Michael's MAP Journal

[michaelsaganski]

I am going to do a 90-day trial to achieve my first out of body experience (OBE).

History

For the past 10 years I’ve had an off and on interest in astral projection. I first heard about the concept in high school when I looked up a psy-trance music group that I was interested in at the time, which were aptly called “Astral Projection”. Naturally, a Google search for those two words led me to the other meaning – out of body experience.

I became quite interested in the topic and read a couple books on the subject. I tried some techniques and had some interesting experiences but I never fully got there. For whatever reason I lost interest for a while and decided to put OBE’s on the back burner.

Over the years I’d periodically regain some interest, read more about it, and try some techniques. Without much initial success I became impatient and would move on to other things. For whatever reason though, I found myself coming back to the concept over and over. Eventually I came across the work done by Robert Monroe, and read his three books:

1. Journeys Out of the Body
2. Far Journeys
3. Ultimate Journey

I was completely blown away. The stories were so amazing I wondered how anyone could make them up. Then I discovered that the institute he created, The Monroe Institute, was still alive and going strong. Supposedly, people are learning how to do this all the time!

I decided that it was worth pursuing completely. As I’ve matured I’ve realized that anything worth doing usually takes persistence and patience. This 90-day trial also fits into Steve Pavlina’s success strategy of 30-day trials, so I’ve decided to really give this my all and see if I really am “more than my physical body”.

Strategy

The plan I will be using is from Robert Bruce’s and Brian Mercer’s book, “Mastering Astral Projection” (MAP). That book provides a 90-day guide to having an out of body experience, which includes:

* affirmations
* writing in a journal
* dream recall
* relaxation exercises
* breath work
* mind taming (i.e. meditation)
* energy work (i.e. chakras)
* binaural beats
* exit techniques

I have read many books on out of body experiences but I’ve never come across one with such a structured, day-by-day guide. I feel like this book will help stack the deck in my favor, giving me the best possible chance at an OBE. Note that each day will be different, so it differs from typical 30-day habit forming trials.

The plan is to follow the book as closely as possible to see its effectiveness. However, since I haven’t read the entire book yet I can’t guarantee I’ll follow it completely. One basic change I’ll have to make from the start is that some exercises that are meant to be done in the afternoon will likely be done in the morning, due to my schedule.

For the most part I’m coming into this trial as a newbie. I’ve been doing some meditating everyday for the past few weeks which will help with taming my mind, but that’s about it.

MAP itself suggests reading other books during this trial, to really saturate the subconscious mind, so I’ve queued up:

* Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce (read about 50% so far at the time of this posting)
* Adventures Beyond the Body and The Secret of the Soul by William Buhlman
* Voyages into the Unknown, Volume 1 by Bruce Moen (I will probably get the other 4 volumes as wanted)

I’ve also signed up to various forums and communities about Astral Projection/OBE’s to try and soak up as much knowledge as I can about the subject.

Motivation

So why am I doing this? Well some people might say that it’s all just mind games, but I believe it could lead to a verification of the after-life. At the very least, I will have much more evidence supporting the belief that I am more than my physical body.

Lately I’ve been exploring what spirituality is, as I used to be an atheist. I am a pretty left-brained and a scientific/analytical type of mind, so this type of verification of a spiritual topic would be a huge validation of my beliefs. It’s one thing to believe that you have a “spirit”, but it’s an entirely different thing to know.

I feel like astral projection is almost like a Pandora’s Box for me, which could lead to a very cool spiritual journey. Some people may think it’s weird or question the whole point of exploring anything not in the “real world”. I could probably write a whole post on that point of view, but I think that growing consciously is really the whole point of life to begin with. Why close your mind off from the whole package?

Other than that, I just find this topic interesting even as a mental exercise. I’m also a pretty curious person, and I like exploring topics that are on the edges of social norms.

Public Posting

I will be posting about my experiences over the 90 days. According to the book, each week will contain a different focus so posts will be weekly at the very least. I’ll try to post daily as long as there is something interesting to report.

I’m making this experience public for many reasons, which includes:

* increasing my chances for success. Having people read and rely on my progress will give me extra motivation to follow through with the whole 90 days.
* exposing more of who I really am, and what I am interested in. I’m sure I’ll attract other like-minded individuals who I can share and grow with.
* helping others who want to explore out of body experiences. This is a pretty nice topic, so the more information out there, the better.
* having writing from a newbies point of view. Writing’s on how to achieve an OBE from the perspective of a person who has them regularly is never the same as one starting from the beginning.

Wish me luck. I’ll be starting day 1 this weekend. I’d be happy to read your thoughts.

[CFTraveler]

Luck.

[Saara]

Wow, it's all so neat and organized... I think I could learn something from you (haha). Well, good luck - it's always interesting to see how other people progress. I doubt I'll have anything intelligent to say as I'm a newbie but at least I'll be sure to follow this post.

[michaelsaganski]

Thanks guys. Yeah I tend to be pretty analytical for everyting.

As I prepare for my 90-day OBE trial that I start tomorrow, I decided I’d write about some of the structure of the trial and what I’ve done to prepare so far.

Weekly Structure

The organization of Mastering Astral Projection (MAP) is broken down into weeks. Each week focuses on a different aspect of the projection process, gradually increasing in complexity. I’m not sure if a week is enough time to “master” each topic, but it is a good starting point.

The first 6 weeks focus on all of the important skills before an actual exit attempt is made, such as:

* breath awareness
* mind taming
* energy work
* entering a trance state

I will go into greater detail for each skill as I practice them. After week 6, exit strategies and all the problems or difficulties that can come up are discussed. The main point of all this is that even if I make rapid progress, it will still be 6 weeks before I even attempt an OBE.

Preparation Done So Far

Week 1 starts off strong with an introduction to many of the practices required for reliable astral projection.

I’ve set up a meditation space in my home that features a sofa chair for the majority of my practice. An egg timer is close by to help with the timing, as well as some incense to help associate the space with the purpose of relaxation/meditation. There is also a hard-backed chair, soft-backed chair, and an extra bed nearby.

MAP recommends keeping a dream journal to help with dream and OBE recall. I’ve been doing this already for the past several weeks on my own and have been moderately successful in jotting down keywords from my dreams. During the 90-day trial, I’ll be posting my keywords and whatever I can remember from my dreams here as well.

I will be using the BrainWave Generator (bwgen) as directed in MAP to help with the practice. Previously, I’ve experimented with other binaural beats/brainwave entrainment technology such as Holo-Sync, Hemi-Sync, and have found them to be quite helpful with meditation. Luckily, I have an audio extension cable to get the output from bwgen on my computer to headphones in the meditation space.

The daily affirmation MP3’s from MAP are loaded into my iPod and I’ll listen to the appropriate one in the morning/evening. Every little bit helps!

Expectations

I’m pretty excited but I’m also feeling a little unsure of myself. By making this so public I risk making failure public as well, and not too many people enjoy that! At the very least, going through this exercise will be a huge growth experience for me. Not only in perseverance, but also in expression and courage. C’est la vie.

[michaelsaganski]

OBE/Astral Projection Trial Day 1

Program Notes/Observations:

The Brainwave Generator isn’t as pleasant to listen to as Hemi-Sync or Holo-Sync, because there isn’t any sort of music overlaid on top of the binaural beats. That’s ok though, it definitely seems effective so far.

The relaxation exercises are pretty easy, but Robert Bruce seems to stress the importance of them so I will definitely keep working on them.

Breath awareness has been difficult for me as I have a pretty active “monkey mind”, and I find my that my mind wanders quite a bit. I’ve been meditating for many weeks now so it’s not like this is a new experience to me either. I imagine my breath awareness would be even worse if I was starting it for the first time today.

Energy body stimulation through the use of “tactile imaging”, which is something Robert Bruce coined, is pretty neat. Basically you try to focus your body awareness on a single area of your body, like your big toe. You can scratch or poke your big toe to help with focusing on it. Then you can shift your body awareness to other areas of your body. I only did this for about 5 minutes today but as I write this I still feel the tingling sensations from doing this.

Dream Keywords: web design, business, gift for parents, mix up/same gift with girlfriend

I remembered two separate dreams last night. One was related to having a business on the web, and the other had something to do with a gift for my parents. Sadly I can’t recall any more details than that.

[michaelsaganski]

OBE/Astral Projection Trial Day 2

Program Notes/Observations:

* I was able to relax a little bit deeper with bwgen, although I’m still having trouble clearing my thoughts when focusing on breath awareness.
* More muscles were tensed/relaxed today for body relaxation today, and I’m thinking this is a trend in the book.
* Energy work focused on sponging/brushing body awareness on my thumbs. It worked pretty well for me without any difficulties, and I felt tingling/buzzing in my thumbs because of it. It’s a very peculiar reaction to just pure thought, and it even lasts for a good few minutes after I’ve stopped thinking about it.

Dream Notes:

* Keywords: backpack, garage door
* I remember something about my garage being broken into with me being close by. There were more details but I’ve forgotten them now.
* I really have to get into the habit of fleshing out my keywords into better descriptions as soon as I write the keywords down. I find myself forgetting the details behind the keywords when I come back to write more later. I find it pretty difficult to force myself to write just after waking up.

[CFTraveler]

I’m still having trouble clearing my thoughts when focusing on breath awareness.

This is fairly common- Don't worry too much about it, keep doing it, and eventually, it'll come. Heck, the 'blank mind' may come after you achieve your conscious projection, just don't let it slow you down.

[michaelsaganski]

This is fairly common- Don't worry too much about it, keep doing it, and eventually, it'll come. Heck, the 'blank mind' may come after you achieve your conscious projection, just don't let it slow you down.

Thanks. Yeah, it's the trickiest part I think!

[michaelsaganski]

OBE/Astral Projection Trial Day 3

Program Notes/Observations:

* I should note that I’ve been doing the afternoon exercises in the evening after work. I won’t be doing any morning work until the exit techniques start coming up.
* While listening to bwgen, I use the time for meditation where I focus on my breath. I was especially tired today because I had just finished working out, so I found it easier to relax. There was a point today where the darkness I typically see with my closed eyes got brighter and became a more pure/solid color. That was pretty interesting but as soon as I focused on it, it slipped away. I felt a little different when that happened, but it’s hard to describe other than using the word “good” or “peaceful”.
* While doing the energy work on my right thumb I found that my left thumb would start tingling, just like MAP says it might. I didn’t read about that until after it happened, so that was some helpful validation of my experience. I even felt my other fingers start to tingle as well.
* Body awareness of my big toes was harder than my thumbs.

Dream Notes:

* Keywords: table, chair, family, angry, apologize
* I keep seeing one of my best childhood friends’ parents in my dreams, and they always seem to be there to tell me something. This is probably the 4th or 5th time it has happened recently. I don’t really understand why it’s those people in particular though giving me these messages. I usually end up forgetting the message by the time I wake up, although not always. One particular message was something along the lines of “People are different colors”, which I believe was another way of saying that everyone is different, unique, and yet the same. Another message had to do with peace between nations.
* The particular dream I remembered today was me arguing over something with close friends and family at a table. I got frustrated, got up from the table, and pushed the chair in. Immediately afterward, for whatever reason, I understood and apologized… then woke up.

One thing I should add that’s worth mentioning is that I had a bit of an intuitive/psychic event happen to me. As I sat down to use my 4-year old Xbox 360 for media streaming I had this weird thought about the Xbox 360 breaking and how it was a single point of failure for me. I usually don’t think about that so I thought it was a weird thought. Sure enough, I got the red ring of death shortly after I turned the Xbox on and had to get it replaced.

[CFTraveler]

If my comments annoy you I'll delete them-
I just wanted to comment that it seems to me you're awakening to your dreamstate lessons, (did you read Monroe's books?) like many of us do- so don't be surprised to get more of those. I can't say what your friend's parents symbolize, but I'd guess they're the representation of a teacher, reiterating things you have learned perhaps, and it's possible that the lesson's 'meat' has escaped you consciously (not subconsciously, I'm sure). As you get more proficient in projection they will become part of your astral adventures, you'll actually travel to teaching places (Akashic Records, Teaching Temples of Shamballa, or pick your favorite term) and get lessons there. Some will be very obscure, others obvious. I think part of the lesson is figuring out what they mean. (Some sort of mental plane development?)-
Also get used to these 'psychic/precog' events, you will notice them more as you continue to practice.