And what is wrong with that, influx? If it's YOU who's in charge of where you go and how you get there, how can it be dangerous or delusional? If it pleases you and it beats the physical reality, why not go there and have fun? All realms visited/created by you are real to you, no different to this one. The only prison bars that exist are the ones we set ourselves...why place limits on the extent of our consciousness? The human condition is not a happy one, as I'm sure you will agree. It's why most who aren't starving or sick take recreational drugs/drink and other distractions from 'real life'. It's altogether more healthy to be in control of your experiences without an external influence of any kind, IMO.influx wrote:... And I should practice mediation so I can achieve astral projection? Every night when I fall asleep my puny brain produces the most incredible hallucinations, called dreams! If my brain can do this when I sleep and I can not tell that it is all a fake, a virtual world constructed in my head by my brain, then how would I know if I did the same to myself thru meditation? We all know that dreams are not real, but what verification will we have for what we see during these altered states of consciousness? These are most likely self induced delusional states brought on for the purpose of escaping the unbearable reality around us, similar to suicides. The knowledge obtained during these "trips" is no more real than the dream I had last night. Should I believe that the conversation had by a person with his muse when he was on DMT " the spirit molecule" is in fact real? Human beings can remember what never happened! It is called False Memory Syndrome!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory_syndrome
These memories can be implanted under hypnosis and even self hypnosis, which is meditation! These False Memories can have incredible drastic and damaging consequences.
http://faculty.washington.edu/eloftus/A ... /sciam.htm
http://www.fmsfonline.org/reliable.html
Most of the secret esoteric knowledge that the so called enlightened posses, astral projection, extrasensory perception, telepathy, psychic abilities, fairy tales, fairies, elf's and too many more to list, are self delusions induces by self hypnosis, i.e. meditation and various forms of trauma, physiological, emotional or mental. This is called Delusional disorder!
The proof of the pudding is in the trying. You don't need convoluted rules or instructions, you don't need to meditate for half a century to master this. All you need to do is relax, breathe, visualise a picture and place yourself there. These are realms of no limitations and no fear. Anything/everything is possible. If you invite 5 or 6 friends to be 'there' with you, why don't you do so and then check with them the next day to see if they have any memory of being there? I do understand your point, of course, but if this is the way humanity are going, then why not take an 'open-minded' approach? It could be we are becoming Shaman, and that we have dumbed ourselves down to such an extent we don't even believe our own capabilities any more.
Psychologists call this delusional because they are so very frightened of anything outside the 'norm' even though there isn't a person alive who is normal. All kinds of excuses as to why we shouldn't experiment with these other realms are brought up - from the reptilian agenda to evil astral entities, to the thread of madness. There is only one danger, IMO; that's it's so enjoyable to do this, when one returns, it can be difficult to stay grounded. For that reason, grounding exercises are necessary.
I would also add that if one is going to attempt to try this, that they do not ever interfere in the path of another. Free will for all has to prevail. And, of course, it works all the better when you do it in the spirit of love and brotherhood. Let's face it, the occultists have been doing this for centuries, and this is how they have managed to control so much. The astral and other realms are incredibly powerful, which is why it's so vital to have the correct frame of mind when venturing 'out'.
I put this to you: people who can cope with this reality on this planet today without going partially insane must be insane themselves. We are not meant to live this way. What we see is a fingerprint of Reality out there/in here and the denial of that is what's making humans so limited and defeated.