First (Possible) AP/OBE Questions

[Cirrus Minor]

Hello everyone,
For two days in a row I have started using the technique where you get a full sleep cycle, then wake up for about an hour after which you go back to sleep with the intent to become lucid. This has seemed to work better than anything else I've done, though I am still unsure of what I am experiencing.

My evidence for OBE: twice, in two separate locations, I became aware that I was sleeping, felt a vibratory state, experienced apparent separation from my physical body and I experienced this in the location where my physical body actually was. I experienced being in my house, which very much resembled my physical house. Each time I seemed to have multiple separations/returns

Evidence for lucid dream: my experiences seem to morph into a more dreamlike state, with scenery changing to places I am not at, or that I don't know of, and I seem to lose lucidity as time goes on. Also there are people who seem more like scenery, or talk gibberish.

Strange Experiences: During one instance, I tried to look at myself sleeping on the couch. I appeared strange to myself, kind of more boyish than I would expect. I picked myself up and kind of flopped around, which seems to indicate a dream. During another instance, I saw one of my dogs and tried to interact with her, but she seemed scared of me. I woke myself up and my dog was not awake. Other things like floating/falling in blackness, an eerie twilight kind of feeling. There are other things that are more dreamlike to me.

I am wondering if anyone has any good method or thought test for me to use at the time of experience which would indicate to me whether I am dreaming or APing. Also, I feel a lot of the time that if I try too hard to do anything that I will wake up, and that I have too strong a connection with my physical body. All advice/tips are welcome!

[greytraveller]

Hallo Cirrus Minor
Yes, from the description of the events that you provided I would say that you did have several OBEs. Especially if you saw your physical body sleeping. Personally I have Never had a dream in which I viewed my physical body (from the outside). The few times that I Have seen my physical body from another point of view have all been OBEs. How about yourself? Have you Ever had a dream in which you saw your body asleep in a familiar physical location?
Whether an experience becomes a lucid dream (LD) or becomes an OBE mostly depends on YOU. If you have a high level of lucidity (and that means a high level of awareness and control) then the experience can become either a LD or an OBE. It all depends on what you want to do. In a LD you can create the scenery, the people and the story and do just about whatever you want. In an OBE the locations and (astral) people have an objective existence (meaning they are not created by you). So in effect you are now an explorer going through an unfamiliar location. You Can create some objects in an OBE. But most of the people and places you experience in an OBE are already there and are independent of outside control.

Regards
Grey

[Korpo]

Hello, Cirrus Minor.

Evidence for lucid dream: my experiences seem to morph into a more dreamlike state, with scenery changing to places I am not at, or that I don't know of, and I seem to lose lucidity as time goes on. Also there are people who seem more like scenery, or talk gibberish.

These could be hints that you either start out on the astral plane or your focus of consciousness transfers to the astral plane during the experience. On the astral plane the distinction between OBE and LD becomes kind of moot, because this is where you typically are when you dream and you also lack the frame of reference for easy comparison that you have when projecting to the physical/etheric plane. Astral projection is probably what you're doing.

Bizarre elements are typical when you are developing the senses and capabilites of a body. Think of it as developing the translation capability needed to make sense of your energetic experiences. These experiences are not literal, but a translation of interactions with energy into pictures and plot you can understand, process and recall. While this ability is developing, bizarre and absurd elements occur a lot. Compare Robert Monroe's first book with his later ones and you will see the difference developing that capability makes.

Cheers,
Oliver