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Welcome to the Pulse!

Ultimately, these experiences are unique to each of us and dependent on our individual interpretations. With that said, there are certain common factors that occur, especially early in our development.

Your first experience reads like some Sleep Paralysis (blackness + can't wake up) and some hypnogogic noise (loud static buzzing) which also happens to be a good exit sensation as well. It is fairly normal to experience these and similar sensations several times as a sort of preparation for a complete exit. Just do your best to remain calm and follow whatever sensations present themselves next time. Generally, you don't have to do anything except to not interfere and just allow the sensations to expand/increase or possibly change into something else. In this case, it might have felt like you were stalled out, at a point where all motion had stopped...in this case, a slight amount of intent may be required to get things into motion, just an intent or a thought that expresses 'I want to have an OBE' may get things moving. It is a very subtle mental push as too much active thought will likely end the experience...it takes some experimenting. Have complete confidence in your safety and go with the flow.

The second experience, I am not exactly sure, your interpretation of it is important to understanding it. Very possibly, you were seeing an environment that, given some time to stabilize, you might have been able to phase or directly transition into it. This is what we call Phasing. Again, it is entirely normal for the scene to remain unstable the first several times until it finally disintegrates. Once again, the key is to remain calm and just observe the scene with a certain degree of detachment or un-emotion and wait for it to stabilize to the point where you feel a natural attraction to being "pulled" mentally into the scene.

Each of these experiences is offering you a different form of OBE. Be open to trying them both.

You have been reading/talking/thinking about OBEs or something else has occurred to bring these experiences into your awareness recently. Any ideas as to what it is?

I first encountered Dr. Strange in Marvel Comics in the late '60s so I guess that was actually my first introduction to the AP, lol. Thank you Stan Lee!

LightBeam, I had the 'scared of the dark and nightlight' thing as well. My experiences stalled out around the age of 15 and only sporadically showed every several years after that for the next  thirty years until I actively began properly seeking new experiences. i think you are exactly right about Physical Reality pretty much shutting out our experiences as we grow out of childhood.

So what jump-started your experiences at 20-something?

Lumaza and Nameless-

Thank you both for your replies and insights into this subject; I hope some others will chime in.

Lumaza, I also had a variety of SP symptoms and exit sensations that captured my interest in the middle of the night, and yes, sometimes they terrified me. I pretty quickly learned that if it hadn't killed me the first time, I would probably survive the next time, so that calmed me down a bit.

Nameless, I had the childhood nightmares as well and I figured they were pretty much normal. As I grew older, the frequency of nightmares seemed to naturally reduce, from maybe ten a year, progressively down to two or three per year in my teens. Maybe the numbers were fifteen or twenty at an early age, depending on how you might qualify a nightmare, but the frequency noticeably reduced the older I grew. In amongst the normal dreams and crappy nightmares were the more remarkable LDs and NP experiences, these became pretty noticeable but obviously with some overlap among them all.

I understand and mostly agree with your idea of the soft touch or 'kids glove' approach to inquiring about your kids' dreams; certainly being open to THEIR questions; but also I think they are much more resilient and durable than we remember to give them credit for, so I think we could push a little. I am hesitant to write that because I am not a parent myself, but I sure think that I remember being a kid.lol Of course, it is a personal decision, unique to each of us and each child we are considering, so I just put the idea out there. Maybe, like certain genetic traits the NP 'gene' jumps in a generational fashion, so we could be calling on deaf ears; I will admit that I just don't know. I just think how much it would have helped me to have someone to bounce these ideas off, especially in my childhood.

That is a beautiful memory about your daughter, Nameless, speaking to friends in a strange language; I've only read about that in the Dolores Cannon books and a few others. It is interesting, just in the 3 posts shared here, the incredible variety of NP experiences we and our children are having...

Where are our NP experiences happening? That is a tough question to get even general agreement on. The etheric plane/RTZ is one 'focus' that early projectors experience, to give it a name/label. It may be a close frequency to the 'physical' but it can include a differing variety of elements or overlays and these may be very subconsciously thought-responsive. As I wrote in my OP, my experience with this particular focus goes back to my childhood and I can definitely recognize its 'atmosphere'. My childhood experiences also included or often transitioned into more vivid, full-Technicolor environments. These experiences are more in the category of Astral or Mental environments that are defined by the Theosophical tradition. These then move deeper into the formless environments that some of us have briefly experienced:the Causal and Buddhic Planes. Monroe gave all of these specific numerical Focus level designations, from Focus 3, 10, 12, 15 to Focus 21 to 27, 35 and beyond. Frank Kepple simplified them all into 4 Focus levels...which also works for me.

Nameless, if most of your early and current experiences were in 'full color', feeling nearly 100% 'physical' or even the exact opposite- total 'lightness of being', to see what your mother was doing in the house, then I think you were likely experiencing at the Astral or Mental Plane levels; especially given the clairvoyant nature of some of your experiences. You may have simply by-passed the Etheric/RTZ experiences. Again, I look at these as provisional categories, just some generic locations in order to reference our experiences.

Anyone who comes to the study of the subjects of Astral Projection, Out of Body Experiences or Non-Physical Reality should soon realize that a great deal of experiential understanding can be gained by the study of dreams and the entrance into NPR that they can give us.

The first series of our nightly dreams are usually what we call "housecleaning", the sorting out of the previous days' normal activity-these are necessary but mostly unremarkable. The later series of dreams are where we tackle longer-standing issues which have much deeper significance for our mental health and spiritual growth. The stuff of these later dreams are thrown up by our subconscious and are symbolic and metaphorical. As adults, if we apply ourselves to analyzing our dreams, we can help ourselves in myriad ways: understanding relationships; resolving conflict issues; increasing awareness, lucidity and our NP mindset; moving into lucid dreaming and the lessons offered by simulations...just to name a few. The dreams were always there, like little movies running in the background; but we largely ignored them. The lesson-plan was there all along as well, waiting for us to pay attention and once we did the program went into motion and we actually begin to see a progression of sorts.

So what about our children? Why should it be any different for them? As I look back and remember my own childhood dreams, I now realize that there were a lot of NP experiences mixed in with them. Other than knowing my NP experiences were somehow notably different from my regular dreams, I had no better understanding of what was going on. When I tried sharing these with my parents all I received were blank stares and the explanation that they were largely meaningless. Even at the age of 8 I knew better, but I had no one to help me with interpretation or context. That is largely true with the general culture in the USA, with some exceptions I'm sure. And probably true with most cultures in the modern world.

So what about your children or the children you may one day be a parent to? Do you or will you make it a point to regularly discuss your child's dreams? The potential of their dreams and NP experiences may far exceed what we are capable of. Considering this, their spiritual growth can be tremendously advanced beyond our own.

You may even find that your child is presently stuck/stalled out/blocked in a current dream or repeating experience, that upon interpretation turns out to be more than just a dream, rather an OBE or a deeper NP experience. I point this out because it happened to me many times. Here on the Pulse, we discuss the difficulties in understanding OBEs and various exit sensations, and even astral tests and lessons. These events don't just occur for adults exclusively, they can and probably do occur for many children, especially in the last 20 years or so with the idea of more advanced souls and Star Children being born. I don't pretend to know the full truth of this but if more spiritually-gifted children are coming among us, they might benefit from our help early on in their development in understanding their nighttime experiences.

Based on my experiences, I now realize that a lesson-plan and various tests were presented to me as young as age 5, that I distinctly remember. These tests were of a very simple and general nature, but still mirror the tests adults must work through in their early OBE development, involving ideas such as understanding movement, location, overcoming fear and confusion, and one of the really important ones- the application of Intent. As the next several years passed for me, my experiences expanded and the tests became appropriately more complex.

One caution that I want to stress and a primary motivation for writing this piece is that a child can get stuck in an experience. I had a few, but I will only mention one in detail a bit later. It was a repeating experience that I couldn't figure out and it went from being disturbing to frightening to traumatic over the course of several days. If this test pushed me up to the edge of my limits then it succeeded, and frankly I'm still bothered by it a little. It made that much of an impression on me. Maybe it was designed to make such a forceful impression on me that I would never forget it. Maybe it helped to propel my interest in exploring the true nature of consciousness; which I certainly did from about the age of 8.

My experience and research supports the provisional belief that some form of teaching and guidance begins to occur when we make a firm, sincere commitment to expand our consciousness. The testing can begin in childhood and likely continues for life, and obviously beyond. Initially they are probably just looking for a response, a spike in lucidity, a blip on their radar. If they get nothing, then we are left to wander within our self-generated, non-lucid dreams. If they do get a response, then they begin to apply further tests and assist us in expanding our consciousness as far as we can follow.

Nearly all of my NP adventures as a child came about as a result of raising my awareness in a dream. Mostly this happened naturally and instinctively. The majority were 'flying dreams' that could probably be categorized as etheric/RTZ events; I didn't know of such concepts back then. Most of the time I could fly easily, like Superman. Other times, I learned to deal with limitations, influences from prior dreams and applying Intent. Sometimes I flew in a sitting position which likely carried over from a dream about racecars, etc. It felt kind of stupid, but I couldn't straighten out, lol. Sometimes I would find myself in a great dark field and despite wanting to fly, I couldn't get off the ground; flapping my arms might get me ten feet in the air. A few times, the best I could manage was some 2 hundred yard jumps like the Incredible Hulk (that was pretty cool in its own way). The etheric/RTZ OBEs also included some nightly excursions wandering around my house while everyone was sleeping and incapable of being aroused. These particular NP experiences became very easy to recognize by the feel of the environment: you can 'feel' the density of the atmosphere, the 'slowness' of it; like being underwater sometimes, a good bit lighter during others. That is the etheric/RTZ. These experiences occurred for me between the ages of 6-14.

The one seriously rough experience that I want to relate happened when I was 4,5 or 6. I want to mention it because I can imagine that a fair number of kids might fall into this trap because I think it happens in one of the first NP environments that can cause extreme confusion: the etheric/RTZ. My situation was very simple: I found myself stuck in a corner. The floor and two walls were dark grey; the lighting was dim and as I think back on it, the atmosphere was kind of dense, like the etheric. The walls and floor were uniform and indistinct and seemed to stretch off into a dark and infinite distance. I remember having that thought and it magnified into an overwhelming fear and claustrophobia of sorts. I also felt a kind of gravity or force that gently but irresistibly pressed me into the corner and my face up against the wall. With great effort I could work my way a few feet across the floor, but each time I was inexorably pulled back, sliding up against the wall and my face gently pressed back into it. For what felt like the first hour or two, it was a disturbing but interesting problem. After that a terrible fright set in and I spent what felt like the rest of the night there. The next night I found myself in the same situation. I cried and screamed but no help came and I couldn't figure out how to resolve it. The level of desperation was off the scale. In the morning I couldn't even form the words to describe it to my mother. This went on for at least 4 nights and I can't remember how it resolved, whether I figured out a solution or someone ended it for me. I just remember not wanting to go to bed at night and return to that hell.

The likely answer finally occurred to me earlier this year, fifty years later. I was probably floating in the etheric/RTZ environment of my bedroom, probably up near the ceiling and the smooth walls, no doubt disoriented by the lack of reference points. If anyone has more than a few experiences with the etheric/RTZ then you likely know about the gentle 'gravity' that is sometimes present; that is probably the force that kept pushing me back into the corner.

In retrospect a simple thing, a simple misunderstanding.

What dreams may come...

Feel free to add ideas.
 

A typically excellent reply from Lumaza that offers insights on several levels which should resonate with different people, in different ways...a key aspect of its' function.

I will try and add a few variations, based on my experience.

First off, Thaomas, you point out some significant insights from your own experience which I think may be recognizable to many "experiencers"; so thank you for some excellent questions.

There is the separation between what you think SHOULD BE possible versus what actually IS possible in the NPR. I went through this process and it was a new understanding of how my expectations needed to change.

When I was a child, I was able to fly around the neighborhood, into the Earth and through it, even out into the stars...but not all my excursions were "free-will". I got put into tests of various sorts. I didn't always recognize it at the time, but I do now.

My understanding now is that once you learn to shift your Focus, to Phase or go OBE...they let you play around for awhile, but then you are put into a lesson-plan, literally into "school"...you are limited in your exercise of your will/intent, and expected to pay close attention to your immediate environment and understand the lesson it is trying to teach you. And when you are missing the point of the lesson, it gets foggy and you get kicked out; experience over.

At this point, negative intent is definitely banned; you want to destroy things?...nope, not allowed.

They/your Higher Self/whomever, return you to square one...you have to figure out simple things like Where am I?, How would I leave this place? What is up/ what is down? Then you get some tests on your emotions, beginning with the best of all...lust/sex. It can be very frustrating getting caught and stalled out at various points along the way; it certainly was for me. Sometimes it was just stupidly simple what the issue was...and I was angry over not being given better hints at the solution. But I will say this: the hints will be there, and those hints figure very distinctly within your psyche; so it is up to you to figure out.

The lack of awareness/the lack of intellect is still something I am coming to terms with; a topic I wanted to open discussion on, all by itself. Part of the "subdued awareness" is a condition the instructors force upon us in order to observe our instinctive nature in responding to a situation; I have encountered this several times, although I mostly don't recognize it at the time. It took advice and hints from both Szaxx and Lumaza to get me to think about this and the further ramifications...

The lack of intellect may also indicate the actual awareness that will be available to us when we transition/die. If that is the case, then I have serious concerns; and therefore wonder at the possibly supreme importance of doing as much as we can while still in PR, in developing our individual NPR mindset/personality.

Maybe something to think about...

Agreed as to the existence of 'structure' and 'organization' and a 'ruleset'.

That was nicely expressed LightBeam- I also sense that we are within a possibly infinite sea of consciousness, aware of multiple contact points and slowly expanding that perspective through our experiences. Over the last several years, I have been introduced to several new ways to be aware of these contact points: Imprints, knowing, telepathy on more than a few levels, bi-location...

The appearance of structure seems to emerge different from PR in the variability of environments, energy-based and highly thought-responsive and the conformance to rulesets that supersede that of PR but still retain limitations as in personal areas versus consensus areas. The similarity of so many of our experiences lends credence to the idea of structure, even though we are likely far from fully understanding it much less describing it through language.

The idea of organization currently means for me the co-ordination of experiences/lessons with some kind of guides/teachers/instructors. They may be independent consciousnesses or just aspects of my higher self or larger soul...the exact definition is not important to me, I am obviously being taught many things, or 'remembering' as Lumaza rightly puts it. And since some form of graduated instruction is taking place, then I think it is reasonable that the organization continues well beyond this; what else would it be? Randomness? Although it sure feels like chaos theory predominates at times, lol.

Finally, some kind of 'ruleset' does exist, maybe our PR-based physics is a sub-set of the NP one. The NP ruleset certainly gives you more free-reign within the NP environments, you just have to be fearless and use it. You can fly, you can pass through walls or just lean against them; it is your choice so long as you understand it is all energy. What you do have to learn is when certain actions are allowed and when they are not.

Great discussion, great thoughts all around.

Your experience reminded me of when I started with the Gateway Series 20 years ago. The Focus 12 exercises caused a spike in my dreaming, as well; both in number and quality and lucidity.

This should be clear evidence for you that your efforts are starting to show some results. It is pretty amazing when your 'inner self' responds so quickly and directly, isn't it?!

I will reinforce that what Lumaza is telling you is of great importance to your development now. Certain ideas now have to be understood and communicated within your 'selves'...your conscious self, your subconscious self, your dreaming self, your higher self, etcetera (however you choose to recognize them).

1 Always know that you are completely safe and protected in the Non-Physical, whether it is an OBE or a Lucid Dream.
2 Trust yourself to know what to do in any given situation.

These 'truths' may not automatically occur to you when you are in the NP early on, so it helps a great deal to reinforce these ideas while you are here in Physical Reality. You can do this with simple daily or nightly affirmations.

That way, one of the next times that you find yourself lucid in a dream and a little shocked or apprehensive about your environment, the thought will occur to you that , "Oh yeah, I am safe and protected. I just need to go with the flow." And that realization will help you to stay in a calm mindset.

Something else in your post makes me want to offer this different perspective: It sounds like you are wanting and expecting a 'traditional' OBE where you feel yourself 'exit' your body. You will likely get that experience at some point, but don't ignore the great opportunity you were just given when you recognized your increased lucidity in one or more dreams. That seems to me a VERY clear sign that this is an area you should explore. There are great NP lessons to be learned in your Lucid Dreams and you are already showing signs of being ready to jump right in!

Great job and have fun!

Oh and I see that Xanth and LightBeam posted before I had finished; Ditto what they said!

The content of a lesson/simulation still appears to be largely drawn from my subconscious, but the actions of an independent agent, be it a Guide/Instructor/my Higher Self, has become clearly evident.

Add into this the certainty of the 'knowing' that also occurs.

I can agree with every word of Szaxx's reply. I haven't developed the skill to do it on command, but I have programmed my mind enough to recognize and take advantage when the opportunity presents itself; this for me is usually in the early morning before first waking or during middle of the night WBTB attempts.

'Playtime with the music/noises'- Yes, that is a fun time exercising and experimenting with the push/pull tension of the mental and NP energies that are present. Working within this narrow area of the transition seems heavily dependent on what has been on my mind previously or my prior activity. A year ago, I was at a business meeting and spent a very enjoyable evening at a bar where a young woman played piano and sang cover songs; she was exceptionally good. In the middle of that night, I came aware in 'playtime' and created and played around with a song on piano for what seemed like 30 minutes. It just happened automatically. That was cool.

The point consciousness I have experienced numerous times. In my Fieldtrip experience, when I was placed outside the town about two hundred yards away, I was in point conscious mode. There is no body awareness and interestingly there are none of the attendant bodily or PR concerns like 'How am I standing, floating, hovering? How do I move? How do I see?' There is no sense or thought about temperature or comfort.

Lumaza- just reading your thread here led me this morning to deviate from my ongoing morning dream and to recognize the ebb and flow of my consciousness as I became increasingly aware of both my dream and the fact of my normal waking process.

I keep a boat on the river nearby, and I have to make the decision soon, when to have it winterized, so it has been on my mind. This morning, my dream involved three different scenarios: one involved finding and crewing my boat, and I was chasing it, like it would appear in different locations on the river. There was also a dream involving my participation in a house (which may relate to the Pulse). This dream series was close to my last of the night and sometime early morning, so I was heading towards complete waking. But as I neared the 'surface' of full waking, I was able to recognize and re-submerge myself back into the depths of the dream and let the dream continue. I was thinking about what you had said about dream recognition in this or another thread and that became a conscious operative thought at this point.

In this experience, I was able to watch the dream progress and not interfere with it, watch my awareness nearly break the surface of 'full' consciousness and then let it slide back down into the waiting dream 'current', like simply allowing my awareness to flow down a stream...hence my wonderment at the song, "Row, row, row your boat..." I did this like six or seven times before I finally came completely awake...all the time thinking about your post! lol It is so sad, but early this morning I had the grasp of some of the subtle features that allowed me to manipulate and re-direct my dream back to where I wanted it. I even had thoughts of how I would later describe this...and yet, within a few minutes it began to fade...and within an hour it was gone...

Writing this out provokes another question: How many of us experience dreams in groups of two or three at a time? I am saying that I will have a sequence of three or more dream storylines going on throughout the night. Sometimes, they are all resolved by morning; sometimes not. Anyone?

There is SO much subtle stuff that I wish I could remember or convey from this morning...but of course, I had to get up and go to work...

I think that is one of the most coherent, existential, human statements ever expressed. Nothing more need be said.

I cannot remember seeing anything that could be a biodome except possibly in my Talking to the Hand experience. I did not get much time to look around but the area where all the test modules were was kind of amorphous and hazy at the borders and edges. I had the impression it was like a fairgrounds with 20 by 20 foot tents arranged in rows, maybe 50 tents in all. But like you say, the exterior material was ambiguous, different from tent to tent. It's funny, one impression tells me tents and tent fabric; another impression was of more modern materials like you say, hence I called them modules.

Maybe this is the amorphous and changeable quality inherent in the biodomes themselves and is an indication of their purpose.

If the other characters reacted to my taking the lead, then I did not sense it. It was like they just fell out of the way, like deadwood as Szaxx aptly put it.

The fetal remains of the day- It was what occurred to me as the metaphor I was being quizzed on. I did not feel strongly that it was correct, but it was all I could come up with, that is until a couple months later. Since I was not immediately told I was wrong, then maybe this particular sim was a two-parter and I think the real test was to see if I could raise my awareness another notch and mentally change the dream by imprinting the design on the panel. The design possibly did not matter either.

In Leland's book Otherwhere, he has a great description of the ten levels of dreaming and once you have learned how to function within each level you are put through an Initiation test where you have to go through all ten levels in succession in order to graduate and be allowed to move beyond the Training areas and into the wider astral regions. I think that I did this all the way up to the final test, but I came up just short. When I recognized the Formula One driver, I knew it could not actually be him but I did not realize the test was completed and I could have just walked over to him and talked; but I thought I needed to hurry off to the next test. Maybe if he had been holding a sign that said 'end of test'. Damn, I was that close!

Anyway, that is my current interpretation, lol. Thanks for your insights and confirmations Nameless!

The first environment I found myself in with the freshly cut grass, I did not stay but a few seconds, so I really can't give a more detailed description.

The second environment, the giant statues definitely had a Dali-esque feel to them and the landscape I thought I sensed a much less Dali feel, but I still felt it. Maybe my interpretation was a bit off and what I sensed about the landscape was actually a subtle 'knowing' that it was an artificial construct.

In that case, maybe I was sensing that it was what Leland describes as one of the 'bio-domes' of the learning/simulation areas.

When you read that Leland piece on Simulations, Nameless, you mentioned having seen what might be the bio-domes. Can you elaborate on that?

If JOB was a bit confusing, then you are in for a real treat if you read Far Journeys!

I recommend it because it will give you a sense of some of the Non-Physical Realities, but you have to understand that these experiences are all subject to our individual interpretations, the 'experiencers' interpretation. The content is dependent on the context and that is dependent on the experiencer.

That doesn't mean that if ten of us experience the same particular NP event that we will get ten completely different interpretations. We might get that. Or we might get five people generally agreeing and the other five with completely divergent opinions. Or it could be any of a number of permutations.

It all depends on the person having the experience.

What's more is the apparently infinite range of experiences available to us in the NP.

And honestly, there are not many projectors who have explored that deeply into the NP. Monroe is one, Kurt Leland is another. Swedenborg has some excellent but heavily overlaid religious experiences. The same could be said for Dante's Inferno which may be an actual astral travelguide of the Underworld. The rest of them, at least the published ones, really haven't gotten much further than what is commonly referred to the RTZ/etheric plane...at least what I have seen written and I have collected over thirty books on OBE alone.

At the risk of over-promoting the Pulse, some really good experiences/classification systems can be found here by the likes of Szaxx, Bedeekin and some archived works by Frank Kepple (which you can thank Xanth for his herculean task of assembling all Frank's works) and Ginny comes to mind. So there is that.

My own favorite author is Kurt Leland. His earlier experiences parallel my own, and I resonate with his insights. He freely admits that he is working from what he calls 'provisional beliefs' and that these are constantly open to revision. I can respect that and I have found it true in my own explorations and researches for the last 45 years or so. His personal psychic abilities naturally led him into the Theosophical system for categorizing these incredibly varied experiences. You don't need to get all caught up in the 1800's mystical aspect of it. This frame-of-reference posits the idea of nine 'planes' of existence: Physical, etheric, astral, mental, causal, buddhic...etcetera. So that is ONE way to categorize 'where' these experiences are occurring...but you need to keep in mind that it is still JUST one interpretive method. I happen to follow it as well, because so far, it is confirming my experiences. At the same time, I have to keep in mind that to some degree, this may be 'coloring' my experiences. I am okay with that as long as I keep it in context; when I get to the point that my interpretation needs to change, then I will consider it.

Leland has a very basic description of how to understand your experiences within the NP (and this includes your dreams) You have to keep in mind that in the NP-

                        Everything is Energy, Information, and Consciousness

Leland has a website, which sadly hasn't been updated since 2010; he is working on a new book and I am looking forward to it with great enthusiasm. His last book, The Multidimensional Human, I have read seven times. I have never read any other book seven times, lol. I am not one who makes notes in the margins or underlines, or highlights passages...I have scribbled all over this book, it has confirmed so many of my experiences and insights. On his website, you can get a taste of what he has by reading his Astral Projection Log which has some absolute gems in it. Here on the Pulse, we have commented on some of these and when experiencers like Lumaza and Szaxx comment favourably on them, then it just confirms my own thinking.

Sadly, all of Kurt's books are out of print currently. MDH is readily available; Otherwhere is a spectacular read but at times pricey on the used book market (as book retailers realize the value in his work), I paid 60USD for my copy and it was worth every penny. The Unanswered Question is the other one I have and is a bit of a textbook for the first half, but very good overall; it explores a comparison of his interpretations of the Egyptian Book of the Dead and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Excellent in it's insights. All three of these books give you some serious things to think about. MDH gives you that AND some techniques to build up your ability to get you there. Haven't ever met or communicated with the guy and if allowed only one word, it would be thanks!

The theosophists break it down to some relevant subplanes within the astral and mental. Leland makes a distinction with the personal Astral dreamspace which leads to the Astral Proper (which is where our afterlife takes place; I have been there but not enough times to venture any personal opinion except that I think it is there); there appears to be a Simulation/Training Zone which is in between and my experiences over the last several years have taken place there.

Honestly, there is no one else in print that I am aware of; at least no one that impressed me as far as regarding the question you have asked.

Great point Lumaza.

I also call it a form of mental conditioning or asking/giving permission from your higher self.

It is like there is a kind of 'organic' process that needs to take place where the long-conditioned resistance to having an OBE has to be progressively overcome. The resistance takes many forms: from simple annoyances like itches, twitches, tickles, monkey-mind chatter to more energetic exit symptoms that surprise us initially: energy body swaying, spinning, body parts slipping out,..finally to the incredible SP and fear-test hallucinations like all sorts of audio disturbances and full-blown, in-your-face hallucinations.

What helped me and I think can help others is the use of affirmations to communicate with the inner self/higher self/subconscious (however you wish to define it).

"I ask permission of my higher self to have an out of body experience. I want to do this. I am ready to do this and ask for help from my higher self."

Come up with your own wording but make it short, simple and sincere. Write it down once a day. Recite it verbally or in your mind when you prepare for an attempt or go to bed. Say it 3 times. This is a highly-effective form of mental programming.

As new and aspiring projectors, we all initially want and expect to have an OBE in a relatively few number of attempts, but for most of us, it takes more than a few tries...maybe a better target is ten or twenty attempts. That is not meant to discourage anyone, it's just the reality for most, me included. And part of this may be a combination of the actual attempts along with the resulting internal messages being communicated and an internal process (the mental conditioning) taking place.

The evidence that this process is taking place in a steady, progressive manner is to observe the variety of energetic sensations as previously described and littered throughout the OBE literature. The more notable symptoms are the SP, the vibrations, the etheric/energy body sensations, the hypnogogia in all it's forms. All of these are good evidence that progress is being made, your Non Physical awareness is waking-up, coming on-line. I have experienced and read of others having dreams about having an OBE. That is an excellent sign that your inner self is experimenting with the idea, 'trying it out for awhile' per se, from the relative safety of a dream environment.

It can take these seemingly small, baby-steps for awhile, but it is definite progress. Each time, you are getting a little closer to your goal, your Non Physical awareness is developing. Don't dismiss these experiences; write them in a journal and you will further reinforce the process.

Experiencers like Lumaza have also taken the time to give us a great variety of useful energetic visualizations to help 'awaken' our energetic essence, our 'true selves'. If you put in the effort, you will see results.

Another aspect to this is: It really can be as simple and straight-forward as to just request what you want.

                                                   Ask and you shall receive

Thanks for the compliment Nameless! I still get the occasional fear test during SP or when first coming aware while still focused in my physical body. When I get an experience where I have that high a level of lucidity, I'm just so happy for the opportunity and that happiness translates into a pretty fearless attitude (at least for awhile lol).

Your encounter with a NP entity who is initially afraid of you sounds like some type of test that is next-level and more subtle than the basic entity-trust test. Your initial read on you being their fear test is an interesting perspective. You could also add this question: How do you handle the situation when the roles are reversed?

It has become clear to me that when you are thrown into a perplexing situation like that right from the start, you are really being tested on your instinctual nature and responses. This makes a lot of sense to me when I think back on those short-lived, odd situation dreams that we just sort of shrug off wondering what the point of it was.

Thank you Xanth!

Plasma, I can feed you a variety of drugs or crack you in the head with a crowbar...each will possibly introduce you in some fashion to the Astral. Neither of them are recommended and that is the position the Pulse has to take, so your entreaty needs to come to an end.

You need to learn to do it yourself.

Glad you liked that Nameless! Please add any questions or interpretations...

This is part of the 'unlocking process'...please do some free association and add to the process...

EV 

Crap...I still can't figure out how to quote...

Okay...everything Lumaza said in his last post, I can multiply like by 7X...lol 2 seconds is spot on...

The first couple times in the Void, the first couple times 'traveling dimensionally', the first few times you 'materialize' in a new dimensional space...your awareness is SO hard-pressed, SO over-excited, SO over-loaded with a 'GI-NORMOUS' amount of new sensory information...it is almost impossible to describe...you kind of quickly conform to it...or you lose it and get ejected...you eventually learn a form of stabilization...it is OK if it takes a few tries; because it will...

That's why I still like listening to Lumaza and Szaxx...I can barely understand them at times, but that is because they are so close to the leading edge, the event horizon...each trying to describe it in their own way...the rest of us trying to follow, to interpret...

What fun, magical stuff!

This is a great question to drill down into Nameless, thank you for creating it!

It is an insightful, implicit point to ask, " What made the difference in our experiences between our own and that of our friends?"

I had early childhood experiences but they were all cloaked in Dreams. Mostly OBEs but also one ET event and a few semi-physical events. None of it I could share with family; they were completely disinterested. There was also zero family history to draw on. My childhood friends were also similarly unaware. Pretty quickly, I learned to go silent.

As young boys, we didn't discuss much of fantasy, except to briefly express it, but in no way to give it any credence. When I came to realize this contextualization around me, at about the age of ten, I quit discussing my experiences altogether and kept them internalized; apparently no one else was getting the experiences I was.

But like LightBeam says, I had a knowing about it all...

I distinctly remember sitting in my third grade class, looking at all the other students, and realizing that I am somehow an alien being placed here among them...

I didn't have a PR ghost experience until I was about 22, but that was a solid event that confirmed my PR/NPR context...it has only widened since then...I am an observer...

This topic has been moved to Welcome to World Cultures, Traditions and Religions!.

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/index.php?topic=46825.0

Maybe I'm not fully understanding: You are getting poked/pushed/pulled out into an etheric/RTZ obe when you really don't want to? And you prefer the LD variety?

My suggestion would be the possibility that you are being challenged to add some new exit methods to your repertoire. Lumaza first turned me onto this idea as a possible explanation for when an exit method quits working for a person. Your Higher Self/Guides may be literally dragging you, kicking and screaming...lol.

Then again, on a serious note, there could be a valid reason that needs your attention at that particular vibration? Accept the exit and ask the question, Why do you want me here? What am I supposed to see?

My obes as a child were a mixture of dreams, LDs and etheric obes. When I re-started the practice in 2006, it was all etheric/RTZ but pretty quickly moved into a mixture and then solely Phasing directly. The last couple years has been mostly LDs with the quality increasing dramatically over time.

Hope that answer is somewhere in the ballpark...

Yes indeed, an interesting question. I will add my 2 cents worth to the good answers already given.

Our Earth Learning System is basically of a predatory nature and an attitude of cold, logical ruthlessness does seem to work best, at least for the short term. The lack of an apparent, immediate negative-feedback response does leave "good" people scratching their heads, wondering why they should persist in "good intent" actions which are often the more difficult path.

But this is one part of the harsh reality of this learning system and one key to it's effectiveness. The "contrasts" provided by the choices we all make, the good versus bad, the Good versus Evil...and all the shades in between.
These are the demonstrations and actions we learn by; by what we observe others doing and how it affects everyone; by our own actions and how it affects everyone.

As Szaxx pointed out, hopefully we soon learn that destruction is short-term and self-terminating.

And at least for most of us, we are given a most challenging tool to figure it all out- Free Will

But an integral, necessary part to this learning system are the people who choose the "bad intent" course of action. Without them making that choice, we would not have the contrast or the potential lessons from which to observe and learn, even when their actions do us harm. We can speculate that a person continually making "bad" choices eventually becomes a "bad" person, possibly an "evil" one, and that their road to redemption will be equally hard and long as the road that got them there in the first place; but are they not just as necessary to the equation as the "good" person? An interesting not so-philosophical question.

A fascinating place Earth: in one part war, another part peace; one part poverty and disease, another prosperity and relative health; slavery there, freedom just a few hours away...