Astral Projection

[Perversion]

Someone in the God: Real or fake thread said something about not believing in an afterlife because he thought the mind and body were one entity and could not be seperated from each other or something to that effect. So my question to you is, do you believe that astral projection is possible? In my own experience, I've had one OOBE, and have come VERY VERY close to "leaving" my body many times. As I'm teetering on the brink, though, something is holding me back from letting go. I guess I'm scared I'll not be able to return, and end up adrift somehow, or that I'll return a changed person. So I've not been able to do it, but I believe it is possible. What do you think?




And if you want, answer the unrelated poll above.

[Sampson]

Re: Astral Projection

Mind and body are one.

If not explain how physical ailments effect a person's mind. Examples: Strokes, alzheimer's(sp?), dimentia, etc.

If the mind was some soul-like being, a person's mental state should remain constant.

[Perversion]

Re: Astral Projection

I think you are confusing "mind" with "soul" or "spirit".....In my opinion, they are interrelated, but seperate entities.

[Armored]

Re: Astral Projection

I've never Astral Projected, or had an OOBE.

[altoecko]

Re: Astral Projection

Mind is different from Brain Sampson. All the diseases you listed affect the brain, not the mind. I'd like for you to point to the mind on your body for me. I believe in the soul for the mere fact that our brain can't operate without some outside force we've yet to pinpoint.

[thetruecoolness]

Re: Astral Projection

I think the problem Sampson is pointing out, and many other believe, is that though the mind/soul may not be the brain, it seems to be pretty obvious that the expression of the mind/soul is done through the brain and body.

However I think the reverse situation is much more interesting, how psychological problems can end up causing physical ailments that aren't really there. Interesting how truly thinking one is sick can cause them to become so.

So I personally think the soul and body are two separate entities, though the body does seems to limit the soul's ability for expression. We can see this in the fact our whole 'reality' is transmitted through the senses which are imperfect and have limits. Also our brains have finite limits, and while highly malleable in terms of architecture of the neurons, it does seem to have it's limits as to what configurations it can be put in. So though it's impossible to tell if someone with brain damage still thinks like someone without it because of their inability to demonstrate this, I still think they do. In this way the soul is a separate entity sending signals through the body, and then the body interprets though signals, much the same way a programmer makes programs which are interpreted by a computer.

Also I have have one out of body experience so to speak, as when I had my wisdom teeth out, they knocked me unconscious (which btw wasn't supposed to happen) and yet I was still able to think, and oddly enough hear the music I was listening to. So in this way I still existed and was cognizant and able to think as I normally do, but was unable to feel any part of my body, or see, touch, smell, or taste anything. I was also able to 'dream' in some capacity, as it was pretty wierd what I saw in my mind's eye.

So this is what led to my belief to the fact ourselves and our body are not completely tied to one another, yet it did not prove that the soul is completely free of the body as I still had access to one sense, and was likely still breathing and my heart was still beating, as I'm still here and no paramedics came in. This is yet another one of lifes greatest mysteries, as while we have many ways to monitor the health and being of the body we have none to do the same to the soul (though many will claim they have some). While you do bring up a good point Alto, it does not prove the converse that the soul can exist without a body, since both could come into being at the same time (conception), and both may die out at the same time.

Another wrinkle in this is those that are declared brain dead, and yet sometimes will come back to life. One thing this does seem to prove though is that memory is tied to the brain and doesn't seem to have any storage in the soul, since once those parts of the brain become inaccessible or empty again the soul does not seem to be able to remember them on it's own. Of course this could just mean the soul was really just dormant, or highly weakened but that it's still possible it can die, and does indeed do so when the body expires.

Even more interesting is things like depression and the like which seem to take over our ability to think properly, so while it may not affect the soul per se, it certainly does have a profound impact on our internal worlds as well as the external.

So right now I'm saying we're infinite beings taking a vacation in a finite world, and to participate in the vacation we must inhabit and learn to control finite bodies. Though unfortunately it seems none of our memory can carry over, or we don't carry memory beyond the brain. Maybe that's just one of the rules for the trip.

And I don't like nuts, so my answer of none is not on the poll.

[Czechs Mex]

Re: Astral Projection

YOUR BRAZIL NUT... IS MINE.

[Misty]

Re: Astral Projection

I'd really like to believe that we all have a soul, and when we die, we can continue to exist. It's scary for me personally to think when I breathe my last, I'll feel absolutely nothing.

Either that, or be reincarnated as a bird.

Oh, and the last nut I ate were Cashews. This thread makes me feel like I'm in a psychiatrist's office discussing stuff and helping myself to mint candies on the coffee table.

[Alex]

Re: Astral Projection

You don't have to be scared. This life is enough for me.


Oh, and the only "out of body experiences" I've hard were while tripping balls. A lot of crrrazy phenomenon that happens to people, hallucinations and OOBEs can happen from dehydration and ****. Your brain is fragile.

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: Astral Projection

I hope there's no afterlife. I don't see any point in having one. Regardless, I think astral projection is a possibility. I haven't done it or attempted to do it but it seems like a feasible phenomenon to me. And, last nut I ate was probably peanuts but I like cashews more.

[Shard]

Re: Astral Projection

I believe in astral projection as much as I believe peanuts are nuts.

[Dusk Raven]

Re: Astral Projection

Mind and body are one.

If not explain how physical ailments effect a person's mind. Examples: Strokes, alzheimer's(sp?), dimentia, etc.

Another possibility is that the mind is related to the brain the same way a puppet is connected to the puppeteer. The mind may not BE the brain, but it is controlled by the brain.

If that's the case, then it's possible that when the strings are cut (when we die), then anything provided by the brain is gone. Emotions, sensations, stress, all out the window, leaving only Thought.

[Alex]

Re: Astral Projection

Um, leaving nothing.

[Sampson]

Re: Astral Projection

Here's my question.

Someone define exactly what a soul is for me. It doesn't seem to have any purpose. If it doesn't contain your emotions or your memories or anything like that, then what is its purpose?

And if there is no evidence for something and no reason to believe it exists, then I dare say it probably doesn't exist.

The only arguement I've heard is that it is some form of "life force". The only basis for this is that we cannot yet create life in the lab. We will eventually cross this barrier, and the concept of a soul will die with it.

Further, if the soul is merely some "life force" which does not contain any of the traits that make us unique, what is the difference between one person's soul and another's? We've shown that all of a person's traits are dependent upon their mind, so obviously one soul is indistingushable from the next.

Stupid concept.

EDIT: I use the words mind and brain interchangeably because they are.

[Ryner]

Re: Astral Projection

I've had one OOBE, and have come VERY VERY close to "leaving" my body many times.