Why do some practitioners abandon astral projection after achieving mastery?

Many practitioners abandon astral projection (AC) due to the high level of daily effort and discipline required to maintain the ability. Often, this cessation is rationalized through the belief that the physical world is the 'best school,' which serves as a psychological defense against the perceived burden of intensive self-work and the waning of initial curiosity.

Is the focus on physical reality a valid reason to stop astral travel?

While it is true that physical reality offers profound lessons, using this as a reason to stop AC can sometimes be a form of 'spiritual laziness.' From a philosophical perspective, choosing the easier path of non-practice and labeling it as a preference for the physical world may be a way to avoid the rigorous demands of spiritual evolution.

What role does spiritual maturity play in the ability to sustain astral experiences?

Spiritual maturity and karmic readiness are crucial. If a person is spiritually unprepared or immature, the laws of the universe or their own internal state may deter them from continuing astral travel. This lack of interest often manifests when the practitioner's internal development does not yet align with the responsibilities and energy required for consistent out-of-body experiences.

I started with AC, but then I left it

I've heard of several people who knew how to astral travel (AT), mastered lucid dreaming (LD), but then gave it up. So I'd like to comment on them.
The arguments of these people are often quite irrational. Most often, they justify it by saying that they do not need AC because this reality teaches them the most and is the best school for them. The physical world is a reality that is the best school.
                  I often think about these people and wonder why they left AC, the truth may be quite different from what they say themselves. I came up with a very interesting, logical and probable theory that would explain why some people who learned AC then left it.
                  (These are mostly people who already had some predisposition to AC, but this is not relevant in this context).
At first, they are drawn by curiosity to LD and AC, and later, curiosity and initial enthusiasm begin to wane.
Maintaining the AC ability requires a lot of effort , and even for a person who has a predisposition for it, these individual disembodiments are not simple and easy.
For the sake of convenience and laziness, a person chooses the easier path instead of working hard and intensively on themselves. It is more comfortable not to work on oneself and to be lazy than to try for AC every day and to work on oneself with great effort every day.
Finally, the person rationalizes the end of astral travel by saying that they don't need AC at all and that this world will teach them a lot (which is true from their point of view).
                  Another reason for the lack of interest in AC could hypothetically be the overall spiritual unpreparedness, immaturity, that karma and the laws of the universe, for some reason, deter the person from AC.