Summerlander's Blog

[Summerlander]

02/04/2011:

I had a dream about a friend of mine whom I haven’t seen in a long time. His name his Mark and I think he is currently living in Malaysia. In the dream, me, him and other friends were intruders in a big house where we found things that we liked. I was finding things that related to interests that me and Mark shared, especially to do with music. Then, Mark said that the owner of the house was coming and that he would not like to see me there so I left. Once I stepped outside, I became lucid. I was in a town full of casinos houses, arcade games and other entertainment. The scenery was no different to the waking world in quality. If I hadn’t become lucid, I would have believed it to be physically real. I knelt down to feel the ground beneath me. The tactile sensation I experienced was realistic. I could still see things clearly in the dream even when I experienced a hissing pulsation in my head. I closed my eyes and opened them again to find myself in darkness. I decided to go somewhere random as I didn’t have anything in mind and experienced motion before regaining physical awareness. I remained still in bed and it didn’t take long for a strong vibrational surge to ensue. I rolled over and floated upwards and out of the body. Vision came not long after that. I hovered near the ceiling directly above the bed where Stacey lay, and, oddly, where I should be was my sister Vanessa tossing and turning as though she was having a nightmare. It didn’t make any sense. Vanessa lives with my mother all the way across London from me. I started to explore the environment and glided into the hallway. I was in a metaphysical replica of my house. The atmosphere was sombre but the colours were sharpish and structures were well defined. I stepped into the hallway mirror slowly and went through it as though it was a portal to another world. On the other side I encountered what could be regarded as an small and darker extension of the dream house I was in. I scanned the room and found my deceased stepfather Sergio in the corner next to a luminescent mirror-entrance. He looked as young as a pre-teenager but he possessed a manly adult voice when he spoke. We greeted each other before he offered to play an acoustic guitar that was propped up against the wall. I noticed that the floor of that room was as soft as a mattress and was covered by blankets. As Sergio started to strum the guitar, I heard a funky bass line in my head which sounded like Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enoughâ€

[Rudolph]

Cool experience. I think this is another example of how a lucid dream can be more fun and more instructive than a full conscious OBE.

[Michael Raduga]

It is a good phase experience, but I'm not sure it depends on LD/OBE stuff. It's the same. How LD may be better then LD?)

[Summerlander]

Perhaps it is all part of the same phenomenon. These labels that we use such as "LD" and "OOBE" could be different ways of entering the same realm. Maybe some experiences just happen to be more interesting than others.

[Rudolph]

In my case a lot of times when I go out in a full conscious state I do not really do anything that I learn much from. I pursue mere curiosities. Baubles of consciousness moments so to speak.

When the experience is rich with dream type symbols I will usually get a "GONNNG" type realization about my psyche and a deeper understanding of who or what I am.
(I think this is also an answer to Michael's question).

[Michael Raduga]

It's very specific and depends on individuals

[Summerlander]

17/05/2011:

On the previous day, I was so tired that I took a nap at 6.45pm. Three quarters of an hour later I was up and feeling refreshed. I hadn’t done this in a while and I guess I could have projected in the late evening but I had responsibilities. Me and Stacey had gone to bed earlier than usual that evening too. We had pretty much broken our routine and messing with my sleep schedule might have contributed towards the induction of an OOBE later on. I’d risen in the night to use the toilet and a few minutes later I went back to bed with the intention of projecting.

It only took a couple of minutes until hissing palpitated in my head. Subsequently, an abrupt flood of warm waves pervaded me in that deeply relaxed state. As rumbling ensued, I started to slide involuntarily. I had relinquished all control and expected this feeling to lead me completely out of body but ended up back where I was originally. Then, I got out of bed and realised it had been an act of disassociation from the body as I couldn’t see whatsoever. I rubbed my hands in order to engross myself on that level and bring about vision. Doing so, I could feel the tactile sensation of the hands but they never manifested visually. After a short while of rubbing, a burlesque version of my house came to light. Feeling exuberant, I went into the hallway and noticed that the mirror there, which displayed an exquisite white frame, was much wider than it should have been. Its size was remarkable because it was as wide as the hallway itself, from the wall by the staircase to the bedroom where both of my sons sleep.

My daughter’s bedroom was non-existent there. The abode was ridiculously inaccurate, and, later upon waking, I was to realise that even the colour of the walls had been off. In actuality, the hallway walls are pale green, but, in that travesty of reality, they were lapis blue like in my bedroom. I grabbed the banister and felt its solidity. I relished in testing how sturdy the structure was by hitting it repeatedly. No sound accompanied the hitting. My next plan of action was to get to a random location by using the mirror as a portal. The surface looked like fluid and was completely non-reflective. Going through that silvery portal was like dunking my head in water. On the other side, I examined a darker extension of the house where features were less familiar. The scanning of that environment, which was inside the mirror, only lasted a few seconds before I found myself laying in bed again with an ongoing crackling in my head.

Separation wasn’t as onerous as previously as the intention was enough to make me glide out. I made towards my sons’ bedroom and felt hypnotised by the windows there. I went through them, as a ghost would, to find myself hovering about fifteen feet off the ground in my back garden. A gargantuan landscape was exposed before me and I beheld the lights of houses in the distance which contrasted a night sky. Looking behind me I saw that mine and my neighbour’s house on the left side were fuscous. The house on the right side, however, had its ground floor lit. The dogs were missing in their garden. I descended into the lit area inside the house. There were furnishings galore which appeared to be misplaced and made the house look somewhat messy or as though the residents were in the process of moving.

I was in what I understood to be the living room but there was also a bed there with a patchwork quilt that was strangely familiar. I remembered that my mother used to have one just like it back in Portugal and I wondered if my thoughts were imposing on that ambient setup or influencing my perception in that state. I continued to study my next door neighbour’s house in diligent fashion and noticed a television screen on one of the walls. The house was devoid of people. Suddenly, I was back in my body, laying in bed, just as I felt Stacey’s foot retreating from making contact with my leg. She’d kicked me in her sleep and caused the culmination of my OOBE-state. It was time to get ready to take the kids to school.

[Michael Raduga]

A good direct entry into the phase by the deferred method (sleep interruption).

[Summerlander]

That's right. I find it delivers results.

[LawPaw]

Oddly enough, one of my favorite things to do is to change the colors of my living and dining room walls by blinking.  I do it almost instinctively when I go downstairs (if I am in my house). 

I've realize that I sometimes instinctively touch where my light switches are to do this while blinking.  Strange I know, but maybe force of habit.

My plan of action almost always starts with going downstairs, playing with the wall colors, seeing who is down there (to see if I recognize someone), then teleporting to wherever my plan of action details.  I should probably work more on trying to make it so no one is down there.

For the last few months I have been trying to explore memories of actual events in my life.  I haven't had much success in re-creating them accurately.

[Summerlander]

I think I'm gonna try playing with wall colours too. Sounds fun.

It's funny you mention memories. I once met a hooded figure in a dark void. He, whatever it was, waved a hand in front of my face and a black and white 3D environment manifested before me. It was a nursery full of kids playing with toys and reading books. At that point I was a floating point of consciousness floating over their heads. I wondered if it was a memory but I don't know. I asked what it all meant and the scenery evanesced to be replaced by the dark spatiality and the robed figure. He couldn't communicate properly. He just kept screeching and whistling...

Anyway, whether I created the whole thing or whether it was something real shown to me by a sentient being I don't know...but perhaps the dark void could serve as a nexus where you can access anything you want.

[LawPaw]

I think I'm gonna try playing with wall colours too. Sounds fun.

Make it part of your plan of action and limit yourself to a certain number of times.

From what Michael said in another thread, I think part of my struggle staying conscious in the phase is that I often do stuff like this (change wall colors) even though it isn't in my plan of action or I keep doing it too long and get distracted.

After reading what Michael said, which makes perfect sense, I wonder how many times playing with wall colors shortened my phase experience.

[Summerlander]

I'll tell you what shortens my experiences sometimes...my wife kicking me in her sleep.

I have made a bed on the floor in order to enter and remain in the Phase undisturbed though. I have also had long Phase experiences whilst laying next to her. She must've kept still...

[Summerlander]

31/05/2011:

After having gone to bed around midnight, I woke up at 4am to use the toilet. A few minutes later I went down to induce an OOBE. My head hissed and violent vibrations ensued. At their peak, I felt as though something was drilling into the back of my head and immediately I thought about the possibility that I was perceiving activity in the pons and medulla oblongata areas of the brain. Congruently, mild rattling, like a constant raspberry, accompanied this. Soon, I became aware of what felt like waves of warmth flowing through my body. I could control this energy kinesis with my mind and set out to appease the vibrational state. After deliberately spending time playing with this state, I decided to separate from the body only to find that I was deeply paralysed. I couldn’t even turn my head let alone employ a method of separation. A moment of contemplation was needed before a brisk motion sufficed.

I stood in a pitch black spatiality and I knew I was in the Phase. I rubbed my hands as this had previously been an effective technique in, not only ’anchoring’ myself to that state, but also, bringing about sight. This act proved to be ineffective on this occasion. Despite the blindness, I could feel the structure of my home interior. I glided downstairs and, unexpectedly, the power of sight came to me. Either everything looked the same as in actuality or structural anomalies were inconspicuous. I touched the banister but didn’t see a hand there. I flew up the stairs and looked at the hallway mirror which was not reflecting anything. As soon as I plunged into it, lights were out again, and, after a few seconds of motioning into the void, I was back in my body.

Vibrations were ongoing and I took this opportunity to re-enter the Phase. It was dark again and I picked a random direction to plunge into. After a speedy voyage into the dark void I came to an opening of dim light, or perceived as such, which led me to stand at the bottom of a staircase. A quick scan of the new surroundings revealed a vast and well lit basement where I was ushered into a full-blown party by people wearing porcelain masks and sporting what appeared to be 18th century fashion. Everything in the basement looked appealling as I swayed in all directions with those pale-faced characters. Oddly, there were chandeliers and disco balls hanging from the ceiling to add to the madness.

To spice up the piquant nature of the experience, I floated up to the ceiling in order to ricochet among the hanging spheres like in a pinball game. Moments later the party died and all the weird ’porcelain people’ were gone. I found a bauble on the floor and made it levitate. I wanted the bauble to remain in mid-air but it kept coming down as though there was a moon-like gravity exerting its influence. I imagined a string tied to it and connecting it to the ceiling in order to prevent it from coming down. The imagined string manifested before me and the bauble was now in mid-air and hanging from the ceiling.

I felt a presence there with me and I couldn’t tell whether it was behind me or next to me. I thought of it as my mother in that place and I’m not sure if this way of thinking was a psychological ’mechanism’ to prevent me from being afraid, although, in retrospect, I suspect so. I do remember feeling that the presence was trustworthy and that I could ask it anything and I did: “Why do you think thoughts appear to manipulate reality here?â€

[MattShea]

Interesting experience! Lately, I haven't been able to wake up in the middle of the night in order to try and induce. Any suggestions?

[Summerlander]

I usually just say to myself that I wish to wake up around 4am prior to falling asleep around 11pm or midnight. Alternatively, you could set an alarm for that time but I've never used one - I like the idea of being independent!

[Summerlander]

Hi! This is the reason why I decided to call myself "Summerlander" in forums like these:

Some time around 2009:

"I entered the Phase post vibrations to find myself in an erratic replica of my house where I entertained myself by creating some thought-form objects. There was a clock on the hallway wall which was different to the one in actuality. I touched this metaphysical device, wondering if it contained some sort of mechanism, and felt its solidity. Then I noticed light coming from the large hallway mirror. I went through it and encountered a being who stood as though in the transition between two worlds. This being was humanoid in shape and I could not determine its gender. I wasn’t able to look at this character for long as I apparently shifted through the division marking the apparent dichotomy of two worlds after having entered the mirror-portal.

The entity smiled as I went through the mirror, and, on the other side, I found an unbelievable world! It had a serious emotional impact on me because it was so attractive and vibrant in colours. I also remember thinking: "I didn't imagine this". There were cottages and well-groomed trees that I was seeing from bird's eye view and I wondered who was inside. There was a vast magical forest adorned by rainbows and strange creatures flying over it. In the distance there was a golden city which seemed to blend with a multicoloured sunset sky where a vast river met the horizon. The smiling entity who stood between my illusory abode and this new and more settled mystical realm was nowhere to be seen now. It wasn’t just a visual experience. As I beheld it I felt love, harmony and so much happiness. It was a fairytale land, magical and mysterious and so alive. I still can't find enough words to describe it.

Then I felt myself being pulled back as though I didn't belong there or like something had teased me with it. When I woke up I felt extremely sad because I was no longer there. I opened the windows in my room to look at our world. The trees, the houses and the sky of our world is nothing compared to what I‘d seen. In comparison, our world looks somewhat like a decayed version of that vibrant wonderland. At the time I hadn't yet heard of the term “Summerland“ which is used to refer to an afterlife world by Spiritualist traditions. Weeks later I flicked through a book about the afterlife by David Fontana at my local library and found descriptions of beautiful cities, forests, rainbows and cottages (this struck a cord with me) by both the living who experienced OOBEs and NDEs, and the dead who allegedly came through mediums to tell their loved ones all about where they were.

According to the book, not all souls were in a happy place, but “Summerlandâ€

[Jeff]

Summerlander,
I've had very similar experiences-amazing 'places' that I could  never consciously create.Unfortunately I have not been able ,as of yet, to 'translocate' back to them though I've tried quite a few times. Have you had any success with this?

[Summerlander]

I've tried too but no success. I usually end up in random places which don't convey the same emotions in me and are not as bright.

[arqmeister]

I have read in some books that you pretty much get only one shot in your human life to view the budic plain and some people call it. I my self, and my girlfriend have both experienced it. Its a very magical and unforgetable place.

[Summerlander]

You support the Neo-Platonic derivative views, arqmeister? The notion of a Buddhic Plane is often associated with the more intuitional and/or abstract consciousness. My "Summerland" experience, although in part conveying an archetypal feeling, still resembled the physical world we know or at least that which we can associate with this world.

I have, as a matter of fact, experienced a somewhat more abstract/intuitive side to consciousness but it wasn't in the Phase...

Yesterday, at work, I was thinking about ways to improve memory. Then I imagined a scenario where I was being tested. In my imagination I was in a room and a person would come in wearing something that I would have to remember later. Another person would come in after that and I'd have to remember the details of what they were wearing too. I'd also have to remember their names and what order they came in. So I thought - how would I be able to remember it all? The answer came...I'd have to find a fun way to remember everything...

I started thinking that I could convert the memory into an interesting story where the people's names would be followed my nicknames that would match what they wore - example: Thomas Bluebow (blue bow/tie), and then Miss Amy Wineblouse (purple blouse) etc.

The story would develop with new subsequent characters as the "event" unfolds. This concept was devised in my head in a few seconds and I realised that, originally, in my mind, I had not thought of the details of the solution to improve memory. I had not thought of any specific names of people nor any type of clothing whatsoever. I merely thought this:

"TRIKKA TRENDY...PARA SHOOTER..."

Now this is what I found odd: "Trikka" is not even a name. "Trendy" is not a piece of clothing. When I generated this thought, it made perfect sense to me in my daydreaming mode and I knew its translation to be exactly what I've stated above:

But when I went back to reflect on the origins of the fun thought-solution, I found that it was less meaningful or almost lost in translation. I started to work out why "TRIKKA", why "TRENDY, "PARA" and "SHOOTER"...

Trikka could convey the idea of "trick" and tricks can provide solutions. Trendy, from "trend" can relate to clothing but also, it could mean exactly that - a trend - as in, "get used to applying this trick/method" in order to improve memory.

Para Shooter was translated to "parachute", which could convey a solution to stay out of the trouble of forgetting. Parachuting to safety can bring a sigh of relief.

I started to realise that the strange thoughts TRIKKA TRENDY PARA SHOOTER were archetypal and conveys the whole thing that I had in mind. It seems to be formulated in a type of consciousness of high entropy where abstract ideas manifest and can mean so many things but it eventually settles into low entropy consciousness where it means and becomes one thing only and thus more restricted! It becomes finite.

Perhaps there are levels of reality with infinite potential and closer to the abstract consciousness. Perhaps it all starts there and when we enter the Phase we can clearly see/experience these other potentials - the unborn reality! This could also explain why certain nonsensical dreams seem to make sense while we are in them but are hard to translate in the waking state or are deemed to be completely absurd.

Of course, we all have different views/theories that attempt to explain the nature of certain phenomena but we can never be certain about anything.

[MattShea]

I usually just say to myself that I wish to wake up around 4am prior to falling asleep around 11pm or midnight. Alternatively, you could set an alarm for that time but I've never used one - I like the idea of being independent!

I meant having conscious awakenings for indirect techniques. I can't catch the opportunities. At least all the effort has been leading to very frequent lucid dreams.

[Summerlander]

It seems that lately I'm on the same but but without the frequent lucid dreams. I guess I haven't been trying hard enough anyway. I've been too focused on waking life affairs lately.

[arqmeister]

Summerlander, i can't say i fully support some of the more metaphysical views disscussed in books. However, i find the idea of plain navigation intreeging. I like the idea of dying and being able to navigate the astral realms at will for an eternity. At this point in my life, i feel that i don't want to live another earth life, i think after a lifetime here, i'll will feel more than done with being human. There is something about having my will and desires unrestricted that i can't quite explain in words. Its why i love phaise experiences, to find my own answers. If i have lived past lives as some people believe, i think i have ixsisted for thousands of years and have come a long way in my evolution. I am blind however, i don't even view it as a restriction or how some people probably think that i need to be fixed or something. Its a part of who i am and i could give a damn if i ever see anything ever. I would rather touch someone rather than swaping facial expressions or conveying ideas with my eyes. I means a lot more to me to have physical contact with my girlfriend for example. So when people say, do you ever want to see? I just say no, i'm happy with the way i am and i don't just simply want to fit in with society.

[Summerlander]

That's cool. I guess many people fantasise about an afterlife of exploring other worlds, meeting other beings and eventuating wishes/fantasies. The Phase state is often surmised to be a glimpse of the immediate afterlife even though it is very much a condition of being alive accompanied by an active brain - more active than the delta waves of deep dreamless sleep - and certain cerebral parts associated with waking states are often found to be functional while you are lucid in your sleep.

If death really is the cessation of being - and thus the end of experience and cognition - then it is also the end of suffering. You won't know that you are dead, you won't know that you are not suffering, you won't know that you are not seeing, you won't know that you are not perceiving, you won't know anything...In conclusion - there is no you!!

People find this hard to imagine and some even go as far as to say that such notion is more incredible/unbelievable than the idea of an afterlife of exploring spirit realms. Some even say that non-existence makes no sense...

But the truth is that we were dead before we were born, alas, we already know what death is like. This could mean that death is simply going back to the pre-birth state. Theoretically speaking, what constitutes us becomes something else which gives rise to the possibility of rebirth. I'll use the computer analogy in that, if death means deletion of a file (sentient being), the information it contains goes in the recycle bin, where, overtime, the data that constitutes it gets reconfigured.

Being absent from life or any sort of interaction is a notion that almost conveys a sense of much needed rest, but, you are not even resting...you're beyond that!

When certain areas of the brain get damaged, one may very easily slip into a coma for years. Individuals who have woken up from a long coma were oblivious to how much time had passed due to their lapse in consciousness. Because they were unaware of the time that passed while unconscious, the coma experience from their perspective was losing their senses in one moment and regaining awareness the next.

Suffering begins as soon as they realise how much time has passed and how much they have missed and how much things have changed. Their nightmare begins in consciousness and effort is required to get used to their newfound status of loss and overcome their problems.

If death is the cessation of being then it is also the end of all your problems.

[arqmeister]

I agree with everything you said. I think the idea of not feeling your own self after you die is hard for me to grasp. In other words, how can i not be aware of myself? How can i not feel my own consciouness. Blinking out of this world seems a bit disconcerting. But who knows, no one can really proove any after life theory now can they? I guess will just have to find out.

[Summerlander]

Or not find out...

But then again, there may be more to reality that meets the eye:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/964566/th ... n_physics/

Consciousness could after all be an independent operator that develops the 'cerebral tool' as it goes along and on a larger scale we get evolution. We are literally growing our own brain...a finite tool being pushed and expanded to accommodate an infinite consciousness perhaps?

I think this sort of talk is what inspired me to produce these pieces of art:

[dreamsrock]

Mattshea - these two things help me a lot when I experience a dry spell:

1 - alter sleep pattern.  This can be done by taking a nap during the day or going to bed at a different time.  I usually go to work in the morning, but when I work the occasional graveyard shift, my sleep gets crazy and I have a lot of conscious awakenings!!

2 - use a timer.  I use a variation of the saltcube timer.  It wakes me up several times a night, at random times, and turns off by itself....so i don't have to move.  This is how I got my first phase.  It has worked 2 other times very well, but unfortunately, doesn't work every time.  I have to let a lot of time pass in between attempts.

Hope this helps!

[MattShea]

Where did you get this timer? Could you send it to me?

[dreamsrock]

Here's the link.  http://www.saltcube.com/timer.swf    If you have a computer/laptop by your bed....this will work nicely.  I don't.  Plus, I don't want my wife to wake up, so I've modified it a little.  Here's what I do:
I use an iphone timer app called "chronology" and I set it up just like the timer on the link.  I then set it to start going off after 4 or 5 or 6 hrs of sleep, depending on how sleepy I am before going to bed.  I use "ramp 4" you'll see it on the link, it is the suggested schedule to follow, but if it doesn't work for you, just pick another ramp.  I put my iphone in a jogging arm band and set the timers to vibrate 3 times.  It's enough to wake me and not my wife. 

If you are having trouble waking during the night, definitely try this!!  It will give you lots of opportunities!  But I wouldn't rely solely on this.  Just use it during slumps.  As Michael has said....it is better to use natural methods.