Abstract: The subject of this study is to identify the connection between the experience obtained in lucid dreams and the experience of meditation. The object of the study is the experience that accompanies the state of awareness (Pali-sati). In the article, the author presents the results of a study aimed at establishing the connection between the experience obtained in lucid dreams and the experience of meditation. The works of the lucid dream researchers Stephen LaBerge, Jayne Gackenbach, Ursula Voss, Robert Waggoner, Tadas Stumbrys and others, as well as the work of researchers of the state of awareness - Bhikkhu Analayo, Henepola Gunaratana, Alan Wallace and others served as the theoretical and methodological basis of the study. The following research methods were used: the theoretical analysis of scientific literature, the analysis and generalization of empirical data, the formulation of conclusions. The theoretical significance and scientific novelty of the study lies in the systematization of theoretical provisions on the problem of the study of lucid dreams; discovering the features of the relationship of experience gained in lucid dreams with the experience obtained during meditation. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the results and conclusions of the study can be used by psychologists in their professional activities, as well as by lucid dreaming practitioners. The main conclusions of scientific research is the discovery of the similarity of experiences during lucid dreams with the experience gained in the state of meditation. The results of the survey conducted by the author show that a significant part of respondents who practice lucid dreaming also practice mindfulness meditation.

Keywords: vipassana, samatha, buddhism, mindfulness, sati, awareness, djhanas, meditation, lucid dreaming, dream

Abstract: The paper discusses the phenomenon of the hope that a person’s mind (soul) and the humankind are immortal, in the context of recent psychological studies on magical thinking. The humankind lives on the scale of thousands of years, whereas the universe lives of the scale of billions of years, which is a million times longer. Incommensurability of the time scales makes any prognoses regarding the fate of the humankind in relation to the fate of the Earth and the universe beyond a few thousand years meaningless. Why then, despite this, many prominent scientists, and even groups of scientists, spend a lot of time and resources in order to decide on such issues as the future of the Earth and the universe in billions of years from now? Why do astrophysicists spend millions of dollars in order to investigate objects that are located hundreds of millions of light years away from our galaxy? Why predictions are being made as for the fate of the humankind on the cosmic scale of billions of years? One possible answer is offered by recent psychological studies on magical thinking in modern humans. These studies have shown that the belief in the supernatural is common not only among small children today, but also among modern educated rational adults who consciously view themselves as non-believers in magic and/or in god. The hypothesis is discussed, according to which our interest towards the remote future of the humankind is rooted in our hidden belief that there exist a magical link (participation) between a person (the humankind) and the universe. Novelty: (1) For the first time the phenomenon of the hope for the immortality of a person’s mind (soul) and the humankind is discussed in the context of recent psychological studies of magical thinking; (2) Analysis of forms, which the hope for immortality takes in science, pseudo-scientific writings and in philosophy is also a new feature; (3) One more novel element is the analysis of what recent theories of memory have to say on the hypothesis that the person’s mind is imperishable. Conclusions: (1) Despite the incommensurability of the time scales on which the universe and the humankind live, huge amounts of money and resources are being invested in the investigation of the impractical problems, such as the origins of the universe, the prospects for the existence of the humankind in billions of years from now, and the structure of objects that are situated on the edge of the observable universe; (2) Psychological studies in the last decades have shown that most modern rational people, while consciously denying their beliefs in magic or in god, subconsciously maintain the belief in the supernatural; (3) Data obtained in recent studies on elementary particle physics and cosmology support the ancient hypothesis that there exist the unbreakable link between the universe and the human mind; (4) These data, viewed through the subconscious belief in the supernatural, give birth to the hope that a person’s mind (soul) and the humankind could be immortal.

Keywords: platonism, memory, the phenomenon of hope, immortality of the soul, magical thinking, participation, the anthropic principle, supernatural, the theory of anamnesis, morphogenetic field