Our mind's filter affects all of our perception, and I suspect most people don't even know it's there. Since we generally have no other frame of reference than our own thoughts, it's hard to see our own filter. I also find it funny that most people tend to think their filter is "truth". My experience has been that my filter is just a collection of ideas and suggestions that I've gathered randomly - some from society, many from my parents and people I've spent time with. It doesn't have much bearing on "truth".

The psychic work which involves out of body experiences provides an alternate frame of reference to this body/mind filter. This may be one of the reasons I'm so drawn to it. When I can perceive my own filter, I can start to neutralize it.

It's odd to have a frame of reference that's outside the body. I have several "places" that I use as a frame of reference for my "self": the center of my head (surprisingly, not many people spend much time there), a little platform at the top of my aura (I use this when doing trance medium work), my "astral body" (the body I travel in my dreams with), and the "threshold" between lives (I spent a couple years exploring this space - it's fascinating). Each give a unique perspective. In each, I feel my "self", my identity, but in each I have a different relationship to my physical body.

Have you ever been dreaming and also been aware of your body? You know you are dreaming, you can perceive something with you physical body, but you're also still experiencing parts of a dream. It's something like that. I generally (unless sleeping) have some part of my awareness focused on my physical body. Occasionally, I get completely "out" and no longer have my body as a reference point. Eventually, though, it pulls me back in for something.