Meditation: A Road Toward Enlightenment

[Sherlockian_Holmes]

* One directs mind to the "generation" of the mind-made body. As if a reed is pulled from the sheath, the mind-made body is pulled from the physical body.

* Having been directed into the mind-made body, physical feelings are lost and one feels empty of the physical body.

any idea how ?

It happens naturally as you gain experience in the deep 4th jhãna.

Sometimes it might not be that obvious that your astral body has already left the physical body. This is because the moment you become an astral body, wherever you think - you immediately appear to.

The suttas describe it like a snake (astral body) shedding its skin (physical body), but you might find that the experience might not be as gentle as that, perhaps even abrupt.

If you are in a complete expanse of space, a black void, then you might want to realize that you are in the expanse of outer-space.

The key is not to confuse this with anything else. In the fourth Jhana, you would already have somewhat of a transitional stage. You still have the sensation of a physical body, but you might experience infinity of dimension and timelessness.