Unlikely Collaborators Spark Salon with Dr. Andrew Holecek

Most of us move through life assuming reality is something happening to us. We believe we’re simply observing the world as it is. But practices like lucid dreaming and dark retreat begin to reveal something far more complex: how much of our experience is actually being generated from within.

In dreams, we can become completely immersed in a reality the mind has created, emotionally reacting to it as if it were unquestionably real. Lucid dreaming is the moment we wake up inside that experience. We begin to recognize the dream while it’s still happening, shifting from passive participant to conscious observer.

According to contemplative scholar and author Dr. Andrew Holecek, the same thing often happens in waking life. We move through our days caught in thoughts, emotions, assumptions, identities, and automatic reactions without fully realizing how much they shape the reality we experience.

In this Spark Salon, Holecek explores lucid dreaming and dark retreat not as escapism or mysticism, but as profound tools for understanding consciousness, perception, and awareness itself. Drawing from decades of contemplative practice, scientific research, and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, he examines what happens when external stimulation quiets down and we begin observing the mind more directly.

As awareness deepens, our relationship to thoughts, emotions, fear, and even our sense of self can begin to shift. The boundaries between waking and dreaming become less fixed, revealing how fluid, constructed, and interpretable our experience of reality may actually be.

Blending neuroscience, contemplative wisdom, and lived experience, this conversation offers a thought-provoking exploration of what becomes possible when we learn to wake up inside our own experience.

6:00 p.m.: Doors open, reception
7:00 p.m.: Program begins promptly, doors close no late admittance
8:00 p.m.: Book signing and reception

Prior to the event you will receive an email from Unlikely Collaborators’ building registration system (coming from: [email protected]) to confirm your attendance and to offer pre-check in for the event. During the in-person check in process each attendee will be required to:

• Present a government-issued ID
• Take a photo for the building registration system
• Review and sign a general liability waiver and a house rules agreement (can be completed during pre-check in)
• Wear an event badge that displays your first name

No exceptions.

Attendance is complimentary, full and completed registration is required. Admission is granted on a first come, first served basis until capacity is reached. Doors open at 6:00pm and close promptly at 7:00pm. Late entry is not permitted as the event is being filmed and livestreamed.

No pets allowed (except for service animals), no outside food or beverages allowed.

Holecek is the author of Dreams of Light: The Profound Daytime Practice of Lucid Dreaming and Total Eclipse of the Mind: Unleashing the Power of Darkness for Creativity, Healing, and Transformation.

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