Thread: In order to AP/OBE does it require suspension of 'Ego'

Interesting. Honestly I for one have never been able to truly get 'farther away' from my ego. Most meditation leads to me feeling much closer to it in fact, although one could say that dissociation and appropiation of the ego is one and the same thing. If we are all one, then both the left hand path and the right hand path are just mirrors staring at each other.

Oh god I'm accidentally writing poems again. Anyway, I for one don't think that suspension of the Ego is necessary for OBEing, since I believe in a more Hermetic perspective of the world. Detaching yourself from your own material body will lead to you getting closer to your true self, you HGA, your Kia or your soul or whatever. All the same.

Thank you for ur reply proctree. I can't go into the technicals such as hermetism, left and right path etc. I'm not used to dealing or well-read in this matters ^^ But it's interesting.

Some of what you said caught my eye.

one could say that dissociation and appropiation of the ego is one and the same thing.

Yes, actually. This makes sense. When one leaves the ego so to speak. If it is done gradually one is slowly carried into more detached realms. So for example, it starts with being all about "the ego" while being simultaneously detached from it. Into gradually merging with the soul.

You said,

Detaching yourself from your own material body will lead to you getting closer to your true self, you HGA, your Kia or your soul or whatever.

Yes. Well the moment I transitioned into OBE-type experience. I find that this is a very crowded place. Soul in this sense is a collective.

Perhaps you misinterpreted my last point, but that's my fault for rambling about things that only interest me and a couple other thousand people on the planet. The true self(buddhism), true will(general magick principle), HGA(Kabbalah), Kia(chaos magic.. ish), and soul(Hermeticism) are all the same thing in fact, but seen through different lenses. I guess that can be said of many things. But I share your feeling that the 'astral' space or whatever you wanna call it is quite crowded. Whenever I do energy work I am continually amazed the there's an infinite supply of it in every single thing there is. It makes me a tad anxious.

Originally Posted by proctree

Perhaps you misinterpreted my last point, but that's my fault for rambling about things that only interest me and a couple other thousand people on the planet. The true self(buddhism), true will(general magick principle), HGA(Kabbalah), Kia(chaos magic.. ish), and soul(Hermeticism) are all the same thing in fact, but seen through different lenses. I guess that can be said of many things. But I share your feeling that the 'astral' space or whatever you wanna call it is quite crowded. Whenever I do energy work I am continually amazed the there's an infinite supply of it in every single thing there is. It makes me a tad anxious.

I don't think I misinterpeted actually. I just used soul it's the only word I know of. I don't follow a study just my own sense of intuition. It's probably closest to true self from buddhism the way I see it. But I'm very open to interpretation, since my experience is limited there is still so much to learn about it. My interest is quite peaked at the mention of Higher Guardian Angels upon googling it earlier today. That's a strange way to put it. I'm glad you ramble about ur interests this way I learn something I would also look into hermeticism if I had more patience but likely this path is just not for me!

The thing that puzzles me today is that there was a voice which I talk to about "the boy whose body I just left" they said to me. "you see, it's quite pitiful from this point of view" and I said yes. The voice could be "guardian angel".. But also personally interperet this as Higher self. But I find that the "soul" is crowded with deities. So I don't even know anymore .

I think you do let it go, at least in the fear part, your ego can fear death in something like this, and you have to let go of it or going out won't work I suppose.

It's a novel idea. I haven't heared anybody said this before. I'm not willing to let it go yet.

Originally Posted by Dthoughts

The question is, In order to AP/OBE does it require suspension of 'Ego' ?

In order to ask this question one must first agree on a definition of Ego. Which is difficult as it is.

Let it be as it is. That actually going to OBE seems to me easier to realize what is ego. In my opinion I had a partial Obe/ap when I was resenting myself and could look at the whole thing objectively. I could judge myself without feeling as if being judged. Hence, a part of me disassociated. This naturally seemed to result in OBE feelings. I could probably go far with this and I will experiment in the future with this.

I'm just quite curious if others who do this naturally have come to agree that this is so. I think it explains why some people do it easier because some people may be letting go of the ego much easier.

it would also satisfise the difference between what is a Lucid dream and how one can transition into an OBE from a Lucid dream by meditating for example.

That's it thanks for reading.

You will find out that there is no such thing as personal ego, it is just an illusion. But the journey is worth it.

I was very much wrapped up in my own ego for the first ten or so years of my OBE practice. OBEs simply require a combination of the ideal mental and bodily conditions. They only necessitate a suspension of ego for the time it takes to induce this ideal mind state. If you're good, that's only a few minutes. If you're really good, it can be a matter of seconds. Although a more lasting reduction of ego does allow the person to develop and take the experiences into new directions and higher dimensions.

I thought the ego was the one clinging to anything that is related to itself. In hindsight it isn't cut and dried like that. There is never a transition from Ego to something else. But there is a transition from the perspective to some greater part of the self.

I think best viewed as Carl Jung's Personal consciousness and the shadow are the ego. There's the Anima/animus. Not sure where it belongs on the chart. But Im pretty sure it's outside of the ego. Anything that happens outside of it is the collective unconscious.

I don't know if its suspending the ego, but more like getting rid of preconceptions. When I AP, I try to empty my mind and numb my body so I can just experience what comes my way. Observe, and try to not to interfere with ideas and preconceived expectations.

I've only had a few astral projection or out of body experiences, but for me it had little to do with ego or no ego. With subconscious help, I manipulated my visual and tactile model of where I am in relation to my surroundings. A person could say that the willingness to be a part of something greater than myself was essential to receiving help, and a person could call that lack of ego. However, nearly everyone practices that kind of sharing of identity, in relation to race, nation, church, tribe, political or cultural identification, or even when rooting for a sports team or getting into popular music. I don't think it is a loss of ego at all, but just a change in scale or scope. That said, I speculate that there is something about my sense of identity that's different from most of these other examples, and which facilitates these kinds of experiences. But it's mostly in the background and subconscious, not something that is consciously ascendant when I have the experience.