Pinch Drunk

Wow, last post was a long one. Here is something a bit shorter. One of my UBBT7 goals is to read 6 books on meditation. Just finished my third one; Genuine Happiness: Meditation as the Path to Fulfillment, by B. Alan Wallace. This is Buddhist meditation, and I got ALOT out of it. Too much to soak in in just one read. Highly reccommend this book, but here is an excerpt I really liked.

"Very recently I was surprised and delighted to find that I could hover at will in midair. This felt so real that I was confident I wasn't dreaming, but I pinched myself just to test my assumption. Sure enough, I felt the pinch on my leg, which reinforced my conviction that I really could levitate. I later worke up, though, and since then I haven't been able to become airborne again. So either I was dreaming I could levitate, or I'm now in the midst of a prolonged dream in which I seem to be grounded for life."

After reading this, I realized two things. First, I've often had dreams about being able to hover in mid-air. In fact, its one of my most pleasant dreams, and I've always taken it as a FACT, that I can hover in mid air, and that I enjoy it. Never questioned it, not in my dreams, and not in my awake time. Second, in my dreams, I often do pinch myself to test whether I am dreaming or not. I don't think I've ever pinched myself in my awake time, except to stop myself from falling asleep.

Claire Finnamore, Student Member, Silent River Kung Fu.