I can definately relate to your experiences LucidLover and found your post to be a very interesting read. I even save it then cut into pieces to compare your experiences with mines.
Years ago I had been experiencing with a similar method. I wrote a little computer program to generate signals in random 3-15 minutes intervalls to remind me to try to do different things while falling asleep. The effect of trying to open my eyes were the same that you described.
I too believe that this method actually take you to a very distinct and stable level of awareness. It seems to be the same level where FAs happen. You may want to experiment with mutual dreaming, as this state is probably the best for such things.
During these projections, I believe, we travel within the collective memories of our neigborhood about the physical world, and hence the solidness and stability we experience. These projections are fake RTZ OBEs as the actual environment is supposed to reflect previous conditions and future plans. But it’s far more real than any ordinary lucid dreams could be so if you want to call them astral projection I’d say we have a definition at least.
You may also notice that as you further travel away from your house, especially when flying, things become chaotic and unstable. This is, I believe, because in order to avoid of being drift away by losing the state stabilizing feedback you have to keep in contact with other’s dream bubbles. These bubbles are like landing units in the “astral” that surround the places that people are familiar with. You may also encounter with rapid environmental shifts as you dock and undock these dreams.
From a waking point of view one may visualize these projections as being taken place within a net of coherent energy bodies (or personal unconsciousnesses) that are expanded into house sized spaces out through and around those centers that project on the body’s image around the solar plexus.
These “bodies” are, I belive, the actual carriers of our memories. So in this sense, this kind of astral projection could be described as the process of scanning the collective subconscious and interpreting the findings into coherent dreamscapes by using our own symbols and pictures that evoke from our personal memory banks.
When one induces an OBE or LD an orchestrated shift happens between two energy configuration I call IBE (in the body or autopoetic) and OBE triad. Triads have a tactical, auditory and visual components, and all of these focuses are associated with different parts of the body.
IBE triad is made by the middle of the three cavities, pelvis, thorax scull and deals with the subjective sensation of inner vibrations, noises and lights (in this order). When it transforms into the OBE triad (solar plexus, neck, point above the head) corresponding sensations also transform in a well predictable manner.
For example, considering merely the body focus it operates on, the Suneye method appear to be dealing exclusively with the upper part of the triad, that is, the process of conversion of entopic lights into the “shining hole” and hypnagogics.
It appear though, that besides Robert Bruce’s Rope, Suneye is one those rare methods that can induce triad shift directly by working on the triad’s upper part, that is, by moving the middle-of-scull focus to above the head.
There is a great confusion regarding the location of these upper centers. It’s mainly due to the fact that brain centers that produce the sensation of our felt body are situated close to those spaces to where they project their subconscious information as chakras, triad points, etc.
The point in the center of scull is related to the point that’s situated between the eyes (also called brow chakra) the similar way as the point above the head is related to the middle of the forehead (third eye).
So when you focus between your eyes or just look with your eyes as normally you also center yourself in the IBE through its upper part. Similarly, when you focus on the middle of your forehead, you also focus the point above your head and assist the transfiguration of the IBE triad into OBE. This is an important part of the Suneye mechanics.
After shift is in progress it’s pretty difficult to open our eyes. Still, we take it self-evident that we can do it whenever we want and will see the immediate environment around our body instantenously. Probably this unconscious expectation is what activates the sight of our energy body.