Some may say this is radical thinking, and they may well be right. But I’ll continue with this though regardless.
The common theories behind ‘Astral Projection’ all tend to agree that the soul/mind/higher self (call it what you will, I’ll call it soul here) leaves the body and moves around a non-physical world/universe. Most also agree that the soul enters other dimensions. Now let’s have a quick look at the proof for this…
The closest thing to proof (proof to the subject) is that it feels 100% real. Not much else is available. Some may have life changing experiences, others just strange sensations. Now let’s look at what these people claim to experience… Some meet with people who are known to have died, some communicate with other travelers, ghosts or entities from other worlds. Some may gain insight into personal goals (sometimes subconscious goals). All in all, these can have positive effects on the individual (although it may be the other way around for some).
Now let’s look at this from a skeptical point of view for a minute. We know that the brain works in strange ways at times, this could be due to chemicals (to much, to little, strange mix etc). The cause could be due to psychological problems, brain disorders, bad diet or many other things, including brain disorders (diseases, injury etc). Anyone who has experienced extreme emotions (sadness, anger, joy to name a few) know that the normal brains thought processes can be severely altered for a period of time, and during this time all thoughts that pass through the mind have a bias leaning towards the current state (the thoughts are filtered to an extent). This related to hypnosis, if a person is a good hypnotic subject then the thoughts in the mind can be altered easier - and the outcome can be very powerful. Anyway, I digress. With all of this in mind we can see that Astral Travel can usually be explained away as a figment of the imagination to some degree. A skeptic can always have an answer, and sometimes they may well be correct, other times not.
Before I continue with the topic of this post, let’s bring to mind the subject of ‘Remote Viewing’ or RV for short. Remote Viewing is the ability to describe a remote location (object/feelings etc) from a relaxed state of mind. There are many people who have devoted decades of their life to professional Remote Viewing, and some say to exceptional success. The theory behind RV is that the subject allows their mind to calm and keeps the cue (could be remote coordinates for example) as there last though. They allow there mind to receive data, and either write this down as it comes or speak it to a tape. One of the most important factors is to NOT analyze the incoming data in any way (as the persons own connections/experiences/judgments could change the original data). This is a very basic explanation (search it for more details if you like!). So what does this tell us? It tells us that the mind receives incoming data. The medium which brings the data is unknown.
Okay, back to the subject at hand. ITTME or ‘In To The Mind Experience’ in my opinion could be a better name for the excepted ‘Astral Projection’. But the theory is different to an extent. Let’s assume that when a person experiences a sensation of being out of their body and/or exploring a different dimension, that this is all happening in the mind. Let’s also consider RV. 99% of claimed OBE’s tend to occur during sleep or at the onset of sleep. This is when the mind is relaxed, right? When someone consciously attempts an OBE, they use one of various techniques - but they all tend to have the one base….. The thought of having an OBE! (They imagine being out of body) Do you see the connection yet?
In RV, the subject is relaxed with a clear mind. Same with OBE!. In RV the subject uses a cue to start the experience. Same with OBE!
So what make these 2 different? Could it be perception? Sure. Could it be beliefs? Sure could. Could it be that on the onset of sleep the body and mind are one step deeper and the onset of dissasociation is there, which presents a more ‘not connected to the body’ experience? I think so.
What am I getting at then? In a nutshell I’m saying that ‘Astral Travel’ could be information traveling into the mind, and not the mind (or body double) going out to get it. I’m saying there is a hidden, not yet understood, media which duplexes the information. And that RV and OBE’s are more connected that most people like tend believe. This of course brings even more questions to the subject.
I know I have not explained my thoughts as clearly as I would have liked to, but hopefully there is enough to gain some insight. I’m sure I’ll come back to this soon.
Any thoughts on this?