Greetings all:

As there is not a well defined folder for people just jumping in, I figured this folder was most appropriate.

I have managed to learn how to have lucid dreams and OOBE experiences more or less on demand. I am very active at the site listed in my profile.

But as I have explored some of the deeper meanings behind my experiences, I have been on something of a quest to make better sense of the experiences. My experiences led me to Monroe, which ultimately led me here, per a friends suggestion.

Haven't read the trilogy yet though it will arrive any day now. Have read Monroe's work, as well as some of the other notables tied to Cambell's interests including Radin.

I did review the ppt slides Tom presented at TMI last year. I am most intrigued. I have experienced the "nudge" countless times. Sometimes in a figurative sense, and sometimes in a literal one. I have used this natural process to gain a number of insights into how to leverage the OOBE in relation to PSI. This relation is one of my fundamental interests. The model of consciousness affecting reality within a probability distribution of possibilities is something I have personally experienced as well, in a very measurable sense. As I sort through Tom's model, hopefully I will make greater sense of that experience.

I am looking forward to sharing thoughts, ideas and motivations with all here.

_________________
You see, the universe IS well designed. It is designed to have loop holes that have a low risk to reward relationship. With risk comes potential reward. And Mother Nature has known this for a long time. Why would anyone second guess her? It's by design.

Welcome DrTechnical,
I look forward to reading your contributions here.Most people post their Lucid Dream-OBE stuff at the "psi-paranormal" and "communication in consciousness space" sections.

Do you post at 'dreamviews' ? (your screen name seems familiar)

Thanks Jeff. Yes, those boards seem like the obvious ones in relation to LD/OOBE. But as I mentioned, my interests have broadened significantly outside of that base space.

Yeah, used to spend time at DV's. I am sure I made a few 100 posts there.

Spend my time now at MortalMist, where I discuss all of my experiments in waking space to dreamspace PSI, the bidirectional aspect of it and so forth. I am very active there.

I think this site represents a good opportunity to really explore the whole consciousness aspect much deeper than anything going on at MM however. Looking forward.

I'll just be lurking for a bit until I read, digest and form my own opinions on MBT. Given what I know so far, I am sure I will find a fair amount of synergy between this system and what I have already discovered quite independently. This is sort of how it went w/ Monroe. Not all of my experiences prior to reading his material mapped to Monroe's, but a heck of a lot did. These synergies between human experience are much of what drives my interests at this point.

_________________
You see, the universe IS well designed. It is designed to have loop holes that have a low risk to reward relationship. With risk comes potential reward. And Mother Nature has known this for a long time. Why would anyone second guess her? It's by design.

Hi Doc,

& Welcome.

One of the things that I understand both The Monroe Institute and Tom seem to really push is for people to define their own experiences....

...when they hear of people trying to define experiences in terms of descriptions of either Monroe or Campbell, probably nothing makes either of them cringe more.

Probably the premier beauty of Tom's theory is that it proposes a template that suggests absolute freedom: All that is is "a bunch of ones and zeroes" fundamentally. We are, literally, each a babe sitting at the console of a super powerful computer... and the question is: What shall we do...?

All the cultural and social exposure to the world that we have experienced literally gets delivered to us through the equivalent of higher-level GUI software, (including ideas about OBE and Lucidity and so on).... and so, like with GUI software, we are drawn in by the shiney stuff: NO one does DOS anymore, eh?

But having an understanding that our console is a fancy sorter of ones and zeroes, and then exploring the possibilities of that when we are ready to, offers an intimidatingly immense degree of freedom..... far more than almost any human would care for. (Freedom is like intelligence or money or 'power' or 'force of being' in that each consciousness operates best with in a certain range of the stuff... too little and the system malfunctions.... too much and the train will likely jump the tracks).

So that is both the beauty and the horror of Tom's system (in my opinion); Absolute freedom is an awesome 'gift', but the amount of courage it takes to manage that, once that freedom is fully comprehended, is nearly beyond the human range.... daunting, wild, etc.

Happy Trails!


-Montana

Welcome DrTechnical,

If you go to the MBT website there are links to his YouTube videos. http://www.my-big-toe.com/index.php?opt ... &Itemid=83. The London Lecture is a good place to start. It will give you a broad overview of MBT. Also there are links on the main page to his many podcasts.

But really reading the book is the only way to really understand it. Be forewarned it will challenge many of your fondly held paradigms. Especially since you have some experience and no doubt opinions about lucid dreaming and OOBE.

Yes, I agree. It's all about free will of interpretation. While I am fond of Monroe, my collection of opinions would not shoehorn me into the title of "Monroe junkie". Nor is that likely to become the case for Tom's work.

But with interpretation aside, if one is to embrace a TOE, then surely it must explain in reasonable terms and/or account for experience and theory developed prior to understand that system of belief (encompassed by a TOE).

I will give you a modest example. I don't think anyone at TMI would claim that his framework is a TOE per say. Yet, there is a framework there which is really quite interesting and fundamental. Take the focus states, if you're familiar with that work.

I am very interested in exploring consciousness. As well as altered consciousness. The latter can mean a lot of things (cranial electro stimulation, binaural beats, OOBE, chemically induced and so forth).

It became clear as I understood Monroe's focus states, that I had been to Focus 27 years before understanding his concept of what this is. Been there many times. Probably true of Focus 42 as well, but that is a deeper story.

So I guess my intention here, is to first understand Tom's theories, and see how (if at all) they map to or otherwise explain conclusions I have come to in my own growth process. That is what is highly interesting to me. I guess I'll take it from there, as they say.

Thanks again for all the welcomes and pointers all.

Oh ... c:\dir|sort|more ... an I like a challenge ;)

_________________
You see, the universe IS well designed. It is designed to have loop holes that have a low risk to reward relationship. With risk comes potential reward. And Mother Nature has known this for a long time. Why would anyone second guess her? It's by design.

Welcome DrTechnical. :)

Based on what you have experienced so far and what your background is, I think you will absolutely love the map of reality Tom provides. Be prepared to have some of your deep-seated beliefs shaken a little, and take your time with it. You will be given tools that you can use for the rest of, well, eternity. :)

The forums provide a treasure trove of additional material, and there are YouTube videos that just build on his work even more.

_________________
Mike

Hi Dr Technical,

This is my first comment so I hope I am successful.

I found your comments interesting.

Just wondering if you can elaborate a bit more on your experiences.

For example do you believe that the so-called silver cord is a valid phenomena in some oobe's or a metaphor?

Or anything along that line.

Hi eric15, and welcome to Tom's MBT discussion forums. Ever since it came to me the silver cord phenomena is explained (to me) because that is the one thing we all have in common, still until they figure out another way, umbilical cords we could see from inside of our sack. Silver cord=umbilical cord plus the "meanings" that usually go with that concept, safety, nurturing, etc, during the experience.
Love
Bette

_________________
All That Is
what is?
Consciousness.

Hi Bette,

Thanks for response,
I take it that the umbilical cord/silver cord are a metaphor from you view.
And this might indeed be the case.
I have only noticed the cord once and that was in locale1. [RAM'S terminology].
I examined it amongst other tests I was making in an OOBE.
I notice RAM and Muldoon amongst others also noted it though with slight variations.
TOM in MBT suggests this is a metaphor and this might be right.
I wonder what test one could devise in order to come to a valid conclusion?
Cheers Eric15

Welcome Eric15.

Given the conventional explanation of the OOBE cord function, it seems logical to me that all one has to do to determine whether it is a metaphor or not is find ONE case of OOBE which explicitly indicates no cord in the experience.

That seems like a pretty easy task, but that's speculation on my part as I haven't actually done the search for such a case.

Anything anyone actually experiences is a valid phenomena, in my opinion. :) I did not have the cord phenomena in my OOBE.
Love
Bette

_________________
All That Is
what is?
Consciousness.

Yup, it's all valid phenomena - it's just not objectively, as in 'out there' real.

ob-ject-ive
sub-ject-ive

ob=our beliefs
sub=same universal body (of knowledge)



just thinking out loud
Love
Bette

_________________
All That Is
what is?
Consciousness.

Hi All,

Good to see your replies.

To give RAM his due he kept his interpretation of his experiences to a minimum.

A very modern approach not appreciated by all.

Earlier adventures Swedenborg,Muldoon,Yram and Fox seem more open to preconceived beliefs.

One could point out that he might have been influenced by what he had read but it's not obvious to me.

While he was aware of other psychics it's not obvious that he copied any concepts.

Even the more obvious ones like Jane Robert's [Seth] Probabilities.

This is what I like about Tom's Theory. Any complete theory to work in my opinion required probabilities.Tom had the intelligence and background to achieve it.

Another question I would like to hear opinions on is sex. That got your attention!

RAM'S experience of sex in locale 1 if I remember right is quite original or at least as it is expressed in the literature that I am aware of. From my knowledge most commentators say it doesn't exist or just say it's more sublime. Any thoughts?
Cheers Eric15