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Hi again!

Seems to me like I made a habit of showing up here once a year during summer, when things get a bit less hectic and I have more time to contemplate. And once the summer is over, a new semester at med school starts, I just don't find the time. Anyone else noticed this pattern with themselves? 

Anyway...

Politically, I consider myself libertarian. This might seem like a random statement that doesn't really belong here, but it is the reason why I recently stumbled upon an interview with a famous magician and atheist/skeptic Penn Jillette on a libertarian YT channel. I totally identified with what he said and I was kind of drawn to learn more about his opinions, since I had never really cared about him and thus didn't know much about him, although he is famous. Obviously, I came across his atheist and skeptical opinions as well. What striked me was how similar, sometimes outright identical, his opinions were to mine. Shockingly enough, according to his definition, I would have to describe myself as atheist as well, even though I am REALLY NOT.

In short, he approaches the question of whether there is any afterlife, god, divine being etc. with a simple "I don't know." This stance, he sais, is the most humble and sensible take on the subject. He also says that he doesn't think there is a God, but is open to possibilities and that any open-minded atheist, such as him, would be the first to change his mind if presented with evidence suggesting otherwise.

I could not agree more! It indeed is the only possible stance that makes sense. Only a hypocrite would claim that he has the defintive answer to the mysteries of what happens after death, a monopoly on truth, so to speak. Also, I actually used to believe the same thing as Penn did, until I did come across evidence to suggest otherwise (although my first OOBE is hardly "solid" evidence by scientific standards). Now I am sure there is something more than meets the eye. Yet I have no idea what that really is. And anyone who claimed any different would actually have had to die, then be resurrected and remember everything. And I am not talking about NDEs, I am actually talking about being "completely on the other side." Now, that might be the case for those who claim to remember their past lives, but to say that anyone has the definitive answer to it all would raise some eyebrows even here on Astral Pulse, I am sure.

As I dug deeper, I actually realised that those atheists, that I have despised for their pseudoskepticism and that so many people on Astral Pulse are ranting randi-ing about, are actually doing a great job of exposing religion(s) for what they really are: institutions trying to impose their monopoly of truth on others and trying to enslave them in the process. And doesn't Astral Pulse serve the same purpose, among others? To provide people with a hub where narrow-minded religious belief systems are put to question in order to help and free those, who have a dogmatic fear of astral projection?  Yes, sometimes some of these atheists get carried away and attack not only the stupidity of debunked, yet still widely reverred fundamentalism, but also any idea of "supernatural" at all. Yet, even the Devil himself, Richard Dawkins ,said in one interview that while not a believer, he is open to other possibilites.

This might not be a popular opinion here, but I think that I have to reassess my misconceptions about some atheists and the the purpose of the movement as a whole, that I have had. They might actually have a lot in common with my opinions.

Any thoughts?

Good to be back again, btw. 

I am going to visit Scotland for one week in May/June. I am very intrigued by all the noise around strange places, events and UFO sightings happening there. The Rosslyn chapel in particular has piqued my interest, because it is also said to be associated with strong energies.
Well, I thought it would be an intersting place to explore to see if I can discover and/or feel something. Since many people on this forum are from the UK I was wondering if anyone has any personal experience with this or other interesting places and is willing to give a tip or two as to which to visit and what to look for. People outside of the UK who have something to say are also not forbidden to speak up.

What do you think?

[NO]

Well, I have already written about my OBE experience here, but I guess I might +write sth here too.

I used to be an atheist before my first OBE who thought that evyrithing spiritual, paranormal etc. was a bunch of crap. My experience changed me. I am quite certain many of these things are real (for instance, I have seen the proof of energy healing for myself) and I am certainly no atheist anymore: I am convinced about the existence of soul, afterlife etc. On the other hand, I am member of NO church or religious group since these thing have nothing in common with God but much in common with manipulating people and making money (just my opinion). The only religion I find intriguing and valuable is buddhism, which is pretty much no religion but philosophy and way of living.

After my first OBE experience (see the thread in OBE section) I was afraid to atempt. But recently I began to feel like being up to learning it so here I am. This is the largest community of intelligent people (at least most of you seem to be, judging by your posts   ) doing these things. So I wanted to join in, share and learn here. It seems like a good place for it.

I am a sportsman, I do judo. That's my  hobby and maybe the source of me being influenced by eastern philosophies.

That is about  everything. So hello everyone and thank you all for providing me a place to talk about things that are considered crazy by most of the people I know.

[Thank you for answering this one, especially.]

Hello everyone,
I discovered your site just a few days ago and I have found it extremely helpful. I wanted to find a bigger community of experienced astral travellers who could help me to fully understand sth I went through (guess what it is ) and it seems like I am on the right place.

Let me share my story and thank you very much for any ideas, tips, recommendations... you might have:

Couple of years ago I read an article about AP somewhere and I thought it was the funniest and most ridiculous thing ever. I also heard about it from my friend who claimed to be able to do it. Poor lad, he must be ill, I thought.  Back then I was rather an atheist and had not experienced anything spiritual, not even a LD (none that I could remember, anyway).

But about 2 years ago (I guess it was about summer 2011) I was sleeping in my bed and suddenly realised I was dreaming. Wow, I thought. Almost instantly that AP article came across my mind (I have no idea how I got to think about it, it just happened). It was only such a brief thought, but still... I found myself rising in that horizontal position I was lying in and floating towards the ceiling. From what I know now, it could have been an awesome experience. But instead it was awful, because I also remembered that friend of mine telling me it was dangerous and that one might not be able to return. Guess what, I panicked. And I panicked so bad. I was afraid to open my eyes (I was not able to see, might be I had the eyelids of my etherical body shut?) so I did not. That is also why I am not 100% sure I was away from my body, just 99%. I really felt like I was hovering at the ceiling and if I had opened my eyes (possibly of the etherical body) I could have seen myself lying in bed. But might it also be that I was only close to being in astral but just not there yet? I am asking because from what I have come to understand about AP, you should always be able to see, no matter what, and even all the directions at once. Or is it not so? Thank you for answering this one, especially. But back to the experience. I wanted to go back into my physical body immediatelly and after a moment (no idea how long it was) I was kind of sinking back into it and I found myself fully awake in my body. That is where it really got awful. My body started to spasm fiercely and although awake, I could not open my eyes. It went on for maybe 20 seconds and first when my body calmed down I opened my eyes and got up.

I am quite sure it was so unpleasant because I became so hysterical while in there. Is it right?

This experience changed me quite profoundly. I became convinced that there is sth more to it. I do not recognise myself as a member of any movement or religion (since religion and especially church has nothing in common with real belief and spirituality but rather with making profit, in my opinion, no offense to anyone ) but I am very intrigued by eastern philosophies, mainly buddhism, and am inclined to believe in reincarnation. I practise judo so that might have influenced me in this area, too.  I also have had couple of LDs but no WILDs and I was not able to control them fully. That is probably because I haven't commited myself to learning LDs properly yet. One of them was quite funny, though. I was dreaming and realised it was so and I woke up, not into reality but into yet another dream and I thought it was the reality already. Dream in a dream. Like in the Inception movie. Does it happen to you, too?

BTW: What do you think de ja vu is? Is it sth one sees in a dream and it happens in real world afterwards? I am asking because when I was writing last paragraph I got very very strong de ja vu feeling. I thought I must have written this already, at this very place, on this very computer. But I am also sure I have never written anything like this. Just a thought. 

Back to the topic: I have also started meditating on regular basis. A few times while meditating I felt like spinning around my axis. Awesome feeling. I have read a few theories what it means but what do you guys think.

Ever since that astral experience of mine I described above (my only one so far) I have been afraid to attempt it intentionally. That is mainly because of lot of crap I read on the internet and stuff that my friend-who-can-do-astral-travel told me. You know, demons, attack by entities, danger of getting stuck there... It even got that far that I was afraid to fall asleep for a couple of nights for I feared I would find myself being there in astral, unable to get back.  I also read that it is safe, I did. But since there were 2 quite opposite opinions on the matter I was not sure what to make of it.

Then I found your site. I just think you guys are doing great job explaining things and it has helped me overcome my fears to a great extent. Now I am planning to get rid of it absolutely and start attempting APs. Thank you so much for assuring me that it cannot be dangerous as long as I stay calm. It seems like you all agree on this. Well, that is very helpful to me so I know now how things really are. Thumbs up!

I also came across the work of David Icke. I got the feeling most of you do not agree with conspiracy theories. Nor do I believe in every single thing I read on the internet. But I have been interested in the stuff even before I knew DI's work, done quite a research and am 100% convinced of couple of things (9/11, Big Pharmas...) so lot of what he says makes sense to me. Even that matrix stuff (since I have had that astral experience, otherwise I would have thought him a complete nutter). What I am intersted in: if I wanted to find out, if it really is true about reptilians etc. (about that, I really am not convinced at all, rather a sceptic but I admit there might be sth to it) through astral and if I saw reptilians there, would I know that I saw them only because I expected to or that they really were there. Could I tell the difference? And could it, in this specific case, indeed be dangerous if I met a true reptilian, alien or whaever?

Do not take me wrong. I do not want to AP just to confirm or debunk conspiracy theories. Spiritual development is my goal (that is why I do meditation, too) but it would be intersting to look into these things in astral, I reckon.

Thumbs up if you managed to read the whole post and thanks for any reply.