HOW TO REMEMBER DREAMS

At the time of waking you should not be in a hurry, you may remain there as long as you wish, you may not even open your eyes, keeping the head where it was you make yourself like a tranquil mirror within and concentrate there. You catch just a tiny end of the tail of your dream. You catch it and start pulling gently, without stirring in the least, gently... and then a first part comes, a little later another. You are going backward, slowly, and suddenly the whole dream reappears: "Ah, there ! it was like that." Above all, do not stir, you repeat the dream to yourself several times, once, twice, until it becomes clear in all its details. Once that dream is settled, you continue not to stir, quietly you try to go further in, and suddenly you catch the tail of something else. It is more distant, more vague, but you can still seize it. And here also you hang on, get hold of it and pull, and you see that everything changes and you enter another world; all of a sudden you have an extraordinary adventure — it is another dream. You follow the same process. You repeat the dream to yourself, once, twice, until you are sure of it. You remain very quiet all the time. Then you begin to penetrate still more deeply into yourself, as though you were going in very far, very far; and again suddenly you see a vague form, you have a feeling, a sensation... like a current of air, a slight breeze, a little breath, and you say, "Well, well..." It takes a form, it becomes clear -- and the third category comes. You must have a lot of time, a lot of patience, you must be very quiet in your mind and body, very quiet, and you can tell the story of your whole night from the end right up to the beginning.

The gulf between dream-truth, earth-fact was crossed,
The wonder-worlds of life were dreams no more;
His vision made all they unveiled its own:
Their scenes, their happenings met his eyes and heart
And smote them with pure loveliness and bliss.