ASI
The Theory
and Practice of Spiritual Acupuncture
Lecture 6 – Penetration of the Subconscious
What is
Astral Projection?
Types
of astral projection
Lucid
Dreaming
Penetration
of the Subconscious
Floating
or Hovering
Horizontal
Projection
Vertical
Projection
Rising
on the Planes
All the
way out
THE MOST POPULAR REQUEST that people make of Spiritual Acupuncture is to get out of their body. This appears to be a commonplace desire and a universal principle: People want to get out of their bodies, they want to be unlimited, they want to be free!
It is not necessary for one to be 100% totally out of the body in order to perform astral projection. We are thoroughly capable of sitting or lying still and entering into a daydream, a reverie, or a visualization. We are further capable of interacting with such visions, according to our ability and training. We are even capable of transferring our consciousness into the vision so deeply that it appears that the reality of the vision is greater than the reality of the three-dimensional world. In the tradition of the magician we may project our consciousness into our own unconscious mind, we may travel to any of the planes or subplanes represented on the Seven Planes Chart or to any sphere symbolized on the Tree of Life. And while all this is taking place, a percentage of our consciousness remains aware of the three-dimensional body; perhaps ten percent, perhaps ninety percent. But is this what people want when they ask for astral projection? No.
People want the 100% separation experience. Everyone should have this experience at least once in their lifetime so that they will have direct knowledge of the death process (and will therefore not be surprised when the transition finally comes). Unfortunately, Spiritual Acupuncture can not offer 100% astral projection as one of its common results.
Spiritual Acupuncture can, however, assist greatly in the promotion of visions and the partial transference of consciousness for the purposes of astral projection and the magical memory . . . But 100% projections are rare.
One of the best representations of an astral projection experience was in the television production of Shirley MacLaine's, Out on a Limb. The manner in which the experience was portrayed, and its visual effects, were remarkably accurate.
Lucid Dreaming: This is an experience which most of us have had repeatedly. One is dreaming, yet one is aware that one is dreaming. The ability to exert control over our lucid (clear) dream state varies from none to some to complete. Purists might argue that this is not astral projection, but we include it as it certainly is in the same category of phenomena and some authors and teachers of astral projection will get students to use the lucid dreaming experience as the first step in learning to project.
Penetration of the Subconscious: This appears to the projector as an inward journey rather than an outward projection. You set a in your mind through creative visualization, and then you step into the scene and interact according to your intention.
Floating or Hovering: Often reported by teenage girls and by people premedicated for surgery, this is the sensation of leaving your body and floating around the room, usually near the ceiling. Reports of looking back upon one's body lying in bed are common.
Horizontal Projection: This is where you leave your body, walk through walls, and investigate the world around you, including your neighbor's house. When most people think of astral projection, I suspect this is the variety which comes most rapidly to mind. This is interaction with an astrallized three-dimensional world.
Vertical Projection: This is a vertical ascent which leads to other dimensions, or to a position high above the Earth (as in Shirley MacLaine's experience).
Rising on the Planes: This is a form of controlled vertical projection in which one does not stop or waiver from a straight-up ascent. The object is to reach the highest possible level of consciousness.
All of the methods listed above are forms of astral projection. Only numbers five (vertical projection) and six (rising on the planes) have a place in Spiritual Acupuncture as a discipline or as a practice, although any of the varieties might occur as a "result." Please refer to the Astral Projection Exercise in the Lecture on "Techniques.".
The full-blown, one hundred percent, out-of-the-body, astral projection has been described in Lecture #6 as an "imprint" of the monadic consciousness, which may include clinical death (dying on an operating table and then being revived) or 100% out of the body experiences. Monadic consciousness exists without a biological container, and is said to cause an obliteration of the perception of time and space.
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