Search the Community

Is it possible for the non-dual to achieve some development or purpose by manifesting then penetrating a duality? Are there stages/progressions within non-duality that are exercised in a duality? More simply: why do humans exist? Not how, but why! Long ago I had a dream that I later re-entered to experiment within. The dream showed me a complex interaction between the non-dual and the manifested duality. I knew intelligences that were within both.

You dont need to enter or re-enter a dream to see that , If you need to be shown the ' complex interaction between the non-dual and the manifested duality' just OPEN YOUR EYES and look around you ... at life .

Wait, ... you go back in time? (can you really time travel?) And step into the dream again and do experiments to test your hypotheses? Sometimes you do that with a friend watching the scene IN the dream? That is one heck of a friend to be able to watch the scene in your dream. Sorry, just about everything you said in that posts makes me wonder why I can't go back in time and have my friend watch me in my dreams. What is wrong with me?? Sterling said, "But when you finally woke up you would dismiss them outright." So time travel to the past isn't possible?? LOL

Usually I go back in time and step into the dream again and do experiments to test my hypotheses. Sometimes I do that with a friend watching the scene in the dream.

The science that pointed to the brain being where the experience of being originates is known to be flawed, and has been for many years, so yes. Here is a nice article on this topic: https://tricycle.org/article/six-questions-b-alan-wallace/ ...or, if you are more science minded: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9490228/ - Setting that aside for a moment - if you were asleep and based your reality on experiments done in your dream, your experiments MIGHT have some sort of seeming circular reality, but when you finally woke up you would dismiss them outright. The same goes here - it is entirely possible to "wake up" from the dream of duality and see that there is a deeper, more real level of reality that includes and suffuses the reality you already experience.

Of course you can. Visualize this 3D timeline coming from behind you and extending out in front. Just move your attention back along the timeline to the time of the dream and step into the energy field. Train a friend to do the timeline thing and get them to do it with you There is of course development of the ability to visualize. I have had some years of visualizing so that that particular inner plane sense is somewhat developed.

It wouldn't occur to me, but I don't remember either all that well. Flatliners was about a memory of a trauma Kiefer Sutherland inflicted on someone else as I recall? -- the movie creator's dream of a remorseful perpetrator? Alas, memories of trauma buried deep in the unconscious are usually uniquely personal and concern the trauma inflicted on us... if we survive it that is. Perpetrators, even those who are capable of remorse, seldom get traumatized on the unconscious level, hurting someone else doesn't rewire one's neurophysiology -- in most cases they either feel nothing in particular (no mirroring neurons operational, so they can't relate to the feelings of those they hurt) or actually enjoy it (10% of the population, aka the sociopaths). But like I said, my memory of the movie is rather dim. And from Travels I only remember that Crichton hated medicine and his father, both for a good reason.

I've had an on-again, off-again (mostly off-again) interest in Astral Projection. None of the techniques have ever worked for me. Interestingly, this one is not entirely dissimilar from certain instructions related to dark retreat. Anyone try this or something similar? Video: Transcript (polished by ChatGPT): Let’s be honest: most of what we see online about astral projection is fluff. Rope techniques, climbing ladders, “five easy steps guaranteed to get you out in 10 minutes”—it’s all nonsense. A lot of these people have never actually done it. They’re just repeating something they’ve read in a forum because it gets clicks. But here’s the truth: astral projection isn’t instant. It isn’t easy. It isn’t necessarily difficult either, but you can’t fake your way into it. Yet it is real. And in this video, I’ll show you how it actually works based on my own personal experience. This is a detailed explanation, but every part of it is important. If you’re serious about learning this, I urge you to stay with me until the end. So let’s get into it. The Big Reframe The first thing to understand is this: astral projection isn’t weird or unnatural. You already do it every single night. When you fall asleep, your body shuts down, but your awareness continues. That’s what dreaming is—an unconscious form of astral projection, the human brain interpreting experiences of your true self. The difference here is awareness. Astral projection is simply staying awake while the body falls asleep. Instead of being swept away into dream imagery, you remain the observer—the witness. You don’t force it. You don’t make it happen. You let the natural process unfold while keeping that flame of awareness alive. The truth is, your conscious awareness never actually sleeps. The body sleeps, the mind quiets down, emotions fade—but the silent witness, the eternal eye, is always awake. If you learn to rest there, you can follow the shift directly as it happens. That’s astral projection. It’s not something new. It’s something you already do—only now you’re paying attention. Foundation Before you can astral project, you need a foundation—and that foundation is meditation. If you can’t sit still, calm your thoughts, and relax deeply, you’ll never reach the state you need. Astral projection isn’t a quick hack; it’s a skill, like building strength or learning an instrument. It takes practice, patience, and consistency. Step one is learning how to relax so deeply that the body feels heavy, almost unreal. Step two is learning to watch your thoughts without getting pulled into them. This is why meditation is essential. It teaches you how to sit in the observer state—the exact state you’ll carry into projection. Skip it and you’ll struggle. Do the groundwork and you’ll have a real foundation. I cannot stress this enough. The Method: Entering the Observer State Now, here’s the real method. Lie on your back with your arms and legs comfortably spread apart, palms facing upward. Yes, you can do this in any position, but ritual sets intention, and your subconscious recognizes, Ah, we’re doing this now. Close your eyes. Shift your awareness into the mind’s eye, as if you’re looking from behind your thoughts and feelings. This is sometimes called pineal gazing. Now just watch. Colors, lights, and patterns will flicker behind your eyelids. Don’t judge them. Don’t control them. Just observe. It should feel as though you’re trying to look through your eyelids. Over time, those flickers grow into vivid scenes. It’s like watching static on a TV slowly form into a movie—and then realizing you can step inside the screen. The flat blackness behind your eyelids begins shifting into a three-dimensional space, like being in a pitch-black room where you can’t quite see but can sense the volume of the space. Then come the sensations: vibrations, buzzing, floating, rocking, or sinking. These aren’t obstacles; they’re signs your body is falling asleep while your awareness remains awake. Stay calm. Let them happen. Don’t judge. It can feel frightening to beginners, but no matter how intense it becomes, you are in no danger. These are the same natural processes your body goes through every night—only now you’re conscious of them. Eventually, you’ll feel a shift—a snap, a pop, or just a sudden change. That’s the moment you’re out. You don’t “float” out—you’re simply out. You switch states between human and eternal witness in an instant. You feel more awake and alive than you ever have before. It is not the dreamy, vague feeling people expect. If it is, you’ve entered a lucid dream instead. Lucid Dreams: The Gateway Here’s something almost nobody tells you: before you get full astral projection, you’ll often hit lucid dreams first. Many people even mistake lucid dreaming for astral projection. A lucid dream is like a halfway house—half awake, half asleep. But from there, you can transition directly into projection. This happened to me in my early journeys. I realized mid-dream, Wait—this isn’t projection. This is a lucid dream. And instantly—bam—I was back in my bedroom, outside my body. There was no break in consciousness. One moment I was dreaming, the next I was fully out. And that’s when I understood something visceral: the witness never sleeps. There is no separation between waking, dreaming, or projecting. Only the body sleeps. Consciousness is always creating, always experiencing. When you see this directly, it can be terrifying at first. You realize you are not the body, not the ego—just awareness itself. It shatters the belief that waking life is real and dreams are illusory. That can be frightening, but it’s a necessary truth on any spiritual path. What NOT to Do This is where most people go wrong. They search for techniques—climbing a rope, rolling out, jumping off a swing, and so on. These tricks keep you stuck in imagination. You’re so busy pretending to climb a rope that you miss the actual process unfolding naturally. Astral projection isn’t about muscling your way out. It’s about letting go—letting the body sleep while you remain the witness. Don’t waste time on gimmicks. Keep it simple: relax and allow. Set, Setting, and Spiritual Preparation There’s another part of astral projection that doesn’t get talked about enough: your state of being. Astral projection isn’t just a mechanical trick. It’s like psychedelics—what you bring to the experience shapes what you find there. Your mindset, lifestyle, and habits all manifest when you’re out of body. If you’re anxious, depressed, addicted, or neglecting yourself, you’ll bring those energies into the astral, and they’ll take form. That’s why some people encounter demons, reptilians, archons, or other malevolent beings. They think the astral is dangerous when it’s really reflecting what they carry inside. You are the creator of your own reality. In the astral, that truth becomes immediate and unavoidable. So it’s vitally important to clean up your life as best you can. Cultivate a spiritual practice. Take care of your body and mind. Recognize your own power, because in the astral, that power is immediate. You can create anything. The difference between a nightmare, a confusing dream, or a conscious, godlike exploration of reality comes down to what you bring with you. Set and setting matter—and your inner world is everything. Words of Encouragement Astral projection isn’t easy or instant, but it’s real. The more you practice, the stronger the observer becomes. Every time you lie down and meditate, you sharpen the awareness that makes projection possible. And when it finally happens, you’ll know. It won’t feel like imagination. It will feel like stepping out of one room and into another—more real than your human life has ever felt. That’s when the real exploration begins. If you try this method, share your experiences. The only proof that matters is your own direct experience. Thank you for watching. Until next time.

I once had a dream that demonstrated relationships and intelligences present in that process. On waking I re-entered the dream space and did experiments to test the reality of what I was shown

Yeah... he'll want to keep it in the tradition, I would imagine. No surprise there. This is often very much the case with all of the original Tibetan teachers that escaped China, or were trained by them. I can't tell from your post, and you may know this, but the eventual goal of Dream Practice is not lucid dream, but rather being awakened in all moments including sleep. This is something that, in my experience, sometimes naturally happens on (or just after) retreats. Lucid dreaming would be more of a siddhi than a desirable path milestone. Do you mind if I ask: Do you know experientially what is meant by Rigpa, or the "nature of mind"? This isn't intended as a "gotcha", it might not be something that arises in the traditions you have pursued.

I talked to him personally and asked him a few questions. When I asked about Ming methods ih his teaching he refused to answer my question. Then I asked him about his opinion on Taiji methods and whether they might correlate and can go along with Dzogchen practice. His answer was "you should quit it if you want to practice Tibetan methods I teach". I have never had conversation with him after that and have no desire to be honest. In my opinion (and from Daoist perspective) one should not do any Dream Yoga until they are good at Ming methods and have their yuan jing full. Even if it is full the dream practice is somewhat different in Neidan, there is nothing like "lucid dreaming". But he held this seminar to complete beginners. I am not sure his teaching is authentic Tibetan Buddhism, probably some modern variation of it. Also I was a member of that group for awhile and I did not see there any Ming related methods.

In my experience this is 100% the case. I have had a number of nights where I watched myself sleep and dream as a "witness" rather than a participant. It is absolutely possible to take the bare awareness of a practice like shikantaza or dzogchen and have that be present when asleep. We are ALWAYS just awareness. This is obviously the premise of Tibetan dream yogas, which I have researched. My success with inducing this is non-existent, but when it has occurred it has (2 out of 4 times) been after being on retreat. Gerard, I don't think you read the text properly, we aren't talking about the conventional way of thinking about "astral travel". This isn't a siddhi. In fact, Patanjali would absolutely agree that it is possible to see that reality is dream-like (or "a dream") in both waking and sleeping. Siddhi's are only distracting for those that would use them to gratify attachment or aversion, as you suggest. They will also occur naturally of their own accord, without being sought, as the belief in the solidity of "reality" is eroded.

In my experience The Source of All (the Dao) has a manifesting impulse and a non-manifesting impulse - hence the dream I had demonstrating both. Many humans (and other soul-bearing species) can access both "soul-bearing" is used in a non-technical sense

Some of those lives are on parallel timelines. Often I experience those while dreaming. A common sign is dreaming of people I know well, that look a bit differently in the dream and are the wrong ages or in the wrong relationships compared with this 3D timeline In one dream I was with a cousin. She looked a little differently so I asked her if she was my cousin in the 3D timeline and she said she was. My long-passed mother was also in the dream and much younger than I ever remember her.

Nope, the idea was not an elitist club, anymore than a tennis club that wants its members to be tennis players rather than football players bent on preaching to them about the correct shape of the ball they should be playing with. Or a football club that tries to stop tennis players from running around the field swinging their racquets at the goalkeeper. TBH that idea was born out of sheer frustration... a pipe dream... something along the lines of that tree house rule:

20 or 200 or 2000, I don't think it will help. What might help would be applying a special rule to that forum: only those who could reference their neidan teacher and lineage would be qualified to post. Pipe dream of course. But what passes for neidan discussions otherwise is akin to a plumber teaching a neurosurgeon that the internal carotid arteries supplying blood to the brain should be tackled exactly like the water pipes supplying water to the toilet. After all both carry fluid (or as the case may be in current neidan discussions on the board, "breath"), and therefore there's absolutely no reason to call a neurosurgeon when one needs to regulate blood supply to the brain -- a plumber is fully qualified.

It is the adoption of a quasi non-dual view that makes Liber Null of interest to me as a workable system. Insight into non-duality clarifies the difference between the dream-like world of duality, and the sharp clarity of the non-dual. With an appreciation of the difference between these two it isn't difficult to choose almost any model of reality (all of which are necessarily "dual") and carry a "soft-belief" (or "hold reality lightly", as my late Tibetan teacher would say) about the world that makes working within that belief system possible. The other aspect is that there must be an avenue for a particular working to appear in the world for you, so if you want a visit from a god, or ancestor, a dream is a common way for them to appear. Another way might be as an entry in a book you are randomly looking at or, in my case, in a vision, since I already have visions regularly. Being able to summon the HGA already connected with a dream I recall having as a teen about meeting a "Guardian Angel", so it seemed somewhat possible already. The stack as I look at it is a s simple as: Choose a working of some sort, with emphasis on it being something that has a place to come to fruition. My experience is that requests that ask for insight, or benefit large groups of people as well as yourself tend to get more traction tha purely selfish motives. I have never requested anything with dark motives. Devise a way to symbolically connect to it, or at its most simple just ASK genuinely, or from a place of surrender what you want to appear. Adopt a belief system that you can at least partially accept that would make the vehicle, space where it appears and outcome seem actually possible. Invoke without attachment to outcome. Refrain from dwelling on the request or outcome in your daily life going forward. Long before I tried the HGA working, I was already doing this- asking for a certain kind of place to live, or the financial reality that would allow me to relax, or certain kinds of relationships, or jobs... probably not always without attachment. In all cases these requests MOSTLY materialized, but this relative reality has a sense of humor. You might imagine that you want a house with a fireplace, but get one with a GAS fireplace. You might as for a certain type of car to appear, but find it isn't in a color you think you want. This sort of magic has nothing to do with beliefs or traditions, etc. in my opinion. I find that ALL of my students that adopt a "bodhisattva" attitude, and regular meditation practice tend to have an easier, more bountiful and more relaxed/happy life to the degree that they keep it up, work to drop their attachments and aversions, and BELIEVE that they can actively be of benefit to the happiness of others in the world. Recommended.

Here is ho Mingyur Rinpoche puts it: What is perfect is the essence of every sentient being. The jiva is the relative deluded individual. The summation is usually "Brahma satyam, jagan mithya, jivo brahmaiva naparah." Brahman is real, the world is illusory, the essence of the jiva is the essence of Brahman. A more radical Vedantin along the lines of Gaudapada might say there is no issue because suffering is illusory, like a dream. The true self is safe and sound as always, so the solution is not to improve the dream, but to wake up the dreamer.

If you are interested in how west and east converge on Daoism, try this book Dream Trippers Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality David A. Palmer and Elijah Siegler https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/D/bo26692000.html

Yes I can still function without thinking. I've noticed that there are many layers to consciousness, and a variety of thoughts. I still occasionally get some, but I don't actively use my mind and inner voice. Often I hear other voices say things. I have very vivid, realistic dreams. The other day I dreamed I was part of a group of people who committed themselves to advancing life on Earth. At the end of my dream, a voice said "there is nowhere as exciting as this planet"

I grew up in a christian - Baptist family. Though I have never felt connected to the christian religion. I don't think it's a bad religion, I just feel my ideals and who I am would never be able to be christian. Like for example, my grandmother is always saying she hopes I accept Jesus died for my sins and that god exist. Whether god or Jesus exist or not, is debatable. And honestly, I won't say they don't exist, cuz you never know. What bothers me is him dying for my sins. Who gave him the right to die for my sins? If I have sins, flaws, or bad karma I will face it head on. I don't need a savior. By the way the word savior rubs me the wrong way too. I actually like the idea of facing my sins, bad karma, or whatever punishments I am do. In my ideaology I can learn something from the experience. But having some savior take my sins away, who asked for that. it's like denying me the right for self growth. I am not scared of suffer for a greater gain, I do worry about my will wavering though. As a kid, the first religion I was drawn to was witchcraft. I thought it was cool, which led to me doing embarassing things. Honestly, I was an embarassing kid in general, I don't know why I did half the things I did. I can't help thinking of the time I tried to seduce the neighborhood boys when i was 10yo, I was dancing on a old wooden chest to music like britney spears while twirling a training bra around my finger. Then my father walked in, I don't know what my father was coming to say to me when he opened the door. But my father took one look around my bedroom, then he stepped back, and closed the door. Man the way my father reacted and the look on his face, I could never get it out of my head. He had a look like he was honestly embaressed for me and the way he just exited the room like he saw nothing, nothing at all. It was like dad don't leave me like that! Like man I had to have been making a fool of myself. You can imagine how I was probably like when I got into witchcraft as a kid. Man, I one day came across a spell I wanted to try. So, I charged into my grandmothers living and loudly told her I was going to attempt to summon a snow storm, right then and their. I had originally thought my grandmother would think I was talking nonsense, that was my expected response. If my grandmother was like any other chrisitian in the world, I would have expected her to say thats the devils work. No, my grandma instead said, "You about lost your god damn mind! Not on my carpet you don't, take it outside!" When I look back to this I feel so embarassed of my behavior, but I kind of find it funny my grandmothers response was the same as the time I came home with my dog and we were both covered in mud from head to toe and I was thinking of crossing her carpet to head to the shower. She told me to jump the fence and hose off in the backyard. I first got into meditation at the end of my witchcraft interest. I had found what was claimed to be a spell, but later when I brought it up someone had said that it was reiki. It was a visualization exercise of imagining your feet become roots and they go deep into the earth, and you imagine the earth energy rises up from the roots. That was the first time I felt something work. I felt a sense of heavyness creaping up my body, and it felt like I was a statue in a way. I started felling heavy and stiff. but I could move fine, it just felt like i was getting a work out moving my limbs like they weight a ton suddenly. I started meditating not long after that, or what I think is meditation. I have just always followed my instincts on what felt right. I would listen to meditation music, just the vibrations. i never bothered listening to the ones where someone speak. I have had weird things happen when I meditated before. like once I was staying at my grandmothers house, and i decided to lay down and meditate. I don't like those sitting meditation positions, I always felt more relaxed just laying. Well, as I was laying down, um...I felt like my grandma called me. I didn't hear my grandma call me. Suddenly my body got up and I walked to my grandmother. And I mean my body got up and walked its self to my grandmother. I didn't walk myself to my grandmother, I remember being very confuse, one minute i am meditating the next minute my body is walking to my grandmother. when i was standing in front of my grandmother I felt in control of my body again, but I was reeling a bit trying to figure out what just happened. my grandmother the whole time I stood silently infront of her just sat their staring at me. It was really weird. I had told my grandmother it had felt like you had called me, although I know you didn't call me. My grandmother had then told me that she was actually just thinking of calling for me cuz she needed me for something, when I suddenly walked up to her. Honestly, I am not too shocked something weird happen between me and my grandmother. Honestly, weird things happen between us throughout my life. I once read that something that said their are different types of soul mates, and I am pretty sure and I have some kind of connection. She had even told me she felt a connection to me from the day I was born. This is how weird it is, I swear if I die tomorrow. The first person to know will be my grandmother, she will just know. I won't know how she will know, but she will just know. Sometimes this connection we have can get creepy. Once my phone was dead and I needed to call my grandmother to ask for something. I borrowed the quicktrip phone and called my grandmother. before I could say anything, my grandmother immediately answered, "[my name], what do you need?" I had to double check I was using a company phone and not my own, cuz it was like how in the hell did she know it was me calling? She ended up telling me before I called she heard my voice in her head and I sounded like I needed her. So she had simply concluded I was the one calling. Anyways, enough of our weird connection, its not really about meditation. I did later when I was 18yo go to a few reiki meetings, the two leaders of the events were husband and wife, and both were doctors. I don't recall too much about this time, and I only went to a few meetings. But I remember we all would take terns laying down and everyone else would work to remove negative energy from each other. I have to admit if I represented elements I lean towards fire, lightning, air, and wood. These are the elements I feel the strongest connection to, which is why elements like earth and water I come to find as soothing and grounding, cuz it feels like I get balanced out. My family says that when I am being short tempered they would push me to go take a shower, cuz they swear I came out of the shower a different person like I was more at peace. I didn't even realize looking back that that is why they would suddenly tell me to suddenly take a shower until they had told me that is why they sent me off, I thought they were just trying to get rid of me cuz they are too weak willed to clash heads with me. Joking, my family is anything but weak almost everyone is an alpha in my family. I like to joke that I crawled out of a lions den. My father would compare our family to the addams family, ill give dads answer credit our family is definetly something that is for sure. But anyway, I had tried imaging burning impurities and negative energy off of someone once. And they actually stopped me saying I was hurting them, which was one of my reiki attempts. I had spent most my time envisioning working with earth from then on, during the other reiki sessions. I do remember this one time I was laying down, and everyone was working to remove my negative energy and etc. And this one girl she had hovered her hand over my forehead. And for a minute I acually saw the color blue, it felt like I was in the middle of the ocean. And I mean in the ocean where I couldn't see the water surface nor could I see the bottom. It was like I was floating in the middle of the ocean, it was a really relaxing feeling. I had asked the girl what she did but she said she just moved her hand over my forehead head. She was the only one that made me kind of feel or see something. Although, I always felt afterwards like I could fly or glide over the ground. After ever reiki session I always felt so light and free, and giddy. I would usually be overwhelmed with giddiness. Man the more I recall my past reiki sessions the more I feel like going back. I haven't felt giddy about anything, that would be so nice. I remember one the girls saying I had thousands of butterflies ready to help remove all the emotional baggage, stress, and negative energy. And the doctor guy said I was a natural at reiki and I should actual take some training to become a reiki master. Now fast forward into a decade, to the current time. I have been recently dealing with hardships. My dog had passed away, and to me he was my first son. My grandparents are in their late 70s and early 80s. When it comes to family, the most important relatives are my grandparents. My father and I have grown apart, my brother is in a mental health institute, and my younger sisters are starting their own families. It feels like my family is falling apart, the glue is my grandparents and they are barely keeping the family functioning cuz they can be old and cranky. It's funny my grandfather is the old man that yells at kids to give off his lawn, I only learned that cuz my youngest sisters husband was once that kid that was yelled at to get off his lawn. I sometimes I feel conflicted about this, cuz I know keeping family together is important but I am not a social person. I be fine living in like a victorian mansion in the middle of a forest. Actually, I would really really like that, maybe own 10 dogs and have a few friends as room mates, and a butler. But anyway, the idea of keeping my family together feels draining just thinking about it. I am also not close to my cousins, or my aunts and uncle for they are a bit snobbish. It's funny, my half brothers uncle is actually a wealthy business man but he is a respectful upstanding man and is not snobbish. But my direct uncle and aunts think they are something special, when they arent rich or anything. So, in a way feels like I am about to loose my family, my grandparents, I just lost my dog, I nearly lost my father by a freak accident that no one knows how my father survived from. My fathers scull and half his face was smashed in. I am glad my father didn't die, is it weird though that my first thought when I heard was. Was that if my father ever has to die, that accident would have been the best way. He had saved his wife, my stepbrother, and another familys life, almost at the cost of us his own. My father is big on safety and protection, made me go to school with a bullet proof backpack through all of high school. He was a safety nut, he tried to prepare me and my siblings for everything, and I mean everything. You have no idea how many times I was pronounced dead cuz I failed my fathers survival expectations. Like he use to have midnight fire drills on school nights, i often died by fire cuz I didn't get out of bed fast enough. Just the idea of my father dying a hero just sounded fitting, totally something my dad would do. Anyways, all of this added up and I kind of went into survival mode. I guess I had mourned my dead dog, my fathers near death, my grandparents are currently dying, according to the doctor my grandma should be dead 5 years ago, my family is starting to drift apart or already is, and then I found myself mourning my own death. Man, I wasn't really living last year. I was so stressed out that my body was rebelling against me. I had eventually decided I was done suffering so I laid down. And I told my body to allow me to feel the pain, embrace the pain, and let it go. I laid their and I wasn't focused on anything. suddenly, I felt drawn to different body parts. A first it will feel like a muscle twitched, then that area would grow heavy, then I would feel pain that hurt so much I wanted to cry out. One after another I would start feeling things I didn't feel before. The most painful part was in my skull, it felt like someone was hammering a axe head into my skull. I am not even sure if this was proper meditation? all I did was lay down and told my body my intention, then i started feeling pain i didnt feel before? Was that pain always their like how did I not know it. It lasted about three hours and then I was super thirsty and tired. This experience had made me want to learn more about meditation? And energy work. I have for my whole life not put much effort into looking into these things, I usually just did what felt natural and what my instincts tell me to do. Or what my dreams tell me to do, I always have been able to remember my dreams and it has always been easy to understand the messages in my dreams. Like I think in a certain away, and certain items, people, or places usually represent something. Especially the people. I notice that people around me usually represent a pro and con in my dreams. If I dream about my grandmother she can represent great inner strength or she could represent my own insecurities in myself. If its a bad dream its my insecurities I need to work on, if its a good dream its about my inner strength. My grandma sometimes makes me feel insecure, but my grandma also to me seems like the strongest person I know. Though I am not the only one, cuz most people are intimidated by my grandmother. Usually people try to communicate through me to my grandmother, cuz she is too intimidating to most people. Any how I would like to learn more about meditation, reiki, energy work, and I curious to learn some insights on my past experiences that I didn't know of. I will say I have had cool things happen to in my childhood that I don't think has anything to do with meditation, like I was once able to see in the dark and I don't know what I do or how to do that again. Oh and I once was jumping of a trampoline and i jumped to high and flew off the trampoline. It had looked like I was going to bust my head, all I saw was the ground coming up fast. I had closed my eyes and felt nothing. I opened my eyes to find I was laying on my back. The angle of how I landed was weird though because If my head was facing the house, then it should have been face down. Or If my head was up it should have faced the direction of the trampoline. But i was face up and when I sat up I was facing the trampoline. I have no memory of landing or touching the ground at all. And I was kind of in shock and had sat up and checked out my limbs to make sure they weren't broke but I was perfectly fine, i didnt even have a bruise. When I looked up at my sister it was almost like reality resumed cuz my younger sister jumped off the trampoline screaming bloody murder for my parents and I had to get up and run after her and I had to repeatedly tell her I am fine. That day was just weird and I have no explanation for that day, I thought I was a goner and my sister thought I was too My familys only reaction to things like this, is I must have an army of angels. Even my friends wonder how I am alive, though my friends question this cuz I use to be very reckless with my life in my early twenties. My father even compared my recklessness with playing russian roulette with my life, my dad told me to stop messing around or one of these days I really will bite a bullet. I am not recklessness no more, my father might have spooken me a little on that.

Hello, I am just an armchair magician and have never had the time or space to practice. I have only performed a ritual once in my entire life, about entering someone’s dream and I don’t want to talk about it. My view of magic emphasizes practicality as I am influenced by Stephen Skinner’s rigid experimental approach, which tends to offend many people. I mostly read old translated grimoires on spirit summoning and talisman making (Stephen Skinner, Joseph Peterson, etc). For astrology, I read works by Christopher Warnock and John Michael Greer, who cover electional astrology very well which is extremely useful for talisman making. For Kabbalah, I read Israel Regardie and David Rankine, as well as Mark Rasmus and Bob Smith’s stuff on Kabbalistic letter magic from Franz Bardon method. "Was the astrology used in conjunction with that ( to decide 'when' to specific rituals or processes ) or for other purposes ? " Yes astrological timing is extremely important.

Not sure what this is all about but I was referring to projecting outside the physical body (OBE, out of body experience) either consciously or unconsciously. One can meditate on the knowledge of dream or dreamless sleep. Yes but nothing to do with AP/OBE. Basically meditating non-stop in layman's terms.

"... there is in fact an account of the First Schism which gives just such a date, namely the tradition of the Sammitya school recorded by Bhavya (Bhavaviveka) and the Tibetan historians (probably following him). This account places the event in B.C. 349.... On this occasion a monk, about whose name there are disagreements..., put forward five grounds, of which four concern the question of the nature of an arhant... and none have any direct bearing on the discipline. An assembly took place... and the majority, it would appear, voted in favour of these grounds. This majority constituted itself into the Mahasamgha.... The minority which rejected the grounds, and which apparently included a number of the most senior monks, refused to submit to this decision and constituted themselves into the School of the Elders, the Sthaviravada. ... We seem led to the conclusion that the two parties were less far apart than at first sight they appear to be, except on the first ground [that an arhant can be seduced by another person]. The Sthaviravada were categorical that an arhant was by nature beyond the reach of any possible seduction; the Mahasamgha allowed an arhant to be seduced in a dream. Between these opinions no compromise could be found.... No compromise having been reached, the two parties separated and became two schools of Buddhism. Afterwards they gradually came to disagree on several more grounds, partly through working out the implications of their positions. In particular the nature of the Buddha was reconsidered. In the Tripitaka he is not apparently distinguished from any other arhant, except that he had the exceptional genius necessary to discover the truths unaided whilst the others were helped by his guidance. The Sthaviravada remained closer to this conception, though gradually they attributed a higher status to the Buddha, eventually complete 'omniscience', especially in the more popular propaganda. The Mahasamgha, on the other hand, having relaxed or at least not made more stringent the conditions for an arhant, found it desirable to make a clear distinction in the case of the Buddha; he was a being of quite a different nature, far above other human beings or perhaps not really a human being at all. They thus began that transformation of the Buddha, and his doctrine, which led step by step to the Mahayana...." ("Indian Buddhism", A. K. Warder, Motilal Banarsidass 2nd ed p 217-218) At least as far as Warder could discover, the original Mahayanists split from the rest of the tradition because they believed an arahant could have a wet dream. I personally like the Bodhisattva vow in Mahayana Buddhism, the commitment to hold off personal enlightenment until all enter at once. The idea, as I understand it, is that the Bodhisattva will continue to suffer the consequences of desire for sensual pleasure, desire for becoming, and desire for not-becoming (ignorance) until all can be freed from these three cankers altogether. That allows for wet dreams and more, and justifies it as a great sacrifice on the part of the Bodhisattva. Yes, it's laughable, and yet I do better in an environment that encourages some freedom from the rules. I myself am only looking to realize Gautama's way of living more often, the mindfulness that he said was primarily his way of living in the rainy season (when presumably he did a lot of sitting)--the way of living that he described as "perfect in itself, and a pleasant way of living too" (SN 54.9, tr. Pali Text Society vol V p 285). As I wrote in my book (yes, I have a book!--should be in print again soon): Many people in the Buddhist community take enlightenment to be the goal of Buddhist practice. I would say that when a person consciously experiences automatic movement in the activity of the body in inhalation and exhalation, finding a way of life that allows for such experience in the natural course of things becomes the more pressing concern. Gautama taught such a way of living, although I don’t believe that such a way of living is unique to Buddhism. (Appendix--A Way of Living)

Alexander Blok - 1899 ______________________________ To where Heaven joins the Ocean, In one uncertain, drifting seam— Beyond the veils of distant mists My spirit carries its true dream… [Verse] Yet still I know — toward that pale boundary It is my inner quest that flows; With Heaven’s clear and silent Vastness My single soul in oneness grows… [Chorus] Ah, if you, Eternal Weaver Of Heaven’s Way and all that lives, Would grant a wonder to your children And bestow immortal wings to mortals’ striving selves!