First time after a long time trying, unexpected and confused

[Duality]

Greetings everyone, before I begin I'd like to say that I'm new to the forum, in fact new to forums in general, but I thought heck, what better way to share than to post on here, right?!

So I'm a guy, 26 years old and have been trying to astral project for months now without success.
Last night I tried again, doing all the steps, relaxing, putting on some binaural beats. I was lying down for about an hour or so and failed. Instead i tried to fall asleep for real but try to be aware when It happens. Suddenly all the things I tried to do for months happened so fast. Vibrations, my vision went all static-like not sure about the noise. Then I kinda saw a rope going through a wooden trapdoor in my mind. And it felt like the world shifted on the other side. I was lying there for a while, thinking "my body must be paralyzed and if i move I'll freak out" after a while i moved and looked around. It wasn't really my room i slept in, instead it was a house i used to live when i was a kid, but still not a 100% the same. Some rooms were missing and there was no doors or windows. The room was like super dark and empty, curiosity made me go through the dark room tho, leading into the hallway. From the floor glowing flowers were growing, that was pretty much all the light there was. From the flowers came this particle-like glow you see in video games. It was hard to look through my eyes. The more time i spent the harder it got. As if my eyes are swollen. The next room, usually the kitchen had chairs in it but the kinds that you see in bars. They obviously didn't belong there. Then I suddenly came back to the 3D world.

The thing is, Im confused what that was. Was it a lucid dream or was I finally able to astral project?
There's things that put me off, cus there was not much there. No entities at all, it was dark (could be cus of emotions or fear cus i was honestly a bit scared of it). There was no vivid colors like i read it would be online (it was pretty though). I could not leave, because there was no doors. Now that I think back I didn't look at myself, like I used to do in lucid dreams. (Looking at my hands as they distort would make me go lucid) nor did I check or see a silver cord. Im fully aware that I was there but not sure 100% where or what that was.

So what are your thoughts on this?  What did the description feel like to you?

Cheers for taking the time to read all this

[Xanth]

The thing is Im confused what that was. Was it a lucid dream or was i finally able to astral project?

First, let's address this...
A "projection" (as I see it) is a consciously aware experience you have in a reality which you recognize as not being this physical reality.
All the labels people use to try to define their experiences (dream, lucid dream, astral projection, obe), to me, simply don't exist.
You had a projection. Yes.    Congrats!

[Bloodshadow]

Hey man welcome to the forum, glad to have ya.

look plain and simple this was an astral projection congrats are in order...70 point to Gryffindor hooray yippy skippy ............. and not everyone will see the silver cord, unless you ask or want to see it then it will be of your own making, see the astral reacts to thought, anything you think of can and will pop up. You being stuck in a house with no doors and all is what all newbs go thru on the first try , heck most of us are still stuck in our own homes, me included, its mostly a comfortable in your own skin type thing or an unreadiness to leave home, once you get used to it you can move on from just being in your house to having adventures beyond your wildest dreams.

[ThaomasOfGrey]

The thing is, Im confused what that was. Was it a lucid dream or was I finally able to astral project?
There's things that put me off, cus there was not much there. No entities at all, it was dark (could be cus of emotions or fear cus i was honestly a bit scared of it). There was no vivid colors like i read it would be online (it was pretty though). I could not leave, because there was no doors. Now that I think back I didn't look at myself, like I used to do in lucid dreams. (Looking at my hands as they distort would make me go lucid) nor did I check or see a silver cord. Im fully aware that I was there but not sure 100% where or what that was.

Sounds like a wake induced lucid dream. I have had a pretty similar house experience to this from a wake induction.

It turns out that "was it astral projection" is a fairly arbitrary question because the experiences exist on a continuum and it is difficult to categorize. The category of experiences such as the house can range from an apparently mundane dream to exciting virtual reality video-game-esque adventures.

I think what we really are talking about is "was it a hyper or higher reality experience" ie: the vivid colors, silver cords and thriving dimension of blissful entities. It is the experience we come to expect from astral projection - a friend of mine had one of these types of experiences and that is what spurred me to get into doing this.

It has now been 2 years and out of maybe 300 memorable experiences there hasn't been anything comparable to the hyper reality described by Frank Kepple for instance.

Maybe the hyper reality is more subjective than we imagine, or perhaps we are banned from reaching it prior to achieving a certain level of spiritual evolution. Perhaps it is uncommon to find yourself there by accident and you need to manually raise your awareness - which also requires prerequisite skill. Sometimes I feel like I have been banned from having such an experience because it would be too amazing in contrast to my experiences here and cause some kind of mental regression.

Keep pursuing the hyper reality in my opinion. I think there is a reason this place gets stuck in the back of our minds; the information I channel says that it is important to have a concept of higher dimensions to realize your potential post-mortum.

[Duality]

Hey guys, thanks for all the replies, I really appreciate it!
After thinking the whole day about it, and reliving it in my head, I came to a theory that maybe, because I failed at first, the set intention to project in my current location, where my physical body is was gone. Mostly because I said to myself lets try to sleep instead, but try to capture the moment of falling asleep. By doing so maybe my intention was blank, that's why I ended up in a dark place, with nowhere to go.

About it being a lucid dream, I never did a reality check. It also didn't feel like one, mostly because from my experience when I lucid dream, i find myself in middle of a dream already, and dreams never feel empty. This felt like a transition, like switching worlds, in the process I felt like a "pop" from inside my center area of my body. And I instantly was in another place.

How do you guys go on after the first time? Do you feel like it's easier for the future attempts and do you try to do it the next first night or maybe its better to wait a couple of days?

Cheers!

[Bloodshadow]

well for some people like me after my first time I became addicted to wanting to get out to the point it saddens and depress me when I don't, I only been out a few times each one different in its clarity, but  awhile ago and still happening, my projections stopped all together once I decided to pursue  trying to merge with my higher self so that I can become the person I strive to be, this is the only reason i'm so addicted cause it can help me achieve my dreams/goals, I think once I accomplish this one feat I will not be so addicted, I will be more moderate about it, but until then its a need for me. i'vee been thru every technique, and they all only work for me once or twice then stop working. however I did recently this week have a projection after such a long dry spell, I was so excited, but the technique only worked this one time, since then the 3 times I've tried it again it has failed and its my own technique, here's the experience, still awaiting replies.

http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_out_of_body_experiences/short_outing_and_a_new_technique-t47199.0.html

[Duality]

...and its my own technique

Interesting read, I do the walking around myself everynight. Trying to prepare in case of an AP happening, and I think it's like training for the real thing.

I tried last night again, but failed. I guess positive thinking will only make it easier for the future attempts, so no big deal.