Is it possible that OBE's are just in our head?

[TurulMadar]

I've read all about OBE's, but having never consciously projected before, I am skeptical....but here it goes. Doesn't it seem likely that projections merely happen in our mind? I'm not saying I don't think its possible to "leave" our body, but it seems like a reasonable explanation. I hear people all the time saying they have proof by seeing something in the astral planes, and confirming it later back in their body, but if people really did have concrete proof, astral projection would be way more "known" or popular, and scientists would be all over it studying it, which I don't think they are.

[Tiny]

It's possible but it's just not the case.

Modern mainstream science assumes for example that dreams happen in our heads, only because they have observed how our brainwaves and eye and limb movement during the night are in context with our dream content. What they haven't considered is that dreams, which in fact occur on the astral dimension and not in our heads - they  reflect down to our physical minds and our physical minds reflect up into the dreamscape.
The same goes for our physical body and our etheric body. When for example the throat center on our etheric body is disturbed, it can cause illness such as sore throat or even organ failure on the same spot but in the physical body. On the other hand when our physical body is disturbed for example by chemical influence, the etheric body will be negatively impacted aswell.

In other words, modern mainstream science knows pathetically little thanks to it's own supreme ignorance and things don't just happen in our heads.

[caterpillarwoman]

It's possible that EVERYTHING is just "inside our head". You could be a brain in a jar, just imagining all of this...

[CFTraveler]

Turul Madar, scientists are studying OBEs. There are lots of studies that are performed by real scientists that show results that are not explainable by statistical anomaly.  Find the Pearce-Pratt experimental data for remote viewing.  The data speaks volumes.  This is only one example of studies.
If you are really interested in looking at data look in these venues:
New Jour Electronic Journals and Newsletters
European Journal of Parapsychology
The Humanistic Psychologist
International Journal of Parapsychology
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
Journal of Near-Death Studies
Journal of Parapsychology
Journal of Scientific Exploration
Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research
Journal of the Society for Psychical Research
Journal of Transpersonal Psychology
Luce e Ombra
Metapsichica
Quaderni di Parapsicologia
Argentine Journal of Paranormal Psychology
Zeitschrift fur Anomalistik
Zeitschrift fur Parapsychologie und Grengzgebiete der Psychologie

-That'll get you started.

The problem is that we often equate 'Materialists' with 'Scientists'.  A scientist looks at data, and interprets it on the merit of the data itself.  A pseudoskeptic or materialist 'scientist', has the preconceived notion that 'this just can't happen', and therefore don't bother to look at the data, and simply declare it flawed, or decide there must have been something wrong with it, if the results don't match their belief system of what's possible.  This is not science, it's scientism.

[Questioner]

Science isn't going to accept OBE's on the basis that some people can confirm what they saw.It needs to be in a controlled environment.

It could also be the fact that some people just don't want to believe.

[Enlightenment]

It's possible but it's just not the case.

Modern mainstream science assumes for example that dreams happen in our heads, only because they have observed how our brainwaves and eye and limb movement during the night are in context with our dream content. What they haven't considered is that dreams, which in fact occur on the astral dimension and not in our heads - they  reflect down to our physical minds and our physical minds reflect up into the dreamscape.
The same goes for our physical body and our etheric body. When for example the throat center on our etheric body is disturbed, it can cause illness such as sore throat or even organ failure on the same spot but in the physical body. On the other hand when our physical body is disturbed for example by chemical influence, the etheric body will be negatively impacted aswell.

In other words, modern mainstream science knows pathetically little thanks to it's own supreme ignorance and things don't just happen in our heads.

Excellent post

[kailaurius]

It's possible but it's just not the case.

Modern mainstream science assumes for example that dreams happen in our heads, only because they have observed how our brainwaves and eye and limb movement during the night are in context with our dream content. What they haven't considered is that dreams, which in fact occur on the astral dimension and not in our heads - they  reflect down to our physical minds and our physical minds reflect up into the dreamscape.
The same goes for our physical body and our etheric body. When for example the throat center on our etheric body is disturbed, it can cause illness such as sore throat or even organ failure on the same spot but in the physical body. On the other hand when our physical body is disturbed for example by chemical influence, the etheric body will be negatively impacted aswell.

In other words, modern mainstream science knows pathetically little thanks to it's own supreme ignorance and things don't just happen in our heads.

I agree.

I feel certain that those who regularly experience conscious projections have no interest in whether mainstream science classifies projecting as real or just mere "fantasy" created by some chemical reaction within the brain.  Whether others believe they exist holds no significance whatsoever.  It would be kind of like someone walking up to a person who loves to ride roller coasters and telling them that roller coasters are not fun.  Would the person stop riding roller coasters because that someone told him they were not fun?  There are no words in the human language that can describe the bliss of experiencing projecting within the inner realms.  A lot of projections are so incredibly solid, vivid, and real that it quite literally makes the physical reality seem dim and dreary by comparison.  Projections are excellent validations of the continuation of life beyond the physical and reinforces the fact that "death" absolutely does not exist, but is nothing more than an illusion.

I'm not sure how many mainstream scientists have had an actual projection experience, but I would find it difficult to comprehend how anyone could feel that projections are not real if they truly had a full blown conscious, controlled projection experience, especially when a fully controlled projection can feel extraordinarily more real than the physical realm.

There are many benefits to projecting.  They are wonderful learning experiences, excellent stress relievers, and just plain fun.  They often give me a boost of happiness that lasts throughout the entire day. 

[ka0s]

Kail i absolutely agree with everything you said and probably couldn't have said it better. Who cares if someone else dismisses my claims. It is my own truth that makes up what I find to be important--not that of statistical science. They are often more vivid then states in this physical realm. Some can outright just be beautiful, others spiritually enlightening. I try to take from them what I can to help others here in the physical. I am not sure why ive been spontaneously having them since the age of 16 but all I try to do is learn from them and see if there is any purpose by God for me having them--as well.

[Xanth]

The spiritual realm won't exist for certain people until we devise a distinct way of measuring it. 
For the rest of us... we've been there. 

[kurtykurt42]

That's where I come in and there are many others like me, although not enough...Who want to use our understanding of technology, specifically electrical and computer engineering, physics, and mathematics to help us quantify these mystical dimensional planes that exist all around us.

I do wish more people with the necessary skills were more interested in trying to prove how astral projection is a product of our energy body. But in doing so you have to consider the consiquences of what this truth will have on the world. If people were to understand that we are made of an energy body that is able to store energy in storage centers and use this energy to heal ourselves as well as other from disease, cancer, tumors, etc. the Pharmaceutical and medical industries would lose many of their customers. Doctors that paid thousands to go to medical school to understand how to treat cancer and disease would no longer be needed. multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies would go out of business as well.

So, it's a difficult dilema becuease those in the medical/phramecetical industry don't really want to hear how they wasted 10 years in college learneing how to treat disease and cancer when it can easily be prevented with daily energy body devlopment to stop energy blockages. But perhaps with new technology, soon we will be able to see this energy body clearly and learn the purpose behind each primary energy storage center and how it functions as a whole. Then I'm afraid the truth will have to come out no matter what anyone thinks about OBEs and astral projection.

[Goggles Pizano]

The problem is that we often equate 'Materialists' with 'Scientists'.  A scientist looks at data, and interprets it on the merit of the data itself.  A pseudoskeptic or materialist 'scientist', has the preconceived notion that 'this just can't happen', and therefore don't bother to look at the data, and simply declare it flawed, or decide there must have been something wrong with it, if the results don't match their belief system of what's possible.  This is not science, it's scientism.

Some terms here ^  that clarify things I've noticed for awhile (& haven't been able to pin down-something just "felt wrong" )about many, many self-described skeptics, & also scientists- I call it "glossing":
The seemingly subconcious tendency for most people to point out only most obvious & "debunkable" aspects of someones described experience.These aspects are argued against in order to more easily support an ego desire for control, while at the same time completely, absolutely ignoring & forgetting aspects of the same decribed experience which are unexplainable to the sceptic & go against the grain of their belief system.
Such pseudoskeptics or materialists insist that they are not biased, yet the very nature of their attitude is usually highly biased toward supporting their own world view which gives them an illusion of control & safety- an "it's not because it can't be" type of thinking that seems to be based mostly on fear.    

Belief systems usually run to the very core of any hypothesis:
"What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning."
Werner Heisenberg
A hypothesis wouldn't even be hypothesised in the first place if that particular individual hadn't stepped in & asked a certain line of questioning which is built upon a foundation of base line belief systems about their observed reality.

The true skeptic, on the other hand is more finely balanced, attitude-wise, & unfortunately, very rare.

This raises a question to ask yourself:

Is science from the body that compells it?

Religion is no better, of course.Just another form of circular reasoning to support a particualr belief system.The only difference is that science-based world views are based on a form of reasoning (therefore based upon pre-existing conditions) that already, & only exists in the mind of the scientist, & religion-based world views are based upon pre-existing emotional interpretations of their own belief system. Of course they both have the arrogance to clain that only they know the so-called truth.

[dbmathis]

It's been awhile since I posted, but I figured I would get back into the "astral pulse" by responding to this topics which just happens to be one of my favorite parts of OBE, skepticism! . Below is my personal beliefs based on my personal observations and the study of others.

I watched this new NOVA documentary last week called "What Are Dreams?". I was hoping that it would try to explain what dreams are scientifically and how this is connected to our soul, but instead it explained nothing. Seriously, deep down inside I knew what to expect from NOVA, which is precisely nothing. Science has a tendency to ignore anything that doesn't immediately fit inside the neat little scientific box. Scientists have problems thinking beyond science and using their imagination and then thinking backwards from what's imagined to merge with or create a new science. This is why I have been very irritated with science lately.

A good example would be radio waves. Before they were discovered I am absolutely sure people would have denied their existence if a person who had knowledge of them had brought them up.

I started successfully inducing OBEs at will about a year or so ago after my friend sparked the interest. I would like to point out that prior to this I had not experienced this state of mind since being small child. It was only after I started inducing them that I actually began to remember my childhood experiences. The reason I bring this up is because I see scientific publications that make claims that OBEs are simply epileptic seizures which suggests that I can induce epileptic seizures at will, how odd. This illustrates my point that sometimes a "new" science must be created around a "new" phenomenon because new experiences at times don't fit into any known science.

It's been a while since I've written because I have had zero lucid dreams or astral projection type experiences lately (mind has been preoccupied). I am very serious about recording only true experiences objectively. Meaning that I must have waking consciousness while my body sleeps or is in a trance for it to qualify for an entry on here and I must describe only what I experienced without filling in the gaps. Most of the time when I perceive myself as being "out of body" I can recall my name, address or any "waking" thoughts and I know that I'm asleep. Many times I can look at myself sleeping in bed and then move around in what appears to be my house. None of this means that I am actually "out of body" and at this point I have no evidence to draw any definitive conclusions. More validation will be required to truly understand what's going on. However, I will continue to call them "out of bod experiences" until my perception suggests otherwise. Similarly I will continue to call myself David until something proves that i am George.

I would like to point out my observation that being objective doesn't necessarily have to mean being actively connected and receiving input from the five waking senses.  I apologize for the lack of a reference but I have read that the waking mind and the five senses can only process a small percentage of the information that's actually hitting the senses and being sent to the brain at any given moment.  It's my current belief that while a person is having an "out of body experience" they are not using the five senses and instead they are using a direct type of input, bypassing the senses. I would not then conclude that this type of experience would be any less objective than a waking experience, especially considering that fact that in these out of body states I have access to all waking memories and functions, even if the direct input is mimicking the five senses. Let us not be tricked into assuming that such altered states of conscious are any less real or objective than waking consciousness.

It's my belief at present that the physical mind does dream in the physical each night in parallel to perhaps a infinite number of projected doubles that operate independently to the the sleeping physical mind. I think that the physical brain can also be awake and deep into trance while the projected doubles explore. According to Robert Bruce, the physical brain being awake is critical to successfully downloading and remembering the experiences of the projected doubles when the reintegration with the physical takes place.

In conclusion it's possible that the all of this is happening in the physical brain only, but I have not seen any convincing evidence that this is the case (especially from NOVA). It seems to me that most science is completely dismissing the possibility of a soul. When I am completely in contact with all of my waking memories and thoughts and I perceive that I am "out of my body" and science gives me no data to support that I am not "out of body" why I would I then conclude that I am not "out of body"? This would be like being awake and saying "everything that I am seeing is just in my head!". Now stop and think about that for a second, perhaps you need to define what you mean by "in your head".