Journeys Out of the Body (1971)

…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 ! 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 interpreted 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 hunchr 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.) 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…

This is to be employed simultaneously with all indirect techniques, as a backdrop to them. While performing any technique, lucid dreamingr should try to fall asleep simultaneously, as if the technique being performed (phantom wiggling, rotation, etc.) were necessary not for lucid dreaming entrance, but for accelerating falling asleep. a lucid dreamr should simply try to fall asleep to the technique being performed without actually falling asleep. Any technique will usually begin to work at that moment, and it can be easily brought to lucid dreaming. One no longer needs to employ or continue on with concurrent forced falling asleep at this point. For example, if a practitioner’s hand did not start moving within a few seconds of aggressive phantom wiggling, he will then begin trying to wiggle his hand while trying to fall asleep at the same time. The hand will usually yield to wiggling within several seconds, and the range of motion will begin to increase. Backdrop forced falling asleep may be included in the routine both from the start of attempts, as well as only when the techniques themselves are not working. Such an approach often guarantees the greatest odds of success for indirect techniques.

Interesting Fact!

When performed properly, backdrop use of forced falling asleep makes the choice of technique performed upon awakening inconsequential, as any technique will immediately start working.

My first out-of-body experience was very dramatic. I fell asleep around 4-5am. I experienced a sensation all over my body, I was in a meditative state of sleep, but at the same time I was aware of what was going on with me. I had this feeling of a tingling sensation all over my body followed by paralysis.

Suddenly I found myself levitating from the bed and wound up in a standing position. I got very scared and started praying, asking the lord to protect me. Then I got back into my body, quick like a flash. When I woke up I had this feeling like I needed to understand what just happened to me. I did some research and I was told that you can travel places, and go to the moon so I couldn’t wait to try again. That day, I was feeling so good with myself, I felt I have discovered something new and exciting!

Vienna, Austria

March 13th, 2001 – This was my first OBE. There were two experiences with the "vibrational state" before, but I didn’t have the guts to go through with it since at the time I believed the essential soul would leave the body, which could be dangerous. Nevertheless, this time I decided to do it for real. I was 20 years old at the time. I awoke at five o’clock in the morning, but felt very tired and knew that I’d fall asleep again as soon as I lie down. As soon as I relaxed the vibrational state set in, my body felt paralyzed like it was asleep and I heard the roaring noise I already knew. The state seemed to be not very deep because as soon as I tried to move, I moved the physical body and awoke.

However I immediately started a second attempt, which worked. I waited a bit longer this time, suddenly my "body perception" changed and then I just carefully moved like I would get up in my physical body. The next moment I was standing up and knew I was out of body. I couldn’t see very well, only a bit (M.R.: no deepening and no plan of action). I was curious if the "silver cord" I had read about really existed (M.R.: wrong logic). I felt for it and true enough, there it was, extending out of my astral back. I tried to look at my physical body on the bed, but I couldn’t see it. Then I tried to look at myself, my astral body, and could see my left hand shimmering in a light purple color. At this point I decided to end the experience and got back into the bed in order to reenter my physical body (M.R.: wrong action). This didn’t work at first, but there was no fear, my consciousness faded into a dream and I awoke about an hour later well rested and very satisfied.

Saint Petersburg, Russia

When I’m dreaming I usually move by taking great leaps, much further than a kangaroo, about 100-300 yards. This happens regularly in my dreams, and I usually immediately realize that I’m in a dream. During one of the leaps, I realized while airborne that I was dreaming and also realized that I was able to land in a small dirty pond. As expected, I landed right in the pond and went deep under the water (M.R.: no deepening). And at that very moment, I found myself in the stencil, with my hands and head half stuck in it.

I got a little nervous that this attempt would also be unsuccessful, and so I immediately tried to separate from my body. I was unable to get my head or hands out, and for the first time I tried to turn around round my axis and managed to get out. Then I either slipped down or fell from the bed, but I did not feel any pain. I crawled for 1-2 meters and then felt that I could go back. I started to touch the rug and some other thing, though I don’t know exactly what it was as it was dark, and, lo and behold: within 20-30 seconds I probably felt what small kittens feel when their eyes open for the first time. Everything was foggy and blurry at first, but then a picture started to appear, the room filled with light, and colors became bright and vivid. I tried very hard to restrain my excitement, and, to my surprise, was able to.

I walked around my apartment thinking about what I should do (M.R.: no plan of action). Realizing that I did not have that much time, I decided to talk to an elderly man who would answer my questions. I decided that there would be an omniscient elderly man behind the apartment’s front door, which I was about to open. And there he was, half-bald, about 60 years old, in a grey coat waiting for me. I asked him the question, “What should I do to get into lucid dreaming more often?” But he started to tell me about how he was raped as a child. And to be more precise, this was already not an elderly man, but an elderly woman. I was not very interested in hearing her story, thus I tried to move away from her, suggesting that we could talk later. But the elderly woman was persistent, and I did not want to offend her, because I thought that this was an unusual lucid dreaming with its own set of rules, and namely that once you have asked an old woman a question, you are supposed to be courteous and listen to the entire answer (M.R.: wrong logic).

I went with her to the kitchen of my apartment. The telephone suddenly rang. I got scared that the telephone was ringing in my apartment and would wake me up, which is why I immediately started to look at my hand in order to maintain. But the sensations were quite stable, and I stopped doing that. Then, me and this lady wanted to cook something in my kitchen. She said that I could heat a frying pan without gas. But I instead decided to try the technique of putting the hands together and blowing on them, and returned back into my body (M.R.: no re-entering).