Experienced a Strange World While Meditating: ‘Dream of Being Protected by Forest Dwellers’

[1] I seriously don’t get it. Was it meditation? Astral projection? If anyone has experience, please give me some advice.

• [3] Hurry.

[6] I’ll just start writing. As a preface, I’ve been doing something like meditation for about a year now. Then, starting about three months ago, I began having dreams I saw a long time ago again.

• [4] Were you lost in meditation? (Pun on meditation/getting lost)

[7] >>4 Half right (lol). Anyway, on the 2nd, I was eating dinner with my family at home, and around 6 PM, I started meditating. Then, the dream I’d been having repeatedly took a sudden turn. It was a dream where I was in a forest with absolutely no people, living with strange beings, or rather, being protected by them. When I came to, I woke up in a nearby park around 6:30 AM today.

• [8] >>7 You must have been freezing cold.

[13] >>8 I was so cold, I’m curled up in my futon like a cat.

[10] What bothers me is that I have absolutely no memory from when I started meditating until today, and the dream was incredibly real. I checked my phone, and apparently, I was hanging out with a high school friend the day before yesterday. I called that friend just now, but they didn’t pick up.

• [9] Meditation is occult-like. In the worst case, it can lead to mental breakdown. Zen is shugyo (training/discipline) and strengthens the mind. Not knowing this difference is dangerous.

Shugyo”” is a Japanese term referring to mental and/or physical discipline or training. Often used in religious or martial arts contexts, it signifies rigorous practice aimed at self-discipline and spiritual growth.“

[12] >>9 I don’t really understand meditation either. I saw some thread (forum post) here like ‘How to release pleasure chemicals in your brain,’ tried a method that seemed easy for me, and it just became a habit… I seriously don’t get it. I’ll ask my parents when they wake up.

• [17] >>12 Simply put, meditation expands on what you’re currently thinking. In that process, ideas of ‘God,’ ‘supernatural powers,’ or ‘baseless omnipotence’ can emerge, potentially leading to mental instability. Zen, on the other hand, aims to cut off current thoughts and reach a state of ‘no-self’ (muga no kyochi). It focuses solely on breathing without being caught up in worldly desires (bonno). Meditation can be dangerous. Zen is mental training.

[21] >>17 Are you still reading? I’m not sure if what I’m doing is meditation, so I’ll write about it after I eat. Please judge.

• [11] I do it too, and you get that feeling like you’re not yourself, right? (lol) Scary, huh? (lol)

[14] I really don’t get it. Is anyone here knowledgeable about meditation or things like that?

[15] Am I mentally abnormal?

• [18] It seems like you can’t distinguish between dream and reality anymore. Perhaps even posting this thread is happening inside a dream.

[23] >>18 If this is a dream, I’ll mess everything up.

• [20] Meditation isn’t necessarily dangerous, you know.
• [22] I haven’t heard of symptoms that severe, but I have heard that for some people, depression can worsen. Like mentioned above, maybe the method focusing on breathing is okay?

[25] I’m back. But really, what was I doing about things like eating?

• [27] Like >>1, I also enjoy releasing pleasure chemicals in my brain. It’s a bit different from meditation, but since I started being able to have lucid dreams, I’ve found it hard to distinguish between reality and dreams, and my dream memories have become stronger. Also, I experience déjà vu more often than before.

[29] >>17 Not sure if you’re still here, but I’ll write down my method. I get into a fetal position and breathe about 50 times, less forcefully than deep breaths. During this, I gradually relax my body. Once I can breathe deeply without conscious effort, I imagine being in space, or rather, zero gravity. From here, I just go with the flow. Even if there are external sounds, I might perceive them visually or they might sound completely different.

[30] And when I reach this point, I stop feeling like I have a physical form. Then, triggered by something, I have an extremely vivid dream (a super lucid dream).

[32] Lately, I’d been experiencing dreams I had long ago. Then, this situation happened. I don’t get it.

[33] My friend just called me back.

[34] Apparently, we were just normally drinking and talking together. I seriously don’t understand. I have no memory of that time. I’m not kidding.

[35] Anyone knowledgeable, please tell me.

• [36] Even Zen thinking is dangerous if you incorporate meditation or delusions. It’s really best to train your body.
• [37] Didn’t you just drink too much?

[38] >>37 You’re saying I was blacked out for three days? (lol)

• [39] Repeating the same words over and over is to enter a trance state. It’s called a mantra.

[40] >>39 Could you explain that more simply? (It’s not like I have special powers). I’m sure I was having a very long dream, but consciously, what was I doing?

• [58] >>39 I see. So repeating ‘Fun, fun, fun’ was like a spell too. Learned something new.
• [41] Maybe multiple personalities?
• [42] Anyway, if you want to return to a normal state, sleep early, wake up early, and go running. Mental training is too dangerous without training the body simultaneously.

[43] >>42 In reality, I was just meditating and dreaming. But I just can’t understand how time flew by like that.

[45] I don’t get it at all.

• [48] So, what do you want to do about it?

[50] >>48 I want to know the cause.

• [52] You were probably in a state where dream and reality were mixed.

[54] >>52 I remember the dream very well, though. In quite detail.

• [53] I’ve experienced sleep paralysis. I managed to move my hand somehow, but my muscles get sore.
• [55] Seriously answering, you should go to an occult-related forum.

[56] >>55 That community is kinda closed off. And it’s not like I’ve gone crazy.

[59] I was just seeing a completely white space where a black sphere was floating above something like cabbage leaves.

[60] It was a dream I had a long time ago, so I wanted to keep watching that space.

• [61] Maybe you’re the one who took over the body?

[62] >>61 What do you mean?

[63] I wish Mom would wake up soon.

[64] Isn’t there maybe at least one person here who’s had a similar experience?

• [65] I remember an online game friend saying they got hooked on something like that and went to the hospital.
• [67] Having no memory of daily life during meditation is a case I haven’t heard before. Having the content of important old dreams unfold is common in the early stages of meditation. It’s not astral projection. With astral projection, you can’t touch things, you’re connected to your body by a cord-like thing, and you fly around, so you’d know right away. Well, if you don’t clearly separate your daily life and meditation practice time, you might run into trouble in the future. Like, tripping out during work.

[69] >>67 Something unpleasant happened, so I was meditating quite seriously that day. Then, something like a syringe needle was about to pierce the sphere I mentioned earlier, and somehow I knew ‘If this gets pierced, something really bad will happen.’ Then a light appeared, and when I realized, I was in the forest, having a long dream about being protected by the forest dwellers.

• [70] >>69 Were those forest dwellers small-bodied, unable to speak Japanese, and skilled at using plants?

[71] >>70 It wasn’t Japanese, some language I didn’t recognize. I’m bad at languages anyway. They were Caucasian. It’s true, most of their daily necessities seemed plant-based. I mean, it’d be weird if there were reinforced concrete buildings in the middle of a forest, right? They only fed me vegetables.

[73] I feel like I’m going crazy.

[75] I’m going to try meditating again. And I’ll go check out an occult-related forum.