is astral travel just a dream

[David mc]

I myself have never had an OBE so it's hard for me to comprehend what they are,but from a skeptical point of view how do we know there not just created by the brain.your views very welcome

[OmDaath]

That's the thing. We don't know.

Some people try to conduct ''experiments'', where a person that can ''project'' themselves, will go look for an object in a designated area, placed by the tester, and will report the results after. I've done that, and was about 60% correct, but my results were too vague to be confirmed 100%.

Some people argue, that it's never going to be possible to test A.P. in that way since we access different realms, not just physical one, and each version of the realm is like another dimension, or plane, or multiverse. So there are infinite possibilities (which we access through A.P.) of the outcome of any test.

[OmDaath]

It could be all just hallucinations, illusions created by mind.
Collective subconscious- archetypes would prove why people see same entities, angels, gods, etc.

But then what about personal accounts of all people claiming to have proved it, let's say by projecting and reading something that was written in real life.
Projecting together and having shared experiences in the ''astral realm''.
Of course if we take it as true, it would still mean even if it's subjective hallucination, that we are somehow connected either way, and share these hallucinations.

That's why it's best if everyone could learn how to project and see for themselves. However we still don't know the consequences of doing so. Either spiritual or psychological. So I neither encourage nor discourage people from trying it. All I can do is test it for myself.

Robert Monroe, had an institute for exactly that reason - to test it under proper controls. --> monroeinstitute.org/node/1183

[David mc]

thanks excellent answer?what a about your own views on your own experiences?

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by David mc

I myself have never had an OBE so it's hard for me to comprehend what they are,but from a skeptical point of view how do we know there not just created by the brain.your views very welcome

Answers will vary according to our ideas of the nature of a human being.

If we believe that a human being just consists of a physical body, and consciousness and thoughts somehow originate from the brain, then it follows that any out-of-body experience is also created by the brain. Any entities or people encountered are just our own creations. It also means that physical death is the end of identity and consciousness.

If we believe that a human being consists of consciousness functioning through various bodies (mental, emotional, etheric/energy) then the dense physical body is just the vehicle of expression and experience on the physical plane. The brain is the tool of consciousness.

This approach also allows for other planes of consciousness. Within this model, consciousness can withdraw from the physical body and function through the more subtle bodies, experiencing these other planes of consciousness. So any entities or people encountered are not our creations - they have their own independent existence.

It also means that physical death is just the death of the physical body, but identity and consciousness withdraw from the physical vehicle and continue functioning on other planes.

This makes far more sense to me than the idea that everything originates from the lump of matter which is the physical brain.

Peace.

[David mc]

Brilliant answer to be honest I think we are spiritual beings even without out of the body experiences there is so much more evidence I have come across.one thing I noticed about astral projections which strikes is that people report seeing a world very similar to earth in fact almost everything here has a duplicate in the astral,what is your views on this?thank you

[Altair]

It is connected to dreams, but at the same time I'm not sure if ALL dreams are related to it. It's probably a spectrum with dull nonsense dreams and full blown oobe's as each other's opposites. Astral travel is related to our astral/subtle body. If you want to experience it I recommend doing daily spiritual practice/meditation and eventually you will become aware of this body. Nobody else is capable of proving it to you, even if it were to happen right in front of you, you gotta put it to practice and improve that connection.

[DesertRose]

Originally Posted by Altair

If you want to experience it I recommend doing daily spiritual practice/meditation

Could you give me some examples? If it's not too much of trouble..

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by David mc

Brilliant answer to be honest I think we are spiritual beings even without out of the body experiences there is so much more evidence I have come across.one thing I noticed about astral projections which strikes is that people report seeing a world very similar to earth in fact almost everything here has a duplicate in the astral,what is your views on this?thank you

Yes, all things on Earth seem to have their astral counterparts. The lower astral sub-planes seem to be very similar to mundane Earthly life, even down to having similar housing and shops, while the higher astral sub-planes reflect more the beauty of nature and the buildings are far more inspiring.

This makes sense if we consider the nature of thought-forms. Humans create thought-forms and these manifest on the astral plane. We automatically create a familiar environment. Such thought-forms are maintained as long as humans put energy into them. If people stop putting energy into a particular thought-form then the astral manifestation will fade away.

So from my reading, the average human being after death will find themselves in a world similar to the physical world they have left behind, because this matches the level of their vibrations. They will carry on with their normal routines, not knowing what else to do. I've read about people who continue playing golf on an astral golf course, for example, but they soon get bored because they always get a perfect hole in one.

Those who are more advanced will have some understanding of their situation and realise they are free to pursue their own artistic and philosophical interests with like-minded people.

The Christian Heaven is also found on the astral plane, generated by the thought-forms of millions of Christians over the centuries. Christians expecting to go to Heaven will find themselves in a place which matches their expectations, even down to having a thought-form of Jesus teaching them. But eventually they may become dissatisfied and wonder what lies beyond.

Yogis seem to go to the various lokas on the higher astral or the mental planes - Sri Yukteswar mentions this when he appears to Yogananda after his death.

My understanding of all this is entirely theoretical - I have no knowledge based on practical experience. But this all seems as good an explanation as any.

Peace.

[Miss Hepburn]

Um, my astral projections are no dream.
It is my astral body lifting up and out of this physical body with total consciousness of it.

It's not some big old mystery or something to speculate about...when it happens to you you will know.
Wait til then. Read about it from people who have them to prepare you if you want....always a good idea cuz...
there's no gravity in the astral...
things look difference....like imagine the horizon in an little plane being upside down or sideways....
(which I have exp'd in the summer clouds of Florida) ...like that...
No gravity is a trip....
while being in your astral body.

In everything...asking about a dentist, a mechanic...listen to the people that have been to them...
not ads in the paper or hearsay....aka guessing....intellectualizing...aka speculating....
it's mind candy that wastes time. No?