Take it easy guys.

[personalreality]

Ryan or Stookie, feel free to move this if you feel it needs to be moved, but I think it's ok here.

I haven't been as active on the pulse lately as i have been in the past, i recognize that.  But recently, I started posting more again and I have been shocked by something that has happened quite a few times recently.  I'm not going to share any names, but since I've been back posting, I've gotten numerous PM's from new members who feel completely turned off to the forums.  Something about my posts makes them feel more comfortable with talking to me and nearly every one of them starts out by saying that they feel uncomfortable posting on the forum because they just get bashed and looked down on.  A few of them have even told me that they will not be posting on the forums anymore.

So, take it easy guys.  Not everyone is as well-studied as many of us, but that doesn't make their experiences any less valid.  In fact, I think these members that are untarnished by the rigid systems of belief concerning OBE can probably teach us a thing or two.  If you take anything away from this post, let it be that we are here to help each other, not lock into a belief and proselytize the rest of the form.  Be open minded and accept that different people experience reality in different ways.  Let go of semantics and share in the wonder and mystery of this experience.  We are supposed to be "better than" the religious types who blindly preach their doctrine, yet I see it happening over and over.  By all means, share your experience, but don't tell other people that they are wrong for asking a question.  If you can answer the question from your perspective do so, but don't let it turn into "I'm right and you're wrong" because no you're not and no they aren't.   

[Stookie]

Thanks PR, I agree. As long as we are here in the physical, all of our perceptions and opinions are incomplete - no one knows for sure. We're infinitesimal in the scope of everything. Some people see red and call it brown.

I think we can get so caught up in descriptions and definitions of things that we let personal experience take the back seat. We want to compare our experiences and find similarities everywhere and make sure everyone else is calling what you see as red, red, and if they're not, they must be wrong. We're all human and subject to judge what we might not understand and try to "set it right" based on our own limitations.

IMO, the heart of an experience is in our thinking, feeling, and willing. Not in bodies or outside perceptions or labeling of focus levels, but the pure experience of those things and how they make us feel, what they make us think, and how we will our lives through them and from them.

Not that descriptions and similarities shouldn't be discussed, that's what this board is for. It should just be done in an open-minded way, knowing that no one can prove themselves as correct. If anything, we should be encouraging each other to find what they are searching for.

[NoY]

I totally agree with both of you 


:NoY:

[Astral316]

I agree that we should all keep an open mind.

On the other hand... the spectrum of non-physical experience is like degrees on a thermometer. Okay so we don't know where exactly where "lukewarm" ends and "hot" begins but we have a good idea, don't we? When I first stumbled upon astral projection I was like.. "Okay, this is just dreaming, isn't it?" In a way it is, but for an outsider it should be made clear that lukewarm isn't scalding hot. Repeating "It's all heat energy, it's all heat energy, it's all heat energy" when someone asks about the temperature outside doesn't do them any good. Repeating "It's all non-physical experience, it's all non-physical experience, it's all non-physical experience" would've turned me away from this practice in the beginning. Yea, it's all non-physical experience but it's also important to note the differences. That's how people build a foundation with which to base their own observations. Until telepathy takes off.. like I've said in the past, we'll have to settle for semantics. If you don't want to argue ideas there's always simply sharing experiences, which is just as fun I find.

[Xanth]

I couldn't agree more.

If there were two things that I'd implore (beg, even) that people (especially new people to this forum and/or to this subject) understand:

1.  Nobody on this forum is right... nobody on this forum is wrong.
and
2.  Anything anyone says here is not gospel... it is only an opinion.

[Lexy]

So who is bashing?

[Volgerle]

We are supposed to be "better than" the religious types who blindly preach their doctrine, yet I see it happening over and over.

You're so right! Let's never make this a dogmatic religion, stay open-minded all the time.
And guys, hey, ...  we are the spearheads of a coming paradigm change (however, don't ask me when it will happen  ) and so we are in this together. There is waaaay much more uniting us then dividing us, even if we like to forget this when we're immersed in our 'trifle debate battles' over things such as 'phasing vs. vibration-obes' (stuff of which the majority of the common population does not even know yet what it's about at all) or similar topics. Let us never forget about this fact: We are open-minded experiencers, all of us. We should be proud of (or at least happy about) this. Therefore we should be happy about every 'newbie' and people that find their way to this kind of open-mindedly lived spirituality.

Amen.  

[personalreality]

So who is bashing?

everyone is to some degree.  Some worse than others.  But we all get a little hung up on ourselves sometimes, its only natural.  I'm not saying anyone is in the wrong, just that, as a community we need to be sure to keep that comradeship alive and remember that we are in this together against the rest of the world that thinks we're crazy.  We can build something great if we don't let ourselves be dissolved from within.

[NoY]

We are a Tribe 


:NoY:

[personalreality]

Quite

[skiax]

The fact that strangers feel comfortable confiding in you bodes well for your future. Great post. Thanks.
                                                                                               -Jim-

[Lexy]

People shouldn't be so afraid...I mean if they can't take bashing from us..they don't stand a chance out there....if you know what I mean. 

[Lexy]

People shouldn't be afraid to state their beliefs....I don't know who is bashing someones beliefs but that shouldn't stop people from posting their beliefs.

[Dazino]

So who is bashing?

I would have to ask this too; I haven't been here for long, but I read the threads, and have not noticed anything too bad. Nothing that isn't found in any other forum (Social-wise).

Except, perhaps those two guys who appeared to be trolls. Then again, the way they spoke, they had to have known they were going to get talked down. Everyone I met here seems to be helpful to some degree: they state their beliefs and such, and share what they think will be helpful.

However...I do notice some people saying things like "There is no such thing...." and "Impossible..." way too many times. Is this perhaps what you are referring to?

[Astral316]

Except, perhaps those two guys who appeared to be trolls. Then again, the way they spoke, they had to have known they were going to get talked down. Everyone I met here seems to be helpful to some degree: they state their beliefs and such, and share what they think will be helpful.

That's what I figure... this board has to be one of the most well-behaved and open minded communities on the internet. Those two were patronizing and arrogant to put it delicately. If we're going to make threads preaching etiquette around here then it should be applied to everyone. The new members are new to projection, not to manners.  

[kurtykurt42]

Ryan or Stookie, feel free to move this if you feel it needs to be moved, but I think it's ok here.

I haven't been as active on the pulse lately as i have been in the past, i recognize that.  But recently, I started posting more again and I have been shocked by something that has happened quite a few times recently.  I'm not going to share any names, but since I've been back posting, I've gotten numerous PM's from new members who feel completely turned off to the forums.  Something about my posts makes them feel more comfortable with talking to me and nearly every one of them starts out by saying that they feel uncomfortable posting on the forum because they just get bashed and looked down on.  A few of them have even told me that they will not be posting on the forums anymore.

That's why I don't post anymore, I'm scared of Xanth.

[Xanth]

That's why I don't post anymore, I'm scared of Xanth.

Well, I guess that's too bad Kurt... cause I'm a nice guy. 

Anyway... I would like to take this second to link the AUP:  http://www.astralpulse.com/aup.html

That link is at the top of every page on the forums, I believe, and are our established rules of conduct for members.

[Astral316]

That's why I don't post anymore, I'm scared of Xanth.

With those abdominals of doom? Xanth must be the Terminator. 

[Xanth]

With those abdominals of doom? Xanth must be the Terminator. 

I'll be back!  >_>

hehe yeah, not quite. 

[personalreality]

I would have to ask this too; I haven't been here for long, but I read the threads, and have not noticed anything too bad. Nothing that isn't found in any other forum (Social-wise).

Except, perhaps those two guys who appeared to be trolls. Then again, the way they spoke, they had to have known they were going to get talked down. Everyone I met here seems to be helpful to some degree: they state their beliefs and such, and share what they think will be helpful.

However...I do notice some people saying things like "There is no such thing...." and "Impossible..." way too many times. Is this perhaps what you are referring to?

Naturally the internet allows for blathering, but I always felt like the pulse was different.

What I'm talking about is newcomers being bombarded with criticisms of their posts and nay-saying.  I'm not saying that we shouldn't share our opinions with each other and new comers, just that maybe we can be a little easier on obviously new people until they get accustomed to our group.  If I join this forum and was told that my first post about my experiences was just unreasonable, ignorant, naive, wrong, ill-informed, etc. etc., I wouldn't come back.  And more to the point, who the hell do we think we are to instantly dismiss someone's personal experience on the basis of our own experience? 

Like I said, it's all good, I'm not calling out anyone in particular and I don't even have specific people in mind.  I'm just saying that we should be aware of our attitude toward new people.  Perhaps is the compassionate side of me speaking, and I know that the "real world" is tough so they should get used to it, but maybe we can be different.  Maybe we can be the ones who care about each other and try to have an open mind and sympathetic ear.  That's all really.  Nothing drastic, just think about how you would feel as a novice trying to understand something amazing.

[Stookie]

Nothing drastic, just think about how you would feel as a novice trying to understand something amazing.

Exactly, or you're getting advice from someone who is guessing at half of what they are talking about, and the other half is what they read in a Thomas Campbell book. I think THAT is against the AUP, being dishonest with the community.

[Summerlander]

That's why I don't post anymore, I'm scared of Xanth.

Instead of running away and allowing your fear to deny yourself freedom of speech, why don't you face it? Tut-tut... allowing a twisted and irrational perspective to dictate how you behave (i.e. not posting anymore) sounds like the coward's way out to me...

Are you a coward?

People shouldn't be afraid to state their beliefs....I don't know who is bashing someones beliefs but that shouldn't stop people from posting their beliefs.

Precisely!

[Stookie]

With Xanth, there is often no rational debate. You just have to "agree to disagree" and realize "it's my truth and your belief". Not wanting to deal with that is not being a coward. It's not worth getting banned over.

[Summerlander]

Erm...I was talking about kurtykurt42?

Btw, I have spoken to Xanth before and he doesn't seem like the sanctimonious type at all. At least he hasn't been with me. And if he is...you know what I do with those people? I let them express themselves and leave them be if their views don't resonate with mine. You have a biased view of Xanth in my opinion. This view you have of him is simply born from the fact that something about him doesn't agree with your way of thinking. It works both ways.

Rather than moaning about the way someone is, complaining and putting them down...isn't it best to just agree to disagree or at least try and understand why the other person has their views? How is it helping by you slagging him off? That's counter-productive on your part. I'm giving you advice from one mod to another...

[Stookie]

Yeah, Kurt was talking about Xanth. That's why he doesn't post, hence my post.