So I recently began an extended fast and a heavy meditation schedule. This morning when I was meditating, I noticed a very large spiderweb covering a good portion of my room, with a black spider crawling around. When I reacted to it, it disappeared. Ignoring the phenomenon, I continued my meditation. Very soon I found myself at my old house, with some large remote control vehicles all over the front yard. Pretty soon this all vanished as well, and I was back in my room. And then again I found myself as an undersea diver, having to deal with a rather aggressive, odd-looking fish.
My question is: what happened? I know for certain that I did not fall asleep, as I returned to my room in the same position, still meditating, with a complete awareness of what I had just experienced, without any physical or mental changes associated with REM sleep. It was not a vision or daydream: I was immersed completely in the experience, unaware that I was really sitting on my mattress. The experience was identical to a dream, except that I had full conscious and reasoning capacity. I reacted to each situation exactly as I would if it were real.
Was this astral projection? Or did I find a method to dream while awake? And furthermore, how is all of this related to abstaining from food? I’ve done this type of meditation before, but it’s never produced this type of experience.
I actually just started it a couple of days ago. I’m going to resume normal eating and see if I can’t duplicate this state of mind. I have a hunch that it had more to do with something I did differently in the meditation, rather than what I was or was not eating.
Well… you still might wanna try doing it after your fasting since they did mention that some unusual circumstances like being deprived of sleep can help achieve this state…
I’ve already started another fast. I tried the meditation after eating a normal meal, but all I achieved was a really intense hypnagogic image. It did seem easier during the fast, probably because the body was less “busy” so it was easier to concentrate.
Heh… This sounds very interesting… I would be trying it myself if I wasn’t required to eat for metabolic reasons… Mabey I’ll try sleep deprivation… Just make sure you don’t harm yourself with this constant fasting.
I am speaking from a total lack of practical experience, but many people have intense religious or spiritual experiences when fasting for extended periods of time.
I would venture to say that what you experienced would be classified as hallucinations. Probably brought on from lack of nourishment.
That is not to say that it is a bad thing. I imagine one could find some way to use this state of mind for some sort of personal development.
I seem to be able to reproduce the effect with some consistency. It’s almost like WBTB, but with deep meditation. I can enter one of these dreams, and when a dream idea is “resolved” as it were, I return to normal consciousness. But what’s interesting is that I can go back into the same dream if I concentrate on it. It’s great for dream analysis, as I can remember the dreams in perfect detail as long as I am in the meditation.
What kind of meditation do you do? If it’s a concentration method, then it’s not unusual for strange things to happen. Because if you have a strong concentration while meditating and you have an experience that you find interesting, you can go really deep into that experience because of that strong concentration.
I sometimes have it that my eyes turn upward so hard that it hurts. At the same time I lose contact with the outside world, have a feeling of floating, hear strange noises, etc. My eyelids are then pressed together very hard and my head sinks to my chest. I can have this sensation at will. Sometimes I just stop having the sensation because it seems I can go deeper and deeper into it and it becomes a little scary.
A meditation teacher once gave me examples of what strong concentration can do during meditation, like the one about this guy who just couldn’t stop flapping his knees while sitting in lotus position. Everytime he meditated he did this.
The teacher also warned me not to get attached to pleasant experiences. Or unpleasant ones for that matter. Just stay observant and if it passes, that’s okay too.
