Matt Rouge's guest post inspired another longtime reader to offer his thoughts. Cyrus Kirkpatrick, who's already put out an impressive number of books (see his Amazon author page) offers an excerpt from a forthcoming book with the working title Life After Death For Skeptics. He calls this story "my personal validation of the topics commonly discussed here on MP’s blog."
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Despite my years of interest in astral exploration, there had always been a disconnection between personal experience and research. Trying to understand something without experiencing it first-hand only takes a person so far. Astronomers can at least observe through an instrument the effects of a phenomenon as theoretical as a black hole to confirm their research. But for the idea of other planes of reality, how can theory be confirmed personally, short of having cardiac arrest and being sucked out of one’s body?
In early 2014 I began to experiment with sleep states and lucid dreaming. This led to my discovery of peculiar moments shortly before entering sleep when I would feel an unusual electrical sensation that could spread from the bottom of my spine upwards. It’s not a comfortable sensation, as it’s like being mildly shocked. Over the years I’d learn to resist the feeling, or ignore it, before falling asleep.
From reading other reports, I identified the sensation as a precursor to the out-of-body experience (OBE). One theory about these “tingles” is that it’s a vibrational shift. The physical effects of your “other” body disconnecting from what we call the physical version. Regardless, I began learning to maintain the feeling for longer periods of time. This led to sensations of being disconnected from my body, and looking around my bedroom despite the fact that my eyelids were closed.
One morning I had fallen back to sleep around 11 AM. I immediately entered a lucid dream state. I have no memory of the initial dream, except I returned to a normal “waking” level of consciousness during it. As I enjoyed the dream, I began to feel the familiar electrical sensations in my body. Suddenly, the dream “melted” away, and I was back in my bedroom spinning.
At this point, my consciousness was only slightly better than the normal lucid dream state. However, I could sense a gradual increase in my consciousness levels. I glanced to my left and looked in the mirror, and noticed I was a few feet above my body, flailing my arms around as I awkwardly floated in the air. In this form, I was wearing cotton pants and a red T-shirt. In bed, I was in just my underwear, but on the head of the bed were the same two pieces of clothing that I was planning to wear after I awoke. Somehow, my “astral” body had duplicated them, which I found odd (why not just go OBE in my underwear?).
Regardless, I then sensed I was traveling “upward.” I thought I was in the attic of the house I rent. But it seemed “different,” like someone else’s home. My consciousness came in and out of focus, switching between what felt like a regular lucid dream, and something more vivid. It was a scrambled sensation, and my environment seemed to fluctuate, until finally I was in a place that felt very “solid.”
I was on a stone walkway, and there were trees lining a kind of veranda that was attached to a bigger stone structure like a temple. My first instinct was that I was having one HELL of a lucid dream. And so, I wanted to experience as much detail as I could before I woke up. I went to a tree and inspected it. It was then I discovered the tree was a really amazing specimen. Every single leaf on it would fluctuate in color, and the colors seemed to respond to my touch or my thoughts. The leaves flashed between blue, magenta, purple, green, etc.
At this point, I began to wonder if I was dreaming, or in some type of literal other realm. So, I began performing tests on my environment. I held my arm out and focused hard, attempting to create an object (in this case, an apple). From my experience with lucid dreaming, such mental states are extremely fickle, and you can shape and alter the environment through your willpower alone.
No such luck making the apple appear; nothing could be manifested or changed in my environment. The place was solid and felt “real,” but at the same time it’s like I could sense my body lying comfortably on the bed, asleep. It was like I was in two places at once, similar to lucid dreams, but there was something far more striking about this realm than typical dreams.
At this point, I decided to just start trying to explore as much as I could. So I headed in a random direction away from the temple, and found myself in the foliage. I was pushing through brush, sticks, and twigs as I left the path behind. At some point, the foliage cleared away and there was a well maintained dirt road. The road was actually the path to the temple I had just visited. So, I started marching the opposite direction.
As I walked down this road, I saw two people coming my way. A man and a woman. When they saw me, they both stopped their conversation together and stared straight ahead at me, almost shocked to see me. I stared back at them. Suddenly, the man started waving his arm in the air. What he said I still find amusing. “Hello over there! You’re in the afterlife now, what do you think of it?”
At a loss for words, I approached closer. I immediately identified them as Eastern Indian. The man wore a brown and gold colored outfit common among Hindu men, with what I identified as a very fancy looking turban. He appeared maybe 30 years old and he reminded me of a very well-groomed Bollywood star. The woman was wearing a white and blue sari dress, and her arm was hooked around the man’s arm.
At this point, something hit me. It was the weight of the experience. I tend to be a very calm and non-reactive person by nature. When I had a very bad injury in 2012, and I lay on the ground with a useless broken leg, I asked to borrow an onlooker’s phone for an “I’m critically injured selfie” as a way to make light of the tragedy. In other words, I like maintaining calm even in drastic circumstances.
However, this particular experience was too much for even me to bear. I started to have a panic attack. I landed on my knees and I was hyperventilating and, to an extent, crying. I’m not entirely proud of this fact, but it was an emotional overload. The couple rushed over and they both put their arms around me and tried to talk to me. Finally, I mustered up what was wrong, and why I was so distraught.
“This is my problem,” I explained. “I’ve spent much of my life studying these alleged other planes. Now that I think I’m in one, it’s like I can’t tell if you’re real, or if this is some type of illusion created by my brain. In fact, that’s the big question I’ve spent so long trying to answer, and now I’m just even more confused. You see part of this is still very dreamlike, I can still feel my other body lying on my bed sleeping. But all of this also seems completely real, at the same time. I hate to imagine that when I someday die, I’m going to be in a confused state like this, stuck in-between a dream and reality.”
“Look,” he answered. “I actually know what you’re saying. You have to understand that the borders between the dream world, and our world, are extremely confusing. It might not feel like you’re entirely physically here right now. But let me assure you of something.” He stood up and started stomping his feet on the ground, kicking up dirt with his shoes. “See that? I’m here, I’m really here, and it’s completely physical and real to me. When you actually cross over to my side, you’ll discover it’s the greatest feeling you can imagine to wake up and really be here.”
I started to wipe the tears off my face. “OK, well I’ll take your word for it that you’re not in my brain.”
He knelt next to me again. “You have to remember something, the key to going between these worlds lies in what you’re doing right now, which is called astral projection. That’s how you can come here at will.”
“OK, but how do I do that?”
“You have to learn to embrace the fear. When you feel frightened as you are going out of body, you have to push past it. OK? When you are ready you’ll be able to come back here.”
“OK.”
Then, suddenly, a shift occurred. Everything turned hazy, and in a flash I was awake again in my bedroom, saying out loud “Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.” It was now 11:30 AM. The whole experience did feel to be about half an hour, so there was no time discrepancy.
The first thing I did was grab my laptop and began dictating, word for word, as much of the experience and my dialogue as I could remember. This was not hard because the memory did not feel dreamlike, but it was more like something I had physically done, like I had just been to the grocery store.
What this man told me is the only way I’ve been able to make any sense in my mind of these discrepancies between dreams and supposed other planes of reality. That unless we are completely disconnected, as in the case of certain near-death experiences, our minds must process these worlds through a mental state that is often sub-par in terms of true physical awareness.
As our awareness increases, the dreamlike elements subside, and we are brought closer and closer to a “vibration” that matches what residents on these astral planes experience.
The way the Hindu couple looked at me with shock when they first saw me gave me the impression that I was a phantom in their world. Maybe I was partially translucent, or some abnormality gave away the fact that I was not supposed to be on their side. Their response of “Welcome to the afterlife” could be because they believed I was a recently deceased person, who had just landed on their side. Perhaps this is how the newly departed commonly arrive on this particular patch of astral real estate—lost, confused, coming out of the bushes and questioning reality.
Since this experience, I have slowly improved my OBE skills. At times, however, I am still held back by the same fear I was warned about. It’s such an overwhelming experience, that I need to slowly adjust to these concepts before I can return to such a particular realm and be able to keep my head on straight during it.
In the end, the most convincing part of this was my interaction with the couple. When I communicate in dreams, it’s like some part of me understands that the people I interact with are figments of my own consciousness, which is distinct from talking to people in real life. Communicating with this man, however, felt like a real conversation, with a real person, complete with all the tiny details when really talking to somebody—from body language, awkwardness, to identifying social cues.
Further, I found his exotic outfit to be unusual, as I had never seen it before. Later, after browsing Google image search for traditional Indian clothing, I identified the exact style of dress he wore.
For me, this trip was like the astronomer peering through a telescope and confirming research through observation. The only problem is that the telescope isn’t available for just anybody to look through.
***
You can keep up to date with Cyrus at his very non-esoteric related blogs, www.cyruskirkpatrick.com and www.unchainedlifestyle.com. Life After Death For Skeptics will be released in mid-2015.
Cyrus, what a fascinating report. How fortunate you are to have been able to enjoy such a compelling OBE. I look forward to reading more about your spiritual adventures!
Posted by: Bruce Siegel | November 23, 2014 at 11:28 PM
Very cool! I think as the planet goes through Ascension, more and more people are having these experiences (i.e., we are going up in vibration to 5D, the level where the Afterlife begins). I am hearing about them from other people. Also, people being asked by spirits to serve as a medium.
I will be very curious to read your book as well!
Posted by: Matt Rouge | November 23, 2014 at 11:28 PM
Cyrus wrote:
"The only problem is that the telescope isn’t available for just anybody to look through."
I agree completely. There are realms of creation for which the only known instrument for investigation is the human awareness. And, like any detection instrument (be it a microscope, a Hubble telescope, or what have you), the human awareness requires training to use -- sometimes very prolonged and rigorous training. And, as is the case with conventional physical scientific instruments, not everyone is sufficiently interested and/or talented and/or graced with enough time to learn how to use the instrument of awareness in esoteric ways.
Limitations of mathematics and physics
Mathematicians and physicists do incredibly useful and practical work. They lay out maps of material reality without which civilization as we know it could not exist.
That said, mathematicians and physicists do not convey directly the gist of anything. Instead, they merely describe processes and relationships using numbers and symbols. It's like they take numerical snapshots of reality -- extraordinarily useful snapshots! -- but snapshots that do not convey the actual direct experience of reality. Mathematicians and physicists follow on the coattails of creation.
Expecting a mathematician or physicist to cut to the heart of reality is like expecting a photographer to cut to the heart of what it is like to taste delicious food. Not possible. Math and physics are not the right tools for the job of getting to the heart of the matter -- i.e., the heart of matter. For that job, the tool of awareness is necessary.
My take on things. My two cents.
Thank you for a great post, Cyrus! I look forward to your upcoming book, Life After Death For Skeptics.
Posted by: James Oeming | November 24, 2014 at 12:28 AM
Cyrus, this is one of the most interesting OBE descriptions I've ever read. Thanks for sharing.
AP
Posted by: Paqdream | November 24, 2014 at 11:37 AM
I appreciate these types of stories. I think OBEs, whether entered from the fully-conscious state or the dream state, are becoming more common, and young people appear to be more adept at it or at least are sharing their experiences more.
I had two such experiences in 1997. I had read some information on OBEs and had the experience of "beginners luck." These were remarkable experiences entered from the hypnogogic state (the state just before full-on sleep). I felt the sensation, both times, of peeling away from my body. It was a mildly electric feeling, but it also felt like velcro separating. It was unpleasant in the way that you feel when an elevator suddenly starts falling and you have that mild discomfort in the pit of your stomach.
When having these experiences I was very conscious of the vividness and realness of it. Both of these experiences involved flying through unfamiliar yet vibrant locales. What occurred to me afterwards was that if these experiences weren't "real" then I had actually created a reality that was as solid and expansive as the "real" world I live in.
Anyway, shortly after those experiences, life for me suddenly got much more "real" in terms of my responsibilities. I became much more focused on the here and now and abandoned my experiments.
Now, all these years later, I have been struggling to achieve, again, what once came without effort, and I find it is not as easy to recapture that ease. I find myself unable to get past the "pre-launch" stage, where I feel the sensations of separation, but I can't quite get out of body.
It's apparent to me that as I got older, I became so centered on my objective reality, the official version, the materialist version, that it has become difficult to loosen those beliefs and allow these experiences. I don't think it's hopeless to get back to that state of fluidity of consciousness, but it certainly is no longer effortless. I think the problem for me is that becoming a more responsible adult has meant going with the flow of accepted beliefs. I've had to acquire many new beliefs that I now see as limiting my potential for this subjective exploration. That's not to say you can't be a responsible person and explore consciousness. It's just that modern living has created this artificial separation between our subjective experience and the world "out there."
I appreciate blog sites like this that challenge familiar assumptions. I believe the world is changing, and whereas the scientific establishment still sees areas like this as taboo, eventually it will have to lose this phobia or become less relevant. As people become less afraid of being labled "crazy" or "woo woo" by the current arbiters of official reality, this type of exploration will become more common and the truth that "We are more than our physical bodies," as Robert Monroe once said, will become impossible to ignore.
Posted by: Allen | November 24, 2014 at 01:23 PM
Cyrus, what a fascinating report. How fortunate you are to have been able to enjoy such a compelling OBE. I look forward to reading more about your spiritual adventures!
Thanks, Bruce. It was definitely an interesting trip. I'm still envious of people who have had actual NDEs. What my experience still lacked was the normal level of awareness (or higher, as some report) of those experiences.
Posted by: Cyrus | November 24, 2014 at 03:07 PM
Allen said:
"What occurred to me afterwards was that if these experiences weren't "real" then I had actually created a reality that was as solid and expansive as the "real" world I live in."
What an interesting thing to say. It reminds me of what someone else reported -- I wish I could remember who it was.
After describing a series of gradually more and more persuasive OBE adventures, he says that he had to call a halt to them. And that's because he was beginning to find himself in situations in which he didn't know whether he was in body or out of it. Which led to some dangerous predicaments, such as while driving, or in other situations in which one needs to be very clear about what's "real" and what's not.
Posted by: Bruce Siegel | November 24, 2014 at 03:58 PM
Michael -- congratulations on your decision to have guest posts. It is helping us to see old posters in a new light, bringing some new blood to the comments section, and just generally freshening up the atmosphere.
I notice too that Cyrus's top-notch contribution has encouraged someone like Allen to come out of the woodwork with his own story. I'd particularly love to see more guest posts from people who have interesting experiences to share.
Posted by: Bruce Siegel | November 24, 2014 at 03:59 PM
Cyrus, congratulations on all fronts.
The OBE world is very bizarre and sooner or later will deeply challenge all of what you once thought to be real.
I hope you don't mind, but a little advice. Keep a level head. Don't become obsessed and don't jump to conclusions.
Posted by: no one | November 24, 2014 at 05:39 PM
It makes for an entertaining story for believers but as Dr. James Hyslop would say, "Nothing for the scientific man."- AOD
Posted by: Amos Oliver Doyle | November 24, 2014 at 09:32 PM
Fascinating post Cyrus.
As I read it there were many parallels with an experience I had earlier this year and which involved an experience with a pet a lost last year. I shared some of the same elements: feeling separation of consciousness and of being aware of both (although in my case only a few inches of separation), the indescribable realness of the experience, unexpected details. I also remember the feeling of returning to full normal consciousness and thinking "oh wow".
Posted by: Paul | November 25, 2014 at 02:38 AM
I had a realer experience than even this one, actually, only last month. Involved a spirit communication while I was in the OBE state, merely in my bedroom. Just like a phone-call, really. We chatted for a while about different subjects, including my research into life after death. The normality of all of this is increasing. And it feels good. As for becoming obsessed with it. Well, in a way it's always been an "obsession", but I maintain a level-head. I suppose that's where the "skepticism" part comes in.
Posted by: Cyrus | November 25, 2014 at 05:11 AM
I've had OBE/astral experiences along the same lines, although perhaps not as intense.
I've experienced OBE 'exit signs' which in my case take the form of vibrations, which begin in my limbs and then rush up to my head prior to an exit.
My heart chakra also goes nuts. It begins with a pounding heart, but then it goes way beyond that and you realise that the heart chakra has opened; this then kicks off the vibrations.
I discovered the phenomenon of 'vibrations' and 'heart chakras' years before I ever read about them, so I know these are real. Of course, I can't (and won't try to) convince anybody else who has not experienced such things, and thus objective empirical evidence is still lacking, but I have proved it on a purely subjective empirical basis for myself.
Posted by: Douglas | November 25, 2014 at 11:55 AM
"My heart chakra also goes nuts. It begins with a pounding heart"
I found that too. It was very disturbing. Frightening really, especially when combined with the intense vibrations. However, over time/several OBEs these effects decreased to where they were minimal, if present at all.
Posted by: no one | November 25, 2014 at 03:12 PM
Bruce wrote, "I'd particularly love to see more guest posts from people who have interesting experiences to share."
The invitation is open, though I can't guarantee that all submissions will be accepted. People can reach me via private message on Facebook or Twitter or via email. See my author site (linked in my signature below) for contact info.
I like guest posts because I don't have to write them. :-)
Posted by: Michael Prescott | November 25, 2014 at 08:11 PM
The first time I used a Hemi-Sync recording, I got into a very deep state of relaxation and then felt my body start to tingle/vibrate strangely. Unfortunately I panicked and snapped out of it. Later I realized this could have been the prelude to an OBE. I've used Hemi-Sync occasionally since then, but I've never had the tingling feeling again.
On a different occasion, I did have a very vivid dream in which I left the couch where I was sleeping and floated upstairs to my den, where, for some reason, I entered the walk-in closet. Inside the closet I seemed able to concentrate my energy, and I had a very emotionally powerful sense of union with another consciousness, like a soul mate - someone who was waiting for me, and whom I unconsciously had missed greatly. The experience was accompanied by a sense of tingling/vibration which intensified markedly during the episode in the closet.
I remember being quite interested in how I was floating weightlessly up the stairs and was able to pass through the closet door. The decision to go into the closet was odd, but possibly it had something to do with the need to concentrate one's energies in a confined space (like the "cabinet" in a seance).
Of course, I have never been sure if this was an actual OBE or only a vivid dream. I was asleep at the time, so a dream is certainly possible, but the intense tingling/vibrating sensation, the sense of energy or heat building up in the closet, and the emotional quality of the experience were all very un-dreamlike, I thought. And normally I don't dream about leaving my body or wandering around the immediate vicinity; in fact, this is only such "dream" I can recall. Still, there's no way to know. I had read a lot about OBEs, so maybe my subconscious just manufactured the illusion of one. I personally incline toward the idea that it was a real OBE, but I wouldn't insist on it.
Posted by: Michael Prescott | November 25, 2014 at 08:22 PM
Interesting stuff Michael! I note that No One also reports vibrational effects associated with OBE states.
I think enough people have experienced vibrations and 'chakras' for us to acknowledge that these things are real. If enough people subjectively report the same phenomenon, then at some point we have to accept this as an objective fact, even if we can't replicate it on demand in a lab using the standard scientific inductive/deductive method.
It's tragic really. Because we can't produce these experiences on demand, then they are dismissed as anecdotal by the so-called experts.
Posted by: Douglas | November 26, 2014 at 05:03 AM
Michael,
I think all dreams *are* OBEs. They just may or may not have veridical content.
Posted by: Matt Rouge | November 26, 2014 at 06:34 AM
Michael ,
Your OBE experience in the comments was intersting to me because in numerous accounts of Hauntings and poltergiest activity the mediums are always drawn to closets or enclosed spaces where these beings seem to lurk before venturing out to interfere or be seen with human occupents
To me this is 2 seperate incidents giving some sort of validation to both experiences.
Hauntings seem to follow some sort of rules based on our reality which the spirit world is totally different from
Great blog by the way
Ken Lee
Posted by: Ken Lee | November 26, 2014 at 08:01 AM
No OBEs for me, but it is interesting how enclosed spaces often seem to be areas where spirit energies dwell.
One of the scariest ghost stories I've ever read - well, the scariest - is Sheridan Le Fanu's "An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street." It can be read online here:http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11699/11699-h/11699-h.htm It's in volume I.
In this story, Le Fanu also points forth an interesting idea: that when we're sick, or tired, or not functioning well, spirits are more able to access us.
Posted by: Kathleen | November 26, 2014 at 06:39 PM
I love reading about these!
Posted by: Boo boo | November 27, 2014 at 12:43 AM
I've paid attention to my dreams, on and off for the last 2 years, mainly to look for their precognitive content. But in the first 12 months there were a number of seemingly unrelated oddities based around sleep and dreaming..as if the very act of being interested in such phenomena caused things to happen.
There were a couple of instances of false waking for example - waking up 5 minutes after already doing so and realising that first waking and the last several minutes of activity must have been a dream, though indistinguishable from this second "real" waking. One of these had a sleep paralysis/invisible presence element to it too..my only such experience of that kind.
Two or three times, months apart, I had dreams set - unusually - in real parts of my real home in which some invisible ghost grabbed me from behind and I ended up screaming lines from the Exorcist of the "in the name of jesus I command you" type. Which leads to the only potential hint of an OBE that I can speculate on.....
I was lying in bed, back to the wall immediately behind me, when I had this being pulled from behind sensation as if literally pulled back with a whoosh at great speed, which - if it were in the real world - would take me right through the wall. I opened my eyes with a start (I think) and seemed to be lying in the darkend hallway of hte house glancing up at the glass panels in the front door. Then I must have woken a second time in my bed as I should be, still in the dark. Afterwards I recalled that the glass panels where of a different type and shape than those on the real door...which made me wonder if I could have been, for the first and only time, both out of my body and in someone else's house. Or maybe it was all a dream....
Perhaps just as mysterious as anything else is the fact there have been no strange dream/sleep episodes all of this year.
Posted by: Lawrence B | November 27, 2014 at 06:22 PM
Boo Boo me too! Thanks for that Cyrus. I've never had an OBE, and doubt I would. I like to have some control of sorts, so that would freak me out a little I think.
I had thought of trying lucid dreaming, but haven't yet got the journal, tried techniques etc. Although perhaps just thinking about it has triggered my unconscious, as I dream pretty much every night now and remember them as well.
I worry that my lucid dreams may be just a little too weird and a bit too dark so I have held back. I keep a tight grip on things during normal conscious, and I think I might just get a bit more than I bargained for when I'm not. Lyn x.
Posted by: Lynn | November 28, 2014 at 02:33 AM