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i have a question.
has anyone out there read "autobiography of a yogi" by paramanansa yogananda?  i am wondering because there is a section near the end where his guru comes to him shortly after he (the guru) died.  he describes to him in pretty vivid detail what the astral realm is like.  i am wondering if anyone has read this, and how closely this lines up with other people's personal experience.
also, as a related note, i am wondering if anyone has had any experience with shamanic journeys.  for example, using drumming as a tool.  a drumbeat of 215 to 230 bpm has been shown to alter brainwaves and help to induce the trance state.  i have personally had a bit of success with this, and you can program it with simple cheap programs on the computer...set it for however long you want it...then end it with four sharp hits, and then rapid drumming for about a minute to help bring you back.  all that is to ask, if anyone has had any shamanic journey experience, how similar this experience was to any astral projection experience.
thanks.

hello,
i am very new to this.  i have some experience with shamanic journeys, but not with this method of astral travel.  i have been working with the rope method for about a week now with some amazing results.  i have felt the vibrations through my entire body, and i have felt myself coming out of my body.
here is the problem.  i have almost been out of my body twice.  both times my heart begins racing, and it kind of freaks me out.  i realize that the feeling of the heart racing is normal with the opening of the heart chakra.  but as i understand it, it's not supposed to actually make your pulse faster...just feel like it is.  but when i use my blood pressure monitor...my pulse is up around 105, when it is usually about 75 to 80.
my question is this:  is this normal?  does the pulse usualy go up, or is this a side effect of my own fear that i will simply have to overcome?  it concerns me because i have had a history of very high cholesterol, which is good now that i'm eating better and exercising...but still leaves me worried when my heart does something funny.
i greatly appreciate any and all help that can be offered.  and will return the favor if there is ever anything i can do.
thank you in advance.  and thanks to mr. bruce, and all who help with the site.
sincerely,
a.
projektatma@projektatma.com
http://www.projektatma.com/

hello,
i haven't read everyone's reply to this, so someone might have already pointed this out.  if so, my apologies.
but one possible reason why acidmax can feel chakra energy everywhere in his body equally is because there are way, way more than 7, or i believe i've read someone say 21.  there are the 7 main chakras, but the vedas (if you don't know, this is the ancient indian texts that discribe the chakras, among other things, like medical systems, the science of God-union, self-realization, etc.) talk about there being over 7200 chakras throughout the body.  also, if you take into account the meridians, and acupressure points of the taoist explination of the body, there is another explination of the energy flow throughout the body.
i don't expect this to convince acidmax of anything.  the initial post seems like a very confrontational way of stirring up a flame war.  but i did want to put that out there for anyone who might be discouraged in their search by this type of posturing.  as a lot of others have said, belief in chakras is not nessicary.  this is true, and personal proof, and irrefutable proof are two completely different things.  if i have proven to myself that i am green with pink polka dots, it doesn't mean that anyone else will see me as green with pink polka dots.  they might, but it is immaterial to me and my belief.  and my belief is immaterial to the truth.  the truth may be that i am in fact green with pink polka dots, and no one else is perceptive enough to see it.  or i might be crazy, and just think that i'm green with pink polka dots.  whatever the case, one person's perception does not constitute absolute proof.  there is not a way, with the technology we have right now to prove or disprove the existence of any of the chakras (at least not to my knowlege).  this basically renders the discussion of their existence or non existence to be irrelivant.  give it a try, if you can find something out for yourself, great.  if not, it doesn't mean that you have proven anything other than you didn't find anything.
anyway, that's my two cents.

this has actually happened to me twice.  the first time laying down, and the second time sitting in full lotus.  but what you have said does make sense.  i think that i might be getting too excited/afraid when i'm on my way out.  i will try doing some more relaxation exercises...maybe try to project after yoga practice.  and hopefully as i learn what to expect, the vibrations, and sensations won't seem so new and exciting, and the pulse problem will maybe work its self out.
thank you for your help,
-a
projektatma@projektatma.com
http://www.projektatma.com/