Using Meditation to Achieve Out-of-Body Experiences

Do you believe your soul or consciousness can travel outside of your body?

Many ancient cultures and religions say - yes. Over time, this phenomena has been called astral projection, out-of-body experiences, or exteriorization.

Even the U.S. government explored psychic abilities, as notably disclosed in its 1970s Stargate Project.

The Egyptians believed the soul (ba) was capable of exteriorizing from the physical form through the “subtle body” (ka). This concept has also been mentioned in Hindu and Taoist texts (e.g., “The Secret of the Golden Flower), as well as in other spiritual practices, religions and cultures. 

Some speculate astral projection occurs at night during sleep, while critics write off these experiences as vivid dreams. Sleep paralysis or falling sensations are signs researchers point to suggesting one is experiencing astral projection.

Robert Monroe, founder of the Monroe Institute, researched out-of-body experiences in his books, including “Journeys Out of the Body,” published in 1971.

And, science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, who infamously created Scientology, wrote about what he called “exteriorization,” and outlined ways he believed this could be achieved in “The Creation of Human Ability,” published in 1954, as well as in other texts.

Psychic and remote viewer Ingo Swann, involved in the Stargate Project, achieved the level of “Operating Thetan (O.T.)” in Scientology. O.T.s allegedly have boosted psychic powers, including what Scientology calls “exteriorization,” the ability for the soul (thetan) to travel out-of-body.  

The Stargate Project was a classified U.S. Army program mainly focused on remote viewing, that is, visualizing locations at far-away distances. The intention was to use remote viewing for military and intelligence operations. 

The program, declassified in the mid-90s, was established in 1977 at Fort Meade in Maryland by the Defense Intelligence Agency and SRI International (SRI).

Harold Puttoff and Edwin May, Stargate Project director and principal investigator, respectively, were also reportedly Scientologists. However, all three men later became disillusioned with the religion, which some call a cult.

“Not only was Ingo a ‘lapsed’ Scientologist, but Dr. Puth and Dr. Ed May, as well,” writes Jacques Vallée in a handwritten letter response to Gerlach Hypnotherapy, exclusively for this research. “I have had discussions with all three about the matter.”  

Vallee is an astronomer, computer scientist and ufologist, who was a Stargate Project consultant. He discussed the project during a March 2025 interview on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

“I could summarize what they said without betraying them, I believe, by saying that the perception, or interaction out of the body was known well before Scientology ‘normalized’ it,” Vallee writes. “But there was value in the concept, best illustrated by the results of SRI experiments.” 

“I am not a Scientologist, but I would agree,” Vallee concludes.

J. Arthur Hill, a U.K.-based psychical researcher, used the term “out-of-the-body experience” in his 1918 book Man is a Spirit, and the term was also used by G.N.M. Tyrell in his 1943 book Apparitions.  

Meditation can be a vehicle to help one achieve exteriorization. When in a theta-wave brain state, between sleep and wakefulness, the gateway to the subconscious mind is more accessible.

To learn more about Meditative Exteriorization, click here.