First post, so hi everyone!
I have been practicing astral projection and out of body experiences for about 6 weeks now. The first few weeks i tried only the method described by Monroe with little success, but after I read about dream-to-OBE techniques, I immediately managed to have out of body experiences three nights in the same week. All of my successful attempts went something like this:
I got to sleep and set up my alarm clock to wake me up at about 4.30 am (4.5 - 6 hours of sleep). I stay up for about 15 minutes to wake myself up completely, then go back to bed with the intention of waking up to an OBE. I drift straight to a lucid dream or make myself lucid from a normal dream, decide to wake up, wake up in sleep paralysis at which point I can quickly just get up from my body. I then move around my house, touching different things and trying to watch myself in a mirror etc. However, there are a few things that bug me:
Blurry vision. At one attempt, I got my vision clearer by meditating on my third eye. After that I felt a hand on my shoulder and lost my concentration after a while, so my vision gut blurred again. On my other attempts, I have gotten vision by first thinking about what I am supposed to see, but then I see things that shouldn't be, for example it was summer outside even though the ground is completely covered by snow.
When I'm touching things in my house, most are as they should be, but there are some inconsistencies, for example the door knob of my closet was completely different than it should have been.
I can feel my physical eyes all the time. When I'm concentrating on getting my vision back, I feel like I have to keep my physical eyes deliberately closed, otherwise I fear I'll really open them and wake up. Also when I return to my body, for the first few times my sleep paralysis is still on and I still can't open my eyes, so I just go out again.
My question is, even though these are certainly out of body experiences (as I can even touch my sleeping body), are these just a form of lucid dreaming? I have had some lucid dreams before and these feel certainly different, but those inconsistencies worry me (last night I even managed to move my physical body with my OBE body). I'd like to have real astral projections and being able to clearly see and go places, so in your experience, should I just keep practicing with this technique or should I start trying to get the vibrations etc. from an awakened state?
Sorry for the long post, all opinions and experiences are greatly appreciated.
Hello Asmo and Welcome to the Pulse. Try both ways. That gives you a chance to see which one you like more. I Phase twice a day, but I also constantly awaken in Lucid Dreams, then control them. I think with practice one leads into another. Lucid Dreams/OBE's/Phasing all lead to the Astral World. But make sure you keep notes, so you can look at your results after a month or so and see how you are progressing.
Good Luck and Safe Travels! :-)
This is very very good.
Let me be the one to inform you. You are projecting. :-D :-D :-D :-D What you are entering right now is the lower levels of the astral.
Everything is 'soft' and 'plush', right? That's the first sign to say you are there. Familiar settings, unfamiliar content. Or as the Chinese say it: Familiar Li, unfamiliar Chi.
If so, You are projecting into what Frank called the FoC2 of Consciousness. So dearly dubbed, the training ground. This is around F21, F22 in Monroe's Model. In a lot of the Vedic models, this is the very first stage. It is your personal playground of sorts. You can manifest objects here and all the fun things. I highly recommend reading Frank's posts now that you know where you are. This is the beginning of the real journey.
As for the sight, truly rubbing your 'astral' hands together. This is the community consensus on how to fix this problem. However realize that you are not going to see clearly per se, but you will be able to feel what everything is around you. You know what things are. you don't need to interpret. You will not be able to read writing. IDK why, whenever try to read in there it just looks like weird symbols. In this state, you lose your focuses vision and get this wide peripheral type vision where everything is in the same focus.
So now! Man, I am so stoked for you. Congrats. You have to learn about intent, manifesting things and all that fun stuff. So go read Frank. You are ready to start applying all the great stuff he talked about.
Cheers,
Contenteo
Well, that's assuring. :) I guess I'll spend my free time scouring Frank's posts for the next couple of days.
Thank you both for your replies, Contenteo's was especially uplifting :)
Congrats Asmo, your experiences are very similar to mine and most forum members. The differences you mention are normal for this type of OBE. Keep practising!
Contenteo, one observation and one question. Firstly the observation. I can read whilst OBE, for instance I can read road signs. However, if I re-read the same sign, it is invariably different!
Now the question, I am MOST interested in this widescreen field of vision you have. Are you saying that you can see in several directions at once, ie like 360 degree vision? I have never experienced this but I know some board members report this. Is this what you do? Do you have a wide field of vision, or is it full 360 degrees?
Just wondered.
Asmo, sorry for slightly hijacking your thread. A bit more info for you. What you describe is called "reality fluctuations". They occur because you are entering a copy of the physical world, which has some variations from the currently physical environment. The variations are modifications which you are unconsciously making yourself. It happens because you are entering a type of personal reality. In the higher focus levels, Frank's FoC3 for instance, the environment is a consensus reality, so it is much more permanent and consistent.
Hope this helps.
I wish. 360 vision would be a nice change of pace. :-P
I forgot the scientifics, but if you just look around the room you are in right now, when you focus on something, the area where you can perceive detail is probably around the size of a CD-rom. Everything else is there, but not in full detail. You have to focus on something else to pick up more info. When I am in this state, the field of vision is the same, but this constraint of narrow focus in order to see details is gone. Everything is essentially in focus. Or better said, none of it is in focus because I simply understand what is happening.
When you get to this state, what I just said will make a lot more sense. You can manifest things here. As you could imagine you are integrally connected to your surroundings. It's more then seeing, its understanding your surroundings. Oh, I got it. When you are explaining a dream to someone and get stuck because you have to explain the plot and you aren't totally sure how you knew the plot. You just understood it. That is what I am talking about. The type of information gathering is very akin to that. You see something and you know why it is there.
Before my first projection, I read that it would just be gibberish symbols. I was like, BS. Then when I got in ther and actually tried to read this note card in my bathroom. It was just that. And it wasn't just that. I think it was readable, but I just didn't have the means to read it. Even if it was in English. Again, you just kind of understand stuff. There is not interpretation process necessary. It's almost like there is no need for language in that state.
Congrats again Asmo!
Cheers,
Contenteo
I think it's hard to read in the Astral because you will see the first letters, than your analytical mind will kick in and try to spell the word. It's kind of what the computer does when you do a google search etc. You type in the first letters and the computer automatically tries to figure out the rest. This happens in the Astral as well, but your conscious mind is the computer there.
When I am in the Astral my vision is always 360 degrees. When I hear something behind I never feel like I am turning to see it. I just wonder what it is and immediately I see it.
Thanks for the clarification Contentio, that makes a lot of sense. It reminds me of an NDEr in Kenneth Ring's 'Mindsight' who was blind from birth. He/She had a detailed visual OBE/NDE, but the nature of vision was more a sense of 'knowing' than 'seeing'.
Lionheart, that's a good theory about reading and chimes with me. Whenever I read something, I do have to concentrate, and perhaps it is my unconscious mind simply as you say 'auto completing'. Like it.
It always fascinates me to hear cases of 360 deg vision. Skeptics always claim that we generate an imaginary OBE Experience based on our preconceptions and expectations. I see absolutely no reason why we should have an expectation of 360 deg vision. There is absolutely no example of it during our normal physical lives.
Your discussion about the difficulties of reading in the astral made me wonder. My brother and I were planning on some kind of a verification scheme for my OBE's, and our initial idea was that he would write a number on a piece of paper and place it on top of a shelf in my house, which I would then try to read while out of body. But from your description it seems that it would be overly difficult, especially this early in my experiments.
So do you think that the sense of touch is less affected by the expectations your mind makes? An alternative test I thought about is that my brother would place an easily recognizable object in a box and place the box on top of that same self, so I could then reach in the box with my astral hand and try to feel what the object is. Do you guys think that could work? :)
I think it is very hard to read numbers or words (although in one experiment with Miss Z www.near-death.com/tart.html Miss Z allegedly read a 5 digit number).
I think you will have much more success with objects or pictures. I think the idea of putting an object into a cardboard box and putting the box on top of your wardrobe is great. I would leave the lid off so you can easily see the object from a position near the ceiling.
Good luck!
I'm going to try that. I'll report here on how it went, though it's going to take a while to set up since I don't think I'll be seeing him in the next few weeks.
Test that theory. Try a single number at first. Then after awhile get more advanced. You can teach yourself to go futher and further each time. Please let us know your results.
Good Luck! :-)
I'm back with a new question, but first I'd just like to announce that I had my first conscious exit last night :) I tried many times during the night, and I also spent an hour listening to a 4 Hz binaural beat made by Xanth while trying the noticing technique (in which I sucked at, but I think the experience helped me maintain a state of semi-lucidity that allowed me to achieve my first conscious exit). My last and successful attempt happened less than an hour before my alarm was set to go off in the morning.
I laid on my side, allowed my mind to start drifting off a little while lightly listening to my breath, and quite quickly after that I noticed I cannot move, and instantly after that I heard an extremely loud hissing sound in my ears and got vibrations so strong it actually felt like my body was going to shatter. I admit I always thought people exaggerated while describing the vibrations, now I was proven wrong. When the vibes settled, I easily floated off my body and everything was more clear than ever before during an OBE. My vision was clear for long periods of time and I could consistently see my body in the exact position it was supposed to be. I was so ecstatic when I woke up later on :)
My question is, how should I practice returning to the physical at will? I've heard I could just align my astral body with my physical and it should happen quite naturally. When I "place" myself to my physical body, I sort of return, but my sleep paralysis is so strong I cannot move and my consciousness stays completely in the non-physical. It feels like it doesn't help no matter how long I stay there, so I usually leave again on another voyage. My last trips are always more fuzzy and inconsistent than my first ones and I can clearly feel how my prolonged stay in the non-physical negatively affects my ability to recall my more lucid experiences.
Again, all tips and whatever other opinions you might have are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I never considered techniques to force yourself back into the physical. I mean it takes so long to the astral, why would you want to come back so soon? I mean i guess, you could always scare yourself out of it by thinking negative thoughts, but that seems rather barbaric.
As for getting rid of sleep paralysis, wiggle them toes! If you really are caught in kanishibari(wrapped in chains) then focus on wiggling you big toe. Your ankle should come seconds after, your leg, then the rest of your body. Everyone should have this contingency plan in the back of their mind. I have been there before, it is not fun if you don't want to be there.
Cheers,
Contenteo
Ok thanks, I will try that, though I don't know how I am able to do it. Moving my physical body seems completely impossible, when I try it, my non-physical limbs just pop out again :D
The reason I want to return earlier is simply to learn how to control it myself and to not lose my memory of the more clear early part. Should I be able to have perfect recall after automatic returns no matter how long I stay there? The longer I am in the non-physical, the harder it gets for me to gain any clarity by stopping and contemplating/meditating. I mean, I'm absolutely in no hurry to get out of there for any other reason, I would gladly spend hours in a single projection if I could :P
Quote from: Contenteo on March 17, 2012, 05:54:42You will not be able to read writing. IDK why, whenever try to read in there it just looks like weird symbols.
I only remember reading anything in an OBE once, and it was the lighted numbers on a clock. This was one of my first few OBEs and it surprised me so much I jumped back into my body, which had been laying there 20-30 minutes, and I looked at the clock and read the same time as verification. Maybe I can read digits because math is my native language.
I find it hard as well. I think it kind of works like a Internet search engine, whereas you see a couple of numbers or letters, then your mind fills in the rest.
Great observation with the prolonged astral experience leading to shortened memory upon waking. This is a truth.
I remember reading numerous accounts of people mentioning purposely leaving the astral just so they would remember what happened and be ABLE to write it down.
I mean when you wake up, you are in that nice state of mind where you could go right back.
Cheers,
Contenteo