Q & A: Comas & the Astral Plane
April 22nd, 2008 by John Wolfe
Question: My question pertains to the comatose state. Could you give your opinion on comas and whether or not you believe there’s a connection between the consciousness of a coma patient and the astral plane? Despite the fact most patients appear unresponsive, is their consciousness fully aware and possibly traveling outside the body? – Sheena
Answer: I absolutely believe comas provide the means for a patient’s awareness to pursue nonphysical realms. However, I can’t say for certain they are actually spending time on the astral plane. I feel the term astral plane has become a sort of catch all for anything deemed nonphysical, but I do believe the coma patient’s consciousness is extremely busy exploring other avenues of existence.
If we have what many call a higher self (and I believe we do), then that higher self has the ability to extend into many other environments while its focus vehicle rests in a hospital bed, or anywhere else for that matter. I actually believe our higher self is focusing upon several states of existence and physical vehicles simultaneously, at all times, but we are only aware of this one specific personality with which we primarily identify. I spoke about this theory in Altered States of Consciousness & Aspects of Awareness.
If we think of a coma in terms of a really deep state of sleep, then we can more easily understand the manner in which our consciousness shifts its focus away from the physical body. I believe the dream environments we encounter on a nightly basis are evidence of the voyages our awareness takes while our bodies are at rest. The coma would be very similar to this, only from a deeper point of “suspended animation,” regarding the patient’s body.
Now, based on your question, it sounds like you may also be asking why people go into comas from a metaphysical standpoint? This I can’t be certain about, but I believe comas may be a way for the higher self to protect the focus personality and the physical vehicle belonging to the comatose patient. This may be just as true of medically induced comas as it is of those resulting from accidents or medical conditions.
If our higher awareness feels it’s in our best interest, especially if someone has undergone some traumatic event, then these events may be better dealt with by withdrawing a portion of awareness from the physical shell. This allows the physical body to tend to itself while the personality, we associate with that body, explores further into other states of being.
The bottom line is those individuals that have entered into comas are absolutely fine. Our conscious awareness transcends this plane of time and space along with the physical vehicle, whether someone is asleep, in a coma, experiencing an altered state, or has passed on.
Transcending is an easy concept to toss around, but it’s not easy to imagine or understand if we haven’t actually been completely, consciously aware during our dreams or other altered states. If we are capable of retaining consciousness during out of body experiences or becoming lucid during dreams, then we are provided with a window into a truer nature of who we are; and often times, in a way that’s far more meaningful than our waking reality.
An individual that has entered into a coma is doing so for a reason that is beneficial for them at a deeper level of their being, but what that reason is can only be considered conjecture, to a certain extent, on my part. However, you are absolutely on the right track in considering that comas and astral projection have something in common. They both share the common bond of the expansive experience of our awareness beyond the physical body.
I’d like to thank Sheena for her thought provoking question. If you have a self help, spiritual development, or metaphysical question you would like to see addressed in a blog post, feel free to contact me. Your name will always be kept anonymous, unless you request otherwise.
If this post has been helpful to you, please consider sharing it with others and/or making a donation. Thank you for supporting Wind of the Soul.
Related Posts
Q & A: Out of Body Experiences & Dream Symbols
Q & A: Out of Body Noises & Sensations
Podcast #2: Astral Projection
Astral Projection & the Big Bang
My Astral Experience With A Tribal Shaman
Experiences Out of the Body – Part 1
Experiences Out of the Body – Part 2
