Newsgroups: alt.magick

Bill Eichman writes 
>  cal@otter.hpl.hp.com (Colin Low) writes:
>
>> OBE is an amazing experience, magical in every sense, and I'm surprised
>> how rarely it is mentioned here. For those who haven't experienced it 
>> I'll say the following:
>> 
>> I haven't a clue how to tell anyone how to do it. I think it is 80%
>> physiology and 20% psychology; if I don't get the physiological conditions
>> right, nothing happens. Mild fasting seems to help considerably in my
>> case.
>> 
>
>Maybe you could give more detailed descriptions about the when, how, and 
>what of the experience for us?
>
>What exactly led up to it, how long did it last, and how successfully 
>have you been able to recreate/reliably produce it??
>
There has been a lot written about it, and my experience tallies closely with
written accounts. It has occurred sporadically and with increasing frequency
since I was ~20. The initial step is that I `wake up' in my sleep, often
as a result of dreaming lucidly. Sometimes I find I am paralysed, and in the
early days I used to panic. The paralysis is real - there is `movement
inhibitor' right down in the root of the brain which prevents physical
movement during dream sleep. Scientific American published results in this area
based on experiments with cats.
 
In the early days I would also `wake up' and think
I was really awake, but again I tend not to make that mistake now. Most of
my early experiences were abortive in that I woke up in my sleep and made
a variety of mistakes which led to really waking up.

The key to OBE was to recognise the `awake' state, and to let a feeling of
lightness develop. I find it quite exhilerating. At this point I am not 
dreaming in an active sense; I can't see anything, I am fully conscious but
my powers of discrimination are weak (it's a kind of `right brain' activity
if you'll excuse the sloppy language), and I often hear noises like people
shouting in a large indoor swimming pool. 

At this point I float out. I can usually choose the direction. I'm usually
blind for several seconds, and then I get tunnel vision which expands
as I `focus', and the size of the tunnel varies from experience to experience
 - in some I see normally, in others it is like looking through a tube. 
Focusing is a mental activity - I pull a scene into focus by an act of will
and it develops an incredible crispness, but it isn't fully stable - it has
an `ideoplastic' quality which I'll explain below. Just as it is possible
to become aware of the physiological basis of sight by observing `floaters',
scintillating dots etc, I can look with enough clarity to be aware of a slight
`heat-haze' shimmer. I must emphasise that these aren't `after the event'
observations - my state of mind is rational enough to be able to make detailed
observations at the time and relate them to normal vision etc.

The kinetic sense is strong. Sometimes I have a body, sometimes I manufacture
one, sometimes I am a floating presence. I normally move by willing, and
I float around at walking speed. I have systematically moved around most
of my house in this way. I normally go through solid obstacles. I can go
places by willing, and the tunnel vision sort of closes-in and opens-out
like a camera shutter, and then I'm there.

The reality isn't one-for-one with the real reality. Some people make strong
claims about being able to observe one-for-one, and I see no reason to doubt
them, but I find my experience filled with intrusive elements which I
don't seem to be able to discriminate at the time. I can manipulate the
reality by willing, and on occasions I've been able to make different bodies
for myself, make things appear etc. I'm continuing to experiment, and sometimes
I have a go at visiting people.

The experience is very vivid and intense, but the memory fades quickly,
and I am reminded strongly of Castenada's `left side awareness' (which is of
course controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain).

At the moment I can get into the state when conditions are right, which is
most Sunday mornings. Jan & I take it in turns to have a lie-in at the weekends
while the other looks after the kids, and I get Sunday morning. During the
week I stay up too late and get too tired. I very rarely OBE when Jan is
in the bed, even when all other conditions are right. Jan also has OBEs and
suffers the same problem.

My normal Sunday morning runs like this: the kids come in and jump on me
and I groan a lot, and either wake up completely or go into a dreamy, dozy
state. Jan takes the kids away. I then make an effort to `stop the internal
dialogue' (e.g. suppress left brain activities) and go into a completely
passive visual state where I am a passive and uncaring observer of anything
going through my mind. I can normally go lucid or OBE directly after about
30 minutes. It is sloppy pseudo-scientific language, but I identify the
switch from `left brain' to `right brain' awareness as the key thing that I
need to do to trigger the experience, and wanting it to happen is actually
counter-productive; it is the letting go of normal awareness which seems
to trigger it.

I must emphasise that no amount of desperate willing has been of any help
in procuring OBEs. I'd suggest the following, based on what I've read and
my own experience:

   - wake up while you are still tired, but not too tired, and go to the
     toilet, masturbate, grope the SO sleepily or anything else your
     ingenuity suggests.

   - relax completely and let your mind become placid. Don't try to shape
     your thoughts in any way. Focus on visuals, but don't focus too hard.
     Suppress any verbal dialogue. I need complete, undisturbed relaxation,
     and I don't get that with Jan moving in the bed.

   - fall asleep again. If you experience a false awakening or a feeling
     of lucidity, or you feel you can't move, don't get excited or you will
     probably wake up. Learn to recognise the state, and then simply feel
     yourself becoming light. Chocks away...

The 1500th. dumb suggestion for inducing OBE......

Colin     
Newsgroups: alt.magick