Now here is an interesting subject that has been around as a goal and purpose for a very very long time! There is quite a bit of information on the subject outside of Scientology. It is not a popular subject with formal Western religions who predict dire consequences for those who promote it. However, you could easily talk to a Buddhist on the subject, and others involved in Eastern religions. It is popularly called an “Out of Body Experience”, or OBE.
Out of Body Experience – What is it?
An “out of body experience” (OBE) can be defined as the process of transiently separating the consciousness (spirit) from the physical body, such that the person and world are observed from outside of the body. An out of body experience is said to be clearer than a dream or daydream. Those who practice astral projections claim that their senses are enhanced, allowing them to see and feel with more clarity and without physical constraint. The origins of out of body experiences are unknown. However, OBE’s have been practiced for many years in several different cultures. (A description taken off the Internet).
LRH has this to say on the subject ……
This subject, (Exteriorization), has been fully covered by me since 1952, when I defined the thetan as in Axiom 1 and devised techniques to separate any preclear from his body. This was the first scientific evidence that Man has had on the subject of the human spirit. Man thought he had a human spirit. That is totally incorrect. Man is a human spirit which is enwrapped, more or less, in a mind, which is in a body-and that is Man, Homo sapiens. He is a spirit and his usual residence is in his head and he looks at pictures and his body carries him around.
Edited from L. Ron Hubbard’s 12th lecture to the 18th American Advanced Clinical Course in Washington, D.C., on 30 July 1957
LRH further defines Exteriorization as…
EXTERIORIZATION, 1. The state of the thetan, the individual himself, being outside his body. When this is done, the person achieves a certainty that he is himself and not his body. 2. The phenomenon of being in a position in space dependent on only one’s consideration, able to view from that space, bodies and the room, as it is. (PAB 125) 3. The act of moving out of the body with or without full perception. (HCOB 22 Oct 71)
As a person moves up his levels he will become more and more themselves as they realize their potential for survival as a Being is infinite.
“The thetan is a simple, naive, rather sweet character. I don’t care if your preclear was sixty years old, he gets outside and he kind of feels like he’s oh, maybe, what’s that terribly sincere age kids go through? Oh, about twelve, when they make good boy scouts and so forth, and yet they’re very interested and they’re very alert and very imaginative, quite practical and very naive and simple. Well, that’s actually what the pervasive personality strips down to, and you’ll recognize it when you see it.”
Ron Hubbard. Excerpted from the lecture Exteriorization Demonstration and Explanation, Part II delivered on 7 April 1953.