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has anybody else noticed people acting strangely lately? For the past few weeks it seems like almost everybody i know is grumpy, irritable, depressed. And almost everybody has a cold, and then there is SARS becoming an issue in the world in general. I'm wondering if this is just in my life or if other people have noticed it

Every once in a while when I'm having a hard time falling asleep I will be lying in bed, frustrated. Then I will eventually drift off on some train of thought, as if I'm falling asleep but I don't actually sleep. Then, after what feels like quite a long time (half an hour or an hour or so) I snap back into consciousness and realize that I haven't been sleeping. But I have absolutely no memory of what I may have been thinking about or doing during that time. I can't even remember a thought from five seconds before I snap back. But somehow I know that I wasn't sleeping. I just somehow know that I was awake for an hour but can't remember any part of it. Could this be an example of the mind-split? Anyone have similar experiences?

okay i've started to notice a strange phenomenon during my practice sessions. Sometimes I feel like I might be about to phase, or obe, or I'm viewing hypnagogic imagery, and then I will "snap back". This snapping back is something like being in a daydream and then realizing where you are in real life. It's sort of a sudden change in your focus of awareness. What I realized is that every time I snap back it actually feels like a very subtle, quick movement down and to the left. After it happens I feel totally awake, just looking at the backs of my eyelids, my awareness centered behind my eyes. But if I drift off again, my awareness moves up and to the right. Once it moves there, if I can regain control without snapping back, I get all sorts of astral and dream-like symptoms. I may get astral sight, or if not I can easily visualize and actually see whatever I visualize (ordinarily my visualization is the pits)

A couple of things are interesting about this.
1) it absolutely cannot be forced. I only realize it has happened after I snap back. During the process it all seems perfectly natural. I can't reproduce it if I actually try to move my awareness.

2) I'm wondering if this has something to do with the "Brain Method"

3) When people access memories, or try to imagine, they either look up and to the right, or up and to the left. I can't remember which is which, but one is to remember facts and one is to imagine something. I wonder if this awareness shift is related to accessing a different part of my brain.

Comments or similar experiences?

yes, the pesky internal dialogue. blah blah blah nag nag nag it never shuts up. Can anyone here turn it off? Everytime I try, I find myself thinking in layers. What I mean is 50% of my mind will be dutifully observing the meditation, following the mantra or focussing on my breath or whatever I'm doing, but the other half of my mind just keeps on talking. I can easily focus enough attention on, say counting breaths that I will not lose track, but that seems to have no effect whatsoever on the other part of my mind that will be doing anything else from having a daydream to thinking about something else. Or the worst thing is when the "talky" half of my mind joins in with the meditation and talks incessantly about it. It says things like "Yes, you're doing really well" or "Look you're not even thinking at all. Keep not thinking" or "Must stop talking". It just won't seem to shut up. I've even had times where it feels like I have three or four separate minds all thinking different things. One will be meditating, one will be thinking about school, one will be telling the other one to shut up about school, etc etc.
Does anybody else have similar problems? Any ideas on what to do about it?

Ash

Why does it seem as if some people are just miserable all the time, and others seem to be happy?
Personally, I wouldn't say I'm a depressed person, or that I have a bad life. I have good friends, I'm well-liked, I've been in love. But through it all, even at the best of times. I have always had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that never goes away. The best I can describe it is misery. I've dedicated most of my life to self-improvement, meditation, energy development, obe's. All because I just want to figure out how to make this feeling go away.
Does anybody have any ideas on what might be causing this, and how I can make it go away?

in the last week i've had two separate near-obe's that were almost exactly the same:

both times i was taking a nap in the afternoon. I became lucid in my dream, but suddenly as i did i found i couldn't see properly. i tried saying "clarity now" and focussing on my hands but nothing worked. I knew that i was dreaming but for some reason i just couldn't see at all. I was afraid of waking up. I found myself back in my body and tried to initiate an obe, but i found i was stuck. I could feel some vibrations with the ROPE technique but I couldn't get out at all.

so my question is, why am i going blind, and why am i getting stuck, and what can i do about it?

thanks,
ash

hey everyone,

i'm hoping somebody out there can give me some pointers. I've been practicing ROPE recently. I just read astral dynamics but I've been practicing OBE's for years, without having a fully-conscious one yet. Anyway, when I do ROPE, I immediately get the vertigo feeling in my chest and stomach that Robert Bruce talks about as a signal that ROPE is putting a good amount of pressure on my astral body. Also, every few minutes I get a sensation like I am floating or dropping for a couple of seconds. When this happens I just try to ignore it and continue the exercise, remaining calm and my breathing remains regular. But for some reason it doesn't go past there. The exit sensations don't get any stronger and I don't feel any of the vibrations or anything. After a while my heart and stomach may start to feel a bit sore, but I don't feel the pounding heartbeat he talks about. I'm a bit confused because I seem to be doing the method correctly, but it just doesn't quite go far enough.

Any suggestions?

thanks...

ash

hi all,

i've heard a lot of you talking about spirit guides, beings from higher planes, angels, etc. if anybody has experience with these beings, do you have any idea why a person would be denied assistance? as part of all my practices, I always ask for guidance. sometimes from god, sometimes from a spirit guide or my higher self, and sometimes from anybody who's more advanced than me. but for some reason i've never gotten any response to this, that i'm aware of. is there a special way to ask, so that they can hear you? are they helping all the time, and i'm just not aware of it? or are some people just meant to "go it alone"?

any thoughts or comments are appreciated.

ash

well people have been talking a lot about the difference between phasing and oobe. my question is, have you guys found one to be easier than the other? Would you recommend one method to a beginner as opposed to the other one?

hello all,

i think i'm in a bit of a different category than most of the people posting on here, and so i'm looking for advice. I'm not exactly a beginner, but I'm definitely not an expert. Here's my situation:

I've been having spontaneous oobe's and lucid dreams for about 13 years now, i'd say about one a month. so i'm pretty familiar with the vibration state and the process of projection. i don't think there's any fear involved. the problem is that i've never once been able to project when I was trying. It always happens only when i'm not thinking about it. i believe i've become fairly proficient at the main requirements. i'm not afraid, and i can get into what i think is a trance for long periods. my concentration is excellent. but it never seems to work. typically, i can't induce any vibrations or floating sensations unless my mind drifts off. For instance, i'll be doing an exercise like energy raising for 20 minutes and nothing will happen. Then i'll get tired and drift into a dream and lose consciousness. Then all the sudden i'll become conscious again and the experience immediately ends. It's like I can't start to project without losing awareness of my body, and I can't lose awareness of my body without losing consciousness. Does this sound familiar to anybody?

your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
thanks,

Ash

This reminds me of something, though it might be slightly off topic. Does a person working on spiritual development have to be hard on themselves? Is enlightenment attained through persistence and hard work, or the exact opposite? Does one truly become enlightened only when one learns not to try at all, but merely to be open and allow?

Is spiritual development a hard life? It is if you want it to be...

ash

I think it is more important that there is something there than that there is everything there that everyone agrees on. I like the idea of symbols, and the idea of a central statue. I would suggest that someone invent a unique symbol, one that is fairly simple and easy to visualize, but that you won't find anywhere else. this can be the symbol of the locale. This would then be made into a statue at the centre of the locale. it gives people something to focus on, and then other things can be added surrounding it. Think of it as a work in progress. it doesn't have to be finished BEFORE people start meeting there.

ash

hi x_wolf,

there have been a lot of posts about the vibrations. I would suggest doing a search for them ("Search" on the toolbar at the top of the page)

generally, the vibrations are a symptom of the projection process, not a trigger to the process. They often go together, but some project without feeling the vibrations and some get the vibrations without leading to a projection. So just carry on as you are. Focus on the projection and if the vibrations come, then good. If not, it won't stop you from projecting.

ash

quote:Originally posted by Shimewaza


...the so-called OOBE method of Robert Bruce and most everyone else today is an artificial body creation. You are *not* using your natural astral body to project with.

With the RB method of projecting the danger comes from not having your nonphysical senses developed...

hey Shimewaza,

would you mind elaborating on this? How and why is it an artificial body? Is there a technique that DOES use the "natural astral body"? Where did you learn this? I've never heard this concept before.

thanks,
ash

the first several times i felt the vibrations, it felt exactly as if i was inside a jet engine in the process of taking off. They were accompanied by the incredibly loud roaring sound of a jet inside my head, and there was a pressure that felt like it was pulling me out of my body

ash

my personal theory (and i'd be interested what you guys think about it) is that the vibrations and their intensity depend on the amount of resistance (emotional, physical, mental, etc) to the obe that's occuring. When you become aware of an obe in progress, it interferes with the projection of the astral body and the vibrations occur because there are two opposing forces: the projection reflex vs. the conscious awareness. even if the conscious awareness is trying to help, it is interfering in the process at first. That's why for many people, the vibrations start out very strong, even violent, and gradually lessen as you become more used to the process, and the resistance is cleared.

so as others have posted in this thread, don't try to pursue the vibrations, they are only a symptom of separation, not the separation itself.

ash

hehe well army of darkness is probably one of the best movies ever made, but that's not really on topic is it?

hey Psypunk,
I have a similar problem with doing "impossible" things in my dreams and still not actually realizing I'm dreaming. I think there's two reasons for it
1) I believe it should be possible to fly or do TK, etc in real life. Because I've done it in my dreams so often, and I've tried in waking life, sometimes when I do it in my dreams I just think "Yay! I finally figured out how to do this in real life" instead of the rather obvious "oh I'm dreaming again". It's tricky because there's a lot of motivation to believe you are actually awake and doing these things.

2) Part of the reason it is easier at first to be lucid when you find yourself flying, etc is because of the novelty of the experience. The excitement and newness automatically makes you a little bit more aware and hence easier to engage the critical aspect of your mind. As these experiences become more familiar, it is easier to accept them, and so harder to engage your rational mind in the experience (become lucid)

I think one possible solution is to deliberately use flying or another event as a trigger. Tell yourself that if you find yourself flying, you are dreaming. And, as with everything else, practice practice practice.

ash

Welcome to the site Psypunk,

i agree it's an amazing movie. funny thing, what he said about when you're dreaming, you can never turn the lights on or off. That's something that I've always noticed in every lucid dream I've ever had. Anybody else notice this or have any ideas why it is?

ash

personally i think my biggest obstacle is that whatever technique i do, i have too much focus on my body. if i do ROPE, for example, I will always be concentrating on trying to climb OUT of my body, instead of forgetting about my body completely. I can't seem to visualize or get taken away in a fantasy, so I can't forget about my body unless I just lose focus completely and start falling asleep. If I am successful it is usually because I drift off and then snap back to find the vibrations already in progress, but this is largely out of my control whether it happens or not

this reminds me of an experience I had several years ago. I posted a few days ago in a different thread that I was taught telekinesis in a dream. It felt very very real and after I was able to move objects around in my dream easily I said to my teacher "Wow, this is amazing! Am I going to be able to do this in real life when I wake up?" My teacher smiled and asked me why I wanted to. I thought about it for a while and I realized that there is absolutely no reason why I would want to move things around with my mind that would be beneficial to my spiritual development. Interesting....

i've also heard some say that no part of your body should ever be crossed when doing any sort of energy work, although yoga obviously disagrees with this. i guess it depends on whatever works best for you

is there something wrong with just sitting in a chair with your feet flat on the ground?

quote:Originally posted by panabelle

dreams where I have telekinesis or anything like that, I got the exact same feeling. It's like a tug or something at the back of my head.

wow panabelle that is really bizarre. I have been telekinetic in my dreams ever since somebody in a dream taught me how to do it years ago in a lucid dream. When I first learned how this is what i did. I would focus my eyes on the object that i want to move and make a connection. It would feel like an invisible rope was attached to the object, through my eyes, and right into the back of my brain. Then, when I move my eyes the object would move along with my gaze. I would feel this as pulling on the back of my brain.

Later, I learned how to do this with my hands instead of my eyes, but I still feel an internal tugging as I move the object. I was always convinced that if I could just recreate that feeling while awake that I would be capable of telekinesis in the real world.

Ash

thank you Frank and Bruce for your comments,

I had a suspicion that this actually was the beginning of phasing but i wasn't quite sure. Bruce, I really like the way you describe the process "remembering the feeling". In the past, I've tried to actually recreate the movement and that never worked. I can't actually move my point of awareness. But I can remember the feeling of moving sometimes and that works much better. I think the most difficult part is "trying not to try". It's a very delicate balance of letting go enough to drift, but not enough to lose consciousness. Metaphorically, I'd say I have to tread water and let the current take me. It doesn't work if I swim...