Review: Mastering Astral Projection
by Robert Bruce and Brian Mercer
Today I'm reviewing Mastering Astral Projection: 90-Day Guide to Out-of-Body Experience by Robert Bruce and Brian Mercer. The copyright is 2014.
It's been a long time since I worked on my blog, mostly for two
reasons: First, I took a couple months off to work on home improvement projects.
Second, I needed time to read this book, which is very long. It's 484 pages long, with
small font, in a two-column format. It's a LOT of material to read and a lot to digest, so it took me a long time to get through it. That's the main reason I've never reviewed Tom Campbell's My Big Toe and Waldo Vieira's Projectiology: They're huge.
One of the reasons I chose to do this book next is because: Unfortunately, Robert Bruce, one of the all-time greatest astral projection teachers, passed away on April, 22, 2024. His book Astral Dynamics is still one of the best AP/OBE instruction books out there.
That's not to say I agree with everything the authors say about astral projection. Astral Projection has some interesting peculiarities, and the authors explain these away with Bruce's own theories (based on his experiences), whereas I have my own theories (based on my experiences).
Bruce believes in multiple planes of existence with (at least four) corresponding non-physical bodies:
- The fundamental energy body
- The expanded energy body
- The real-time energy body
- The astral energy body
He believes each of these non-physical bodies can have separate (and simultaneous) experiences and separate memories, and because of that he also believes these "Shadow memories" need to be "integrated with" or "downloaded to" the physical body's memories. If you're not careful, these "shadow memories" are lost and you won't remember what took place in your out-of-body experiences.
I find this approach to be unnecessarily complex. For example, they write:
"During the OBE exit, your energy body will create a subtle duplicate of itself (of you) complete with a full copy of your conscious mind. This is a spectacular feat when you think about it, and yet this happens naturally and unnoticed whenever you sleep." (pg. 223)
To me that sounds way too "fairy tale" unscientific and speculative. By what mechanism does it accomplish this duplication?
I tend to believe in a single (although possibly split) "conscious awareness" that can be re-focused to different body schemas, but one stream and source of memories. In other words, all the information (sense data) processed by our "awareness" comes from one stream of (non-local) data or another. In an OBE, we simply switch from one stream of data (based upon physical reality) to another. But I digress.
Like almost all Astral Projection books, the authors insist there's a big difference between OBEs and Lucid Dreams, but again, I disagree with their explanation:
"So what is the difference between a lucid dream and an OBE? In a lucid dream, lucidity itself consumes the majority of a dreamer's finite energy resources. During an OBE, the lucidity factor resides within the projected double. The focus here is on which copy of consciousness takes the level of energy required to function on a lucid and independent basis. In a case where neither aspect can get enough energy for independent lucidity, the memories from the dream mind are more usually remembered. This is because of the close association of the dream mind with the physical brain/mind." (pg. 290)
In my opinion, the difference is if the data stream is a self-created hallucination (dream environment) or some other non-physical objective reality.
Simply put, this book is Astral Dynamics put into action: a 90-day guide that gives the reader step-by-step, day-by-day instructions to achieve astral projection.
If I understand it correctly, the story goes like this:
The co-author, Brian Mercer, found Astral Dynamics to be an excellent source of information on how to achieve astral projection. So he took the material and developed his own personal development plan/guide to put the book into action.
The material was so compelling that he shared it with Robert Bruce. Bruce suggested a bunch of changes to make it more useful. From there it morphed into a full-blown collaboration between the authors. They fleshed out the details and embellished it with tons of tips and techniques.
The book is divided into two parts. Part 1, roughly the first six weeks, covers the basics and core skills:
- Breathing and breath work to increase energy
- Deep physical relaxation
- Shadow memory recall
- Energy body stimulation
- Quieting the mind
- Primary energy center (chakra) stimulation
- The trance state
- Energy body loosening
Perhaps the most important of these things is energy raising:
"We cannot stress enough how important energy raising is for astral projection. You cannot do too much energy raising." (pg. 78)
These energy building exercises are very much like the Taoist techniques I learned in Tai Chi class back in the 1980s and Qi Gong: The greater and lesser orbits of energy circulation and energy storage in the Dan Tien (belly button chakra).
The authors suggest you do ten to twenty minutes of energy raising techniques after your nightly affirmations. I often do this, but for me, anything beyond five to ten minutes is too much: after that I'm "buzzing" so much I'm unable to sleep.
Each of the 90 days is broken down into affirmations and exercises to perform: what to do that morning, that afternoon and that night. For example, day 13 recommends:
- A specific affirmation in the morning when you wake up.
- A specific affirmation in the evening when you go to bed.
The exercises for day 13 are:
- 5 minutes of entire-body relaxation
- 5 minutes of breath work
- 15 minutes of energy body stimulation (leg work)
- 5 minutes of energy body bouncing
- 15 minutes of energy body stimulation (arm work)
- 10 minutes of energy body bouncing (arms and spine)
- 5 minutes of energy body bouncing (full body)
All these exercises are explained in detail earlier so there's no ambiguity.
As per Astral Dynamics, the authors describe several different ways to manipulate and massage the primary energy centers (chakras) (pg. 119):
- Brushing
- Stirring
- Sponging
- Wrapping
- Tearing
The book talks about all the energy sensations and pre-lift-off sensations. For example, it talks about the heart racing thing, and gives solid recommendations:
"Please trust us here. A racing heart center will not hurt or damage you in any way, but it can take time and an act of faith to get past this sensation during an OBE exit. A racing physical heart has never ever been detected in any sleep lab or OBE research studies, even when the resulting evidence suggests that OBEs have indeed occurred." (pg. 113)
Part 2, "Liftoff" gets deep into the actual techniques, what to do and what not to do.
The exercises in part 1 are simple but effective. For example, performing reality checks ("Am I dreaming? Is this normal? Can I levitate?", etc.) throughout the day, the "Ring Technique" for learning to calm the inner chatter and stop the inner dialog. Write numbers from "1" to "12" on sticky notes and stick them to a wall. Stare at the number "1" and breathe slowly but deeply, then go on to "2." If after "2" your focus was interrupted by inner dialog or chatter, go back to "1" otherwise go on to "3". Any time you lose your inner focus, start over at "1" again. This trains you to hold an uninterrupted focus longer and longer.
This book has tons of exercises and techniques. For example, the section on trance techniques contains:
- Elevator
- Ladder
- Steps
- Climbing down a rope
- Feather
- Smoke rings
- Personalized trance (pg. 145)
Some of the other OBE techniques ("methods") described in the book include:
- Rolling-out technique
- Bruce's famous hanging "Rope" technique
- Reverse rope technique
- One-handed rope technique
- Chasm-crossing rope technique
- Water Ski Rope technique
- Rope cargo net technique
- Balloon technique
- Steam Engine technique
- Big Wheel technique
- Point Shift technique
- Steam technique
- Rocket technique
- Boomerang method
- Walking and Falling method
- Driving method
- Bouncing Ball technique
- Floating Turn technique
- Corner Fingering technique
- And many others.
But the book has more than just 90 days of exercises. It goes way beyond that. For example, it talks about fasting (up to 3 days and no more). It talks about altering sleep patterns. It talks about Wake-Back-To-Bed (WBTB) which it refers to as Wake-up Time Patterning. It talks about Controlled Sleep Deficit. It talks about how you need to maintain a certain level of discomfort to ensure lucidity. It talks about strength and vitality issues, reasoning problems, and problems with eyesight.
It explains how to tell when you're in the real-time zone versus one of the astral planes. It describes the astral planes and how to move from area to area. For example, it suggests diving down into the surface of the plane, which often look like repeating grid patterns, similar to diving into a pool.
It talks about "astral tubes" and "astral winds" that sometimes whisk you away.
The book also contains a lot of information on problem solving. For example, it talks about aches and pains, cobweb feelings, distracting sounds, saliva problems, inability to enter trance, going too deep, sleep paralysis, the boredom barrier, falling asleep during trance, snoring, the Guardian of the Threshold (although they don't call it that) and others. (pgs 150-155).
Perhaps the most valuable part of the book is the "Daily Tips" that are given for each chapter. Each day has tips from both Robert Bruce and Brian Mercer. Bruce's are solid advice on how to approach the daily exercises based on his many years of experience. In a way, Mercer's tips are more valuable and more useful. Since Mercer was new to the Astral Dynamics material, he gives a unique "outsider's" perspective. For example, he describes when he first did the exercises, what he did wrong (and right), and ways he got around the sticking points. Mercer says things like:
"If you find it difficult to sweep energy from the feet, legs, and up through the primary centers in one continuous motion, try this: start with the feet and sweep energy up through the legs to the base center during one inhale. Rest your attention there until the next inhale, when you'll sweep energy up from the base center to the genital (or navel) center and hold on until the next inhale." (pg. 139)
In other words, he gives very straightforward, very practical advice on the exercises.
In another example, he talks about problems he had with the "rope" technique, and how he solved them by imagining a "goal" at the top of the rope, like a city hovering in the clouds. In another exercise he recommends you imagine a background so the rope has a backdrop with which to gauge your progress. In another place (pg. 268) he recommends developing a rhythm or beat to the climb to increase effectiveness. Great ideas!
The authors depart from Astral Dynamics to embrace more modern techniques. For example, they borrow from Michael Raduga's The Phase in recommending you dynamically switch techniques as you practice. They even repeat some of William Buhlman's suggestions, like "Clarity Now!" and demanding light.
I was pleased to discover my first book was in the list of recommended reading. I guess I made a positive impact!
I give this book a full 5-star rating. It's well written, well organized, and chock full of tips and techniques to achieve astral projection. It even contains several small narratives to illustrate points in the book. What's not to like?
I dare say this is better than Robert Bruce's original Astral Dynamics.
Bob Peterson
27 August 2024
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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.
