Meditation experience

Alright so I am still an extreme newbie at all of this stuff. Anyway I have been having problems gaining lucidity in night time sleep. So I decided to practice the art of meditation. Since I am just beginning I am trying to practice focusing my mind on sound. In this case I was listening to Godspeed! You Black Emporer.

So I was sitting there focusing on the music, wonderful music really, it makes my heart slow down. So all of a sudden my parents start making a bunch of noise about something but I continue to try and focus. Then there voices are gone before I know it. Then all of a sudden I was in an alley way spinning a stick. Only I realized it was going right through my fingers.

At this point I knew nothing was real and I began to run deeper into the alley. Then it got pitch black and I felt very warm inside. The shadow was like a blanket. Then I thought I could just open my eyes but I was seeing all black still. It was like I couldn't open them or they were already open.

I was confused where exactly I was in my mind. But then the music came back and it helped me to wake up. I don't know it is tough to explain but it felt...right. Anyone have similar experiences?

Sounds great. Congrats. You will have lots of bizzare things happen while in meditation. They can only be beneficial. Just keep on going and don't give up. You may want to get some books on meditation, my all time favorite is 'play of consciousness' by muktananda.

What forms of meditation do you personally find beneficial? I am not very religious (sort of christian) but I definitely respect the art.

I have been interested in Meditation.
But have heared that it is used in New Age.
Just like Astral Projection, it is religious.
And i don't want to be involved in such things.
Like a spirutal experince, that isn't real.
I'm christian, not a prist, but christian.
So when I read this thread, I thought I might could have some suggestion of meditaion =)
Meditation is not just a sentence, but may be i could have some countersigns ?

Mr. Redd - When it comes to increasing your dream recall and chances of lucidity, i think the best meditation is one pointedness. Basically it is just keeping your eyes and attention focused on a single point while being relaxed. I actually use a freckle on my hand because it is always with me in my dreams so I can easily practice the meditation when I'm lucid. As far as normal meditation I just close my eyes and repeat a mantra. Mantra is extremely important part of meditation, you can also use one when doing one pointedness.

groffse - Meditation doesn't conflict with religion because its a physiological process, you don't have to associate spirituality or religion with it at all. Like meditation, dreaming is also a physiological process, and its been shown that many of the same chemicals are involved in both of them. I don't know of any religion that is against dreaming. It would be pretty strange if there were any, since dreaming is a necessary part of our bodies functions.

Very interesting lucid4sho, I will have to look into these mantras.

Ya, and don't be concerned with what mantra you choose, you can make it be whatever you want, just something that isn't going to get annoying. The purpose of the mantra is to replace thought, there is no power in the mantra itself, just the fact that you use it to replace idle thinking.

Yeah I don't think I will develop the ability to focus my sight on something for a while. For right now it seems sound is the easiest for me. Thanks for the advice by the way.

You really should avoid using music as your focus of attention - doing so is really not any closer to meditation than watching a movie or TV show. Music (also human speech) hijacks your attention and in doing so makes meditation impossible (well, very difficult anyway). Using a mantra as lucid4sho mentioned (try the word "one") or focusing on your breath are two effective, traditional techniques.

As far as your strange experience, it sounds like you fell asleep. That's all cool for WILD or whatever, but while meditating you should be sitting upright with your spine erect.

I was sitting upright with my spine erect.

Astal Projection is religious,
it is used in New Age. (Not new for you i think)
And Astral Projection is via lucid dreaming.

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Originally Posted by groffse

Astal Projection is religious,
it is used in New Age. (Not new for you i think)
And Astral Projection is via lucid dreaming.

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:uhm: Never heard of new age.
AP is not necessarily related to lding.
AP has nothing to do with religion, its
a real occurrence governed by science,
just like lucid dreaming.

Unlike lucid dreaming, astral projection has never been verified by science.

Ya good point. Well not that we know of at least. I'm just making a hypthosesis based on experience, it seems to me to be governed by scientific laws.

http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ral+Projection

If you read this thread, you will may be get a little better understanding of AP.

I know all about AP first hand. What difference does it make where the term AP originated, I bet people have been doing it long before recorded history.

groffse- if it is beneficial to somone, who cares if it is religious based or not, new age-ey or anything else. i wish people would look at how things benefit others before taking a stand against something based on their personal religious beliefs.

Wow groffse get a life. Dreaming does not have to do with religion and neither does Astral Projection.

groffse, meditation is about being calm, relaxed, and at peace. it has nothing to do with religion. albeit buddhists use it, and also new agers but that doesn't mean that ONLY they use it. meditation is for everyone, just like dreaming and sleeping. don't be put off by meditation just because people whose views conflict with yours use it.

Astral Projection is used in a religion, that I don't belong to.
If you was christian, you woulden't use the Koran.
So may be I have been a little abstruse, but I don't want to move over to another religion. So my point is there are things I can't do when i'm christian.

well, were all so proud of you for your moral stance.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by groffse

Astral Projection is used in a religion, that I don't belong to.
If you was christian, you woulden't use the Koran.
So may be I have been a little abstruse, but I don't want to move over to another religion. So my point is there are things I can't do when i'm christian.

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People have naturally done AP since childhood.. how do you explain that?

its something your brain is capable of. Don't you want to explore that?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by groffse

Astral Projection is used in a religion, that I don't belong to.
If you was christian, you woulden't use the Koran.
So may be I have been a little abstruse, but I don't want to move over to another religion. So my point is there are things I can't do when i'm christian.

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Then you better go get your foreskin reattached since thats a Jewish practice! :laugh:

I've read about AP, it is to explore other worlds.
Like a spirutal experience to people.
It isn't just for fun!

still..

people natural AP since a child.. what does that make the child?

Can you explane:
"naturally done AP since childhood"
A little more detailed ?

where people practise AP.. some people say they have done it since childhood..

it has came naturally.. without trying.. like dreaming.

Some say?
Not very cogent.
I don't want to be a negative ass hole,
but I need to be sceptical to this.
Because of my religion you see.
I really hope you see :), anyway I think I don't will get any more out of this.
So now it is time to look over the posts, and find out more about AP.

Thanks for the information every one.;-)

you do what you want groffse, but AS and meditation aren't strictly for religeous purposes. just because you're christian doesn't mean you can't explore your own mind, or be at peace for that matter.

lol i didn't see the next page. it's good that you're open minded at least, and you're doing research to see what suits you, but again some people use it for "spirituality" and some just use it to explore.

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Originally Posted by joshbotch

groffse- if it is beneficial to somone, who cares if it is religious based or not, new age-ey or anything else. i wish people would look at how things benefit others before taking a stand against something based on their personal religious beliefs.

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I couldn't agree with you more!

To my mind, neither AP or LD is religious, it's simply spiritual.

Man's thirst for power and control, particularly as it relates to the interpretation of that which is divine is all that religion is.

But the phenomena of being able to access the dream/astral world is far more expansive, rich and profound than that.

Don't short change God for IT/HE/SHE is bigger than I think you're giving IT credit for.

Much more so!

I'd even go so far as to say the All That Is which is God is UNLIMITED and as such ought to be able to answer to more than one name in more than one way.

One mountain, many vistas.

Spirituality happens when you realize how you got to the mountain top is less important than the view once you get to the top.

I bet primitive man naturally experienced lding and AP long before spiritual and religious concepts were considered, or even before we had the capacity to contemplate a higher power.

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Originally Posted by DuB

You really should avoid using music as your focus of attention - doing so is really not any closer to meditation than watching a movie or TV show. Music (also human speech) hijacks your attention and in doing so makes meditation impossible (well, very difficult anyway). Using a mantra as lucid4sho mentioned (try the word "one") or focusing on your breath are two effective, traditional techniques.

As far as your strange experience, it sounds like you fell asleep. That's all cool for WILD or whatever, but while meditating you should be sitting upright with your spine erect.

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I don't want to attack here, but using music is very effective for some people's meditations as is evidenced by Mr. Redd's experience. Further, you don't have to to be sitting upright to meditate. Most meditation books say that you can meditate laying down, but sitting upright is more effective. There are so many ways to meditate and I would like to commend Mr. Redd on what sounds like an incredibly moving personal experience.

Quote:

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To my mind, neither AP or LD is religious, it's simply spiritual.

Man's thirst for power and control, particularly as it relates to the interpretation of that which is divine is all that religion is.

But the phenomena of being able to access the dream/astral world is far more expansive, rich and profound than that.

Don't short change God for IT/HE/SHE is bigger than I think you're giving IT credit for.

Much more so!

I'd even go so far as to say the All That Is which is God is UNLIMITED and as such ought to be able to answer to more than one name in more than one way.

One mountain, many vistas.

Spirituality happens when you realize how you got to the mountain top is less important than the view once you get to the top.

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I like your attitude Writermind. Spirituality definitely should not be limited or limiting in any way.

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Originally Posted by Nightmare

I like your attitude Writermind. Spirituality definitely should not be limited or limiting in any way.

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Thanks

Meditation is not religous. It stems from many religions and you can find the history yourself but meditation at its base is simply a mind exercise. It doesn't require belief in any religous area whatsoever.

lucid4sho, what kind of mantra do you mean? like a sentence repeated over and over? i try to repeat to myself "calm. sleep" and poicture the words in front of my closed eyes. Is that right? So far, it doesnt work for anything but calming me down :\

i'm almost certain that a mantra can be anything you want it to be. the words hold no significance, it's just to keep your mind away from distractions, as i understand it.

Exactly what forgotten said. It takes awhile to see the benefits of mantra in your dreams. One pointedness meditation calms and centers your vision and mantra does the same for your thoughts. When your thoughts and vision are centered its easier to perceive dreams and become lucid.

Thank you Nightmare it was very exciting. I like to listen to godspeed! you black emporer it is kind of like orchstral experimental? Tough to explain, but very calming.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by groffse

I have been interested in Meditation.
But have heared that it is used in New Age.
Just like Astral Projection, it is religious.
And i don't want to be involved in such things.
Like a spirutal experince, that isn't real.
I'm christian, not a prist, but christian.
So when I read this thread, I thought I might could have some suggestion of meditaion =)
Meditation is not just a sentence, but may be i could have some countersigns ?

---

Don't worry mate, some Christians have been meditating for centuries, its not all mumbo jumbo.

As I understand it, it basically improves concentration. With practice you can focus on one thing, for example your breath, without distraction. When eventually your mind becomes completely still, without distraction, whatever you experience is open to your own interpretation.

As the mind is so open to distraction in dreams, being able to focus on one thing without getting side-tracked would probably be very useful for lucid dreaming.

edit - at the risk of repeating the above posts...