Re: Michael's MAP Journal
Re: Michael's MAP Journal
Wow, it's all so neat and organized... I think I could learn something from you (haha). Well, good luck - it's always interesting to see how other people progress. I doubt I'll have anything intelligent to say as I'm a newbie but at least I'll be sure to follow this post. :)
Re: Michael's MAP Journal
Thanks guys. Yeah I tend to be pretty analytical for everyting. :)
As I prepare for my 90-day OBE trial that I start tomorrow, I decided I’d write about some of the structure of the trial and what I’ve done to prepare so far.
Weekly Structure
The organization of Mastering Astral Projection (MAP) is broken down into weeks. Each week focuses on a different aspect of the projection process, gradually increasing in complexity. I’m not sure if a week is enough time to “master†each topic, but it is a good starting point.
The first 6 weeks focus on all of the important skills before an actual exit attempt is made, such as:
* breath awareness
* mind taming
* energy work
* entering a trance state
I will go into greater detail for each skill as I practice them. After week 6, exit strategies and all the problems or difficulties that can come up are discussed. The main point of all this is that even if I make rapid progress, it will still be 6 weeks before I even attempt an OBE.
Preparation Done So Far
Week 1 starts off strong with an introduction to many of the practices required for reliable astral projection.
I’ve set up a meditation space in my home that features a sofa chair for the majority of my practice. An egg timer is close by to help with the timing, as well as some incense to help associate the space with the purpose of relaxation/meditation. There is also a hard-backed chair, soft-backed chair, and an extra bed nearby.
MAP recommends keeping a dream journal to help with dream and OBE recall. I’ve been doing this already for the past several weeks on my own and have been moderately successful in jotting down keywords from my dreams. During the 90-day trial, I’ll be posting my keywords and whatever I can remember from my dreams here as well.
I will be using the BrainWave Generator (bwgen) as directed in MAP to help with the practice. Previously, I’ve experimented with other binaural beats/brainwave entrainment technology such as Holo-Sync, Hemi-Sync, and have found them to be quite helpful with meditation. Luckily, I have an audio extension cable to get the output from bwgen on my computer to headphones in the meditation space.
The daily affirmation MP3’s from MAP are loaded into my iPod and I’ll listen to the appropriate one in the morning/evening. Every little bit helps!
Expectations
I’m pretty excited but I’m also feeling a little unsure of myself. By making this so public I risk making failure public as well, and not too many people enjoy that! At the very least, going through this exercise will be a huge growth experience for me. Not only in perseverance, but also in expression and courage. C’est la vie.
Re: Michael's MAP Journal
OBE/Astral Projection Trial Day 1
Program Notes/Observations:
The Brainwave Generator isn’t as pleasant to listen to as Hemi-Sync or Holo-Sync, because there isn’t any sort of music overlaid on top of the binaural beats. That’s ok though, it definitely seems effective so far.
The relaxation exercises are pretty easy, but Robert Bruce seems to stress the importance of them so I will definitely keep working on them.
Breath awareness has been difficult for me as I have a pretty active “monkey mindâ€, and I find my that my mind wanders quite a bit. I’ve been meditating for many weeks now so it’s not like this is a new experience to me either. I imagine my breath awareness would be even worse if I was starting it for the first time today.
Energy body stimulation through the use of “tactile imagingâ€, which is something Robert Bruce coined, is pretty neat. Basically you try to focus your body awareness on a single area of your body, like your big toe. You can scratch or poke your big toe to help with focusing on it. Then you can shift your body awareness to other areas of your body. I only did this for about 5 minutes today but as I write this I still feel the tingling sensations from doing this.
Dream Keywords: web design, business, gift for parents, mix up/same gift with girlfriend
I remembered two separate dreams last night. One was related to having a business on the web, and the other had something to do with a gift for my parents. Sadly I can’t recall any more details than that.
Re: Michael's MAP Journal
OBE/Astral Projection Trial Day 2
Program Notes/Observations:
* I was able to relax a little bit deeper with bwgen, although I’m still having trouble clearing my thoughts when focusing on breath awareness.
* More muscles were tensed/relaxed today for body relaxation today, and I’m thinking this is a trend in the book.
* Energy work focused on sponging/brushing body awareness on my thumbs. It worked pretty well for me without any difficulties, and I felt tingling/buzzing in my thumbs because of it. It’s a very peculiar reaction to just pure thought, and it even lasts for a good few minutes after I’ve stopped thinking about it.
Dream Notes:
* Keywords: backpack, garage door
* I remember something about my garage being broken into with me being close by. There were more details but I’ve forgotten them now.
* I really have to get into the habit of fleshing out my keywords into better descriptions as soon as I write the keywords down. I find myself forgetting the details behind the keywords when I come back to write more later. I find it pretty difficult to force myself to write just after waking up.
Re: Michael's MAP Journal
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael
I’m still having trouble clearing my thoughts when focusing on breath awareness.
This is fairly common- Don't worry too much about it, keep doing it, and eventually, it'll come. Heck, the 'blank mind' may come after you achieve your conscious projection, just don't let it slow you down.
Re: Michael's MAP Journal
Quote:
Originally Posted by CFTraveler
This is fairly common- Don't worry too much about it, keep doing it, and eventually, it'll come. Heck, the 'blank mind' may come after you achieve your conscious projection, just don't let it slow you down.
Thanks. Yeah, it's the trickiest part I think!
Re: Michael's MAP Journal
OBE/Astral Projection Trial Day 3
Program Notes/Observations:
* I should note that I’ve been doing the afternoon exercises in the evening after work. I won’t be doing any morning work until the exit techniques start coming up.
* While listening to bwgen, I use the time for meditation where I focus on my breath. I was especially tired today because I had just finished working out, so I found it easier to relax. There was a point today where the darkness I typically see with my closed eyes got brighter and became a more pure/solid color. That was pretty interesting but as soon as I focused on it, it slipped away. I felt a little different when that happened, but it’s hard to describe other than using the word “good†or “peacefulâ€.
* While doing the energy work on my right thumb I found that my left thumb would start tingling, just like MAP says it might. I didn’t read about that until after it happened, so that was some helpful validation of my experience. I even felt my other fingers start to tingle as well.
* Body awareness of my big toes was harder than my thumbs.
Dream Notes:
* Keywords: table, chair, family, angry, apologize
* I keep seeing one of my best childhood friends’ parents in my dreams, and they always seem to be there to tell me something. This is probably the 4th or 5th time it has happened recently. I don’t really understand why it’s those people in particular though giving me these messages. I usually end up forgetting the message by the time I wake up, although not always. One particular message was something along the lines of “People are different colorsâ€, which I believe was another way of saying that everyone is different, unique, and yet the same. Another message had to do with peace between nations.
* The particular dream I remembered today was me arguing over something with close friends and family at a table. I got frustrated, got up from the table, and pushed the chair in. Immediately afterward, for whatever reason, I understood and apologized… then woke up.
One thing I should add that’s worth mentioning is that I had a bit of an intuitive/psychic event happen to me. As I sat down to use my 4-year old Xbox 360 for media streaming I had this weird thought about the Xbox 360 breaking and how it was a single point of failure for me. I usually don’t think about that so I thought it was a weird thought. Sure enough, I got the red ring of death shortly after I turned the Xbox on and had to get it replaced.
Re: Michael's MAP Journal
If my comments annoy you I'll delete them-
I just wanted to comment that it seems to me you're awakening to your dreamstate lessons, (did you read Monroe's books?) like many of us do- so don't be surprised to get more of those. I can't say what your friend's parents symbolize, but I'd guess they're the representation of a teacher, reiterating things you have learned perhaps, and it's possible that the lesson's 'meat' has escaped you consciously (not subconsciously, I'm sure). As you get more proficient in projection they will become part of your astral adventures, you'll actually travel to teaching places (Akashic Records, Teaching Temples of Shamballa, or pick your favorite term) and get lessons there. Some will be very obscure, others obvious. I think part of the lesson is figuring out what they mean. (Some sort of mental plane development?)-
Also get used to these 'psychic/precog' events, you will notice them more as you continue to practice.