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Astral projection

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This article is about the psychic technique; for information about the musical band, see Astral Projection (group)

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soul/nous/buddhi/causal body

5 Mental/Manasic/Causal/Intellectual plane

mind/manas/phren: mental and causal and higher mental bodies, projection/out-of-body experience (OBE)

6. Astral/Emotional plane

ghost/thymos/kama/emotional/astral body, projection/OBE

7. Material-Ethereal plane

material/soma/sthula and life/ethereal/phasma/linga/vital bodies/shariras, aura/prana, projection/OBE
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Astral projection (or astral travel) is an interpretation of out-of-body experiences (OBEs) achieved either awake or via lucid dreaming, deep meditation, or use of psychotropics. Proponents of astral projection maintain that their consciousness or soul has transferred into an astral body (or "double"), which moves en tandem with the physical body in a parallel world known as the astral plane.

The concept of Astral projection has been around for thousands of years, dating back to ancient China. It is currently often associated with the New Age movement.

Schools of thought

There are two general schools of thought on the nature of astral projection; these can broadly be defined as the mystical model and the phasing model.

Mystical model

The mystical model includes a large variety of belief systems and astral maps, but they are tied together by their belief that astral projection takes place outside of the actual physical body. A more subtle energy body is believed to carry the consciousness outside of the physical body, and as one progresses to more advanced levels of the astral plane, more subtle bodies are realized and consciousness is transferred in turn to each of them. (Other mystical models assume only one subtle body.) The subtle body is attached to the physical body by means of an energetic connection which usually takes the appearance of a silver cord 'plugging' into the chakras like an umbilical cord.

Phasing model

The phasing model, which was defined by Robert Monroe, contains the belief that it is impossible to actually leave the body in the truest sense of the word, and that the astral planes and the physical world are merely points on the long spectrum of consciousness. When a person projects, they actually "phase" into another area of consciousness and the locales it contains. This can be likened to tuning a radio to another station. One of the initial signposts representing a phase shift away from physical reality has been labelled the state of focus 10 (mind awake/body asleep). This viewpoint can be seen as a logical progression of the philosophy that external reality is actually an internally created state (see Postmodernism, Buddhism).


Kinds of projection

Astral projection

The traveller finds him- or herself in an apparently real domain, analogous to the "other worlds" experienced by traditional peoples, which have no parallel to any physical setting or to consensus reality, described by New Agers and occultists as the astral plane or the astral.

Environments here may range from populated to un-populated, artificial to natural to completely abstract environments and from beautific to horrific. Here, normal physical laws often do not apply and humans can often, for example, float or fly. Quality of physical detail ranges from crude and un-detailed and depressing to bright, vivid and fascinating as detailed, among other writers, by Robert Bruce in his Astral Dynamics. Travellers may travel from one realm to the other. Projectors may find access to visions of the past or future and to the Akashic records accessible from here. It's been said that space and time don't exist on the astral plane nor the higher planes - but no explanation is given as to how forms and entire environments can exist without spatial dimensions, nor why there can be a sequence of events and yet no such thing as time. Many travellers have theorized that people having dreams actually travel to the astral realms, unaware, and, again as reported in Astral Dynamics, travelers have reported seeing dreamers enact dream scenarios on the astral plane, unaware of the more extensive and varied non-physical environment surrounding them.

Real time projection

In contrast to "astral" projection, the traditional understanding of out-of-body experiences involves the projector (or traveller) moving about in (usually invisible) or ghost-like form in mundane physical reality. This world may, however, have minor differences between the physical reality world we know if strict mind control is not maintained. The "real world" can have overlays of objects that make it resemble "Alice in Wonderland". This is due to the power of sub-conscious thought and the ability of the astral and Real Time Zone to be manipulated into creating thought forms. Thoughts can become forms. Travelers may encounter non-human astral entities or other human astral travelers. Practitioners sometimes refer to this practice as Real Time Projection (RTP) and the mundane world as the "Real Time Zone", or "RTZ", terms that were coined by Robert Bruce. From the Real Time Zone, travellers can access "the astral" or remain in the RTZ and witness Real Time happenings.

Virtual reality projection

Part astral projection and part real time projection, called Virtual Reality Projection by most, is when a projector claims to move on the physical plane and interact with the astral plane at the same time. An example of this is the projector walking into a "real" poster or picture and being transported to a perfect reconstruction of this place/world, via the concentrated experiences and thoughts of every beholder of the concept of the picture.

Research

Robert Monroe, founder of the Monroe Institute, published several accounts of his experiences of astral projection, including Far Journeys. Monroe developed a method he calls Hemisync to induce mental states that are favorable for projection. Hemisync is a synchronization of the brainwaves of both of the brains' hemispheres or lobes. This is said to work by altering brain waves using sounds, together with meditative instruction, listened to on headphones. The process is based on a concept referred to as binaural beats.

Robert Bruce, is an international bestselling author on astral projection, psychic self-defense, metaphysics, and energy body development. He wrote an easy to read, step-by-step, 90 day program to learn astral projection with co-author, Brian Mercer, titled "Mastering Astral Projection". The development of his "New Energy Ways" is an easy to learn system of energy body development that enables one to have much more powerful and vivid out of body explorations.

An exhaustive reference, which includes techniques and types of out-of-body experiences and related phenomena, is the 1,200+ page Projectiology by Dr. Waldo Vieira, MD, which has over 1,907 bibliographic entries from sources in 18 languages on the topic.

See also

References

  • Bruce, Robert (1999). Astral Dynamics. ISBN 1571741437
  • Buhlman, William. Adventures Beyond the Body: Astral Projection.
  • Monroe, Robert. Far Journeys. ISBN 0385231822
  • Pritchard, Mark H (2004) "A Course in Astral Travel and Dreams". ISBN 0974056014
  • Vieira, Dr. Waldo. Projectiology. ISBN 8586019585

External links

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