New Path

[personalreality]

I've been in a dry spell with AP for a little more than a year now.  This is purely because I haven't been trying.  My personal path required something different for a bit, so I've been pursuing the path of gnosis lately (wisdom).  Recently I have started to look at AP from a different perspective than what is commonly taught here and in the mainstream. 

I felt that in the past AP was my goal (naturally I wanted to explore and what not, but AP was the end, not the means).  From my new perspective I have found that AP is just a tool, along with many other tools, to find the wisdom that I seek.  Beyond traditional OBE, I've also found that there are many varying degrees of otherworldly experience that are just as valid as AP.  A good example would be visualization meditations or shamanic journeying.  These are "imagination based" journeys in which you don't have to completely disconnect from your physical body.  The feeling isn't the same, but the wisdom gleaned is just as valuable.  In fact, while I haven't been projecting in over a year, I do pathworking on a near daily basis, which basically allows me to assume the role of a mythological character.  This is a common initiation experience for occult initiates. 

What I have found is that personal work must be done before complex skills such as AP are undertaken.  You can achieve AP anytime, as I have.  But the experience will not be stable or as valuable if you have a lot of personal emotional turmoil that has yet to be handled.  If you are unstable in your daily life in the mundane world, how can you expect to keep a cool head in a place where your slightest whim can manifest right before your eyes. 

Long story short, I am starting to understand that AP is not just a fun exploration experience, nor is it just a spiritual growth experience.  Walking between the worlds is part of a divine interchange between the mundane and the spiritual.  Both sides enhance eachother, and when one side is weak, so it the other.  I feel that this new path creates a better equipped projector, one who has the control that they need to really grow from otherworldly experience.  I highly recommend that anyone who wants a little more than just being able to project, or who is having difficulty projecting, so instead try to start at the beginning rather than jumping into the advanced stuff straight away.  Read some occult books, study some mystery schools and some shamanism.  All of these things are ripe with journeys to the otherworlds and you'd be surprised how much out there really is Astral Projection by a different name.  Don't be afraid to cast your net out a little further.  Nothing out there will hurt you, you won't get sucked into some black magic cult, you will honestly be better for the experience.  So, in summary, try something new.  It helps.

[CFTraveler]

I've been in a dry spell with AP for a little more than a year now.  This is purely because I haven't been trying.  My personal path required something different for a bit, so I've been pursuing the path of gnosis lately (wisdom).  Recently I have started to look at AP from a different perspective than what is commonly taught here and in the mainstream. 

I felt that in the past AP was my goal (naturally I wanted to explore and what not, but AP was the end, not the means).  From my new perspective I have found that AP is just a tool, along with many other tools, to find the wisdom that I seek.  Beyond traditional OBE, I've also found that there are many varying degrees of otherworldly experience that are just as valid as AP.  A good example would be visualization meditations or shamanic journeying.  These are "imagination based" journeys in which you don't have to completely disconnect from your physical body.  The feeling isn't the same, but the wisdom gleaned is just as valuable.  In fact, while I haven't been projecting in over a year, I do pathworking on a near daily basis, which basically allows me to assume the role of a mythological character.  This is a common initiation experience for occult initiates. 

What I have found is that personal work must be done before complex skills such as AP are undertaken.  You can achieve AP anytime, as I have.  But the experience will not be stable or as valuable if you have a lot of personal emotional turmoil that has yet to be handled.  If you are unstable in your daily life in the mundane world, how can you expect to keep a cool head in a place where your slightest whim can manifest right before your eyes. 

Long story short, I am starting to understand that AP is not just a fun exploration experience, nor is it just a spiritual growth experience.  Walking between the worlds is part of a divine interchange between the mundane and the spiritual.  Both sides enhance eachother, and when one side is weak, so it the other.  I feel that this new path creates a better equipped projector, one who has the control that they need to really grow from otherworldly experience.  I highly recommend that anyone who wants a little more than just being able to project, or who is having difficulty projecting, so instead try to start at the beginning rather than jumping into the advanced stuff straight away.  Read some occult books, study some mystery schools and some shamanism.  All of these things are ripe with journeys to the otherworlds and you'd be surprised how much out there really is Astral Projection by a different name.  Don't be afraid to cast your net out a little further.  Nothing out there will hurt you, you won't get sucked into some black magic cult, you will honestly be better for the experience.  So, in summary, try something new.  It helps.

Ok, Sensei.  Sign me up.  Where do I start?

[personalreality]

I'm reading a book now (though you can certainly go other places) called "Walkers Between The Worlds" by John and Caitlin Matthews.  It's having a profound impact on me, but this "new path" has been a long time coming.

In fact, I was so moved by this book that I'm putting off the spiritual practice until I get my mundane life in order (which is a spiritual practice in itself).

[Wi11iam]

I enjoyed reading what you shared here personalreality.  Thanks for doing so.
I wrote this poem a fear years back (actually it is a song) and I call it "The Path" and was reminded of it when reading your post.


The Path

I walk the path I choose to make
I've never walked this path before
Uncharted free from fear
I find a foothold firm and sure
And boldly meet no obstacle in
Dark vale sunlit hill and
Shining dale
Safe and warm though storm and rage
Surrounds I Move
I shall not fail


In My Vision Crystal Clear
In my thoughts a voice so near
As close to me as to myself
The Voice which needs no mouth


Actions
All are actions - pure and simple
Speak your path into existence
Always ever be alert
For ways which offer least resistance
As I Am
I will to be
As I Am
A Spirit Free
To float within this form
Laughing - Truly happy to be born


In My Vision Crystal Clear
In my thoughts a voice so near
As Close to me as to myself
The Voice which needs no mouth

[pondini]

cool song!

PR, i agree with what you are saying, and the path you've chose. my view is we are here for a purpose, for the betterment of ourselves, and focusing all our energy on AP might not be as productive as concentrating on becoming more thoughtful, empathetic, understanding and loving beings -at least for those of us, like me.

i haven't been able to get passed the sleep paralysis stage -vibrations- for about three months, but i intuitively, and logically, feel like what i need to do now is work on myself at the being-level. in my case, i have proven to myself that AP and meditative states are real, therefor that bridge is already built and i can revisit it after i've prepared myself sufficiently to best utilize it as a tool to evolve spiritually.

[Inico]

You've put into words something I've been pushed to realise myself recently. I'm very glad for that affirmation.

[personalreality]

word.  

i am still fascinated by AP and will continue to practice, but it has taken on a new meaning to me.

[CFTraveler]

I've put the book on my wish list, when I get money I'll buy it.

[CFTraveler]

I'm reading a book now (though you can certainly go other places) called "Walkers Between The Worlds" by John and Caitlin Matthews.  It's having a profound impact on me, but this "new path" has been a long time coming.

In fact, I was so moved by this book that I'm putting off the spiritual practice until I get my mundane life in order (which is a spiritual practice in itself).

Thank you for recommending the book.  I've just started reading it and I'm loving it.

[Contenteo]

Nice philosophy PR. I agree with it wholeheartedly.

Now that I have confirmed the astral for myself and sufficiently broken it down, I find myself reflecting on all the different phenomenon that seem to be connected to it. My journeys have led me to believe strongly that everything in life is a duality, and the physical and astral realms remain no exception.
Any narrow view will fail to give you a complete larger picture; logically that's why I wholeheartedly agree with you that although the astral may be a higher form of these other phenomenon, that does not make it better one, and cannot give you the complete holistic picture by itself.

Thank you for voicing this simple, yet vital, directive. You have me by your side on it.

Cheers,
Contenteo

[blis]

Hey, PR is it typical gnosticism your into?

The gnostic movement did a workshop in my city but I was only able to go to the first night. They've disapeared back to London now and dont plan on coming back. It's a shame because it sounded like the stuff they were into could have helped me.

I've been wanting to buy a book on it but the ones on amazon look like they might just be talking about the history of it and such rather that the actual techniques and meditations.

I dont suppose you know of any really good books on the subject that you could reccomend?

[Thread Killer]

I'm curious about your idea of the mundane life and stability within it. Without getting overly personal, could you expand on this a bit?

[Rudolph]

Hey, PR is it typical gnosticism your into?
The gnostic movement did a workshop in my city but I was only able to go to the first night. They've disapeared back to London now and dont plan on coming back. It's a shame because it sounded like the stuff they were into could have helped me.

That GnosticMovement really had a pretty good thing going there for a while, before they crashed and burned. The free intro classes were well done and newbies could learn a lot, fast. But the deification of Samael and their Master led to problems and one little accusation of sexual impropriety and the whole thing collapsed almost overnight. Really strange....

The reaction of their senior members and teachers was almost infantile and made me wonder at the efficacy of their methods.

At this point I don't see any viable Gnostic Schools out there anymore.

[personalreality]

I'm curious about your idea of the mundane life and stability within it. Without getting overly personal, could you expand on this a bit?

there's nothing terribly complicated about it.  i just mean that you should be relatively stable before you undertake a great deal of "nonphysical" activity. 

if you're having a lot of emotional problems then you should get those in order before practicing something as taxing as projection.  have your "household" in order.  if you're struggling to make ends meat or you're just financially irresponsible.  if you don't exercise and you eat badly and those behaviors are effecting your life in a 'negative' way.  you need balance before you are in the proper position to attempt projection.  i'm not going to say that young people shouldn't try AP (i started when i was young and i'm still only 25), but anyone under 20 to 25 is physiologically chaotic, they are undergoing puberty.  their hormones are whacky, they're still growing, their sleep schedule can be extreme compared to an adult (biologically teens need to go to sleep later at night and sleep in later in the morning), and emotionally they are typically immature and lack the control that accompanies mastery of one's self. 

again, i'm not saying that if you're young or have a hectic life then you shouldn't practice spiritually.  by the standards of my previous example of the occult orders, i doubt that any of the members of this forum would qualify.  but we live in a different world than that of our ancestors.  we are expected to manage many different aspects of life simultaneously. 

the point is that your inner life is dependent on your outer life just as much as the reverse is true.  i think that often times people think that in order to develop these skills that they seek (psychic phenomena and spiritual development), they must devote themselves to the inner world and that the mundane world is less important if not completely irrelevant.  this just isn't true.  our reality exists as polarity, everything has it's balancing pole.  the physical and nonphysical (mundane and spiritual) are two poles of one whole and you cannot neglect one in favor of the other.  if you are unhealthy physically (in whatever sense you take health to mean) then you will not be able to develop properly in the spiritual realities. 

i don't know if i already said this, but i'm reminded of the four stages of life in hinduism, the student, the householder, the retiree and the hermit/sage.  you cannot move on to the next stage until you have sufficiently mastered the previous stage.  if you'll notice, the sage or spiritual master isn't undertaken until the 3rd and 4th stages.  before one can master their spiritual reality, they must first master their mundane reality.  i used to think that was silly and i would just skip to the end because that's what i valued the most, the spiritual experience.  i didn't realize that the entire life cycle is the spiritual experience and each stage is an integral part of recognizing one's spirit and embracing it.

[Jilt]

My theory is that our unconscious/higher self lets us experience what we can handle when we can handle it. For instance, after I started meditating I had lucid dreams where I worked out a lot of my fears. A few years later I started having OOBEs where at first I had all the sounds, intruders, vibrations like everyone else but those 'negative' experiences completely went away with practice. Then a decade later my third eye opened so I could see energy and spirits while awake (which would be disconcerting to anyone that hadn't done the earlier 'working out their fears' work). Now I'm 50 and my OOBEs/LDs have increased to where I have them nearly every night and they are 95% of the joyful variety.

So I agree that there is a natural progression and people in their 20s might not be ready to experience the full monty unless they've done the work (which is entirely possible, just not typical). When people take psychedelics and rush the process, I think that's when they may get in trouble since they're overriding the natural unfolding process.

[personalreality]

Hey, PR is it typical gnosticism your into?

The gnostic movement did a workshop in my city but I was only able to go to the first night. They've disapeared back to London now and dont plan on coming back. It's a shame because it sounded like the stuff they were into could have helped me.

I've been wanting to buy a book on it but the ones on amazon look like they might just be talking about the history of it and such rather that the actual techniques and meditations.

I dont suppose you know of any really good books on the subject that you could reccomend?

I wouldn't say that gnosticism is my thing.

It's a lot closer than many other paths though.

I guess Hermetism has had the most influence on me lately. 

The book that I recommended to CFT (Walkers Between the Worlds by John and Caitlin Matthews) talks a little bit about Gnosticism.  But really, that book explains the two major eras of consciousness evolution on earth.  In the "before time", consciousness was related to nature, it was communal consciousness. This is typical tribal consciousness.  In the tribe, the shaman was the spiritual leader, but the whole tribe functioned as a spiritual whole.  Then we moved into a transitional period (which we are still partially in now) where consciousness was individual.  The community was broken down and the reign of individual consciousness entered.  The modern era of consciousness evolution is cosmic or universal consciousness. 

So this book breaks down spiritual practice into two sections, tribal and universal (shamanism and hermetism).  Unfortunately, during this period of individual consciousness, we have lost touch with the ancestral consciousness of our fore-bearers.  This book first teaches you practical techniques for going into the "underworld" (the realm of ancestors and nature, the dark feminine).  The second part of the book goes into the modern mystery traditions (Hermetism) and teaches modern practical exercises. 

Beyond the practical exercises, this book helps you to understand what spiritual practice is really about and how consciousness is evolving.  I have to be honest, it is probably one of the best books i have ever read, and that's saying a lot (i have a library of nearly 300 books, and that's not counting books that i've read and passed on to others over the years).

I would also recommend The Kybalion.  It's a cheap and relatively short book that you can get on amazon or even probably download somewhere free.  It's a primer on the basic tenets of Hermetism, which is really the beginning of modern mystery traditions and what most modern occult traditions are born out of.  Ever hear "As above, so below"?  That came from Hermes.  The law of polarity, Hermes.  The Law of Correspondence, Hermes.  Law of Attraction, Hermes.  All of these new age fads, they are just regurgitated hermetism.  if you are in the right time on your path, this simple book puts a lot into perspective.  I highly recommend it.