Hi, everyone. I'll try to make this short.

I've been attempting astral projection, but one night whilst dreaming, I had a dream (seemingly) I was in my room in my bed, and as I try to get up to reach something, I go right back onto my bed as if I had not gotten up. It was reminiscent of those occurrences where you're sleeping and you have to get up for something, then you have a dream you just did that task, but you really didn't.

When I ended up back on my bed, I tried the task again (I don't remember what I was trying to do), I got up, in the process of doing the task, I was transported back onto the bed, and I finally realized that I was sleeping, and that I was sleep paralyzed. It didn't fully occur to me I was actually dreaming though, just enough to where I was calm.

I then said to myself that since I'm in this state, I'll try AP. I shift my consciousness away from my body and immediately I'm floating at the side of my bed in a milky white body with no torso or legs.

There's a little more to the story but I'll stop there. My question is, does anyone think this was an astral projection from a dream or not?

- I've heard when you AP, your vision becomes 360 degrees, mine was not. My vision was a normal first person viewpoint. I would love clarification on this.
- I did feel as if I was disconnected from my actual 'dream' body when this was happening, and the event itself is still quite vivid.

Thanks.

Yes. This is how it starts for a lot of people. Your vision and senses will change as your experience takes you further from the material world. In the lower etheric world, just on the other side of physical, is where most people spontaneously eject to. Its very common to be disoriented, have difficulty moving around, and to try and touch or interact with things that won't operate the way they are supposed to, or seem to be too heavy, stuck, etc.

When I say senses will change, I mean that their analogs in the etheric and astral body function differently on different levels - you can achieve 360 degree vision at the etheric level, it just isn't naturally 'stuck' that way.

Good luck, and congratulations!

peace

Thanks for your reply Vagrant, and thanks a lot for your info, it's helped me understand the direction I've taken.

I've also read that with enough projections, third eye perception and higher self communication becomes clearer. Do you know if this is true?

I've been searching for a proper way to communicate with my higher self, and also perceive with my third eye and I'm wondering if AP can assist with this. Is there yet another way to enhance higher self communication and third eye perception? Perhaps some techniques I've not yet heard about?

It is incidental unless you AP with the intent of developing them, but yes those things happen.



"Each man has his own god, and none may tell him the rituals by which it is invoked" or something to that effect. So feel free to disregard everything below this point. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

AP happens when the Consciousness disassociates itself from the body. The direct result of which is that you no longer need a body to sense and interact with the world. The indirect result is that your Consciousness becomes aware of you etheric body and moves a few steps closer to the higher self. Development will end there unless you seek other more subtle bodies; by which I mean experience of bodies that seem less solid/localized.

The easiest way to do that is to avoid the "I-am-ness" of the ego (which is considered the "lower self"). If you have a thought that includes "I am" or "not me" your Consciousness is identified with the ego. So long as the sense of "I am" predominates, your ego will have issues listening to the higher self. Seeking experiences void of I-am-ness allows your awareness to settle on bodies that might otherwise get missed. Depending on the system there are 8 or 9 bodies. Spending time in each of them is the only way to find the next.

AP is a very useful way to go about finding these new subtle bodies because your physical body is forgotten and the energetic and mental bodies are both still and un-disruptive. In this state your unconscious mind is very susceptible to impressions. If you set the intent of your AP to find subtler forms of you, then you will be propelled to them. If there is no need for complex interaction with the higher self, then it is sufficient to go into the state where you would normally AP but focusing instead on your intent to listen to your higher self.

Your third eye becomes more perceptive when the energies that nourish it are balanced and unobstructed by energy blocks in the lower chakras or by a mind that is too scattered. It will open rather quickly on its own if you focus your attention about an inch inside the head right between the eyebrows and breath there.

This post has been edited by fatherjhon: Sep 15 2012, 11:47 PM

That's given me even more to think about fatherjhon, thanks a lot, I really appreciate it.



Would it be a good practice to try and remove or lessen the ego? Do you know of a good technique to do this (I've heard dealing with the ego is difficult).



I'm very glad you mentioned this. I've been practicing maintaining a balanced and less scattered mind for a few months now. If one possessed a balanced mind and balanced chakras, is it this natural, neutral energy that nourishes the third eye?

Depends, the ego is far too useful, particularly for magick, to simply toss it out. Try, rather, to change the shape and clarity of the ego. The ego will identify with everything from objects to ideas by its nature. The trick is to make sure the things it identifies with are useful for your spiritual ends. This entails reminding yourself, I am not this, this is to help me, by this I achieve my goal.

The ego sits between the a part of being which transmits the wisdom from your higher self and the lower bodies. The higher self is described as very loving and kind, because of this it will yield to the wishes of the ego which generally refuses the idea that anything other than itself is worthwhile. If you can get the ego to give up habitual identifications upon request you are better off than most of us. Until then, lessen the effect of habitual identifications by expanding who you understand yourself to be. A Swami once said "all ways be willing to sacrifice who you are for what you can become."



Yes and no, but is still good to do so. Balanced energy currents help many things but they do not by themselves represent anything other than a properly functioning system. The third eye has a energetic functions as well as a psychic. Psychicly, the center is the abode of non-dual consciousness. A clear, calm and stable mind is your best tool when working with consciousness. By such a mind you can start to integrate this consciousness and that leads to the fun powers that are associated with this point. If energy is more accessible to you a simple approach is to meditate on the point between the eyebrows with single pointed mind so that energy gathers there, and this will activate that chakra. There are particular energies that are useful for this - the ones that run the mind and the ones found at the Muladhara - but any energy will do as long as it is not forced into but rather allowed to rest on that point. When you are able to rest there for a time you gain access to the chakra proper; place your awareness there, slowly relaxing any effort/tension. In time, it will become more active. When it is active, the sensation is not physical and unmistakable.

This post has been edited by fatherjhon: Sep 15 2012, 11:52 PM

Again, thanks a lot fatherjhon. This has actually helped me better understand and deal with the ego and third eye itself. I'll be practicing that meditation as well, thanks for that info and technique.

Like others have already mentioned, a good way to distinguish between dreaming and the astral is by the environment. The astral area will be more real and things won't move around on you like they probably do in dreams. I think the best way to recognize you are in the astral is by that feeling of shaking you get when your doing astral stuff. When you first are getting out of your body it might feel like your have electricity running through your body, or that there's an earthquake inside you, the feeling is really hard to miss. But it's also important not to loose consciousness during that period or else you will probably start dreaming instead of stepping out into the astral area. Last week that happened to me and I woke up in my dream and realized I missed that opportunity because I wasn't focused.

About the ego question: I work with magic to help build my ego. Other people work with magic to transcend it. Both sorts of people can do various practices to help them with their goal. If I were you I would make a list on paper and figure out what you want from life. Don't assume anything or feel bad about anything, or embarrassed. It's like standing in front of the mirror naked because you want to change your body. It might feel awkward at first but in the long run you probably won't achieve goals that you are clear about wanting. Some people think that wanting more money is a bad use of magic. It's banal, it's bad form, it's immoral... and on and on and on. But set that prejudice aside and just think about what you want from magic, then you will have a better idea about how to proceed.

I think meditating is a great and essential part of magic. But be aware of your goals. Think about whether you are trying to bring your ego to the world or if you are trying to bring the world to you. Because I work primarily for the service of my ego, I bring everything down to me, most of the time. If you are trying to transcend your ego and body and gain union with the outside, then your meditation should be different than if you were trying to strengthen your mind for personal reasons.

I don't want to end on a bad note (or use bad cliches like that) but I want you to be aware of an unpleasant side effect of astral projecting that I occasionally experience, usually my return to my body. It can feel like you are paralyzed and stuck, and that something terrible is happening. It's like that feeling you get when you sleep on your arm wrong and can't move it for a few seconds because the blood got cut off from circulating, only on your whole body. It's not that you are doing anything wrong but if you run in to it from time to time just know that it's a natural thing. It helps to stay calm and not struggle if it happens.

Good luck with everything.

Very interesting. This will be yet another concept of ego I can add to my ponderings, I really appreciate it. Thanks for that warning about getting back in body as well; thankfully that hasn't happened to my body but I appreciate the warning so I'm at least aware of it now.