I'm using the Gateway Experience CD set. I'm on Wave 1: Discovery. I got the original CDs, so I have the manuals, but the manual linked from here is more complete. Anyway, neither one totally answers my question.
What are some good ways of knowing when I'm in Focus 10?
I can pretty quickly get to a point where I'm comfortable, still, and most of my body has a sort of soft, soothing vibration, the way my body feels when I'm having a lucid dream and can check for that soft vibration from my body to be able to tell if it's a dream or I'm awake in physical reality (I had gotten the idea to check for that feeling on my own, because it's just something I noticed). Is that a sign of Focus 10, or something else?
That vibration comes and goes as perhaps I lose focus or whatever, slipping back towards Focus 1 (wide awake). And then occasionally I'll feel like I slip somewhere else and lose all sensation for a moment, but it comes back as soon as it faded, and my memory of how I got there is gone. Is that what they call "clicking out"? I'm under the impression that no time passes when I do it, but I have no way of knowing.
One reason I'm unsure about whether I'm in Focus 10 is while I do have a change in awareness I could also at any time instantly jump back to Focus 1, open my eyes, and stand up without feeling disoriented. The whole thing about how I have to wiggle my right finger or focus on the number 1 to bring myself back seems unnecessary for wherever I'm at.
Read this:
http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_permanent_astral_topics/focus_10_mind_awakebody_asleep-t24783.0.html
Wow, no kidding, that post was a great read! I'm excited with everything he cleared up for me. I've experienced enough of it (though briefly each time, and while feeling lost) recently or in the past that I totally get what he's saying. Reading this was perfect timing for me.
Remember, in the end, don't get too caught up in labels. That's all this Focus stuff is... just a label.
Any thought during an exercise like "am I there yet" is only going to work against you. People experience focus 10 in many different ways and you may experience varying degrees of it. You can be in focus 10 while walking around just like you can be in it with no sensation of your physical body.
I would personally forget anything you've ever read on the subject and just trust the hemi-sync and your own experiences. If you keep reading up on how people experience you will only compare and when you don't experience what others do you will get disappointed.
Personally I would say forget everything. Just let go and trust the experience. Only my opinion though.
If I could go back to the start of my spiritual path the one thing I would do differently is not to read anecdotal evidence of people's experiences. Sure it can act as mental saturation and may even bring about a few spontaneous OBEs but it will definitely create expectation in you that you may not meet. This is wholly detrimental to your progress. Am I there yet? Shouldn't I be experiencing this? That person did? Why can't i?
Let go
Quote from: floriferous on December 06, 2014, 13:00:27
Any thought during an exercise like "am I there yet" is only going to work against you. People experience focus 10 in many different ways and you may experience varying degrees of it. You can be in focus 10 while walking around just like you can be in it with no sensation of your physical body.
I would personally forget anything you've ever read on the subject and just trust the hemi-sync and your own experiences. If you keep reading up on how people experience you will only compare and when you don't experience what others do you will get disappointed.
Personally I would say forget everything. Just let go and trust the experience. Only my opinion though.
If I could go back to the start of my spiritual path the one thing I would do differently is not to read anecdotal evidence of people's experiences. Sure it can act as mental saturation and may even bring about a few spontaneous OBEs but it will definitely create expectation in you that you may not meet. This is wholly detrimental to your progress. Am I there yet? Shouldn't I be experiencing this? That person did? Why can't i?
Let go
I will second ALL of those opinions that floriferous stated. All extremely important to realize. :)
The reason I find the article by Ashes to be so helpful is I've meditated on and off for years, with some results like quieting my mind a little, but not much success in exploring anything while meditating. I had a hard time getting deep enough into it, and when I did I felt lost, because I didn't have any frame of reference. So him pointing out a bunch of things that can happen is really helpful for me, because I've experienced almost all of those things he describes as in or around Focus 10 at one time or another but I forgot them or discounted them as unimportant. I do understand that Focus 10 is an arbitrary term for a state that can be different depending on the will or capabilities of the person, but I think sometimes a sense of structure is important for feeling in control, safe, and having a sense of where I am.
I totally get where you're coming from. Just take it with a pinch of salt though. My recollection of that article places emphasis on losing all body sensations in 10. I know a number of TMI facilitators who refer to focus 10 as mind awake/body 'relaxed' now because not everyone needs full loss of bodily sensations to start exploring.
In fact they tell you you can move around in these states because they are not that delicate.