Overcoming the shadows cast by my own mind

[Major Tom]

...

[Michael_E]

Hi majortom!,

that was a great post thanks for sharing your insight.  I guess logically part of what you are saying is the more lucid/rational/clear-minded/less-dreamlike you are during an oobe then the less frequently you will encounter a "neg"? If so, i would say that it seems like that is a growing trend among people i have spoken to.

as food for thought though, there are quite  a few instances i can remember where i have had seemless oobes, there was no break in consciousness from the time i had begun trying to project to the time i had gotten out or gotten control of astral sight in which some "neg" was encountered and the "neg" seemingly came from nowhere as i had not suggested to myself there would be any "neg" there by projecting from a fearful place in mind. the seemless oobe are  the more clear oobes in which very little differences are seen in my surrounding environment from what is physically there and reality fluctuations dont occur too often it does feel like a near exact replica of my waking consciousness. It makes sense that the more clearheaded you are during an oobe the less frequently you will encounter a neg or even for that matter something dream-like, the waking state of consciousness that we live in normally isnt used to seeing dream like occurances so i can see how less dreamlike behaviour could carry over into some peoples oobes in which a similar state of awareness is reached.

[Michael_E]

Hi majortom!,


I could see that happening, although it never happened to me. Of course, a lot of 'manifestations' (even in fully lucid OBEs) occur automatically in the interplay between the subconscious and the perceived environment. One may not be consciously aware of the subconscious thought processes giving rise to such experiences, but I do think they operate there to a large extent.

No doubt, yet the less dream-like state of awareness is incorporated the less subconscious influence of things like "negs"poping up out of nowhere is seen and the more my mind seems to operate closely on a schema based on physical reality, ie. gravity instinct is very strong.

So I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule, and yours is duly noted. However, I think overall (as you may agree), that many new to AP overestimate the realism of negative encounters during an OBE,  and lack the insight as well as attention into the interplay between themselves aqnd their environment. As said, this interplay runs a whole lot deeper than just the thoughts one is aware of in the moment.

I agree totally. That realism of negativity isnt all a bad thing though( i know you havnt said it was), after facing the negativity the positive effects coming from that can often carry over into everyday life partly because of the degree of realism behind the encounter. in contrast to overestimating the realism of negative encounters, if one were to lack being stimulated by them any future encounter could seem insignificant.