Robert Monroe - Journeys out of the body, Practical Guidebook

Questions:Why was there a risk that Boris could return to his body when taking in the view from the window? How could Boris have examined the panoramic view from the window without worrying about a foul? Which technique for deepening and

“maintaining” was employed several times? What would have happened if Boris translocated from the source of the fear to another place? How could he have overcome this problem? Why was Boris unable to easily exit the phase and why were all of the techniques that he knew of no practical use?

Answers and Comments:When examining distant objects in the phase, there is always a risk of returning to one’s body because the activity is relaxing and relaxation is detrimental to the length of a phase. Boris could have continued to take in the view by simultaneously keeping up vibrations, periodically examining his hands, or rubbing them together. During the entire length of Boris’s phase, he performed sensory amplification by touching to deepen and maintain the phase.

If he tried to run away from his mother to another place in the phase, she probably would have caught up with him there anyway.

He should have tried to yell at her in an aggressive tone. This would have helped him to overcome his fear and either scare the object away or make it more agreeable. Problems with an emergency exit from the phase arose because it was the beginning of the night and the mind still needed to dream and, thus, kept pulling him into that process.

No. 13

Alexei Teslenko

IT Engineer, Experienced Practitioner of the Phase. Moscow, Russia

Actually, I was not planning to travel that night, but when I woke up around midnight I decided to try to enter the phase nevertheless. I started to perform phantom movements with my arms, but then a strong sleepy lethargy overcame me and I suddenly wanted to give up my attempts to enter the phase and simply fall asleep. However, I was persistent and continued to perform phantom movements with my arms. Instead of feeling the usual vibrations that occur when this technique is performed, I simply fell asleep and continued the phantom movements while dreaming. Because of that, my consciousness apparently did not fall asleep completely, and I became aware that I was dreaming.

I immediately climbed out of my body. There was no vision, conscious awareness was no more than 50%, so the phase was not that deep. In order to maintain the phase, I immediately started chaotically touching everything around me. It helped. Vision came, though it was murky. I then found myself in my apartment. I decided to strive to deepen. Each time that I exercised that technique, the phase became deeper and deeper. After I had achieved a stable phase, I decided that it would be good to grab a snack and headed for the fridge. I should add that I was on a strict diet at the time and was craving something sweet or fried. However, when I opened the fridge, I was quite disappointed. There was a lot of food in the fridge, but all of it required preparation (raw meat, fish, dill, etc.). However, there was a bottle of sparkling mineral water on a special lower shelf in the fridge. Without giving it any thought, I took the bottle and started to chug it.

All of the sensations were just as in real life: I felt the bubbles from the carbonation, that peculiar taste that mineral water has, and also how the water went down my throat. In general, everything was quite realistic, though there was no sensation of my stomach filling up with water and, moreover, the water felt somewhat dry. It sounds funny, but that very feeling of water’s dryness spoiled my overall impression somewhat. After a foul, I realized that a possible reason for this might have been dryness in the mouth of my real body.

Usually, if there are, for example, candies in the kitchen or in the fridge, I actually take a handful of them and consume them while traveling through the phase.

After going to the fridge, I wanted to see something interesting. I decided to employ the technique for creating objects and people, and so I closed my eyes and focused on the image of a girl whom I wanted to see at that very moment. I affirmed my desire, and I then opened my eyes, concentrating on the area to my side. The air grew misty at first, and then the person I was expecting materialized out of the air, and came to life, seemingly fully autonomous and with free will - she had the same manner of speaking as in real life, and acted in the same way. The foul happened while my conversation with the girl was in full swing…

Questions:Which type of the technique did Alexei ultimately use? Why did lethargy and drowsiness arise during phantom wiggling? What should be done in this type of situation? What was most likely lacking when the indirect technique was performed, and why did the experience end with Alexei falling asleep? What techniques for deepening were used? What could have been done to quickly fill the fridge with ready-to-eat food? Which technique for finding an object was used with regard to the girl? What else could have been used for the same purpose, considering Alexei's actions?

What should have been done immediately after the foul? How many practical applications of the phase did Alexei manage to try?

Answers and Comments:The entry to the phase happened because Alexei had become aware that he was dreaming while he rightly tried to resist the sudden tiredness and drowsiness over the course of the unsuccessful attempt with the indirect technique of phantom wiggling. Usually, such drowsiness signifies that a phase is approaching, signaling a need for aggression, activeness and attention in order to overcome inertia and enter the phase. However, attentiveness was lacking, so Alexei fell asleep. However, his desire to enter the phase was so strong that the phantom wiggling continued even while he was dreaming, causing him to experience dream consciousness.

Among techniques employed for deepening were sensory amplification through touching and jogging. It would have been sufficient to employ the technique of finding through a door to ensure that the fridge was properly stocked. For example, Alexei should have closed the door on the refrigerator, focused his attention on a full stock of snacks and food, and then opened the door to discover that everything he’d envisioned was there.

The technique for finding an object through transformation was used to make the girl appear, but this technique should be considered only by experienced practitioners because it can lead to a foul in case of insufficient concentration. Before employing the technique, Alexei shut his eyes, and only then imagined the girl right in front of him.

He could have immediately created her using the technique of closed eyes, which usually is easier to do since there is no direct visual contact with surroundings.

Upon returning to his body, he should have tried to separate again. Altogether, Alexei managed to and make progress in two specific, applied tasks, though did not complete them satisfactorily.

Exercises for Chapter 12

Tasks

Try to assess the experiences described above using the rubric below. The answers are located in the appendix.

5-Point System for Assessing the Quality

of Out-of-Body Experiences (Phases)