The void in real life?

[Capt. Domon]

I'm just curious - is "the void" based on anything from the real world? I know a little about meditation and it sounds a bit similar, but not exactly.

 

Thanks for any input!

[malin07]

I have often thought that it is much like meditating. I dont know if it based off of anything but i think it would work. Then again I am not very good at meditating.

[GrandpaG]

I almost achieved it once when I was going through my "I want to learn to channel so I can travel to London to take the world away from the queen by force" phase.  Didn't quite make it as you can tell because the world still belongs to her for now.  Some day, though.  "Tomorrow, Pinky...tomorrow I'll take over the WORLD!!!" -- Pinky and the Brain.  Sorry for spamming your post...just couldn't resist.  You owe me one. ;)

[The Dragon Reborn]

I think I remember reading somewhere RJ compared it to something like: 'being in the zone'. While playing sport or whatever, there are days where you get into the zone and you just plain can't do anything wrong. I could however have gotten that completely wrong though. I can't really remember that well.

Personally I've always seen the void as a kind of perfect concentration. You're so focused on what you're doing that no amount of interruptions can distractions can get in the way (leastways for saidin as not even your emotions can get in the way).

[Child of Lir]

The void (or something similar) is used in Budoken - Japanese swordsmanship. Possibly also in other martial arts, although that's not really my area of expertise!

[Darkness Incarnated]

I've lost count of how many times I have tried to assume the void. There is always something to distract me. The same goes for that trick to ignore the cold/heat. After innumerable attempts, I still sweat the same.

 

[Darth_Andrea]

I've lost count of how many times I have tried to assume the void. There is always something to distract me. The same goes for that trick to ignore the cold/heat. After innumerable attempts, I still sweat the same.

 

 

I have reached the void 1 time. I know I'm a girl but that dosen't seem to matter in the real world hehe. I blacked out the windows in my bed room, turned out the lights and put a recording of the ocean to playing through my sound system. I couldn't see the flame in my mind so I lit a candel and used that and in about ten minuites of forcing all my emotions from my mind into that flame I found the void...lasted about 5 minuites before I was interupted and I lost it. But it did work....No One Power though..but it was a first attempt.

 

 

Darth_Andrea

[Ealdur Tinuviel]

Whenever I try the flame and the void--or the ko'di, as it is called--I always hear myself thinking about assuming the flame and the void, or thinking about trying to think of nothing, which are thoughts in and of themselves.

[Darth_Andrea]

It's a matter of not thinking in words or your inner voice but in images. Picture your fear as something like a spider or a monster. Picture your envy as someone you wish you could be. Your anger someone you hate. Then shove it all into the flame, As I said I couldn't picture the flame so I used a candel. you have to be able to avoid the inner voice and just picture things. Visual thinkers will have a easier time of it I think.

 

Darth_Andrea

[jaimevotrechapeau]

Just on the general vein of things, I attempted to put myself to sleep like Egwene does.........and I didn't manage to fall asleep until 4AM so that ended in a complete bust.

Slight spam. But not completely.

[callandor]

i tried that to and it was a load of doodie. :P

 

and darth, thats kinda creepy that you'd go through all that to get in the void.

[Luckers]

There is a very similar form of meditation originally designed and practised by Indian ascetics. Most famous of these is Buddha, who practiced for six years before creating his famous middle path (buddhism, as we now know it) and Mahavira, the founder of Jainism.

 

Supposidly ascetics in the state of such a mentality were able to set fire to their hand, not eat for months, and many other exagereted acts that proved their great spiritual purity. I think Buddha had the right of it in disdaining the practice... and i think Mahavira would possibly agree, concidering he died from it.

 

The Jains would no doubt disagree with me, since they still concider such a death to be the purest form.

[callandor]

huh.

 

:( setting fire to my hand would hurt a lot. could they like stick a spear through their heart and not bleed? i know i couldnt.

[Luckers]

Ascetism was mostly more about being able to survive the absense of things. Tales like the one involving fire and coals and so forth are mostly concidered bragging... though not so much amongst Hindus. That era is littered with ascetic Brahman.

 

But yes, there are tales of them stabbing themselves, or cutting off a hand to avoid temptation.

[Ealdur Tinuviel]

You know, I hate to take this off on a tangent, but has anyone ever heard of lucid dreaming? It's basically a lot like dreamwalking, in that you have full control over your dream.

 

I was introduced to the concept after I experienced it once or twice. It initially happened that I would encounter very realistic-seeming dreams, which would turn into nightmares and wake me up, and that would lead into Sleep Paralysis.

 

It's certainly an odd occurence, and hard to induce (though I have been successful a few times), and there are varying levels of consciousness, but it is a well-documented fact.

[Ealdur Tinuviel]

But yes, there are tales of them stabbing themselves, or cutting off a hand to avoid temptation.

 

This may be just me, but IMHO, although it isn't easy to cut off your hand, it is better to resist temptation than to make it so that you can't give in.

[Darth_Andrea]

i tried that to and it was a load of doodie. :P

 

and darth, thats kinda creepy that you'd go through all that to get in the void.

 

Well I tried a few other less elabrate ways and they didn't work. So I went all out with the setup and got it to work. As for lucid dreaming Thats easy to get into if you practice a bit. There are  also things like masks that detect when you enter R.E.M sleep, and flash a dull light that is supposed let you know your dreaming so you can take control of the dream. I have lucid dreams from time to time and they can be fun because you can do ANYTHING you want. but you have to take care and control what you think as the wrong stray thought and your good adventure dream becomes a nightmare.....Vampire Nymphos and Giants Blood Sucking BugBears....Not fun I say Not Fun....

 

 

Darth_Andrea

[The Dragon Reborn]

You know, I hate to take this off on a tangent, but has anyone ever heard of lucid dreaming? It's basically a lot like dreamwalking, in that you have full control over your dream.

 

I was introduced to the concept after I experienced it once or twice. It initially happened that I would encounter very realistic-seeming dreams, which would turn into nightmares and wake me up, and that would lead into Sleep Paralysis.

 

It's certainly an odd occurence, and hard to induce (though I have been successful a few times), and there are varying levels of consciousness, but it is a well-documented fact.

I've managed that once or twice, but only for like a few mins. When you wake, just before you're fully awake I've realized I was dreaming and I was able to control it until I woke fully. Great fun. :P

[Seriodor]

Never achieved the Void, ive tried ALOT but i cant. I have, however, been able to put myself to sleep like egwene. I do it most nights. Also i've been able to do the inward focusing thing, or something like it. I just kinda forced myself to feel the heat as neutral, and it actually worked, even if RJ wasnt basing it off real life.

[Ealdur Tinuviel]

i tried that to and it was a load of doodie. :P

 

and darth, thats kinda creepy that you'd go through all that to get in the void.

 

Well I tried a few other less elabrate ways and they didn't work. So I went all out with the setup and got it to work. As for lucid dreaming Thats easy to get into if you practice a bit. There are  also things like masks that detect when you enter R.E.M sleep, and flash a dull light that is supposed let you know your dreaming so you can take control of the dream. I have lucid dreams from time to time and they can be fun because you can do ANYTHING you want. but you have to take care and control what you think as the wrong stray thought and your good adventure dream becomes a nightmare.....Vampire Nymphos and Giants Blood Sucking BugBears....Not fun I say Not Fun....

 

 

Darth_Andrea

 

Yeah, that was my problem initially. I would go to sleep and almost immediately enter a lucid dream, only it would turn into a recurring nightmare that would scare me enough to wake me up, and it would turn into sleep paralysis, which is where you get woken up so suddenly that the enzymes your body produces to keep you from acting out your dreams (or sleepwalking) are still circulating in your body. You kind of enter a half-conscious state, where you hallucinate that your nightmares or whatever are actually in the room with you. It's a very scary experience.

 

I might add that sometimes, when I only have a very low level of consciousness in my lucid dreams, they turn sexual. It bugs me, but I haven't had much success in taking greater control of my dream.

[Seriodor]

I dont dream very often, but on the rare occasions that i do, i can control them. But when i have a controlable dream i dont take control just let it run its course, but control my actions. Makes it more interesting.

[Ealdur Tinuviel]

Oh, yes you do. You probably just don't have a very good dream recall.

 

All people enter REM sleep, and cycle through that several times a night. REM sleep is where you dream. Some people can recall dreams easily; other can't. But it can be developed. And all people dream.

[Luckers]

The actual function of dreaming is caused by the brain's desire to be logical. When we enter REM sleep, every one of our synapses starts firing randomly (resulting in ten times the brain activity experienced when we are awake), including those of optical and auditory perception. The brain then draws on memory to make sense of what we are supposedly percieving, resulting in the function of dreams, and the subjectivity of their content to our own personal perceptions. Its very fascinating to study.

[Seriodor]

K, let me rephrase that, in the dreams that i remember im usually in control. Im pretty sure the only dream that anyone ever remembers is the one right before they wake up. At least i whenever i remember a dream i go directly from it to being awake.

[Mashiara O Aan.a--ein]

*sigh* Am I the only one who can't manage to get the Void or voluntarily put myself into controllable dreams?  :'(

 

Funny thing, my mom always says she can do that dream thing, and I never really believed her. I guess it's real!

 

Are we supposed to remember dreams? It's weird, as soon as I wake up, the details trickle away so fast even if I remembered the dream so vividly at the beginning. Within seconds, the dream is a hazy blob.