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Now then, "it" is referring to individuated Consciousness detached from a human body that identifies itself as "atheist." This is the intent behind the use of "it."

Thanks for clarifying. I understand the intent of the original discussion. My objection was aimed at the continued use of the atheist label to illustrate the point, and the later statements made as though they were facts.  "An atheist will tend to experience realities confirming what they desire to be true..."    You could say that about pretty much anyone, but it is not necessarily true.

I freely acknowledge that I don't know what I don't know.  I am well aware that some or perhaps all of my APs could be the contrivance of my wily subconscious. Nevertheless, I make every effort in my APs to expect nothing, yet hope for truth.

At the end of the day, all any of us have is subjective conjecture.   

It has to do with the atheist's capacity to grow in Consciousness to become aware beyond this seeming paradoxical conundrum. If the atheist does not develop sufficient sentience for such...I presume some sort of defunct realities rewind in its experience until it develops the requisite Consciousness to become a conscious creator. Either that, or a kind Soul may mercifully guide them if they so request.

Was it your intent to sound like a condescending butt?   Do you hang out with atheists a lot?  Your continued references to them as "it" makes it sound like you consider them things instead of people.   

As an atheist I don't believe in invisible deities that control the lives of mortals.  That pretty much covers it.   And from what we've discussed at our secret atheist meetings, I can tell you that at no time did the grand poobah ever denounce consciousness or the double slit experiment.   

Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing any frog recon anytime soon.    Though I do envy the OPs experience and would like to try it myself one day.

I just find the subject fascinating in that it seems this physical form/focus acts as a filter or control mechanism for our larger consciousness, yet these substances seem to disrupt that filter and allow a brief glimpse into what may or may not be 'reality'. 

It's difficult to offer advice when we can't see the whole story.

I can look at your previous posts and determine that you're 15 and live in a strict Christian household.

I can read this post and ask how does someone allow a home that they live in to become over run with mold to the extent you describe?  And my first suspicion would be that your mom may be suffering from depression or some kind of mental illness.  You also mentioned other things happening with your mom in the past and it seems like this summer you may have escaped to the refuge of your grandparents home.

Again, without really knowing your situation, it's difficult to offer advice.   I could say, why not live with your grandparents full time, but perhaps you would already be doing that if you could.   I could say, stay in school - it won't last forever and you need it to get a good job etc.  And I'd be right, but the fact is I DO remember how that sounded when I was 15 and frankly, it didn't help.  I loathed school too.

You're here poking around Astral Pulse and finding that there are people in the world who don't think the way your family does.  They're open to new ideas and experiences and aren't going to judge you if you say something that sounds a little crazy.  Take advantage of these resources. Instead of trying to learn to manifest objects, maybe take a break for a while and learn to meditate in order to find peace.

That being said, the best generic advice I can offer is hang in there.  Nothing stays the same forever.  Things do and will change.  You won't be in school forever.  You won't live at home forever.  You won't be parted from your friends forever.  Everything is about choice.  Actively choosing/deciding how you're going to react to your environment can be a very helpful tool.  If you decide beforehand that you are not going to allow yourself to become upset by "insert antagonist here", you immediately give yourself control.   Good luck to you.

This thread got me into an interesting conversation at work.   Like others, I'm intrigued and began pondering a trip to Peru, but I found the costs prohibitive for now.  Plus I'm no fan of long plane rides.

Is anyone familiar with 5-meo-DMT?  A coworker was telling me that she and her friends used to go out to the Phoenix golf courses at night, after a heavy rain, and collect frogs.  Sonoran desert toads, to be specific.  When frightened/threatened, the frogs excrete a toxin that contains 5-meo-DMT, that can be dried and then smoked.

I spent the long labor day weekend Googling and You-tubing and read a lot of interesting stuff.   The 5-meo-DMT is supposedly more potent than N, N-DMT, in that it takes less medicine to achieve an experience.  And it's more accessible and considerably less expensive than a trip to Peru.

...this time I'm in it for the long run and have just booked onto a Monroe Institute UK course.

How exciting! You should give us a review when you're done in September.  May I ask what it was that first piqued your interest in AP/OoBEs?

Don't worry that the material you are reading or are currently engaged with will affect your subconscious and therefore the content of your LDs or other experiences; it does and it will. Your subconscious has to draw from something...

Thanks, that does make sense.  I guess I just worry about the validity of my experiences and don't want to program myself into expecting things to happen a certain way.   

For instance, I had already been out due to spontaneous OBEs a couple of times before I ran across any instructions that said to get away and don't look at your sleeping body, otherwise you may be snapped back.   My experiences were nothing like that, I was very eager to see myself sleeping and felt no apprehension whatsoever about looking.  I did look and was pleased as punch to confirm I really wasn't in that body anymore.  Once my curiosity was satisfied, I decided to continue on with the adventure.  Yet others seem to have to get away immediately in order to stay out and maintain their focus.  I wonder why we're so different? 

Last weekend I had a dream turn lucid and, during it, came across a family member.

Let me start by saying that I'm concerned that in reading so much material about AP, I may be influencing my subconscious.

Recently I've spent a lot of time perusing the retrievals area on this and another website.  I've read
many references to "The Park" which I believe originated with Robert Monroe.  (I've only just started
his first book.)

When I woke up in my dream I found myself in a park like setting.  It wasn't a particularly nice park. 
There were trees and grass, but it wasn't very lush or inviting.   There were a lot of people there,
but no one was alone.  Everyone was talking to someone else and ignored me completely.   I decided to call my mother's name in the hopes of a visit, but had no luck. 

As I walked the park I came across a building that appeared to be a clubhouse with a bar or restaurant inside.  Everyone inside was occupied and in conversation with some else and paid no attention to me.   As I made my way through the area I stopped for a moment to take stock of the situation and asked myself, 'ok, what is my subconscious trying to teach me here."  The only response I felt was a strong feeling that I was alone.

It wasn't sad or depressing, it was just the impression I had.   Later, much to my surprise, my uncle showed up somewhere else in the building.  He is not deceased, but this is significant for me because he was the one family member that I told about my AP experiences.  (With my grandmother eavesdropping in the other room)  That confession went over like a lead balloon btw.

He was very confused about where he was and seemed disoriented and anxious.  He did not seem like a dream character.  Thinking this was my big chance, I was intent on making him as aware as possible of the experience. I asked him repeatedly if he knew where he was, if he knew he was dreaming.  I tried to get him to focus, to demand awareness, to look at his hands. 

I repeated that I was going to be sooo mad if he didn't remember this the next day.   I don't remember everything I said to him, or if he tried to comply, but it ended with my stating that I was going to call him the next day to see if he remembered this.  He still seemed uneasy and said, 'no, no...I'll call you'.   

After that something happened to signal that the LD was over.  I can't remember what is was, but it was like some one walked up to me and said, ok, this one is over, you're going to wake up now and 'click', I opened my eyes.

*I did not get any calls later.*

I'm throwing out some guesses here...
Perhaps the impression that I was alone was to signal that this experience was located entirely in my subconscious?  Or perhaps it was to imply that I don't need to tell or involve other people in my AP experiences.  What's right for me right now, may not be right for them.

Eventually I did text my uncle to ask him if he remembered a shared dream.  He did not, but told me about the dream that he had that same day.  He was in a large hotel and had been running up and down the corridors trying to find a way out.  He was lost and becoming increasingly panicked because he couldn't find his way out to his truck. 

Kinda freaky, but that is pretty much the way I encountered him in my LD.  My entire conversation with him took place in a hallway and his description of being confused and agitated matched the way he seemed in my LD.

Coincidence? Maybe, although secretly I want to chalk it up to me becoming psychic!   

I vote for more too.

As far as spiritual life goes, the two of us are worlds apart....He's never been remotely interested in trying it before,

Hi Soarin, 
May I ask, what has his reaction been to all of this?  Shock, disbelief, or just taking it in stride?

Has anyone else seen the vortex I described?

My first AP involved a swirling, grey vortex (tunnel/tornado whatever you'd like to call it).

I wonder if its appearance isn't just an initial, really obvious sign post to us newbies that 'you're about to go for a ride!'  

Or perhaps with reading about others experiencing tunnels, we programmed ourselves to expect the same kind of exit.

Since I haven't seen the tunnel again in any later APs, I'm inclined to believe my first one was something like the AP beginners package.  

Anyways if you can remember the website with that NDE then please post it here as I would like to read it.

Hi Grey,

Unfortunately I cannot remember which NDE I read this in. I had been reading a few books simultaneously, along with various websites.  That said, there wasn't much to it.  The entire reference was just two or three sentences. The person experiencing the NDE questioned what she was seeing on her way somewhere else. Her guide, rather casually, explained what it was and...that was it.

I have never woken up to an OBE in a different house. Closest thing would be, while dreaming, deciding that I should lie down and try to have an OBE, then *poof* I seem to wake up lucid in the dream. 

This is the first I'm really hearing about a sleep state.   I guess I thought that considering the scores of people who have passed that held that belief, surely someone would have run into this kind of BST, but then I Imagine the number of BSTs is rather large. 

It was likely her belief and what she expected that created this scenario.

Yes I considered that, but was also wondering about the BSTs of those who actually do believe that they must sleep until the 2nd coming. Is it possible that some of those people do transition to a sleep state after passing, rather than being conscious and realizing that "hey..this isn't what I thought was going to happen!" 

I was reading a NDE recently where the woman described seeing people who were sleeping and other people, who she interpreted to be angels, trying to wake them up. The person guiding her through the experience told her that they were souls who thought they were supposed to sleep until the 2nd coming of Christ.

This is the only time I've run across anyone mentioning this type of situation.   This really peaked my curiosity as I was raised in a church that held this belief. 

Could you throw me a link? What about the cholesterol? I know our bodies need that. I was told there are vitamins and minerals needed in meat that you can't get anywhere else. Obviously fast food doesn't supply these... But like grass fed meats etc. Dr mercola mentions this a lot too. That vegetarians usually develop cardiovascular diseases. I want to try vegetarian again but I need about 1600 calories a day and as a vegetarian I was reaching about 400 a day doing non stop eating. Veggies just don't have any calories. Some fruits do but that's like 5 bananas a day to get like 500 calories.

If someone is telling you that you can't get all the nutrition you need while being vegetarian, AND they develop cardiovascular disease (!) they are mis-informed.   Have a look at the Seventh Day Adventists.  Most members adhere to a vegetarian diet and are routinely studied because of their above average health and impressive longevity.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventist_Health_Studies.

And check these out for help in choosing the right foods to meet your needs.   http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vsk/vegetarian-starter-kit
http://www.nutritionmd.org/makeover/basics/go_veg_start.html

Good luck.

Interesting. I finished reading Albert Taylor's 'Soul Traveler' book a few weeks ago.   He mentions being introduced to the The Hu after contacting a local branch of the Eckankar, the religion of the Light & Sound of God.

Why the 'almost'?  Sure you were a little stuck, but you DID it and now you KNOW you can do it! (Doesn't it feel great!?)   Congratulations - they'll get better from here.   

A similar thing happened to me the first time I woke up to an AP.  The top half of me was sitting up in bed, but the lower half felt like I was being pinned down by something.  I, however, freaked out and woke myself up.    

With some advice from Sxazz, I made up my mind that next time I would not be afraid and it worked.  Decide now that you won't be stuck next time and I'm sure you'll see results.

Interesting experience Raditus, thanks for sharing. My condolences on the loss of your dad. 

May I ask if the OBE file you were listening to is available online?  I'm sort of starting a collection. 

Thanks.

Hi all.  It has been awhile since I've been able to devote any time to meditation and AP, but I'm determined to get back to regular practice.

An odd thing happened yesterday that I hadn't experienced before.  While meditating I began to feel a substantial pressure in the center of my forehead just above my eyebrows.   I've never done any chakra work or anything like that, but from what I've read here and there I'm going to conclude that this was related to the 3rd eye/brow chakra.    Nothing came of it and I ended up falling asleep.

What should I have done when I felt this pressure?   My intent was simply AP, so I didn't know what to do with this sensation.  If this happens again, should I focus on this pressure or ignore it? 

As someone who is just beginning their astral projection experiments too, here are 3 things I have gleaned so far from this site and other AP sources in general.

1. Tom Campbell is awesome. Something about having a physicst tell you that AP is legit is comforting.  (Not sure what you meant in a previous reply about his being older making some of his info hard to understand.) 

If you're struggling with skepticism and you're up to it, I might suggest reading his book "My Big Toe: A Unification of Philosophy, Physics, and Metaphysics".  You can read it online at Google books.  It can be a bit dry in parts, but it's very interesting how he describes his work with Monroe and the lab they set up to scientifically study the phenomena, as well as his theories about reality and consciousness. I'm only up to page 200.


2. There's no right way to AP. Everyone seems to have different variations that work for them and different experiences upon exiting.  Some people have vibrations, some people have none. Some people have sleep paralysis, others do not.  Find what works for you. That takes patience and practice.  If you ARE experiencing vibrations and it was your intent to induce those vibrations, I think you are safe in concluding that they are AP related.  And know that what works for you now, might not work for you later.


3. Don't try too hard.  It's an exiting adventure we want to undertake here, but you can't force it.  You just can't. It doesn't work that way.  There are a ton of posts from others on this site relating the same experiences you are having with jarring vibrations and fear.  It is simply an obstacle to overcome.  The only way to make progress is to face that fear and let whatever happens, happen. Until then you won't be going anywhere.  Make the decision now that the next time it happens, you will not allow the fear to stop you.

Good luck and don't give up.  While I haven't been able to consciously AP yet, I have had the accidental episodes and from my subjective perspective I can tell you it's worth the effort!   

So, early Saturday morning 'astral me' fell out of bed.  It was actually pretty funny.  I became aware right as I was rolling off the side and smacked onto the floor.    (Since I haven't been able to consciously project yet, I'll take what I can get.) I thought 'Yay, I'm out" and I vaguely recall seeing the lower half of me still in bed as I got up.   

I left my bedroom and went into the hallway where I heard what sounded like someone whine from out on the front porch.  I heard this noise three times.  I tried to move through the front door to investigate, but 'BONK', was surprised to find it was solid.   Annoyed by this I tried to turn on the hall light and it did come on.  This further frustrated me as I was thinking if the light came on then this wasn't a true AP.   At any rate, I figured it seemed pretty real to me so I may as well go with it.   

Determined to exit I decided I would try the kitchen window over the sink.  I levitated and tried to move through the glass.  It wasn't solid like the door, but it did give me some resistance and I wasn't successful at first.   A voice outside offered encouragement though – "You're almost there, you've almost got it".   

Eventually I passed through the window and landed on the sidewalk in front of my house.  There was a woman outside; she was Asian about mid 30s or 40s.  I asked if she needed help and she looked unsure, kind of squirmed for a bit, but then finally said, "Probably".  I introduced myself and we shook hands.  She said her name was Carol or Caroline, I can't remember.   

I was following her around the yard in front of my house trying to get her to tell me her full name and DOB.  I explained I needed this info to validate what was happening, but she wouldn't give me any details.   We eventually ended up standing on the side walk by the street and watched while a man drove up in a low rider and parked in the driveway next door. 

She again wandered away from me, back up the drive way and was kind of hiding behind the front of an old truck.  I was still pleading with her for information when the man from next door walked up to us and said, "Why don't you just tell her your last name is _____".  He actually said her name, but either I couldn't hear it or I've forgotten now.

A distraction in the distance seemed to end that scenario. There were dark clouds in the sky moving our way.  Buildings were exploding and sending dark clouds of ash and glowing embers into the air.  It was some kind of battle.  As I watched I remembered that line from the movie Dune 'Fear is the mind killer'.  As the mayhem drew closer, we stood under the eaves of my house to avoid getting burned by the falling embers. 

Eventually a man in a uniform showed up on my front porch, but by this point I was considerably less lucid and the experience became much more dream like.   

To summarize the dreamy portion = I ended up helping him search for an antique trunk he was looking for, but we didn't find it and that scenario faded.  It wrapped up with me being packed into a car with a bunch of people I didn't know and seeing some kittens I wanted to rescue beside the road.  I asked the group to stop the car and let me out so I could go back for the kittens.   

The woman I was squashed into the front seat with was smiling as I got out of the car and she asked me a question I can't remember.  Whatever my answer was she must have liked it as she smiled very broadly while pulling off a necklace she was wearing.  The necklace had a US Quarter for a pendant and she threw it out the driver's window.  I got the impression I was supposed to find the necklace at some point.

No idea what's going on, but it's a fun ride. 

Does it really matter whether it's true or not?

And if you've realized this Karmic lesson and it was valuable to you, is there any need to continue
with it? 

You're someone who has accepted the possibility that this is not your first life, or your last.
That in itself is liberating. 

I haven't been able to remember much of my dreams for a long time too.  A little piece here and there, but more often than not I find myself with little to no recollection of the previous nights adventures.    I think I'm reasonably low key expectation wise, but I guess I feel the need to categorize the experience.  Was it RTZ?  Does the my lack of awareness make it a less valid experience?   Maybe not being fully aware was a blessing.  I might have freaked out if everything had been in sharp focus and it might have ended before I got anywhere.

I feel like I need to do some more reading and become familiar with focus levels etc.

Sorry for the long post, but it is what it is.

Friday night prior to 3am I had the following experience.  I am still a bit on the fence as to whether this was my first OBE.  I thought when it happened I would have greater lucidity. This was very dreamlike with blank spots of memory.

I had spent the evening feeling very subdued and I had the impression that 'tonight's the night'. 

I tried listening to some Binaural beats after going to bed, but found the excess noise in the room to be too distracting, even through the head phones.  I eventually quit and fell asleep.

I was lying on my left side and at some point I awoke to what felt like pressure against my back, but thought it was my husband getting cozy and I tried to shoo him away.   The next thing I knew it was like I was in a windstorm.  There was a loud whooshing all around me.   It was scary, but I kept yelling "I'm a samurai warrior and I will not be deterred from my mission!" 
(Thank you Szaxx, apparently I took that advice to heart!)

The next thing I knew I was standing in the doorway to my bedroom.  I tried flipping the light switch so I could check and see myself sleeping in bed, but the light wouldn't come on.  This pleased me as I'd read that the light switches not working was a good test to see if you're projecting. 

I then found that I couldn't decide which way to get out of the house.  I ended up heading for the backyard, trying another light switch on the way and it too failing to come on.  I do not know how I got out of the house.. I did not pass through any walls or doors, I was just suddenly in the backyard.

I was standing there looking at the sky, thinking I needed to fly somewhere, but not really knowing what I was supposed to do at that point.  However, before I made any attempts I was distracted by some talking I could hear.  I went to the fence on the other side of the yard and  peered over. There was a group of people, maybe 9 or 10,  practicing dancing.  I had the impression they were Mormon or some other religious group.  They saw me, but I don't remember if we interacted.

At some point I finally flew up and over the house that they were behind.

My next memory is of me standing in the middle of a road at the edge of a city or town.  Beyond the street lights lay open road and country.  It was night out, cloudy, but there was enough light to see off into the distance.  I was looking up at the sky and again thinking, 'ok, now what do I do?'  I made 3 requests. To return to source, meet a guide, or visit my mother. 
I got no response except for some flashes of light off in the distance further up the road. Like lightening, though not as fierce and no thunder followed. 

The next chunk of memory finds me floating into a house.   There were some people gathered around a dining table playing cards or some other group activity.  I was floating above their heads and there seemed to be a large number of gaudy light fixtures above the table. They reminded me of the light fixtures I'd seen in the restaurant I'd had dinner at earlier in the evening.

At the outer edge of the light fixtures there also hung a small crystal ball like decoration, about the size of a tennis ball, dangling from the ceiling on what looked like a bit of plastic xmas tree bead garland.  As I floated by I grazed the ball and it began to sway back and forth.  The people at the table looked up and could see it moving.  I thought they would think I was a ghost or something.   Somehow I floated down to the floor and was leaning against a wall next to a buffet, settling in to watch them.  A guy got up from the table.  He was talking to a woman, who was still seated, about something and then he brushed up against me and then grabbed my arm and looked right at me.  I don't remember if he actually said to me "I can see you", but that was the overwhelming message I got. I was caught. It was freaky.

I don't remember if we conversed, but at one point I do remember being asked, "you're a vampire, right?"    While normally I'd say no to this question, I sheepishly agreed as I felt rather like a party crasher who was now under house arrest.   

My next memory is of the group of us moving into a living room and the woman preparing to engage in a sexual activity with me.  I will spare you the details.  This was boring me and I was resentful that my time was being wasted like this, but I didn't know how to extricate myself.  It then occurred to me that I should just be able to think or want to return to my physical body and it would happen.  The moment I did so I began rising up to the ceiling and out of the house. 

This was a little bit funny because as I did so the group below made a collective 'oh there she goes' noise but then I was above the roof and floating back down to the front patio of the same house.   One of the men who had been inside met me outside and we settled into some patio chairs.  I don't remember what we said and.at some point a couple of other women came out the front door in various states of disarray and stood on the patio putting their disheveled clothes back on.

At some point my conversation with the man reminded me that I could go the beach if I wanted to . It was a head slap, 'I could have had a V8 moment'.  I was very frustrated thinking I had been wasting all this time with these people when I could have been finding some surf.

I began to fly off again, but where I landed I can't say.  I think I may have made it to a beach, but it's all fuzz after that.

I was actually a bit disappointed with my experience.  It was so dreamlike that I remain confused as to whether it was a true projection. 

But if it was...where the heck was I?  Were those people my own creation or did I meet other travellers?  This would be typical.  Other people visit higher realms while I end up at a Twilight themed kegger. 

Thank you all for the encouragement.      

I guess whats frustrating is I have zero recall of what it was that made me panic in the first place.  No sights, sounds, sensations, nothing.  At least if I knew what happened I could prepare for it next time.

Oh well, I will plug in my Batman night light and keep at it!