Astral Projection - the easy way

Spirituality
#1

I thought I’d share a little bit of my experience with the community. Here we go!

From what I know, many newbies have problems with having their first AP because they fail to realize the importance of the condition that ought to be fulfilled regardless of the visualization being used. Of course, I mean sleep paralysis; Astral Projection gurus fail to make it clear for the beginners that this is the Astral Projection “must have.” The techniques you’ve heard of can be effective only when you have entered a conscious sleep paralysis. Being relaxed is not enough! Sleep paralysis is when you can’t to move the parts of your body, even though you try. If you get to this state, you will end up with some good chances of turning it into an OOBE. If you don’t, you shouldn’t try any techniques, because they surely won’t work. Out of the body experience is a phenomenon that implies separation of your consciousness from the physical body, and it can only be accomplished when your body is not awake. I should mention that I am familiar with different opinions on this. Some Astral Projection “gurus” claim that sleep paralysis is not essencial. I even found a book in which the author says that one is able to have an Astral Projection while driving a vehicle. But there is a significant difference between personal experience and words that cannot be verified. It is my choice to be sceptical about anything that I could not replicate myself. therefore, I think that it is absolutely necessary to have sleep paralysis to achieve an OOBE.

Before focusing on the “how-to” of OOBE, I’d like to talk a little bit about getting into sleep paralysis. Surprizingly, it’s a significantly trickier task than having an OOBE itself. First off, it is very unlikely to have a conscious sleep paralysis at night, when you usually go to bed. Of course, when we fall asleep, we do have sleep paralysis, but usually we lose our consciousness much earlier. The easiest method to achieve sleep paralysis is get out of bed before we usually do and stay awake for a while, and then return to bed. What I find to be the most effective is combining 4 hours of sleeping and one hour of being awake. When awaken, you should not be in bed. Try to keep your mind busy; it’s a good idea to read a newspaper or watch television. Even better idea would be to read through your OOBE journal (given you have one), or read a book about OOBE (to communicate with the subconscious mind). When you get back to bed, attempt to fall asleep as usual. It might take some time to start feeling sleepy again. If you’ve done everything as described, you have close to 85% chance of remaining conscious when you fall into a sleep paralysis. Normally, it takes from 15 minutes to one hour; make sure you are patient and try to stay still. When you notice loud noises in your head and something like vibrations in your your body, it’s a sign that you are likely to be in a sleep paralysis. That is the moment you should try one of OOBE techniques.

I’m sure you have heard plenty of methods already. Most of them are going to work when used in sleep paralysis. The technique that I find effective is simply visualization of any movement of your body. Sometimes I visualize myself running as fast as possible. This makes me feel this unusual pressure inside of my body, which increases the vibrations and leads to OOBE. You can try many different techniques yourself to discover what technique works better for you. The point is, any visualization of the relocation of your body will do the trick. Just make sure you stay calm and have fun with your journey.

I believe in you!

#2

Similar to yoga nidra if not identical, now one needs to think “what good is it?”, same with those who become attached to trances, visions, mantras, drugs or any other sensory perception, they’re all transitory and inconclusive, it’s not a deep or permanent transformation in your entire being, waste of time.

#3

Mich,
What is to be accomplished by OOBE/astral projection? I don’t see the purpose other than some kind of “mind trip.”

#4

AP/OBES are not really a complete waste of time, as long as one is doing them responsibly and deriving the correct insights from them. Basically AP/OBES is a fantastic tool to navigate and explore the dimension of consciousness. It can be used to explore ones subconscious and conscious mind. However, it is very different to hypnosis, because in a genuine strong OBE one actually physically separate from the body and can see their body outside of them. They can then navigate with that body-double around the physical world. This gives one personal proof that they are something beyond the body and helps deal with the fear of death.

There are other benefits that one will achieve by regular AP/OBE the identification with the physical body will lessen, allowing one to access their higher mental faculties more easily and readily: intuition will become more active, memory and creativity will improve significantly. Thus one will be able to tap into their higher natural intelligence.

It is definitely worth doing, if one has the inclination. It can take a long time before one achieves success though. It requires time, energy and commitment.

#5

Who or what “explores the dimensions of consciousness”? Mind.

That can be easily overlooked. Mind never stops playing games.

Physical, astral and causal bodies are not demarcated or distinct, in fact they are in a continuous gradient of relative gross to subtle. Astral is always present potentially in the physical. So, its “projection” cannot be literal, it has to be more like manifestation.

That manifestation is witnessed by heightehed awareness, which is consciousness itself. So, AP is more like elevation of awareness that allows perception of the astral aspect of the physical body. Words like “out of”, “projection” etc belong to a vocabulary of the physical world.

Secondly, any “technique” brings about an induced state that ends with that change-agent. Yoga is a conscious, voluntary process. Any scaffolding of techniques and methods is therefore a waste of time.

#6

Is eating and posting on this forum a waste of time? According to Yoga even the physical body is a trick of the mind, an illusion. Yet, despite knowing its illusory nature, I still have to feed it, clothe it and work with it. In the same way despite knowing the illusory nature of the subtle mind(also a trick of then mind, an illusion) I still have to work with it. It is highly beneficial for me in the here and now to work on it such as using energy techniques or by inducing OBES/AP’s which loosens ones ties with body consciousness, allowing higher faculties to work. That certainly is no waste of time.

#7

Awareness is always there, becoming mindfully conscious and remembering various states of mind is accomplished through the effort of technical practice, by all means examine and experience if you like but don?t become absorbed and stuck.

#8

[QUOTE=michfridman;73063]I thought I’d share a little bit of my experience with the community. Here we go![/QUOTE]

Hi michfridman,

Have you had any OOBE?

Thanks for sharing.

#9

Yoga Sutras III.42 describes a method that is said to give one the power of traversing the ‘ether’. However it has to be understood that the sanskrit word translated as ‘ether’ is [I]akasa[/I], and [I]akasa[/I] is not the same as ‘astral’. What is popularly called ‘astral’ is related to the dream state. In Samkhya-Yoga philosophy, [I]akasa[/I] is one of the five gross elements, gross meaning perceptible by the senses. According to the Samkhya commentators, time and space are determinate forms of akasa.

I can tell you from personal experience what it means to ‘traverse the ether’. A long time ago I was looking into something that was called ‘soul travel’. I decided I would try out this technique of soul travel by visiting some friends who were living in another state. About a week later I was surprised to receive letters from all of my friends (this was long before the days of the internet). A former girlfriend thought she saw me walk into a friend’s apartment where we used to hang out. She was so convinced that she knocked on their door looking for me.

My experiment was successful but it blew my mind so much that I never tried it again, and I don’t remember the technique that I used. Patanjali’s method involves the technique of [I]samyama[/I], so you need to be adept at that in order to use his method. My point is that my experience did not involve projecting into an astral plane or dream state, rather it involved projecting to an actual place and time.

#10

By itself, I cannot understand what use AP/OBE will offer other than what Surya has suggested that it offers some proof of something beyond the body/fear of death…Yes, identification with the body will lessen but the practice itself keeps you in this dimension where you will be using far too much mind…I also feel it is a dangerous practice for a beginner to attempt…if a beginner embarks on practicing this they may be unaware that there are unpleasant forces that can infiltrate an untrained mind and enter into the body. These forces are at the fringes of this dimension.

#11

I have to agree. I quickly came to the conclusion that this is nothing to fool around with. You would not take a trip to a strange city without a map or directions. So assuming that there is such a thing as an astral plane and that it might be possible to somehow travel in that dimension, it might not be wise to attempt it without a guide to show you the way and keep you from harm.

#12

Yes Asuri it was a wise decision to refrain from this practice…I have mentioned before that I was reading a book that was discussing how AP/OBE has been used as a spying tool. The book was scientific in its approach. What was surprising was when the writer mentioned that all those that had used this method and had been successful had eventually ‘lost their souls’??? it was an out of place statement really by introducing the word souls in the book… (cant remember the book…sorry) The author had worked for the government himself and had been a part of this research during the cold war years with Russia.

Of course I would have liked to have asked him exactly what he meant by this. I dont suppose for a second that he meant this as literal, but obviously something had gone wrong with these people.

#13

My point is that my experience did not involve projecting into an astral plane or dream state, rather it involved projecting to an actual place and time.

This is called an Etheric projection. I have not been lucky enough to have one of these, but then again I have not enough. All of my projections have been astral and spontaneous, except for one which was semi-induced.

Robert Bruce, a long time astral projector and author of the tome, “Astral Dynamics” describes this type of projection as taking place in the ‘real time zone’ These type of projections actually lower grade ones, but they are also the most verdicial, because when you can navigate in the physical world and later get verification that what you saw was real, it’s the strongest proof you can get that you exist beyond your body. This can bring a huge change of perspective in your life.

#14

My experience was not so much about what I saw as it was about what my friends saw. In my estimation, this kind of thing is not a sight-seeing trip. Readers of the yoga sutras will find at least one more clue about how this practice can be used.

#15

Which English translation of the yoga sutras best describes A P or whatever word we are calling OOBE?

#16

kaya akashayoh sambandha samyamat laghu tula samapatti cha akasa gamanam

  • kaya = body
  • akasha = space, ether
  • sambandha = relationship
  • samyamat = dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi taken together (3.4)
  • laghu = light
  • tula = cotton fiber
  • samapatti = become one with, coincidence
  • cha = and
  • akasa = ether
  • gamana = traversing, moving though

Through samyama on the relation between the body and the ether, and coincidence [of consciousness] with light [objects] such as cotton, [he gains the ability of] traversing the ether.

In my opinion, the best translation is one that provides word-for-word sanskrit-english synonyms. They can be awkward so its best to compare a few. This one is from Georg Feuerstein. In the Feuerstein book, this is III.42, on swamij.com its III.43. Also swamij.com leaves out the last two sankrit words.

#17

Patanjali is not describing OBE or AP here, but teleportation. Meaning when the physical body itself traverses through the ether.

The ether is none other than what we call the quantum field/quantum domain in modern language. Einstein was dead opposed to the theory of ether and he developed his theory of physics without the ether. Incidentally, Einstein was also dead opposed to quantum theory for the same reasons.

Theoretically teleportation can be achieved if one is able to reduce a material object into its quantum equivalent(i.e., turn it into a wave) However, at the moment to the best of my knowledge, no way is known by which true quantum teleportation can be achieved. The current means called quantum teleportation is not real teleportation, because it is based on first creating a quantumly entangled pair of particles and then transmitting information between them. So no physical objects are being telepoted, only quantum information.

Patanjali’s explanation of how to achieve real teleportation however is theoretically sound: reduce the body to lightness(i.e, a wave) and gain passage into the ether, then you can move anywhere at will through the tunnels of the quantum. In fact we know that particles do this already called quantum tunneling where a particle will suddenly turn into a wave and back into a particle again. This effect were first discovered by Bohr who called them “quantum leaps”

I have pointed out before on this forum Patanjali’s explanation of achieving real levitation is also theoretically sound. In fact we already doing it as per Patanjali’s way. Patanjali says that in order to levitate one must gain control of an upwards flowing etheric force known as Udana-Vaju. In quantum physics levitation is achieved by using a quantum force known as the casimir force and making it push upwards. Currently we can only harness a fraction of the potential of this force, thus can only achieve levitation with only atomic objects.

The only difference between quantum physics and Patanjali’s Yoga is what is achieved with technology in quantum physics is achieved by the powers of the mind in Yoga.

#18

Anytime on the yogīk path, each siddhi (power) has a definite purpose. All the successes in raising aware?ness, purifying the bodies and subtle sensing culminates in an out-of body experience, as a conscious, willed act. ?One is outside all the bodies? is to be understood as one?s ?aware?ness is standing aside? of all the bodies. Legitimate questions could be, ?What happens to the bodies?? and ?Do they decay?? It should not be forgotten that the subtle controls the gross. The transcendental awareness is powerful enough to hold the states of the grosser bodies in full rein. Sanyama on ?body? and ?space? delivers this knowledge first-hand to enable mastery of the subtle over the gross.
The risk of looking at an individual sutra is that an untrained mind may perceive a very advanced phenomenon as a normal occurrence in life unaware of the rigors that take one there. The whole idea of siddhis is thus ill-perceived by many. A so-called power is not just a reward for years of practice, but is also an aid given to the worthy few to help in their advanced practice. Yogi at this stage is also so much ahead on the transformation curve that he/she would be reluctant to acknowledge the powers to preempt any desire for power than the practice. This is the underlying ?sutra?, the thread.

No doubt that a word-to-word translation saves us from a ?too glossed over interpretation?; but English words sometimes do not capture the real essence of the Sanskrt word. For example, the word ?laghu? is light in the sense of subtleness of an extremely rarified object, not just weight; and not at all light, as in luminosity.

This sutra also extends another concept. A physical body is in an uncreated potential form in its astral state, and the astral body is in an uncreated potential form in its causal state. To manifest on a certain plane like physical, astral, or causal, a body has to vibrate within that specific band of frequencies. Though there is one single continuum from gross to subtle, these distinct bands exist due to certain critical rates of vibrations at various stages of yogīk development and the keys to these ?ring-pass-nots? are granted by the guru to a qualified student. So one needs the ability as well as consent to go beyond the causal state. Through long and arduous efforts, abil?ity is acquired to sustain the exceedingly high vibrations. Attun?ement to the no-mind state is also complete, so that even when not dwelling in any of the bodies, you can still remain alive and the bodies intact.

(These ?rings-pass-not? are obviously not actual rings of matter, but represent the dynamic boundaries resulting from one?s per?ceived limits of self-awareness and abilities. They refer to tan-gible and intangible, albeit temporarily impassible barriers raised by past karma coupled with the state of the will. They act as limits in physical, astral and intellectual spheres beyond which an indi-vidual is unable to pass until he/she evokes spiritual strength and the vision to get over those circumscribing limits. These boundar?ies keep fading with growing awareness and finally dissolve when the bodies are completely harmonized.)
One has arrived at the most critical juncture here. Even the causal body has to be transcended, and thus the universe of Exis?tence is to be left behind, which is a complete roll-back amounting to a body-less state. Before doing this dematerializing and re-materializ?ing of the three bodies, one is ready for two tough tests:
? whether one can do this incredible feat given the hard work, and
? whether the transcendental state will not be too alluring to make you unwilling to return to the bodily existence again.

#19

This discussion has just given me an insight into another definition of Yoga: Yoga is science for oneself. Basically Yoga is a means by which somebody can conduct experiments on themselves and get their own verifications/falsifications. This method is a lot more faster than the empirical scientific method, because discoveries that would take centuries to discover with the empirical scientific method(like atoms, quantum fields, quantum forces, quantum tunneling etc etc) takes a yogi a lifetime of their own research. This is why the yogis knew about all these things long before modern science today. We are really just at the tip of the iceberg in rediscovering everything the yogis had discovered and knew through the experiments they did on themselves.

Cognitive Behavioural therapy is probably the most Yogic psychological approach developed thus far.(Incidentally, Patanjali describes CBT theory and practice in the Yogasutras) In CBT one does experiments on themselves to test their beliefs(which are often irrational beliefs) and through experience based evidence they are able to falsify or verify their beliefs.

#20

The risk of looking at an individual sutra is that an untrained mind may perceive a very advanced phenomenon as a normal occurrence in life unaware of the rigors that take one there. The whole idea of siddhis is thus ill-perceived by many. A so-called power is not just a reward for years of practice, but is also an aid given to the worthy few to help in their advanced practice. Yogi at this stage is also so much ahead on the transformation curve that he/she would be reluctant to acknowledge the powers to preempt any desire for power than the practice. This is the underlying ‘sutra’, the thread.

This is so wise Suhas…can I comment on this by saying that the effort needed can be very simple…it is a state of thinking that you develop in everyday living by always finding a non angry solution to what you are presented with, a level of understanding of all that is around you so that it results in an unwavering peaceful mind. This may seem difficult to sustain but with practice it becomes a natural part of oneself, you will fall into this naturally and then the gifts come to you…and then these gifts must not become a source of disruption to the peace of mind too, and so this goes on until enlightenment.