comments welcome on OBE-like experiences

[Patty]

Hey Justin!

Sure, I can relate.   My first ever projection, I am 95% certain was really an external projection. It relates well to your sight thing - I couldn't see at first. When I tried to 'see' I felt my eyes opening/body rousing so I stopped trying to see. I then thought of 'allowing myself to perceive.'  I could instantly see without any disturbance to my body.

This business of 'allowing' something is amazing. It is like dropping personal blocks, beliefs, or whatever. It's like a mental acceptance, a state of dropping ego.

So instead of trying to 'force' sight on the experience, try 'allowing' it to be there.  I'm curious if this works for you.

That being said, my later experiences might be dreams, the vision in them is different than the first flight. the later ones seem more plastic or moldable.  The first was definitely me in a place where things had an external concrete  reality, the later ones are more like if I wish it, it manifests. But still, I am able to verify details of those later flights which makes me think they are somewhat representative of an OBE state.

Heh - I put my face through the floor once. That's a tough one! I gave up on it, too. My few travels last night (which fall in the probably - but - questionable category)  were mostly around the house, and definitely did not absolutely reflect the light level, etc of the physical house. At one point my husband's astral form was in bed, despite the fact that he was still awake in physical reality.  Who knows.  I am thinking that the experience is valuable on a personal level regardless - though I definitely am looking for the beyond-doubt variety too, hopefully followed by having such a grand experience on a regular basis.

Nice to know there are other's around to talk with about it all.

Patty

[justinh]

Patty,

Yep! Exactly!

With my sight AND my tactile feeling it seems that the only true way is just to ease into it.  I kinda see this as a metaphor for life itself.  You can't force everything to be how you want it...  such has been the source of a lot of my personal grief the past few years.

Anyway, its interesting to sort out the projections from the dreams... my dream recall has been getting better these days.  

I am going to try the playing-card trick, where you pick a random card and put it somewhere.  Then, when projecting, look at the card.  When you wake up, see if its the same card.  Maybe you could do the same!

Thanks,
Justin

[Patty]

I forgot about that trick. I almost always project when it is dark and so, figured I would not be able to see the card.

but my kids now use a night light in the bathroom and it would be easy enough to put a card next to it- definitely within walking distance of my bed!

Hey! I'm gonna try it!

The related thing I have done is to have dear husband put something on a high shelf. Something I can identify by feel. I have had success with this! Only 'guessed' three times, but two were direct hits and one was close.

I don't know why I am still not convinced, the odds against that success by chance are pretty high.  I guess things like the 'close' hit leave me wondering and wanting to understand the basis for it.

Which brings me back to the idea of the enormity of trying to understand non-physical existence, and the idea that I don't HAVE to understand it and it doesn't HAVE to be real in order to hold value on a personal level.

I guess I'm of two minds about it, but boy oh boy those realtime regular OBEs would be cool.

Patty

[Frank]

Yes, it sounds to me like you are at the beginning stages of an obe. Only you need to familiarise yourself a little more with the process, in order to overcome the various teething problems people commonly get at the beginning.  

What you call "waking paralysis" is just the fact your sense of conscious awareness is awake and functioning but your physical body, the vehicle that it is usually plugged into, cannot be felt.  

There is a part of your collective sense of conscious awareness that can get a little perturbed by this (at first). Because, for years, this section of awareness has gotten used to the idea that when consciouness is awake and functioning, there should be a feeling of an attachment to a physical body. Some people can panic at this stage thinking they have died, or whatever. But it is a normal part of the projection process.  

The "things" you see in front of you is Astral imagery. What you need to do is practice "stepping into" this imagery. But, on doing so, try not to do too much in the sense of exploration. Otherwise you'll end up moving here, there and everywhere and accomplish little.

At first, try just standing still and practice getting your faculties together. Holding your "eyes" closed is a natural, reflex-action to any strange circumstance (just like you would do on the physical). So you need to first get your sight, then try and stand still and just be an observer.

At first your consciouness will try and open your physical eyes. Which is a fruitless exercise because you don't have any. The problem results again from the fact that, for years, your consciouness has been in the habit of opening a pair of physical eyes with which to see. But if you play around for a while then a sense of sight will come to you. Once you have projected within the Astral several times, your consciousness will learn to make whatever adjustments are necessary from Physical to Astral.

Understand that the collective sense of conscious awareness you have on the Astral is not some super-sense of awareness that is solely geared for Astral use. Nope, it's exactly the same as you have on the Physical. Which means all the differences between Astral and Physical have to be learnt and compensated for. This does take time to do and can be the source of much initial confusion.

Above all, try not to react emotionally to anything that may happen.

Doing this, I feel, is the number one all-time mistake people make (and have made through the ages) when they step within the Astral. If you do, your emotional energy will begin to fuel the scenery that surrounds you!

The most productive state of mind is simply to be mildly curious about all that you see. Another thing you can try is to summon a "guide". I've found that it is MUCH more productive having an Astral resident show you around. Rather than flitting here and there, not understanding a thing about what is going on.    

Yours,
Frank

[Kodemaster]

quote:Originally posted by Patty:

I don't know why I am still not convinced, the odds against that success by chance are pretty high.  I guess things like the 'close' hit leave me wondering and wanting to understand the basis for it.

Which brings me back to the idea of the enormity of trying to understand non-physical existence, and the idea that I don't HAVE to understand it and it doesn't HAVE to be real in order to hold value on a personal level.

I guess I'm of two minds about it, but boy oh boy those realtime regular OBEs would be cool.

Patty

I know what you mean about not being 100% sure. It's weird; when I had my most recent experience, I was 100 % certain it was an OBE when it was happening. Only when I woke up, did I question anything. I still have this slight feeling of doubt that follows me and bugs the heck out of me. It's like I got all excited saying to myself (and to my friends) "Yes, I did it!", and yet I worry about having to retract all I said and felt.

I guess it was the rememberance of when I was on top of a different building with different surroundings after flying out of my house that keeps triggering this. But I've read several times that we often *do* see things while in the real-time zone that aren't there in the physical, due to memories of places from the past still being there. In fact, experiences which are nearly duplicates of the physical only come with enough etherial energy. But why can't I convince myself 100%?? Everything else was 100% real!!!!!

Maybe it's from wanting it so badly to be true, that I can't believe myself after it does happen. That happens to me on the physical sometimes, too. Maybe I'm just too hard on myself (just like I am in the physical; I'm a total perfectionist)...

I totally hear ya Patty. If anybody had some insight on this to offer, please feel free to comment.

~*Jen*~

[ralphm]

i think what makes obe experiences confusing sometimes is the dreaming part of the mind is still functioning and creating stuff. i have only had a couple of experiences where i was very lucid and aware while out. others are more dim, with dull mental focus which may lead to  going into a dream.
also when i had a couple of dreams obout obe's one night they were not accompanied by any vibrations, i was in a totaly different house, and i did not wake upon returning to my body.

[justinh]

Hi,

I had several weird experiences last night.  My waking paralysis is getting more common.  I can recall at least four distinct OBE-type incidents.

Basically, I sleep on my side.  I get waking paralysis, at which point, I see the things in front of me.  I mentally push, with my awareness hands, away from the wall or whatever happens to be in front of me and my projectable double seems to pop loose.  Last night, after doing this several times,  I recall thinking to myself "hey, i think I'm getting the hang of it".

I can recall moving through objects (my entertainment center), putting my hand through the floor and touching something VERY cold, trying to push my head through the floor (heh), encountering great resistance, and then easing into it.  I still didn't have any vision although I could sense exactly where things were.

I also recall trying to get my vision working.  I was puzzled why I was seeing blackness although I was desperately trying to see... I focused on the blackness and noticed static, if you can imagine it being like a TV, but with pure blackness with speckles of dark gray throughout.  Just after, I think I kind of effortlessly eased into it and was able to see around my apartment, and even see myself sleeping, although the place was much darker than it probably was in reality, since this was early morning.  Everything was fairly clear and in-place.

I recall sensations of chest vibrations.  It's so weird to feel yourself drifting while knowing your physical body is somewhere else.

I also recall focusing on my body and drifting back later.

Again, these might have been dreams, but my dreams usually involve people and are far more action-oriented and difficult to control.  I dreams I tend to always feel like a spectator and can never really think for myself.  On the other hand, this was just me, drifting around my apartment.  That, with the vibration sensations, seems to tell me that I was projecting.

Can anyone relate to any of these experiences?

Thanks,
Justin