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feeling that it's important - and then everything will work. If he lies down to perform a direct technique with intense desire to enter the phase right then and there and no matter what, then nothing will happen. There won't be any phase without a cool, indifferent attitude. If there is anxiety or expectation, nothing will happen. An advanced practitioner would not even attempt direct techniques if he felt excessive anxiety or desire regarding phase entrance. He only makes attempts when he's cool and collected, as well as more or less indifferent to the result. Deep down, of course, he's not indifferent. His desire is deeply held - it is not of the superficial type that physiologically interferes with obtaining results. As soon as the practitioner understands the significance of this principal, the effectiveness of his phase entrance attempts will suddenly improve. The only exception might be using the direct method to enter the phase in conjunction with the deferred method. In this case, the techniques can take on substantially more importance, and deeply-held intention less importance. This depends on how long one has been awake after sleeping. Such attempts are more similar to the indirect method in terms of effectiveness. BECOMING CONSCIOUS WHILE DREAMING For the experienced practitioner, becoming conscious while dreaming requires the least effort and attention of all. He essentially only does two things in order to guarantee dream consciousness during the middle of the night, or better yet - with the deferred method. First, he creates an interesting plan of action that will lure him into a dream. Next, while falling asleep, he simply desires to experience dream consciousness, but without dwelling on it too much or being obsessive about it. That's all! The practitioner would be quite surprised if nothing worked at all. Once again, everything depends on correctly forming an intention. An experienced practitioner forms an intention in a fundamentally different way than a novice. A novice would think to himself, "I want to become conscious in a dream",