The mind boggles
at the potential complexities of interdimensional subtle-body
relationships and energetic conflicts created during OBE;
most especially during wake-induced OBE. Consider the memory
compatibility problems that could arise between different
levels of consciousness, and the differences in levels of
understandability between these; and of how thought and memory
sharing between these might work. And lets not forget basic
reintegration problems and the fickle nature of the eventual
shadow memory download into the only permanent storage medium
all subtle bodies share, stretched between all aspects of
the mind-split: the old gray matter of the humble physical
brain. Everything experienced during an OBE must eventually
be downloaded into the physical brain in base-level understandability
format, if it is to generate any kind of recallable and enduring
memory at all that might be accessible to the awake conscious
mind.
If you examine any number
of OBE case histories, or have experienced them yourself,
you will find that every projection starts fresh, right from
the very beginning, just as if it were the very first OBE.
There are no continuing memories of having any kind of astral
otter type of life available to any projector, ever, even
if they suddenly shift into an astral projection that has
apparently been going on for some time. In this case, the
first part of the astral projection (all that had happened
up to the moment when the projector became conscious in his/her
astral body) is effectively wiped and is unrecallable. The
projector will remember other successful projections they
have had in the past, sure, but absolutely nothing of all
their OBE failures, or of all the nights when they just fell
asleep. I consider dreams and overactive imagination to account
for those who believe their experience is contrary to this
scenario.
To be more specific: I do
not believe it is possible to remember (at the base level
of consciousness in the normal waking state) more than a tiny
surface fragment of high level projection memories; including
OBE experience memories gained in the mid to high astral planes.
Basically, when it comes to recalling OBE's, it becomes increasingly
difficult anywhere above the real-time zone. Sure its possible
to recall something of mid to high level astral experiences,
but I stand by my earlier statement that a great deal of what
is experienced is lost in the download. And the higher in
the astral you to the more will be lost in the eventual download
when its all converted into base-level (physical brain) storage
format.
So just what happens to all
these lost astral and higher level OBE memories? Do they download
into inaccessible levels of subconscious and/or unconscious
mind, hiding in places within us where even the deepest level
of hypnosis cannot dig them out? Why does one successful wake-induced
conscious-exit projection provide vivid and lasting experience
memories, while all other unconscious (unremembered) OBE's
leave nothing at all to show they ever happened? And why do
the words "Memory Fails Me" ring through my head
whenever I think about this subject?
In an attempt to answer some
of the above questions, it seems likely that an intrusion
by the base-level of consciousness (as manifested through
the physical brain/mind in its normal waking state) into the
astral double, causes the astral double's level of consciousness
and understandability to drop sharply. This event causes the
astral level of consciousness to revert back to its lowest
form, back to its fully integrated or base-level of consciousness.
The lowest and coarsest level of a consciousness unit appears,
in all cases, to be far stronger (and what it experiences
is far more memorable) than any higher level or aspect of
that same consciousness unit (consciousness unit = a whole
person or being).
When it is present, the base-level
replaces any higher level of consciousness, e.g, astral plane
levels of consciousness and higher. The base level overwrites
any experience memories gained independently by those higher
levels of consciousness. This is what I believe happens when
higher and lower levels of consciousness integrate, on any
dimensional level or level of consciousness, during an OBE.
The stronger and more robust base-level simply replaces and
overwrites the higher level. The OBE continues from that point
AT the base-level of consciousness and understandability.
This neatly replaces any higher level experience memories
that might have existed before base-level integration with
a higher aspect of itself occurs.
Higher level memories still
exist after this event, but they are driven into inaccessible
levels of the subconscious or unconscious mind and memory.
The overall effect of this event is that a projection continues
from that moment on as if it had just started; often with
a vague feeling of having been doing something, but with no
real memories to support this feeling. This occurs whether
reintegration occurs at the bottom end of the scale in the
waking physical body, or whether this occurs at a higher level,
say in the astral body when the projector suddenly becomes
aware and wakes up inside his/her astral body mid-projection.
The lowest level of consciousness always replaces and overwrites
any higher level of consciousness and effectively wipes out
all trace of its experience memories at the moment of integration.
Higher level intrusion and
replacement by the base level does not allow memories of any
continuing astral existence to be recaptured. This very same
thing appears to happen every time during the integration
of the real-time projected double with its physical counterpart.
The real-time double contains the experience memories of all
of its higher aspects within it when it reintegrates with
its physical counterpart. But the majority of its experience
memories of higher levels of existence are usually lost, downloaded
into inaccessible levels of subconscious and unconscious mind
and memory. This shows there is an inherent problem with OBE
reintegration: downloading and storing shadow memories in
accessible levels of the physical brain. To be recallable,
shadow memories must be accessible to the base level of waking
consciousness, and must be stored in base level format, if
they are to be recognized by the physical brain as recallable
memories.
While I think it is unlikely
as a continually ongoing memory process, I admit its possible
that the projected double and all of its higher selves could
lead something like separate lives while they are out of their
physical body. But the physical brain at the base level of
consciousness could not be totally privy to these levels of
continuing existence. But it may remember small fragments
of possibly linked sequential events gleaned from a string
of OBE's. Higher aspects could be, as is commonly believed
today, continually gathering experience memories that the
base level of consciousness simply cannot be privy to. The
physical brain is not capable of storing and recalling most
high level memories unless they are first converted into base
level format. And unfortunately the vast majority of high
level experience memories do not translate into base level
format. At a very rough guess I'd say that less than one-percent
of high-level experience memories are potentially accessible
to the physical brain at the base level of consciousness in
the normal waking state.
Memories from higher levels
of consciousness (and/or higher levels of OBE) do not seem
to be in sync with what the physical brain is capable of recognizing
and storing in physical body memory. This factor may cause
the full memories of high-level experiences to be stored deep
within the subconscious and/or unconscious mind. The only
parts of high-level experiences that are storable as recallable
memories are those parts the physical brain is capable of
recognizing and converting into base level format.
I believe the above conversion
factor account for the metaphorical abstracts, symbols, images
and feelings that are sometimes remembered after high-level
OBE's and dreams, instead of more recognizable types of OBE
and dream experience memories. This goes a long way towards
explaining the abstract and metaphorical nature of OBE's visions
and dreams, and why these are so difficult to understand and
interpret at the base level (in the normal waking state).
The physical brain is only capable of storing the surface
layer of high-level experience memories, as highly condensed
metaphorical abstracts.
The thin surface layer download
and storage of memories from high-level experiences (if and
when they occur) are the physical brain's 'interpretation'
of higher and more abstract levels of its own existence in
higher dimensional levels. This interpretation is done through
necessity, to store experience memories that are being downloaded
into the physical brain in an unrecognizable format the brain
is not designed to interpret and store, i.e., in high level
format. The physical brain is incapable of recognizing and
storing complete high level experience memories in base level
format, and therefore cannot make them accessible to the normal
waking state of consciousness. But the bulk of information
may (and I definitely mean maybe here) download into inaccessible
levels of subconscious or unconscious memory. Therefore, when
an attempt is made to store them at base level format, a great
deal of information is effectively misplaced. Only fragments
(the thin surface layer) are stored and are thus recallable
as memories by normal waking consciousness. But these fragments
are abstract, symbolic and metaphorical, as is the nature
of high level memories. In a way the end result of storing
this thin surface layer can be likened to complex hieroglyphics,
where a picturegram tells a thousand words. But if you don't
understand the language, hieroglyphics become a collection
of vaguely interesting but virtually meaningless pictures.
A Geekish Analogy: Another
way of describing this, to the geeks among us (myself included:)
is to think of a high level memory as being something like
a five second .mpg motion picture file. If you view the inside
of the .mpg with a file viewer (say Windows Notepad) you'll
see a huge mass of dots and squiggly lines and symbols that
make no sense whatsoever. But if you have .mpg player software
you'll see five seconds of movie you can see, enjoy and understand.
Now you use your imagination and reverse this process. Let's
say someone emails you an .mpg file. The guts of this .mpg
file contain an entire volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica;
really interesting stuff. But your software will only let
you view a highly compressed five second metaphorical representation,
of the huge volume of information actually contained within
the .mpg, when you download and play it. So, you store this
fantastic .mpg on your hard disk drive and wait until you
upgrade your PC (raise your base level of consciousness) and
in effect develop the right software with which to play it.
The higher the level of consciousness
attained during an OBE, and the higher the dimensional level
projected into, the more abstract and metaphorical existence
becomes. Theoretically, the only reliable way to overcome
this incompatibility problem is to raise the level of consciousness
the base level of consciousness is operating on. By this I
do not mean to 'temporarily' raise the base level of consciousness
during an OBE, but to 'permanently' raise the base level (upgrade
its high-level OBE interpretation software) so the normal
waking state is operating at a higher level of consciousness
than before. This will allow more, but not all, of high level
experience memories to be downloaded, remembered and understood.
The only way I know of to accomplish this feat is through
long-term spiritual, bio-energetic and consciousness raising
development.
The above string of thought
shows that wake-induced conscious-exit projection causes a
shift of the base level of consciousness (normal waking consciousness)
into higher dimensional levels, neatly replacing the higher
levels of consciousness natural to those levels. This may
be the only thing which allows fragments of high level experience
memories to be captured and downloaded into the physical brain
at the base level. As I said, this shift of the base level
of consciousness into a higher aspect of itself, appears to
override and replace the higher level of consciousness operating
at that time, effectively wiping all memories gained up to
that moment by the higher level of consciousness natural to
that level. This event, while infuriating if you aspire to
higher levels of OBE understanding, appears to be necessary.
If the base level of consciousness is to operate at all in
higher and more abstract dimensional levels, and is to return
and tell the tale of it, this event is logically unavoidable.
The base level of consciousness
is absolutely 'necessary' to operate down here in the physical
dimension, i.e., to 'live' and 'exist' successfully within
the physical dimension. To hazard a guess I would say that
to do otherwise would cause a type of high-level autism that
would not allow one to function successfully here in the physical
dimension. One would not be able to relate to the physical
dimension, nor to communicate with others operating at the
base level of consciousness. One would live in a quiet world
of highly compressed metaphorical abstracts. Human words and
ways would seem like so much noisy clamor and clatter to one
existing at this level of consciousness. This can be likened
to how a pack of annoying seagulls might seem to a person
while they are trying to read an interesting book. Pretty
soon he/she will likely move elsewhere, or tune out the seagulls
and retreat into his/her own inner space, where he/she can
read and think in peace. And following along these lines,
it seems possible that autistics may indeed be operating at
a higher level of consciousness than the norm. This would
help explain the 'savant' abilities some autistics display.
These include great artistic, musical and mathematical abilities,
e.g., see the movie 'Rain Man' starring Dustin Hoffman as
an autistic savant (mathematical genius).
Shadow memories are first
cousins to dream memories, which are themselves extremely
delicate and easily lost. How many times have you woken after
a vivid dream and thought "Wow, cool, that's so clear
I'll never forget it!" so you don't bother writing it
down; only to find the memory completely missing a few moments
later. The one thing missing from every seemingly failed OBE
or lucid dream memory is simply the mental recording of that
experience, i.e., the memory of it being stored by the physical
brain; that final wrinkle in the old gray matter. Memory is
'everything' to successful OBE or lucid dreaming.
Meditation: To allow myself
another brief aside: Along these same lines, the above also
explains why meditation experiences are so difficult to explain
and remember; re they share the same inherent translation
and downloading problems as do high level OBE experiences.
Apart from simply falling asleep, this is the 'other' main
reason why so many people remember little of what transpires
while they are meditating.
The difficulties understanding
and grasping the complexities of the mind-split, not to mention
the enormous difficulties inherent to explaining all of this,
I think, highlights why current theories on OBE have so far
only allowed for a singular perspective and existence of a
projector. Current popular theories therefore promoted the
belief that the conscious mind actually leaves its physical
body during an OBE, leaving an empty husk in its wake: what
I call The Empty-Body Theory. Some people even go so far as
to believe the essential animating soul actually leaves the
physical body during OBE; called Soul Travel. Even the term
Out-Of-Body Experience propagates the empty-body theory. It
seems likely the reasons and needs that sprouted the empty-body
theory were the sheer complexities, and often uncomfortable
issues, raised if any more realistic and workable theory were
applied to the mechanics and dynamics of OBE, i.e., The Mind-Split
Theory, which allows for the simultaneous plural existence
of any single consciousness unit, or person, in multiple subtle
bodies.
Unfortunately, the singular
empty-body theory also causes a great deal of needless worry,
i.e., about getting lost or not being able to get back into
the physical body during or after an OBE. But according to
my experience and theories this could never happen. The original
copy of mind and memory never leave the physical body while
it still lives. Only a subtle copy leaves during any OBE.
And even if, under circumstances I cannot imaging, the projected
copy were somehow destroyed during an OBE, the physical body
would wake up as usual the next day; albeit maybe with a slight
headache and dizziness due to a minor loss of (replaceable)
etheric matter: nothing a few good meals and a good nights
sleep could not rectify.
If you drop the singularity
(empty body during OBE) theory, you must by default allow
for the mind-split and the existence of multiple copies of
the original during OBE. And it would be logical to suggest
that each would have a different perspective, level of consciousness
and understandability. But you must then allow for the possibility
that a plethora of energetic and mental conflicts may at times
exist between these multiple copies; especially if more than
one aspect of the original is functioning at any one time.
You must also then consider how all of this would affect the
original mind and its physical storage medium, the humble
physical brain. And more importantly, how the original mind/brain
would deal with the end result: with the multiple memory streams
it would sometimes experience and have to account for, and
how it would handle and store these during and after OBE.
The mind-split phenomenon
is an extraordinarily intricate phenomenon with far reaching
implications. It is fundamental to the entire field of metaphysics
if you seriously examine it. But its real headache material,
especially if an attempt is made to grasp all its complexities
in one bite. I am not surprised the mind-split and the issues
it raises have so far been overlooked; or maybe even deliberately
avoided. However, I believe the mind-split theory (given fully
in Astral Dynamics) provides the only realistic and workable
foundation to explain the nature and dynamics and intricacies
of OBE. Only when it is understood can the complex nature
of humankind's multi-dimensional bio-energetic existence even
begin to be grasped; and maybe understood just a little...
RB
More Articles On OBEs
(OBEs Privacy
& Ethics)
(OBE Astral
Sex Pt 1)
(OBE Astral
Sex Pt 2)
(OBE - Understandability
& Memory Download Problems)
(OBE FAQ's)
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