Using astral projection to improve our spiritual practice

The astral cord connects the gross body to its subtle counterpart. The energy gathered by the astral body is transferred to the physical body via this cord.

In Projection of the Astral Body (1929), Sylvan Muldoon talks about how hunger can induce astral projection and reduce our need for sleep while simultaneously increasing our energy intake. Muldoon uses the term "cord activity range" to refer to the distance between the physical gross body and the astral body, after the latter has left the former. When we fall asleep, we are actually rising as we - situated in the subtle body - leave our gross body by moving in an upward vertical direction. What links our astral body to our gross body is a subtle cord which can extend almost infinitely as it is not subject to the laws of the three-dimensional world as we know it, and the longer this cord becomes the more energy can be gathered from the subtle plane that is later transfered into our gross body. In other words, we recharge our body during sleep by gathering energy from the astral plane and the longer the cord activity range, the more energy can be accumulated. Muldoon goes on to explain that by refraining from eating one can induce the astral body to leave the gross body with more facility, as it creates a need to compensate for the lack of energy caused by cutting of gross sources of energy. We can experience this practically by seeing that if we eat shortly before going to sleep, we will have more difficulty getting up in the morning. This is because the more relaxed the gross body is, the easier it is for the subtle body to detach itself from it; so when the stomach is busy digesting during sleep, it reinforces the coincidence of the gross and subtle bodies, preventing much energy to be gathered from the astral. This is why people who have experience in fasting say that they feel more energised after a long fast. Knowing this, we can improve our sadhana or spiritual practice by reducing our eating and sleeping. This will allow us to both train our mind and senses to depend on less, and save more time and energy to perform spiritual activities.

Another interesting point that Muldoon talks about is that when we go to sleep thirsty or hungry, our astral body will be impelled to go and get something to eat or drink and we may therefore have a dream of eating or drinking. In these dreams, the astral body usually goes to these places where food and water are available and we experience it directly through our dream body. This is another way that both hunger and thirst induce astral projection during sleep.