My hope is that OBEers will share data while putting aside beliefs so that we can all figure out what the hell is really going on! IMHO, these types of arguments and conversations are what we should be having!

Of course this requires all sides to keep a lid on emotion and proceed with an open mind to the degree that our personal experiences allow-or just try on other view points for brief moments.
Whether we like it or not,theories do emerge about most human endeavors- and 'phase' practice is one of the most profound I can think of. It deserves an explanation and an honest evaluation of
all of the objective and subjective evidence IMO. I like this board because of it's respect for evidence and 'radical empiricism' which are aspects of pragmatism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_empiricism
So,personally I remain very open to the possible reality of what we call "higher astral planes" "realms" or whatever the popular term.This isn't because of reading metaphysical or new age material;but because of some very convincing personal experiences that happened to me (and continue to happen to lesser degrees)at a time in which I was definitely
not commited to such beliefs. In fact,at the time of one of my most profound personal experiences,I was convinced by material reductionism.
Here's a short list of
qualities that I've experienced in environments, and with 'DC's, that we share with the waking world's objects of perception unquestioningly taken to be 'real' ( I think 'real' is relative) :
Stability and consistent access. ( Turn away,then look back to see the objects,people and places can 'remain'.This can happen after sufficient deepening.)
Sentience.( Intelligent conversational content.2 way dialogue.Unsolicited reactions and interactions.Surprising or unexpected information content.)
Perception of spatial separation.( It's perplexing to imagine how neurons and fields could possibly generate content,project it and percieve it within a closed system confined to a skull.)
Novel information.(There's no evidence that biological materials possess intrinsic creative mental properties.They behave in deterministic,predictable ways when isolated.And there are no examples I'm aware of in which data processing connections can add content that was not present within the input.)
So,about the issue of controlling what phase characters do and say as a criteria for reality:
Are there any instances in 'waking reality' in which we can do the same? Well, kind of,
hypnotism. This is a strange and unexplained thing in the 'real world' too.Granted that this does not seem to occur in the WW through only sheer will and intention without being mediated through the environment,but we can't do it to phase characters either unless
we're in the phase so....? This doesn't rule out the idea that some aspects of the phase could be 'mind-like' environments.
IMHO, this is consistent with the idea that consciousness could be a unitive or shared resource among entities.I think this hypothesis predicts what we sometimes experience.If consciousness is a shared finite resource then we should expect to see and experience higher and lower states of entropy among conscious entities.We would see 'ground states' (less self reflective capacity for the imposition of agency and will)and 'volitile states'.(like when we foul)
Of course,like others here,I have experienced extreme lucidity along with extremely lucid phase characters.This is consistent with a 'higher' level' 'ground state' or 'higher realm' I'm thinking......
( Here I'm defining consciousness as having the ability to 'do the work of' an agent's potential to percieve.The agent's ability to carry out intention and will may be relative to it's memory,history and environment.)
"The closer you get to the meaning;the sooner you'll know that you're dreaming" -Dio