The Roots of Consciousness: Folklore, Astral Projection and Out of Body Experiences
The Roots of Consciousness: Folklore, Astral Projection and Out of Body Experiences Astral Projection and Out-Of-Body Experiences According to tradition, shamans are individuals who, by definition, have overcome the common perceptual mindset of space-time conditioning. Space for them no longer exists. It is sufficient for them to intensify the sharpness of their interior sight and the intensity of their interior light to be able to penetrate everything. We read in traditional texts and in reports of scholars that shamans bilocate themselves, that they move in space, can go far and return in an instant, that they are clairvoyant, besides being therapists and magicians. Certain shamanistic conceptions suggest that our past thoughts and our mind have never left our body, for the simple fact that they have always been outside our body and our brain. They do not need to emerge from inside, because they have never been inside. The shamanistic initiation makes the trainee simply aware that mind and consciousness are outside and above, and they have always been so. The initiation practices reawaken a corresponding state of consciousness, that gives the living awareness of this vision. The shamanistic conceptions and the converging descriptions of out of body experiences coincide with the notion that mind and consciousness are a prius in respect of the brain and the body -- in other words, that brain and body evolve out of consciousness. Astral projection is one of the most salient features of the mystical tradition underlying most of the major religions. In fact, anthropologists have found that OBE beliefs appear in about 95 percent of the world's cultures. The idea that consciousness can function independently of and outside of the physical body is found in Egyptian manuscripts that delve in detail into the nature of the ka, or double that can separate from the physical body and travel at will. The ba is the principle of life that dwells in the ka, much like the heart of the physical body. The khu is the radiance of the being in eternal life, and sekhem is the form through which a person exists in heaven. In addition there is the ren or spiritual name of a being. Allusions to astral projection are particularly prominent in the scripts of Tantric Buddhism, a subdivision of Mahayana Buddhism found in Tibet and parts of Mongolia. Such experiences are considered to be a mark of his devotion to the Buddha. Pure Land Buddhism in China is a tradition which not only admits to NDEs, but is philosophically grounded upon their reality and accessibility to all people. The particular notion of astral projection can be traced back to Pythagoras' claim to hear the music of the heavens. The Pythagoreans assumed that the distances of the heavenly bodies from the earth somehow corresponded to musical intervals. By allowing one's consciousness, uplifted by philosophy, to rise through these astral spheres one ultimately might attain to union with the divine. Subsequently such terms as astral projection and out-of-body experience have come to be applied to a wide variety of visionary, mystical and psychic experiences. For examples, the experience developed in the mystery traditions which enabled participants to lose their fear of death might be viewed in this way. St. Augustine's visionary experience, described earlier, is another possible instance. Dante Allegheiri epitomizes the artistic evolution that signalled the end of the middle ages and the rise of the Italian Renaissance. His descriptions in the Divine Comedy of his own visions into the worlds of hell, purgatory, and paradise enjoy a paramount position in Western poetry. Yet there is a striking similarity in his work to the understanding of the afterworld one finds earlier in Egypt, Tibet, and Plato, as well as later in the visions of Emmanuel Swedenborg. Dante's familiarity with several systems of medieval mysticism leads us to believe he used dream and reverie states as an inspirational source for his artwork: At the hour near morning when the swallow begins her plaintive songs, in remembrance, perhaps, of her ancient woes, and when our mind, more a pilgrim from the flesh and less held by thoughts, is in its visions almost prophetic, I seemed to see in a dream an eagle poised in the sky, with feathers of gold, with open wings and prepared to swoop. And I seemed to be in the place where his own people were left behind by Ganymede when he was caught up to the supreme conclave... Broadly speaking, we can define an astral projection, bilocation or out-of-body experience (OBE) as the sensation of observing phenomena from a perspective that does not coincide with the physical body. Often one will experience consciousness being transferred from the physical body to another "astral body," "second body," "etheric body," "double," or "doppelganger." On other occasions, one may experience oneself as a mere point of awareness outside of the physical body. There seem to be several distinct, but related, types of experience lumped together un`er the general rubric of out-of-body experience. These include (1) lucid dreams where one seems to be conscious within a dream world, (2) clairvoyant awareness of distant locations, (3) the actual sensation of separation from one's physical body, floating above it, and looking down upon the physical form, (4) travelling outside of one's body to different locations in physical time and space, and (5) gliding and flying through the various supersensible "astral" and spiritual planes. Thousands of OBEs have been reported by individuals of all ages and from all walks of life. Such experiences have played a major role in the shamanistic rites and esoteric schools of many previous cultures. Much occult literature abounds in unsubstantiated claims regarding the vast scientific and historical knowledge that can be imparted to visitors upon the "higher planes." Some of this literature is actually quite valuable because of the systematic explorations conducted by philosophically trained clairvoyants. This body of literature seems to put the OBE into a larger perspective. Ramacharaka's Theosophical Perspective A typical description of astral travelling, from the "occult" viewpoint is provided by Yogi Ramacharaka: It is possible for a person to project his astral body, or travel in his astral body, to any point within the limits of the earth's attraction, and the trained occultist may do so at will, under the proper conditions. Others may occasionally take such trips (without knowing just how they do it, and having afterwards, the remembrance of a particular and very vivid dream); in fact many of us do take such trips, when the physical body is wrapped in sleep, and one often gains much information in this way, upon subjects in which he is interested, by holding astral communication with others interested in the same subject, all unconsciously of course. The conscious acquirement of knowledge in this way, is possible only to those who have progressed quite a way along the path of attainment. The trained occultist merely places himself in the proper mental condition, and then wishes himself at some particular place, and his astral travels there with the rapidity of light, or even more rapidly. The untrained occultist, of course, has no such degree of control over his astral body and is more or less clumsy in his management of it. The Astral Body is always connected with the physical body (during the life of the latter) by a thin silk-like, astral thread, which maintains the communication between the two. Were this cord to he severed the physical body would die, as the connection of the soul with it would be terminated.... Perhaps the best way to make plain to you the general aspects and phenomena of the Astral World, would be to describe to you an imaginary trip made by yourself in that world, in the charge of an experienced occultist. We will send you, in imagination, on such a trip, in this lesson, in charge of a competent guide it being presupposed that you have made considerable spiritual progress, as otherwise even the guide could not take you very far, except by adopting heroic and very unusual methods, which he probably would not see fit to do in your case. Are you ready for your trip? Well, here is your guide. You have gone into the silence, and suddenly become aware of having passed out of your body, and to be now occupying only your astral body. You stand beside your physical body, and see it sleeping on the couch, but you realize that you are connected with it by a bright silvery thread, looking something like a large bit of bright spider-web. You feel the presence of your guide, who is to conduct you on your journey. He also has left his physical body, and is in his astral form, which reminds you of a vapory something, the shape of the human body, but which can be seen through, and which can move through solid objects at will. Your guide takes your hand in his and says, "Come," and in an instant you have left your room and are over the city in which you dwell, floating along like a summer cloud. You begin to fear lest you may fall, and as soon as the thought enters your mind you find yourself sinking. But your guide places a hand under you and sustains you, saying, "No just realize that you cannot sink unless you fear to -- hold the thought that you are buoyant and you will be so." You do so, and are delighted to find that you may float at will, moving here and there in accordance to your wish or desire. You see great volumes of thought-clouds arising from the city like great clouds of smoke, rolling along and settling here and there. You also see some finer vapory thought-clouds in certain quarters, which seem to have the property of scattering the dark clouds when they come in contact with them. Here and there you see bright thin lines of bright light, like an electric spark, traveling rapidly through space, which your guide tells you are telepathic messages passing from one person to another, the light being caused by the Prana with which the thought is charged. You see, as you descend toward the ground, that every person is surrounded by an egg-shaped body of color, his aura which reflects his thought and prevailing mental state, the character of the thought being represented by varying colors. Some are surrounded by beautiful auras, while others have around them a black, smoky aura, in which are seen flashes of red light. Some of these auras make you heart-sick to observe, as they give evidence of such base, gross, and animal thoughts, that they cause you pain, as you have become more sensitive now that you are out of your physical body. But you have not much time to spare here, as your trip is but a short one, and your guide bids you come on. You do not seem to change your place in space, but a change seems to have come over everything -- like the lifting of a gauzy curtain in the pantomime. You no longer see the physical world with its astral phenomena, but seem to be in a new world a land of queer shapes. You see astral "shells" floating about -- discarded astral bodies of those who have shed them as they passed on. These are not pleasant to look upon, and you hurry on with your guide, but before you leave this second ante-room to the real Astral World, your guide bids you relax your mental dependence upon your astral body, and much to your surprise you find yourself slipping out of it, leaving it in the world of shells, but being still connected with it by a silk-like cord, or thread, just as it, in turn, is connected with your physical body, which you have almost forgotten by this time, but to which you are still bound by these almost invisible ties. You pass on clothed in a new body, or rather an inner garment of ethereal matter, for it seems as if you have been merely shedding one cloak, and then another, the YOU part of yourself remains unchanged -- you smile now at the recollection that once upon a time you thought that the body was "you." The plane of the "astral shells" fades away, and you seem to have entered a great room of sleeping forms, lying at rest and in peace, the only moving shapes being those from higher spheres who have descended to this plane in order to perform tasks for the good of their humbler brethren. Occasionally some sleeper will show signs of awakening, and at once some of these helpers will cluster around him, and seem to melt away into some other plane with him. But the most wonderful thing about this region seems to be that as the sleeper awakens slowly, his astral body slips away from him just as yours a little before, and passes out of that plane to the place of "shells," where it slowly disintegrates and is resolved into its original elements. This discarded shell is not connected with the physical body of the sleeping soul, which physical body has been buried or cremated, as it is "dead"; nor is the shell connected with the soul which has gone on, as it has finally discarded it and thrown it off. It is different in your case, for you have merely left it in the ante-room, and will return and resume its use, presently. The scene again changes, and you find yourself in the regions of the awakened souls, through which you, with your guides, wander backward and forward. You notice that as the awakening souls pass along, they seem to rapidly drop sheath after sheath of their mental- bodies (for so these higher forms of ethereal covering are called), and you notice that as you move toward the higher planes your substance becomes more and more etherealized, and that as you return to the lower planes it becomes coarser and grosser, although always far more etherealized than even the astral body, and infinitely finer than the material body. You also notice that each awakening soul is left to finally awaken on some particular plane. Your guide tells you that the particular plane is determined by the spiritual progress and attainment made by the soul in its past lives (for it has had many earthly visits or lives), and that it is practically impossible for a soul to go beyond the plane to which it belongs, although those on the upper planes may freely revisit the lower planes, this being the rule of the Astral World -- not an arbitrary law, but a law of nature.... This description bears at least some resemblance to other accounts from such diverse sources as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Plato's description of Er, Dante's Divine Comedy, and Swedenborg. Although the social climate in our culture is arriving at a point where it will soon be more prevalent, so far there have been few spiritual visionaries who felt that working with scientists would be a beneficial use of their time. Similarly very few scientists are interested in working with visionaries. Thus, science has currently little to say about such experiences. An Accidental Projection Apparently not everyone who leaves their body is able to travel to the Empyrean heights (if they exist). Many individuals who have been spontaneously thrust outside of their bodies, or who have cultivated the ability to have OBEs at will, have sought a scientific confirmation and understanding of their experiences. These projections often result from hypnosis, anesthesia, drugs, stress, or accidents. A typical accidental projection, occurred to a seventy year old Wisconsin man: He had hitched his team, one wintry day, and gone into the country after a load of firewood. On his return, he was sitting atop the loaded sleigh. A light snow was falling. Without warning, a hunter (who happened to be near the road) discharged his gun at a rabbit. The horses jumped, jerking the sleigh and throwing the driver to the ground head-first. He said...that no sooner had he landed upon the ground than he was conscious of standing up and seeing another "himself" lying motionless near the road, face down in the snow. He saw the snow falling all about, saw the steam rising from the horses, saw the hunter running toward him. All this was very exact; but his great bemuddlement was that there were two of him, for he believed at the time that he was observing all that occurred from another physical body. As the hunter came near, things seemed to grow dim. The next conscious impression he had was of finding himself upon the groun ( with the hunter trying to revive him. What he had seen from his astral body was so real that he could not believe that there were not two physical bodies, and he even went so far as to look for tracks in the snow, in the place where he knew he had been standing. OBE In A Dream Projections frequently occur in dreams. A classic example of a dream OBE, was reported in 1863 by Mr. Wilmot of Bridgeport, Connecticut: I sailed from Liverpool for New York, on the steamer City of Limerick....On the evening of the second day out,...a severe storm began which lasted for nine days....Upon the night of the eighth day,...for the first time I enjoyed refreshing sleep. Toward morning I dreamed that I saw my wife, whom I had left in the U.S., come to the door of the stateroom, clad in her night dress. At the door she seemed to discover that I was not the only occupant in the room, hesitated a little, then advanced to my side, stooped down and kissed me, and quietly withdrew. Upon waking I was surprised to see my fellow-passenger...leaning upon his elbow and looking fixedly at me. "You're a pretty fellow," he said at length, "to have a lady come and visit you this way." I pressed him for an explanation, and he related what he had seen while wide awake, lying on his berth. It exactly corresponded with my dream.... The day after landing I went to Watertown, Conn., where my children and my wife were... visiting her parents. Almost her first question when we were back alone was, Did you receive a visit from me a week ago Tuesday?"..."It would be impossible," I said. "Tell me what makes you think so." My wife then told me that on account of the severity of the weather,...she had been extremely anxious about me. On the night mentioned above she had lain awake a long time thinking about me, and about four o'clock in the morning it seemed to her that she went out to seek me....She came at length...to my stateroom. "Tell me," she said, "do they ever have staterooms like the one I saw, where the upper berth extends further back than the under one? A man was in the upper berth looking right at me, and for a moment I was afraid to go in, but soon I went up to the side of your berth, bent down and kissed you, and embraced you, and then went away. The description given by my wife of the steamship was correct in all particulars, though she had never seen it. Astral projection is so often associated with dreaming that many writers insist the astral body normally separates from the physical during sleep. Most of us, this theory posits, are not sensitive to the separation and only maintain a vague memory of the experience as a dream. Conscious Astral Projection Many techniques for conscious astral projection involve regaining consciousness within the dream state. I would suggest however you not engage in such practice if you often experience great discord within yourself. Sylvan Muldoon's Method One technique is offered by Sylvan Muldoon in his book The Projection of The Astral Body: 1. Develop yourself so that you are enabled to hold consciousness up to the very moment of "rising to sleep." The best way to do this is to hold some member of the physical body in such a position that it will not be at rest, but will be inclined to fall as you enter sleep. 2. Construct a dream which will have the action of Self predominant. The dream must be of the aviation type, in which you move upward and outward, corresponding to the action of the astral body while projecting. It must be a dream of something which you enjoy doing… truncated (17,706 more characters in archive)