Quote Originally Posted by Robert Bruce View Post
The main similarity between the physical universe and the astral is that they occupy the same space.

Everything else is different.

A small percentage of people can sense things in the astral, like psychics/clairvoyants.

But these dimensional areas are largely separate.

You can also think of the astral dimension as something like how hyperspace or subspace is depicted in some movies.
No doubt, they need to be different. And our mind 'needs' to make this perceived barrier between the two. I believe this is due to the agenda on the Earth plane. One of things that always made me wonder here is a typical, subconscious fear that people have when attempting OBE. Is it really natural?

Yet, in the end, it is all about perception. Some people, for instance, claim that they can see through matter (I cannot, at the moment at least) and state that matter is not solid.

A very interesting point can be found in the ancient cosmologies which tell about "energy" being substance of the universe on all levels (logically meaning that you need an "energetic presence" - possibly also physical - when 'inside' the universe, and when there's no energy presence, you are not in it, i.e. pure consciousness without substance, form, energy etc.) - universal and mutable, travelling through the it continously: from physical to ethereal, from ethereal to astral, from astral to spiritual, and so on. This is also the basis for eastern medical systems. It's very interesting in the context of quantum physics, basically stating the same: atoms are not just ultimate tiny "balls", they consist of smaller 'particles', pretty universal ones (protons, neutrons, electrons). Electrons are most interesting of those, being far from what we expect: according to physicists, being more like fog, not a point. Finally, we find only small portions of quantum energy - and this is the point where modern science currently ends.

In the end, these barriers between dimensions may turn out to be purely our personal and subjective restrictions. Many people believe that they do not have anything except a physical body - they believe that they do not experience anything but physical senses. Some are doubtful even whether they have any dreams - many people just don't remember them. They exclude something because lack of experience. How to convince such people that they have also something like ethereal or astral body? Or how to convince them that they can even transport and transform energy from one level to another? And that it is achievable for a human being to become aware of deeper parts of the mind - including astral one? I discovered that how my mind and memory work depends largely on my attitude, beliefs and expectations - most of them being deeply rooted in the subconscious part of the mind. But why? Where these limitations come from? What is the idea behind all of those systems, starting from cells and DNA, to complex interactions between different energy levels, physical included?
I really believe that our limitations can be overcome and worked out. To me it seems like working on a meta-level in opposite to our typical level that we usually operate on, which can be considered to be a next level of thinking (being aware of our mental processes); and then of course we can go from that point to even next meta-level (being aware of meta-level mental processes), and so on. If mind is infinite, this process probably is also infinite, never ending.
From a limited perspective of a human being, it seems really like matter is solid (if limiting to physical senses), energy is divided into various forms such as protons, neutrons, photons, or quantum particles... But I'd start with the paradigm that energy is fluid and universal, and in this way we face only separation or limitation inherent within our own expectations and beliefs how the world works.
And perhaps this point is really fascinating. There is really a lot to discover about the mind and the universe, how we limit ourselves and how we may overcome it: re-creating not just what is apparent, but foremostly transform our own perception of things...