You're absolutely right. I was introduced to the whole phenomenon by a friend only about a year ago. Since then, my devotion has been sporadic. My mentor (the friend) was a very rigid, the only way is total devotion type, which probably put me off to it a bit, since it's a huge change to just totally switch off to the physical after 16 years of living in it. Aside from that, when I first attepted I was just slightly skeptical, which no doubt affected my success (well, lack of anyway). After trying for more than a week or two at a time I usually get lazy and fat and just say "damn, I can't do it yet" and give up. I keep telling myself I could definitely project if I really tried hard, and I guess I could. I've just been putting that off due to life, fears, whatever. It's horrible, I hate it, but this is what I get for being lazy [xx(]
quote:
Originally posted by Tisha
Here is my theory: The key is WILL. I suspect that MOST people are not aware of their projections because deep down, they really don't WANT to be aware of them. Because the reality would be too much to bear, for many, many reasons. Bringing that level of Awareness back down to the day-to-day requires you to be . . . shall we say, responsible, or faithful to that level of Awareness? "Whew," we think, "too much work." Our souls travel at night, but we black it out by morning.[|)]
You are totally right in my opinion the key is will. I had two spontaneous OOBE's before I became interested in the mater. After I read about 5 books on the mater I decided I wasn't going to die, no one was going to steal my body, and that nothing too bad could happen to me so I decided that I wanted to project. It took about two weeks time to project consciously. I spent about 1 hour a night every two or three days till I did it. Looking back I think I put alittle too much stress on my energy system but non-the-less I I reached my goals threw blunt force...
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And most people don't have the WILL to consciously OBE/AP. Most of you gave up meditating after 30 minutes of twiddling thumbs, right? [:I]Maybe it lasted a week, and you didn't OBE, so you gave up. Be honest everyone . . . how many of you have kept up your OBE practices faithfully for . . . say . . . even one year? Faithfully and regularly, I mean. Hardly any, I bet, because mundane life simply takes over. But remember, YOU WILLED THAT YOUR MUNDANE LIFE WOULD TAKE OVER. You meant it. You're not aware that you meant it, but you meant it!
My ability to consciously project has decreased over time but I've continued to try. Each time I've attempted it I've spent about an hour at it. Some times I have given up after about 30 minutes, if I'm not seeing any results, but overall I find one hour to be a fair amount of time. I spent three hours to gain my first OOBE. That's not three hours of doing nothing ether. That's three hours of concentration, most of the time I was imagining myself looking down at my physically body which for anyone who's tried that knows is tiring. I've been working with all this for about a year now.
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Maybe I'll OBE tonight. Test my theory. I'll check in in the morning, 'kay?
Yes, indeed let us know!
-Luke
:O
Very nice work there Tisha, you actually said what I know about myself - that I never really try anything long enough for success. Sure, during the course of the day, the thought crosses my mind many times like, you should try tonight, etc, etc. Come the evening, ALWAYS an excuse... too tired, show on, video game, and so on.
I need help :p Someone yell at me :D
~Squeek
There was a time when I was very into the idea of leaving the physical vessel. This curiosity stuck with me, inflicting insomnia as I devoured every bit of information I could absorb in this world. It fizzled shortly after my first conscious projection. It was intense, and life changing.. to say the least. Time and space warped into a pinhole in front of me, and I was sucked right out of this reality and into the real time zone. As this was happening, my screams of astonishment was all I could provide in order to mask the screams of what sounded like an eternity of souls singing squeals. This was the first time I had not suddenly appeared in the RTZ or suddenly become lucid. I finally witnessed the intermediary stage..
Shortly after that, I became less involved with projection, and more involved with spirituality. Of course, we're all on different paths..
Thankfully, I think my spirituality has caught up with me. I plan to begin anew soon, with daily meditations, a healthy diet, nightly sessions of NEW.. and eventually, attempts at leaving myself.
So.. to save myself from trailing off.. within a month, I'll want to OBE with passion!
[:)]
Whenever I take a break from projecting it usually takes me about 2 weeks of practicing for about an hour each day to be able to project again. So yes, you will be able to project again soon, Tisha. This time you atleast know that you can do it and how. [:)]
Folks, I was plagued by pain (hip spasms, allergies) last night and dropped off to sleep.[xx(]This morning I went through my Gateway CD twice, and reached a meditative state, but no OBE. I noticed my mind faded away from the meditation/visualization - - the pre-preparation phase, as Monroe calls it. Very lazy I think. The Will just wasn't there!
However, I did a couple of things right, for you aspiring OBE-ers out there:
1. My bedroom is serene, almost zen-like. Not perfectly clean, but neat and purposeful. If I tried to OBE with a dirty room I'd just think about how I needed to clean up instead. Mess makes its own "noise!"
2. I have a new mattress and nice sheets. It's important to be comfortable. There's nothing worse than being distracted by discomfort.
3. Finally fixed the running toilet so those tinkly sounds don't distract me anymore.
Now, what I need to do, is deal with the pain of aging. Osteo-rthritis. What a pain. So I need to beef up on the glucosamine, do some yoga, and take a painkiller one hour before attempting an OBE. I'll put a new allergen filter in my air conditioner and take an antihistamine too.
Notice that all this prep work is very earthly. It's not foo-foo-mystical, it's here-and-now physical. Everyone check out your OBE space and your body-space, and do what you need to do to ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS! Should be easy enough, right? It will get you started down the right path.
That means put away those videos, Squeek! How important are videos compared to OBE anyway? Or TV for that matter?
Along with your suggestions, Tisha, I think a good preparation for OBEs is to work on your mind. Unless you are already good at keeping your mind clear, you need to work on this as it will really help when you try to project. I know that when I do not meditate for awhile my mind gets really ... cluttered I guess would be a good way to say it. It is like being mentally out of shape. Working on keeping a clear mind and your concentration will do one a world of good when it comes to OBEs.
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That means put away those videos, Squeek! How important are videos compared to OBE anyway? Or TV for that matter?
Who is to say what is more important? All are tools. It depends on how we use the tools. I need to play some video games or watch some tv every now and then just to relax. I find that one can try too hard to project. I usually have the most success when I am not even trying to project. So a good little break of doing something not at all related to projection or metaphysics can do one a lot of good. Of coarse, if one is wanting to project but finds themself always playing or watching something else instead of practicing then that can be a bad thing.
> And most people don't have the WILL to consciously OBE/AP. Most of you gave up meditating after 30 minutes of twiddling thumbs, right? Maybe it lasted a week, and you didn't OBE, so you gave up. Be honest everyone . . . how many of you have kept up your OBE practices faithfully for . . . say . . . even one year?
I have. I first read about the subject I think in 1997 (well, I did a lot of years before too but then I was a child and it frightened me as much as it fascinated me, and I prayed this would never happen to me :-). Then I started with some exercises, and it was like you said, a few weeks or so without success and then I got off of it.
I don't know how I got on again, but I think it was at the beginning of 2000 (maybe I wanted to use the big date change to change something in my life too :-), and I didn't leave off until the very moment I'm writing this. For almost a year there was nothing, at the end of 2000 I had a first encounter with the vibrational state (one day I simply awoke while my physical body was still asleep), at the beginning of 2001 I was having my first spontaneous conscious OBE. Well, I now have been practicing regularly for over 3 1/2 years, and still can't do it at will, however I use to have spontaneous projections about once a month or so (but they are always short and limited to the immediate surroundings of my physical body).
In this time I have read books by Monroe, Muldoon, Peterson and Buhlman, however I just discovered Robert Bruce a few weeks ago (the reason for this was that there is no German edition of Astral Dynamics - I have no problem with reading English books, but I simply didn't look for them, don't know why), and I set strong hopes in this book, since it really contains a "new approach" in comparison to all other OBE-related material, as stated on the front page [:)]
BTW, since you addressed new people in this forum - I'm one of them, and I'm glad I've finally landed here since there seem to be a lot of friendly people if compared to other forums [:D]
You are probably right Tisha. How often I've come close, vibrations, noise etc...and coming back to C1 from the excitement, to stop the session.
Determination is probably as important as the technique. A "I will do this no matter what" attitude.
You probably have to practice a lot longer to achieve that first one.
It would be interesting to know how long people stayed with the practice session for that first OBE.
Hey Tisha, I'm glad you posted this, because it gave me the idea to try it last night... And I gotta tell ya, I got as close as I've ever come [:D] Now i ACTUALLY know what the "vibrations" feel like, and what I thought they were was not at all. The only problem was the final pull out, which I couldn't seem to accomplish. I could actually feel the pulling, but they stayed stuck together [xx(]
Any helpful advice at this point would be good :) I leave for Alaska tomorrow -.-
~Squeek
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It would be interesting to know how long people stayed with the practice session for that first OBE.
For me, I would usually read about doing it throughout the day. I think this is a big help in getting your mind use to the idea and prepared for it. Then when I got home at night I would lay down and practice. I would practice anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of hours about every night. Then after about 2 weeks, maybe 3, I had my first OBE.
I am kind of weird because I seem to stick with the practice until I actually have an OBE. Then I seem to slack off for awhile instead of continue to practice.
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The only problem was the final pull out, which I couldn't seem to accomplish. I could actually feel the pulling, but they stayed stuck together
Any helpful advice at this point would be good :)
I think this is where a lot of people have trouble. I think when people reach this stage they get excited and tend to try to force themselves out. It is kind of hard to explain, but when you reach this point it is even more important to remain calm and just go with the flow. Instead of pushing yourself out, it is kind of more like you fall into it, atleast that is how it usually is for me. It is hard to explain but I find it be more subtle than people usually try for.
I agree. Next time, Squeek, try flopping. Loose all tension, instead of struggling to get out (which in my opinion and experience, keeps one stuck in-body).
Tisha, when I read the topic on the topic page I thought to myself, " Well I REALLY do want to!" But after reading your post I had to rethink it. Being honest with myself I haven't put much effort into progressing towards my goal. I'm like Squeek. I choose video games over meditation when I get home from work.
I've been intensely interested in OBE phenomena for a long time reading about it when I could. I listen to Coast to Coast shows about it. But in my efforts I am deffinitely lazy. I have read Bruce's book, begun energy work and have been working at keeping my head empty (which is REALLY hard for me because I am a total daydreamer). However, these exercises tend to be inconstant and I certainly don't focus on these things as frequently as a person who is focused on their goal should.
I think that I really do have a desire to do it but I've been lazy about it and its easier for me to relax by playing video games than making the effort to slip my skin. Nice to have someone come on once in a while and dole out a reality check.
fallnangel77 - I totally agree with the "trying too hard theory" as much as I agree with Tisha's theory of needing will to be successful. In conclusion, what is needed is balance which is true in life as a whole.
I have yet to succeed and have not given up although it's only been about a month. I've had lot of close calls. I practice every chance I get. I have no intention of stopping until I do. So, I know I have the will. The times I've come close though, I was trying too hard. I was physically responding to the sensations which have ranged from vibrations to the simple albeit fantastic feeling of hyperwarping toward the astral tube entrance. Then when I've failed because of me being unable to disconnect from my physical body, I give up for that session. There are so many variables!!! :)
quote:
Originally posted by Tisha
Here is my theory: The key is WILL. I suspect that MOST people are not aware of their projections because deep down, they really don't WANT to be aware of them. Because the reality would be too much to bear, for many, many reasons. Bringing that level of Awareness back down to the day-to-day requires you to be . . . shall we say, responsible, or faithful to that level of Awareness? "Whew," we think, "too much work." Our souls travel at night, but we black it out by morning
Very interesting post, Tisha. I think that we've all had the experience that when we start to pay more attention to our dreams, we tend to remember more dreams. It's almost like we have to convince our higher consciousness that we consider this a main priority. Otherwise, it will mainly draw from the things that we are unconsciously telling it are important like fears, worries, infactuations, obsessions, etc. Just my two cents. [:)]
Lasher
i have also thought about this since i have had a year in which i have been way too busy, had my mother die and seemed to acquire a lot more tension than i had last year. Rather than will i think the keyword is "focus" meaning having a relaxed state before the attempt, keeping your sub\conciousness clear of garbage, and trying to acheive a deep trance state before the obe state.
Many of you are new to this Forum so don't know that as of a year ago, I was having pretty regular spontaneous OBEs into the Real Time Zone (RTZ), which is a little different than Astral Projection (AP). I didn't fully understand my experiences until I found AstralPulse, and I am so grateful to Robert Bruce for this forum.[8)]
Anyway, as of last August I'd been feeling pretty frustrated with my spiritual development[V], as I'd recieved guidance from a psychic that 2002 was going to be my Big Year, magically speaking. Well, I became aware of my OBE abilities in 2002 but that was about it (I think I'd actually been hoping for thunder and lightning, a crown, a Big Title, and a pony[^].)
Then it hit me: I hadn't done the work the psychic told me to do[:O]. She said I was supposed to work on my house. She didn't specify whether she meant my real house or my spiritual house, but since one can be a metaphor for the other . . . anyway, when I finally GOT IT, I decided to take a year's sabbatical from conscious OBEs, in order to work on my house. Well, the house gave me plenty to work on: Shortly after my decision not to OBE for a year, my roof leaked and my ceiling came crashing down[B)]. It's been a year's odyssey of new roof, new insulation, new ceiling, new paint, new carpet, a reinforced foundation, reinforced subfloor, laminate flooring . . . new drapes . . . a 401K loan and a refinanced mortgage . . .[xx(] need I go on?
So it's August, which wraps up my sabbatical, and I'm ready to consciously OBE again. But my question is, CAN I? I seem to have been able to turn it off simply by willing it. That's my magical gift/curse, by the way: My formidable WILL (friends and family call it stubborn). So, in theory, I should be able to turn it back on again. We shall see.
Here is my theory: The key is WILL. I suspect that MOST people are not aware of their projections because deep down, they really don't WANT to be aware of them. Because the reality would be too much to bear, for many, many reasons. Bringing that level of Awareness back down to the day-to-day requires you to be . . . shall we say, responsible, or faithful to that level of Awareness? "Whew," we think, "too much work." Our souls travel at night, but we black it out by morning.[|)]
And most people don't have the WILL to consciously OBE/AP. Most of you gave up meditating after 30 minutes of twiddling thumbs, right? [:I]Maybe it lasted a week, and you didn't OBE, so you gave up. Be honest everyone . . . how many of you have kept up your OBE practices faithfully for . . . say . . . even one year? Faithfully and regularly, I mean. Hardly any, I bet, because mundane life simply takes over. But remember, YOU WILLED THAT YOUR MUNDANE LIFE WOULD TAKE OVER. You meant it. You're not aware that you meant it, but you meant it!
Ask yourself something. How badly do you want to OBE, really? It's OK to be fascinated by the phenomenon, but not want to make the effort. Really it is OK! Look around you: what does your lifestyle say about what you really want? It's your persistent, long-term efforts at OBE are what show you're really serious about OBE/AP. Your serious efforts at doing OTHER things means you're serious about doing something else. Think about that!
Maybe I'll OBE tonight. Test my theory. I'll check in in the morning, 'kay?