Nerefa

I was trying to break a kid free from a school that was imprisoning him. It was a long process of avoiding the campus police, as this was the largest campus I had ever seen, and I kept getting lost.

I eventually got him out of there, and he climbed one of the tall fences out onto the city road.

As I crossed the street, I turned into my dragon and spent time in the city.

I eventually went into a beautiful, massive building. I’m not well-versed in building architecture, so I’m not sure what type of building it was exactly. A cathedral? A monestary? The floors were a glossy white, surrounded by pillars decorated with blues, reds, and golds. There were multiple levels you could climb up, each hall winding along the walls.

I went through the front door for once! I had a respect for this building that I don’t normally feel.

I wandered up each floor all the way to the top, then back down.

I spent this time being mindful of my perceptions and body, feeling the numb, warm, comfortable tingling sensation of sleep. I’ve been thinking of using this to recognize dreams, since it’s a physical feeling that’s always present in sleep.

I took a moment to check in with my senses and perception, thinking about how surprising it is that so many people don’t expect dreams to feel real.

Everything feels completely real and vivid, identical to waking experience (aside from that sense of the body laying comfortably numb in bed).

I wouldn’t be able to tell it was a dream just based on my eyesight, touch, or other senses.

I exited the dream for a moment and sat in pure aware sleep. Then I re-entered the dream again, reappearing in the same spot.

I had atajen pictures on my phone and was amazed at how my mind could create these pictures, yet I can’t draw anything nearly that realistic.

A monk walked by, wearing orange robes. I asked him if he knew what lucid dreamers were.

He answered “Yes, I’m talking to one.” with a smile.

“Oh, excellent. Do you have any recommendations for me?” I asked, happy that he knew me. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, or what I should do.

He then turned and pointed towards the stairs. “Yes. If you walk up, you can get to the top. It’s a couple of stories, but there’s a nice spiraling staircase at the top that’s worth the journey.”

I nodded. “Thank you. I was just there. It was lovely.” I said.

I could feel myself about to wake up. It’s morning and my body is ready to get out of bed. I stayed in the dream a bit longer.
“I have a few minutes at most.” I said.

“Ah.” he replied, understanding what I meant.

He was going to show me something else, but as I was walking with him, I woke up.