Pilot witness

13 JAN 2011 Nearing the apparent conclusion of a lengthy and dramatic dream, I find myself running through narrow streets and building sites in an attempt to reach 'safety'. I recognise this as a fear-based situation and gradually become lucid. Scaffolding poles begin to fall around me, and I instinctively cover my head with my arm, even as I am beginning to sense that I cannot actually be harmed. As I consider my options, I realise that the first thing I should do is simply step out of the narrative; an option available to anyone, at any time, whether dreaming or awake (for only then can other options be clearly considered). And, sure enough, the moment I stop running everything around me becomes totally quiet and serene - eerily so, in fact. Looking into the distance, I see a huge metallic monolith blocking my way. Then I focus on what is immediately around me (rubble, a digger truck, wasteland) and feel this to be one of the most solid and 'realistic' dream environments I have ever experienced. So much so, in fact, that the prospect of flying or manipulating objects seems as unlikely as it does in waking reality. As an experiment, therefore, I resort to verbal commands (which have worked in the past). "Take me up there," I demand, looking at the giant monolith. But nothing happens. Of course, there was no compelling reason to go onwards, since I had stepped outside of the narrative. Indeed, there was nowhere to go at all, nor anything to achieve, in the absence of a linear context of some kind. [In the absence of the ego?] And this realisation filled me with a profound sense of bliss and freedom. As I contemplated the matter further, I felt that I was being given a valuable insight into the subtle nature of the prison (the egoic auto-pilot) which keeps most people enslaved. And it really is 'subtle', at the end of the day... Freedom itself being nothing more than a shift in one's perspective. Notes In light of the above dream, I would like to refine my description of OILD. Specifically, I would like to introduce the concept of a get out of jail free card (or 'option') which exists permanently in one's back pocket, so to speak, regardless of whether one is awake or asleep. In other words, it is not merely that one has other options to consider, in any given situation (context based), but that one [always] has the option to 'play the card' and transcend the context altogether. Indeed, this is the first option that one should utilise when 'triggered' to do so by obstacles, conflicts or fear-based situations, etc. Needless to say, it is not as easy as it sounds, because emotions, fear and ego tend to prevail. This is because we are totally identified with the 'narrative' of own waking lives and the resulting sense of identity. I suppose what I am ultimately referring to here is detachment, clarity of mind, and the dissolution of the apparent self (if only temporarily)... Which is, of course, the goal of many spiritual traditions, which also happen to see "lucid dreaming" as an indication of one's progress. "Use your perceived enemy to destroy your real enemy." OILD - Because there is ALWAYS another option!