[Imihooniump]

i just wanted to thank you all for your wonderful responses, and let you know that i have been attempting this again and now it won't work! argh! oh well, i'm now not scared of it so i hope that it will happen when i'm ready for it.

[Imihooniump]

okay, please respect that i am taking a big leap by posting this here. i have only ever described this to two people, my husband and my "psychic twin" (i say that with a touch of humour, though she really does seem to be my "other half," i don't know how else to describe her - she is not my best friend nor my soul mate, but someone with whom i share a deep spiritual bond). my husband just thinks i'm a little nuts, but my twin (haha, now i have to keep calling her that!) had actually had the same experience! i have never heard or read of it anywhere, and neither of us knows what it means. so here goes.
okay, so when i was about 12 or 13, i was staring into the mirror as teenage girls are known to do. i may have been putting on make-up, or doing my hair, or popping pimples , who knows. suddenly, while looking into my own eyes, i had a very strong feeling of my self lifting from my body. i suddenly could not identify the person in the mirror as my "self," but rather just "lindsay," and i was looking down on her, in a way. it was a very strong and overwhelming feeling of disconnection, and removal from my physical self. it kind of scared the crap out of me and i did not like it. however since then, i have found that it happens regularly, and for this reason i cannot look myself in the eye in the mirror for too long (more than a couple seconds), because it happens again automatically. almost like how if you dislocate a joint a couple of times, it keeps slipping out again.
my "twin" has had just the same experience, and related that she never knew what it was either and had never heard of anyone else who had it. this was just part of our affinity for one another. we have also both had "epiphanies" or moments of ecstasy - where we feel as one with the universe, very joyful, very clear and almost expanded. my "twin" has been diagnosed as manic depressive and related to me that she took these to be manic episodes, but besides some problems with anxiety i have never suffered from manic depression, so i don't know...
does anyone know what the mirror experience is? is it good, or bad? could we use it as a tool somehow? or should it be avoided? i guess i am afraid it is dangerous. it feels dangerous, because it really overwhelms the senses. it blanks out everything but the sensation itself. almost as if, if you don't break the spell, you could be in danger of losing your self. but now i'm starting to wonder if it is tapping into the higher self, and perhaps losing the physical self, at least somewhat, in favour of the higher self wouldn't be exactly what i want.
i have never been successful in my (rather stunted) attempts to astral project, so i have no clue if this sensation is similar or not.
argh. explaining this is almost as scary as experiencing it. i would be forever grateful to anyone who could offer some insight.

[natahololll]

hey there linsybyster!

i can't say that i've ever gone out-of-body while conscious, but i certainly have experienced them during sleep, and through the door that lingers between sleep and waking. and yes it can be frightening. when one has existed their whole life as a particularized egoic personality, and has been provided no experiential understanding that we are infinitely more than that, to taste of that infinity threatens all that has gone before. at least to the ego.

it has been decades since i've had a conscious oobe (it is my understanding that we oobe nightly) and one of the last i experienced still stands out as the most frightening event in my life. i've come to honor that as a very high experience because, while the fright was extreme and real to me, i have come to discern that the fear was mine. it was not intended or created. there wasn't any threat to me, just a lack of understanding and allowance which permitted fear to rule my moment.

at the same time as that was the most frightening experience in my life, another oobe counts as the highest and most profound. i'll try to relate it without being over-long for this post.

i was fifteen or sixteen and i awoke at sunrise one morning, with this wonderful golden light pouring through my window. it bounced around off the gold bedspread, and my saxophone, and the whole room was filled with wonderful golden orange light. i was physically completely relaxed and started back to sleep. awareness gave way to the nothing of sleep for a moment and then i became aware of a charge, like a current, running through my body, head to toe (or toe to head, i don't remember which, just that it was a one-way flow) and all of the sudden i was able to "see" that beautiful golden room! but my eyes were closed. i was perceiving, not seeing. my mind was as clear and empth of any thought as i have ever experienced it, and from that place came one very distinct and clear thought. i couldn't say it was frank-o's thought, so it came from something larger than that. and that thought was "i want to love." and i'm not talking a 15-year-old wanting a girlfriend. it was more that i wished to convey the highest love to everything. and with that thought the current that was running through my body changed, and instead of flowing in one direction the current began to run from my head, toes, feet, arms and legs in toward my heart area, i assume my "literal" heart chakra, and when the flow merged there i emitted a golden pillar of light that i know went on infinitely, both up to the stars and down through the core of the earth. it was truly, blissful and wondrous, and i can still at times tap into that golden reserve, that pillar of love, because it is infinite.

i rode that ecstatic pillar for as long as seemed right, and then the current began to fade, the pillar went away, and my "sight" went to black again...and i opened my physical eyes to that still golden room.

despite the emotional charges of these experiences for "frank-o" when he returned from them, the experiential knowledge that we go on and are of a much different nature in total than that which we experience here in 3d is why i am even aware of something like divine cosmos, and here posting today. and i am ever graced and grateful to be in such a position of awakening and having so many to share this with.

so, scary is scary, to be sure, but stay with this! don't be frightened over-long! the potential of these experiences for revealing soul to you and for providing a foundation of strength and faith, particularly in times such as we live, the times, is enormous, wonderful, and outweighs all fear (which is just a tool for catalyst through which to grow anyway!)

love, blessings, and abundance,

frank-o (in 3d)

[usacomm]

you are so lucky!! don't be afraid of it, go with it. so many people, including myself, dream about having an out of body experience and you can do it so easily. if i were you i would sit down in front of the mirror and try it so you won't fall down. you should get a second opinion on this but i really don't think it will harmful to you at all. i have also heard that when you have an oobe there is a silver string that is attached to your body and it will snap you back in if there is any disturbance. if you do go ahead and try please come back and share your adventures on the other side with us!

[7kitthuptarill]

hi linsymyster [pls forgive if spelling is off]: sounds to me like you have been doing astral travel since you were 12! indeed, it is a scary experience which i recall having described in a previous posting in this forum. if the moderator remembers, i would be grateful if she could indicate the location. i won't repeat the information here, though it is quite pertinent.

obes can be terrifying, expecially the first time or two and if you do not have a clue what is going on. my youngest son who is an older teen has experienced that a couple of times not too long ago and was petrified by fear. a couple of suggestions for you to consider:
1) master your fear and start again
2) always begin by inviting in your spiritual guides/archangels to serve in a protective role while you are out, to surround you by a triple light capsule [actually 1 should suffice! :d ] that is impenetrable by anything less than the highest energies of divine love
3) formulate your intention regarding what you wish to do while traveling [visit the taj mahal, study with a particular master, permission to consult your akashic records for a specific lifetime, etc.]
4) trust that all is well and that you are completely safe
5) relax and enjoy the experience!

you are quite fortunate that obe is effortless for you and continues as such to the present time. if it no longer happens with grace and ease, do not fret, for you are still doing it, but possibly no longer need to be consciously aware of it, for you have moved on to a higher level of experience.

have a great time!
jo anne

[Bromikka]

this is my perspective:

when you get into your car, or any sort of "vehicle" which you operate, do you become the vehicle? no, you are just operating it. you get into it for a short time, use it, then leave it. to me the body feels like a heavy winter coat that i will eventually shed.

and this is why i think so many people dream about cars or other vehicles. i feel it represents the body.

as robert monroe once said, "you are more than your physical body." i think i read somewhere that wilcock attended the monroe institute and so is familiar with this concept. [per moderator dw never attended a monroe institute lecture-he would have liked to, but couldn't afford it. he would listen to the hemi-synch tapes, but found "the consciousness shifts induced by hemi-sync to be too abrupt and forceful and [he]
much prefer[ed] doing it on [his] own without their assistance."


i think this was a touching of the essence of you that is not tied to any particular body or earth vehicle.

i've never had the mirror experience in waking life but in a dream once i was female wearing a red fancy ball gown and stopped to check my appearance in a mirror. and in that dream my appearance in the mirror changed from a female to a male, complete with a full beard. and then the dream switched to am "ancient" battle field scene where i was that bearded man being chased and eventually killed.

i've also had the experiences while awake and conscious in "reality" where i felt that i wasn't inside my body, but yet i was at the same time. almost as if i was a little being inside my body looking out from the eyes of the body, but not really of the body. i hope this makes sense. words fail to really describe the experience. this has happened multiple times and i just let it occur. it's neat.

a visual.. remember the men in black movie where the jeweller alien died and in the autopsy room, his head split open to reveal a little critter sitting in an operating chair with gears and levers, etc? i'm not saying it's really like that. lol but a good visual analogy.

[another author is listed here and you can email ceara if interested]

[iqxdvjgmat]

i love this! thanks, all, for all you've been sharing! these are all so unique to the individual. in my personal experiences i've found myself talking myself through it, telling me to "just breathe, relax and go with it--that everything is going to be okay." and it is--even down to experiencing what i perceived as drowning (which was a fear of mine as long as i can remember). i told myself everything was going to be okay, to just allow it. i remember checking to see if it was cold, but it wasn't, nor was it hard or painful to breathe. i just sank and emerged into full consciousness, completely at peace and amazed at what had happened. it had never happened before that i could remember. i had been in four different scenes which were symbolic and untranslatable until much later in my life--understandings are still coming forth from that particular experience.

now i seem to be grounding the energies in the earth consciousness, bringing understandings that i pick up in other realms back here rather than "escaping out there." intention seems to be a key here. i shifted from "wanting to leave this planet and my perceived painful life and seeming failures" to "i'm here for a long time because it's an honor to be here and i don't want to miss a thing." my sister-in-laws named me penelope nonstop years ago, and i've realized that giggly nut is back and i'm enjoying her.

and your "twin" who's been labeled "manic"--i firmly believe most people who've been labeled with mental/emotional "illnesses" have just been reflecting to us all the consciousness leap. they've been experiencing these things (obes, "past"-life episodes, etc.), not knowing it's possibly a gift for better understanding of themselves. and because of their fears and inexperience and our society's lack of understanding--the psychology profession included--they're getting medicated and stygmatized and told they are "permanently" such and such a way the rest of their lives. it creates individual powerlessness and hopelessness. but i see this all changing the more we share our own stories just like you all did here. thanks so much. you can't believe how this excites me!
penny

[stadiaKab]

[per moderator dw never attended a monroe institute lecture-he would have liked to, but couldn't afford it. he would listen to the hemi-synch tapes, but found "the consciousness shifts induced by hemi-sync to be too abrupt and forceful and [he]
much prefer[ed] doing it on [his] own without their assistance."

i have found in my experience that the "effectiveness" of these products (binaural beats) is limited. it is true, they did "accelerate" growth in the beginning, assisting with the experience of deep meditation (theta state). but, its a shortcut, and in my opinion, not a good substitute for proper "form" or "practice". i'd agree with david that they are a little "forceful", but also would like to add that after listening a few times, the mind becomes "entrained" and remembers the "music". in other words, these products are useful a handful of times, but after awhile, they no longer work like they did when they were "new", and one could claim, have the opposite effect with repeated use (entertaining the mind - not "quieting the mind")...

so, binaural beats and hemi-sync (i have 4 monroe cds, i guess 10 in all?) are ok and i still listen to them from time to time, but i wouldn't recommend spending your money. don't opt for shortcuts. the best result of using these products was "experiencing" certain states of consciousness, and in doing so, i've been able to "create" these states without their use. kind of like "switching". and, with practice, have been able to "enter" these states more quickly and easily, and experience these states for prolonged periods of time, not at the "mercy" of a the length of a cd...

the "only significant" obe that i consciously remember did occur during use of a binaural beat product (non-monroe). i was "in the moment" when i heard, felt, and "saw" a "shell" crack above my head, revealing a pure white light. it was both a first and third person experience. i saw no "form", nothing - just me in a shell with the top cracked open to reveal light. it only lasted a few seconds, but was truly an amazing, peaceful experience. i have never been the same since. unfortunately, this hasn't happened again, whether using this product or not. but, i can now say thats ok.

so, these products can "help" you "experience the moment", but it is still you, not the cd, doing the work. :d