The mind boggles at the potential complexities of interdimensional subtle-body relationships and energetic conflicts created during OBE; most especially during wake-induced OBE. Consider the memory compatibility problems that could arise between different levels of consciousness, and the differences in levels of understandability between these; and of how thought and memory sharing between these might work.
And lets not forget basic reintegration problems and the fickle nature of the eventual shadow memory download into the only permanent storage medium all subtle bodies share, stretched between all aspects of the mind-split: the old gray matter of the humble physical brain. Everything experienced during out-of-body experience must eventually be downloaded into the physical brain in base-level understandability format, if it is to generate any kind of recallable and enduring memory at all that might be accessible to the awake conscious mind.
If you examine any number of OBE case histories, or have experienced them yourself, you will find that every projection starts fresh, right from the very beginning, just as if it were the very first OBE. There are no continuing memories of having any kind of astral otter type of life available to any projector, ever, even if they suddenly shift into an astral projection that has apparently been going on for some time. In this case, the first part of the astral projection (all that had happened up to the moment when the projector became conscious in his/her astral body) is effectively wiped and is unrecallable. The projector will remember other successful projections they have had in the past, sure, but absolutely nothing of all their OBE failures, or of all the nights when they just fell asleep. I consider dreams and overactive imagination to account for those who believe their experience is contrary to this scenario.
To be more specific: I do not believe it is possible to remember (at the base level of consciousness in the normal waking state) more than a tiny surface fragment of high level projection memories; including OBE experience memories gained in the mid to high astral planes. Basically, when it comes to recalling OBE’s, it becomes increasingly difficult anywhere above the real-time zone. Sure its possible to recall something of mid to high level astral experiences, but I stand by my earlier statement that a great deal of what is experienced is lost in the download. And the higher in the astral you to the more will be lost in the eventual download when its all converted into base-level (physical brain) storage format.
So just what happens to all these lost astral and higher level OBE memories? Do they download into inaccessible levels of subconscious and/or unconscious mind, hiding in places within us where even the deepest level of hypnosis cannot dig them out? Why does one successful wake-induced conscious-exit projection provide vivid and lasting experience memories, while all other unconscious (unremembered) OBE’s leave nothing at all to show they ever happened? And why do the words “Memory Fails Me” ring through my head whenever I think about this subject?
In an attempt to answer some of the above questions, it seems likely that an intrusion by the base-level of consciousness (as manifested through the physical brain/mind in its normal waking state) into the astral double, causes the astral double’s level of consciousness and understandability to drop sharply. This event causes the astral level of consciousness to revert back to its lowest form, back to its fully integrated or base-level of consciousness. The lowest and coarsest level of a consciousness unit appears, in all cases, to be far stronger (and what it experiences is far more memorable) than any higher level or aspect of that same consciousness unit (consciousness unit = a whole person or being).
When it is present, the base-level replaces any higher level of consciousness, e.g, astral plane levels of consciousness and higher. The base level overwrites any experience memories gained independently by those higher levels of consciousness. This is what I believe happens when higher and lower levels of consciousness integrate, on any dimensional level or level of consciousness, during an OBE. The stronger and more robust base-level simply replaces and overwrites the higher level. The OBE continues from that point AT the base-level of consciousness and understandability. This neatly replaces any higher level experience memories that might have existed before base-level integration with a higher aspect of itself occurs.
Higher level memories still exist after this event, but they are driven into inaccessible levels of the subconscious or unconscious mind and memory. The overall effect of this event is that a projection continues from that moment on as if it had just started; often with a vague feeling of having been doing something, but with no real memories to support this feeling. This occurs whether reintegration occurs at the bottom end of the scale in the waking physical body, or whether this occurs at a higher level, say in the astral body when the projector suddenly becomes aware and wakes up inside his/her astral body mid-projection. The lowest level of consciousness always replaces and overwrites any higher level of consciousness and effectively wipes out all trace of its experience memories at the moment of integration.
Higher level intrusion and replacement by the base level does not allow memories of any continuing astral existence to be recaptured. This very same thing appears to happen every time during the integration of the real-time projected double with its physical counterpart. The real-time double contains the experience memories of all of its higher aspects within it when it reintegrates with its physical counterpart. But the majority of its experience memories of higher levels of existence are usually lost, downloaded into inaccessible levels of subconscious and unconscious mind and memory. This shows there is an inherent problem with OBE reintegration: downloading and storing shadow memories in accessible levels of the physical brain. To be recallable, shadow memories must be accessible to the base level of waking consciousness, and must be stored in base level format, if they are to be recognized by the physical brain as recallable memories.
While I think it is unlikely as a continually ongoing memory process, I admit its possible that the projected double and all of its higher selves could lead something like separate lives while they are out of their physical body. But the physical brain at the base level of consciousness could not be totally privy to these levels of continuing existence. But it may remember small fragments of possibly linked sequential events gleaned from a string of OBE’s. Higher aspects could be, as is commonly believed today, continually gathering experience memories that the base level of consciousness simply cannot be privy to. The physical brain is not capable of storing and recalling most high level memories unless they are first converted into base level format. And unfortunately the vast majority of high level experience memories do not translate into base level format. At a very rough guess I’d say that less than one-percent of high-level experience memories are potentially accessible to the physical brain at the base level of consciousness in the normal waking state.
