Now after reading the definitions of each of these can
you find the differences between them? The NDE is an
obvious difference, but my reason for adding it is the correlation of
the silver cord. For people who want to Astral Project, understanding
how the silver cord functions is necessary. If fear is holding you back
from consciously projecting, then this understanding of how the cord
works might give you some comfort.

OOBE, OBE, Out-of-Body-Experiences
In an OBE you are sub-consciously traveling. Your
higher consciousness {your soul mind} is directing the
journey during sleep. The soul interacts with other
souls to review the agreements they made for
interaction in this lifetime. Or your soul will review
the days events and compare those to your spiritual
blue print to see where you stand on your planned
evolution or karmic issues. These travels typically
occur when a person is in a deep sleep called REM
{rapid eye movement}. Science has often wondered why
people are moving their eyes during the state of deep
sleep. We metaphysical folks have always known. As the
soul mind travels each night for its review of the day
and life plan, there is still a strong connection to
the physical body. The REM is a side effect of that
connection.

On a physical level the body is replenishing many
different chemicals that are required during the
waking state. Did you know for instance that only in a
REM state your body creates a hormone that is required
by your muscles to operate? Your body creates this
hormone every night and then uses it up everything
day. If you don't reach a REM state where your body
can create this hormone, the result is a disease
called Fibromynalga. So this state of unconsciousness
is required not only for the spiritual aspects, but
also for the physical body.

When your work is done, the soul body merges back into
the physical. But sometimes that merger isn't smooth.
Have you ever gone through a day where you've said "I
feel like I'm not here." or "I feel spaced out."? In
many cases this "feeling" is the result of an
incomplete merging of soul body to the physical body.
In essence, you are partially spaced out. You can
correct this feeling through a 10 or 15 minute
meditation. During the meditation, imagine the two
bodies interconnecting and merging back into one whole
person.

Have you ever had a dream where you're falling and
then your whole body jumps off the bed? Most of the
time this phenomena occurs when the soul is doing it's
business in the ethers and something here on the
physical plane interrupts the journey. Within an
instant the soul body rushes back to merge with the
physical body resting in sleep. Because of the speed
in which this journey back occurs, many people feel as
if they are falling. The jump that occurs in the
physical is the soul and the body merging back into
one being. The merger occurs so quickly and in essence
they're slapped back into one being.

Astral Projection, Astral Travel, Astral Projected
Travel {APT}
So many different names and acronyms for the same
thing can get confusing. That is one of the reasons
people get OBEs confused with APTs. The difference is
an OBE is directed by the sub-conscious mind, the soul
if you will, for purposes of spiritual evolution. An
APT is directed by the conscious mind, for many
different reasons, some spiritual, some for fun and
some for escape. So when people talk about wanting to
have an OBE, tell them they do it every night when
they sleep. Then tell them how to accomplish an APT.

The first thing to note about an APT is the "intent"
must be set before the attempt is made. You program
the purpose of your journey, and where you want to go.
This will help the conscious mind direct the soul
body. It's almost like filing a flight pattern with
the tower at an airport.

APTs are accomplished through an altered state of
awareness. Typically the best way is through a deep
meditation. But there are a lot of things that can
hold you back. Fear is the biggest one. If you're
afraid you won't come back, then you won't be able to
leave in the first place. The only way you won't be
able to come back is if you're projecting during a
serious illness of some sort and your on the brink of
dying in the first place. For the average person
however, traveling in the ethers is something you do
all the time anyway, and you come back each morning to
your physical body.

You can also hold yourself back by setting
limitations. If you "think" seeing the dark side of
the moon is impossible, then for your journey it will
be impossible. If you "think" you can go anywhere in
an instant, then you will be able to go anywhere in
the briefest of instants.

The key to a successful APT is trust. Trust in
yourself, in your ability to accomplish this wonderful experience. Trust
in the Divine to help you and protect you during the journey. And trust
in your guides for helping you make this and each projection an
important opportunity for spiritual growth. So have "faith"!

There are many techniques to accomplishing a
successful projection. One of the best ways is
listening to an audio tape that guides you through the necessary steps.
One such tape was created by Shakti Gwain called Astral Projection, and
it is a wonderful way to learn. Visualization is the key to just about
anything you need to do and that includes spiritual experiences. But
some people have difficulty with visualization and they can't hold an
image. That's not unusual, it just means that method doesn't work for
them.

If the visualization technique doesn't work for you,
DON'T GIVE UP! Don't be hard on yourself and think you
can't do it, because you can. You just have to find
the method that works for you. There are a lot of
resources on the subject. With the mired of books,
videos and tapes out there in the market place you'll
probably be able to find one that works for you. Do a
little research until you find the method that's right
for you and get ready to take flight.!!