I was fascinated with the concept of afterlife and wanted to believe that we are not just this body, but spiritual beings but I had no proof. After reading about some of the out - of - body experiences that people had experienced, I decided to give it a try.

I tried Robert Bruce's 'rope' method a few times.. in which the individual imagines there is a rope hanging down from the ceiling of the room and tries to use his 'imaginary hands' to pull on the rope and thus pull himself out of his body.  But since it was necessary to complete several relaxation exercises prior to trying the rope method and I was never able to successfully complete them, neither did I have that much of patience, so trying out the rope method gave no results.

Another person who had described his OBE had talked of being able to 'see' with his eyes closed. On the day I had the OBE, I had just got up from some heavy dreamy sleep. I was awake and I was thinking about the rather unusual dream that I had dreamt. I was thinking as to why I had dreamt of such weird things. I was awake, but my head felt a bit heavy.

I remembered the account of the person who had talked of being able to see with eyes closed. So I closed my eyes and tried to see. Just then I felt a strange, strong vibration in my head and my left arm. At that point I did not know what was happening to me.. I had read that vibrations precede OBE's but this was not what I had imagined or understood about the vibrations.. the kind of vibrations that I felt were very different from what I had thought they would be like and thus I was unable to understand what was happening to me.

The next thing I knew is that I was out of my body. I looked at my arm to see what was wrong with it, and what I saw was a bluish-whitish translucent arm! My arm was long and wavy and I couldn't see any fingers on my hand.. I realized that I was really having an OBE, my first, and immediately I saw that the door to my room wasn't locked and the thought of somebody coming inside the room and checking out my body scared me. The moment this thought entered my mind, I was back in my body and I opened my eyes. The whole day my arm ached. It felt weak and devoid of energy. It took a few days to return back to normal.

Immediately after I had the OBE, the usual arm of flesh and bone which I had been accustomed to seemed unreal and the translucent arm seemed to be my real arm. However, after some time I again became used to accepting the flesh and bone arm as my real arm. But immediately after having the experience, even though the sight of that translucent arm scared me a little, I felt a strange kind of peace.

Any associated medications or substances with the potential to affect the experience?     No

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? No

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?          No

What was your level of consciousness and alertness during the experience?           I was awake but not very alert because I had just woken up from a heavy dream.

            Was the experience dream like in any way?   NO

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?     Yes

I saw only my arm.. it was translucent.. sort of bluish-whitish in color. It was wavy and seemed easily extendible.

What emotions did you feel during the experience?            I was surprised at first, then scared because I thought someone would enter the room while I was having the OBE but afterwards I felt very peaceful.

Did you hear any unusual sounds or noises?           No

Did you notice how your 5 senses were working, and if so, how were they different?          Yes, There wasn't much time to notice, but it seemed as if my senses had improved or sharpened.

Were you involved in or aware of a decision regarding your return to the body?       Yes

The moment I thought someone could come inside my room, I became scared and decided to stop continuing with the OBE. Instantly, I was back.

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience that you did not have prior to the experience?         No

Did you have any changes of attitudes or beliefs following the experience?   Yes

Yes, I became more certain that apart from the physical body, we also possess a spiritual body or second body.  I believe this body separates from the physical after death, thus making afterlife possible.

How has the experience affected your relationships? Daily life? Religious practices? Career choices?       Not much

Has your life changed specifically as a result of your experience?         Uncertain

I'm not sure whether my life has changed that much, but surely this experience had some positive effect.

Have you shared this experience with others?         Yes

To one, to whom I had explained the entire episode from beginning to end, he was quite surprised and interested in knowing how I managed to do it. He believed me and wanted to know how to experience such a thing himself. To another, to whom I didn't tell everything in detail, an extremely skeptical person, the experience was just 'another dream'

What emotions did you experience following your experience?  Immediately after having the experience I felt very peaceful.

What was the best and worst part of your experience?      The best part of my experience was to be able to clearly see a part at least of the second body. It was wonderful to see the translucent arm.  The worst part of my experience was that I became scared and after it was over, my arm ached for days.

Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience?        Yes, the kind of peace that I felt in me after the experience was amazing

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?         No

Did the questions asked and information you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?               Yes