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For me, that buzzing means it's time to leave the body.  So what I do it increase the intensity of the buzzing, not to make them stronger, but faster.  It's an intuitive action, I can't explain how to do it, you just do it.  As you increase the intensity you should feel like you're slowly rising above your body, and this is the point where you can do the rope technique or you can just roll out.

I'm a little busy at work right this second, but I wanted to acknowledge you and tell you that I'll throw my two cents into the pot later today or tomorrow.

welcome.

that is pretty.  not flashy, subtle.

And I agree about avoiding calling yourself anything. I guess I also get iconoclastic with labels, since if you use one word or another, it sets off a chain reaction of expectations and judgements based on what that word implies to the person in question. It is better in my opinion to say that you have interest in one tradition or another, but that your beliefs or understandings are your own.

And that's my point exactly.  As I said, I'm not knocking Buddhism, just proposing that when you claim a label like that you're doing a few things.  First, you're limiting yourself by saying that you're one thing and not another.  This isn't to say that Buddhists don't use "non-buddhist" practices or whatever, it's just the principle of narrowing down your possibilities.  Second, you're associating yourself with something that you will have "preconceived" notions about.  And even if you abandon most of those notions consciously through your practice, there will still probably be an underlying expectation of what a buddhist is.  And finally, the same issue as number 2 only on a collective level.  Other people have preconceptions, they then treat you in a specific way and you then react in a specific way that may not be what you truly feel (self-fulfilling prophecy). 

Let me say this clearly, I have ZERO problem with Buddhism.  I would never call myself a Buddhist, but I have spent a lot of time over the years learning about the Buddha Sakyamuni (which was his clan name right?  like his family's surname) specifically, as well as the modern form of Buddhism and I really appreciate the culture.  But from the perspective of a "solitary practitioner" I find it much more effective to renounce allegiance to any tradition (a little dramatic i know).

A thought just occurred to me that you maybe also be experiencing remote viewing or something similar.  remote viewing imo is essentially astral projection, but instead of "going there" you're just "looking there".  that may also be happening if you don't experience and projection related sensations (like exiting the body), though exit sensations aren't necessary to project.

You know- I've told you before.
It's Coralie.

yes, i do remember now.  my apologies.  i'm just used to calling you cft.

that's the next step, yes.

your conscious focus is weakened when you're sick.  you could think of it as your mind being a little more "loose" when you're sick.

and welcome to the pulse.

I'm going to take OBE out of my answer and just respond to LD, AP and a dream, of which this experience was all of them.

you started in a dream (in the house), then you gained awareness of the dream and became lucid.  between this point and your actual intention to project (or OBE as you said) you experienced an increase in awareness because you regained enough volition to make the intention to project.  the funny thing is that at that point that you decided to intend projection, you were projecting.  the rest of the experience was astral projection.

this is a great example of the procession through dream awareness to lucid dream awareness to astral projection awareness.  you start with little control or recognition of your surroundings, you just kind of roll with it as you do in any dream.  then suddenly you realize you're dreaming, which is IMO technically a lucid dream.  then you gain control of your mental faculties.  you have moved beyond simple awareness of the dream state into awareness + control, and now you can feel like you're actually responsible for your movements though you may not necessarily be able to fully control the context of the dream (ie the dream environment, characters involved, etc.).  the next step in the progression is the return of your volition, your ability to consider and intention and manifest it.  i believe this is the ultimate distinction between LD and AP.  Once you reached this point you were projecting and you utilized your regain control to launch yourself into the clouds. 

i would like to address one specific point as well.  in my experience, when i first began a projection my control was limited, though i still felt as if i had enough control to dictate my actions.  what i wasn't able to fully control was my environment.  i would often project into an environment that i didn't choose and for a short period i would have difficulty controlling where i ended up period.  after a few moments of drunken stumbling, my awareness would gradually become more clear and my ability to control all aspects of the experience with it.  i bring this up because a part of my distinction between LD and AP is the ability to change the context of the experience.  but as with all things, few people are masters their first time out.  i did notice that for me a projection experience was like a bell curve, low awareness, gradually increasing through the experience to an apex, then going back down as my focus faded.  also, i noticed that the more times i projected, the higher my level of awareness was at the start, so practice makes perfect.

stillwater, you could describe mindfulness as a quality of your mind during meditative practice.  it has been a topic of increasing research since the late 80's early 90's.  mindfulness is defined usually as a purposeful focusing of one's attention on the present moment without discrimination.  so meditation is a practice that utilizes mindfulness in a specific way.  that's how i was first introduced to the notion of meditation, which is the only reason i brought it up.

kazbadan,

again, i actually learned about attachment and the human propensity for it from psychology.  habituation, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, all stuff you learn in psych 101.  the cumulative point to take away is that people avoid pain and move toward pleasure and they become "attached" to the behaviors that help them avoid pain and seek pleasure the most. 

so why do i need buddhism to learn that?

i'm really not knocking buddhism, i'm just saying that i learned many of the principles of buddhism through much different avenues.  so if these principles are seemingly universal (which they appear to be in a lot of ways), why do i need to limit myself by claiming to be a buddhist?  and i know what you're gonna say "buddhism is about not limiting oneself", etc., which in principle i don't disagree with.  my point is just that one you go further and further into defining your experience you limit it.  take note of my signature. 

in the end, reality is a subjective experience, and if there really was a siddhartha gautama then his teachings apply to him.  they can be an inspiration, a starting point, an outline, etc., but the way of the buddha (and i know we're all the buddha, the buddha nature lives in all of us) will only be relevant to the buddha.  you have to use his example to jump start your journey, which you must complete on your own, and clinging to a definition of oneself as "a buddhist" isn't doing that.

i try not to distinguish between different types of energy.  energy is energy.  i feel it in my body and i don't really care what it is, rather how i can work with and use it.  along those lines, my understanding was that kundalini isn't necessarily a specific energy but an experience of large amounts of energy progressing through the human energy centers.  as the process unfolds each energy center is activated to a greater degree than normal energy work/perception.  if one of these energy centers is particularly weak, the kundalini experience can be quite painful and disruptive.  the outcome of this kundalini rising is akin to a large energy channel being opened and used through the body, connecting "heaven and earth".  from my studies in mythology and shamanism, there is often a distinction between the 'upper worlds' and 'lower worlds' with our human world existing in between.  there is also reference to world trees, crosses, etc. as being the grounding/linking element between all of these worlds.  i propose that humans are this link between all worlds and once someone has moved through this kundalini experience they literally become an active connection between worlds.  what this means to me is that someone with an activated kundalini channel is basically a master of his or her reality in many ways as they have a 'permanent' and 'active' channel connecting all aspects of their reality.

my point is that during a "normal sleep paralysis" episode, you're experiencing astral projection.  so it's not either or, it's ap during sp. 

sleep paralysis is not it's own kind of OBE.  people use sleep paralysis for the induction of astral projection.  the rest of your experience is common in both AP and LD.  Many of my projections start out in my old house, or in a house that 'feels' like my old house even if it doesn't look like it. 

So why do you use it?

Are you a nocturnal butterfly/moth?

i agree with you stookie.  for some reason the picture of have of frank is that of an alcoholic.....i don't know why, maybe it was something of his i read in passing.

and nay, i wasn't even going to respond to you and i probably won't after this, but there's a big difference between using ONE post to address a potential AUP conflict and spending 2+ pages bickering over personal opinions that literally have nothing to do with the OP's question.  the fact that you either can't recognize that or do recognize it and are just looking for any opportunity to start some crap with someone is why you shouldn't be here.  i'm assuming the latter cause i don't think you're that oblivious to your own actions.

I didn't know those were your initials.  What's your first name?  Camille? Consuela? (sp?) Cornelia? Carmen?

Sometimes I see nicknames that are obvious, like "AstralProjector" etc., and some names that are rather obscure but I still know where they come from, like Xanth (it's the name of a fictional country in a book series by Piers Anthony I think).  But sometimes there are names that I just can't figure out.  So, tell everyone how you came to use your Nickname and why.

I'll start.

My nick is part of a title from a Seth book, "The Nature of Personal Reality".  At the time, that book had a big impact on me (I was maybe 16ish).  Though, after I read the book and grew a little, the name took on new meanings relative to my personal philosophy and I continued using it.  To this day I use it for almost everything, from my music projects to forum nicknames.  I do have another name that I use which is my email "egodetox", that's a new development and relatively self explanatory.

So, let's hear it!

I appreciate the exposure, sure (though I honestly first learned about 'meditation' as mindfulness in psychology).  But unless you can make people not be addicts for being told how to live, I worry that something like "buddhism" (or anything really) would do more harm than good in the long run.  The reason I don't call myself a buddhist is because i learned what needed and then moved on.  I recognize the value of solitary practice, because in the end, all you really have is your self.  (not yourself)

welcome.

i think these are all relatively common "otherworld" experiences.  call them whatever, hallucinations, lucid dreams, astral projections, etc.

sleep paralysis is just a physical reaction to waking up during REM sleep.  it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with projection or lucid dreams.

I mean, I do that anyway, why do I need to call it Buddhism? 

So I've brought this back to life cause SGU came back on last night.

Anyone else watch it?

I can say that from conversing with ryan in the chat room, he's not as starry eyed as you think or what to make him seem.

True, Xanth likes Frank's work (not Frank, he didn't know frank) and he may be a little bit of a zealot, but honestly, who isn't when they find something (anything) that they feel really resonates with them? 

When it all comes down to it, why do you all really care if he seemingly "adores" frank? 

Does your perception of another person's life really constitute hijacking a new member's thread and turning into something that has nothing to do with the original post? 

And ryan, you get defensive and go crazy.  I'd like to think I know you a little bit better than the average forum member and you're really not all crazy defensive like this in conversation on the chat room.  So I don't know, just ignore it.  It's your personal feelings and no one can ever share them, so why try to defend something that no one can truthfully object to? 

Sorry, this kind of isn't my business.  I'm a bit nosy, my bad.

Welcome Back.

I will say that the few times I've held an Orgone Generator I've had very strong energy sensations.

The other stuff.....eh.

\o/!

Yes, I love my smilies.  But why lock the topic, am I getting warm?

no, this thread has just become a joke.  a whole page of you and ryan arguing.

and it's too bad because this is a permanent thread, you can't really lock it as it has valuable information in it.

sounds fun, captivating.