common states of mind??

[BigApple]

Hi all,

As a newbie to all this there are a few terms talked about on these forums that I would like to better understand:

Terms like Mind awake/body asleep, outer body experience, astral projection and sleep paralysis: Are these all descriptions of the same experience or are they different experiences to be had?

Cheers
Al

[CraigT]

Hi Al,

Good luck! A lot of terms are bandied about as though they have real meaning, but connecting them to objective reality is not so easy.

Sleep paralysis is a legitimate physiological phenomena. It's an essential part of the body's function, allowing sleep to occur without tossing and turning. Mind awake/body asleep refers to the situation where sleep paralysis occurs whilst still conscious - such as under deep theta/delta stimulus.

Out of body experiences (OOBE) and astral projection are interpretations of the impression of travelling to or being aware of places, people or events whilst in various trance-type states. Understanding of such phenomena falls into to broad generalisations - those who believe in an external reality accessible via the mind, and those who believe that reality to be wholly within the mind.

Cheers,
Craig