Messages

I'd actually go a bit further than that, and I'd suggest that the point that you woke up at "3am" was actually a projection.  You might not have been actually awake... more aptly called a "false awakening".  To me, one thing that suggests it is the malfunctioning electronics... this tends to happen frequently while non-physicla. 

I wouldn't look too deeply in to the association you're making with the number 3 though. 

This is true. I once had woke up from a very brief lucid dream and brought my arm up to check my watch. I remember seeing that it stopped working and feeling annoyed that I had to get a new battery. I slumped back in bed and then woke up later with my watch working perfectly fine.....

False awakenings are very strange.

[This is sort of the attitude you would have to look at this stuff with... you won't get it until you are already there.]

Advice I could give for getting into that primed state... would sound off the wall probably.

You would be asking yourself... is this a New Age manifesto?

When I read a lot of literature about chakras, etc... (leaving my views on what these may or may not be asside), it is clear to me that I didn't fully get most of it until now, despite having felt many "chakra sensations" in the past. This is sort of the attitude you would have to look at this stuff with... you won't get it until you are already there. That sounds like a cop-out, but so much of this happens by accident...

Nothing about this sounds to "New Age-ish" to me, though that may be because I'm now one within the fold without realizing it. Its like you said though, so much of this experience sounds like "fluff" until you actually experience it. I myself am experiencing what is typically associated with "chakras", and I didn't know a wit about them before I started experiencing symptoms. My first few meditation sessions and I had wonderful sensations spread across my brow and the crown of my skull. I thought it was just awesome side-effects of the practice until I started to feel more all across my body. Even now as I'm typing this I feel my legs buzzing/humming, a tense tingling in my brow, and a fuzziness across my hands. Despite all this development, I can't say I know much. The path of "enlightenment" as some like call it, feels less like a confident stride and more a bumbling through the dark with my pants on my head. Am I getting somewhere? It feels like it, but I don't know.

Ok here it goes:

-Listen to music, and don't listen to the singer, but imagine you are the singer. Feel the person's emotions, feel the joy and the suffering behind what they sing, and feel it in your body as powerful waves. You must do this with no distractions at all, with meditative focus. You and they are the same, and you are sharing their life experiences that they are expressing. I don't mean this figuratively, I mean it literally. That might be hard to do, but it will help get you to this place relatively fast. The point is empathy, and empathy is both developed and experienced by having yourself experience what the other person or creature is feeling in the most direct way possible. By an accident of biology, humans are designed to experience empathy through voices (and consequently musical intervals) most easily. If you question it... consider, what is more emotional, a text chat or a phone conversation?

This is a very good point. This is a very good meditation to try for empathy given the emotional power of music. I have been feeling shifting energy movements throughout my body lately whenever I've been listening to tender music, and it drives to me tears often and easily. This didn't use to happen so often. I feel like emotional reserves are pouring out after being stone-walled by me for so long. This would be a good way to channel this energy in a positive way.

-When you walk outside, you must stop your thoughts completely almost. There are trees, and wind, and clouds, and sky. They are magnificent things, and they envelop you and intoxicate you with their primal physicality if you invite them in.

I've been working on this and I'm having some trouble with the "stop all thoughts part". I often get into the these trances on walks, but its often broken by some barreling thought train. But man...when you do hit that sweet spot. Its likes seeing the world through a child's eyes for the first time. Its breath-taking...you wonder how you've never seen it that way before?

-Change your relationship with your sexuality. Most people feel sexuality toward human adults, and sexual mental images, and this is very healthy and not at all detrimental. But there is a new way to experience this sexual energy... try experiencing it instead as bodily sensuality. Let this energy that is normally only felt for objects of sexual desire instead be transduced into feelings of joy at being immersed in the natural world, and a joy that you feel in your nerves and skin. If you can learn to experience the joy of seeing trees and clouds as a bodily excitement, this is another major step.

-Another extension of this is the transduction of sexual energy into love and compassion. Just as you can direct it into sensual joy for the physical world, that overflowing kind of energy can be re-directed into a kind of warmth you feel for others, and you badly want what is best for all other people and creatures at all times.

This is another good point. One great thing I've read about human sexuality, is how easily we externalize our deep desires onto a object. We often describe those attractive as "hot", as if they were a living fire warming us by their very presence. What we fail to realize is that all that person has done is awoken an image deep within, their "hotness" a mere catalyst that stokes the pyre within. The faces and personalities may change, but its always the same heat that moves within ourselves. Realizing this frees others from the image we tend to impress upon them, and allows us to enjoy them for who they are. And it seems like you've gone a step further and applied this energy towards the moving world itself. That is quite beautiful, and I could see how it would be progenitor of your experience.

-Another strange way of building this vital force is athletic pursuit. For me, I think a kind of physical vitality and liveliness I developed as a result of running everyday for an hour. Remember I am a person who is highly sensual, so you can imagine how much energy and tension is built up in such a situation.

-Meditative pursuits- if you haven't already gotten there, learn the feeling of staying in trance for 2-3 hours, and being contented there. The above will help with this, and this will especially help with the above, conversely. Feel the joy of breathing in, and the joy of tension leaving your body as you exhale. This state is so relaxing and rewarding to experience on its own, you can comfortably spend hours in it, and it feels like time well-spent if you do it "correctly".

This is something I'm definitely working on. I'm at a healthy weight but I'm pretty lazy when it comes to working out. As for meditation, I'm working myself to a consistent 15-20 minutes a day. I'm no where NEAR 2-3 hours of trance but that sounds simply joyful. Attention is such a fickle beast.

-Set your sights to the apex. You love yourself for what you are, but you constantly strive to become better, for the love of both yourself, and for those around you you can better love and serve. You do not accept failure or set-back- you defy them, and keep climbing. You know that every being has worth and value, and as such a being, you have an unquenchable longing to know the infinite and the creator, whatever that turns out to be for you, in your world view. You are a Christian? Then you can easily know this as Christ/ Father/Holy Spirit. Contemporary Spiritualist? Source. Hindu? Krishna / Brahman-Atman. Modern Secular-Humanist? The loving spirit of ethics and the grandeur of physical creation. It doesn't matter what you ascribe to, pretty much each worldview has a name for it, and you don't need to be a religious person to experience it, or to develop a deeper relationship with it.

For a long time I suffered from pretty low confidence, and was in denial about it. I tried to maintain an "image" of me being a smoother more socially adept person then I really was, which gave my critical mind a field day when I failed to measure up. It didn't help my group of high school friends were a bunch of jerks, but most are at that age. Learning to accept myself after all that as been a difficult journey despite many loving friends over the years. Its not their fault, outwardly I project the image of calm stillness, but my innate sensitivity to things allows me to be easily emotionally entangled. Its sometimes hard for me to even watch characters in movies in embarrassing situations because how much emphasize with them. Funny how I never made that same room for myself haha.

I've come a long way though and at least for now feel like it'll keep improving. Thank for the help and time. I'm glad you've found some measure of great peace in this world.

Thank you for that fascinating and inspirational story Stillwater. I wonder if your experience relates to what I've read as "Kundalini", though I don't know much about it other than the profound effects it has on the individual experiencing it. I've only been exploring this material for a matter of two years before which I would describe myself as firmly agnostic.

My initial involuntary "spiritual experience" I had was after I had graduated college. I was out on my deck reading some Carl Jung, when I all the sudden everything came into ultra focus. It was like flipping the switch from SD to HD, and my thoughts were swept away in the warm evening summer breeze. The closest words to describe it were as if a great "presence" had merged with me. For the next two hours I experienced the most contented peace I've ever felt, a warmness coursed through my body. It was no where near as intense as the effects you described but it was enough to freak me out enough that I swore off intellectual pursuit for a few months. Nothing in my experience, being raised as a catholic, had prepared me for that. To me, those feelings were strictly within the never-land realm of monks and the deranged. I know afterward I had become intensely interested in more spiritual matters.

About six months ago the presence returned again. I was driving home from work when I started to feel strange, all fuzzy and tingly in my skull. This time there was a great deal more inner sensation. It felt as if something was pouring warm liquid into the top of my skull and it was draining through me like tendrils of energy. It bounced around my body, and most powerfully in my spine. I was similarly contented and my  feeling of self had diminished in relation to my surroundings. I remember eating a piece of bread, and having the intuition that the surrounding environment was experiencing that exquisite act of consumption through me. Do you guys have any idea of what that was?

It was shortly thereafter that I discovered this place and followed in my oobe pursuits. I understand why you don't want to post much of the information as to how you got to where you are. I look back at my past and see how all these little steps lead to where I am now. Taking shortcuts would mean to lack the context of understanding. My only issue is....I kind of feel stuck. I've only been partially successfully in my oobe and lucid dream pursuits in the past 5 months(got really close to exit, and had a lucid dream for like a second haha), but I often feel like I go in circles. There is just so much information regarding spirituality that its hard to know how to proceed. The people and friends around me aren't really interested or have no reference point with what I'm pursuing. It starts to feel somewhat lonely...

Is there any advice you can give me to point me in the right direction?

It sounds like you are taking a reasonable, balanced approach to your AP attempts. A steady application of several techniques, some energy work (if that seems to help), and taking a break from the whole endeavor every few weeks. Good...it takes time to let some of this stuff sink in, become assimilated on several levels.

The rapid heartbeat symptom is a normal thing to encounter at this time. I also felt it early on. There is no strict consensus on what it exactly is. Is it simply rapid heartbeat from excitement of the subtle body or energy sensations? Is it a side-effect of losing awareness of breathing? Is it the heart chakra firing up? Is it also a fear test or part of a protective survival mechanism?

Whatever it specifically is, it does certainly serve as a necessary stepping-stone and minor fear test to overcome.

You may notice it four, five or six times, but each time you should notice its effect diminishing unanymore. That's how it occurs for most people, it seems.

When you notice it, just reassure yourself to stay calm and push through. Your heart's not going to explode.

Well done and carry on! The fun is about to begin!

Yup, over the past few weeks OOBE has been on the forefront of my mind, but with the change to my regular work schedule it broke the inertia of my first attempts. After doing more research(I've powered through about 3 books so far) I mentally psyched myself up and received pretty quick results. The other night I awoke to some strong vibrations, but was so tired from lack of sleep I couldn't maintain the state. There was some pretty noticeable blue "blob" floating in the air near me as I was going through this state. I've started to notice certain things like movement in the corners of my eyes when there is nothing there, strange air distortions, colors blobs just floating in the air, and transparent borders around people/trees/objects. I have barely the faintest idea of what this stuff means, but I'm not worrying too much about it. Its interesting to look at so I remain curious and observe.

Well that is good to know my heart sensation its so common, and my heart won't explode. I guess its probably just me getting over the jitters of moving from theoretical/conceptual to the realness of the experience. I can definitely see how people get scared off given how visceral these feelings are. I actually really enjoy the relaxing sensations leading up to when it gets intense, where you just get a 'feeling' something is coming. It goes from fantasizing about flying around in some spectral realm, to "HOLY GOD I'M GONNA FLOAT OUT MY BODY!!!" with some convincing sensations to boot.

Thanks again.

You would read their energy signature. Some people hide their energies and chakras, though, in which case you'd have to use a kind of "code" that would confirm the validity of the person you're talking to.

Reading energy signature eh? Not quite sure how to do that but I've got time to learn as it'll probably be some time before I get a group of projectors up and rolling. The code is definitely a good idea though.

Does projection location factor into how successful you are meeting up with your friend? Like if my brother and I successfully project and we're merely in separate rooms of an apartment it should be easier right?

I've recommitted myself in the past week or so to putting even more effort into my training. I've been practicing close to a hour a day in combination with energy work and its been giving results. I feel like I've contacted the "threshold" or projection reflex as I've read, about two or three times now.

My recent attempt(like a hour ago), I noticed a shift. I watched the darkness and there were definite fluctuations. There were shifting blobs of dark outlined by certain colors which changed to flashing strobe lights accompanying strong visualizations. Then "wham" my heart goes into overdrive, beating like a war drum and worrying the crap out of me. It feels like a paper-weight on my chest alongside the intense heart beat which is extremely uncomfortable. Guess my problem extends from my in-experience, as I really don't know how long I haven't to deal with this sensation.

My inkling is that this may be some sort of fear test for me, but its gonna be some work to get comfortable with it. You guys have any tips like how long it lasts or how to deal with it? I've seen some comments online referring this sensation to my heart chakra, but it certainly feels real.

This site has been invaluable to my journey along this path, and I would like to thank you guys in advance for any help.

Yes. You can meet other people in the astral planes if you all project at the same time. You could even have conversations with them, and confirm them on the phone later if you wanted to, so long as you're sure that it's them that you're talking to....

Well one of the people interested in projecting is my brother and we'll be rooming with each other soon. Hopefully proximity to someone will help with the meeting process. How would you validate their identity? I should be focusing my energies on projecting, but I can't help but very interested in that.

I was curious about this myself. I haven't projected successfully yet but journeying with others I know when I get proficient is one of my top goals. After hearing about various stories about projectors traveling with people they know, it seems like an iron clad way of convincing yourself the "realness" of what you're experiencing. Like when Thomas Campbell talked about traveling with his son when he was young, and his child would wake up remarking about details of their adventure when they woke up. Or when he staged an experiment with Robert Monroe where he and his co-worker projected in separate sound proof rooms and vocalized what they were experiencing into a voice recorder. After traveling together for some time Tom and his friend returned and listened to their recorders which revealed they were experiencing the same exact thing. He said it was first time he was struck with the "realness" of what he was doing.

I'm still in the process of training myself, and I have several others interested in learning but are awaiting to see how my experience goes. I would like to eventually project with them if we all train ourselves. Is this viable given what you guys have experienced?

I use this language here because a purpose for our existence is being discussed. I agree with you that it seems likely that not only may we be timeless, but we exist outside of linear time. But in order to discuss a purpose or a goal, to me this implied linear time (else there would be no time before the goal was met). Now if we have been progressing toward this goal, yet have always existed, it seems that we should have made infinite progress. That we have not made infinite progress would imply that we were at some point "created" in our current form (because our finite progress would be explained by finite existence), and in the sense of being created vs always having existed, I use the term "young".

I do not suppose that we are created in that sense, or that the term "young" (or any comparative like that) could be applied to us in any meaningful sense; but to me, I have difficulty of conceiving of a goal for our existence without those constraints (not that we necessarily have one either, but for the sake of the discussion previous).

Dissociation from the wider reality may well be one of the reasons of being here. Perhaps there are things that can only be experienced from a perspective of ignorance and isolation in a place such as this.

You raise very good points. I think perhaps we've always existed but perhaps not always as an individual or "node" of consciousness. We're "young" in the sense that we've spontaneously become a meta conscious energy system through our continued interaction with more concrete physical systems. From there, through repeated incarnations/rebirths into time or somewhere else we come to create "purpose" for ourselves. Also, humanities need for religions throughout time probably is a reflection of some lingering remembrance of the undifferentiated peace within the ocean of consciousness. I also tend to shy away from the idea of this place being some purgatorial descent onto the physical plane. I like to feel we came to this place to learn rather than being stricken with our lives, but that is merely a personal belief.

Anyways its pretty exciting stuff to think about. You guys might have a better perspective on those sort of things because of your experiences with the greater network and I'm working to join you guys. I just find it mind boggling that society at large is just ignoring this information, along with the growing experiential evidence supporting psi. Learning about these things turned my world upside down lol.

Possibly, but that also raises a line of questions of its own, such as:

-If our higher existences have always existed, why don't they know all there is to know about love by now?
-If our higher existences have not always existed, when were they created, and from what?
-What are the insects of the world (read- the majority of all animal life) learning about love?
-Why are only higher animals in general (it looks like reptiles, or maybe fish at best) equipped to understand and express love, when there are so few of them?

Love seems like something mostly birds and mammals do here.

If we don't know all about it by now... we must be very young... and why would we be so young, if the world is so timeless?

I think this may be the wrong approach here. To assume an individual is young or old is a fundamentally useless question if we are to consider ourselves "timeless" beings without beginning or end. Such distinction may merely be an expression of our time borne existence and its overall relatedness to non-physical systems may be subject to question.

But the question remains, why are we here, and why does there not appear to be a uniform purpose to our universal existence? Is knowledge of the world and its purpose, in an intellectual sense, something the monkey brain of man can comprehend? The more I live the more skeptical I become of such an idea. I haven't had an out of body experience, but having read your accounts, if you accept the REALITY at face value of what you guys are stating despite all our advances in technology we are so off the mark its not even funny. It may even have done some harm, considering the growing collective resignation that there is no life beyond the body or any larger system beyond this one. There have been benefits for sure, given we're even having this conversation over such a distance is a miracle, but we seem to be becoming even more dissociated from the true "wider reality" than ever before.

So if we aren't suppose to understand the grand scheme of things in some intellectual sense, what is the point? My feeling that this reality/cosmos was grown like a vat to be used as an experiential model to further develop this wider conscious system. I like the quote, "An animal organism, which has its history in time, gradually becomes the vehicle of an eternally complete consciousness, which in itself can have no history, but a history of the process by which the animal organism becomes its vehicle." It is through these complex organisms like insects and animals that this consciousness becomes further defined through these models. So in some sense, throughout the process of evolution, which in itself is a fulfillment of potentiality within organized expression(laws of physics), this eternally complete consciousness is capable of defining/experiencing itself within these virtual systems. We're essentially nodes of information, meta consciousness, developed through the complex experience interface of the physical human body. I like the metaphor that earth is preschool, because through this physical body we become more able to explore and experience the wider reality through developing our experiential faculties. This "higher self" that many of you experience may indeed be supra-consciousness systems you're tapping into, vast arrays of knowledge that are not bound to time and space with the intent of further defining itself.

Perhaps this is why many religious traditions throughout time have warned about getting to attached to this material reality. To be the watcher of our experiences, our emotions and our thoughts for they serve merely a means rather than an end to our life here. We have to let go of our grip of reality to get in tune with our true purpose on this plane of existence.

So with this in mind insects, animals, and humans are merely energy systems/consciousness or whatever you wanna call it using physical vehicles to further define themselves within boundless ocean of itself.

Course this could all be hogwash, I merely thought this up walking my dog after reading this topic. Not I haven't projected yet so I can't know for sure.

Wow guys thanks for all the responses. Looks like I chose the right community to ask my questions.

Lol...I'm not meaning to dog your post, but there it is...and here I am. Others will certainly have opinions, so I'll throw mine on the fire while I'm thinking of it.

It does appear to be normal to hit walls or plateaus from time to time. I'm in one right now; frustrating. That fact should indicate that you are missing something, need to keep looking. Sometimes you just need time to process the previous experience. It's a very personal thing.

Yeah I feel I've hit some sort of plateau. Its just funny because I had more immediate success right away before I delved into the literature involving OBEs. Even the fear is to a lesser extent gone or accepted but it hasn't helped me out. I've made attempts over various hours where I've gotten that numb feeling over my entire body with light vibrations but it doesn't seem to progress from there. Its possible the more regimented my views became about obes the more I looked for goalposts which is slowing the whole thing down. I'm in this for the long haul though. Also don't worry about dogging my posts, I need all the help I can get.

Sharing these revelations with friends is a tricky thing; the desire to benefit others needs to be weighed against their immediate need for this info versus a possible egoistic impulse on our part to be helpful and important.

Yeah I've pulled back a bit. Its better to wean people in gently than pretend you're some heroic mystic purging your friends of delusion. Worlds too complicated for that.

Two main points from me which is that when you said that you were an "ardent atheist" in your teens. And then to a spiritualist. The first thing I thought is psychedelics. And yes that was it. Your not alone. Many people in the 60's that took psychedelics moved over to eastern meditational religious ideas like Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen, etc. Zen probably has the least baggage of all of them. The only other thing that might cause it is if you naturally ended up projecting at night, but that is iffy since a ardent atheist is likely to say it was a very nice lucid dream. In fact this happened to the famous James Randi quite possibly.

James Randi @ Caltech - My Out Of Body Experience
http://youtu.be/1NwKkbd2e-c

Now he said that the cat was in another place in his supposed out of body experience but that is not how OBE's work. He would have been wise to to read up more about OBE's. He obviously didn't know much of anything about them. Since if he did then he would know that the conscious subconscious mind of not only yourself but others greatly influence the experience. The objective and subjective dissolve. And this is not that far out there. It's been theorized that there can be other dimensions out there but that they would all have to be different. Anyway this is the problem with supporting something so strongly even his million dollar prize is not statistically fair.

Secondly when you say "I also hear an omnipresent humming/buzzing on the edge of my awareness that intensifies when I attempt OOBE."

This is the Ommmm that meditators try to tap into. The goal to say Ommmm or Hummmmmm in meditation is to use that as a guild into the inner self. It's like a path with signs that show you if your on the right track. Now from what I understand you can convert meditations into astral projection and vise versa from what I seem to remember. Now there are different meditations you can do to increasing this humming. There are differentiate names for it. A few are "audible life stream" "sound current" "inner sound meditation" etc. You can do this during the day in meditation to increase your awareness in meditation and eventually out of meditation.

Yeah a lot of this stuff is hard to take in after living my life in the skeptic west. Even the act of me taking shrooms wasn't something I took seriously until I had the experience and I barely have the words to describe it. To make matters even more confusing a couple months after that experience I had another strong experience where I wasn't on anything. I was reading a book on my deck when I felt some sort of great warm "presence" wash onto me where all thoughts and worry melted away into a sea of tranquility. I barely felt any sense of individual identity other than this warmth and my immediate surroundings. I had the experience again a couple months ago with the same feeling coming of warmth but this time I felt energy snaking through my body and it felt like it was being poured through my head. I mean what the hell was that? I've got nothing wrong with me physically so I don't know whats going on. I'll look into that info you posted on meditation techniques, could help me out.

Also thanks for the frank kepple resource page. His descriptions of his interpretations of oobe cosmology is vastly interesting and will hopefully frame my experience going forward.

I also wanted to give you a good hint on bringing it up but not bringing it up, begin by talking about lucid dreaming...Its still a non-physical experience and a good little gateway to OBE

Oh and congrats on your promotion 

Oh I'm definitely still keeping lucid dreaming in mind. In fact that was my original intention before I learned more about these experiences and my attention shifted and I've been keeping a dream journal for nearly two months. I had very brief lucid dream last for the first time ever. I was eating some food in a dream and suddenly everything became far more vivid and I remember thinking that "this is a dream". I stared around me really surprised and got up from the table I was eating at. My immediate thought was to project and I jumped through some portal and felt myself coming back awake but thats is where is gets hazy. I feel like I didn't fully become awake and awoke falsely into another one. I think this because in my memory I checked my watch and remarked that it wasn't working and feel back into another dream. However, when I woke up later my watch was working just fine, my intuition leads me to believe it was a dream.

And thank you I'm enjoying my new job quite a bit.

You'll be surprised how quickly your fear will change to excitement once you have succeeded. Many people feel the vibrations very early in their attempts and then purposely stop the experience out of fear of the unknown. If you do this too often, you may end up having a long road ahead of you before you ever get "out". Our brains can be hardwired (develops new synapses pathways) to invoke a common response. This means that your brain will become conditioned to end the experience even before you purposely do so. As an anxiety sufferer, you probably already know this. It really will be a lot less "work" to just get out of your own way now.

Yup, I'm dealing with this fear exactly how I dealt with my anxiety. Simply letting go of the control I want to hold onto and relaxing while believing everything will be okay. I'm looking forward to the transition and the sensations it will bring to me. I'm just running into far more normal road blocks now like annoying sensation of saliva building up in your mouth and wanting to swallow, and fluttering on the edge between conscious and automatic breathing. My mind keeps wanting to go back to worrying about my breathing sequence and I bring it back by telling it everything will be okay. Still hasn't resulted in a projection but its good practice all the same.


Thanks for the help guys.

I thought this would be the proper place to update my post. After a schedule change with a recent job promotion, finding practice time at night has become more difficult. I originally worked the pm shift 1pm-9pm, allowing me ample time at night to experiment. With my promotion I've moved to a more typical schedule of 8am-5pm. Not that I'm complaining about the promotion, I was just wondering how people fit time into their practice schedule with early morning shifts while still maintaining an adequate amount of sleep.

Over the past week or two I've been absorbing so much material throughout various sources on the internet and this site, its difficult to sift through what is right for me. I've sort of settled on using the vigil method, as that seems the most simple whereas my original attempts with Focus 10 have just made my body fall asleep with no energy fluctuations. In some ways I've feel I've moved backwards with the lack of any feeling of energy, but it simply could be I'm far more relaxed now. Is it normal to hit a "wall" before the next step?

Also what are good practices for daytime? I've become pretty proficient at getting into meditation states, so should I attempt light focus 10/affirmations when I have time?

Recently I've been fishing around among my friends seeing who seems the most open to this type of practice. One of my friends seems to be attempting to expand his spiritual horizons and I've let him know some of the techniques I'm doing without revealing the main "meat and potatoes" of the OBE experience. In fact, I haven't revealed that these methods are meant to induce OOBE experiences, merely that they'll help him in expanding his awareness. I figured I'd let him have a genuine experiential reference point before delving into the details. He seems intrigued but I think I'll have to tell him more to get him hooked without revealing too much too quick. I'm open to possibility of OOBE through a series of revelations I've had over the last year or so and I would have thought it impossible before then. I figure it might be the same for him. Any tips for getting him on board?

Thanks in advance.

Hello Condiments,

Welcome to the Pulse!

Take some time to read the bright blue Sticky threads at the beginning of the first three Forums. Try Everything you wanted to know about Sleep Paralysis, Szaxx's Astral Blueprint, Xanth's Phasing Primer and PR's 'How I got out for the first time'. That should answer a lot of questions.

Anything after that, feel free to ask.

It's amazing what incredible sensations you can experience with just a little effort, isn't it?!!

You're on the right track! After the initial reality of the sensations hit you, it's natural to have a little fear and trepidation. Don't worry, you are very safe. Your own fear is your only obstacle at the moment. Stay calm and passively curious in your next experiences, whatever may show.

I'd just like to thank you for taking the time to address my questions, which I'm sure you've heard many times before. Its just hard to contain the enthusiasm after discovering such a vast field of exploration. I'll take a look at those stickies you recommended.

[on the first night!]

My recent work of attempting to induce an out of body experience has been a culmination of various studies/knowledge paradigm shifts I've had over the recent years. Moving from an ardent atheist in my teens to what I would self describe as a spiritualist has been quite an experience. I would say the start point of the "shift" began with my roommate and I took a decent amount of shrooms in college one fateful night blissfully unaware of its mind blowing potentialities. Its one thing to hear people say basic perceptual faculties like time and sight melt before their eyes, but to experience such a thing personally is an entirely different story. Two "mystical" experiences, my battles with anxiety and lots of research later has shifted my viewpoint dramatically in a short amount of time.

What attracted me to this initially my recent research on psi(which has a host of evidence backing it despite the sheer push-back against it by our modern society) which has caused me to want to experiment more.  While I can say this now, when I initially started looking into out of body methods and experiences, I didn't believe I would be able to participate in any of it. Despite this, I went ahead and was absolutely flabbergasted when I started feeling the infamous vibrations and energy pulses everyone was talking about on the first night! It freaked me out and I didn't push any farther. I've been practicing over the past two weeks and its been getting stronger every night. I'm at the point where I'm running into the actual fear of projecting or putting my body into a state of sleep when I'm still awake. Sleep paralysis has always frightened me, which ties into one of my more primal fears of losing control(one fear I've been working on most diligently). Another problem I've run into is the idea of running into what others describe as "boogeymen" who appear when you're not in the right state or mind or are there to test you. Any guiding words? The room I do the most work in is pitch black, which seems like a scary place to project.

Also, this strange feeling of energy and displacement has carried with me during the day. I don't know if its just me being more aware of my body, but I often feel myself "swaying" as if moved by some wind. I also feel energy coursing through during the day in ways that I've never felt before. I also hear an omnipresent humming/buzzing on the edge of my awareness that intensifies when I attempt OOBE. Any insight?