Papers by George Gillespie
Lucidity Letter, 1991
I will describe here an experience of mine which was in all its characteristics a neardeath exper... more I will describe here an experience of mine which was in all its characteristics a neardeath experience (NDE) except that ultimately there was no evidence that I had been near death, and which, except for my believing I had died, was similar to a number of earlier experiences of mine which had always occurred only in context of lucid dreams, that is dreams in which I know I am dreaming.
Lucidity Letter, 1990
Unusual experiences of light are occasionally mentioned in accounts of lucid dreams in which the ... more Unusual experiences of light are occasionally mentioned in accounts of lucid dreams in which the dreamer knows that he or she is dreaming. Garfield (1979) mentions experiencing lines and cracks of light, a sparkling globe, light emerging from a room, sunlight, and light shining on water. I have reported (Gillespie, 1987) points of light, small lines of light, cracks of light, disks of light, and other forms of light. I do not suggest that these minor forms of light are mystical. But a few lucid dreamers have reported strongly devotional or religious experiences centered around these light forms which have become for them an important part of their lucid dream experience. Sparrow writes,
Dreaming, Dec 1, 2002
Dreamless sleep, as subjective experience, is mentioned primarily within Hindu and Buddhist conte... more Dreamless sleep, as subjective experience, is mentioned primarily within Hindu and Buddhist contexts. In the Upanishads, dreamless sleep is presented for the most part as objectless consciousness. Tibetan Buddhists speak of dreamless sleep in terms of a progression of visual experiences consisting of darkness and light. Contemporary discussions of dreaming, unless concerned with Eastern religion or philosophy, do not tend
Perceptual and Motor Skills, Apr 1, 1989
The article discusses characteristics of internal visual images and is based on personal observat... more The article discusses characteristics of internal visual images and is based on personal observations of lucid dream and hypnopompic phenomena. In the context of lucid dreaming there sometimes occur persisting bright lights that do not behave like ordinary dream images. These phenomena appear as areas of light, peripheral light, disks of light, sun-like concentrations of light, and fullness of light. These luminous phenomena remain in a fixed location in my view in spite of any dreamed body movement, may appear in different dreams in the same locations, are not truly representational, and appear to be unrelated to other dream images, visual or otherwise. These stable intense lights remain in a fixed location in relation to an area defined by keeping the head still and moving the eyes. This area is the space that is filled at times by scannable hypnopompic geometrical patterns or scannable hypnagogic complex images. Although space-filling patterns look like they extend like a dome over the eyes, a close examination shows that they have a two-dimensional flatness that reaches over the entire scannable area. The observation of these patterns as flat becomes understandable when we think of the internal image as having no distance or separation from the seeing of the image, that is, as being experienced face on at every point. The flatness of the hypnopompic pattern implies the flatness of all internal images. The experiencer translates the flat image to external positions around the eyes. This translation is explained.
Indian Church History Review, 1977
Practical Anthropology, 1972
Throughout northeast India there are vast miles of mountains and jungles where numerous tribes ar... more Throughout northeast India there are vast miles of mountains and jungles where numerous tribes are undergoing cultural and mental changes brought by the approach of neighboring and foreign civilizations. Amidst all other changes there is the change from illiterate society to literate. We who have been in literature work here for 'Years are used to hearing about the need for the church to publish more and more literature. The need for books has been looked upon 8S a church problem, for particularly among the tribals of the area the churches have been the giver of literacy and the main publishing agency. The tribals make up most of the body of the churches of northeast India, complementing the small number of Christians that have come out of the older plains civilization.
Lucidity Letter, 1991
It is difficult to give a definition of mystical experience that would satisfy every scholar. I u... more It is difficult to give a definition of mystical experience that would satisfy every scholar. I use the expression mystical experience to mean an apparent experience of some reality greater than oneself that comes by transcending, to some degree, awareness of one’s own physical and mental self and one’s physical surroundings. This reality may be understood as God or some other spiritual being, brahman, Being, the universe, oneness, the void, or nirvana. I would distinguish for my purposes here between the phenomenon that is seen as the mystical experience itself and other more incidental phenomena that precede or accompany the mystical experience, such as visions of disks of light, the feeling of levitation, or bliss.
The author finds his attention to be narrowly focused. In the literature on autism and Asperger S... more The author finds his attention to be narrowly focused. In the literature on autism and Asperger Syndrome, monotropism is described as a narrow focus of attention, a focus on parts rather than the whole, and difficulty understanding the whole picture. The term "weak central coherence" indicates a difficulty in integrating the narrow focus with the wider context. The author finds his attention functions largely as discussed in this literature, but critiques the various discussions. He describes how his attention works in the context of visual perception, disruptions of attention, sensory overload, attention deficit, the intensification of attention, and in seeing hypnopompic visual imagery. An analysis of his attention while seeing hypnopompic imagery brings out insights into how his attention works during visual perception.
Lucidity Letter, 1985
I will describe here an experience of mine which was in all its characteristics a near-death expe... more I will describe here an experience of mine which was in all its characteristics a near-death experience (NDE) except that ultimately there was no evidence that I had been near death, and which, except for my believing I had died, was similar to a number of earlier experiences of mine which had always occurred only in the context of lucid dreams, that is dreams in which I know I am dreaming.
Lucidity Letter, 1987
Discussions of the transpersonal implications of lucid dreaming are already a firmly established ... more Discussions of the transpersonal implications of lucid dreaming are already a firmly established part of the lucid dreaming literature. Patricia Garfield suggests that, "lucid dreams are microcosms of the mystic experience." (1979, p. 213) Stephen LaBerge describes certain types of lucid dreams as "instances of transcendental experiences, experiences in which you go beyond your current level of consciousness." (1985, pp. 242-243) Scott Sparrow concludes that the experience of light and energy in a lucid dream is what is "universally recognized in the literature on meditation and contemplative prayer as actual communion between the individual and the Divine." (1976, p. 51) A number of articles in Lucidity Letter (e.g. in Vol. 4, No. 2) have dealt with the close association between lucid dreaming and what are called out-of-bodyexperiences (OBEs). A religious "near-death experience" (NDE) has been seen to duplicate lucid dream phenomena (Gillespi...
The median time for waking up after a lucid dream was in the hour after 5:00 am. Fortyseven of my... more The median time for waking up after a lucid dream was in the hour after 5:00 am. Fortyseven of my lucid dreams occurred on nights in which I had more than one. On 22 nights I had two lucid dreams, and on one night three. This leave 235 nights with single lucid dreams. The time between awakenings from multiple lucid dreams was as little as 55 minutes to as great as six hours. The first multiple dream occurred as early as 12:15 am or as late as 7:05 am. The ten false awakenings happened at such diverse times as just before 1:50 am and just before 8:00 am.
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Papers by George Gillespie