Astral Projection (Meditate to Elevate Pt. 2)

Do the Astral Plane. I did (I think?).

I continued reading the book. Although I still questioned many of the claims, it was interesting enough, and it had quite a bit of good advice for meditation. As I read more, it dove further into the premise of astral projection. The idea of astral projection is to separate your physical being from your astral body; it's basically an out of body experience (all of this comes from memory, I'm not doing research until that google ad money starts rolling in, so if anything is inaccurate, I apologize, but it's your fault for not clicking on the ads on my page!). One exercise I tried was to project my energy/light outwards from my solar plexus and try to envision a "being" several feet in front of me. They stressed that you should not imagine the being as yourself when getting started.  Basically, I think, the idea was that if you envisioned it enough, you would eventually be able to project your conscious, astral body outside of your physical body. They also mentioned that this exercise would project any issues/problems/concerns you were having outside of yourself, making them easier to deal with by gaining new perspective. I don't think I ever really believed it would work, but I wanted to try because it was interesting, and the previous exercises truly seemed to help me.

So I went through the process of the glowing chakras, and when I was completely surrounded in the light of my energy, I focused on my solar plexus (belly button area). I followed the book's instructions, and envisioned a grey cord slowly extending from my belly like an ethereal umbilical cord. I pictured the cord extending for about 5 feet, then, as per the instructions, I envisioned the cord coagulating into a grey blob, hovering in the air in front of me. After a few deep breaths, I was to envision the shape dissolving, and the cord retracting, and then go through the chakra process in reverse.

This step was a little harder. I had trouble keeping focus on the grey matter as it floated in front of me. One problem I was having was that it felt ridiculous. Glowing chakras is one thing, but an amorphous blob of energy suspended in air is a whole 'nother ball game.

But I kept at it for a week, and like everything else, it became easier. Basically, you can envision anything in your mind. I never had a problem with that, the problem was believing it was actually there. And I didn't really believe it, but it was a good mental exercise and very relaxing overall. I wasn't really trying to have an out of body experience anyway.

At the time of all this, I was going through a class to become an EMT. I had never done anything like it before, but I was really excited about it. I wanted to help others, plus I wanted to know more about the human body and how to treat it during various emergencies. A part of me was a bit nervous because as I said, I had never done anything like it before. I didn't know what to expect, which was riveting and frightening. Needless to say, there was a lot on my mind regarding what I would be doing as an EMT, and the things I would see. It was a good time to be meditating.

One day, after I had passed the certification, I started to meditate. I went through my entire routine, all the way up to the floating umbilical cord. Up to that point, I had never been able to envision any "being" in the grey floating blob. I tried, really hard, to picture something, anything, but it didn't feel natural. It wasn't natural, I was forcing it, and that never works with meditation. On this day, I expected no different. My light surrounded me and the grey cord ventured out from my solar plexus and I remember the feeling of oncoming disappointment. Another day, another grey, shapeless blob levitating in front of me. The blob appeared before me as usual, but this time, it started to grow larger, seemingly forming into some kind of defined shape. It continued to morph until it became the shape of a small child. I could not make out any distinguishing features of his face, but e seemed sad. I looked at him and it felt like he was looking back. During this spiritual staring contest, my thoughts turned to my future work as an EMT. For some reason, I believed that this shape, this spirit, represented the spirit of a child who had passed, or possibly even a child who would pass. As this thought occurred to me, another thought appeared: there was a good chance that some emergency that I responded to would involve children. It was a fact that my conscious did not come to grips with until that moment. Immediately, the reality of becoming an EMT set in. People's lives would be dependent on my ability to help them. I would be directly responsible for helping people in desperate need, including children. It was something I had been thinking about for a while, but the reality of that notion never hit me, until that moment.

And at that moment, any fear or reservation I was having left. The child was sad, but not scared, or angry. I truly felt as if this was the spirit of a child that I would one day encounter as an EMT, and be unable to save. I wanted to reach out and apologize, but I had the overwhelming feeling that he understood. It was as if he was there to tell me that it was okay, I wouldn't be able to save everyone. Death is sad, but inevitable, and not to be feared. If I was going to be an EMT, I could not let death, or the fear of it, interfere with me doing my job.

Tears were rolling down my cheeks. The child's outline started to wobble, and the shape in front of me returned to a globular grey mass, then slowly retracted to my solar plexus. I finished my chakra routine and ended the session.

It was incredible. I can't even describe what I felt, except it was like every positive emotion all together at once, with all fear and doubt removed. It was very surreal, and something I had never even imagined before.

Not long after, when I was a little removed from the experience, I gave the incident some more thought, trying to analyze what happened. Some would say analyzing an experience like that takes the magic out of it, but I don't think that's true at all. Just because I have a better understanding of something doesn't mean I can't enjoy it, and it certainly doesn't devalue what I was feeling at the time. Anyways, here is what I came up with after much deliberation:

This experience occurred well after I started reading the book. I read each chapter over and over, as each chapter was a step in the process of astral projection. The last chapter I read was very intensely focused on the exact incident I described, I just added my own personal back-story to the vision. It literally took me through every step of the way. So having read that over and over, and attempting to visualize it several times, my subconscious mind eventually projected the vision to my conscious. I basically rewired my brain circuitry so that my mental image became "real".

That's my theory anyway, and Michael Crichton has similar theories. In that book, he talks about his experiences with meditation. I read that book a long time ago and I'm certain it influenced my "vision" as well.

That doesn't take anything away from my experience, or what it did for me mentally and emotionally. It doesn't change the fact that it helped me deal with the stress I was feeling over becoming an EMT. Interestingly enough, I stopped meditating shortly after that. Maybe I thought I reached a pinnacle and figured I didn't need to do it anymore, or maybe the experience bugged me out, or maybe I just didn't have time for a few days and then I lost the motivation to continue and those few days turned into weeks, then years. Or maybe it's all of those reasons. I don't know, but I do know that I want to get back into it, and I highly recommend meditation for everybody. You don't have to go the astral projection route, but some kind of meditation (guided helps). It takes effort, though, so you'll need to stick with it. It's probably not for everybody, but humans are incredibly adaptive, and I think that if they tried hard enough, they could accomplish anything. I may have just read that on a poster in an elementary school, but it doesn't make it any less profound. Besides, meditation isn't that hard, and it's definitely worth the effort.

Besides, the worst thing that could happen is that you relax for ten minutes or so. We could all use more  of that.

I Love You All...Class Dismissed.

Meditate to Elevate

Souls of Mischief... Always loved their music, and really related to the name.

A few years ago, I decided to try my hand at meditation. I had considered it for a while, but it was intimidating. I could never "clear" my mind. I'd sit for a few minutes trying to think of nothing, but my mind would quickly drift on to some random petty bullshit, like what clothes I was going to wear the next day or whether or not I set the DVR for South Park. So I gave up.

Eventually, I tried again. I actually sought out venues for guided meditation. Since my late teens, I always thought Buddhism was the closest any religion came to my own personal views, and I admired the Buddhist way of life, especially the meditation apect. So I found an advertisement for a group that did guided meditation/Buddhist teaching at a community center on Tuesday nights in West Hartford. When I got there, they immediately asked for a $10 donation and I almost walked out. If I'm paying $10 for Nirvana, I better hear some "Come As You Are". But, I decided to dole out the money and see what they had to offer.  And I'm glad I did.

Buddhist Meditation
The center was essentially a small church, with torture benches and everything, but it was a more comfortable setting than any other church I've been in. They even put cushions on the torture benches! There were about 4 other people, ranging in age from mid 20's to late 60's. We all sat quietly until the monk finally walked in. I say monk, and he called himself a monk, but to me he looked like a plain old bald white guy in a robe. Anyways, he read a few things and then started a 5 minute meditation session, which he talked us through. He had a very soothing voice, and although I didn't feel like I was meditating, it was very relaxing to just focus on his words.

After the short meditation session, he talked for 20 minutes on the teachings of Buddha. I've always been a fan, I'm just not all about "worshipping" anybody or anything. Anyways, I don't remember the message but I'm sure I agreed with the premise. After his talk, we meditated again. I closed my eyes and listened to the soothing tones of his voice. He told us to focus on our breathing and follow his words.

Picture the air as it enters your nose and mouth. Imagine it traveling throughout your body, delivering life-giving oxygen to all your vital organs. Then visualize the air leaving your body, expelling all negative energy, from your toes, all the way to your head, and out your mouth.

I did exactly as he said, and after a while, as I was envisioning the negative energy leaving my body, something amazing happened. I started to relax. And I mean really relax. I no longer felt constrained by my physical body, I was simply energy. Maybe that's a little strong, but that's the only way I can describe it as I look back on it. The interesting thing was that my mind wasn't completely "clear", but it wasn't concerned with anything; thoughts came and went and I kept my main focus on my breathing.

About 5 minutes in (5ish, it's hard to tell in that state of mind) I had a vision of my energy as a white mist hovering around me, then spiraling upwards, above my head towards the ceiling. It continued upwards until I could see it spiraling above the roof of the building. I could picture it circling the entire building and twisting its way up into the sky. (Looking back on it I would say it was negative energy, but at the time it didn't feel negative, and it was pure white which is usually associated with positivity, so who knows what was happening.)

That lasted for about ten seconds. Then the vision was gone. I started fidgeting on my seat. I felt the fabric on my shirt rubbing against my skin. I couldn't get back into the same mental state. But for a few moments, I had reached a conscious state that I'd rarely been in without the aid of some external aid, and I enjoyed it. I wanted more.

A Book Makes a Difference
While my interest in meditation was increasing, I came across a book at my friend's place about astral projection. She let me borrow it (one day I'll return it!!) and I decided to give it a look. The book claimed that with enough practice, you would be able to project your spirit outside of your body, into another astral plane. Basically an out of body experience. But it also said that if you were meditating in one room, you could project your self into other rooms to see what's going on. In addition, you could send a type of spirit guide long distances away and it would come back and tell you what was happening there. So if you had family in Florida and you wanted to see how they were doing, you could meditate and send a spirit guide to check on them, and the next day when you meditate, the spirit guide will "report" back to you.

I admit, it's a little out there, but I was reading it more for its tips on meditating. The astral projection was just an interesting side note, and I never truly believed I would be able to do any of it. I just wanted to be able to meditate more easily. And the book helped. It gave tips on focusing your mind and breathing techniques during your meditation session. There was an emphasis on chakras, and as you breathed, you were to envision each chakra as a bright circle of light. For example, your "crown" chakra is directly above your head like, well, a crown. The crown chakra is represented as a purple light (each chakra has a different color association).

After a brief period of concentrated breathing, you were then to envision each successive chakra as you breath out. So you would take a deep breath in, slowly, and when you exhaled, you were to envision a bright purple ball of light glowing above your head. Then as you inhale, slowly,you envision the light flowing to your next chakra, located at your brow and represented by indigo. When you exhaled again, you would imagine the chakra at your temple glowing a bright indigo color. You continue that way until you hit all the chakras. In this book, they included one near your feet, claiming this was actually an earth chakra, representing our spiritual connection to the planet we inhabit.

Once all of the chakras were glowing bright, you envision the light/energy flowing from your toes back up to your head, creating a circle of flowing, bright energy around you. After a few deep breaths, you reversed the order, and envisioned the light/energy flowing back up through each chakra until it reaches the crown. They stressed the importance of completing the entire cycle. You don't want any broken links in your circle of energy, and it ensures that you dedicate a fairly decent amount of time focusing your mind on this one activity.

The first few times trying it, I would get through the warm-up breathing exercises, then my mind would wander right about the time my throat chakra was starting to glow. But I stuck with it, and the book revealed more and more techniques (and theory) as I read, so there was something new to try each time. After a while, I could get through the whole cycle undisturbed. And it worked. I did feel more relaxed, more ready to deal with the world. It wasn't what I had imagined when I began meditating; in fact, it was much better.

Emptiness
During one of the Buddhist meetings, the monk claimed that our mind's natural state is emptiness. It is like a clear canvas or background in which thoughts pass by. Sometimes we latch onto a thought, sometimes they just keep moving past. Meditation is an attempt to get your mind to its natural state, letting thoughts simply pass by (probably the worst paraphrase ever). He also said that even experienced practitioners of meditation will latch onto thoughts passing through their minds. The key is to identify when your mind has latched onto a thought and try to return to emptiness; the easiest way is to keep focusing on your breathing. That helped me a lot. He emphasized to not get upset if you find your mind wandering, it's perfectly natural. That also helped, because I always thought it was some mistake I was making.

The book helped a great deal, too, because it forced me to focus on my breathing by envisioning my chakras. The book described many other types of meditation, but it all revolved around focusing your mind on one thing, whether it be a certain sound, a certain image, your breathing, or even a particular feeling.

The fact that there were many variations of meditation was eye-opening. I didn't have to just sit there and think about nothing (whenever I tried that, I just fell asleep, which is cool with me, but it's certainly not meditating). Once I was comfortable with the chakras, I decided to move on to another level of meditation, and possibly, another level of existence.

To be continued.


I Love You All...Class Dismissed (For Now).