Scenario
Associated
Reality check &
Projection
SARP is a new lucid dream induction technique. The original concept was developed by our own IndigoGhost in his original "As Above So Below" write up that he has shared with a number of people. My intent here, is to capture the main aspects of AASB, point out some of the inherent originality and value and then propose one additional suggestion that can be used in conjunction with the original idea.
AASB
The As Above So Below idea centers around two basic concepts that we should all be familiar with. First, it reviews the propensity humans have to operate in a rather robotic mode. We get caught up in automatic mode all day long ... driving, doing routine repetitive chores and the like. This robotic behavior does nothing to facilitate mindfulnes during the day, let alone in the dream state. Second, there is the concept of parallelism between the dream and wakeful states. I won't go into tremendous detail here, but the whole idea of reality checks (RC) relies significantly on this concept. Engage in reality checks while awake to encourage reality checks while dreaming. OK, so why do RC based techniques lead to modest lucid dream success at best?
Think about your reality test. Let's take any one you can think of. Maybe you're fond of looking at your hands for anything odd. What invariably happens howver, is the very action you are doing to enhance awareness, becomes repetitive and ultimately falls into the category of human robotic action. You implement the reality check with modest attention, in a robotic way, ultimately diverging from the fundamental point of the reailty check.
The aspect of AASB that appears to be original is the idea that one should do reality tests in association with some object or scenario in waking reality space (WRS). So for instance, every time you pass a window, do a reality test. This keeps you a little more on your toes and if you judicially pick a target object that is common, you should happen upon that object in your dreamspace as well. Doing reality tests while encountering the target object in WRS, should bleed into the habit of doing reality tests while encountering the dream version of that object as well.
SARP
So the proposed techique goes a step or two deeper. Given the AASB paradigm, I think there should still be some concern that passing a WRS object and doing a reality test can still become robotic. You need to be careful about picking something that is common, but not so abundant that you are doing reality tests constantly. That will water down any effect on mindfulness and enter the realm of robotic behavior.
Perhaps the modified technique is best described by way of example:
Let's say my target object is a doorway. Every time I open a door and pass through I will do a reality check. But what kind of reality check? We would want something that forces us to use some actual critical thinking while going through the door, thus engaging the left brain. Let's say upon passing the doorway, I mentally project two time lines, one into the past and one into the future. I ask myself ... what was I just doing and how did I get here? I then ask ... what am I going to do next, is it reasonable? The goal of course is to implement these questions within ones dreamspace while passing doorways. Hopefully the left brain will kick into gear and lucidity will be achieved.
This is a very interesting technique. If you choose your target judiciously, you won't be doing reality checks constantly, but you'll be doing enough. More standard RC technqiues have never worked for me. When I tried this method, I had a lucid dream based on a projection reality test when I was by a (dream) doorway. It took 3 days of practicing SARP to achieve that. Not bad.
If you choose to try the SARP technique, think hard about a good WRS target. Also give some consideration to the precise projection questions you will use. Mix up these questions a bit during the day just to stay on your toes. I think if people try this technique in a motivated manner, they will be pleasantly surprised. As with any technique, give it some time before drawing conclusions, good or bad.
