Maybe another way of saying it is that conciousness is more "real" than matter.  Maybe matter is a "realization" of conciousness (one of many).  Maybe words are too limiting. Perhaps spiritual bodies are "beliefs" too.

Maybe I should change my nick to "JustQuestions" or "JustMusings". 

Hi George, Group.

Yes..it does seem as though Paul had an OOBE..(as opposed to Near Death Experience).  When I've brought this up to Christian friends, they usually avoid the topic, roll their eyes or say it was a "vision"..but, why would he say "whether in the body or out of the body?"

Or maybe she chose this life for just this purpose. ??? ??? ???

Love,
Mairlyn   

I think that both the physical body and the spirit body are real, and that neither  is unreal. there is a tendency when you are in a physical body to think the spirit body is unreal, and a few people who spend a lot of time astral traveling may start to think that the physical body is less real.

When a soul has reincarnated mostly as one gender then decides to experience the opposite, it takes a lifetime to make the transition. For instance, let's say I have mostly been here on earth as a female and then when I cross over I decide to have a lifetime as a male for my next life, I will carry over many of the female characteristics into the male lifetime. I believe this also explains homosexuality.

LightSeeker

I think that both the physical body and the spirit body are real, and that neither  is unreal. there is a tendency when you are in a physical body to think the spirit body is unreal, and a few people who spend a lot of time astral traveling may start to think that the physical body is less real.
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I agree Boris both are real. everything is real according to the eye of the beholder. when I was a wee child I remember thinking strange thoughts that I should have chosen to be male. drat, I said to meself. goofed up again. but not really. I believe there is a level of spirit where the spirit is genderless and it matters not; male/female are expressions of energy polarities and we are simple energy complexes who wear many different types of clothing for a particular experience of the entire spectrum of what it means to be a human. but the body is as real as the spirit although I used to resent being in a body as I didn't appreciate it. It became later a mirror of the mind. it reflected every thought and feeling I was having, either as an illness or sign of health; if I talked to the thing it responded, glad for the attention to do my bidding as it was always neutral in that regard. I said to it, well, you're not so ugley after all, as a matter of fact I probably helped form your contours in the womb, choosing your weaknesses and strengths. whenever I realized the emptiness of the body, the futility of thought to save me from despair, the spirit would move over it's walls healing infirmities and making me aware of our spiritual reality and that it's a journey, a vacation resort here if that's what u want it to be.
it's times like these that u know u are already dead and there's nothing to fear about that transition. love, alysia

Both bodies are real its just that out situation and everything around us defines what we believe as real. So for the average person a spirit body isn't real because it can go through walls, which "isn't real" in our materialistic science world. Yet for us explorers and people who have experienced being OBE, or had an NDE we do know its just as real but we can do more as only ourselves limit are experience.

I believe this also follows through in this world. Some people who have studied for years in (have to excuse but not very knowlegable in this area) in certain martial arts can make bells ring without touching them by pushing energy towards it which I have seen and very impresive! All sorts of feats like this, some people I have read have progressed to a fourth (or is it 5th?), i dunno but the next level up dimensional body which apprantly doesnt need to eat, heals quicker. To me this sounds...well you know, i would like to find out more to see if this is actually true, or even slightly but still interesting.

About being homosexual, i think another explanation could be maybe a soul who has led many lifes as male and female and the energys of each side are becoming balanced?

And Ryan awesome explanation! I was trying to explain that feeling but couldn't think how too but you got it spot on! When I've projected sometimes I haven't been able to make my body move at all, sometimes i could but it would be very long and take a lot of effort just to stand up. Once I had stood up I was ok. I went through a phase of this during my OBE experiences but that went long ago thankfully! But yeah its exactly like mud or quicksand, you actually feel pressure all over your astral body like your being held still. Its annoying because you can't move for anything! So after a while i come back out and try again later.

Ryan