There is a long-standing series of accusations that cosmic_iron ripped off Raduga.  

Note that SSILD is actually nothing like The Phase, though.  SSILD is a series of specific going-to-sleep mental attention-shifting cycles, meant to induce lucid dreams while falling asleep and/or FAs by raising awareness (so the claim is).  The Phase's indirect methods are different, and focused on the moment of waking instead, in order to "separate" from your body and enter the dream.   So they're quite different in practice.

To me, SSILD is just one of a large number of  WILD anchors, meant to allow the dreamer to hold on to awareness while the body falls towards sleep.  

I am the creator of SSILD. Let me attempt to answer your question, concern, accusation, or whatever we may call that...

First, the reason I used the word "phase" on occasions is because there is a lack of better terms. I have preferred not to use the term "OBE", and the term LD is a bit narrow in scope. When I read Michael's text I liked the term he used so I cited it on occasions. However, that does not mean SSILD was based on the concept of the "Phase" or even remotely inspired by Michael's works.

There are fundamental differences between Michael's Direct/Indirect techniques and SSILD. SSILD is primarily a way to invoke DILDs. By performing a series of conditioning exercise, it prepares your mind/body for DILDs to occur. As such, it is advised to not expect WILD to occur (although they do occasionally occur during the cycles), and to fall asleep as quickly as possible after performing SSILD cycles. Michael's techniques, on the other hand, are all geared toward direct entry of dreams. In fact, if you focus too much on direct entry via SSILD then you will often fail and result in insomnia. Thus it is strictly discouraged for people to do that. Understanding SSILD is primarily a DILD method is key to using it successfully.

Michael's Direct Method is basically traditional WILD under a new name, whereas the Indirect Method is basically DEILD. They are a practical approach/solution to use those methods more effectively, but they are not revolutionary and can hardly be categorized as standalone methods. SSILD, on the other hand, is a distinctive method is both its application and philosophy. For example, it promotes a "relaxed/casual" approach to lucid dreaming. It is one of the very few techniques that is very forgiving -- does not require users to stay still and focused, nor does it require the users to master intricate mental exercises such as visualizations, relaxation and affirmation.

I understand why people tend to think there is similarity between SSILD and Michael's techniques. They both seem to revolve around the idea of "cycles." However, if you examine both techniques closely you will see they are fundamentally different:

1. SSILD cycles are fixed: visual/hearing/touch -- that's it, and in that particular sequence. Michale's cycles are comprised of a vast number of exercises such as squeezing brain, phantom wiggling, etc, and they are presented in an a la carte fashion.

2. The actions you perform in Michael's cycles are basically micro-techniques used for rapid dream entry upon awakening. This is different from SSILD's "focus on your senses" actions.

3. Michael's cycling is used as a chain of actions to be performed upon awakening, with each subsequent one used as a fallback. Once all actions are exhausted and the user becomes wide awake, the cycles are no longer useful. In the contrary, SSILD cycles are used to deepen the state, almost like self-hypnosis. Each cycle brings you closer to sleep, and deepens the mind/body condition which is optimized for DILD or occasional WILD to occur.

I won't get into more length with the differences since it is beyond the scope of this thread. If you like, you are more than welcome to discuss this with me in depth, preferably in the SSILD sub-reddit.

As a final note, I do find your use of the word "ripoff" offensive, and would appreciate you do not use that liberally. While the SSILD technique was originated from me, it was developed during my online teaching sessions and later refined by hundreds of people on our forum as a collaborated effort. We had no intention to rip it off from anyone, and it was developed to help people for FREE. Unlike Michael, who monetized his techniques, we did not, and never will have any commercial interest.  

Apologies. I made the comparison during a night shift and clearly didn't analyse the material well enough. You are right that they are different and my use of the word ripoff was uncalled for.

In regards to mixing the two methods. Do you use SSILD followed by indirect techniques upon the next wakening?  

I respect The Phase directions because they are so clear, and Raduga gives such detailed instructions on how to perform the direct/indirect approaches.   While in general there may be "nothing new," in specific form The Phase is a major contribution to LD practice instruction and well worth reading.  

They really aren't. The latter has been around much longer and the 'Direct' method in the book is exactly the same.  

Did you read the source material? It's the exact same method.    

Apology accepted :) To use SSILD with Indirect Techniques you take advantage of the fact that you, after performing SSILD sufficiently, are likely to wake up multiple times into a Phase or a state that is very close to the Phase, a "Pre-phase" perhaps? As such, if you perform the Indirect Techniques upon each awakening that's resulted from SSILD, you can easily enter the Phase. It's also worth noting that with SSILD, the awakening is usually associated with a much deeper and more stable Phase or Pre-phase than normal awakenings. This makes it much easier and more effective to perform the Indirect Techniques. The problem with plain Indirect Techniques is that one tends to directly enter full-awakening by forgetting to execute the techniques immediately. SSILD, on the other hand, can compensate this. First, you're likely to wake into a FA, which is basically a Phase (just different names). Second, even if you do wake up into the real world, your mind/body is still conditioned for easy re-entrance of the Phase, even when you have accidentally moved physically!

SSILD can also be used prior to performing Direct Techniques to achieve much faster dream entry instead of trying to fall asleep naturally (or what Michael calls "micro sleep") SSILD cycles are much easier to execute than other mental exercise such as relaxation and visualization. Just repeat the cycles multiple times you will move closer to a state that's more likely to result in Phase entrance.