(idea) by stash Tue Mar 06 2001 at 2:41:30
Afternoon Astral Projection & Lap Of Luxury

  • After getting not nearly enough sleep last night, I slipped into the study lounge around 11:30 and, after reading some of Greg Egan's Diaspora, fell into a light nap (ideal for lucid dreaming). I awaken in the lounge, other students silently scribbling or reading. Muted sunlight slants in through the window slats, warming my body sprawled on the couch. Then I wake again, still on the couch, fellow students still scribbling. And again. And again. One of those classic dreams where you go through a seemingly endless series of false awakenings. Dreams inside dreams inside dreams. For my own psyche, these inevitably serve as a kind of lesson or selection effect. It repeats until I become aware enough to do something different. So I finally wise up and rise from the couch upon my next iteration. I remember that I have been planning a specific act to perform while lucid. Walking out of the lounge I look for a quiet spot where I can sit in solitude. Unfortunately the couch I am sleeping on is hard and uncomfortable, so I am not firmly planted in the dream reality. I find a place and sit cross-legged with my back against a wall. Closing my eyes, I slow my breathing to my accustomed two breaths per minute. My intention is to practice some dream meditation as a launching pad for astral projection. But the hard couch foils my plans and I wake for the last time in the reality I haven't yet managed to wake up from. (Well, at least not permanently.)

  • Later that night... I am staying with my girlfriend in a luxurious guest house behind a new mansion her parents have bought. The building is white with Roman columns and filled with antique furniture. What we are really interested in, though, is the adjacent bath house. Inside there's a sauna and two huge tubs. Genery gets the big one going with hot water and we climb in for a relaxing soak. Later that night we're going to the theatre.

I like it!