Mind Expansion

[Xanth]

I take the train to and from work now. It's a wonderful little bit of my day that I'm learning to really enjoy. Why you ask? Cause it gives me 35 minutes twice a day to meditate! If I can't meditate at work, this is the next best thing.

Anyway, onto my post...
I was meditating on the way home from work tonight and a thought popped into my head regarding the feeling that I get I call "Mind Expansion". It actually feels like your mind is really expanding. But I came to realize what that sensation really is, because I noticed it tonight at the same time this "other" thing occurred.

What occurred was a 90%+ reduction in my five physical senses. Well, I was ignoring them. But at that exact moment, I began to feel that "Mind Expansion" sensation happen. I never really consciously put two and two together about this.

The "Mind Expansion" sensation is also the beginning of removing yourself from this physical reality. Point Consciousness. From there, all of consciousness is your playground.

http://unlimitedboundaries.ca/2012/02/23/the-feeling-of-mind-expansion/

[Contenteo]

That's really interesting.

I think I know the feeling you are talking about, just never gave it a name.

Is it where you shift the point of focus into like the back of your head slightly? For example, if you want, you could force it so that you feel a slight discomfort. But that's silly so you don't do it to that extreme. Rather, just before that. That and relax. You kinda feel a slight Novocaine milestone feeling creep up too after a while.

It's funny, I just never considered staying in "that" state for a long period.

What can you do in there?

Cheers,
Contenteo

[Stookie_]

I may be off, but I've always interpreted this as a Monroe F3 state. I see it as the moment awareness begins to expand past physicality. It's very relaxing and a good time to ponder or study or be creative.

[Xanth]

That's really interesting.

I think I know the feeling you are talking about, just never gave it a name.

As Stookie pointed out, it's definitely one of the early Focus Levels... or the result of one of them.  Those metaphors work just fine here.

Is it where you shift the point of focus into like the back of your head slightly? For example, if you want, you could force it so that you feel a slight discomfort. But that's silly so you don't do it to that extreme. Rather, just before that. That and relax. You kinda feel a slight Novocaine milestone feeling creep up too after a while.

I don't really do anything to cause it to happen... other than ignoring my physical body sensory input.  If you count the act of doing nothing as "doing something".  LoL
"Novocaine"... yeah, you could use that description.  Like you fell into a big vat of Novocaine and your entire body lost all sensations. 

It's funny, I just never considered staying in "that" state for a long period.

What can you do in there?

I spend most of my train ride "there".  I'm finding that it's from this state that my stress just melts away more quickly than any other state... and I'm quickly learning that I can use it as a launch pad for pretty much all forms of projection (lucid, astral, remote, healing, etc).

I may be off, but I've always interpreted this as a Monroe F3 state. I see it as the moment awareness begins to expand past physicality. It's very relaxing and a good time to ponder or study or be creative.

Yeah, as I mentioned above, that metaphor works pretty good for it.  Expanding past the physicality is a good description for it. 

[CFTraveler]

That is very cool.  I think there is something about the movement that makes it work- I used to get into those states when I chaperoned long bus rides for my son's school trips- all kinds of cool effects happened, especially when you get up extra early in the morning.

[Xanth]

That is very cool.  I think there is something about the movement that makes it work- I used to get into those states when I chaperoned long bus rides for my son's school trips- all kinds of cool effects happened, especially when you get up extra early in the morning.

That's a good point, because I'm always "sensing" the motion of the train and it kind of works its way into my "perspective" as I'm meditating.

[Contenteo]

Martial Art question:

Does certain postures you sit in have a positive/negative effect on the speed of reaching and overall quality of the state?

Cheers,
Contenteo

[Xanth]

Martial Art question:

Does certain postures you sit in have a positive/negative effect on the speed of reaching and overall quality of the state?

Cheers,
Contenteo

Let's put it this way... posture is meaningless. 
If you can get comfortable standing on your head, you can work towards any state of consciousness from that posture then.

It's just about being comfortable... however, it's not even just that.  It's about ignoring everything.

[Stillwater]

Well, like you said in the last part, it is about being comfortable, and for me, that usually means posture is not meaningless, but crucial 

If I don't align my back the right way, my bony butt tends to get high-pressure spots after an hour, and I am too uncomfortable.

[Contenteo]

From my experience with Tai Chi, their tenet of 'straightness' does wonders aligning your spine, turning it into a tuning fork of sorts. Not only does this help in many physical aspect of life, but it is very very easy to get into a light trance state, F3 if you will.

What fascinated me was that the posture of 'straight' is the same as when you are laying down comfortably on your back; the most successful projection position. If you read the Tao De Ching, you will see Lao Tzu is pretty much raving about "The Way," the astral plane, the entire book. There is no doubt in my mind that this dude was projecting all the time.

Personally, I have incorporated this into my daily life and find out I can maintain a flow state for long sustained periods of time and in tandem become increasingly adept at reading others dispositions. For instance, I can tell what people are going to tell me before they tell me.

Cheers,
Contenteo

Oh yeah, and:
This straightness can also be seen when people get into a crosslegged meditation position.

[Xanth]

Well, what I'm trying to say is that... for the beginner, just being comfortable is probably the most important part.

For someone more advanced, I'd suggest trying to meditate in many different positions and try to ignore comfort as a requirement.  That way, you teach yourself to be able to meditate in any situation, be it standing on your head or whenever. 

I meditate now twice a day on the train... it's very tightly packed and I wouldn't say comfort is the highest priority.  LoL
It was pretty tough to do it the first week, but now that I've had three weeks practice it's really beginning to get easier and easier to ignore everything around me.

I had a moment the other morning on the ride in when I noticed that everyone around me seemingly disappeared.  It became super quiet for a minute... until I noticed it, that is... LOL

[Stillwater]

What fascinated me was that the posture of 'straight' is the same as when you are laying down comfortably on your back; the most successful projection position. If you read the Tao De Ching, you will see Lao Tzu is pretty much raving about "The Way," the astral plane, the entire book. There is no doubt in my mind that this dude was projecting all the time.

Yeah, the funny is though, while Laozi is in love with the straight, if you read the Zhuangzi, which is the other major book of Daoism, he is mainly ranting about the virtues of the crooked! A crooked tree, he tells us, does not fear the carpenter's hand, and a crooked man doesn't need to fear the social slavery of others, he is free to do as he wills.

[embrace]

Perhaps you what you call Mind Expansion is known as Hypnagogia, when the sensations coming from your mind become very real and your mind ignores 5 senses.

[Xanth]

Perhaps you what you call Mind Expansion is known as Hypnagogia, when the sensations coming from your mind become very real and your mind ignores 5 senses.

Honestly?  I have no idea and that could be a very valid explanation.

Who knows. 

[Contenteo]

  Hypnagogia sounds like something you are diagnosed with rather then denoting a natural occurrence. Go science 

I read the passages on 'crookedness' you were talking about. Rather, I interpreted them to be reflection of the inevitable duality of life. A keen reminder that even a state perfection is simply one side of the duality.

The other side has equal an opposite benefits. For instance, the crooked tree may not fear the carpenters hand because he is unaware of carpenter, and to that degree, his intentions. What greater bliss is this ignorance in comparison to the straight trees, achieving perfection, which know that their inevitable fate will come much swifter if it is a carpenter looking to find sturdy wood for his house.

As for astral projection. We are like the tree reaching for the sun. We will never fully get there in our physical lifetime, even if we did, we would be burned, but it is the striving that helps us live to our fullest.

Stay straight, and keep away from the kool aid. 


Cheers,
Contenteo

[Karxx Gxx]

i tried to meditate during school cuz its a breeze for me (except ap english) But when i do it in a certian class i can feel everyone staring at me and usually im wrong, its just 5 people hah. I cant help but to giggle inside and they break my concentration. Sometimes i do it while my eyes are open which is okaaay becuase i look normal. even though irrelevant, How do you do it on the bus?

[CFTraveler]

If I were going to meditate on a bus, I'd focus on a stationary object, and do it with open eyes.