I found another explanation from Tom Campbell (OBE & Consciousness Researcher) which resonate with Latwi’s metaphor of “Television Channels” cited above.
They (Nature and elemental spirit) are, as we, members of a vibration which is unseen among your peoples, just as—to use an analogy of which you must be aware, for this channel is aware of it—the television. You are aware of the sound of a channel coming from another domicile within this dwelling place. It is on a certain channel. At the same time there are other channels being broadcast which that particular set is not at this time picking up. However, with the simple turn of a dial it would pick up another channel, and you would see a different universe.
Instead of Television channels (80’s gadget)
Tom Campbell uses the metaphor of “Virtual Reality” and “Multiple Data Streams”.
Every reality which you can experience is a virtual reality.
Now virtual realities come to you as data streams and you interpret the data stream.
That’s how you get into the different reality you attach to a different data stream and you let this data stream go which defines what we call the physical universe.
And you start getting a data stream that defines some other reality, so that’s how you go out of body.
Well you’re not really going out of body you’re just letting go of one data stream connecting to another data stream.
But to do that intentionally takes a disciplined mind.
99.8 We now speak of that genie, or elemental, or mythic figure, culturally determined, which sends the arrow to the left-hand transformation. This arrow is not the arrow which kills but rather that which, in its own way, protects. Those who choose separation, that being the quality most indicative of the left-hand path, are protected from other-selves by a strength and sharpness equivalent to the degree of transformation which the mind has experienced in the negative sense. Those upon the right-hand path have no such protection against other-selves for upon that path the doughty seeker shall find many mirrors for reflection in each other-self it encounters.
Transformation of the Mind, The Lovers or Two Paths
Continuing adding Ra’s quotes upon this topic. I’m becoming firm in my believes that astral entities do not have bodies at all, they’re not “with less density” bodies. I find this important. It explains why they are not physically visible. But we should be able to contact 'em with spirit/mind.
17.36Questioner: I’ve heard that there are seven astral and seven devachanic primary levels. Is this correct?
Ra: I am Ra. You speak of some of the more large distinctions in levels in your inner planes. That is correct.
17.37Questioner: Well, who inhabit the astral and who inhabit the devachanic planes?
Ra: I am Ra. Entities inhabit the various planes due to their vibrational nature. The astral plane varies from thought-forms in the lower extremities to enlightened beings who become dedicated to teach/learning in the higher astral planes.
In the devachanic planes, as you call them, are those whose vibrations are even more close to the primal distortions of love/light.
Beyond these planes there are others.
17.38Questioner: Well, does each… does… this is difficult. Our physical plane: Are there seven sub-planes to what we call our physical plane here?
Ra: I am Ra. You are correct. This is difficult to understand. There are an infinite number of planes. In your particular space/time continuum distortion there are seven sub-planes of mind/body/spirit complexes. You will discover the vibrational nature of these seven planes as you pass through your experiential distortions, meeting other-selves of the various levels which correspond to the energy influx centers of the physical vehicle.
The invisible, or inner, third-density planes are inhabited by those who are not of body complex natures such as yours; that is, they do not collect about their spirit/mind complexes a chemical body. Nevertheless these entities are divided in what you may call an artificial dream within a dream into various levels. In the upper levels, desire to communicate knowledge back down to the outer planes of existence becomes less, due to the intensive learn/teaching which occurs upon these levels.
Thanks,
I’m combining the explanation from Ra, Quo, Latwi, Tom Campbell, Yoga and my own experience.
First and foremost the ‘bodies’ are virtual.
It functioned so that each ‘consciousness unit’ could have a specific point of view and experiencing a separation. Just like an avatar inside a VR game, borrowing the terms from Mr. Campbell.
Screen shot from The Witcher, showing the avatar (you) experiencing the VR realm of the game.
Another good depiction of this concept is from the movie “Avatar”.
The Navi avatar named “Tsyeyk Suli” used by Jack Sully (a human) consciousness to experience the realm of Pandora.
From yogic tradition; they define 5 layers of human body known as “Panca Kosha”. Each body is deliberately named with suffix “Maya Kosha” or “Virtual Sheathing” in English.
The 7 chakras for example reside on the layer of “Prana Maya Kosha”, or the other common name is “Astral Body”.
All of those layer of bodies are “virtual” and used to ‘contain’ the self/consciousness to become ‘finite’, thus it will experience a ‘separation’.
None of the layer of bodies are ‘eternal’ each will have their own expiry date… only the consciousness is eternal.
Here Rick share some of his own experiences which makes him conclude that the ‘astral body’ (Prana Maya Kosha) that he ‘use’ for ‘astral projecting’ is not eternal.
In a lucid dream, in my opinion, you can see the difference between a thought form and a being, the thought form is empty, it has no glow, the entity has a glow, moreover, of different colors and intensity. I read about it in real reports. Unfortunately, my personal skill in lucid dreaming is very low.
I’ve posted Tom Campbell’s answer on how to ‘improve the skill’ in lucid dreaming.
“But to do that intentionally takes a disciplined mind.”
In a dream Virtual Reality, your conscious/intellect mind is asleep and your intuitive mind is awake.
I saw this video. Under the term “virtuality”, Tom describes not a lucid dream, but the so-called active imagination. For lucid dreaming, imagination alone is not enough and freedom for the unconscious, the so-called mana (Polynesian term) is also needed, without this component it throws out of the state very quickly.
More clarity from Campbell on the “illusionary” nature of body. “You’re not getting out of your body, You don’t even have a body, This is a virtual body, You’re just consciousness. What you need to do is to get into your consciousness”
Lucid dreaming is a state where one is aware that he/she is dreaming.
Enlightened within a dream, awakened within a dream.
I found an interesting diagram that somebody draw to show a ‘map’ of ‘astral realm’; or maybe “inner plane” as Ra/Quo put it; wherein “dream world” is just a small part of it.
Normally when people experience a dream during their sleep, they’re experiencing things within their “sandboxed” or “private” realm. Thus when they’re “lucid” during such state, they can make it as a jumping point to go to the “shared” reality, shared sandbox to play with other kids / consciousness unit. This phenomenon is dubbed “astral projection” / “out of body experience”. There are also many “shared sandboxes”, how many? I don’t know… perhaps infinite.
How often… I never count the statistics… as “dream memory” seem to reside on another “data storage” from “conscious memory” thus more difficult to access from “conscious/logical mind”, the mind that I’m focusing right now to write this.
What I can say is; when I put an intention of “I will be awakened when I’m dreaming and I will remember the dream when I woke up” then it will be made so.
And not every day I put such intention, as most of the time I much prefer a blissful (dreamless) rest.
Maybe… it depends on what’s your understanding of “Lucid Dreaming”.
Perhaps you can share your own definition, experience, and what have you learned from it.
Thus it will make the discussion more fruitful.
Usually, with awareness, joy arises. You see a stable world around you, but at the same time you realize that this is a dream. If we compare such an environment with what we perceive in daytime reality, then it will be more real. I call it hyperreality. Unlike ordinary dreams, you retain the memory of your daytime personality, which is not typical for ordinary dreams. In the reality of awareness, you can consciously do things that you cannot do in the daytime reality. There are many such things. If you use this state only for entertainment, and do not use it for spiritual growth, the ability eventually runs out. The techniques and conditions that were available before are not working.
Then we have quite similar definition, awaken inside a dream.
For me another thing to add is a realization that I do not need any air or perform any breathing, this is the ‘test’ that I usually perform whether I’m in ‘wakeful state’ or ‘dream’ state.
I’ll add few more things based on my experience, since I realize that this is a dream or “personal sandbox” everything that I intent to exist will be instantly manifested. Whatever it is, scenery, ocean, trees, rivers. Even another “being” or “person”, with full awareness that the other “being” or “person” is also me.
Sometimes ‘another consciousness unit’ came to visit the ‘personal sandbox’, I can still change his/her/it appearance but his/her/it’s reply and action/reaction when we’re communicating always surprise me, indicating that he/she/it is ‘another consciousness unit that came to visit and play within my personal sandbox’.
This is shown on the diagram above with the “red arrow”.
After a while, playing in ‘personal sandbox’ tend to be boring, and we would like to go out to play in a ‘shared sandbox’ with other ‘consciousness unit’. There are many ‘entries’ into this and “Lucid Dream” is just one of it. To “go out” and play to a ‘shared sandbox’ I usually imagined a ‘door’ within a lucid dream with an intent to ‘go out to a shared sandbox’ or ‘specific shared sandbox’ if I already have a link to a specific point in mind.
Depending on the ‘location of shared sandbox’ it can be either to “Higher Astral”, “Middle Astral” or “Lower Astral” on the diagram above. Thus people oft said; “Lucid Dream is among the gateway towards Astral Projection”.
Within the “shared sandbox” I cannot instantly manifest many thing there, since it’s a shared sandbox with other ‘consciousness unit’. But I can still “fly” and also “do not need any air”, I can still ‘switch the channel’ to teleportly go to another ‘shared sandbox’ if I find a particular sandbox not pleasant or interesting or go back to ‘physical realm’ and ‘wake up’. This ‘playing in shared sandbox’ phenomenon is commonly referred as “Astral Projection” or “OBE”.
This video describe the process.
Interestingly, I did not think that the personal unconscious can also be associated with the phenomenon of awareness, I always believed that awareness is possible only in a collective, more “higher” space.
By the term ‘personal unconscious’ I understood it as the ‘subconscious mind’.
All the ‘kosha’ within the ‘panca kosha’ are intelligent and aware.
And all the ‘kosha’ are created, albeit virtually, to create a ‘self awareness’, in a sense that the infinite consciousness can be finited / bordered to create many-ness of ‘consciousness unit’. Borrowing the term from Tom Campbell.
Within the context of Law Of One, when Ra said:
“You are every thing, every being, every emotion, every event, every situation. You are unity. You are infinity. You are love/light, light/love. You are. This is the Law of One.”
By “you” here Ra doesn’t refer to any layer of the koshas, which are virtual. By you here Ra refer to the consciousness that is experiencing through the koshas.
I know Koshi by other names) These are guf, nefesh, ruach, neshama, yehida. The meaning remains the same. Working with shells. You can even remember Castaneda with his egg cocoon, the meaning will still be the same.
Another good illustration is the “Russian Doll” or Matrioska.
And inside the last and smallest doll there’s only “air”, and “air” by nature has no border… here, there, everywhere. The air is a metaphor for consciousness.
That’s why, the term Out-Of-Body experience (Astral Projection, Lucid Dreaming, Dreaming, Near Death Experience) is a misnomer according to Campbell.
I’m not sure there’s many people talking
about such things as OBE’s in a way it’s
a commonly shared experience, however
for those that have had the experience it
may be somewhat true to the state.
Generally speaking, observing yourself
from a detached birds-eye perspective
can lend a vantage by which improved
decisions can be made. It can be also
be somewhat alienating and estrange
you from those who have no sense of it.
Things like this can seem occult from
some practical sense of managing the
alienation. Astral travel seems an
uncommon skill, also lucid dreaming.
These things can also be like milestones
of spiritual progression.
For example, a goal to spiritually develop
oneself to lucid dream or astral travel
doesn’t seem very status quo common.
However in some communities it may be.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Damanhur
community in Italy’s on that level.
