There are two ways to wake at night, and the books take care to tell them apart.

The first is the lucid dream. You are dreaming, and you realize it. The dream goes on, but you are awake inside it. Much of what you see is still made by your own mind, and it can change in a moment.

The second is astral projection, also called astral travel. You leave the body consciously, often feeling yourself lift out of it. You find yourself in a place that does not change when you blink. It has laws of its own, as the physical world does. People describe it as more real than waking life.

At first the two are hard to tell apart, and it hardly matters. Learn from wherever you find yourself. A dream understood can teach more than a journey that is only exciting.

Most people begin with lucid dreams. The first two practices of this part, remembering and asking, lead there first. From a lucid dream the way out is short. Stop following the story, give a little jump intending to float, and ask to be taken where you need to go. If the dream dissolves and you wake, do not move, and begin the crossing of page 56 at once.

Knowing which you want first gives your nights a direction.