I was baptized as a Methodist in May, 1969. That was more or less a random event
almost 35 years ago. I still have the bible that they gave me for that event.
Not important, really. I have been an informal member of this organized branch
of the Protestant Christian religion for 35 years.

Irrespective of my religion, I had some spiritual or metaphysical experiences
which occurred independently and, more accurately, involuntarily and
spontaneously. That is to say, it was a natural occurrence. At least I don't
think space aliens were involved! The common name for such experiences are
known as the OOBE.

The paranormal requires man to view life from a different perspective. For a
person to suddenly find himself separate from his physical body yet conscious,
it convinces him of a non-physical reality and he or she may be frightened,
but there is less of a reason to fear death.

I do not really think I could explain these experiences purely in the context of what
is written in the Christian Bible. Yet a search for this kind of spiritual phenomena
finds that such psychic experiences are referenced in the Bible. Although there
is a different terminology, it is possible to read between the lines and make your
own judgement on what is being described.

I went to a Projectiology class back in July 1995 and some of their terminology
is very helpful in this regard.  My Projectiology instuctors were two Brazilians,
Nanci Trivellato and Wagner Alegretti (an electrical engineer by profession).
They operate a school in South Florida.

Projectiology  seems to be a good approach for me. It was started by the Brazilian
medical physician, Dr. Waldon Vieria, who reportedly keeps one of the
world's largest libraries on the out-of-body experience, near-death
experince, and similar genre.  There is a web site out there, iip.org.
The International Institute of Projectiology.

Okay, let's examine passages in the Old Testament, Ezekiel, and also the writings
of Paul in the New Testatament in 2 Corinthians.

Ezekiel the prophet said that the Spirit took him up by the lock of his hair to
Jerusalem (Ezek. 8:1-4) while his physical body remained in his house before the
elders.

In this OOBE, it is not uncommon for people to describe being lifted from the
top of their heads.

The apostle Paul.  His psychic experiences are found in Acts, Chapter 9; Acts,
Chapter 26; Acts 22:9; Acts 16:9; 2 Corinthians 12:1-4. The last perhaps being
the more well-known of the typical OOBE.   In 2 Corinthians 12:2,

"I know of a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the 3rd heaven -- whether
in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.

...and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter."
.
Paul obviously is describing his own experiences, although he doesn't want to boast, but
this is what we call today the classic OOBE, and  more specifically, its precursory state
with the "intercranial sound" - when the head of the psychosoma starts to leave - buzzing,
jet plane noises, and sounds like birds flappping its wings.  Those are the things which Paul
can not describe in mere words.  I can relate from personal experience with that.

Maybe it's like trying to repair a car by reading a manual.  Eventually you can absorb so
much knowledge, but until you actually get your hands on the motor, the words can't
do much more than give you general guidance.
 

Based on what I know about OOBEs, the "holy spirit" is the closest general idea
in the Bible to reference the phenonema. But so much misinterpretation can exist here.
One of the difficulties is the fact that world religions tend to quickly change, evolve rapidly
and metamorphosize into entirely different systems after centuries and millennia of existence.

Jesus was transformed  out of his physical body into an illuminous one at the
transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-10). His inner man, stepped out of His clay house
(Job 4:19), and showed the disciples His true body.

I believe in the Catholic terminology, they use the word, "bilocation" to
describe something similar. It appears to be reserved for saints, but don't we
all have that same potential?

On a bigger scale, a religion should exist to promote a spiritual society which should
peacefully co-exist within a political state. A separation between religion and a political
state is a given. Maybe this was Jesus' idea when he said to give unto Caeser the things
that are Caeser's, and give unto God the things that are God's.

Also, it is important to remember when one talks about a monotheistic God, it is the Sun
that they really are referring to.  Because monotheism evolved from ancient sun worship.

As an aside, John Wesley (1703-1791) - founder of the Methodist Church, wrote about the
poltergeist phenomena he experienced in 1715. Strange knocking sounds and ghostly
apparaitions.which originated in the attic or the top of their family home.

My opinion on the use of drugs (alcohol, narcotics, ect.) has been basically formed from my
teenage  out-of-body experiences.   Which is a kind of intense lucid dreaming, one that was
definitely not correlated by any kind of drug usage.  I believe the use of drugs will inhibit
dreaming and the OOBE.

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There has been a certain method or habit which I have successfully used
in the past to undergo an OOBE(out-of-body experience) or, to use other
terminology, to enter into the `dreaming body'.  I suppose the former
description will do for reference purposes here.

Perhaps instead of referring to this phenonema as a "dreaming body", I
also am reminded of the the German word:  Doppleganger.  For not only
is it an acceptable term in social science, psychology and psychiatry
(each profession having established a different interpretation of what
that means), the word "Doppleganger" also conveys to me a very real
sense of fright and apprehension, feelings that for whatever reasons
invariably accompanied me when I was able to lapse into these trance-
like states.

When I was young, it was so common for me to get into that state that
at times I was scared to go to sleep because I knew "it" was going to
happen.  These were also pretty frightening experiences for me, so it
wasn't something that I actually wanted to happen to me every time I
went to sleep.

I calculate that I've had about thirty or forty of such experiences in
my life, which as I've stated most commonly occurred as a teenager but
continued off and on throughout my younger adult life.  These patterns
seemed to have diminished as I got older.  But it had occurred often
enough for me to recognize a definite pattern by which I can follow to
help me to enter such states again.

It simply consists of following a time-schedule of going to sleep
and waking.  As to why this specific routine produces the result
of having the conscious "spirit" being able to extricate itself
from the sleeping (physical)body, I can only tell you from my
personal experience that this is what it took for me.  At
present, I have no conjectures or theories to explain why these
preconditions seem to be necessary for me.

Before I describe this, I want to point out that I am convinced that
there is absolutely one main requirement to arrive at this `dreaming
body':  strict abstinence from drugs, especially alcohol, marijuana and
all the other freely-available prescriptions and/or controlled
substances.  Basically if you are not able to have normal dreaming, you
will not be able to enter into this dreaming body.

 Here then was my procedure which I developed over the years:

10 p.m.            Go to bed

2-4 a.m.           Wake up, set your alarm if necessary.  Do some
                   sort of activity during this time to grow
                   weary or sleepy again.  It is important that
                   you be able to fall asleep after about 1.5-2
                   hrs.

4 a.m. or approx:  Go back to sleep.

6-7  a.m.:         Expect to enter the dreaming body.

10 a.m.:           You should be physically awake by this time,
                   perhaps feeling a little tired.  Extended trips
                   in the dreaming body tends to drain your energy
                   considerably.
 

The vast majority of my experiences have occurred right before or
about sunrise.  In fact, I gazed at the morning sun myself in my
dreaming body and this one particular incident is unforgettable
to me.  I'm sure it would be around 7 a.m. or so, about sunrise.

I don't know why it is necessary to stay awake between approx.
2-4 a.m., but I appears to be highly correlated to my experiences
in reaching the dreaming body.  One time, I seemed to tumble headfirst
out of the front part of my forehead.   As I left my sleeping(physical)
body, I saw my surroundings(bedroom, windows, ect.) exactly as if
my eyes were open and I was wide awake.  Not exactly a dream,
much more real than that!

Some other points to keep in mind:   Go to sleep naturally, do not
be forceful about it.  I got the best results when I did not go to sleep
any earlier or later than approx. 10 p.m. And if I recall correctly,
most of my experiences in the dreaming body occurred on the
weekends:  when else was I able to get to sleep in so late?

I don't know how you would explain this in Marxist-Leninist
terminology.  If you approach it from the concept of dreaming, Dr.
Vieria will reply that there is no way to scientifically explain
exactly what a "dream" is.  That is to say, it is more than the
measurement of alpha/beta waves in the brain, or pupil/retina movement.

I conclude with this excerpt for Hemingway:

"I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself
rush bodily out of myself and out and out and out and all the time
bodily in the wind. I went out swiftly, all of myself, and I knew I
was dead and that it had all been a mistake to think you just died.
Then I floated, and instead of going on I felt myself slide back. I
breathed and I was back." - Ernest Hemingway (A Farewell To Arms)

He is writing in what was basically his autobiography, he includes this
strange experience when he was a medic and got wounded from a mortar
explosion in Italy in WWI.  In addition to Hemingway, many literary
giants of this century publicly stated that they had an OOBE: Leo
Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Tennyson, Edgar Alan Poe, DH Lawrence, Virginia
Woolf.