introducing myself

[schockstuhh]

hello, i'm schockstuhh. i've kinda been on a quest to figure out the meaning behind life. a lot of stuff has happened over the years of my life and all i can say is that i'm almost COMPLETELY sure that everything happens for a reason. anywho, on with my experience:

about a month ago i started doing research on out of body experiences and astral projecting and about a week or two later i had my first experience! i hadn't been making that much progress but i was able to achieve some body numbness and "tingly" feelings from laying down and simply trying to leave my body. but one day i slept during the day and i woke up a few times and i heard a loud ringing in my ears and with my eyes closed, my vision would become bright white even though it was dark and i was under my blanket. the 3rd time this happened that day, i saw a girl singing in the middle of the white light and once i noticed what was going on, i tried "rolling" out of my body and i did so successfully after a few tries. my vision was really blurry and i was kinda confused as i looked down at my body and even touched it which was reaaaal weird haha. i felt like i was floating and i attempted to walk through my wall but i kinda just ran into it. this confused me even more so then i began to wake up and woke up back in my body.

my questions:
is there a difference between astral projecting and out of body experiences?
i also want to start my quest to enlightenment and from what i've read, it requires mastery of AP and a lot of energy work. i need help finding somewhere to start. i've experimented with the "purple flame" meditation and i was able to get some "tingly" sensations from that and also numbness in my legs.
also what's the best position to practice in because i've only been able to find success while laying on my side but that's from waking up and i think the idea is to achieve an OBE while being conscious.

thanks!

[Xanth]

Hi there schockstuhh!

Welcome to the Astral Pulse. 

is there a difference between astral projecting and out of body experiences?

Some people say there is a difference only in the "destination".  An OBE takes you to the RTZ and an AP takes you to the Astral Plane.
Some other people think there's no difference.  My opinion is that... it's all just the "non-physical".

For starters... I generally point them towards Phasing, as I feel it's the easiest method for learning to project.  Give it a shot and see what you think.
http://www.astralpulse.com/frankkepple.html

[Greytraveller]

Hello schockstuhh and welcome
While knowledge and technique Are important for inducing OBEs deliberate intent and desire are The 2 most important factors. You obviously already have those 2 most important factors and knowledge and technique can be found here.
Look forward to reading your posts in the forums.

Regards 
Grey

[Timandra]

Hi schockstuhh, welcome to the Astral Pulse! 

[NoY]

Welcome to the Pulse 

:NoY:

[CFTraveler]

hello, i'm schockstuhh. i've kinda been on a quest to figure out the meaning behind life. a lot of stuff has happened over the years of my life and all i can say is that i'm almost COMPLETELY sure that everything happens for a reason. anywho, on with my experience:

about a month ago i started doing research on out of body experiences and astral projecting and about a week or two later i had my first experience! i hadn't been making that much progress but i was able to achieve some body numbness and "tingly" feelings from laying down and simply trying to leave my body. but one day i slept during the day and i woke up a few times and i heard a loud ringing in my ears and with my eyes closed, my vision would become bright white even though it was dark and i was under my blanket. the 3rd time this happened that day, i saw a girl singing in the middle of the white light and once i noticed what was going on, i tried "rolling" out of my body and i did so successfully after a few tries. my vision was really blurry and i was kinda confused as i looked down at my body and even touched it which was reaaaal weird haha. i felt like i was floating and i attempted to walk through my wall but i kinda just ran into it. this confused me even more so then i began to wake up and woke up back in my body.

my questions:
is there a difference between astral projecting and out of body experiences?

Hi shockstuh.  I would say that the OBE is a type of AP, while AP has a wider range of experience.  As Xanth said, it's really all the same, but the perception changes as you go out into more psychologically distant environments, so we assign names to those environments based on the function of the experience.
So yes, the same and different.

i also want to start my quest to enlightenment and from what i've read, it requires mastery of AP and a lot of energy work. i

I've heard this too and disagree with it- I think enlightenment should not be a goal, that it either comes or it doesn't, but the journey is the important thing.  But now I'm giving you my opinion and you may have a different one.

also what's the best position to practice in because i've only been able to find success while laying on my side but that's from waking up and i think the idea is to achieve an OBE while being conscious.

I don't think there is a best position- the best position is one in which you are very comfortable enough to reach trance but not so comfortable as to let you fall asleep easily.  So whatever works for you.

thanks!

You're welcome.

[testing]

Welcome to the pulse!!

If you seek enligtenment, you need to look within.
The best way to do that is to meditate.


Namaste

[schockstuhh]

thanks all for the help and advice! i've been practicing and i believe i am able to reach that so called "trance state" through meditation; however, its hard for me to transition into an OBE. a recent upper respiratory infection has haulted my practice. just can't help but cough

Xanth, i've tried phasing and what's cool is that i am able to "notice" colors, patterns, and even a faint rainbow while closing my eyes. i actually started noticing that i can see many rainbows off of car headlights, streetlights, etc. so perhaps this is an example of becoming more aware? and when you use this method, what direction are you looking at with your eyes when theyre cloesd. i tend to focus on the middle area i guess you could say, as if looking straight, but when i relax my eyes they tend to look up a bit so i'm not sure if i should be relaxing my eyes or staring straight. not sure if it even matters so please clarify. finally, i don't quite understand the concept of a 180* phase shift so it'd be cool if you could help explain that a bit.

[kajal123]

Hello friends,,
I'm kajal here...i'm just join this site,,,,I think its wonderful forum,,,,,,I don't think there is a best position- the best position is one in which you are very comfortable enough to reach trance but not so comfortable as to let you fall asleep easily.  So whatever works for you.........
Thanks for the share valuable information here, it will be very helpful............. 

[Xanth]

thanks all for the help and advice! i've been practicing and i believe i am able to reach that so called "trance state" through meditation; however, its hard for me to transition into an OBE. a recent upper respiratory infection has haulted my practice. just can't help but cough

Xanth, i've tried phasing and what's cool is that i am able to "notice" colors, patterns, and even a faint rainbow while closing my eyes. i actually started noticing that i can see many rainbows off of car headlights, streetlights, etc. so perhaps this is an example of becoming more aware? and when you use this method, what direction are you looking at with your eyes when theyre cloesd. i tend to focus on the middle area i guess you could say, as if looking straight, but when i relax my eyes they tend to look up a bit so i'm not sure if i should be relaxing my eyes or staring straight. not sure if it even matters so please clarify. finally, i don't quite understand the concept of a 180* phase shift so it'd be cool if you could help explain that a bit.

Wow, I missed this completely too!  >_<

The Colours and Patterns you're seeing is indicative of Focus 12.

When I'm noticing, I just stare out into the blackness, straight ahead.  I've, once again, changed up my current method... I'll have to repost it again.  LoL  Before, I used to slowly move my gaze upwards as I was relaxing, I did this in an effort to keep my physical eyes closed easier... but I found lately that I don't have to do that anymore.  hehe

As for the 180 degree thing... Frank said it best:  http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_the_astral_faq/what_is_phasing_and_how_can_i_do_it-t17413.0.html;msg150488#msg150488

The term "phasing" was originally coined from an idea presented by the author Robert Monroe who spent much of his physical lifetime researching obe phenomena. His early work, detailed in his first book Journeys Out of the Body, followed very traditional lines of study. Such that strong parallels can be drawn between his experiences detailed in that book, and the work of the traditional mystics.

However, his later books Far Journeys and Ultimate Journey, published many years later, reveal how his work had progressed to the development and formation of a completely different model of consciousness. His early "locale" concept had been totally replaced by a series of mental Focus Levels. These levels were labelled by using an escalating series of arbitrary numbers. Each level was identified from the mental impressions presented that Monroe categorised and labelled, so that others could follow in his work and duplicate his experiences.

At some point in his experience, Monroe was able to determine the profound truth, that there is no separation within consciousness. Whereas in his early work it felt to him he was "leaving" and "separating" from his physical body in the more traditional sense. His later experiences led him to conclude that he was not "leaving" his body at all. But what he was doing, in his words, was changing the phase relationship between himself and his surroundings. It was from this discovery that the term "Phasing" came into being.

Monroe was an electronics engineer by profession, and it so happens that I too graduated in electronics, so I understand where he was coming from when he talks about phase relationships. You can have two voltages present on the very same wire (you can have many numbers but for this example we'll have just two). To all intents and purposes, those two voltages are mixed, but at the same time they are separated. What separates these two voltages is the phase-angle relationship between them.

Monroe used this phase-angle relationship idea as an analogy to describe the relationship between the physical or objective layer of consciousness, and the non-physical or subjective layer of consciousness. Each respective area of consciousness occupies the same area in "space" and to all intents, they are mixed but at the same time they are separated. So Monroe figured there was a 180-degree Phase Relationship between the two areas of reality. To him, projection became a case of "switching phase" between the physical and the non-physical. 

Phasing, therefore, entails initiating a 180-degree phase shift between the physical and the non-physical realms of reality. The way this is done is rather different from the traditional ways of initiating an "out of body" experience. In fact, Phasing does not incorporate any kind of out of body feelings at all. The normal bodily vehicle can remain and all that changes is a person's environment.