The Out of Body Experience

Fiction or Fact?

Endohuasca@gmail.com

Close your eyes and the world around you disappears.

Open your eyes and the environment surrounding you becomes lucid.

Our ability to visually perceive the external world has long been understood to take place via the processing of the electromagnetic spectrum via the eyes and brain. Visual perception that falls outside of “the norm” is usually labeled as a hallucination of sorts. Why these visual distortions take place at all is a great mystery especially in light of billions of people experiencing prolonged hallucinations also known as “dreams” every night as they sleep. While there are numerous theories regarding the physiological reasons and correlates of the dream state (ex. memory consolidation), it is still largely speculative.

An interesting occurrence that has been described throughout history and across cultures is the “Out of Body Experience” (OBE). The people who have experienced an OBE do not describe it as being in a dream. The classic description of an OBE is perceiving one’s own body and surroundings from a vantage point a few feet up above. This phenomena is commonly reported to take place alongside significant physical or emotional trauma. There are generally 2 perspectives of the OBE:

1. It is purely a hallucinatory experience potentially tied to altered neural activity and possibly specific receptor activation that occurs due to dissociative mechanisms during traumatic experiences.

2. It is associated with altered neural activity and possibly specific receptor activation that signifies the spirit/soul/astral body becoming untethered from the physical body allowing for visual perception outside of the physical senses.

Modern research regarding OBE’s utilizing neuroimaging (fMRI/PET) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) has taken place over the past 20 years (Smith et al., 2014; Ridder et al., 2007; Brandt et al., 2005; Zeev-Wolf et al., 2017). One of the initial theories that emerged from this research was that altered functioning of the region of the brain known as the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) contributes to OBE occurrences (Blanke et al., 2004; Blanke et al., 2005; Brandt et al., 2005; Ridder et al., 2007). There has even been a case report where a subject undergoing craniotomy (partial skull removal) experienced an OBE via stimulation of their left TPJ (Bos et al., 2016). However, additional research has found that stimulation of the nearby anterior insular cortex (AIC) in a child with epilepsy was also capable of inducing an OBE (Yu et al., 2018). Additional research has found a relationship between subjects with epilepsy and OBE’s (Maillard et al., 2004; Fukao, 2006; Jarzebska, 2006; Lopez et al., 2010; Kasper et al., 2010; Heydrich et al., 2010; Hoepner et al., 2012; Fang et al., 2014; Hosokawa et al., 2021). Interestingly, several case reports of women reporting OBE’s during childbirth have also been published (Zambaldi et al, 2011; Bateman et al., 2017). In addition, hypnosis has been cited to be capable of inducing OBE’s (Meyerson et al., 2004; Zeev-wolf et al., 2017) and in more recent times, virtual reality (VR) has been utilized to mimic OBE-like phenomena (Pomés et al., 2013; Maselli et al., 2014; Bourdin et al., 2017; Sansoni et al., 2022; Ma et al., 2023; Xu et al., 2024; Xu et al., 2024).

There has been a recent surge of interest in OBE’s due to various reasons including the modern psychedelic renaissance as well as the increased popularity of near-death experience (NDE) media coverage and research. The proliferation of ketamine clinics throughout the country has played a pivotal role in popularizing OBE discussion being that this dissociative anesthetic has been consistently cited to induce OBE-like phenomena (Wilkins et al., 2011; Morgan et al., 2011; Wilkins et al., 2012; Tian et al., 2023). DMT has also been a focal point of psychedelic discourse pertaining to OBE’s with a greater focus on NDE’s (Timmerman et al., 2018; Lawrence et al., 2022; Pascal et al., 2023). Being that DMT is an endogenous molecule recently observed to occur at physiological significant levels in the mammalian brain (Dean et al., 2019; Glynos et al., 2024), there has been much speculation regarding it’s potential role in NDEs. The ongoing work of medical doctors Bruce Greyson, Jeffrey Long, and Raymond Moody should be commended for their decades of commitment to the field of NDE research.

The clinical research regarding OBE’s is an intriguing field of study being that it points to consistent neurological changes associated with the experience. However, the one missing aspect of all the published research thus far is verifying whether the subject experiencing the OBE was capable of garnering objective information at a distance. It is likely assumed among the majority of clinical researchers that OBE’s are simply strange experiences based on altered neurological activity. With this thought process, it would make little sense for including data acquisition targets in the vicinity of the OBE within the research scope.

One of the most consistent reports regarding OBE’s are from subjects who have undergone NDE’s. It’s been documented that OBE’s occur for more than 50% of subjects that experience a NDE (Nelson, 2015; Martial et al., 2017). Interestingly, pilots in the air force have also consistently reported OBE’s based on G-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC). In addition, soldiers on the battlefield have also reported OBE’s based on physical injury or the sheer intensity from witnessing the carnage. One of the obvious limitations to studying OBE’s related to NDE’s are the ethics involved. Do we really want to be conducting OBE data acquisition targets to dying patients in the hospital emergency room?

It appears that consummate bloviator Neil Degrasse Tyson has little issue with conducting such experiments. In the video clip below from the Joe Rogan podcast, Tyson describes the process of placing data acquisition targets in emergency rooms across the country to verify whether OBE’s are objectively legitimate or not. Due to the advances in resuscitation techniques and technology such as the defibrillator, a greater occurrence of NDE’s and OBE’s have been reported over the past century compared to centuries prior. While there could be some merit in the general scope of Tyson’s proposal, there has to be a better way…

Earlier this year, famed neuroscientists Anil Seth and Christof Koch engaged in a discussion regarding consciousness and the brain while lightly touching upon OBE’s (30:26). Anil mentions the 2 perspectives of the OBE (as cited above) and states, “We should take these experiences seriously but not literally.” Koch would respond with, “I am with you, I find it difficult to believe the mind somehow has access to other places and can travel around.” It’s interesting how both scientists dance around the subject of whether consciousness is generated by the brain or experienced by the brain all the while never really conducting in-depth research themselves on OBE’s. Apparently Koch has experienced transcendental states in recent years via psychedelics altering his general perspective of the brain-consciousness interface.

One of the more interesting statements made by Seth during the conversation was as follows, “If I do this to the brain, then I can get an Out-of-Body experience and when I stop doing this, it will stop which of course has famously been done in certain brain stimulation experiments.” This alludes to Seth believing that because the TPJ or AIC of the brain can be stimulated to induce an OBE, it inherently discredits the ability for legitimate perception outside of the body. This points to the fact that this could be an optimal starting point for future research regarding OBE’s. The reason why we state “optimal” is due to attempting to meet the average perspective where they are.

Seth and Tyson both represent the average perspective so designing experiments that could help them comprehend the greater facets of reality in an incremental way is likely necessary. However, first we must identify the optimal type of brain stimulation (magnetic/electric or other) that can reliably induce legitimate first-hand OBE occurrences. There is the possibility that the brain stimulation-OBE research cited by Seth simply distorts one’s perception to have an experience mimicking some facets of OBE’s and does not truly equate to the lucidity of OBE’s associated with NDE’s and other catalysts. As cited in earlier pieces, “The God Helmet” developed by Dr. Michael Persinger has also been cited to induce OBE phenomena. Surprisingly, founder of Skeptic magazine Michael Shermer claims to have experienced an OBE from the “God Helmet” stimulation.

The only legitimate manner in which we can verify that stimulation induced-OBE is legitimate is by gathering several dozen subjects who have experienced OBE phenomena and proceed to stimulate their brains in a controlled setting. The subjects can then verify whether A) the stimulation did in fact replicate an organic OBE in totality or B) simply mimic it in a distorted manner. If A) is consistently reported among the subjects, then the brain stimulation research can progress to the second phase. If B) is the finding, then there’s no reason to continue brain stimulation research in light of OBE exploration.

The second phase of the brain stimulation-OBE research would be to add a data acquisition target exactly as Tyson states. On a shelf located above the subject’s vantage point, print out a single sheet of paper with a 3 digit number and see if the subject can verify the number in their stimulated-OBE. If they can in fact corroborate that they were able to see the number and report it following the cessation of the stimulation (or possibly even blurting it out during stimulation), that indicates potential jackpot.

The third phase of the brain stimulation-OBE research would be to replicate the second phase of the study but add in neuroimaging via EEG and/or fMRI. A group of researchers out of the University of Toronto have been developing a dataset for decoding images from EEG data (Xu et al., 2024). The dataset is composed of exposing subjects to ten thousand natural images while wearing EEG. According to the researchers, this would then allow them to decode the visual experience of a subject and project it on to a video screen. Similarly there are other research teams doing comparable work in decoding images from fMRI data (Dado et al., 2022). Theoretically speaking, the stimulated-OBE research utilizing EEG/fMRI would be able to project the subject’s experience onto a screen including the numbers they saw.

(Figure 2 from (Dado et al., 2022) Visual reconstruction from fMRI.)

Due to the fact that numbers are extremely simple in their clarity and meaning, a straightforward pilot study such as this would provide optimized value regarding basic, OBE research. It would provide a level of redundancy that has never been capable of occurring in this field. Traditionally speaking, the only evidence of data acquisition from OBE’s is the subject’s testimony. While this might serve as enough evidence in the court of law, scientific scrutiny especially regarding a paradigm changing topic such as this might require an added layer of proof. The challenge in attempting to prove OBE legitimacy via stimulation technology is that it does not offer a scalable opportunity for the public to engage with the results. Ease of scalability contributes to wider adoption of paradigm changing truths. An example of this would be the Wim Hof Method (WHM) and the 2014 study showcasing that the technique could bring about immune and autonomic system modulatory abilities within a short time frame of training. This research and the subsequent media coverage distributed the results of the study and the potential of WHM to a global audience spurring an explosion of breathwork and cold plunge adoptions.

Perhaps a similar strategy can be utilized to legitimize OBE’s beyond the clinical research?

In order to execute a strategy as such, there would need to be a non-traumatic technique or protocol for OBE’s that the masses can access easily. In addition, the technique would need to be reliably induce OBE’s for a reliable percentage of the public within a relatively short time frame. Fortunately, various organizations such as The Monroe Institute (TMI), International Academy of Consciousness (IAC), Exploration of Consciousness Research Institute (EOC), Center for Advanced Studies in Conscientiology (Brazil), and the International Institute of Projeciology and Conscientiology (IIPC/Brazil) have been conducting field research regarding techniques to induce OBE’s. Field research consists of focusing on the experiential aspect of the subjects in a non-clinical setting. The intriguing aspect of these organizations is that they have purportedly developed non-traumatic, scalable manners of inducing OBE’s.

(While not technically specializing in OBE research, a notable mention of a program focused on acquiring data a distance via “Remote Viewing” was the “Stargate” project at Stanford Research Institute (SRI). This project ran from 1977 to 1995 and was directed by the U.S. military with funding to the tune of $20 million.)

The longest running organization of the bunch is The Monroe Institute founded in 1971 by Robert Monroe. It all began in 1958 when Mr. Monroe, a successful radio broadcasting executive started experiencing strange sensations of bodily vibrations as he lay in bed ready to sleep. He continued to have these types of experiences on a regular basis even seeing his doctor to rule out any health conditions associated with this phenomena. After about 30 episodes of experiencing these vibrations, he decided to say to himself, “If this is going to kill me, let it happen!” After a few minutes, the vibration seceded and Monroe became more comfortable with this strange but non-threatening sensation. One night as he lay in bed waiting for the vibrations to end in order to go to sleep, he began to think about the weather the next day… and then suddenly he found something bumping against his shoulder. After seeing what he thought was a strange fountain emanating from the floor, he realized that he was touching the ceiling of his bedroom. He thought, “what a strange dream this is” then looked down and saw his wife in bed with a man. Upon closer inspection, Monroe looked at the man and realized it was him. He panicked thinking he might be dead and quickly made a successful effort to enter his body. Following this experience, Monroe visited various doctors to ensure he was not suffering from a brain tumor or psychiatric conditions. After getting a clear bill of health, he would continue exploring these experiences which would lead him to launch The Monroe Institute to foster research into creating techniques and technology to optimize OBE occurrences. He would also author several books on the subject titled, “Journeys Out of the Body”, “Far Journeys”, and “Ultimate Journey”. One of the key methods that TMI utilizes to induce OBE’s is via sound in combination with verbal instructions. The audio tracks have been named Hemi-sync and utilize a form of sound called binaural beats to induce their effects. Binaural beats consist of utilizing different tones in each ear to create a single tone. They work by entraining the brain to oscillate at the single tone inducing a trance-like state. There is a succession of different Hemi-sync tracks that apparently optimizes the path towards experiencing an OBE.

In recent times, TMI held a retreat for various YouTube personalities to experience a one-week immersion with their OBE techniques. Chris Ramsay’s new YouTube channel Area52 documents his own experience as well as that of others who attended the retreat. Interestingly, 6X memory champion Nelson Dellis attended the event and describes the experience of attempting to see a 4 digit number at distance while Out-of-Body. This was an informal experiment that Nelson did with another attendant of the retreat. You can watch the results of this field experiment in the video below (22:03).

The International Academy of Consciousness is the second longest running OBE-focused organization having roots that date back to 1981 with the Center for Continuous Consciousness (CCC) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since then, the formal academy was created in 2000 and the IAC campus was established in Alentejo, Portugal fostering education and research. Having attended various lectures of IAC teachers, they have developed a database of a wide array of techniques that appear to consistently foster OBE’s. Some of them are extremely simple such as the “carbon dioxide technique” based on breathing in through the nose for 2 seconds, holding the breath for 4 seconds, and exhaling through the mouth for 6 seconds. Another technique that was generically labeled the “third eye technique” comprised of merely focusing one’s closed eyes internal gaze to the forehead location for 4 seconds, stopping this focus, then refocusing at the forehead position for 4 seconds. Both of these techniques are stated to work based on consistency of practice until the OBE occurs. Interestingly, on the IAC campus, an igloo-looking building called “The Projectarium” has been developed with a 15 foot radius optimized for facilitating OBE’s. This dome shaped building houses a bed on a platform that has space above and below in which a person can purportedly have an OBE without being disrupted by confined spaces and shapes.

Between TMI, IAC, the other organizations and the many purported OBE experts sprinkled throughout the world, a non-invasive, scalable technique to induce OBE’s has to be extractable. Much like the brain stimulation-OBE research cited earlier would take place in sequential format, the optimized technique would need to be field tested prior to integrating neuroimaging into the research.

It’s rather interesting that meditation has been shown to induce an increase in activity of the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) (Holzel et al., 2011; Yang et al., 2016; Rathor et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2023). It is rather well known that long-time meditators have been reported to experience OBE’s with some of them claiming to be able to do so at will. An unfortunate but interesting finding is that the connectivity and activity of the TPJ is seemingly altered in subjects who have undergone childhood abuse (Cracco et al., 2020; Cheng et al., 2021). This could potentially play a role regarding paranormal experiences from subjects who have experienced significant trauma as children. It appears that there could be different factors affecting the development of the neural structures associated with OBE-type phenomena.

Just for speculative purposes, let’s say that the perfect, 30-minute OBE technique was developed utilizing a combination of sound, breathing, audio instructions, etc. It would need to be verified to induce an OBE in a certain threshold percentage of naive subjects. Once the percentage and expectations have been established, we can bring the technique to the lab and combine it with neuroimaging in order to provide redundancy for data acquired at a distance. Theoretically, once the research is complete it essentially validates OBE’s as being legitimate experiences in which a person’s consciousness expands beyond their body. While the usual gatekeepers in the media will surely cry about it all… the beauty of this scenario is that the same exact technique/audio track utilized in the study can be distributed widely and freely for the public to experience. At that point, it would hardly matter what the critics might say being that millions of people would be experiencing OBE’s while sharing their astral adventures online alongside the research data.

For pure entertainment purposes we could then take the OBE research scope to the next level. What we are about to propose is simply ungrounded musings from a random being so no need to get all up in arms about the proposition.

As cited in past pieces, Dr. Edi Bilimoria was a featured guest on the JeffMara podcast and was proposed the following question from the host Jeff, “I had a guest once that was having an Out-of-Body Experience and during her experience she saw a homeless man on the street that people considered to be schizophrenic. The next day, when she was out on the street the schizophrenic recognized her from her Out-of-Body Experience. Can you comment on that?”

Dr. Bimoria would respond with, “Only to say it wouldn’t surprise me.”

—

This third branch of OBE research would consist of gathering half a dozen subjects diagnosed with schizophrenia to be within the vicinity of the subject attempting to have an OBE. The group with schizophrenia would be asked to report if they saw the OBE subject exit their bodies and if so, to describe everything they observed. The next layer of this research branch would consist of hooking up all the schizophrenic subjects to EEG’s so that their visual experience of witnessing an OBE from a second-hand perspective can potentially be recreated. There lies the possibility that subjects under the influence of psychedelics (at various doses) or subjects in a trance state might have similar abilities to see the spirit/soul/astral body exit the physical body and float around. Hell… lets even include a room full of cats to see how they react to someone having an OBE.

You never really know what would happen.

The last part of this strange, futuristic research would include the development and/or integration of cameras in an attempt to capture OBE phenomena on film. Obviously a starting point would be exploring cameras that capture activity outside of the human visual spectrum of 380 to 750 nanometers. Ideally we would set up the research lab with the OBE participant, the half dozen schizophrenic watchers, the 10 cats (throw some EEGs on them), and 2 UV spectrum cameras and 2 infrared cameras. Just for the hell of it, we could include some vintage Polaroid cameras being that there are so many crazy reports from the 70’s and 80’s claiming to capture paranormal phenomena. Perhaps there is some counterintuitive aspect of digital cameras that fails to materialize these spectacles? Yes, we understand that this is a strange perspective of capturing OBE occurrences but hey… we have to remain completely open-minded on how to approach this field.

The funny thing about all this verification and quantification of OBE’s presented thus far is that it’s only scratching the surface of the greater meaning of this phenomena. With the assumption that one’s consciousness can extend past the confines of the physical body, what does that signify regarding bodily death? Both TMI and IAC have mapped out various layers and levels of the planes of existence when “Out-of-body”. How do these maps compare to eastern perspectives such as the Tibetan Book of the Dead and Hindu beliefs regarding the spiritual realms? What are the perspectives of indigenous cultures across the globe regarding these realms? Can a comprehensive map of the “spiritual” realms be developed? If some subjects diagnosed with schizophrenia have the ability to peer into other realms of existence, what does that say about our understanding of these conditions?

There’s the possibility that eastern spiritual traditions that have survived for tens of thousands of years have already built maps and developed thorough understandings of altered states of perception. The concept that westerners are simply on the path to recognizing and remembering these facets of the greater reality could very well be legitimate.

We presume that the verification of the existence of the spirit/soul/astral body would vastly change the western perspective of the research at UVA regarding reincarnation. This in essence, would change the perspective of many regarding the meaning of life, the concept of predetermined hardships for spiritual growth, and the gift of intelligence being from elsewhere than the self.

The intellectual endeavor of unraveling the greatest mysteries of existence is tantalizing but we must never lose sight of the bigger picture… the bigger potential impact that can be had from publicizing these rediscoveries.

Is human incarnation merely the journey of spiritual and emotional maturation?

If so, to what end?

Some eastern mystics claim that our ultimate goal when incarnated is to obtain the vaunted “rainbow body” with which we attain from sustained spiritual enlightenment and instead of exiting our physical body when we die… we take it all to the other side leaving no karmic debts and breaking the cycle of reincarnation.

Undoubtedly an intriguing concept yet so unfathomable to the average perspective.

Endohuasca@gmail.com

P.S. In Robert Monroe’s book, “Journeys out of the Body”, he describes different field experiments he engaged in. The following being possibly one of the most interesting:

8/15/63 Afternoon - A productive experiment after a long layoff! R.W., a businesswoman whom I know quite well through long work association, and a close friend aware of my "activities'' (but somewhat skeptical still, in spite of rather unwilling participation), has been away this week on her vacation up on the New Jersey coast. I do not know exactly where she is vacationing other than that. Nor did I inform her of any planned experiment, simply because I hadn't thought of it until today (Saturday). This afternoon, I lay down to renew experimentation, and decided I would make a strong effort to "visit" R.W. wherever she was. (Rule one in my case always has been that I am most successful going to someone I know well and the opportunity does not come up too often.) I lay down in the bedroom about three in the afternoon, went into a relaxation pattern, felt the warmth (high order vibrations), then thought heavily of the desire to "go" to R.W.

There was the familiar sensation of movement through a light blue blurred area, then I was in what seemed to be a kitchen. R.W. was seated in a chair to the right. She had a glass in her hand. She was looking to my left, where two girls (about seventeen or eighteen, one blond and one brunette) also were sitting, each with glasses in their hands, drinking something. The three of them were in conversation, but I could not hear what they were saying.

I first approached the two girls, directly in front of them, but I could not attract their attention. I then turned to R.W., and I asked if she knew I was there. "Oh yes, I know you are here" she replied (mentally, or with that superconscious communication, as she was still in oral conversation with the two girls). I asked if she was sure that she would remember that I had been there. "Oh, I will definitely remember," the reply came.

I said that this time I was going to make sure that she remembered. "I will remember, I'm sure I will" R.W. said, still in oral conversation simultaneously. I stated that I had to be sure she would remember, so I was going to pinch her. "Oh, you don't need to do that, Til remember" R.W. said hastily. I said I had to be sure, so I reached over and tried to pinch her, gently, I thought. I pinched her in the side, just above the hips and below the rib cage. She let out a good loud "Ow," and I backed up, because I was somewhat surprised. I really hadn't expected to be able actually to pinch her. Satisfied that I had made some impression, at the least, I turned and left, thought of the physical, and was back almost immediately.

I got up (physically!), and went over to the typewriter where I am now. R.W. will not be back until Monday, and then I can determine if I made the contact, or if it was another unidentifiable miss. Time of return, three thirty-five.

Important aftermath: It is Tuesday after the Saturday of the experiment. R.W. returned to work yesterday, and I asked her what she had been doing Saturday afternoon between three and four. Knowing my reason for asking, she said she would have to think about it and let me know on Tuesday (today). Here is what she reported today: On Saturday between three and four was the only time there was not a crowd of people in the beach cottage where she was staying. For the first time, she was alone with her niece (dark-haired, about eighteen) and the niece's friend (about the same age, blond). They were in the kitchen-dining area of the cottage from about three-fifteen to four, and she was having a drink, and the girls were having Cokes. They were doing nothing but sitting and talking.

I asked R.W. if she remembered anything else, and she said no. I questioned her more closely, but she could not remember anything more. Finally, in impatience, I asked her if she remembered the pinch. A look of complete astonishment crossed her face.

"Was that you?" She stared at me for a moment, then went into the privacy of my office, turned, and lifted (just slightly!) the edge of her sweater where it joined her skirt on her left side. There were two brown and blue marks at exactly the spot where I had pinched her. "I was sitting there, talking to the girls" R.W. said, "when all of a sudden I felt this terrible pinch. I must have jumped a foot. I thought my brother-in-law had come back and sneaked up behind me. I turned around, but there was no one there. I never had any idea it was you! It hurt!"

I apologized for pinching so hard, and she obtained from me a promise that if I tried any such thing again, I would try something other than a pinch that hard. In this episode, the time coincides with the actual events.