During the practice of indirect techniques, including technique cycles, unsuccessful attempts may result in falling asleep or becoming completely awake. These results indicate a deficiency or excess of aggression.

If a practitioner usually falls asleep while attempting to enter the phase, then more aggressive action is needed while performing indirect techniques. If, on the other hand, most attempts end in a full and alert awakening, then aggression should be curbed and techniques should be conducted more slowly and in a more relaxed manner. Balance between passivity and aggression is imperative; the phase state is easily attained by those practitioners who find a stable medium between passivity and aggression.

The issue of aggression requires a closer examination. Quite often, attempts at indirect techniques are made leisurely, without desire or real effort, to "check them off the list". Results more easily realized if the practitioner possesses an aggressive desire to enter the phase. More often than not, practitioners lack aggressive desire, instead of having too much of it. Thus, each effort requires a distinct want to succeed.

Strategy For Action

Some mistakenly believe that indirect techniques will produce quick, easy results, like a pill. Despite the fact that the techniques described in this guidebook are the best means to entering the phase, strong effort still needs to be exerted. This is not important for some, as everything comes quite easily to them, but for others this is of great importance.

Indirect techniques will definitely work if practiced consistently and as described. It has already been noted that in the majority of cases, making several concentrated attempts upon awakening without movement is sufficient enough to produce results. It may take a lot of time and effort to achieve phase entrance, so practitioners who set goals and work diligently will be presented with a crown of success.

Attempts are important in large measure not only for the final result, but also for the process itself. During practice, the practitioner independently learns and solves issues that may not have been understood in the guidebook. Other times, the practitioner will encounter situations that have never been described at all. It's impossible to prepare a student for every possible scenario, so as a practitioner moves deeper into practice, a unique, individual perspective and portfolio of experiences develops, which will certainly prove useful in the future. Until then, diligent practice of the information presented in this book will ready a practitioner for that personal frontier.

Actions in practice require strict attention. Study the techniques and selects those that work best. Set the goal of consistent, conscious waking without movement. Make an objective of performing cycles of indirect techniques while waking up, day in and day out. With such a clear course of action, the practitioner should never defocus his attention or dissipate his energy on other related actions, like, for example, on direct techniques for entering the phase. If the indirect techniques do not work in the course of several days, continue trying. The latest results occur in a matter of weeks, not months or years, like some sources maintain. Goals are meant to be stubbornly pursued, step-by-step, firmly, and diligently.

If no results occur after 10 to 20 days, it is better to cease practice for a week and take a rest, and then return with a fresh resolve to master the practice. Interestingly enough, it is exactly during such a break that spontaneous entrances into the phase through the most diverse methods occur.

If success is still elusive even after 1 to 2 months of trying, then a thorough analysis of the regimen should be conducted to root out any obvious mistakes or deficiencies. If overcoming them proves difficult or impossible, switching over to direct techniques is not recommended since they prove much more difficult than indirect techniques. Instead, techniques for entering the phase through conscious dreaming should be practiced.

It is also not worth skipping over problematic areas and trying to make up for mistakes by expending even more effort. For example, ignoring the precondition of awakening without moving will prove fruitless. Bypassing this requirement works for very few people. Facing every problem head-on and working hard to break through will be richly rewarded with an unforgettable, treasured experiences. Keep trying!