There are numerous anectodal stories of people who can temporarily leave there bodies and travel about in the physical world or in the astral/spiritual plane. If these events do indeed occur, they must be within the framework of a Theory of Everything. This phenomenon, if it infact happens, could be a key to understanding the TOE.
I believe that the perception of an OBE is real, but is the OBE itself real? There have been studies where, when a particular part of the brain is stimulated, an OBE is induced. My main question regarding this is where does the OBE take place? Is it in an astral or spiritual plane? Or is it all localized within the physical brain?
For matter of discussion lets assume that the OBE is real and the mind does travel outside of the body. How dependent is the mind on the body at this point? I am convinced that much if not all of our personality traits are dependent on brain chemistry. Tumors, strokes, and other kinds of brain damage have profound affects on ones consciousness, emotions, perceptions of reality, personality, etc. Assuming this brain dependence is valid (see
this article for details), what would the traveling mind experience if, while traveling in an OBE, the body where to be instantaneously killed. Imagine the head is smashed flat so there is no residual activity of any kind left in the brain. Would the mind suddenly cease to exist? Or would the mind continue to exist in whatever dimension it was inhabiting before the body was killed. If, the mind continues to exist, how does the mind changed if parts of the mind (personality, emotions, sense of self, etc) are dependent on the (now nonexistent) brain.
Regards,
--Robert