During a lucid experience last night (an astral projection by my definition), I was mindful enough to ask a bartender (well, he was the only one there), whether this whole environment was a construction by my mind, or whether it was created by others.

His answer came in loud and clear: it's made by others!

Now, this experience was unusual for two reasons. Beyond having imagery as clear as the physical world (which is always the case in my astral experiences), the sound was excellent too, so that I could hear my own voice, as well as the bartender's, clearly. My astral projections have almost invariably been into silent movie territory. Also, the bartender could actually speak sentences. I don't even get that in my lucid dreams, because the DC's speak only gibberish there. (This also means that they never lie to me).

Later, the bartender admonished me to not venture "out there" (meaning outside of the safe confines of the room we were in), because I "would never find my way out there". He then wanted to show me something, but I woke up before knowing what it was. Talk about poorly timed awakening!

This goes on my list of particularly thought provoking experiences.