Astral projection (aka Out-of-body-experience)

[Coelho]

Well... so today i was very lazy and went to sleep a bit. It was that kind of sleep when we are more laying there than actually sleeping and so i could notice that my body was very relaxed and mellow... it was much like one feels after smoking some good indica... (i was sober). So, i was there noticing this heavy body mellowness when suddenly the idea of trying to astral project entered my mind... then i remembered several occasions when i tried to "get out" my body (most of them without success), and without much thinking i just rolled sideways and got up.

For me, it was almost exactly like if i had actually woke up and got up... i could see everything like i usualy do... i also could hear everything... BUT there was a strange feeling. I was standing, but i could feel my body heavily relaxed and mellow, exactly how it was moments before... like if my vision and hearing were "outside" my body, but my tact were still "inside" my body, so i kept feeling what my physical body was feeling as it was laying there, "sleeping". It was very strange to have such separation of the senses...

Then i looked to my hands (a thing i learned at one of Castanedas books and what i always do whenever i think im astral projecting) and they were the same i have when "awake". In fact, it was exactly as if i were looking to my physical hands. Then i walked around the room... the room itself was the same, but there was some differences in the furniture... the things werent exactly the same, but yet they were much alike the physical ones that actually are there... also, i didnt see myself sleeping there, nor the mattres i was upon... (in fact i never ever saw myself sleeping). Then i went to the window and everything looked pretty much the same... if there was any difference i couldnt notice... so i started to climb to the roof (probably meaning to fly after it), but noticed that my dreaming attention was waning, so i quickly returned to where my physical body was (and only then i did see the mattress i was, but only it, without me sleeping there) and woke up.

And now i still have some doubts... was it a real astral projection? I know it has many of the usual signs of one, but i didnt see myself sleeping, and the things i did see werent exactly the same as the physical world... so could i be dreaming?

How can i be sure that im astral projecting instead dreaming? Are there any sure things i should look for to know for sure im astral projecting instead dreaming?

Also... if any of you had similar experiences, please share with us!

[bhouncy]

When anybody remembers being in a vivid memory or if anybody projects into the future as if the body is really there then anybody is out of their current bodies and in another body at a different time. So not so much out-of-body and more out-of-time.

[Mr. Happy]

Thats never happened to me but I have heard of such experiences from others. All I can say is the world we see day to day is definitely not all there is to see. Cool. MH

[hazetwostep]

Coelho... the answer to your question depends on who you ask. there are many theories on astral projection (AP) and lucid dreaming (LD) and regular dreaming (RD) and waking reality (WR).

the one that made most sense to me was one that did not have distinct lines between each category. the progression between WR - RD - LD - AP was not like distinct steps but more like a sloping ramp with gray areas of crossover between each level. that makes every state of mind fall under the heading of "CONSCIOUSNESS" simply with varied sources of input/stimuli.

it sounds like you were between LD and AP. some label that ethereal projection (EP) being higher than a dream but still connected to the ethereal or physical plane of existence. the astral world by many is very distinct from physical reality so any projection taking place where it appears to be in the physical world is EP not AP. AP is a much "stranger" world...

many believe dreaming takes place in the astral plane so AP is the same as LD.

i can understand and relate to wanting to know if an experience was real or not. if you experience it then it is real. is it objective real or subjective real? i think everything is subjective real to the observer.

[Coelho]

When anybody remembers being in a vivid memory or if anybody projects into the future as if the body is really there then anybody is out of their current bodies and in another body at a different time. So not so much out-of-body and more out-of-time.

Indeed... most experiences of this kind i have are usually displaced in time, and many in my physicals future, what sometimes results in nice precognitions...


Coelho... the answer to your question depends on who you ask. there are many theories on astral projection (AP) and lucid dreaming (LD) and regular dreaming (RD) and waking reality (WR).

the one that made most sense to me was one that did not have distinct lines between each category. the progression between WR - RD - LD - AP was not like distinct steps but more like a sloping ramp with gray areas of crossover between each level. that makes every state of mind fall under the heading of "CONSCIOUSNESS" simply with varied sources of input/stimuli.

It makes sense... i did read something that compared our minds to radios which can be "tuned" at different stations, so i think the writer meant this different states of consciousness as the "stations"...


it sounds like you were between LD and AP. some label that ethereal projection (EP) being higher than a dream but still connected to the ethereal or physical plane of existence. the astral world by many is very distinct from physical reality so any projection taking place where it appears to be in the physical world is EP not AP. AP is a much "stranger" world...

Yes... i should had specified that my experience could be an etheric projection, but i prefered to use the more general name "astral projection", even if it wasnt quite correct...


many believe dreaming takes place in the astral plane so AP is the same as LD.

Well... i dont know the dreams of other people, so i cant disagree with it, but unfortunately my own LDs are always in the etheric plane, almost always about waking worlds situations and places, with the only difference that i know its a dream and thus have a bit more control over some things...


i can understand and relate to wanting to know if an experience was real or not. if you experience it then it is real. is it objective real or subjective real? i think everything is subjective real to the observer.

I agree that what we experience is real for us... but what i want to know is how much of my perceptions during the experience were real for the others (perceptions of the physical world) and how much were real only for me (products of my mind alone, like memories, thoughts, dreams, etc.).

[Trip06]

Ive been doing this for a long time. At first I started by accident about a year ago. I was going through a rough time and didnt have shit to do, I was just siting in my room thinking about how bad I let my life slip away and I sucked it all up breathed deep a few times and just sat there listening to the breeze coming in my window. As I let my self go more and more I could feel the slight breeze pushing on the back of my neck more and more and I felt like it was pushing me out of my own body.(I was sitting with my back to the window). This took a while mind you I sat there for a few hours. But when The feeling got really intence I freaked out like I was being forced outta my own body. And It all ended. Tryied it a few hours latter after looking on the net about 'meditation' and said about how people get nervous when they vibrate or get ready to take off or w/e. Did it after a few trys and It felt like a really intence dream like I was watching through my own eyes in a very vivd full color movie flying over and around mountain tops b4 I snapped really fast back to reality. been doing it here and there for entertainment sence then.

[Gorilla's Gal]

Indeed... most experiences of this kind i have are usually displaced in time, and many in my physicals future, what sometimes results in nice precognitions...



It makes sense... i did read something that compared our minds to radios which can be "tuned" at different stations, so i think the writer meant this different states of consciousness as the "stations"...



Yes... i should had specified that my experience could be an etheric projection, but i prefered to use the more general name "astral projection", even if it wasnt quite correct...



Well... i dont know the dreams of other people, so i cant disagree with it, but unfortunately my own LDs are always in the etheric plane, almost always about waking worlds situations and places, with the only difference that i know its a dream and thus have a bit more control over some things...



I agree that what we experience is real for us... but what i want to know is how much of my perceptions during the experience were real for the others (perceptions of the physical world) and how much were real only for me (products of my mind alone, like memories, thoughts, dreams, etc.).

I had an experience similar to that only horizontally floated up out of my body that was still laying on my bed. I glided throughout my neighborhood above the treetops seeing whos lights were on in the hood etc. It was all real and not distorted except for the oddness of me floating. I felt the strong need to turn back about two houses away from my own and floated back through my window , back into my body. It was a relaxing, stress free experience that I have not been able to do again on my own. How I wish.

[sammer]

Had an extreme out-of-body experience while under the influence of strong salvia divinorum extract. the world and everything was torn away in cycles like layers of reality peeling away. As the reality peeled away it was like a curtain dropping and I had the strongest feeling that all of our reality and universe is an alien construct and we (and our entire dimension) are under constant observation. After 15 minutes of being cycled and torn horrifically around another dimension i saw myself sitting in my shed and I percieved myself gradually reentering my own head from the back, hallucinationg still, until i was seeing from my own eyes again. Just to make the point that certain substances can cause an out-of-body experience.

[hazetwostep]

sammer... was it a positive experience? was it frightening?

[sammer]

sammer... was it a positive experience? was it frightening?

no extremely far from positive worst 15 minutes of my life, I was shaken up after. salvia can be very powerful

[hazetwostep]

i find salvia fascinating in this aspect. yes it is very powerful but powerful does not equate with negative. DMT is even more powerful but i have no found it so strongly associated with frightening experiences like salvia seems to be.

[smileyface]

Hey Sammer, have you ever heard of the term "starseed" or "wanderer"? I'm a huge geek and read all kinds of crazy shit, but what you described kind of reminded me of a book I read called "The Ra Material". You can actually download it here - The Law of One - PDF version (http://llresearch.org/library/the_law_of_one_pdf/the_law_of_one_pdf.aspx)

It's a fascinating read, I think you should check it out. It's supposedly true, but you can determine that for yourself.

[sammer]

Hey Sammer, have you ever heard of the term "starseed" or "wanderer"? I'm a huge geek and read all kinds of crazy shit, but what you described kind of reminded me of a book I read called "The Ra Material". You can actually download it here - The Law of One - PDF version (http://llresearch.org/library/the_law_of_one_pdf/the_law_of_one_pdf.aspx)

It's a fascinating read, I think you should check it out. It's supposedly true, but you can determine that for yourself.


Checking out the link right now :)