OBE's and the body
 

Hello, sorry for not introducing myself in the general forum first.

My question here concerns what happens to the physical body when the OBE occurs. Does the breathing and heart rate suspend?

Obviously, since you are out of the physical body you are probably not aware of the physiological state of the body. But have there been any tests done on person's who have undergone an OBE under controlled conditions to check their physiological state? If so, what do the results indicate?

I have been studying Yoga for a few years now, particularly the kriya yoga path of Paramahansa Yogananda. His technique of meditation aims to quiten the heart rate to achieve something called pratyahara, which is sense withdrawel. As i have been doing a lot of thinking about all this i have come to the conclusion that it is not possible for the heart to become totally still except through two means: 1) by holding the breath and willing the heart to slow down and 2) by persons who are "freaks". For example, that woman who can make her eyeballs come out of their sockets. This is what i call a freak.

The other way is by having an OBE. This is my query.

I do not believe it is possible to do breathing exercises to slow the heart to almost stopping. I believe it is only possible to make the heart restful by meditation or sleep and breathing exercises only to the point that is natural to every person. That is, if my heart rate is naturally 65bpm, i cannot make it slower than that through artificial means.

In connection with this i think that spiritual experiences happen to everyone spontaneously and are not under the control of the conscious mind's will. What we can do is open ourselves up to these experiences, we can "tune them in" so to speak so that they occur more often. This is achieved in 2 ways. 1) by entering the hypnagogic state through meditation and 2) by believing initially in God. The mind has to be open sufficiently to allow God's grace to operate. By God i do not mean anything by that word other than that elusive "something", a higher intelligence, a supreme intelligence, our higher self. Forget Jesus or any anthropomorphic religious conception. And if you are atheist you might as well not bother responding to this post because i believe your interest is not a higher intelligence and purpose to life but only to get as much pleasure out of your purposeless life as possible and then die.

Lastly, the reason i bring up "God" is because after having read a few books on OBEs i have discovered that there is no sure way of inducing one. It doesn't matter how many techniques or prayers you do because this experience seems to depend upon the Higher Intelligence and not your conscious will.