Well, controlling energy & will are simple concepts, that apply in our everyday lives, & within magic.

Writing an essay is a good example. Most people will take a break, or allow their minds to wander slightly, whilst writing an essay. Even during an important exam, very few people will not let their minds wander for a few seconds from the subject matter.

In terms of visualisation / thought control, very few people have the ability to hold one single thought or image in their mind for an extended time, without letting other thoughts wander in on them. This kind of control takes practice.

This is the 2nd exercise of step 1 in Bardon's IIH, which should give you more food for thought :

The next exercise will consist in not giving way in our mind to thoughts obtruding themselves on our mind, unwanted and obstinate. For instance, we must be able not to occupy ourselves any longer with the tasks and worries of our profession when we come home from work and return the family circle and privacy. All thoughts not belonging to our privacy must be set aside, and we ought to manage to become quite a different personality instantly. And just the other way round: in our job, all thoughts have to be concentrated in it exclusively, and we must not allow them to digress or wander home, to private affairs, or elsewhere. This has to be practiced time and again until it has developed into a habit. Above all, one ought to accustom oneself to achieve whatever one does with full consciousness, whether in professional work or in private, regardless whether the point is a big one or a trifle. This exercise should be kept for a lifetime, because it is sharpening the mind and strengthening the consciousness and the memory.

Apparently I'm "ra red feather"....

Quite a camp name, I know. But, I guess I'll have to live with it !

hi krys..

welcome to the forums. I think that you'll enjoy it here !

mark

I have to agree with catmeow.... Anyone from the UK who remembers his blinding transition from coventry goalkeeper (i think) to "son of god", will still be amazed at the amount of money he is earning through book sales.

Personally (!) I believe that his books are a "bit" of a scam. David Icke seems to me to be a classic lesson about how people's lives can be manipulated.

Anyway, enough of my rants... Has anyone had any experience of the following ? If so, what did you experience ?

Let's try and take the experience for what it is. We're here now and perceiving things, even though it is a mind-created structure we just can't pierce it completely.

It's like when you know you're in a dream and dealing with materialized thoughts, but to transcend that would turn everything off.

So you're there on the verge of your life, and you happen to see 2 tunnels, one white and one golden, and you remember having read this, which one would you choose?

For the sake of exploration I guess I would consider taking the golden one.

One time in deep trance I saw my right arm bright golden, and the left arm pale white, I was attracted to the golden.

Hi there Micko, I know exactly what you mean !  

I haven't got "mastering astral projection", but RB's first book was fantastic, and IMO was a major contributing factor into me having several OBEs.

With these book courses, you really have to commit yourself to them. Accept that you won't succeed straight away, and commit yourself to 15mins or 30mins, (or more if you can) practise every day.

Good luck to you !

Mark

hi...reading my post again, I thought I'd correct something  :

I'd recommend that people don't "boast" to their friends, or shout out about OBEs. In my experience, this'll only make your friends believe that you are a loony.

I don't want to give the impression that all my friends think I'm crazy !
only a few of 'em do ! heh heh.

Mark

hi Micko, I like this topic.... IMO, there's a fine line between the symptoms of some mental illnesses, & the symptoms that we report when we have an "OBE".

Whether or not there is any common ground between the two, its hard to say. I believe that there is.

I'd recommend that people don't "boast" to their friends, or shout out about OBEs. In my experience, this'll only make your friends believe that you are a loony.

Hi there Telos, I agree with what your saying. There does seem to be evidence that the brain is acting as some kind of filter for the "higher" dimensions. Drugs seems to be able to open & close this filter, as does meditation. I hope that you can track down Robert monroe's 3 books, they are excellent. I would send them to you, but I think I've got them back at my parents house in the UK, stored away !

I honestly can't recall whether, within his books, he mentioned that he shared the opinion of the brain being a "filter"....but looking at his books as a whole, I believe he did.
kind regards,
Mark

boring moderators ?! we aren't boring !! hee hee...

Just joking Kazbadan - I get what you're saying. If you have any poll ideas (within reason of course), send them to a moderator & we'll set them up.

mark

Heter I agree with people that you don't have a disease if you function as a normal individual.

About integrating with society, IT CAN BE LEARNED. I have myself as an example:)
What is your problem with people ?

Is it fear to talk to them, do you dislike most people or what ?

I sort of fear people. I fear being seen by a stranger because of what they might think of me. I also don't like the way most people act and think. I used to go out and have friends, but It just didn't feel right. I am now out of school and spend my days in my room alone. Not doing anything to productive and afraid to go outside in fear of what people might think of me. I am also ashamed in my appearance. I beleive this contributes to my fear of people. I feel like an outcast or a freak for the way I am in every aspect. Especially the way I look. I look at spirituality as an escape in a way, and I also look at it as being very important and that I can learn from it and better myself. I don't spend much time on energy work or obe anymore though. I stopped because I wasn't seeing amazing results. It's the way I am to stop and never finish what I begin. There hasn't been one thing I have ever managed to complete.

Hi there Heter, it sounds like you're going through a real low at the moment.

In order to get out of it, one of the first things you need to do is accept the way you look. In fact, you have to genuinely like the way you look. I don't mean this in a conceited way; I'm just saying that one can find beauty in anything, but it is often hard to see at first.

Not only do you need to accept yourself physically, but you also must accept the person that you are, mentally. Perhaps you might find Franz Bardon's exercise on Soul mirrors useful here... Its in his book, Initiation into Hermetics. This exercise forces you to confront every aspect of your personality, positive & negative. Then it allows you to change the parts you do not like.

People often say "a leopard can't change his spots", but this just isn't true. Happy people do fall into depressive states, or fall upon hard times. Unhappy people often change their outlooks on lives as they grow older, & become very positive people, unrecognisable from when you knew them e.g. 10years previously.

Ok, I'm probably going to start sounding like some kind of crappy life-coach type person, but who cares...
1) get outside. Walk with your head held high, looking at the horizon. Take a stroll through a park, and enjoy it !
2) if you have family, spend a bit of time with them, even if its only going to the shops or just watching tv with them.
3) try and do a good deed for someone each day.

This advice might seem like rubbish, but give it a go. Maybe it'll help you feel a bit happier about yourself, I hope it does !!

Mark

Hi Douglas !

I do agree with Bruce Moen's comments.

However I've got a couple of other thoughts to add in; it seems strange that ghosts are rarely witnessed by more than one person at a time. It seems to me, that if a "ghost" was fully manifest in the physical, then anyone could perceive it.

Perhaps, when your girlfriend saw her fully-fledged ghost a couple of years ago, she was perceiving the same focus 23 that the ghost inhabited.

Or, perhaps she was perceiving both a combination of the physical world, & focus 23 at the same time.

A couple of years ago, my girlfriend's mother was in Brighton. Staying at her son's house, she woke in the middle of the night to see a figure, dressed in white, holding flowers and standing at the foot of her bed. A classic ghost experience, but also perhaps, a classic example of "astral sight" ?

Another thing - perhaps some ghosts aren't of the "lost souls" type that Moen refers to. Could the thoughts of a living individual, influence the perceptions of someone else, maybe living next door, maybe living miles away ? I believe that Bob Monroe has an example of this kind of thing in his 1st book, but unfortunately I don't have it with me.

Kind regards,

Mark

hey there Ginny ! nice to have you back !

Kind regards,
Mark

hi there Habib !

The answer to your question, IMO, is "yes". Dreams / daydreams / lucid dreams are all connected very closely with astral travel.

I'm not sure how to expand on this at the moment....perhaps someone else can, or a search through this forum will provide more info.

Suffice to say, that dreams & lucid dreams should not be "negated" as having less value/reality than astral travel.

kind regards,
Mark

Clandestino, the black and white smoke both happen as part of the process for electing a new pope. The Cardinals of the Church are literally locked away in isolation until they reach consensus on a new pope. If they take too long, they may be denied food and water. The black smoke is a way for them to communicate to the outside world that they have not reached a decision yet, and the white smoke means that they have.

Ah....thanks Telos !

Hi there S7,

I can reach a deep level of physical relaxation

this needs to be very deep, on the borderline of sleep, if you are to acheive conciously induced OBE. You need to be feeling so relaxed that you can barely sense your physical body.

At this point, your visualization skills should help you out. This is the point where you need to turn your thoughts inward, away from physical distractions e.g. an itch in your leg, the sensations of blood rushing through your veins.

This is the point where you need to turn your focus completely away from the physical world. I have only been able to acheive it conciously on a few occasions; I can best describe it, as letting your mind wander, with a sense of purpose. There is a sense of relaxation, not a sense of applied effort.

Furthermore, your visualisation shouldn't be too detailed. Make sure you are making use of your other senses, taste, touch, etc. "Feel" that you are in a non-physical environment.

One last thing - you need to believe, on a very deep level, that the above is possible.

Don't be discouraged by what you see as a lack of success. Relax, take your time, & enjoy.

Kind regards,
Mark

welcome to the site, Magical Mother ! I like your username !

Kind regards,

Mark