I had an out of body experience this morning. I haven’t had one in forever. This has been the longest stretch I’ve gone without having one (10 months according to my records), and it felt pretty good to get out briefly.
I didn’t get to explore or anything, unfortunately. I was mostly stuck in my body. I could get out for a little bit, but then I would get yanked back. A pretty standard OBE for me… it’s how most of them go. It’s annoying to read about other people’s OBEs, and see how much fun they have. Mine consist of me floating a few feet from my body, then getting yanked back. Lather, rinse, repeat. Not terribly exciting.
Of course it is cool just to have an OBE in general… even if I can’t get that far away from my body. Nonetheless, I do wish I could do more exploring. Oh well.
Locations!
1. Bed in NY home (both orientations)
2. Keith’s house in NY
3. Scott’s house in NY
4. Jason’s house in NY
5. House in Buford, my room
6. Hotel room for Dianne’s Publix thing
7. Apt 94
8. Dorm room in FL
9. Dianne’s apt in SC
10. Grandma’s FL room (twice)
11. House in Buford, the couch
12. Dorm room in MD
13. Second dorm room in MD
14. Third dorm room in MD
15. Apartment in MD
Most readers probably don’t understand, so I’ll explain everything:
An out of body experience (OBE) is when you perceive your consciousness outside of your physical body. Some people prematurely understand it as floating around like a ghost… that’s an extremely extremely simplified explanation. Things are a LOT more complicated than that. But if this is your first time hearing about OBEs, that might be a good place to start.
I started training OBEs when I was 15 years old. It took me 6 months of training before I accomplished my first OBE, when I was 16. Ever since then, I’ve had OBEs randomly… usually at about once or twice a month. They usually come in spurts, so it wouldn’t surprise me if I have another OBE tonight, since I just had one this morning.
Now, a logical guy would probably say: “Well, maybe it’s a hallucination? Or dream? How do you know it’s REAL?” To answer that question: immediately, I don’t know. And I can’t tell. Most OBEs are very strange… the state of mind is like nothing we normally experience. It’s not a dream state of mind… it’s not a normal waking state of mind… it’s just weird.
But we can be smart about it. For example, most dreams that we have take place in foreign locations. I have dreams about being in malls, in houses, in cities, in school, etc. But OBEs always start in the location where my physical body is at. This is so consistent, that I keep track of all the locations where I’ve had an OBE - which is what the list is above. Those are all the different locations where I’ve had an OBE. One notable location is #6. We were staying in a hotel for one night in South Carolina, and I had an OBE there. I had never visited the hotel, and I’ll likely never visit it again. In my opinion, that is strong evidence that OBEs are more real than dreams. What are the odds I would have a dream of that location the very night that I was sleeping in it, and fool myself into thinking it was an OBE?
What really convinced me that OBEs are real is this experience. In it, I perceived a “black plastic washer” on the ground. Later, when I woke up and checked, it was actually a black guitar pick. This proved to me that I was perceiving reality when I left my body, because I had no clue that my guitar pick was in the location where I correctly perceived it.
Different people have different beliefs on what OBEs are. It isn’t clear cut. A lot of OBEs contain hallucinations, and merge into dreams. It’s not simple. But there are some key features of OBEs which separate them from dreams, and which prove that they are more real than dreams, as outlined above. If you want to read about more proof, then I suggest reading Robert Monroe’s, Journey’s Out of the Body. Monroe’s work could convince some of the toughest skeptics.
When I decided to shut down PsiPog (my old paranormal website), my OBEs stopped. I think it was because I was telling myself that I was done with that part of my self, and it was time to grow and change. Now that I’ve settled down 10 months later, and am starting to hack reality again, I’ve had an OBE. I suspect I’ll start having them consistently again.
I would recommend everyone train for OBEs. While it’s true that my OBEs are usually dull, I have had some really thrilling ones. And just the experience in general is really amazing. To turn around, and see your physical body laying in bed… it’s scary, it’s disturbing :-), but it’s also awesome. I have no doubt that I’m more than my physical body, and that I’m going to survive the death of my body. And it doesn’t have anything to do with faith. I KNOW it. I’ve SEEN it. Having that sense of certainty has made it worth the effort.
June 17th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Have you ever read “The Silva Mind Control Method” by Jose Silva. He has some great methods for meditation. I used them and would set my intention to get out of my body while in the alpha state. It worked liked a charm. Got so I would get up and realize I wasn’t “really” awake and that I was out of my body. Every night for a while. Then I had to set my intention not to get out all the time. If you have read it already, try using the active meditation. If you haven’t get your hands on a copy and read it. It is really great!
June 17th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Well I a radom OBE A little over a year ago (Before I knew what they were), and it scared the hell outta me. But once I was able to figure out what happened I’ve been trying to do it again. Only been sucessful once so far. But I’ve had alot of periods when I was busy that I wans’t reall trying. My problem now is that I can’t keep the vibrations going when I finally do get them.
June 17th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
I’ve been trying to have an OBE for a while, but I have problems making my head fall asleep, especially the are around my mouth, and for my body to fall completely asleep would take longer than the estimated 10-20 mins. Could someone tell me about some good relaxation methods please? I’ve tried counting backwards, but it didn’t work to well.
June 17th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
I am delighted to hear that you once more had an OBE. I wish to give you a piece to think on:
According to Yoga science, philosophies and practices, astral projection is still a very surface level of reality. Beyond the astral level, there are more subtle experiences.
They roughly state that there is the physical body, then there is the astral body, and that is where most websites and knowledge stops, since there are very few human beings that go beyond. But beyond the physical, emotional and astral, there is what they call the level of the causal body, and beyond, there is the level of the buddhic body. Then eventually, at the core of all bodies, there is Atman, the absolute center of the individual soul.
Maybe a suggestion Sean, to try and go beyond the astral. It may give you a motivation, or a new point of perspective, of focus. Something to experiement with and practice for.
Here is the technique how I understand it: You do exactly the same what you do when trying to AP, only difference is, that you apply it to yourself when in Astral. So don’t go and look outward when AP-ing, instead, keep your focus one-pointed, keep it inside. Keep your mind completely empty, in focus, with the intention of moving your experience to the even subtler realms, bodies of your being. Try to pierce the astral with your consicousness so to say.
I believe it is much like going in an elevator that’s in the center of a building with multiple floors: You go in on ground level, you enter the elevator (meaning that you focus inside) then the elevator starts to rise and the doors open to a new level, this is the first floor (astral). You can choose to exit the elevator and explore the astral floor, but why not enter the elevator again, or stay in it in the first place. Let the doors to the astral open, but don’t let that disturb your focus. Instead you keep focussed inside, you stay in the elevator. And then the elevator will rise again, to a higher floor.
According to yoga science and to the people who practice this stuff or have practiced it, the second floor is called the causal realm/body. The third floor starts to become interesting to me, that is the body which is often identified as the direct expression from the human soul. It is called the Buddhic body. It fills you with absolute bliss and happiness. It is of a very subtle energy.
Move beyond that into the center of your soul itself, and enlightenment will be the result. This is according to my experience so far, my intuition and the ancient teachings of ‘masters’.
I’ve been meaning to tell you this when I heard you were focussed on AP’s alot and that you wanted to achieve instant AP-capabilities. There is more beyond the astral level. I personally make use of these levels without leaving my physical body. But it can be done in your way as well. Maybe it gives you a new perspective, hopefully.
Bentinho Massaro
June 18th, 2007 at 5:18 am
“I would recommend everyone train for OBEs.”
There are hundreds of techniques and methods out there, and everyone responds differently to each method - but just for interest’s sake; how did you first learn to OBE? Did you find that some things really didn’t work at all for you, or discover something that was a huge help?
I personally have never dedicated much time to OBEs though it’s a huge interest for me anyway. I believe that I’m too grounded in reality and myself at the moment to pull it off though - it’s hard for me to “get outside of” my physical body. I struggle even to imagine it. However, I want to work on them in the future at some point as I believe they can be a very valuable tool.
June 18th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
“I have no doubt that I’m more than my physical body, and that I’m going to survive the death of my body.”
Aha, but remember what Monroe said in Journeys Out of the Body about this? To paraphrase:
“Just because we are outside of our bodies does not mean that our body is not somehow responsible for the experience”
Essentially, an OBE might be something that the body produces, and is required to have an OBE. Granted I’m more in line with you, but OBE’s aren’t absolute proof for something completely independent of the body, just evidence.
-Hatter
June 18th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Nice post Sean.
Thats a great story. I really do want to have OBE’s, I just never seem to get to it (reading about them, practicing them, etc.). I’m hoping this summer will be a psionic summer :).
- hotfoot982
June 20th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
I did try to have one, multiple times, except i feel like my eyes start focusing on my eyelids and it hurts them :(. However, it did feel like i was almost going into rem or something, because it looked like reality was going in + out + in + out over and over rapidly (i had my eyes closed, so not much reality to see). What do you recommend?
August 11th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
hey can u plz plz plz answer this?i know this article is old but i need this answered:When u have an OBE is it possible to actually float around and see things,or is it just hovering a few feet from your body? again could u plz answer this it would be highly appriciated if u did. thanks-