Checkerboard Tunnel

[dreaming90]

Has anyone had a transition experience like this?

I woke up from a dream late in the morning. Instead of opening my eyes, I searched my field of vision for "something." I'm not sure why I did this, probably trying to phase. Anyway, in the upper part of my vision was a dim, gray circle. I intended that it was a magnet that would pull me out of my body. Squiggly lines came out of the circle like electricity, and they then morphed into a checkered tunnel. I saw that I was moving through the tunnel at a very fast rate towards the gray circle, though there was no sensation of movement, only a visual. A purely asomatic transition seemed to be occurring, until I wondered why I hadn't felt vibrations yet. Sure enough, they came on with that thought, though they were low-powered and lopsided.

Now, this is all very exciting. I'm still giddy over the novelty of the experience. But it was not successful, because of a major problem-- I was fully aware of my body. I even moved around a little bit. This has never happened before, and instead of relaxing into the transition, I tensed up. I blew it when my physical eyes opened-- a nasty habit that still rears its head once in a while. Sometimes I want to gouge my eyes out in frustration. :)

Has anyone had a transition with full body awareness?

[CFTraveler]

Yes, that's how I have them now. For at least a year now, unfortunately.

[Sinera]

Yes, more mind-splits lately, either physical + astral or physical + etheric body. It's more of a feeling of sending out a drone. Well, it's actually what AP / OBE is, as we never completely leave our bodies (except for death or probably NDEs). But it's hindering a bit if you focus too much on the physical body, it might abort the experience and you fade out.

No checkered tunnels so far, just cloudy ones (grey-white) or flying through dark voids.

[SiriusTraveler]

Seems that I had a similar experience (http://www.astraldynamics.com.au/showthread.php?13976-Sirius-Spontaneous-OBE-or-something-like-that) a while ago. Experienced a mind split effect to.

[dreaming90]

Good to know I'm not alone. I just need to figure out how to prevent my physical eyes from looking at the tunnel-- maybe some eye stretches before bed?

I used to have a sleep mask that I wore quite often, it helped me sleep lighter and kept my eyes from popping open.

CFT, have you tried altering the transition process to include vibrations, such as imagining vibrations all over your body? Fred talks about it in his Vigil Method, if I recall correctly

[CFTraveler]

No, I don't believe the vibrations are 'things' you produce, they are either brain phenomena (I think Fred has said this also) that is happening in your body as you transition, or it's a perceptual phenomenon of a vibratory difference when you move from one frequency to another- so to have vibes you have to synch to perceive them, you don't make them. (my opinion, obviously).
I'm not that interested in the sensation perse (although I find it extremely enjoyable and different than normal waking perception) but in the transition itself- I love the tunnel effect and the colors and light, and the sensation of moving through it- like surfing.

[Sinera]

No, I don't believe the vibrations are 'things' you produce, they are either brain phenomena (I think Fred has said this also) that is happening in your body as you transition, or it's a perceptual phenomenon of a vibratory difference when you move from one frequency to another
I agree with the second theory mostly, but why does s.o. theorise on brain phenomena with this? Doesn't make sense to me at all. Not just that it's 'too materialist' in thinking, but logically it does not make sense.

[CFTraveler]

Not necessarily, when you go 'out' you still process the information with your brain, that's what it's for. He and I had a conversation some time ago in which we were discussing vibration in a dreamstate experience, and he posited (and I see where this could be right) that when you are having experiences, you sometimes have dual awareness (I do, at this juncture I project with full body awareness, which presents its own problems) so the vibratory phenomena (which is how the brain works, it shifts frequency depending on what part of your consciousness you're using) could be coming from the brain.
I'm not saying this is how it is, I'm saying it's a possibility- one which I don't reject, because in my worldview, my psyche includes my spirit, soul and body, all inclusive.

[GRANT]

Sounds like a low level Real Time Zone projection.
Grant

[Ashes]

Hey all,

Just popping in here, because stalking CF is one my favorite passtimes.

But yes, what CF said is basically how I view it, where energy sensations (vibrations, but visual effects as well) find their origin in the body, which arrive into your awareness or consciousness at the onset of the OBE, or even while already engaged in an OBE environment.

My contention is that they originate from the heart, which sends pressure pulses up the veins throughout the body, which eventually arrive at the brain that interprets them as energy sensations. Vibrations are a more direct representation, but once they arrive at the brain, they can also easily transform into auditory and visual phenomena (i.e. synesthesia).

All of this is sometimes difficult to imagine, but believe it or not, there are diseases of the inner ear relating to vibration where people can actually hear their own eyeballs moving, which of course, is pretty disturbing.

The model also explains why those with quadraplegia are able to experience energy sensations, which ordinary scientific theories cannot really explain (since they always insist on neural pathways for everything).

What you will experience depends primarily on what you focus on during the transition, like for example, attention directed towards (physical) body awareness tends to induce vibrations, while maintaining a purely visual focus leads to energy sensations of a visual nature.

Auditory sensations tend to fall a bit in between these attentional focuses, where attention is more directed towards the head and surrounding area.

But essentially, no matter what format it takes, in terms of its origin, you are sensing the activities in your physical body in an amplified and re-interpreted format travelling through little known pathways.

I suspect you can link it up with a lot of eastern disciplines once we know the most common pathways through which these pressure pulses travel.

A very similar idea has also been proposed by the late physicist and philosophopher Izthak Bentov.

I have not been able to quite catch up on all of his work, but he goes into a lot of detail on how this is physiologically possible. It's fascinating work from the early days of consciousness studies, which is where many of the real treasures are to be found. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itzhak_Bentov)

I suppose it's a "materialistic" explanation on some level, but as CF said, sometimes mind, body and soul do not exist as far apart as we might think.

Ashes (aka Fred)

[dreaming90]

I think Fred said in his book that energy sensations are related to reduction of sensory input. RB mentions loud sounds feeling like blows to the solar plexus in deep trance, so it's not a stretch to say that other usually ignored perceptions, such as blood flow through the veins, would manifest as vibrations.

I personally thought the chapter on the transition process was excellent, a big step forwards to understanding the nuts and bolts behind the OBE experience.

EDIT: Oh wait Ashes, you are Fred. :lol: Thanks for the excellent book, by the way.

[Ashes]

EDIT: Oh wait Ashes, you are Fred. :lol: Thanks for the excellent book, by the way.

Yes, that's me. :) Glad you found it of value for your own travels.

Nice transition btw, in your OP.

[CFTraveler]

Now I have to catch up on Bentov's work- just as an aside, the heart explanation is interesting, (I can see how the whooshing of sounds can be explained that way) but I tend to think of the vibes as something more, erm, seizury. Maybe, I'll have to do more homework before I formulate an opinion.
And Fred, I better not quote you wrong from now on! *turns around fast*

[Ashes]

Now I have to catch up on Bentov's work- just as an aside, the heart explanation is interesting, (I can see how the whooshing of sounds can be explained that way) but I tend to think of the vibes as something more, erm, seizury. Maybe, I'll have to do more homework before I formulate an opinion.
And Fred, I better not quote you wrong from now on! *turns around fast*

Hye CF!

Whooshing...and especially very smooth transitions characterized by a "clouding effect"...tend to occur with little attention directed anywhere.

It's a nice way of doing it, if you can keep your mind fairly blank, and a pretty direct representation of the process of sensory reduction underway. It's not really somatosensory, not visual, nor auditory, because attention is maintained in a very detached manner.

This is probably what Monroe eventually came to experience as he progressed.

But otherwise, with attention directed to the physical body during the transition, vibrations can come in a lot of different frequencies.

The slower ones tend to be more seizure-like, while the upper range can extent all the way up into feelings of heat and cold. Very fast vibrations don't feel like vibrations anymore.

The same goes for energy sensations of an auditory nature, which occurs when attention is more around the headspace, which might sound like drums at a low frequency, but becomes humming, or a single tone or screech at a higher frequency.

According to Bentov, it can range from anywhere in between 7Hz and 12k Hz.

It's mostly a function of how the brain and skull interacts with the pressure pulses from the heart, as well your own psychological state and attentional focus.

In short, huge variation, despite an otherwise stable heart beat as the source.

For the same reason, I think, NDEs, atleast those characterized by massive heart failure, are not usually accompanied by vibrations or these types of transition phenomena.

Not to worry about quotes. I'll keep an eye on you ;)

Fred

[Sinera]

For the same reason, I think, NDEs, atleast those characterized by massive heart failure, are not usually accompanied by vibrations or these types of transition phenomena.
I don't know if they were cardiac in origin, but I read some accounts or statistics that mention vibrations and/or roaring sounds, sensations as one element of the exit/OBE during NDEs. I think I remember R. Moody enlisting this phenomenon as one repeated element in NDEs.

What does your theory say then about the heavy sensations such as heavy peristaltic snake/kundalini-like waves going through the interior (not outside which is more the case with vibrations) of the body (spine), or similar sensations felt/experienced during a presumed "etheric body" projection?
I had this twice that's why I am asking. So the heart initiates it? This could of course be true. Is it the heart chakra that has to do with it (I visualised its energy once, so it might be quite active in my case)?

Are you also referring to the Heart Math Institute's work also? It is surely interesting and it would support your hypothesis, as the heart seems to emit the strongest electromagnetical field of the body.

http://urbanshakedowns.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/heart-field.jpg

http://www.heartmath.org/

Also, recently I had checked on a new medical device developed and now tested by practicioners within the fringe research area of the "Human Body Field". (I am considering working with this device myself, whenever I will be ready as alternative health practicioner, 2013-14-or later... :|).

At this bookmarked timemark the doctor giving the introduction to operating the device seems to state exactly what you say, too: It's the heart that collects information, also from nervous system and brain, reacts / acts on an 'energetic' level and also sends out pulses and info for itself, also through the veins, it is a kind of interactive communication with the whole body (or body field).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tPmAfA8LCU#t=6m45s

It's fascinating. We still don't know a lot about our heart, do we?

[Ashes]

Hi Volgerle,

Yes, I think typical Kundalini sensations are something that deserves further looking into. I think it is part of the many different pathways pressure pulses can to travel through the body, including more unusual routes.

It still originates the heart I believe, as does the sensation of an impossibly fast heart beat, which many interpret as being the heart chakra.

Like I said earlier, there are all sort of interesting links you can make with eastern and mystical approaches.

In my experimentations, which I describe in detail in the book, I found the waves and pressure pulses tend to travel up the spine initially, originating in the back from the heart area, and from there they very quickly spread out across the torso. So even if it's not typical Kundalini, the spine seems to be a very popular route, possibly transduced by bone initially before spreading out.

There also seem to be several different entry points across the body, where sensations can easily move from a more exterior position to the inside. It is likely not just blood veins through which pressure pulses travel, but bone and some soft tissues as well.

My first OBE for example, which many would call Kundalini rising, the sensations moved towards the interior pretty late in the process near the throat area. Only then I got the snake feeling. So I think there are many variations within Kundalini rising as well.

I never heard of the heart Math institute. I'll have a look.

There is for sure a lot we don't yet know. NDEs deserve further looking into as well in comparison to OBEs. But having the right questions is a big step forward I think.

Part of why this area is moving so slowly, is because it takes such a long time to become proficient at studying it effectively from a first person perspective. It was a lot of work once I really got into it.

To make these observations for example, requires hovering near the borderline of sleep for a prolonged time, being able to move back in forth within the transition itself, as well as hold perfectly still within it, all while making analytical assessments at the same time. And because every observation raises another question, it requires many sessions.

Even then, it is still easy to go wrong in your conclusions, so nothing I say is written in stone, just yet.

But I do believe it is the most coherent and consistent explanation there is at this point in time.

Thanks for the interest!

Fred

[dreaming90]

I just wanted to throw in another experience I had yesterday morning.

I was in that state where I could close my eyes and easily slip into the dream state. I slipped in and out in hopes of getting some solid sleep, but found that I couldn't really stay in. The dreams were becoming somewhat less vivid and more like very powerful daydreams. I decided to try and "find" the checkerboard tunnel again and attempt another visual transition, as this seemed the perfect time to do it.

I began noticing the blackness behind my eyelids while simultaneously "looking" for the gray circle that had morphed into the tunnel. After a few seconds of this I experienced a very interesting sensation-- I was looking at *something.* It was not a hypnagogic image or anything really definable, it was just a sense of *something.* The best way I can describe it is that part of the blackness was no longer the blackness behind my eyes, but a blackness that was independent of me.

And of course, my eyes instantly snapped open. :|