these are the so-called out-of-body experiences, or OBEs. OBEs are a well-known class of states in which one undergoes the highly realistic illusion of leaving one’s physical body, usually in the form of an etheric double, and moving outside of it. Phenomenologically, the subject of experience is located in this double. Obviously, if one seriously wants to understand what the conscious self is, these experiences are of great philosophical and scientific relevance.
