Is THIS the Void?

[Permanently Grounded]

If I relax, clear my thoughts and then close my eyes in a dark environment I quickly begin to faintly 'see' what appears to be billions of clustered little points of light slowly swirling against a dark backdrop. If I remain calmly observing the points of light they become progressively more in focus and brighter while the backdrop seems to darken to almost pitch black. It almost seems as if I were looking at the stars in the sky on a really, really dark night somewhere out in the boondocks far away from most light pollution. I'm sure most of you have had the fortune to see such a beautiful night sky sometime in your lives, especially if you ever lived in rural areas. Anyhow, when I try to have an OBE there comes a point where this visual suddenly becomes 3 dimensional and now instead of looking at the stars from a frontal position I'm seemingly surrounded by them everywhere as if I was a point of consciousness 'floating' in space or something. Sometimes these 'stars' start flashing past me as if I were on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise when Scotty gets the order to hit Warp 2. (Just thought I'd throw the Trekkie reference in for my fellow old-timers .) I also have what I guess I would describe as being a heightened sense of awareness during the experience, even though I'm usually not 'thinking' of anything in particular at the time. I'd call it a general sharpness-of-mind kinda sensation.

I find that this state has an extremely calming effect, however the heightened awareness takes a constant effort to maintain. The focus requires continual attention. I use the Monroe technique of willing myself AWARE! and that seems to give me a temporary boost for another few seconds, but then I lose it and quickly start to fade off into a dreamy sleepiness. I can never seem to maintain the level of heightened awareness for more than a few seconds at a time between bouts of fighting-off sleep and random vivid images that start popping into view as I drift off.

Is THAT the famous Void?

I wish AAA put out a ROADMAP of the Great Beyond. It would make things soooooo much easier!

Best regards.

[Kzaal]

Yes this is the void mostly mainly because of it's calming effect, and the emptiness.
You have experienced an AP! congrats!
When you drift away from the void and go back to your dream, try staying focused, that way you can have a lucid dream.
When I experience the void it seems that my dreams are much more lucid and that's a good thing.
More lucidity = more awareness and more awareness lets you discover more things.
People don't stay long in the void because nothing much happens but it's a great place to meditate and help clearing your mind.
Sometimes if you have enough energy to keep the focus in the void long enough you can phase to another place and end up in an AP with an enhanced focus state, as if time stopped and you're just hanging there watching around you.

That didn't take you long to get back to Astral Projecting hahaha! good job

[Permanently Grounded]

That didn't take you long to get back to Astral Projecting hahaha! good job

Lol. Thanks for that, but I really don't feel that the Void condition constitutes an actual AP. I think of it more as a doorway or threshold from where to launch an AP.

Best regards.

[Xanth]

Lol. Thanks for that, but I really don't feel that the Void condition constitutes an actual AP. I think of it more as a doorway or threshold from where to launch an AP.

Best regards.

Oh it most certainly does. 

Any experience you have in a reality which you identify as NOT being this physical reality... is a projection.  ANYTHING.

[Bluefirephoenix]

    It's all good. Focusing on the weird stuff though can put you to sleep. Keep the focus steady and going deeper.

[Enigmatik]

Most of the time when I get out of body I end up in the star fields.  It's kind of strange because one night I was watching a meteor shower and was super focused on a certain area of the atmosphere for a long time.  Later that night when we jumped in our tents, I closed my eyes and just like that, it was as if i was still staring at the stars... inside my tent.. with my eyes closed.  I opened them and closed them 3 times and still saw a perfect scene of the stars.  Shortly after I was pulled out of my body and hovered through the sky. 

Now I use this as a technique to get out of body.  I imagine the star fields while laying in bed some nights.  Even though my imagination is horrid on producing a believable star field, it doesn't matter.  At some point something shifts and it's like I'm really there.  Like if you are staring at a stuffed animal and he just sits there.  Then at some point he takes life and becomes real.  This is what it is like for me.  Then as soon as the star fields become real I usually get the vibes and pop out. 

I have heard of this void though.  I think people also call it the star fields.  Usually in most of my oob's I end up here floating through the sky and once I was going high speed through them as the stars were flying past me.  Nice topic

[EscapeVelocity]

Permanently Grounded,

Yes, this is the 3D Blackness/Void...it certainly sounds like you have described it. You may get a star field or you might just get inky darkness. Either take time to relax within it, or use it as a launching point with a proper Intent applied; go wherever you choose.

It is an AP, just an in-between point; a transition way-station. It doesn't matter when you encounter it, either before a projection or between, that probably doesn't change it's function. Define it however you like, just realize its' utility; go from there wherever you desire.

[2fly4thesky]

Permanently Grounded,

What do you mean by "when I try to have an OBE there comes a point where this visual suddenly becomes 3 dimensional"?

How do you try to OBE? What is it that you do?

Also, can you also describe what frame of mind you were in when this experience happened? For example, was this right after you woke up in the morning, a few hours before you normally go to sleep, during the day after a nap?