Thread: Is OBE a form of Lucid Dreaming or not?

Originally Posted by dakotahnok

Its beyond a dream.

And like i said i believe that its fake.

Many people have had it, in fact for thousands of years. I personally have had one, my body exited my life body very quickly but I did see glimpse of it, it felt as though my body separated into four pieces, one (the actual one) was lying down in normal position, the other three were right above it and in the posture of getting up, they were sort of transparent (maybe had some colors of the rainbow).

As I exited from my body, I suddenly was tossed in the air.

uhh, second thought, maybe the above does not prove it. But the biggest proof I have heard of was about a guy who performed it and then out of his body, he went and moved an object that was placed for him in front of an audience.

Originally Posted by elucid

Many people have had it, in fact for thousands of years. I personally have had one, my body exited my life body very quickly but I did see glimpse of it, it felt as though my body separated into four pieces, one (the actual one) was lying down in normal position, the other three were right above it and in the posture of getting up, they were sort of transparent (maybe had some colors of the rainbow).

As I exited from my body, I suddenly was tossed in the air.

uhh, second thought, maybe the above does not prove it. But the biggest proof I have heard of was about a guy who performed it and then out of his body, he went and moved an object that was placed for him in front of an audience.

Sounds like a magic trick. Dont ya think?

Sounds like a magic trick. Dont ya think?

Hmm, cant disagree with it nor agree. I would say to give OBEs a try and find out if you need proof. That is the best way to prove it, by experiencing it.

No from what I have read they are different, LD seems to be by far more easier achieve than an OBE.

OBE is usually characterized as a floating sensation where the individual appears to be outside looking down at their own body, in many cases it has been reported that they may see a silver cord connecting the two bodies. OBE's claim to be able to travel anywhere they wish, be it spying on the next door neighbor or traveling to another planet. It is said that they can observe but usually cannot interact with others, unless they go to a higher plane of existence(but that's going into the mystical which you don't want to know). I would say that OBE has more in common with remote viewing than a LD.

In an LD however you may have awareness and control in a dream state but the scenery will change, sometimes randomly, you are in control of yourself but that does not necessarily mean that you are control of the dream. For example your in a LD and decide you want to be instantly taken to the great wall of China, it might not happen. In an LD you can interact with object, characters and the world.

So if I could sum it up, there is more interaction for the individual in an LD, while we get more control over where we can go and what we see in a OBE.

The traditional way of achieving an OBE is through stilling the mind of thoughts with meditation, but an individual has to achieve a certain level in their meditation, then it is only possible to induce an OBE. Either that or you can run across a busy street and have a NDE.
The WILD technique is almost the same as normal meditation with regards to relaxing the body but while traditional meditation may still the mind by not putting much importance on thoughts and images, WILD relies on those thoughts and images to enter a dream like state.

If you look up lucid dream on wikipedia, the first image "The secret of the golden flower" actually depicts someone having an OBE, notice that he is in meditation.

Well, since I mostly ignore mystical stuff since they can't be proven...
Scientifically speaking, OBE sounds like a Lucid Dream to me that can be hampered by subconscious thoughts about you know, OBEs.
As in, you believe it subconsciously that you'll see a silver string connecting you to your body and that you'll be in your astral form or whatever, but it's actually a dream that's you don't have complete control because you don't really believe it to be a dream, but to be an OBE.
Does anyone else have similar thoughts? I really don't believe in mystical stuff though, so sorry for OBE supporters, I'm not trying to offend you

Originally Posted by vmenge

As in, you believe it subconsciously that you'll see a silver string connecting you to your body and that you'll be in your astral form or whatever, but it's actually a dream that's you don't have complete control because you don't really believe it to be a dream, but to be an OBE.

That's actually astral projection, which would be in the realm of "mystial stuff". It suggests that a person ("person" being their conciousness) can leave the physical body and inhabit a sort of energy body known as the astral body, at which point the person is no longer experiencing the physical plane but the astral plane. This is a very specific term, and (if it exists) is one type of OBE.

The term "out of body experience" is a much more general and scientific term. It does not imply any reason behind the experience, mystical or otherwise (i.e. calling something an OBE does not imply the person's conciousness actually left their body in some sort of spirit or energy body, or any other attempt at an objective explanation). It is simply a term for the subjective experience of seeming to see one's self and surroundings from a point outside one's own body. Many people report having OBE's during near-death experiences, in situations such as serious car crashes or complicated surgery. Personally, I feel it has more to do with an odd functioning of the brain than anything else. Imagine there's a security camera on your wall pointed at you and your surroundings. Now close your eyes and try to visualize the view from that camera. There's no need to judge OBE's as real or fake, because the term is just describing a subjective experience. The idea of astral projection, however, goes a step further, and one can easily argue for or against them. Just don't get the two terms mixed up.