Lucid Dream or AP/OBE?

[cqk328]

Hey guys, new to the forums here and the main reason I joined today is because I had a strange experience last night and I wanted to know if what happened was only a dream or an astral projection. As kind of a backstory, I have been attempting to AP for only 5 days, and in last night's attempt I was simply trying to have a lucid dream so that I could translate it into an AP. I've heard that it is possible, and I thought I'd give it a whirl because I was having trouble inducing sleep paralysis. Anyway, so here's what happened...


Before going to bed, I set an alarm for early in the morning because I had heard that waking up early and then going back to sleep increases the chance of having an LD. So this alarm went off at about 4:30 am, and I, of course, went back to bed almost immediately. I actually had a pretty vivid dream, but it was not lucid, and I woke up again around 6:30. Disappointed, I went back to bed, assuming it would just be another failed attempt. However, I became lucid in the middle of the next dream that I had. It's kind of ironic because I was dribbling a basketball in the street very close to my house; a very possible situation. I don't know what clued me that I was asleep, but I didn't care; at that point I was officially lucid. I didn't really feel like exploring the dream environment because, well, it was my neighborhood. Yea, I could create whatever I wanted, but I knew that my main goal was AP. So, I thought of my bedroom and what it would feel like to be astral. (I learned this technique from some guide; if you want the link I can post it. I know now that a better way would have probably been to fall backwards, but I didn't know that at the time.) Anyway, immediately after thinking about my room, the dream scene crumbled away around me. Before I knew it, I was in my room. But I was actually hovering a bit over my body looking down at it. Then, I told myself to float away from my bed. I shot up to the ceiling. I floated away from the bed then dropped back down to the floor. My vision was both blurry and dark, so I demanded both clarity and light. Both happened instantly. Then, I walked towards my door. I didn't really float, but it almost felt like I was walking on the moon, as gravity seemed much weaker than normal. I reached out for the wall and touched it, which was weird because I expected to go through it. However, I was able to walk through my door once I thought about doing it. I walked down the hall to my parents' room. It was empty. This was because the dream actually began a few hours after I fell asleep, so I was actually the only one still asleep in the house. At this point, I woke up. When I walked past my parents' room this time, however, the door was shut. That was strange, because it had been open in the dream or projection, whatever it was...


...Anyway, that's my story. What do you guys think? Just a very accurate lucid dream? Or did I actually have an OBE? In my personal opinion, I thought it was just an LD because I made contact with the wall and I didn't feel the Mind-Split affect nor a pull back towards my body. But, I don't know. Give your honest opinion. Sorry for making that longer than it probably had to be, but thanks for taking the time to read it!

[Osiris]

frankly im impressed. you did a great job, didnt blow it out of fear, didnt freak out, stuck to the plan and then Remembered the experience, all of which can be obstacles. No interesting effects walking through the door?...some pull back to your body is common but i've been in very close contact (inspecting) with my body and just walked away. Real or not a cool head and determination is what it takes to make it happen more often until you can nail things down better for yourself. grats

[cqk328]

What exactly do you mean by "interesting" effects? I mean, yea, walking through a door felt weird. I can't really explain it. It's as if I felt the wood of the door around my body. You could almost say it "tickled" in a way. Like I said, I'm not sure if it was an AP or not. I'm kinda surprised how clearly I remember it. Ever since I started attempting AP, however, I have been remembering dreams more clearly. About not freaking out, I think that had to do with the fact that I was in my neighborhood in the dream. My whole dream had been based on real life situations, so I didn't really have anything to fear. After becoming lucid, I basically knew not to get too excited. I basically was thinking, "This is cool." Somehow, I kept my emotions in check so that I didn't get TOO excited. I don't know, the whole thing seemed too easy, that's why I was skeptical.

[Tigre]

In my opinion and judging for what you experienced you had an OBE. It's perfectly normal to do that astronaut walk, I also felt it while walking by my living room in a recent projection. The fact that you didn't go through the wall is because you need to develop your inner senses, is like you expect something to happen in a nonphysical enviroment but with a physical mind. Nice experience. Congrats for your determination.

[cqk328]

Thanks. It's funny to think that I spent multiple nights lying motionless in bed, not realizing that I could initiate an OBE from the dream world. Now that I'm pretty sure it was an OBE, I have a few quick questions.

1.) Is the fact that a door was open in the etheric plane but closed in the physical just one of those "differences" that occurs? (Hopefully I'm using the right term. Correct me if I'm wrong there. Etheric plane, RTZ, lots of terminology I still need to learn.)
2.) Since I'm planning on continuing the usage of the method I described in my first post, which way should I start the OBE once in the lucid dream? Should I just do what I did before and kinda "summon" it or should I fall backwards? And if the latter is more effective, should that be done from a relatively high place in the dreamscape?
3.) (Specifically for Tigre, but anyone can answer) You said that I need to develop my inner senses. Firstly, what exactly are those? (If there's a good place in the forums or on the Internet that describes those direct me there.) Secondly, do I just develop them over time or is there something I can do to improve them other than experiencing OBEs?

I realize that some of the questions affirm that I am new at this. I actually first learned of astral projection when the first Insidious movie came out. Back then, I was only 11, and even though I knew the movie's portrayal was inaccurate, I was still to scared to attempt something like that. Now, Insidious Chapter 3 reminded me of this, and my more mature self thought that I'd give it a try. I mean, everyone seems to talk about it like its beneficial. Except Bob Sanders. What is his deal? I know there are evil entities out there, but he makes it sound like they leach on to you the second you step out of body. Everyone else says that as long as you aren't scared and you don't give in to them you are fine. Can someone find that guy on YouTube and explain why he is so against people doing AP? I know people who are mentally unstable shouldn't do it, but I just don't get what is so bad out there.

[CFTraveler]

1.) Is the fact that a door was open in the etheric plane but closed in the physical just one of those "differences" that occurs? (Hopefully I'm using the right term. Correct me if I'm wrong there. Etheric plane, RTZ, lots of terminology I still need to learn.) No worries. We try to include most definitions, although that tends to be confusing.
According to many mystics, the etheric plane and the RTZ are the same. Some however, distinguish etheric from RTZ as the etheric being the actual physical plane as perceived by the etheric body (which is in the body, not out) and the RTZ is the same 'place' as perceived by the real time body, which is a projected reflection of the etheric body. Or, more or less the same, in grades of physicality.

Now, the reason one door was open and the other one was closed has to do with how much of the environment is generated or shaped by the subconscious mind. When you're out, there is some symbolism in what you see, and something that is 'open' might mean that you can go right through it, because it's open for you. But that's my interpretation of that phenomenon. There are other reality fluctuations that can be explained by the Alice in Wonderland effect. (you can find it in the AD pedia or the articles section on Robert's Treatise.
2-Do what works for you. I usually fly away from the dream scene and find myself in the astral 'proper', or, if I want to be in the RTZ, I feel for my body, and once I find myself centered in it, wait for vibes and go out again. Do what works for you, and know that there are other options.

As to the leech thing, there are many misinterpretations of having dual consciousness (awareness of the physical and etheric and realtime bodies at the same time) and having the dreaming mind create visual 'explanations' for the sensory overlay, most being fear-based. Many authors report this kind of thing while later discovering that they were their own 'hitchhikers', and not any external entities.

Many people are against AP out of religious motives, or their own interpretation of a negative experience. But most are religiously motivated. If you want some more information on other reasons, pm me.

[Tigre]

3.) (Specifically for Tigre, but anyone can answer) You said that I need to develop my inner senses. Firstly, what exactly are those? (If there's a good place in the forums or on the Internet that describes those direct me there.) Secondly, do I just develop them over time or is there something I can do to improve them other than experiencing OBEs?

The inner senses are developed over the time. While AP they can help you perceive your surroundings better and interac with non physical beings. (Also trying to develop them since I'm new to this too).