nightmarish OBE/LD

[Feelflowz]

Last night I experienced a frightening OBE/LD. (I'm not sure if it was an OBE or LD)

I was lying in bed aware that my eye mask was on but able to see slightly below the mask. I reached my arm out to take off the mask, but realized I couldn't see my arm. At that point I knew I wasn't in ordinary waking consciousness.
I grabbed the mask, which I could feel in my hand, and threw it to the floor, but somehow the mask was still on blocking most of my vision. I shouted out a command (W. Buhlman's technique), something like "vision now!", but nothing changed. I had the feeling that this was something like sleep paralysis, where according to R.Bruce, you are already out-of-body wandering around freely somewhere. So I gave another command, "Go to astral body!". Again, nothing happened. I was still in bed blinded by the eye mask. I grabbed it again, threw it to the floor, did this several times, and each time the mask somehow remained stuck to my face like a black shadow covering my vision. I started to feel a little panicky and wanted to wake up. I shouted the command "Return to body!"  But nothing happened. I remained stuck. I started to feel a sense of dread.  What if I can't wake up, what if I'll be stuck here forever?  
During this time while the fear was growing,  my body was hovering horizontally within a house. All I could see through the narrow crack were empty white walls and a stair case that led nowhere, then my body would be automatically pulled back to my room and I would start drifting around again.
Eventually the feeling of fear and suffocation grew so much that I started chanting a Chinese Buddhist mantra, "A Mi Do Fo, A Mi Do Fo..."  I felt my body slightly rise. At some point I was out side, and through the crack of my vision I saw three or four bodies covered by blankets as if they were dead. I broke the mantra and quickly yelled as loud and hard as I could while shaking my head, "WAKE UP!!"
This time I rose out of bed and yanked the damned eye make off my face. I was finally out of this creepy OBE.

What could I learn from this experience? How come I was so powerless, how come my commands didn't work? Has anyone else had a similar experience? I'd love to hear about it! What's the secret to control  

Feelflowz

oh yeah, that's the last time I'm using an eye mask!

[Telos]

That's easily the scariest OBE I've heard of, apart from a few that I've had.

To be honest, I'm still getting over the fears of my experiences of complete powerlessness in lucid dreams or certain OBE's. It wasn't sleep paralysis - more like mind and soul paralysis.

I don't know what to say, Feelflowz, other than to trust that you will awaken. Do what you can to cultivate a sense of power in your waking life, even if it's small, like learning an instrument or doing something simple very well.

Finally, I believe you can learn best from this experience by learning to laugh at it. To take a nightmare or your worst fear and be so confident over it that you find it ridiculous and laughable is divine strength and wisdom.

[Feelflowz]

Thanks for the reply and advice Telos!

Actually, right after I woke up and out of that creepy OBE, I wanted to go straight back in again, but I decided to write down the experience first before I forgot it.  When I was fully aware that I was out of the obe, the sense of fear and dread was automatically gone.

I had one other negative experience a couple years ago. I had never experienced sleep paralysis before, but after reading about it in Astral Dynamics, I experienced it that very night!  I woke up, unable to move, and felt overcome by a sense of terror. Interestingly enough, I don't remember fear growing and graduallly becoming terror; it was more like I was slammed right in the middle of terror, like it came with the package. Maybe because that's what I read about and so subconsciously wanted to or expected to have that experience. Luckily I remembered R. Bruce's theory, that I was actually already out of my body, and instantly found myself standing in my bedroom. I passed right through the window, stood outside and gazed toward the sky. I jumped straight up hoping to head toward a star and enter an astral plane, but my body became really heavy and I woke up.

Fear has never been an issue with my obe's (except for those two examples), but I do struggle with control. I think when we do go into OBEs or LDs, our emotions, fears and desires become magnified.
Often as soon as I enter the trance state I become overwhelmed with excitement and forget the tasks that I originally set out to do. This is especially true with lustful/sexual desire  

So far I think the key to keeping our fears and desires in check is to practice OBEing a lot until it becomes almost a mundane experience. (I said almost; OBE's are never mundane!) And I think its important to be on a spiritual path where self-develoment, gratitude, and the quest for unconditional love are the main priorities.

Still, a constant inquiry into the reasons for and mechanics of fear, desire, powerlessness, loss of control etc. is important...and fascinating. I would love for this to be a topic that people here contribute to!

Feelflowz

[Zaphraina]

I was able to get out of a frightening OBE by picturing myself in a safe place in my mind, surronded by wolves. I suggest you creat your own special place and imagine some kind of protective creature or thing in it.