Out of body experience during meditation

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 15 Jul 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Mlle Lenormand	15 Jul 2002
During a guided meditation a couple of weeks ago, I visited (in spirit) a meditation circle somewhere on the east coast of America. We were supposed to visualise flying above earth and going to another planet. However, above Earth, I saw a brilliant bright white light on the east coast of USA and I was drawn towards it. I found myself in a room with a meditation/spiritual circle happening. I felt that it was a community space and it was floorboards. I was floating about 3 foot off the floor and shouting my name and address in the hope that someone would be tuned in and send me some sort of evidence via snail mail. My guide turned up and asked my why I was yelling, he told me to talk to them the same way I talk to him. Feeling stupid, I did and saw someone take out a notepad and start writing, but they were having trouble with the name of my home town. My guide pulled me away at this point. Ok, so I may be strange, but if by any chance you hear of someone in a circle with the other half of this tale, please tell me.

jade	15 Jul 2002
what an amazing journey that must have been! my ex, years ago, was sleeping at a buddy's place. he 'dreamed' that he was flying and went to visit a place (i can't remember the details). the next morning he was telling his friend's mom about the dream because it was soooo vivid. he told her about him flying with his buddy to a nearby town (city) and exactly what they did, where they flew etc. his buddy got up a little later and started sharing his dream from the night before...........exact same dream. they all realized that the two guys had astral projected the night before.......together! wow, i was blown away when he shared this with me. although, by that time, he 'flew' all the time. :D and would often share his adventures with me. :D love jade

Lightlike	15 Jul 2002
I've had something like an OBE but not exactly. When I shoot arrows with my target bow for a period of time without interuptions I get into the "zone" to the point that my point of view is no longer from my eyes but from a floating position above and slightly behind my right shoulder. I am able to continue shooting but at the same time its like part of me has stepped out temporarily. It's never scared me because its very peaceful and meditative and my archery skills are better than normal when I'm in this state. I don't think I have a full OBE because I'm engaged in an act that can't just be walked away from... I mean if I were to fly away I'm not sure what would happen. Any thoughts Jade? Or anyone else?

Mlle Lenormand	16 Jul 2002
Lightlike, I've read about your experience with archery in many novels (usually fantasy, but I wonder about where the knowledge comes from) they all talk about 'zoning out' with the target, or becoming one with the target. I read a book yesterday that contained a Buddhist story about archery and seeing only the target and that nothing else existed at that moment. Perhaps you are in a deep meditative state or an OBE of some kind, but it sounds wonderful. I've had other OBE's where I have literally 'whooshed' through walls and once, on waking from an operation I heard myself from a far off place begging that I 'wanted to go back' I couldn't remember where 'back' was, but I remember the feeling of complete peace and that I belonged there more than here.

Lightlike	16 Jul 2002
I have a neat book called "The Zen of Archery" which talks about becoming one with the target, I guess I just never related the experience to "becoming one with the target" neat observation Mlle. Swooshing through walls sounds fun. My grandma said she remembered walking toward "the light" during one hospital visit when she nearly died. She didn't want to walk away from the light but her parents and husband were calling her and talking to her so she felt compelled to come back.

Mlle Lenormand	16 Jul 2002
lightlike, Do you think then that there might be a link between focussing, 'becoming one with the target' and meditation? I've felt in meditation that the feeling is like 'slipping in between'......LOL but don't ask me where 'between' is because I couldn't describe it. And who says that OBE's, meditation and such should happen in a fixed manner, eg. near-death or assuming a lotus pose? I've experienced states like that whilst doing Tai Chi, so why not archery?

Lightlike	16 Jul 2002
Probably is, however I can't do it during/using standard meditation techniques. But then I've only been practicing those recently... I've been into archery since I was four or five (I was a tomboy :) )--wow, I've been into archery almost 16-17 years so maybe that's why I can slip into a state like that. Darn, 16-17 years that makes me feel old.

Mlle Lenormand	18 Jul 2002
Lightlike, I've been meditating daily for about 20 years now (I am old) and I find now that it comes easy, but it took me about 10 years to learn to shut out the outside world. What about imagining yourself setting up and aiming for a target whilst in a meditation? Could be interesting.

Lightlike	18 Jul 2002
Would definately be interesting to try especially since my chances to practice archery are rare nowadays since I've moved into the city and there are no archery ranges nearby. I'll let you know how it goes after a few attempts...

The Out of body experience during meditation thread was originally posted on 15 Jul 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.