As I stated in Seraphis' thread, I'm going to be starting the Mastering Astral Projection 90-day program soon. The one hold back is that the book is borrowed from the library and the CD only works on PCs, so I'm in the process of figuring out how to convert the CD to I-Tunes compatible format... I'm also considering buying my own copy, as it seems it would be better to have my own book/CD.
But, before I start my Program, I wanted to give some background, for those interested, and some recent experiences.
I started trying to meditate about 5 years ago. I started with Holosync and liked that, but not much happened, really, other than I fell asleep. I did notice with Holosync that I did not fall asleep as fast once my mind got accustomed to the tracks. At first, I was out like a light, just couldn't process the info that fast. Then it was as though my brain adapted and was able to handle it better.
I also did some Reiki work during this time, which was pretty amazing to me. A local church offers the services free of charge and I badly needed it. I could feel the Reiki practitioner literally pulling me up and out of my body. My teeth would chatter and I got shaky. But afterwards, I would feel much better. I got attuned to Reiki, but never really used it, as my teacher gave us a crash course in one day and I never quite "got it."
Did some reading about energy work, like Reconnection Healing (Eric Pearl) and Quantum Healing as well as read the book about frequency healing (I forgot the name). I had a Reconnection Healing session which was also quite amazing, put me out like a light. One other session I had was last year doing a Healing Hands session as taught by Barbara Brennan. That was quite amazing as I literally felt like I was on a rollercoaster ride and I felt the hands of "helpers." I don't go on a regular basis to energy workers, but the couple of sessions I did have were very interesting.
One of the reasons I got more interested in energy work and meditation was that I almost died from a mold infestation in the ventilation system in my rented home. I had hallucinations (in fact, one in which the person in my hallucination told me I had to get out of my house, it was a mess..) After 3 weeks in the hospital, I returned to my home, dazed and confused. It took 6 months before my body and mind got back into sync. I had to figure out what "happened" and started exploring metaphysical subjects on the internet and books.
Meanwhile, my meditation was not really working. I asked hubby for help, a long time meditator, and he gave me 5 words to concentrate on and use as a mantra. Never really got me that far that way however.
My background with lucid dreaming and visualization is not that extensive. I have been remembering my dreams since a child as my grandmother taught me to do so and she would ask me every morning what I dreamt the night before. I've kinda learned to remember.
I have had some lucid dreams, I particularly remember eating dessert and thinking, this is fantastic, no calories! I remember flying over a football field and different buildings (sometimes I sputter and fall when flying, very annoying).
Regarding visualization, basically, my experience has been if I get very tired I see a ton of images that morph into each other as I relax. They are very vivid and literally appear as though they are on a tv screen.
A little over a year ago I decided to get initiated into the Sant Mat spiritual tradition (Eckankar is a modernized version of Sant Mat, if you are familiar with it). Sant Mat teaches you to meditate on the Sound Current, the sound and light of creation. Here's some cool images and descriptions of the different planes of existence you can visit, as described by an Eckankar initiate:
www.soundcurrentrider.comAs part of my journey on the Sant Mat path, initiates are requested to be vegetarians (to reduce karma and violence in one's life); abstain from nonprescribed drugs and alcohol, to meditate, to perform seva (service to others) etc. There is a guru, for lack of a better word, that does the initiation. His name is Sant Rajinder Singh Maharaj Ji and he has best selling meditation books on Barnes and Noble lists. He accepts no money from the organization and makes his own income. The organization provides food and medical assistance to those in need. My husband was an initiate of his father 30 years ago, so I had someone to ask questions of and plenty of books to read.
At first, I was quite dubious, as I didn't like the idea of a guru/spiritual teacher having come from a fundamentalist southern baptist background as a child (which I abandoned at 16). I was also very skeptical that a person could assist another in having metaphysical experiences, and I felt wary about this.
But, I let the idea sit in my head for a while, kept reading, and finally got initiated last year.
I was then able to meditate after initiation. Altho Sant Mat initiates are not really supposed to share their meditations with other Sant Mat initiates (so people won't compare each other's experiences and get jealous or think they aren't progressing) I plan to share some of my experiences here.
My meditation thus far has led me to see different color lights rotating (kinda like a spot light on a lighthouse) and tunnels. I hear crickets, birds, and water which indicate I'm still on the physical plane while meditating. It seems as though my hearing is much better than sight thus far.
The couple of experiences I have had around Sant Rajinder are also noteworthy. I'm a person who is scientific and skeptical by nature, but if I experience something directly, it carries weight with me. The first experience I had was we were in a room with about 200 people and Sant Rajinder. I kept hearing sounds that were as though the AC was whining. However, I later confirmed this with Hubby who said there was no AC sound and that the sound was likely crickets and to be expected.
Another interesting experience was I was in a room with Sant Rajinder with about 500 people. I heard raining, like it was coming down outside. I kept hearing birds and thought, huh, the birds are singing in the rain. I kept glancing out the window, but couldn't see anything.
After the meeting, I went outside and asked someone had it rained. I looked at the ground, no puddles. The person replied, yeah, about 3 hours ago, lol.
I know there are others on the list that have had bad experiences with gurus or spiritual teachers, but mine have been good. I'm not forced to donate, or attend meetings, or give up my life or time for anyone else, so it doesn't appear to be any type of scam to me.
My goal is to deepen my meditation and stay awake better during meditation. Last night's pre-sleep meditation was very vivid, and I had the feeling of floating in my body. I kept seeing the area within my meditation as lit up with sunshine. I have had past experiences with astral sight where I kept checking to see if my eyes were closed because I can see the objects in my room very clearly. I kinda felt this way last night. Sometimes it appears as though light is coming down over the top of my head and lighting up the area above my eyes within the meditation.
I had a great deal of morphing activity last night and I was not overtired. I also saw tunnels and was trying to enter them, but alas, I'd become very relaxed and then drift off.
I am currently able to run my energy up and down my body and become relaxed enough to get very heavy and tingly (which the tingling kinda bothers me as it feels like pins and needles and kinda itchy).
So that's my background and as I progress, I will chart my goals and my progress towards them.