Focus 10: Mind Awake/Body Asleep

[gil-galad]

 So I just have to continue observing passively the blackness in front of my eye, and my state will gradualy deepen by itself?Then, why does Monroe and other authors write that in order to get into condition C/D(focus 12), one needs to go down to a given level and return, going deeper and deeper each time and deepening the state in this way?

[CFTraveler]

So that you don't fall asleep.
In other words, going deeper in trance is not a thing you 'do', it's simply your brain getting closer and closer to a frequency that you usually fall asleep in.  So if you are in trance, and feel you are about to click out, you wake yourself up a little and then go back to doing the same thing- being a passive observer.  The earhiss is a way to get you synched quicker, but if you don't watch it you can go to sleep.  At some point you will find yourself in the right state, but it's not something you 'do' as in 'going somewhere', or 'moving the right way' but something you attain by letting yourself almost fall asleep without falling asleep.

[CFTraveler]

Since now I can't add to my own post, I'll add more to this-
When you reach a state (focus level, whatever you call it) you are not only teaching your brain to 'be there' without going to sleep, but you are teaching yourself how it feels to be in that state.  Sometimes you can deepen the focus enough to project, sometimes you fall asleep.  Obviously the more you do this- get to where you're almost out, yet bring yourself back, you teach your brain to stay awake while this has happened.  So the more you do this the deeper you get.  See?  But it's not a matter of 'doing' something.  Noticing and listening (and other meditative techniques) are devices to keep you from losing focus, getting bored and going to sleep.

[gil-galad]

 Thank you for the explanation. So, I just have to observe something passively( blackness in front of me,...etc), while letting myself into sleep state more and more, without falling asleep completely. And in this way sooner or later, I will reach a state deep enough to project.

[CFTraveler]

Yep.