But is anyone on this board doing it? You can learn to induce OBE and Lucid dreams and astral projections. I'm confused as to why this is not being done by the majority of the board
Not everyone wants to do this kind of thing. After all, most people experience ordinary lives, and I believe there is a purpose in doing that. Such experiences as I've had, I haven't sought and were spontaneous, and I value them because of that. I think we're here to engage life and learn from it honestly and straightforwardly in mundane terms; and if occasionally we should have spontaneous experiences, well, that's part and parcel of our journey.
I don't fully understand why it's useful to be incarnate and learn in this way, but it's my working hypothesis that it is. I don't see the point in experimenting with OBEs, lucid dreams, astral projection and so on, because, if they are intimations of a higher self or state of being, presumably soon enough I'll be in that state any way. Meanwhile I see them as a distraction from my main task, which is to negotiate life, experiencing all its challenges and rewards.
There's also the point that one can experience the marvel of being alive without any special faculties. If one seeks such experiences, it may be because one is dissatisfied with the hand one has been dealt, and rather than find a way to come to terms with it, seeks escape into the weird and wonderful. Maybe sometimes people miss significant opportunities for spiritual development because they're too distracted by seeking escape from life's exigencies.
Sufis say we should be fully
in the world, but not consider ourselves to be
of it. I can understand the temptations of trying to escape, and for a few years was sidetracked by that. But they caution against seeking unusual experiences just for the sake of it. I used to be disgruntled by that, but at a certain point it began to make sense, and when I stopped looking for the transcendent, it came of its own accord, albeit not in the shape of "strange" experiences.
I've found one exercise quite useful. Just observe someone else doing something that they truly enjoy doing. It could be anything -- with my mother, it used to be eating; with my father, pottering about the garden and tinkering with his fish pond; with my sister, singing.
Someone else might enjoy disco dancing or climbing mountains; it could be anything. Don't try to intervene or be judgemental; just be an observer, and when you manage that, you may experience sheer bliss. I suppose it's easiest when watching young children unselfconsciously at play. At such times, they're completely delightful, completely in their moment, and you as a non-judgemental observer can pick up on that. It's a small, but definitely transcendental experience that helps one waken to the marvel of an ordinary life.