The importance of Astral Projection

[Astral90]

Hi everybody, i want to ask u about an important question:What is the utility of AP in comparison with etheric projection.Let me explain:
-->First of all, astral projection allows us to travel to another dimension wich is partly different from the reality,contrary to the etheric projection wich lets us to travel in the 'real world', and see 'real facts' so we can learn a lot of important thinks.
-->Secondly,in the astral world we are confronted to negative astral entities, contrary (another time :) ) to the physical plan where we are just ghosts (with the help of EP).
There are many other advantages of EP,so what's your opinion?And please don't tell me that AP can participate in the spiritual developement because it's not true :) .

P.S:Sorry if u can't understand some expressions but english is not my antive language :wink:

[CFTraveler]

I want to clarify this point, although everybody probably knows this already: (and if you do, please forgive me for repeating myself) what some call etheric projection some others call it RTZ, and what some call etheric projection some call the 'area/locale, etc.) in between the RTZ and the material world.
In other words, etheric projection is as close to the material world as it gets.
In this context, the Astral Planes are that area of manifestation that is 'further up', or away from the concrete, and are considered to be somewhere midway between the 'lower' RTZ, etc. and the 'highest' most abstract 'realms'.
Now, getting into the 'meat' of your question:

-->Secondly,in the astral world we are confronted to negative astral entities, contrary (another time ) to the physical plane where we are just ghosts (with the help of EP). In my experience, I have only been attacked in the hypnagogic state, and the RTZ. I have gone to the Astral planes to escape from these beings, and because (possibly) their vibrational rate (or whatever you want to call it) they couldn't follow me 'up'. Most earthbounds reside in the lower planes, not the higher planes. Of course, whether that is in the Astral proper, I'm not sure.

But back to what I would consider the important part of your question:

-->First of all, astral projection allows us to travel to another dimension wich is partly different from the reality,contrary to the etheric projection wich lets us to travel in the 'real world', and see 'real facts' so we can learn a lot of important thinks.
It seems to me that it depends on what you consider important. If you consider 'real-life-material things' more important than more abstract ones (and there's nothing wrong with that, not everybody wants to be a philosopher) then other things, like ESP, PK and such things would be more important than Astral Projection.
But if like me, you like to delve into 'what if?' scenarios, if you find the world of potentialities fascinating, if you wish to experience things beyond the sensory, or other classes of sensory experience, then Astral Projection is an avenue of exploration like no other.
Another thing that is 'usable in waking reality' is the exploration of your psychology objectified. When you are face-to face with fears and desires that you didn't even know you had, this gives you a unique opportunity to deal with them directly, without the need of someone to interpret (but not always) for you, and this eliminates the need to create the situations in your life that are going to bring about resolution. In other words, unresolved issues need not be brought into waking reality when they can be at least faced consciously in the Astral. I agree this is not for everybody, but is indeed a valuable tool, and is available for those that want to explore it.

I guess it goes to what your personality is and what your perceived needs are. Saying AP is not valuable or applicable is the same as saying that recess and playtime are not important, and one should spend all their free time doing homework instead.

[Astral90]

Thanks CFTraveler for your answer.I am a little bit blocked because i can't answer you ,and the reason is that i never had an OBE.But i read in lot of forums and tutorials that the negative entities live in the lower plane of the Astral world and i remember that i've read once that R.Monroe was in the lower plane and was 'shocked'(i don't if it's the appropriate word) by seeing vampires and other negative entities in the Astral world and said that he knew after that he was in the lower plane:Was is true?Was he really in the Astral or in the physical?
Another point is that i don't criticize the Astral projection i'm just saying that in my point of view visiting the real world is better, i have posted the same message in a french forum and i quoted that in the real time zone for example i can see my girlfriend taking her shower,and believe me everyone who posted a message begun to shout at me! :D So finally i think that doing an OBE then practising will totally change my point of view :) !

[CFTraveler]

I for one love having all these kinds of conversations- and it's good to dialogue. I do want to point out that when authors say 'low astral planes' and I say 'the RTZ' we may be talking about the same thing, since IMO the real difference is the ability to catalogue experiences into a 'preexisting' template, which may or may not fit the worldview of the person having the experience.
For example, I was able to escape by 'going up'-but some of the experiences I had were clearly in the RTZ (in my bedroom, for example) and others were in what I would call the 'lower planes (hellish, etc).' Which would be considered the astral proper. But IMO anything that can be perceived with an energy body (and by that I mean a subtle body) is the astral. It's just that the RTZ is a section of the astral that's closer to the non-subltle than the upper astral, for example.
So it's really a matter of perspective, more than anything else.

So finally i think that doing an OBE then practising will totally change my point of view ! Even if it doesn't, won't it be fun trying?

[kiwibonga]

Another way to look at it is that the physical world is probably a subset of what we've come to call the astral plane, with the etheric/rtz simply being a kind of membrane around it. In that context the physical would therefore not be a plane of its own, just a tiny point in this particular area on the spectrum of reality.

We don't really know what measure is used to rank "higher" or "lower" planes though... Some talk about vibrational frequencies, placing the purest, wisest, the godly and "good" at the top, and the "evil demons" and their hellish realms at the bottom... How arbitrary is it, really?

As for Robert Monroe seeing vampires in the lower planes... What page is that one on, I don't recall reading that! :p