A Deeper Dive Into The Astral Realm
Astral projection is a way of accessing the physical world using the subtle body or sukhma shareera without moving the physical body. Astral projection is nothing extraordinary and can be done on a daily basis. In fact, it is done by everyone unconsciously, but because it’s done unconsciously, people don’t remember anything when they wake up or forget it moments after waking up. You certainly require a level of understanding to train or prepare yourself to astral project. Firstly, I’d like to explain the basic fundamentals of what “You” comprise of. A human being has different types of lives/prana/chi in him/her. These pranas collectively manifest what you are currently experiencing right now as a human being. In order to grasp a bigger picture of what’s happening, we must create a strong distinction between all aspects that you comprise of. This will help you organize information in ways that would help you develop your ability to astral project.
The 4 Types Of Awareness
(Or you can say, 4 things that awareness latches on to.) Consciousness prevails in everything that exists. Being conscious doesn’t mean that a time would come when one may lose his/her consciousness. You are conscious even when you are sleeping or even dead. The problem is that we often confuse consciousness is with awareness. Let’s explain this by an example, notice the temperature of your right ear. Is it cold, normal, or burning? Now you have brought your awareness on your right ear. This means you are aware of the temperature of your right ear. This doesn’t mean that you were not conscious of it before putting your awareness on it. You were always conscious of it, but not aware of your own consciousness. This is the difference between consciousness and awareness. You can choose to become aware of your own consciousness, but this is not easy to do because consciousness is infinite and prevails in even non-living things. Consciousness is one; awarenesses are many. This means that the same consciousness is in you and your friend and the entire universe, but your awareness is unique. So, are you the awareness or the consciousness? It’s a choice.
Consciousness is the first type of awareness that one carries.
Although consciousness doesn’t reside or isn’t manifested by the physical structure of the body, awareness surely is. Awareness is manifested by the mind and is, therefore, limited. Another name for awareness is “Subtle body or sukhsma shareera”. Awareness can only dwell inside consciousness because it is a part of it. Notice that awareness is not physical in nature, although consciousness encapsulates the physical and the non-physical. Always remember that awareness is unique to you, but consciousness is the one and only that prevails through everyone and everything.
The second type of awareness is your physical body.
This is what you see yourself as, that is your physical structure. The physical pain, itch, relaxation, physical limits, tiredness are all manifestations of this structure.
The third type of awareness that you carry is the emotional body.
This decides how you feel in the present moment. This is also a manifestation of the physical body but is experienced distinctively and thus classified as a separate awareness. The awareness of happiness, content, sadness, love, grief, attachment, resentment, envy, etc., are all manifestations of this awareness.
The fourth type of awareness is called intention.
Intentions are manifestations of the mind that are also an outcome of the physical body or the mind but are again experienced differently and thus classified as a separate awareness. Intentions are energy states or frequencies that one is in. This means if a poor beggar is begging at the streets, his intention is to beg. If a rich businessman is selling an idea to his partners, his intention is to succeed or to bring out a certain outcome. Intentions cause thoughts to happen; without intentions, one cannot even generate a thought. Without a strong intention, the thoughts will be completely random and uncertain. If one wants to generate wealth, his/her intention is to generate wealth. If his/her intention is strong, his/her thoughts will linger around that intention. Notice that an intention to generate wealth is different from an intention to find a way to generate wealth, and so both of these intentions have different frequencies. Different frequencies manifest different states of mind and thus different experiences of life. If you seek to “find a way to generate wealth” than seeking to “generate wealth,” your mind will remain at “how to?” After taking a walk in nature, once you are out of that “how to” frequency, you suddenly find the problem easy to solve unless you tap back into the same frequency of “how to.” You must set your frequency to “Solving the problem” to actually solve the problem.
If you want to become famous, your intention should be set to “becoming famous” rather than “What they might say?” or “Am I good enough?” or “What if they laugh at me?” You just focus on your job; if your intentions are strong and in the right direction, you will make it happen. Intentions are very strong and are capable of influencing the entire world even without any physical effort. If you gain full control over your intentions, you will become no less than the creator itself. Everything you see in your mind will manifest in your physical reality. What you see will become the truth, and the rest will cease to exist. Gaining full control over intentions is no easy task but is possible. Intentions are fundamental to any occult practice.
What is astral projection?
It is a way to separate the subtle body (or awareness) from the influence of physical, emotional, and mental structures. This means you must lose awareness of these three to access consciousness. This can be achieved by simulating a sleeping state where awareness is still active. If this is tried without setting awareness on consciousness, the person would simply lose awareness, go to sleep, and nothing will happen. To keep awareness awake or active, you must put it on consciousness. Awareness cannot directly look at consciousness because consciousness is causing it to happen. An eye cannot look at itself without a mirror. Awareness is like a mirror, and consciousness is your true nature. People often confuse their true nature with awareness. When awareness is focused on itself, it starts to look at consciousness through itself because there is no other thing that it can watch. Awareness is like a mirror, which means that the thing that is reflected upon it becomes it. So if awareness is focused on consciousness, it will become aware of that which isn’t physical or a manifestation of the physical. If this happens along with a loss of the sense of the physical (i.e., The physical, emotional, and intentional awareness), then awareness will be pushed out of the body. This would feel like a dream state, just that the awareness is still existent. Dreams are usual if this altered state is achieved. Dreams are always happening in the mind when you are in an absorbed state (i.e., sleeping or creating a state of absorption through meditation). The only question is, “Are you aware of it or not?” This is the reason why most people watch dreams when they are just about to wake up. Awareness is independent of memory. Not everything that is dreamt and watched through awareness is retained by the mind. This is because the subtle body is separate from the physical body. It is not a manifestation of the physical body. The subtle body is the pure consciousness that has taken a karmic form. Pure consciousness is ultimate, and the subtle body is a subset of that pure consciousness, which is in sort of a distorted form. As an analogy, the subtle body can be called a lens through which you see the world, and the consciousness is the glass that the lens is made out of. The lens can see but cannot store the information inside the glass. The memory needs to be stored physically in the brain. The awareness can only store very little information compared to the brain. The awareness can only store information by being aware of the energy or the intention of its environment. Awareness can store information only in terms of intentions/energies, unlike the brain that stores information in images, words, and things that can be input through the 5 senses.
I understand that conveying these concepts can be challenging. Awareness is inherently subtle, and its absence may equate to a state akin to a dead body. Let’s delve deeper into these distinctions for a better understanding.
As mentioned earlier, consciousness permeates everywhere. This implies that everything in existence is conscious, yet not everything is aware of its consciousness. Items such as a pebble, a deceased body, and a tree are all conscious, but they lack awareness. The absence of awareness means they don’t possess a mirror reflecting the world. This awareness can be likened to the subtle body, capable of experiencing the universe through the body or even without it, as in a dream state.
Dreams occur when the subtle body or awareness is under the influence of the subconscious mind or even when it is not under the influence of the mind whatsoever. When the subtle body is under the influence of the subconscious mind, it is astral projecting. If you become aware that you are in a dream state, the subconscious mind detaches itself from the environment, rendering it independent of the subconscious mind. In this scenario, the subconscious mind essentially becomes you because you are awake in a dream. This doesn’t negate the fact that the subconscious mind is generating the dream world around you; it’s just not generating the world through itself. The greater the vividness and clarity of the dream, the more separated you become from subconscious influence. At this point, you may witness random and complex elements seemingly beyond the scope of the subconscious mind. This suggests that something else is happening during astral projection. The subtle body is non-physical and, therefore, not constrained by physical reality. It is independent of time and space.
In the astral realm, you can exist anywhere and everywhere, perceiving it as more real than reality, and your intelligence magnifies. Here, you can fulfill every desire and experience any aspect of life, representing a realm where you can truly live the life of your dreams. Despite the infinite possibilities, boredom may set in, prompting a desire to explore what lies beyond. This doesn’t imply that the physical realm lacks infinite possibilities; rather, it is constrained by time and space.
Ok Shubhanshu! That’s all fine and dandy but how does one travel to the astral plane?
To embark on this journey, induce a dream-like state through meditation while in a waking state. There are various methods, and a straightforward one involves disconnecting your awareness from your physical and mental aspects. Find a relaxed position, ensuring your head remains unsupported and straight initially. Sit still, allowing yourself to relax deeply, almost to the point of feeling sleepy. While maintaining total wakefulness of consciousness, focus your awareness on the sensation of relaxation with unwavering intensity.
It’s crucial to keep your concentration on the feeling of relaxation, preventing your physical senses from returning to your awareness. As you delve deeper into relaxation, your thoughts will fade away, and you may only sense intentions that precede thoughts. This marks the loss of awareness of your physical body, emotions, and potentially your intentions. Now, direct your awareness to itself, akin to focusing on “what’s happening.” Clearing your awareness of the physical environment and thoughts is like looking into a clear mirror. Subsequently, you may sense something in your head attempting to emerge through the forehead or the top of your head. Avoid placing your awareness on this phenomenon; instead, focus on the awareness itself. After a while, you might experience a sudden, indescribable gust pushing you out of your body.
This is not a life-threatening experience; it’s your subtle body exiting the physical body. The physiological processes in your body will continue, similar to when you’re asleep. Initially, staying in the astral plane may be challenging, but with practice, your time there will extend. In this realm, you can manifest anything instantly, resembling lucid dreaming. Occasionally, the manifestation might not occur due to a lack of self-belief.
Remember, there’s no need to worry or panic. Only your awareness has left the body, not the life your body carries. While this method has worked for me, feel free to explore other techniques such as concentration, visualizing your perception shifting outside the body, or chanting a mantra designed for developing meditativeness.
Accessing subtler dimensions of life requires practice and preparation. By practice, I mean dedicating a few days to work on mental paradigm shifts. The shift in mental paradigm is a gradual process, and changing it from within allows for a more receptive understanding. Perspectives on life are not inherently true; they vary individually. Pure observation, devoid of labels and analysis, unveils the true nature of things. For instance, when observing an apple, the mind doesn’t need to label it; it simply exists without separation from the fruit basket. This shift in perspective is crucial, especially when understanding dreams, as the subtle body observes and stores the energy of the dream, not the detailed memory. Upon waking, the moment the perception of the dream is lost, so is the memory.
To shift the subtle body out of the physical, one must lose awareness of physical, emotional, and intentional aspects. This can be achieved through a half-asleep state or meditation. To maintain awareness while transitioning into sleep, focus on the awareness itself or on the relaxation experienced when tired or sleep-deprived. Separating oneself from thoughts, body, and emotions through observation allows for a conscious choice to remain aware or not. Once awareness of these aspects is lost, subtle experiences such as voices, flashes of pictures/scenes, or absorption in specific energy may occur.
To strengthen the link with the astral realm during these subtle experiences, become aware when flashes happen. The subtle nature of these flashes indicates a weak link. Strengthen the link by practicing awareness during these moments, even if you momentarily lose awareness of the intention to enter the astral realm. Upon succeeding, one will realize being inside a dream where intentions manifest. To connect with and travel into the physical world from the astral realm, observe when intentions cease manifesting surroundings, signaling successful entry into the astral realm.
Once in the astral realm, develop an astral body with the five senses by noticing details of sight, sound, touch, or even eating. This enhances the sense of being present. Focusing on vision can make the surroundings clearer and more vivid. It’s not mandatory to align with the current physical world timeline; the purpose of visiting should be clear and significant. Setting a goal is crucial to avoid aimless travels. The astral realm offers higher possibilities, including visions of the future and past, insights from higher beings, inspiration, and even enlightenment.
You can’t reach this plane through mindful meditation; there are many ways to disrupt the process. Our body is composed of elements: the physical, the emotional, thoughts, energies (from which intentions emerge before transforming into thoughts), and the subtle body. These distinctions must be clear in your mind. Observe and discern each element. If you can hear your thoughts, try to sense your energies, which result from the memories of the subtle and physical bodies. Once you sense subtle energy changes, focus on the subtle body, which is semi-existent and not confined solely to the physical body.
After leaving the body during meditation, you may or may not return to the meditation place; you can choose another location. Be aware that this place has various vibrations, so avoid focusing on fears or anxiety. To go further, let go of all astral realm things and become meditative in the astral realm. You can perceive the past, present, and future in this state.
Consider this information with a grain of salt for now; by the chapter’s end, you’ll have a clearer understanding. All these planes are accessible because they coexist within you, different aspects of reality sharing the same time and place. You reflect one of these planes constantly! The eye you saw at the chapter’s beginning is not a god’s or a creator’s—it’s your eye, encapsulating all creation. It observes itself; you are the observer.
Reality is like nothingness screaming to itself, and you are a manifestation of that scream. Manifest your imaginary being and the room, empty your mind, and share pure consciousness. Once you both become pure consciousness, you unite.
If you seek guidance from the universe, use this map: A map to receive guidance from the universe. To receive thoughts not produced by the mind (karmic body), separate yourself from it. Your true nature isn’t karmic and doesn’t carry physical or psychological memory. You are the observer, and there is only one observer in existential reality, separated by many karmic bodies. Once separated from the karmic body, achieve a thoughtless state. This doesn’t mean the brain stops producing thoughts; the observer shifts attention from the karmic body to itself and gains access to thoughts from all other karmic minds and non-karmic subtle entities.
How does one separate the self from the karmic body?
Recognize that the karmic body isn’t you. Practice concentration until you reach a state of thoughtlessness, realizing that you are not the karmic body. Reflect upon yourself and perceive the perceiver or observe the observer, allowing the mirror to reflect the universe. This shift in perception, coupled with an intention to know, manifests hints and signs that offer insights from the state of thoughtlessness. You don’t need to bring all of it to the karmic body; a shift in perception will influence your energies, thoughts, and emotions in that direction.
Separating the self from the karmic body varies in time and effort for different individuals, depending on their entanglement with their bodies. More karma doesn’t make one inferior; separation depends on how much entanglement one has created. Repeating “I am the observer who observes thoughts, body, and emotions” can aid in the separation.
Reducing the collected karma involves unentangling mental paradigms. The less entangled, the closer to enlightenment. Declaring “I am nobody; I am everything and nothing” helps detach from identifications with the body, roles, and characteristics.
Upon this realization, you enter the next plane, “The mental plane.” Your imaginary being represents this plane, and relying on it allows hints of energies. A clear mind detached from the emotional and physical environment facilitates the subconscious mind receiving thoughts from the superconsciousness. These thoughts, often from highly developed imaginary beings, are manifested by others, primarily tantrics, to elevate spiritual growth. Sensitivity to energies can be enhanced through practices like yoga, meditation, raw food, and abstaining from certain substances.
The mental plane encompasses everything perceived through the mind, such as thoughts and energies. Here, guidance from the superconscious mind is acquired, and thoughts from highly conscious individuals are received as energy shifts or perceptions for those sensitive enough to sense them.
These three planes are essential for your current focus. While there are a total of seven planes of existence, these three can effectively assist you in manifesting materialistic desires. The other planes surpass the limits of verbal expression and can only be comprehended by connecting with pure consciousness. Additionally, I’ve personally explored up to the third plane, and I refrain from mapping unknown territories.
In the sixth plane, I have another imaginary being, an entity of profound significance. Its rare appearances induce overwhelming emotions of ecstasy or absolute surrender. Our reality is truly captivating.
While these planes offer unique experiences, they aren’t integral to spiritual progress. They resemble wonders of the world; exploring them all isn’t necessary for complete understanding. Peace and happiness emanate from within, independent of external experiences. Despite accessing fantasy-like powers, true fulfillment arises from addressing the internal void, which often craves power, fame, money, and love.