To perform this method of obtaining information, the practitioner, in a full deep lucid dreaming, must locate a person by techniques for finding objects and procure the necessary information from that person through the use of simple questions. If the required information is linked to a certain person, then that person should be located in lucid dreaming. If the information is not related to anyone in particular, then it is possible to create a universal information source, which must be associated with wisdom and knowledge. For example, this could be a wise recluse, a well-known philosopher, or a guru.

The advantage of this technique is that it is easy to pose additional questions and it is also easier to verify whatever information is obtained. A drawback of this technique is that, for many, it is difficult to communicate with living objects in lucid dreaming because of an object’s unresponsiveness or a practitioner’s problems with maintaining lucid dreaming while talking with objects.

Out-of-body experience (OBE), lucid dreaming (LD), astral projection – a number of terms united by lucid dreaming that refer to the state in which a person, while being fully conscious, realizes consciousness outside the normal range of physical perception.

Indirect techniques – entry into lucid dreaming within five minutes of awakening from sleep of any duration – provided there has been minimal physical movement.

Direct techniques – entry into lucid dreaming without any prior sleep, after excessive physical movement upon awakening, or having been awake for at least five minutes.

Dream consciousness – entry into lucid dreaming through becoming consciously aware while a dream episode is happening.

Cycles of indirect techniques – the easiest way to enter lucid dreaming, employed by rapidly alternating certain techniques upon awakening from sleep until one of them works.

Dissociation – separation; in this case, a scientific term describing experiences in lucid dreaming.

Sleep paralysis – a stupor; the complete immobilization that often occurs when falling asleep, awakening, and entering or exiting lucid dreaming.

Stencil – the real physical body that is no longer perceived while in lucid dreaming.

Deepening lucid dreaming – methods for making lucid dreaming as realistic as possible by stabilizing the surrounding space.

Maintaining lucid dreaming – methods for maintaining lucid dreaming state by preventing a lapse into sleep, a return to reality, or an imagined return to reality.

REM – rapid eye movement sleep (REM lucid dreaming); a sleep lucid dreaming characterized by increased brain activity that is accompanied by rapid eye movement and dreaming.

SOBT – School of Our-of-Body Travel.

Foul – an inadvertent termination of lucid dreaming through a spontaneous return to everyday reality.

FFA – forced falling asleep.

I woke up (M.R.: no separation) and immediately applied phantom wiggling on my left arm for five seconds, and my arm began moving freely (M.R.: no separation). I could at this point have had an OBE, but I wanted a lucid dream (M.R.: wrong logic). After five seconds of phantom wiggling I switched to five seconds of listening in (M.R.: wrong action). After about two seconds of listening in to the high pitched natural sound inside my head, it started to increase in volume (M.R.: no separation). After five seconds I still hadn’t entered a dream, and so I switched to five seconds of observing Images. I didn’t see anything, so I switched to straining the brain. Immediately the high pitched sound in my head became very loud, and so I immediately switched to listening in again (M.R.: no separation). I saw a purple pool of water and felt that its clarity was very good. Then, I found myself fully immersed in a lucid dream.

I was in a deep, beautiful valley with lambs frolicking about. I looked around and marveled at the ability to be able to have a lucid dream in a matter of seconds (M.R.: no deepening). I enjoyed my lucid dream…

A crucial factor in developing lucid dreaming abilities is self-confidence in the ability to use the skills. Initially, these abilities are absent because the human brain, tuned in to ordinariness, blocks confidence in the ability to do anything unusual. As soon as strong confidence is reached in the performance of lucid dreaming abilities, everything becomes easy to achieve.

Although confidence in lucid dreaming abilities may grow strong, practitioners should remain soundly aware that abilities in lucid dreaming are limited to lucid dreaming. Attempting telekinesis, pyrokinesis, or transmutation in the real world may waste time and energy.

Problems with lucid dreaming identification during entry often arise at the initial stages of studying lucid dreaming. A practitioner simply cannot understand whether or not he or she is already in lucid dreaming. This uncertainty can manifest while lying down or while practicing in other postures.

If a practitioner is simply lying down, physically perceiving his own body, and doing nothing, then it is indeed difficult to determine whether or not he is present in lucid dreaming. It is sufficient to note that there might be no signs of a lucid dream state. On the contrary, there may be a host of signs and unusual sensations, but they by no means necessarily indicate the onset of lucid dreaming.

The problem of the uncertainty of a lucid dream state is always solved through actions. If the practitioner is lying down, then standard separation techniques may produce indication of lucid dreaming achievement – in the majority of cases – since such techniques may often be incorrectly performed.

It is possible to perform techniques that are only achievable in lucid dreaming state. If a practitioner stands up and does not recognize his surroundings, then it can be assumed that the practitioner is standing up in lucid dreaming. However, often based on the observation that “everything is as in reality”, a practitioner may stand up and note that everything is in fact “as in reality” simply because the practitioner is still in “reality”. In answer to this dilemma, the phenomenon of hyper-concentration has been previously mentioned in relation to maintaining lucid dreaming. By using hyper-concentration, it is always possible to ascertain whether the practitioner is in lucid dreaming. However, as a rule, hyper-concentration is rarely necessary. Most often, the following signs indicate that separation has occurred in lucid dreaming: unusual sensations in the body during movement, extreme tightness during movement, a strong physical urge to lie back down, disjointedness of surroundings, and blurred or complete absence of vision.

Often, the problem resides in the use of direct techniques where the practitioner expects fast results and attempts to determine whether lucid dreaming has been achieved. As a principle this should not be done. When using direct techniques, lucid dreaming manifests itself clearly; therefore, if an attempt to determine its presence is made, it is an indicator that lucid dreaming is quite likely still far off.