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Originally posted by Nick
Frank,
The method I have principally used to get to the mind awake/body asleep state is the RB sequence of relaxation, trance, energy. What I have used to "focus" (by here I mean settling down and emptying the mind) has been a zen technique I learned over the years of following the breath.
Thank-you for the fuller explanation. Perhaps I ought to make clear here that I'm not at all sure how RB's work or Zen-techniques translate to Monroe's work. Problem is, I don't do any trance, energy-work, meditation, and suchlike. Astral exploration is all I am really interested in. Which is what I focus on more or less absolutely.
For a while I have suspected that people who were into "meditation" were attempting to achieve - and subsequently remain at - Monroe's Focus 10 state. But from your explanation of what follows when you say you reach that state, ie:
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What happens thereafter is that I settle in, get a lot of sensations such as energy moving, tingling vibrations, floating upwards, heaviness at times in the chest and body, pulsing brow center/chakra and maybe some other sensations I'm forgetting right now. The foregoing vary in degree and sometimes I'll experience more of some than others.
The conditions you are experiencing do not tally with my experience. (Of course, in saying that I am in no way suggesting I am the yardstick against which all others should be judged.)
A while ago I practiced activating various bodily Chakras. It was more out of curiosity than anything (the heart turned out to be my favourite). It was fun experiencing all manner of energy-rushes, tingling and vibrating sensations, and such like. However, none of this led me to actually project as I would normally do.
I figured, therefore, it was not enough to merely experience vibrations and/or other sensations in order to project. The question arose that perhaps they must be vibrations and/or other sensations of a particular kind, originating from some particular place. Well, like I say, that's what I figured. Whether such is true with everyone, I cannot be sure.
I've read your post carefully a number of times and conclude that our respective set of conditions at the point we call Focus 10, must be different. My reasoning is based on the following:
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Now to the point, it is at the stage that I am in in the preceeding paragraph where I believe I should move from breath awareness (which by now is barely imperceptible),
With me, at Focus 10, my whole focus of awareness has turned inwards and I have no feeling of a physical-body. Your description applied to breath awareness is: barely imperceptable. But with me, like I say, there is no perception whatsoever. Not just of breath, but no perception of anything to do with the physical body at all. So I think what you
may be experiencing is a similar condition I came across as described above, during the phase where I practiced stimulating bodily Chakras. But again I do stress that energy-work is something I know little about.
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to a more visual oriented aspect of focus. This is based on posts that I've read at this forum wherein people talk of imagining a particular scene, for example, and using that as a "gateway" to further focus levels.
The visuals you imagine at first are used mainly as a gateway to Focus 10. At which point the natural Phasing process is kick-started. Here you switch from perceiving visuals generated as part of an imaginary rundown, to perceiving visuals which begin being played to you as part of the Phasing process.
The visuals tend to have a kind of thread which you simply follow. As such they
do have the effect of being a kind of gateway to further focus levels. But the key difference is the visuals are actually being played to you, as opposed to you generating them.
I've mentioned before about how followers of the Moen-school Focussed Attention methods are taught to make contact with former loved-ones who are resident in an area they call the Afterlife. They do this by first imagining talking to them about some topic they would normally have done, and in a similar situation to which they would have been while Physical.
Next they are taught to be on the lookout for anything that comes about that is not on their imaginary script. If they perceive something to that effect, they follow along the thread of it and see where it leads.
The visual rundown example I gave in the monster thread follows along similar lines. Where you first choose some kind of metaphysical imagery to suit your tastes. Not something too simple else your mental focus will dissipate and you'll lose all realisation of Self as your body goes to sleep. But not something so complex and detailed you begin to engage in an act of creative visualisation. Which tends to prevent the body from falling asleep.
Doing this you start to get instances where suddenly you think, hang on a minute, I never imagined that! Which tends to have the unfortunate effect of zapping you out of it, at first.
So to answer your final point, the visual rundown can be anything you like. But in my experience it should follow the criteria given above. One simple and effective way I found with the Focus 10 CD is imagining I'm sitting in a small audience and Monroe is on-stage reciting the rundown.
The first few times I had moments where suddenly I'd think, "Hey, hang on a minute, for a moment there it felt like it was real!" Now (though I hesitate to say this) many times at the point of transition where the Phasing process is kick-started at Focus 10, I actually sense Monroe's presence.
Yours,
Frank
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