Do you believe in Astral Travel? (Earth, evidence, about, different)

[Tricky D]

I know what a trance is.
Some relatives of mine in Indonesia are considered shamans and they see trance as a possession done by your ancestors or other spirit.
I just define trance as an ego-less state of being. Some come to it via rituals (which art can be a part of), other through 'religion', and some through meditation.
I get to this ego-less state by focussing.
At first I needed to draw, later on I could achieve it through meditation (which actually is like art except you do not move) and now I enter it through analysing or observing or whenever I feel inspired.
I don't find it spiritual or supernatural at all, but most of my relatives, the shamans especially, insist that it can only be magic.

And no I still do not believe in astral travelling.

[b. frank]

As a kid I had a few typical "astral projection" experiences.
I would hover and float around my house - even going into rooms where other family members were and seeing them awake.
I couldn't control it, but I would "float" around randomly. As soon as I started thinking "hey, I should try to control this - maybe I can float right out of the house - maybe around the world!" I would start to feel afraid, and then "wake up" in my bed.
It fit perfectly with stuff I read about astral projection, but I can't be sure that I wasn't simply dreaming. It fit that description, too. Very "real" feeling, though. And happened the same way each time.

[Tricky D]

Very "real" feeling, though. And happened the same way each time.

Try differentiating dreams from hallucinations, visions, and reality.
Some people call dreams visions and others call reality a hallucination.
And don't get my started about modern philosophy in which nothing is real.

[Miss Blue]

Originally Posted by RyanLeeParis

trance - Definitions from Dictionary.com

2.a dazed or bewildered condition.

I am sticking with this definition..

[Tricky D]

2.a dazed or bewildered condition.

Do I seem bewildered?
I often get in a trancelike state when I sculpt.
When I sculpt my brain often tries to solve an abstract problem by focusing on it, while my hands work 'on their own' on my sculpture.

Normally my brain runs at a 100 m/h, and only when I sculpt do I find it necessary to slow down a bit. So only through sculpting or sleeping do my brains stop running a 100 m/h.

[FredNotBob]

Originally Posted by Tricky D

Isn't that not the same as being in a trance?

I should probably elaborate:

At the time, I was in a bath. I quite clearly remember falling asleep (not the brightest of things to do in a tub full of water, I know), and (vaguely) remember 'seeing' my surroundings in that state. I was awakened on each occasion by the sound of my hand (which I had leaned my head against) smacking down against the water.

It's happened more than once, so I've dismissed the possibility that I was simply dreaming. Besides which, my dreams are never so very specific as to a time and place.

[Travelling fella]

Advanced Yogis, come and go from the Astral or the causal plane easily, the enter into the supraconsciousness, breathless state first, and then they cross over the spiritual eye.

When a Novice or Intermediate yogi starts advancing spiritually, he might start having astral visions as his spiritual eye develops more and more.

[june 7th]

Do out of body experiences count?

-Just curious.

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by Tricky D

Do I seem bewildered?
I often get in a trancelike state when I sculpt.
When I sculpt my brain often tries to solve an abstract problem by focusing on it, while my hands work 'on their own' on my sculpture.

Normally my brain runs at a 100 m/h, and only when I sculpt do I find it necessary to slow down a bit. So only through sculpting or sleeping do my brains stop running a 100 m/h.

I do this when I work on computers. After having been told the problem(s) and error(s)s seen on a computer and with no specific goal in mind I just start looking through areas on the computer: Control Panel, Device Manager, Properties, etc and find myself on a screen where I place/remove a check mark in a box or see a value that I "know" is wrong. I often fix problems that clients have placed in front of 2 or 3 other techs. Usually I have no idea how I got to where I am when I fix the PC. Been doing it for about 20 years now. Oh, and I talk non-stop while doing it. I can't control it and if I don't I might as well not work on the computer - I won't get the job done. I warn people ahead of time to ignore it.

When I was a child - I know I was younger than 12 because of where I lived when it occurred - I used to fly in my dreams. Not just round our house, but elsewhere. After about 50 years (guessing I was maybe 9 at the time) I still vividly remember flying over a set of railroad tracks downtown by the baseball park. The tracks, the street and the baseball park are still there and I can take you the exact location.

Yeah, I believe.

[Tricky D]

I can't control it and if I don't I might as well not work on the computer - I won't get the job done. I warn people ahead of time to ignore it.

Yeah I talk non-stop too.
I can also listen to music, but what I can't do while doing art is listen to a debate on the radio. Somehow debates on a radio can make me so furious that I mess up the creative process.
And also don't ask me technical questions about my art, cauz it's all intuitive.
Besides I'd rather do it and show how, than just talk about it.

The tracks, the street and the baseball park are still there and I can take you the exact location.

Yeah, well, I'm a doubting Thomas. I won't believe ya unless I've experienced it myself.
So I'm not sayin' it ain't possible, just that I don't believe in Astral travelling until I've experienced it myself.