I'm reading "reading the enemies mind.. inside stargate" by Paul H Smith, and I've read parts of "remote viewing secrets" by Robert Mcmoneagle. Both of these books deal with the subject of remote viewing, which is different than astral projection because there are strict protocols for the practice of and a specific definition of "remote viewing", but not so with astral projection. The men who wrote these books were involved in developing remote viewing with the us military. Since the branch of the military that was pursuing this new remote viewing phenomenon needed to convince the higher ups that this was a legitimate pursuit, (to maintain the funding... the military wouldn't fund their shit if they thought it was a bunch of new age bullshit.) they were concerned with being as scientific as possible with their research. Hence, remote viewing is a specific, trainable skill that any disciplined individual could achieve. It's about developing a perception that we are unaccustomed to using.
I've also read the book by Monroe, and it makes sense for a while but it gets really out there towards the last couple chapters. I've looked into getting the hemi-sync cd's that Monroe institute peddles, but they cost upwards of $300... sounds hokey to me. If anyone has one, tell us about it. I've also found a free synthesiser on the internet that is also supposed to induce the "hypnagogic" (half awake, half asleep) state that is allegedly most conducive to achieving an OBE.
I think there is a difference between this "astral projection" and "remote viewing". I've done niether, but am interested.