ACQUIRINGFIRST-HANDKNOWLEDGE 485
dreams is accessible to him in waking hours, he may
sometimes get proof of the reality of his dream if he will
note some physical detail of the scene and verify his
nocturnal impression next day.
He will next find that he can, during sleeping hours, visit
any place he desires upon the face of the Earth and
investigate it a great deal more thoroughly than if he had
gone there in the dense body, because in his desire body he
has access to all places, regardless of locks and bars. If he
persists, there will at last come a day when he need not wait
for sleep to dissolve the connection between his vehicles,
but can consciously set himself free.
Specific directions for freeing the higher vehicles cannot
be given indiscriminately. The separation is brought about,
not by a set formula ofwords, but rather byan act of will,
yet the manner in which the will is directed is individual,
and can therefore be given only by a competent teacher.
Like all other real esoteric information, it is never sold, but
comes only as a result of the pupil qualifying himself to
receive it. All that can be done here is to give an indication
of the first steps which lead up to the acquirement of the
faculty of voluntary clairvoyance.
The most favorable time to exercise is on first
awakening in the morning, before any of the worries and
cares of daily life have entered the mind. At that time one is
fresh from the inner Worlds and therefore more easily
brought back into touch with them than at any other time of
the day. Do not wait to dress, or sit up in bed, but relax the
body perfectly and let the exercises be the first waking
thought. Relaxation does not mean simply a comfortable
position; it is possible to have every muscle tense with
expectation and t hat of its elf frustrates the object, for in t hat