First things first. . .
If you have
read the "About Me" section of this site you are aware
that I have been experiencing the journey of the spirit since
age five, and that as an adult I pray and meditate for the purpose
of exploring the astral realms. I do this to learn of life what
cannot be truly physically learned by any other means. As a
result of this, and in addition to all I have come to know and
understand about astral travel and/or out of body experiences,
I see this as a natural process that we all experience, whether
it is recognized as such or not. You can read about some of
my experiences in the personal journals I have posted on various
pages of this site.
Many authors,
including myself, have written books and articles about the
spirit, out-of-body experiences and astral travel. In my opinion,
two of the best authors are Robert Monroe and Robert Bruce.
I, of course, highly recommend my ebook, "Days of Grace,
A Journey Toward Spirit & The Afterlife". This
book's largest chapter covers the various aspects of astral
travel and out-of-body experiences. It can be purchased and
download on the front page of this
site.
One problem
I ran into while doing my research was the tendency for many
authors to create terms and words in an effort to describe the
experience or process. This sometimes complicated things for
me in that these terms and words seem to label things. This
labeling, in effect, caused me to search for techniques and
various other things that did not coincide with my personal
experience specifically. For this reason, my ebook is written
in easy to understand language and provides many examples of
the actual experience.
I also
feel that due to the mysterious ways these experiences happen
and the difficulty in describing what we see and learn while
visiting the astral realms, much of the literature found on
the topic lends to the complication of the process. When I started
running into this problem frequently, I realized that the process
and the descriptions of the experiences are individually personal.
By this I mean that each individual goes through a different
process of journeying by spirit, and just because a technique
worked for someone else, it does not mean that it will work
for you. The techniques used and the things experienced on the
astral realms depend greatly on the individual's physical and
mental makeup and their spiritual level, or their spiritual
awakening. My suggestion on technique is to try to recall events,
your state of mind, your relaxation level and various other
things that may have led to a particularly interesting experience,
and then try to recreate it.
I am a
firm believer that every person on the face of this earth journeys
by spirit. Yet, convincing someone that their "dream"
was more than "only a dream" is by far another story.
People in general do not like to believe that when they have
these experiences they may actually be leaving their physical
bodies behind as their spirit drifts "out" to visit
the "spirit world" or "other side", or some
other mystical place not of the physical world. Therefore, when
people come to me with questions about what a "dream"
may have meant, I normally ask the person first what the dream
meant to them. Unfortunately, if I immediately give an honest
opinion when I feel the experience was a direct communication
with a loved one who has passed away, or that the "dream"
was a profound visit to realms of another dimension I get mixed
reactions and my views may or may not be acceptable to the person
who asked what I thought in the first place.
At a very
early age, when we attempt to describe to our parents or adult
friends our very believable, amazingly spectacular adventures
we encountered while flying over the oceans or mountains in
some far away land, and without the assistance of machinery
such as airplanes, we are adamantly conditioned to believe that
"it was only a dream". And when we try to describe
the events where we came upon an entity in some old ancient
cathedral that terrified us, or spent time talking with granddad
even though he passed away years ago, we are conditioned to
believe it "was only a nightmare". When we "dream"
of those Holy places and wake with a profound knowing, or find
that we have received answers to our deepest underlying questions
in regard to life; when we were amazed by "dreams"
where we were in the presence of "Holy Ones" and great
"knowledge" is allowed to filter into our personal
"knowing", we are even many times conditioned to believe
that we are experiencing hallucinations of some mental disorder.
Many spend
much of their life questioning themselves, "Why me?"
They feel a great sense of purpose, a feeling of being chosen
for a particular task or for particular work. Yet due to a lifetime
of conditioning, these questions and inner feelings are all
too often brushed aside and ignored. Disturbingly, due to this
human conditioning, as these "dreams" continue throughout
our lives, many people miss out on the opportunity to explore
their personal relationship with God and their own personal
spirituality; thereby missing the greatest opportunity of a
lifetime to undertake meaningful, heartfelt work in one's true
path in this life.
"Dreams
and nightmares are not real," we are taught. Still we wonder
why some of these experiences seem so much more real than "reality".
Stop and try to remember for a moment if you were terribly disappointed
that first time someone told you it was only a dream. Granted,
there were times you were relieved to hear those words. But
ask yourself, how would the world be today if we were taught
at such a young age to use this tool or gift as an avenue to
investigate our personal spirituality?
I feel
that people in general, science, psychology, and some religions
as well have overlooked this most valuable and obvious tool
when trying to find answers to the age old questions about the
continuance of life after death. I believe the old saying that
we look so hard for the answers that we never see what is right
beneath our noses is an accurate description of being blind
to the immediate tools that will provide the answers. So what
are we to do? Is the solution in educating the masses?
Personally,
I believe that each and every person that willfully experiences
out of body experiences and astral travel, and recognizes it
for what it is, has a responsibility to God, spirit, self and
mankind to contribute to the spiritual growth of others. I feel
it is a part of my path to help educate as many people as possible
of this very valuable tool. Additionally, I feel it is imperative
that those who have these experiences spontaneously should begin
their own investigation and exploration of what it means to
their own spirituality. It is a gift from a very powerful and
almighty source, and what is being taught through these experiences
should be listened to attentively.
