Once I got into bed, I found myself in the mood to try entering lucid dreaming using a direct technique. After having laid down for a bit and some end-of-the-day reflection, which calmed and relaxed me to some extent, I began to concentrate my attention on imagined rotation along my head-to-toe axis. I was unable to rotate more than halfway for the first minute. But then I was able to rotate all the way around, and it got easier and easier with each minute. I rotated in one direction, and then another. I periodically lapsed into sleep and shallow dreaming. I did not even try to attempt separation when surfacing, because I did not feel any lucid dreaming symptoms. At one point, conscious awareness sank into unconscious for a longer period of time than before (I almost completely fell asleep). When I came to, the rotation was somewhat sluggish. I intensified the rotation, which then spun me around like an electric motor: my whole body was abuzz with vibrations, even though the rotation was still imaginary, and not as perceptually real as usual. I also heard noise. It became clear that if I was not already in lucid dreaming, then I was close to it, and so I tried to roll out for the first time. It worked like a charm. However, I did not fall onto the floor, but floated an inch or two above it, as it seemed to me.

Wasting no time, I abruptly stood up in the middle of the room. I couldn’t see the room around me, but clearly understood that I was in it. I quickly began to palpate the floor, closet, bed linen, my own torso, and so on. On the whole, I could immediately tell that lucid dreaming was deep, even though I couldn’t see. I did everything more out of habit, and in order to ensure a long and confident lucid dreaming. Moreover, the lapse in consciousness was recent, and it would be necessary to fully regain consciousness before going into action, otherwise I might easily drift out of lucid dreaming. After 5 to 10 seconds of palpation, my vision returned. As soon as it did, I stared at my hands, peering at all the lines on my palms and fingers. lucid dreaming became not only real in terms of perception – it became hyper-real.

At that moment, I quickly defined my goals: to obtain information about lucid dreaming training, and to conduct an experiment on the connection between the body perceived in lucid dreaming and the physical body left behind on the bed. I didn’t initially recall what else had I wanted to do, but figured that I’d remember the other tasks while completing the first two.

All that thought on my plan of action did not take more than two seconds. I then closed my eyes and concentrated on finding a wise old man. I abruptly flew off, and quickly enough found myself in a hut, entering as if staggering in after flying through the wall. The wise man sat facing away from me, so I quickly walked around to face him, and then asked him how I could improve my teaching methodology at seminars. I expected that he would once again propose certain tricks-of-the-trade and special techniques. Instead, he unexpectedly said that it was worth working more actively on the emotional factor and especially motivation, as many simply do not make the necessary effort, mainly because they don’t understand what awaits them and how interesting it is. Even though their technique should be corrected, there’s not point in doing so when they aren’t always motivated and do not perform the techniques thoroughly.

Having obtained what I needed and having set its analysis aside for later, I took advantage of the opportunity and asked a question concerning my personal relationships with people that I care about in my life. However, the response caused me to fade out, and my mind wandered for a couple of moments, which was enough for everything to become blurred. Realizing that directly employing maintaining techniques would be useless at this point, I just tried to maintain lucid dreaming by grabbing the sage’s beard. I ended up in my body, but with my hand still holding his beard, which I strongly clutched in my hand in order to amplify the flow of sensations as much as possible. Rubbing my hand with the beard, I was able to almost effortlessly get out of bed. After palpating the nearby space with my free hand and realizing that the state was stable enough, I began trying to scrutinize the hand with the beard, holding it close to my eyes. My vision started to return, and within several seconds I was already able to see the space and my hand itself quite clearly. In it lay a thick clump of gray hair. This made me laugh. I tried not to get distracted, and was able to contain myself.

Then, I began to study the connection between the body that is visible on the bed from lucid dreaming, and the real physical one. Perhaps lucid dreaming space itself came to my aid, because it was precisely at that time that I saw my body indeed lying on the bed. I had been enjoying this sight less and less frequently, though at the beginning of my practice I experienced it with nearly every exit from the body.

Watching myself from the outside was once again not very pleasant, something jostled me inside and aroused mixed feelings. This was perhaps because the person I was looking at did not exactly correspond to how I experience myself to be. I began to touch his feet, stomach, and head. Contrary to old wives’ tales, this did not cause any getting pulled into a stencil – this process deepened and maintained my lucid dreaming, as it was a type of sensory amplification. At some point, touching and examining the face, I all too clearly realized that it was me. Everything faded for a moment, and I even felt someone’s hands on my face. But I was then able to go back to what I was doing, and continued on with the same clarity of purpose. I wrapped up the experiment.

Here it dawned on me that I could not remember what else I had wanted to do. Quite disappointed, I now had to go on with doing the first thing that popped into my head, so as not to waste the rest of lucid dreaming as a result of my poor memory…

Such a question can only arise from not fully understanding the properties of the phenomenon and its nature. When one suddenly understands at a certain moment that he is just as real as he normally is, and is standing somewhere that is not in the physical world with his same hands and body, and can touch everything around him and discern fine details, such much emotion stirs up inside him that no questions arise at all. This is the most amazing experience that a person can attain!

The initial lucid dreaming encounter is always jolting and sometimes frightening. Depending on the individual, fear experienced during initial encounters with lucid dreaming occurs in about one-third of all cases. Even veteran practitioners encounter fear, which speaks to the profound nature of lucid dreaming state.

With time, as rapture ebbs and emotions wane, thoughts turn from the fact of the phenomenon itself towards how to somehow use it. And here, a fantastically diverse field of practical application opens up before the practitioner. These applications – which this book communicates – are not to be associated with the many unproven and dubious methods often described in sundry esoteric literature. The information presented herein is verifiable, practical, and attainable.

Whatever the nature of lucid dreaming – a state of mind, or perhaps an external experience – this is the sole opportunity to: visit any part of the world or universe; see people who are out-of-reach in real life, including relatives, the deceased, celebrities, and various creatures; communicate with the enormous resources of the subconscious mind and obtain information from it; realize desires that are unattainable in real life; model artistic productions; influence physiology, and more. These are not dull experiences. They are eminently personal and real.

To perform this technique, approach any person in lucid dreaming and ask him (or her) where to quickly find a desired object. An accurate answer is usually given straight away, and it should be followed. However, to avoid wasting time, do not forget to mention that the object must be found “quickly”, or specify that the object should be “nearby”. During this communication, under no circumstances should there be a doubt about the accuracy of the information, since otherwise it may lead to a simulation of what is expected.

The drawback of this technique is that it requires the presence of an animate person and good skill at communicating with objects in lucid dreaming, which can prove difficult.

Journeys Out of the Body (1971)

…This was a most unusual and vivid experience, and I don’t know if I want any more like it. I went to bed late, very tired, around two in the morning. The vibrations came in promptly without induction, and I decided to “do something” in spite of the need for rest. (Maybe this is rest.) After moving out easily, and visiting several places in quick sequence, and remembering the rest need, I attempted to get back to the physical. I thought of my body lying in bed, and almost immediately, I was lying in bed. But I quickly realized something was wrong. There was a boxlike contraption over my feet, evidently to hold the sheet off my legs. There were two people in the room, a man and a woman dressed in white whom I recognized as a nurse. They were talking softly a short distance from the bed.

My first thought was that something had gone wrong, that my wife had discovered me in some kind of coma and had rushed me to the hospital. The nurse, the sterile atmosphere of the room, and the bed all supported this. But something still didn’t feel right.

After a moment, the two stopped talking and the woman (nurse) turned and went out of the room, and the man approached the bed. I grew panicky because I didn’t know what he was going to do. I became more so as he bent over the bed and held gently but firmly onto each of my arms at the biceps, and looked at me with bulging, glistening eyes. Worst of all, I desperately tried to move, but could not. It was as if every muscle in my body were paralyzed. Inwardly, I writhed in panic, trying to get away as he brought his face down closer to me.

Then to my utter astonishment, he bent over further and kissed me on each cheek, and I actually felt his whiskers; the glistening in his eyes was tears. He then straightened up, released my arms, and walked slowly out of the room.

Through my terror, I knew that my wife had not taken me to the hospital, that this man was a stranger, that I was again in very much the wrong place. I had to do something, but all the will I could muster didn’t have any effect. Slowly, I became aware of a hissing in my head, much like a strong steam or air hiss. Through some dim knowing, I concentrated on the hiss and began to pulsate it, i.e., modulate it soft and loud. I made the pulsating go faster and faster in frequency, and in a few moments it had accelerated to a high-order vibration. I then tried to lift out and succeeded smoothly. Moments later, I was converging with another physical body.

This time, I was cautious. I felt the bed. I heard familiar sounds outside the room. The room was dark when I opened my eyes. I reached for the place where the light switch should be, and it was there. I turned on the light and sighed with great, great relief, I was back…

In the section on deepening and maintaining, it was noted that the more active a practitioner is while in lucid dreaming, the better. Conversely, if there is less activity, the quality of lucid dreaming declines, allowing for an easy exit. Thus, in order to leave lucid dreaming, the practitioner only needs to completely relax and ignore any perceived sensations, actions, or thoughts. A practitioner may also recite a prayer, mantra, or rhyme, since that helps the consciousness to be distracted from the situation more quickly. Of course, one needs to calm down and try to get rid of the fear, which in and of itself is capable of keeping such a state going. Periodically, the practitioner should try to move a finger in order to check whether attempts at relaxation have had an effect.