My sessions don’t seem to be as productive as they were a few weeks ago either, I think I’ve hit a bit of a dip… which is natural from what I’ve heard from other people who meditate regularly. The important thing is to meditate through the slump, taking a few days off as a break just makes things worse. I’ve found some free local meditation classes which is helping me stay inspired and motivated. I’ve also officially registered for the Gateway Voyage at TMI in August, which I’m super excited for.
This happens to everybody, don't worry. A problem that many people have when they first try to do OBEs without having done nothing (or almost) before and try to reach that goal is that they focus their mind on the wrong things. Don't worry about exiting, worry about the meditation, if you do it right and you learn how the meditate properly (having 100% concentration and losing really in what you are doing) exiting the body becomes a trivial task.
Usually a course of study is really necessary before being able to exit the body voluntarily. People that doesn't do this can still exit the body, but the results are random. This is for the motive that they didn't actually master the steps that bring about the practice. A musicist doesn't learn a piano concert at first, he exercise on single notes, then a group of them, and so on. He constructs a base of working that when acquired will enable him to do everything easily. This is the best way to approach these things.
I suggest you for example to take a look at Liber HHH part AAA of Crowley (google it). You will see that the meditation is closely related to the body. Now, also if it's not really an OBE meditation you can clearly understand that for a person that can do the same easily exiting the body is as easy as a child's play.
This is to say to you to focus primarly on the means, not the end, this last will come by itself.
One new abnormal event that’s happened to me that hasn’t been mentioned yet is I’ve experienced the ability of parallel thinking. That is, I’ve actually been able to think two thoughts at once while in a meditative state. It basically happened by accident, since I was actually trying to clear my mind but had lost my grip on the mantra. The thing is, my mantra was still going and yet I was also perceiving/interpreting images in my mind’s eye. I then became self-aware of both my focus on the mantra as well as the interpretation of the images.. after a short while they both stopped as I broke both trains of thought.
This is normal. The first stage of a mantra requires all attention, and many exchange the first stage for the last, in fact. In the second the mantra continues almost by its own will and you can still think also if on a different level. The third stage is acquired when the mantra loses all its meaning but it still shields all thoughts. This part is when the mantra ceases to exist altogheter and the mind becomes totally blank.
As far as the actual OBE exit techniques, a problem with my process had been identified to me. The reason I wasn’t liking the exit techniques and why they seemed to pull me out of the meditative state was because I had associated the technique with my physical body. As I would focus on the technique, my awareness of my physical body would increase. So instead of going deeper “inward”, I was coming back “outward” to my body. I have to thank Selea for this. The solution to this appears to be focusing on visualization… associate the exit technique with a visualized body… not my own. Theoretically at some point I should be able to shift my point of consciousness into that imaginary thought-form by “feeling” for it. Wow.. that sounds vague to me even as I write it but at my current state of spiritual knowledge I believe it to be possible.
Also in this case you have these sort of problems (as have all people that do these things without proper training first) because you are accustomed to associate yourself to your physical body, as I've said. For example in Liber O (where Crowley talks about Astral Projection) he says clearly that an absolute control of God-forms is essential before being able to create the Body of Light. This is natural. A God-form enable you to focus solely on that image enveloping your body to the exclusion of all else. There is a point in the discipline when this "form" actually exists on its own, as real as it is your physical body (and this last doesn't exists no more, your consciousness is in the "form"). When you have learned this the Body of Light is easy to create. Without, it's a pain.
Naturally there are sidesteps to overcome this lack of knowledge. One is what I told you to do. The act of creating a duplicate of your body to see in 3d view actually "trick" the mind (after a bit of practice) to follow the same, till you find "inside" the same (it mimicks a bit the assumption of a God-form). Another is explained in the document I linked you, where you actually begin separating all body and astral parts one at a time. The most powerful, however, remains mastering God-forms, for various reasons.
Naturally, then (and I will not lie to you), there are also some "tricks" that can be teached, however sadly these are only doable in person, because you have to watch the student doing the thing "astrally". Crowley insisted many times that he could make a person "go out" either at the first try. This seems to being the case in many circumnstances also in my experience. However these "tricks" are only to let a student really understand some points that were already within him/her, in reality they serves only to really make learn the student that he can surely do it. Many times this "fear of success" (or doubt that you cannot do it) is present in almost everyone. The "tricks" removes the same, and when this is out of the equation (also if it is difficult to believe) the rest is much easier.
I’ll continue to post my progress and any major trials/events. My ultimate goal has changed into more than just having an OBE, it’s about evolving and understanding my consciousness as much as possible.
This is really good. It is a sign of your real progress. Also if you can think that your end has not come, on the contrary you have learned something that it's much more useful. Doing work without lust for result. When you completely learn this, along with the methods of working all becomes easy.
Best regards,
Selea
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