Now put on the headphones, start the pink noise, and relax. It may be helpful to use a relaxation technique like focusing on your breathing. Pay particular attention to any sense of the vibrational state arising, or any energy sensations that come to the fore.
After around fifteen minutes most people start to see images, colours, and impressions arising. Go with these and try to enhance them and be fully present with these impressions. For example if you see a field of grass, try to see it vividly and try to sense the temperature or smells around you. In short, try to be there.
Once the pink noise comes to an end, take a few moments to ground yourself, before removing the headphones and Ping-Pong halves.
Make notes of what you experienced and try to recall how you felt, especially if you got to the vibrational state, as you can draw on this to reaccess the state in future.
When and How to Use Immersion
Immersive approaches are not techniques, in the literal sense, to leave the body; they are designed to plant the seeds for a later experience. The more we suggest to our unconscious mind that we wish to leave our bodies, and the more emotionally and powerfully we do this, the greater our chance of success. My system, Epicene, can lead to a full OBE, and the same is sometimes true of the Ganzfeld. However, by working with these mild forms of sensory deprivation, say in the early morning, you will experience the benefits when you use other techniques, such as before sleep, for example. It is one part in the overall process of turning your attention away from the mundane aspects of everyday life, opening up your innate psi abilities, and filling your awareness with the vast potential of the out-of-body state. We have to train ourselves to give up our preconceptions and allow new influences that offer growth and creative awareness to impact our psychology.
It should be highlighted again that extended sensory deprivation or immersion is not desirable. Since it can become stressful, those of a nervous nature or those with any health concerns should consult a professional before working with these approaches. In fact, even if you don’t have any underlying issues, I advise that you only use it twice in any week, because more often could reduce the possible benefits. The use of sensory deprivation should be approached with respect, awareness, and balance. If your use of it becomes unbalanced, it can result in unnecessary stress. You should also stop using it if you experience any form of anxiety.
Some research suggests that using any form of immersion is more effective during the very early hours of the morning, between two and four. This seems consistent with the experiences reported by religious practitioners for centuries. The work done by Michael Persinger, discussed earlier, shows a relationship between brain function and the mystical states described by all cultures. Persinger uses a device nicknamed the “God Helmet,” a specially adapted sport helmet that stimulates the brain using a magnetic field in such a way as to produce experiences that closely resemble numinous or religious experiences. His work can be considered similar to immersion, although the idea of direct brain stimulation in this way seems less appealing as a methodology for me.
Concerning Hallucinogens
We need to be fully aware of the safety of any system or practice, including the point at which we no longer feel comfortable. This is, of course, a personal decision, but careful consideration is necessary since some approaches are not fully tested and we are unaware at this point what impact they could have on general health. For this reason, I have never used hallucinogens and other forms of drugs in pursuit of mystical experiences. The relationship between OBEs and other mystical states may suggest to some people that the use of drugs might be beneficial, but I have concluded that the mixing of these two areas is not advisable. I have seen many people who have fallen victim to psychosis as a result of mixing drug use with altered states of consciousness such as the OBE.
Some hallucinogens are thought to produce experiences similar to the OBE, such as ketamine, Amanita muscaria (fly agaric), and Hyoscyamus niger (henbane). While these can produce profound experiences, I strongly advise not using this approach. Most often the experiences produced by hallucinogens and other drugs are uncontrolled and don’t include many of the more objective elements of the out-of-body experience.
Hallucinogens may offer a wider insight into the possibility of other levels of reality, which can be useful for those who have not experienced the out-of-body state and other transcendent experiences. However, if you follow the processes in this book, you will find that you can gain greater understanding and control of your psychic potential without the risk associated with powerful chemicals.
If you have already worked with these drugs, you will no doubt be aware of their potential, and you may now benefit from an approach that reaches higher levels of awareness without further use. My own spiritual approach is focused on learning to be more aware and engaged, so I believe it’s more beneficial to learn skills rather than simply taking a drug. However, I do recognize our environment as a key factor in what shapes and defines us. This leads me to believe that where we live and the influences we draw upon leads to the understandings we have. The immersive approach in this sense is a realisation of the importance of our sensory stimuli. While we cannot avoid some forms of influence, we should be very careful about what we consciously choose to bring into our lives.
Other Forms of Immersion
Flotation tanks, which were popular a couple of decades ago, are rarely discussed today. They can be very effective in relaxing the body, reaching a sense of limitless space, and reducing your awareness of your body. There are flotation tanks in most major cities, and they can be found by a simple search on the Internet. You can also create a similar setting in your own home. All that is really needed is a normal bathtub in a darkened room, with a high level of Epsom salt in the water. Epsom salt has a long association with health and vitality. It has different properties from other “salts,” since it contains sulfur and magnesium. It is made from a rock called dolomite, which is found in the region of the Alps known by the same name. Dissolved in water, it has the effect of making the body more buoyant.
The basic process involves entering a small room that is free of light and noise and floating in a pool of highly salted water for a period of time until you reach a heightened or relaxed state. This process is often accompanied by soothing music or sounds such as whale calls.
Controlled Holistic Environment Chamber (CHEC) units, developed by the Monroe Institute, also offer a sense of being separate from the everyday world and offer the mental and physical space needed to engage with your inner state. Once inside, sound technology, such as binaural beat audio tracks, would be played via headphones, slowly taking you into an altered state, or focus, as it is sometimes known. For some this is a highly effective way of inducing an OBE.
There are also ways to create a do-it-yourself, multisensory system at home using 3D glasses, surround sound, and even virtual reality technology for home use. Some of these tools can be used as an add-on to other methods. The simplest method is using a television or computer that can play video. I call this the Aerial Footage Approach (see page 192). First, find some footage of something suggestive of being out-of-body, like aerial footage taken from a plane or helicopter. This is easy to find on the Internet and gives a strong suggestion of flying and moving awareness to the unconscious mind.
Sit back in a comfortable recliner or chair and put on the footage, either in silence or with some basic music or sound. Watch the images flowing over the screen and try to transport yourself there. Don’t just see the images; try to feel the sensations you would feel if you were actually experiencing what you’re seeing. Remember, this is a form of suggestion or affirmation—you are trying to communicate to your unconscious that you are comfortable in this state and that you want to experience full and controlled out-of-body experiences. Try to spend at least an hour or so watching the footage. The more you can saturate your awareness with the
idea of weightless, limitless movement and freedom, the more likely it is that you will have an OBE when you try some of the more active techniques.
The Aerial Footage Approach is especially powerful when watched standing up. You will probably find that when doing so, your body will begin to sway. Your muscles will start to react to the visual stimulus, making the experience even deeper. This effect can be further heightened by reducing the lights or using a projector, if you have access to one, so that the images take up your whole field of vision.
Many of the approaches I am sharing in this book work best in combination with other techniques, so after using the questionnaire from Chapter 4, it is best to select the approaches for each stage that are most suited to you personally, and work with them consistently. It is generally not a good idea to keep changing approaches, unless you find a particular technique ineffective for you after a minimum of, say, a month. The impact that particular approaches will have is very subjective and depends on your psychology. For instance, some people find Ganzfeld a little strange or alien, while others love it. The same is true of the Aerial Footage Approach. I have found that Ganzfeld is better for people who are more kinetic or physical in nature, while aerial footage is excellent for people who enjoy a more visual experience. By all means experiment, but remember that consistency and a degree of discipline are important to success.
Traditional immersion systems
As well as the many modern, technological forms of immersion, there are many forms that have been used in tribal cultures for centuries. Even a temple or church can be viewed as a form of psychological immersion. Although it doesn’t have the element of sensory or perceptual deprivation that I usually include in my definition of immersion, it does surround the participant in sound in the form of music, visuals in the form of art, and even smell in the form of incense.
In Native American communities, processes such as the sweat lodge were and are used as a way to immerse those taking part in a mild ordeal with the intention of releasing psychological issues and purifying the body and spirit. Using heat to purify was also one of the symbolic meanings of the sauna in Finland and Estonia, where the sauna was considered sacred.
As with all forms of immersion, those used by pre-technological cultures were designed to push the body to an extreme of some form so that the mind would be free of chatter and mundane concerns. This results in mental clarity and a state akin to meditation or other practice designed to still the mind. It is also possible to experience some sense of this through physical endurance or sexual activity. For many people, orgasm is the only way that the chatter of the mind is dissolved temporarily. In practices such as some forms of Western Tantra, immersion in sexual intercourse and related practices can lead to transcendent states of awareness.
Physical sex can actually be a useful technique for achieving OBEs (as differentiated from “astral sex,” which I’ll discuss later). The most powerful approach is to maintain the point just before full orgasm for an extended period. If you go through the techniques for visual people outlined in the appendix, you may find that the sexual dimension and work with a partner will increase the energy and impact of the approaches. Understanding the physical body’s limits and strengths is a real advantage in learning its relationship to the nonphysical state. In the next chapter, we will explore how a greater understanding of your body will give you real control of your OBEs.
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7
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the physical
body
Our state of awareness and our well-being define the nature of our experience on Earth. This is also true when dealing with the out-of-body state. Within states of heightened sensitivity, nonlocal perceptions become more likely. Perceiving from beyond the confines of our physical senses takes place most commonly when we are in a critical condition, as in the case of classic near-death experiences, but also when the body and mind are tuned to a high level by a light, nutritious diet, regular exercise, and mental techniques such visualisation. All these things move our awareness away from the coarse sensations of everyday life and allow us to shift more easily into an altered state of consciousness such as an OBE.
The first and often most powerful change we can make to impact the physical body is to our diet. It is virtually instant and offers ongoing benefits for our health and well-being as well as our spiritual awareness.
Diet
A vegetarian diet has long been recommended for spiritual seekers. I believe this is due to an awareness that paranormal experiences are easiest to achieve when the body’s energies are not taken up by the digestion of heavy food not ideally suited to our physiology. While humans are generally described as omnivores, this is essentially an observation of our habits and behaviours; it has little to do with the way in which our bodies work. In fact, our facial muscles, jaw, mouth, teeth, saliva, stomach, small intestine, colon, liver, and kidneys all suggest that we are naturally plant and fruit eaters, not carnivores or even omnivores.1
An awareness of our vegetarian physiology has huge implications for our health, since meat and dairy products have been shown to cause or contribute to a wide range of diseases, including many cancers and heart conditions. The most extensive study ever conducted on the subject is outlined in The China Study, a book by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, a professor of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University. Campbell was so compelled by the findings of the twenty-year study, undertaken by Cornell University, Oxford University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, that he removed all animal products from his diet and became vegan.
Campbell’s findings are not surprising if we take into account the fact that our bodies are not naturally suited to diets rich in animal fats and proteins, yet in the Western world we generally consume large quantities of these substances. I have found that a diet rich in raw foods with no products derived from animals is the most suited to my physical well-being and my ability to attune myself to the subtle levels needed to have out-of-body experiences.
I first experimented with becoming vegetarian during a retreat at the age of sixteen. The changes were immediately apparent as I found that my awareness of usually unconscious emotional ties, needs, and sensitivities became clearer. I also found that my sleep was impacted by the diet change; I could sleep deeply and my dreams became more vivid. That year was also the last time I visited a doctor with anything other than a sport-related injury. I virtually never get colds, and feel that my immune system is supported by what I put into my body, rather than undermined as it was before I became vegetarian.
I took the step to veganism several years later and again felt improvement in my physical and mental condition after clearing myself of energy-depleting foods. Dairy’s effects are in many ways worse than meat. It has opiate-like effects, making people who consume it regularly susceptible to cravings. Cheese especially is high in fat and lactose, which many people, especially those of African origin, are intolerant of.
I recommend that all animal-derived foods be removed from your diet if you seriously want to attune yourself to out-of-body exploration. While experiences can be achieved on a meat and dairy diet, we are making the process harder by putting our bodies under pressure.
There is also the ethical issue of eating meat and dairy products; like many people, I believe that so-called food animals suffer at all stages of their use. If we understand that consciousness is interconnected and nonlocal in nature, then what are the implications of consuming a product that contains the attributes of abuse, fear, and death in every cell? The ethical concerns related to veganism are hugely important to any understanding of spirituality or metaphysical ideas about how we are bound to all other life. We agree as a society and as individuals that morality helps to define us as humans. It seems logical to extend this moral understanding to all life; animals have a desire to live and avoid suffering in the same way that we do. It is not enough for us to say t
hat, because they do not have an evolved sense of morality, we can therefore ignore our own morality.
When we begin to understand our interconnections with all life and practice compassion, we extend the possibilities of how we can extend our consciousness. We free ourselves from being bound to the psychic suffering of others and create a more harmonious set of possibilities for our spiritual future.
Optimal veganism
I hope I have made a concise yet clear argument in favour of veganism and its benefits to one’s psychical and spiritual well-being. But I want to go further in my explanation of veganism to explore the best way to eat to benefit every area of life. A diet free of meat and dairy, if not done properly, will not give the kinds of benefits that we want to achieve. The body must be nourished with fresh, whole ingredients. Foods are often most beneficial to us in their raw state, especially fruits of all kinds. Foods that fall within the category of fruit include the ones most of us are aware of, such as apples, oranges, and bananas, but there are many more not generally thought of as fruit. One example is nuts, which are excellent for giving the body what it needs without weighing it down or reducing the flow of energy around it. Green leafy vegetables, such as spinach and kale, are also excellent nutrient-rich foods that will not burden the body. These can be juiced or added to a fruit smoothie if the flavor of the raw greens puts you off. I have found that when added to a smoothie in this way, you barely notice that the greens are present. Another low-cost, highly nutritious food is hemp seed. It can be ground to a powder with a coffee grinder and sprinkled onto other foods or added to smoothies. There are many other highly nutritious foods that do not burden the body. I would advise you to do your own research and look into what works best for you.
Navigating the Out-of-Body Experience Page 9