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There has been plenty of research done concerning near-death experience, out of body experience, and even astral projection. Although a Vice article concerning astral travel can be well researched and very informative, None of us really need the CIA to tell us whether or not we can do it, or even that it's possible. There are many people who suggest that we all do it each and every night, but that perhaps we simply don't remember. Some of us are familiar with Kirlian photography. And we have probably heard of people who can see auras. So what is this energy body that is being photographed or seen?
In Eastern philosophy the Hindus talk about '5 sheaths', and the Buddhists talk about the three bodies; Nirmanakaya, Samboghakaya, and Dharmakaya. In Western mysticism we find a similar trinity; physical, subtle, and causal bodies. This subtle body is sometimes also referred to as the astral body. Pranamayakosha in Hindu tantra and Sambogakaya in Buddhist psychology.
Some of the more well known writers in the western world to have attempted to explain these subjective experiences are Blavatsky, Vera Stanley Adler, and Rudolf Steiner. However, the lesser known, but far more detailed study, is the book by Sylvan Muldoon entitled, 'Projection of the Astral Body' (1929).
Muldoon and co-author Carrington go into great detail exploring all of the idiosyncrasies of experience that so many different people have had. They explain when and how the astral body moves out of 'coincidence' from the physical body. They explain falling dreams and flying dreams and how they relate to the movement of the astral body. They explain how some people tend to roll out of their astral body, while other people tend to simply lay on their backs, slowly floating up eventually coming to a standing position.
"It is super important that we recognize an astral projection experience for what it is, and not to discredit it as "just a dream"."
Now in the age of YouTube we have countless guided astral projection videos. The New Age music and the hypnotherapist voice over is not necessary of course, and many of these videos choose that flavor of presentation. Any videos about out-of-body-experience, astral projection, or astral travel as a practice should be able to provide insight. Of course there's more to just learning about it. We have to actually practice. There's no reason that we should not practice at least once every day because each one of us sleeps for several hours every day. Paradoxically we might think of the practice as 'consciously falling asleep.'
I won't go into my own personal experience, but I have met many people who have told me fabulous stories about their own experiences that most would consider dreams. "It is super important that we recognize an astral projection experience for what it is, and not to discredit it as "just a dream". A man in Israel told me that he had a girlfriend who was trained on astral projection by her mother as a child. When they would fall asleep at night she would take him by the hand, and just at the right moment, she would pull his astral body from his physical body and they both would fly around. He explained that they saw other astral bodies, some human and others not. Another friend told me that she once flew from France to Africa where she saw a friend of hers that she had been worrying about only to find that he was perfectly fine. She hyelled his name really loudly while floating above him and he looked up at her confused as to where the sounds might have come from. So far as I know she has never been able to contact him physically to ask him if he heard her for sure. Another friend of mine in Honduras had the experience of arriving dead to a hospital. After flying around a bit with her astral body, she decided to return again to the land of the living in her physical body. She could not bare to leave her children alone. She tells her story in a TEDx (sorry, Spanish only).
In the world of psychedelics such as Psilocybin, LSD, DMT, Ketamine, and others, it is not uncommon for psychonauts to experience being separate from the physical body.
Psychedelic painter Alex Grey has alluded to projection of consciousness, and his friend Kary Mullis, the visionary biologist, tells the story in his book 'Dancing Naked in the Mind Field', that he had once fallen asleep in a situation where a tank of gas had been left on. A female friend of his was able to find him astrally, and actually turn off the tank of gas with her astral body thereby saving his life. Other friends of Alex have expressed astral realities similarly. Autumn Skye for example.
So what is the benefit of having a out-of-body experience? Well the CIA would use it for espionage perhaps and others might use it to check up on people to make sure they're okay. And perhaps one of the most beneficial things we might glean from such an experience, is the experience itself, that consciousness can exist separate from the body. Anyone who has looked down upon their sleeping body, completely lucid, might ask themselves the question, "If my body were to die would my lucidity remain? Is death merely an illusion? Will my body one day fall of like a bathrobe leaving only my astral body to remain?". Conquering the fear of death can be a huge step towards truly experiencing life.
Midsummer Night's Trip by artist Mear One
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