Are OBEs the same as Lucid Dreams? By Bob Peterson

https://obeoutlook.blogspot.com/2015/03/...reams.html

Are out-of-body experiences the same as Lucid Dreams? Some people insist they're the same phenomenon, but I believe they're different.

Recently I came across this blog post by Bob Peterson. As I found many claims which I disagree with, I decided to post those claims and my replies to them here. This is not meant as a critique toward Peterson, whom I consider one of the most knowledgeable experts in this field. Rather, I merely want to bring out some of my experiences which seem to contradict with Peterson's views. To me it seems that either Peterson is wrong about this matter, or the experiences I have had are not (normal) lucid dreams. As for my background, I have had one OBE, and over 300 lucid dreams of which probably 10 % seem to be atypical, or perhaps something else than lucid dreams.

Unless you've experienced both OBEs and lucid dreams side by side, it's hard to tell the difference. So what can you do if you're having an experience and can't tell if it's an OBE or a lucid dream? Here are some things you can check:

In an OBE, you can be bored and do absolutely nothing. In a lucid dream, events often unfold in front of you. Often, you need motion or movement to keep your environment stable. Sometimes lucid dreamers will purposely spin to keep their environment stable. I've never heard of anyone bored in a lucid dream.

I have had several lucid dreams in which I was bored and could do absolutely nothing. I definitely don't need motion or movement to keep the environment stable. Spinning doesn't keep the environment stable. On the contrary, spinning changes the environment.

How "stable" is the environment?
If you wipe your visual field with your hand (Frederick Aardema's technique) or say aloud, "All thought forms must now disappear." (Robert Waggoner's technique) does your environment change? OBEs tend to have a more stable environment, whereas lucid dreams are dynamic.

Some of my lucid dreams have very stable environment. I have tried both above mentioned techniques and the environment remained the same.

Did you have a sexual encounter?
Sexual encounters are common in lucid dreams, and the sex feels convincingly real / physical. In an OBE, sexual content is rare, and when it does happen, it's often not like physical sex. It's more like a euphoric or spacey whole-body energy transfer, an electrical or static discharge, or an explosion of consciousness.

No. I have had over 300 lucid dreams but I have never had a sexual encounter in any of them.

Is your body image exactly like the physical?
In a lucid dream, your dream body is usually an exact copy of the physical body. You have a fully integrated body image. In an OBE, your body image will often be "on demand". I like to call it "Schrodinger's Body": same principle as Schrodinger's cat: your body image is in an indeterminate state until you think about it. If you don't think about your arm, it will likely not exist. As soon as you think about it, you can see it and feel it.

In some of my lucid dreams I'm a point of consciousness hovering approximately 4 inches above the floor. My body image is "on demand".

Furthermore, according to Peterson, in a lucid dream he is able to fly easily whereas he has struggled to fly in an OBE. I have sometimes found that flying is easy in a lucid dream, but in my best and most lucid dreams I can never fly. My best lucid dreams have also started in the bedroom, which usually shouldn't happen according to Peterson, and my memories of them remain clear, which according to Waggoner is a common feature of OBEs.