<-- Buddhist

I've meditated for years. Before my brain went all wacky on me and my medication jacked up my ability to concentrate, I was receiving Secret Mantra meditation training.

If you want to start meditating, I would suggest finding someone to actually teach and guide you. Books, MP3's and such are great, but they aren't someone there actually guiding you along.

OOBE's and Astral Project are real ... well ... okay, things just got really complicated. They are real in that they are perceptions of the mind. That fact makes thinks like OOBE's and such a bit more difficult to explain than something readily measured by electrodes on your head.

For example, the near death experiences people report? You know, the tunnel with the white light and everything is calm and serene.

Advanced Buddhist meditators can and regularly do experience that same thing during meditation. In the case of someone dying it's referred to the Clear Light of Death, but the same experience during meditation is called the Clear Light of Bliss or Example and Meaning Clear Light.

Falling asleep during meditation, called Gross Mental Sinking, is an obstacle that has to be overcome with practice. Through mindfulness training using the mind to observe itself, you learn to detect not only Gross, but Subtle mental sinking and overcome it. Eventually, your meditation becomes so strong that people will think you're either asleep or dead (breathing is nearly non-existent).

I think that's about enough information overload.

Just let me know if there is a specific question I can help with.