Astral Projection

For ages, humans have wondered what happens to them after death and this forms the basis of many religions and general spirituality. The out-of-body experience (OOBE) is where an individual feels as if they are floating outside their body. During this phenomenon, the spirit (or soul or consciousness) is separated from a person’s physical body, and therefore they can see their physical body and the world from an outside perspective. The out-of-body experience is usually much more vivid than a dream and is therefore easily distinguishable.

Scientists have used the out of body experiences to try and gain an understanding man’s existence. Understanding the workings of the soul and its composition has been one of the biggest obstacles in this quest. Some of the scientists have claimed that they can manipulate the human brain to stimulate out of body experiences. Studies indicate that about one in ten people have had an out of body experience. Most people are however unable to explain how it happens since it is their first time.

While people can undergo this experience spontaneously, in others it may be correlated to issues like mental stress, dehydration or total overload in the brain. A surgery patient might observe his or her body being operated on. A person who is close to death may experience a type of OOBE called a near death experience (NDE).This a well-known phenomenon and it even has religious connotations. Other individuals may experience OOBE as they fall asleep.An OOBE can also induced by sustaining mental alertness even as a person enters in the paralysis state that sleep causes. In other words, this entails prolonging the stage between being awake and being asleep. This transitory stage is usually marked by vibratory sensations and sound. By making these vibrations go on for longer, this can be used to trigger an out-of-body experience .People who are knowledgeable with workings of the spirits have formulated methods to induce out of body experiences. These methods are mainly linked to meditation.

OOBE have similarities to astral travel or astral projection. This is a process through which a person leaves their physical body and takes on another form-the astral spiritual body. Astral travel basically means traveling outside one’s body. This is usually done through total silence while meditating. The Astral dimension is the other world where the astral traveler goes to. It is a different world; distinct from the world lived by the physical body.This astral dimension (also called the astral plane) has sometimes been associated with the afterlife. This is the life form that the living, particularly humans, take on after death. This dimension has also been linked to the stars and it is said that the universe supports the spirit of an astral traveler. The stars are also said to be the origin of the human psyche.

There are people who believe that OOBE confirms that the non-physical human form can live separately from the physical body even after the person dies. Nevertheless, whereas OOBE experiences seem as real and believable as normal events, they usually exceed what occurs in the normal, physical world. Because nothing really leaves a person’s body, these experiences may not be necessarily be paranormal and may hold little religious value. But they are still fascinating and worth pursuing.