Ascension of our
Old Universe
Monroe Books
in English - "Journeys Out-Of-The Body"
You are not Your
Physical Body; You are Not the Physical Matter: You are Sun Energy! And
Everything what happened to You, happened for One Good Reason: to Merge
Your Energy with the Energies of Others, with the Energies of Earth,
with the Energies of Universe to create White Sun Energy of Balance and
become one with Intent !
POWER OF HUMAN EMOTIONS - МОЩЬ
ЧЕЛОВЕЧЕСКИХ ЭМОЦИЙ
INTENT - ИНТЭНТ
(кое-что перевела
на
русский)
HOLOGRAPHIC
UNIVERSE - ГОЛОГРАФИЧЕСКАЯ ВСЕЛЕННАЯ - in english и на русском
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!
All Women are Dreamers, though among them there are more gifted, then
others. Dreamer is a person, who can hypnotize herself and lift herself
up, to a faster and higher vibrational level. All Women are Dreamers,
but Dreamers among Men are usually: Sorcerers, Robert Monroe' s
Institute explorers, some magicians, indian gurus, some buddists, some
priests/cledgy and so on. All Women, because of their Womb (if it's
still inside), have this gift, but Men have to work a great deal to
develop this ability !
Dreaming-Awake is self-hypnosis, means consciously or subconsciously
raise herself to a higher consciousness level (vibration), without
loosing control and to perform certain tasks.
"Journeys
Out-Of-The Body" -
OUR
DOUBLE - PLASMIC BODY -
SECOND BODY
Robert A. Monroe - Pioneer of Human Consciousness.
Robert A Monroe has been a pioneer in exploring out-of-the body
experiences, and "Journeys OUT OF THE BODY", his first book, has become
the undisputed classic in the field. He had a long and distinguished
career in the broadcasting industry, as a writer, director of programs,
and creator and producer of some four hundred radio and TV network
programs, and eventually as owner and operator of a radio network and
cable TV system in Virginia. He is the founder and executive director
of the Monroe Institute, internationally known for its work on the
effects of sound wave forms on human behavior. Robert Monroe's second
book, Far Journeys, tells the story of his research and development of
the OOB experience and further explorations beyond time and space. It
was published by Doubleday in 1985. Robert Monroe was a successful and
distinguished business executive, dedicated family man, and noted
pioneer in the investigation of human consciousness. He also invented
Hemi-Sync and founded The Monroe Institute in Virginia, USA.
CONTENTS,
Foreword Introduction
1. Not
with a Wand, nor Lightly
2. Search and Research
3. On the Evidence
4. 'Die Here-Now
5. Infinity, Eternity
6. Reverse Image
7. Post Mortem
8. "Cause the Bible Tells Me So"
9. Angels and Archetypes
10. Intelligent Animals
11. Gift or Burden?
12. Round Holes and Square Pegs
13. The Second Body
14. Mind and Supermind
15. Sexuality in the Second State
16. Preliminary Exercises
17. The Separation Process
18. Analysis of Events
19. Statistical Classification
20. Inconclusive
21. Premises: A Rationale?
Epilogue: Personality Profile
Much
has taken place both in the world and in my personal life since the
final manuscript days prior to the publication of JOURNEYS OUT OF THE
BODY. It was an interesting experience, to say the least, when I
publicly became a member of a highly suspect group labeled Psychic,
Sensitive, Freak, and, more generously, Parapsychologist. The
publication of the book quite thoroughly "blew my cover" as a
reasonably orthodox business executive. However, a good many of the
results were totally unexpected, and some of the serious trepidations
were unfounded. For example, the fact that I was (and still am) well
grounded and active in the material world of business helped greatly in
the serious consideration of the book material.
Another facet: I should have had more faith and confidence in the
business mind as I know it. I had always maintained that business and
industry respected "something of value" without particular regard to
its origin. If it works, use it. Still, I was greatly concerned about
the reaction to the book of the board of directors of the corporation
of which I was president. (Who would want such an unstable person
running their multi-million dollar operationl) At the first board
meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after the book publication, no one
mentioned it.
2-3
Nor did I. However, as we cruised up the canal in the board chairman's
yacht, on our way to dinner at the country club, the chairman's wife
came up from below deck with a copy of JOURNEYS in her hand, "Bob, will
you autograph this for me?" she asked. I complied, more than a little
self-conscious and surprised. I should not have been. "Interesting
stuff," the chairman called over his shoulder as he steered for the
yacht club dock. "My wife is a real psychic. I never make a major
business deal without a reading from her. It works, too."
Needless to say, I was not asked to resign. Actually, I found little or
no adverse effect on my business relationships as a result of the
public disclosure of this "private" side of my life. Instead, many
broad new avenues opened up to me, totally unexpected. Who could have
guessed that I would speak on out-of-body experiences at such an august
and conservative body as the Smithsonian Institution! It actually
happened. Another miscalculation, or so it would seem: it has been
stated that JOURNEYS was a book ahead of its time, that serious
interest in the type of material it contains is only now reaching
significant levels. This may have been true, yet what was it that
precipitated such changes in a mere four years? I like to think a
chicken-or-the-egg question is appropriate, that this book was and is
part of a trigger or catalytic process that is now in chain reaction.
This process states simply; it's O.K. to have strange experiences, to
consider seriously as natural those events and activities beyond the
present ability of our physical sciences to replicate or measure.
Existence beyond death is one of these.
Another decision made about the time of publication: that my conscious
mind or self had insufficient experience and/or training to control in
toto the scope of such non-physical exploration. This was brought about
first by the boredom and impatience of here-to-there-and-back tests in
our physical world. Who wants repeatedly to take an hour dressing in
preparation (wire up to instruments, develop a careful separative
state) just to go from bedroom to kitchen (Virginia to California or
Kansas). Second, many explanations were taking place far beyond my
conscious understanding and control -which inferred that the physical,
conscious "I" actually had very limited ideas as to where to go and
what to do. Thus I made an important decision. For the most part, I
would set up the conscious out-of-body state, then turn the action over
to my total self (soul?). My present consciousness would go along for
the ride, as a part of the whole. The results have been: ecstatic,
illuminating, confusing, awe-inspiring, humbling, reassuring-experience
and exploration far beyond my ability to conceive of, most of it an
apparent educational program that I am absorbing bit by bit. The
problem as I sense it is simple. Eventually, a quantum jump in
consciousness will be required to reduce the material to a practical
"something of value" level. What does this mean? Does that great
consciousness change take place while still alive physically? Or in
another reality, later?
Who are the instructors, the helpers? Precisely bit by bit, we are
beginning to approach the answers in our research at the Institute.
Yes, a research facility was formed and became active in 1972. Our work
has attracted the interest and co-operation of physicists,
psychologists, biochemists, engineers, educators, psychiatrists,
corporate presidents, statisticians, many of whom serve on our board of
advisers. Among the eleven thousand plus pieces of mail received to
date, many sighs of relief were reported. The secret could be talked
about without the need for sanity hearings. Thus the book is serving
its primary purpose. Over seven hundred persons have participated in
our research and experimental training program. Our first Explorer Team
has six members.
4-5
Some fifty more are waiting for our facility to handle their final
indoctrination, and their number is growing daily. We hope to be able
to expand shortly in physical space, equipment, and personnel so that
we can absorb the backlog and the increase. This year, training
programs at the Institute may qualify for credit at the college and
university level. Meanwhile, our Explorer Team of six is bringing back
data faster than we can process it, far more rapidly and diverse than I
alone could accumulate. That which we have sorted is overwhelming in
its import. The fact of consensus and agreement from six different
explorers-each unaware of the other's experiences except in joint
operations-has had a formidable impact upon those who have examined the
material. The details will be reported in another book which is in
preparation. A lot of action to pack into four years. It only
strengthens the concept of accelerated change at work-especially the
change in human needs. I have reviewed JOURNEYS again carefully for
this new edition. I'm happy to say that nothing has to be altered in
the light of later experience. The basics are still the same. From the
point of my experimental level at that time, it is still accurate. One
item we do know: the reality of your reading these words with your left
brain hemisphere is the first stage of filtration.
INTRODUCTION
In our
action-oriented society, when a man lies down to sleep, he is
effectively out of the picture. He will lie still for six to eight
hours, so he is not "behaving," "thinking productively," or doing
anything "significant." We all know that people dream, but we raise our
children to regard dreams and other experiences occurring during sleep
as unimportant, as not real in the way that the events of the day are.
Thus most people are in the habit of forgetting their dreams, and, on
the occasions when they do remember them, they usually regard them as
mere oddities. It is true that psychologists and psychiatrists regard
the dreams of patients as useful clues to the malfunctioning of their
personalities; but even in this application dreams and other nocturnal
experiences are generally not treated as real in any sense, but only as
some sort of internal data processing of the human computer. There are
some important exceptions to this general put - down of dreams, but for
the vast majority of people in our society today, dreams are not things
that serious people concern themselves with. What are we to make of a
person who takes exception to this general belief, who claims to have
had experiences during sleep or other forms of unconsciousness that
were not only impressive to him, but which he feels were real?
6-7
Suppose this person claims that on the previous night he had an
experience of flying through the air over a large city which he soon
recognized as New York. Further, he tells us that not only was this
"dream" intensely vivid, but that he knew at the time that it was not a
dream, that he was really in the air over New York City. And this
conviction that he was really there sticks with him for the rest of his
life, despite our reminding him that a sleeping man couldn't really be
fiying by himself in the air over New York City. Probably we will
ignore a person who makes such a report, or we will politely (or not so
politely) inform him that he is becoming a little weak in the head or
crazy, and suggest that he see a psychotherapist. If he is insistent
about the reality of his experience, especially if he has other strange
experiences too, we may with the best of intentions see about
committing him to a mental hospital. Our "traveler," on the other hand,
if he is smart, will quickly learn not to talk about his experiences.
The only problem with that, as I have found from talking to many such
people, is that he may worry about whether he's going crazy. For the
sake of argument, let's make our "traveler" even more troubling.
Suppose in his account he goes on to say that after flying over New
York City for a while he flew down to your apartment. There he saw you
and two other people, unknown to him, conversing. He describes the two
people in detail, and mentions a few things about the topic of
conversation occurring in the minute or so he was there. Let's suppose
he is correct. At the time he had his experience, you were holding a
conversation on the topic he mentions with two people who fit our
"traveler's" descriptions. What do we make of things now? The usual
reaction to a hypothetical situation of this type is that it is all
very interesting, but as we know that it couldn't possibly happen, we
needn't seriously think about what it might mean. Or we might comfort
ourselves by invoking the word "coincidence." A marvelous word,
"coincidence," for relieving mental upsets. Unfortunately for our peace
of mind, there are thousands of instances, reported by normal people,
of exactly this sort of occurrence. We are not dealing with a purely
hypothetical situation. Such events have been termed traveling
clairvoyance, astral projection, or, a more scientific term,
out-of-the-body experiences (OOBEs). We can formally define an OOBE as
an event in which the experiencer (i) seems to perceive some portion of
some environment which could not possibly be perceived from where his
physical body is known to be at the time; and (2) knows at the time
that he is not dreaming or fantasizing. The experiencer seems to
possess his normal consciousness at the time, and even though he may
reason that this cannot be happening, he will feel all his normal
critical faculties to be present, and so knows he is not dreaming.
Further, he will not decide after awakening that this was a dream. How,
then, do we understand this strange phenomenon? If we look to
scientific sources for information about OOBEs we shall find
practically none at all. Scientists have, by and large, simply not paid
any attention to these phenomena.
The situation is rather similar to that of the scientific literature on
extrasensory perception (ESP). Phenomena such as telepathy,
clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis are "impossible" in terms
of the current physical world view. Since they can't happen, most
scientists do not bother to read the evidence indicating that they do
happen; hence, not having read the evidence, their belief in the
impossibility of such phenomena is reinforced. This kind of circular
reasoning in support of one's comfortable belief systern is not unique
to scientists by any means, but it has resulted in very little
scientific research on ESP or OOBEs.
8-9
In spite of the lack of "hard" scientific data, there are still a
number of definite conclusions one can make from reading what material
there is. First, OOBEs are a universal human experience, not in the
sense that they happen to large numbers of people, but in that they
have happened all through recorded history, and there are marked
similarities in the experience among people who are otherwise extremely
different in terms of cultural background. One can find reports of
OOBEs by housewives in Kansas which closely resemble accounts of OOBEs
from ancient Egyptian or oriental sources. Second, the OOBE is
generally a once-in-a-lifetime experience, seemingly experienced by
"accident." Illnesses sometimes bring it about, especially illnesses,
which are almost fatal. Great emotional stress sometimes brings it
about. In many cases, it simply happens during sleep without our having
any idea of what might have caused it. In very rare instances it seems
to have been brought about by a deliberate attempt. Third, the
experience of an OOBE is usually one of the most profound experiences
of a person's life, and radically alters his/her beliefs. This is
usually expressed as, "I no longer believe in survival of death or an
immortal soul, I know that I will survive death." The person feels that
he/she has directly experienced being alive and conscious without
his/her physical body, and therefore knows that he/she possesses some
kind of soul that will survive bodily death. This does not logically
follow, for even if the OOBE is more than just an interesting dream or
hallucination, it was still occurring while the physical body was alive
and functioning and therefore may depend on the physical body. This
argument, however, makes no impression on those who have actually had
an OOBE.
Thus regardless of what position one wants to take on the "reality" of
the OOBE, it is clearly an experience deserving considerable
psychological study. I am certain that our ideas concerning the
existence of souls have resulted from early experiences of people
having OOBEs. Considering the importance of the idea of the soul to
most of our religions, and the importance of religion in people's
lives, it seems incredible that science could have swept this problem
under the rug so easily. Fourth, the OOBE is generally extremely joyful
to those who have it. I would make a rough estimate that between 90 and
95 per cent of the people who have this experience are very glad it
occurred and find it joyful, while 5 per cent are very frightened by
it, for the only way they can interpret it, while it is happening, is
that they are dying. Later reactions of the person as he attempts to
interpret his OOBE can be rather negative, however. Almost every
time I give a speech on this subject, someone comes up to me
afterward and thanks me for talking about it They had had the
experience some time before, but had no way of explaining it, and
worried, that they were going "crazy."
Fifth, in some instances of OOBEs the description of what was happening
at a distant place is correct and more accurate than we would expect by
coincidence. Not the majority, by any means, but some. To explain these
we must postulate either that the "hallucinatory" experience of the
OOBE was combined with the operation of ESP, or that in some sense the
person really was "there." The OOBE then becomes very real indeed. The
fact that most of our knowledge about OOBEs comes from reports of
once-in-a-lifetime experiences puts us at two serious disadvantages.
The first of these is that most people cannot produce an OOBE at will,
so this precludes the possibility of studying them under precise
laboratory conditions. The second disadvantage is that when a person is
suddenly thrust for a brief period of time into a very novel
environment he may not be a very good observer.
10-11
He is too excited and too busy trying to cope with the strangeness of
it. Thus our reports from the once-in-a lifetime people are very rough.
It would be of great advantage in studying OOBEs to have trained
"travelers" available who could produce the experience at will and who
generally had the characteristics of a good reporter. The book you are
about to read is very rare. It is a firsthand account of hundreds of
OOBEs by a person who is, I believe, a good reporter. Nothing like it
has been published in many years. Robert A, Monroe is a successful
businessman who began experiencing OOBEs quite unexpectedly over a
decade ago. Coming from an academic family and having more than the
average intellectual training, he realized the unusualness of these
experiences and began taking systematic notes from the beginning. I
shall not say more about his experiences per se; his accounts in the
rest of this book are too fascinating and lucid to warrant further
introduction here. Instead, I shall note the qualities he possesses
that make him a good reporter, and which give me a good deal of
confidence in his accounts. When most people have a profound
experience, especially one with religious import, careful questioning
will usually reveal that their original account of it was not so much
an account of what happened as of what they thought it meant. As an
example, let us suppose that what really happens to a person is that he
finds himself floating in the air above his body, in the middle of the
night; while still surprised at this, he perceives a shadowy, dim
figure at the end of the room, and then a blue circle of light floats
past the figure from left to right. Then our experiencer loses
consciousness and wakes up to find himself in his body. A good reporter
will describe essentially that scene. Many people will say, in
perfectly good faith, something like, "My immortal soul was raised from
the tomb of my body by the grace of God last night, and an angel
appeared. As a symbol of God's favor, the angel showed me a symbol of
wholeness' I have often seen distortions this great when I've been able
to question an individual about exactly what happened, but most of the
published accounts of OOBEs have not been subjected to this kind of
questioning. The statements that God will caused the OOBE, that the dim
figure turned into an angel, that the blue circle was a symbol of
wholeness are all things that are part of a person's interpretation,
not his experience. Most people are not aware of the extent to which
their mind automatically interprets things. They think they are
perceiving things as they are. Robert Monroe is unique among the small
number of people who have written about repeated OOBEs, in that he
recognizes the extent to which his mind tries to interpret his
experiences, to force them into familiar patterns. Thus his accounts
are particularly valuable, for he works very hard to try to "tell it
like it is." The initial series of laboratory studies we were able to
do occurred over a period of several months between September 1965 and
August 1966, while I was able to use the facilities of the
Electroencephalographic (brain wave) Laboratory of the University of
Virginia Medical School. On eight occasions Mr. Monroe was asked to try
to produce an OOBE while hooked up to various instruments for measuring
physiological functions. He was also asked to try to direct his
movements during the OOBE into the adjoining room, both to observe the
activity of the technician monitoring the recording equipment and to
try to read a five-digit random target number, which was placed on a
shelf six feet above the floor. Measurements were made of Mr. Monroe's
brain waves (the electroencephalogram), eye movements, and heart rate
(the electrocardiogram). The laboratory was, unfortunately, not very
comfortable for lying still for prolonged periods;
12-13
we had to bring an army cot into the recording room, as there was no
bed there. One of the connections for recording brain waves, the ear
electrode, was of a clip type that caused some irritation to the ear,
and this made relaxation somewhat difficult. On the first seven nights
during which he attempted to produce an OOBE, Mr. Monroe was not
successful. On his eighth night he was able to produce two very brief
OOBEs, and these are described in some detail in his own words on pp.
60-72. The first brief OOBE involved witnessing some unrecognized
people talking at an unknown location, so there was no way of checking
whether it was "fantasy" or a real perception of events happening at a
distance. In the second brief OOBE, Mr. Monroe reported he couldn't
control his movements very well, so he did not report on the target
number in the adjacent room. He did correctly describe that the
laboratory technician was out of the room, and that a man (later
identified as her husband) was with her in a corridor. As a
parapsychologist, I cannot say that this "proves" that Mr. Monroe
really knew what was happening at a distance: it is hard to assess the
improbability of such an event occurring after the fact. Nevertheless,
I found this result quite encouraging for one of the initial attempts
to bring such an unusual phenomenon into the laboratory'. My next
opportunity to work with Mr. Monroe in the laboratory came when he
visited me in California during the summer of 1968. We were able to
have a single laboratory session under much more comfortable
circumstances: a normal bed was available, rather than a cot, and we
used a different type of electrode for measuring brain waves which was
not physically uncomfortable. Under these conditions, Mr. Monroe was
able to produce two brief OOBEs, He awoke almost immediately after the
first OOBE had ended, and estimated that it had lasted eight to ten
seconds. The brain-wave record just before he awoke again showed a
Stage 1 pattern, with possibly a single rapid eye movement occurring
during that time. His blood pressure showed a sudden drop, a steady low
lasting eight seconds, and a sudden resurgence to normal. In terms of
Mr. Monoe's experience (see his description of this technique on p.
70), he reported that he "rolled out" of his body, found himself in the
hallway separating his room from the recording room for a few seconds,
and then felt a need to get back into his body because of a difficulty
in breathing. An assistant, Joan Crawford, and I had been watching him
on a closed-circuit television set during this time and we saw him move
his arm slightly away from his throat just before he awoke and
reported. Mr. Monroe tried again to produce another OOBE that would be
evidential in terms of ESP, coming over and seeing the recording room
and reading a target number on a shelf in that room. His brain-wave
pattern showed much light sleep, so after three quarters of an hour, I
called out to him over the intercom to remind him that we wanted him to
try to produce an OOBE. A while later, he reported having produced an
OOBE, but being unsure of his orientation, he followed a wire which he
thought led to the recording room, and instead found himself outside in
a strange area that he never recalled seeing before. He decided he was
hopelessly disoriented and came back to his body. His description of
that area matched an interior courtyard of the building that he would
indeed have found himself in during an OOBE if he had inadvertently
gone in exactly the opposite direction he should have. It is not
absolutely certain that he had never seen this courtyard while visiting
my office earlier in the day, so this experience is not in itself good
evidence for a paranormal component to the OOBE. In terms of
physiological changes, he again showed a Stage 1 dreaming pattern, with
only two rapid eye movements in the whole period and no clear-cut blood
pressure drop on this occasion.
14-15
Mr. Monroe's experiences, those of many prominent mystics throughout
the ages, and all the data of ESP indicate that our current physical
view of the world is a very limited one, that the dimensions of reality
are much wider than our current concepts. My attempts and those of
other investigators to make these experiences behave in an acceptable
fashion may not work out as well as we would like. Let me give two
examples of "experiments" with Mr. Monroe which were impressive to me
personally, but which are very difficult to evaluate by our ordinary
scientific criteria. Shortly after completing the first series of
laboratory experiments, I moved from the east coast to California. A
few months after moving, my wife and I decided to set up an experiment.
One evening we would concentrate intensely for half an hour, in an
attempt to help Mr. Monroe have an OOBE and come to our home. If he
were then able to describe our home, this would produce good data on
the para-
psychological aspects of his OOBEs. I telephoned Mr. Monroe that
afternoon, and told him only that we would try to direct him across the
country to our home at some unspecified time that night, without giving
him any further details. That evening I randomly selected a time which,
I believed, would occur well after Mr. Monroe would be asleep. My
random selection came out 11 P.M. California time, or 2 A.M. east coast
time. At 11 P.M. my wife and I began our concentration. At 11:05 p.m.
the telephone rang, interrupting it. We did not answer the telephone,
but tried to continue our concentration until 11:30 P.M. The following
morning I telephoned Mr. Monroe and told him only that the results had
been encouraging, and that he should write down an independent account
of what he had experienced for later comparison against our independent
accounts. On the evening of the experiment, Mr. Monroe had the
following experience, which I quote from the notes he mailed me:
"Evening passed uneventfully, and I finally got into bed about 1:40
A.M., still wide awake (north-south position). The cat was lying in bed
with me. After a long period of calming my mind, a sense of warmth
swept over my body, with no break in consciousness, no pre-sleep.
Almost immediately, I felt something (or someone) rocking my body from
side to side, then tugging at my feet! (I heard the cat let out a
complaining yell.) I recognized immediately, that this had something to
do with Charlie's experiment, and with full trust, did not feel my
usual caution (about strangers). The tugging at the legs continued, and
I finally managed to separate one Second Body arm, and held it up,
feeling around in the dark. After a moment, the tugging stopped, and a
hand took my wrist, first gently, then very, very firmly, and pulled me
out of the physical easily. Still trusting, and a little excited, I
expressed willingness to go to Charlie, if that was where he (it)
wanted to lead me. The answer came back affirmatively (although there
was no sense of personality, very businesslike). With the hand around
my wrist very firmly, I could feel a part of the arm belonging to the
hand (slightly hairy, muscular male). But I could not "see" who
belonged to the arm. I also heard my name called once. "Then we started
to move, with the familiar feeling of something like air rushing around
the body. After a short trip (seemed like five seconds in duration), we
stopped and the hand released my wrist. There was complete silence and
darkness. Then I drifted down into what seemed to be a room. I've
stopped quoting from Mr. Monroe's notes at this point, except to add
that when he finished this brief trip and got out of bed to telephone
me it was 2:05 A.M., his time. Thus the time match with my wife and I
beginning to concentrate was extremely good: he felt the tug pulling
him from his body within a minute or so of when we started to
concentrate. On the other hand, his continuing description of what our
home looked like and what my wife and I were doing was not good at all:
16-17
he "perceived" too many people in the room, he "perceived" me doing
things I didn't do, and his description of the room itself was quite
vague. What do I make of this? This is one of those frustrating events
that parapsychologists encounter when working with poorly controlled
phenomena. It is not evidential enough to say that it was
unquestionably a paranormal effect, yet it is difficult simply to say
that nothing happened. It is comfortable to stick with our common-sense
assumptions that the physical world is what it seems to be, and that a
man (or his sense organs) is either located at a certain place and able
to observe it or he is not. Some OOBEs reported in the literature seem
to fit this view, while others have a disturbing mixture of correct
perceptions of the physical situation with "perceptions" of things that
weren't there or didn't happen (to us ordinary observers). Mr. Monroe
reports a number of such mixed experiences in this book, especially his
seeming to "communicate" with people while he is having an OOBE, but
their never remembering it. The second puzzling "experiment" occurred
in the fall of 1970 when I briefly visited Mr. Monroe in Virginia, en
route to a conference in Washington. Staying overnight, I requested
that if he had an OOBE that night, he should come to my bedroom and try
to pull me out of my body so I could have the experience too. I
realized at the time that I made this request with a certain amount of
ambivalence: I wanted him to succeed, yet another part of me did not.
More on that later. Sometime after dawn that morning (I had slept
somewhat fitfully and the light was occasionally waking me), I was
dreaming when I began vaguely remembering that Mr. Monroe was supposed
to try to get me out of my body. I became partially conscious, and felt
a sense of "vibration" all around me in the dream world, a "vibration"
that had a certain amount of indefinable menace connected with it. In
spite of the fear this aroused, I thought that I should try to have an
OOBE, but at that point I lost my thread of consciousness, and only
remember waking up a while later, feeling that the experiment was a
failure. A week later I received a letter from a colleague in New York,
the well-known parapsychologist Dr. Stanley Krippner, and I began to
wonder if it really was a "failure." He was writing to me about an
experience his stepdaughter, Carie, who I am quite fond of, had the
same morning I was having my "dream." Carie had spontaneously reported
to her father that she had seen me in a restaurant in New York City on
her way to school that morning. This would have been roughly about the
time I was having the dream. Neither she nor her father knew that I was
on the east coast. What do I make of this? This was the first time in
years that I had consciously attempted to have an OOBE (I have never,
to my knowledge, succeeded), and while I had no conscious memory of
having one, a friend reports seeing me in a restaurant in New York
City. Even more puzzling, I would have no desire in the world to go to
a restaurant in New York City, a place I dislike intensely, if I were
having an OOBE, although visiting Carie and her family is always very
pleasant. Coincidence? Again, something I would never present as
scientific evidence of anything, but something I can't dismiss as
meaningless. This last incident illustrates an attitude toward OOBEs
that I nave observed in myself, although I do not like to admit it,
which is that I am somewhat afraid of them. Part of me is very
interested in the phenomenon scientifically, another part of me is
excited at the prospect of personally experiencing it. A third part of
me knows that an OOBE is something like dying, or opening up part of my
mind to an unknown realm, and this third part is not at all anxious to
get on with it. If OOBEs are "real," if the things Mr. Monroe describes
cannot be dismissed as an interesting kind of fantasy or dream, our
world view is going to change radically. And uncomfortably.
18-19
One thing that psychologists are reasonably sure of about human nature
is that it resists change. We like the world to be the way we think it
is, even if we think it's unpleasant. At least we can anticipate what
may happen. Change and uncertainty have possibilities of unsettling
things happening, especially when that change doesn't take account of
our desires, our wills, our egos. I have tried to talk mainly about
straightforward scientific studies of OOBEs in introducing this book,
but now we get to what may be the most important aspect of the subject.
Mr. Monroe's experiences are frightening. He is talking about dying,
and dying is not a polite topic in our society. We leave it in the
hands of priests and ministers to say comforting words, we occasionally
joke about it, and we have a lot of aggressive fantasies about other
people dying, but we don't really think about it. This book is going to
make you think about death. You are not going to like some of the
things it says and some of the thoughts it inspires. It will be very
tempting to dismiss Robert Monroe as a madman. I would suggest that you
not do that. Neither would I suggest that you take everything he says
as absolute truth. He is a good reporter, a man I have immense respect
for, but he is one man, brought up in a particular culture at a
particular time, and therefore his powers of observation are limited.
If you bear this in mind, but pay serious attention to the experiences
he describes, you may be disturbed, but you may learn some very
important things. In spite of being afraid. If you have had an OOBE
yourself, this book may help you to be less afraid, or to develop your
potentials for this experience into a valuable talent. Read the book
carefully and examine your reactions. If you really want to experience
it yourself, good luck!
CHARLES T. TART, Davis, California January 10,1971.
1 - NOT WITH A
WAND, NOR LIGHTLY
The following ordinarily would appear in a foreword or preface. It is
placed here on the assumption that most readers skip such preliminarie
to get to the meat of the matter. In this case, the following is the
crux of it all. The primary purposes for the release and publication of
the material contained here are (i) that through dissemination as
widely as possible, some other human being-perhaps just one-may be
saved from the agony and terror of trial and error in an area where
there have been no concrete answers; that he may have comfort in the
knowledge that others have had the same experiences; that he will
recognize in himself the phenomenon and thus avoid the trauma of
psychotherapy, or at the worst, mental breakdown and commitment to a
mental institution; and (2) that tomorrow or in the years to come, the
formal, accepted sciences of our culture will expand their horizons,
concepts, postulates, and research to open wide the avenues and
doorways intimated herein to the great enrichment of man's (and
woman's) knowledge and understanding of himself/herself and his/her
complete environment. If one or both of these aims are served, whenever
and wherever it may be, this is sufficient reward indeed. The
presentation of such material is not designed for any particular
scientific group.
20-21
Rather, the principal attempt is to be as specific as possible in
language understandable to scientists and laymen alike, with avoidance
of ambiguous generalities.
The physicist, chemist, life scientist,
psychiatrist, and philosopher may each use more technical or
specialized terminology to state the same premise. Such interpreta
tion
is expected. It will indicate, that the plan of communication is
workable, that the "plain" talk does convey the proper meaning to a
wide base rather than to a narrow pinnacle of specialists. It is
expected, too, that many interpretations will be contradictory. The
most difficult mental process of all is to consider objectively any
concept which, if accepted as fact, will toss into discard a lifetime
of training and experience. Yet much has already been accepted as fact
on far less direct evidence, than that presented here, and is now
"accepted." It is the hope that the same will apply to the data
included here. It is indeed the most difficult mental process of all,
this objective consideration business. Once in a lifetime is enough.
Let's look for a beginning to this candid report of a highly personal
experience. In the spring of 1958
I was living a reasonably normal life
with a reasonably normal family. Because we appreciated nature and
quiet, ours was a country environment. The only unorthodox activity was
my experimentation with techniques of data learning during sleep-with
myself as the chief subject. The first sign of deviation from the norm
took place on a Sunday afternoon. While the rest of the family had gone
to church, I conducted an experiment by listening to a particular tape
recording in a highly isolated environ
ment It was a simple attempt to
force concentration on a single intelligent-signal source (aural) with
lowered signal input from the other senses. Degree of retention and
recall would indicate the success of the technique. Isolated from other
sights and sounds, I listened to the tape. It contained no unusual or
stray suggestion. Most significant in retrospect was the strong
suggestion to remember and recall all that took place during the
relaxation exercise. The tape ran its course with no unusual result. My
recall was thorough and complete because it had been a product of my
own efforts and thus familiar to me. Perhaps too much so, as no
retention and recall of original or new material was possible in my
case. The technique would have to be utilized with some other subject.
When my family returned, we all had brunch, which consisted of
scrambled eggs, bacon, and coffee. Some unimportant controversy
occurred at the table, which was not germane to the problem. A little
over an
hour later, I was seized with a severe, iron-hard cramp which
extended across my diaphragm or solar plexus area just under my rib
cage. It was a solid band of unyield
ing ache. At first, I thought it
was some form of food poisoning from brunch. In desperation, I forced
myself to regurgitate, but my stomach was empty. Other members of my
family who had eaten the same food showed no signs of illness or
discomfort. I tried exercising and walking, on the assumption that it
was a cramped abdominal muscle. It was not appendicitis, as my appendix
had been removed. I could breathe properly in spite of the pain, and my
heart appeared normal in pulse rate. There was no perspiration or other
symptoms whatsoever-just the hard, tense, locked-in-place rigidity of a
band of muscles in the upper abdomen. It occurred to me that perhaps
some factor in the recording had caused it In going over the tape and
the written copy from which it had been made, I found nothing unusual.
What suggestion there was, I complied with, seeking to relieve any
unconscious suggestion that might have been applied.
22-23
Still, no relief.
Perhaps I should have phoned immediately for a doctor. However, it
didn't seem that serious, nor did it become any worse. But it didn't
get any better, either. Finally, we did phone for medical help. All of
the local doctors were away or playing golf. From one-thirty in the
afternoon until around midnight, the cramp and pain continued. No
typical home medication seemed to alleviate it. Sometime after twelve I
fell asleep from pure exhaustion. I woke up in the early morning, and
the cramp and pain were gone. There was muscle soreness throughout the
afflicted area, much as one gets from overcoughing, but no more. What
caused the cramp in this area is still unknown. It is mentioned only
because it was the first out-of-the ordinary event, physical or
otherwise, that took place. In retrospect, perhaps it was the touch of
a magic wand, or a sledge hammer, although I didn't know it at the
time. Some three weeks later, the second major event entered the
picture. There had been no further recorded tape experimentation,
because the suspicion was strong that the cramp (in solar plexis) was
somehow related... Thus there was nothing that apparently triggered the
event. Again, it was a Sunday afternoon and the family had gone to
church. I
lay down on the couch in the living room for a short nap while the
house was quiet. I had just become prone (head to the north, if that
had any meaning), when a beam or ray seemed to come out of the sky to
the north at about a 30° angle from the horizon. It was like
being struck by a warm light. Only this was daylight and no beam was
visible, if there truly was one. I thought it was sunlight at first,
although this was impossible on the north side of the house. The effect
when the beam struck my entire body was to cause it to shake violently
or "vibrate." I was utterly powerless to move. It was as if I were
being held in a vise (tool, тиски). Shocked and frightened, I forced
myself to move. It was like pushing against invisible bonds. As I
slowly sat upright on the couch, the shaking and vibration slowly faded
away and I was able to move freely. I stood up and walked around. There
had been no loss of consciousness that I was aware of, and the clock
showed that only a few seconds had elapsed since I had stretched out on
the couch. I had not closed my eyes, and had seen the room and heard
outdoor noises during the entire episode. I looked out the window,
especially to the north, although why and what I expected to see, I
don't know. Everything looked normal and serene. I went outside for a
walk to puzzle over this strange thing that had happened. Within the
following six weeks, the same peculiar condition manifested
itself nine times. It occurred at different periods and locales, and
the only common factor was that it began just after
I had lain down for
rest or sleep. Whenever it took place, I fought myself to a sitting
position, and the "shaking" faded away. Although my body "felt" the
shaking,
I could see no visible evidence that it was doing so. My
limited knowledge of medicine envisioned many possibilities as the
cause. I thought of epilepsy, but I under
stood, that epileptics had no
memory or sensation in such seizures. Furthermore, I understood that
epilepsy is hereditary and shows signs at an early age, and neither was
evident in my case. Second was the possibility of a brain disorder such
as a tumor or growth. Again, the symptoms were not typical, but this
could be it. With trepidation, I went to our longtime family physician,
Dr. Richard Gordon, and explained the symptoms. As an internist and
diagnostician, he should have had what answers there may have been. He
also knew my medical history, such as it was. After a thorough
physical, Dr. Gordon suggested that I had been working too hard, that I
get more sleep and take off a little weight. In short, he could find
nothing wrong with me physically. He laughed at the possibility of a
brain tumor or epilepsy.
24-25
I took his word for it and returned home
relieved. If there was no physical basis for the phenomenon, I thought,
it must be hallucinatory, a form of dreaming. Therefore, if the
condition came again, I would observe it as objectively as possible. It
obliged by "coming on" that very evening. It began some two minutes
after I lay down to sleep. This time, I was determined to stay with it
and see what happened rather than fight my way out of it. As I lay
there, the "feeling" surged into my head and swept over my entire body.
It was not a shaking, but more of a "vibration," steady and unvarying
in frequency. It felt much like an electric shock running through the
entire body without the pain involved. Also, the frequency seemed
somewhat below the sixty-cycle pulsation, perhaps half that rate.
Frightened, I stayed with it, trying to remain calm. I could still see
the room around me, but could hear little above the roaring sound
caused by the vibrations. I wondered what would happen next. Nothing
happened. After some five minutes, the sensation slowly faded away and
I got up feeling perfectly normal. My pulse rate was up, evidently due
to the excitement, but no more. With this result, I lost much of my
fear of the condition. In the next four or five occurrences of the
vibration, I discovered little more. On one occasion, at least, it
seemed to develop into a ring of sparks about two feet in diameter,
with the axis of my body in the center of the ring. I could actually
see this ring if I closed my eyes. The ring would start at the head and
slowly sweep down to my toes and back to the head, keeping this up in a
regular oscillation. The time of the cycle seemed to be some five
seconds. As the ring passed over each section of my body, I could feel
the vibrations like a band cutting through that section. When the ring
passed over my head, a great roaring surged with it, and I felt the
vibrations in my brain. I attempted to study this flaming
electrical-seeming ring, but could discover no reason for it, or what
it was. All of this remained unknown to my wife and children. I could
see no reason to worry or concern them until something definite was
known of it I did take a friend into my confidence, a well-known
psychologist, Dr. Foster Bradshaw. If it had not been for him, I cannot
predict where I would be at this time. Perhaps in an institution. I
discussed the matter with him, and he was most interested. He suggested
it might be some form of hallucination. Like Dr. Gordon, he knew me
well. Consequently, he laughed at the concept that I was in the
beginning stages of schizophrenia or the like. I asked him what he
thought I should do. I shall always remember his answer.
"Why, there's nothing else you can do but look into it and see what it
is," Dr. Bradshaw replied. "Anyhow, it doesn't seem you have much
choice. If it happened to me, I'd go off in the woods somewhere and
keep trying until I found the answer."
The difference was that it was happening to me and not to Dr. Bradshaw,
and I couldn't afford to go off in the woods, either literally or
figuratively. I had a family to support, among other things. Several
months passed, and the vibration condition continued to occur. It
almost became boring, until late one night when I was lying in bed just
before sleep. The vibrations came and I wearily and patiently waited
for them to pass away so I could go to sleep. As I lay there, my arm
was draped over the right side of the bed, fingers just brushing the
rug. Idly, I tried to move my fingers and found I could scratch the
rug. Without thinking or realizing that I could move my fingers during
the vibration, I pushed with the tips of my fingers against the rug.
After a moment's resistance, my fingers seemed to penetrate the rug and
touch the floor underneath. With mild curiosity, I pushed my hand down
farther.
26-27
My fingers went through the floor and there was the rough
upper surface of the ceiling of the room below. I felt around, and
there was a small triangular chip of wood, a bent nail, and some
sawdust. Only mildly interested in this daydream sensation, I pushed my
hand still deeper. It went through the first-floor ceiling and I felt
as if my whole arm was through the floor. My hand touched water.
Without excitement, I splashed the water with my fingers. Suddenly, I
became fully aware of
the situation.
I was wide awake. I could see the moonlit landscape
through the window. I could feel myself lying on the bed, the covers
over my body, the pillow under my head, my chest rising and falling as
I breathed. The vibrations were still present, but to a lesser degree.
Yet, impossibly, my hand was playing in a pool of water, and my arm
felt as if it was stuck down through the floor. I was surely wide awake
and the sensation was still there. How could I be awake in all other
respects and still "dream" that my arm was stuck down through the
floor? The vibrations started to fade, and for some reason I thought
there was a connection between my arm stuck through the floor and their
presence. If they faded away before I got my arm "out," the floor might
close in and I would lose an arm. Perhaps the vibrations had made a
hole in the floor temporarily. I didn't stop to consider the "how" of
it. I yanked my arm out of the floor, pulled it up on the bed, and the
vibrations ended soon after. I got up, turned on the light, and looked
at the spot beside the bed. There was no hole in the floor or rug. They
were just as they always had been. I looked at my hand and arm, and
even looked for the water on my hand. There was none, and my arm seemed
perfectly normal. I looked about the room. My wife was sleeping quietly
in the bed, nothing seemed amiss. I thought about the hallucination for
a long time before I was able to calm down enough to sleep. The next
day I considered actually cutting a hole in the floor to see if what I
had felt was there on the subfloor - the triangular chip of wood, the
bent nail, and the sawdust. At the
time, I couldn't see disfiguring the floor because of a wild
hallucination. I told Dr. Bradshaw of this episode, and he agreed that
it was a rather convincing daydream. He was in favor of cutting the
hole in the floor to find out what was there. He introduced me to Dr.
Lewis Wolberg, a psychiatrist of note. At a dinner party, I
casually mentioned the vibration phenomenon to
Dr. Wolberg. He was only
politely interested, and evidently in no mood for "business," for which
I couldn't blame him. I didn't have the courage to ask him about the
arm in the floor. It was becoming fairly confusing. My environment and
personal experience had led me to expect some kind of answers or at
least promising opinions from modern technology. I had an above-normal
scientific, engineering, and medical background as a layman. Now, I was
faced with something where answers or even extrapolation was not
quickly available. In retrospect, I still cannot envisage having
dropped the matter entirely at any time. It may be that I could not
have done so if I tried. If I thought I faced incongruities at this
point, it was because I did not know what was yet to come. Some four
weeks later, when the "vibrations" came again, I was duly cautious
about attempting to move an arm or leg. It was late at night, and I was
lying in bed before sleep. My wife had fallen asleep beside me. There
was a surge that seemed to be in my head, and quickly the condition
spread through my body. It all seemed the same. As I lay there trying
to decide how to analyze the thing in another way, I just happened to
think how nice it would be to take a glider up and fly the next
afternoon (my hobby at that time). Without considering any
consequences, not knowing there would be any I thought of the pleasure
it would bring. After a moment, I became aware of something pressing
against my
shoulder. Half-curious, I reached back and up to feel what it was.
28-29
My
hand encountered a smooth wall. I moved my hand along the wall the
length of my arm and it ; continued smooth and unbroken. My senses
fully alert, I tried to see in the dim light. It was a wall, and I was
lying against it with my shoulder. I immediately reasoned that I had
gone to sleep and fallen out of bed. (I had never done so before, but
all sorts of strange things were happening, and falling out of bed was
quite possible. Then I looked again. Something was wrong. This wall had
no windows, no furniture against it, no doors. It was not a wall in my
bedroom. Yet somehow it was familiar. Identification came instantly. It
wasn't a wall, it was the ceiling. I was floating against the ceiling,
bouncing gently with any movement I made. I rolled in the air,
startled, and looked down. There, in the dim light below me, was the
bed. There were two figures lying in the bed. To the right was my wife.
Beside her was
someone else. Both seemed asleep. This was a strange dream, I thought.
I was curious. Whom would I dream to be in bed with my wife? I looked
more closely, and the shock was intense. I was the someone on the bed!
My reaction was almost instantaneous. Here I was, there was my body. I
was dying, this was death, and I wasn't ready to die. Somehow, the
vibrations were killing me. Desperately, like a diver, I swooped down
to my body and dove in. I then felt the bed and the
covers, and when I opened my eyes, I was looking at the room from the
perspective of my bed. What had happened? Had I truly almost died? My
heart was beating rapidly, but not unusually so. I moved my arms and
legs. Everything seemed normal The vibrations had faded away. I got up
and walked around the room, looked out the window, smoked a cigarette.
It was a long time before I had the courage to return to bed, lie down,
and try to sleep. The following week I returned to Dr. Gordon for
another physical examination. I didn't tell him the reason for the
visit, but he could see
I was worried. He carefully examined me, ran
blood tests, fluoroscopes, electrocardiograms, palpated all cavities,
ran urinalysis, and about everything else he could think of. He checked
very carefully for indications of brain lesions, and asked me many
questions relating to motor action of various parts of the body. He
arranged for an EEG (brain-wave analysis), which evidently showed no
unusual problem. At least he never reported any to me, and I am sure he
would have. Dr. Gordon gave me some tranquilizers, and sent me home
with orders to take off weight, smoke less, get more rest- and said
that if I had a problem, it was not a physical one. I met with Dr.
Bradshaw, my psychologist friend. He was even less helpful and far from
sympathetic when I told him the story. He thought I should try to
repeat the experience,
if I could. I told him I wasn't ready to die.
"Oh, I don't think you'll do that," Dr. Bradshaw stated calmly. "Some
of the fellows, who practice yoga and those Eastern religions claim
they
can do it, whenever
they want to." I asked him "do" what. "Why, get out of the physical
body for a while," he replied. "They
claim, they can go all over the place. You ought to try it."
I told him, that was ridiculous. Nobody can travel around without their
physical body.
"Well, I wouldn't be too sure," Dr. Bradshaw replied calmly. "You ought
to read something about the Hindus. Did you study any philosophy in
college?"
I said, I had, but there was nothing, I could recall about this
traveling
without-the-body business. "Maybe you didn't have the right philosophy
professor, that's, what it
seems to me." Dr. Bradshaw lit a cigar, then looked at me. "Well, don't
be so closed-minded. Try it and find out. As my old philosophy
professor
said:
30-31
"If you're blind in one eye, turn your head, and if you're blind
in both eyes, then open your ears and listen."
I asked what to do if you were deaf, too, but I didn't get a reply. Of
course, Dr. Bradshaw had every reason to be casual about it. It was
happening to me, not him. I don't know what I would have done without
his pragmatic approach and his wonderful sense of humor. It is a debt I
shall never be able to repay. The vibrations came and went six more
times before I got up the courage to try to repeat the experience. When
I did, it
was an anticlimax. With the vibrations in full force,
I thought of floating upward-and I did. I smoothly floated up over the
bed, and when I willed myself to stop, I did, floating in mid-air. It
was not a bad feeling at all, but I was nervous about falling suddenly.
After a few seconds I thought myself downward, and a moment later I
felt myself in bed again with all normal
physical senses fully operating. There had been no discontinuity in
consciousness from the moment I lay down in bed until I got up after
the vibrations faded. If it wasn't real-just a hallucination or dream-I
was in trouble. I couldn't tell where wake-fulness stopped and dreaming
began. There are thousands of people in mental institutions who have
just that
problem. The second time I attempted to disassociate deliberately, I
was successful. Again I went up to ceiling height. However, this time I
experienced an overwhelmingly strong sexual drive and could think of
nothing else. Embarrassed and irritated at myself, because of my
inability to control this tide of emotion,
I returned back into my
physical body. It wasn't until some five episodes later, that I
discovered the secret of such control. The evident importance of
sexuality in the whole subject is so great that it is covered in detail
later. At the time, it was an exasperating mental block which held me
within the confines of the room where my physical body lay. With no
other applicable terminology, I began to call the condition the Second
State, and the other, non-physical body we seem to possess the Second
Body. So far this terminology fits as well as anything else. It wasn't
until the first evidential experience which could be checked that I
seriously considered these to be anything but daydreams,
hallucinations, a neurotic aberration, the beginnings of schizophrenia,
fantasies caused by self-hypnosis, or worse. That first evidential
experience was indeed a sledgehammer blow. If I accepted the data as
fact, it struck hard at nearly all of my life experience to that date,
my training, my concepts, and my sense of values. Most of all, it
shattered my faith in the totality and certainty of our culture's
scientific knowledge. I was sure our scientists had all the answers. Or
most of them. Conversely, if I rejected what was evident to me, if to
no one else, then I would also be rejecting what I respected so
greatly: that mankind's emancipation and upward struggle depends
chiefly upon his translation of the unknown into the known, through the
use of his intellect and the scientific principle. That was the
dilemma. It may have been truly the touch of a magic wand and a gift
bestowed I still don't know.
2. SEARCH AND
RESEARCH
32-33
What does one do when faced with an unknown? Turn away and forget about
it? In this case, two factors negated that possibility. One was nothing
more than curiosity. The second: how can one forget or ignore an
elephant in the living room? Or more to the point, a ghost in the
bedroom? On the other side of the scale were the conflicts and
anxieties, very real, very disturbing. There was no question that I was
deeply afraid of what might happen to me if the "condition" continued.
I was much more concerned about the possibility of a growing mental
illness than a physical deterioration. I had studied enough psychology
and had enough psychologist and
psychiatrist friends to compound such fears. Moreover, I was afraid to
discuss the matter with these friends. I was afraid that I would then
be classified as their "patients," and lose the closeness that equality
(normalcy) brings. Non-professional friends in business and community
would be worse. I would be labeled a freak or psychotic, which could
seriously affect my life and the lives of those close to me. Finally,
it seemed to be something to keep from my family. It seemed unnecessary
that they worry along with me. It was only the definite need to explain
odd actions that forced the disclosure to my wife. She accepted it
reluctantly because there was no other real choice, and thus she became
a worried witness to incidents and events much in contradiction to her
religious training. The children were then much too young to
understand. (Later, the matter became commonplace to them. Away at
college, my older daughter reported that after she and her roommate had
looked around the empty dorm room one night, she said, "Daddy, if
you're here, I think you better go now. We want to get undressed for
bed." Actually, I was two hundred miles away at the time, both
physically and otherwise.) Gradually I became more accustomed to this
strange addition in my life. More and more, I was slowly able to
control its movements. In a few ways it had actually become
helpful. I had become reluctant to part with it. The mystery
of its very presence had aroused my curiosity. Even after I had
determined that there was no physiological cause, and that I was no
more insane than most of my fellow men, the fears persisted. It was a
defect, illness, or deformity that had to be hidden from "normal"
people. There was no one to talk to about the problem, other than an
occasional meeting with
Dr. Bradshaw. The only other solution seemed to
be some form of psychotherapy. But a year (or five or ten) of daily
interviews costing thousands of dollars with no promised results didn't
seem very efficient. It was very lonely in those early days. Finally, I
began to experiment with this strange aberration, keeping notes of each
event. I also began to read in areas of study long neglected in my life
pattern. Religion had not greatly influenced my thinking, yet it seemed
that this was the only remaining body of the writings and knowledge of
man in which I could look for answers. Beyond childhood churchgoing and
rare attendance with a friend, God and church and religion had meant
little to me. In fact, I hadn't given the matter much thought one way
or another, as it simply didn't evoke my interest.
34-35
In my superficial
reading of past and present Western philosophies and religions, I found
vague references and generalities. Some seemed to fit as somebody's
attempt to describe or explain similar incidents. Biblical and
Christian writings offered many of these, all without specific causes
or cures. The best advice seemed to be to pray, meditate, fast, go to
church, absolve my sins, accept the Trinity, believe in the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Ghost, resist Evil, or resist not Evil, and give
myself to God. All of this did nothing but add to the conflict. If this
new thing in my life was "good," i.e., a "gift," then it evidently
belonged to saints, or at least saintly types, according to religious
history. I felt that qualification for sainthood was certainly above
and beyond me. If this new thing was "evil," then it was the Work of
the Devil, or, at the least, of a demon trying to possess or dispossess
me, and should be exorcised. The orthodox ministers of organized
religion whom I met politely accepted the latter view to varying
degrees. I got the feeling I was dangerous and heretical in their eyes.
They
were wary. In the Eastern religions I found more acceptance of the
idea, as Dr. Bradshaw had indicated. There was much talk of the
existence of a nonphysical body. Again, such a condition of being was
the product of great spiritual development. Only Masters, Gurus, and
other long-trained Holy Men had the ability to leave their physical
bodies temporarily to achieve indescribable mystical insights. There
were no details, and no pragmatic explanation of what was meant by
spiritual development. Implied was that in the practices of secret
cults, sects, lamaseries, etc., such details were common knowledge. If
this were true, what or who was I? Certainly too old to start life anew
in a Tibetan monastery. The loneliness became acute. Evidently, there
were no answers. Not in our culture. It was at this point that I
discovered the existence of an underground in the United States. The
only factor missing is that no laws exist against its function nor is
there official persecution and prosecution involved. This underground
only occasionally intermingles in part with the worlds of business,
science, politics, academia, and the so-called arts. Furthermore, it
definitely is not limited to the United States, but infiltrates all of
Western civilization. Many people may have heard of it vaguely or
casually have come in contact with it, and passed it off as just people
with queer ideas. For one thing is usually certain: members of this
underground who are respected in their communities don't talk about the
interest or beliefs that qualify them for membership unless they know
you too are in the club. They have learned from experience that to be
outspoken brings censure - from their ministers, customers, employers,
or even friends. I suspect the membership may run into millions-if all
would admit to
their qualification. They are found in all walks of life: scientists,
psychiatrists, physicians, housewives, college students, businessmen,
teen-agers, and at least a few ministers in formal religions. This
group meets all the qualifica
tions of an underground movement. They
gather in small groups, quietly and often semi-secretly. (The events
are often publicly announced, but you have to be "with it" before you
can understand the notice.) The participants usually discuss affairs of
the underground only with other members. Other than family or close
friends
(who are probably also members), the community doesn't know of
this secret interest and life of the underground member. If you asked
him, he would deny such membership because often he doesn't realize he
really is so associated. All are to some degree emotionally and
intellectually dedicated to a cause. Finally, the underground has its
own literature, language, technology, and to some extent demigods. At
the moment, this underground is highly disorganized. In fact, there is
no organization whatsoever in the usual sense of the word.
36-37
Rarely,
even, have the local groups gone so far as to adopt a title or name for
themselves. So far, they are simply small but regular gatherings held
in someone's living room, or a bank's conference room, or quite
possibly a church rectory. This group of individuals is groping in the
dark and seems to take many diverse pathways-yet the goal is the same
for all. However, like other kinds of underground movements, if you
have become a member and you visit another city, you inevitably meet
other members. It isn't planned. It just "happens." Who comprises this
underground? First, the professionals. At one end are the
parapsychologists, very few in number. These are men who have
legitimate doctorates from recognized universities, who have publicly
conducted research into ESP. The most well-known of these is Dr. J. B.
Rhine, formerly of Duke University, who conducted and compounded simple
statistical probability card tests for some thirty years. To his
satisfaction, he proved statistically that ESP is fact. His results are
looked upon dubiously and for the most part unacceptably by the
majority of psychologists and psychiatrists in the United States. There
are others in the same category. Andrija Puharich, J. G. Pratt, Robert
Crookall, Hornell Hart, Gardner Murphy all come under this
classification. If you are a member, these are familiar names. The
professional spectrum runs the gamut from the para-psychologist to the
roadside palmist who claims to be a gypsy or New Delhi Indian, and who
charges five dollars for a quick five-minute stock "reading." Areas of
interest are quite diverse, but all have interconnecting bonds of
common beliefs in one way or another. The mass underground looks to the
professionals for information and guidance, and gives them something
akin to hero worship. Anyone who Writes a Book, Organizes a Foundation,
Conducts Research, has a Major Experience, Studied with a Great
Professional, Gives Psychic Readings, Conducts Classes in Mind and/or
Soul Development, Heals by Faith, is an Accredited Astrologer, Minister
of Divine Science or Spiritualism, Trance Medium, Outer-Space Saucer.
Devotee, Hypnotist-these are the professionals. Most derive all or part
of their income from this activity. Many have deep professional
jealousy for each other, and often are inclined to be suspicious of
techniques and theories propounded outside their particular activity.
They may even subtly deride or look with tolerant, superior amusement
at results unrelated to their specialty. This could well explain why,
as of now, there is no organization in the underground. Yet, in spite
of themselves, the professionals are drawn to one another. Their common
interest forces this. There are no others with whom they can share
their thoughts and experiences as equals and with understanding. This
is not in any way intended to cast aspersions or discredit upon
the professionals. They are a completely fascinating and wonderful
group of people. Each in his own way, whatever it may be, is seeking
after Truth. What a dull world it would be without them once you have
become a member of the under
ground. For the underground consumer, there
are magazines, newspapers, lectures, book clubs (at least fifty new
underground books are published each year, many by top houses), and
even TV and radio programs. The latter, evidently put together by
overeager members, have not been successful because the underground is
still very much a minority group. The basic public reaction is: "You
don't really believe in that stuff, do you?"Who, then, makes up the
mass of this underground? Contrary to what one might expect, they are
not merely a conglomerate of silly, uneducated, superstitious,
unreasoning misfits. True, some of the like are included, but at no
greater percentage than is found in the general
population. As a matter of fact, if it could be surveyed, it is
quite probable that
their average IQ would be far above that of a general cross section of
Western humanity.
38-39
The common bond or cause that draws them together is
simple. All have a belief that (1) man's Inner Self is neither
understood nor fully expressed in our contempora
ry society; and (2)
this Inner Self has capabilities to act and perform mentally and
materially to a degree unknown and unrecognized by modem science. These
are people whose prime avocation is to read, talk, think, discuss, and
participate in anything "psychic" or "spiritual." This is all that is
needed for membership. Perhaps you are in the club and didn't realize
it How do these people "get" that way? The most common answer is to
experience or be a part of some phenomenon that cannot be explained by
modem scientific, philosophic, or religious teachings. One type of
person shrugs it off, sweeps it under the rug, and forgets about it.
The other,
who eventually becomes a member, tries to find some
answers. I qualified
for membership because I couldn't find any other source of information.
Unfortunately, the information I was looking for was very sparse
indeed, even in this strange new-old world. But at least there were
those who seriously considered the possibility that the Second State
could and did happen. It soon became apparent that the underground
started more than a hundred years ago, or earlier, when present-day
science began to organize man's concepts and rid them of unreasoning,
unsupported "knowledge." In such efforts to purify, anything that did
not or had not yet met the test of empiricism was ruthlessly discarded
by intellectual leadership. Those who continued to hold any of the
discarded beliefs fell into disrepute. If they stubbornly persisted and
still wished to be active and accepted in society, they had no choice
but to go underground with their secret ideas while maintaining another
image publicly. Many who refused to practice this deceit became
Martyrs. To date, in this enlightened society, the same attitude still
exists to a very great extent. Of the professionals who are known by
their fellows as proponents of parapsychology or anything similar,
there may be five who still command admiration and respect publicly
from their profession, be it medicine, psychology, psychiatry, or the
physical sciences. At this stage, I believe I have met all five. Sadly,
I am little wiser, through no fault of theirs. They just don't know
much about the Second State or Second Body. Most of all, I enjoy the
people I have met in the underground. I've found them in small towns,
big cities, in business, in church groups, in universities, and even in
the American Psychiatric Association! As a rule, they are truly gentle
people. They are jolly, with a warm sense of humor. They are a happy
group who can laugh when necessary at their own serious interest.
Whether intentionally or not, they are the most altruistic and
empathetic cross section of humanity I have known. It must be no
accident that they are the most religious in the true
sense of the word. If this appears to be a curt dismissal of all other
sources and material uncovered in the "psychic" writings available, it
is not so intended. Each has its own version of Truth, and perhaps
there are indeed many Truths. I have sat in seances with trance mediums
and asked definite questions, received vague answers which were to me
pure evasions when a straightforward reply would have meant so much.
Yet, later, to my astonishment, in one such case I participated in a
Second Body experiment that verified (to me and others) the
authenticity of this medium's ability. Truth here is truly a mystery!
The work of Edgar Cayce, virtually a latter-day saint in the psychic
world, was without doubt most evidential and well investigated, but
unbelievable in terms of present-day science and medicine. Most
definitely, here was truth unfolding, and history may not record it
except in some dim archives. Today, some twenty years after his death,
no more is known as to how his ability worked and what it was than on
the day he died.
40-41
Cayce's
readings were helpful, but are exceedingly
difficult to bring into concrete focus, as they relate to Second State
existence.
He confirmed it, but did not explain. Much of his material
in this area is clouded by the haze of a strong religious conditioning.
This leaves it open to interpretation, so Cayce translators
(ministers?) have sprung up to provide such intercession. There are
others even now who evidently can perform similarly to Cayce. One gave
quite accurate physical reports of me, and provided some general data
on my Second State activities which were neither enlightening nor
provable. They did convince me of the validity of her ability, by all
means. Again, another Truth (to me and others who participated), but no
direct answers that could be used in a court of law. Several "psychics"
performed "life readings" for me. They included wide generalizations,
but were unable to give direct, straightforward answers to simple
questions. If genuine (and who am I to say they are not?) these
psychics must be definitely limited in their specific perception.
Either that, or they sutler problems in translation from symbols to
articulation. I can well appreciate how this latter might occur. It was
in my readings and contacts with this branch of human thought I
fondly call the underground that I finally found strong glimmerings of
what was happening to me. If I hadn't been involved personally, I would
not have believed what I found. At the same time, it was comforting to
discover that I was not unique. What was it all about? Simply, I was
performing "astral projection." Dr. Bradshaw had given me the clue,
although he himself had heard about such things only remotely. Astral
projection, to the uninitiated, is a term given to the technique of
leaving one's physical body temporarily and moving about in a
non-material or "astral" body. Many connotations have been given the
word "astral," and many interpretations, scientific and otherwise. The
word "scientific" is used cautiously, because the modern scientific
world, in the West, at least, neither recognizes, nor is seriously
aware of even the possibility of such things.
In the obscure history of mankind, it is an entirely different matter.
The word "astral" has dim origins in early mystical and occult events
which involve witchcraft, sorcery, incantations, and other seeming
foolishness which modem man looks upon as silly and superstitious
nonsense. As no attempt was made to delve deeply into this area, I
still don't know what the word "astral" means. Thus I prefer to stick
to the terms "Second Body" and "Second State." This type of literature,
which still flourishes, depicts an astral world composed of many levels
or planes, which is where people go when they "die." The person who
travels around in his astral body can make short visits to these
places, talk with "dead" people, participate in activities "there," and
come back to the physical body apparently none the worse for wear.
There have been times when I have fervently hoped (prayed!) for the
latter to be true. In order to perform this miraculous feat, one had to
be arduously trained, or, better still, "spiritually developed,"
according to the occultists. These teachings have supposedly been
handed down secretly through history to enlighten those who had become
advanced enough to receive them. Evidently, from time to time, there
were those who revealed the secret or accidently learned the technique.
In the past, they have been canonized, castigated, cremated, laughed
at, and locked up for such public revelation. This doesn't make the
future seem very promising, in my case. Paradoxically, much of the data
contained in my notes tends to confirm this occult approach to the
subject-which came as quite a shock. Using liberal interpretation and
translation into the modern idiom, much of it fell neatly into place.
Also, much was left unsaid, although I do not know why. According to
the literature of the psychic underground, the religious, mystical
history of men constantly makes reference to this Second Body.
42-43
Long
before Christianity and the Bible appeared, cultures in Egypt, India,
and China, to name a few, held the Second Body idea as standard
operating procedure. Historians have found these references again and
again, but evidently consigned them to the mythology of the times. If
one reads the Bible from this point of view, the belief is confirmed
many times in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Catholic Church
are found consistent reports of saints and other religious figures
having such experiences, some of them willfully. Even in Protestantism,
devout followers have reported the out-of-body experience during some
form of religious ecstasy. In the Orient, the concept of a Second Body
has long held a natural and accepted position of reality. Again, this
is an entire study in itself, and there are numerous underground books
and authorities on oriental cultures that affirm the concept of a
Second Body. There are supposed to be in existence today those adepts,
lamas, monks, gurus, and the like who exercise mental and physical
powers-including Second Body activity that are completely at odds with
present scientific knowledge. Largely, these have been ignored in our
materialistic society because they can't be duplicated in the
laboratory. In the files of various psychic research organizations here
and abroad, there are hundreds of case-history reports of out-of-body
experiences. Such reports go back at least a hundred years, and many
more are found in various writings of the past. They are there for
anyone who wishes to investigate the phenomenon. Virtually all of such
reported experiences are spontaneous one-time-only events. Usually,
they have come at a time when the individual was either physically ill
or debilitated, or during an intense emotional crisis. All seem to be
highly subjective, yet the great mass of these reports is evidential in
itself. During this century, several impressive collections of these
experiences have been published and should be required reading if one
pursues the subject. The weakness in all of them is apparent: most are
basically
reportorial, supplemented by conjecture. No specifics based upon direct
examination or experimentation are included. Reason? Evidently, there
has been no such solid research performed. In very rare instances there
are published records of individuals who could deliberately and
willfully induce the Second State and move about in their Second Body.
There may be more, but only two stand out in recent history. If others
have and are performing this act, they have kept the results to
themselves. The first of these is Oliver Fox, an Englishman who was
active in psychic research and practices. He published fairly detailed
reports of out-of-body experiences and techniques for achieving this
state. Except in the underground of 1920, his work received little
attention. Yet he very definitely attempted to bring the experience
into the framework of understanding of his era. The second and most
well-known was Sylvan Muldoon, who published several works on the
subject in collaboration with Hereward Carrington, over the period
1938-51. Muldoon was the "projectionist" and Carrington was a
consistent researcher in psychic phenomena. To date, their books have
been the classics in the field, and offer interesting reading. In my
after-the-fact investigation, I again wondered at much that obviously
had been omitted. Also, little or no empirical experimental tests were
made to provide data for a serious yet objective investigator. The most
recent has been a book by the author Yram. (A woman? Mary backward?) It
too offered several clues, but no solid continuity relating to my case.
Significant attempts at scientific study and evaluation have been made
recently by several noteworthy men, such as Hornell Hart, Nandor Fodor,
Robert Crookall, and others with good academic backgrounds. Most of
these are relatively free of the distorting factors present in so much
of the underground literature, and their titles will be found along
with other recent publications in the Bibliography.
44-45
All serve to verify
the fact of the existence of the Second Body, but bring forth little or
no concrete data at the experimental, non-philosophic level. Again, how
can one discuss experiments that have not taken place? The most
consistent problem encountered in associating with the underground has
been to avoid submergence of the analytical approach in the vast morass
of theological thought and belief. Once, not too long ago, man thought
electricity was God; before that, the sun, lightning, and fire. Our
sciences told us these ideas were ridiculous, and tried to show us
through experimentation. Perhaps the Second Body operating in the
Second State can provide the quantum jump to prove God empirically.
Then there will be no more underground. The psychic underground
provided me with many new friends, but few specific answers to such
questions as, What do I do now? To my surprise, they looked to me for
answers. There appeared to be only one remaining path to take. Hundreds
of experiments spread over twelve years, and still continuing, have
brought forth conclusions that seem inescapable yet alien to my
environmental conditioning. In the material to come, the test will be
yours.
3. ON THE EVIDENCE
In the fall of 1964 an interesting meeting was held one evening in Los
Angeles. It was composed of some twenty assorted psychiatrists,
psychologists, scientists, et al-and myself. It was a most rewarding
evening. The purpose of the meeting was to examine with sincerity and
seriousness the experiences and experiments which have been condensed
herein. After several hours of interrogation by the group, it was my
turn. I asked two simple questions of each of them: "If you were going
through what I have been experiencing, what would you do?"
It was the definite opinion of the majority-more than two thirds-that
every effort should be made to continue, such experimentation in the
hope of enlightening and expanding man's knowledge of himself. Several
half seriously stated that I should run, not walk, to the nearest
psychiatrist. (None present offered his services.) The second question:
"Would you, personally, take part in experiments that would lead to the
creation of such unusual activity in yourself?" Here, the pattern
changed somewhat. About half stated their willingness to participate.
Oddly, in this group were some of those who were most skeptical of the
reality of such experiences.
46-47
Of course, this gave me the opportunity to
nudge gently those who were in favor of continued experiments. When it
came to the dive into the cold, strange waters, let someone else do
it. And in many ways, I don't blame them. If presented to me
twelve years ago, I doubt that I would have volunteered. Why did the
group bother to assemble? Curiosity, perhaps. Or again, it may have
been some of the evidential material that had been accumulated, I hope
the latter. Here are some of the key reports from the notes, which
aroused their interest.
9/10/58 Afternoon
Again, I floated upward, with the intent of visiting Dr. Bradshaw and
his wife. Realizing that Dr. Bradshaw was ill in bed with a cold, I
thought I would visit him in the bedroom, which was a room I had not
seen in his house and if I could describe it later, could thus document
my visit. Again came the turning in air, the dive into the tunnel, and
this time the sensation of going uphill (Dr. and Mrs, Bradshaw live in
a house some five miles from my office, up a hill). I was over trees
and there was a light sky above. Momentarily, I saw (in the sky?) a
figure of a rounded human form, seemingly dressed in robes and a
headpiece on his head (an oriental concept remains), sitting, arms in
lap, perhaps cross-legged a la Buddha; then it faded. I don't know the
meaning of this. After a while, the uphill travel became difficult, and
I had the feeling that the energy was leaving, and I felt I wouldn't
make it. With this thought, an amazing thing happened. It felt
precisely as if someone had placed a hand under each arm and lifted me.
I felt a surge of lifting power, and I rushed quickly up the hill. Then
I came upon Dr. and Mrs. Bradshow. They were outside the house, and for
a moment I was confused, as I had reached them before I got to the
house. I didn't understand this because Dr. Bradshaw was supposed to be
in bed.
Dr. Bradshaw was dressed in light overcoat and hat, his wife in a dark
coat and all dark clothes. They were coming toward me, so I stopped.
They seemed in good spirits, and walked past me unseeing, in the
direction of a smaller building, like a garage, Brad trailing behind as
they walked. I floated around in front of them, waving, trying to get
their attention without result. Then without turning his head, I
thought I heard Dr. Bradshaw say to me, "Well, I see you don't need
help any more." Thinking I had made contact, I dove back into the
ground (?), and returned to the office, rotated into the body and
opened my eyes. Everything was just as I had left it. The vibration was
still present, but I felt I had enough for one day.
Important aftermath: We phoned Dr. and Mrs, Bradshaw that evening. I
made no statement other than to ask where they were between four and
five that afternoon. (My wife, upon hearing of the visit, said flatly
it was not possible, could not be so because Dr. Bradshaw was home in
bed sick.) With Mrs. Bradshaw on the phone, I asked the simple
question. She stated that roughly at four twenty-five they were walking
out of the house toward the garage. She was going to the post office,
and Dr. Bradshaw had decided that perhaps some fresh air might help
him, and had dressed and gone along. She knew the time by back-checking
from the time they arrived at the post office, which was twenty minutes
to five. It takes roughly fifteen minutes to drive to the post office
from their house. I had come back from my trip to them at approximately
four twenty-seven. I asked what they were wearing. Mrs. Bradshaw stated
she was wearing black slacks, and a red sweater which was covered with
a black car coat. Dr. Bradshaw was wearing a light hat and a
light-colored topcoat. However, neither "saw" me in any way or were
aware of my presence. Dr. Bradshaw had no memory of saying anything to
me. The great point is that I had expected to find him in bed, and
didn't. The coincidences involved were too much.
48-49
It was not important
to prove this to anyone else. Only to me. It proves to me-truly for the
first time-that there might well be more to this than normal science
and psychology and psychiatry allow-more than an aberration, trauma, or
hallucination- and I needed some form of proof more than anyone else, I
am sure. It is a simple incident, but unforgettable. In this visit to
Dr. Bradshaw and his wife, the time of visit coincides with the
physical event. The autosuggestion hallucination factor is negative.
I
expected to find Dr. Bradshaw in bed in the house, but did not do so
and was puzzled by the inconsistency. Identical reports with conditions
of actual events:
(1) Location of Dr. Bradshaw and his wife.
(2) Position of the two relative to each other.
(3) The actions of the two.
(4) Wearing apparel of the two. Possibility of unconscious
pre-knowledge through earlier observation of the above:
(1) Negative, had no information of their change in plans or time
habits of post office visits.
(2) Indeterminate, consciously at least unaware of who walks first.
(3) Negative, would have no pre-knowledge of their walking across to
the garage in such fashion.
(4) Indeterminate, may have observed both in similar dress, but
expected to find only one (Dr. Bradshaw), in bedclothes.
3/5/59 Morning
In a motel in Winston-Salem: I woke up early and went out to have
breakfast at seven-thirty, then returned to my room about eight-thirty
and lay down. As I relaxed, the vibrations came and then an impression
of movement. Shortly thereafter, I stopped, and the first thing I saw
was a boy walking along and tossing a baseball in the air and catching
it. A quick shift, and I saw a man trying to put something into the
back seat of a car, a large sedan. The thing was an awkward-looking
device that I interpre
ted to be a small car with wheels and electric
motor. The man twisted and turned the device and finally got it into
the back seat of the car and slammed the door. Another quick shift, and
I was standing beside a table. There were people sitting around the
table, and dishes covered it. One person was dealing what looked like
large white playing cards around to the others at the table. I thought
it strange to play cards at a table so covered with dishes, and
wondered about the overlarge size and whiteness of the cards. Another
quick shift, and I was over city streets, about five hundred feet high,
looking for "home". Then I spotted the radio tower, and remembered that
the motel was close to the tower, and almost instantly I was back in my
body. I sat up and looked around. Everything seemed normal. Important
aftermath: The same evening, I visited some friends, Mr. and Mrs. Agnew
Bahnson, at their home. They were partially aware of my "activities,"
and on a sudden hunch, I knew the morning event had to do with them. I
asked about their son, and they called him into the room and asked him
what he was doing between eight-thirty and nine that morning. He said
he was going to school. When asked more specifically what he was doing
as he went, he said he was tossing his baseball in the air and catching
it. (Although I knew him well, I had no knowledge that the boy was
interested in baseball, although this could be assumed.) Next, I
decided to speak about the loading of the car. Mr. Bahnson was
astounded. Exactly at that time, he told me, he was loading a Van
DeGraff generator into the back seat of his car. The generator was a
large, awkward device with wheels, an electric motor, and a platform.
He showed me the device. (It was eerie to see physically something you
had observed only from the Second Body.)
50-51
Next, I told about
the table
and the large white cards. His wife was excited at this one. It seems
that for the first time in two years, because they had all arisen late,
she had brought the morning mail to the breakfast table and had passed
out the letters to them as she sorted the mail. Large white playing
cards! They were very excited over the event, and I am sure they were
not humoring me. In this morning visit to Mr. Bahnson and his family,
the time of visit coincides with actual events. Autosuggestion
hallucination, negative; no conscious intent of visit, although
unconscious motivation possible. Identical reports with conditions of
actual events:
(1) Son walking down the street tossing ball in air.
(2) Mr. Bahnson at car.
(3) Mr. Bahnson's actions at car.
(4) Device he had at car.
(5) Action of Mrs. Bahnson at table, the dealing of "cards."
(6) Card size and white color.
(7) Dishes on table.
Possibility of unconscious pre-knowledge through earlier observation of
the above:
(1) Negative, unaware of son's interest in baseball, and not conscious
of his basic activities.
(2) Negative, had no knowledge of Mr. Bahnson's actions in morning
around car, and reported action was not part of his daily routine.
(3) Negative, as indicated such actions were not routine, i.e., loading
of car, thus could not be part of preobserved habit patterns of Mr.
Bahnson.
(4) Indeterminate, possible that device had been observed previously
but not in location indicated.
(5) Negative, no part of preobservation memory, as Mrs. Bahnson did not
make habit of such action; sorting mail at table was unusual event.
(6) Negative, for reasons just given, coupled with no such habits in
own life pattern of sorting mail at table, plus misinterpretation of
action itself.
(7) Indeterminate, preobservation could have been applied here in
relation to the Bahnson family, as writer had taken breakfast there
several times.
10/12/60 Night
The results are so contradictory to what I believed that it must be
reported in detail. In our attempts to find some answers, anywhere, we
had come in contact with Mrs. M., who purportedly had mediumistic
powers. I have and still have the highest regard for her as a person of
great kindness and integrity. However, in two "sittings" in which we
participated, I came away with the definite impression, that Mrs. M.,
although deeply sincere, was acting out some form of split personality,
when she went into a trance. The "guides" who took over her body(?) and
spoke through her vocal cords were to me nothing more or less than
manifestations of this. This implied not that I thought Mrs. M.
deliberately created this illusion, but that it happened as a result of
a self-induced hypnotic state, and she truly had no knowledge of what
took place, I was sure, that in no way was Mrs. M. attempting to
"fake." She wasn't and isn't that type of person. What left me
unconvinced was that when I had asked her guides-her dead husband and
an American Indian-certain questions as they spoke through her, I
received evasive replies. The best I could get was, "You will discover
this through your own sources." This at the time seemed to me to be a
simple way to avoid an answer. that could be verified in other ways. It
is important, that I point out my complete skepticism of Mrs. M. and
her
guides. Yet what happened last night and the report today utterly
confuses me.
52-53
R.G., a friend of Mrs. M., had suggested, that I attempt
to "visit" a seance to be held by Mrs. M. in a New York apartment
Friday night (last night). I half agreed, stating, that I certainly
wasn't sure that it was possible. Frankly, when Friday night came, the
meeting had slipped my mind (consciously at least). Here is what took
place.
After a normal evening at home, my wife and I went up to bed
around eleven-thirty. My wife fell asleep almost immediately, as I
could tell from her steady, deep breathing. As I lay there, evidently
deeply relaxed and possibly half-asleep, I suddenly felt that "walking
over your grave" coldness and the hairs on the back of my neck started
to rise. I looked across the half-darkened room, fearful yet utterly
fascinated. I don't know what I expected, but standing in the doorway
leading from the hall was a white ghost like figure. It actually looked
like the traditional figure of a ghost, some six feet tall, as it stood
there, with a flowing sheetlike material draping it from its head to
the fioor. One hand was reaching out and holding onto the door jamb. I
was completely frightened, and I had no chance to connect the figure
with anything I had done. The moment it began to move toward me, I
cringed in half-terror and at the same time felt, I had to see what it
was. Almost immediately I felt hands placed over my eyes, so I couldn't
see. I kept putting the hands away in spite of my fear, until finally
the ghost like form was beside the bed, not a foot away from me. Then
someone took hold of my upper arms, gently, and I moved up out of the
bed. With this, I calmed down, evidently because I felt, that whatever
it was,
it was friendly. I didn't struggle or resist. Immediately,
there was a quick sense of movement and we (I then felt there were two
of them, one on each side) were suddenly over a small room, as if we
were looking down on it from the ceiling. In the room below were four
women. I looked at the two beings on each side of me.
One was a blond
male, the other dark-haired, almost oriental. Both seemed to be quite
young, in their early twenties. They were smiling at me. I spoke to
them and said they would have to excuse my attitudes as I was uncertain
of what I was doing. Then I floated down to the only empty chair and
sat down in it. A tall large woman in a dark suit sat opposite me. A
woman in what looked like an ankle-length white robe sat next to me.
The other two were indistinct. A woman's voice asked, if I would
remember, that I had been there, and I assured her, that I certainly
would. Another woman said something about cancer, but that
is all I could get. Then one of the women (the one in the dark suit)
came over and swung over the side of my chair, and draped herself right
on top of me! I didn't feel her weight, but for some reason, she got up
suddenly. There was laughter, but my mind was on other things.
Evidently, the contact with the woman, who sat on top of me had altered
things. Just at that moment, I heard a male voice said, "I think he's
been away long enough; we'd better take him back." I was torn between
going and staying, but didn't argue. Almost instantly, I was back lying
in my bed and that was it, except that my wife had been awake during
the entire time. She stated, that I alternately gasped, made moaning
and whimpering noises, and then seemed to do little or no breathing at
all. Other than that, she hadn't seen or heard anything, except, that
our cat asleep in the room had awakened and had been extremely nervous.
My wife was quite upset and worried. I'm sure I would have been too, if
I had gone through the same with her.
The "meeting" certainly
deserved checking, so I phoned R.G. and discovered several things.
First, there were four women at the stance. At my request, they were
gathered together at the same apartment (very small living room)
wearing the same clothes. The woman in the dark suit was of identical
build as I saw, and
she inadvertently "sat" in the chair "reserved" for
me.
54-55
This had taken place later in the evening, after eleven-thirty,
when the stance had been long over, and the four were sitting around
talking. The tall woman had jumped up out of "my" chair when the rest
called out, "Don't sit on Bob!" They laughed at the joke. One of the
other women had worn a long white housecoat. The words about my
remembering were not spoken orally (that supermind communication
again?), but one of the women had stated she was working at Cancer
Memorial Hospital the following day. I had met the other two women
previously, Mrs. M. and R.G., but the two, herein described, were then
strangers to me. Four women, the clothes of two, the build of one, the
sitting in the chair, the sitting on top of me and jumping up, the
laughter, the small room, the "cancer" reference - that's too much
coincidence even for me, and beyond my ability to hallucinate that
properly. I'm convinced. But the two men. Does Mrs. M. truly
communicate with her dead husband and an Indian? I didn't know until
afterward that he had been a blond! I must be less of a skeptic and
more open-minded with Mrs. M. In the visit to the apartment, time
coincides with the physical event. Autosuggestion hallucination,
indeterminate, as idea of trip may have been retained unconsciously,
although no conscious attempt was made. Identical reports with
conditions of actual events:
(1) Size of room.
(2) Number of women present, four.
(3) Empty chair.
(4) Apparel of two women.
(5) "Cancer" mention.
(6) Action of woman sitting in chair.
(7) Laughter attitude of group.
Possibility of unconscious preknowledge through earlier observation
ofthe above:
(1) Negative, no previous visits or descriptions of apartment.
(2) Indeterminate, R.G. may have revealed number of people to be present
(3) Negative, idea of empty chair came to group only during that same
evening.
(4) Negative, had never met women before nor observed their dress.
(5) Negative, for same reasons just given. Would have no knowledge of
unknown woman's work at Cancer Memorial Hospital.
(6) Negative, as action was unplanned.
(7) Negative, as reaction of others was spontaneous.
8/15/63 Afternoon
A productive experiment after a long layoff! R.W., a businesswoman whom
I know quite well through long work association, and a close friend
aware of my "activities'' (but somewhat skeptical still, in spite of
rather unwilling participation), has been away this week on her
vacation up on the New Jersey coast. I do not know exactly where she is
vacationing other than that. Nor did I inform her of any planned
experiment, simply because I hadn't thought of it until today
(Saturday). This afternoon,
I lay down to renew experimentation, and
decided I would make a strong effort to "visit" R.W. wherever she was.
(Rule one in my case always has been that I am most successful going to
someone I know well and the opportunity does not come up too often.) I
lay down in the bedroom about three in the afternoon, went into a
relaxation pattern, felt the warmth (high order vibrations), then
thought heavily of the desire to "go" to R.W.
56-57
There was the familiar
sensation of movement through a light blue blurred area, then I was in
what seemed to be a. kitchen. R.W. was seated in a chair to the right.
She had a glass in her hand. She was looking to my left, where two
girls (about seventeen or eighteen, one blond and one brunette) also
were sitting, each with glasses in their hands, drinking something. The
three of them were in conversation, but I could not hear what they were
saying. I first approached the two girls, directly in front of them,
but I could not attract their attention. I then turned to R.W., and I
asked if she knew I was there.
"Oh yes, I know you are here" she replied (mentally, or with that
superconscious communication, as she was still in oral conversation
with the two girls). I asked, if
she was sure that she would remember
that I had been there.
"Oh, I will definitely remember," the reply came. I said, that this
time I was going to make sure that she remembered.
"I will remember, I'm sure I will" R.W. said, still in oral
conversation simultaneously. I stated that I had to be sure she would
remember, so I was going to pinch her.
"Oh, you don't need to do that, I'll remember" R.W. said hastily. I
said I had to be sure, so I reached over and tried to pinch her,
gently, I thought. I pinched her in the side, just above the hips and
below the rib cage. She let out a good loud "Ow," and I backed up,
because I was somewhat surprised. I really hadn't expected to be able
actually to pinch her. Satisfied that I had made some impression, at
the least, I turned and left, thought of the physical, and was back
almost immediately. I got up (physically!), and went over to the
typewriter where I am now. R.W. will not be back until Monday, and then
I can determine if I made the contact, or if it was another
unidentifiable miss. Time of return, three thirty-five.
Important aftermath: It is Tuesday after the Saturday of the
experiment. R.W. returned to work yesterday, and I asked her what she
had been doing Saturday afternoon between three and four. Knowing my
reason for asking, she said she would have to think about it and let me
know on Tuesday (today). Here is what she reported today: On Saturday
between three and four was the only time there was not a crowd of
people in the beach cottage where she was staying. For the first time,
she was alone with her niece (dark-haired, about eighteen) and the
niece's friend (about the same age, blond). They were in the
kitchen-dining area of the cottage from about three-fifteen to four,
and she was having a drink, and the girls were having Cokes. They were
doing nothing but sitting and talking. I asked R.W. if she remembered
anything else, and she said no. I questioned her more closely, but she
could not remember anything more. Finally, in impatience, I asked her
if she remembered the pinch. A look of complete astonishment crossed
her face."Was that you?" She stared at me for a moment, then went into
the privacy of my office, turned, and lifted (just slightly!) the edge
of her sweater where it joined her skirt on her left side. There were
two brown and blue marks at exactly the spot where I had pinched her.
"I was sitting there, talking to the girls" R.W. said, "when all of a
sudden I felt this terrible pinch. I must have jumped a foot. I thought
my brother-in-law had come back and sneaked up behind me. I turned
around, but there was noone there. I never had any idea it was you! It
hurt!"
I apologized for pinching so hard, and she obtained from me a promise
that if I tried any such thing again, I would try something other than
a pinch that hard. In this episode, the time coincides with the actual
events.
58-59
Autosuggestion hallucination, indeterminate, as willful desire
was suggested, and preknowledge was present of general location of R.W.
at that time. Identical reports with conditions of actual events:
(1) Location (inside rather than outside).
(2) Number of people present.
(3) Description of girls.
(4) Actions of people present.
(5) The acknowledgment of pinching.
(6) Physical marks from pinching.
Possibility of unconscious preknowledge through earlier ob-servation of
the above:
(1) Negative, preknowledge implied activity outdoors on beach rather
than indoors.
(2) Negative, preknowledge implied adults in group, as R.W. was
visiting sister and brother-in-law.
(3) Negative-indeterminate, possibility of preknowledge of niece and
hair color through R.W. sometime previously, negative as to friend of
niece, her hair color and age.
(4) Negative, no pre-knowledge of non-existent habit pattern for that
particular moment of day.
(5) Negative, R.W. had no preknowledge of experimental attempt as no
such attempt had been made previously, nor was experimenter in habit of
pinching R.W. Had not done so previously.
(6) Negative, no possible way that R.W. could have known where pinch
marks should have occurred to conform with area reported. There are
additional evidential reports, some of which have been included in
other portions of this writing where they may help illustrate certain
areas of "theory and practice.'* One or two have been attempted under
laboratory conditions. The incidents may have been simple and
unimportant in themselves, but as minute pieces in a mosaic, they were
vital. The emerging pattern through the glimpses of the whole was made
believable and acceptable to me only through the inclusion of hundreds
of such scraps of evidence. Perhaps it may be to you, too.
4. THE HERE-NOW
60-61
One of the most common questions that arises during any discussion of
the Second Body and the Second State is: Where do you go? In evaluation
of all experiments, there evolved what seemed to be three Second State
environments. The first of these was identified as Locale I, for lack
of a better nomenclature. More appropriately, it could be called the
"Here-Now."
Locale I is the most believable. It consists of people and places, that
actually do exist in the material, well-known world at the very moment
of the experiment. It is the world represented to us by our physical
senses, which most of us are fairly sure does exist. Visits to Locale
I, while in the Second Body, should not contain strange beings, events,
or places. Unfamiliar, perhaps, but not strange and unknown. If the
latter is the case, then perception is distorted. Thus it is, that the
only evidential results provable by standard methods of confirmation
have taken place while moving about via the Second Body in Locale I.
All of the experiments in Chapter 3 were made in Locale I. Even so,
these and others in the same category are pitifully few in proportion
to all the recorded experiments. On the surface, it seems quite simple.
Get out of the physical and into the Second, then go visit George and
make contact, come back into the physical and report. Nothing to it If
only it were that easy! Yet the factors present that make it difficult
are recognizable. Recognition of a problem presumes an eventual
solution one way or another, and perhaps it will be so in this field.
Let us take first the factors of direction and identification. Suppose,
for example, fully conscious and in your physical body, you were able
to soar through the air rather than walk on the ground or ride in a
car. You discovered this ability, and decided to fly over to George's
house to demonstrate how it works. Your house or your laboratory is on
the outskirts of a large city. George lives in a subdivision on the
other side of town. On a sunny afternoon, you start off. Naturally, you
rise high in the air so as to avoid obstacles of trees, buildings, etc.
Uncertain, you don't go too high. You want to be able to recognize
landmarks which might be difficult to see from five thousand feet.
Therefore, you stay low, about a hundred feet off the ground. Now,
which way to go. You look for points of familiarity. It is at that
moment you realize you have a problem. You don't have a compass course
to George's house, and it wouldn't do you any good if you did. You
don't have a compass. Undaunted, you decide to cut across the city,
using the familiar buildings and streets as guideposts. You have driven
the route many times, so you should find your way easily. You start off
over houses and streets, and almost immediately you become confused.
The familiar has suddenly become unfamiliar. You look back, and you
have difficulty finding your own house even at close range. It takes a
moment to realize why this is so. You have been earthbound, and your
entire point of view has been from a level of less than six feet. Most
of the time, we habitually look straight ahead or downward. Only
occasionally do we look up, when something attracts our attention.
62-63
Even
such an upward-looking angle of vision has little relationship to
looking down from one hundred feet. How long would it take for you to
recognize your own home if you were shown a photograph taken from
directly overhead? The same applies to all "familiar" surroundings,
streets, buildings, cities, and people. You may get to George's house,
but it will take you a long time. You may not identify it from a
distance of fifty feet because you know only the appearance of the
front of his house, and you approach it from the back. It is not a
failing peculiar to you. Pilots of aircraft, if their attention
diverted for a moment, have become "lost" within two miles of the
airport when flying at low level in bright daylight. For a moment,
everything below is completely unfamiliar. Only navigational
instruments can bring the quick orientation needed. It is easy to see
how this problem can be compounded when your friend George lives in
another city some distance away, where you have never visited, and when
you have not seen pictures of the house. Of course, if he painted a
fluorescent yellow "X" on the roof, with a ten-million candle-power
beacon of light, with similar markers on streets and highways along the
route, you just might make it. Now let's take the same trip in the
Second Body and examine it comparati
vely. Again, you are overhead one
hundred feet, floating in the air, this time with no physical body. It
is a bright sunny day, but your "seeing" is somewhat impaired. You
still are not fully accustomed to the technique of "how" you are
seeing. As a result, your vision is distorted in one way or another.
You can work your way slowly from over your home to George's house,
much
as you would if in the physical body. It would be the same slow process
under less favorable visual conditions. There is a better, faster way.
Happily, there seem to be built-in directional senses if their use can
be mastered. The "if" is the catch. As noted elsewhere, you "think" of
the person at the end of your destination never a place, but a
person-and use the method prescribed. In a few moments, you are there.
You can watch the landscape move under you if you wish, but it's a
little disconcerting when you rush headlong toward a building or tree
and go right through it. In order to avoid such traumas, forget about
seeing during the traveling process. You never quite get over the
physical-body conditioning that such things are solid. At least I have
not. I still have the tendency to move in the direction of the door to
leave, only to realize again the situation when my Second Body hand
goes through the doorknob. Irritated with myself, I then dive through
the wall rather than the door to reinforce my
awareness of the Second State characteristics. In conjunction with this
convenient homing instinct that is unaffected by distance, you are
faced with a further problem, which is that the automatic navigational
system is too accurate. It works by what and of whom you think. Let one
small stray thought emerge dominantly for just one microsecond, and
your course is deviated. Add to this the fact that your conscious mind
may be in conflict with the superconscious as to what should be that
destination, and you can begin to appreciate why so many experiments to
produce Locale I evidential data have ended in failure. It sometimes
causes one to ponder how there have been any such results when the
difficulties are considered. As an experiment, try to concentrate for
just one minute upon a single action or event or thing which you
"dislike" emotionally and intellectually (the superconscious expressing
its will) without the intrusion of any unrelated thought. It takes
something more than practice, as you will discover. Here are some
examples of misdirection, caused by an interrupting thought, taken from
the notes:
4/12/63 Late Afternoon
Temp. 40s, humidity low, barometer high. Utilized countdown technique,
warm sensation surged in on thirty-one count. Disassociated easily,
under plan to visit a friend. Used stretch-out method, seemed to travel
unusually long for three-mile trip...
64-65
Then I stopped. I looked to
see where I was, and found I was sitting on the edge of the roof of a
two-story house, with what seemed to be the back yard below me. There
was a woman working in the yard, with a broom in her hand. As I
watched, she turned to walk into the house. Just as she was about to
enter, something made her look up directly at me. With a frightened
start, she scuttled into the house, slamming the door. I felt that I
should leave, embarrassed at having frightened the woman. I used the
physical movement return signal, and came back easily, entering the
physical without difficulty. Time away, seven minutes, ten seconds.
Comment: Wonder what she saw sitting on the eave. Also, why this
destination? Evidently concentration failure again.
6/29/60 Late Evening
Temp. 70s, humidity medium, barometer average, physically tired.
Bloodflow surge came at hold-off point before sleep, under plan to
visit Dr. Andrija Puharich somewhere in California. Moved blindly for a
short period, then stopped. Four people were seated around a table,
three men and a boy of about eleven. Obviously not Dr. Puharich, unless
unusual situation. I asked where they were, what was the location, town
or state. There was no answer to my query, and I sensed wariness and
caution on their parts. I asked again, and the boy turned and evidently
was about to reply, when one of the men said, "Don't tell him!"
Evidently, they were afraid of me for some reason. I apologized for my
nervousness and explained, I was still new to the non-physical
business,
turned, and left, not wishing to make them uncomfort
able. Return to
physical uneventful. Time away, eighteen minutes. Comment: No
connection with Dr. Puharich's activities at the time, as he reports.
Wrong destination again, no validation possible. Why does my presence
create such fear? This inability to control destination has been and
still remains the
chief barrier to the production of consistency and repeatability. The
results of such attempts have brought many intrusions similar to the
above, and many follow a similar pattern. Here is one that brought
evidential data, although the persons involved were and are unaware of
their participation:
11/27/62 Morning
Temp. 405, humidity medium, barometer below average, physically rested.
Went into relaxation countdown, used sex center mental pattern with
oral breathing to create condition. Used peel-off to get out of body,
just as if outer layer of physical were being removed, then free and
floating in room. Plan was to go to Agnew Bahnson. Started trip slowly
to observe surroundings as much as possible. Went slowly through west
wall, feeling texture of each layer of material in watt, then into
another room, furnished as a living room, then into a third room,
another living room, all unoccupied, and speed became faster. Nothing
was visible but gray-black blur. Stiff concentrating on Mr. Bahnson,
finally stopped. Was in normal-sized room, bedroom, with three people
in it. There was a large bed to the right, and two adults lay on it. A
little girl, about five or six, was sitting on the floor beside the
bed, to the left of it. The little girl looked directly at me and said
excitedly, "I know what you are!'
I turned to her, as gently and warmly
as I could so as not to frighten her, and said, "You do? Good! What am
I?" She was not at all afraid when she said, "You're an astral
projection!" (She may have used another term such as "ghost," but it
was definite understanding on her part, one way or another.) I asked
her where she lived and what year it was, but she couldn't give me an
answer so I turned to the two on the bed. I tried to be careful to
avoid making them afraid or nervous, but it was obvious that they were.
66-67
I asked them, what year it was, but they didn't seem to understand (no
time concept in the superconscious?). I concentrated on the man, and
asked his name and where he lived. He replied nervously. I moved away,
as he became more disturbed, and looked out the window for area
identification. Outside the window was a small roof, such as over a
porch. Beyond was a street, with many trees and a grassy island strip
in the middle. There was a car parked at the curb, a dark-colored
sedan.
I sensed a need to return to the physical, and turned back to
the three people. I asked, if they would like to see me "take off" and
the little girl was eager, and the two adults appeared relieved. I used
stretch technique, shot up through the ceiling, and returned to the
physical without problems. Reason for recall: Throat dry from oral
breathing. Time away, forty-two minutes. Comment: Through a check by
phone, I have located this family at the address, which the man gave
me.
Would it be appropriate to visit them physically on some pretext? From
this, it can be seen, that a much more extensive and organized effort
would be required for massive validation of Second Body activities in
Locale I. One subject and several assorted scientists and psychiatrists
are not enough. Also, it can be noted, that unexpected visits to
unprepared persons can't be helped at this stage of control. Perhaps
much could be gained, if such people could be interviewed, as to what
they saw and felt at the time of the intrusion. The difficulty lies in
locating these people. It is the exception that enough data is obtained
to identify the place visited, as in the above. Also, it is interesting
when possible to determine the inconsistencies of observation of Locale
I activities while in the Second State. Except in unusual instances,
most "visual" input registers in shadings of black and white.'This
seems true under any lighting conditions. However, strong light and
shadow create wrong perceptions. For example, a strong light reflecting
from the dark hair of a man brings the impression that he is blond
rather than dark. For example, from the notes:
5/5/61
Temp. 6os, humidity high, barometer medium, physically neutral. After
dinner, early evening, in planned attempt to visit Dr. Puharich used
breathing jaw technique for relaxation, obtained vibration state after
some difficulty via 90° reach-out technique. Applied simple
mental lift-out, and concentrated mental desire to visit Dr. Puharich,
After short trip, stopped in room. There was a long narrow table, with
several chairs, and bookshelves. There was a man sitting at the table,
writing on paper. He resembled Dr. Puharich, but he was more light or
blond-haired. I greeted him, and he looked up and smiled, then stated
that he would spend more time on our project, apologizing for being so
neglectful. I said I understood, then felt uneasiness to return to the
physical, and explained I had to leave. He stated that he realized my
need for caution, and I turned and quickly headed back to the
physical. Re-entered without difficulty, with right arm circulation
down from lying on it awkwardly, which was evident reason for recall.
Comment: In checking with Dr. Puharich, the locale was right, and
actions were correct, but he has no memory of visit. Strong overhead
light may have caused the reflection of "blond." The preceding also
illustrates the problem of communication. Dr. Puharich, awake and aware
that specific attempts to "visit" him were being made, had no conscious
recollection of any such meeting. All other factors checked accurately,
except for the reported "conversation." This has happened so frequently
in such instances that it became the source of much discussion. At
first, it was suggested that I was fantasizing these communications. It
seemed probable that in so doing, I was merely calling upon my
knowledge of the visitee -
68-69
at the unconscious level-to create an
"authentic" conversation. This theory received a setback when a number
of such communications brought out data known only to the second party.
Still another difficulty of Locale I travel lies in the time factor.
Inconveniently, the best periods for deep relaxation so necessary to
create the Second State occur late at night. Therefore, it is quite
natural to take advantage of such instances when possible. Less effort
is required, and the separation is much more rapid. However, the
physiological and psychological conditions that help induce the state
are unpredictable and not known fully. This inconsistency brought
numerous occasions when experimentation for purely evidential data
ended in failure. The person to be visited was performing no reportable
act other than lying in bed sound asleep. These were discounted
completely as evidence. Most people perform this "act" every night.
Similarly, attempts at validation during daylight hours brought their
share of complications. With no promise of "contact" at a specific
minute or hour, most people involved went about their normal affairs.
Thus when such "visits" were made, they were not necessarily discovered
in a unique or unusual act or condition. As a result, the small,
normally inconsequential acts observed during these visits often were
but vague memories to the contactee when confirmation was needed. We
have a great tendency to forget details of routine actions in life. You
can prove this to yourself. Simply attempt to recall precisely in
detail what you were doing at, say, three twenty-three yesterday
afternoon. If it was a routine task, chances are you will remember only
the doing, if that much, Exact details will escape you. Yet the
experimentation in visiting Locale I is extremely important, perhaps at
the moment more so than anything else to be attempted. For only through
evidential visits in Locale I can sufficient evidential data on the
Second Body and the Second State be obtained. Sufficient, that is, to
bring about serious study by authoritative scientific groups of our
time. Only through such concentrated and extensive study can a
breakthrough of a revolutionary nature be obtained as regards the
Second Body, and applied to the basic knowledge of man. Anything less,
and it will remain an unsolved enigma at best, and at worst a ridiculed
and unacceptable fantasy to both philosopher and scientist. For this
reason, the recurring theme in the reports of experiments is: Get
evidential data. Here, then, is a later experiment in Locale I
performed in the EEG laboratory of a hospital on a major university
campus.
EXPERIMENT #EEG-5
July 19th, 1966.
Arrived at the hospital EEG lab at 9:00 P.M., after driving seventy
miles from Richmond. No particular sense of fatigue. Sleepiness earlier
in the day, around 1 P.M., but no rest was taken. Active day from
around six-thirty in the morning. By nine-thirty in the evening, all
electrodes had been attached by the technician, who was the only person
present when I arrived. I reclined on a temporary cot, in a
semi-darkened room, using a pillow and sheet, no shirt, but retaining
trousers. Experienced usual difficulty in getting head comfortable,
especially the ear pressed against the pillow. As a "side sleeper," it
made no difference which side; each was equally uncomfortable due to
the electrodes attached to my ears. After a semblance of ease, I
attempted to relax naturally, but was unsuccessful. I went finally into
the fractional relaxation pattern (count up from number one,
associating each number with a body part starting with feet, fixing
closed eyes in direction of body part as number and mental command to
relax were thought). Experienced usual mind "drift" at various points,
and forced attention back to relaxation technique.
70-71
Went through entire
sequence without complete relaxation, so I started again at the
beginning. After about forty-five minutes of this without attaining
full relaxation,
I decided to take a break, sat up (halfway), and
called to the technician. I sat up partially, smoked a cigarette, and
talked with the technician for about five or eight minutes, then
decided to try again. After some time spent in attempting to ease
ear-electrode discomfort, concentrated on ear to "numb" it, with
partial success. Then went into fractional relaxation technique again.
Halfway through the second time around in the pattern, the sense of
warmth appeared with full consciousness (or so it seemed) remaining. I
decided to try the "roll-out" method (i.e., start to turn over gently,
just as if you were turning over in bed using the physical body). I
started to feel as if I were turning, and at first thought I truly was
moving the physical body. I felt myself roll off the edge of the cot,
and braced for the fall to the floor. When I didn't hit immediately, I
knew that I had separated. I moved away from the physical, and through
a darkened area, then came upon two men and a woman. The "seeing"
wasn't too good, but got better as I came closer. The woman, tall,
dark-haired, in her forties (?), was sitting on a love seat or couch.
Seated to the right of her was one man.
In front of her, and slightly
to her left, was the second man. They all were strangers to me, and
were in conversation which I could not hear. I tried to get their
attention, but could not. Finally, I reached over, and pinched the
woman (very gently I) on her left side just below the rib cage. It
seemed to get a reaction, but still no communica
tion. I decided to
return to the physical for orientation and start again. Back into the
physical was achieved simply, by thought of return. Opened physical
eyes, all was fine, swallowed to wet my dry throat, closed my eyes, let
the warmth surge up, then used the same roll-out technique. This time,
I let myself float to the floor beside the cot. I fell slowly, and
could feel myself passing through the various EEG wires on the way
down. I touched the floor lightly, then could "see" the light coming
through the open doorway to the outer EEG rooms. Careful to keep
"local," I went under the cot, keeping in slight touch with the floor,
and floating in a horizontal position, finger tips touching the floor
to keep in position, 1 went slowly through the doorway. I was looking
for the technician, but could not find her. She was not in
the room to the right (control console room), and I went out into the
brightly lighted outer room. I looked in all directions, and suddenly,
there she was. However, she was not alone. A man was with her, standing
to her left as she faced me. I tried to attract her attention, and was
almost immediately rewarded with a burst of warm joy and happiness that
I had finally achieved the thing we had been working for. She was truly
excited, and happily and excitedly embraced me. I responded, and only
slight sexual overtones were present which I was
nearly able to disregard. After a moment, I pulled back, and gently put
my hands on her face, one on each cheek, and thanked her for her help.
However, there was no direct intelligent objective communication with
her other than the above. None was tried, as I was too excited at
finally achieving the separation and staying "local." I then turned to
the man, who was about her height, with curly hair, some of which
dropped over the side of his forehead. I tried to attract his
attention, but was unable to do so. Again, reluctantly, I decided to
pinch her gently, which I did. It did not evoke any response, that
I
noticed. Feeling something calling for a return to the physical, I
swung around and went through the door, and slipped easy back into the
physical. Reason for discomfort: dry throat and throbbing ear. After
checking to see that the integration was complete, that I "felt" normal
in all parts of the body, I opened my eyes, sat up, and called to the
technician. She came in, and I told her that I had made it finally, and
that I had seen her, however, with a man. She replied that it was her
husband.
72-73
I asked if he was outside, and she replied thai he was, that
he came to stay with her during these late hours. I asked why I hadn't
seen him before, and she replied that it was "policy" for no outsiders
to see subjects or patients. I expressed the desire to meet him, to
which she acceded. The technician removed the electrodes, and
I went
outside with her and met her husband. He was about her height, curly-
haired, and after several conversational amenities, I left. I did not
query the technician or her husband as to anything they saw, noticed,
or felt. However, my impression was that he definitely was the man I
had observed with her during the non-physical activity. My second
impression was that she was not in the console room when I visited
them, but in another room, standing up, with him. This may be hard to
determine, if there is a firm rule that the technician is supposed
always to stay at the console. If she can be convinced that the truth
is more important in this case, perhaps this second aspect can be
validated. The only supporting evidence other than what might have
appeared on the EEG lies in the presence of the husband, of which I was
unaware prior to the experiment. This latter fact can be verified by
the technician. Important aftermath: In a report to Dr. Tart, the
technician confirmed that she was in the outer hall with her husband at
the time of the indicated "separation." She also confirmed that I did
not know he was present, and that I had not met him previously. Dr.
Tart states that the EEG shows definite unusual and unique tracings
during time of activity.
5. INFINITY, ETERNITY
The best introduction to Locale II is to suggest a room with a sign
over the door saying, "Please Check All Physical Concepts Here." If
getting accustomed to the idea of a Second Body was an uneasy
experience, Locale II may be hard to take. It is certain to produce
emotional effects as it steps solidly upon what we have accepted as
reality. Furthermore, many of our religious doctrines and the
interpretations thereof become open
to question, It is enough to say that only a small part of the visits
into Locale II via the Second Body has provided evidential data, for
these visits do not easily lend themselves to proof. Therefore, much of
the Locale II material is cautious extrapolation (conclusion from known
facts). However, several hundred experiments in this particular area
have provided definite consistencies. If A plus B equals C sixty-three
times, there is a high order of probability that A plus B will equal C
the sixty-fourth time.
Postulate (claim): Locale II is a non-material environment with laws of
motion and matter only remotely related to the physical world. It is an
immensity whose bounds are unknown (to this experimenter), and has
depth and dimension incomprehensible to the finite, conscious mind. In
this vastness lie all of the aspects we attribute to heaven and hell
(See Chapter VIII),
74-75
which are but part of Locale II, It is inhabited,
if that is the word, by entities with various degrees of intelligence
with whom communication is possible. As noted in the percentile
analysis in a later chapter, the fundamentals are altered in Locale II.
Time, by the standards of the physical world, is non-existent. There is
a sequence of events, a past and a future, but no cyclical separation.
Both continue to exist coterminously with "now." Measurements, from
microseconds to millennia, are useless. Other measurements may
represent these factors in abstract calculation, but this is uncertain.
Laws of conservation of energy, force field theories, wave mechanics,
gravity, matter structure-all remain to be proved by those more versed
in such fields. Superseding all appears to be one prime law.
Locale II is a state of being where that which we label thought is the
wellspring (fountain, rich source) of existence. It is the vital
creative force that produces energy, assembles "matter" into form, and
provides channels of perception and communication. I suspect that the
very self or soul in Locale II is no more than an organized vortex or
warp in this fundamental. As you think, so you are. In this
environment, no mechanical supplements are found. No cars, boats,
airplanes, or rockets are needed for transportation. You think
movement, and it is fact. No telephones, radio, television, and other
communication aids have value. Communication is instantaneous. No
farms, gardens, cattle ranches, processing plants, or retail outlets
are in evidence. In all experimental visits, no food energy needs were
indicated. How energy is replaced - if it is truly spent - is not
known. "Mere" thought is the force that supplies any need or desire,
and what you think is the matrix of your action, situation, and
position in this greater reality. This is essentially the message that
religion and philosophy have been attempting to convey throughout the
ages, although perhaps less bluntly and often distorted. A facet
learned in this medium of thought explains much. It is: Like attracts
Like (the Universal Law of
Attraction, LM). I didn't realize there was such a rule that
acted so specifically. It
had been to me nothing more or less than an abstraction. Project this
outward, and you begin to appreciate the infinite variations found in
Locale II. Your destination seems to be grounded completely within the
framework of your innermost constant motivations, emotions, and
desires. You may not consciously want to "go" there, but you have no
choice. Your Supermind (soul?) is stronger and usually makes the
decision for you. Like attracts like. The interesting aspect of this
thought world (or worlds) of Locale II is that one does perceive what
seems to be solid matter as well as artifacts common to the physical
world. These are brought into "existence," evidently, by three sources.
First, they are the product of thought of those, who once lived in the
physical world, the patterns of which still remain. This is
accomplished quite automatically, without deliberate intent.
The second source is those, who liked certain material things in the
physical world, which they have re-created apparently to enhance their
surroundings in Locale II.
The third source I assume to be a higher order of intelligent beings
more aware of the Locale II environment, than most inhabitants. Their
purpose seems to be, that of simulation of the physical
environment-temporarily, at least -for the benefit of those just
emerging from the
physical world, after "death." This is done to reduce trauma and shock
for the "newcomers" by introducing familiar shapes and settings in the
early conversion stages. By this time, one can begin to understand the
relationship of the Second Body to Locale II. Locale II is the natural
environment of the Second Body. The principles involved in its action,
composition, perception,
and control all correspond to those in Locale
II. This, then, is why the majority of the experimental travel attempts
took me involuntarily somewhere into Locale II.
The Second Body is
basically not of this physical world.
76-77
To apply it to visits to George's
house or other physical destinations is like asking a diver to swim
down to the ocean bed without scuba gear or pressure suit. He can do
it, but not for long, and not too many times. On the other hand, he can
walk a mile to the store daily without ill effects. Thus travel to
points in the physical world is a "forced" process in the Second Body
state. Given the opportunity of the slightest mental relaxation, the
Supermind will guide you in your Second Body into Locale II. It is the
"natural" thing to do. Our traditional concept of place suffers badly
when applied to Locale II. It seems to interpenetrate our physical
world, yet spans limitless reaches beyond comprehension. Many theories
have been offered in literature throughout the ages as to the "where"
of it, but few appeal to the modern scientific mind. All of the
experimental visits to this area have helped little to formulate a more
acceptable theory. The most acceptable is the wave vibration concept,
which presumes the
existence of an infinity of worlds all operating at different
frequencies, one of which is this physical world. Just as various wave
frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum can simultaneously occupy
space, with a minimum of interaction, so might the world or worlds of
Locale II be interspersed in our physical-
matter world. Except for rare
or unusual conditions, our "natural" senses and our instruments which
are extensions thereof are completely unable to perceive and report
this potential. If we consider this premise, the "where" is answered
neatly. "Where" is "here." The history of man's sciences supports this
premise. We had no idea that sounds existed beyond the range of human
hearing until we developed instruments to detect, measure, and create
them. Until comparatively recently, those who claimed they could hear
what others could not were considered insane or persecuted as witches
and sorcerers. We were able to perceive the electromagnetic spectrum
only in terms of heat and light until the last century. We are still
unaware of the capacity of the human brain, an electrochemical
organism, in terms of trans
mission and reception of electromagnetic
radiation. With this gap unbridged, it is easy to understand why modern
science has not begun to consider the ability of the human mind to
penetrate an area where no serious theory has been promulgated
(promoted widely). There is so much to report on Locale II that it
would be imprac
tical to quote directly from the hundreds of referential
pages of notes. Visits near and far in Locale II comprise most of the
reporting throughout succeeding chapters.
It is the summation of
consistent experiences that may bring the pattern into focus and pose
questions that plead for answers. For every known, there may be one
million unknowns, but at least here is a starting point.
In
Locale II
(nonphysical), reality is composed of deepest desires and most frantic
fears. Thought is action, and no hiding layers of conditioning or
inhibition shield the inner you from others, where honesty is the best
policy, because there can be nothing less. Under the basic standards
described above, existence is indeed different. It is this difference,
that creates the great problems of adjustment, even when attempting to
visit there while in the Second Body. The raw emotion, so carefully
repressed in our physical civilization, is
unleashed in full force. To say, that it is overwhelming at first, is a
massive understatement. In conscious physical life, this condition
would
be considered psychotic. My first visits to Locale II brought out all
the repressed emotional
patterns I even remotely considered, I had - plus many I didn't know
existed. They so dominated my actions, that I returned completely
abashed and embarrassed at their enormity and my inability to control
them. Fear was the dominant theme-fear of the unknown, of strange
beings (nonphysical), of "death," of God, of rule-breaking, of
discovery, and of pain, to name only a few.
78-79
Such
fears were
stronger,
than the sexual drive for union, which, as noted elsewhere, was in
itself a tremendous obstacle. One by one, painfully and laboriously,
the exploding uncontrollable emotional patterns had to be harnessed.
Until this was accomplished, no rational thought was possible. Without
rigorous consistency, they begin to return. It is much like a slow
learning from unsanity to calm objective reasoning. An infant learns to
be "civilized" in its growth through childhood to adult status. I
suspect the same thing occurs all over again in the adaptation to
Locale II. If it doesn't happen during physical life, it becomes the
first order of business upon death. This implies, that the areas of
Locale II "nearest" the physical world (in vibratory frequency?) are
peopled for the most part with insane or near-insane, emotionally
driven beings. For the most part, this seems to be true. They include
those alive, but asleep or drugged and out in their Second Bodies, and
quite probably those, who are "dead", but still emotionally driven.
There
is evidence to support the former, and the latter seems probable. This
near area, quite understandably, is not a pleasant place to be. It is a
level or plane, where you "belong", until you learn better. I don't
know,
what happens to those, who don't learn. Perhaps they stay there
forever.
The moment you disassociate from the physical via the Second Body, you
are on the fringes of this close-by section of Locale II. It is here,
that one meets all sorts of disjointed personalities and animate
beings.
If there is some protective mechanism for the neophyte, it was not
apparent to me. Only by cautious and sometimes terrifying
experimentation was I able to learn the art or trick of passing through
the area. I still am not precisely sure of all items in this learning
process, and so have presented only the obvious. Whatever the process,
I happily have not encountered trouble in these passages for several
years. Aside from the tormentors and the several outright conflicts,
noted in the following reports, the principal motivation of these near
inhabitants is sexual release in all forms. If considered as the
product of recent civilizations-including those both "alive but
sleeping" and "dead". It is quite simple to understand the need for
release from repression of this basic need. The key is, that all those
in this near section attempt sexuality in terms of the physical body.
There is no recognition or knowledge of the sex drive, as it is
manifested in more distant parts of Locale II. With the lingering
conditioning of our own society, it was difficult to avoid
participation at times, as response was automatic. Hopefully, one
learns to control this factor. Like attracts like.
To date, I have not observed the death process in any experiments.
However, the conclusion, that some form of existence in Locale II
follows life activity in the known physical world goes beyond
conjecture. Experiences similar to the following, consistent in content
over the past twelve years, may be explained by some other concept. At
this time, nothing else fits quite so neatly.
On one occasion, I had just left the physical when I felt an urgent
need to go "somewhere." Yielding to the insistence,
I moved what seemed to be a short distance and stopped suddenly in a
bedroom. A boy was lying in the bed, alone. He seemed about ten or
eleven in age, and that now familiar inner identity perception was at
work rather than just "seeing."
The boy was lonely and afraid, and seemed ill. I stayed with him for
some time, trying to comfort him, and finally left when he had calmed
down, promising I would return. The trip back to the physical was
uneventful, and I had no idea where I had been.
Several weeks later, I left the physical and was about to concentrate
on a given destination when the same boy moved into view. He saw me and
moved close to me. He was bewildered, but not afraid. He looked up at
me and asked, "What do I do now?" I couldn't immediately think of how
to reply.
80-81
So I put my arm over his shoulder and gave him a comforting
squeeze. I thought, who am I to instruct or give directions at what
seemed a vital moment? The boy was reassured by my presence, and
relaxed. "Where do I go?" He asked it matter-of-factly. I said the only
thing that seemed logical at the time.
I told him to wait right where he was, that some friends of his would
be along shortly, that they would take him where he was supposed to go.
This seemed to satisfy him, and I kept my arm around him for a while.
Then I became nervous with a signal from the physical body, and patted
him on the shoulder and left. Returning to the physical, I found my
neck stiffened from being in an awkward position. After straightening
out, I succeeded in going into the Second Body again to look for the
boy. He was gone-or at least I couldn't find him. An interesting
sidelight. The next day the newspaper carried the story of the death of
a ten-year-old boy after a lingering illness. He had died in the
afternoon, shortly before I had begun the experiment. I tried to think
of some acceptable excuse to approach his parents and get more
confirmation, and perhaps relieve their grief, but could find none.
Only
when you
have passed the "raw emotion" stage do you move into the
innumerable various, but evidently organized activity clusters of
Locale
II. It is impossible to convey to another the "reality" of this
nonphysical eternity. As stated by many in centuries past, it must be
experienced. Most importantly, in many of the places visited, the
inhabitants are "still" human. Different, in a changed environment, but
still with human (understandable) attributes.
On one visit, I ended up in a parklike surrounding, with carefully
tended flowers, trees, and grass, much like a large mall with paths
crisscrossing the area. There were benches along the paths, and there
were hundreds of men and women Strolling by, or sitting on the benches.
Some were quite calm, others a little apprehensive, and many had a
dazed or shocked look of disorientation. They appeared uncertain,
unknowing of what to do or what was to take place next (straight after
death and they know it, LM). Somehow I knew that this was a meeting
place, where newly arrived waited for friends or relatives. From this
Place of Meeting, these friends would take each newcomer to the proper
place where he or she "belonged." I could not think of any reason to
stay longer- there was noone nearby I recognized-so I returned to the
physical without incident. Another time I deliberately set out to
explore in the hope of finding one answer to bring back. Upon
disassociating into the Second Body, I started to move rapidly as
I concentrated upon the thought, I wish to go where there are higher
intelligences. I kept concentrating as I sped swiftly through a void
that seemed endless. Finally, I stopped. I was in a narrow valley which
seemed normal in all respects. There were men and women in ankle-length
robes, dark in color. This time, I decided for some reason to take
another tack. I approached several of the women, and asked them if they
knew who I was. All were quite polite, and treated me with great
respect, but gave negative answers. I turned away, and asked the same
question of a man in a monk's robe who seemed hauntingly familiar.
"Yes, I know you," the man replied. There was a strong sense of
understanding and friendship in his attitude. I asked him if I truly
knew who I was myself. He looked at me as if he had met an old and dear
friend who now had amnesia.
"You will." He smiled gently, as he said it. I asked him, if he knew,
who I had been last. I was trying to get him to
say my name.
"You were last a monk in Coshocton, Pennsylvania," he replied. I
started to get uneasy, and apologetically left, returning to the
physical. Recently, a Catholic priest friend took the trouble to
investigate this
possibility of past-life monasticism.
82-83
To my surprise and his delight,
there is an obscure monastery near Coshocton. He has offered to take me
there for a visit, but time (courage?) has not been available. Perhaps
later . . . I could report many more of these experiences without fully
describing the scope and dimension of Locale II. There have been visits
to a group, that appeared to be in uniform, which operated highly
technical equipment and identified themselves as the "Target Army" (the
mind's interpretation of what was said). There were hundreds,
each
waiting for "assignments." Their purpose was not disclosed.
Another visit took me to a well-organized city, where my presence was
immediately construed as hostile. Only by taking evasive
action-running, hiding, and finally lifting straight up-was I able to
avoid "capture". I do not know what threat I implied to them. In a more
direct fashion, the appearance of very aggressive actions tended to
confirm again that Locale II is not solely a place of serenity and
non-conflict. On another trip, I was accosted by a conventionally
dressed man. Warily, I waited to see what he would do.
"Do you know or remember Arrosio Le Franco?" He asked the question
bluntly. I replied that I did not, still cautious.
"I am sure you will remember, if you think back," the man said firmly.
There was a subtle demanding in his attitude which made me uneasy. I
replied that I was sure I didn't remember anyone by that name.
"Do you know anyone at all down there?" he asked.
I had just said, that I did not, when I suddenly went limp, and the man
grabbed me. He took one of my arms, and I felt someone else take
another, and they started to drag me in the direction of what seemed
to be three bright spots of lights. I struggled, and finally
broke loose when I remembered to use the "go-to-physical" signal. I
moved away rapidly, and after a short time was back in the office and
into the physical. Evidently, hopefully, I had been mistaken for
someone else. Still another trip had "human" attributes. I had arrived
in no particular place, just a grayness, and was trying to decide what
to do when a woman approached me.
"I am from the -- Church, and I am here to help you," she said calmly.
She came close, and I immediately sensed the female sexuality, but held
back as I didn't think the -- Church intended this kind of help.
I was wrong. After a bit, I thanked her and turned to see a man
standing nearby, watching. He "spoke" in a strong voice, heavy with
sarcasm. "Well, now are you ready to learn the Secrets of the Universe?"
I masked my embarrassment by asking who he was.
"Albert Mather!" He almost shouted it. I also got the impression, that
he was calling me by this name.
"I hope you're ready," he went on, his voice rising in anger, "because
nobody took the trouble to tell me, when I was back there."
I didn't hear the rest. It was as if a roar of static interfered. I
moved away, not sure how his anger would vent itself, and returned to
the physical uneventfully. In checking, I found no significant
historical record of an Albert Mather (long a), who seems to have no
relation to the minister Cotton Mather of the eighteenth century. Other
experiences in Locale II were more friendly, as indicated elsewhere. In
most, there is no discernible pattern as to what attracted me to some
of the strange situations. Perhaps this will come eventually. Two
unusual recurring conditions must be added to the coverage of this
area. A number of times, the motion of travel, which is usually rapid
and smooth, has been interrupted by what feels like a violent,
hurricane-like gust in the spatiality, through which one moves. It is
as if you are being blown away by this uncontrolled force, tossed
haphazardly around, end over end, like a leaf in a gale.
84-85
It is
impossible to move against this torrent or do anything, but let it
carry you. Finally, you are tossed near the edge of the current, and
you drop out, unharmed. There is nothing to identify it, but it feels
natural rather than artificially created.
The second condition is the sign in the sky. I observed this on five or
six occasions when escorted by the "Helpers." It is an incredible
series of crude symbols strung in an arc directly across one section of
Locale II. When moving through the area, everyone has to go around this
barrier, as it is solid, immovable, immutable. The symbols, as best my
"seeing" could determine, were crude, sticklike illustrations of a man,
an older woman, a house, and what looked to be algebraic equations. It
was from one of the "Helpers" that I learned the story of the sign. He
told it with some humor, almost apologetically. It seems that an almost
measureless time ago, a very wealthy (by what standards is not known)
and powerful woman wanted to ensure that her son would get into heaven.
A church offered to guarantee this to her, provided she paid the church
a tremendous sum of money (sic). The woman paid the church, but her son
did not get into heaven. In anger and revenge, she used her entire
remaining wealth and power to have the sign put up in the skies of
heaven, so that throughout all eternity, all who saw it would know of
the dishonesty and rascality of that particular church. It was a job
well done. The names of the woman, her son, and the church are lost in
antiquity. But the sign remains, impervious to the efforts of
scientists through the ages to bring it down or destroy it. The source
of the apology and slight embarrassment is not the perfidy of some
obscure sect, but the inability of anyone to take down the sign! As a
result, all studies of science in this part of Locale II must
necessarily include it. It would be much the same, if someone
artificially created an element between cobalt and copper. If you
studied chemistry, by necessity you would have to include this "odd"
element. Or, if a huge artificial Moon was created and it was beyond
our science to bring it down, students of astronomy would include it in
their lessons as a common fact. That's the story as it was told to me.
The greatest difficulty is the inability of the conscious mind, trained
and conditioned in a physical world, to accept the existence of this
infinite Locale II. Our young Western mental sciences tend to deny its
existence. Our religions affirm it in a broad, distorted abstraction.
Accepted sciences contradict such a possibility, and can find no
supporting evidence through their instruments of research and
measurement. Most of all, there is the Barrier. Why it exists is not
truly known by anyone, at least in the Western world. This is the same
screen, that lowers when you awaken from sleep, blotting out your last
dream or the memory of your visit to Locale II. This is not to imply,
that every dream is the product of a Locale II visit. But some of them
may well be the translation of Locale II experiences. Translation is
the symbolization of Locale II experience and is not necessarily part
of the Barrier. Rather, it would seem to be the effort of the conscious
to interpret superconscious Locale II events, which are beyond its
ability to comprehend or pictorialize. Observation via Second Body in
Locale I (Here-Now) proved, that the most ordinary functions or actions
were subject to misinterpretation, especially when observed out of
context. Locale II, an environment totally unfamiliar to the conscious,
offers that much greater margin for interpretative error. As can be
inferred, I suspect, that many, most, or all human beings visit Locale
II at some time during the sleep state. Why such visits are necessary,
I don't know. Perhaps one day, some year, our life sciences will
unravel this knowledge and a new era will be born for Humankind. With
this will come an entire new science based upon Locale II data and our
relationship to this wondrous World. Some day. If Humankind can wait
that long.
6. REVERSE IMAGE
86-87
Paradoxically, the scientist of today can conceive far more easily of
the possibility of the area here labeled Locale III, than that of
Locale II. Why? Because it fits his latest discoveries in physics,
small bits of evidence he has uncovered in his experiments with matter
bombardment, accelerators, cyclotrons, etc. The best way to get
acquainted with Locale III is to take the significant experiments
leading up to it directly from the notes.
11/5/58 Afternoon
The vibrations came quickly and easily, and were not at all
uncomfortable. When they were strong, I tried to lift out of the
physical with no result. Whatever thought or combination I tried, I
remained confined right where I was. I then remembered the rotating
trick, which operates just as if you are turning over in bed. I started
to turn, and recognized that my physical was not "turning" with me. I
moved slowly, and after a moment I was "face down," or in direct
opposition to the placement of my physical body. The moment I reached
this 180° position (out of phase, opposite polarity?), there
was a hole. That's the only way to describe it. To my senses, it seemed
to be a hole in a wall which was about two feet thick and stretched
endlessly in all directions (in the vertical plane). The periphery of
the hole was just precisely the shape of my physical body. I touched
the wall, and it felt smooth and hard. The edges of the hole were
relatively rough. (All this touching done with the nonphysical hands.)
Beyond-through the hole-was nothing but blackness. It was not the
blackness of a dark room, but a feeling of infinite distance and space,
as if I were looking through a window into distant space. I felt that
if my vision were good enough I could probably see nearby stars and
planets. My impression, therefore, was of deep, outer space, beyond the
solar system, far in an incredible distance. I moved cautiously through
the hole, holding onto its sides, and poked my head through carefully.
Nothing. Nothing but blackness. No people, nothing material. 1 ducked
back in hurriedly because of the utter strangeness. I rotated back
180°, felt myself merge with the physical, and sat up. It was
broad daylight, just as when I had left what seemed a few minutes
before. Lapsed time: one hour, five minutes !
11/18/58 Night
The vibrations came in strong, but nothing more. Again, I thought to
try the rotation. When I did, it worked, and I rotated slowly into the
180° position. There was the wall and the hole and the
blackness beyond. This time I was more cautious. Carefully, I reached a
hand through into the blackness. I was astounded when a hand took mine
and shook it! It felt like a human hand, normally warm to the touch.
After the handshake, I withdrew my hand quickly. Slowly, I reached into
the hole again. The hand shook mine again, and placed a card in it. I
withdrew my hand and "looked" at the card. It gave a specific address.
I returned the card through the hole, shook hands again, withdrew my
hand, rotated back to normal, merged with the physical, and sat up.
Most unusual.
88-89
I will have to investigate this address on Broadway, if
it is in New York.
12/5/58 Morning
I rotated again, and again found the hole. Still with a note of
caution, I approached the hole, and this time reached through with both
hands. Instantly, both were grasped by two other hands. Then for the
first time in all my experimentation, my name was called. A
voice-feminine, soft, low-pitched, and urgent (fast, as if someone were
trying to wake me up from sleep without startling me too much)- called,
"Bob! Bob!" I was
startled at first, then recovered and asked, "What is your name?"
(always looking for evidential material!) When I "said?* these words,
there seemed to be intense motion or activity, as if my words had
created the effect of dropping a stone into a still lake or pond-like
rippling, scurrying, crackling, etc. The voice repeated my name, and I
repeated my question, still with the two hands holding mine. To be sure
I was completely conscious, that I was actually somehow saying the
words correctly, I withdrew my hands, rotated in the 180°,
blended with the physical, sat up physically, and vocally spoke the
question. Satisfied, I lay back, rotated, and called the question
through the hole again. No answer. I kept trying, until I began to feel
the vibrations weakening, and knew I couldn't hold the condition any
longer. I then rotated back into the physical and normalcy.
12/27/58 Night
Upon setting up the vibrations, I again found the hole as expected. I
gathered up courage, and slowly poked my head through the hole. The
moment I did, I heard a voice say in utter excitement and surprise,
"Come here quick! Look!" I could see no one (this could be due to my
closed-eyes conditioning in order to hold the vibration effect, i.e.,
physical seeing distracts). There was still blackness. The other party
didn't seem to be coming, so the voice called again, urgently and
excitedly. The vibrations seemed to be weakening, so I putted back out
of the hole and rotated back into the physical without incident.
1/15/59 Afternoon
The vibrations came finally, and I rotated to examine the hole again.
There it was, at 180°. I was a little nervous when I reached
through with one hand. Then I mentally smiled and relaxed, saying to
myself, well, be it hand, claw, or paw, I'm friendly. With that a hand
took mine and squeezed it, and I returned the grasp. I definitely
sensed a feeling of friendliness from the other side. I returned to the
physical by rotation after a little difficulty. In my excitement, I
forgot both rotation and return to normal signal !
1/21/59 Night
As a preliminary, I tried the hole again. Rotation went smoothly after
the vibrations started, and I then reached one arm deep into the hole.
When I reached in with the other arm, something sharp seemed to dig
into the palm of my hand, like a hook, and dug in more deeply when I
tried to withdraw it. I finally did so, somewhat shaken. It felt as if
the "hook" had gone right through my hand. It was not necessarily
painful, but the effect was disturbing. I rotated to the physical and
looked at
my right hand, physically. There were no marks or feeling (although the
sensation of the penetration after-effect was present).
1/25/59 Night
Another hole experiment, with the same pattern of vibrations and
180°. Again I carefully reached into the hole. A hand again
took mine and held it firmly (no hook!). Then the hand passed mine over
to a second hand. I slowly released the second hand and felt upward.
90-91
There was definitely an arm attached to the hand and a shoulder, I was
about to explore more, when the vibrations seemed to soften, and I
pulled my arm back and rotated to the physical. There was no indication
of the need to return to the physical, no cramped arms or legs, no
noises. Probably a momentary sound caused the return.
2/5/59 Afternoon
Perhaps my concern with the hole is justified. I followed the same
approach pattern, vibrations and 180° rotation, reached into
the hole, and at first felt nothing.
I reached deeper, and suddenly it
felt as if I had thrust my hand into electrically charged hot water
(most accurate description). I withdrew it very quickly, rotated,
and
sat up physically. The physical hand felt numb and tingling. From the
position of my body, there was no evidence of poor circulation. The
numbness and tingling slowly disappeared in about twenty minutes.
2/15/59 Afternoon
I experimented with going in and out vertically, then rotated to the
hole. Gathering courage, I pulled myself through in a sweeping rush,
just as a swimmer might pull himself through a hole under water. I felt
the other side of the hole, and the wall was similar to "my" side. I
tried to "see", but there was still nothing, but the deep blackness. I
decided to settle the matter once and for all. I shoved away from the
hole and performed the stretch-out in a direction exactly on a line
away from the hole. I started to move, slowly, and soon accelerated
rapidly. I kept moving more rapidly, yet with only a slight sense of
friction over my body. Moving at what seemed a very high speed, I went
on, waiting and expecting to "get" somewhere. After what seemed a very
long time, I began to be concerned. I still "saw" nothing, felt
nothing.
Finally, I
began to get nervous. Fears about becoming lost began to creep in. I
slowed, stopped, turned around, and stretched out back in the direction
of the hole. It took just as long to get back as it did to go. I was
quite worried when I finally saw the light through the hole up ahead. I
dove for it, went through, rotated, and sat up physically. Time away
was three hours, fifteen minutes!
2/23/59 Night
The hole is populated! This evening (seven-thirty), I went through
vibration and 180° rotation, and this time without much
hesitation, I pulled myself through and stood up. I immediately felt
myself in the presence of someone standing there. I sensed his
presence, rather, than saw him (impression - male). For some
unaccountable reason, that I do not yet understand, even recollected
now in tranquility, I dropped thankfully in front of him and sobbed.
After a moment, I calmed down, carefully backed away, went through the
hole, rotated back into the physical, and sat up. Who was it? And why
did I act so emotionally?
2/27/59 Night
Determined to find some more (or even one!) answers about the hole, I
went through the vibration and 180° rotation pattern, and
deliberately went through. It was still black and dark, but not
unpleasant, no hands, no presence. I could feel something solid under
me, so I tried very hard to open my eyes and "see." I did, and
everything came into view. I was standing near a building (more like a
barn, than a house) on what was a wide, meadowlike area. I thought I
would try to soar up into the sky (deep clear blue, no clouds), but I
couldn't seem to get off the ground. Maybe I had weight here. There was
what looked like a ladder a hundred feet or so away, and I went to it
and realized it was a tower of some kind, about ten feet tall. Like a
bird needing take-off room, I climbed the tower to the top, leaped away
in take-off and fell promptly to the ground with a solid thud! I guess
I was surprised as a bird with clipped wings must feel.
92-93
I got to my
feet, and realized how foolishly I was acting. I was not following the
proper procedures. Even "here," they had to be followed. I held up my
hands and arms in the stretch-out position, and went up easily. I moved
slowly over the meadow, enjoying the view and exploration, when
suddenly something flew past
me.
I turned just in time to see it heading for the wall and the hole. I
was afraid for some reason, that this was something, that would go
through and try to enter my body, so I wheeled in flight and dove for
the hole. Too late, I realized, that what I thought was the hole was a
window in the side of the building and then I was through the window
and in blackness. I felt around in the dark, and there was the outline
of the hole. I went
through, rotated, and sat up in the physical. Everything looked normal,
and I was in the right place, the time passage was O.K., so back I
went! Vibrations were still strong, so I rotated 180°, went
through the hole and out into brightness. More observant this trip, I
noticed two people, a man and a woman, sitting in chairs near the
outside of the building. I couldn't make contact with the man, but the
woman (no physical identification other than this) seemed to know I was
there. I asked her, if she knew who I was, but I could get nothing
other, than a sense of awareness on her part. The vibrations started to
fade,
so I backed away, dove into hole, rotated, and sat up. Total time
of the
entire episode was forty minutes. What can be made of these
experiments? Taken at face value, they add up at the least to an
unusual hallucination. At most, the observations show a developmental
pattern.
First, there seems to be nothing in written history of such experiences
as these to offer a comparison. These were not spontaneous incidents,
but deliberately planned and systematically repeated. As
such, they would appear to be unique.
Second, the experiment was repeatable by formula:
1) the setting up of the "vibration" condition; followed by
2) a 180° rotation; and
3) the appearance of the "hole." The experiment was performed not once,
but at least eleven times. The 180° rotation offers interesting
speculation. The reference
to "out of phase" and the apparent identical displacement in exact
opposition deserves the attention of the physicist. Wave-form studies
of phase relationships applied in this case might provide a fruitful
theory. The
blackness of the hole was evidently a matter of my own limitation in
"seeing." Through the early experimentation, the restriction of vision
was self-imposed, as I felt this was a requisite for maintaining the
vibration condition. The evidence seems to point to this in the success
in seeing, when I decided or tried to see, and did. It would have been
interesting indeed, if I had utilized my vision during the long
exploratory "flight." Much might have been learned. The experience of
the "hands" defies explanation. There is no evidence to indicate, that
I was conditioned or suggested into the first discovery of the hand.
Second and later such experiences, however, could well have been of
this source. But this in no way invalidates the first of these
impressions. The card
with the address might fall into the classification of past memories,
associated with the handshake of a first meeting. Unexplained still is
the "digging" of the "hook" into my hand. The calling of one's name is
not uncommon under other circumstances. There are numerous records of
such sourceless voices, both in the waking and sleep states. Various
psychological theories have been formulated to explain the event, with
partial success. Most interesting is the report
concerning the evident discovery by some other party of my penetration
through the hole. In accord with published reports of other
experimenters, penetration of the "hole" was visible to a person or
intelligence at some location other, than the immediate vicinity. If
this followed the pattern of other such reports, the time element would
be identical. There is no means to verify this one way or another.
94-95
My
emotional reaction to the meeting with the "Someone" had many of the
aspects of a mystical experience. It is significant, that I felt a
sense of humble ecstasy, which triggered an emotional release. That was
the
beginning. A series of experiments followed, that were remarkable in
their consistency of data, and defied any historical
explanation. The curious
intellect cannot dismiss the collective experience as hallucination.
Locale III, in summary, proved to be a physical-matter world almost
identical to our own. The natural environment is the same. There are
trees, houses, cities, people, artifacts, and all the appurtenances of
a reasonably civilized society. There are homes, families, businesses,
and people work for a living. There are roads, on which vehicles
travel. There are railroads and trains. Now for the "almost." At first,
the thought was, that Locale III was no more, than some part of our
world unknown to me and those others concerned. It had all the
appearances of being so. However, more careful study showed, that it
can be neither the present, nor the past of our physical-matter World.
The scientific development is inconsistent. There are no electrical
devices whatsoever. Electricity, electromagnetics, and anything, so
related, are non-existent. No electric lights, telephones, radios,
television, or electric power. No internal combustion, gasoline, or oil
were found as power sources. Yet mechanical power is used. Careful
examination of one of the locomotives, that pulled a string of
old-fashioned-looking passenger cars, showed it to be driven by a steam
engine. The cars appeared to be made of wood, the locomotive of metal,
but of a different shape, than our now obsolete types. The track gauge
was much smaller, than our standard track spacing, smaller, than our
narrow-gauge mountain railways. I observed the servicing of one of the
locomotives in detail. Neither wood, nor coal was used as a thermal
source to produce steam. Instead, large vatlike containers were
carefully slid from under the boiler, detached, and rolled by small
cart into a building with massive thick walls. The containers had
pipelike protuberances extending from the top. Men working behind
shields performed the removal, casually cautious, and did not relax
their automatic vigilance, until the containers were safely in the
building and the door closed. The contents were "hot," either through
heat or radiation. The actions of the technicians all seemed to
indicate the latter. The streets and roads are different, again
principally in size. The "lane", on which vehicles travel, is nearly
twice as wide as ours. Their version of our automobile is much larger.
Even the smallest has a single bench seat, that will hold five to six
people abreast The standard unit has only one fixed seat, that of the
driver. Others are much like living-room chairs, placed around a
compartment, that measures some fifteen by twenty feet. Wheels are
used, but without inflated tires. Steering is done by a single
horizontal bar. Motive power is contained somewhere in the rear. Their
movement is not very fast, at something like fifteen to twenty miles
per hour. Traffic is not heavy. Self-powered vehicles exist in the form
of a four-wheeled platform, which is steered by the feet acting upon
the front wheels.
A mechanism, pumped by the arms, transfers the energy
to the rear wheels, much like the children's "rowing wagons" of some
years back. These are used for short distances. Habits and customs are
not like ours. What little has been gleaned implies a historical
background with different events, names, places, and dates. Yet, while
the stage of Human's evolution (the conscious mind translates the
inhabitants as men) seems to be identical, technical and social
evolution are not completely the same. The major discovery came soon
after I gathered the courage for extended expeditions into Locale III.
In spite of early indications, the people there were not aware of my
presence, until I met and "merged" temporarily and involuntarily with
one, who can only be described as the "I", whom lives "there."
96-97
The only
explanation I can think of is that I, fully conscious of living and
being "here," was attracted to and began momentarily to inhabit the
body of a person "there," much like myself. When this took place and it
began to be an automatic process when I went to Locale III, I simply
took over "his" body. There was no awareness of his mental presence
when I temporarily displaced him. My knowledge of him and his
activities and his past came from his family, and what was evidently
his brain memory-bank. Though I knew, that I was not he, I could feel
objectively the emotional patterns of his past. I have wondered what
embarrassment I have caused him as a result of the periods of amnesia,
created by my intrusions. Some must have brought him much distress.
Here is his life: "I" There, at the first intrusion, was a rather
lonely man. He was not
particularly successful in his field (architect-contractor), and not
too gregarious. He came of what might be classified as a low-income
group, and succeeded in going to the equivalent of a minor college. He
spent much of his early career in a large city in an ordinary job. He
lived on the second floor of a rooming house, and took a bus to work.
It was a strange city to him, and he made few friends. (The bus,
incidentally, was very wide, seating eight abreast, and seats rose
behind the driver in successively higher tiers, so that all could see
the road ahead.) My
first intrusion caught him just as he was getting off the bus. The
driver looked at him suspiciously, when I tried to pay a fare. It
seems,
that none is charged. The next intrusion came at an emotional
crisis. "I" There met Lea, a
wealthy young woman with two children, a boy and a girl, both under
four years of age. Lea was a sad, wistful, and somewhat preoccupied
person, who seemed to have experienced some major tragedy in her life.
This had some relationship to her former husband, but was not clear.
"I" There met her quite accidentally, and was deeply attracted to her.
The two children found in him a great companion. Lea appeared only
mildly interested at this first meeting. Her greatest response lay in
his attention to and warmth for the children. A short time later an
intrusion occurred just as Lea and "I" There had announced to friends
(her friends), that they were going to be "married" (this has a
slightly different connotation). There was much consternation among the
friends, chiefly due to the fact, that it had been only thirty days
(?), since some major event had occurred in Lea's
life (divorce, her husband's death, or some physical debilitation). "I"
There was still greatly attracted, and Lea was still sad and
introspective. A later intrusion came when Lea and "I" There were
living in a house in a semipastoral surrounding. The house sat on a low
hill, had long rectangular windows, and very wide eaves much like those
of a pagoda. The railroad curved around the hill some three hundred
yards in the distance, the tracks coming in from the right in a
straight line, then across the front of the hill, then around to the
back and to the left. There was deep green grass from the steps of the
house, down over the roll of the hill. Behind the house, "I" There had
an office, a one-room building, where he worked. On this occasion, Lea
entered the office and came over to the desk just as I had replaced "I"
There. "The workmen want to borrow some of your tools,' she said. I
looked at her blankly. I was not sure, what to say, so I asked her what
workmen. "The men working on the road, of course." She had not yet
sensed anything wrong. Before I realized, what effect it would have, I
said there were no men working on the road. With this, she looked at me
intently, with a growing suspicion.
98-99
I was thoroughly unsure of what to
do next, so I left his body and returned through the hole. Another
eventful intrusion came when "I" There had set up his
laboratory. He was not fully qualified to perform research, but he had
decided he could make some kind of new discoveries. He had (perhaps
with the assistance of Lea's wealth) taken a huge storage building,
divided
it internally into small rooms, and was conducting some kind of
experiments. In the middle of one, I displaced him in his body, but was
unable to calculate, what was next in his routine. Just then, Lea came
in, with visitors, principally to show the kind of work he had achieved
in the renovated building. I (in "I" There's body) stood there unable
to speak, when Lea asked me to tell them of the work I had been doing.
Somewhat embarrassed, Lea led the couple out into another room. I
hesitated, when perhaps "I" There would have followed. I tried to
"feel" any pattern of activity, that he might have been doing. The best
I
could get was, that he had been trying to develop new forms of
theatrical entertainment, designing theater stages, lighting, and sets,
all in an attempt to make watching a play a strongly subjective
experience. With
only this partial success in his recall, I left his body, when I heard
them returning, so as to avoid further complicating his life. A
vacation in the mountains was under way at another intrusion point. "I"
There, Lea, and the two children were riding along a winding mountain
road, each on the self-propelled vehicle described elsewhere. I "took
over' inadvertently, just as they were reaching the bottom of one hill
and had started up another. New to the device, I tried to make it go up
the next hill, and soon rolled off the road and into a small pile of
dirt. The rest waited, while I tried to get back on the road, and I
mutter
ed, that there were better ways to get around, than this. This
triggered something in Lea, and she suddenly became quiet. Why, I
didn't know. (I'm sure "I" There did.)
I tried to tell her, that I was not, who she
thought, then realized, that this was only making it worse. I "left,"
returning to the hole and the physical body. In later intrusions, "I"
There and Lea no longer lived together. He had met with some success,
but some action of his alienated her. Alone, he has thought of her
constantly, and deeply regretted the weakness, that made him displease
her. He met her casually once, in a large city, and pleaded with her to
let him visit her. She told him,
she would let him do so, and see how
things worked out. She lived in the equivalent of an apartment, on the
third floor of a residential building. He promised to come.
Unfortunately, I There lost or forgot the address, she gave him, and at
the last intrusion, was a lonely and frustrated man. He was sure, that
Lea would interpret his loss of the address, as indifference on his
part
and another example of his instability. He was working, but was
spending his idle time trying to find Lea and the children. What can be
made of all this?
In view of the less, than idyllic circumstances, it scarcely qualifies,
as an escape from reality via the unconscious. Nor is it the type of
life one might select to enjoy vicariously. One can only speculate, and
such speculation of itself must consider concepts unacceptable to
present-day science. However, the "dual but different" life activity
may lend a clue to the "where" of Locale III. The most important
assumption is that Locale III and Locale I
(Here-Now) are not the same. This is based upon the differences in
scientific development. Locale III is not more advanced, perhaps even
less so. There is no time in our known history, where science was at
the Locale
III stage. If Locale III is neither the known past, nor the present,
and not the probable future of Locale I, what is it? It is not a part
of Locale II, where only thought is needed or used. It might be a
memory, racial
or otherwise, of a physical Earth civilization, that predates known
history. It might be another Earth-type World located in another part
of the Universe, which is somehow
accessible through mental manipulation.
100-101
It might be an antimatter
duplicate of this physical Earth-World, where we are the same, but
different, bonded together unit for unit by a force beyond our present
comprehension. Dr. Leon M. Lederman, Professor of Physics at Columbia
University, has
stated: "Basic physics is completely consistent with the cosmological
conception of a literal Anti-World of Stars and Planets, composed of
atoms of anti-matter, which is to say negative nuclei, surrounded by
positive electrons. We can now entertain the intriguing idea, that
these Anti-Worlds are populated by anti-people, whose anti-scientists
are perhaps even now excited by the discovery of matter'.
7. POST MORTEM
Any acknowledgment of the existence of the Second Body immediately
demands the question Humankind has pondered, since the day he learned
to think: Do we live on? Is there life beyond the grave?
Our religions say believe, have faith. This is not quite enough for the
syllogistic thinker, who seeks valid premises, that are clear-cut,
leading to an inescapable conclusion. All I can do is be as reportorial
and objective, as one can be in a basically subjective experience.
Perhaps my premises will be valid to you as you read them. I first met
Dr. Richard Gordon in 1942, in New York. He was an M.D., a
specialist in internal medicine. We became friends, and he became our
family doctor.
He had a very successful practice, built up over the years, and
possessed a rare cynical-sarcastic sense of humor. He was a
down-to-earth realist with the wisdom of experience. He was in his
fifties when we first met, so I never knew him as a young man. He was
short and thin, with straight white hair, tending to baldness.
Dr.
Gordon had two conspicuous mannerisms. He had decided to live a long
time, evidently, and so paced himself very carefully. He walked
deliberately in a slow, careful stride.
102-103
He hurried only when absolutely
necessary. More correctly, he strolled, when he walked, with studied
casualness. Second, when someone visited him in his office,
he would glance out
from the inner doorway and stare intently. He didn't say "hello" or nod
or wave. He simply stared, as if he were saying: "Now, what in hell's
the matter with him!" Without ever having spoken of it, Dr. Gordon and
I had a very warm and close rapport. It was one of those things, that
happen without explanation, with no logical reason. We had not too much
in common, other than the fact of going through a life experience at
nearly the same moment in history.
In the spring of 1961 I visited Dr. Gordon at his office and had lunch
with him there, cooked over a Bunsen burner by his long-time nurse. He
looked tired and preoccupied and I commented about it.
"I haven't been feeling too well," he replied, and then flared up into
his usual self. "What's the matter, can't a doctor get sick once in a
while!" I laughed, and suggested he do something about it, such as
seeing his
family physician. "I will," he said absently, then back up to his
normal self, "but first, I'm going to Europe." I said, that sounded
fine. "Already have the tickets," he went on. "We've gone a number of
times
before, but this time I want to see a lot of the places, we've missed.
You ever been to Greece, or Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Egypt?" I said no.
"Well, you ought to," he said, pushing his food away. "Go when you have
the chance. You wouldn't want to miss seeing places like that. I'm not
going to miss my chance." I said, I would do my best, but that I didn't
have a fat practice, that
would wait around for me to return. But he was serious again. "Bob?" I
waited for him to continue. "I don't like the way I feel," he said
carefully. "I don't like . . . why don't you and
your wife come toEurope
with us?" I wish we had. Dr. Gordon and his
wife sailed to Spain a week or so later. There was no word, so I
assumed, they were sunning themselves somewhere in the Mediterranean.
Six weeks later, Mrs. Gordon phoned. The doctor had taken sick in
Europe and they had to cut short their trip. He had refused treatment
overseas, and had insisted, that they return home instead. He had been
in great pain, and had gone immediately into the hospital for an
exploratory operation. I was unable to see him in the hospital, but I
was kept informed of his condition by his wife. The exploratory
operation was a success. They found, what they were looking for, an
abdomi
nal cancer, beyond treatment. Nothing more could be done, but to
make him as comfortable as possible. He would never leave the hospital.
Alive, that is. Or more aptly, physically alive. With this news, I
felt,
I must find some way to see Dr. Gordon. It was all quite clear now, as
most things are in retrospect. I am sure, he knew of his condition that
day in his office. After all, he was an internist. He certainly could
have read the signs and symptoms in his own very personal laboratory.
That was the reason for the sudden trip to Europe. He definitely wasn't
going to miss his last chance! And he didn't. The need to talk with Dr.
Gordon seemed urgent. In all of our conversations, I had never
mentioned my "wild talent" or what I had been going through. I think, I
was afraid, that he would have thrown back his head and laughed, then
sent me to his psychiatrist son. Now it was different. He was racing
something, where perhaps I could help him for a change.
104-105
I didn't know
how, what I had gone through, could help, but I had a deep conviction,
that it would. I tried again and again to see Dr. Gordon, but only his
wife was permitted in his room. I finally asked Mrs. Gordon to help me
get in to see
him. She
explained, that the doctor was in such pain, that he was kept under
deep sedation most of the time. Thus he was very rarely lucid and
conscious. Usually he recognized her early in the morning, but even
this didn't happen every day. I told her, that
I had something
important to tell him. I didn't elaborate. Even in her sorrow, she
seemed to recognize, that I intended to bring a message beyond that of
a comforting friend. The intuitive woman found a solution.
"Why don't you write him a letter,' she suggested. "I'll take it to
him." I said, I was afraid, he wouldn't be able to read it. "If you
write it," she said, "I'll read it to him, when he's conscious
enough to understand it."
And so that was, what we did. She read it again and again to Dr.
Gordon,
whenever he was conscious. She told me later, that these repeated
readings were at his request, not at her suggestion. Was there
something in the letter he wanted to place firmly in his mind? When I
heard this, I felt a great sense of regret. Perhaps
he would not have
leaned back and laughed, after all. We might have shared much more, if
I had only gathered the courage to discuss my "activities" with him.
Here are pertinent excerpts of the letter to Dr. Gordon: "...and you
remember all the tests and examinations you gave me,
because you knew, I was worried about something. Well, that was when it
started. Now as long, as you are in the hospital for a while, you might
just try it and find out for yourself. That way, you don't have to take
my word for it. It will give you something to do while you recuperate.
First, you have to accept the possibility, remote as it may be to your
experience, that you can act, think, and exist without the restriction
of a physical body. And don't tell your wife to send me to that
psychiatrist son of yours. It takes more, than Freud to solve this one.
Besides, he's making enough money as it is. In all of our
conversations, it didn't seem appropriate to bring up
this subject. But as long, as you're going to be tied down, give it
some
serious consideration. It might be useful later on, and I hope you can
discover a few things about it, that I have passed over. It all depends
upon, whether you can also develop the ability to 'leave' your physical
body, while loafing in that hospital bed. If so, you might find many
ways, that it can be helpful.
It may be one way to ease physical pain.
I don't know. Give it a try... With all the sincerity I can muster, I
urge you, Dick, to think
about it. You will have passed a major milestone, when you do no more,
than accept the idea, that this second, non-physical body of yours
actually might exist. Once this has been achieved, your only other
barrier is fear. And it need not be. Because this is like being afraid
of your shadow, of yourself. It is natural, rather than strange. Get
used to this idea, that your lack of conscious experience with it does
not necessarily mean it is something to be afraid of. Unknowns are
feared only as long, as they remain so. If you can hang onto this, you
need not have fear. Then, and only then, try the formula I have written
here. I don't know the effect of any medication, you may be taking. It
may help or hinder the technique. But do give it a try. It may or may
not work the first time...Most important, let me know, how you get
along with it. When you
get better, perhaps I can drop over and discuss the whole thing in
detail. I would have come now in person, but you know how cranky the
hospital is about rules. If you tell your wife about any attempts, I'm
sure, she will relay them to me. But I would much rather hear them from
you later on. Just let me know..."
Mrs. Gordon did not let me know, if he actually did try.
106-107
I felt it
entirely inappropriate to query her too specifically at the time. She
was much too sadly overwrought with the knowledge, that Dr. Gordon's
condition was terminal. I still am not sure, that she realized my
letter could be construed, as suggested training for death. Dr. Gordon
dropped into a coma several weeks later.
He died peacefully without
regaining consciousness. For several months I thought about an attempt
to "go" to Dr. Gordon, wherever he was. He was the first person close
to me, who had died since the development of my "wild
talent." I
was both curious and objective. It was the first such opportunity. I
was sure, that Dr. Gordon wouldn't mind, if he did continue to exist.
Not knowing about such things, I decided, he would probably need some
rest, before I interfered with, whatever he was doing. Also, I
needed to
summon up some additional courage on my own. This was an experiment, I
hadn't tried before. It might be truly
dangerous. Then, on a Saturday afternoon, I made the attempt. It
took about an
hour to get into the vibrational state, and I finally swung up out of
the body mentally yelling, I want to see Dr. Gordon! After a moment, I
started to move rapidly upward, and soon all, I could see, was a blur
of
motion and feel, what seemed like a rush of very thin air. Also, I felt
a hand under my left elbow. Somebody was helping me get there. After,
what seemed an endless journey, I suddenly stopped (or was halted). I
was standing, somewhat dazed, in a large room. My impression was, that
it was an institution of some kind. The hand under my elbow moved me to
an open doorway, and stopped me just inside the door, where I could
look into the adjoining room. A male voice spoke almost directly into
my left ear.
"If you stand right here, the doctor will see you in a minute." I
nodded agreement, and stood there waiting. A group of men were in the
room. Three or four were listening to a young man about twenty-two, who
was excitedly relating something to them, complete with gestures. I
didn't see Dr. Gordon, and kept expecting him to appear at any moment.
The more I waited, the warmer I seemed to feel. Finally, I became so
hot, that I was extremely uncomfortable. I didn't know, what was
causing
me to feel so hot, and I wasn't sure, I could stand it much longer. It
actually felt, as if streams of perspiration were running down my
face. I knew, that I couldn't
stay much longer; I couldn't take the heat. If Dr. Gordon didn't appear
soon, I would have to go back without seeing him. I turned and looked
again at the group of men, thinking, that, perhaps, I should ask them
about Dr. Gordon. At just that moment, the short, thin young man with
the big shock of hair stopped in the middle of his conversation, and
looked at me intently for a moment. After the simple short glance, he
turned back to the other men and continued his
animated discussion. The heat became unbearable, and I decided, I had
to
leave. I couldn't wait for Dr. Gordon. Using a motion I had learned, I
moved quickly upward and away from the room. It was a long journey
back. After reintegrating, I checked my physical body. I felt cold, a
little stiff. Certainly there were no streams of perspiration running
down my cheeks. Disappointed, I sat up and made notes of the trip. I
had failed for some reason. I had not been able to find Dr. Gordon.
Time away from the physical was two hours. There is a stubborn streak
in my heredity. The following Saturday I tried again. Just at the
moment I left the physical body and started to yell for Dr. Gordon, a
voice spoke right beside me, almost irritated. "Why do you want to see
him again? You saw him last Saturday!" I was so
surprised, that I dropped back into the physical almost instantly. I
sat up and looked around the office.
108-109
There was no one in the room.
Everything was normal. I thought of trying again, but decided it was
too late for another attempt that day.
Last Saturday. There was nothing important about last Saturday. It
hadn't worked. I went back through my notes for "last Saturday." And
there it was:
"The doctor will see you in a minute.' And what could have been a
minute later, a short, thin young man with a shock of hair had turned
and looked at me intently.
He had looked at me without saying a word,
as if he were thinking. What I had noted was a perfect description of
what
Dr. Gordon would have been at twenty-two instead of seventy. This
seemed to lend more credence to the experience, than anything else. I
had expected to see a man of seventy. I didn't recognize him, because
he was not, what I expected. If I had suggested this as a
hallucination,
I conceivably would have met a seventy-year-old Dr. Gordon. Later, at a
visit to the home of Dr. Gordon's widow, I managed to see
an old photo of Dr. Gordon, when he was twenty-two. Of course, I didn't
tell Mrs. Gordon, why I wanted to see the picture. It matched perfectly
the man I saw, and who saw me "there." She also mentioned, that at that
age, he was very active and eager, always in a hurry, and had a big
shock of blond hair. Someday I will try again to visit Dr. Gordon.
Another time, in anticipation of a move out of State, we sold our home,
when a buyer suddenly came along. As a temporary measure, we rented a
house for the year prior to our move. It was an interesting place,
built on a pinnacle of rock directly over a small river. We rented it
through an agent, and never met or came in contact with the owner. My
wife and I took the master bedroom, which was on the main floor. About
a week after we moved in, we went to bed and my wife fell asleep
almost immediately. I lay there in semi-darkness and looked through the
floor-to-ceiling windows at the night sky. Without willing it, I felt
the familiar vibrations begin, and wondered, if it would be all right
to
let it happen in the new location. Our bed was positioned off the north
wall. To the right of the bed, if you were lying down, was the door to
the hall. To the left of the bed was the doorway into the master
bathroom. I was just in the act of lifting out of the physical, when I
noticed something at the doorway. It was a white form the general size
and shape of a person. Having become extremely cautious about
"strangers," I
waited to see, what would happen. The white form moved into the room,
around the bed, and passed within a foot of my side of the bed, as it
went into the bathroom. I could see, that it was a woman of medium
height, with dark straight hair and rather deep-set eyes, not young,
not old. She was in the bathroom only a few moments, then emerged and
started around the bed again. I sat up non-physically, I'm sure, and
reached out to touch her, to see if I really could. Seeing the motion,
she stopped and looked at me. When she spoke, I could hear her quite
clearly. I could see the windows and drapes behind her and through her.
"What are you going to do about the painting?" It was a woman's voice,
and I could see her lips move. Not knowing what to say, I tried to give
a satisfactory answer.
I said, I would take care of it, don't worry. With this, she smiled
slightly. Then she reached out with both her
hands and took my hand in hers, clasping my hand between both of hers.
The hands felt real, normally warm and alive. She gave my hand a little
squeeze, gently dropped it, and moved around the bed and out the door.
I waited, but she didn't return. I lay down, activated the physical,
then slid out of bed. I went to the hall door and looked into the other
rooms. There was noone there.
110-111
I went through all of the downstairs
rooms and found nothing. Then I made out my notes, went back to bed,
and slept. A few days later I met the psychiatrist, who lived in the
house next to us, Dr. Samuel Kahn. (I kept meeting psychiatrists this
casually!) I asked him, if he had known the people, who owned our
house.
"Yes, yes, I knew them quite well," Dr. Kahn said. "Mrs. W. died about
a year ago. After that, Mr. W. refused to go into the house, just moved
out and didn't come back."
I said, it was too bad, that it was a fine house. "Well, it was her
house, you understand,' Dr. Kahn replied. "Matter of
fact, she died right there in the house, in the room you're sleeping
in." I said, that was interesting. She must have liked the house very
much. "Oh, she did," he replied. "Very fond of paintings. Had them hung
all
over the place. But the house was pretty much her whole life." I asked
him, if he happened to have a photo of Mrs. W. "Let me see." He thought
for a moment. "Why, yes.
I think, she was in on
a group picture, taken at the club. I'll see, if I can find it." Dr.
Kahn came back a few minutes later. In his hand was a photograph,
showing some fifty or sixty men and women, most of them simply heads,
as
they stood in rows. Dr. Kahn studied the picture. "She's in here
somewhere, yes, I'm sure." I looked over his shoulder at the picture.
In the second row was a
familiar face. I touched it with my finger and asked Dr. Kahn, if this
was Mrs. W. "Oh yes, yes, that's Mrs. W."
He looked at me curiously, then with
realization. "Oh, you must have found a picture of her in the house
somewhere." I said yes, that was it. Very casually, I asked him, if
Mrs.
W. had had any unusual mannerisms or the like. "No, not that I can
remember,' he answered. "But I'll think about it.
There must have been something." I thanked him, and started to leave. I
turned, when he called. "Wait a minute, there was one item," Dr. Kahn
said. I asked, what it was. "Why, whenever she was happy or grateful,
she took your hand in both of hers, palm to palm, and gave a little
squeeze. Does that help?" That helped. With experience, I became a
little more convinced, that
I
could take such chances in areas, that were certainly unusual.
A very
close friend, Agnew Bahnson, was about my age and we had much in
common. I had known him for about eight years. He was a pilot, among
other things, and flew frequently in his company airplane. One of his
research interests was antigravity, which we discussed many times. He
had a laboratory, where he conducted experiments in this field. Among
matters we discussed, relative to his gravity studies, was the question
of how one or even two people could demonstrate any effective results
in antigravity in this age of massive research teams and extremely
expensive instrumentation. On a business trip to New York in 1964, I
found myself in my hotel room with an hour to spare in the afternoon. I
decided to take a nap. I lay down on the bed, and had just started to
drop off to sleep, when I heard Mr. Bahnson's voice: "There is a way to
prove antigravity. All you have to do is to
demonstrate it yourself, and you have been trained to do it."
I sat up,
fully awake. I knew, what the voice was referring to, but I hadn't had
the courage to try it. But why did Mr. Bahnson's voice sound so real in
this dream?
I looked at the clock by the bed, and it was just about
three-fifteen. I was too wide awake now to sleep, so I got up and went
out. When I returned home two days later, my wife was very quiet, I
asked her,
what was wrong: "We didn't want to upset you with all you had to do in
New York," she
said, "but Agnew Bahnson is dead. He was killed, trying to land his
airplane in a small field out in Ohio."
112-113
I remembered Mr. Bahnson's voice in New York. I asked her, if he had
been killed two days ago, at about three-fifteen in the afternoon. My
wife looked at me a long time, before she said, 'Yes. That was when it
happened." She didn't ask, how I knew. She was past that long ago. I
didn't make any attempt to go to Mr. Bahnson for several months. I
presumed without any known reason, that he needed rest. It had
something to do with a violent death, and I'm still not sure, I was
right. Finally, I grew impatient. On Sunday afternoon I lay down with
the deliberate intent of going to visit Mr. Bahnson. After about an
hour of preparation, I finally made it out of the physical, and began
to travel rapidly through, what seemed to be nothing, but darkness. I
was mentally shouting, Agnew Bahnson, again and again, as I
traveled.
Suddenly, I stopped, or was stopped, I
was in a rather dark room. Someone was holding me very still in a
standing position. After a moment of waiting, a cloud of white gas
seemed to blow up through a small hole in the floor. The cloud took
form and some sense told me, it was Mr. Bahnson, although I could not
see him too well or identify his features. He spoke immediately in an
excited and happy way: "Bob, you'll never believe all of the things,
that have happened, since
I've been here!"
There was no more. At a signal from someone, the cloud of white gas
lost its human form and seemed to recede back into the hole in the
floor. The hands on my elbows steered me away, and I took off back to
the physical. That is the way Mr. Bahnson would have been too
interested in new things and new experiences to waste time in the
"then" or the past. Just like Dr. Gordon. If it was a self-induced
hallucination, at least it was original, I have never read anything
like
it. Does that explain the time coincidence in the New York hotel room?
There is one more. In 1964 my father died at the age of eighty-two.
Although I had been rebellious in early years against paternal
authority, I felt quite close to my father in later years. And I'm sure
he felt close to me. He had suffered a stroke several months before,
which had left him almost completely paralyzed and incapable of speech.
The latter was evidently most vexing, as it would naturally be to a
man, who was a linguist, whose life had been devoted to the study and
teaching of langua
ges. During this period, when I visited him, he made
desperate, heart-rending attempts to speak to me, to tell me something.
His eyes pleaded, that I understand. Only slight moans came from his
lips. I tried to comfort him, talked to him. He tried his best to
answer. I couldn't tell, if he even understood my words. My father died
quietly in his sleep one afternoon. He had lived a full life, a
successful one, and his death brought mingled sadness and a sense of
release. Again and again, I have realized the importance of some of the
down-to-earth beliefs and concepts, that I learned from my father. I
will always be grateful. This time, with one very close to me just
recently dead, I had much less trepidation, than before. Or perhaps
familiarity, at least the sense of it, bred a little less caution and
more faith. The only reason, that I waited several months, was one of
convenience. Other pressing matters in my personal and business life
seemed to prevent the necessary ability to relax. However, I woke up at
about 3 A.M. on a week-night and felt, that I could try to visit my
father. I went through my ritual, and the vibrations came easily and
swiftly. In moments,
I disengaged without effort, and was up and free
in the darkness. This time, I didn't use the mental yell. I
concentrated upon the personality of my father and "reached" to be,
where he was. I began to move rapidly through the darkness.
114-115
I could see
nothing, but there was the tremendous sense of motion, coupled with the
pull of thick, liquidlike air rushing past my body. It is much like the
feeling of plunging through water after a dive. Suddenly, I stopped. I
do not recall anyone stopping me this time, nor could I feel the hand
on my elbow. I was in a dim room of large proportions. I seemed to
know, that this was like a hospital or convalescent home, but no
treatment, as we know it, was practiced here. I started to look around
for my father. I didn't know, what to expect, but at least I looked
forward to a joyful reunion. There were several small rooms off the
main room, where I stood. I looked into two of these, and in each there
were several people, who paid little attention to me. I began to
wonder, if I had come to the wrong place. The third room was no larger,
than a monk's cell, with a small window about shoulder height in the
wall opposite the door. There was a man leaning against the wall near
the window, looking out. I saw only his back, as I entered. Then he
turned and saw me. His face registered utter astonishment, and my
"dead" father spoke to me.
"What are you doing here!" He said this in exactly the manner a person
would use, who had traveled halfway around the world and then met
someone, to whom he had just said goodbye back home. I was too excited
to speak, and just stood there, hoping for the joyful reunion, I had
expected. It came immediately. My father reached forward, grabbed me
under the armpits, and happily swung me high over his head and down
again, just as I remembered so well, as a small child, just as
most fathers have done with their small sons. He put me down on my feet
again, and I was confident enough to speak. I asked him, how he was
feeling. "Much better now," he said. "The pain is gone." It was almost,
as if I had reminded him of something, he wanted to
forget. The energy seemed to drain out of him, and he turned away,
appearing tired. As I watched him, he seemed to forget, I was there. He
looked thinner, and about fifty, based upon pictures we have, when he
was that age. I sensed, that the meeting was over. There could be no
more for now. Quietly, I moved back out of the room, turned and
"reached" out, and returned to the physical body. It took much less
time to return, than to go. Was it that way? Was the pain so intense in
those last days, when he couldn't make himself understood to get help
to ease that pain?
If
that is true, what a terrible prison his body
must have been. Death was indeed a blessing. Will I try to
"see" him
again? I don't know, I don't know, if I should. There are many other
experiences, less personal, but equally impressive. They all led me to
an inescapable empirical conclusion, which alone justified the many,
many hours of anguish, uncertainty, fear, loneliness, and disillusion;
which was a point of embarkation on, what some call the Quantum Jump in
thinking and the beginning of a new viewpoint and perspective, which
permitted the pains and pleasures of Here-Now to drop into their proper
category of importance (what is a minute, hour, or year in an
infinity
of existence?); which opened a doorway to a reality, that may
ultimately prove incomprehensible to the conscious human mind, yet will
continue to tantalize the curious and incriminate the intellectual. Is
this my answer? Compound these experiences with the knowledge, that the
human personality can and does operate away from the physical body,
and
there can be but one. If there is to be a Great Message herein, this
may suffice.
8. "Cause the bible
tells me so"
116-117
If the human being has a Second Body, if that Second Body
survives, what we call death, if personality and character continue to
exist in this new-old form, what then? Again, an age-old question, that
pleads for an answer. To date, in twelve years of non-physical
activities, I find no evidence to substantiate the biblical notions of
God and afterlife in a place called heaven. Perhaps I have found this
and simply haven't recognized it. It is quite possible. It may be that
I am not "qualified." On the other hand, much of what I have
encountered could be some basics, which have been distorted through
hundreds of years. Let's start with prayer, which is supposed to be a
direct communication with God. As we are taught to pray today, it is as
if a chemical formula is recited without any knowledge of the original
intent or meaning of the ingredients. Or the way our children sing
"London Bridge Is Falling Down," with no knowledge of the original
meaning of the song. Our entire civilization is filled with such
irrational habits. Evidently, prayer is one of these. Somewhere,
someone knew how to pray. He tried to teach others. A few learned the
methodology. Others absorbed only the words, and the words themselves
became altered and changed over the years. Gradually, the technique was
lost, until accidentally (?) rediscovered periodically through the
ages. In the latter cases, only rarely has the rediscoverer been able
to convince others that the Old, Established Way is not quite right.
This is all I can report. The Old, Established Way is not enough. Or as
I say, perhaps I am not qualified. Worse still, it may be, that my
prayer training was insufficient or improper. At any rate, it didn't
work for me. Here is an illustration. On one non-physical excursion, I
was speeding through nothing back to the physical with everything
apparently well under control. Without
warning, I rammed into a solid
wall of some impenetrable material. I wasn't hurt, but I was utterly
shocked. The material was hard and solid, and seemed to be made of huge
plates of steel, overlapping slightly and welded together. Each had a
slight curvature, as if: part of a globe. I tried to push through it,
but could not. I went up, down, to the right, and to the left. I was
absolutely sure my physical body lay beyond this barrier. After what
seemed an hour of scratching, clawing, and pushing at this barrier, I
prayed. I used every prayer, I had ever learned, and made up a few
special ones. And I meant every word more, than I had ever meant
anything in my life. I was that frightened. Nothing happened. I was
still plastered against the barrier, unable to get through and back to
my physical body. I panicked. I clawed, screamed, and sobbed. After
this proved futile, I finally calmed down only out of emotional
exhaustion. Feeling lost, I lay there and rested, clinging to the cold,
hard wall. I don't know, how long I lay there, until the ability to
think objectively returned. But it did. I couldn't stay there forever
or at least
I
didn't want to. It seemed an impossible situation. Where
before had I encountered an apparently impossible situation?
118-119
I remembered. Years
before, a friend and I had purchased an airplane, whose flight
characteristics we did not know. The only reason we bought this
particular plane was, that it was cheap and in good condition. After
several practice flights around the field, we decided to take it up for
acrobatics. With borrowed parachutes, we took off and headed up to
around ten thousand feet. We took it through several lazy eights, a few
sloppy loops, and several spins. Everything seemed all right. After
climb
ing back to altitude, we nosed the ship
down slightly and popped
stick and rudder to go into a snap roll. The next thing we knew, we
were in a spin. We centered stick, and forward, the accepted recovery
procedure. It had worked before beautifully. But not this time. The
spin became flatter, faster, and was developing a whiplike action.
Opposite rudder against the spin, bursts of power, none had any effect
on the spin. If anything, the spin worsened and the ground was coming
up fast.
Bill looked around from the front cockpit,
his face white. He yelled at
me over the wind roar, "We better get out of here!" I was ready to
leave too. The only thing, that kept me there a few more seconds, was
the
possible loss of the airplane, for which I had saved so long. I
reasoned, we've tried everything, except the procedure, that violates
the rules, the one thing not to do, if you're in a spin. Pull back on
the stick. What did I have to lose? I pulled back on the stick. The
ship straightened out of the spin immediately and gathered flying
speed. I rolled it, until the Earth was where it belonged. We landed
safely and crawled out shakily and sat on the ground. We had fallen
into an outside spin. Neither of us had seen such a spin before, much
less tried one. I remembered the outside spin. I tried to apply the
concept, as I lay there panting against the barrier. Forward, up, down,
right, left - no good. There was just one remaining direction, although
my knowledge said definitely: it was not right.
It couldn't make things
any worse to try, so I did, and only a few moments later, I was back in
the physical, shaken, but safe. Which way? It was obvious in hindsight:
away from the barrier, back in the direction, from which I had been
traveling. Why this
worked, I don't know. Nor do I know, what the barrier was. Perhaps
it could be
rationalized, that prayer did work. I did get back, didn't I? If it
did, it was not in the manner, that religion taught me. No helping
angel came, hurrying to give me aid and comfort. Another time, I was
visiting my brother and his family overnight. Shortly after retiring to
the guest room, I went to bed for some much needed rest. If it has any
bearing, the headboard of my bed backed against the wall, separating my
room from that of my four-year-old niece. Her bed was directly against
the same wall.
As I stretched out in the dark, the
familiar surge of
vibrations came, and I decided to slip out for a moment just to test
being in this condition away from home.
The
moment I left the physical,
I became aware of three Beings in the room. I stayed cautiously close
to my physical body, as they came nearer. They started to pull at me,
not hard, but deliberately, as if to see what I would do. They were
having a good time at it. I tried to stay calm, but there were three of
them. I wasn't sure, I could get back into the physical quickly enough,
before they pulled me away. So I prayed. Again, I used every prayer I
knew. I asked God to help me. I prayed in the name of Jesus Christ for
help. I tried a few saints I had heard of through my Catholic wife. The
result? My tormentors laughed loudly and worked me over more
enthusiastically.
"Listen to him pray to his gods," one chuckled, most contemptuously.
"Listen to him!"
120-121
I think, I got a little angry after that. I began to push back, got
close to my physical body, and dove in. I wasn't exactly
fighting back,
but I certainly didn't remain passive. I sat up in the physical, most
relieved to be back. Even as I sat up, I heard a child crying. It was
coming from the room beyond the wall. I waited several minutes,
expecting my sister-in-law to come and calm the little girl and get her
back to sleep. After some ten minutes, the little girl, J., still had
not stopped. I got up and went out to the adjoining bedroom. My
sister-in-law had the little girl, who was still sobbing deeply, in her
arms and was trying to comfort her. I asked, what was wrong, and could
I
help?
"She'll be all right in a little while, I think," my sister-in-law
replied. "She must have had a nightmare or bad dream, and I can't seem
to wake her up."
I asked how long the girl had been crying. "Oh, just a
few minutes before you came in. She isn't like this. She usually sleeps
very soundly." I offered again to help,
if needed, and went back to my
room. Some time later little J. quieted down and evidently went to
sleep. Was my niece's trance like nightmare a coincidence?
Or perhaps some new
praying technique is needed on my part. There are many more such
incidents, but they followed much the same
pattern, when I attempted the conventional and accepted approach to
prayer. There are, however, more positive prospects to report,
regarding heaven and hell. If they exist, they are somewhere in Locale
II. In non-physical trips to Locale II, often there is a "layer" or
area, which one must pass through, as mentioned earlier (this part of
Locale II is our Inorganic Twin-World, LM).
It seems to
be
the part of Locale II, closest to Here-Now, and in some way most
related. It is
a gray-black hungry ocean, where the slightest motion attracts
nibbling and tormenting Beings. It is as if you are the bait dangling
in this vast sea. If you move slowly and do not react to the curious
"fish", who come to investigate, you pass through without much
incident. Move violently and fight back, then more excited denizens
come rushing in to bite, pull, push, shove. Could this be the borders
of hell? It is easy to conclude, that a momentary penetration of this
nearby layer would bring "demons" and "devils" to mind, as the chief
inhabitants. They seem subhuman, yet have an evident ability to act and
think independently. Who and what are they? I don't know. I haven't
taken the trouble to stay there long enough to find out. Only by
terrified trial and error did I find the method to pass through in
reasonable peace. In these worlds, where thoughts are not only things,
but are everything, including you, your poison or perfection is
of your
own making. If you are a remorse less killer, you may end up in that
part of Locale II, where all are of the same design. This truly would
be hell for such people, for there would be no innocent, defense
less
victims. Project this outward, and you can begin to perceive the myriad
variations. Your destination in the heaven or hell of Locale II seems
to be grounded completely within the framework of your deepest constant
(and perhaps non-conscious) motivations, emotions, and personality
drives. The most consistent and strongest of these act, as your
"homing"
device, when you enter this realm. I am sure of this, because it always
works this way, when I have traveled non-physically in Locale II. It
works this way, whether I want it to or not. The least stray desire at
the wrong time, or a deep-seated emotion I wasn't aware of, diverts my
trip in that 'like" direction. Some of the resulting destinations have
had all the aspects of hell to me. Others might possibly be construed
as heaven, and some differ in practice only slightly from our
activities in Here-Now.
122-123
So, if Locale II seems to have portions of hell and doesn't quite live
up
to our notions of heaven, what then? Where do we look for the
guidepost? Where are the God and heaven, that we worship? Have I missed
something?
And yet, at times, in visiting Locale II, a very unusual event
periodically occurs. It makes no difference, where in Locale II, the
event is the same. In the midst of normal activity, whatever it may be,
there is a distant Signal, almost like heraldic trumpets. Everyone
takes the Signal calmly, and with it, everyone stops speaking or
what
ever
he may be doing. It is the Signal, that He (or They) is coming
through His Kingdom. There is no awestruck prostration or falling down
on one's knees. Rather, the attitude is most matter-of-fact. It is an
occurrence, to which all are accustomed and to comply takes absolute
precedence over everything. There are no exceptions.
At the
Signal,
each living thing lies down (my impression is on their backs), bodies
arched to expose the abdomen (not the genitals), with head turned to
one side, so that one does not see Him, as He passes by. The purpose
seems to be to form a living road, over which He can travel. I have
gleaned the idea, that occasionally He will select someone from this
living bridge, and that person is never seen or heard from again. The
purpose of the abdominal exposure is an expression of faith and
complete submissiveness, the abdomen being the most vulnerable part of
the body or the area, that can suffer damage most easily. There is no
movement, not even thought, as He passes by. Everything has come to a
momentary standstill, full and complete, while He passes. In the
several times, that I have experienced this, I lay down with the
others. At the time, the thought of doing otherwise was inconceivable.
As He passes, there is a roaring musical sound and a feeling of
radiant, irresistible living force of ultimate power, that peaks
overhead and fades in the distance. I remember wondering once, what
would happen to me, if He discovered my presence, as a temporary
visitor. I wasn't sure, I wanted to find out. After His passing,
everyone gets up again and resumes their activities.
There is no comment or mention of the incident, no further thought of
it. There is complete acceptance of the event, as an ordinary part of
their lives, and this is the great, yet subtle difference. It is an
action as casual, as halting for a traffic light at a busy
intersection, or waiting at the railroad crossing, when the signal
indicates, that a train is coming; you are unconcerned and yet feel
unspoken respect for the
power, represented in the passing train. The event is also impersonal.
Is this God? Or God's son? Or His
representative? Three times I have
"gone" to a place, that I cannot find words to describe accurately.
Again, it is this vision, this interpretation, the temporary visitation
to this "place" or state of being, that brings the message we have
heard so often throughout the history of Human. I am sure, that this
may be part of the ultimate heaven, as our religions conceive it. It
must also be the nirvana, the Samadhi, the supreme experience, related
to us by the mystics of the ages. It is truly
a state of being, very
likely interpreted by the individual in many different ways. To me, it
was a place or condition of pure peace, yet exquisite emotion. It was,
as if you were floating in warm soft clouds, where there is no up or
down, where nothing exists, as a separate piece of matter. The warmth
is
not merely around you, it is of you and through you. Your perception is
dazzled and overwhelmed by the Perfect Environment. The cloud, in which
you float, is swept by Rays of Light in shapes and hues, that are
constantly changing, and each is good, as you bathe in them, as they
pass over you. Ruby-Red Rays of Light, or something
beyond, what we
know as Light, because no Light ever felt this meaningful. All the
colors of the spectrum come and go constantly, never harshly, and each
brings a different soothing or restful happiness.
124-125
It is,
as if you are
within and a part of the clouds, surrounding an eternally glowing
sunset, and with every changing pattern of living color, you also
change. You res
pond
and drink into you the eternity of the blues,
yellows, greens, and reds, and the complexities of the intermediates.
All are familiar to you. This is where you belong. This is Home. As you
move slowly and
effortlessly through the cloud, there is music around you. It is not
something, of which you become aware. It is there all the time, and you
vibrate in harmony with the Music. Again, this is more, than the music
you knew back there. It is only those harmonies, the delicate and
dynamic melodic passages, the multivoiced counterpoint, the poignant
overtones, it is only those, that have evoked in you the deep,
incoherent emotion back there. The mundane is missing. Choirs of
human-sounding voices echo in wordless song. Infinite patterns of
strings in all shades of subtle harmony interweave in cyclical, yet
developing themes, and you resonate with them. There is no source, from
which the Music comes. It is there, all around you, in you, you are a
part of it, and it is you. It is
the purity of a truth, of which you have had only a glimpse. This
is the feast, and the tiny tidbits, you tasted before, back there, had
made you hope for the existence of
the Whole. The nameless emotion, longing, nostalgia, sense of destiny,
that you felt back there, when
you stared at the cloud-layered sunset in Hawaii, when you
stood
quietly among the tall, waving trees in the silent forest, when a
musical selection, passage, or song recalled memories of the past or
brought
forth a longing, for which there was no associated memory, when you
longed for the place, where you belonged, whether city, town, country,
nation, or family: these are now fulfilled. You are Home. You are where
you belong. Where you always should have been. Most important, you are
not alone. With you, beside you, interlocked in you, are others. They
do not have names, nor are you aware of them as shapes, but you know
them and you are bonded to them with a great single knowledge. They are
exactly like you, they are you, and like you, they are Home. You feel
with them, like gentle waves of electricity passing between you, a
completeness of Love, of which all the facets, you have experienced,
are,
but segments and incomplete portions. Only here, the emotion is without
need of intense display or demonstration. You give
and receive, as an automatic action, with no deliberate effort. It is
not something you need or that needs you. The "reaching out" is gone.
The interchange flows naturally. You are unaware of differences in sex,
you yourself, as a part of the Whole, are both: Male and Female,
positive
and negative, electron and proton. Man-Woman Love moves to you and from
you, parent-child-sibling-idol and ideal: all interplay in soft waves
about you, in you, and through you. You are in perfect Balance, because
you are, where you belong. You are Home. Within all of this, yet not a
part of it, you are aware of the Source of the entire span of your
experience, of you, of the vastness beyond your ability to perceive
and/or imagine.
Here,
you know and easily accept the existence of the
Creator of all, that is or was. You are one of His countless creations.
How or why, you do not know. This is not important. You are
happy,
simply because you are in your Right Place, where you truly belong.
Each of the three times I went There, I did not return voluntarily. I
came back sadly, reluctantly. Someone helped me return. Each time after
I returned, I suffered intense nostalgia and loneliness for days. I
felt, as an alien might among strangers in a land, where things were
not
"right," where everything and everyone was so different and so "wrong",
when compared with where you belonged. Acute loneliness, nostalgia, and
something akin to homesickness. So great was it, that I have not tried
to go There again.
Was this heaven? Once I tried to simulate There, on this World.
126-127
I remembered as a child
swimming in a pool, that had underwater deep-hued colored lights, set
in
the walls. I remembered specifically, which pool had featured such
lights. Our country home had a swimming pool, so I set to work. We
installed underwater lights, and I used color on the lights. Try, as I
might, I couldn't get the deep hues I remembered. Too much power was
required. Also, we put in an underwater speaker, so that you could lie
in the water, with your ears submerged, and listen to music from the
system in the house. This worked quite well. But it was not There, or
close to it. There was one peculiar item. Upon visiting the site of my
childhood, the pool I remembered was there, but it did not have colored
lights under the water. Noone, including old friends, who swam with me
in the pool, could remember this pool, as ever having colored lights
under the water. Reality, Reality !
9. ANGELS AND ARCHETYPES
One of the greatest enigmas of this whole affair is that someone, or
more than one, has been helping me from time to time in such
experimentation. Perhaps they are with me every time, and I am just not
aware of them. I do not know who these helpers are or why they are
helping me. They certainly do not seem to be guardian angels, although
a more
conventionally oriented personality might so interpret them. They do
not always respond, when I need help, nor are they always responsive to
prayer. Mental anguish and screaming have sometimes brought one of
them. More often, they help me, when I do not ask for help or
when I am
not aware of asking. Their assistance seems to be more of their
choosing and deliberation, than mine. They are rarely "friendly" in the
sense, that we understand the term.
Yet, there is a definite sense of understanding, knowledge, and
purposefulness in their actions toward me. I feel no intent on their
part to bring harm to me and I trust their directions. Much of the help
has been subtly applied. For example, the "hands", that
boosted me up the hill to Dr. Bradshaw's house were obviously helping
me to achieve, what
I desired. I did not see, who was assisting me.
128-129
However, just prior to the assistance, I saw someone sitting
yoga-fashion, with robes and headpiece. Was this the "helper"?
In Chapter 10, the robed man with the hauntingly familiar eyes and
face,
who responded to my anguished plea, when I was trying to rid myself of
the "parasites", paid little attention to my emotional distress. Yet he
had obviously come to help. He came as a result of my problem. Still,
he offered no words of comfort, nor did he attempt to calm or reassure
me. I never saw the helper, who took me on the voyage to visit Dr.
Gordon in
Locale II. I felt his hands and heard his voice, no more.
The same
applied to the helper, who, a week later, commented, that I had already
made the trip, when I attempted to do so again. There is some inherent
acceptance of the assistance without question. Rarely has it occurred
to me at the time to turn and identify the helper. It seems a rather
natural thing. The two young men, who took me to the apartment after
the seance meeting,
do not seem to fit into the typical category here. There was a definite
sense, that they came for that particular purpose and nothing else.
This
brings up the next peculiarity. Of all the helpers, from whom I have
obtained some repeatable identification, only one have I been able to
identify a second time. In my visit to Agnew Bahnson in Locale II,
someone held me in position
to see him. The feeling of gentle, but firm hands on each side of me
was
very strong. The same hands, turning me around to leave, much as one
steers a blind person, could not have been more vivid. It was another
case of a helper, responding to a specific desire on my part. When I
panicked, screamed, and prayed against the barrier on my way
back, no help came. When I was being teased and tormented by the
entities, no help came. When I was attacked by the beings so savagely,
no help came. More accurately, if it did, I was not aware of it. What
is
the difference?
How do "they" decide, when to help, and when to leave me
alone? I don't know. Most of all, who quietly insisted, that I return
to the physical, when I
drifted in that seemingly eternal bliss? I don't know whether to be
grateful or sad for that particular help. I don't classify the "host"
(Chapter 12) as one of the same helpers,
yet
he
may well have been. He is one of those, whom I would have no
difficulty recognizing, if I saw again. He was different, in that I did
get an impression of warm friendliness and comradeship, but he was in
some manner, not quite the same as I, older, knowledgeable in another
field. He was different in that he came forward and offered his help.
This was one of the few times, that the option was mine. Strangely, the
other times I needed help badly, none appeared, for example, the
wild experiences of seeming to be in someone else's physical body
(Chapter 12). On the surface, this would appear to have been a most
serious situation, demanding immediate aid. The notes show no
indication
whatsoever of anything other, than extrication through my own efforts.
There is no evident pattern as yet. Here are several of the many other
reports in the notes, that may
illustrate some hidden points about the helpers.
9/14/58
Early evening, on the porch, into relaxation system. Immediate
highfrequency vibration. Experimented flipping in and out of the
physical. On one, had difficulty in re-entering. Two hands took my hips
and
rolled me into proper position. I mentally sent my thanks, but didn't
know, who it was.
3/18/62 Afternoon E.W. was visiting us, and we both decided to rest
before dinner, about five in the afternoon. We went into adjoining
rooms. Almost immediately after
I lay down, I heard voices, and it
sounded, as if E.W. was discussing something with someone else.
130-131
At the
time, I thought, I was hearing him physically talking to the other
person in the hatt outside the door. (E.W. reported he went immediately
to sleep, did not speak with anyone prior, and has no recollection of
the event at all.) Immediately after hearing this muffled conversation,
I lifted out of my
body, and a voice spoke almost over my shoulder: "If you feel, you must
know, I guess, we'll have to tell you."
With this, someone took me by the arm, and I went along willingly. We
traveled, what seemed, a long distance and ended up in a darkened
house. My distinct impression was, that it was a club, fraternity, or
similar
headquarters. There were quiet people in a room to the right, and I
seemed to know, there were other people far upstairs somewhere. As I
stood there waiting, what looked like a 16mm. film projector
started, and I saw a white light frame on a wall or screen, much the
same shape as a motion picture. In handwriting, black on the white, was
this message: "For pure psychic results, take six drops of a chemical
in a glass of
water."
I became excited at this, and moved over to the projector to try and
reverse it to read the message again, so that I could be positive, that
I had read it correctly. I kept fumbling for the reverse switch, but
was unable to find it. (The picture had gone by this time.) I then saw
what looked like film, unwinding on the floor, and I thought,
I had
broken the mechanism by tampering with it. This made me nervous, and I
headed back for my body to avoid trouble, returned, and re-entered
easily.
5/3/60 Afternoon I lay there, fully conscious, vibrations speeded up to
nothing but warmth sensation, eyes closed. I was about to lift out when
two hands held a book in front of my closed eyes. The book was riffled,
turned around on all sides so that I could see that it was a book. The
book was then opened, and I started to read. The gist of what I read
was that in order willfully to bring back a condition, it was necessary
to recreate the feeling of a similar experience that had occurred in
the past (i.e., was a part of your memory). I took this to mean that
one should think of the "feeling," rather than the details of the
incident. Several illustrations were given, then gradually the book
went out of focus as the vibrations faded, and try as I might, I could
not continue reading. Finally, I sat up physically and made notes.
3/9/59 Night As I lay there with the vibrations strong in the dark, the
special black darkness I could "see" with my closed eyes, the darkness
grew brighter in one spot, as if clouds were parting, rotting back, and
unfurling, and finally a white ray of light came through from somewhere
above my head. (I could still hear the noises of family activity in the
house and was
still completely aware of time-space. I was still home and completely
conscious.) I became excited, but managed to keep in stasis. A small
mountain peak
seemed to grow in the center of the white ray, just where it hit the
clouds. I gathered courage, and asked for the fundamental answer to my
basic questions. I don't know why I did, but it seemed to be what I
should do. A rich, deep voice-yet not a voice, and certainly not my
conscious mind, as I was waiting expectantly-answered. "Are you sure
you do want to know?" It came more from the light ray. I replied, that
I was sure. "Are you strong enough to take the true answers?" There was
little
inflection and no emotion in the delivery. I replied, that I thought, I
was. I waited and it seemed a long long time,
before the voice spoke again. "Ask your father to tell you of the great
secret." I started to ask exactly, what was meant, but one of the
family came up
the stairs noisily and switched on the light in the hall outside my
room.
132-133
With the click of the light, the white ray of
light faded slowly,
no matter how hard I tried to make it stay, and the clouds went from
gray to black. When the clouds had faded completely, I opened my eyes.
(There was absolutely no transition from "vision" to sleeping to
waking. I had been awake, as we define it, from all indications,
throughout the
period.) It was indeed a moving experience, but not classified as
outof-body. Since then, I have explored this in two directions. I have
tried to
recreate the experience without success. Second, I wrote to my physical
father, who was still alive and very interested in these events. I
posed the question without giving him the source. He wrote back an
elusive answer, stating that there were perhaps a half-hundred, and
asking which one I wanted. The other "father" has yet to give me the
answer either.
3/15/59 Night In trying to follow up, here is what took place. As I lay
down in the relaxing procedure, I mentally repeated the words, "Father,
guide me. Father, tell me the great secret." After several minutes,
there was a sudden blackout, and I was standing in a room with a
high-beamed ceiling. I left the house and started across a platform to
some kind of waiting conveyance (like a train), then stopped and
turned. Someone had called to me. A tall, thin, rather dark-skinned
woman in a long, straight dress or robe stood almost beside me. My
first impression was that she was Negro with small and even features,
dark straight hair, and evenly cut bangs across the forehead. (In
retrospect, I realize from the description, she could have been Middle
Eastern or Egyptian, but not oriental, as I would have noticed the eye
structure.)
She told me, that I had done something wrong, the implication being in
a wrong manner rather, than evil. I asked her what it was, and she
said, she would show me. With that, we started to move, and walked
around the corner of a large building. We stepped into a large paved
courtyard. We stopped, and it was exactly, as if we were watching a
three-dimensional life-sized motion picture in full color. A group of
people was standing to the left, and they gave the
impression of authority. To the right, lying in the courtyard, was a
small, darkhaired girl, who looked about twelve or thirteen years old.
She seemed bound, or helpless in some way. I was in the scene, and I
was simultaneously standing beside the woman watching. I could sense
every action of the "I" in the scene, every emotion. The men of
authority told the "I" in the scene, that he must perform
certain harmful functions on the girl. He felt, that he shouldn't do
this, and the girl pleaded with him not to. He turned back to the
authorities, to avoid carrying out their orders. The authorities were
very casual
about the whole affair, especially the girl's tears. They stated, that
if he did not perform the function (religious?), others were arriving
soon and they would do it instead. They added, that it would be better
for the girl, if he performed this act, instead of the others, that it
would be less harmful to the girl. Reluctantly, the "I" in the scene
turned and followed out the orders of the authorities. A few moments
later, the woman led me out of the courtyard and we stood on the
platform again. (I lost contact with the "I" in the scene the moment we
turned away.)
"Now do you understand?" she asked. I dazedly stated, that I did not,
and she looked at me steadily, rather sadly, and turned away. Not
knowing what to do, I thought of the physical, took a long time getting
back, and finally re-entered. I sat up and thought about this one for a
long time. Who was the woman? What was the great secret? Looking at my
own life history here, I am beginning to know.
8/18/61 Afternoon The hands and the book again. This time, in the
office. Three in the afternoon, rainy, humid weather, if that has
meaning. Vibrations were present, completely conscious and awake. I
checked and tested by opening my physical eyes several times and
looking at the clock. Time passage was as it felt it should be. Again,
the hands placed the book before my closed eyes. The book was turned
over, riffled, and held in many positions in very obvious movements to
make sure
I recognized it as a book. I thought of trying to see the
title on the end of the book, and promptly the end was held for me to
see, but the print was too small, or I was too myopic. Try as I might,
I could not read it. Finally, I gave up, and the book was opened and I
saw both printed
pages. Again, I tried to read it, but it was just out of focus.
Finally, I mentally suggested that I might be able to read it if I took
one letter at a time. In response, a letter jumped out of a line and I
just barely saw it as it flew by. I checked and rechecked carefully and
laboriously, and got four words: "Evoke unhappy beings by ..." I tried
and tried to read more, but evidently I concentrated too hard, as it
only became more difficult. I noticed the large white billowy clouds
overhead, and this distracted me. The rain had stopped. It was
clearing. I wanted to go out and soar up among the mountains and
valleys in the sky. With this, I started to lift out slowly. The hands
closed the book, took it away, and a tolerant, amused, and friendly
thought sprung into my mind: "Well, if the soaring is that good, go to
it." It was as if a teacher had given up, for the moment, trying to
keep the attention of a child too restless to concentrate. I soared out
through the door, up into the sky, had a wonderful time among the
clouds, and returned without incident. (The clouds truly were there
after I sat up physically, just as I had experienced them, although it
had been cloudy when I started the experiment.)
Someday, perhaps, the helpers will identify themselves. I suspect, that
the answer may be surprising.
10. INTELLIGENT ANIMALS
Throughout man's history, the reports have been consistent. There are
demons, spirits, goblins, gremlins, and assorted subhuman entities
always hanging around humanity to make life miserable. Are these myths?
Hallucinations? For once, suppose we don't dismiss the topic before we
take a good long look. Perhaps all such things do originate in the
imagination. The question is, from what source does the imagination
conjure up (bring into the minds) these beings? The following excerpts
from the notes offer several possibilities.
4/18/60 Morning I lay down on the couch around ten, and started
fractional relaxation. The room was bright in morning daylight. Halfway
through the second time around, the vibrations started. After a moment
of "tuning" (with my jaw), I opened my physical eyes to see, if the
vibrations would continue. They did. With physical eyes open, I decided
to try and "lift out" to see what happened to my vision. The clock was
in full view. My time orientation was normal, according to the second
hand. I was just about eight inches over the physical (out of body),
when I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. Walking up beside my
body was a human-appearing body (I could see only the lower half with
my head in the position on its side, by turning my eyes to the right).
It was nude, no clothes, and male. He seemed in size to be about ten
years old, some three feet tall, thin legs, little pubic hair,
undeveloped genitals.
Calmly, as if it were a daily occurrence-like a boy swinging onto his
favorite horse-he swung a leg over my back and climbed on me. I could
feel his legs around my waist, his small body pressed against my back.
I was so completely surprised, that it didn't occur to me to be afraid
(perhaps his size had something to do with that)! I waited rigidly, and
by rolling my eyes to the right, I could see his right leg hanging over
my body, less than two feet away. It looked like a perfectly normal ten
year-old boy's leg.
I was still hovering just out of the physical, and cautiously wondered
who and what this was. "He" seemed completely unaware, that I knew of
his presence, or if he was, he didn't care. I felt that I didn't want
to confront whoever he was in an environment, where he was obviously
more at home than I, so I retreated quickly back into my physical body,
cut down the vibrations, and started to write these notes. I don't know
what it was. I realized that I simply didn't have the courage to turn
around and get a good look at "him" (if I could have).
It was certainly humanoid in form, but upon reflection, it didn't have
the feeling of human intelligence. It (he) seemed more animal, or
somewhere in between. I felt insulted at the complete assurance, with
which he came over and climbed on my back. He seemed confident, that he
would not be detected, perhaps through long association with humans, to
whom he was invisible. If it was a hallucination, that's very real
imagining-in broad daylight, with the second hand of the clock
sweeping, and with two senses reporting.
4/28/60 Night. About seven-thirty in the office, I went through the
count-out procedure and the vibrations came in nicely. I started out
carefully and felt something climb on my back! I remembered the little
fellow from before, and certainly didn't want to try to go somewhere
with him hanging on my back. I let the vibrations continue, and reached
down my side to get hold of his leg, not sure that my non-physical
hands wouldn't go right through it. I was quite surprised when my hands
did touch something! The consistency felt much like flesh, normally
body-warm, and somewhat rubbery; it seemed to stretch.
I pulled, and the more I pulled, the more it stretched. I finally
pulled what I thought was all of it off my back, except for a leg,
which seemed to be under my body. I finally got that out too, and
pushed the entire mass onto the shelf beside the couch. (It still
seemed very much alive.)
It seemed to be trying to get back on me, and I had to hold it away. It
got to be quite a struggle (no viciousness on his part, just an effort
to get back on top of me), and I was getting a little panicky. I was in
over my head again! I thought of lighting matches and trying to burn
him up, to do something, anything. There seemed no way to prevent him
from climbing back on me, until the moment I re-entered the physical.
Having talked the last episode over with various people, I followed
their various instructions. I tried to stay calm, but it wasn't easy. I
crossed myself several times, with no effect. I repeated the Lord's
Prayer fervently, but that didn't hold him at bay; then I screamed for
help.
Then, as I was trying to hold off the first, a second climbed on my
back! Holding the first off with one hand, I reached back and yanked
the second off me, and floated over into the center of the office,
holding one in each hand, screaming for help. I got a good look at
each, and as I looked, each turned into a good facsimile of one of my
two daughters (the psychiatrists will have a good time with this one).
I seemed to know immediately, that this was a deliberate camouflage on
their parts to create emotional confusion in me and call upon my love
for my daughters to prevent my doing anything more to them. The moment
I realized the trick, the two no longer appeared to be my
daughters. Desperate for a solution, I thought about fire, and this
seemed to help a little. However, I got the impression, that they were
both amused, as if there was nothing I could do to harm them. By this
time, I was sobbing for help. Then I saw someone else coming up out of
the corner of my eye. I first
thought it was another one, but this was very definitely a man. He
simply stopped a short distance away and watched, what was taking place
with a very serious expression on his face. I got a very good look at
him. First, his eyes were very familiar to me. They reminded me
somewhat of a paternal cousin's, light in color, a little sunken. He
had his hair cut evenly around his head, including bangs across his
forehead, and short across the pate, almost bald. He wore a dark robe
down to his ankles. I could not see his feet. My first reaction was,
that he had come to help the "entities," and that
frightened me even more. I was still sobbing, when he slowly approached
us; I was down on my knees, arms outstretched, holding off the two
little beings. The man was very serious, spoke not a word to me, nor
did he even seem to look in my direction. When he came close, I stopped
my struggling, and sank to the floor pleading for help. Still with no
recognition of me, he picked up each of the little beings, cradled one
in each arm, and looked down at them. As he held them, they seemed to
relax and go limp, limbs and necks drooping. Sobbing my thanks, I moved
over to the couch, slipped into the
physical, still feeling the vibrations, and sat up physical and looked
around. The room was empty.
After a twenty-four hour contemplation of the event, I have at least
some speculation. There is the possibility, that the entire thing could
have been hallucination or dream superimposed over my complete
consciousness. If so, I can see how those with paranoia have great
difficulty in choosing which is reality. If it is symbolism, it is
fairly evident. The "entities" around me are no more, than a product of
me. The visualization of them as my children is pretty hard to
interpret in any other way than to show they are mine (I created them,
my children). Therefore, they belong to me, and are neither good nor
bad. I still don't know what they are. Are they disassociated parts of
me, or thought entities I have created from continuing thought patterns
habitually? What do I do about them? Who does the man in the robe
represent?
This will take more, than twenty-four hours to understand. However, the
next time, if there is one, I certainly will try to maintain a more
calm objectivity, less fear, and an analytical approach.
5/21/60 Night. I was lying deeply relaxed, late evening, in the
bedroom. The vibrations started evenly, and I quickly noticed the small
leg thrown over my body (non-physical, I assume). I felt the small body
hanging onto my back. Carefully, I reached around (non-physical?), and
felt the small back superimposed on mine. I patted the little shoulder
gently (intending understanding) and carefully lifted the small body
and pushed it away from mine. I waited, and it didn't come back or
attempt to come near. Not wanting to push my luck, I re-entered the
physical, sat up, and made these notes.
5/27/60 Night After lifting out, I again felt what I knew to be one of
the rubbery entities on my back. No words or action, just the small
body clinging warmly to my back. This time, I did not get too
frightened, and managed to pull at the thing slowly. I pulled, and
called to God to help me (at the insistence of several people, who are
more theologically inclined than I). Again, the thing stretched as I
putted, but didn't come off completely. I remembered the visualized
thought of fire, and that it hadn't seemed much use, but had helped a
little. This time, I tried thinking of electricity. I visualized two
pieces of highly charged wire.
I mentally stuck them into the side of that part of the entity, that I
had pulled off. Immediately the mass deflated, went limp, and seemed to
die. As it did, a batlike thing squeaked past my head and went out the
window. I felt that I had won. I felt deep relief and went back down
into the physical, reintegrated, and sat up (physically).
8/25/60 Night It happened again this trip. Just as I was getting under
way, several "things" attached themselves to various parts of my body
(non-physical). I say things because it was in total darkness, and I
wouldn't or couldn't see. They seemed almost like small fish, about
eight or ten inches long, and they attached themselves like the
parasitic "sucker" fish in the ocean. I pulled them off and pushed them
away as best I could, but they (or others) came back immediately. They
weren't vicious, just troublesome. Finally I went back in the physical
to get rid of them.
11/3/61 Night. I've discovered something new about the "suckers." There
is almost a layer of them; sometimes you pass through it, but most of
the time you don't, or you move through so fast it is not noticed. This
time, I stopped right in the middle of the layer as the "fish" came
clustering around, attracted by me. Instead of reacting as before, I
simply waited, completely immobile. After a few moments, they detached
themselves and moved away. Then there was nothing, just blackness. I
started to move, and back they camel I stopped, waited, and again they
moved away. This time, I moved slowly. One or two came back, but that
is all. I then went upward, and on to the other places. It was as if I
were bait in an ocean of fish.
7/13/60 Night. This must be recorded, as it may contribute in some way.
In hotel room in Durham with my wife in bed beside me, late at night. I
was just about to fall asleep, when I sensed someone or something in
the room. Without realizing at first what had happened, I rushed up out
of bed to defend myself and my wife. Immediately, I was attacked by
something I couldn't see in the darkness. It fought at the animal
level, i.e., tried to bite and scratch, and for what seemed an
eternity, we fought in three dimensions through the room. I could not
see in the darkened room (or were my eyes closed?), and it was only
through sheer determination, that I fought it step by step over to the
window and hurled it out. It apparently had no human or intelligence
characteristics. It seemed pure animal and about four feet long, like a
large dog.
By the window, after disposing of it, I turned and realized for the
first time, that I was not in the physical. (My hand was right through
the closed window!) I floated over to the bed, and there were two
bodies lying under the covers. I moved close to the watch on the night
table, and could see by the luminous dial, that it was two thirty-five.
I remembered, that I was closest to the night table, and floated over,
went down, rotated, and was back "in." I sat up physically, and the
room was quiet, dark, and empty. I looked at the watch on the night
table. The time was about two thirty-eight.
10/27/60 Night. Went to bed tired, late, around 1:30 A.M., and mentally
set myself to have no "activities." Just as I started to sleep (no
consciousness lapse in sequence, no separation from physical
noticeable, but I did feel a sense of release just prior), I was
attacked by something. It had no apparent personality, nor was I able
to see it. However, I knew this one was incredibly vicious with an
intent to "take" something, that was mine, which first required getting
rid of "me" (not necessarily the physical "I," but the "I", who has the
ability to act independently of the physical). (the Energy Body, LM).
This struggle was not like fending off an animal. It was a
no-holdsbarred affair, silent, terrifyingly fast, and with the other
seeking out any weakness on my part. I did not fight back savagely at
first, because I was bewildered. I merely tried to defend myself.
However, the "thing" fighting me seemed to move from nerve center to
nerve center, and some of the holds and pressures it applied were
excruciating. I knew, that if I did not fight back, I would lose, and
losing seemed as vital, as losing existence. I then started to fight
back with equal intensity, savagely and with desperation. The thing,
fighting me, knew every weak spot, and used them. We fought for what
seemed like hours, and gradually I felt I might truly lose. I felt,
that this couldn't go on forever, and realized, that I was somehow out
of the physical. Still fighting, I steered the battle in the direction
of my physical. When we were very close and directly over it, I dropped
back "in." It was the only way I could think of to end the fight
without losing.
I opened my eyes (physically) and sat up. The room was quiet and empty.
The bedclothes were undisturbed, so evidently, there was no actual
physical motion involved. My wife slept beside me undisturbed.
I got up and walked around the room, looked in the hall. Everything
appeared normal. It could have been a dream. If so, it was most vivid,
and certainly did not follow the usual pattern of dreams that I have.
(I have long come to recognize pure release-type dreams, which reflect
the day's tensions or long-felt inner anxieties, which can be likened
to multiple feedback or "monkey chatter.") The superimposure of the
room perfectly, as the background for the action plus conscious control
of action, tends to negate the dream concept.
After some twenty minutes of calming myself down, I returned to bed. I
was naturally reluctant immediately to try to sleep again. I did not
want a recurrence of the fight. I knew of no way to prevent it. I tried
what seemed to be the only answer. (The alternative was to stay awake
all night, and I was much too tired.) I lay there and repeated, "My
mind and body are open only to constructive forces; in the name of God
and good, I am going into normal restful sleep." I did, and awoke at my
usual time in the morning. Before sleep came I had repeated the phrase
at least twenty times. The use of such phrasing indicates the
seriousness and concern I felt at the time, which will be recognized by
those, who know me well in that I felt the need to look for help and
protection in the manner, that I did.
In truth, there was no alternative whatsoever. In retrospect, I still
cannot find an alternative, nor do I know of any method, place, person,
religious practice (that I would be sure of), drug, or anything else in
my fund of knowledge, experience, and information, that would
absolutely guarantee protection against whatever attacked me. However,
there must be something other, than the pure "fighting back" in
self-defense, even if you don't know what you are fighting. It was the
same defense mechanism you would use, if you were attacked by an animal
at night in the jungle. You don't stop to find a way to fight in the
middle of the fight. You don't stop to find out what attacked you. You
fight to save yourself, with what you have now, the moment the animal
attacks. You fight desperately, not thinking at the time how to fight,
why you fight, whom you fight. You have been attacked; the unprovoked
attack in itself seems to indicate to you, that whatever is attacking
you is not good, or else it would not attack you in this manner.
Defense is automatic, instinctive, with no thought except survival,
which is based on the premise, that it is wrong to surrender to someone
or something whose qualities (apparent unprovoked attack, blind desire
to kill) you abhor (regard with horror, abominate).
11. GIFT OR BURDEN?
Early in the experimentation, a side effect began to manifest itself.
It was not an out-of-body activity as such, but took place in states of
deep relaxation prior to any separation. It is evidently called in the
trade "precognition." As I was lying down, my mind stilled and body
relaxed, without my volition, the "vision" would occur. There would be
a hissing sound, localized in the forebrain, and I would get the
sensation of a small rectangular door, hinged at one end, swinging
downward to an angle of about 45°. This exposed a perfectly
round hole. Immediately thereafter, I would see and semiexperience an
event or incident like a dream, except that I retained all of my
consciousness and sense awareness. The dream would be superimposed
directly over outside stimuli. I could perceive both quite readily. I
could not and cannot produce the effect at will. It merely happened or
was triggered by some non-conscious mechanism.
At first, I paid no particular attention to the phenomenon, attributing
the dream visions to release of material from the unconscious. A major
event brought it strongly to my attention. It is important enough to
take directly from the notes.
During the early morning, the "valve" opened again, and what I saw has
concerned me only because it was so vivid. I was about to board a
commercial airplane. Standing by the door of the plane waiting was
D.D., a man I've known for more than ten years. I got on the plane and
took a seat. I noticed that there were plenty of seats and the plane
was almost ready to go, so I was sure my friend would make it aboard. I
noticed a group talking up in front near the door, and they joined a
young Negro man who had just come in the door. They were very jolly,
and were glad the young Negro was going along. The group was composed
of two older Negro men, an older white man, and the young Negro. They
noticed that the plane was about to leave, so they all went down the
aisle past me and took their seats. I leaned forward to see if my
friend would get on, and in doing so, I became aware that the woman in
front of me was agitated. Just as the plane was starting, my friend got
aboard and took a seat. I was about to get up and go over to join him
when the plane started to move and I sat back. The plane started down
the runway and seemed to take a long time to get off, and I grew a
little tense. We finally took off, and we climbed low over boulevard
streets (winding, with cloverleaf intersections). We stayed at low
altitude and the plane climbed very little.
In a few moments, I heard the stewardess speaking through the plane's
speaker system. She stated that in a few minutes the pilot would decide
whether to take the plane on one of two routes, the one to the left
(going around) or the "under the wire" route. After a few moments'
wait, I noticed that the plane passed a given point (low over a city)t
and I realized before the hostess spoke again that we were taking the
"under the wire" route. When the hostess announced it, her voice seemed
a bit too light and too casual, and I could sense a slight tension in
her, too.
Looking out the plane window, I saw the area ahead with wires stretched
out in every direction. The plane approached and went under the wires,
staying very low. I was tense, and watched ahead looking for openings
in the wires that we could climb up through. Then up ahead, I could see
the end of the wires over us, and there was sunlight beyond. I began to
relax slightly because it looked like we were going to make it. At that
moment, the plane dropped suddenly and bounced against the street. As
it did, something broke off the plane very near me, and I jumped (or
fell)
to the street some six or eight feet below me. I watched where I had
fallen as the plane moved upward and away from me after the bounce, and
then plunged off to the right and into an empty space between two
buildings. Huge clouds of smoke partially obscured the crash.
My first reaction after the crash was to thank God for the miracle that
saved me. The second was that my family would be worried because they
knew I had taken this flight, and that I should get word to them. The
third was that I should hurry over to the wrecked plane to try and save
some of the others, even though I knew it was of no use. I got up and
went over to the plane wreck, and as I approached I could see flames
through the smoke. The pilot (in leather jacket and cap) walked up and
looked at me rather dazedly and asked why I of all his passengers
should be picked as the one to be saved, I asked this question myself,
then the valve closed.
7/24/59
I am about to leave on what may be the first of four plane trips. This
first will be to North Carolina. At the thought of the trip, I have a
shaky feeling. This has made me pause to think, and in view of other
incidents, to review the experience related on 7/5/59. I am always
slightly concerned when I travel by airplane, as I believe everyone is.
I do not think anything is going to happen on the North Carolina trip,
but I may have the wrong interpretation. But what do I do if a similar
incident occurs at the beginning of one of these three trips-an exact
parallel to the 7/5/59 incident! Do I get off the plane? Or is it
impossible to break the pattern? My reading states, that I will
survive, but survival may mean, in this case, death-transition, or that
I see death not as death, but I am still "alive" I honestly do not know
what I will do. However, to all who love me-and I hope there are
many-in the event that there is such an incident, and that the proper
interpretation means, that
I do experience death-transition rather than continuing life here,
please do not be unhappy over it. For I honestly, deeply feel, that it
is a transition, and much as I will regret the many things, that I
would never do here, some deep nostalgia, some great longing, that I
have tried to fulfill in a fumbling way here, I believe will again
become actuality, if I go "Home." For more than ever, I believe that
the physical body is but a machine for the use of "I." Therefore, once
"I" have departed, the body should mean nothing. No grave, no vault,
the body as such is unimportant. "I" am not there.
By the same token, because of my interest, if any such event should
occur, the "I" will try to establish communication with those who are
interested. (What could prevent this* and it is certainly a
possibility, is that the "other plane, place" may offer the same
questions as here, there may be more important matters there.) I do not
know, I can't promise. But rest assured, those who know me will have
little difficulty in recognizing an actual communication.
This is not in the least intended to be morbid, and perhaps I am overly
sensitive these days, but I simply want to have it on record, so that
in some small way, others may be enlightened if it comes to pass. I do
not want this to occur, I don't feel I'm "ready," and the thought of
going through it makes me very contemplative and sober. Yet I am at
least partially prepared for it.
10/23/59
This is written some twelve weeks after the previous entry. Four of the
twelve weeks were spent in a hospital, the remainder in a recuperative
period at home.
But first things first. The previous entry found me concerned with what
seemed to be a problem of portent, and the definition of survival. By
comparison with the "dream," here is how it worked out.
Recognition 1: I started on the trip, as indicated, a trip to North
Carolina. The first indication of similarity occurred when I got into
the bus that takes passengers from the New York airline terminal to
Newark Airport. I entered and sat down on the right, in the second seat
from the front. Sitting there, I was overwhelmed with a sense of
familiarity. It was the position I was in relative to the door, and the
pattern of the door ran, and the door shield. This made me alert, as I
thoroughly recognized this ''placement" as what I originally
interpreted in the precognition as the airplane. It was not the
airplane, it was the bus to the airport.
Recognition 2: Four men entered the bus, three in dark suits, one in
light, laughing and joking. (See earlier comparison, interpretation
before as Negro and white.)
Recognition 3: A woman took the seat directly in front of me. She
became very uncomfortable and agitated. However, it was not because of
me, but because of the porter's handling of one of her packages outside.
Recognition 4; The impression of my friend D.D. standing by the door
waiting, the last to get on. I looked out where the bus driver was
waiting beside the door for any last-minute passengers. His face and
build reminded me instantly of my friend, enough to be his brother.
Photographic verification of this was to come. (The mind, when unable
to identify truly, picks the nearest thing to it in the mind's
experience.)
He then got in, closed the door, the last to enter, and slipped into
the driver's seat almost directly opposite me.
Recognition 5: In taking the Jersey Turnpike, the bus "flies low and
slow," or that could be the impression if compared to flying. The
turnpike is built over most of the surrounding streets and roads. As I
looked at the unfolding roads and curving boulevards as we traveled
above them, the instant sense of familiarity and recognition came again.
Only it was not the airplane (the original mistaken concept)t but the
bus.
Recognition 6: At the airport, I was quite alert after the early signs.
The plane was late in arriving, so I waited around the lobby. As I sat
on a bench, I heard a woman's voice speaking of east and west concourse
over the P.A. system. The hollowness of the sound was again strongly
familiar (east and west, left and right).
Recognition 7: When the plane finally did load, I momentarily debated
whether or not to take it, not from fear, but because of the
uncertainty of what "survival" meant. I finally decided that it was
unavoidable, that if 1 waited for a second flight, it would only
prolong the incident. 1 boarded the plane, very alert, and we taxied
out for takeoff.
Then the hostess announced on the intercom that we would fly at six
thousand feet. That confirmed the low altitude. We finally took off,
and promptly ran into a thunderstorm with a great deal of lightning
display.
This confirmed my impression of an under-the-wires (electricity)
flight, long a recognizable symbol to me.
Midway during the storm, the pilot decided to change altitude (this was
not announced), but we flew up out of the storm, and landed in North
Carolina without incident. Upon landing, I decided that my
interpretation of the accident was wrong, and promptly forgot about the
whole thing.
Four days later, on a Monday morning in the middle of a quiet, friendly
chat in an office, I suffered what was later diagnosed to be a heart
attack (coronary occlusion), and was taken to the hospital. I did not
believe it was a heart attack, and had no idea that it was until I was
informed of it after an examination in the hospital complete with EKG.
It took much persuading that it was so, and for a reason. In every
physical examination I ever had, including two the previous week by two
different insurance doctors, my heart was always pronounced very sound,
with such statements as "You'll never have to worry about your heart"
and "That's one thing you won't die of, any heart problem." My mind was
thoroughly conditioned against that possibility. It seems that my mind
would not accept the precognitive inference of a heart attack. This
seemed impossible. Therefore, it selected a catastrophe that was
possible in its memory experience, i.e., an airplane crash. (The mind
takes the nearest seem-alike.) Thus the heart attack came through in
the form of an airplane crash, which was acceptable as a possibility.
The four weeks in the hospital were eased by use of suggestive therapy
on recorded tape, which worked wonders with my morale and seemed to
speed my recovery. No experiences of a psychic nature came about in the
hospital, which I finally deduced was caused by the sedatives
(barbiturates) which were given to me every three hours. At home, my.
recovery followed a standard procedure with no recurring symptoms to
date.
It goes without saying that I observed very intently after that when
the "valve" decided to open. Each time the vision presented fitted
exactly with events that occurred days, months, or years later.
Examples of these include a visual description of the interior of a
house, including paint and trim, that was selected by my wife for us in
a Southern city. I recognized it immediately and it was identical to
the description in the notes made two years previously. Most unusual
was the fact that at the time of the precognition we had no plans or
intention of moving south.
Another was that five minutes before the broadcast of a recorded
program, the valve opened and I "saw" the tape breaking sharply and the
reels running wildly. Some ten minutes later, during the broadcast, the
tape did break and was hastily reset. Such breakage had never happened
before during a broadcast, so this was not a common concern. Further, I
had made all editing splices myself, and knew they were tight. The
break was caused by a splice made by someone else who had used the tape
previously.
A third: In the office, the valve opened, to reveal a red light with
the words "Oil Pressure." An hour later, driving home in a nearly new
car, the red Oil Warning light flashed on. Again, this was not a
subconscious worry. The car had less than five hundred miles since it
was new, and had just been checked. The new car had an oil
leak-something one does not expect or worry about with a new automobile.
There are some eighteen more, all of which are personal incidents of
varied magnitude, previewed via the valve and later coming to pass
exactly as noted, allowing for minor errors in interpretation.
To date, a pattern of consistency has been established: H (Hissing
sound) + V (Valve-opening sensation) = F (Future event vision).
On the premise that this formula has been applicable and proved
twentytwo times, what of the other cases listed in the notes where F
has not yet taken place? Without further comment, here are some where
the formula has not been proved as of this writing, 8/3/60
Air hiss/valve: An airplane passes overhead, obviously in trouble, with
flaps and landing gear lowered. It crashes behind a nearby hill and my
family and I rush over to try to help. When we get there, the plane is
burning slowly with a deep red glow. 1 recognize the glow and the slow
burning as something different than an ordinary gasoline fire, and warn
the others to stay back so they will not be injured by it, as there is
nothing we can do for the dead occupants.
11/5/61
Air hiss/valve: 1 am standing alone outside my house. The sky is mostly
clear, with a broken cloud cover to the north. I see a group of
aircraft emerge from the cloud cover, just above it. They approach, and
I note that they are not typical aircraft or rockets. Behind the first
wave is row after row of the strange aircraft, literally hundreds of
them. They are not like any airplanes I have seen before. No wings are
visible, and each machine is gigantic, some three thousand feet across.
Each is shaped like the head of an arrow, V-shaped, but with no
fuselage as in our swept-wing airplanes. The V shape is not a lifting
surface, but houses the occupants in two or three decks. They sail
majestically overhead, and I feel a tingle of awe at the mighty power
they represent.
1 also feel fear, because I somehow know that these are not man-made.
10/20/62
Air hiss/valve: I am with other people in a suburban street. Looking
up, I see what appear to be airplanes through a large break in the
clouds. I take a closer look, and realize these are a type of aircraft
I have never seen before, evidently powered by something other, than
propellers or jets (impression is of a unique form of rockets, but not
chemical). Three of the aircraft dive down in a descending turn, and I
can see they have black sides and white square windows, but no wings to
speak of. The three make a low pass over a nearby street Houses and
buildings collapse in their wake, not from bombs, but from something
emitted from the machines themselves. We all dive for a ditch for
safety.
6/12/1963
Air hiss/valve: My family and I are in a situation, where the whole
population of the city we live in, is trying to leave. Gasoline is
unavailable, electric power has been shut off. There is a great sense
of fatality among everyone. It doesn't seem to be the product of atomic
war, and there is no concern as to radioactive fallout. There is
principally a feeling of doom and the breakup of civilization as we
know it, due to something momentous having taken place, a factor beyond
human ability to control.
4/11/1964
Air hiss/valve: My family and I are in a large city, and there seems to
be great trouble. Everyone is trying to leave. I leave what seems to be
an apartment to try to find some way for us to get out into the
country. Out in the street, the whole city is in a turmoil and panic,
with cars stalled and jammed together, much like an anthill, that has
been disturbed. There are many more, personal, general, specific,
local, worldwide. Only time will bring confirmation. I hope some of
them are hallucinations.
12. ROUND HOLES AND
SQUARE PEGS
p.155-165
Among the many mysteries encountered, there are several that stand out
as being apparently unmotivated yet deeply profound. My only hope is
that others more technically or philosophically oriented can perceive
in them purpose and reason which I cannot. Here are a few of those
which do not seem to be of Locales II or III.
8/23/63 Evening I lay down to take a short napt not for any
extraphysical
activity, at seven-seventeen, in the den, on the couch. The moment I
stretched out horizontally and closed my eyes, there was a tremendous
soundless explosion. There was no time lag. It occurred about two
seconds after I closed my eyes. The blast slammed me across the room
and against the wall in the opposite corner, where I slid to the floor.
My first thought was that there actually had been some kind of
explosion in the house, as the light fixtures overhead seemed to be
sputtering, throwing off blue sparks, then the wires themselves
melting. (The lights were turned off when I lay down, the room
half-dark.) It seemed to me as if some huge short circuit had taken
place in the wiring. There was a tingling sensation similar to
electrical shocks (not like the vibrations I have mentioned so many
times). Then I looked across the room. My physical body was still lying
relaxed on the couch. I could see it plainly. It was then that I
seriously considered another possibility. This might
be death, true death, instead of the typical out-of-body experience.
This situation was such an unusual thing. Perhaps I had died, my heart
had stopped. I was still a little dazed from the explosion, but I was
not afraid nor did I panic. If this was death, so be it. I lay there in
the corner for some time, trying to collect myself. I
felt around under me, and I thought I felt the rug, but I was not sure.
At least something, felt solid under me. Then I decided that I should
try to get back in the physical, even if I failed. I would lose nothing
by trying. With a great effort of will, I floated upward and over to
the couch,
then down. There was a wrenching effect, and I found myself half in my
physical body. I realized the half-condition, wriggled and squirmed,
just as you would wiggle your hand to put on a glove. In a moment, I
was "whole" again. I sat up (physically) and turned on the light.
Everything seemed
normal, the house was quiet, my body seemed normal, except that I was
covered with goose-pimples. I was quite shaken by the experience and
still don't know what caused it and why. Was it an explosion of a
non-physical category? Was it an internal thing, in me, or was it the
effect of some outside force? In retrospect, there seemed to be nothing
unusual in my physical, emotional, or mental condition at the time to
trigger it. In analysis of the best recall I can muster of the instant
of the explosion, it was as if some stray beam had swept through the
room and just happened to catch me impersonally in its path, the effect
of which was to "blow" me out of the physical. Following this thought,
I got the impression, that the beam was the product of some
experimental
device, not fully developed by the researchers, who were testing it,
i.e., all of the effects were not known to them. It strikes an
associative memory relationship with the three-way device experience.
5/5/59 Afternoon
Today I learned about a strange device that is supposed to work three
ways. About five, I decided to try working a formula for the condition
(1-2o/LQ). I lay down on the bed, thought of the force field diagram,
then started the twenty count. I did not seem to be achieving any
result, and then turned my head. My eyes were open and I glanced at the
sun through the window (the day was sunny, and the window was to the
west). Immediately, the vibrations faded in, and I closed my eyes and
lay back. The vibrations were a tingling in the back of my head. I
followed the jaw movement procedure, and they seemed to get stronger or
weaker depending on my position, as expected. Finally, I determined the
peak tuning position of my jaw (this is the way I can express it). The
vibrations were strong in my head, a little too strong,
so I "moved them down into my chest, then experienced placing them in
various parts of my body, that is to say, making them stronger in a.
given part. Each time they passed over my lower right side I got a
burning sensation, either in the liver, kidney, or lower right colon
(foreign body or chemical there?). This had happened before, although I
do not remember mentioning it. I mentally "wanted?' upward, and I
floated up. Some stray thought must have come forth, because I
immediately rolled in the air and dove through the floor. I momentarily
heard a band playing (like turning past a radio station on the dial),
then I was standing in an unfinished house, with no windows installed
as yet, and materials and scraps lying around on the rough floor.
Through the window was a rural countryside, trees and fields, and the
house was evidently in the side of a hill, looking down into a slight
valley and onto the low hill on the other side, I looked down, and
there was a device, about eighteen inches long, on the floor. It
appeared to be laid there just temporarily while the operator "went to
lunch." I picked up the device curiously, never having seen anything
like it. It was rodlike, with three attachments spaced along it. I held
it up and looked along the rod and inadvertently aimed it at a man
standing on a patio outside the open window whom I hadn't noticed
before. Nothing happened, and then the man turned and noticed me. He
moved out of sight for a moment, then entered through a doorway to the
right and came up to where I was standing. He smiled, and to my best
recall, appeared to be perfectly normal. Seeing the device in my hand,
he indicated, that he would show me how to use it. Pointing to the tube
(an open-ended cylinder) on the front of it, he showed me how to
"focus" the device by moving the tube or cylinder back and forth, away
for a narrow beam, and toward you for a wide, evidently more gentle,
beam or ray.
He then told me to point it through another window opening where a
second man outside was talking steadily and animatedly with someone
outside our range of vision. He said to push the cylinder forward for a
narrow beam. I did, and pointed the device at the man outside just as
you would use a rifle. I saw nothing, no beam or ray, emitted from the
device. However, the man beyond the window opening instantly slumped in
his chair as if he were dead. I turned to my host, frightened and
worried that I had unintentionally killed, the person outside. He
smiled, and told me to point the device again at the unconscious (?)
man outside, this time pulling back on the focusing device to produce a
wide beam. I did, and the unconscious man sat up and resumed his
conversation as if nothing had happened.
My host then led me outside, and I asked the second man if he had felt
anything. He stopped his conversation, looked at me puzzled, and said
no, he hadn't. I asked him if he remembered going to sleep or any lapse
of time, and again he replied in the negative and turned away to
continue his conversation.
The man who was my host looked at me and smiled, then took me over to
the other side of the house overlooking the valley, indicating that he
would show me another thing the device could do. He pointed toward the
distance. A small fire was burning brightly on the hillside some three
hundred yards away, with smoke curling up into the sky. He told me to
use the narrow beam, and aim at the fire. I did, and immediately the
fire went out. The flame shut off as if suddenly extinguished. The
smoke held for a moment or so longer, then it too was gone.
I grew very excited about the gadget, and asked my host to describe it
to me. He did gladly. It was composed of three parts, he told me. The
cylinder was a focusing device, which I understood. In the middle was a
spiral coil, which he said was the power source. Behind the power
source were three finlike plates (like those found in a rectifier),
which he explained were not too important in that they were only
shields to protect the user. He rubbed his thumb over them and they
bent, showing their flexibility. He asked me if I was sure I
understood. I replied that the affair looked like a large triode (the
closest thing I could think of resembling the layout pattern). He
nodded excitedly and replied, '"Yes! A triode!"
Feeling that I had to go and couldn't stay longer, I thanked him for
all of the information, and he said he would see me again at
(unremembered).
My mind recognized the place, evidently, and I said yes, the Cadena
Azul. (This was a product of my South American visit, and it seemed a
natural way to say whatever I was trying to say-blue network.) My host
started to nod yes, then gave me a blank, uncomprehending look, and I
realized that my impression was right but that he didn't understand the
Spanish term.
I then went back to the unfinished room, and "took off" upward with a
stretch-leap. I went up what seemed to be only two or three floors,
then stopped. The place looked like my office room, but was empty. No
furniture, no couch, dust on the floor and windows-and no physical body!
I realized this was the wrong "place" (time?), that where I wanted to
be was still "up" I started up again, through the ceiling, and after
eight or ten floors, emerged in my proper office room, sank down into
my physical body (had a little difficulty with one arm), then merged
completely.
I sat up and opened my eyes. The clock indicated one hour, five minutes
time lapse. I sketched the device, then started these notes. A device
that puts people to sleep, wakes them up, and puts out fires. Someday
I'll try to build the device.
3/11/61 Night . , . and I thought I had made a normal return to the
physical. I opened my eyes, and I was in a strange bed. A strange woman
was beside the bed, and she smiled as she saw me awaken. An older woman
stood behind her. They expressed happiness, that I had finally come to,
that I had been ill for a long time, but that now I would be all right.
They helped me get out of bed, and I was dressed in some sort of robe
(like a dressing gown; their dress seemed normal to me), and I knew for
sure I wasn't the person they thought I was. I tried to tell them this,
but they only humored me and seemed to think I was still in some form
of delirium. I asked what day it was, and they only smiled
understandingly, as if I wasn't yet fully oriented (I wasn't). I was
going to ask for a calendar, then decided it was better simply to find
out the year, I asked the younger woman, who seemed to be my wife (or
the body's wife), and she replied, that it was 1924, according to the
Greek (?) method of calculating time.
I was sure, that I couldn't stay there any longer, and despite their
strong objections, went out a door into the open air. I stood there and
tried to move upward, and I got the feeling, I had to move up, very far
up.
I tried to take off, but they were holding onto me. Nothing happened
and I became worried. I knew I was in the wrong place. I then
remembered the breathing trick, and started to breathe in the gasping
manner through half-closed lips. I started to rise slowly, up above the
building, which was U-shaped, still feeling them trying to restrain and
hold me back. I breathed hard and fast, faster, and I moved faster,
until the familiar blue blur was all around me. Suddenly, I stopped,
and I was high in the air over a landscape of countryside dotted with
houses. It looked familiar, and I thought I saw what was our house and
buildings between road and river. I dove for the house, and in the next
moment I was merging with the physical. I sat up, whole again, and
looked around gratefully. I was in the right place!
8/17/60 Night
This was a misdirected attempt, to understate by an incalculable
margin. I went through the 1-2O/LQ procedure at around 11:30 P.M., in
the bedroom. I went out with the thought of visiting Agnew Bahnson, and
started on the windblown type of trip, but returned to the physical
almost immediately-or so I thought. I wasn't lying in bed, I was
standing. The room wasn't my room. A man, big and round-shouldered, was
supporting me on my left. He was much taller than I, and his shoulders
seemed to glisten. Holding me up on my right was a young girl. They
were forcing me to walk around the room, and I was having difficulty
walking, so they were half-supporting me under each arm. I heard them
comment about my hands, that there was something wrong or unusual about
them.
They were not unfriendly, but I knew positively that I was in the wrong
place I kept my head, luckily, and employed the stretch and shot up out
of wherever and whatever I was, and after only a moment or two, merged
again with a physical body, I looked around carefully (physically)
before I moved. I was back in my own physical body, my own bedroom. It
was a long time before I turned over and was able to get to sleep!
11/23/60 Night
This was a most unusual and vivid experience, and I don't know if I
want any more like it. I went to bed late, very tired, around two in
the morning. The vibrations came in promptly without induction, and I
decided to "do something" in spite of the need for rest. (Maybe this is
rest.) After moving out easily, and visiting several places in quick
sequence, and remembering the rest need, I attempted to get back to the
physical. I thought of my body lying in bed, and almost immediately, I
was lying in bed. But I quickly realized something was wrong. There was
a boxlike contraption over my feet, evidently to hold the sheet off my
legs. There were two people in the room, a man and a woman dressed in
white, whom I recognized as a nurse. They were talking softly a short
distance from the bed. My first thought was, that something had gone
wrong, that my wife had discovered me in some kind of coma and had
rushed me to the hospital. The nurse, the sterile atmosphere of the
room, and the bed all supported this. But something still didn't feel
right. After a moment, the two stopped talking and the woman (nurse)
turned and went out of the room, and the man approached the bed. I grew
panicky, because I didn't know what he was going to do.
I became more so as he bent over the bed and held gently, but firmly
onto each of my arms at the biceps, and looked at me with bulging,
glistening eyes. Worst of all, I desperately tried to move, but could
not.
It was as if every muscle in my body were paralyzed. Inwardly, I
writhed in panic, trying to get away as he brought his face down closer
to me. Then to my utter astonishment, he bent over further and kissed
me on each cheek, and I actually felt his whiskers; the glistening in
his eyes was tears. He then straightened up, released my arms, and
walked slowly out of the room. Through my terror, I knew that my wife
had not taken me to the hospital, that this man was a stranger, that I
was again in very much the wrong place. I had to do something, but all
the will I could muster didn't have any effect. Slowly, I became aware
of a hissing in my head, much like a strong steam or air hiss. Through
some dim knowing, I concentrated on the hiss and began to pulsate it,
i.e., modulate it soft and loud. I made the pulsating go faster and
faster in frequency, and in a few moments it had accelerated to a
high-order vibration. I then tried to lift out and succeeded smoothly.
Moments later, I was converging with another physical body. This time,
I was cautious. I felt the bed. I heard familiar sounds outside the
room. The room was dark when I opened my eyes. I reached for the place,
where the light switch should be, and it was there. I turned on the
light and sighed with great, great relief, I was back.
6/7/63 Night
After some time, I started to leave, and outside the house, I met a
woman who was "flying" also, and she reminded me that we would be late
in getting back (where, I don't know), and that we might have trouble
getting in. Then we approached what seemed to be a large institution
(hospital?), and happily went directly through a door without opening
it, apparently to avoid the guard, who was waiting (and a bed check or
reporting in late, which implied some penalty). Inside, we split up,
and immediately a man (friendly, doctor type) said, that he would take
care of me, that I should wait in the second office to the right. I
did, although I got confused about which office, because each of the
offices had several people in them in deep conversation, and I remained
unnoticed. However, I waited in the second, and finally the man entered
and examined me, and stated, that I would need treatment. He then spoke
of titration, and a treatment rising to 1500 c.c., then receding back
again to normal (whatever that means); I asked him why the treatment
was necessary, and he replied, so that the universe (or humankind) can
develop and improve. I again asked why (meaning why the need for
improvement), and he didn't answer. I was somewhat apprehensive about
the treatment. Then shortly thereafter, I felt the need to return to
the physical and did so without incident.
7/13/61 Afternoon-Night
On a visit to Cape Cod, I arrived in Hyannis somewhat tired, and lay
down in the afternoon for a rest. Upon relaxation, the usual
lifting-out process occurred, and I found myself drifting over the back
area of a house, near the garage. A dog was in the yard (a large,
German shepherd type), and when he noticed me, he barked excitedly. A
man came around the edge of the house (right side, facing the rear),
pulled a gun, and aimed it at me. I withdrew hurriedly before I could
realize, that perhaps bullets couldn't hurt me. I returned, lay in bed
and thought it was over, and was able to recall no more, than the fact,
that the man seemed very tall.
That evening, after going to bed, the surge came again, and I drifted
out. I was floating over several houses, trying to decide what to do,
when suddenly this tall man appeared in front of me (the same one), and
stopped me merely by being in my way. I got an impression of calm
strength. He asked me why I wanted to see the President. I was
surprised at first, because I didn't have any particular desire to see
Eisen-hower (that was my mind's connotation of President), but I made
up an idea of a plan for peace, and told the tall man about it. He then
asked how "we can be sure you are loyal to the United States."
I replied, still confused, that I was sure proper information on me was
in Washington. He then said, after a moment, that I could not see the
President at this time. I consented agreeably, and returned. Lying in
bed, thinking it over, I first realized, that Eisenhower was no longer
President of course. I also suddenly had the very deep conviction, that
Kennedy had a psychic bodyguard (or rather mindguard). I then realized
that Kennedy might be there in Hyannis that weekend. I got up and went
downstairs, found the local paper, and on the front page was the story,
that Kennedy was arriving in Hyannis that afternoon. (I had not seen a
paper for the past two days.)
These represent a sampling of the many "events" that defy
classificaton, especially in terms of plain, everyday dreams. It may
be, that each is but a fragment of a living mural, someday to be seen
in its entirety. I hope one does not have to "die" to obtain the total
view.
13. Second Body (our Energy Body, LM)
p.166-178
The greatest proof of the existence of any particular phenomenon is
consistency through repeated observation. Only through such reasonably
careful analytical experiments, or as much so as I could make them, did
I come to the conclusion of the unqualified existence of the Second
Body. I do presume that all of us have one. I cannot conceive of being
that unique. If it exists, what is it like? What are its
characteristics? Through several hundred tests, here are excerpts from
the notes.
6/11/58 Afternoon I opened my eyes again, and everything seemed normal,
except the vibration and the roar-rumble still in my head. I closed my
eyes and they both grew in strength. I decided to try to lift up and I
floated up off the couch, over the center of the room, and floated
downward very gently, like a feather falling. I touched the floor, and
my head and shoulders seemed to be against the rug, with my hips and
feet angling up into the air. It was as if my head had more weight,
than the rest of me, more gravitic attraction, but all of me was gently
attracted to the Earth. I still seemed to have weight, little as it was.
7/19/58 Afternoon I was again on the couch, feeling very smooth
vibrations. I opened my eyes and looked around, and everything seemed
normal and the vibrations were still there. I then moved my arms, which
were folded, and stretched them upward, as I lay on my back. They felt
outstretched and I was surprised (I am past proper use of the word
astounded) when I looked, for there were my arms still folded over my
chest. I looked upward to where I felt them, and I saw the shimmering
outlines of my arms and hands in exactly the place they felt they were!
I looked back at the folded arms, then at the bright shadow of them
outstretched. I could see through them to the bookshelves beyond. It
was like a bright, glowing outline, which moved when I felt them move
or made them move willfully. I wiggled my fingers, and the glowing
fingers wiggled, and I felt them wiggle. I put my hands together, and
the glowing hands came together, and I felt my hands clasp each other.
They felt just like ordinary hands, no different.
For nearly ten minutes, I lay there, attempting to compare this strange
evidence, to determine differences. Visually, I could see my arms
folded over my chest. Simultaneously, I could see the glowing outline
of my hands and arms reaching out above me. I tried to move the
physical arms, but could not do so. I tried to move the glowing
arm-outlines, and they "worked" perfectly. I tried to feel with my
physical arms, but could determine no sensation. With the glowing
outline arms, I clasped my hands together, and they felt completely
normal. I rubbed the outline hands over each outline forearm, and the
arms felt normal, solid to the touch. I moved one outline hand to the
shelf by the cot, and I couldn't feel the shelf! My outline hand went
right through it.
The vibrations started to fade, and I quickly moved the glowing outline
arms and hands back to my chest. It felt exactly as if I slipped on
long-sleeved gloves, and then I could move my physical arms. I didn't
want to get caught outside-even just my arms-without the vibrations. I
don't know what would happen, if anything, and maybe I don't want to
find out.
5/5/60 Night.
Several times, I had felt someone, a body, warm and alive, pressed
against my back the moment I left the physical body. After my
experience with the "thought forms" and the otherst I had naturally
become quite cautious. Each time I felt this "entity" on my back, I
quickly moved back into the physical. I was sure, that it was more of
the "thought children" or perhaps some sex-distorted being, although I
had detected no sexual overtones. I was prudent, not exactly prudish,
but certainly frightened.
The latter impression was confirmed when I noticed, that the face
resting on the back of my non-physical neck had whiskers! Strong
whiskers, like a man needing a shave. Also, I could hear the panting of
his breath right in my ear. This was no mild thought-child. This was an
adult male, panting with passion, thoroughly sexually deviated or why
would he pick on me, another male? Would I have felt differently, if it
had been a female form? In all honesty, I'm sure I would have. I'll
have to get him away from me.
5/22/60 Night.
The whiskers were the clue! I need no longer worry about the "man" on
my back. He's still there, but now I know, who he is. This time, after
being scared back into the physical some five times, I got up a little
more courage. I moved out slowly, just out of the physical, and felt
the body on my back the same, as before, the whiskered head on the back
of my neck, the panting in my ear. Carefully, so the movement would not
be taken as a hostile one, I reached back and moved the palm of my hand
over the face behind me. It had whiskers, and they were very real. The
panting continued, the body stayed there pressed to my back, so I
reentered the physical. I sat up physically, and thought about it. As I
did so, I pensively moved my hand across my chin. I needed a shave, I
thought absently, then stopped. I rubbed my chin again. The feeling was
too familiar. Just exactly the same, as when I rubbed the chin of-
could it be? Then I noticed, that my throat was dry, as if I had been
breathing through my mouth, as one does when . . .
There was one way to find out. I lay down, and after a short while, I
was able to generate the vibrations. Slowly I moved out of the physical.
Yes, I felt it. There was the body again, the whiskers against my neck,
the panting in my ear. I reached back carefully and felt the face with
the whiskers. It was the same as my own. I held my breath, or thought
of so doing, and the panting stopped in my ear. I breathed again, once,
twice, then held my breath again. The "body" behind me panted in exact
synchronization. The warm body clinging to my back was me!
I went back into the physical, sat up, and thought about it. The
question is, which was which? Thinking it over, it seemed that the one
in back-the one I could hear and feel-was the physical "I" and the "I"
in front was the mental or real "I." I assume this, because the
physical sensations and related action were in the rear body, while
thought was in the front "I." Confusing, but very real.
From then on, I had no problem when I experienced the sensation. Speak
of people being afraid of their own shadows!
8/8/60 Afternoon, I conducted another interesting experiment. After
lying down, and working through the count-up procedure, the vibrations
surged in strong and rough, then smoothed as they took on a more rapid
frequency (starting just around 30 c.p.s., as nearly as I can
determine, and speeding up, until I felt them only as a sense of
warmth. I decided to lift out slowly to examine the process. I tried,
and out came the glowing legs, then the hips, but no more! I couldn't
get my chest and shoulders out, try as I might. It was very strange. I
spent the entire time moving the legs and hips up and down. I observed
them visually with my physical eyes, which seemed to be astigmatic.
Several times, I tried moving my legs up out of the physical, then to
the right, and let them fall; when I did, they floated slowly down,
touched the side of the couch, then draped over to the floor. They bent
around and over the edge of the couch, as if they had no bones, just
like a slow-motion version of a piece of cloth falling loosely and
bending, where it made contact with a solid object. There was no
noticeable aftereffect when I re-entered and sat up. Time away was
twenty-two minutes.
9/16/60 Afternoon I was out of the physical, again on a Saturday,
trying to keep "local," i.e., staying in the same room. Again I noticed
the strange rubbery elasticity of this other body. I could stand in the
middle of the room and reach out to touch the wall some eight feet
away. At first, my arm didn't come anywhere near the wall. Then I kept
pushing my hand outward, and suddenly the texture of the wall was
against my hand. Just by pushing out, my arm had stretched to twice its
length without my noticing anything different. When I relaxed the
pushing out, the arm came back and seemed normal. This confirms the
other evidence, that you can make it just about whatever shape you
think of, consciously or unconsciously. If left alone, it reverts to
your normal humanoid shape. If you consciously think it into a given
shape,
I suspect you take that form. You might convert temporarily into the
shape of, for example, a cat or a dog. Could this be the source of the
werewolf and vampire bat mythology? I'm not so sure I want to give it a
try.
10/10/62 Night I have found another clue to the "how do you look when
you're not physical" question. In the early evening, around
seven-thirty, I decided to try to visit R.W. in her apartment some
eight miles distant. I was sure she would be awake (non-physically, of
course). I had no difficulty, and found myself immediately in a living
room. There was what I thought to be R.W. sitting in a chair near a
bright light.
I moved toward her, but she didn't seem to pay any attention to me.
Then I was sure she saw me, but she seemed frightened. I backed away,
then started to speak, but something pulled me back to the physical,
and I found myself in my bedroom, in the physical, the vibrations
fading. The reason for recall was, that my arm was asleep and tingling
from lack of circulation. I was lying on it the wrong way.
There was a most unusual aftermath. The next day R.W. asked me, what I
was doing the night before. I asked her why, and she stated, "I was
sitting in the living room after supper, reading the paper. Something
made me look up, and there on the other side of the room was something
hanging and waving in the air."
I asked her what it looked like.
"It was like a filmy piece of gray chiffon" she said. "I could see the
wall and chair behind it and it started to come toward me. I was
frightened, and I thought it might be you, so I said, 'Bob, is that
you?'
But it just hung there in mid-air, waving slightly. I then asked again
if it was you, and if so, please, go home and don't bother me. Then it
backed away and faded out quickly."
She asked if it was really me, and I said I thought it might be.
"Well, next time, say something, so I'll be sure it's you," she
answered.
"Then I won't be so scared"
I assured her I would. At least I'm not a very bright-hued ghost, and I
don't have human shape-sometimes.
11/21/62 Night This time, I decided to make it a purely "local" trip. I
started to float across the room toward the door, then I remembered
that I don't need to use doors under these conditions. I turned and
went straight to the wall, expecting to slide right through it. I
didn't! When I came up against the wall, I seemed to be unable to
penetrate it. It felt just like a wall when you physically push against
it with your hands.
I reasoned, that there was something wrong. I have been through walls
easily before. I should have been able to go through it. With this, I
pushed with my outstretched arms against the wall. There was a moment
of resistance, then I went through, just as easily, as if the wall were
water. But there was one difference. As I went through to the outside,
I felt and identified every layer of material in the wall: the paint,
the plaster, the lath, the sheathing, and finally the shingles on the
outside. It was much like the hand through the floor. Why the unusual
resistance at the first try?
2/15/63 Night This was a most unusual experiment. After "lifting" out
easily, and holding control in the same room, I finally got up the
courage to go back and carefully examine the physical body remaining on
the bed. I started down slowly, reaching out in the semidarkness.
(There was only light from the twilight through the windows, and I
couldn't see too well, and perhaps this was good. There is some kind of
revulsion about seeing your own physical body.) I reached down
carefully to touch my physical head, and my hands touched feet! At
first, I thought I had drifted somewhere else, and I felt my toes. My
left big toe has a thick nail due to a long-ago mashing by a dropped
log. This big toe (left) did not! I felt with my hands to the right
foot. The big toe on the right foot did have the thick nail. Everything
was reversed, like a mirror image. I felt up the body slowly, and from
the toe on, I couldn't tell if it was reversed or not. The point is, I
could feel the physical. My hands didn't seem simply to go through it.
It was very eerie to feel my face with the closed eyes, as if it were
another person's. I got close enough actually to see the face. It was
I, all right, but just a little distorted. Either that, or I'm a lot
less acceptable-looking, than my ego and pride will admit to. I never
have thought myself to be handsome, but at least I thought I was a
little better, than this! Strange, the reversal. Floating in the
half-darkness, I could have swung around and become disoriented. But
the thick nail was on the right foot instead of the left. I must
examine this further.
3/18/60 Night A query from Dr. Bradshaw prompted this one. After being
out and close by, I thought I would try to find out, if I wear clothes
in the nonphysical, to try to answer his question. I had never bothered
to find out before, I suppose basically because I don't have too much
of a preoccupation with clothes. They are for me principally for
comfort and warmth. I felt my second, non-physical body (Energy Body,
LM). There was skin with goose bumps, but no clothes. Not this time,
anyway.
2/23/61 Night I got out of the physical by the "log roll" process, then
started across the room. Something seemed to be holding me back. It was
like trying to walk slowly in water, pulling with arms and legs and
getting nowhere.
Suddenly, there was a tug at my back (not painful), and I cartwheeled
backward, in an arc, feet over head, and re-entered the physical. I sat
up, physically, and someone was knocking at the door (my daughter).
What was it that pulled me back so definitely? The "cord" I have since
read of?
7/7/60 Afternoon This was an experiment I don't want to try again. I
was in the charged Faraday cage (copper screen mesh, above ground, D.C.
charge 5okv.), attempted to move through the cage. I got out of the
physical OK, then I seemed to be entangled in a large bag made of
flexible wire. The bag gave when I pushed against it, but I couldn't go
through it I struggled like a trapped animal in a snare, and finally
went back into the physical. In thinking it over, quite evidently it
was not the wire itself, but the electrical field pattern set up in
fundamentally the same shape, as the cage, but more flexible.
Maybe this could be the basis for a "ghost catcher!"
10/30/60 Afternoon. At about three-fifteen I lay down with the intent
of going to visit E.W. in his house some five miles distant. After some
difficulty, I managed to move into the vibrational state, then out into
the room, away from the physical. With a mental aim at E.W. I took off
and moved slowly (comparatively). I suddenly found myself over a
business street, moving slowly about twenty-five feet above the
sidewalk (just above the top edge of the second-story windows). I
recognized the street to be the main street of the town, and recognized
the block and corner, over which I passed. I drifted along over the
sidewalk for several minutes, and noticed a filling station on the
corner, where a white car had both rear wheels off in front of two open
grease rack doors. I was disappointed in that I had not gone to E.W.,
my destination. Seeing nothing else of interest, I decided to return to
the physical, and did so without incident. Upon return, I sat up and
tried to analyze why I had not gone, where I intended. On an impulse, I
got up, went down to the garage, and drove the five miles to his town.
My thought was at least to make the trip profitable, and check on what
I saw. I got to the same corner on Main Street, and there was the white
car in front of the two open doors. Little evidential pieces like that
help! I looked up at the approximate position I had been over the
sidewalk, and got a surprise. At just about the exact height I had
floated over the sidewalk were power primaries containing fairly high
voltage electrical current. Do electrical fields attract this Second
Body? Is this the medium through which it travels?
Tonight I finally reached E.W. at home. It seems, that my aim wasn't
too far off. At approximately three twenty-five E.W. was walking down
Main Street, and I was following directly over him, as nearly as we can
figure.
1/9/61 Night In response to a question brought up in discussion with
Mrs. Bradshaw, I decided to see if there truly was a "cord" between the
physical and the Second Body (Energy Body, LM). In the past, I had not
noticed any if there was, except for an odd tugging action at times.
With this in mind, I went through the memory procedure, in the late
afternoon, near dusk. I worked out of the physical via axis rotation,
and remained in the room several feet up and away from the physical. I
turned to look for the "cord", but it was not visible to me; either it
was too dark or not there. Then I reached around my head to see, if I
could feel it coming out the front, top, or back of my head. As I
reached the back of my head, my hand brushed against something and I
felt behind me with both hands. Whatever it was extended out from a
spot in my back directly between my shoulder blades, as nearly as I can
determine, not from the head, as I expected (the silver cord is
attached to the Spirit, our Spirits are a length of an arm back from
the right shoulder, LM).
I felt the base, and it felt exactly like the spread-out roots of a
tree radiating out from the basic trunk. The roots slanted outward and
into my back down as far as the middle of my torso, up to my neck, and
into the shoulders on each side. I reached outward, and it formed into
a "cord," if you can call a two-inch-thick cable a "cord." It was
hanging loosely, and I could feel its texture very definitely. It was
body-warm to the touch and seemed to be composed of hundreds
(thousands?) of tendonlike strands packed neatly together, but not
twisted or spiraled. It was flexible, and seemed to have no skin
covering. Satisfied that it did exist, I took off and went.
The basic characteristics noted have been confirmed many other times in
various ways. Still, there appears to be no method to validate such
evidence except by personal experience and observation by others.
Perhaps this will come, in time. Let us see, then, what we have learned
from the preceding.
More
about our Second
Body (Energy Body, LM)
First,
this
Second Body has weight, as we understand it. It is subject
to gravitational attraction, although much less, than the physical
body. The physicist might explain this, of course, by saying, that it
is a question of mass, and anything, that can interpenetrate a wall
must have so little density, as to be able to sift through the space
between the molecular matter structure. Such little density implies
very little mass, but it still may be matter. This is further supported
by the half-out experiment, where the legs and hips were separated,
then allowed to drift downward and drape over the bed.
The
low-density
mass fell, as a feather would fall. Pushing through the
wall may be an example also. The initial resistance may be caused by
some form of surface tension, vibrationally speaking, which, once
broken, permits the less dense mass to pass between the wall molecules.
Perhaps some speculative physicist can take it from there.
Second,
this
Second Body is visible under certain conditions. To be
visible, it must either reflect or radiate light in the known spectrum,
or at the least a harmonic in this area. Based upon the report in the
arms and legs experiment, I seemed to be viewing radiated light, but
only around the perimeter of the body form. The rest was invisible
under daylight conditions. It must be considered, too, that my
perceptual and sensory mechanisms may or must have been in some
heightened or altered condition which made this "seeing" possible. The
"gray chiffon" seen by R.W. under artificial light and in a fully
conscious state may be something else again. From the description, this
may fall in the reflected-light category. Taken as reported, there
evidently are conditions where a fully conscious observer can be
visually aware of the presence of the Second Body. What such conditions
are, I do not know.
Third,
the sense
of touch in the Second Body seems to be very similar
to that in the physical, i.e., when the hands felt each other, the
sensation seemed identical. The same seemed true in the report of the
search for the "cord." The hands could feel and touch the non-physical
self, and it was flesh touching flesh according to the sensory
receptors, with the exception of the hair follicle type of skin
protuberations. Also, there are indications that the non-physical hands
can touch the physical body, with much the same result-as witness the
experiment with the return for direct examination, beginning with the
toes. This is borne out again in the "man on the back" experience,
where I felt the physical body in direct proximity with the
non-physical by parts of the body other than my hands. It would seem
that in a so-called "local condition," the Second Body can perceive and
touch physical objects as well.
Fourth,
the
Second Body is very plastic and may take whatever form is
suitable to or desired by the individual. The ability to "stretch out"
the arm to three times its normal length points to such elasticity.
Extrapolated, one
could conceive of the entire non-physical travel, as
the incredible stretching out of some substance, emanating from
the
physical. The "snap back" to the physical when the desire or will to
"stay out" is terminated lends credence to the idea. The appearance of
the Second Body as a waving piece of filmy cloth defies analysis of any
kind to date, but may again indicate plasticity. If no special form is
transmitted by the mind or will at a given moment, we can assume that
the familiar humanoid shape is maintained through some automatic
thought-habituality.
Fifth,
there
exists the possibility, that the Second Body is a direct
reversal of the physical. This is supported by the "logrolling"
rotational separation and by the experiment involving the exploration
of the physical body as it lay inert on the couch. There was the
head-to-foot discovery, which may well be explained by the dislocation
in semidarkness. However, coupled with the big-toe identification, it
deserves consideration. There are suggestions of this in other reports,
which were relegated initially to disorientation and purely subjective
responses. The reversal concept may in some way have an association
with the antimatter theory.
Sixth,
direct
investigation tends to support the premise of a
connecting "cord" between the physical and the Second Body, as
described many times through the ages in esoteric literature. What
purpose is served by this connecting link is at this time unknown. It
can be speculated, that the Second Body and the intelligence,
inhabiting
it, still exert control over the physical via this communicating link.
It seems probable, that messages also travel by this method to the
Second Body from the physical, as witness the call to return from the
poor circulation in the cramped arm, and the warning knock on the door.
If the connection is maintained, it must be truly a highly elastic
substance much like the Second Body itself, in order to stretch the
seemingly infinite distances called for.
Seventh,
the
relationship between the Second Body and electricity and
electromagnetic fields is quite significant. The experiment in the
Faraday cage points to this, as does the positioning of the Second Body
over the street, in or adjacent to the field set up by the primary
electrical current or in the electrical current itself.
14. MIND AND SUPERMIND
Having described the "physical" aspects of the Second Body, it would
seem most important to examine how the mind apparently operates in
reaction to the Second Body experience. Students of the mental sciences
may dispute the terminology, used herein, since no attempt is made here
to review the phenomenon in psychiatric, psychological, or
physiological terms. Rather, it is hoped, that this section, as well as
the previous one, will have common meaning for all sciences and
scientific minds, and that it will act as a bridge to further
exploration for every intellectual interest. The question posed most
often is: How do you know you aren't dreaming,
that what you experience is nothing more, than a vivid dream or a
hallucination of some sort?
This does deserve some answer other, than the counter-question: How do
I
know my waking experience is real? As reported elsewhere, I was
certain,
that these experiences were dreams or hallucinations for a long period
in the early stages. They were seriously considered, as something more,
only when evidential data began to accumulate. The experiences differ
from the typical dream state principally in the
following ways:
(1) Continuity of some sort of conscious awareness;
(2) Intellectual or emotional (or blends of the two) decisions, made
during the experiences;
(3) Multivalued perception via sensory inputs or their equivalents;
(4) Non-recurrence of identical patterns; and (5) Development of events
in sequence, that seem to indicate a time lapse.
The most certain statement, that can be made is that when the condition
exists, you are as aware of "not dreaming" as you are when you are
awake. The same standards of wakeful-ness can be applied with the same
positive result. This is what is so disconcerting in the early
experimentation. The duality of existence is completely contradictory
to all available scientific training and human experience. Again, the
ultimate proof of such affirmation is to experience one's self in this
state of being. Is this a product of self-hypnosis with attendant
post-hypnotic
suggestion? Quite probably the method of induction and establishment of
the condition relates to hypnosis in many ways. Hypnosis itself is a
phenomenon of which very little is understood. "Suggestion" as employed
in hypnosis may be part of the activation process. However, great care
has been taken to avoid any indirect suggestion or any stimuli that
would induce hallucinated experience. When more is known of the factors
involved in hypnosis, an interrelationship with the practices involved
here may appear.
If the mind does act differently, what are the points of diversion?
Generally,
it seems that the conscious mind (or the entirety of the
individual) gradually passes through a learning process. In retrospect,
the effect is an evolutionary adaptation and acceptance of the
conscious mind into a relegated portion of a whole. The total is an
equal blend of conscious, unconscious, and Supermind (transcendent
self?), all fully aware of the others. However, this amalgamation is
effective only in the Second State. If it continues in the physical
environment, the effect is noticeable only to a limited In the earlier
penetration into the Second State, thought and action are dominated
almost entirely by the unconscious, subjective mind. Attempts at
rational understanding seem buried in an avalanche of emotional
reaction. All primary subjective drives are strongly evident, demanding
to be heeded and/or satisfied. It is impossible to deny their
existence. Basic fears, which you believed to be erased are the first
to come forth.
These are followed or joined by the equally strong drive for sexual
union, which will be examined elsewhere. Together, these present two
solid strikes against continued development of the Second State.
Throughout mankind's history, fear and sexuality have been the major
motivating and control characteristics in all forms of social
organization. It is therefore understandable that they play such a
vital part in the Second State.
Slowly, the conscious mind begins to act upon this apparently
unorganized, illogical mass, to bring order and objective perception
into it. In the beginning, it seems an impossible task. In the later
stages, the conscious mind develops a symbiotic relationship with it.
Only rarely do matters get out of hand. This is not to say that the
conscious mind is in full control in the Second State. Rather, it is
merely a modulator of a master or driving force. Who is the master?
Call it Supermind, soul, greater self-the label isn't important.
It is important to know that the conscious mind automatically responds
to commands of the master without question. In the physical state, we
seem only dimly aware of this. In the Second State, it is a natural
occurrence. The Supermind knows unquestionably what is "right," and
problems result only when the conscious mind stubbornly refuses to
recognize this superior knowledge. The source of knowledge of the
Supermind leads down many avenues, most of which seem beyond our
conscious-mind-world perception. Heredity is the most acceptable of
these, and the most insufficient With this continuing adaptation in
progress, we can deduce certain observable premises. These lead to
conclusions applicable to the Second State environment.
Thought-action synchronicity. Whereas in the physical state action
follows thought, here they are one and the same. There is no mechanical
translation of thought into action. One gradually appreciates the
existence of thought, as a force in itself, rather than as a trigger or
catalyst. It is primarily an emotional thought force, which is
gradually molded into coherent action. It is the thought of movement,
that creates the action. It is the thought of the person to be visited,
that determines the destination. Also, it is the supermind's needs,
that
create movement into unknown areas, often without an immediate
conscious awareness of the motivating forces.
Thought patterns carried over from physical activities strongly
influence responses in this Second State of existence. It is astounding
to discover how many small thought habits one has "grown," and how
embarrassed one often feels at the automatic quality of them. Although
no purely physical habits, needs, or desires (e.g., hunger, pain,
smoking) seem to be carried over as such, minor annoying thought
patterns and conditioning appear to confuse and divert attention. The
exception to all of this is the sexual drive, and even this is tainted
by artificial social standards and the habits they have produced.
Here is an illustration of a minor habit carry-over from the notes.
6/11/63
When they came close to me, each taking an arm to lead me through the
area, my hand went to my right chest pocket, to feel if the bulk of my
wallet was still there, so that it would not be taken. It took some
moments to realize that there was no wallet (perhaps no coat), nor was
there any intent on the part of the two, who held me to take my
nonexistent wallet. This is the price of living in crowds in the big
city!
Little habits like these do get in the way, and you run into them again
and again. The method of disposal is to recognize them, one by one.
Once they are identified they are no longer bothersome. The same is
true of thoughts in relation to the shape of the physical body. For
example, if you have been conditioned to acute awareness of nakedness,
you will automatically think you are clothed-and so you are. The form
of your physical body is carried over in replica down to the last hair
follicle and scar, unless you deliberately think otherwise.
Conversely, if your thought habits have been in other directions, you
may take whatever form is most convenient, deliberately or otherwise. I
suspect that one may modify the Second Body into whatever form is
desired. Once the thought is discarded, the Second Body will drop back
into its habitual humanoid shape. This opens up some interesting
speculation into man's mythology. If one wished to experience the
existence of a quadruped, the Second Body might be transformed
temporarily into a large dog, and someone with Second State vision
(there probably are many such people) might encounter a werewolf. Or
the fables of half man, half goat/horse could be the result. One might
"think" wings and fly, and be transformed momentarily into a vampire
bat. It seems less impossible when one experiments with the power of
thought in the Second State.
To put it another way, there seems to be nothing, that thought cannot
produce in this new-old other life. This invites a note of caution in
large red letters: be absolutely sure of the results you desire, and
constantly in control of the thoughts you engender.
Perception changes. This is the area of most significant yet most
incomprehensible alteration. Because we have learned no other way of
dealing with it, all sensory input is translated at first into terms
and meanings appreciated by the five physical senses (and social
order). For example, when one begins to "see" in this unfamiliar shape,
the impression is that this "seeing" is much the same as optical
reception by the physical eyes. Only later do you discover empirically,
that this is not the case. It isn't physical "Seeing" at all. You
learn, that you can "See" in all directions at once, without turning
the head, that you See or don't See according to the thought; and that
when examined objectively, it is more an impression of radiation,
rather than a reflection of light waves.
The same applies to other physical senses. You believe at first that
you are hearing people "speak" to you. Early, you perceive that no
"ear" has received a sensory message. In some other way, you have
received the message (thought) and your mind has translated it into
understandable words. Touch seems to have the most definite
relationship to its physical counterpart. Smell and taste have been
conspicuously absent to date. Most interesting is the evidence that
none of these modes of perception works wholly automatically. You seem
to be able to turn them "on" or "off" at will.
There also seem to be a few new means of sensory input. One of these is
identification of other human entities (living, dead?) not by how they
"look," but through an undisguised awareness of their prime personality
habits and thoughts. This is most remarkable, because it seems
infallible, with the innermost self appearing to radiate patterns, much
as the composition of a star or a piece of metal can be analyzed by its
spectrograph. I suspect, that such emanations cannot be shut off by the
individual, so there can be no covering over of the inner self to hide
it from view.
Another is the ability to communicate with others at a level above
conscious awareness. This has been performed with living persons awake
and asleep. It is quite possible, that it also takes place among people
living in the physical state, who are completely unaware of it. In the
Second State, it is specific and utterly natural. There are many
incidents reported in the notes of such communication, while the other
person is in conscious physical conversation with a third party.
The most frustrating part of this is, that the communicant rarely has
any memory of it afterward. Also, it is only with difficulty, that such
contact is opened with a person physically awake. It is like trying to
rouse a person from a sound, deep sleep. It may be, that this
communicating portion of the mind is actually asleep during periods of
physical consciousness. Free association or regressive hypnotic
techniques should bring recall from such sources when needed.
One problem is encountered periodically in perception during the Second
State. It may be more common in perception by physical mean, than has
been reported, and thus not unique. I refer to the question of the
mind's identification of persons, places, and things, which, up to that
moment, have been unknown and unperceived previously.
In the quest for evidential data and self-orientation, the mind seems
to act strongly in response to an unformed thought command to
"Identify!", without modification or equivocation. Therefore, when an
unknown or apparently impossible situation, place, person, or thing is
encountered, the mind comes up with some kind of answer, rather than no
answer whatsoever. The answer takes the form of rationalization, if it
can be called that; or more commonly, a search is made of past memories
and experiences to produce proper identification. It compares the
situation under which the object or action is perceived with past
personal experience. If there is nothing to coincide exactly with the
observed data, the mind invariably reports the most similar memory and
states, "This is the object or action you are seeing." It is only after
critical analysis, that some semblance of what actually was perceived
comes to light.
There are many good illustrations of this phenomenon. One of the best
is the visit to Mr. Bahnson's house in the morning. The mind, having no
reference in its memory of the object being placed in the back of the
car (Van DeGraff generator), identified properly its approximate size,
the round, wheellike protuberance on a post, and the base platform, and
reported erroneously that it was a child's automobile. The mind
properly reported the boy and the baseball, because this was a part of
its memory-bank data. However, it ran into a problem on the motion of
Mrs.
Bahnson in handing out the morning mail. This was reported as "dealing
cards," but the mind was faced with the incongruity of playing with
large white cards (letters) at a table filled with dishes. The idea of
"card playing" was the least impossible similar event in the memory
association, so that was the unit retained.
Of equal interest was the experience of the airplane crash reported in
Chapter 11. Here was a whole series of events filled with much sensory
data, filtered by the mind's past associations. Added to this was the
rapid superimposure of information, so that the sequence of events in
time added to the confusion. The impression of taking a trip by
airplane was quite accurate. However, the mind "forgot" that there was
a bus trip to the airport first. Consequently, in reporting the loading
of the bus, the impression was that this was the airplane. In boarding
the bus, the mind perceived the driver waiting beside the door. In an
attempt to identify the man, the memory was searched and the most
similar person in past experience (D.D.) was selected as the person
encountered. (The physical similarity between the bus driver and D.D.
when compared later was most remarkable.)
Recognition of the woman in the seat ahead and her discomfort was
another form of misinterpretation. The, discomfort or anxiety was
accurate, the reason wrong. The mind had not determined the cause of
the woman's anxiety, so it related it to the individual, as some answer
was demanded. Then, the flying low and slow over streets was a perfect
description of the event itself-the bus traveling the turnpike to the
airport-except that the mind was still fixed on the idea of flying in
an airplane.
The mind still held fixedly on the "fact" that the plane flight had
already begun. When the plane encountered the storm, the mind reported
the plane flying under power and telephone wires because it could not
translate directly the effect of the storm.
Most significant was the mind's interpretation of the "accident" or
catastrophe. It "saw" what appeared to be a disruption of the heart
activities. This was an impossible situation, an inconceivable event
based upon its experience. In the face of this past data, the mind was
forced to "Identify!" Experience said the observed catastrophe was not
possible. Therefore, it selected an airplane crash as an event that
would be believed and acceptable as a possibility.
From this, the difficulty of accurately reporting the observance of
unknown material can be understood. If it proves this complex in
familiar environments, one can well imagine what takes place when that
which is perceived has no relationship whatsoever to previous
experience. Only by laborious trial and error have a few facts been
assembled, and these may not all be common with the interpretation of
other minds with other experience backgrounds. This is the reason for
the need for others to experience the same conditions. The entire
picture may become clear with the help of such additional reports.
Of the few facts, that have been properly tagged, there are the
"flying" and "falling" dreams. I am quite certain, that such dreams are
but memories of some degree of Second State experience, I have often
become aware of experiencing the flying dream during sleep, only to
discover, that I was actually floating out in the Second Body, as I
brought consciousness to the incident. This involuntary action happens
most frequently without any conscious effort. It may well be, that many
people do have this experience during sleep, but just don't remember
it. A dream of riding or flying in an airplane has a similar
connotation.
The mind, refusing to accept the possibility of flying without
mechanical help due to memory experience, conjures up an airplane to
rationalize the event. Again, when consciousness and full awareness are
brought into play, the "airplane" disappears. There you are, high in
the air, with no logical means of support. It is most disconcerting,
until you get used to the idea.
Falling dreams were also repeatedly examined in my early experiments.
It is a common "feeling" in quick reintegration of the Second Body with
the physical. Evidently, the proximity of the physical causes it to
accept relayed sensory signals from the Second, which is "falling" into
the physical. By the same token, the process of "falling" asleep often
brings forth a "sinking" sensation. By trying it again and again, the
effect is produced by the separation of the Second from the physical,
and the sensory impressions are split between the two. Perhaps the same
sinking sensation takes place when one loses consciousness from other
causes, such as fainting, application of anesthesia, etc.
Intelligence measurement On the surface, except for the addition of
sensory abilities just noted, there seems to be no immediate opening of
new vistas of knowledge and information. There is no jump in IQ by the
standards applied in the physical world. There is indeed a new kind of
intellect at work, but it is in a form that seems incomprehensible.
This composite mind uses the experiences of living in the physical, but
applies them only when they "fit" the event or incident Sometimes
actions take place that seem utter nonsense to the conscious mind, and
their validity is recognized only after the event.
After a significant number of experiments, one becomes aware, that the
conscious mind in itself, even with its memory-recall patterns, is
insufficient for the task of full comprehension. There is too much to
be evaluated, that is beyond the scope of conscious personal experience.
Again, this demands a continuing need to organize the available data
into comprehensive form, and to add to that body of knowledge through
the evidential experience of other conscious minds. This conscious mind
has recognized its limitations!
Memory patterns. If the conscious intellect does not seem improved, the
memory storehouse is another matter. One of the early changes is the
gradual flooding of the memory with events, places, people, and things,
that have no relationship in any way to one's current physical life
activities or past experience. Nor do they seem to have any bearing on
the visits to Locales II or III.
The source of these memories still remains a mystery. They are sensed
and recalled while in the Second State. For example, I have a vivid
memory of a place where I used to live: the roads leading up to it, the
shape of the land, its location in relation to the road, and the
surrounding landscape. It is not a good piece of land, but I seem to
have worked hard for it and it was all I could afford. I had intentions
of building a house on it someday.
There is the memory also of three connected buildings on a city
streetold buildings, some eight stories high. The top floors of these
buildings (similar to old apartment buildings) have been joined into
one large living area, with large, high-ceilinged rooms. One has to
step up or down slightly to go from one room to another due to the
difference in floor levels. This was a place I visited, not too often,
sometime, somewhere.
There are many more, probably unimportant in relation to the whole. It
is important to know, however, that these are directly the product of
Second State experimentation. Of what value they are, beyond to
confuse, I have yet to learn.
15. SEXUALITY IN THE SECOND STATE
Throughout the entire experimentation, evidence began to mount of a
factor most vital to the Second State. Yet in all the esoteric
literature of the underground, there is no mention of this, not so much
as one word of consideration or explanation. This factor is sexuality
and the physical sex drive. If the Second State data is contemplated as
fact, this business of sex among humans has somehow become thoroughly
confused, distorted, and badly misunderstood. In a nation where over 90
per cent of the practicing psychiatrists are Freudian, much mention is
made of this factor. Virtually no thought or action stems from any
other motivation, if we subscribe wholly to this theory. With the label
of "evil" long pinned to the subject, the underground probably ignores
it as something grossly "material" and unworthy of any bearing in
spiritual development. Much the same pattern has applied to religions,
formal and otherwise. Like food, this necessity was manipulated in
man's history again and again under artificial rules and taboos to
exercise control over the mass populace. To a great extent, this still
applies as a basic control over our desires and actions. Watch almost
any American TV commercial to observe one facet. Listen to a
hell-fire-and-damnation preacher for another. Study the uncensored
history of any major civilization or religion for the long look. In the
underground, there were rumors based upon mild evidence, that many
well-known "psychics" were highly sexed individuals. The more
sophisticated group claimed knowledge of this parallel, but nothing was
synthesized from it. Gurdjieff, the famous early-twentieth-century
mystic, was reported to have stated, that if there had been two
obstacles to achieving the mystical state such as the sexual one
presented, he wouldn't have achieved it. It is impossible to describe
how deeply
I now appreciate and understand Gurdjieff's comment. For I have been
subjected to the same environmental concepts and conditioning, as any
American. Even now, after a deconditioning process, I sense echoes of
guilt and sin in attempting to bring some candor to this section. Yet I
know this would be an incomplete report without it. Here are some
excerpts from the notes in the early experimental stage.
5/7/58
Late night, bedroom, low humidity, no moon, I was physically tired,
mentally calm. I lay down to sleep, and the vibration pattern developed
some five minutes later. I got up courage to try a "lift-out" thought,
and moved out and up slowly and steadily to about five feet over the
bed. I was trying to decide what to do when I was filled with a great
desire for sexual satisfaction. It was so strong, that I forgot
everything else. I looked around and spotted my wife lying below me on
the bed. I went down and tried to wake her so we could have a sexual
act, but was unsuccessful: she wouldn't wake up. I felt that the only
way
I could achieve results would be in the physical, so I dove back into
the body. The vibrations started to fade almost immediately. By the
time I sat up physically, the sexual desire had gone completely. This
is very strange; I didn't know I had such strong undercurrents of
desire.
6/1/58
Late night, bedroom, average humidity, cloudy. I was sleepy, but
mentally alert. The vibrations came in some two minutes after lying
down to sleep. I lifted straight out and up by the "think" method, and
was overwhelmed again with the sex urge, for the fourth time in a row.
I can't shut it off, no matter how hard I try. Disgusted with myself, I
went back into the physical. The vibrations were not in evidence when I
sat up. There must be a way to shut it off!
7/29/58
Late night, office, average humidity. I was somewhat tired, but
mentally alert. I think I have found the answer to the sex maniac in
me-it worked this time with amazing results! The vibrations came in
gently, and I waited until they seemed strong, then "thought" up, and
there I was
over the bed again. Again, I looked all through the office for a
female. As in the past, every time I tried to think of going farther,
than ten feet from the physical body, the sex idea stopped me. The new
technique was, that instead of fighting the idea of sex, or ignoring
it, or denying its existence, I thought, yes, the idea of sex is a very
good one and we (I) must do something about it. I will in just a little
while, but first, I want to go somewhere else. With a start, I shot up
through the ceiling and in just a few seconds, I was in another room.
They were sitting at a table and there was a long white book on the
table. I was excited, but quickly became worried about getting back,
and thought urgently of my physical body. With a rush, I felt myself
wiggling into my body. I sat up physically on the couch, looked around,
and everything seemed normal, including myself. But I had at last left
the immediate vicinity. I wonder who the two people were.
From this, it can be seen, that the sex drive was never actually
conquered. Instead, it was set aside, put off for the moment, while I
fully recognized and acknowledged its existence. Actually, the idea
came from what used to be called the "Gene Autry love scene." In his
typical Western, Gene would fight the villains to save the girl, and
lead her to the corral fence. He would move close to her and make
remarks about how pretty her hair was, just like a sorrel. The girl,
with love in her eyes, would move in. Just as you (and the girl) were
sure he was going to kiss her, even after she had asked him to kiss
her, old Gene would say, "I shore will, Susy Jane, but first, I want to
sing you a little song."
And from nowhere, he'd pull out a guitar and sing about horses. After
the song, he never did kiss the girl, because the picture ended before
he got around to it. The idea of delaying instead of denying proved to
be the means of emancipation from the domination of the sex drive. The
drive remained, and still does, and will return given the least
opportunity. And those opportunities do arise in the Second State, but
in a different form.
Merging
of
Energy Bodies
"Different"
is
actually a very inadequate description. The sexual
action-reaction in the physical seems, but a pale imitation or a feeble
attempt to duplicate a very intimate Second State form of communion and
communication, which is not at all "sexual", as we understand the term.
In the physical drive for sexual union, it is
as if
we are
somehow
remembering dimly the emotional peak, that occurs among people in the
Second State (Second Attention), and translating it into a sexual act.
If
you find this difficult to accept, try to examine objectively your
own sexual desires specifically, without the conditioning factors, to
which you have been exposed. Take away the rules and taboos, and look
closely without emotional bias. It can be done. Perhaps you too will
wonder how humankind could have been so greatly misdirected. Here is
the closest possible analogy to the Second State experience, of
which physical sexuality is merely a shadow. If the opposite charged
poles of electrostatics could "feel," as the unlike ends approach one
another, they would "need" to come together. There is no barrier, that
can restrain it. The need increases progressively with nearness. At a
given point of nearness, the need is compelling; very close, it is all
encompassing; beyond a given point of nearness, the attraction - need
exerts tremendous pull and the two unlikes rush together and envelop
one another. In an immediate moment, there is a mind (soul) - shaking
interflow of electrons, one to the other, unbalanced charges become
equalized, peaceful contended balance is restored, and each is
revitalized. All this happens in an instant, yet an eternity passes by.
Afterward, there is a calm and serene separation. It is as normal and
natural, as this. It may be difficult to reduce this vital functional
emotion to a simple and truly natural need, to nothing more or less,
than the application of a law of physics at another level. Yet many
tests consistently support this premise.
The
distillate of
this
conclusion did not come easily, as there were almost insurmountable
barriers to overcome. The first of these was the conditioned responses
set up and ingrained by the rules and taboos of our social structure.
Initially, these were carried over into the Second State. Here is a
good example from the notes.
9/16/59
Upon
deciding to
"see" I became aware of my position in the room. The
office was dimly lit and I was above the table and some eight feet away
from the couch, where I could make out my physical body half-visible in
the dark. Then, near the door, I saw a form, certainly humanoid, moving
toward me. Immediately, I "knew" that this person was female. I was
still cautious, but I was fighting the sex urge, which was rising in
spite of any self-will. "I am a woman." It seemed to be a low, woman's
voice. I said, that I
knew, she was, trying to hold back. The sexual overtones in her voice
were unmistakable. She came even closer. My mind translated, that she
was indeed a woman, and the epitome of
sexual attractiveness. I backed away, torn by desire and the fear of
what might happen, if I actually did have a sexual relationship, while
in the Second Body, and the possible "disloyalty" to my wife. Finally,
my fear of possible unknown consequences overcame the desire, and I
hastily dived back into the physical body, reassociated, and sat up. I
looked around. The room was empty. The moment I thought about the
event, my physical body reacted and became stimulated. I went outside
for a walk, before returning to make these notes. Maybe I am a coward!
It took a number of these meetings at varying levels of intensity,
before I began to assess the "wrong" of it, that held me back. There
seemed to be a direct relationship between, what I interpreted as the
sexual drive, and this "force", that permitted me to disassociate from
the physical body. Was it a redirection of this basic drive, that I
actually felt as "vibrations?" Or was it the other way around? Was the
sexual drive a physical and emotional manifestation of the force?
Perhaps there is a way to examine this under very strictly controlled
conditions, that is, if there is a society mature enough to undertake
the experiments. Certainly ours is not. All that can be done here is to
attempt to bring certain points under scrutiny. Recently, in scientific
studies of dreams and sleep, it was noted, that during REM (Rapid Eye
Movement) sleep, male subjects evidenced a penile erection. This
occurred irrespective of the dream content. A non-sexual dream still
produced the effect. This is about as far, as science has experimented
to date. It is mentioned here only, because the most consistent
physical
reaction noted, when returning from the Second State, is a penile
erection. It is a clue, no more. Whether through redirection or
purification, Second State sexuality is
not the same, as its physical echo, even once the habits and
preconceptions of the latter are discarded. The barriers, created and
continually reinforced by social conditioning, are but half of it. The
physical-mechanical elements themselves no longer seem to apply. For a
long time, the mind will continue to translate the
attraction-action-reaction sequence, as a similar function occurring
non-physically. As perception and control sharpen, the differences
become more noticeable. First and most obvious, there is no evidence of
the male-female
interpenetration. Attempts to express the need in such a functional
manner become pathetic in retrospect. One discovers in frustration,
that it just doesn't happen that way in the Second State. Next,
sensuality produced by the physical form of the sex counterpart is
entirely absent. There is no distinct pattern of physical shape, either
visually or by touch. How, then? What then? The analogy of the opposite
magnetic poles still
holds. There is an acute awareness of "difference," which is like
radiation (as it may well be) from the Sun, or a fire as felt by one
shivering with cold. It is dynamically attractive and needed. This
attraction varies in intensity with the individual. (Define what makes
one person more sexually attractive than another; it is more than
physical proportions.) It can be like magnetic lines of flux. The "act"
itself is not an act at all, but an immobile, rigid state of
shock where the two truly intermingle, not just at a surface level and
at one or two specific body parts, but in full dimension, atom for
atom, throughout the entire Second Body (Energy Body). There is a
short, sustained electron (?) flow one to another. The moment reaches
unbearable ecstasy, and then tranquillity, equalization, and it is
over. Why this takes place, why it is needed, I do not know, any more
than
the north pole of a magnet understands its "need" for the south pole of
another magnet. Unlike the magnet, however, we can perceive objectively
and ask "why." One fact is certain: as in the physical state, the act
is equally needed in the Second. In some part of Locale II (4th Level),
it is as ordinary as shaking hands. Here is an excerpt from the notes.
9/12/63
I
arrived for no
discernible reason in an outdoor area among some seven
or eight people, all standing in a casual group. They did not appear
particularly surprised to see me, and I was cautious as usual. There
was some hesitation on their part, as if they did not know how to treat
or greet me, but no hostility. Finally, one stepped forward in a
friendly manner as if to shake hands. I was about to thrust out my
hand,
when the person moved very close to me, and suddenly, there was a
quick, momentary flash of the sex charge. I was surprised and a little
shocked. Then, one after the other, each stepped forward, greeted me in
this fashion, as simply, as a handshake, right down the line of people.
Finally, the last one stepped forward, the only one, I was truly able
to
perceive, as a female. She seemed much older, than the others and than
I. She seemed to express friendliness and good humor: "Well, I haven't
done it for a long time" - she laughed, as she said it - "but I'm
willing to give it a try!" With this, she moved in close, and we had a
short and not feeble sex charge together. She backed away, chuckled
humorously, and rejoined the others. After a few moments, and some
attempts to find out, where I was, I grew uncomfortable and felt, that
I
should get back. I moved away straight up, stretched for the physical,
and returned without incident. Was the sex-charge greeting a typical
custom there, or were they
attempting to be pleasant to a stranger by temporarily adopting a
custom, that seems to be commonplace in his homeland? This might be, if
they looked at the secret inner selves of most of us in "physical"
bondage, Sexual Dream Fantasies, caused by some early sex repression?
This might be the Freudian answer, and also the "easy" way out, the
mislabeling to avoid facing uncharted possibilities. What evidence is
there that it is anything else? There is no way to prove the above,
because there is no means of determining the "where" of it. In the
experience
above, yes. In another?
Again, from the notes - 3/4/61 :
Late
night, in
the study, ground floor. I was not overtired, and
mentally alert. I deliberately induced the vibrations, by the cutdown
method. It was a Saturday night, and this is being written Sunday
afternoon, based upon notes during the night and later events. Some
preliminary information: On Saturday afternoon (yesterday), a friend of
my wife, a woman (J.F.), phoned to ask, if she could visit us
overnight. She arrived in time for dinner, and after a quiet and
pleasant evening
we retired, our guest going upstairs to the small, square guest room in
the front of the house or so I assumed. I believed also, that our two
children were asleep in their own room, which is long and rectangular
and directly over the study, I decided to sleep in the study rather
than in the bedroom with my wife, as I felt, that I could induce the
vibrations and didn't want possibly to disturb her sleep. After many
preliminaries, the vibrations came in strong and accelerated
to a frequency beyond perception as individual pulsation. I lifted out
of the physical easily, and with a strong sense of release and control,
went on up, through the ceiling and floor above and into a rectangular
room. The room was dark, and I was sure I was in the children's
bedroom, but could see no one. I was about to try to go somewhere else
when I became aware of a woman in the room not too far from me. I could
not discern her features, but she gave me the impression, that she was
in her middle thirties, and that she was a woman of considerable sexual
experience (that familiar "radiation" of characteristics?). This latter
sense brought forth my sex drive, and I was attracted to her. As I
approached, she said (?) she would "rather not", because she was very
tired. I moved back, respecting her wishes, and indicated, that it was
perfectly all right. She seemed grateful, and I was considerate, but
disappointed. Then I noticed a second woman just to the right in the
background. This second woman was older, than the first, in her
forties, but was also a woman of wide sexual experience. The second
woman moved forward and offered to "be" with me, as if she said "I
will" (implying, that if the first woman wouldn't, she would, eagerly).
I needed no further invitation at that stage, and we moved together
quickly. There was the giddy electrical-type shock, and then we
separated. I thanked her, and she seemed calm and contented. Feeling
this was
enough for one night, I turned and dived through the floor and soon was
re-entering the physical. I sat up and turned on the light. Everything
was quiet in the house. I smoked a cigarette and then lay down and
slept for the rest of the night without incident. This morning
(Sunday), I was up early as usual, and my wife came into
the kitchen for coffee at about ten. She debated about going upstairs
and waking J.F. to go to church. Casually, she mentioned, that she
hoped J.F. slept comfortably, because she had been so tired. This did
not strike a responsive note, but when she stated, that J.F. had slept
in the children's room instead of the guest room (in a supposedly more
comfortable bed), and the children had slept in the guest room, it
began to ring a bell. As stated, the children's room is rectangular and
is directly over the study. Further, J.F. is in her middle thirties, a
professional singer, and certainly has had wide sexual experience (two
husbands plus a number of love affairs). Add to this the fact, that she
was very tired. It took several minutes to get up enough courage to
ask, but I had to
know. My wife is fairly well indoctrinated by this time. I asked my
wife to go up and ask J.F. if she was sexually "tired." She asked me,
what I meant, and I explained. Then, of course, she wanted to know why,
and
said, that she couldn't ask J.F. such a question, I said, I was sure,
she
could find out, that it was important. Finally, she agreed and went
upstairs to awaken J.F. I waited for a long time, and finally my wife
came back downstairs alone. She looked at me intently. "How did you
know?" Thank goodness she didn't ask it suspiciously. She
went on, "That's the reason, she called and asked to come out. All
week,
she has been having a violent love affair, with sex every night. She
told me, she was just too tired to take another night of it." A short
time later, J.F. came down for breakfast.
My
wife, of
course, had not
told her anything of my interest in her condition. She seemed her
normal self for the rest of the day, with one exception. Ordinarily,
J.F. treats me very casually, as simply the husband of an old friend.
Today I caught her staring at me intently again and again, as if she
were trying to remember something about me, but couldn't. I gave no
indication, that I noticed this sudden interest. This was fairly good
identification. But who was the other, older woman?
Aftermath: 3/7/61. It is now Wednesday night. During the past few days,
I had tried to figure out, what the older woman might signify. I had
just about decided, that it was a nonliving person still deeply
attracted to physical sex relationships, who followed J.F. around just
to enjoy vicariously the Matter's sexual activities, if this is
possible. Then, yesterday, a friend dropped by the office. In the
course of the conversation, he mentioned, that a mutual friend, R.W.,
had stated, that she had a dream about me the past Saturday night. At
the mention of Saturday night, I was immediately alert. R.W. was a
businesswoman in her forties. Although married, she definitely
qualified as a woman of wide sexual experience, according to my own
observations (but not participation). R.W. had not described to our
mutual friend the nature of the dream, so I decided to find out. I was
finally able to reach vague about the dream content. At my gentle
insistence, she stated, that in the dream, I gave her a detailed
"physical examination." Beyond that, she would not elaborate. Either
she truly didn't recall any more, or it was much too personal for her
to relate to me.
But the fact, that she dreamed this on the same
Saturday night, that it suggested some kind of intimacy and was
important enough for her to mention it, that R.W. meets the
characteristics I had listed previously - these are hard to label
coincidence. If there has been any undercurrent of sexual desire for
J.F. and R.W. on my part, I was not aware of it. There is some comfort
in knowing these two are still among the "living." Many of the
experiments in the notes are also "too personal" for me to relate. What
has been presented thus far will, I trust, give enough indication.
Suffice it to say, that there have been experiences of all types, as
there are evidently all types in the Second State both in Locale I and
Locale II. The followers of the "astral planes" concept would say, that
the "quality", of those met, would determine the "level" of the plane
visited - "quality" meaning intensity and/or degradation or elimination
of the sexual experience. This would depend upon interpretation. Those,
who have not begun to understand the conditions of the Second State
("alive" or "dead"), might well still relate the pattern to that of the
physical, only without the inhibitions and limitations of the
"civilized" physical society. We continue to evaluate sexuality as good
or bad strictly in terms of such inhibitions, restrictions, and social
structure. The fallacy of this viewpoint is shown in that in our own
Space-Time continuum, we cannot reconcile sexual practice with social
rules, nor agree on this subject among the various social orders now in
existence. The sexual drive in itself can be a catalyst to the
vibrational condition, which is the doorway to the Second State.
However, it is a tricky matter; it is like an exuberant child,
constantly testing the authority directing it, and threatening to take
over and run in another direction. But in no way is it evil in the
Second State.
16. PRELIMINARY
EXERCISES
p.190-202
Throughout this writing, I have made many references to one evident
fact; the only possible way for an individual to appreciate the reality
of this Second Body and existence within it, is to experience it
himself. Obviously, if this were an easy task, it would now be
commonplace. I suspect, that only an innate curiosity will enable
people
to overcome the obstacles in the path of this achievement. Although
there are many cases of existence experienced apart from the physical
body, they have for the most part-at least in the Western world-been of
a spontaneous, onetime nature, occurring during moments of stress or
physical disability. We are speaking of something entirely different,
which can beobjectively investigated. The experimenter will want to
proceed in a manner that will produce consistent results, perhaps not
every time, but often enough to validate the evidence to his own
satisfaction. I believe that anyone can experience existence in a
Second Body if the desire isgreat enough. Whether or not anyone should
is beyond the scope of my judgment. Evidence has led me to believe that
most, if not all, human beings leave their physical bodies in varying
degrees during sleep. Subsequent reading has proved that this idea is
thousands of years old in man's history. If it is a valid premise, then
the condition itself is not unnatural. On the other hand, conscious,
willful practice of separationfrom the physical is contrary to the
pattern, it would seem, in view of the limited data available. Harmful
physical effects from such activity are undetermined. I have not
detected (nor have any physicians) any physiological changes, good or
bad, that can be attributed directly to the out-of-the-body experience.
There have been many psychological changes that I recognize, and
probably many more, that
I have not been aware of. However, even my
friends in the psychiatric profession have not claimed, that these have
been detrimental. My gradual revision of basic concepts and beliefs is
apparent in a number of ways throughout this writing. If these
psychological and personality changes are truly harmful, there is not
much, that can be done about it now. A note of caution is in order here
for those who are interested in experimenting, for once opened, the
doorway to this experience cannot be closed. More exactly, it is a case
of "you can't live with it and you can't live without it." The activity
and resultant awareness are quite incompatible with the science,
religion, and mores of the society in which we live. History is strewn
with martyrs whose only crime was nonconformity. If your interest and
research become commonly known, you run the risk of being labeled a
freak, phony, or worse, and of being ostracized. In spite of this,
something extremely vital would be missing,
if you did not continue to
explore and investigate. In the unaccountable "low" periods when you
cannot produce this activity no matter how carefully you try,
you
realize this deeply. You have a strong sense of being left out of
things, of the shutting out of a source of great meaning to living.
Here, then, is the best written description I can give of the technique
of developing the non-physical experience.
THE
FEAR BARRIER
p.205
There is one great obstacle to the investigation of the Second Body and
the environment in which it operates. Perhaps it is the only major
barrier. It seems to be present in all people, without exception. It
may be hidden by layers of inhibition and conditioning, but when these
are stripped away, the obstacle remains. This is the barrier of blind,
unreasoning fear. Given only small impetus, it turns to panic, and then
to terror. If you consciously pass the fear barrier, you will have
passed a milestone in your investigation, I am reasonably sure that
this barrier is passed unconsciously by many of us each night. When
that part of us beyond our consciousness takes over, it is not
inhibited by fear, although it seems to be influenced by the thought
and action of the conscious mind. It seems to be accustomed to
operating beyond the fear barrier, and understands better the rules of
existence in this other world. When the conscious mind shuts down for
the night, this Super Mind (soul?) takes over. The investigative
process relative to the Second Body and its environment appears to be a
melding or blending of the conscious with this Super Mind. If this is
accomplished, the fear barrier is overcome. The fear barrier is
many-faceted. The most fearless of us think it does not exist, until,
much to our own surprise, we encounter it within ourselves. First and
foremost, there is the death fear. Because separation from the physical
body is much like, what is expected death, early reactions to the
experience are automatic. You think, "Get back in the physical,
quickly! You are dying! Life is there, in the physical; get back in!"
These reactions appear in spite of any intellectual or emotional
training. Only after repeating the process eighteen to twenty times did
I finally gather enough courage (and curiosity) to stay out more than a
few seconds and observe objectively. The death fear was either
sublimated or assuaged by familiarity. Others who have tried the
technique have stopped after the first or second experience, unable to
suppress this first aspect of the barrier. The second aspect of the
fear barrier is also linked with the death fear: will I be able to
return to the physical or to get back "in." With no guidelines or
specific instructions, this remained a prime fear of mine for several
years, until I found a simple answer that made it work every time. Mine
was a matter of rationalization. I had been "out"
several hundred
times, and the evidence showed, that I was able to return safely
one way
or another. Therefore, the probability was that I would return safely
the next time also. The third basic fear was fear of the unknown. The
rules and dangers of our physical environment can be determined to a
reasonable degree. We have spent our lifetime building up reflexes to
cope with them. Now, suddenly, here is another, completely different
set of rules, another world of entirely different possibilities,
populated by beings who seem to know all of them.
You have no rule
book, no road map, no book of etiquette, no applicable courses in
physics and chemistry, no incontrovertible authority you can turn to
for advice and answers. Many a missionary has been lulled in a remote
land under just such conditions! I must confess that this third fear
still crops up, and with justification. The unknown is still to a great
degree unknown. Such penetration as I have made has brought forth
pitifully few unalterable and consistent rules, I can say only that, to
date, I have survived these expeditions. There is so much that I do not
comprehend or understand, and more that is beyond my ability to do so.
Another fear is the consequent effects on the physical body as well as
on the conscious mind of participation and experimentation in this form
of activity. This too is very real, as our history, at least to my
knowledge, does not seem to contain accurate reporting of this area. We
have studies on paranoia, schizophrenia, phobias, epilepsy, alcoholism,
sleeping sickness, acne, virus diseases, etc., but no assembled body of
objective data on the pathology of the Second Body. I do not know how
to circumvent the fear barrier, except by cautious initial steps that
create familiarity bit by bit as you proceed. I hope this writing in
its entirety will provide the psychological "step" over the barrier. It
may help to recognize conditions and patterns that are familiar in that
at least one person has had similar experiences and survived. The
following are the necessary procedural developments.
1.
RELAXATION
The ability to relax is the first prerequisite, perhaps even the first
step itself. It is deliberately generated, and is both physical and
mental. Included with the condition of relaxation must be the relief
from any sense of time urgency. You cannot be in a hurry. No pending
appointments or anticipated calls for your services or attention must
clutter up your thoughts. Impatience of any sort can effectively stifle
your prospects for success. There are many techniques available for
obtaining this kind of relaxation, and a number of good books cover the
subject Simply select the method that works best for you. There are
three general methods that seem to work, two of which are applicable in
these exercises.
Auto-
or self-hypnosis.
Most self-study
books offer this method in different versions. Again,
it is a matter of which is most effective for you individually. The
most efficient and speediest way is to learn selfhypnosis through the
training of an experienced hypnotist. He can set up posthypnotic
suggestion that will bring immediate results. However, select a tutor
with care. Responsible practitioners are rare, and neophytes numerous.
Forms of meditation can be converted to effective relaxation.
Borderland sleep state. This is perhaps the easiest and most natural
method and usually ensures relaxation of both body and mind
simultaneously. The difficulty here lies in the maintenance of that
delicate "edge" between sleep and complete wakefulness. AH too often,
you simply fall asleep- and that ends the experiment for the moment. By
practice, conscious awareness can be taken up to this borderland state,
into it, and through it, to your destination. There is no way to
achieve it that I know of other than practice. The technique is as
follows: he down, preferably when you are tired and sleepy. As you
become relaxed and start to drift off into sleep, hold your mental
attention on something, anything, with your eyes closed. Once you can
hold the borderland state indefinitely without falling asleep, you have
passed the first stage. It is, however, a normal pattern to fall asleep
many times in the process of this consciousness deepening. You will not
be able to help yourself, but do not let this discourage you. It is not
an overnight process. You will know you are successful when you become
bored and expect something more to happen I If attempts to remain at
the borderland state make you nervous, this too is a normal reaction.
The conscious mind seems to resent sharing the authority it has during
wakeful-ness. If this occurs, break the relaxation, get up and walk
around, exercise, and lie down again. If this does not relieve the
nervousness, go to sleep and try another time. You are just not in the
mood. When your "fixative," the picture thought you have been holding,
slips away and you find yourself thinking of something else, you are
close to completion of Condition A. Once you have achieved Condition
A-the ability to hold calmly in the borderland state indefinitely with
your mind on an exclusive thought-you are ready for the next step.
Condition B is similar, but with the concentration eliminated. Do not
think of anything, but remain poised between wakefulness and sleep.
Simply look through your closed eyes at the blackness ahead of you. Do
nothing more. After a number of these exercises, you may hallucinate
"mind pictures," or light patterns. These seem to have no great
significance, and may merely be forms of neural discharge. I can
remember, for example, attempting to achieve this state after watching
a football game on TV for several hours. All I saw were mind pictures
of football players tackling, running, passing, etc. It took at least a
half hour for the pattern to fade away. These mind pictures are
apparently related to your visual concentration in the preceding eight
or ten hours. The more intense the concentration, the longer it seems
to take to eliminate the impressions. You have accomplished Condition B
when you are able to lie indefinitely after the impressions have faded
away, with no nervousness, and seeing nothing but blackness. Condition
C is a systematic deepening of consciousness while in the B state. This
is approached by carefully letting go of your rigid hold on the
borderland sleep edge and drifting deeper little by little during each
exercise. You will learn to establish degrees, of this deepening of
consciousness by "going down" to a given level and returning at will.
You will recognize these degrees by the shutting down of various
sensory mechanism inputs. The sense of touch apparently goes first. You
seem to have no feeling in any part of your body. Smell and taste soon
follow. The auditory signals are next, and the last to fade out is
vision. (Sometimes the last two are reversed; I suspect that the reason
for vision being last is that the exercise calls for the use of the
visual network, even in blackness.) Condition D is the achievement of C
when one is fully rested and refreshed, rather than tired and sleepy,
at the beginning of the exercise. This is quite important, and not
nearly as easy to achieve as it is to write about. To enter the
relaxation state full of energy and wakefulness is great insurance for
maintaining conscious control. The best approach to take in the early
attempts at the Condition D exercise is to start it immediately after
you wake up from a nap or a night's sleep. Start the exercise before
you move around in bed physically, while your body is still relaxed
from sleep and your mind is fully alert. Don't take too many liquids
before sleeping, and you won't have the immediate need to empty your
bladder upon awakening. Induction by drugs. None of the
relaxation-producing drugs that are readily available seem to help.
Barbiturates force a loss of conscious control and only bring a
confused state in deeper consciousness. The same is true, to a lesser
degree, of tranquilizers. Relaxation is obtained, but at the cost of
perception. Alcohol in any form brings similar effects. More exotic
compounds such as the alkaloids and hallucinogens may be more
productive, I have not had enough experience or contact with these to
offer an opinion or even an educated guess. It would seem that
far-reaching research is indicated for these. I have utilized all three
methods, and rejected drug relaxation quite early as it resulted in
both too much loss of conscious control and distorted perception. In
the first technique, hypnotic induction tapes were specially prepared
for the experiments. They were quite useful and effective. The
borderland sleep state techniques have been employed most often. In
spite of the complicated-sounding procedure, it is the most natural
method for me.
2. STATE OF
VIBRATION
The generation of this effect is the most critical of all. The
subjective sensory impression it creates is described elsewhere. Once
it is achieved, you will certainly not have to be told you've
beensuccessful, and you will have passed another major hurdle.All that
can be given are clues. At the present level of knowledge, it is not
known why these things work. It is much like turning a switch to obtain
light without having any idea of what the switch does, where the
electricity comes from, or why and how it acts upon a bulb enclosing
tungsten filaments. At the least, all of the material contained herein
has been established
as empirically as possible. Aside from the principal human laboratory
thiswriter andseveral other individuals have tried the pattern. Suffice
it to say that they have obtained positive results.
Aids
to the vibrational state.
Lie
down, in
whatever position is most conducive to your state of
relaxation, but with your body along a northsouthaxis, with your head
to magnetic north. Loosen any clothes you may be wearing. Keep covered
so that you feel just slightly wanner than is generally comfortable for
you. Remove any jewelry or metal objects close to or touching your
skin. Be sure that your arms, legs, and neck will relax in a position
that will not impede circulation. Darken the room enough to ensure that
no light can be seen through your eyelids. Do not use a completely
blacked-out room, as you will then have no visual point
of reference.
Absolute
requisites.
Ensure
without
question that you will not be disturbed in any way,
either by direct physical intervention, a phone ringing, or other
interrupting noises. Do not set a time limit or a deadline. The time
you spend in the experiment is not more valuably spent elsewhere and
you should have nothing impending that might cut short this activity.
Achieve
the state of relaxation.
Do
this by whatever
method you have found workable in your own
individual case. Work to Condition D or its equivalent, and hold at the
deepest level of relaxation possible without weakening your
consciousness. When you have taken as much time as you need to be sure
you have obtained this, mentally repeat, "I will consciously perceive
and remember all that I encounter during this relaxation period. I will
recall in detail when I am completely awake only those matters that
will be beneficial to my physical and mental being." Say this mentally
five times. Then begin breathing through your half-opened mouth.
Establish the vibration waves.
As you continue breathing through your half-opened mouth, concentrate
on the blackness in front of your closed eyes. Look first into the
blackness at a spot a foot away from your forehead. Now move your point
of concentration to three feet away, and then six feet. Hold for a
while until the point is firmly established.
From there, turn the point 90° upward, on a line parallel to
the bodyaxis and reaching out above the head. Reach for the vibrations
at that spot. When you find them, mentally pull them back into your
head. This simple description must pose many questions. Reach out with
what?
Pull - what back into your head?
Let us try another method ofexplanation. Begin a mental concentration,
as if two lines were extending from the outer sides of your closed
eyes. Think of them as converging at a point a foot away from your
forehead. Visualize a resistance or pressure when these two lines meet,
as if two charged electric wires were joined, or poles of a magnet
forced together. Now extend this juncture outward to about three feet,
or the length of your arm outstretched. Due to the angular difference,
the pressure pattern is altered. A compression of the space (forces?)
between the converging lines must
result, and the pressure must therefore increase to maintain the
convergence. After the three-foot length has been established and held,
extend the intersection point out to six feet away from your
head, or 30°. (So that you can properly visualize the exact
angle that represents 30°, it may help to mark off a
30° angle by protractor on paper and memorize how it looks.) Once you
have learned to establish
and maintain the 30° angle outward (or roughly six feet away),
bend the point of intersection 90° (or in an"L") upward in the
direction of your head but parallel to the axis of your body. You
"reach" with this point of intersection. Stretch or reach with this
point more and more, until you obtain a reaction. Again, you will know
when you obtain it. It is as if a surging, hissing,rhythmically
pulsating wave of fiery sparks comes roaring into your head. From there
it seems to sweep throughout your body, making it rigid and immobile.
Once you have learned the process, or the concept, it will not be
necessary to go through the entire routine. You need only to think of
the vibrations while in a relaxed state, and they come into being. A
conditioned reflex has been established, or a neuron path that can be
followed again and again, Again, it is not a technique that can be
achieved the first time it is tried. The probability of success
increases with each successive effort. The more often you attempt it,
the more likely you are to have positive results. However, once you
have succeeded, it is not always repeatable at will. There are still
many
variables that interfere which have yet to be isolated and identified.
But it does "work" often enough to be subject to continued study.
3.
CONTROL OF VIBRATIONS
p.213-215
When you have obtained the vibrational state, there are definite
guidelines to follow. The utilization of this condition under conscious
control is the goal you are seeking. To accomplish this, there are
careful procedures to observe. They should, of course, be followed in
sequence, in the order presented.There is no evidence to indicate that
this vibrational state has a deleterious effect on either the mind or
the physical body. Here, then, are some procedures that can be applied
systematically. They are a distillate of literally hundreds of
trial-and-error experiments.
Acclimatization
and accommodation.
This is a way of
saying that youshould let yourself get accustomed to
the feel of this unusual condition. All fear and panic must be
eliminated when you feel waves like an electric shock without pain
permeating your body. The best method seems to be to do nothing when
they occur. Lie quietly and objectively analyze them until they fade
away of their own accord. This usually takes place in about five
minutes. After several suchexperiences, you will realize you are not
being electrocuted. Try to avoid panicky struggling to break the
paralytic condition. You can break it by sitting up with great force of
will, but you will be disappointed with yourself for doing so. After
all, this was what you were trying to achieve.
Manipulation and modulation.
Once you have eliminated the fear reactions, you are ready for control
steps. First, mentally "direct" the
vibrations into a ring, or force them all into your head. Then mentally
push them down along your body to your toes, then back up to your head.
Start them sweeping in a wave over your body rhythmically, from head to
toes and then back again. After you have given the wave momentum, let
it proceed of its own accord until it fades away. It should take about
ten seconds-five down, five back-for the wave to make the complete
circuit, from head to toes and back. Practice this until the vibration
wave begins instantly upon mental command, and moves steadily until
fade-out. By this time, you will have noticed the "roughness" of the
vibrations at times, as if your body is being severely shaken right
down to the molecular or atomic level. This may be somewhat
uncomfortable, and you will feel a desire to "smooth" them out. This is
accomplished by "pulsing" them mentally to increase their frequency.
Their original vibratory rate seems to be on the order of some
twenty-seven cycles per second (this is the rate of the vibration
itself, not the head-to-toe frequency). The pattern responds to this
pulsing command very subtly and slowly at first. Your first indication
of success is when the vibrations no longer seem rough and shaking. You
are well on your way to control when they produce a steady, solid
effect.It is essential that you learn and apply this speed-up process.
The faster vibration effect is the form that permits disassociation
from the physical. Once you have set the momentum of the speed-up,
theacceleration seems to take place automatically. Eventually, you may
sense the vibrations only as they begin. They will increase their
frequency - like a motor starting up - until the frequency is so high
that you are unable to perceive it. At this phase, the sensory effect
is one of body warmth, slightly tingling, but not excessively so.
Consistent achievement of this stage is the sign that you are ready for
the first physical disassociation experiments. Another word of warning
is in order here. Beyond this point, I believe you cannot turn back.
Ultimately, you will be committed to the reality of this other
existence. How this will affect your personality, your daily life, your
future, and your philosophies rests entirely with you as an individual.
For once you have been "opened" to this other reality, you cannot
completely shut it out again, try as you might. The pressure of
material affairs may sublimate it for a time, but it will return. You
cannot always stay on guard against its reopening. As you start to
sleep or awaken, when you merely relax, the vibrational surge may come
without call. You can shut it off, of course, but eventually you become
too tired to bother - and you are off
on another excursion. You sense that you are fighting against
yourself.And who wants to fight one's self - at the price of a good
night's sleep!
17. THE SEPARATION
PROCESS
p.216-227
After you have achieved the state of vibration and some control of your
stage of relaxation, one additional factor must be considered. It is
probable that you have already obtained it, since it is ordinarily a
product of the previous exercises. However, it should be emphasized.
This factor is thought control. In the state of vibration, you are
apparently subject to every thought, both willful and involuntary, that
crosses your mind. Thus you must be as close to "no thought" or
"singlethought" (concentration) as possible. If one stray idea passes
through your mind, you respond instantly, and sometimes in an
undesirable manner.
I suspect that one is never completely free of such misdirection. At
least I have not been, which may account for the many inexplicable
trips to places and people I do not know. They seem to be triggered by
thoughts or ideas I didn't realize I had, below the conscious level.
The only approach is to do the best you can. With this in mind, the
first practices of disassociating the Second fromthe physical body
should be limited in time and action. What follows is designed
basically as a familiarization and orientation technique which should
permit an approach to disassociation without fear or concern. Release
of extremities (hands and feets). This serves to acquaint you with the
sensation of the Second Body without full commitment. After relaxation
and creation of the vibration state, work with either your right or
left hand and arm, one at a time. This is important, as it will be your
first affirmation of the reality of the Second. With one hand, reach
for any object-floor, wall, door, or whatever-that you remember as
being beyond the reach of your physical arm. Reach for that object.
Make the reaching process neither upward nor downward, but out in the
direction your arm is pointing. Reach as if you were stretching your
arm, not raising or lowering it.
A variation is simply to reach out
with the hand and arm in the same manner with no special object in
mind. Often this method is better, as you then have no preconceived
idea of what you will "feel." When you reach out in this fashion and
feel nothing, push your hand a little farther. Keep pushing gently, as
if stretching your arm, until your hand encounters some material
object. If the vibration pattern is in effect, it will work, and your
hand will eventually feel or touch something. When it does, examine
with your sense of touch the physical details of the object. Feel for
any cracks, grooves, or unusual details which you will later be able to
identify. At this point, nothing will seem unusual. Your sensory
mechanisms will tell you that you are touching the object with your
physical hand.Here, then, is your first test. After acquainting
yourself with the object with your outstretched hand, straighten out
your hand and push against the object with your fingertips. You will
encounter resistance at first. Push a little harder, and gently
overcome the resistance you feel.
At this point, your hand will seem to
go right through the object. Keep pushing until your hand is completely
through the object and meets some other physical object. Identify the
second object by touch. Then carefully withdraw your hand, back through
the first object, and slowly back to normal, so that it feels as if it
is where it "belongs." With this, decrease the vibrations. The best way
to do this is slowly to attempt to move the physical body. Think of the
physical body, and open your physical eyes.
Bring back your physical senses, deliberately. Once the vibrations have
faded away completely, lie still for a few minutes for full and
complete return. Then get up and make a notation of the object which
you "felt," locating it relative to the position of your hand and arm
when you were lying down. Note the details of both the first and second
objects, which you felt. Having done this, compare your description
with
the actual first object. Make special note of smalldetails which you
could not have seen from a
distance. Physically feel the object to compare it with what you felt
under the vibrations. Examine the second object in the same manner. You
may not have been
consciously aware of its presence or position prior to the experiment.
This too is important. Test the line of direction from the place where
your physical hand lay,
through the first object and up to the second. Is it a straight line?
Check your results. Was the first object you touched physically located
at a distance it would have been absolutely impossible to reach without
physical movement? Did the details of the object-especially the minute
details-coincide with the notes you have made? Make the same comparison
for the second object. If your answers are affirmative, you have had
your first success. If
the facts do not check out, try again another day. Almost without
qualification, if you have produced the vibrational state, you can
perform this exercise. You can also practice the following quite
easily. After producing thevibrational state, lying on your back, arms
either
at your sides or on your chest, gently lift your arms without looking
at them and touch your fingers together. Do this quite casually,
abstractedly, and remember the sensory results. Once you have clasped
your hands above your chest, lookat them first with your closed eyes.
If you have moved easily enough, you will see both physical and
non-physical arms. Your physical armswill be at rest at your sides or
upon your chest. The sensory impressions will be with the non-physical
arms and hands above your physical body. You should test this
phenomenon as many times as you wish, however you desire. Prove to
yourself that you are moving not your physical arms, but something
else. Do it by whatever means are necessary to give you full assurance
of this reality. It is important always to return your non-physical
arms to full
conjunction with their physical counterparts before "shutting off" the
vibration state. Although there may be no severe aftereffect if this is
not done, I think it best not to find out in the early stages.
Disassociation technique
(how to fly without physical body).
The
simplest method to
use in separating from the physical is the
"lift-out" procedure. The Intent here is not to travel to far-off
places, but to get acquainted with the sensation in your own room, with
familiar surroundings. The reason for this is, that the first true
experience will then be examined and explored with identifiable points
of reference. In order to assist in this orientation, it is better,
that
these first complete disassociation exercises, be conducted during
daylight. Test for yourself your needs in regard to the amount of light
in the room. Avoid using an electric light, if possible.To establish
the
condition, achieve the vibrational state, and maintain complete control
of your thought processes. You are going to stay only in the confines
of your familiar room. Think of getting lighter, of floating upward, of
how nice it would be to float upward. Be sure to think how nice it
would be, as the subjective associated thought is most important. You
want to do this, because it is something you will respond to
emotionally; you react even before the act, in anticipation. If you
continue to hold only these thoughts, you will disassociate and float
gently upward from your physical. You may not achieve it the first
time, or the second. But quite surely, if you have accomplished the
preceding exercises, you will achieve it. A second method is the
"rotation" technique, which has been mentioned
elsewhere. Under the same prescribed conditions, slowly try to turn
over, just as if
you were turning
over in bed to be more comfortable. Make no attempt to help yourself
rotate with either arms or legs. Start
turning by twisting the top of your body, your head and
shoulders, first. By all means move slowly, exerting gentle, but firm
pressure. If you do not, you may become loose and actually spin like a
log, rolling in water, before you can alter the pressure. Such action
is
disconcerting, only because you may lose all orientation and be forced
to find your way back carefully in rotation juncture.The ease, with
which you begin to turn, with no friction or sense of weight, will
inform you, that you have begun to succeed in disassociating. As this
happens, turn slowly, until you feel, that you have moved 180°
(i.e., face to face with your physical body). It is uncanny, how you
will recognize this position. This 180° about face is merely
two 90° turns, and without orientation, it is easy to sense,
once you are in the 180° position, stop the rotation merely by
thinking of doing so. Without hesitation, think of floating upward,
backing up away from the physical body. Again, if you have reached the
vibrational state successfully, this method will surely bring results.
Of the two separation techniques, the first should be tried, before the
second. Then, after both have been examined and tested, the one, that
seems easiest to you should be utilized. Local experiments
andfamiliarization. Once you have succeeded in the separation process,
it is most important for your own objective continuity, that you remain
in complete control. The only possible way, to do this, seems to be by
staying close to the physical in the early stages. Whatever you may
feel emotionally, keep in close proximity to the physical.This
admonition is made, not because of any known danger, but so that you
will maintain a step-by-
step familiarity
and thus perceive for yourself
exactly, what is taking place. Wild, uncontrolled trips at this stage
may well produce uncomfortable situations and conditions, that will
force you to re-learn much of what you have already achieved. The
process of mental acclimation will be different from any you have ever
consciously experienced The gradual adaptation will greatly enhance
your peace of mind and confidence. At this point, the principal
exercise is to return. Keep your separation distance no more, than
three
feet away, hovering over the physical. Do not make any attempt at this
time to move laterally or farther "up." How do you know, how far away
you are? Again, this is something you sense. Your vision now is zero.
You have conditioned yourself not to open your eyes, and let them
remain closed for the moment. Stay close to the physical. The mental
concept of this will keep you in proper range. For the next three or
four exercises, do nothing, but practice getting "out" and returning to
the physical. To return under these conditions, merely "think" yourself
back into the physical, and you will return. If you have used the first
method of separation, the reintegration is relatively simple. When you
are back in exact alignment, you will be able to move any portion of
the physical body and reactivate any or all of your physical senses.
Each time you return, open your physical eyes and physically sit up, so
that you know, you are completely "back together." This is to ensure
orientation, to instill confidence, that you can return at will, and
most important, to assure yourself of continued contact with the
material world, in which you now belong. Whatever you believe, this
reassurance is most necessary. If you have applied the rotation method,
move slowly back toward the physical, again by thinking of it, and when
you feel, you have made complete contact, start your rotation back
180° to conjunction with the physical.
It
seems to make no
difference, whether you continue the circle of rotation or reverse and
turn back in a motion, opposite to that, which helped you release. In
both techniques, there seems to be a slight, clicklike jerk, when you
are again in conjunction with the physical. An exact description of
this sensation is quite difficult, but you will recognize it. Always
wait a few moments before sitting up, after you have returned,
primarily to avoid any possible uneasiness. Give yourself some time to
readjust to the physical environment. The physical act of sitting up
provides evidence of continuity in a demonstrable form; you will know,
that you can consciously, willfully act in a physical movement,
interspersed with experiments in the non-physical environment and
retain conscious awareness throughout the process.You will have
completed the cycle, when you are able to separate, return to the
physical, sit up and note the time, go back to the separation process,
and return to the physical a second time, all without loss of conscious
continuity. The notation of the clock reading will help in this.
The next step in
familiarization is to separate to a slightly farther
distance, applying the same procedures. Any distance up to ten feet
will do. Always keep mental concentration on a single purpose without
stray thought patterns, especially in these extended exercises. After
you have become accustomed to the feeling of being more "apart,"
mentally tell yourself, that you can see. Do not think of the act of
opening your eyes, as this may well transmit you to the physical and
diminish the vibrational state. Instead, think of seeing, that you can
see - and you will see. There will be no sensation of eye opening. The
blackness will just disappear suddenly.
At first, your
seeing maybe
dim, as if in half-light, indistinct or myopic. It is not known at
present, why this is so, but with use, your vision will become more
sharp.
The first sight
of your physical body, lying below you, should not
be unnerving, if you have applied the previous exercises. After you are
satisfied, that it is "you", lying there, visually examine the room
from
the perspective of your position. Mentally move slightly in one
direction or another, slowly and never violently. Move your arms and
legs to reassure yourself of your mobility. Roll around and cavort in
the new element, if you wish, always staying within the prescribed
range
of the physical.
At
this stage, you may be filled with strong desires,
which can be almost overwhelming. This is the greatest problem you may
face at the moment. These desires, appearing unannounced and
unexpectedly, are subjective and emotional, and can easily submerge the
deductive reasoning position, you have built up so carefully. The most
important clue is to understand, that they must not be labeled evil or
wrong. They simply exist, and you must learn to cope with them. The
rule is do not deny the existence of these desires. Recognize them as a
deep, integral part of you, that cannot be "thought" away. Until you do
this, you will be unable to control them. These desires include freedom
(to revel in the release from physical limitations and gravitational
effects), sexual contact (first with a loved one, then at a strictly
sensory level), religious ecstasy (varying, based upon the intensity of
early life conditioning), and others, that may originate in unusual
environmental experiences of the individual. The belief held here is,
that everyone will have these subjective desires, despite the most
stringent discipline and selfanalysis. What we speak of are those
elements far below surface consciousness, that comprise your own
fundamental character and personality. As has been explained earlier,
these elements emerge, because you are no longer just a conscious,
intellectual self. You are, perhaps for the first time, an entirety
(wholeness, completeness). Every part of you will be heard from and
must be considered in any action, you take. The trick is to keep the
conscious, reasoning you (the one most cognizant of the physical world)
in a dominant position. It isn't easy. Therefore, you will run into
problems, if you attempt a denial of self. Instead, you must accept
these, sometimes surprising, drives for what they are - a part of you -
and go on about your business. You cannot eliminate them, but you can
set them aside for the moment. Offer the promise of future fulfillment,
and you will have no resistance. These needs can understand diversion,
as they have been subjected to it for as long, as you have lived ! When
you have reasonably dealt with these other parts of you, and have
demonstrated this to your satisfaction five to seven times in a
near-separation condition (in the same room at close vicinity), you are
ready for more distant and specific voyages. All of the foregoing
presumes, that you have overcome most of the fears, you have
encountered
up to this stage. If you have not, repeat the exercises, which produce
fear, until familiarity washes it away. Infallible return
signal. As noted, the fear of being unable to re-enter the
physical, is a basic deterrent to leaving the body. In my early
experimentation, I encountered this problem many times. Happily, a
solution was found, whenever this difficulty presented itself. After
careful analysis of hundreds of tests, an infallible technique was
evolved. The only guarantee, that can be given, is that it has
continued
to work for me.
First, if you
have difficulty, don't panic. Above all, keep your
rational thought processes dominant. Terror only aggravates the
situation. Internalize this simple formula, and call upon it: to return
to the physical from wherever you are, think of your physical body.
Mentally begin to move some part of your physical body. Move a finger
or a toe. Physically take a deep, deliberate breath of air. Reactivate
your five physical senses, or any one of them. Move your jaw. Swallow,
or move your tongue.
Any act, that
must involve physical motion or use
of physical energy, will work. If one doesn't immediately take effect,
try another. Without question, some such thought action will bring you
back into the physical. It is merely a question of, which one works
best
with you. When this technique is applied, return is virtually
immediate. It is an
automatic direction finder and rocket blast combined. Reintegration
seems to be instantaneous, when this is used. However, this immediate
return method eliminates your power of choice or decision. Once it is
put into effect, you cannot stop it. You will return to the physical
without any opportunity to know, what is happening, and how it is
taking
place. Thus it should be thought of as an emergency reserve measure,
rather than a consistent step in your methodology. Under ordinary
conditions, you should think of or feel the direction and location of
your physical body. Then, with no urgency and in a calm, willful
manner, start to return.
The
mechanics of movement.
Now that you have
set up the proper controls, including the emergency
return signal, you are ready for the most momentous step of all: to
"go" to a distant point and return. It is definitely not advisable
deliberately to attempt this exercise before you have completed all
previous tests and are at ease with them. It is quite possible that you
may have inadvertently gone to a distant point during the early stages.
If this is the case, you can recognize the importance of following a
procedure.
First, set your "aiming point" Remember the rule: you must "go" to a
person, not to a place. It may be possible to achieve the latter, if
you
have a deep emotional attachment to
the locale, but the experiments to
date have shown little success along this line. This, of course, may be
due to the personality of the writer. Select the person (living) whom
you desire to visit. Choose someone
youknow quite well. Do not inform this person that you are making the
test. This is most important so as to rule out any suggestion on his or
her part. Make this selection before you enter the vibrational state
and before
you start your relaxation process. Establish relaxation and the
vibrational state. Use your chosen method
to separate. Move away to near distance, six or seven feet from the
physical. With your vision still in "blackness," cautiously "think" of
the person whom you plan to visit. Think not only of the name, but
ofthe personality and character of the person. Do not try to visualize
a physical being, for it is the reflection of the inner person that
will attract you, rather than the physical attributes. As you think in
this pattern, turn yourself around slowly in a
360° rotation. Somewhere in the circuit, you will "feel" the
right direction. It is an intuitive thing, a sureness that attracts you
like a gentle magnet. Even so, you can check for verification. Go past
this point in your turn, and come back to it. Again, you will sense it
very strongly. Stop, facing this direction. Think, that you have
vision, and begin to
see. To give yourself motion toward your destination, employ a total
Second
Body version of the "stretch," which you practiced in your first
exercise with hand and arm. The easiest method is to place your
nonphysical arms over your head, thumbs latched together like a diver
about to plunge into water. With your arms in this position, think of
the person you wish to visit and stretch your body in that direction.
You may move fast or slowly, depending upon the effort of this
stretching action. The harder you "stretch," the faster you go. At your
destination, you will automatically stop stretching without realizing
it. To return, apply a similar method. Think of your physical body,
reach
out and stretch, and you will return promptly. Usually no more is
required than this. There is some speculation regarding the necessity
of keeping your arms in the diver's position. Originally, it was
assumed that this stance would break a path or ward off any encountered
objects with the hands rather than the head. It does help create the
stretching action better than keeping the arms at the sides.There you
have it. The foregoing may seem ritualistic, but it is not intended to.
It may appear no better than the magic formula of the Middle Ages. To
date, there are no explanations of why the technique works. Perhaps in
the years to come, interested and curious physicists, chemists,
neurologists, and other scientists will develop workable theories to
fit the action. If enough people undertake to examine it empirically,
perhaps a new science will result. In the meantime, the boundaries can
disappear for you, too, if you have courage and patience. The only way
you can accept and know this extended reality is to experience it
yourself. Good luck !
18. ANALYSIS
OF EVENTS
p.229-240
How did all of this happen? Was there
some avenue or approach that made sense? The best answer seemed to lie
in data analysis. This precluded use of the under
ground, the only area
that considered or accepted my "problem" as something beyond
hallucination, since much of the underground data dealt principally in
vague generalities. I wanted specifics. I reasoned that there must be
some way to organize the conflicting data I was accumulating. So I
began to extrapolate sound possibilities and probabilities from what
was known. The accepted method is to keep one foot in the light and on
solid rock as you step cautiously onto dark, shifting grounds. The
known data were sequence of events, symptoms, and results. The sum of
my experience and experimentation fell easily into four chronological
stages.
PRELIMINARY
STAGE
This includes all events and activities prior to the symptom of solar
plexus cramp described earlier. Early life patterns disclosed two
instances of unexplained paradoxes, that seemed relevant to this
research. The first incident occurred when I was eight years old. I
reported to
my parents a dream, in which I sat in a room paneled in red-brown wood.
In one corner was a cabinet from which came music and voices, which
looked much like a victrola. In the front of the cabinet was a window,
and there were moving pictures in the window. The voices from the
cabinet matched what the people in the window seemed to be saying. It
was like the moving pictures shown at school except that the people's
words were heard rather than spelled out on the screen. Also, the
moving picture in the cabinet was colored just as people and things
really were. (Thirty years later I sat in a mahogany paneled room and
watched color television for the first time.) As best as can be
recalled,
I had never seen any color motion pictures at the age when
the dream took place. The second unusual event happened at the high
school level at about age
fifteen.
On a given Friday night, I had been looking forward
expectantly to a parry the next night I had estimated that my cash
requirements for the coming event were two dollars. The problem was to
find a source for the two dollars before Saturday night. There had been
no work available during the week to earn the money. For
one reason or another, my parents had been exhausted as a resource. No
prospect for work on Saturday was in sight. I went to bed Friday night
worrying over this immediate problem. Upon awakening Saturday morning,
I had an immediate vivid conviction
that two dollars were under an old plank lying outside on the ground
beside the house. I knew of the existence of the plank, as it had been
there for some time. However, I dismissed the idea as a wishful dream
and went down to breakfast. After eating, still preoccupied with the
dire financial problem, I
thought again of the board and the two dollars under it. Idly, in order
to dismiss the idea,
I went outside and around the house to where the
plank lay on the ground. It looked undisturbed, half-covered with dirt
and leaves. It was impossible that someone could have inadvertently
"lost" some money or placed it under the board. Still, as long as I was
there, it wouldn't hurt to look just to get rid of the compulsion. I
pulled at the plank and raised it upward. There were hundreds of ants
and bugs on the damp dirt underneath, running frantically in all
directions. Also on the wet earth, in the center of the area where the
board had lain, were two folded, crisp, dry one-dollar bills. I did not
stop to consider how the money happened to be under the board.
I made
no mention of the incident at the time, except to a friend. I was too
concerned that someone might claim the money. The problem for the night
was solved.
The
incident had been forgotten completely until recalled
under the personal history search. There was nothing more. No great
traumas, just a basic American
upbringing in a scholastic family. In view of the fact that it was a
"mental" problem, psychiatry seemed to be the answer. Still, no outward
evidence of the strong repressions, compulsions, anxieties, and/or
phobias which normally show up in mental illness could be found. Close
examination of the events leading up to the first out-of-the-body
symptom (the severe cramps) brings to light several factors which
deserve consideration. In the year immediately preceding the first
incident, there was only one relatively unusual physiological change.
During that year I had seven lower teeth capped in a rather lengthy
dental process. This was examined in detail in relation to the later
symptom of "tuning" the Second State condition by movements of the jaw.
It is possible that the bits of assorted metal comprising part of the
tooth-capping fabrication acted electrically or in some other fashion
on the brain. This still remains an unexplored possibility. Physicists,
physiologists, and electronics specialists have no theory relating to
this. Proper research could prove or disprove the hypothesis. There are
hundreds of thousands of people walking around with bits of metal in
their teeth, and other such incidents have been reported. A survey
might prove interesting. There were no other physiological changes
significant enough to be
recalled consciously. The only above-ordinary nutritional factor was
that of vitamin intake. Since my wife believed strongly in nutrition,
daily dosages of vitamins A, B complex, C, and E, plus mineral tablets,
had been a norm for several years. Again, a cumulative effect could
have been the cause, but no reports or research studies indicated any
factors resembling the Second State. Other than this, a normal diet was
the rule, with no major changes for five years at the least. At the
psychological and physical activity levels, there is much to be noted.
It is quite conceivable that the causes of the phenomenon lie here. The
first consideration might be termed the anesthesia episode, which
took place some six months prior to the first symptom. The beginning
came when I noticed an unusual "heady" effect from the fumes of a
gallon can of contact cement. I was installing a cubbyhole desk top in
the wall of a bedroom at home when I became aware of the sensation. The
can clearly stated on the lid that the cement should be used in
wellventilated areas. I correctly assumed that this was a fire-hazard
warning from the manufacturers. The sensation reminded me of the
strange effect I had experienced in the past just as I was "going
under" from anesthesia. Curious, I experimented with the effect of the
fumes a number of times in the following month, with very significant
results. Upon learning that the fuming agents were toluol (a common
commercial hydrocarbon detergent) and acetone (once used as anesthetic)
, 1 made several experiments with the subjective effects of light
anesthesia, utilizing a less volatile and relatively safe inhalant,
Trilene. In retrospect, the results of these experiments seem
to parallel closely the reports of those who have undertaken the LSD
experience. Intensely vital and not at all unpleasant, the effects may
well have triggered an inner desire or need for experiences, beyond
those I had had to that date. Reluctantly, I stopped the experiments,
as there seemed inherent dangers of physiological side effects if they
were continued. Although I had set up rigid controls, there was no
certainty that they would always work. However, I did find out some
interesting facts about anesthesia to satisfy my curiosity.
In Ireland,
it seems, ether was sold by the spoonful by peddlers who ladled it out
at streetside each morning. In the early days, medical students often
had "ether parties," much like the parties of the "black market" LSD
users today. Doctors have reported that ether addiction has been quite
common through the years. Captains of gasoline tankers have problems
with a seagoing version of the wino. When signed on as crew, these men
appear completely normal, until they are found unconscious alongside a
cargo vent. I understand they are labeled "sniffers." Further, I
learned the relationship between alcohol and other
anesthetics. Any anesthetic produces a trail from consciousness to an
unconscious state beyond which is death. The job of the anesthetist is
to "put down" or place the patient in a deep unconscious state as
quickly as possible, avoiding any "violent" intermediate condition
(which is the area I evidently explored). The technique then is to hold
the unconscious patient just above death. The major advantage of ether
when it was first introduced was that it had fewer possible side
effects than alcohol and offered greater control of the degree of
unconsciousness. The period of consciousness following administration
was quite short, and the unconscious state was quite extended before
the terminal point (death) was reached. The period of consciousness
following the administration of alcohol, on the other hand, is quite
long. When deep unconsciousness is reached, the distance to the
terminal point is much shorter. The margin is so narrow that continued
administration of alcohol to a patient after he has "passed out" can
well cause death. Another fact I discovered is, that archaeological and
geological studies
of the sites of several ancient Greek and Egyptian temples of worship,
where many visions and miracles took place, have indicated the probable
escape of underground gases, including nitrous oxide, at and around the
particular spot sometime in the past Nitrous oxide is one of the
present-day anesthetics, odorless and tasteless. Some three months
after this "drug" experience, which by then was
almost forgotten, I developed an interest in the possibilities of data
learning during sleep. I do not know what brought about this interest.
Perhaps it was an outgrowth of an early academic environment coupled
with my immediate observation of the teaching methods applied in the
primary grades to my own children. To explore the potential of this
interest, I made some studies of past
and present concepts of the waking-unconscious mind. There was
supporting evidence that the unconscious recorded all sensory input
data while awake and asleep. The problem was to introduce intelligent
and organized data during sleep and to provide conscious recall when
desired. The limited formal research material available showed
contradictory
conclusions. Simple reading of data to a sleeping subject produced only
fragmentary and erratic results. No comparative studies between
induction during deep (delta) sleep and the dreaming state (now termed
REM sleep) had been made. Nor had any attempt been made to create
deliberately a receptive sleep state with a Pavlovian type of
conditioned reflex induced to bring recall at will. To carry out this
research in a convenient pattern, I made autohypnotic
sound recordings to test various approaches to a workable technique.
This seemed to be the first logical step, as results had been obtained
along similar lines utilizing hypnotic sleep instead of the natural
sleep state. The reason for the use of tape recordings was to
depersonalize the technique and to ensure identical tests among
different subjects. The tapes were designed for use in a booth isolated
from light and sound. The tapes used were deliberately simple in
content. There was a period
for induction to create hypnotic sleep. Following this, a series of
direction-suggestion units were incorporated into a continuing pattern.
These varied according to the test and the results desired. Data
learning, for example, was confined to multiplication tables (from
twelve to twenty-four) and to Spanish and French vocabulary and
idiomatic phrases. These were always accompanied by suggestion of full
and complete memory and by posthypnotic suggestion that recall could be
obtained in the conscious state by a mental-physical cue (such as
thinking of the number 555 and tapping fingers on a table five times
simultaneously). Each induction tape recording also included a
suggestion that the
subject would improve both physically and mentally. This affirmation
was somewhat more than a generality. No details were suggested as to
how this improvement would take place. Yet each functional area of the
bodythe nervous, circulatory, glandular, and digestive systems-were to
be completely "normal," according to the instructions given the subject
Both the health and recall suggestions, then, were reinforced with each
induction or use of the tape. In light of later incidents, this may
have been important Each experimental tape was carefully annotated,
with every spoken word identically following a prepared script and
routine. The tapes closed with a pattern to bring the subject back to
complete and normal wakefulness. Suggestion here was extremely simple
and effective, with no elaborate words that might be misinterpreted by
the subject. The tapes were played to about eleven subjects, ranging in
age from seven to fifty. The results implied a definite potential
value, with some improvement in techniques. It must be stated here that
I applied the tapes experimentally first
and most frequently to myself. This quite naturally brought them into
the greatest area of suspicion in relation to the out-of-the-body
experimentation. All the tapes have been examined word by word, sound
by sound, and at low background level for clues to a possible later
"effect" No clues seem evident, yet the suspicion remains. Such
experimentation terminated with the appearance of the first symptom.
BEGINNING STAGE -
(September 1958-July 1959)
In the expectation of some correlation between effects, events,
characteristics, theories, and conclusions, a sorting process was
instigated. It soon became evident that three stages had taken place
within this period. There may be additional stages beyond the three,
but these remain unknown. Both the "beginning" and the cut off point of
the Beginning Stage are fairly clear.
Effects
235
The first unexplained effect was the cramp or constriction, as
reported earlier. Several weeks later, this was followed by the
sensation of a "ray" from the north, with resultant catalepsy. Cautious
experimentation brought the discernment of the vibration sensation.
This sensory impression was later discovered to be reported
consistently in the experiences of spiritualists, occultists, and
others in the late nineteenth century. It still is referred to casually
in much underground talk. The vibrational sensory effect was the single
consistent symptom
throughout the Beginning Stage, However, it appeared to be
evolutionary. The early vibrations seemed to be rough, sometimes
accompanied by a visual image of a localized ring of electrical
"sparks." The frequency was on the order of ten cycles per second,
according to visual clocktiming. At the conclusion of the Beginning
Stage, the frequency had increased to approximately eighteen c.p.s.,
with much less discomfort to the physical body. This effect was induced
willfully some 59 per cent of the time in the latter portions of the
period. The second effect was the awareness of a high-pitched "hiss"
heard
softly yet constantly in the aural centers. Once established, it
continued uninterrupted throughout the period. An ear specialist
diagnosed this as "hearing of the blood through the veins." Otherwise,
hearing was normal. Separation from the physical body took place
approximately three months
into the period, inadvertently in the first instance. Most subsequent
incidents were induced deliberately. All took place only when the
vibration effect was present. It became easier to create this effect as
the period progressed. No other pronounced or repetitive effects were
observed. Any
physiological results seemed to be restful, rather than enervating ()
or
debilitating. At this stage infrequent subsequent physical effects of
excitement and stimulation were evident, but not to an extreme degree.
These included accelerated pulse rate, perspiration, and sexual
response.
Emotional
patterns
For fully half of
the period, fears of mental
and/or physical disability were dominant. These fears were greatly
assuaged by consultation with and examination by medical and
psychiatric authorities. The main subsequent factor was curiosity,
tempered by strong
undercurrents of anxieties related to undirected and uncharted
exploration of the unknown, possible community and/or familial censure,
and the fear of being unable to return to the physical body. Sequence
of experimentation. From the first out-of-the-body experience, the
experiments ranged from gradual familiarity of "local" separation (ten
feet or less) to objective examination through partial separation and
finally visits into areas of Locale I (present space-time).
Methodology. Means of inducing the vibrational state were explored,
centering chiefly on tape recordings described earlier and methods of
producing complete relaxation with full consciousness, the prerequisite
for the vibrational state. It was determined that achievement of the
vibrational state was relatively simple once the consciousness-relaxed
condition was established. The evidence of oral breathing as a
condition was confirmed. "Tuning"
of the vibrational state by minute movements of the physical jaw proved
to be an effective method. It became apparent that separation occurred
only during the vibrational state. The technique of separation evolved
into a simple uncluttered thought of "up" or "away." Successive tests
indicated that any nonphysical movement in the Second Body was
instigated by desire or thought alone. Problems of controlled movement
to predetermined location and unhampered immediate return to the
physical body remained unsolved. Conclusions. The following conclusions
were reached during this period.
(1) There does exist a Second Body
interspersed or in conjunction with the physical body. (2) The Second
Body can move and act independently of the physical body. (3) These
movements and actions can be made partially under the control of the
conscious mind. (4) Some sensory inputs in the Second Body register as
they do in the physical, others are beyond translation. (5) Some
movements in the Second Body occur in identical space-time to that of
the physical counterpart.
MIDDLE STAGE -
(August 1959 - September 1962)
237
Effects. This period is identified as beginning with a mild coronary.
There was no evidence of a relationship between experimentation and the
illness, though absence of evidence does not necessarily eliminate this
possibility. The vibrational state evolved until it was manifested only
as a sense
of warmth in latter portions of period. This change resulted from a
gradual "speeding up" of frequency until single pulsations were not
perceptible. The auditory "air hiss" phenomenon continued unchanged
throughout the period. Separation from the physical became less
procedural and more natural,
with only occasional re-entry problems. The vibrational state was
deliberately induced during daylight hours, and occurred spontaneously
late at night. Apparent physiological effects remained the same: no
resulting
enervation or debilitation, some stimulation. These were observed most
carefully in view of the coronary occlusion.
Emotional
patterns
Early
in the period, there was some anxiety about possible physiological
effects. The inability to control the experience totally at will
contributed to these fears,
which lessened considerably by the middle
of the period, due principally to the lack of supporting evidence and
growing confidence. Still present were concerns relating to
return-to-physical controls, and the possibility of serious errors
through ignorance in unknown areas. Sequence of experimentation.
Extended visits to Locale I became less
frequent, to be replaced by initially inadvertent trips into Locale II.
In the latter portion of period, entry into Locale III was discovered
and subsequently explored. The intertime state was discovered late in
period.
Methodology
"Countdown"
techniques of relaxation were applied in
daylight tests. Late at night, borderland sleep states were converted
to the now recognizable vibration-warmth condition. Oral breathing
became an automatic function, with some further experiments with "jaw
tuning." Separation from the physical body via the 180°
(out-of-phase
-back-away) method proved to be the most effective and
reliable. Consistent technique of positive return to the physical (K
recall) was tested and put into practice.
Conclusions: (1) Existence of the Second Body was reaffirmed. (2)
Locale II, with specific characteristics different from those of Locale
I, was discovered.
(3) The existence of Locale III was hypothesized,
with related characteristics to Locale I, but in different stages of
scientific development. (4) Human personality survives the transition
of death and continues in Locale II. (5) Communication between human
beings can take place above the oral level, in the waking or sleeping
state and/or the Second State. (6) Some (or most?) human living
physical entities separate from the physical body during sleep. The
reason for this is not known.
LATER STAGE -
(October 1962-October 1970)
239
Experimentation was limited during this period, due principally to lack
of opportunity. Preoccupation with material affairs took precedence,
with evaluation of previous work as a secondary effort.
Effects: The sense of vibration disappeared completely during the
period, evolving into warmth, then to an indefinable "being."
Separation from the physical was possible only in this "being" state,
with minimal effort. The only physical effect noted was a slight
feeling of disorientation, headiness, and minor discomfort for some
nine hours after a particular experiment. No special experiment had
been performed, and the causes for this are unknown, In the middle of
the period, I suffered a thrombus hemor-rhoid believed attributable to
an experience during an experiment some four days prior to the
appearance of the symptom. There was no previous medical history of
this physical problem. Sleep requirements lessened during the period.
However, when sleep
appeared necessary, it became imperative to comply with the need.
Noncompliance brought physical and mental debilitation. As little as
five minutes of sleep brought major regeneration. The only other
significant effect recorded was the occurrence at two
separate times of a complete awareness of "near bi-location." This was
full consciousness at a level where full sensory awareness of physical
surroundings was active, yet the self was "one notch away." On both
occasions, it required a deliberate decision to integrate completely
into the physical environment. The effect of remaining in the "one
notch away" environment is unknown. The "air hiss" sound continued.
Emotional patterns
The fears found in
previous stages were completely
dissipated in this period. The most important reason for this was
complete confidence in the methods of bringing about an immediate
return to the physical when desired. Furthermore, the evaluation of
previous data brought acceptance of the condition in terms of an
evolution rather than deterioration. At the same time, minor concerns
for continued existence in the
physical body began to manifest themselves. Disregard for physical
dangers lessened considerably as a result The reason for this is not
known. Sequence of experimentation. No preplanned sequence was
instituted during the period, due to the exigencies of other matters.
Thus experimentation was sporadic and took place only when it was
opportune. Several strong evidential visits were made to both: Locale I
and Locale II. Most visits were to Locale II, with unspecified results
as related to the physical world (Locale I). Experimentation on
strictly scientific grounds began late in the period under controlled
laboratory conditions.
Methodology
Little attention was given to this
area, as two principal problems remained unsolved. The first problem
was the development of deep relaxation techniques, which were obtained
with increasing difficulty. The second was the chronic problem of
controlling the destination point. Various techniques were applied, all
with indeterminate results. The heart of the difficulty lies in the
conflicting desires between conscious mind and superconscious when both
are operating at full capacity.
In the Second State, the superconscious
is the stronger deciding element.
Conclusions
(1) While in the
Second Body, it is possible to create a
physical effect on a physically living human entity while the latter is
awake. (2) There are unfolding areas of knowledge and concepts
completely beyond the comprehension of the conscious mind of this
experimenter.
19 -
STATISTICAL CLASSIFICATION
241
The first step in making some kind of sense out of this mass of raw
data was to set up standards for measurement and analysis. After
several attempts, it became apparent that only a few of the typical
yardsticks could be applied. Therefore, assumptions or premises were
made to permit identification in the sorting process, and the
conclusions brought forth are only as valid as the premises on which
they are based. The
following are the primary assumptions.
1.
VERIDICAL QUALITIES OF THE EXPERIMENTER
Implied here is not
the experimenter's status in our society, but
rather the assessment of basic characteristics of the individual
involved. However sincere the experimenter may be, credibility must lie
within the fundamental personality. In my experiments, I am willing to
undergo any additional psychiatric, psychological, and physical
examinations in the interests of the development of additional related
data. This alone may be sufficient to establish a satisfactory degree
of intellectual acceptance.
2.
SIMILARITIES ARE ANALOGOUS
Simply stated, this
means that the observed condition or action taken
has reality by the same standards as those applied to its Here-Now
physical counterpart. Regardless of any apparent incompatibility with
the present knowledge and concepts of mankind, the reality of the
experience is acceptable if it equals, approximates, or is sufficiently
similar to the conditions of perception and interpretation normal to
the waking physical state.
3.
PERCEPTION AND INTERPRETATION
242
The accuracy of these is assumed to be correct within the limitations
of the same error-producing factors as are found in the normal waking
physical state. These factors are contingent upon environmental
training and experience, intellectual quotient, and emotional make-up.
It must be assumed that sensory inputs in the Second State, although
obviously of a different nature, are subject to the same reasoning and
rational interpretive process. The objective analysis of structure and
shape identification, of qualification, classification, and operation
occur in equal relationship to the experience and training of the
individual, just as in the normal physical waking state. Further, in
perceiving data beyond such experience and training, the mind in the
Second State acts under a strong command to identify.
In acting on this
unequivocal command, it will identify within the limits of experience
rather than accept the existence or fact of an unknown. In other words,
you must assume that the experimenter is reporting
truthfully. You must assume that what takes place while in the Second
Body is real, if it meets the conditions of reality held in the
physical, waking world. You must assume that the mind works similarly
in the Second Body, using different means of seeing, hearing, and
feeling, as well as a few new senses. You must assume that the mind
refuses to accept an unknown element in the Second State, even to the
point of incorrect identification. You must assume that the same
qualities of human error in perception and interpretation are present.
STATISTICAL
CLASSIFICATION
243
Given these premises, the sorting and classification of some 589
experiments over a period of twelve years becomes somewhat easier. Here
are some further conclusions. In dreams, the reasoning, intellectual
process is absent Consciousness as the term is understood is not
operative. Either participation in events is at the purely reactive or
uncontrollable level, or there is complete non-participation as an
immobile observer unable to take deliberate action. Perception is
limited to one "sense," or at the most, two. No immediate analytical
ability is present or utilized. Associative misidentification occurs
with all perception, and is retained as such in conscious memory. The
Second State is the antithesis of dreaming, just as is the waking
state. Recognition of "I am" consciousness is present. The mind
attempts to handle perception in precisely the same manner as it does
during full physical consciousness. Decisions are made and actions are
taken based upon perception and reasoning. Verification of perception
can be achieved by deliberate and systematic repeated action.
Participation is as fundamental as it is in the waking physical state.
Sensory input is not limited to one or two sources. Emotional patterns
are present to a greater extent than in the physical consciousness, but
can be directed and controlled to the same degree. If any experimental
experience did not contain a majority of the
conditions listed in the Second State category, it was considered a
dream. The remaining experiences were again classified. Environment was
analyzed next in the search for causes. If there was something that
created the condition,
it was very obscure, as illustrated in the
chart. Physical Conditions (in successful experiments)Per Cent of Total
(condition present) Day Night Warm Cold Humidity
(no discernible
effect) Barometric Pressure (no discernible effect) Prone Upright
North-south (head to north) East-west (head to east) Position unknown
Moon and planetary positions (no discernible relationship) 42.2 57.8
96.2 3.8 --- 100.00 --- 62.4 19.2 18.4 Successful results were obtained
principally under conditions of warmth, lying prone, in a north-south
position. There is no noticeable effect from sunlight, humidity,
pressure changes, physical body location, or the moon's gravitational
forces. More sophisticated environmental studies are possible, but none
have been made to date. Evaluation of the physiological state was
somewhat easier, as most notes contained references to it.
Physiological
State (in successful experiments)
Per Cent of Total
(condition present) Normal health Minor debilitation Illness or injury
Tired Rested Intermediate Before eating After eating Intermediate
Possible catalytic factor {drugs, other agents) 78.4 21.2 0.4 46.5 18.8
34.7 17.5 35.5 47.0 12.4 This indicates that physical illness, so often
present in spontaneous disassociation into the Second State, is not a
significant point The most frequent state is a slightly tired
condition, not immediately after eating, in which medicinal or chemical
stimulants and depressants do not play a vital part.
Psychological
State (at start of successful experiments)
Per Cent of
Total (condition present) Calm Moody Preoccupied Anticipating Restless
Emotionally stimulated Intellectually
stimulated Agitated Frightened
Unknown 3.2 8.9 64.0 11.9 37 9.0 6.5 7 2.7 30.0 In classification of
the psychological state, if the single human "laboratory" is to be a
starting point, a basic calmness seems to be a prerequisite, with some
overtones of emotion and introspection. It must be pointed out that
under the "frightened" category are various degrees of trepidation,
most of which are noted in the early stages of experimentation, the
balance prior to experiments which produced a violent or disturbing
experience. The feeling of anticipation, in varying degrees, often
occurred simultaneously with "Calm." The following is the analysis of
control elements.
Origination
of Condition (in successful experiments)
Per Cent of Total
Attempts Willfully induced Spontaneous Indeterminate Deliberate
Induction Experiments Successful result Sleep-producing Ineffective
Methods Used Induction sound tape Countdown relaxation Recall technique
Composite Symptoms Evident (in successful experiments) Air hiss sound
Physical catalepsy Vibration effect Feeling of warmth Miscellaneous
40.2 14.9 44.9 Per Cent of Total 58.7 13.6 27.7 17.1 24.0 3.7 13.9 Per
Cent of Total 45.2 11.4 30.2 66.9 33.8 In the "Spontaneous"
classification, it must be noted that the experiments became "willful"
upon activation of the Second State condition, i.e., the condition
began to manifest itself during a state of normal relaxation and I took
advantage of the opportunity. "Indeterminate" were cases where only the
tendency was evident and development of the condition was exercised
with deliberate intent. "Successful result" includes those cases where
two or more of the symptoms were generated, with the result that part
or all of the Second Body was brought into evidence. "Sleep-producing"
includes those during which I simply fell asleep. "Ineffective" refers
to the instances in which no discernible result was obtained and none
of the symptoms were induced. Under "Methods Used," the effectiveness
of the various techniques
attempted is illustrated. The techniques are described elsewhere and
represent an evolution based upon simple trial-and-error testing
procedures. The Induction sound tape, for example, proved quite
effective but had inherent limitations and imposed restrictions upon
selfdetermination. It was for this reason that the countdown technique
was most frequently utilized. "Symptoms" must be examined from the
evolutionary view. Physical
catalepsy was observed only in the early stages. This is also true with
the vibration effect, which noticeably evolved into the feeling of
warmth and only occasionally was perceived during the middle and later
stages. The air hiss sound appeared early in the experimentation and
continued intermittently. In each successful experiment, observational
data sources were
separated into the following categories: Means of Perception Per Cent
of Total (condition present) Seeing Hearing Touch Taste Smell Movement
Other 67.2 82.7 69.8 .7 .3 94.2 73.0
It must be pointed out that the sensory input relationships listed
above translated into an approximation of each of the categories. This
does not imply that identical non-physical nerve system equivalents
were used in perception. At the present stage, there is no evidence to
prove or disprove a similar structure in the Second State. Nor is there
any apparent explanation of the low position of the taste and smell
senses on the scale, other than that both depend upon physical contact
with matter itself or particles of matter. However, the sense of touch
would seem to have the same limitation, yet appears as a prime input
source. The answer may be that the latter is operating on some form of
radiationperception level, or in the case of the individual is more
developed than the taste and smell patterns. Movement is considered a
classification because it connotes action
rather than passivity, and seems to be truly a sensory source above and
beyond the traditional five senses, much as the balancing mechanisms in
the physical body transmit signals to the brain independent of
supporting or conflicting impulses from other senses. In the physical
body, this mechanism may be based upon application of gravitational and
inertial forces, and this may hold true in the Second State as well.
Under the "Other" classification are types that have no physical
counterpart The means of perception in the Second State are beyond the
scope of present knowledge or theory. The most sound conjecture is that
all perception in the Second State is achieved by means of some force
in the electro-magnetic spectrum-by direct magnetic fields either
received or induced, or through some force or field yet to be
identified -rather than by counterparts of the physical mechanisms.
Only by empirical study in wide multiple source testing could this be
determined.
ANALYSIS AND
CLASSIFICATION
One of the key points in the Second State phenomenon is how
actively and accurately the mind sorts out perceived data and acts
rationally upon such information. The evidence of identification was
scaled in the following manner:
Per Cent of Total Perceptions
Familiar Similar Unknown
Configuration (Shape or form) Structure Components Animate Intelligent
Subhuman Artifact Unknown Inanimate Abstract Artifact Event/Action
Observed Participation Analogous 20.6 24.8 17.4 65.4 7.1 27.6 --- 21.1
62.1 37.9 25.7 39.0 --- 44.4 43.9 32.2 75.7 1.3 23.0 --- 46.2 62.2 37.8
18.9 19.2 80.4 35.0 31.3 50.4 30.7 8.7 17.4 43.2 32.7 81.8 18.2 55.4
41.8 19.6
It can be inferred from this survey that the majority of activities in
the Second Body had to do with humanoid-type intelligences operating in
familiar or similar backgrounds and using identifiable objects.
However, the trend is reversed when examination is made of the event
itself or the action involved. Here it is illustrated that much is
beyond my experience and knowledge.
RELEVANCY TO
SECOND STATE
In terms of perceived data, the greatest weakness was found in the
attempt to apply known physical, scientific, historical, and social
structures to the experiences while in the Second Body. The tables will
demonstrate the problem:
Per Cent of Total Successful Experiments - Different or Not.
Physical Science Precepts Identical Applicable - Unknown
Time Matter structure Conservation of energy Field forces (interaction)
Wave mechanics Gravity Action-reaction Radiation Current Social
Concepts Community organization Family unit Male-female relationship
Learning process Maturity/aging Genetic association Symbiotic
relationship Cultural drives Basic motivations Historical/Religious
Technical development Political history Theological premises 45.2 38.4
52.6 12.9 7.4 37.9 72.8 2.7 22.4 33.4 12.2 .8 .8 3.1 8.1 2.7 28.0 27.0
27.0 4.9 49.1 41.8 18.2 3.7 2.0 17.1 2.2 26.7 50.3 41.4 50.7 61.8 3.7
5.8 52.8 47.0 26.0 61.3 44.5 64.2 5.7 19.8 29.2 83.4 90.6 45.0 25.0
70.6 27.3 25.2 39.1 37.4 95.5 91.1 39.1 50.3 46.0 11.7 28.5 30.9
The above sorting process must be considered in the light of developing
technique and experience in the Second State. The category of 'Time"
refers to the sense of the passage of time while in the Second Body,
and is unrelated to physical time measurement. Lapsed time in the
physical state is not presented as it is not germane to the actuality
of the Second State. Under the "Identical" column are listed the events
in which there was awareness of the passage of time. Under
"Different/Not Applicable" are listed those events in which lapsed time
appeared different, either accelerated, retarded, or non-existent.
"Unknown" shows where data was not available from the notes. The
remaining scientific concepts refer only to conditions, actions,
and environments while in the Second Body, and do not relate to "local"
experiments and visits to strictly Here-Now people and places. The
latter followed all "natural" laws, although this did not necessarily
affect the Second Body experiments. The analysis of social concepts
demonstrates the perplexing problem of
adjusting to the Second State environment. With such vast differences
in prospect, thought, action, and emotion become
extremely difficult to
comprehend. The incongruities faced are described elsewhere. In the
analysis of historical/
religious concepts, the events listed under
"Identical" in all three subcategories are principally the result of
excursions into the Here-Now. Under the second column, virtually all
experiences appear to be in areas other than present time-space. The
third column represents uninterpretive or unreported data. Through the
developing patterns of the experiments, changes in perception took
place steadily, as indicated in the previous chapter. Early perception
resulted chiefly from the experiments represented by the data in the
first column, while the second- and third-column figures represent
probing in the middle and later stages. It is evident that only by
applying new concepts can these later results be relegated to the
"known" areas. Classification by similarities and analogies brought
about the
emergence of another pattern of locales. Per Cent of Experiments When
Characteristic Was Present Locale I Locale II Locale III
Distribution in Successful Experiments Time Matter structure
Conservation of energy Gravity Action/reaction Radiation Community
organization Male-female relationship Learning process Maturity/aging
Genetic association Symbiotic relationships Cultural drives Basic
motivations Technical development Political history Theological
premises 31.6 85.8 75.4 58.3 54.0 60.2 73.5 31.1 24.2 1.9 1.4 5.2 12.8
5.2 43.1 68.2 68.3 13.7 59.5 --- 52.5 33.9 23.3 20.7 91.9 --- 39.4 ---
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 8.9 88.7 75.8 91.9 87.11 67.3 42.1 29.0
33.9 .2 .3 11.3 33.9 .8 71.0 24.2 --- --- A further condition, which
did not involve movement, was left unclassified, as it fell into none
of the above locales. This is described in Chapter 12. Locale I
conforms strictly to the physical material world in all respects.
Locale II is many-faceted, but evidences only a few of the patterns
common to Locale I. It is an area of energy fields both familiar and
strange, where there is no gravity, but, significantly, several of the
more vital laws of physics do apply. Socially, historically, and
philosophically, there is very little parallel to Locale I.
Locale III poses inscrutable questions. It has almost identical
characteristics to Locale I, except for several definite departures
which are inexplicable. These show up under "Technical development,"
"Political history," and "Theological premises." Only extended
exploration of the Second Body phenomenon by an expanded
research group can bring about truly comparative studies of these
areas. All that is needed is motivation.
20.
INCONCLUSIVE
p.253-262
After all these years, I still do not know how and why this
departure from the "norm" took place. On the surface, there is no
easily determined cause. Medical and mental sciences offer no certain
answers, which has made me alternately resentful, sad, and thankful:
resentful in that my faith in the scope and breadth of modern
scientific achievement has been badly shaken; sad because full-scale
development of directly related knowledge is not likely to come in my
physical lifetime; and thankful for the few scientists of our time who
are brave enough to consider objectively concepts which may negate
years of study as well as long-ingrained religious and ethical beliefs.
Therefore, if no current scientific theory fits without an inordinate
amount of pushing, pulling, twisting, and squeezing, it seems
reasonable to propound a premise that does seem to work. After all, one
can prove that man is nothing more than a few gallons of tainted water.
Only extreme pressure is needed to fit the phenomenon to the theory.
The following premise, unacceptable as it may be to our present state
of enlightenment, deserves consideration. No other offers more
explanations and leaves less unanswered. This is not to say that it is
necessarily valid; only future events can determine its validity.
Conversely, there is no known theory to prove it false. The basis of
the premise is certainly not original here, but its application is.
Question: What happens to the laboratory animal once the experiment is
completed?
In a universe populated with sentient beings of great variety, the
planetary environment germinating life follows a typical pattern. The
prime requirement is a diffusing and restraining shield that envelops
the entire planet. When this shield has formed through the normal
evolution of planet matter, the fundamental requirement for animate
life is present. The shield is composed of gases and liquids of
sufficient density to
(1) deflect, filter, and/or convert radiation from the parent and
nearby stars to a point of tolerance needed for animate life; and (2)
maintain internally generated planetary heat at an average level within
the limits required for the biochemical process. Once developed, the
shield permits only filtered light and reduced
radiation to reach the surface of the planet. Visibility is limited
strictly to nearby objects on the surface, and vertically to less than
one tenth the diameter of the planetary body. No distant stars, moons,
or other planets can be seen. At most, the indistinct glow of the
parent sun may be seen occasionally, moving from horizon to horizon as
the planet rotates. In this environment, animate physical life
generates and evolves in a
broadening cycle. Where no such shield has developed and remained for a
significant period, no animate physical life is present. Where the
shield has decayed or drained off into space, life has deteriorated and
died unless intellectual knowledge is sufficient to develop and install
an artificial environment. The accepted premise, then, is that all
planetary bodies fall into two
categories, shielded and unshielded. On the translucently shielded
planets, animate physical life may evolve. The unshielded stay barren,
devoid of anything but inorganic matter. Only in very rare instances
are there any deviations from this rule. Evolving sentient life in
these conditions becomes aware of and utilizes first those natural
forces directly perceived. Such forces in the order of perception and
application are: (1) psionic (creative thought energy), (2)
biochemical, (3) nuclear, and (4) gravitational. Electromagnetism is
employed sparingly, and remains more as a
by-product of other force applications, much like the smoke from a
useful fire. The primary needs of these evolving life forms are met
through development of the psi force. The first of these needs,
communication, is an automatic birthright Transmission and reception of
information from individual to individual or from one group to another
knows no time-spatiality. Through experience and education, proficiency
is gained in other applications of psi, such as movement and conversion
of matter, direction and control of lesser species, and communication
and association with those in the realms of non-physical matter. As the
intelligent life forms develop into societies and civilizations,
the understanding and knowledge of the remaining available forces come
quite naturally. Typically, they are the result of the individual's
(and the society's) desire to be relieved of the tedium of constant and
continuous use of the psi force. Thus mechanical means are created to
produce body nourishment, to master and control the planetary
environment, to transport matter, to multiply motion, and even to
modulate and amplify the psi force. Through the non-matter
perceptiveness of psi, the remaining forces are
quickly adapted and harnessed to these needs. It is probable that at
this stage, the society achieves its first rational contact with other
societies beyond the confines of its native planet, and with the
inhabitants of the non-physical worlds. With this final step to
maturity, the social organization is merged
into the infinitely larger whole of intergalactic society. It is no
coincidence that incontrovertible knowledge of the relationship of the
totality to the Creator is the major product of this union. Gone
immediately are misdirected fantasies and conjecture. The standards
under which intelligent life may evolve and expand are woven
inextricably into the rules and laws of energy, and applied with equal
rigor. In the distant past, many of these social organizations had
become
aware of low-order psi-force emanations from the outer rim of an
obscure galaxy. At first, this phenomenon evoked only minor interest.
Both qualitatively and quantitatively, it seemed to be no more than
subintelligent animal transmission. However, an idle technician
happened to process the raw, incoming psi noise through a random
sorter, out of mild curiosity. To his surprise, infrequent flashes of
applied psi appeared on the counter. Intrigued by the oddity, a psi
probe was made of the area. As
suspected, the birth of a new society was unfolding. Excited by the
discovery of such an unusual event, the standard psi communication for
new societies was transmitted. Strangely, no reply was received.
Successive transmissions brought the
same result. Here indeed was a rarity. An ecological team was
dispatched to investigate physically this anomaly. The researchers
discovered the source to be the third planet in a Class
10 star system. As they orbited the planet itself, measurements and
observation indicated that it did not follow the norm for propagation
of intelligent life. The gaseous planetary envelope did not possess the
usual unbroken, high-filtration characteristics. This evidently
permitted unusually large amounts of radiation to reach the surface,
even to the point where the sun was clearly visible from the surface
itself, as well as distant planets and stars when viewed from the
shadowed side. Further, due to high rotational speed and other factors,
a magnetic field of great intensity pervaded the entire planet Tin's,
coupled with the unusual radiation element, appeared to exert profound
influences upon the infant society. At close range, the psi noise
became virtually unbearable. Without
equipment for shielding or sorting, it became impossible for the group
to surface on the planet itself. The psi impression was that of raw,
unchanneled irrationality, uncontrolled and non-objective. Yet visual
observation showed the beginnings of social clusters, matter artifacts,
and conquest of environment. Luckily, one member of the visiting group
had worked extensively in the
art of personal psi shielding. It was he who offered to establish
physical contact on the planet itself. This was done while the others
waited patiently in a shelter on the planet's barren and brittle
satellite. The visit itself proved the inadequacy of his training under
extreme
conditions. The investigator returned a short time later in a state of
mental exhaustion. He had, however, been able to make contact at
several points around the surface. It was true. A new society was in
the making, but under unimaginable restraints. There was no knowledge,
understanding, or use of the psi force whatsoever. When psi
communication was attempted, the inhabitants either fled in panic or
prostrated themselves and emanated strong psi reactions to the effect
that they were in the presence of the Creator. Paradoxically, careful
psi probes found occasional glimmerings of the universal laws in the
minds of these individuals, which conclusively proved that the seed had
truly been sown, that this was intended to develop into a social
structure according to the plan, whatever the environment. With this
knowledge, the research team returned to their own society to
ponder the problem. In later periods, other, better-equipped
investigators visited and observed this struggling intelligent life
from time to time. All visits were performed within the rules which
applied to the infant society, so that no direct support was given that
would instigate dominance of one culture over another. Infrequently,
intelligent applications of psi were found at the individual level, and
this was encouraged. Still, in spite of all precautions, it was
ascertained that actual visits only reinforced the myths and legends
that had sprung up as a result of previous contacts. It was the
exception that objective response was obtained from an individual via
psi probe. None of these responses extended to common practice. In
recent periods, the situation has altered significantly. Routine psi
monitoring plus referential advice from non-matter intelligences show
that the society in question has surprisingly entered the nuclear stage
while still in the biochemical. Applications of nuclear force
inevitably lead to gravities, which presumes historically the early
prospect of interstellar travel. Without complete understanding of psi
force fields, contact with other social organizations by the new
non-psi society could be disastrous. If interstellar physical travel is
achieved, such contacts are a certainty. With this prospect in view,
research groups have increased their
efforts at contact without a serious effect upon the dynamics of the
new society. It is difficult in that the same obstacles are present.
The continuing interpretation of divinity-orientation persists. Some
who are contacted by psi probes still lose their ability to reason, and
are isolated as sufferers of some disease. Any lasting psi
communication pattern is usually labeled as unreality or dream (a term
used by the society to identify uncoordinated psi activity during
recharging periods, similar to that found among infants in normal
social cultures). Most frustrating are attempts to communicate with the
intellectual leaders. Without exception, these have been unsuccessful.
Research suggests this to be the result of total concentration in the
study of matter, historical rejection of all psi force phenomena, and
inability to comprehend any communication other than that perceived by
the sensors of light, sound (vibration of the gaseous envelope), and
variations in electromagnetic radiation (mechanically generated and
translated). The only minimal success has been with individuals without
inhibitory "scientific" training. With little to unlearn and no
prestige loss to be suffered, productive exchange of rational thought
has been accomplished in several of these relatively uneducated
inhabitants. Unfortunately, the interpretation given the data received
by such untrained minds is often highly distorted. Further, the guiding
authorities of the young society dismiss the testimony and claims of
such people by reason of their ignorance. The work still continues.
High-level psi force radiation equipment is
being employed in the hope of a breakthrough to the society members
during their waking, active state. Any individuals who possess some
degree of intellect coupled with objective curiosity are being taught,
sometimes painfully, the basics of psi force techniques. Others are
being taken out of their environment temporarily, either as dense
particle matter or as psi entities, to be tested and examined for clues
to the solution of the problem. No direct action will be taken. This is
in keeping with the rules of
preservation as they apply to all lesser social organizations. It is a
fact, many times proved, that such subclassifica-tions are consistently
lost when contact is made with more advanced societies. The details of
this hypothesis may be wrong, the motivations different, but the basis
may be not at all far from reality. We may in fact be no more than
interesting laboratory animals to "them," useful in various experiments
but not much more. If such communication and/or experimentation was and
is now being
attempted, it could account for much that is left unanswered in our
human history. Certainly, it would widely-cut across past and present
theological beliefs, as events ascribed to God and his assistants in
whatever form would assume a more prosaic status. The life sciences,
especially those relating to the mind, personality,
and neurological functions, would have to undergo a major overhauling.
Both mental and physical diseases would perhaps be understood with
exact knowledge, replacing the vague assumptions now prevalent. Most
adaptable would be the physical sciences. Here, experimentation and
extrapolation would be a relatively simple matter, with new information
and theories built upon fairly solid foundations. On a personal level,
the hypothesis described above may offer a
reasonable answer to much of my own experience. A point-by-point
reexamination would be necessary to bring into focus the proper
relationship in each circumstance. Like the philosopher, psychiatrist,
and others who have spent many years of experimentation, training, and
development along a particular concept vector, I am loath to change
course still again. Yet the following experiences cannot be totally
ignored. They occurred
in the early period of experimentation, and are taken almost verbatim
from the notes.
9/9/60 Night
I was lying in a north-south position, when I suddenly felt bathed in
and transfixed by a very powerful beam that seemed to come from the
north, about 30° above the horizon. I was completely powerless,
with no will of my own, and I felt as if I were in the presence of a
very strong force-in personal contact with it. It had intelligence of a
form beyond my comprehension, and it came
directly (down the beam?) into my head, and seemed to be searching
every memory in my mind. 1 was truly frightened because I was powerless
to do anything about this intrusion, This intelligence force entered my
head just above the forehead, and offered no calming thoughts or words.
It didn't seem to be aware of any of my feelings or emotions. It was
looking impersonally, hurriedly, and definitely for something specific
in my mind. After a while (perhaps only moments) it left, and I
"reintegrated," arose, shaken, and went outside for some fresh air.
9/16/60 Night
The same impersonal probing, the same power, from the same angle.
However, this time I received the firm impression that I was
inextricably bound by loyalty to this intelligence force, always had
been, and that I had a job to perform here on earth. The job was not
necessarily to my liking, but 1 was assigned to it. The impression was
that I was manning a "pumping station," that it was a dirty, ordinary
job but it was mine and I was stuck with it, and nothing, absolutely
nothing could alter the situation. I got the impression of huge pipes,
so ancient they were covered with
undergrowth and rust. Something like oil was passing through them, but
it was much higher in energy than oil, and vitally needed and valuable
elsewhere (assumption: not on this material planet) . This has been
going on for aeons of time, and there were other force groups here,
taking out the same material on some highly competitive basis, and the
material was convertible at some distant point or civilization for
something very valuable to entities far above my ability to understand.
Again, the intelligence force moved out and away quickly, and the
visitation ended. I got up after a bit, feeling depressed, and went
into the bathroom in our house, and actually felt I should wash my
hands after working (although my hands were clean).
9/30/60 Night
The same pattern as 9/16. Again, there was the feeling of being the
pumping station attendant, the approach of the entity down the beam
(?), the search of my mind, this time even to see what specifically
controlled my breathing apparatus. I seemed to understand that the
entity was looking for some substance that might permit breathing in
earth atmosphere, and a picture was shown (in my mind) of a pouch,
possibly two by three inches, and one inch thick, hung on a belt at the
waist, with the statement "This is how we are breathing now." This gave
me courage to try truly to communicate. I mentally (orally also?) asked
who they were, and received an answer
that 1 could not translate or understand. Then I felt them beginning to
leave, and I asked for some actual indication that they had been there,
but was rewarded only with paternal amusement. Then they seemed to soar
up into the sky, while I called after them,
pleading. Then I was sure that their mentality and intelligence were
far beyond my understanding. It is an impersonal, cold intelligence,
with none of the emotions of love or
compassion, which we respect so
much, yet this may be the omnipotence we call God. Visits such as these
in mankind's past could well have been the basis for all of our
religious beliefs, and our knowledge today could provide no better
answers than we could a thousand years past. By this time, it was
getting light, and 1 sat down and cried,, great
deep sobs as I have never cried before, because then I knew without any
qualification or future hope of change that the God of my childhood, of
the churches, of religion throughout the world was not as we worshiped
him to be-that for the rest of my life, I would "suffer" the loss of
this illusion.
Are we, then, just leftover laboratory animals? Or perhaps the
experiment is still "in process."
21.
PREMISES: A RATIONALE?
263
For those who are knowledgeable in the humanities, the material
contained herein may seem to be the continuation of a line of thought
that has persisted for thousands of years. And so it is. Why, then,
does it become important now? The first response is that this material
has not come from readings and
studies of the past. Rather, it has been and is taking place in the
midtwentieth century. Comparison came after the fact. If validity does
exist here, it is possible that modern technology, through serious,
organized investigation and research into the Second Body postulate,
could provide mankind with a quantum jump as great or greater than the
Copernican revolution. It could be the crack that becomes a door, that
becomes a gateway that opens into a new era in man's history.
PREMISE: THE
SCOPE OF EXISTING MAN
Partially because of our intensely materialistic society, we have
become accustomed and conditioned to the concept that the human entity
ultimately lies within the bounds of the physical body. Therefore: the
periphery of the living human entity-the rim of that area which it
affects and is affected by it-extends beyond the physical body and the
conscious mind. The composition of this area is neither material nor
motor, but of thought and emotion.
The transmission and reception of
affecting data is continuous, operating at both the conscious and
nonconscious levels during every living moment, awake or asleep. Data
received by the human entity in this manner can be beneficial or
destructive, according to the interpretation put upon it by the
nonconscious mind. Reactions to this constant data input may be found
in the varying mental and physical states of the individual. For
example, the periphery extends as far as a distant friend. The
friend thinks of you, objectively or emotionally. Unaccountably, at the
very same moment, he comes to your mind without a related memory
association to suggest or trigger the response. This takes place so
casually and so frequently that we are unaware of its significance.
Compound this with the almost infinite complexities and variations in
the present and past human relationships of an individual. Only then
can one begin to perceive the volume and diversity of data received.
The Christian ethic seems to be an attempt to explain this fact in a
non-objective parable. The thoughts of you impressed upon you by
neighbor, friend, and enemy significantly affect your mental self, and
through this channel are reflected in the physical body. It becomes
clear, too, that the individual with wide, continuing experience in
human relationships will receive a greater affecting input directly in
proportion to such experience. For the leaders of the world, who are
exposed to input from millions, charged with emotions either benign or
malignant, the burden is incalculable. Consider too that what you
engender in others thus "feeds back" to you. Try to visualize an
invisible nerve network extending from you to every
person you have met. Signals (thoughts) constantly travel along this
network to and from you. From those who think of you frequently,
consciously or otherwise, there extends a strong, well-circuited
channel of communication. At the other end of the frequency are those
who may think of you perhaps once each year. Examine the totality of
individuals that you have met and known, as well as many you may have
affected unknowingly, and you may begin to appreciate the probable
sources of the many non-objective signals, influencing you at any given
moment. The quality of the signals evidently varies greatly, based
principally upon the degree of emotion
present during transmission. The
more intense the emotion, the greater the signal intensity. The
question of "good" or "bad" does not alter the quality of transmission.
The converse works in
precisely the same fashion. You transmit to those,
of whom you think, and they are affected by what you think.
"Think"
here refers to those mental actions almost wholly at a non-conscious
level, chiefly emotional and subjective in nature. When this kind of
transmission and reception takes place consciously and willfully, it is
labeled telepathy. Much is still unknown. Do reception and transmission
increase tenfold
during sleep? Does the effect cease, when a human entity "dies"? Does
it
extend to animals? For every answer, a hundred questions are left
unanswered. Yet this is the first step in an expanded concept of the
physical life experience.
PREMISE: THE
REALITY OF SECOND STATE EXISTENCE
Many if not all living human beings have a Second Body. For
reasons yet unknown, many if not all human beings temporarily separate
from their physical bodies via this Second Body during sleep. This is
done without conscious memory, except in rare instances. Far more rare
are those instances when separation is obtained with conscious intent.
However, the latter case poses some startling statistics and
probabilities. It is inconceivable that one experimental "ability" is
unique. If one person can perform this disassociative action, there
must be others now living, who can do the same, probably more
efficiently. But how many others are there? Can one person in a
thousand do it? In ten thousand? In a hundred thousand? In a million?
Let us assume, that only one person in a million can perform in the
Second Body consistently and consciously. This means that as of this
moment, there are more than thirty-five hundred humans now living, who
can operate in the Second Body, probably better than I can. Such a
group, if organized, could control the destiny of Humankind. Which
leads to the question: Are any of them organized now, and do they now
control our destiny? Before dismissing this as an absurdity, consider,
that I was able to affect another living human being physically, in the
"pinching" episode. If one can do this, so can others. Nothing more
than a pinch at the right time in the right place in the physical body
of another human being could change the world. It takes little
imagination to visualize a pinched cerebral artery in the brain as the
cause of a stroke in a world leader. Or a lifesaving pinch in a
hemorrhaging brain artery of another. All that is needed is the ability
and the intent. If there are restraints or deterrents to such possible
action, they are not apparent. Further, a person operating in the
Second Body can affect other human
beings mentally. How much and in what manner is still uncertain.
However, the experiments show, that
it can be done. Such effects may
show in nothing more than sleep disturbances. They could result in
unaccounted-for compulsions, fears, neuroses, or irrational actions.
From the data, it would seem that no more is needed than perfected
techniques to systematically accomplish this at will. Perhaps this,
too, has already been done. Willful use of the Second Body, then,
potentially yields power so great
that other means are helpless against it. People wielding this power
might well be able to suppress or divert any serious expanded study
into this area of knowledge. If history is any indication, something
has already retarded growth in this direction. First,
it was a wall of
ignorance. Next came a veil of superstition. Today, a double barrier
exists: the
suspicion of organized religion and the derision of recognized science.
On the other hand, use of such power may be under the control and
direction of animate, intelligent, or impersonal regulators, and may
preclude non-constructive interference, There are some indications that
this may be the case. We can only hope that it is. Let us assume, then,
that sophisticated man will undertake serious
research of the Second Body. One by one, others will learn the
technique, and the reality will become generally accepted. What then?
First, man will be freed of all uncertainty of his relationship with
God. His position relative to nature and the universe will be
unequivocal knowledge. He will know, rather than believe, whether death
is a passing or a finality. With such knowledge and expanded
experience, religious conflict will be impossible. Quite probably,
Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, et al. will still
retain much of their individuality, knowing that each has its place in
Locale II. However, each will at last understand how this is possible,
and that there are infinite variations in the spectrum. Each will
rationalize by saying, "That's what we've been trying to tell you all
along." Prayer techniques may be rediscovered. Knowledge, rather than
belief, could alter the altar procedure vitally. Man would then proceed
systematically with his preparation for life in Locale II on a sound
basis, liberated from the misinterpretation of distorted visions
subjectively experienced and/or observed by uninformed and relatively
uneducated fanatics many centuries ago. In so doing, he may have to
face facts both unpalatable and uncomfortable. Traditional concepts of
good and bad, right and wrong will undoubtedly be subject to radical
redefinition. The truth may indeed hurt for a generation or so. The
practice of medicine would be seriously affected. Recognition of a
possible relationship between physical health and the Second Body would
greatly influence the purely mechanical method of diagnosis and
treatment. The exact relationship of the Second Body to the physical is
not now known, but there is much to suspect. The growing results of the
practice of psychosomatic medicine provide an additional clue. It is
challenging to think of scientific precision in these fields.
Psychology and psychiatry would soon be unrecognizable under the impact
of Second State data. This area of human knowledge would be even more
greatly affected, than religion. Definitions of neurosis, psychosis,
unconscious, superego, idiot may have to be revised or discarded.
Early
indications are that actual causes of mental illness may be uncovered
rather than conclusively diagnosed on the basis of insufficient theory.
It may well be that many of those labeled schizophrenic suffer from
some sort of disease of the Second Body. From the viewpoint of the
Second State, a physically conscious and
awake human being, who simultaneously receives impressions of Locale II
through some imperfection or cause yet unknown, might well be unable to
absorb this input of double reality. The "voices", so many "psychotics"
reportedly hear, may indeed be very real. Catatonia may be the simple
effect of a disassociation of the Second Body on some unusual basis, as
one would leave a house with all of the automatic equipment running and
forget to return. The hallucinations of persecution by the paranoiac
might be very real interferences from boundary layer subhuman species
in Locale II, the result of some inadvertent breakdown in the barrier
in a particular case. The workings of the mind itself, the automatic
system operation, the
actual brain function, the relationship of the superconscious, soul, or
spirit, all may become common knowledge under the new concept. Advanced
states of consciousness such as have been proclaimed by mystics,
philosophers, and the trippers might become a daily achievement for
those who so desire or can handle them. All of these possibilities are
mild by comparison to the upheaval that
would take place in the daily lives of every human being if the Second
Body concept became accepted fact. First, the sleeping third of our
twenty-four-hour living schedule would
no longer be unfathomable. Perhaps we would still term it sleep, but at
least we would know what we are doing. On the limited evidence, sleep
is first of all a recharging process. This may be performed by a
disassociation of the Second Body quite automatically in varying
degrees of distances. In one case it may separate only a fraction of an
inch. In others, such distances may be limitless by our physical
standards of measurement. How such separation can act as a regenerant
is not yet known. Nor is it known why some take distant "trips" or
visits while others remain close to the physical. There seem to be two
explanations of what we now call dreams. First,
the common dream may be some computer-type action of the unconscious in
sorting out recently perceived data. Second, there are vividly recalled
experiences now called dreams which may actually be impressions
received by the Second Body while traveling in the released state.
There may be many other varieties or subclassifications yet to be
learned. Only research in this direction will determine this. In any
event, our luxurious or frightening period called sleep will be
understood for what it truly is. The result may be an adjustment of our
sleep needs. Perhaps only two hours out of twenty-four will be needed
with this new understanding. New studies may even show that five
minutes of deliberate sleep every hour is a far more efficient method
of recharging. The eight-hour night cycle could be nothing more than
the habitual result of environment. Second State studies should resolve
such questions.
PREMISE: THE
EXISTENCE OF A THIRD FORCE
This is the energy-means by which the Second Body operates and is quite
probably fundamental in the thought process. It is not known whether
this force is generated by living entities or is an ever present field
force, modulated in some manner by such beings. It does, however, have
some notable characteristics. It bears a distinct relationship to
electricity and magnetism. It might be conceived of as a third of a
triad, which is cyclic. Electricity is to magnetism as magnetism is to
Force X as Force X is to electricity. Hence the label "third force"
which I did not originate. The Trinity of our theologies may have begun
when this was common knowledge in ages past and subsequently distorted
in the retelling. Given this interaction with electricity and
magnetism, it seems
probable that the existence of one part of the triad creates secondary
or tertiary patterns among the other two. So it may be that when we
think, we are utilizing this third force, which then is only slightly
represented in purely electrical or magnetic form. It is presumed that
this third force action can be detected and measured by instruments
already developed. To date, this has not been attempted in a serious,
consistent study. On the other hand, there is no evidence, that strong
applications of
electricity or magnetism, or any combinations of electromagnetic
radiation, generate significant amounts of the third force. They do,
however, appear to act upon the latter in much the same manner as light
is affected. Experiments with the only known transducer-the human
mind-show
consciousness constantly trying to symbolize this third force in terms
of electricity and vibration. It "sees" and "feels" electric
conductors, flashes, and often actual physical shock in attempting to
translate this energy field into known experience. In one test, as
noted, a disassociation and movement in the Second Body was attempted
from within a charged Faraday cage, where the physical body was
completely surrounded by a strong D,C. electrical field. It was found
that movement through the charged walls of the cage while in the Second
Body was impossible. With the charge removed, there was no problem. In
the early stages of experimentation, attempts to move any distance in
the Second Body were restricted by what seemed to be an interlacing
barrier of power cables and lines overhead, much like those found in so
many streets in older cities and towns. One of the factors in extension
of distance from the physical body lay in recognizing the nature of
this barrier and its relationship to electromagnetic radiation. The
mind, perceiving such forces for the first time, interpreted them as
"wires." Once identified, passage through the barrier became relatively
simple. The correlation is also indicated by the reported experience of
the Second Body positioned over the street-later confirmed by physical
inspection-and moving along the magnetic field of higher-voltage
primary power lines overhead. Whenever encountered during the Second
State, third-force manifestation has been perceived and interpreted
first as electricity. To date, there is no proven method of measurement
or detection of this
third force, and there will not be until the possibility of the
existence of this third in the trinity is seriously considered.
PREMISE: THE
EXISTENCE OF LOCALE 2
This reality is a concept of proportions inconceivable to the conscious
human mind. Yet all experiments inescapably point to this conclusion.
It is not difficult to recognize Locale II as the subject of man's
dreams and contemplations throughout history. Nor is it difficult to
understand the varying patterns ascribed to it in the countless
attempts to translate this great unknown in recognizable terms. From
the present evidence, it can truly be both heaven and hell, just as our
present environment can be. The most important factor seems to be that
the greater part of Locale II is really neither of the two. It is not
known from the experiments to date whether everyone who dies
automatically "goes" to Locale II. Also, there is no present evidential
material to indicate that the presence of a human personality in Locale
II is permanent. It may be that, like an eddy or vortex, we gradually
lose energy and eventually dissipate into the Locale II medium once we
leave Locale I (Here-Now). It is conceivable that the result of this
process would grant recognition of immortality in that we survive the
grave, but not forever. Perhaps the stronger the formation of
personality, the longer the "life" in this different state of being.
Thus it could be that survival is both reality and illusion. The scope
of Locale II seems limitless. Under the conditions
encountered thus far, there seem to be no means to measure or calculate
the breadth and depth of this strange familiar place. Movement from
section to section is too instantaneous to allow any estimates or to
observe relative spatial positions of one area to another. As far as
can be ascertained, there is no conjunctive relationship between places
in Locale II and this physical universe. They may or may not coincide,
site to site. Certainly, this non-material realm does not have as its
center the earth upon which we live. Rather, it would seem that one
very small portion envelops our physical world and thus is our "port of
entry." At this stage, I believe it impossible for human consciousness
to comprehend fully the reality of Locale II. It would be like asking a
computer to work on an analogue for which it has not been programmed.
Consciousness as we have developed it to date is not prepared for this
kind of comprehension. That is not to say, however, that such
consciousness cannot or will not be forthcoming. By training in now
obscure or yet-to-be formulated techniques, consciousness might well be
deepened or expanded to recognize and accept this reality. On the other
hand, I am quite sure that the subconscious, unconscious,
superconscious, superego, soul-or whatever our non-material
nonconsciousness is called-is generally quite aware of and familiar
with Locale II. How much this awareness affects our conscious thought
has been contemplated by our most revered philosophers. Many suggest
that it dominates our waking actions. The records of the experiments
seem to bear this out. We are masters of ourselves, but not at the
conscious level. Our actions in Locale II may have forceful bearing on
our daily activities, completely unrecognized by the conscious self.
There are literally hundreds of pages of experimental notes relating to
Locale II visits, most of which are still beyond translation into
Locale I thought patterns. Undoubtedly, most of them also deal with
that portion which attracts this personal self (like attracts like),
which is but a fraction of the whole.
PREMISE: THE
EXISTENCE OF A CONTRADICTION
We share with animals and all living things a common prime command,
going back to the moment of conception. It supersedes any other
instinct The command indelibly etched in our being is: SURVIVE! It was
this dynamic that created the fear barrier, which had to be overcome
before willful separation could take place. For an out-of-thebody
experience was very much like death, which might be called the ultimate
failure to comply with the command. To satisfy the survival drive, we
eat. We often eat compulsively
because it is one way to respond to the prime command when threatened
with something other than starvation, We translate the command into the
accumulation and defense of material possessions. The drive to
reproduce answers the command in another manner. Any danger to the ego
calls forth the automatic mechanisms of defense or denial. The familiar
fighter-flee is the physical reaction to the survival imprint. Survival
as the prime command means avoidance of death by whatever method
available. The contradiction is that the principal idealistic notions
of man, the noble virtues, the great acts, all have as their base the
denial and/or rejection of this prime command. The man who gives to
another his bread, who provides for his family at the cost of early
death, who gives of himself to community and country without direct
benefit, who deliberately endangers and possibly sacrifices his life
for others, has done the Right Tiling. Therefore, doing the Right
Thing, the human act most respected, the
most godlike by our standards, is in direct violation of God's prime
command to all nature. Moreover, to compound the contradiction, it is
impossible to achieve the Second State without subjugation and/or
subordination of the survival drive in its most basic forms. DNA,
somehow you have the wires crossed. From these fundamentals, a
thousand secondary premises come to the surface like bubbles rising
from the primordial mass below the organic rubble on the ocean floor.
Through layer upon layer of sedimentary misconception, they seep upward
into light. Is it better to burn the evidence, to ignore it? Or, with
all of the existing potentials, to try to widen the doorway? With the
latter comes this Probability: in the year 2025, a boy in
Locale I push a button on a device much like a portable radio. I
perceive the Signal and turn my attention to him. "Hi there, son," I
greet him warmly, and my great great grandchild smiles in recognition.
EPILOGUE: PERSONALITY
FILE,
Written by Stuart W. Twemlow, MD
p.275
Robert Monroe presented himself to us at the Topeka Veterans
Administration Hospital Research Department so that we could learn more
about the relationships between his personality and his out-of-the-body
experiences. The primary goal of our investigation was an in-depth
"psychological evaluation." Monroe was highly co-operative and open
during the intensive interviewing and batteries of different
psychological tests which were aimed at examining the depths of his
unconscious mind, his value structures, his fantasy life, and the
humanistic or self-actualizing aspects of his mind. We did conduct a
brief psycho-physiological experiment with him which I will report on
later. In reviewing the immense amount of material we have on his life,
I have attempted to extract threads or themes for summary. Certain
points about his experiences which make them somewhat different from
others reported should be noted: Monroe, a sixty-year-old businessman,
had a relatively solid orthodox "southern" upbringing, although certain
features of his life indicate that he was an unusual person from a very
early age with unevenly developed intellectual and emotional abilities,
and an unusually mature sense of person and independence. He reports
that his First out-of-the-body experience occurred during his adult
years, another point of difference, since in our work we have found
that many people associate to out-of-the-body or similar experiences
during their childhood. First experiences are often associated with
severe physical illness, childbirth, various drugs (including
anesthetics), or extreme states perceived as a psychological or
physical threat to the person. Robert Monroe appeared not to be
suffering from any severe physical illnesses at the time he had his
first out-of-the-body experience. He was, however, at age forty-two, in
the midst of mid-life adjustments and changes. It should also be noted
that as a child he had severe scarlet fever, an illness that is
associated with a high temperature. From his own account he was quite
ill, although his mother, a physician, was able to look after him
outside the hospital.
In addition, later in his life Monroe has had
some evidence of arteriosclerotic narrowing of the blood vessels to his
brain, which could create a state of low oxygenation known to
precipitate these sorts of experiences. The way in which Monroe
utilizes his experiences is what is unusual. If
we were to have such experiences most of us would be extremely
frightened, and attempt to avoid them. It is significant that initially
Monroe's repeated visits to physicians in an attempt to explain these
unusual experiences were motivated by the intellectual and medical
orientation of his parents. It is striking how the behavior of human
beings reflects an attempt to
understand by action and experiment the dominant preoccupations of
their unconscious minds. One of the most consistent themes in Monroe's
history is his interest in the air. The air is his medium. From an
early age he built model planes, learned to fly airplanes in high
school, and later became an accomplished glider pilot. This is
something I have noticed in people who have direct personal
out-of-the-body experience as opposed to those who study or research
the phenomenon. I have noticed that not only do they generally have
such childhood fantasy experiences as playing with imaginary friends
and seeing fairies, but also they often remember fantasies of wanting
to fly like a bird, and report an increased number of flying and
falling dreams. Another significant theme in Monroe's life is his
preoccupation with movement. In reviewing his family background he
became very excited at his childhood recollections, especially of
riding on trains. Movement themes are common throughout his life, as
they were in the psychological test materials. Monroe had many unevenly
developed talents. From an early age he was
extremely independent. His father, an academic, was quiet and
authoritative, an excellent parental model with an even temper. His
mother was a physician, and more in control of the family, though not
in a dominant, aggressive way. Monroe appeared to be able to actualize
his individual talents in a manner somewhat unusual in traditional
families.
His parents allowed him a considerable degree of latitude,
somehow recognising his unusual talents, particularly his mechanical
ability, which appeared not to be represented in anyone else in his
immediate family. He had two elder sisters, the elder of whom was quite
competitive with him, and he had a very much younger brother. Some of
his unevenly developed talents included his ability to read and write
at the age of four years. In spite of this his school performance was
quite average until he developed a relationship with a teacher at
college whom he felt accepted and guided him. He then became a
straight-A student. He was a leader of his peers as a child, and highly
creative, constantly searching for answers. He was self-generating, as
so many people in this field are. He also demonstrated a common
characteristic of people exploring altered states of consciousness, and
that was that he listened to and acted on his own subjective
experience. In other words,
he appeared to believe his own experience,
and would quite independently and with a great deal of faith pursue
what he felt. We have found in our work with people capable of having
out-of-the-body
experiences that certain personality attributes are present, and Monroe
does demonstrate these. These include a tendency to feel socially
isolated and different from others at quite an early age, often seeing
the world itself as sotnewhat alien. This relative isolation is
combined with a tendency to be autonomous, and yet also to be a leader,
quite aggressive and danger-seeking. Monroe has been able to take some
experiences, which most people would
try to deny and avoid, and place them in a highly creative con-text,
utilizing his leadership abilities and his other constitutional
attributes. People such as Monroe are thus able to utilize their
internal mental experiences for guidance in their lives. Monroe has no
special training in Eastern, meditative, or other esoteric disciplines,
but somehow uses these intuitions. Monroe, as others, is a visualizer,
a person who visually memorizes and thinks in Gestalts. His dreams are
also visual, highly colored and intense. Perhaps one of the commonest
themes in Monroe's life is his security in
not having to continuously define the external world. This attitude has
given him the ability to journey through realities normally not
accessible to people whose lives necessitate, for one reason or
another, a continual definition of the physical external world.
Monroe's early life also demonstrates not only independence, but
stubbornness and a tendency to rebel against traditional values,
although there is no evidence whatsoever that this rebellion, mainly
internal, created major problems in his life. He does not demonstrate
any major trauma during his childhood, nor any of the sorts of
childhood difficulties that a psychiatrist might look for. I think this
results from an excellent relationship with his parents, who did not
have a normal middle-class attitude to life, and were themselves quite
independent. His mother, a dynamic woman, tended to step over the ugly
things in life, an attribute that emerges in the analysis of Monroe's
personality. It appears that both Monroe and his mother use what could
be called in traditional psychiatric terms denial or avoidance, except
that it is done consciously, and does not appear to have created
difficulties for either his mother or himself. He has a tendency to
bring out the best in people by an oblique form of communication in
which he focuses his attention on that which will synthesize rather
than that which will destroy. He had no major childhood traumas,
although one experience he reports as highly traumatic was that of
moving from a small to a large city. He went to college at the age of
fifteen, entering pre-medical school. He eventually qualified himself
as an engineer with very good grades, although his courses were quite
unorthodox. Monroe's pre-adult and early adult life was one of
entrepreneur. He
started a theater, produced and directed many programs for radio and
television, started and lost a number of businesses, each time being
able to collect around himself people who would help him. This
independent, a religious, non-psychic, non-esoteric typical "American
Dream" development appears to have set Monroe up well for the sorts of
direct and simple observations that are so well demonstrated in his
book and in his later work. In his relationship with himself, his own
closely knit and dedicated family, and other colleagues and friends,
there is an emphasis on the importance of personal relationships rather
than material possessions, and an over-all tendency to see human beings
as good. How can Monroe accept these highly esoteric journeys described
in his
book, and at the same time be the almost traditional successful
businessman and father who is not a freak, does not wear unusual
clothes, and does not constantly put himself on-stage for examination
of his special abilities? He pursues relentlessly his own research,
makes his own contacts, and takes responsibility for his own life. One
psychological test shows him to have the profile of a self-actualizing
individual with a particular emphasis on his ability to see apparent
opposites of life as meaningfully related, an unusually high test
score. Monroe also demonstrated elements that we have noticed in people
who lead developments in the field of altered states of consciousness,
and that is a tendency to keep some intensive emotions
in the
unconscious split and sealed off. Part of seeing opposites as
meaningful also involves keeping them discreet, and utilizing the
energy of the tension between the split opposites for creative
endeavors. Often such people demonstrate intensive thoughts and
feelings, with a sensitivity to criticism. Test examinations of his
attitudes to death indicated that, compared
with a normal population, Monroe's anxiety and fear of death is very
low. Some writings and studies of people with out-of-the-body
experiences have laid considerable emphasis on the denial of death. On
one level this appears logical, especially in the reported studies of
people whose first experiences have often occurred in life-threatening
situations, situations that many of us never face in the course of our
lives. Perhaps the experience becomes deeply imprinted in the mind, and
may make the unconscious mind continually afraid that the event may
happen again. Deeper analysis of Monroe's psychological test findings
demonstrate no evidence of fear of imminent death, or an attempt to
deny death, but mainly to contain and control and utilize intensively
split emotions within his unconscious
mind. As part of a break from the intensive psychological investigation
we
conducted a brief experiment in the psycho-physiological laboratory of
the hospital, with a psychologist, Dr. Fowler Jones of the Kansas
University Medical Center, as co-observer. We simply asked Monroe to
put himself into the state of mind he defined as out-of-the-body. We
had him hooked up to a polygraph and took some brain wave tracings and
measurements of his anxiety level and level of alertness (GSR). We
observed him through a one-way mirror over a thirty-minute time period.
Most striking was his slow rate of breathing and his intensive depth of
relaxation. His breathing was shallow and he had periods in which he
would not breathe at all, and then would take a few gulping breaths. At
about the same time as a technician entered the room to tell us that
the brain wave tracings were changing, Dr. Jones and I simultaneously
had the impression of a heat-wave-like distortion of Monroe's upper
body while the lower part of his body was clearly in focus to us. This
distortion lasted until approximately two minutes before the
termination of the experiment. Monroe had stated that he would be able
to get out of his body very quickly, but he could not signal, although
he could signal within five seconds of return, which he did. This
signal correlated with a change again in his brain waves. Since there
were problems in hookup, the technician entered the room during the
experiment to check the attachment of leads. It was interesting to note
that as the technician was attempting to adjust the leads there was no
record whatsoever that this affected Monroe's arousal level on the GSR.
From a technical point of view, while out of the body, Monroe's GSR
level showed an arousal of approximately 150 microvolts and was marked
by 3 total absence of either specific or nonspecific responses once the
experiment began, even when the technician actually touched his body to
adjust the electrode placements. This is most unusual, as the GSR is
highly sensitive to such interferences. The technician also noted that
Monroe's skin was very dry and hot. After re-entering his body Monroe
was slightly disoriented with blurring of his speech, and could not
recapture or describe his experiences immediately, although later he
did describe that he had left the experimental room and entered the
room where the polygraph and technicians were located. It is also
noteworthy in comparing Monroe with reports of other people who are
adept at out-of-the-body experiences that prior to the beginning of
this brief informal psycho-physiological experiment, Monroe had
demonstrated his ability to move the needles of sensitive voltmeters by
waving his hand over them. These sorts of energy manipulations might
also explain some of the technical problems created in the highly
sensitive apparatus which often goes wrong in such experiments. It is
almost as if energy is rampant and not under the full control of either
the experimenter or the subject A computer analysis of Monroe's brain
waves demonstrated that most of his brain energy was in the four to
five (Theta) frequency range, with nothing at all above ten cycles per
second. He focused brain energy in a very narrow frequency band. We
have also found a similar phenomenon in experiments with Monroe's sound
strobe tape system. Monroe was doing this experiment without his tapes,
but apparently could focus his consciousness so that his brain power
was in a very narrow frequency band. At the time the technician noticed
the change in the EEG there appeared to be a shift in energy from the
left to the right side of his brain. His ordinary EEG was quite normal
with no evidence of epilepsy and no evidence of unusual responses to
overbreathing or light stimulation. A later statistical analysis of his
EEG tracings (analysis of variance) showed that in terms of the
frequency of brain waves there was no particular difference between the
right and left side of his brain, but that during the time he was out
of the body the frequency of his brain waves was considerably slower.
During the out-of-the-body period the variations in frequency of his
brain waves were considerably smaller, the variation being much less on
the right side of his brain than on the left side. The differences here
were highly statistically significant. What does this mean?
Essentially, this brief experiment showed that
Monroe was able during a state he defined as out-of-the-body to focus
his brain energy into a narrow frequency band and to produce visible
distortions of his body, observed by two people independently under low
illumination conditions. He was able to achieve an unusually deep state
of physical relaxation, which is what he claims to do in his focus ten
tape condition. It is almost as if his body were comatose rather than
asleep. In other experiments we have found different types of brain
wave responses to what is defined as out-of-the-body, but they all seem
to have one thing in common: there is a slowing in the brain waves, and
a shifting of energy focus. In summary, it can be said of Monroe that
his energetic life with a
high sense of purpose, and his need for and relentless desire for
understanding, is a good demonstration of what W. R. Inge once said,
"One test is infallible. Whatever view of reality deepens our sense of
the tremendous issues of life in the world wherein we move is for us
nearer the truth than any view which diminishes that sense."
Stuart W. Twemlow, M.D. Psychiatrist Chief of Research Service, Topelca
V.A. Hospital Faculty, Menninger School of Psychiatry".