10 Best OBE Technique Books 2021

10 Best OBE Technique Books 2021

by Bob Peterson

One of the most frequent questions people ask is: What are the best books on how to achieve astral projection / out-of-body experience? It's been several years since I wrote my "Bob's Best of Breed" OBE book list, so I thought I'd give an updated list, this time focusing on just the books that give good "how to" instructions.

Different people have different needs, and different teachers have different teaching styles, so choosing a good OBE technique is kind of a subjective thing. Not everyone will agree with my picks. Still, it's a lot better than picking one at random or based on sales history. You can click on the links below to read my review of each of these books.

Without further ado ("Hi Shire Horse!") here's my list:

1.Hacking the Out of Body Experience
by Robert Peterson

Okay, I admit I'm biased because I wrote it. Still, I tried really hard to make it the best "how to" book available on the subject, and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback.

2. The Phase
by Michael Raduga

The Phase is chock full of helpful OBE tips and techniques. Raduga is down to Earth and technical, and the book is primarily focused on techniques. Before I wrote Hacking, this was my number one.

3. Astral Dynamics
by Robert Bruce

Although a bit occult-oriented, it's still a great resource. Bruce's "energy bouncing" OBE conditioning techniques are the best in the field. His "Rope" and other tactile OBE techniques are classics, widely imitated and parroted by many other inferior books.

4. Adventures Beyond the Body
by William Buhlman

Buhlman's first book has become many people's go-to book on how to achieve astral projection for many years. When I read this book the first time I kept interrupting my wife, Kathy, who was reading beside me with, "I love this guy! Listen to this quote..."

5. Navigating the Out-of-Body Experience
by Graham Nicholls

Nicholls' book has many solid OBE techniques. When I first reviewed this book in 2012, I undervalued it. Comparing it to other books in the field, this is a gem. I hear Graham is working on a new improved version of this book that's due out sometime in 2021. I can't wait!

6. Leaving the Body
by D. Scott Rogo

Although it's a bit out of date, Rogo's book is full of techniques, coming from several different angles/approaches to induce OBEs. Very insightful. A must read, if you can find a copy.

7. Travel Far
by Darryl Berry

I found Berry's book to be one of the most unassuming, friendly, and helpful "How To" books. This book is a lost leader.

8. Out of Body Experiences
by Akhena

Translated to English from the original French, Akhena's techniques and narratives are epic. The book has some of the best examples of "proof" in the genre. Unfortunately, this book is out-of-print and hard to find and the author passed away. I hope some day this book will be reprinted.

9. Astral Projection
by Richard Craze

Craze's book is small / compact, but chock full of 22 OBE techniques. His techniques are some of the most creative and insightful, especially since it was published in the 1990s. The book is also out-of-print, hard to find, and expensive.

10. Experiencing Astral Travel
by V.M.Beelzebub

If you can get beyond all the mystique and occult "cloak-and-dagger," Beelzebub's book is actually a pretty good technique book.

Honorable Mentions:

These are also very good technique books, and well worth the money:

Out-of-Body Exploring by Preston Dennett 

Behind the Veil by Daniel Kelley

Explorations Out of the Body by Eddie Slasher

How I Learned Soul Travel by Terrill Willson

Many OBE books claim to be the "Ultimate Guide" to inducing astral projection or out-of-body experiences, but few books live up to the claim. The books that actually deliver are few and often hard-to-find.

Before you buy any book on astral projection or out-of-body experiences, check my list of OBE Book Reviews see if I've written a book review for it.

Bob Peterson

27 April 2021

Convergence

by Barbara Mango and Lynn Miller

Today I'm reviewing Convergence: The Interconnection of Extraordinary Experiences by Barbara Mango and Lynn Miller.

I'm Facebook friends with both of the authors, but I've known Lynn Miller for many years. In fact, Lynn asked me to contribute my personal reflections to the book, which I did. It appears on page 213.

As the subtitle implies, this book is all about the interconnectedness of non-ordinary experiences. In my second book, Lessons out of the Body, I wrote a chapter about how "alien abduction experiences" are very similar to out-of-body experiences (OBEs). In fact, except for a few features, they're almost indistinguishable from one another. Convergence takes this concept a step forward: it clearly demonstrates a common connection between out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) related contact", and past-life recall (PLR) experiences (both spontaneous and obtained via past-life regression.)

This is a very "academic" book. In other words, it reads like a guide to not only experiencers, but clinicians, physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. As such, it has tons and tons of references to back up the authors' claims. There's no outlandish claims, just evidence from numerous sources. In fact, the book's references section consumes 53 pages, which is bigger than some OBE books I've read! It makes the book a little "dry" but still very fascinating and insightful.

For example, in chapter 2 the authors describe a personality type, the Anamalously Sensitive Person (ASP) who tends to score higher on the HISS (Holistic Inventory of Stimulus Sensitivities) questionnaire. According to David Ritchey:

"Additionally, they demonstrate an inclination to be creative, curious, insightful, incorruptible, iconoclastic, non-conforming, and anti-authoritarian." (pg. 28)

Doesn't that just describe me to a Tee?

What I loved most about this book is that it gives lots of narratives, not only of OBEs and NDEs, but also UAP (alien abductions) and PLR (past-life recall). And it's not just random "patients" but also the authors, who are themselves experiencers.

Although I've known Lynn Miller for many years, she's a very private person and has never shared her many OBEs with me. It was awesome and refreshing to see this side of her.

Convergence is not written for people who wish to have OBEs, alien abductions and such. There are no induction techniques. It's written for the intellectually curious, the science-oriented, therapists, and other professionals who work with people who've had these experiences. For experiencers it offers a consistent message of "You're definitely not crazy and you're not in this alone." Or to quote Miller:

"The more I accept my inter-dimensional nature, the more I feel alienated from humanity. The most valuable thing I've realized is knowing that I am not alone in this--knowing that there are [other] people like me. I go to work and hide who I truly am, but it's all good, knowing that I have my own "tribe" of like-minded people who share and listen. Let your weird light shine bright so the other weirdos know where to find you." (pg. 42)

The authors put all the cards on the table: all the judgment, ridicule, and misdiagnosis we "experiencers" endure, from professionals, as well as our own friends and families. It also brings up some fascinating scientific insights, such as this: 

"A recent study conducted by Lopez and Elziere, entitled "Out-of-Body Experience in Vestibular Disorders - A prospective study of 210 patients with dizziness," was published in the journal Cortex. It proposed that individuals suffering from vestibular disorders have a "significantly higher occurrence" of OBEs than the general public." (pg. 74)

As far as the "interconnectedness" of the experiences, each chapter addresses symptoms or features that link these non-ordinary experiences. For example, chapter 6 is all about spontaneous healing, and it demonstrates cases in which spontaneous healing has occurred in all of them: NDEs, OBEs, UAP and PLR. This is fascinating stuff!

It also talks about the life-altering effects of these experiences, changes of personality, and so forth. For example, I found this really interesting statistic about relationships:

[After having these experiences] "Separation becomes common-place. Approximately 75% of NDEers divorce within seven to ten years." (pg. 184)

I guess it's a good thing I married my wife Kathy long after my OBEs started, so she knew what she was getting into!

And I absolutely loved this analogy:

"When you're higher in frequency, you're higher in consciousness, your perception is heightened, and you see things more clearly the higher you go. Just as when you ascend in an airplane, you see a larger picture the higher you climb, and the brighter it becomes as you break through the clouds." (pg. 204-205, quoted from Reverend Edwige Bingue)

The book is professionally written. I only found one mistake in the whole book, which is very rare. Weighing in at 323 pages, with good size and margins, there's plenty of content to satisfy. There are no OBE tips or techniques in the book, but good narratives, not only of OBEs but the other subjects as well. I was never bored. I'm giving it 4 stars out of 5.

Bob Peterson
13 April 2021

---------------------------

If you want me to review a book about out-of-body experiences or astral projection, send me an email: bob@robertpeterson.org, but please check the index first to see if I've already reviewed it. Also, I've got a huge pile of books I'm planning to review, so don't expect a quick turnaround.

If you like my work, visit my website, robertpeterson.org, where you'll find lots of other free OBE advice and links.

Return to the index of my OBE Book reviews