Where have you been, travelers?

[LeonTrout]

Hello, Astral Pulse community!

I've named my anonymous digital poltergeist for this forum after a Kurt Vonnegut character, having recently found solace in the satiric humor of his books. I'll hardly be in character, though. Just wanted a username I haven't used before that suggests at least something of me.

I had been a strongly spiritual person, until last Summer, when it all collapsed for me. An existential crisis. The details are lame and unimportant. Now I'm merely an apostrophe for a mental construct in my brain, surrendered to an absurd world, weary of false hopes.

I've had many astral projections in the past! They have returned to me now, at their typical rate of about once a month, after a long period of absence I attribute to a very anxious bunch of years that kept me chained to the demands of physical reality. If I had any projections I forgot them upon waking up. I had no mental space for dreams and such, sacrificing all that I had to "real life."

Since last Summer, the intensity withdrew, at my own insistence. I wasn't having anymore. Not going back to college until at least the Fall of next year.

I would not have already spent the two and a half years of my parents money now all wasted on that major had I not believed I really had the spirit in me to do what I aspired to do. I made good grades all along! 3.9 GPA! But anxiety and chronic sickness, and runaway wishful thinking, drove me insane, and to the aforementioned collapse.

But all that is lame and unimportant; I didn't mean to tell.

Despite my out of body experiences, which have been so sweetly profound that I look forward to every night as another chance at such a thing! - despite the profundity, I'm unconvinced. I feel like a victim of superstition to have believed them to be genuine proof of spirituality for so long. I've never yet seen anything from out of body that I didn't know about before, that I could then verify from in-the-body, to validate the feeling of really drifting out of myself. The brain is capable of such realistic visualization, I've now convinced myself, that it seems more plausible to dismiss the profound experiences as lucid dreams of sorts; very fun, but mere hallucinations.

I know some astral travelers claim to be able to reach the "real time zone," that supposedly mimics physical reality. But there appears to be only one documented case of someone actually learning something from out of body about the physical universe that she didn't know before. And she could only do it on the fourth night! http://www.near-death.com/tart.html And that was more than thirty years ago! 19-f******-68!

If there are indeed people who are capable of these "etheric projections," why have there not been more stories like this? Why are people not going public with these special capabilities that would surely have profound implications for all humanity? Where have you been?

... Despite my skepticism of the validity of the out-of-body phenomenon as genuinely external to the brain, I certainly love the sensation, and wish to develop my capacity for it - I want more! It's quite orgasmic. I'd love to develop greater control over it and experience it more regularly. Along with love, sex, drugs, and creativity, it's one of those things that makes life worth it even if it's just an absurd thing in my brain.

Hello, hello, dear Astral Pulse community.

[Timandra]

Where have we been? Well here on the Astral Pulse ofcourse!
I'm sure you will have interesting conversations with fellow members about the validity of OBE's, although many will say that you can only prove it to yourself. Welcome to this community LeonTrout! 

[NoY]

Welcome to the Pulse 


:NoY:

[Xanth]

hehe Orgasmic...   That's definitely one way to put it!

Hi there LeonTrout!

Welcome to the Astral Pulse!

[Astral316]

Hey there. I'm not usually a member of the welcome wagon but you brought some opinions and questions to light that I'd like to address.

Despite my out of body experiences, which have been so sweetly profound that I look forward to every night as another chance at such a thing! - despite the profundity, I'm unconvinced. I feel like a victim of superstition to have believed them to be genuine proof of spirituality for so long. I've never yet seen anything from out of body that I didn't know about before, that I could then verify from in-the-body, to validate the feeling of really drifting out of myself. The brain is capable of such realistic visualization, I've now convinced myself, that it seems more plausible to dismiss the profound experiences as lucid dreams of sorts; very fun, but mere hallucinations.

I'm a skeptic about certain ideas brought here myself as I tend to steer away from dogma whenever possible. However the idea that the mind and the physical world are deeply related, far more then Western thought suggests, is something that I and many here accept as a given. The foundation of this knowledge, for me at least, rests on two facts...

Science says the brain interprets physical world stimuli before I get a chance to percieve it. (ie the physical world is a product of the mind)

I can utilize my five senses out of body. (ie the five senses are independent of physical world stimuli)

I know some astral travelers claim to be able to reach the "real time zone," that supposedly mimics physical reality. But there appears to be only one documented case of someone actually learning something from out of body about the physical universe that she didn't know before. And she could only do it on the fourth night! http://www.near-death.com/tart.html And that was more than thirty years ago! 19-f******-68!

The "real time zone" or etheral planes are believed to be related to the physical but not the physical itself. I think you have the wrong idea of what projection has to offer to be honest. What it doesn't offer is insider information that can be directly applied to practical situations, at least not to my knowledge. A lot of people seem to get hung up on this.

If there are indeed people who are capable of these "etheric projections," why have there not been more stories like this? Why are people not going public with these special capabilities that would surely have profound implications for all humanity? Where have you been?

Western thought runs the world.

Western thought explains the mind in physical terms, so things like projection become an anamoly of the brain.

Western thought tends to place most if not all focus on physical matters.

Spiritual matters are covered by Abrahamic religions that provide an "easy answer to life" and dissuade people from looking within themselves.

People who engage in spiritual matters are viewed on a scale from eccentric to psychotic.

Take your pick...

[Xanth]

People who engage in spiritual matters are viewed on a scale from eccentric to psychotic.

Certainly feels that way sometimes.  :/

[CFTraveler]

Hello, Astral Pulse community!

I've named my anonymous digital poltergeist for this forum after a Kurt Vonnegut character, having recently found solace in the satiric humor of his books. I'll hardly be in character, though. Just wanted a username I haven't used before that suggests at least something of me.

I had been a strongly spiritual person, until last Summer, when it all collapsed for me. An existential crisis. The details are lame and unimportant. Now I'm merely an apostrophe for a mental construct in my brain, surrendered to an absurd world, weary of false hopes.

I've had many astral projections in the past! They have returned to me now, at their typical rate of about once a month, after a long period of absence I attribute to a very anxious bunch of years that kept me chained to the demands of physical reality. If I had any projections I forgot them upon waking up. I had no mental space for dreams and such, sacrificing all that I had to "real life."

Since last Summer, the intensity withdrew, at my own insistence. I wasn't having anymore. Not going back to college until at least the Fall of next year.

I would not have already spent the two and a half years of my parents money now all wasted on that major had I not believed I really had the spirit in me to do what I aspired to do. I made good grades all along! 3.9 GPA! But anxiety and chronic sickness, and runaway wishful thinking, drove me insane, and to the aforementioned collapse.

But all that is lame and unimportant; I didn't mean to tell.

Despite my out of body experiences, which have been so sweetly profound that I look forward to every night as another chance at such a thing! - despite the profundity, I'm unconvinced. I feel like a victim of superstition to have believed them to be genuine proof of spirituality for so long. I've never yet seen anything from out of body that I didn't know about before, that I could then verify from in-the-body, to validate the feeling of really drifting out of myself. The brain is capable of such realistic visualization, I've now convinced myself, that it seems more plausible to dismiss the profound experiences as lucid dreams of sorts; very fun, but mere hallucinations.

I know some astral travelers claim to be able to reach the "real time zone," that supposedly mimics physical reality. But there appears to be only one documented case of someone actually learning something from out of body about the physical universe that she didn't know before. And she could only do it on the fourth night! http://www.near-death.com/tart.html And that was more than thirty years ago! 19-f******-68!

If there are indeed people who are capable of these "etheric projections," why have there not been more stories like this? Why are people not going public with these special capabilities that would surely have profound implications for all humanity? Where have you been?

... Despite my skepticism of the validity of the out-of-body phenomenon as genuinely external to the brain, I certainly love the sensation, and wish to develop my capacity for it - I want more! It's quite orgasmic. I'd love to develop greater control over it and experience it more regularly. Along with love, sex, drugs, and creativity, it's one of those things that makes life worth it even if it's just an absurd thing in my brain.

Hello, hello, dear Astral Pulse community.

Hello, Leon.
I recommend that you become involved in reading Anthony Peake's theories.  He has some videos on Youtube and a forum titled "Cheating the Ferryman".  The reason that I point this out to you is because his theories are entirely materialist, yet elevate the notion of existence within this paradigm.  I've been going through a Dark Night of my own and I found his ideas interesting and hopeful.  It is science based, but understandable, and can be very very 'enlightening', in a certain way.

[Greytraveller]

Hallo Leon Trout and welcome.
It is good to welcome another experienced OBE projector to this website.
Regarding the validity of your OBEs I would say to trust yourself and believe in your (and others) ability to separate the consciousness from the physical body to travel and explore the none-physical realms. These experiences are real and not the tricks of a distorted brain.

Regards 
Grey

[CFTraveler]

Just something to add, to a question I didn't see before:

If there are indeed people who are capable of these "etheric projections," why have there not been more stories like this? Why are people not going public with these special capabilities that would surely have profound implications for all humanity? Where have you been?

We are, in places like this.  However, you have to be in places like this to read all about them, because most of us know better than to announce whatever we 'discover' to anyone else.  So it's not that we don't have them, it's that we know better than to become targets for people that have a vested interest in discrediting us.

[Lexy]

Welcome to the pulse! 

It's real, don't listen to the haters.