Messages

Hi again Floriferous 😀

Your point - that what is is never exclusionary, is well made. Just accept, be still and learn. "Stillness speaks"

Mike

Thank you Floriferous

In the opening of my eyes, in the awe of that fleeting instant, was This. When the thought "wow" came to mind, the instant had gone. The magic of the moment.

The learning is that the mind is still too cluttered to be still to what is.

Mike

"Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you.
Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.
Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames."   ― Rumi

***************
Let me begin by thanking those who have responded to previous posts. I have benefitted from the wisdom of others still participating in this forum, and I appreciate your support

****************
I had a genuinely gob-smacking experience this morning, as a consequence of which these have moved from the "not 100% certain about" column to the "known" column,

In short, I decided to set the intention to simply be open to whatever the universe wanted to reveal to me. The exploration in consciousness that resulted took me far, exercised by powers of interoception and brought me back. In very broad detail, that will suffice

When I returned, I stretched, yawned, blinked a few times before focussing on what was in front of me. I was astonished to see the universe in my bedroom. To be precise, before me, below, to each side and above. I double-checked. Was I dreaming? No, I recalled removing the pillow behind my head and putting it on my lap, I remembered (and shortly after recorded) full details of the journey I had just finished, I remembered to yawning, stretching post-journey routine. I asked myself "do you know where you are?" and gave myself full and accurate details of the room, the house, the city. I was definitely fully awake and aware. Yet there, in all of the detail I had just been travelling through, we're the stars, the coloured energy swirls, the movement and the innumerable points of light. Where did the universe come from? Into my bedroom

Then my attention was drawn to a small bright light in front and to the right of me, at about the 5 o'clock position. It was emitting a steady bright white light. Where did that come from? The room was totally black (it was around 5am. The sunrise was still an hour away), There was nothing that could reflect light where that light was shining from (I later checked, nothing there). I was curious- where was it coming from? I took my right hand off my hand and moved it across my line of vision, about a foot in front of my face, while I was watching the light. It continued to shine without interruption. Then I realised that my arm wasn't there - the feeling of it was there, but the substance of it wasn't. I moved the arm about a few times and could see the very, very faint outline of what I figured were the tips of some of the fingers. But other than the hint of the fingers, nothing, no arm interrupted that light. Was the light coming from within me? No, because that small bright light shining from behind where the arm should have been was what enabled my eyes to faintly discern the outline of what were my fingers

I turned on the light. The universe presumably went.

In just one experience a number of things shifted from the list of "things I'm fairly sure about but can't say are true"  to the list of "things that are now known to me due to direct experience"


1.  "My consciousness" exists in both the physical and non-physical worlds
2.  The universe is an object within consciousness. Specifically, within my consciousness.
3.  "I" am an instance of consciousness, a unique and continuously evolving unit of the larger continuously evolving consciousness system
4.  My fundamental essence is energetic, not physical. I can evolve the energy that I am, but can neither create it, nor cease it.

The following I'm pretty sure about but can't say yet are true

5.  There are many iterations of "I" from the original instance. Each evolution of the I is an inheritor of the essence of all previous
6.  The universe is a persisting object within all individualized iterations of the larger consciousness system

I wonder whether anyone would be interested in commenting.

Still slightly stunned,

Mike

I've mentioned before, in passing, the geometric shapes that appear and disappear when my state of relaxation is deep enough. (Deep enough for 3D (depth) But what do they do? I have ideas, but I have not asked my I-There that question yet. Perhaps someone else has asked or has ideas?

Mike

Escape, thank you for your earlier response (post #25) and the points you made. I'd like to address a couple of those things specifically in this post

I had mentioned "voyage envy", but I could also have mentioned "experience envy" or "guide envy" the commonality is that all involve envy - that, "I want what they had" this always seems to be followed by"why can't I have what they're having", followed in turn by "I must be doing something wrong"

I'd hope that we look at the experiences of others not with a sense of egoistical envy but with the sense that "wow, I haven't tried or thought about that - I'll see if I can do the same" So a report of experiences can be both a teaching device and for someone's inspiration - we can never know what we're really capable of until someone reminds us that an ever-expanding menu of possibilities exist. In that sense, a report is like the carrot hanging just beyond the donkey's reach. It inspires him to want to reach it. Reports also over time from the same person also show that person evolving before our eyes. The person himself may not realize their growth as easily as others can - feedback of that can be highly motivational to "keep doing whatever it is you're doing!"

Escape also commented on "curriculum".  Munroe, Campbell and others write that the decision to return to the physical plane (this planet) is made freely by us in conjunction with others in the non-physical, that we indicate what we want to achieve through another human life and, if that is agreed to, it becomes effectively our next "mission plan" We arrive, born into circumstances that are favourable to the success of our agreed mission plan. That seems logical, but I haven't yet experienced myself any aspect of  "preparation for rebirth"

But having got here, we certainly all seem to stumble about, completely oblivious to whatever intentions recorded might have been in the mission plan, simply because we mostly forget all about coming to be human from the non-physical  It all seems a bit haphazard until you remember that the learnings of previous rebirth cycles is never lost. That last sentence is now a "known" to me, much to my relied. I asked my helper whether, upon death all of the learning I am accumulating would be lost in any future physical life? - would I have to "start again". The answer was "no". The guide then told me that me that the larger consciousness records everything we think, say and do and that every experience impacts upon our evolution towards the goal of the entire consciousness system. Both Munroe and Campbell report having visited and studied the Akashic Records. I have not been there as yet, so that remains a belief.

Finally, Escape commented on free will. Any situation we encounter in this physical world or in the non-physical that gives us a choice requires us to make a decision. If  we are able to make that decision, we are free to freely choose any option. We can make the decision in either the physical or the non-physical because it's a cognitive (that is, virtual) activity in either world.

The issue is: can we equally carry out that decision in both the physical and the non-physical worlds? No. In the virtual, the actions must always be virtual. Only in the physical can the decision have "concrete" outcomes that we refer to as actions such as speaking, touching etc. the outcome of decisions in the physical  lead on to consequences for those actions (popularly called karma). There is no karma generated in the non-physical. (Karma generated here, though can end up in fixed beliefs leading to an afterlife destination where other people of like, strong belief will gravitate to)

So it's not free will, but the consequences of actions taken as a result of that free will that makes this physical world such an alluring place for those in the non-physical to come to: it is the perfect"sandbox" in which to practice, learn and more quickly evolve ourselves.

This physical world is the only way that we can experience, not the virtual processes involved in coming to a decision, but rather what happens subsequently: taking actions and being able to experience the consequences of that. How else can we know how compassion, empathy, love REALLY work? By doing things that make us aware of the consequences on other. Without action it would remain an academic (virtual) concept.

In Love
Mike

As it turns out, this post is a "stream of consciousness". You'll see what I mean by the time you get to my final paragraph. I would love your feedback on this
***********
This post is about guides that many have seen in apparently human-like form. I have never seen "my guide" visually and initially experienced "guide envy" until I told myself that I had to use my brain to make the need to call for assistance or confirmation or support most often unnecessary. In other words, I needed to build up my inner trust that everything will be alright

As I wrote that last bit - "everything will be alright" - I recalled when I heard that same expression spoken in my head. I had been unable to do a task that others in the same group had mastered. I had failed and, alone later in my room I reflected deeply on what having failed meant. Not anything positive. While I was wallowing in self-pity, what I described at the time was an angel "jumped into me" via the crown of me head and moved up and down my body a couple of times accompanied by an intense tingling vibrating sensation and a feeling of intense and overwhelming bliss. When the angel was in the process of leaving, I implored "please don't leave me" The unspoken knowing came back clearly to me "Don't worry, everything will be OK". And that left me bewildered. What had happened in the quietness of that room? I couldn't figure it out back then, so I just parked that memory somewhere within and life went on. But what never left was that trust that, no matter what happens, everything will turn out alright for the non-physical "me".

And that observation was a teaching, not just to me but to us all. Trust your inner knowing with every fibre of your body. Let yourself experience vulnerability, doubt, confusion and hesitancy and trust that the result will turn out OK for the non-physical me in the end. When I first experienced really deep meditation, I realized that at some point my breathing had stopped and that death might be an outcome. At that point I recalled that "everything will be alright" and pressed on. I lost consciousness shortly after but regained it after who knows how long, but with that same feeling of bliss. I obviously didn't die and learned to trust myself against all odds. I have also never feared death since. I had been shown that our non-physical self is immortal. Unless we know that Death is a fearful construct of the mind - a belief. We are immortal. Our bodies are not. We are definitely a lot more than meets the eye.

Anyhow, back to the subject of guides! After I started voyaging, I began to doubt that guides existed because I never saw one or even heard from one. Reading other posts of guides that appeared on request, looked suitably guide-like and were super helpful had me wonder "why couldn't I have one like that? The answer I gave myself was that I really hadn't needed one to that point. Any request I made was the ego at work. The moral: don't expect a guide to jump in unless you really have run out of options. In the meantime, figure it out!. After all, while guides have much more experience than us and are able to show us a lot to assist our learning, they can't make our choices for us. In the end, it is our job to make informed, rational choices.

My voyage notes of March 17 read in part

"But before the dialog started, I was taken, I am guessing, to where I was 2 days ago when I got the knowing that I was "home". That was when the helper and I started to dialogue. It was explained to me, in response to my "what am I being shown?" That I was looking at a geometric pattern being "built" by smaller bits being added. h ha! Was this a process of creation? I was told "yes" at this point I was watching how patterns (the geometric shapes) were being created, so where did the material to make the patterns come from? I was shown a vista of smaller, more regularly shapes. These were the smaller components that were the "building blocks" of creation - or the creative process to be more accurate. When I asked "where did the smaller bits come from?, I got the answer "Oneness" "can I see that now? "Not yet" was the answer"

It was during this particular journey that I asked myself "how can I be confident that I was participating in an actual dialog and that it wasn't just the result of my own overheated imagination. To me, the tone of my inner voice was very close to the helper I was conversing to. As the conversation progressed I became sure that I was asking and another entity was answered. "He" used a few words and the occasional phrase that I don't use or are not as I would say. But the inner voice tone was pretty close to being me

That has had me think that the "guide" is a higher self, a more evolved "me" in other words, Am I being helped by a more evolved version myself? I suspect so, and will ask that question to my higher self. What do you think? This next paragraph might help shed some light on where our guidance, support and encouragement along the way has come from

The original I of Robert Munroe, was asked why he and all the subsequent I's gave guidance, support and direction to all subsequent iterations of the original I up to him. The answer was that if Robert Munroe - the latest iteration of the original - succeeded in figuring it all out, then all of the iterations of I succeeded. Why was that important? Because his success, for every I would mean "The way out. Escape velocity. Not just eternity, but infinity." (That quote was from Ultimate Journey, page 170).

That, for me at least has helped me gain some perspective. I have never been separate and individual; I am but the latest iteration of the first I of me who existed a long, long time ago. I have always been supported by previous evolutions of my self. I am a collective, not isolated and alone. That been an enormously helpful "bigger picture" piece of information for me. I hope that it may also be for you

In Love

Mike

Hi Lumaza, and thanks for the post and your observations

Yes, I think the difference between my first post and this show that I was able to move past my "stuckness" and had I thought it through (which I did, after the event), I would at least have a reason why I might be stuck.

I have wondered about what the reason for being able to travel either with or without a body of some sorts might be. Perhaps having the appearance of virtual arms and legs might be more reassuring and reduce fear - the more normal I appear as a travelling unit, perhaps the more relaxed I might be. But it, like so many things, I suspect more to do with our reason for travelling. I have no great interest in visiting earth-like communities in the non-physical, nor of being surrounded by earth-like forests, lakes and beaches. I am only interested, as I have previously stated, in exploring what was pointed to by that "there's got to be more to to life than this". Searching for the detail of what that word "more" entails doesn't require me to have arms and legs. So I have been able to access a smaller travelling unit, a more fuel efficient unit  🤔 perhaps (just joking!) that we are all able to access if that's what we feel we need. No travelling body type is better than any other. Similarly, no virtual destination is superior or inferior to any other. The journey is all about what we learn there rather than how we get there. I suspect that where we travel to has more to do with our reason for travelling than anything else.

I'm certainly not ruling out that at some point I may have found the details I'm after and then feel the need to experience virtual people, communities and environment. But right now, that's not on my agenda.

Like you, I believe that powerful learning can result from sharing experiences, views and questions. I'm grateful for the response to my posts. Agree - keep it up guys! If we can collectively stimulate curiosity while reducing the fear of traveling, that can only be a good thing.

Mike

The last few posts have made the point that there is a wide diversity of experiences that we have all experienced. In my very first posts on this board I lamented that nothing appeared to me in the technicolor detail that others were reporting, and asked others for feedback as to what I might be doing wrong. Perhaps I had inadvertently broken some law of the universe? So this post, I want to pick up on the diversity and why the experiences of some look and feel nothing like the experiences that others are enjoying. "Voyage Envy" can arouse emotions within us, like frustration which can easily develop into annoyance, then anger then to abandoning any attempt to travel because it's "too difficult and probably not worth the effort". Voyage Envy can also lead to self-doubt, self-blame and even to increasing levels of fear. These emotions are invariably caustic, corrosive and harmful to us

So why the diversity of experiences? Simply, we all have different lessons to learn. The experiences we have are "curated" by consciousness itself to help us learn those lessons. As a teacher, I know the "just in time" principle is important to a learner's progress (and we're ALL learners in the non-physical). If I taught something complex to a student who wasn't ready to grasp any new learning, then the teaching would end in disaster: inattention, confusion and disappointment. Better to take baby steps to ensure success. In the classroom, I "curated" the learning experiences carefully; in the astral, consciousness is doing the curating, operating most often as our intuition, "gut feeling" or simply our "knowing" that what we're immersed in is true, real and accurate. Consciousness also curates through intermediaries such as guides, helpers, bright moving lights that we "just happen" to notice and follow. There is absolutely nothing left to chance in our non-physical travels - we are constantly being assisted to learn. Our travels are shaped so that we learn what we want to learn.

But learn what? There is no "curriculum" in the non-physical. We set our own through the expectations we each have. I personally don't like the phrase "setting intentions" because they are based "what I want, what I demand". So intentions can look like instructions. Buhlman teaches a simple intention/instruction in "clarity" or "clarity now". They are demands. We're not in a position to demand anything of consciousness. So I prefer to set my expectation, as in "I'd really like to know what those fractal shapes I'm seeing mean". I asked that very question and so got up close and personal with the process of creation being explained to me by a being I couldn't see but who knew me" I know now where fractal shapes fit into that process, where they start from and where they go to. Remember that we're the learner; let consciousness know what you want to learn and trust that you'll mostly get the information that you expect

Some have expectations of interacting with others, so that's what will be shown. Others want to meet loved ones who have left the physical. Yet others want to simply probe the astral for the pure joy of discovery. I travel because knowledge is not enough; only direct experience of that knowledge will satisfy sufficiently to be able to confidently and truthfully help others

But what experience does pure curiosity get you? An experience that will address that curiosity. What if that curiosity grows? So will your experiences. Consciousness knows what we individually want and will provide us with tailored experiences. None of us will be placed in situations that we can't manage or cope with. Those tailor-made experiences will result in an expanding awareness while lessening any fears still within us. Consciousness wants a "win win" both for ourselves and also for itself as the Larger Consciousness System (LCS - Tom Campbell's acronym, not mine!). So journeying should not be only seeing and meeting non-physical people, or scenery. It should also evolve into an exploration of things you might never have been conscious of before - but now you are! Such is the manner of our evolution as human beings

Why is that? Because only on the physical plan to we have the free will to make active choices - and to experience the consequences of the decisions we make. We can dream, explore, make plans and put them into action. Only in the physical can we do that. In the non-physical we can participate and facilitate in the creation of amazing possibilities - for those in the physical to pick up. But we can never experience more than a virtual reality. In his book Ultimate Journey, Monroe lamented that he could never go home (in the astral) because everything was just as it was when he left. Here, in the physical, everything continuously changes and we are bombarded with changes that either force us to make decisions and evolve, or to choose no to and accept the consequences of that.

Probably more than enough. Time to stop!

In Love,
Mike

Hi Lightbeam

There is not one word or expression in your post that is not personally inspirational. Thank you for sharing. You make a vital point when you ask "why restrict ourselves" to a narrow belief when we're in the midst of a mind expanding experience that works in ways too mysterious and wonderful for us to even begin to understand even slightly. We should vow to travel with a "No preconceived beliefs" attitude and be open to whatever experience the universe decides to give us. We should remind ourselves often to be grateful for the experience of every journey. There is so much to learn

An deeply rooted evolutionary imperative we have deep in our subconscious is the need to survive. This manifests in too many being too fearful of too many things to feel both vulnerable yet confident enough to open up to all the wonderful opportunities that AP gives us. Everyone faces fear and any traveling in the non-physical can be, at least initially, fear-inducing. I suspect, Lightbeam that you have mastered those fears you once had, and travel with a light and open touch. That, in turn can only positively impact upon others you encounter as you move about both the non-physical and physical worlds.

Thank you again,

Mike

Hi there, EscapeVelocity

One of the issues that will "muddy the water"for many years is the absence of a language that we can all agree on in the context of all things to do with the non-physical - unless we're careful, we end up confusing each other simply. For example, "out of body" means something to those who expect to travel with an energy body, but I have never experienced to date anything other than the mid to deep astral and, as I said in another post, I'd be horrified if arms and legs came along for the ride.

I suspect that the character of our expectations, our intentions vastly shape what travels. My intention is simply to find the answer to the "there's got to be more to life than this" observation which interrupted my walk to work nearly 20 years ago. To find that answer I need explore the dimensions of life, "the system of life", how it all works. Others may have a more personal expectation: to visit someone who died. Both of those expectations are equally valid, both will result in different kinds of voyager

I also suspect that our intentions are subject to scrutiny from a higher authority. The universe is not simply a playground for the voyeur - although there is certainly a lot to be enthralled by, and we should all get joy from our explorations. But we won't always get what we want to get, simply because we're not yet ready to receive it. We travel to evolve, both as individuals and as a community. If, through our travels we can help blunt the fears and divisiveness that seems way too widespread, then that's not a bad lifetime's work, is it?

I loved your comments. There is strength in diversity when there is strength within individuals. Your determination to succeed is inspiring to me. Thank you

Oh, and phasing. Munroe eventually got that process down to a simple expression of intent. "Wherever my intent goes, so do I."

Mike

Hi tides2dust

We are all, in the astral visible to others as "points of consciousness" whilst travelling, through the blackness. Little pinpricks of light

"Awareness" is our ability to place our attention on specific things within the myriad of things our senses have discerned. Effectively, we see a wealth of detail in in the visual mindscape in front of our eyes as we travel. We make a conscious decision to "follow that light". In doing that, we pay attention on that light rather than on any other thing, and it is on THAT light that our awareness (or point of conscious focus)

I see awareness as our ability to single out specific points to interest that we want to pay extra attention to.
If I daydream in the astral, I'm not paying attention, so I'm not aware of anything specific,  I'm just generally aware of the vastness of the field of consciousness. If I pay attention to one specific thing, then I now have awareness of mostly that one thing and not the vast field.

It's all pretty academic isn't it! BTW, no-one is well versed in how the non-physical works, really. For that matter, few are versed in how our physical reality works either 😀 Our non-physical experiences will all be different, all are equally valid and equally valuable for us, both individually and collectively, to learn from. Whatever our expectations are shapes our individual journeys. It is through sharing that we each inch towards a better understanding of what is truely the "last frontier"

Mike

I've written two detailed posts. I've just finished a journey and, not having by journal with me, I've written my recollections directly into the computer. I thought it might put a more "human face" to what I've previously posted. This is pure "stream of consciousness" stuff - written just after the event with no interpretations overlaid.

It's now 5:30 am, and I've no paper or pen here, and I want to get my thoughts down on what I've just experienced. I started the journey about an hour ago, a bit after 4am. Settled quickly, sitting on the floor propped up against the wall, pillows behind me and a light blanket over me. Very comfortable. I went deeply from the get-go - into an area that felt where I was a few days before. It felt welcoming, familiar almost. Established there for bit, then went deeper and followed (what, I have no idea as I couldn't discern a shape, but I was being led on, eventually into a slowly rotating, pulsing darkness that seemed to visually buffet me on all sides with swirls of quickly moving clouds. I was never moved by these, although they (the clouds) enveloped me, appearing from one side then disappearing on the other side. I noted a deep throbbing, pulsating noise within (these are known to me and occur when I'm either in the Jhanas, or when in voyaging I'm moving deeper and like today, moving other than in a life, like being drawn into something. They appeared from all directions and were of subtly contrasting colours - so I sensed that I was moving through an aperture. As I did, I had the feeling of moving quickly. Whatever, the aperture  suddenly opened up into a light lavender coloured vastness, almost as if I had popped out from a tube into an endless vastness.Wow! Pinpricks of light were everywhere, but they weren't moving - they were just suspended in the light lavender. The throbbing noise ceased. Absolute silence. Majestic.

I think that I was a bit overwhelmed by that, because I was suddenly plunged back into blackness. I thought that I had been ejected through thinking about something "back there". Perhaps I was, perhaps not. Anyway, the blackness turned into the now more familiar vista of black blobs (not whispy cloud patterns) that seemed to almost by design appear, move and get in the way of a clearly intensely white source of light that radiated shafts of that light outwards. The effect to me was that the blackness was purposefully getting in the way of obtaining a clear view of that brightness. So I intended "into the light" and then played a sort of "cats and mice" game with clouds that appeared to obstruct what I wanted to see. What started to appear around this time were quick and small dashes of colour: green and red as I recall. Playing that game drew me increasingly closer to that light which certainly got closer and brighter. But I never quite got there! Perhaps next time.

During the cat and mice game, the nature of the "obstructions" started to change and I got a few fleeting but very detailed images of what can only be described as "built structures" of some kind. They would appear, and quickly then be replaced by a whispy cloud. I also recall that at one point an image popped up of another built structure that seemed to be of a house, clad with horizontal boards and a vine growing over a verandah. I think there were people standing under the verandah. It was coloured in sepia tones, like an olden days photograph. I was shown those for a reason. I have no idea at this time what that might be.

Then suddenly I sensed a movement within - a sound movement rather than a physical one and I knew that I'd been shown enough. This time, no traveling back in a lift. No sensation of moving, but a knowing that the voyage had ended. Sure enough, it had - but the astral was still there in 3D in front of my open eyes. I noticed that last night and again this morning when I awoke and looked into the darkness of me room: the 3D vista was there. Beckoning. Reminding me that, as consciousness in this human body, we can be concurrently in both the physical and the non-physical.

I expressed gratitude.

Mike

Than you Lamaza, for your questions

It is indeed that "point of consciousness" that travels UNLESS your expectation is that body with arms and legs comes along. In a nutshell, that is why a lot of folk who expect a body to be involved persevere with a "floating up" or rolling over" or some other technique that is fear-inducing and frequently associated with noises, vibrations and the like.

Really our expectation of what the purpose of an OOBE is defines the nature of the experience we enjoy. If the intent we form in our mind is to fly over our suburb, then what comes along for the ride is probably what we expect to come along - a body with limbs. That's perfectly fine. My intend is to find the answer to the original observation that started me down the path, which was "there's got to be more to life than this" I know in theory and through other experiences the answer to that question , but not through DIRECT experience. I am exploring to find that experience and can ONLY succeed as a "point of consciousness" that is 100% awareness in real time of that experience. I'd be horrified if my arms and legs came along for the trip 😀

Disassociation from what? The body. That is true on the physical plane. In the non-physical there is ONLY consciousness. I am most definitely not disassociating from that! I am jaunty because I am no longer attached to a body! I am detached 😀. Sorry, I should have used another expression

The key to phasing is relaxation. A hot tub is a wonderful way to relax, and you could definitely go to "there" from the tub! I'd only be worried about sliding beneath the warm water! There is another issue: assuming you were off voyaging amongst the stars, your body would want to get out of the tun when the water got cold - that would surely call you back!

You're right; any linkage to the physical will return you. That need not be thinking of your body. Thinking of the day ahead curtailed my voyage this morning - not completely out but far removed from where I was before that pesky thought! Similarly, any "I've only got 30 minutes for this voyage" will result in a tension that will not end with an optimal voyage. The mind needs to be focused on only one thing: the voyage about to start or that is in progress.

If the relaxation is deep enough, open both eyes. After the lift has stopped descending, I cautiously peek. If the scene in front of one peeking eye is stable, in 3D and enticing, I throw caution to the winds and open both eyes, blink a few times to become accustomed to the vista and keep them open from then on. Unless my intuition tells me it would be better to close them. That happens when I get back into the lift to go somewhere else, or when I say "I'd like to go home now please"

Thank you so much for your penetrating questions.

My next post will not be on meditation but will follow on from your observation that it is the "point of consciousness" which travels. That is an important ball to keep rolling. So I will delay the post on meditation a little bit

Cheers
Mike

Before I start,a "thank you" to both tides2dust and Nameless for your encouragement and kind thoughts. Much appreciated.

**********

I'm taking this line from Frank as my starting point "we place a veil between the place we call "here" and the place we call "there" for the purposes of our experience" I'm typing on a tablet, so please excuse any typos!

What I intent to cover in this post is what this comment sparked, in relation to "astral travel". My hope is that it may make our entry to the astral a bit less fraught. Personally, my access to the astral had been using the Gateway Experience's Focus 10 (wave 1, track 2) which I was followed by techniques aimed at separating the energy body from the physical.This got close but was difficult, involved way too much mental effort and was downright frightening at times. So I gave up on that and almost straight away started reading about "phasing" through reading Robert Munroe's Ultimate Journey, following up that with. Google search which led me to this site, where I discovered what Frank Kepple had written. The quote above from Frank was in one of the last he wrote on this sit and to me

I am not an electrical engineer and therefore approached this concept of phasing from a different angle. I have a back-story involving some pretty deep meditation, and I have come to know that which we call "the mind". I had, in meditation gone beyond what Frank called the real time zone, without realizing what it was - simply, I wasn't looking for the astral, so I never found it! But after reading Frank's comment above, I wondered whether I could use a meditation approach to get to what I call the "celestial". I found that I could very get to all states of consciousness reliably and quickly - without fearful noises, lots of effort and the like. I'm going to detail is the approach I used.

In another post, I will go into more detail about what "meditation approach" means. I promise that it's not difficult or complex to pick up and it is a wonderful process to use if we want to be really good explorers.

But before we go much further, I have to emphasize that you should forget any notion of anything physical traveling anywhere. That approach, as Frank was wont to say politely is a mystical nonsense. There is something traveling - that's for sure, but it is non-physical. Where it does the traveling is another story that I will leave for the moment

The only attributes you'll need in order to undertake the "phasing" journey I'm about to explain is an open mind, a jaunty air of detachment and an insatiable curiosity. Let's face it, the universe is immense, and every square inch of it has something to teach us, delight us, puzzle us. And we're learning through direct experience, not second hand through books, the internet or, God forbid, through YouTube!

So let's go! Imagine that you're in the physical place you go to for your "astral journeys. For me, that's my bedroom, where I sit in an aluminum high-backed beach lounge chair (cost me $49 from Kmart and folds up to fit in the car). It needs to be high-backed to support my head, it's comfortable enough to have me sit for 2hours or more). Why a chair? If I lie down on a bed, phlegm will invariably start running down my throat and I'll start imagining that I will choke or drown! What you use is up to you,

In my chair, I squirm about until I am comfortable, then I lightly close my eyes. At about this point you would start the Wave 1, track 2 "Introduction to Focus 10" track. I no longer use that. Suffice to say that the relaxation procedure that Robert Munroe takes you through in that track is very good. If you do use this track, I would "bail out" of it he says something along the lines of "Relax and enjoy..." and come back after the next paragraph.

My "mindscape" (what I see) will resemble the "static" you'll see on a TV that has lost the signal. I take 2 or 3 deep breaths in then out to get the ball rolling, then simply breathe normally. As you breathe, you'll see the mindscape change. Now you'll see definite movement, the odd "shooting star perhaps, even a few larger rotating blobs that move their way across the screen, No matter what you see, remember: be disinterested, be curious, say nothing - even in your inner voice - like Ike "wow" or "what's that?". Become totally absorbed in what you're seeing - it will be continually changing and morphing into something else that you'll notice is there now, but wasn't before.

Now it's time to talk about awareness. This can get complicated, but to keep it simple, I'm going to say that awareness is moving a bit of consciousness to a particular place. As humans we can concurrently place awareness in more than one place at a time, and that's what we're going to do now.

As your lightly closed eyes are looking at the scene in front of them, and without averting your eyes from that scene they're becoming absorbed in, turn your inner attention to just below where your belly button. You don't to be exactly anywhere there, just as long as you're in region of where your belly button is. Now keep your attention there. Not a heavy, concentrated attention - more the delicate touch of a butterfly landing on a leaf. It's a focussed awareness and NOT a concentrated awareness! You'll find that after a while a sensation of descending will start. Some describe this as a "falling" sensation. I liken it to being in a lift that is slowly making it way down from the fourth floor towards the ground. The lift, to begin with, may move quickly - if it does, it is a sign that your state of relaxation is quickly deepening. No matter whether descending quickly or slowly, stay it. The descent will stop when it want to.

Once the lift has stopped, shift awareness back to the mindscape. Hopefully, the T. static will have gone, replaced with a 3D vista of bigger blobs and even stars. This is Franks 3rd level of consciousness. if that's where you want to be, then don't move- wait a little while and let that 3D mindscape stabilise. Then - and only then, ask yourself "where am I" If the answer that you give to yourself is "here" then you can be confident that you're where you are supposed to be. Then open your eyes, let it all sink in that you are here.

In other words, in your room sitting in your meditation chair (or lying on the bed, you were "here" in the physical realm. At that time the astral mindscape was "there" - where you wanted to get to
Now when you step out of the lift, the mindscape is "here" and the "there" is in the room in the physical realm

(If you peek and there is a 2-dimensional look and feel to the display, and that's what you expected to see, then follow the process described in the last paragraph. If it's not what you expected, put you awareness back on to the belly button with the inner intent "wrong floor, I need the next floor down" and wait for that "lift is descending" feeling. Let the "going down" feeling stop when it wants to, cautiously peek. If you're new to this is you might get on and off that lift any number of times. Remember that this is all about relaxation, and you'd simply tried to move too quickly for your mind, which is not yet relaxed enough to do what you expect of it. Be patient, be gentle with your expectations. No matter, if you step out of the lift, the observations above this paragraph still apply.

Play around with this. You'll see that exploration is really a chain of "here's" and "there's" that interchange all of the time. If you're at the 3D display, get back on the lift and descend it some more (remember that each time you descend you're taking the mind to a deeper level. I must also point out that what you may wish to explore may not be fulfilled by the greater consciousness system which always considers whether fulfilling a request is in your best interests at that time. That's short for: there may be a reason beyond yourself why something won't work for you!

How to get back? With my inner voice, I simply say "take me home". I'm somehow put in the lift and I gently return. When the lift stops, I ask "where am I? The knowing arises that I am, indeed in my room. I yawn, stretch and express gratitude

This has been a lot to take in. I would be delighted to have questions requesting more detail and any constructive criticism on any particular point of the process.

Mike

Thank you Lumaza, for your helpful suggestions and for the link you provided - in one of your responses there, you also mentioned "here" and "there".

In the hope that those reading might be wondering what's so important to me at least about those two commonly-used words, I will describe what I do, how it works and why. I'm not an electrical engineer as were both Robert Munroe and Frank Kepple, so my description of the process will reflect that - I am decidedly non-tech. I'm also a teacher who had to explain seemingly-complicated concepts to teenagers who need the complicated made easy to follow! I'll get my thoughts in order and start writing in the next few days. I'm likely to write several smaller posts rather than one potentially overwhelming one, if you'll grant me that liberty.

I personally struggled with the concept of "lifting" and "separating" from the body. I tried it, had minor success but never went anywhere. It was hard work and raised too many inner fears to persevere with. I also struggled with the logic of it all - too fraught, too complicated. Others can make the "lifting out of the body" process work brilliantly. I couldn't- and so Frank's description of "phase shifting" gave me an alternate way of accessing the universe. The posts I've promised are aimed at those who have also struggled with the concept of separating in any way from the body.

In the meantime, thank you for the encouragement to share

Mike

Hi everyone
Please forgive me for not responding individually, but I really do appreciate your words of encouragement and suggestions to help me move past my "stuckness". I am the better for taking your words on board.
@lumaza - yes, our posts crossed. Thank you for your observation that we tend to get in our own way - I certainly over-think things and that can work against me. I'm learning that the simple trumps the complicated! Your "Don the explorer!" phrase fits my screen name perfectly - Kupe was the Polynesian explorer who, against the odds, set sail and discovered New Zealand
@EV - you also talked of the "explorer's mindset" which is really appropriate given that it is the mind that holds the key to any inner journey exploring what you termed "models of reality"
@Kodemaster - thank you for your welcome

In another post above, I warbled on about reading Frank's post to the site on 18February2005 in which he wrote "we place a veil between the place we call "here" and the place we call "there" for the purposes of our experience" For some reason, that cascaded into a myriad of thoughts that that led to my becoming "unstuck" Had Frank been able, I feel he would have explained exactly what he was pointing to.

Which brings me to a question. I am aware that I am very much a newcomer both to this site and to the endeavour of inner journeying, but I think I can add to that comment of Frank's and make the issue of access other reality states much more achievable, especially to those who are not electrical engineers! Would it be presumptuous of me to add on to the body of work that, quite rightfully, belongs to Frank?

I would value your response.

Mike

Good evening all from Oz
How many times have you have had clarity appear after a period of being lost? Just experienced one. I read Frank's notes near the top of the FAQ and decided to try that version of phasing. In those FAQ posts, he talked of noticing the blackness until the sense of "here" shifted from being in my bedroom to being in the blackness and the sense of "there" which was the blackness shifted to being my bedroom. That's exactly what happened. Once in the "blackness as here", I kept noticing and started to feel a sensation like mild in-flight turbulence you get in an aircraft, when it hits up and down drafts. Those sensations were vibratory in nature, but certainly not alarming. They passed after a minute of so, and quiet stillness took over. I had no inclination to peek out through my eyelids - just as well, because they felt glued together!

At this point, I have a question: what do you say in your mind to get to, say Frank's Consciousness 2 - even to the "reserved for me" area within Consciousness 2 he asserts exists!. Another question: I have some expectation of seeing things in technicolor, but Robert Peterson says no, that sight=sensing objects rather than seeing outlines of shapes, and no colour. What's your experience of seeing things visually?

At some point, I set a desire to go to consciousness 3, to wherever there are some people. Had the sensation of moving but saw no people. I did notice however that the blackness had become a "heavy greyness" that had a texture to it.

About this time, people walked past our house talking loudly, our dogs barked and the "there" that was my bedroom became my "here", my eyelids became instantly unglued. I was back in the physical.

I certainly am grateful to Frank, and commend his model for its elegant simplicity. It most certainly worksx!

I would really appreciate you feedback on the couple of questions I posed.

Mike

Thank you all for your individual word of encouragement and support. This is not the first time in my journey towards knowing that I have felt "stuck" - and it won't be my last!  All things change, so "stuckness" will turn to success, at which point I will wonder what all the fuss was about. I firmly believe that that the less we get in our own way, the more likely we will experience success. My problem is most likely to not being relaxed enough at critical points of the exit process. When I look deeply within, two concepts are causing disquiet/fear to arise and upset the applecart: paralysis and vibrations. Both, I suspect are the unintended consequences of book authors and video creators being creative in their descriptions. Neither concept need be dramatic: I encounter paralysis whenever I get to deep meditation, and vibrations are a natural part of working with energy and have never alarmed me before. So, with your collective encouragement, I will press on. I will keep you all informed of what the outcome will be,

Mike

Thanks for the reply. The "fish out of water" is possibly Kiwi idiot - it means I'm not in control of where I find myself. My first trip got me amongst the stars - I could get closer to things etc. A very responsive environment. Since then, the stars are there, sometimes the responsiveness has been there, the vision is blurry and while stars are visible and there is depth to the perception, they're far off. I seem stuck. I wonder whether I'm stuck in the RTZ or void, and if that's the case I'd appreciate pointers as to how to escape and return to the expansiveness of the Astral proper.

It would be remiss if I didn't start by introducing myself formally

A kiwi by birth, I'm now in Australia. The last time I checked, I was 74 years old

Around my mid 50's, a voice from nowhere simply said "there has to be more to life than this" and that was the start of trying to explore what that voice meant. After innumerable dead-ends, I stumbled upon the original teachings of the Buddha and took Jhana meditation as far as it can be taken. But even that didn't fully satisfy the inner demand for "tell me more". I knew that directly experiencing is worth a thousand books and quite by accident, out-of-body caught my attention. Like most, I checked out what Mr Google and YouTube had to say on the topic (not much of worth) then Robert Munroe, Tom Campbell - then Frank Kepple and his 2002-era postings on this forum. With Frank, I found a kindred belief that extremism is nowhere as good as the middle way (the Buddha astral travelled, incidentally). I took Frank's advice that the Gateway's wave 1, track 2 is a lot more efficient than other approaches, and I can now quite comfortably access the non-physical - but having got there, I'm like a fish out of water.

Enough from me. I look forward to conversations with you all

Mike