Finally, success! Here's how I did it

[bluremi]

I've been trying to do this for about two years now through meditation and various wake-induced methods, and although I've had a lot of tantalizing near-misses, it's been without success.

Recently I decided to read the SOBT e-book from obe4u.com and follow its instructions to the letter, and two short weeks later I had a perfect phase experience. Here's what happened:



I woke up at 6AM, went to the bathroom, and then lay back down immediately to try to sleep. I usually have difficulty falling asleep, so this time, for the first time, I put on earplugs and a facemask. After about an hour, I was still quite awake and running through ideas for my class in my head.

After an hour I wasn't falling asleep but I was very physically relaxed, so I tried forced falling asleep (technique from SOBT). After about 10-15 seconds, I felt a strange dislocation and numbness settle over my body, which felt unusual. I immediately tried listening in, and heard a very loud ringing sound, like fire alarms going off. I listened to it and it got louder and then seemed to peak. It was very loud, but nothing else was happening so I switched to observing images for a few seconds. Nothing, and the ringing got quieter, so I went back to listening in. It got louder again, and again it seemed to peak.

Then I realized that it was so loud that I was probably already in the phase but didn't realize it. I tried rolling over with a sudden jerk and BAM! I was out of bed, standing on the floor! I can't describe how unexpected this was: I had no idea what rolling out would feel like, and it turned out to be kind of like climbing out of a pool, about that much resistance.

I was very excited, but I remembered the SOBT advice to immediately deepen. Everything was grey and I felt nothing, heard nothing, saw only grey silhouettes around me. I started rubbing my hands together firmly in front of my face and they slowly came into view, along with everything else in my room. I started peering at my hands and fingers, and my vision became crystal clear. My room came into perfect lifelike focus. I walked around my room peering and palpating everything I could find. Since it was my first time in the phase, I examined all the random objects lying around on my shelves and table and they all appeared perfectly real, even the writing on them (I didn't stop to try to read the individual words because I didn't want a foul). I continuously reminded myself that I was dreaming, so as not to lose consciousness and fall asleep.

After spending about a minute looking at everything and being amazed by the simulacrum of reality, I decided to try to do something with the experience. I didn't have any plans beforehand because I was not really expecting success, but I decided on the spur of the moment to try flying. I looked up at my ceiling, then down at my feet, took a deep breath and tried to levitate while looking at my feet. They slowly rose a few inches off the floor, and as I exhaled they went back down. Perfectly controlled, as I expected. I tried again, with another deep breath and this time a jump, and I launched myself through my ceiling like superman, fists extended. I didn't want to pass through my ceiling insubstantially, I wanted to blast out, and I did, through about 10 floors of brick and plaster which exploded in front of me like a multistory pratfall in reverse.

Then I was out, above my house. I was not in my neighborhood, but in some kind of huge cave that housed an entire city. I didn't recognize anything and didn't have any plans of where to go, so I just flew around a little bit and eventually zoomed in on a window where some "friend" of mine (I don't know who it was, they were just labeled "friend" in my dream consciousness") was watching a movie on television. At this point, since I didn't have anything to do, and I was just hovering outside the window with a pause in my actions, I fouled and woke up in bed.

[Volgerle]

Congrats! 

[NoY]

Congratz! 


:NoY:

[Lionheart]

 Congratulations, the feeling of flying is one of the most intense feelings there is. I love flying over mountains and waterfalls.

[light487]

Man, you are so lucky.. you are doing what I hope to do now but I am currently not ready/able to. I've come to the realisation though that it is this.. this experience of "awakening" that I am here for.. there's no other way to experience it.. I have to start as a human and then awaken and experience the awakening of awareness. I can read your account and others' accounts (Frank Kepple, Bob Monroe etc) but in the end it needs to be my own awakening, so that I can experience what it is like to go from being a purely physical awareness to something more than that. It needs to be a knowing experience, not just a belief or intellectualised rationality.. it needs to be experienced... or "needs to be seen to be believed", if you know what I mean.

I've been trying to do this for about two years now through meditation and various wake-induced methods

I hope it doesn't take that long for me.. but I think it's only a matter of time.. if it's gotta be 2 years, or more, then so be it!

SOBT e-book

What's the full title of this book?

I tried rolling over with a sudden jerk and BAM

With this.. did you basically try to roll physically? I mean was the action, intention, feeling was like you were just going to roll over.. or was it more of a subjective, mental process that you describe as rolling? This is one of those things I don't really understand.. and was it a sudden, forceful thing or something that you did gently?

Anyway, as per others.. congratulations.. I am very envious/jealous

[bluremi]

I hope it doesn't take that long for me.. but I think it's only a matter of time.. if it's gotta be 2 years, or more, then so be it!

There's no need for it to take that long. The author of the SOBT book says that if you don't have success after 10 days you are making serious mistakes and need only ask for advice. So far, after seeing this happen many many times on their forums, this has been proven to be true. A lot of people get it in under a week, some people take a couple of months, but those are the ones that don't read carefully and follow directions.

What's the full title of this book?

School of Out of Body Travel: A Practical Guidebook. It's available for free from obe4u.com

With this.. did you basically try to roll physically? I mean was the action, intention, feeling was like you were just going to roll over.. or was it more of a subjective, mental process that you describe as rolling? This is one of those things I don't really understand.. and was it a sudden, forceful thing or something that you did gently?

It's difficult to describe. Since you're in a weird, dissociated mental space, you won't be thinking about it the way you are now, wide awake. Instead you will just think to yourself, "I should try to roll out now, NOW, NOW!" and just try to do it. The attitude of "JUST DO IT" is spot on, as recommended in the book. You may feel resistance but just push through it. Like I said, I felt mild resistance, like emerging from liquid.


I don't think all the meditation I did over these last couple of years was a waste of time, since it's improved me greatly as a person, but it has very little to do with getting an OBE. You just don't need it. It helps you focus once you're already out, but Tom Campbell's insistence of spending months or years of expanding your consciousness is unnecessary, elitist, and off-putting to a great many people. In my opinion.

[light487]

Great! Downloaded, extracted, converted to Kindle format and ready to read! Thanks!

Just as an aside.. I think the ongoing meditation, alongside OBE, is important though.. so that you are constantly re-evaluating yourself and your beliefs etc.. but then again, I've yet to experience a full-blown OBE.. only glimpses here and there and the occasional spontaneous one, which I haven't had for years.

[Lionheart]

 Just don't get confused by all the different techniques out there. Find something that feels comfortable to you and stay with it. When I first started to learn I read a number of books/e books. There were so many conflicting techniques it made my head spin. I tried to climb out of the body, but noticed that I spent a ton of time focusing ON my body, instead of actually leaving it. It was so confusing, but then I started to Phase and have never looked back since. With Phasing you go inside your consciousness which is much easier then leaving your body. When you realize that everything exists all ready in you and around you, you will finally find that Phasing is much easier to do.

[light487]

Yes.. up until now I've only really been trying to "get out" but I've not really fully explored phasing. So I will see what this SOBT book says about phasing. I know what you mean by too much info/techniques. Sometimes I find myself "diluting" my experience by trying to use one technique after the other. I need to sometimes stop myself and say "Hey! relax! go back to where you were.. and just relax...."

[light487]

Another realisation I just had was that I have been concentrating solely on "direct" techniques (as explained in SOBT) because it is through those that I have had "glimpses" and "near misses", as well as "dream consciousness" techniques because that is where I've previously had the spontaneous experiences from.. I've been so focused on these types of techniques that I've pretty much ignored, though not completely, exploring the "indirect" techniques. The focus comes from the usual learning process.. "If it worked that way before, then that is how you have to do it the next time" kind of logic.. so I've been trying to "recreate" those moments rather than trying to do something new...

...so I will read this book because already I am having realisations about myself and my practises.

[bluremi]

Yes I had to take a hard look at my approach and admit to myself that "direct techniques" were not productive for me. When I started focusing on indirect techniques exclusively, I had quick success.

[Xanth]

Yes I had to take a hard look at my approach and admit to myself that "direct techniques" were not productive for me. When I started focusing on indirect techniques exclusively, I had quick success.

They're productive... BUT!!  You need to build a firm foundation first... and you do that through meditation.  Learning to quiet your mind and body.

[floriferous]

I think it's what works best for you. Some choose meditation. Personally I choose hemi-sync (which I guess is a form of meditation albeit a fast-track form).

I know you really like just straight meditation Ryan and are influenced a lot by Tom Campbell. I also think he is very insightful but the only gripe I have with him (and believe me it is only one cos I think My Big TOE is great) is that he says you should do meditation to reach point consciousness but that isn't how he learned. He had Bob Monroe teaching him for several years to go out of body so when he did eventually turn to meditation he was so highly tuned to the various states of consciousness that it was easy for him.

So it gripes me a little when he says try meditation for 3 months...see how you go. If nothing happens then give it another 3 months.

[bluremi]

I don't know anyone who wouldn't benefit from meditation, or meditating more.

If your only goal is OBE, though, following the specific steps in SOBT seems to be the quickest, surest way there. He says in his seminars that he gets more than 50% of attendants to have an OBE after only 3 days. If you do the techniques properly he says 10 days, guaranteed.

[Xanth]

I think it's what works best for you. Some choose meditation. Personally I choose hemi-sync (which I guess is a form of meditation albeit a fast-track form).

I know you really like just straight meditation Ryan and are influenced a lot by Tom Campbell. I also think he is very insightful but the only gripe I have with him (and believe me it is only one cos I think My Big TOE is great) is that he says you should do meditation to reach point consciousness but that isn't how he learned. He had Bob Monroe teaching him for several years to go out of body so when he did eventually turn to meditation he was so highly tuned to the various states of consciousness that it was easy for him.

So it gripes me a little when he says try meditation for 3 months...see how you go. If nothing happens then give it another 3 months.

Literally, it has nothing to do with what I like.    Honestly!
Tom didn't influence me in this regards, he only opened me up to this fact.  After I read a bit of his book and watched his videos, I looked back at my own experiences and came to that very conclusion.  I started meditating long before I ever even heard of Astral Projection and OBEs.  You even said it yourself... when you're practicing and using the hemi-sync products, you are meditating.  It's all just meditation.  I can break down any technique you give me into a simple meditation. 

Hemi-sync also isn't a fast track form.  Yes, it can assist you into experiencing altered states of consciousness, but there comes a point when you must turn the hemi-sync off and attempt to do it alone using the knowledge and experience that hemi-sync provided for you.  Else, you risk it becoming a crutch that you must use every single time you want to do this.    Just saying.. 

If your goal is to be able to project anytime/anywhere, then you *MUST* learn to quiet and focus your mind towards a single goal AND hold that focus for extended periods of time <-- there I didn't use the word "meditation" there, but you can see what I mean.  Even if that isn't your direct goal and you just want to improve your chances when you do it upon waking from sleep... meditation *WILL* improve that.  You'll be able to project much faster eventually.  It also has a vast impact upon your waking life too.

As for Tom's experiences, he's correct.  Once you attain that "Point Consciousness" state... you've phased, you've "disconnected" yourself from this physical reality.  From there it's a matter of placing your Intent to go do whatever it is you want to do while maintaining that Point Consciousness state.  Again, this requires the above "quieting and focusing your mind".

Learning to meditate, for "most" people isn't something that happens over a day or even a week or two.  Mostly because we're indoctrinated into this noisy world at a very young age and that taints a lot of this for us.  I can also guarantee you that if you're honestly and patiently practicing for three months and you see "ZERO RESULTS"... you're doing it wrong.  That's when you come here or to, for example, Tom's forum and ask... "hey guys, I've been doing this for <so long> and aren't really seeing any results... think you can give me a hand?" 

We're here to help, but this stuff requires not only an open mind... but an open heart and honest dedication to practice. 

I don't know anyone who wouldn't benefit from meditation, or meditating more.

If your only goal is OBE, though, following the specific steps in SOBT seems to be the quickest, surest way there. He says in his seminars that he gets more than 50% of attendants to have an OBE after only 3 days. If you do the techniques properly he says 10 days, guaranteed.

The funny part is that there isn't a technique in Raduga's book that isn't meditation. 

[light487]

I think the difference in Raduga's book is that he just concentrates solely on the techniques and gives very clear and concise instructions followed with good examples and factoids (well.. at least well established "knowns" within the OBE community) to back it all up with. It's the same stuff overall but just provided in a different way. I guess it depends on how your brain processes information.. like their are visual learners and non-visual learners etc..

Anyway, I am going to stick to practising indirect techniques from Raduga's book for a week or two and see what happens. Since I am easily able to maintain a deep meditation state for extended periods of time (1 to 2 hours) without falling asleep yet can't get past that, I am happy to give another approach a try.. if only to break things up a bit.. add a bit of variety to things and so on. I know there's not any truly "quick fix" approach and even the indirect approaches need a solid effort. For example, Raduga talks about doing 3 to 5 attempts per day for a week to get a result.. that's fine if you have the time to spare for such solid study.. but I don't.. so I am considering it may take 2 to 4 weeks instead of 1.

I've been lazy on some fronts, and the book has made me painfully aware of that.. for example, I've not been keeping a dream journal. It's something I always mean to do but never do... I occasionally and sporadically will write a dream down but never consistently, day in, day out.. I need to do that..

Something his book resonated with a lot of my attempts and that is that it is possible to focus on relaxation/meditation to such an extent that yes.. you can get to the BodyAsleepMindAwake state.. but then your mind is SOOOO awake and active that you can't proceed past that point. While my mind is relatively calm and switched off to distractions it's still very much active.. and that's why I think I am having trouble getting past Focus 10 and only able to catch glimpses and brief phases.

Anyway.. I'm not giving up.. just trying a different tack across this endless ocean

[bluremi]

One thing that surprised me about my  recent success was the state of mind in which I rolled out. I honestly would not have thought I was in the phase yet, since I felt like I was just lying in bed and hearing noises. I felt like I was still in my body, but this was just an illusion. I'm starting to think maybe I had reached this state numerous times in the past but didn't realize I could have rolled out.

[light487]

Have you had any success since this first one? If not, why do you think that is?

[bluremi]

It's been two days since I had this success, and one of those days I woke up with a hangover.

From reading people's accounts on the forums, it seems that beginners manage to get one every couple of weeks or so, and when they get some confidence and ability it goes up to once a week or more.

Advanced level would be 3-4 successes a week or so.

[light487]

One thing I am having difficulty with is getting into a habit of waking without opening eyes/moving.. which I know is going to take practise but what I am wondering is how you approached this. I have currently got two alarms set up. One wakes me up after 6 hours of sleep, as per the instructions, the other is set to a time when I have to get up for work. The problem is of course, when the first goes off.. you have to move AND open your eyes to turn the alarm off. Then you have to try to used forced sleep technique to get back into the right state of awareness.. and then I just fall asleep completely. So I'm just curious to know how you overcame this problem?

[bluremi]

It's an ongoing skill you continuously work on. I was in the exact same situation as you, here's how you make inroads:

Set your alarm for 6 hours of sleep. Eventually you will start waking up BEFORE the alarm goes off, just because your internal clock will get used to it.

When you wake up, you will move and stuff, that's fine. Once you've realized "oh crap I've moved," just lie still and do the cycles of indirect techniques.

Do this every time you wake up and you have a few minutes before you need to get out of bed.

Eventually your subconscious will start to associate the sensation of waking up with striving for the phase immediately, and you will find yourself remembering not to move. For me it took about 4 days before I started waking up with the phase in mind. Another week or so before I started waking up without moving. I still move most of the time, but the ratio of moving to not moving is getting better.

[Adepto]

Why doesn't the author of the book take astral projection as proof of an after life? Or maybe I misunderstood what he was saying in the little Conscious Evolution book included in the SOBT download. Would someone else check it out? It's quite short.

[light487]

I dunno...

I was just about to post to this thread.. but yer.. I haven't read that addon book, so I dunno.

Anyway, what I was going to say is that I am having zero luck with these indirect approaches. In fact I have seen a rapid decline in my near-miss/glimpse experiences even to the point of waking up a lot more cloudy and unable to recall my dreams at all.. I'm beginning to think that this indirect method may not be "for me" as it seems to be doing the opposite of what I am hoping for.

[bluremi]

Why don't you describe exactly what you're doing?

[bluremi]

Why doesn't the author of the book take astral projection as proof of an after life? Or maybe I misunderstood what he was saying in the little Conscious Evolution book included in the SOBT download. Would someone else check it out? It's quite short.

He used to, when he first started having these experiences, and they had quite an impact on his life. After a while, however, he realized the connection between dreams, lucid dreams, and "astral projection." He says they are all different names for the same thing, which is an environment generated entirely by your brain. If something in your dream correlates to reality, it's just your subconscious making very realistic projections. He calls it "the phase" to avoid any of those mystical associations people create for these experiences.

That's why his books focus solely on techniques, statistics, etc. No nonsense whatsoever, just clinical descriptions and step-by-step directions. His closest analogue is Stephen Laberge.