Out of Body Experience (OBE)
In an out-of-body experience (OBE), we view the world from outside our body. They are common in near-death-experiences (NDEs).
I had an OBE at 80 mph when riding my motorbike in Patagonia, Argentina. I was on a nearly three-year solo round-the-world motorcycle trip. Patagonia is so remote, you may only see another vehicle once an hour.
Gradually, my awareness came back out and up from my head until I was looking down at myself from about one metre above and behind my white helmet. I merged with the vast sky and land all around me. I ‘saw’ 360 degrees around me. I felt immensely powerful, and that I knew everything. I wanted to go faster. Just then, a little voice said, ‘This isn’t a good place to crash'. The negativity brought me back ‘inside’ my head.
A silver cord tethers us to our physical form, and I followed it back into my body.
What left my body?
I didn't know then what I know now. Rather than awareness. I'd say my consciousness.
What is consciousness?
Materialist science calls this the ‘hard problem’ since there’s no physical thing to measure. This shows the obvious limitations of a narrow view.
Sydney Banks, who created the Three Principles of Mind, Consciousness and Thought, has a broader view: “Consciousness is the ability to have an experience, and to be aware of the experience.”
