Justin and Recoverer, you've touched on the something that's been rattling around my mind for ages and i've been having trouble reconciling.

Why do i have pretty good 'retrieval sessions' (which happens mostly in my minds eye, while still conscious of my body), yet i really have to work hard to have classic OBE's and they're only a few seconds anyway?

Maybe it’s because, Seeing as I’ve always pretty much known about the existence of non physical reality, not through direct experience but by a quiet knowing or yearning or something more subconscious, I don’t need the huge wake up call that a classic OBE experience can deliver. I like to describe it as ‘small me’ wants the evidence, yet the ‘big me’ already knows and doesn’t need all the bells and whistles.

The Small Me is that one that gets excited about comparing states of awareness between lucid dreams and OBE’s, yet the Big Me knows that I don’t really need to know that, because I  already know - hence the paradox of experience.

I feel what I’ve started to do is trust the big me more, which operates at a very higher rate and I’m able to merge with it, or let the little me go or whatever it is and therefore experiences are far more subtle, but no less more powerful or effective. And that seems to be message I’ve been getting lately. It’s about merging the small me (fear based, etc) with the big me, (higher connection, understanding, love etc) that’s the process of Trust and let go. Another spiritual paradox  for us to chew on.

i appreciate the guidance from you both and it's nice to know i'm not alone on this exploration.