Astral Projection Without Tears
by Mark Gurriaran
Today I'm reviewing Astral Projection Without Tears by Mark Gurriaran. The subtitle is A Primer in Out-of-Body Travel. The copyright is 2022.
Unbeknownst to me, this is Gurriaran's second book about OBE/AP. I haven't read or reviewed his first book, which is titled: The Illusion of Method: Undressing the Core Practice of Astral Projection, Lucid Dreaming, and other Psychic Phenomena.
First let's talk about the negative things about the book. I'll cover the positive later.
As always, the first question I ask is the author's level of experience. In the case of Mark Gurriaran, he doesn't offer many clues. There are absolutely no AP/OBE narratives to give you an idea whether he's speaking from experience. A couple of times in passing, he says things like, "In my experience..." and such, but it's not much to go on.
The main problem I have with the book is that everything is grossly oversimplified. For example, many authors write about different out-of-body "planes" like the "etheric plane" AKA "real-time zone", a multi-leveled "astral plane," "mental plane," "causal plane," and so forth. Charles Leadbeater described seven different planes, according to the teachings of Theosophy. Robert Monroe wrote about three different "Locales" in his first book, and many "Focus Levels" in his other two books. Jurgen Ziewe's book Elysium Unveiled is dedicated to describing and illustrating numerous different nonphysical locations. Reminds me of:
"After exiting the body you'll find yourself in the out-of-body reality, also known as the astral plane." (pg. 5)
That's it. Now, maybe he's deliberately simplifying everything for a reason. Maybe he goes into greater depth in his first book. But I think details like that are important if you're going to attach a label like "astral plane" to it. I hate labels like that. I've said many times, "It's not like there's a sign hanging on the doorway that says 'Astral plane.'" For me it's more like I find myself in an unknown place, and some places feel more "heavy" and physical, and other places seem more ethereal or malleable than physical reality.
Another example of the author's oversimplification (and he even admits this upfront) is how he describes people as having just two aspects: A conscious self and a subconscious, which he simply calls the "nervous system," the same system that controls our automatic breathing, heartbeat, etc. He says we need to motivate our "nervous system" to achieve an OBE. In my opinion, it's a lot more complicated than that. In my opinion, there's a big separation between the subconscious and the "autonomic nervous system" that keeps our heart beating and our lungs pumping. Not to mention the "Higher Self" that so many authors, like William Buhlman, talk about. Or, say, the "ego," "id" and "super ego" that Sigmund Freud wrote about. He's right, though, that we need to motivate our subconscious to achieve OBEs. Sylvan Muldoon observed that almost a hundred years ago in his classic The Projection of the Astral Body.
There are several places where I disagreed with the author. For example, he seems to say that "seeing everything black" only happens to novices:
"However, most practitioners' first experience is seeing everything black, feeling intense fear and returning almost immediately to the body as a result." (pg. 6)
He assures the reader that the problem will go away with experience.
None of that is true. In fact, "seeing black" may be one of two things: First, if you're too close to your physical body, it often interferes with your eyesight. Second, you might be in "The Void" which is a jumping-off place that several authors describe. Frederick Aardema's book Explorations in Consciousness describes this well. See my blog article in the "Problem solving" section of my "blog" page on website titled Problem 8: I Get Out and I'm Blind.
As for beginners having intense fear: that's also not true. In fact, people's first out-of-body experience is almost always one of joy, elation, and wonder, with absolutely no fear. You can verify that by reading any number of books, like any of Robert Crookall's OBE-heavy narrative books like The Study and Practice of Astral Projection, or With the Eyes of the Mind by Gabbard and Twemlow, two professional psychiatrists who studied OBEs. Or other books of OBE narratives, like Herbert Greenhouse's expansive book The Astral Journey.
I also disagreed with this statement:
"However, as soon as we astral project, we can no longer imagine--our five senses suddenly start to perceive the astral reality with incredible vividness and realism." (pg. 15)
Well, that's completely wrong. When I was first learning astral projection, I used to try to visit various people, like my friend Lisa ("LD" from my first book). Many times I tried to visit them by using my imagination: I would imagine their face, their presence, the way they "feel" to me, etc. It took me a long time to get learn that skill. Hell, I've used my imagination in countless out-of-body experiences. In my first book, chapter 20, I described what I call "The Fantasy Trap" where my conscious awareness got "blurred" back to a lucid dream or even a normal dream because I let my mind wander too much. You can read it at this link. Your imagination works perfectly fine in an OBE, but it can definitely pull you back into the dream state if you're not very careful.
I also disagreed with this statement:
"Now, the next thing you must know about OBEs is that they don't take place in a state of full wakefulness....you cannot have it if you're walking your dog, eating a pizza, writing an essay or playing video games. You need to enter an altered state of consciousness." (pg. 32)
Well, that's not entirely true either. While you should focus your astral projection efforts on altered states (like the hypnagogic or hypnopompic), they can, in fact, happen in broad daylight, while you're wide awake. This has happened to me on more than one occasion. One time I was walking down the street and suddenly found myself in an OBE and my body kept on walking as if nothing had changed. Another good example is in the book Loved by Mary Dioma where she describes (among other things) an intense out-of-body experience while driving her car in heavy traffic! I seem to recall another example in Gary Wimmer's book A Second in Eternity.
But the main thing I disagree with is: Gurriaran writes that you need to let your mind drift. He writes:
"The mind can only reach deeper states if it's relaxed, and in order to relax it cannot be expectant over anything--it has to flow aimlessly as if it was dancing." (pg. 37)
Not in my experience. The key, I've found, is focus, which is different from concentration. In my favorite technique, I focus on an imaginary object that's moving. It's even better if you work your way down to the hypnagogic state, then "focus" on the hallucinated images you see or the hallucinated sounds you hear. Still, your mind should remain passive and act as an objective "observer." If I let my mind flow aimlessly, I'll just fall asleep.
He also writes:
"...if you want to have an out-of-body experience you cannot obtain it by trying to force the exit or waiting in expectancy for separation to occur." (pg. 45)
That's not true either. Plenty of people have obtained it through the use of intense focus.
Mark Gurriaran's out-of-body technique is oversimplified too. Here is a summary of the steps he recommends:
- Ensure that you are fresh and rested (e.g. mid-day).
- Lie down intending to have an OBE.
- Rest in a comfortable position during the whole session.
- Forget about the goal and pretend that you fall asleep.
- Instead of falling asleep you will leave your body.
In step 1, he recommends you make your attempts when you are fully rested, like the middle of the afternoon on a non-work day. I agree that you should avoid practicing at your normal bedtime. I used to practice on weekend mornings. Most OBE books recommend you practice in the early morning. But that's not the final word on the matter. Many OBE books say that broken sleep is conducive to having OBEs. A lot of new parents start having OBEs because their newborn baby breaks up their sleep. So "fresh and rested?" Maybe, maybe not.
Step 2 is great, because as many experts say, intention is almost everything. It's what motivates the subconscious.
In Step 3, Gurriaran recommends a position that gives you the most comfort. That may work for him and for others, but a lot of experts recommend being slightly uncomfortable. Gurriaran even addresses this, but frankly, I didn't buy into his explanation. I've had plenty of OBEs in slightly uncomfortable positions. He says:
"When we are in an uncomfortable body position, the body becomes rigid and tense, therefore being unable to relax." (pg. 56)
Well, that's kind of true, but as I said, I can still fall asleep in a slightly uncomfortable bed. Many times I've induced OBEs when I'm staying overnight at my in-laws house in a much colder room than I'm used to, and on a much smaller bed than I'm used to. The slight discomfort doesn't stop my body from sleeping, so relaxation is not a problem. But with so little space, I can't roll around, so I sometimes wake up stiff and sore. Given the slight discomfort, my subconscious doesn't let me get too deep into sleep, and my conscious awareness is closer to the surface. The same can be said for hotel rooms, which are often uncomfortable and brightly lit from outside.
In step 4, pretend you fall asleep, he writes:
"In short, mind-wandering is what I mean by 'fake or pretend that you fall asleep.'" (pg. 63)
As I said earlier, letting my mind wander will only put me to sleep, even when I'm fully rested and alert during broad daylight. I remember one time I told a friend, John, that I had very good control over sleep, and I could sleep on demand. He didn't believe me and challenged me to fall asleep right then and there, middle of the afternoon, in a brightly lit room, wearing headphones that were playing loud, raucous music. I took the challenge, put on my headphones, cranked the volume up so loud he could hear it, and started playing "Powerslave" by Iron Maiden, and boom, I forced myself to sleep. The trick, as I told John, was to learn to direct your attention where you want it, to the exclusion of all sensory distractions. But I digress.
Step 5 is way too vague. The OBE is just supposed to magically take place because the conditions are right? Or because you pretended to fall asleep? For me, it's never been that easy. For me, what's necessary, as I said before, is focus: "passive observer" focus. And I almost always need to initiate it by exercising the intent to move. See my "Almost Move" technique for details.
He says:
"You don't need to imagine your way out because words are more than enough, plus the problem with these techniques is that, as stated above, you you spend your whole session imagining what you want to occur rather than just letting it go." (pg. 55)
There's something to be said for stating your intentions to have an OBE and "letting go" but I think it's more reliable to "knock your story of experience off its tracks" by using your imagination to override the data your brain is getting from the physical senses.
He writes:
"You simply need to stop resisting the experience; as soon as you allow it to happen, it will happen." (pg. 101)
I don't know, man. He doesn't know how many countless hours I've spent "allowing it to happen" unsuccessfully!
Okay, I've talked about the negative, so let's talk about the positive.
Gurriaran does get several things right. He agrees with me (and many authors) that OBEs are very different from lucid dreams, and that Lucid Dreams, like normal dreams, are self-created hallucinations, whereas OBEs are more "objective" and resistant to change.
He is right that we tend to overthink things, psych ourselves out, judge our own abilities by past failures. Most of us don't "let go" to the extent we need to for OBEs to happen. Most people don't let themselves drift close enough toward the sleep barrier, for fear of falling asleep.
Some authors describe how they return from OBEs feeling tired or drained. My experience is that I come back feeling super energized, and Gurriaran agrees.
"I rarely wake up refreshed from sleep, but I feel fresh and rested after an OBE." (pg. 18)
This is probably the only AP/OBE book I can remember that talks about Aphantasia, the rare inability to use visual imagination. Gurriaran writes:
"I know practitioners who can't imagine at all, yet they astral project on command." (pg. 14)
His advice is, like I mentioned, don't worry about it, don't try to imagine anything, and just let it happen.
Another thing I liked is this statement:
"Approach every OBE attempt as if it's your first one: don't look back on past results, nor create ideal expectations or preconceived ideas about future outcomes." (pg. 107)
That's absolutely true. You shouldn't set expectations for your attempts. Don't lie there frustrated because it feels hopeless, or because the same technique doesn't work a second time. Just be optimistic and accepting of whatever happens. And if it doesn't happen, don't kick yourself. Dismiss it and hope for better next time.
The book has no OBE narratives, and the only technique is the one I described above, but in more detail. He doesn't cover what to do when the vibrations hit. He doesn't recommend any types of meditation. As a matter of fact, he dismisses and discourages the use of ages-old OBE techniques like chanting mantras (inwardly or outwardly) and occult rituals, or newer tricks like binaural beats, hemi-sync, sound-and-light machines, etc. He dismisses timeless techniques like the target technique, falling asleep while repeating, "I will have an OBE," and everyone's favorite, Rope. He doesn't give any problem solving tips. It's just...lacking.
The book is 115 pages, but the format is small, so there's not a lot of content.
I give this book 3 stars out of 5. It's not a terrible book. It's just not a great book. The spelling and grammar were okay, but the author uses exclamation points way too much, especially at the start of the book! There were just a few typos. What I didn't like is that everything was oversimplified, and I disagreed with the author on several points. His technique may work for him, but it seems naive to assume it will work for everyone.
Bob Peterson
03 March 2026
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