We tune in to the astral world during sleep. Dreams are the reality of the astral body. We have normal vision in our regular body. In the astral we see 360-degrees. We try to focus out attention in one direction because we have to in the physical body. This causes disorientation. We try to sense with organs we no longer need. In the astral, orientation depends on how much control you can muster.
In my opinion we translate the dreamed state into things we are accustomed to. For example: you might see a group of missles. (If you've never seen a missile, you might think they are silos. Imagine the confusion if they are being guarded.) Your mind translates the unknown into the known.
New objects in the real world are assimilated into the astral world over time. The more attention paid to them, the more concrete they become. Some astral things appear in the real world.
OOBEs (out of the body experiences) often occur as part of a near death experience. A person is knocked out of their body as the result of a severe tauma. They are aware of things happening in the real world in real time, but it is from an external viewpoint and may be away from the body.
Astral projection is projection into the astral world. Time is distorted and reality changes according to what you are concentrate on.
Lucid dreams are where a person becomes fully aware they are dreaming during the dream. You can take control, if you have the ability. (This converts the lucid dream into astral projection.)
Triggering astral projection while fully conscious requires three things:
1. The ability to relax and stay awake.
2. The ability to shift your consciousness to a point outside of the body.
3. The ability to maintain control over the projection.
When you astral project, think good healing thoughts. Pray to the good energies, the good spirits, guardian angels and God. Like attracts like. Fear is a reoccurring theme. What we don't know we fear. (Get over it.)
The benefits of an out-of-body experience includes:
Increase in psychic abilities;
Elimination of the fear of death;
New methods of dealing with physical ailments;
Better preparation for inevitable physical death
Remembering past lives and the period between lives;
Finding missing persons, surveying distant physical locations;
Ability to communicate with diseased loved ones and spiritual guides;
Relief from restrictive physical conditions (prison, physical disability).
Here are some tasty astral projection links:
AstralVoyage.com Astral Projection
Astral Dynamics Astral Projection
Astral Projection Ultimate Technique
Astral Projection - learn the secrets of safely leaving your body