I've had that type as well, Spooky.  Sometimes I "wake up" in the morning and think I'm really awake, not realizing I'm looking through my closed eyes.  I've never seen anything like beings through.  I only see my bedroom just like regular waking vision.  Then I realize that my eyes are closed and that I still have my sleep mask on and I'll wake up for real.

Here's something interesting:

http://brain.web-us.com/lucid/luciddreamingFAQ.htm
http://brain.web-us.com/Dream/dreamfaq.htm

Brain website talks about how you can go out-of-body during lucid dreams, or astral project, and that REM state (rapid eye movement sleep), is when your body might be paralysed because of the projection.

Hey,

I haven't read all this yet but always had me curious Vicky, like you said we don't need to REM, so if i'm conciously acting out there I always wonder how much I have acted here while being out there if I have...haven't heard of anything yet but you never know lol

Ryan

I've heard there was a big surprise when they tested some sleepwalkers, they thought must be in REM/dreaming, but was actually in deep sleep (it's called delta, isn't it), where normally one is total bodily relaxed. So it's all a bit mysterious with those sleep/consciousness states.
Spooky

I'm assuming you guys' don't know for sure, but do you think (after physical death) we start lucid dreaming with other conscious spirits in the spirit world and higher dimensions?

All humans (and mammals) have REM sleep, and allows for projection. My English teacher said that sometimes when we are sleeping, our heart-beat reaches deadly low, and when that happens some of our subconscious mind kicks in and we dream. So, if our heart-beat stopped, it seems we'd be in our astral bodies and lucid dreaming, and therefore look lucid/transeparent like spirits.

I could be wrong.

Vicky,

  "The memories, the problems, the troubled dream images are left behind.  All the limitations of the personal unconscious are drowned out in the full light of the highest consciousness"."

We need those timeouts, don't we?!

RyanParis,

right, I don't know this for sure. Usually, "dream" is used as opposed to physical waking state, so it might be different when we do not have a physical body. I guess much will be different then. And further I guess we will be in contact with other spirits. Sort of earth-life will be just a dreamlike memory then.
Vicky reminded us once that "waking", "dreaming", "daydreaming" are not as well distinguishable and/or exclusive as we usually think- for example when we drive a car and think of other things so that we have nearly no memory of the driven way. So to start from a basic consciousness which can phase into different states (maybe even at the same time?) is appropriate. But how similar to life with physical body our experiences without it exactly will be, who can tell?
Spooky