I agree with the goal of integration, certainly no disagreement there. This is "merely" a matter of approach, though that's understating it as most things are "merely" a matter of approach. I would even go so far and say a multitude of approaches lead to the same end, but many in a roundabout way. So it is not a matter if you arrive but how and when. But again, that borders on the tautological because I believe that all beings will evolve. It is more in facilitating a way that makes it easier, smoother to do so than in making it happen. The Universe is already set up for evolution - at least I believe so.
Now, to answer your questions... One can adopt a preliminary, provisional belief. I have been taught so and it can be helpful. You don't have to accept it as true or make it your own, but only explore "What if this were true?" Your own sense of the truth will eventually lead you as to whether the belief is useful to you or not. So it is merely a suggestion, something you try on for size, and definitely not meant to replace your own judgment on the matter. In the end it is your process of personal evolution, your existence, and you live with the consequences.
Having said so much in the lead-in, my suggestion would be to adopt a provisional belief along these lines: "In waking the conscious guides, in dreaming the unconscious guides." You can see if you are able to temporarily hold such a provisional belief. Some people won't, wouldn't want to, or can't. That is fine. It is just an experiment in consciousness to see if anything changes as a result. Now, if you are able and willing to hold this belief for the sake of an "What if" experiment, see if your dreams change. See if your dreams try to guide you.
Guidance can come from the environment - a subtle goading, the appearance of a door waiting to be opened. Guidance can also come from a being that actively engages you. It can be subtle, a mere hint, clue, or suggestion. It can be overt. Your beliefs will always impact the way you dream and act in dreams. On all levels. So if you are able to work with your beliefs in some form, your experience might change as well. And the real fun is in discovering what changes and how.
Of course this is only one provisional belief one can hold. So many are possible! But the real key skill is not holding a belief temporarily, though it is vital, a precondition. The key skill is to observe truthfully the consequence, like a true scientist of consciousness. To see what is even if it challenges one's assumptions. To not see what simply isn't, even if one would think it would be better if it were. Honest to oneself and to the subject at hand, a definite use of an incisive and critical mind.
As to other elements of integration - this kind of depends on what you find in your experiments. Integration happens by bringing balance into things. Observing seemingly disparate things may create insight where the balance lies. Unlike some do believe it is not always the middle, but in broad terms it is often on a continuum. To use an oversimplified analogy: A scale rotating on a pivot does not always balance "in the middle." It balances depending on the weight on each side and the length of each arm. Balance then exists somewhere in every pair but requires some fiddling, experimenting, observing, understanding, and resolving. (Balancing pairs can in turn lead to more integration, to find balance in all things. This can lead to a greater capability to absorb and understand.)
One final remark. Illusion and clarity to me are not opposites in the sense of polar opposites. Illusion is the absence of clarity. Once clarity is achieved, illusion is absent. Within any given area they do not turn into each other. The expansion of clarity dispels the other. Light does not change into darkness. There is either light or no light, but illumination and darkness are results of the presence and absence of light, darkness has no inherent nature. It is a subtle distinction. But it makes a fundamental difference: In balanced opposites opting for one to the exclusion of the other brings imbalance. But one does not err in aiming to be more clear. You do not fall back into ignorance. You do however rise to a new level and will have to refine clarity further.
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