By Rick Stack
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS #
I would like to thank my wife and agent,Anne Marie O’Farrell, for her bottomlessheart and limitless energy.
I would like to thank my former teachers, Jane Roberts and Seth, for their warm friendship,extraordinary sanity, and wisdom.
I would like to thank the people who gra-ciously allowed me to use their dreams and out-of-body experiences in this book. Pseudonyms have been used for all such experiences.
I would like to thank my editor, Stacy Prince,for her humor and sharp pencils.
And I would like to thank my infant son,Cody, for waiting until the book was finishedbefore arriving.
CONTENTS #
- Preface
- Introduction
- [1] Science Fact or Science Fiction?
- [2] Benefits of Astral Projection
- [3] Essential Metaphysics
- [4] The ABCs of Using Power
- [Exercise 1]: General Belief Work
- [5] Getting Rid of Fear
- [6] Renovating Your Mental Climate for OOBEs
- [Exercise 2]: Examining Relevant Beliefs
- [Exercise 3]: Identifying Restricting Beliefs
- [Exercise 4]: Formulating Affirmations and Visualizations
- [7] Using Affirmations and Visualizations for OOBEs
- [Exercise 5]: Using Your Affirmations and Visualizations
- [8] Dream Work
- [9] The Spectrum of Consciousness: OOBEs and Lucid Dreams
- [10] Surefire Techniques for Getting Out
- [Technique #1]: Combining Suggestions with Favorable Conditions
- [Technique #2]: Floating Out from the Hypnagogic State
- [Technique #3]: Strange to the Strange
- [Technique #4]: The Joy of Flight
- [Technique #5]: From the Inner to the Outer
- [11] Things to Do in the Astral World
- [12] Reincarnation and Time Travel
- [Exercise 6]: Meeting Reincarnational Selves
- [Exercise 7]: Traveling Through Time
- [Exercise 8]: Visiting Your Childhood Self
- [Exercise 9]: Meeting an Older You
- [Exercise 10]: Experiencing the Eternal Now
- Notes
- Bibliography
PREFACE #
This book is designed to take the study andpractice of out-of-body experiences out of therealm of research laboratories and esotericmysticism and into the living rooms and bedrooms of the world-where they belong. It provides a simple, effective approach for learning how to leave the body consciously that anyone can use. It also provides instruction on how to get the most out of your trip. Out-of-body experiences (OOBEs) are incredibly exciting, spiritually enlightening, and easy to do. If you are willing to start with the assumption that your current beliefs about the universe may not be the whole truth and that the universe is indeed a mystery to be explored with the same excitement and open-mindedness that any child naturally possesses, I can promise you an adventure you will never forget.
But if it’s so easy to go out-of-body, why is this topic still relatively esoteric? Quite simply, people are largely unaware of their natural ability to leave the body because their belief systems do not allow for the existence of such experiences, or they consider them an idle pursuit at best. For those who do consider OOBEs an area worthy of attention, firsthand experience is the most direct path for exploration.
Those who wish to pursue firsthand experience, however, may find that heir own attitudes are the key to progress in learning how to become astral explorers. For that reason, this book provides a step-by-step procedure for creating a mental climate conducive to achieving these extraordinary journeys before presenting effective, uncomplicated techniques for actually inducing out-of-body experiences. This preliminary belief work is designed to alter certain limiting ideas and enable you to overcome fears of, or resistance to, traveling outside your physical body.
For many people, the belief work and the preliminary dream work presented herein will be a crucial element for success. How long it will take you to accomplish the preliminary work will depend on you. If you already have experience working with your dreams, you have a head start. If your belief systems are relatively positive and expansive, then the belief work required may be minimal.
After reading this book, performing the preliminary work, and starting to regularly utilize the OOBE induction techniques presented, you can reasonably expect to achieve your first OOBE within thirty days, though some may take considerably longer. Anyone can do it, but not everyone will, because some people will not agree to loosen their limiting beliefs enough to allow themselves these kinds of experiences. If you really have the desire, though, this book will provide the means.
I have had many out-of-body experiences, and they have added immeasurably to my life. I hope to communicate the importance and value of this neglected area of human potential. You can appreciate the true value of this art form, however, only when you have actually experienced being outside of your body numerous times. The object of this book, therefore, is to enable you to have not just one but many OOBEs and make them a frequent and natural part of your life. Then you will really begin to understand what they are all about.
Someday, in a more enlightened culture, the art of interdimensional travel outside of the physical body will enjoy a more prominent and respected position. Someday people will explore inner reality with the same fervor with which they have explored outer reality (i.e., the physical universe) and thus take a giant step in the evolution of humankind’s understanding. As always, such advances will be accomplished by individuals whose energy and curiosity will not be quelled by fairy tales and prejudice and who insist on finding things out for themselves.
INTRODUCTION #
When I was a teenager, I became obsessed with understanding what existence was all about. As long as I can remember I was curious about the universe, but at a certain point in my life this curiosity became an unquenchable thirst. Finally, the urge became so strong that I just had to get some answers before continuing with what I thought of as a “nor- mal” life.
Prior to this, I had tried to latch on to science as a possible source of understanding. It didn’t take me long to become disillusioned with the scientific perspective. I’ll never forget one day in Advanced Biology 1 during the first term of my senior year in high school. As the instructor unraveled some of the marvels of nature for us, I couldn’t resist asking him what was the greater purpose behind what he was describing. My instructor just smiled and virtually waxed poetic as he explained that my question was teleological and therefore inappropriate for discussion. Well, I didn’t know what teleological meant, but I was pretty disconcerted that my instructor acted as if my question wasn’t even important. He proceeded with his lesson; I proceeded to reevaluate my plan to take Advanced Biology 2. (I finally opted for Sculpture 1, a class with a twenty-to-one ratio of female to male students-clearly a more fun way to learn about biology.)
By the time I started my junior year in college, the seeds of my discontent had grown to enormous proportions. I found the scientific explanation of how we got here to border on the absurd. To simplify it greatly: Life began in some primordial ocean a long time ago, when, by chance, the right combination of chemicals and elements and conditions got together, and poof-there was life. Even Darwin’s impressive theory of evolution effectively eliminated the need for a higher guiding intelligence in the equation, suggesting mutations occur by chance alone and only the best of a species survive and thrive.
This “by-chance-alone” thing was really too much. Were these people serious? Was this really what the greatest minds of our time had come up with? Did they really believe that all the incredibly intricate and ingenious wonders of nature were accomplished without ANY form of guiding cosmic intelligence? I knew that some of the religious concepts that humankind had come up with over the years were rather childish, but this concept seemed just as naive. The scientific perspective was great for making rocket ships and toaster ovens, but when it came to deeper issues, it was turning into a big disappointment.
I began an intense and sometimes turbulent period of study. My research ran the gamut from psychology, mythology, and religion to theosophy, the gnosis, Egyptology, and the various esoteric traditions of the ages. I became involved with dreams. I learned that dreams were an incredible resource for knowledge and understanding. I learned that the dream world was a doorway to other dimensions of experience that were just as valid and important as the world I knew. I began to practice lucid dreaming, the art of becoming fully awake within the dream state and then consciously manipulating the events that occur. Yet I did not fully understand that I was preprogramming my inner experiences according to my own beliefs and expectations.
It was in 1970 that I picked up my first Seth book. Seth is the nonphysical personality and teacher who spoke through the late author Jane Roberts while she was in trance. Material communicated by Seth has been published in ten volumes to date. (See Bibliography for a list of these titles.) I was particularly impressed by Seth and in early 1972 found myself driving up to Elmira, New York, with a couple of friends at Jane Roberts’s invitation to attend her weekly ESP class. Although the Seth books now have a fairly large following, at that time interest in Jane’s work was just beginning, and her class consisted of about a dozen students. Jane would go into trance and “channel” Seth, who turned out to be an impressive teacher indeed.
I became a regular member of Jane’s class, and I made the ten-hour round-trip drive from New York City to Elmira practically every Tuesday for several years. To say that I was affected by studying with Jane and Seth is an understatement, for as a result of that class I began to truly and deeply understand that each individual creates his or her own reality. I also learned to listen to the voice of my inner multidimensional self, where I can find as many answers as I have questions.
As my metaphysical understanding grew, I became more and more intrigued by out-of-body experiences. I was determined to advance my knowledge in this area through firsthand experience. Around the summer of 1972, I accidentally discovered a method enabling me to induce out-of-bodies with relative ease (you will learn this method in Chapter 12). My first experiences were so amazing to me that I’ll never forget them.
I stretched out in an easy chair in my bedroom and gave myself some suggestions about having an out-of-body experience:
The next thing I knew I was in a park about twenty miles from my apartment. I used to play in this park as a child. I felt incredibly exhilarated and filled with energy that literally rippled through my body. There were trees and fields all around; they were somehow more vivid, more alive, more colorful than I had ever seen. It was as if I had stepped into a magical forest, glowing with aliveness. Things didn’t seem just real, they seemed super real. I was vibrating with energy, feeling ecstatic, but also feeling quite disoriented. I knew where I was, but I didn’t know how I got there. I had forgotten that I had just sat down to do an out-of-body. I was feeling totally tripped out, and I finally concluded that someone had slipped LSD or another drug into something I drank. I looked down and noticed that I didn’t have any clothes on. I started to become concerned. I thought to myself, “Great. I’m in Alley Pond Park, I’m tripping on some strange drug, and I have no clothes on. What am I going to do? How am I going to get back home? I don’t even have a token for the train.” So I wandered around, vibrating, the trees glowing, strangely not too upset by my predicament. The sun was just beginning to rise, and I had not seen another soul in the park. Then as I passed a playground, I noticed a small boy playing inside. It seemed really strange because the child was very young and all alone. I walked over to the fence surrounding the playground and looked at him. There was something very odd about this kid. All of a sudden he looked me straight in the eye and said, “This universe is for you!” Instantly, I remembered my body was twenty miles away. I had just attempted to go out-of-body and had succeeded. I was out. I was overwhelmed with excitement and joy. Without thinking, I lifted up my hands to fly and took off like a rocket. I had had numerous flying dreams before, but this was something quite different. There was no way that this was just my imagination. I was flying, curving, twisting, soaring over the treetops of Alley Pond Park. My normal ego consciousness was fully present and having the ride of its life. I flew around for awhile and eventually landed on a grassy hill in the park. I felt it was time to go home. I closed my eyes, leaned back, and said, “Back to the Bronx, back to the Bronx.” I felt a sensation of motion and tremendous speed. Then I found myself back in my physical body. My eyes were still closed, but I could see right through my eyelids. I was impressed! Finally, after examining my room through my eyelids for a minute or so, l opened my eyes. Things looked a little strange for awhile-as if I was not yet fully tuned in to the appropriate channel. Within a minute or two, everything solidified and returned to normal. I was back, safe and sound!
I was really blown away by the experience. I was still dissatisfied, though, because I had not yet consciously witnessed the actual separation from the physical, and I was determined to do so. I continued to practice my newfound technique and for awhile had out-of-body experiences about every other day. Within a couple of weeks, I lifted out of my body in my bedroom while retaining awareness of what was going on the entire time.
My body felt as if it were going to sleep.Something weird was going on, however, because I was still fully awake. I was literally watching my body fall asleep. I could feel myself moving through the stages of sleep while retaining full consciousness. It was fascinating. I was still in my body, but I was no longer connected to it in the normal manner. I couldn’t move my muscles. My eyes were closed, but I could see the room perfectly through my eyelids. Somehow I knew just what to do. I willed myself to move upward. I watched in awe as my nonphysical, or astral, leg moved out of my physical leg, and the rest of my astral body followed. I stood in the bedroom directly in front of the chair containing my physical body and proceeded to walk through the door into the next room. As usual, I was feeling tremendously energized and exhilarated. It occurred to me that I didn’t need doors any more, so I walked through the wall into the living room, sat down in a chair, and went into a fit of laughter. I could hardly believe what was happening. In that moment I knew, in a deeply intuitive way, that my existence was independent of my physical body.
Since that time, I have had many out-of-body adventures. As my understanding of the nature of reality grew, so did the quality of my excursions outside the body. Soon I began to share my knowledge by teaching courses on OOBEs, the Seth material, dreams, and metaphysics, which I have now done for over ten years. I decided to write this book when I realized that most people found inducing OOBEs difficult and that I could offer a method that even beginners could use with relative ease.
In order to facilitate learning how to induce OOBEs, it is important to develop an understanding of metaphysics and the impact of your own attitudes. Your fundamental beliefs about how the universe works will affect both your ability to induce OOBEs and the types of experiences you will encounter. For these reasons, be sure to read the book in the order presented; do not skip ahead to the exercises until you have completed your belief work.
As mentioned, the time it will take to complete the preliminary work will vary according to the individual. When you have finished this preparatory work, proceed to the OOBE induction techniques. Plan to do them every day for a month. Again, it is reasonable to assume that you will have your first OOBE within thirty practice trials. This expectation, in fact, can help you to achieve your first OOBE. There will, however, be considerable variation here. Some people may get out after only a few trials, while others may need to keep at it for several months. If you are persistent and determined, you will succeed.
Another factor to keep in mind is your overall environment and state of mind. If your job is a stressful one, or if you are otherwise engaged in an anxiety-provoking lifestyle, it could interfere with your OOBE work. If this is the case, it may be advisable to begin working with the induction techniques during a vacation so that you can easily practice them daily in a relaxed environment. Another alternative for those who have a hectic workweek is to practice the induction techniques for fifteen consecutive weekends, which would give you thirty trials overall. While not optimal, it is an option for those who need it. If the weekend schedule doesn’t produce results, you may need to create the time to practice every day for awhile in order to get the ball rolling. Once you do get going, don’t stop–try to incorporate your OOBE work into your schedule on an ongoing basis.