138 SKETCHES OF GREAT TRUTHS

Most of us sleep about seven or eight hours a
day taking but little account of the hours
spent thus ; they are as important as the hours
of our waking consciousness. As a rule we
do not bring back our experience on the
astral plane, which is where we spend our time
in sleep, yet there are many instances of work
done there, the remembrance of which has been
brought through to the waking consciousness.
Sometimes there is a partial bringing back into
consciousness, the result being a jumbled up
dream with little or no meaning, but not unfre-
quently, what we call dreams are real happenings
on the astral plane. Our interpretations may
often be incorrect, seeing that we are apt to colour
happenings there by physical sight, hearing, etc,,
this is from want of experience and knowledge,
but there are possibilities of training ourselves,
so that we can bring back more clearly the
happenings when we are out of the body in
sleep.

When a man falls asleep, he withdraws in his
astral body, leaving the whole of the physical
vehicle behind him. When he dies, he draws out
with him the etheric part of the physical body, and
consequently has usually at least a moment of
unconsciousness while he is himself freeing from it.
Some men succeed in shaking themselves free of
this etheric envelope in a few moments ; others rest
within it for hours, days or even weeks.