Dreaming and Sleeping

Abstract

This chapter assesses what the phenomenology of different kinds of dreaming and sleeping can teach us with respect to musical absorption. Drawing on Evan Thompson’s work, I trace certain analogies between on the one hand, absorbed not-being-there and dreamless sleep and, on the other hand, ex-static absorption and lucid dreaming. With respect to the former pair, I begin an analysis of the nature of awareness without an intentional object, and in respect to the latter pair, I draw further connections to the science of out-of-body experiences.