Are you guys normal:)?

[CFTraveler]

ps. Hi Grey.
I disagree with the statement that only 10% of the population has OBEs. According to my own estimation (from talking to church groups and other groups that are open to this in a conversation) it's more like 20% having spontaneous experiences, and a bit more that have them but consider them dreams.
I do agree with the other statistics, they agree with my own observations.

[Korpo]

Hey, Grey.

Aptly put.

Cheers,
Oliver

[astral_1976]

Hey Grey,

I really really find it hard to believe 10% have OBEs...Actually I remember reading he same statistics somewhere but I can't find it now.
In my opnion this is way too inflated. 10% means 100s of millions of people in EU/North America/Asia etc. When I visit social media and forums like this , I see very very low participation (couple thousand hits even on youtube videos). If millions of ppl having OBEs then the participation should be much much higher - especially a topic like this should take some serious attention...And 10% is significant enough to draw attention of the scientific community. So far they are silent about this for the most part.In my opinion, the rate is 1% at best....not even that...

CFTraveller, your observations based on church groups...these are spiritiual communities so I guess it makes sense that they have much higher participation rate.

[greytraveller]

Greeting All

CFTraveler
Am surprised to find that many people in your church group are open to discussing the subject of OBEs. I am Not disputing your 20 % estimate yet perhaps astral 1976 is correct in that your church groups do consist of a representative sample of the overall population. I based my estimates on the (relatively small) number of people who are members of an OBE website like AD. Whether 10% or 20% of the population have OBEs (and various surveys conducted over the years have revealed various figures (9%, 17%, etc))that still means that most people do Not have OBEs and the vast majority of people that do have OBEs either do not realize what is happening or they do Not wish to discuss it with others outside of their immediate family. And that's really too bad because the potential for learning and growth is just about unlimited.

Regards
Grey

[CFTraveler]

Greeting All

CFTraveler
Am surprised to find that many people in your church group are open to discussing the subject of OBEs.

Regards
Grey

It came about in a weird way, and it surprised me greatly when they came out of the "projector's closet". I can tell about it if you want to hear it.

[natalie-1984]

Do I consider myself normal? What is normal?
I love how you replied to this CFT and I would like to also add that in our society talking about shallow things is probably considered normal. And talking about physics and "mystical" experiences are considered abnormal. I rarely talk about my experiences with anyone. I guess I am afraid I would seem crazy and get put away, or have my children taken away from me.

From the outside I seem normal, I am a single mom of 2 just trying to make it. But once you get to know me I am pretty deep and have many layers (of craziness )

What do I think of my experiences? I think anyone can do them. I just hit the right spot of being awake and alseep at the same time, and it just happens. I no longer get vibrations or hear the loud noise, I just feel "seperaty" and slip out like a glove! But maybe I have a bit of an advantage since I have always had lucid dreams and been a little psychic. But honostly - yah anyone can do it!

Also, most of the time my OOBEs feel more real than reality, more LUCID. In reality my vision is faulty and a bit blurry, but when I am out it is usually crystal clear. That is one of the major reasons I think this is real! How else could I explain that? If this was all fake or just a dream I would be open to that possibility as well.

I appreciate your post, I didn't think you were being rude at all. But I could see how it could be read that way. I like the bluntness of your post, it gives me a chance to learn about other people's point of view. I would love to talk to someone who DID think we were all crazy! That would be neat!

[greytraveller]

CFT
Very funny, "projector's closet" and lol. That's a clever term I've never heard before. My "projector's closet" doesn't have any skeletons (an elemental or two but No skeletons ).
I am quite intrigued about what brought about an open discussion of OBEs in your church group so please, by all means, tell me what happened. (Either here in this forum if you feel it is not off topic or by pm or email.)

Warm regards
Grey

[CFTraveler]

Here is fine. I've told it before so I thought it might be boring.
At the time I was in the Board of Directors of my church, and also doing some platform work, and I was due to take the Workshop at the TMI Robert gave a few years ago (three or four?) on the weekend. So I told the minister I would be away for the weekend for a workshop, and didn't give any details.
I was back the next weekend when someone asked me where I was, and I said 'at a workshop at the Monroe Institute'. Someone else asked what it was about, and I (truthfully) answered that it was a weekend course to practice energy work, and one of the ladies perked up and said "The Monroe Institute? The one that teaches OBE and stuff like that?" So now I had to answer, so I confessed that yes, that one, and she got all excited, since she knew what it was about. So of course, many of the ladies in the church started asking questions, and then after the service, (we have a 'social communion' after the service, with pot lucks and such) so after, a group congregated around me and started asking me assorted questions about OBEs and what Robert teaches, etc, and from that a lot of the people there (a lot of senior citizens in this particular church, for whatever reason) started reporting having had spontaneous projections or waking up with vibrations. (That's where I got my percentages, lol) and even the minister admitted that she got vibrations and the ocassional spontaneous projection, but had never had the opportunity to talk about that.
So from that (the minister) and I got together for lunch, she drilled me about what I believed about them and after a while of questions (like about the planes, etc- obviously she had done some research about it and wanted to know what I thought about the belief systems associated with it.) She also asked me to give her pointers about how to consciously induce them. So after a while she got together with the board and they agreed they would like for me to teach a mini-workshop about OBE to see how many people were interested.
So I taught the course (it was the first time) and it was incredibly successful. I had people from other churches attending, and it was nice, got my feet wet teaching this.

Then a year later I went back to my old church (a long story and for another time) and one of the teachers there had attended my class in the other church and liked it, and arranged for me to teach the class there. This one was not as well attended, and I think that it's because the group was very eclectic- and this church offered so many different courses about so many things that people just weren't that interested. But the ones that attended came back, so that's good.

[astral_1976]

I like the bluntness of your post, it gives me a chance to learn about other people's point of view. I would love to talk to someone who DID think we were all crazy! That would be neat!

Thank you. Unfortunately, people think we are crazy
I finally get it out from my system and told this to one of my close friend and since that day he is trying to find out if I use any drugs lol...Of course I don't.
I somehow feel like it is my obligation to share this experience with atheists. I prefer not to talk with religious people as they already have faith and it is a good thing, I don't want to confuse them. But I believe our experiences can help atheist people. I was an atheist and I know how much of a relief I got after my frist OBE. Because it is really terrible to think that your life will be over forever after death, its almost deppresive feeling...

[turbulenceadams]

Atheism has nothing to do with not believing in an after-life. Atheists reject the belief in the existence of deities. It comes from the Greek atheos which means 'without god'.
For me, not believing in 'god' in no way takes away from my knowledge that I exist outside of my physical body.