Greater incidence of OBEs in students?

[LifePurpose]

I have been recently pouring through two great websites OBERF.org and NDERF.org. In reading hundreds of accounts of OBE experiences, it seemed to me that there was a greater incidence of OBEs in college/university students. In fact, this is when I had my two (and only) OBEs. Note that although i was in college, i was actually in my mid 20's (not the typical college-aged student).

I wondered if my observation was really true, so i emailed William Buhlman, the author of so many great books, and he was kind enough to respond to me (fairly promptly, i might add). I thought i'd share our email exchange here in this forum, for anyone else who may be interested. See below:

Good Morning, Mr. Buhlman -

I've been interested in OBEs since, in my late 20's, I spontaneously had two of them within 3 days of each other. I'm 43 now, and my interest hasn't waned. I've had no success in having another since then, although i'll admit my practice has been inconsistent/non-existent.

Within the past month or so, I've had a renewed interest in OBEs, as well as NDEs, in an effort to try to figure out "what this all means" (i.e. the purpose of our earthly existence). I've spent many hours on the internet at OBERF.org and NDERF.org reading the hundreds of accounts that are archived there.

As I read through the OBE accounts, it seems as if a good proportion of accounts occurs during the time period when the experiencer is a college or University student. Have you noticed this coincidence as well? If so, what could the reason be?

I'm just curious,

{my real name}

His answer:

Hi. There appears to be three time windows that are most prolific for spontaneous OBEs.

One is childhood (ages 4-12) before puberty, college age, and then the transition immediately before death.

Why college age OBEs are so commonly reported remains unknown.

I suspect new born infants have many OBEs, but there is no way to confirm.

As a side note, I had my first self initiated OBEs during my college years.

Happy New Year,

William
www.astralinfo.org.

 

[Shiftkitty]

I'm interested to hear the response. My thought is stress. Class demands and impending student loan debt aren't conducive to psychological relaxation, and stress makes the mind do strange things. Lack of sleep and the notorious state of sobriety of college student might also be considered.


My second guess would be that college students are probably less concerned with looking weird by admitting to such things. They don't have jobs that they might lose or not advance in if they present an "awkward" appearance. (Welcome to the corporate world, kiddies! If you look weird, your company looks weird. If your company looks weird, it doesn't get contracts. If it doesn't get contracts, positions get cut. And who goes first? The weird guy!)

 

[Nightrain]

I lost most of my friends when they were between the ages of 17 and 24. My sons lost many of their friends when they were between the ages of 14 and 24. The causes were much the same as they are today: drugs, accidents, murder and war. That age bracket is the period when we are most vulnerable, because that is when we think we can survive anything. That is also the age bracket when we start getting behind the wheel with minimal training and when we are thrown out into the world before we've discovered that life isn't really like it seemed in the movies. That's when kids join gangs or get into military service. And, it's a period when our emotions tend to run amok. It's also a period when women are having their first babies. It's no surprise to me that there would be an inordinate number of Near Death Experiences among college age people, regardless of whether they are in college or not. It just happens that college students report such events, because there isn't as much of a taboo about doing so.

 

[deborah]

Hi,


In William Buhlman's second book The Secret of The Soul - he talks about children that go OBE on page 45-46. DD email in the book ......is me.


The University of Virginia studies OBE's as well. Your question is a good one. Let us know if you ask and they respond. Interesting question.


I was in my 30's in college when I experienced a lot of OBE's.

 

[Kapitan]

I've only ever experienced one OBE - which was in '05 (so I had either been 24 or 25 at the time). The experience didn't bother me in the least, but I think stress was a big factor and the physical condition my body was in at the time.


I was on RX pain meds and anti-depressants for the Fibromyalgia and Sciatica I had at the time. I was in a really bad state and I think with all that was going on with me on the spiritual level at the time that there was just way too much stress - for not only my soul, but my body as well. I think the feeling of not feeling 'safe' also played a large role.


I must have been rather reluctant or simply too weary to get back into my body as when I was out of it and sitting on the edge of my bed, I 'felt' a 'hand' around my upper left 'arm' and a woman's voice say to me, 'No no Gunther. Don't go. I'm right here - come back to bed.' So I felt comforted and went back into my body.

 

[Lady2]

Very interesting...I started having OBE's this year, have them fairly regularly now (2-8+ times a week). I'm 18, not in college yet. Before this I don't ever remember having them. They tend to happen the most when I am just about to go to sleep, in the middle of the night, or just before waking.


Thanks for sharing - do keep us up dated on your discoveries! :thumbsup: