Book Review: Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander

Review: Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander

Book review by Bob Peterson

When I started doing book reviews, I fully intended to do only OBE books. I didn't expect to cover peripheral topics like lucid dreaming or near-death experiences. But since I had already broken that guideline with Robert Waggoner's book, I decided I would occasionally allow myself to wander outside those boundaries. This is one such case. I promise I'll get back to reviewing pure OBE books.

One day my wife, Kathy, came home with a book she had borrowed from a friend. It was Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander, M.D.. I wasn't all that interested; I had seen it on the shelves in book stores in the past. I thought it was probably just another average lightweight Near-Death-Experience (NDE) book, targeting the masses, but since this is written by a doctor, I also figured it might offer an interesting perspective. So I meant to buy it eventually, but it wasn't my highest priority. But since I didn't own it, I had to bump its priority: I had to read it so she could return it to the owner in a timely fashion.

This book was much better than I expected. Yes, the book was written for a wide audience, and it had that warm fuzzy feeling throughout. But there's also a depth that stuck me, and that is the author's unique medical qualifications to describe what was happening from a physical perspective.

Basically, this is the story of what happened to the author, a top neurosurgeon, when his body was ravaged by a disease. While this was happening, he had a very intense and complex NDE. His case was unique in the medical field: the recovery rate from this disease was virtually zero. Everyone fully expected him to die. His body had deteriorated to the point where there was absolutely no hope of recovery: It's really a medical mystery (or miracle?) that it didn't kill him. The disease should have destroyed his brain, yet somehow, miraculously, he made a full recovery.

It's important to understand something about NDEs: They're tricky. They usually happen to people during cardiac arrest: A person's heart stops, and they have all these weird experiences--a primary feature of which is often an out-of-body experience. But what most people don't realize is that with cardiac arrest, the heart may be stopped, but the brain can still function for a while. That gives skeptics ammunition to dismiss the experience: If your brain is still active but unable to animate your body, maybe your brain is making things up as it goes, right? In other words, fantastic claims such as "I was dead for 5 minutes" sound impressive, but they're not that impressive after all. Cardiac arrest is not the same as brain-dead.


What makes this book unique is that it absolutely doesn't have that problem. The author's body was attacked savagely by E. Coli bacterial meningitis. The disease attacks the brain and feeds off the CSF (cerebrospinal fluid). It completely shut down the neocortex of the author's brain. That's the area recognized by scientists as being responsible for all "experience". That's the electrical signals ("brain waves") that are measured with EEG machines. What that means is that he should have experienced absolutely nothing if there was a purely biological explanation for his NDE. Coming from an average person, that would be impressive enough, but the author is one of the best brain surgeons and brain experts in the country. He knows full well what he's talking about. His credentials are impeccable. And he was a huge skeptic of NDE claims, until it happened to him.


His NDE is mind-blowing, and definitely not incompatible with other NDEs out there. He says the same things: The God is literally within every cell of every living organism. His description is not only fascinating, it's instructive. Toward the end of the book, he even starts talking a bit about dark matter and quantum physics, which is rare in OBE books (William Buhlman's Adventures Beyond the Body comes to mind here.)

Another good thing: the author wrote down his experience in great detail before doing any research or reading any books on NDEs, so his descriptions were not tainted by other people's NDEs.

I was surprised when, near the end of the book, he noted that you don't need to be near death to explore beyond your physical body. I was cheering him on! He gives a fair amount of credit to OBE pioneer Robert Monroe and the Monroe Institute, for helping him come to terms with his experience and to help him with his ongoing research into NDEs and OBEs.

The book is very well written, organized, and concise. It was a bit "lightweight" for guys like me who have been studying this their whole lives, but overall an excellent book.


Robert Peterson,
28 May 2014

Click here for an index to all my OBE book reviews

Book review: Out of Body Experiences by Akhena

Review: Out of Body Experiences by Akhena

by Bob Peterson

One of my facebook friends, Franck Labat, was kind enough to send me the book, Out of Body Experiences: 40 Years of practical today shared for the first time by a woman named Akhena. He described the author, Akhena, as the "William Buhlman" of France, and he was excited that her book had just recently been translated into English.

The first thing I noticed is that this is a big book, unlike most of the OBE books in my collection. This one weighs in at a hefty 410 pages. That's still nowhere near the 1248 pages of Waldo Vieira's book Projectiology, but it's still big. The font is average size, but there's enough white space so that you still feel like you're making good progress as you read. (Most American publishers would have removed all the white space to save on paper costs). Because the book is so big, there's a lot to talk about, so I apologize if this review gets too long.

First, you've got to overlook the occasional grammar and spelling issues, due to its translation from French to English. Yes, I'm a grammar Nazi and this goes against my principles, but the way I see it, I'd rather have a book in English than one in French as with C. Lancelin's Méthode Dédoublement Personnel which still hasn't been translated to English. The content is still solid, albeit a bit long-winded at times. It's a little rough at the start of the book, but it gets better: the majority of the book is just fine. Despite some simple mistakes, the translator has a good command of the English language.


Let's start by talking about the astral body. Some books claim that we have many non-physical bodies, each corresponding to different levels or planes of existence: The physical body, the astral body, the causal body, the Buddhic body, etc. Many books just state this as a fact, to be accepted with no evidence or experiences to support the claim. I think the worst offenders are the famous Theosophists Charles.W. Leadbeater and A.E. Powell. Akhena also believes there are seven bodies. She similarly teaches that the etheric body (or energy body) cannot be used as a vehicle of consciousness, whereas the astral body and others can. But at least Ahkena narrates several OBEs to back up her statements: OBEs in which she leaves her physical body, then leaves her astral body, eventually stripping off layers until she arrives at a higher-vibrational plane of existence where her spirit guides dwell. Call me old-fashioned, but I much prefer descriptions like Jurgen Ziewe's, where levels of reality are peeled back, rather than layers of bodies. Perhaps Ahkena's (and Theosophists') layers of bodies are just a metaphor for the same experience. Then there are more innovative approaches, like that of author Frederick Aardema, who writes about the effects of "body image" on our experience. It's a complex subject.

Akhena comes across as a wise and experienced OBE teacher, but I don't agree with everything she teaches. Let's start with the negative, and I'll talk about the positive later, because I want to leave you with a positive impression.

On page 79, while writing about the buzzing and the vibrations, she writes:

Don't panic. On the contrary, intensify your desire, concentrate on your objective, and the departure will take place.

I disagree: In my experience, the key here is to remain as passive as possible, or the vibrations will just fade away. Engaging your mind in any way tends to make the vibrations fade.

Similarly, I found this confusing at best: on page 61, while discussing the vibratory state, she states that:

An OBE will not occur unnoticed: the astral body's leaving is accompanied by sensations which are so strong that in general they awaken the sleeper.

This seemed contradictory to her other statements that we go out-of-body every night. She's probably just not being clear: In my experience, we're normally unconscious when this happens, so sensations like the vibrations won't ordinarily wake you up. I wish they did!

Another confusing thing: She states that the astral body is responsible for the function of the physical body. That seems wrong to me.

On page 125 she talks about astral hunger: I've never been hungry in a single OBE in 33 years of experience.

On the bottom of page 125 she states that the astral body tires, but on 126 she says that the astral body never tires. Maybe I just read it wrong?

On page 127, she says that a hollow brick wall is easier to pass through than a solid wall. I disagree. For the most part, I think it's a matter of expectations, both conscious and subconscious.

On page 133, she says:

In the astral world, you might as well give up working out a sum as simple as 2 + 2 = 4!

This directly contradicts my experience: In my first book, I wrote about how I solved math equations in my head during an OBE in order to engage the left side of my brain, which helped me see more clearly. I've had experiences in which I was predominately left-brained as well as right-brained.

She also says that the astral body is, in her words, "immoral." On page 135, she talks about out-of-body sexuality:

It is like earthly sexuality but the most sensual imaginable, and without morals. The most faithful husbands (and wives) are surprised! Those who are chaste are as risk of blushing!!!

Robert Monroe wrote about promiscuous out-of-body sex, but these both contradict my experience and most of the literature. When I'm in an OBE, I don't have sexual feelings or urges. From what I know, this kind of uninhibited sexual activity comes primarily in lucid dreams, as opposed to "astral sex" which is more subtle and "spacey". It's hard to describe, but I would not describe it, as she says, "like earthly sexuality." It's more like a loving electrical discharge of a capacitor, or an merging and exchanging of energy, a or burst of mutual internal light.

Now let's talk about the good things. I don't want to give the impression that this book is bad. It has a lot of good information. Akhena obviously has lots of OBE experience and has a lot to teach us. Here are some of the topics where Akhena and I agree:

• Like many OBE authors (but not Erin Pavlina, the subject of my previous review) she teaches that we leave our body every night.
• She teaches that our dreams (including lucid dreams) are a self-created fantasy. This is something few authors address, but I'm in total agreement here.
• She teaches that vegetarianism is not needed; she eats meat, and says it has no bearing on OBEs.

More things to consider:

• She teaches that OBE is not the same as astral projection. She believes that "astral projection" when our astral bodies project to the astral plane. She prefers the term out-of-body experience, or OBE, because it encompasses experiences of all non-physical environments, not just those confined to the astral plane.

Another thing I liked: She spends a lot of time giving examples of physical evidence to suggest that OBEs are "real". She gives several good solid examples where her OBE observations matched reality. This is something that's hard to find in OBE literature (Robert Monroe gives some, Graham Nicholls gives some, but as a rule, good evidence is scarce.) Akhena has plenty of good examples; many more than the typical OBE book. For example, she describes an OBE in which she unexpectedly finds a friend alone and terrified in a dark school room. She even sees writing on a chalkboard. The next month, she learned that her friend was, in fact, trapped for several days in a dark school room, buried under rubble after the 2004 tsunami. She didn't hear about it until the next month.

Another good thing: Akhena doesn't skirt issues. She is honest. She doesn't speak as the voice of authority, she speaks as the voice of experience. She sometimes asks tough questions, and then answers them honestly, whereas I don't always get that feeling from some authors. For example, she talks about something she calls "projections," which is not related in any way to the term "astral projection". What she means is this: When we're in an OBE (or a lucid dream), we can "project" our own beliefs and/or expectations onto that experience. Perhaps the more traditional term "thought forms" would have been less confusing. Here's an example: If, during an OBE, you call for your "spirit guide" and a Egyptian Pharaoh suddenly appears in your living room, is that really (a) Your spirit guide? (b) A projection / thought form you created out of your beliefs and expectations (whether conscious or not)? (c) an "ordinary spirit" trying to deceive you, or--to add another level of complication--(d) Your spirit guide superimposed with a "Pharaoh guise" that you've projected? She doesn't hesitate to ask these tough questions, and answer them honestly. She's not always sure, and honestly says so, rather than stating her assumptions as facts. I respect that. That's the hallmark of authenticity.

Unlike many OBE books, Akhena spends a lot of time talking about her spirit guides and her many interactions with them. There are numerous narrations here; more so than any other OBE book I've read.

She also narrates many OBEs in which she met and interacted with dead people. In many cases, these are people she knew in life. This is also uncommon in other OBE books, except for a cursory mention that it's possible. I have an account in my first book, and there's a bit of it in Michael Ross's book, but other than that, none immediately come to mind.

This book has some interesting twists that aren't found in the average OBE book. For example, she wrote about trying to cut her own silver cord, in an attempt to see if it's possible, and to learn about death (No, she was not suicidal; just curious). She was unsuccessful, but the only other narrative I can recall from the literature like this is from my own first book where I described an amusing episode of extreme silver-cord tug-of-war.

Okay, let's talk OBE technique: What does Akhena bring to the table that others don't? One of the most important things she talks about is programming your subconscious with a "trigger mechanism." For example, you'll say to yourself, "As soon as I go to sleep, I'll turn on a light. If it doesn't turn on, I'll know I'm out-of-body." This is a lucid-dream shortcut: it bypasses the vibration stage. You just need to develop the habit.

Also, like author Robert Bruce and the IIPC/IAC, Akhena uses energy work to activate the kundalini energy to flow through the chakras. She gives energy techniques, not unlike the IAC's "Velo" technique, coupled with special breathing. Her teachings are based on sending the energy of the root chakra (which she calls "The Fire") up through the spine, to the third-eye (which she calls "The Diamond").

I'll give the book a Thumbs up. There's plenty of good information and good narratives. She has the knowledge, the experience and the integrity. At times, the narrative is a bit tedious, but I was never bored.


Bob Peterson, April 2014

Click here for an index to all my OBE book reviews.

Are OBEs Against Christianity?

Are OBEs Against Christianity?

by Bob Peterson

I try to respect everyone's feelings and beliefs regarding religion. It is a volatile subject and most people feel threatened when you try to pull them out of their comfort zone. People get upset, discussions get heated, and feelings get hurt. I will never tell another person that their religion is wrong or misguided: we all follow different paths to God, and I respect that.

Still, every once in a while, some religious fanatic (always a Christian) posts on one of the facebook groups having to do with out-of-body experiences, trying to convince everyone that OBEs are evil, demonic, or a trick of Satan. Then they urge you to repent and accept Jesus as your savior, as if OBEs are something wrong. As an OBE author and teacher, I feel obliged to address this concern and share my feelings about the matter.

There is nothing satanic, evil, sinful or shameful about out-of-body experiences, in Christianity or any other religion, for that matter. To assert that it's somehow wicked is a sign of a closed and ignorant mind: you do not even know your own holy book.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul wrote:

"I know a Christian man who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of it, I do not know--God knows) was caught up as far as the third heaven. And I know that this same man (whether in the body or out of it, I do not know--God knows) was caught up into paradise, and heard words so secret that human lips may not repeat them." (2 Corinthians 12:2).

This--in St. Paul's own words--affirms that it's okay for Christians to use out-of-body experiences to gain direct knowledge of the kingdom of God.
Many people believe that Paul was writing about his own personal experiences, but attributed them to someone else due to his modesty. Some say that fourteen years prior would have been close to the time when Paul himself was stricken with his epiphany on the road to Damascus.

There are other passages in the Bible to suggest OBEs were perfectly acceptable as well. For example, the Bible's Old Testament talks about the Jewish prophet Elisha. In the second book of Kings, it describes a time when the Israelites were at war with Aram. The prophet Elisha kept the Jews out of danger by using what many believe were out-of-body experiences to see the battle plans of their enemy:

“Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedchamber.” (2 Kings 6:8-14)

Here's another example: In Jude 1:14, it references another book of the Bible, The Book of Enoch, a text that was removed from the Bible by early Church authorities because it was considered too controversial for common people. Some people refuse to accept that the Bible has been edited by men of authority, but in fact it's true. What happened was this:

In the years after Jesus's death, various Christian groups started popping up, spreading their own stories of Jesus and his teachings, even though Christianity was illegal at the time. Eventually Roman Emperor Constantine was converted and legalized Christianity. In the year 325 AD, Constantine decided to put an end to all the unofficial rumors and stories about Jesus. He held the first Council of Nicaea to decide, once and for all, the official doctrine of the Christian Church. And that's when they decided to cut books out of the Bible. The Book of Enoch was one of them.

Before that took place, several copies of the Bible were made (by hand) and brought to then-distant places like Ethiopia, in order to spread the message of Christianity to the pagans who lived there. A few of these early Bibles still remain, and they still contain the original texts like The Book of Enoch. (There were also fragments of The Book of Enoch found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.) The Book of Enoch is mostly about Enoch, the great-great-great grandfather of Noah, and what he saw when he “walked with God” (as described in Genesis 5:21). The entire text can be found online, or in books such as The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha edited by James Charlesworth (Doubleday, 1983). The text describes classical OBE symptoms:

“...and in the vision, the winds were causing me to fly and rushing me high up into heaven. And I kept coming into heaven until I approached a wall which was built of white marble and surrounded by tongues of fire; and it frightened me...fear covered me and trembling seized me...” (1 Enoch 14:8-14)

So there you go: three cases of the Bible condoning OBEs: (1) Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 12:2, (2) Elisha's OBE spying on Aram in 2 Kings 6:8-14, and (3) Enoch, the man who walked with God (Genesis 5:21, even if you throw out the whole Book of Enoch.

So now the question becomes: What evidence is there to suggest that OBEs are against Christian doctrine? None. Zilch. Zero. Nada. That's right. I challenge any Christian or scholar to find a passage in the Bible that says OBEs are in any way against Christian doctrine. I've studied the Bible (as well as many other religious texts) extensively, and I've never found anything that says OBEs are evil, sinful or against the teachings of Jesus, his disciples, or St. Paul.

So where do these crazy ideas come from? They made it up. Why did they make it up? To control you. After all, if common people were able to induce their own religious and out-of-body experiences, they just might start getting their own answers and stop going to church. They might usurp the authority of the Church. The church might lose their monopoly on God. They might lose their place as the intermediary between you and God. In short, they'd be out of business. So the Church needed a way to control the people, to keep them from having their own religious experiences, and the instrument of that control is fear. Fear of damnation. Fear of evil. Fear of excommunication. However, I believe God is love-based, not fear based.

The bottom line is: If you're a Christian, with OBEs, you don't need to merely pray to, or worship Jesus Christ, you can actually meet the man face to face. Is there precedence for that? Absolutely. Some people, myself included, have gone out-of-body and stood in the presence of Jesus Christ.

So now you're probably asking yourself: What am I trying to sell? Nothing. What religion am I? None. I do not subscribe to any religion, I do not go to any church, temple or synagogue, and I do not belong to any religious organization. Do I still love and worship God? Absolutely.

Like Christ Himself taught, I believe God is all around us, and I believe "religion" should be someone's personal relationship with God. When you start bringing in organizations like the various Church organizations, you bring in all the baggage and political nonsense: stuff that only gets between you and God.

So please: Follow your religion as you see fit. Believe what you want to believe. Walk your own path to God and to Eternity. But do your homework. Stop believing the lies others tell you, and pursue your own relationship with God, rather than spreading the nonsense. And don't tell me OBE is evil or against the Bible unless you have specific biblical passages to back it up.

If you do, send them to me, because I'd love to know: bob@robertpeterson.org

Bob Peterson
13 April 2014 

Book Review: The Astral Projection Guidebook by Erin Pavlina

Review: The Astral Projection Guidebook by Erin Pavlina

Book review by Bob Peterson

This book review is about The Astral Projection Guidebook: Mastering the Art of Astral Travel by Erin Pavlina.

This book is similar to the previous book I reviewed, (Astral Projection, by Sylvia Jacobs.) Both authors approach this using the same basic "classical" occult assumptions: that you have an astral body that actually projects to another plane of existence. Both authors give practical advice on leaving the body. However, I enjoyed this book a lot more than Sylvia Jacobs' book. There are several reasons for that.

First, although both books are relatively short (142 pages for this one versus 114 for the other) Pavlina's book uses a smaller font, so you're getting more than twice the content.
 
Second, she gave a bunch of background story: she wrote about how back in high school, she and her friends (Ashley and Jared) discovered lucid dreaming and OBEs and learned to cultivate their abilities. She talks about their discoveries, adventures and the setbacks. The trio would rendezvous, sometimes pulling each other out-of-body, and go on adventures. She doesn't expound on any scientific experiments they could have done (that would have made the book better), but there's a real human side to the book.

The author's bubbly personality and encouragement just ignites the reader and fills them with infectious enthusiasm. And she's very witty. For example, on page 51 she writes:

"So if you ever wake up in your bed, are paralyzed, but can still see, you are golden! Get ready."

Many people are scared to death when they encounter sleep paralysis. Pavlina sees it as a golden opportunity for adventure (as do I)! She changes the fear to opportunity.

Third, she addresses the reader like her best friend: up-close, personal and with fun, whereas Sylvia Jacobs wrote like she was addressing a classroom: a little dry and clinical.

The thing I liked the most about this book is the author's attitude. Even when she's talking about negative entities and conquering the fear, she keeps an up-beat attitude and a sense of humor. For example, on page 56, while talking about expecting the fear, she writes:

"...But not you. You're reading this guide book so when sleep paralysis happens to you, you're going to be thinking, "Wait, what's this now? I can't move but I feel wide awake? Oh wow, this is it. This is awesome. Hey, who are you hovering over me? Be gone foul creature, I have work to do!"

She goes on to say:

"If you rail against the fear, it will take hold of you and you'll sink into the fear vibration which will make you an easy target and a tasty snack."

A tasty snack! (She often refers to energy sucking entities this way.)

Although there's a serious side to the discussion of negative entities, she always maintains an upbeat attitude. This has two very important purposes: First, anyone who isn't confident (or scared) will probably back off and think twice before dabbling, at least until they conquer their fears (as well they should). Second, someone who take this to heart learns the confidence they need to have positive experiences: As author Frank Herbert once wrote in the book Dune, fear is the mind killer. If you go into this with a fearless, almost playful attitude of exploration, you'll have positive experiences. And even if you do encounter negative entities, your own fearlessness will allow you to safely confront potential threats and get beyond them, rather than letting them conquer you (drain your energy or use your fear to control you). You can avoid almost all of the negative encounters by maintaining that upbeat attitude, which raises your vibrations.

I have to be honest with you: there were a few places in this book where I did not agree with the author. First, she insists that we do not leave our bodies every night during sleep. I disagree. In my experience, we do, but we're normally unconscious and unaware that it's happening. Most OBE authors agree with me on this point; Pavlina is one of the rare exceptions.

I also disagree with the author's assessment of the mechanisms by which we're pulled back to our bodies in an emergency. She writes that your body pulls you back in times of need (alarm clocks going off, phones ringing, etc). I disagree. I think it's your subconscious self, super-conscious self or "higher" self. In other words, it's some form of superior intelligence that controls the whole show. I think she's crediting the physical body with a bit too much intelligence during an OBE; I think of it as more of a tool, a kind of meat puppet that knows the basics of breathing and pumping blood while I'm out on an adventure. She treats it, humorously, like some kind of insecure child or puppy dog that needs to be appeased. On page 62, when talking about the actual exit, she writes:

Don't succumb to the pull. Keep going. It doesn't hurt to send reassuring thoughts of calmness to your body. "Shh, there there, it's all right, I'm not leaving you for good, just want to step out for a minute and get some air. There's a good body, just stay here, and I'll be right back." Stay calm and in control.

Despite these few points of contention, I did agree with most of what she said. She has hands down one of the most thorough discussions of negative entities and how to handle them. She describes several levels of protection, just in case one method doesn't work for some reason.

Having said that, there's a negative side to this. Many books treat negative entities with a bit more spiritual, love-oriented care. Ali Wylie's book comes to mind here. Pavlina often takes a different approach: once she figured out how to deal with negative or "dark" entities, she became a bit vindictive, purposely seeking out negative entities and cutting them down or stabbing them with a light-sword. She eventually grew out of this childish phase (and that's all discussed), but it casts a somewhat un-spiritual light on the whole thing. If you're looking for a book with deep spiritual meaning, you'd be better off reading Jurgen Ziewe's first book. Still, the information is good and, as I said, very entertaining.

Here's another example of her humor:

If you achieve separation by rolling out of your body, you'll want to be careful not to continue your descent into your floor and then possibly the ground. It's disconcerting to project and find yourself immediately encased in tons of earth.

Undoubtedly! This book has some excellent advice for preparation and execution, but it's is a bit short on the OBE techniques themselves. Sylvia Jacobs' book is better in that department.

This book is very well written, has excellent grammar and perfect spelling. I only found one or two typos. Although it's apparently self-published (the cover says www.gopublished.com), it looks and feels very professional. She obviously took a lot of time and care making it the best book it could be.

This book is not very innovative, but it is highly entertaining and very informative. Thumbs up.

Bob Peterson
April 12 2014

Review: Astral Projection, by Sylvia Jacobs

Review: Astral Projection, by Sylvia Jacobs

Book review by Bob Peterson

I finished reading the book Astral Projection: How To Have An Out-Of-Body Experience In 30 Days by Sylvia Jacobs, and I wanted to give my thoughts and observations about the book.

The first thing to note is that this book is small. It's only 113 pages long, its font is big and there's lot of white space, so it only took a couple hours to read. Compare that with my previous review of D. Scott Rogo's Leaving the Body: that was 190 pages but took me a month to read, in several carved out blocks of time (I'm a busy guy). Although Rogo's book is not even twice as many pages, it took me at least ten times longer to read, due to the small font. What this means is: Rogo's book has ten times the information.

The book makes a lot of assumptions, primarily related to occult beliefs about the out-of-body experiences. The author echoes what many of the other books say regarding vibrations, the astral body, chakras, spirit guides, Akashic records, etc. I can't say I disagree with what she wrote, but I think that many of these subjects aren't treated as in-depth as they deserve. For example, in the Questions and Answers section, she addresses the question "Why do I only see darkness in my astral body?" Her answer is:

"It is common to see darkness when you exit your physical body. This is called astral blindness. Most people are not used to their astral bodies at first, so this can happen during your first few projections.

First try opening your eyes just as you would in your physical body. Sometimes that is all it takes to start seeing with your astral eyes. Moving away from your physical body also helps to get rid of astral blindness."

While I don't disagree with any of this, there's a lot more that can (and should) be said. First, there's the whole discussion of the "cord activity range" proposed by Sylvan Muldoon, which affects astral sight. Second, there's the whole discussion of the different kinds of eyesight people experience in an OBE: I documented four in my first book and had several paragraphs to talk about it. Third, there's another whole discussion regarding the darkness and/or blackness experienced by a lot of people (such as author Frederick Aardema) described as "the void," a jumping off point for different realms of experience. So the bottom line is that the information is good, but it's "light reading." It's not in-depth, at least not for me (but I'm admittedly biased).

Jacobs does, however, give lots of good OBE advice and several solid techniques for inducing OBEs. There's nothing new or innovative as far as I'm concerned, but she does give the basics of many good OBE techniques. Some would argue she should have gone into more depth on each of these (like D. Scott Rogo did).

The subtitle is "How To Have An Out-Of-Body Experience in 30 Days". Do I think that's possible? Well, yes, the author seems pretty focused and gives a lot of techniques, and she does set reasonable expectations: to accomplish it, you need to stay focused, be persistent, follow directions, etc. It's not an unreasonable subtitle.

One problem I had with the book is this: Except for two small paragraphs on page 4 and 5, there are no personal stories, which means it's not as entertaining as some of the other OBE books out there. She speaks with the voice of authority, but she doesn't give much for credentials to say where her knowledge comes from, where she learned it, who her teachers were and what her level of experience is. However, the book is informational and concise. It is a bit dry and therefore a little flat, without a lot of personality.

You can tell that this book is self-published. The font, spacing and overall experience just aren't professional quality. On the positive side, the cover is better than a lot of them in the genre; kudos there. It's also well organized and the author stays on track. The grammar is very good (she's a good writer) but I found several typos; she could have used a proof-reader/ grammar Nazi like me to review it. These are mostly things a spell-checker wouldn't have caught. Having self-published two of my own books, I know how this works: As an author, you get too close to the work. As you proof-read your own work, you mentally read back what the book should say, not what it actually does say. That's why it's always good to get an impartial third party to review it.

This is an entry-level OBE book: "OBE 101". The information is basic, but solid. I would have liked more content: stories based on personal experience, some justification for her occult-based beliefs, better credentials, and more "personality." It's a good place to start if you're a beginner, but if you're already knee deep in OBE literature, other books may better satisfy your quest for knowledge. If you're only in it for the OBE techniques, it's a good place to start (but that's a dangerous attitude; there's a lot more to consider than the techniques).

29 March 2014

Review: Leaving the Body, by D. Scott Rogo

Review: Leaving the Body, by D. Scott Rogo

Review by Bob Peterson

D. Scott Rogo's book Leaving the Body: A Complete Guide to Astral Projection is an oldie-but-goodie from the 1980s. It's been almost 30 years since I first read it, so I decided to re-read it and post a review.

D. Scott Rogo was a parapsychologist who wrote a few books on out-of-body experiences. He was also an experiencer, so unlike many in his field, he believed there actually is a non-physical component to OBEs.

When I first read this book, it was the most practical, straightforward and no-nonsense book in the entire genre. That's not saying much, because there were so few books on the subject at the time. Now that the playing field is level, and there are lots of OBE books on the market, I can honestly say: even today, very few books can top this one for providing practical techniques for inducing the out-of-body experience.

Weighing in at just 190 pages, it gives detailed instructions of eight different techniques for inducing an OBE. The eight are:

• Projection through dynamic concentration
• Projection through progressive muscular relaxation
• Projection through dietary control
• Projection through breathing, yoga and mantra
• The (Robert) Monroe techniques
• Visualization techniques
• Projection through dream control (lucid dreaming)
• Projection through guided imagery

The first method, dynamic concentration, basically talks about the importance of impressing the subconscious and putting the subconscious will into action. This was a popular technique of Dr. Charles Lancelin, Sylvan Muldoon, and other occulists of the early twentieth century. Basically, you use these techniques to impress on your subconscious the desire to have OBEs.

The second method, progressive muscular relaxation, is more of a passive technique. Many OBE authors (myself and Robert Monroe included) stress the need for complete relaxation as a prerequisite to OBEs. Sometimes that's all you need for an OBE. Rogo describes this in detail.

The third method, dietary control, addresses the subject of restricting your diet. This is something many OBE books do not address, and or at least not adequately. The rare exception is Graham Nicholls, who addresses the subject very well in his book Navigating the Out of Body Experience.

The fourth method is a grab-bag of breathing techniques and yogic techniques. Again, this subject is rarely talked about in other OBE books. Dr. Robert Crookall gave a fair amount of attention to breathing techniques, and even devoted an entire book to the subject.

The fifth is the procedure Robert Monroe described in his first book, Journeys Out of the Body. It's the technique that gave me my first vibrations.

The sixth method, visualization techniques, is where most of the OBE literature spends its time. Rogo treats the subject fairly.

The seventh method, changing lucid dreams into OBEs is another method used by some of the occultists like Hugh Calloway (aka "Oliver Fox") in his book Astral Projection and others.

The last method Rogo covers is projection through guided imagery. Rogo gives most of the credit to Sandor Brent, although this is also described by few other books (although at the moment they escape me). Basically, this is when a facilitator does a guided meditation in order to induce OBEs.

There are also chapters dedicated to the potential of OBEs and its practical applications. It's also chock full of tidbits of OBE history, which I find fun and fascinating.

For people who want to induce their own OBEs, but having trouble getting there, this is a must-have book. The information is concise, straightforward and no-nonsense. Yes, it's old and outdated, but it's mostly just OBE techniques, and the information is solid.

Thumbs way up on this one.

Robert Peterson, 2014 March 9

Index to my book reviews: http://robertpeterson.org/BookReviews.html

Book Review: Lucid Dreaming by Robert Waggoner

Book Review: Lucid Dreaming

by Robert Waggoner

Book review by Bob Peterson

I'll have to be honest with you: I almost didn't buy this book. I've always considered lucid dreaming a different phenomenon from out-of-body experience. (If you want to know why, I'm scheduled to give a talk for INACS (Institute for Neuroscience and Consciousness Studies) in Austin, Texas, about the differences (and similarities) between the two). So I didn't give the book a high priority. "My blog is about out-of-body experiences," I told myself, "not lucid dreaming; this book has no place in my blog."

Still, some well-known authors consider them the same thing, so it shouldn't be out of place in a blog about OBEs. In the end, several people told me it was a great book (and I always pay attention to messages from the universe) so I bought it. They were right.

When I started reading Lucid Dreaming, I had similarly low expectations. Maybe it was the primitive cover the publisher gave to the book. Or maybe my focus on OBEs: ("Why should I read this book on lucid dreaming when I've still got OBE books to read?") Despite my lack of enthusiasm, I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly impressed. This is a great book: don't judge this book by its cover.

As a matter of fact, this book has caused me to "flag" more pages than any other book I've ever read on explorations of consciousness. Waggoner makes so many interesting points and observations that I just had to flag them.

Waggoner impressed me right out of the gate. My first flag: On page 28, he has a special section called "Differentiating Lucid Dreams From OBEs." Unlike Stephen LaBerge, who wrote that he thought OBEs were a kind of LD, this guy was clearly in my camp! From that moment on, Robert Waggoner won me over. He became my friend and ally, and a fellow explorer of consciousness. And I eagerly dove into his book. Strangely, he does not return to the subject of OBEs, even though it might have been appropriate (more on that later).

Like my first book, and Robert Monroe's first book, Waggoner tries to approach the phenomenon as a scientist: he reports what happened and discusses what we can conclude from it. And he does it very well. It's very educational and informative.

The book is definitely not out on any limbs. It's both professional and fair. He thoroughly discusses the different aspects of lucid dreaming, and what we can conclude from them, and where they can take us.

At the same time, it's not stale. I expected a dry, clinical discussion of lucid dreaming, but I was pleasantly surprised: the waters of this book are deep. As early as page 81, the author describes experiences that seem to go beyond lucid dreaming, and even beyond words:

In the first part of this experience, I exist without a sense of self or identity...

As if a floating point of light in an expanse of aware, living light, the self-less awareness exists. Here, all awareness connects. All awareness intersects. All knowledge exists within the brilliant, clear, creamy light of awareness. Awareness is all; one point contains the awareness of all points; nothing exists apart. Pure awareness, knowing, light.

Then, suddenly aware of the black-gray dream space and the lone figure standing there, I try to get my bearings. Recalling the aware light just experienced, I ask the robed figure, "Was that a lucid dream?"

"No," the figure replies. "To enter a lucid dream, go this way." He points to the empty space in front of him.

...As I cross an invisible boundary, my awareness hurtles through a tunnel of whitish blue light, along whose surface I see intermittently various raised symbols..."

I felt completely overwhelmed when I awoke from this experience. Was was this?

Clearly the author had some kind of transcendent experience, not just a lucid dream. He doesn't call it an OBE, but it sure sounds like one. As far as I know, seeing tunnels is a feature of Near-Death Experiences (NDE) and sometimes OBEs, but not lucid dreams.
 
This experience leads to some very interesting discussions. On page 84, he says:

...By this, I propose that awareness can step apart from the self, then reunite with self, and that is how you coherently report about a self-less state of consciousness. The self does not experience it; the self's awareness experiences it. Upon the reuniting of self and awareness, the self possesses knowledge of the awareness. This movement suggests that consciousness of self exists as a quality arising from awareness, but does not constitute awareness.

This is a deep rabbit hole. On page 85, he breaks it down and concludes, in part:

...The self has awareness, but the self is not the Awareness.

Basically, it seems to me that we clothe awareness with layers of self conceptions. Then we assume awareness results from or exists by virtue of the clothing of self-conceptions! While awareness enlivens the self conceptions, the self conceptions do not create the awareness.

That's the kind of discussion I live for. That's the kind of depth my soul rejoices in. That whole discussion--what proceeds it and follows it--are deeper than most of the OBE books I've ever read, most of which talk about bodies and spirits and souls.

In chapter 16, he discusses the topic of mutual lucid dreaming, where more than one dreamer describe the same scenery, events and conversations when they return. This is a fascinating topic: this is where Lucid Dreaming and OBEs start to intersect, although that's only my opinion, not the author's.

Chapter 17 is even more fringe (in a good way): he talks about experiences where lucid dreamers meet and interact with the dead. In some cases, they actually give the dreamer information that he or she wouldn't know. In other words, they provide proof that it's more than just a dream; all indications are that it's the real person who died. This is good stuff!

The further I got into this book, the better it got. Near the end of the book, he discusses the interconnectedness of the Universe:

From that moment on, I sensed that behind all appearances an unparalleled, profound connection exists at a deep, deep level. Beneath each experience lies a connectedness. Behind each life, each object, each action, an awareness exists joined to all other life, objects, and actions. The inner working of all this awareness spills out into a reality formed and experienced and connects all in a massive symphony of individual creativity and fulfillment.

On page 253, he writes:

As I have endeavored to illustrate throughout this book, the waking ego, the waking self, seems only a small portion of the totality of conscious and unconscious awareness.

This is one of those books where I can honestly say that I agreed with everything the author said. His treatment of the subject is fair and honest. His spelling and grammar are flawless, and he has plenty to teach us.

The book does not treat lucid dreaming as an oddity of nature, or an anomaly or our consciousness. It goes deep into what we can learn from it, where it can take us, and its potential for consciousness exploration.

This is a great book, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in doing explorations in consciousness.

February 6, 2014