Messages

I have a little question regarding specific foods and their abilities to repel negative energy (or attract positive).

Although I understand that a well balanced diet consisting of little meat, low fats, lots of vegetables, etc. promotes positive energy and a healthy body, but are there specific foods/herbs that repel "bad stuff"?

I am an open-minded person, but I must admit when I hear someone say, "Oh, you are experiencing a psychic attack or a negative spiritual presence. . .well, sprinkle some of _____ herb in the corner and then burn of some _____ this, etc."  I usually just roll my eyes.  But maybe I need to re-think this.

Anyone have an personal experience, links to info on the subject, etc.  in regards to this.  If so, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
DT

What do you know, good or bad, about praying on your knees (kneeling with upper body or arms resting on bed, etc.)??

Has anyone here had any experience/succes using LD induction devices? A few years ago at the Univeristy I saw a demonstration involving them...I guess some of them flash lights when they sense REM and then the user realizes he or she is dreaming.  I have heard a lot of good...now let's hear some tesimonials!

For those not familiar with these devices:

http://members.aol.com/Aarenka/lucidintro.html
http://www.lucid-tech.com/

DT

Let's say a friend of mine knows little or nothing about the "paranormal" but suddenly feels he or she is being "attacked" by unseen forces.  After a visit to the doctor, psychologist, etc. he or she is told that they are fine--that there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with them physically, and psychologically they seem sound.  Then they come accross a web site like the one I have posted below.

What do you more experienced members of the forum think about organizations like this?  How do they differ (or do they?) from individuals like Robert Bruce?  Would you consider referring friends or individuals on this forum to this organization? The idea of finding and being put in contact with experienced psychic individuals sounds promising for those who are under attack...

Read the info below and then please check out the site itself.

I found the following info at:
http://www.paradigm-sys.com/cttart/misc-docs/ctt00-help1.html

homepage:
http://www.paradigm-sys.com/cttdb/misc.html

Help with Strange Experiences
Judy Tart
Introduction by Charles T. Tart

Individuals are sometimes stressed and confused by unusual experiences of a psychic, mystical, or altered states nature.  Sometimes they represent serious psychological disturbance that requires professional help from the mainstream helping professions, but sometimes a little knowledge of such experiences or a sympathetic listener is all that's required. Below is a description from a book of mine, written by my wife Judy several years ago of the Spiritual Emergence Network, with updated address, that may be of help to you if you have been thrown off balance by an unusual experience.

This article is a little out of date but gives the general idea. More up to date information can be gotten from SEN itself. Please
pass this info along it may help someone who's stressed out by an unusual experience.

Following that is a note on a new organization, OPUS.

                            THE SPIRITUAL EMERGENCE NETWORK
                                          by Judy Tart

Many travelers on the spiritual path have found the going rough, or have suddenly found themselves at a level of awareness and/or energy transformation they were not prepared to handle. Perhaps others around them have also had difficulty in dealing with the enormous new levels of knowledge, insight, and energy their friends are experiencing. Even worse, many persons who do not consider themselves seekers or spiritual wake up one morning to find their world suddenly changed hearing voices, seeing visions, knowing the thoughts and secret feelings of others around them. We know what usually happens to anyone in our society who not only has these experiences but is foolish enough to talk about them to others a 72hour hold in the nearest
"spiritual correction" center and some massive doses of Thorazine to bring them back to "normal."

In order to avoid this situation, and to help those who are trying to figure out if they're becoming enlightened or going crazy,
Stan and Christina Grof and Rita Rohan several years ago established the Spiritual Emergency Network (SEN). It was first
based at Esalen Institute; then at the California Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now know simply as the Institute for
Transpersonal Psychology) in Menlo Park. Now (June 2, 1996), the address is:
                                    SEN 930 Mission Street # 7
                                       Santa Cruz CA 95060
                                          408/426-0902
                           (if this doesn't work, try Information [14085551212])
  UPDATE:  As of late-1999, SEN is now located at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San
Francisco.  They can be contacted by telephone at (415) 648-2610, by email at SEN@CIIS.edu, and now
                           have a website at  http://www.ciis.edu/community/ .

What does SEN do? Anyone experiencing altered states of awareness, energy, insights, who needs some nurturing, reassurance, and help while going through this transformation, can call SEN and hopefully find someone nearby who has had similar experiences, or someone who is a therapist sensitive to and aware of spiritual dimensions of reality, whom they can contact for assistance. The network of individuals and organizations in SEN numbers more than 10,000 at present. By writing
or phoning SEN you can receive information and referral for yourself or others. There is also an educational program, including
articles, bibliographies, tapes, lectures, workshops and conferences on aspects of spiritual opening and crisis.

SEN's membership is open to anyone who is interested in the goals of spiritual awakening and what might be called spiritual
midwifery. Having recently reread Bert Kaplan's "The Inner World of Mental Illness," I am very struck by the almost universal
themes of spiritual awakening running through diverse firsthand accounts of people's experience with madness, along with the
equally striking lack of recognition of the same by the socalled authorities. It is also frightening to realize that today, with our
antipsychotic medications, people aren't even allowed to experience their mystical states in the privacy of their own minds. I see
SEN as filling a pretty urgent need. If you want more information, please write or call SEN at the above address. They need
support, volunteer networkers, and others to spread the word that they exist and are available to help out when needed.

Originally the Network's purpose was to deal with people having a crisis because of spiritual or psychic experiences happening
to them. They have found, however, that while this is an important part of their functioning, a larger part is in networking people
and providing information to facilitate a more general emergence of spiritual potentials. For many people, a little information to
the effect that they are not alone, that there are some words that describe their experiences and books that can be read, is
enough to help them on their spiritual journey.




Edited by - daniel on 29 March 2002  08:49:51

I am currently reading Journeys Out of the Body and although the book is a little out dated, I have found it quite fascinating and full of good info.  Anyway, for those of you who have read it (and can remember), I have a question specifically regarding the chapter he dedicates to "Local III"-

For those of you who haven't read it and those who have but long ago, Monroe finds himself traveling through tunnel into a black void.  Eventually he finds an entire world like ours, with a cilvilization much like ours (with human beings, etc.)  The main difference is the technology is different, ie. trains that don't use steam or electricity, but something stored in "vats".  The automobiles are very wide and sit up to six people on wide benches and drive down very wide streets.

The strangest thing is that when Monroe travelled there, who would occassionaly take over the body of a man...  this man was an engineer and occassionaly he would be in control of his body during vital moments, for example once he found himself as this man in his labratory.  Suddenly the man's wife entered the room with a group of people and asked, "So, can you tell my friends what you're working on?" Of course Robert, not having any memory of the man's past or present, other than the little info he had gained when he was in his body, didn't say anything.  

Anyway, Monroe admits to feelig guilty for having caused much embarrasment and anguish for the man...

What could this mean?  Do you think this was actually happening...that he was entering into another dimension, another world and actually interacting with real beings?

I found this chapter quite compelling...but sort of "Twilight Zone-ish".  

Let me know what you think, expecially if you have read the book and remember this part.
-Dan

THE FOLLOWING was written by a friend of mine, Dr. Conforto.  He is a healer/doctor.  He is Italian, so forgive him if his English isn't perfect:
       "Finally, today we can see the scientific bases of the spiritual research that can explain and produce  a lot of manifestations linked to the ancient spiritual traditions ( illuminations, satori, the river of life , miracles , non-local phenomena, meditations , sense of unity, etc.)
   A big help comes from quantum physics.  Everything that surrounds us is made of atoms, made themselves of subatomic particles, with waving properties. In other words they behave now as particles ( with a mass, a position, and a relation space-time ) now as waves ( with no mass, immaterial, invisible, spread everywhere at the same time in the space ); this duality depends on the observer of the system ( in other words us ) and on the measuring instrument we use.
That means that if we don't observe the system , it will be spread in the space, otherwise it will get properties of the material itself: it would be the man with his observation to create the material reality, perceptible with our five senses.
     Our brain is not able to see the quantum phenomena happening in our body and environment, in other words all the subatomic particles that appear and disappear one millions of time/ sec! What we perceive is only the three-dimensional dimension .
     If we wore " quantum glasses" we would see happen the creation of everything around us, and as if from the nothingness, many particles would appear that exchange information with everything that surrounds us, in an indivisible network: the universe is an interconnected and interacting  reality, so that  a transformed information in a particle would be transmitted to all the others particles of the universe..."

I find this fascinating!  What do "ya'll" think?

I hate to bring start a post so similar to the "movie" topic, but I feel that after having read the responses, the majority of those who responded to DJMM's post seem to be going in a different direction than myself and a few others.  I want to take this idea to another level...

I brought up the "documentary idea" back on page 2 under DJ MidgetMan's original "movie" post (BTW- great post!) and I stand by it... although it would be possible to make a "Hollywood" style film with OBE as the central theme, it would be nearly impossible to have it be successul in the box office and remain intact as a "true" depiction of the phenomena itself.

Many doctors and psychologists believe AND have done extensive studies on OBE and especially NDE (Moody, etc.)  To interview professionals (ie. doctors, nurses, pshychologists), authors, people who have experienced NDE's (especially children) and have "come back", and those like US here in the forums, would make for a wonderful, informative and ground breaking documentary.  

Of course the general public probably wouldn't see it because people generally don't like documentaries, but there are those who would see it...and they would be the ones ready to accept the evidence and begin moving towards the "larger reality" that these phenomena represent.  It could be shown on PBS, Discovery, etc. and also made available for purchase in stores and on the net.

The fact is, what people see in "Hollywood" films always remains "Hollywood" in their minds...do we believe that Dinasours live on islands off Costa Rica?  There is something to be said for films like E.T. and Star Wars, for they are not only entertaining, but cause one to think about other realities and the possibility of life on other planets, but something like OBE would come out really unrealistic---imagine a John Woo OBE film

I am going to keep this short and simple:

Last night my finace and I saw "A Beautiful Mind" for the second time. The topic of debate, after the film, was this:  what is "Schizophrenia"?  We came to the conclusion that one who suffers from it could be A) seeing apparitions/hearing voices from their own sub-conscious without being able to distinguish from which source they come (I should re-write that sentence...) OR B) truly seeing "non-physical" beings on another plane/dimension which the individual can see due to enhanced psychic ability, etc.

I saw the interview with John Nash and he says the voices he heard (for unlike the film he only heard voices) are "real" to him.  He thought they were angels or aliens "or something like that"...but has concluded that they were actually voices from his own sub-conscious.  He said in the interview, just like his character in the film, that they are still there, but he has a "diet of the mind" and doesn't "indulge" certain appetites of the mind.

I feel this post belongs in this forum because if one begins to see entities or hear voices that he or she DOESN'T want to hear/see during  waking/"normal" consciousness, is there something they can do to stop them.  Example: would John Nash have benefited from the help of someone like Robert Bruce or was his problem to be solved with chemicals, etc.?  I think these are very interesting and debatable questions.  Ultimately someones consciousness is a very, if not the MOST subjective thing...so if anyone offers their opinion it is simply that, an opinion...but I think these questions are real and important in order to understand one another.

Wouldn't some people call me a schizo because I claim to see auras and recieve communications and intelligence from unseen beings?

What exactly is meant by the word "magick" and why is it spelled that way?  I have found many explanations and sources, but what can any of you offer as personal knowledge and from your own research.

ie. what does it mean to you?

I once read that if one dreams that he or she is looking for their car, it is actually an OBE and the person is trying to get back to their body.  In dreams we oft times think of the car as an extension of ourselves.

When I initially read this I thought it sounded kind of strange and I questioned if this were true.  Well, this morning I was sleeping lightly at my fiances house and I during a long and strange dream (of which I will you spare you the details) I suddenly became lucid.  In the dream I had been trying to find my truck and when I became lucid I decided to float up into the air in order to look down and locate my vehicle.  As I flew up into the air I suddenly started to feel something change and then, WALLAH! I became conscious and sat up in bed with a big grin on my face.

If a negative being desires to hurt someone, what could it do to them physically?  A related question I am asked often is if "evil spirits" are able move physical objects.  I say yes, but most disagree...when asked to illustrate my point with examples I usually don't have many.

These are questions I am asked quite often by friends and family and although I have some answers, I want input from those of you who are experienced in these things.

I do know how real negs are and how they affect many people unawares to the whole spectrum of reality, but when it comes to the idea of the unseen making itself seen...and manipulating the "physical enviornment" I have little if not any real experience or evidence.



Edited by - daniel on 18 March 2002  11:19:49

Edited by - daniel on 19 March 2002  09:13:26

Unfortunately there was a time in my life when I thought that by experimenting with psychadelic drugs I would somehow gain positive insights to metaphysical reality, etc.  

The last time I ingested any psychadelic substance is when I ate about 3.5 grams of psylocibin mushrooms (magic mushrooms).  The experience I had while the psylocibin was affecting my perception/spirit was so horrible and at the same time enlightening, that I finally gave up "drugs" for good (I was also a habitual marijuana abuser).  I finally realized what I was looking for. . .and now I am happier than ever.  

Anyway, my question for all of you...especially you more serious projectors who have in the past experienced the effects of psylocibin/lsd/mescaline, etc. is what exactly do you think psychadelic compounds do. . .and what realm do they allow one to enter.

I know for me that when I used LSD I would enter the mental plane in which my subconscious thoughts would produce visible thought forms and entities.  I have seen the "golden city", demons, angels, etc. while I was "tripping" and I have had such seemingly glorius and "true" thoughts and realizations that at the time I thought I had finally realized what I needed to know....only to find out hours later that Ihad forgotten and needed to revisit that place.  In the end this only turned out to be the gold at the end of the rainbow...unattainable and decieving.

I also believe that while out of body there exists truth that is completely deceptive and this can prove to be much like the psychadelic experience in that one is constantly going back to get it,only returning to find it isn't what we need to make it...here or there...but don't get me wrong, I also believe that there is the SOURCE and from it comes TRUTH (not subjective, but glorious objective and eternal truth)...but who has really found this out of body or within?  People have...

Anyway, what are your thoughts on psychedelia and it's relation to the astral/mental planes.

A few tips/reminders about the OOBE I found at:
http://www.tanega.com/astral/signpost.html

Reading About OOBEs Only Helps So Much. I never met anyone who simply read books about guitars and magically developed the ability to play! OOBEs are like playing a musical instrument, practicing a martial art, meditating, etc. You should read books and articles to familiarize yourself with the subject but success requires practice (and often years of trial and error). Also keep in mind that as described below, you will need to learn to function with non-verbal awareness and this is the antithesis of conventional forms of study such as reading or attending lectures.

I went to a writer's conference once and talked to one of the speakers. He mentioned that many of the same people turned out year after year but never wrote anything at all! Don't become a "fan" of OOBEs.  They are something to do. I also know a Zen priest who likes to say that reading an entire library of books on the subject of Zen adds up to less than a pimple on your butt! The same could be said about OOBEs.

7.An Encompassing Belief System. Successful astral projectors have a belief system in which OOBEs are accepted. Suppose you define life as spirit animating the flesh. Well, having the spirit leave the body seems to violate this definition. Unless OOBEs fit within your belief system, your conscious mind -- and more importantly your Unconscious Mind -- will create all kinds of roadblocks to your success.
Keep It In Perspective. Take at look at the tip of the fingernail on the little finger of your right hand.  That's how important OOBEs are in the grand scheme of things. OOBEs don't make you enlightened, give
you a free pass to heaven, etc. Some people read about saints or holy people who could leave their bodies and foolishly think that developing the same ability will make them saintly or holy. Hey, they did a lot more than that! You have to work on your life!

Ah!  I just wrote an entire introduction to this post and then lost it because I tried to post without having entered a subject.  So here is the BREIF intro:

I will admit that this post, or at least the majority of what I have written about, is a little off base..but I am the author of the post "The Lord is My Light" in which I shared my method of "self defense".  I guess I should have been more descriptive of what I mean by calling on the Lord and His light.

The "power" and "protection" I rely on by calling on Jesus Christ comes from the way I try to live my life.  In all things, I try to emulate the Lord- by loving, serving, sacrficing, and searching for my calling...and it's this "personal righteousness" I draw on on those occassions when I feel negative energy trying to hold me down and /or instill fear, the greatest obstacle, on my path...

The bottom line is that I call on the SOURCE when I am "attacked" and I am sure that there exists beings so powerful and dark that I woudln't know what to do, and then I would require protection that I cannot even comprehend as of now...but this hasn't been the case for me thus far, thank goodness.

Now some musings on...well, everything on my mind this evening:

I think it's so funny the way everyone still attacks Christians.  I have found that the majority of members in this site are very tolerant, open minded people...truth seekers.  Then we have those who are definitely riding high on their own egos and the fact that, because of their own personal knowledge, they feel in some way superior to those who are on different paths and different levels, they ridicule others paths or at least speak as if others are in some way inferior because of what they believe and what they feel works.  I admit that I believe there is an objective truth (and this sometimes this is revealed in my words, much to the chagrin of others)...yet there are many ways to arrive at the truth.  I also believe there is a way to KNOW and be 100% sure, in this life, that you have arrived at the truth.  There is a specific manifestation- a revelation if you will- that anyone may receive.  I do not feel that it is my right to share what this is, but I do know of those who have received it.  The way to receive this manifestation  is to prove to God, and yourself (which is pretty much the same thing, if you understand what I am talking about) that you, through the experiences you have had so far, as an eternal being, will ALWAYS choose the right way- choose the light. . .that you are dedicated to spreading love and desire to follow God and His way.  No one of us, as mortals, is perfect or will be in this life, although I don't think this is impossible (I know I contradicted myself- so is it possible or impossible?- I would say it is possible, but not plausible)...but what I am basically saying is that we must become perfect.  To receive this manifestation that I am speaking of, one does NOT need to be perfect . . .  but one needs to decide, deep down, what he or she truly desires.  

While I am sure that some things, or many things which I have said thus far, can (and will, hopefully) be debated. . .. I believe that we would probably all agree that a all of our experiences require us to make decisions.  We make a specific choice and there is always a consequence.  Do you disagree?  Even when a consequence doesn't seem apparent, it is there...it ripples through the universe and affects the whole, of which we are a part of.  There is opposition in all things...there will always be darkness for without it there wouldn't be light.  In the "end"- I concede that there is no real end- but in the end , at least as I understand it at this point in my existence, that end that many call the "final judgment", will be more of a division.  Who will judge, who will divide?  I think we, as individuals, with a perfect knowledge—or at least with knowledge to perfect memory— will actually judge ourselves.  We will have an advocate, which is nice to know.  Then the division will be made, it won't be a division of black and white, good and evil...but I think there will be gray areas or in other words different levels/planes where beings will feel comfortable, or want to dwell in.  There is even a "hell" (although I don't like to use that word---too much baggage, this place will be OUTER darkness, not just darkness. . .a place for those who have seen the light, accepted and comprehended the light, and then rejected it.  It is very difficult to go there, almost impossible.  The beings who go there are few, for few will accept the light and even fewer will then reject it.  I know I cannot even begin to fully comprehend this, but I will attempt to construct a weak metaphor to illustrate this concept.  To be like those who will live in outer darkness, one would have to go outside on a bright, sunny day in the summer time and look up directly at the sun, and with complete sincerity and a spirit of pure and utter rebellion say, "The sun is not shining."

So where are we going to be when we divide ourselves?  I look around at those in the waking, physical world.  We have divided ourselves by our desires and our beliefs.  Some desire power, others to fulfill their carnal desires. . .  There are those who believe there is no God, that we are not eternal spirits (they are in for a big surprise and a lot of "accelerated learning".  There are those who believe that heaven is as attainable as their willingness to follow dogmas, or sacrifice their lives in the hope of finding a "heaven" in which they basically eat, drink, and be merry.  Some are spiritualists who have discovered they are indeed eternal beings, but other than that they have not decided much of anything else.  Some have discovered that this life is a microcosm of the life to come, with the family unit being a primary key to understanding the cosmological scheme of things—that learning to love and live with another person of the opposite sex and raising and teaching children—allowing them to gain knowledge and love others--is truly at the center of this experience.  

I could go on forever.  My point?  Well, I guess I want to say that I know that every decision counts, including what we believe in...and the life to come isn't that much different than this...it's just that we, at least for a period of time, will shed the "lower physical" (our present, corruptible "physical" body—I keep putting physical in quotations because even our ethereal bodies are physical, just a different kind of matter) and then we will go where we want to be, where we belong—there will be many different levels/planes for us...we will be where we are comfortable.  And then?  What will you do forever?  Strum a harp?  Only YOU know the answer.

I will be grateful for responses to my ideas...I don't pretend to know anything, really, well..you know what I mean.  I love to hear what everyone has to say.  We are all seeking truth and are at some point...and from that point we understand things the way we do.  Ok, I'll stop now  (:


Grace by grace, principle by principle, we strive towards perfection.  

Il mio maestro e' colui che ha vissuto la vita perfetta, il stesso che ha datto la sua vita per noi.

I am somewhat confused regarding the correlation between lucid dreaming and OBE.  Although I have had OBE's, every time it has been involuntary.  I have also conditioned myself to lucid dream in the past.

Could someone provide a simple explanation about the link between lucid dreaming and conscious projection.  During a LD can one make a conscious exit into the real time physical astral plane?

Thanks!

Grace by grace, principle by principle, we strive towards perfection.  

Il mio maestro e' colui che era perfetto, il stesso che ha datto la sua vita per noi.

I am not asking to know for myself, but to find out what you all think.  The topic of this site is, or at least the starting point of it, the OBExperience.  I feel that some who engage in OBE's limit themselves to this experience for their spiritual growth...thus I would like to hear about what you all feel is the purpose of life.  Where are we from?  Who are we?  Where are we going?  I challenge anyone to give meaningful, detailed responses to these questions.  

I don't profess to know everything, in fact the reason I ask is to get more insight and knowledge from your personal experiences and research.  

Grace by grace, principle by principle, we strive towards perfection.  

Il mio maestro e' colui che era perfetto, il stesso che ha datto la sua vita per noi.

Ok- because I am such a long winded guy, I am going to do my best to keep this short and as much to the point as I possibly can, besides I have a lot of homework to do (oh the joys of education!)

Well, I decided to post this topic in here because it is a "related topic" (just as the title of this forum says.)  I was very interested in UFO's and the possibility of aliens having visited our planet for years, and then I read "Grand Illusions" by Dr. Gregory Little.  This book completely changed my mind on the issue and has since enlighted my mind regarding the topic.  

Dr. Little researched UFO's and the like for many, many years.  He attended the conferences, saw UFO's, and did everything a UFOLOGIST does.  In the end, however, he realized something shocking.  He looked back to other historical time periods at such entities as demons, elves, fairies, the succubus and incubus, the beings from American indian visions, etc. and saw a pattern.  Then he looked at modern day abductionc cases- many abductees claimed to have been sexually abused, probed etc.  Others claimed to have been shown things they could never have imagined...they rode in space craft, etc.

In the end, and mind you this is a very simplistic explanation of Dr. Little's conclusions, he decided on what he calls the "electro-magnetic spectrum theory" or EMT for short.  These beings, not just modern aliens, but demons, etc. are actually beings from the unseen world, from different parts of the light spectrum who either speed up their vibrational frequency or slow it down (depending on what end of the spectrum they are materializing in our small, visible portion of the light spectrum.  Two hundred years ago, for example, if an evil being were to appear it would appear as something that a human could relate to or imagine...such as a half animal/half demon- to decieve the person or at least appear as an archetypal image that person could understand.  Today if a decietful, or otherwise "low vibrational being" were to appear as something believable and wanted to be capable of distilling fear or awe in a person, it would want to appear as maybe a technologically advanced being. . . if it were to interact with people it could do so by interacting with their astral double, thus in this state it could "telepathically" communicate, etc.

I personally believe, actually I would venture to say that I even know, that there are intelligent "physical beings" who live on other planets in the universe and they may be more advanced than us.  Do I believe in the "greys"? NO. Do I think the government has a bunch of crashed saucers, etc.?  NO.  Do I believe people see UFO's?  YES.  Do I believe that people, for reasons only known to them- and maybe only subconsciously, have been, are or will be "abducted" by "aliens"?  YES.

What do you think?


Grace by grace, principle by principle, we strive towards perfection.  

Il mio maestro e' colui che e' perfetto.
e

I am a religous person and as such I find myself being confronted by those in my faith who, despite their acceptance of a great deal of truth, are scared to open up and realize their true potential while still in "the flesh".  Thus, when I start to talk about OBE's and the like, some of them fear that I am doing something evil or of the occult.

Lets suppose one of these individuals understands the out-of-body experience and after some research begins to understand what it means to "astral travel" in the broadest sense of the word.  Then this individual says:

"I understand that one may leave his or her physical body, but what are the benefits of the experience?  Name three reasons that we should all try this, or in other words, name three positive effects this knowledge and ability has brought to your life."

It may be tough to answer this question becase the benefits are so obvious to those of us who have broadened our horizons and see the bigger picture and perceive the "real" reality, but think about this.

If you had to name three, which would you choose?

Grace by grace, principle by principle, we strive for perfection.  

Il mio maestro e' il gand Iddio del Nuovo Testamento.

I guess you could say I am new to all of this, and when I say all of this I mean OBE's, Lucid Dreaming, etc.  I have been studying it lazily for a few years (I am only 23, so I started getting interested when I was about 19 due to the "vibrations" I felt and a "semi" OBE.)
  Anyway, for the last few months I have done a whole lot of research and I am fairly well versed in the terminology and have learned a whole lot about myself, my beliefs, and what metaphysics means to me (it has taken on a WHOLE new meaning).
  Ok, I'll get to the point.  My question is about that in between state- sometimes when I am VERY tired I have a tough time falling alseep, and then I start having what I deem are "hypnogonic" (I know I butchered the spelling) dreams...  for example the other night I started having this nightmarish dream in which I was in the back of my car in my driveway, and some people were trying to coax me to get out and come talk to them.  When I finally did they started throwing spheres at me which then exploded into fragments of glass.  I woke up and realized I was dreaming...but I wasn't very wide awake because next thing I knew I was back in the car, petrified, and  I started trying to call my girlfriend on my cell phone.  I then made a dash for the house and the attack continued from the street.  Of course my key wouldn't work in the door...and then I was sitting up in my bed, and looking back I realize that I was still sleeping although I was looking around my room because I was still very disturbed.  FInally, I convinced myself I really could call me girl friend, which I did, and I finally woke up.  I am sure you are saying "Whoopty do!"  
   The reason I recount this event is because on the morning of Sept. 11 something similar happened.  About 3 in the morning Mountain west time) I started having a similar nightmare, at least in the sense that I had a very difficult time distinguishing my dream from reality.  I dreamnt that middle-easter men were trying to break into the house in which I was sleeping.  They wanted to destroy and pillage the house, and rape the women inside. I "awoke" to pounding on the windows and doors...within a few seconds the haziness lifted and I realized I was dreaming.  As soon as I drifted off again I heard the pounding on the door and windows and then within my dream, the attack started.  I tried to fend of these archetypal arabic characters (or however you want to say it) with a baseball bat in my dream and in the dream I remember screaming, "What is this, a jihad!"
  You can see where I am going with this.  I have NEVER dreamnt of middle eastern people, and I hadn't been thinking about or studying anything to do with the middle east or the jihad.  Needless to say about 2 hours later on the way to work I heard about the attacks on the am radio...soon after I realized it was probably middle eastern terrorists.  
   What do you make of this?  This is about the fourth dream like this I have had in my life that has come true.  I once dreamed, while in Italy, that my family at home went to a certain restraunt (that I, nor they, had ever been to)...a week later my mother, in a letter, told me they had gone there.  
   These dreams are horrible and very disturbing...at least the negative ones.  The one about my family was, at least I thought, just a normal dream.  THe disturbing dreams are not like any lucid dreams I have had (although i think I could have taken control of them if I had tried or realized).
  There are sometimes vibrational feelings involved, but more than anything I have a tough time "blurring" back into reality when they occur.

I would appreciate any feedback or comments.
-Dan

As man is, God once was.  As God is, man may become.
-J.Smith

I am fascinated by all the different methods that many of you have shared in regards to "psychic" or spiritual attacks.  The following is my humble approach to this universal and eternal problem:

I am a Christian and I am proud to be a Christian.  Jesus the Christ is my Lord and Savior.  He is also my protector.  When I feel any negative or low vibratory presence, or when I am attacked directly, I call upon His name and Light.  In my experience, and in that of my associates, this is THE most effective way to combat any evil or malicious force.  

I also know that we find more protection and guidance when we do things with a specific intent and goal.  If one simply wanders in the spiritual realm(s) in an aimless fashion, she or he will eventually find trouble.  It is one thing to explore and another to be idle or aimless.  I personally am careful in this regard.

Peace and Love to all!

-Daniel

As man is, God once was.  As God is, man may become.
-J.Smith

Yes, it should be a sticky.  I will look into making it one.  

What's interesting about this post is that when I created it I intended finding images that related directly to AP but now I see that this has changed.  It has helped me to understand that what is "astral" is completely subjective.  In other words, the astral means something different to everyone.  The main thing I see is that the images are always surreal, or otherworldly.  

Anyhow, I hope people will link more images...altough I am not sure how much Adrian appreciates having some much more bandwith being used up with this and other image laden posts![]

I believe that is a very real possibility, since the two are inexorably connected anyway.  We'll have to continue this conversation some other time...
Dan

Orbs![]  I seriously laugh every time I see these kinds of posts...no offense intended, as I am sure there must be something to these kinds of things...but I think people shouldn't waste their time worrying about this stuff.

Just a thought...

Hey Manix,
Yes, I understand what you are saying, but I actually like the fact that this time they made a film BASED on the book and not just a movie that follows the book exactly.  I understand that there are always many who want it to be as close to the original as possible, but often directors have to attend to the spirit of the film instad of just making a carbon copy...anyhow, I too wonder how they are going to pull off the other films.  I am sure they are going to have to cut out a lot more of the rest of the books because don't they get progessively longer anyway?

Yes, this site rolls forward and it's wonderful to see.  I couldn't help but think, however, that I wouldn't mind seeing us get to the 200,000 mark a little slower if it means more of the posts will be of a higher quality rather than psycho babble about making energy balls.  jk