conscious Oobe....It's Real!!

And why should you "stop" thinking? You want to be braindead or something? It is common belief that you have to stop and have a "clear" mind. It is an entirely wrong concept the way that most people talk about it. I've covered this enough times by now so not going into it.

I suggest that you start practicing Vipassana meditation or the likes. It utilizes your "defect" quite well since you actually have to focus on everything and use it to your advantage. In due time you can then move onto Samadhi en reach the same as other people, but from a different path.

You could also start with basic visualisation. You don't have to focus...or focus on each thought. Whatever you want. In due time the mind will just wander from one thought to the other and you will naturally stop focussing on it sooner or later. Then the thoughts will become visuals of the mind which you will catch glimpses of at the beginning. Learn not to focus on those glimpses trying to catch them but let them come and go as they please. In due time those visuals last longer with greater detail. Then you can move on using this technique in many areas.

[edit on 7-3-2007 by Enyalius]

I didn't mean that I wanted to stop thinking. Sorry if that's what you got. I just would like to be able to have more control over my thoughts. I need to slow down, mentally. It's always go go go. And thank you, by the way. I'll look into what you referenced.

hey everyone, after reading about Oobe's it began to remind me of sensations that used to wake me up in bed. Wether i was in a state of waking up or actually fully asleep I can't be sure, but what i do remember about these sensations that used to wake me up is the feeling of falling in on myself. before i just dismissed them as normal but after reading this thread and others it got me thinking and feeling as tho this sensation was my "astral body" (not sure if this is the right term) returning to my body. I have seen this being described as a symptom of Oobe on another thread.

I dont recollect being "Oob" its just the sensation of falling into my body and waking me up that got me thinking, maybe i was having an Oobe

Just thought i would relate my experiences

yessssssssssss. im finnally glad it almost happened. even tho im trying OOBE by depriving myself from sleep. but i tried the saltshaker method worked!!! even tho my body was asleep my subconcious was awake, and i felt the most powerful vibrations and a high pitched sound i tried forcing myself out of my body but it felt like i was being pulled back in by an unknown source. it was the most amazing experience tho. i did however fall into sleep paralysys after but it was a good experience overall.

bjshobbes you stump me with this question.
This is a key issue that I deal with, having some add going on myself. It really makes my meditation practice frusterating as well as the frusteration of working toward O.O.B.E
I have not really thought about HOW it hinders me in the O.O.B.E issue till now that you have raised the question. It is a BIG hinderence in the practice of meditation.................MAYBE this is the main reason I have the most luck with OOBE only right before I fall asleep? hmmmmmmmmmmmm very well could be.
I am very interested to hear what the others have to say about this issue.......the answers to this could help me out alot

Thanks for raising the question bjshobbes

RiverGoddess, I was mainly directing my question towards you. You've been at this a while and seemed to have gotten some decent results. I was actually hoping you could help me. You were the main reason that I chose to become a member and express my thoughts in this particular thread. Hopefully, now that I brought it up, you can gain some insight. (It'd be ironic if I was the one that helped you.) Keep me posted on your findings, and please let me know what you come up with. I'm at a loss and could use a little help.

How does one person help another person have an OOBE?
Intriguing.....

How does one clear the mind and connect with oneself? Interesting question BJSHobbe. That is a question that I've been exploring for some time now. I feel I've had some success in doing this for myself so I'd like to share with you what I've found to be of help. Perhaps it will strike a chord with you as well.

To connect with yourself you must first understand who “you” are. I know it sounds a little cliché but it’s true. Our thoughts, feelings, urges, likes, dislikes etc are to our mind what a costume is to an actor. They’re not really our true self only pieces of a costume we put on as it suites us. (forgive the pun.)

We tend to become so attached to these costumes (i.e. our thoughts and emotions) that we see them as a part of ourselves rather than items we’ve picked up along the way and wear out of habit or attachment or whatever the case may be. If we take the time and effort to strip away all the unnecessary mental clutter we can find our true essence hiding underneath. Once we find this essence (the part that’s the real you) we can connect to it and use it to help us achieve to our fullest potential.

Striping away the mental clutter isn’t an overnight process, especially if you tend to have a very active mind but, I believe everyone is capable of doing so if they really want to. The key is not to think less but to recognize your thoughts for what they truly are. When you’re meditating (or any time really) begin by becoming aware of exactly what thoughts and feelings you’re experiencing as they run through your mind and blend one into another. Observe the connections your mind makes that take you from one thought to another. Think of yourself as a voyeur or an impartial observer in your own mind, aware of each thought that comes by but not affected by them. In this role, you can begin to understand what you’re thinking and why you’re thinking it without judgment or frustration and more importantly, you can begin to let go of each thought after you observe it.

Yes you may find yourself getting pulled out of your impartial observer role from time to time and you’ll probably find yourself encountering the same thought patterns again and again but, as you work at it you’ll begin to find it easier to remain impartial and unaffected. You’ll learn to let go of thoughts when they no longer serve you and in this way your mind will be cleared of much of the mental clutter that it now holds. Not only will you be able to meditate more effectively but you’ll begin to view everything you do as a form of meditation.

The clearer your mind becomes, the easier it will be for you to distinguish between fleeting thoughts and emotions and what is really your true self. And it’s once you’ve found what you truly are that you’ll discover a power far greater than any mere thought or emotion you might experience on a daily basis.

I hope this helps in someway as it has helped me greatly along the way.
Mitzella

Thanks. I'll start this evening when I lay down to go to sleep. I'll be keeping you posted with any problems or progress. I appreciate your time and thoughts.

The past 2 weeks I have been dreaming LARGE...full color spectrum super surround sound avid and LUCID dreams.
If I have not liked the subject I can change it.......if It is hard to change I then think it must be a learning dream I need to finish, so I have gone on with it in hopes that I gain the lesson. I hope I have learned what it was meant to teach....for just as in life if I doid NOT learn the lesson I am doomed to repete it.
The last 2 nights I have tryed to go OOBE from the dreams, as I have so often read is possible.
Last night was so successfull I almost scare myself!
In the dream I was trying to ride on the back of an eagle, and after severall attempts I was able to. I was amazed at how impossibly slow we seemed to be going during glides.........after a bit I was able to dislodge from the eagles back and fly near him...along with him. This was an amazing experiance I have no way to put into words..... truly indescribable.

While I was doing this flying & gliding, I was thinking how when I write this here on ATS it will sound like some unbelieveable tale hahahahahahaha as this whole thread must sound to many. I am positive that because of the exsitance of this thread I am taken with a thin grain of salt on other threads, or I get eyes rolled at me from around the world. I cant help this reaction and have to just go with it......if I feared the reaction of the many non believers/experiancers this thread would not even exist.

Something interesting (to me, anyhow) happened to me twice in the last couple of weeks. There are multiple possible explanations, some less exciting than others depending on your interests. My mind is open to all of them.

Something I sometimes do is to focus sequentially on each part of my body while lying very still, from my toes all the way up to my head, consciously relaxing each part as I go. If I do it for long enough, I eventually end up in a sort of physical paradox in which stabilizing muscles are continuously trying to relax further than they can without me literally falling apart or something (lol.) Anyhow, one afternoon I was doing this and I did it for so long that I eventually stopped feeling my body completely. I felt weightless and somewhat numb. It was as relaxed as I think I've ever been in my entire life. I became aware that I was able to see, even though my eyes were closed. I was floating in space which was light grey colored (like the color of bright fog or rain clouds,) and I could see intermittent rainbow-like colors flickering somewhere in the distance (almost like lightning flashes in an enormous grey cloud that I was floating in, but the flashes were rainbow-like in coloration.)

I looked above me (from a reclining position) and saw my body "above" me. It was as if I had sunk "beneath" myself. I wanted to get up and walk toward the rainbow colored flickering lights, but found that I was unable to move. I then heard a feminine voice (which I have heard before once in my life) say, "Open your eyes." I replied, "If I open my eyes, I'll be back in my bed." The voice responded, "No - your other eyes." I became aware that what the voice was implying was that I had to become fully aware of the form I was maintaining in this "foggy" realm; I needed to be fully "present" in my perceptions and senses there, instead of just being there and in my bed at the same time so to speak (I was still too aware of my body despite not feeling anything, essentially, was the impression I got,) in order to gain the ability to "get up" and move around freely. I tried very hard to do this. The sensation was akin to trying to pat your head and rub your belly at the same time (before you're used to it) without moving one hand in a circle while patting, or vice-versa. I tried for several minutes to do it, and just as I tried to open my eyes in that realm, my physical eyes opened instead and I found myself in bed. I was simultaneously frustrated and excited.

The second incident happened just yesterday. I was doing the same thing, only this time instead of a grey foggy realm beneath my body, I found myself "shrunken" into my body, as if I were smaller than my body, and was dwelling inside it, but separate from it. I could sense light and warmth outside of myself, and felt drawn to it. Suddenly, something I haven't thought of or remembered clearly in nearly ten years appeared - my childhood pet cat. It was so vivid and real that I was literally astonished that I was seeing him so clearly. I hadn't been thinking about him (or cats) at all, and I had always had trouble remembering his face, yet there he was as clear as day. He was lying on my chest (the chest of the "me" inside my body,) and purring happily and "kneading" me (some people call it "making dough" instead of kneading.) This startled and elated me so much that I again found myself back in bed.

Now, as I said, there a number of possible explanations for these experiences. They could have been a form of self-hypnosis (which would explain the vivid memory of my beloved pet lol,) and there are several other possibilities. All I know is it felt very real, and even if it was all in my head, I can now remember fondly the face of a pet I couldn't remember for years because I had blocked him out after he had to be put to sleep due to lung cancer. I think that's a psychologically and emotionally positive outcome, regardless of the explanation.

i would like to post my technique. i sit against the wall in my room on the top bunk of my bed. i sit in a comftorble position and i look at something just above eye level and i relax. i continue relaxation until i start to become numb then i focus on something farther away at eye level and i contunue to relax. i begin to feel strong electrical vibrations that feel very intense and somwhat pleasurable. i have only gone this far twice and i have become so startled both times that i broke my concentration. i would begin shaking and breaking out into a cold sweat...also i can hear only a whooshing sound and my heart beat that is what usualy makes me break my concentration. if anybody has had this experience please tell me how close i am to leaving my body.

[edit on 21-3-2007 by psimorb333]

Wombat thank you for sharing that!!! how wonderfull!! I tend to think you are actually going OOBE.......and cats are multi dementional. ALOT of people report having experiances with a past pet Kitty cat >'.'<

psimorb what your describing to me sounds like you are right on the very threshold of your OOBE........keep it up you are SO CLOSE



[edit on 22-3-2007 by theRiverGoddess]

Sorry if I seem to be just some kind of spoilsport by saying this, but I'm concerned for your welfare.

This practice of Astral Projection is a dangerous occult practice, much like the ouija board. You are messing with things that you won't be able to ultimately control.

Some people have had some VERY BAD experiences by doing this.

One particular story stands out in my mind. The case involved some kind of minister or vicar, who became interested in OOBEs and practiced it until he could more or less leave his body at will.

It's interesting to note that, like you, he said that the stars seemed beautiful, as he had some kind of heightened awareness when out of body.

He continued with this for quite some time, reporting very exciting experiences.

However, on one particular occasion, without warning, as he was out of his body, and outside the front of his house (vicarage), he was suddenly seized with an all-pervading feeling of dread, so he tried to return, but found that he was unable to. As he lived on church premises, there was a cemetery facing his house. He said he saw all kinds of 'demonic' type spirits emerging from the cemetery, which rushed towards him and chased him.

He was in a state of utter panic, and, after a while, he did manage to return to his body, but the experience left him totally traumatized, a condition from which he never recovered. He also left the ministry and never returned to it.

I don't think you can just put this down to some kind of 'bad trip', or you will have to also put the 'good' experiences down to his imagination also. So, if the 'good' times where real, then also I would think the 'demonic' experiences were real.

This story came from a book entitled 'Holy and Unholy Ghosts'. I can't remember who the author was.

Anyway, that is my advice to you....don't get involved. Occult powers are real and they ultimately ending up controlling you, even though at the beginning you think you are the one who is in control.

Hi Old Man. No need to be sorry for offering your opinion. You’ve raised some good points for discussion although I have to disagree with you about OBE being a dangerous “occult” practice.

It’s true that all OBEs are not of the beautiful and tranquil variety so often described on this thread and elsewhere. Although most of my experiences have been pleasant, I’ve had a few disturbing ones as well. I can see how some people could possibly be put off or “spooked out” by such experiences if they’re not prepared for them. That said there’s an old Christian saying that may apply here: God never gives us more than we can handle.

Yes not every OBE experience is a pleasant one but, that could easily be said about our waking experiences as well. In both the waking and OBE state it’s important to view these experiences as learning opportunities. We don’t learn and grow by sitting in a vacuum. In waking life it’s easy to avoid facing our fears and the ugliest parts of ourselves because they’re abstract and easy to deny. In OBE, often times we’re given the unique opportunity of seeing these qualities personified and facing them head-on.

As for demons, evil spirits and the like, I’ve personally never known anyone who’s been physically or mentally damaged, possessed or otherwise injured during an OBE experience and I don’t believe we’re in any more danger from these things during an OBE than we are in waking life. In fact, I would even go so far as to say I have a greater concern for my safety in waking life than in the OBE state.

The fact is there are many causes for unpleasant experiences during OBE. When I encounter one, I tend to first look for the cause within myself before seeking it elsewhere. After all, our most powerful demons (the one’s that have the greatest hold on us) are the ones we create within ourselves

very well put. i agree with river goddesses thory. heres a link to it. (not sure if it will go through)

www.abovetopsecret.com...


ps:thanks for the vote of confidence river goddess

[edit on 22-3-2007 by psimorb333]

i know this may sound silly but i have a question. i usually sit upright and cross legged when i attempt astral projection because i never fully fall asleep when i do this. should i continue this or should i lay down to get better results that what i "already have done"

I usually lie down, but I would recommend you experiment and find out what works best for you. Perhaps somebody who has more experience working from a sitting position can add to this?

Questions...

Yes, I have read every post on every page and I have questions not yet answered if anyone would care to indulge.

1. Someone mentioned REM during meditation and other posters mentioned they also got this but no one posted anything to support what it was or wasn't or any meaning behind it. This REM is something that I get often but I do sometimes meditate with my eyes open using a cowl or mask to remain in complete darkness whilst retaining alertness. Can anyone shed some light on this (conscious) REM during meditation?

2. Cug and our Dutch friend were talking about rituals and banishment(?), is this necessary? It would appear to be something to provide the practitioner peace of mind, superstition if you will almost a placebo type of thing. Please correct my understanding if I'm wrong in thinking it's not really a requirement.

3. Once you are "out" and practised at doing so, how do you get to, or where do you go for the akashic records? or is it obvious once you are proficient?

Thank you to anyone that can provide any further information or experience on these subjects.

Peace
~Prote

i have continued to attempt astral projection but have not left my body as of yet i have not suceeded. i just cant get past the vibrational stage. however my experiences have taught me a few things. one thing is that as long a i hold the vibrational stage i cannot lose hold of my conciousness. another thing is that i feel a state of total numbness when i focus on the vibrations. will someone who has mastered haveing oobe's please tell me what ime doing wrong either on the board or via a u2u? PLEASE!!