Between Sleep and Liberation in Indian Traditions: Lucid Dreaming, Out-of-Body Experiences, and the Architectures of Liminal Consciousness

이 글은 베단타, 요가, 불교, 자이나교 전통을 비교하여 자각몽과 유체이탈 경험을 단순한 심리 현상이 아니라 자아와 의식의 본질을 탐구하기 위해 의도적으로 활용된 ‘경계적 의식 상태’로 분석한다. 각 전통은 이를 서로 다른 방식으로 해석하지만, 현대 신경과학의 설명과 함께 의식에 대한 다양한 이해를 보여준다. 이 글은 이러한 현상을 이해하기 위해 개인의 경험뿐 아니라 종교적·의례적·형이상학적 맥락을 함께 고려해야 한다고 주장한다.

Between Sleep and Liberation in Indian Traditions: Lucid Dreaming, Out-of-Body Experiences, and the Architectures of Liminal Consciousness

Religions 17(3)

저자: 양영순(아시아연구소)

인도의 종교·철학 전통은 자각몽과 유체이탈 경험을 어떻게 이해하며, 자아와 현실에 대한 이해와 어떤 관계가 있는가?

This article examines the theoretical and practical frameworks surrounding liminal states of consciousness—specifically lucid dreaming and out-of-body experiences (OBEs)—within Indian religious and philosophical traditions. Through a comparative analysis of Vedāntic, Yogic, Buddhist, and Jain systems, the article argues that these states are not merely anomalous psychological events but deliberately cultivated “architectures of liminality” designed to investigate the nature of self, consciousness, and reality. Methodologically, this article offers a comparative analysis of models and categories of liminal consciousness across Indian traditions, critically engaging relevant neurophenomenological frameworks and incorporating a small set of representative first-person exemplars. The results reveal a spectrum of interpretations: from the mind-only projection model of Buddhist dream yoga to the subtle-material interaction model of Jain karmic ontology, and from the embodied cognition framework of modern neuroscience to the disembodied consciousness theories of classical Indian systems. The study concludes that a comprehensive understanding of liminal consciousness must integrate first-person phenomenological reports with the soteriological, ritual, and metaphysical contexts that structure their interpretation, thereby challenging reductionist approaches in contemporary consciousness studies.

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