What happened that made you realize astral projection is real

[LordNezazor]

I personally never astral projected before, however I am open to the whole phenomena being real, but not one-hundred percent. What happened that made you fully believe that this was real. How did it change your view on life in this physical realm? Thanks!

[Nameless]

I find your question to be down to earth and honest. When I asked myself this same question as an adult I thought about how we know things are real in general. If we can see it, hear it, feel it, smell it and/or taste it then it is real. In the non-physical I look for the same things. So when I find myself somewhere else and all those physical attributes apply I can only conclude the experience is real. Others do not have to be there with me to make this conclusion and so that is the rub. Then again a lonely walk in the woods is real even though you are alone.

As a child I innately knew, without doubt, that projections were real. Being young and without a frame of reference I simply called all such dreams.

My views are always evolving and changing so it is difficult to separate what exactly causes changes in thinking. But there is one change I can attribute almost solely to projection and that is I just don't worry so much about the state of the world. It is and always has been a work in progress.

[Volgerle]

Of course AP is real because EVERYTHING is REAL.



You are consciousness having an experience. Experience is always real, no matter what the basis of it is.

If you look for "evidence" that it is somehow "proving" that AP can deliver information from the physical, then look here:

http://astral-seminar.weebly.com/blog/validations-for-obe-english

[Subtle Traveler]

I personally never astral projected before, however I am open to the whole phenomena being real, but not one-hundred percent. What happened that made you fully believe that this was real. How did it change your view on life in this physical realm? Thanks!

It is (was) NEVER about belief (for me). Beliefs, unfortunately, can severely limit and impede our perception. A direct, personal experience WILL change your view (e.g., with a new perception). Learn how, and create your own experience. As communicated to me recently by my non-physical helpers, "You are the captain of your own ship" (e.g., we will not do it for you).

Those with out of body experiences know the difference between the biological brain (belief) and the conscious mind (knowing). Learn to see beyond your physical body, because then you will KNOW the answers you are seeking.

The evidence (present day) for OBE's is overwhelming. Even in the 1980's there was NOT a lot written about it popularly (yet). The 1990's brought a number experiencers out of the closet. Therefore, my suggestion is to read someone slightly more current than Monroe but who is an established OBE-projector of 20 years or more (e.g., for example William Buhlman has over 40 years of experience). There are many others. Frank Kepple has a couple of decades of experiences and his stuff is free on Xanth's web site (some of it is here also).

I like to recommend Buhlman because I had my first OBE about 6 weeks after reading one of his books. That experience changed my "curiosity and hunches" to "knowing". He conducts several experiential classes at the Monroe Institute annually. He also summarizes "how to" for free here:

www.astralinfo.org (note several "how to" guides on the menu bar)

www.astralinfo.org/astral-projection-methods/ (start here)

I leave you with this thought ... it is time for you to make your own decision. Good luck!

[jeck140]

A bit late to post but figured I'd share my experience here as well.

Years back when I was heavily invested in studying and attempting astral projection I experienced something that changed my life forever.

Now I've had my fair share of experience with altered states of consciousness at this point especially when it comes to psychedelic substances and I can tell you that not even a DMT trip came close to the earth-shattering realization that transpired from what was a totally new state of consciousness for me at the time.

Back when this transpired I had been practicing meditation almost every night for quite some time and had begun to get fairly adept at quieting my mind without too much trouble. I could easily make it into sleep paralysis but I had never forced myself to focus long enough to get into a very deep trance state. One night as I was meditating before sleep I decided to see how far I could possibly push myself to lay still and focus solely on counting my breaths from 100 down to 0 and repeating the cycle. I kept this up for at least 5 cycles or so before my body was in an extremely deep state of paralysis and I could barely feel any of it other than how it felt like I was sinking down into my bed from the sheer weight of myself. At this point in the meditation it became almost impossible to follow numerical order as I was counting my breaths because I assume my brain was in sleep mode and things just weren't working out. I continued to choke out random numbers and just focus on it as best as I could but before I even got a few counts in things got really intense. I felt a force that I can only describe as what I would assume the vacuum of outer space feels like pull my entire body up into the air and into the space where my head was laying on my pillow. The whole movement was so extreme that I didn't even have time to react to it before it was over and instantly I went from being in my bed and semi-aware of my physical body to being in an endless expanse of pure blackness that went on forever in all directions. The weird thing to describe about this is that I was somehow able to perceive a depth in this blackness which gave it a 3D effect as if I was in just a massive open space. Words can't really do this experience justice because I felt things that I never knew were possible to feel and its really difficult to articulate for me. While I was in this new space I also did not feel as if I had any body or form whatsoever. I perceived myself to be just a singular dot in the center of this vast expanse of 3D darkness. As soon as I was able to absorb all the information from what had just happened to me I felt what to this day is the most profound peace and tranquility I ever thought possible. I had no emotions or thoughts I was simply there, existing in this brief still moment that I could have stayed in forever. I was only in this state for a very short time though because I found myself faced with a decision to either rest and drift off into dreaming or go further. I decided to just go to sleep because  the whole thing was so draining on me. I had no idea the physical sensations would be so intense or how drastic the shift in how your consciousness actually "feels" if that makes any sense.

I've recently resumed my efforts and hopefully with more dedication this time around I'll be able to have a full blown projection! This was without a doubt though the experience that proved to me that there is so much more to us than we could even imagine and it has stuck with me all these years as fresh as the day it happened.

[Lumaza]

A bit late to post but figured I'd share my experience here as well.

Years back when I was heavily invested in studying and attempting astral projection I experienced something that changed my life forever.

Now I've had my fair share of experience with altered states of consciousness at this point especially when it comes to psychedelic substances and I can tell you that not even a DMT trip came close to the earth-shattering realization that transpired from what was a totally new state of consciousness for me at the time.

Back when this transpired I had been practicing meditation almost every night for quite some time and had begun to get fairly adept at quieting my mind without too much trouble. I could easily make it into sleep paralysis but I had never forced myself to focus long enough to get into a very deep trance state. One night as I was meditating before sleep I decided to see how far I could possibly push myself to lay still and focus solely on counting my breaths from 100 down to 0 and repeating the cycle. I kept this up for at least 5 cycles or so before my body was in an extremely deep state of paralysis and I could barely feel any of it other than how it felt like I was sinking down into my bed from the sheer weight of myself. At this point in the meditation it became almost impossible to follow numerical order as I was counting my breaths because I assume my brain was in sleep mode and things just weren't working out. I continued to choke out random numbers and just focus on it as best as I could but before I even got a few counts in things got really intense. I felt a force that I can only describe as what I would assume the vacuum of outer space feels like pull my entire body up into the air and into the space where my head was laying on my pillow. The whole movement was so extreme that I didn't even have time to react to it before it was over and instantly I went from being in my bed and semi-aware of my physical body to being in an endless expanse of pure blackness that went on forever in all directions. The weird thing to describe about this is that I was somehow able to perceive a depth in this blackness which gave it a 3D effect as if I was in just a massive open space. Words can't really do this experience justice because I felt things that I never knew were possible to feel and its really difficult to articulate for me. While I was in this new space I also did not feel as if I had any body or form whatsoever. I perceived myself to be just a singular dot in the center of this vast expanse of 3D darkness. As soon as I was able to absorb all the information from what had just happened to me I felt what to this day is the most profound peace and tranquility I ever thought possible. I had no emotions or thoughts I was simply there, existing in this brief still moment that I could have stayed in forever. I was only in this state for a very short time though because I found myself faced with a decision to either rest and drift off into dreaming or go further. I decided to just go to sleep because  the whole thing was so draining on me. I had no idea the physical sensations would be so intense or how drastic the shift in how your consciousness actually "feels" if that makes any sense.

I've recently resumed my efforts and hopefully with more dedication this time around I'll be able to have a full blown projection! This was without a doubt though the experience that proved to me that there is so much more to us than we could even imagine and it has stuck with me all these years as fresh as the day it happened.

No matter how many times you heard or read about an experience like this from another member here, another Astral Projection related Forum or a book, there is no way to fully grasp the "reality" of what they are saying, until you go through it yourself at a personal level. You have described the experience masterfully and to a "T'. Just being in the 3D vastness itself, defies Human words.

Practice, patience, perseverance and true dedication will lead you back there.

By the way, although brief, that was a "full blown projection". Good job! You saw it through! 

[Stillwater]

What is real in this context? Helps to know what the goalposts of the question are... because I can think of senses in which it is both real and not real!

[Sammie]

I believed it was real before it happened and therefore it happened after a while.

[mkj]

I've astral projected very briefly after self-induced sleep paralysis. That should have been enough proof for me. Then I once asked for help getting out of my body and was literally shaken/pulled out of my body by the ankles, but I couldn't see what did it. I haven't doubted it since, though it's been a while since I've ap'd

[Xanth]

It comes down to this...

"What is REAL?"

Real is anything you can experience.  If you've experienced it, it's real.

You can experience living beyond the confines of this physical reality.  It's real, because we can experience it. 

[Subtle Traveler]

What is real in this context? Helps to know what the goalposts of the question are... because I can think of senses in which it is both real and not real!

YES! (goal posts is a great metaphor or euphemism for "context")

There are a few things that I have heard the non-physical repeat over and over ... and one of them is this ... "the better the question, the better the answer".

So ... a well defined context (e.g., goal posts) gives a better answer. And ... a non-physical experience when well defined and presented in a solid context will provide most of the answer to most questions following the experience.