Dying while inside a dream is something a lot of people worry about.
It can even stop them from wanting to become lucid in the first place. Just because some silly (but highly entertaining) Hollywood films try to scare you it doesn’t mean it’s true, or does it?
I’m just going to tell you now: You won’t die in real life if you die inside a lucid dream.
You just won’t. You might wake up in your bed, or you might wake up inside another dream.
I’ve died inside a dream before
I’ve actually died inside quite a lot of dreams and I’m still here, sort of.
Dying isn’t actually too bad. You’re going to die inside your dreams anyway, so it’s better to know it was just a dream rather than feel like crap all day without being able to explain it.
You won’t be scared when you die
As soon as you realize you’re going to die you suddenly become calm. There is definitely no fear. It’s more like acceptance. You just accept you’re going to die and your mind is at peace the whole time.
I’m positive this is what will happen when I die for real. We probably worry ourselves stupid thinking about death, but when it happens I think it will be painless.
Dream deaths I’ve experienced
I’ll give you an example of a few ways I’ve died over the last few years. None of them are really special, but you’ll see dying isn’t the end.
Getting hit by a car
This has actually happened to me a few times, so there must be something up at a deeper level. I’ve had a few close calls with car accidents, so maybe that’s why I dream about being killed by a car.
One time I lost my mind and waked out from behind a van onto the middle of the road and a car was inches away from smashing into me. Another time I was in a car that flipped multiple times and I had only put my seat belt on a few minutes before it happened. (those actually happened in real life)
I was semi-lucid in each death dream before I got hit. I knew it was a dream, but I wasn’t 100% there if you know what I mean. I was in the middle of the road, but I couldn’t get to the other side because my legs wouldn’t take me there fast enough. As the car approached me I slipped back into the dream.
I remember trying to cover my head with my arms because it would somehow save my life. While I was flying through the air I already felt very calm and at ease with what was happening then I suddenly remembered it was just a dream and I wasn’t going to die.
Drowning in water
Not much to say about this one. I wasn’t lucid, so it was just a very vivid dream. I was underneath the water and trying to find a way out.
I couldn’t find the surface and gave up when I knew it was too late. Suddenly I realized it was a dream and I wouldn’t die. Dreams like these are exciting because it’s nice knowing your life isn’t over and you’ll get to eat chocolate again.
Being shot in the stomach
I wasn’t lucid when I got shot. I didn’t have any shoes on and started to run after a car. I didn’t catch it, but someone pulled up on a motorbike and shot me in the stomach. It felt like an electronic pulse you’d feel if you wore one of those abs belts.
I did shoot him back. Nobody shoots me and gets away with it. It’s funny how you can magically pull something out of your pocket in a dream if you want it to be there. Afterwards I just lay down on a bench waiting to die before realizing it was a dream.
Falling from a great height
Everyone has probably experienced this before and some of you will remember it vividly. It’s happened to me all my life, so a lot more than a few years. Did you feel scared when you were falling to the ground?
You can’t die when you’re lucid
You’re probably wondering why I wasn’t fully lucid in any of my examples. I don’t think it’s possible to die when you’re lucid. How can you think you’re going to die if you know you are dreaming?
I have lost lucidity because my mind ran away with me, but I got it back again once my mind was completely calm.
Accepting death = pure awareness
Try to imagine the last time you thought you were going to die while inside a dream. As soon as you realized you were going to die did you just accept it? This might be the reason why you couldn’t feel pain and you weren’t scared.
It’s weird because as soon as you accept death you become fully aware then it’s easy to realize you’re dreaming. It’s like the shock of death switches on your conscious mind.
Becoming lucid before death
There is obviously a time-delay between accepting you’re going to die and actually dying.
You might think you’re going to die when you fall off a building, but you won’t die until you splat onto the ground below you. I reckon that’s about 5 seconds of waiting.
I think you become lucid some time during this waiting period. I only say this because every time I’ve ever died in a dream, I’ve always knew it was a dream right before I woke up.
I’ve never actually been afraid to hit the ground, but I did crap myself (figuratively) within the first few seconds of slipping off something.
I could be wrong, or I could be right. It doesn’t really make any difference because I just want you to realize there is nothing to be scared of when you die inside a dream. You will always wake up.
