Hello all,

I'm new here and find this subject very interesting. I have some experience with meditation and would like to give this a try. One thing does worry me though - and that's some of the stuff I read in the glossary on this site. I'm worried about places like the "focus 22's" and 23's. It seems like the people at these places could be potentially dangerous, being spirits or living beings with very strong or unresolved emotions. Is there any danger in making these journey or being faced by any strong entities? Darks rooms or suspenseful movies can bother me ... so I guess I'm asking - though I'm very curious, could I emerge more of a neurotic? :o

Any advice?

Thanks!

SAH

i would think crossing the street is more dangerous..  on the other hand, there are a lot of true stories about incredibly scary ghosts that haunt houses.  however there seems to be no connection between OOBE's and them, so have fun!  

but if you're in touch with different plains or levels of consciousness, and are exposed to those scary beings, couldn't they affect you somehow, or make your experience negative or unpleasurable?

Greetings,

You have guidance and can ask for more protection.  :)
I've been here 1 1/2 years and don't recall any negative spirits showing up for any newbies.
Later when you get more experience , your range of possibilities broaden. You won't get shown any unpleasant areas  from what I've read, but only when you ask for them or need to expand your knowledge more. I came with alot of fear, so my guidance has  v e r y  slowly increased my range of capability, making sure I digest what I previously encounter in a helpful way.
[smiley=lolk.gif]  Some goofy-looking like forms have shown up to people who were so experienced that they had moved out of human realms and were meeting life forms of other types. They found that a goofy appearance did not make  monsters, just differences.
The over-all principle working in this is the energy we call love or better PUL (Pure Unconditional Love.)  :)

Bets

Thank You.
Still, if there are spirits that aren't in contact with others, isolated, can others still be aware of them? The level at which a newcomer might first arrive might be one where others couldn't really get to - otherwise why would there be ghosts at all, if guides could reach them to lead them? I just don't want to pop out my body - whenever I'm come to that point - and find there's an old lady in my room pissed that I'm in her house!  :P

that makes me laff Nomad, about the old lady. ;D if you do pop out and there is a mean old lady spirit she wouldn't be anymore dangerous then a physical mean old lady and you could simply make yourself wake up. waking up from such an experience is involuntary anyway. its how we deal with unpleasant experiences, we blink in and out of consciousness this way.
Don't go out if you don't feel ready. you can grow spiritually just from reading books or meditating. also Bets is right, you can ask for protection and it's best to ask for guidance for the highest good to occur, this way you won't get in trouble. treat it as an adventure in growth where you are the creator of your adventure.
love, alysia
ps. I never met anything I couldn't handle. once I did meet a cartoonish monster chasing me about, but all I had to do was sqaure off with it, and it dissolved. nothing can really harm you, its only the physical body is subject to injury. hope this helps.

Hey Nomad!

I think another good thing is how you approach your experiences, go with good thoughts and intents, likes attract likes so your be alrite! Another thing which stuck with me was from one of Bruces books where he said any kind of defence is open to invitation, (forgot the exact wording) but if you go out thinking about stopping something happening, your more likely to attract it by thinking about it, thats the kind of way i took it. Go out with love for everything and I'm sure your have a great time, it is an amazing experience. Ive been out quite a few times now and have never had any trouble, i just went out to have fun! Can't wait to hear about any future explorations!

Ryan

Ryans right. its more fun than a barrel of monkeys! :) forgot to mention that! heres more little advice, just try rolling over in bed; if one of you is facing the opposite direction from the physical, then thats an awakening experience in its own right. also you could try thrusting your hand thru the wall, see what thats like and report back..that was fun too. its like the wall is jello, its solid at first, then just push gently thru it. then you know you're having an obe. love, alysia

All the above is excellent advice.

As is mentioned in the Bardo Thodol and writings of related traditions, the only thing to fear is your own imagination. If you are a "good person", and have a good attitude and a sense of humor, all of that negativity  falls off. Of all the intentionally nasty folks I've met in spirit, they all turned out to be pretty decent once they stopped being fearful.

Most of us, spirits and embodied types included, have pretty good mechanisms to deal with hatred, fear, rage and so on. These tend to protect us when truly needed, and they perpetuate the emotional state etc - not highly desirable. However, there is nothing that can withstand the power of pure unconditional love, especially when offering a helping hand. The secret weapon is PUL. Like water carving a canyon through granite, it is irresistable.

Welcome to hyperspace-
dave

Cool. I think I'm far from all this, though. I was just wondering about what hazards were out there. Maybe I should read a book though and learn more about how beings interact there and how things work there and all. What book is good for a newcomer? Something that's really straightforward?

I have gotten near to OOBE a few times, mostly when not trying and not expecting it. It felt literally like reality was rocketing away, and I could feel a loud noise, like an internal earthquake. I ended up becoming frightened though, and it always stopped. It's intense just lying in bed relaxing then all the sudden out of nowhere you're bombarded by so much. I hope I'll get past that for starters.

well, hmm. if u hear a train running over your vertebrae dont get frightened! I'm not kidding it sounded just like a frieght train but it was really a minor adjustment being done!  :)

yes, reading helps a lot, as it gives you a comparison value, somewhere to start.
I suggest Bruce Moen's first book to start explorations, or even Robert Monroe's books. Bruce doesn't do obes, theres a better way to do it called phasing or using the imagination to "get there."  however, if you're mind is made up that you want obes, theres a lot of people talking about obes specifically on Robert Bruce's website, you can google it.
out of body experiences are fine but I'm 60 years old now and started out doing obes when I was a kid. now it's changed into something better because of the knowledge I've gained about this area. so it will change for you too as the more you study different experiences to see where you want to go with it.

you might want to get a partner and see if you can project to each other's place. its always easier with a partner. two heads are better than one.

well good luck and don't be afraid, the only thing out there appears to be your own mind and thoughts in a form. love, alysia

Hello Nomad 00:

I wouldn't assume there aren't any unfriendly spirits you can run into. Even if you limit things to a TMI perspective, Robert Monroe wrote in his third book that he was told by the inspec (his guides) that there are spirits who used to be human that can influence people in a negative way. The inspec told him they aren't smarter than him; however, they have a lot of experience.  The inspec also told Robert that there are some unfriendly alien beings. Therefore, if one goes out of body, one should be discriminating about who they communicate with.

The inspec also told Robert that he is absolutely safe.  This leads to the natural conclusion that one can't be influenced by a negative minded spirit if one is spiritually developed enough. I've had experiences and received messages from my guidance which told me that if you keep your vibrational rate at a higher rate than an unfriendly spirit, they can't harm you. Being open to love is a key way of keeping your vibrational rate up. It is also a matter of keeping your energy balanced, and making certain that you don't do anything to have energetic breaks within your energy system. It is also important to not have any negative tendencies of mind such an addiction or anger, so unfriendly spirits don't have anything to prey on. It also helps to have a connection to spirits who represent the light.

Robert Monroe found that his guides helped him go out of body for years, without his knowing about it.  I too found that my guides helped me go out body during my initial experiences without my realizing it. I haven't gone out of body to the extent Robert Monroe has done so.

I've found that spiritual growth tends to progress quite different that you expect. One is likely to find that going out of body a lot isn't a big need. We have all of eternity to explore the astral realms. For many, spiritual growth is much more important.

You might consider Bruce Moen's method of exploration. I used to go out of body with all the effects, but eventually found this isn't necessary.