by Betty Shine
His wife was laughing uncontrollably. ‘I told him he’d be found out one day, but he was so sure no one would ever see him in his old togs.’
Everyone was looking at him in amazement. ‘Do you really look like that indoors?’ they asked.
His wife answered for him, ‘Yes, he does,’ she said. ‘The dressing gown belonged to his father and he won’t throw it away, and he refuses to throw those old slippers away too, because he insists that all his cares and woes disappear when he wears them.’ She threw up her hands in mock dismay, and said, ‘Now that Betty has discovered your secret you’ll have to do something about it.’ Her husband smiled. ‘No I won’t,’ he said. ‘I have less to worry about now that they all know.’
He didn’t mind at all that we spent the rest of the evening pulling his leg, we had all been friends for too long for him to be upset, but he made us take a vow of silence, so that his secret would not reach his business acquaintances.
‘Let’s face it,’ I said, ‘the only place you can relax these days is at home.’ I also confessed to looking like a tramp when I was alone. This made him feel better.
‘One last thing,’ I asked. ‘Why did I see you walking around with a cup of tea in your hand?’
‘Because,’ he explained, pointing to his wife, ‘she had gone to bed early, with a headache, and I was fetching and carrying for her all evening. That included taking her endless cups of tea.’
I was thrilled that my first remote pictures had been correct, but could not understand why I had linked into that particular friend – unless it was because his wife was unwell and my healing energies had automatically linked into their household. It was also further proof of the mind’s ability to travel through space. It was becoming blatantly obvious to me that if we do not free our minds, we cannot link in with the Universal Mind and the knowledge that is there for the taking. We owe it to ourselves to seek knowledge and, with that knowledge, to try to make this world a better place to live in. It was with this in mind that I decided to push my experience one step further by trying astral travel.
Once or twice, over the years, I had felt my mind leaving my body but I was disciplined enough to be able to pull back. I had a fear of ‘letting go’, but the idea of an energy umbilical cord gave me the courage to explore further. In the next chapter you can read about my explorations into the unknown.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Feeling exhausted at the end of a twelve-hour working day, I decided to replenish my energies by lying down on my medical couch and to ask for healing. In the next instant I felt as though I was being lifted off the couch, and a white mist was swirling toward me. At least, that is how it appeared at first. But it was not long before I realized that it was actually the reverse. I was spinning towards the mist, and had the impression that I was being pulled through a vortex. Then I found myself floating high above the earth, drifting over the most magnificent scenery of green fields, valleys, mountains, rivers and lakes. The sun was shining in a blue sky and fluffy clouds scurried below. I cannot remember having any conscious thoughts at all; I only knew that I was in a wonderful world of movement and total serenity and wanted to stay. Alas, this was not to be. The sun disappeared, and the blue sky was obliterated by black clouds, and I snapped back into my body. Snapped! That was the word; it describes exactly the feeling when my mind returned to my body.
I opened my eyes and looked around the room. I asked myself if I could have been dreaming. Then thought for a moment and decided that it had not been a dream. I had been on my first astral flight, and it had been fantastic. I closed my eyes again and tried to recreate the experience, but nothing happened. I wanted to defy gravity and fly like a bird, but I felt like lead as my mind refused to leave for a second time. Desperately disappointed, I swung myself off the couch – and as my feet touched the floor I realized that I had indeed been rejuvenated. I felt marvellous for the next few days; my mind was fully occupied with the thought of astral travel. I had often felt, whilst meditating, that a little push would send me on my way, but it had actually taken me completely by surprise. It had not been a journey where one gradually picked up speed and then whoosh! I had just had the whoosh! Without any warning at all. But how was I to do it by myself ?
For about a month I tried many different methods of meditating, but although I sometimes had a feeling of ‘lift off nothing happened. Eventually I became bored by the whole procedure, especially as so many other exciting things were happening all around me. Then, out of the blue, it happened again – but this time I was transported to a different country.
I had been giving healing to a child who lived in Marbella, Spain, and on this particular morning had received a letter from her mother telling me that the doctors had not given the little girl very long to live. I was looking at the address and room number of the hospital whilst giving the child absent healing, when I had the same ‘lift off feeling as before. This time, however, I found myself standing in a hospital room looking down on the child. It felt perfectly natural that I should be there. I noticed a crucifix and rosary on the table by the side of the bed. The little girl was asleep and looked very pale. I have no recollection of how long I stood there, but I can remember feeling exhilarated by the thought that she was going to recover. Then, once again, I snapped back into my body. I wrote to the mother telling her that I had been with her daughter in spirit, and asked whether she would confirm that there had been a crucifix and rosary on the bedside table. A month later I received a reply to my letter and the mother confirmed my observation. She also told me that her daughter had made a miraculous recovery. As I read the letter the memory of the visit became crystal clear, and I remember thinking as I had stood in the hospital room that it was as though all the thoughts and prayers of the world were merging, bringing healing to the sick child. From that day, I have never believed that praying was a waste of time. The thought is the deed.
I was disturbed by the fact that I was still not in control of these astral travels. Was someone supervising the journeys? I was completely in the dark; I had hoped that I would be given spiritual guidance, there was only silence. It was at times like these that I became totally frustrated. I did not know whether to pursue a course of constructive meditations, to elicit astral journeys, or to do nothing. There was no doubt that I was hooked on the idea. It was no wonder, I thought, that spirit entities were so happy when they gave survival evidence. They had the opportunity to fly all the time!
Absent healing was responsible for the many times I found myself standing at the foot of the bed looking down on a sick person. But after six months I was still waiting to experience, once again, that incredible sensation of flying. I needed to see the mountains and valleys again, and feel the peace and serenity that cloaked me during the flight. I was certain of one thing, however, and that was the need for discipline if I was ever to be successful with astral travel. Self-control is required in meditation but I knew instinctively that it had to go beyond that. I was convinced that once having triggered my first astral flight I would always have that ability. But how to do it?
I decided to spend half an hour each day practising different forms of meditation. Once or twice, during the first month, I nearly succeeded, and tantalizing glimpses of scenery appeared. But they were shortlived. However, it did confirm my belief that the only obstacle was my inability to let go, to allow my mind to be free.
This knowledge led me to the next phase. During my healing sessions I regularly went into trance, and it was during these times, when my mind energy was partially out of my body, that spirit doctors linked ‘mind to mind’ and worked through me. It occurred to me that if I allowed myself to imitate a trance-like state whilst I was alone, then perhaps my mind energy would be able to fly.
My first attempts were a total failure. Then, quite by chance, I found myself thinking of a young man who was seriously ill in Spain. Without any preparation, I found myself high in the sky looking down on the landscape below. I did not, at that moment, t
hink about how I had achieved it, because when one is completely out of the body it seems to be so normal. Finally, I found myself in a room full of people for what seemed like only a second, and then I was back home, opening my eyes. The return felt very gentle and I did not have the same ‘snapped back’ feeling as before. I thought about the people I had seen. Were they the young man’s family? Or had I simply dropped in on strangers? I decided to write to my patient, explaining what had happened, and ask him whether he had any idea who these people were. A week later, he wrote to tell me that it had been his birthday on that day, and his family had arranged a party for him. I am pleased to say that, after a long drawn out illness, he fully recovered.
What had I done to achieve my aim? Surely astral travel could not be that easy – and if it was, how was I going to control it? Then, suddenly, I knew! Control. My flights were being controlled by someone other than myself, and if I trusted my guardian and did not try to take charge of the situation myself, all would be well.
It became obvious to me, as in everything else connected to my mediumship, that this new phenomenon was not for my own pleasure, but to enable me to visit sick people. And what I had to do was to keep out of the way and allow my guide to do his work. How did I know it was a male? Because he accompanied me on one particular flight.
Astral flights of this nature only occur when someone is suffering a deep trauma of some kind. But I found as time went on that I was able to take similar flights through visualization.
My own experiences led me to believe that anyone who is not spiritually guided in other aspects of their life should not attempt astral travel. The following story illustrates this.
I was invited to give healing at a centre in Madrid, and understood that other healers would also be present. As I had lived in Spain for some years and could speak the language, I agreed. On arrival, I hired a cab to take me to the centre. As we neared our destination I saw a long queue of people lining the pavement, and my first thought was that there must be a popular film being shown in the local cinema. Imagine my surprise when I learned that they were all waiting to see me, as the other healers had, for various reasons, failed to turn up. In fact, I soon learned that they had cancelled their trip altogether. The situation seemed hopeless as there was only one Spanish lady at the centre, and she could not speak a word of English. I realized that it would take me all day and night to be able to help these people, but there was nothing I could do but get on with it. To save time, I told them that I would be healing them in groups of four or five at a time.
But as the day went by I became increasingly concerned. Not by the ordinary complaints that one sees all the time, but by the fact that nice ordinary people had been hoodwinked into paying astronomical sums of money to be taught how to travel on the astral plane. They had also had a guarantee, that they could achieve this in the first lesson, and as a result, there had been many casualties, and people had been left with severe afflictions because of the forced nature of the astral sessions. They had been given no spiritual guidance, and the course had been based on nothing but sensationalism.
Because of my ability to see ‘mind energy’, I was able to diagnose each person individually, and treat them accordingly. When they left I gave them some simple exercises to keep themselves earthed. If I had been unable to see the mind energy and manipulate it into the normal shape, I dread to think what might have happened to them.
One particularly distressing case was that of a young girl who, having forced the mind energy halfway out of her body, could not bring it back. She was sobbing all the time, her balance disturbed, she swayed when she tried to walk, and she was convinced that she was going mad. I placed my hands upon her head for about ten minutes, and then gradually eased the mind energy into position. Within twenty minutes she was back to normal. I wanted her never to experiment in these matters again, and sent her away with a couple of earthing exercises.
There are many people who have experienced spontaneous astral travel only once in their lives and have been happy to leave it at that. They are the sensible ones. There are others, like myself, who want to relive the sensations of flight, and to see, once again, the spectacular scenery. If you belong in the latter group, don’t even think about it. It can be dangerous. I was lucky because as a medium, I was protected from my own stupidities. But I also learned from them. I hope those readers who are interested in astral flight will take heed of this cautionary tale.
Meditation is undoubtedly the safest way of achieving mind expansion. In the meditational exercises that I have devised over the years, the meditator is always in control, and it is a disciplined process that can only bring health and happiness. Without the pressure on the brain and body, the energy system is able to release the blockages and bring new life to all the vital organs. It is the best anti-stress treatment I know.
Throughout my life I have used meditation as a way of coping with pressure. In retrospect, I realize that I was guided to the subjects I chose to study, and that the regular expansion of my mind enabled me to absorb the information and guidance.
That is probably why I have received such incredible phenomena. The mind, once free, can help us to free ourselves from the bonds of our physical bodies.
Unlike astral travel, one can meditate every day, and – with visualization – this enables us to visit the most wonderful places. And as you have your finger on the control button you can return whenever you wish. The more you meditate, the clearer the pictures will become and the more you will be able to ‘feel’ the atmosphere. Whatever methods you use to reach your destination, use the same method to return.
In my meditation and anti-stress workbook, Betty Shine’s Mind Workbook, there is an extensive list of exercises to suit whatever mood you may be in at the time. They are especially helpful in enabling each individual to become independent of outside help as the self-help factor gradually takes over. The question most people ask me in their letters is, ‘What happens if we go to sleep whilst listening to your tapes?’ There is no need to worry about this, for once you are asleep you will absorb the healing and information automatically, and your mind will act accordingly.
It seems to me that human beings are becoming control freaks, especially since the invention of the computer. Like every new discovery, this has brought with it both good and bad. The biggest problem, eventually, is the inability to let go.
Meditation is the easiest way I know of letting go, even when one is going through a bad patch. But it does help to know that because the mind depresses the brain and compresses the body when in a negative state, this in turn will lead to physical disorders. This knowledge should encourage you to reverse the process by practising positivity and relaxation. Remember, whatever your thoughts are, they will directly affect your health. The following story serves to illustrate this.
A man, in his forties came to me for healing, and as soon as I looked at his energies, I could see that he was physically crippled and mentally troubled. I encouraged him to speak to me whilst I gave him healing. At first he was reluctant to do so, but as he relaxed, he told me that his wife had left him and wanted a divorce.
‘The problem is, I still love her,’ he said.
‘What do you think caused her to leave?’ I asked.
‘Oh, my work, definitely,’ he replied. ‘You see, I’m a salesman and I’m never at home.’
‘Can’t you change your job?’ I asked. ‘After all, your marriage should come first.’
He grimaced. ‘I’ve tried, but I can’t do anything else.’
He was looking so dejected that I changed the subject and explained why he was in such bad physical shape. I told him that no matter what situation he found himself in, he could not afford to be negative.
‘Sometimes,’ I said, ‘we have to remove the obstacles so that we can get on with our lives and remain healthy. If you find that you cannot remove them, then you must find a positive angle to the problem.’
‘What do you mean?’ he ask
ed.
‘First of all,’ I said, ‘I would like to ask you if you are being really truthful with yourself when you tell me that your job is the reason for the separation. It could be that you are blaming it on your occupation to avoid the real issue.’
He looked slightly annoyed by this suggestion. ‘I don’t know what you’re getting at,’ he said.
I smiled, trying to lighten the tension. ‘Well, for instance, did you let your wife know how much you missed her whilst you were away from home?’
‘She knows I miss her,’ he replied.
I pressed on. ‘Yes, but do you tell her? Make a fuss of her? It’s the little things that make such a difference to a woman’s life.’
‘No! When I get home I’m too bloody tired to think of anything but my bed,’ he replied.
Trying to get my point across to him, I said, ‘But did you pay her a lot of attention once you’d rested?’
He frowned. ‘Not really! I didn’t think I had to. We’ve been married for ten years.’
‘Look,’ I explained. ‘It’s my job to know these things. During the healing, I picked up that it was an emotional issue between yourself and your wife, and not the job. That is why I’ve been encouraging you to recognize this factor yourself, and not take the easy path by blaming your job. If you could get rid of the apathy that has apparently been creeping up on you for some time, I think it would go a long way to solving your problem.’
He thought for a moment, then said, ‘Okay! It isn’t going to be easy, but I’ll try.’
I laughed. ‘Who promised us that life would be easy?’
He came to see me for the next five weeks, and changed considerably in that time, even though his wife resolutely refused to consider a reconciliation. She had obviously had enough!
Two years later he married for the second time, and brought his new wife to see me. He was a completely different man, both mentally and physically. As he was leaving, he turned to me and said, ‘You were right, you know, and I’ll make sure I don’t make the same mistakes again.’