时,合理的假设是,这种体验是由我们通常的大脑创造的。而且,如果我们真的离开了身体——切断与身体的所有联系——那么假设我们以同样的方式看待世界就是不合逻辑的。因此,尽管没有任何矛盾的证据能够排除真实的“出体体验”的可能性,
individual exists in some form entirely independent of the body, it is highly unlikely that such a form would utilize perceptual systems identical to those of the physical human form. 个体以某种形式完全独立于身体存在,那么这种形式使用与物理人类形式相同的感知系统的可能性非常小。
Spiritual teachings tell us that we have a reality beyond that of this world. The OBE may not be, as it is easily interpreted, a literal separation of the soul from the crude physical body, but it is an indication of the vastness of the potential that lies wholly within our minds. The worlds we create in dreams and OBEs are as real as this one, and yet hold infinitely more variety. How much more exhilarating to be “outof-body” in a world where the only limit is the imagination than to be in the physical world in a powerless body of ether! Freed of the constraints imposed by physical life, expanded by awareness that limits can be transcended, who knows what we could be, or become? 灵性教义告诉我们,我们的现实超越了这个世界。出体体验(OBE)可能并不是如人们所理解的那样,灵魂与粗糙的肉体的字面分离,而是我们内心潜力浩瀚的一个指示。我们在梦境和出体体验中创造的世界与这个世界一样真实,却拥有无限的多样性。在一个唯一的限制是想象力的世界中“出体”要比在一个无力的以太肉体中身处物质世界要令人兴奋得多!摆脱了物质生活所施加的限制,意识到限制可以被超越,谁知道我们能成为什么,或成为谁?
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