How dangerous is the astral world and is it worth visiting. The astral world - what is it and how to see it? astral travelers

From the story of the practice of astral travel, you can draw your own conclusions. Oleg, 25 years old, fell into the astral plane after many attempts. Further, about the astral world, what it is will be told on its behalf.

“I tried for a long time to get out of the body, but all attempts were in vain. Now I understand that this was due to a lack of knowledge.

Getting up early in the morning without an alarm clock, I wandered around the apartment for a while. When I got into bed, all the muscles were as relaxed as possible. After a couple of minutes, I began to see images, various pictures flashed in front of me, but I held on to my mind with all my might and tried not to fall asleep. During one of the images, I decided to stand up. It was difficult to get up, I seemed to roll forward.

I started to feel everything around. I was struck by the reality of feelings. After that I woke up. But now I understood that everything is real, and continued my practices. It is not possible to get out every time, a certain predisposition of the mind is necessary.

Now I sometimes travel to my favorite places, spend this time thinking about certain situations. This helps me to stay more balanced in everyday life and sometimes see how this or that situation will end. I think with practice I will be able to stay there for a longer period. Greater concentration is needed to linger in the astral world"

What is the astral world?

The topic is quite confusing, there are many versions and sources. The astral is an existing place, it is not a dream and not a fantasy of a person. If two individuals enter it at the same time, they will meet each other. In the astral plane, you can move to any point on the planet and in any time period. There you can meet higher and lower beings, dead relatives.

You can go into the future and see what will happen in a certain period of life. But it is impossible to change something or influence events.

It is not uncommon for a person to lose interest in life after astral travel. It should be understood that the astral plane is just a projection of the entire information field, you cannot live your life there.

Astral travel is the separation of the soul from the body, accompanied by buzzing in the ears, heaviness and other unpleasant sensations. Both when leaving the body and during the journey itself, there will be an unpleasant feeling of fear or anxiety. Often, people who go into the astral do not leave the limits of their room, because of a feeling of anxiety.

astral body

It is not the soul, but the astral body that goes on a journey through the outer worlds. As you know, a person consists not only of the soul and the physical shell. It contains 7 bodies: physical, ethereal, astral, mental, causal, buddhic and atmic. Science has come closest to the astral body at a given moment of time. Perhaps in the near future new opportunities will open up for everyone.

Therefore, do not be afraid not to return or oversleep in the morning. The organism continues its work in full, and after awakening the astral body returns to its place.

If during the journey the body dies, due to illness or someone kills you in reality while you are sleeping, then the astral body will not be able to return back. Therefore, a person in old age or with poor health should not engage in such practices.

Evidence of the astral world

The astral world exists in exactly the same way as the astral body. There are many facts of clinical death, after which people talked about their travels in other worlds.

In the BBC near-death movie, you can see the story of a woman who underwent complex brain surgery. During the operation, she had to be killed, that is, brought into clinical death. But even the death of the brain, the woman, having separated from the body, heard and saw everything that was happening. After telling the doctor about the dialogues that were heard, he confirmed that this was exactly what happened.

Many esotericists in their books confirmed the presence of the astral and have been there themselves, whether it is worth believing them is the decision of everyone.

But the best proof will be personal experience, which anyone can get with some effort.

Astral world and mental world

The astral world is a display of images, and the mental world is a reflection of thoughts. They are very easy to confuse. As images differ from thoughts, so these worlds differ from each other.

The mental world is considered a higher level. To get there you have to work hard on yourself. The higher astral is a mental dimension. There is an entrance only to spiritually developed people with high concentration.

It is believed that the higher astral or mental is heaven.

Since the astral world is a kind of projection of our world, it is very similar to our planet. There may be identical cities, countries, there may be small or huge differences. On the lower astral plane, you can change forms by an effort of will, so it is rather difficult to describe this place specifically. One thing is clear for sure - it is very similar to our world.

The lower astral can appear before a person as a figment of his imagination. In the lower astral, you can change the shape of objects, create something new and play with your imagination in every possible way.

Going into the astral plane, you can move to anywhere in the world with just one thought, all you need is concentration.

You can often hear eyewitness stories about how they saw our planet from the side, while in the astral plane. The destination when entering the astral depends on the level of spiritual development of a person and his desires. He can wake up in his room, in a place from childhood memories, anywhere in the world.

3 ways to see the astral world

The subtle world is interesting to almost everyone, everyone sees dreams and wants to learn a little more about the other world.

There are several exit techniques.

First way

Fall asleep in an uncomfortable position for you. If you sleep on your back, lie on your stomach, or vice versa. The state should be calm, not excited. The mood should be indifferent. If you cling to the idea of ​​getting out, you will never really get out of the body.

Closing your eyes, you need to start peering into the bottomless void. You need to do this until images or pictures appear. After them, vibrations will appear in the body.

At this point, you need to immediately get up. Do not think about how to do it, the main action. If you can’t get up, you can roll from the bed to the floor, it’s easier for many to roll down. This is an important point!

At the same time, people often confuse reality and the astral. Waking up already in the astral plane, they believe that they just got out of bed and lie back down. After that, they already wake up in reality with a sense of a missed moment.

If you miss the vibrations and do nothing, you will fall into sleep paralysis, and this condition is very unpleasant.

Second way

In the evening, lying down in bed, you need to relax and close your eyes. Then, falling asleep, half asleep, you need to raise your hands and see them. In reality, in this case, the muscles will be absolutely relaxed, and the real hand will not move anywhere, the eyes will be closed.

When a fuzzy image appears, you need to rub your hands together with all your might. When the image is clear, you will have to immediately roll out of the physical body.

Third way

Rotation around its own axis. Falling asleep, you need to imagine how your body makes an infinite number of revolutions in one direction or another. The faster the better. The more turns there are, the easier it will be to get rid of the shell. You can alternate all three methods while falling asleep with a cycle of 15 seconds to achieve the best effect.

sleep paralysis

Paralysis occurs during exit from the body in the event that a person could not jump out of the shell in time and got stuck in it.

The body will be paralyzed, there will be fear due to the feeling of being out of control of the body. Otherworldly sounds and perhaps even images will appear. Sometimes there is a feeling of suffocation and terrible fear. At such a moment, you can’t panic, it will only aggravate the situation, you should relax and just wait until the body wakes up.

Sleep paralysis is quite common. There are many legends among different peoples about demons or witches who sit on their chests in the middle of the night and scare people, trying to strangle them. In fact, this is due to the fact that a person woke up during sleep. When we sleep, we experience a condition called muscle atony, which prevents bodily movements and paralyzes the body while we sleep. When we wake up during sleep, we get this kind of sleep paralysis. This state lasts from a few seconds to a couple of minutes.

Is the astral world dangerous?

When the astral body travels through other dimensions, no entity can harm it. Provided that a person has a strong psyche and is not afraid when he sees this or that entity.

Guests from the lower strata also exist in the real world. Invisibly to us, they are attracted to places of accumulation of envy, lust, anger. Gradually, they begin to influence people, making them slaves of earthly pleasures and vices. It should be understood that the subtle world is always present in a person's everyday life. Just because we don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

At the lowest level of the astral plane there are entities of the same level of development as a person. You can’t destroy anything in that world or try to harm entities, the consequences can even go into everyday life.

Contact with the astral world

Once on the lowest level, you can meet various entities from myths and legends. From vampires to werewolves. There are also bad souls here who could have sinned greatly during their lifetime. Travelers just like you. Also there you can meet various magicians who travel the worlds in order to study abilities.

The astral has its own laws, but each person sees it a little differently. This is due to the peculiarity of the perception of the world. In our daily life, we also see the world differently.

Feelings and contacts are absolutely real, the fact that the world is invisible does not mean that it does not exist.

If the astral body reaches the highest level, it can be said that it has gone to heaven. But the way up is open only to the brightest and wisest souls, a small number of people have been there.

Astral world of cats and dogs

Everyone heard stories about animals that came to the owner through thousands of kilometers. Or even after death they visited him. This is not all fiction. Animals often travel through the astral worlds and feel much more confident there than people.

After death, animals also enter the astral plane and continue to live there. No wonder the cat is considered a guide to the other world.

Animals can become your companions on your journey through the subtle world. To do this, it is enough to call the astral body of the animal to yourself during the journey. As a rule, this happens easily and without a hitch.

Safety precautions for work and travel in the astral world

A person's strong faith and his moral principles will act as protection in the subtle world. Gradually, when a person gets stronger, his strength will increase, and the essences will not have such an influence on his soul.

To avoid consequences, follow the safety precautions:

1. Do not go into the astral for a long time, until the practices become something familiar.
2. Do not attack entities, do not destroy the place of residence and do not imagine yourself great. You are just a guest there.
3. Going into the astral is worth it for people with strong mental health.
4. You can't be scared. Fear is the only way spirits can harm.
5. Each entity can be directly asked who it is. Because looks can be deceiving. She has no right to lie, but she can evade or simply hide.

Conclusion

Many people fail to stay in the astral or just get there. You should not be upset in such a situation, mentally weak people, as well as unprepared ones, are not allowed into the astral plane. In order to get there, you need to have a strong psyche and moral readiness. The consequences of being there can easily affect daily life. This is a serious and responsible journey where two worlds collide.

Also, only those who really want it get there, who can break through the wall and force themselves, will not be afraid and will be able to survive all the experiences.

Therefore, if the thirst for travel burns in your heart, then you will succeed, the only question is practice and the regularity of its commission.

Astral travel for beginners

0. INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Since time immemorial, people have experienced an inexplicable craving for astral travel. How did a person manage to leave his physical shell and rush into unknown distances, going beyond the boundaries of time and space? Was this ability inherent only to the elect, or did each person have such an opportunity from birth? It is quite obvious that it was beneficial for shamans to keep people in the dark about such brilliant and unique opportunities: to be aware of upcoming events, and even influence them. That is why the technique of astral exit was shrouded in a veil of mystery.

Nevertheless, there are many examples of how some people have acquired the gift of astral exit spontaneously. In most cases, the astral experience left pleasant impressions. However, some stories horrified people, forming a misconception about this phenomenon.

Fortunately, my first astral experience at the age of fifteen, although spontaneous, intrigued me rather than frightened me / One day after class, before leaving home, I went to the school library. I knew I might miss the train, but I couldn't stop looking for the books I needed to do my homework. Unexpectedly for myself, I found myself at the railway station, among other students. The sensation was quite natural, except for the distinct awareness of leaving the physical body. The platform was filled with the usual liveliness and carefree fuss, and I wanted to check if my classmates could see me. I tried to slap my friend on the back and saw my hand pass through his body. However, no one reacted, and I realized that my presence had gone unnoticed by those around me. Then I called out to a friend, but received no answer. Suddenly I remembered that I had left my briefcase at school, and in the blink of an eye I was back in the library. Trying to catch the train, I frantically began stuffing books into my briefcase, but time was hopelessly lost.

The next train did not arrive until forty-five minutes later, and I had a lot of time to comprehend what had happened to me. This is not to say that what happened was something out of the ordinary for me, since I had already read several books by Sylvan Muldoon about astral travel, although I did not experience it myself. My first astral experience awakened in me the desire to learn how to leave the body at will.

Now, remembering those distant Days, I understand that the circumstances could not have been more favorable to what happened. On the one hand, I made desperate attempts to find the right book, and on the other hand, I was afraid of missing the train. Both circumstances created a kind of stressful situation, and since I was already familiar with the theory, the third favorable factor - desire - was evident. So, for a spontaneous exit to the astral, a state of stress is necessary, supported by the desire to experience such an experience.

Some people believe that leaving the physical body is a serious risk. In fact, astral travel is much safer than driving a car. In this book, I provide recommendations that virtually eliminate all adverse effects. For many years I have taught people and been their guide to another dimension, and they all claim that astral travel enriches life, filling it with new colors and pleasant experiences.

What is astral travel? In practice, this type of journey means leaving the physical body, visiting any places of one's choice and returning to the body shell.

Humans had astral experiences in prehistoric times as well. Descriptions of astral travel left the ancient civilizations of Egypt, India, China and Tibet. In the Tibetan tradition, people capable of astral exit were called "delogs", which meant "those who returned from beyond"*.

* Robert Crookall, The Study and Practice of Astral Projection (London: The Aquarien Press, 1961) 145.

The ancient Egyptians believed in Ka (astral counterpart) and Ba (soul or spirit) and believed that these entities could leave the body at any moment. In the preface to The Egyptian Book of the Dead, Wallis Budge writes that the Egyptians endowed Ka with traits characteristic of the person to whom this essence belonged. At the same time, it was believed that such an entity has a kind of independence and intrinsic value.

Plato was convinced that the earthly life of a person is only a pitiful semblance of what is available to the spirit freed from the body. Aristotle believed that the spirit is able to leave the physical shell and meet with their own kind in another world. The ancient Greeks also believed that in addition to the physical body, a person has a second, subtle body.

In the Holy Scriptures we find mention of astral travel: after baptism, "Philip was caught up by the Angel of the Lord" and "Philip ended up in Ashdod"*.

* Acts. 8:39, 40.

In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, the holy Apostle Paul writes: “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago ... was caught up to the third heaven ... he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words that a man cannot utter”*.

* 2 Cor. 12:2-4.

The ancient Celts had a legend that told how the druid Mog Ruit turned into a bird and flew over the positions of a hostile army, looking for vulnerabilities in the enemy's defenses. This is direct evidence of astral travel.

In 1808, the German merchant Herr Wasermann discovered in himself the ability to astral flight - he "appeared" in the dreams of his friends. Wasermann conducted a series of experiments, in four of which friends confirmed his "visits", and their dreams unfolded in accordance with the scenario of the experimenter. The fifth experience made a particularly strong impression. According to the proposed scenario, Lieutenant N was supposed to see in a dream a woman who died five years ago. At the appointed time (11 p.m.), the lieutenant was still awake, discussing with his friend the details of the military campaign against the French. Suddenly the door opened and a bare-haired woman in black and white entered. Nodding three times to the lieutenant's friend and once to the master himself, she smiled and left. A few seconds later, the startled men rushed after her. However, her trace was gone, and the sentry standing in the door swore that he had not noticed anyone.

The first scientist to apply scientific methods to the study of astral experience was the Frenchman Hector d'Urville. The object of his experiments was a man who went into the astral plane of his own free will and at any time. During the experiments, this subject drummed at a distance on a table standing at the far end of the room, illuminated photographic plates and caused a glow on screens coated with calcium sulfate.

Madame Blavatsky, or HPB*, as she was called by like-minded people, founded the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875. For forty years, this woman traveled through the countries of Asia, comprehending the wisdom of the East. Members of the Theosophical Society believed that the true essence of man is not limited to his physical shell and consists of at least seven bodies. The Society itself has made an invaluable contribution to the popularization of Eastern traditions and, in particular, astral travel.

* Abbr. from Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.

In the 20th century, interest in the astral has increased unheard of. While Europe was ravaged by the battles of the First World War, the two enthusiasts seemed to be in no way. never happened, boldly experimented in the field of astral projection. One of them, the engineer and theosophist Hugh Callaway, wrote the book Astral Projection, which is still well-deservedly popular. This study, published under the pseudonym Oliver Fox by Hugh Callaway before the outbreak of World War II, collects lengthy articles previously published in the 1920 issues of The Occult Review. Hugh's associate, the French mystic Marcel Louis Foran, lived across the English Channel and, under the pseudonym Iram, published the book "Le Medecin de l" Ame, better known as "Practical Astral Projection".

The American researcher Sylvan Muldoon, in collaboration with Hervard Carrington, wrote the book Projection of the Astral Body in 1929. Unlike Oliver Fox and Iram, who considered the ability to astral exit the prerogative of especially gifted people, this author believed that astral travel is available to everyone. As evidence, he cited numerous examples that people can spontaneously go on an astral flight.

Muldoon's work was continued by retired geologist Dr. Robert Crookell, who collected and analyzed over 750 astral experiences over ten years. His first work, The Study and Practice of Astral Projection, was published in 1960.

Carefully analyzing each episode, Dr. Crookall tried to identify the main factors that could help explain the essence of this extraordinary phenomenon: As a result of research, the scientist came to the conclusion that six main characteristics are inherent in all cases.

1. In all cases, people feel they are leaving the physical body in the head region.
2. At the moment the astral body leaves the physical shell, the human consciousness "turns off".
3. Before going on a journey, the astral bodies of people "hover" over their physical shells for some time.
4. Before returning, the astral double also “hovers” over the physical body for some time.
5. Before the final return, there is again an instant "blackout" of consciousness.
6. In the case of an accelerated return of the astral body, the physical bodies of people experience involuntary shudders.

Before Dr. Crookall's research was published, few thought of a scientific explanation for the phenomena of the astral plane. However, not so much time passed before scientists became seriously interested in the problem and found that the circle of people who had astral experience was much wider than previously thought.

It was during these years that an employee of the Institute for Parapsychological Research, Celia Green, was collecting data on cases of out-of-body experience. The information received can be considered the most complete. In addition to the usual methods of research and questioning, the search for the necessary information was carried out through newspaper advertisements*.

* Celia Green, Out-of-the-Body Experiences (London: Hamish Hamilton Limited, 1968).

Despite the fact that the statistical data of representatives of different countries had some differences, basically a single trend was traced: about twenty percent of the inhabitants of the Earth had an astral experience at least once in their lives *. As it turned out, compared to other people, university students were more susceptible to astral exit. Celia Green found that thirty-four percent of her 1968 Oxford graduates had astralized at least once. In 1975, an even more serious study was conducted, the participants of which concluded that, compared with fourteen percent of other populations who had astral experience, students held the palm (25%). Even more impressive were the data obtained by an American magazine that turned to its readers: 700 out of 1500 respondents (46%) declared their ability to go into the astral**.

* D. Scott Rogo, Leaving the Body: A Complete Guide to Astral Projection (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1983), 5.
**J. H. Brennan. The Astral Projection Workbook (Wellingborough: The Aguarien Press. 1989), 33.

In 1980, at the annual convention of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Stuart Tuemlow, a representative of the Topek Veterans Affairs Medical Center, presented the results of his own research. According to his data, eighty-five percent of those surveyed enjoyed the astral experience, and more than half of them said they experienced "joy." Dr. Tuemlow's report literally stated: "At least forty-three percent of respondents insisted that what happened to them was the most vivid memory in their lives."* Not surprisingly, most of them sought to repeat their experience. Singer Kate Bush compared the astral exit to a "kite" hovering in the sky and connected to the physical shell only by a thin thread**. My students unanimously recognized this comparison as very successful and accurate.

* Rogo, Leaving the Body: A Complete Guide to Astral Projection, 8.
** Jenny Randies and Peter Hough, The Afterlife: An Investigation into the Mysteries of Life and Death (London: Judy Piatkus Publishers Limited, 1993), 207.

Today, many parapsychologists demonstrate the ability to remote view (an aspect of the so-called psychometry), which is a form of astral travel. During such experiments, the subject is asked to describe something that happens thousands of kilometers from the place of the experiment.

The ever-increasing interest of the scientific world in such a phenomenon as astral travel is encouraging. For example, Dr. Eugene I. Bernard, a professor at North Carolina State University, stated: “It seems unlikely that so many mentally healthy people experience hallucinations. The brain and its capabilities are still a mystery to scientists with seven seals. It is difficult to say when it will happen, but I firmly believe that sooner or later the theory of astral projection will receive scientific substantiation and confirmation.

* Brad Steiger, Astral Projection (West Chester: Para Research, 1982), 228.

There is much other evidence of astral experience. A well-known example, designated as "Case number fourteen", is given in Edmond Gurney's fascinating book "Living Ghosts", which has 702 psychic experiments. Mr. Werd tells how, in November 1881, he astrally visited his fiancee's bedroom. He writes: "Reading about the mighty possibilities of the human will on a November Sunday evening in 1881, I believed that I could mentally transfer my soul to the second floor of house No. 22 Hogard Road in Kensington, and indeed found myself in one of the bedrooms." This room was occupied by his fiancée, Miss Verigi, and her eleven-year-old sister.

Bird's house was located three miles from the home of the bride, who knew nothing of his plans. The next morning, an agitated Miss Verity told the groom about the shock she had experienced when she saw his ghost at her bedside. Awakened by her cry, the younger sister also saw a ghost.

The culprit of the commotion was very pleased with his experience, which he repeated twice more. Bird tried to explain how he managed to leave the physical shell; “In addition to a purely volitional desire, I made some effort that cannot be described in words. I was aware of some mystical fluids in my body and was fully aware that forces were involved that lay beyond my understanding. Nevertheless, at certain moments they obeyed my will." Emmanuel Swedenborg (1689-1772) tells of another documented case. On July 17, 1759, he attended a dinner party in Gothenburg. At this time, an unprecedented fire broke out in Stockholm, located three hundred miles from the scene of action. At six o'clock in the afternoon, Swedenborg suddenly turned pale and announced to the guests that a fire had begun. Going out into the garden, he began to talk about the details and the spread of the conflagration in the capital. The guests learned that his friend's house had burned down and his own mansion was in danger. Two hours later, Swedenborg returned to the house and exclaimed, "Praise be to God, the fire is out three blocks from my residence!" The next day, the clairvoyant confirmed his words with the governor, since many Gothenburgers had friends and relatives in Stockholm and were disturbed by the alarming message. There were also those who owned real estate in the capital. Only two days later, the victims of the fire arrived in Gothenburg and confirmed Swedenborg's words in the smallest detail. The hero of the day could go into the astral at his own will and, moreover, repeatedly visited the angelic worlds. His mystical revelations are described in numerous diaries*.

* Emmanuel Swedenborg, Heaven and Hell (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, Inc., 1976).

In 1918, nineteen-year-old Ernest Hemingway fought in the Italian army. Carrying cocoa around the positions, he received severe shrapnel wounds to his legs, which served as a cause or some kind of impetus for a spontaneous astral exit. He recalls: "I felt my soul, or something else, leave my body, like a silk handkerchief," which is pulled out of the pocket by the tip "*. The writer reflected his experience in the novel "Farewell to Arms!", giving them the main book character, Frederick Henry.

* Susy Smith, Out-of-Body Experiences for the Millions (Los Angeles: Sherbourne Press, Inc., 1968), 19.

One of the most famous astral travelers is Edgar Cayce. In a state of trance, he diagnosed patients who were thousands of kilometers from the place of the experiment. Being in a trance, Casey abstracted from the traditional sense organs, brought himself into a borderline state in which his "subtle body" interacted with the patient's subconscious, revealing one or another pathology.

It should be noted that Edgar Cayce categorically forbade those present to move objects in front of his body while he was in the astral plane, fearing for the state of an invisible thread or cord through which his physical body was connected to the subtle body *. This thread is commonly referred to as the "silver cord".

* Sylvia Fraser, The Quest for the Fourth Monkey (Toronto: Key Porter Books limited, 1992), 259.

The ability to travel in the astral plane is difficult to overestimate. So, you can find out what people really think about you, get answers to many previously unsolvable questions, visit your friends and loved ones at any time. Not "exit" (physically) from your home, you will travel through time and space at will and forget what boredom is.

One of the most important aspects of the astral exit is what worries many people - the question of the finiteness of earthly existence. The realization that death does not put an end to your path will help you get rid of the fears associated with the frailty of earthly life. Scientific studies have confirmed that at the time of physical death, the human body loses approximately 60 to 90 grams of its mass, and a certain haze appears in the head area. It is possible that it is these signs that indicate that a person is going on his last lifetime astral journey.

Almost everyone who has experienced astral experience (including involuntary) strives to repeat it again and again.

Fortunately, the technique of astral exit can be mastered by anyone; in many ways, it resembles the technique of driving a car. Some people master the skills of "astral driving" playfully; others require more serious and lengthy preparation. However, both in the first and in the second case, a serious attitude to the subject of study brings the expected results. In exceptional cases, a person has to spend several years on training. This happens due to internal complexes, "tightness", as well as in the case of training under incompetent guidance. Nevertheless, I hasten to assure you that completely hopeless students simply do not exist.

My personal teaching experience convinces me that anyone can learn to astral exit. Working with students, I have never been able to determine with certainty which of them had the greatest abilities, but at one time each of them went on an astral flight.

My book contains a variety of methods for entering the astral. This was not done by chance - despite all the efforts, I did not manage to develop a single, universal technique. As a rule, a person can learn to "leave" the physical body in several ways, and at least one of them will work for you.

Before moving on to specific exercises, I would advise you to read the entire book and only after a second, more careful reading, begin to master the proposed techniques. Perhaps some exercises will seem too easy and ineffective. However, you should not jump from one chapter to another (this is especially true of the ninth chapter), since the methods given in the book have proven to be effective in practice in this sequence. So, be consistent, do not be afraid to lose an extra ten minutes, and the results will not be long in coming.

1. REQUIREMENTS FOR AStral JOURNEY

The theory of astral projection is based on the assumption that a person has two bodies: a physical one that grows, ages and dies, and its "double" - the astral body. It is the latter that can completely consciously leave the physical shell and observe it with detachment.

The ability to astral travel will give you a number of advantages. First of all, you will be able to look at the world as if with different eyes: new horizons of the universe will open before you. Realizing that the mind can exist outside the body, you will understand that the soul is immortal and there is no need to worry too much about what will happen to its shell. The statement of one's own immortality is only the first step on the way to even more amazing "adventures".

Most of my students have learned to astral travel without much hassle. However, some of them had to sweat, and there were always specific reasons for this.

Most often, this was caused by fear, the depressing effect of which we have all experienced at one time or another. When I was young, I was into bungee jumping*. The first jump, no matter how brave we were, inspired some apprehension, and only those few for whom the experience was not the first, praised the sensations ahead for beginners. I am sure that, having stood on the parapet of the bridge and looked down from a great height, almost every one of us experienced fear. Oddly enough, the most nervous members of the group were the first to "rush into battle", perhaps obeying a natural desire to overcome their weakness. I will never forget the aching feeling in my stomach before the first jump.

* Jumping from a height with a fastened rubber cord; a satisfactory Russian term does not yet exist. - Approx. per.

Of the twenty members of the Group, nineteen jumped. The last was a man of about thirty, who was clearly uncomfortable from the very beginning. However, before the jump, he suddenly calmed down and, while the instructor fixed the line and gave instructions, he behaved with dignity. Some people threw encouraging remarks, and everything said that he was ready to jump. But now, swaying slightly, he recoiled from the edge. The instructor repeated his parting words; and again it seemed that he was ready to overcome himself. However, this did not happen. Five minutes later, the insurance was released, and, burning with shame, he went to drink tea with the rest of the group.

Wishing to show participation, the comrades told him about how they themselves struggled with fear, and finally he declared that he was ready to repeat the failed experiment. Together we returned to the bridge, and again nothing came of it.

Some students experience something similar before their first astral journey. On the one hand, they want to go on an astral flight, on the other hand, they are unable to overcome unreasonable, but no less "irresistible" fears. In my classes, I usually explain the reasons and talk about ways to overcome various kinds of prejudices, including fear.

Most often, beginners are afraid that they will not be able to return to their physical body after the astral journey is over. This fear is unfounded, as there is no written evidence that this has ever happened. As a rule, the exact opposite happens. Very often, the astral journey is interrupted against your will, and you are "forcibly" returned to the physical shell.

Many students fear that they will die during the astral journey. You should know that during the astral flight the etheric double maintains a direct connection with the physical body with the help of an elastic and infinitely long "cord". There is no doubt that a person will die if the cord breaks, but, as in the previous example, there is no written evidence of such cases. The cord is invisible to strangers; therefore, he cannot be circumcised through malice. There is nothing to be afraid of physical damage to this "connecting thread", since its substance is different from the structure of solid material bodies.

Some people are afraid that during the astral journey, their physical body may be taken over by an otherworldly entity. There is no need to talk about this seriously, although the topic is of some interest for a horror film script. Always remember that at the slightest threat to the physical body, the astral double "automatically" and instantly returns to its shell.

Some people think that during astral travel, the heart or breathing can stop. This never happens, and although it is generally accepted that the temperature of the body drops somewhat during astral exit, all the main vital organs continue to function normally.

My book is entirely devoted to getting out of the physical body and astral travel, which, as far as we know, are absolutely safe.

The possibility of getting into a hopeless situation should not scare you - at any moment and in a split second you can return to your physical body. You should not be afraid that while you are "absent", your house may be engulfed in fire: at the first sign of impending danger, the astral double immediately returns to its shell.

A few years ago, I was able to verify this. While I was in the astral plane, the exhaust of a car was heard on the street and, unexpectedly for myself, I instantly found myself in a physical body. Frankly, such a sudden return led me to some confusion, and only after a couple of minutes I felt comfortable in the physical shell. At the same time, I cannot fail to note the feeling of deep satisfaction that seized my soul when I realized that I was able to control the situation in any state.

One Sunday morning, during another astral flight, my wife tried to wake me up by shaking my shoulder. Having not achieved a result and realizing what was the matter, she left me alone for a couple of minutes. When I tried again, I came to my senses after a light touch.

However, if there were a stranger in the bedroom instead of my wife, my astral double, sensing potential danger, would react in the blink of an eye. The body is very sensitive to extraneous touches. This indicates that during the exit to the astral plane, at least a particle of consciousness remains in the physical shell.

So, while the superconscious goes on an astral journey, a part of it remains on guard of the interests of the physical body.

Another obstacle to the astral exit is the fear of communicating with any undead. This cannot be excluded, and when this happens, it will be enough just to wish to return back, and the unpleasant astral journey will immediately end. Thus, the astral plane is much safer than everyday reality, since an unfavorable situation can be eliminated instantly.

Summing up, I will say that your possible fears of astral travel are groundless and are no different from the trivial fears of other people. And yet, if you are persistently haunted by such obsessive thoughts, first try to get rid of them and only then proceed to study the technique of astral exit.

Some people question the very existence of the astral double and consider the physical body to be the only essence of man. On the pages of this book, the presence of a subtle body is taken as an axiom. In the expressions "I love" or "I feel" "I" should be understood as the spirit or soul of a person, while saying "my hand" or "my body", I mean the physical body, or mortal shell of a person.

In the Hindu sacred book Rigveda, written 4,000 years ago, it is said that a person is like a driver in a chariot. The chariot refers to the physical body of man, and the charioteer refers to the true self, spirit, or universal life force.

Understanding the difference between the soul of a person and the physical body is absolutely necessary for some people in the implementation of astral travel.

I repeatedly heard from my students that some of them saw the aura of a sleeping person. In fact, they observed not an aura, but an astral double, which, during sleep, slightly rises above the physical body and soars at a height of about 25-30 centimeters.

There are other reasons that hinder the astral exit. One of them is too much lunch. On the days of astral travel, food intake should be significantly limited, since digestion requires significant energy costs. On a full stomach, a person would rather fall asleep than go on an astral journey.

In the West, most people overeat, and light food on the day of the astral exit will only benefit your body. Not being a vegetarian, I would like to note that the adherents of this diet for entering the astral plane have clear advantages over meat lovers. Going on an astral journey, I never eat meat, I limit myself to chicken or fish, while avoiding fatty foods in every possible way.

Light physical activity is also not forbidden. Before going to the astral plane, I usually go for a walk. In addition to emotional release, a walk saves me from annoying companions of our everyday life: TV, telephone, etc. - and allows me to focus on the upcoming journey. Returning home, I not only feel ready for astral flight, but also think with pleasure about the benefits of it for physical health.

When preparing for an astral journey, one should exclude the use of alcohol and drugs, since the influence of these substances makes it much more difficult to enter the astral plane. I know a few people who have experienced spontaneous astral exit while smoking marijuana, but their experience was not pleasant, as they could not control the situation. So, the soul of one of them for several hours involuntarily rushed from one dimension to another.

I used to think that a glass of wine drunk a couple of hours before an astral session is not a hindrance to business. However, I have found that this is not the case. During an astral journey, a person must maintain absolute control over the situation, and even an insignificant amount of alcohol in the blood can spoil the matter. I have been practicing astral exit for thirty years, and the only time I have experienced discomfort is when I have taken a small amount of alcohol.

Even cigarettes and coffee adversely affect the ability to astral exit. Thus, you should stop using them at least three hours before the session.

Astral travel is contraindicated for heart patients and other seriously ill patients. Very often it is the latter who have a predisposition to spontaneous astral exit. I am sure you have heard of cases where people in a borderline state left their physical body and felt like a rushing current carries them through a tunnel towards a blinding light. Such examples are an obvious case of astral flight, during which some people looked back and saw their physical body on the operating table.

There is considerable evidence that terminally ill people, compared with healthy people, have an increased capacity for psychometry. The author of three excellent monographs on astral projection, Sylvan Muldoon wrote his first book at a time when, in his words, "I was so ill that I could not get out of bed without help and did not know if I would live to see tomorrow" *. Despite this state of health, the courageous researcher took part in many of the experiments carried out to test the facts included in the book.

* Sylvan Muldoon and Hereward Carrington, The Projection of the Astral Body (London: Rider and Company Limited, 1929), 19. From the Introduction by Hereward Carrington.

The German oncologist Dr. Josef Issels in the Bavarian clinic in Ringberg noted the extraordinary ability to astral exit in his terminally ill patient. During the morning round, an elderly woman told him that she could. leave your own body. She said: "I will prove it to you, and immediately." A few seconds later she spoke again; "Doctor, if you enter room number 12, you will see a woman writing a letter to her husband. She just finished the first page, I saw it." The old woman then described exactly what she "saw." Dr. Issels went to the twelfth ward and made sure that his patient was accurate even in the smallest details. Intrigued, he hurried back, but did not find the patient alive*.

*lan Wilson, The After Death Experience (London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1987), 108.

Having talked about what not to do, let's move on to some preliminary recommendations.

The first necessary condition for the astral exit is a strong desire, experiencing which, we are affirmed in the thought of its possibility.

Then you should put yourself in a state of "positive expectation". To do this, you need to relax, free yourself from fears and look forward to the start of the experiment.

A lot of people don't really know how to relax. Without expensive electronic devices at hand, this can be done to the sound of special tape recordings. Sit comfortably, close your eyes and listen to the tape.

Before the session, you should get rid of all external stimuli. It's a good idea to turn off your phone and wait until your loved ones go to bed. Any extraneous influence can interfere with astral travel.

Exercise in a warm, ventilated room at a temperature not lower than 20°C.

Clothing should be loose. For this reason, many people strip naked. However, this does not mean that you will travel naked. If you are disgusted to appear in the astral in this form, just imagine yourself dressed, and it will happen right there.

For a while, forget about all the problems and hardships; For me it happens automatically, immediately following relaxation. Perhaps your way of getting rid of bad thoughts will be different. I know a woman who, for this purpose, mentally "throws" all her problems into the trash can. If that doesn't work, she flushes them down the toilet. One of my students actively plays squash before going to the astral plane. It is possible that the problems can simply be "put aside" and addressed after the session.

Before traveling, you should know where you would like to go. In ordinary life, we rarely get into a car and drive wherever our eyes look. As a rule, before we get behind the wheel, we already know where we are going. Once a decision has been made, its implementation is not difficult.

The same should be done before entering the astral plane. It's actually even easier than driving a car. Since we are not bound by the boundaries of the physical world, you just need to make a decision and in a split second be where there are no traffic rules, traffic jams and traffic lights.

As you can see, everything is very simple. Most people who regularly go on astral travel lead a healthy lifestyle, because they want to experience these sensations on a daily basis. I hope that readers will also like it and astral flights will enrich and decorate their lives.

2. A FEW WORDS ABOUT AStral TERMINOLOGY

Over the years, I have been asked questions about astral travel, and I have found that most people have a very misleading, distorted view of this phenomenon. That is why, before we go on the first astral flight, it is worth saying a few words about what we will actually do.

Astral travel should be understood as the exit from the physical body and the movement of the astral double outside of time and space.

astral body

The astral body is the twin of the physical body, which has a finer organization and the possibility of existing in another dimension. It is sometimes called the ethereal double. According to Hervard Carrington, the density of the astral body is one millionth that of the physical body*. After numerous experiments, this researcher came to the conclusion that the astral body weighs about forty-odd grams.

* Hereward Carrington, Your Psychic Powers and How to Develop Them (n. d. Reprinted Wellingborough: The Aquarient Press, 1976), 230.

During the astral journey, our ego is inside the astral body, and sometimes we are aware of this. At times, the astral double feels like an exact copy of the physical body, except that it does not feel pain and is not subject to physical ailments. Thus, astral travel is an excellent means of helping people suffering from chronic diseases.

While traveling, not everyone is able to see their astral body, and seers perceive it differently. Some feel it as a particle of consciousness moving in space. Such a vision is characteristic of people who have experienced astral flight in a borderline state. During the journey, many people imagine themselves enclosed in a kind of cocoon.

The astral body leaves the physical body, passing through the aura in the region of the forehead, known as the glabella, and returning in the occipital region. However, it seems to some that it simply rises above the physical body and returns in the same way.

After death, all astral bodies finally leave the physical shell. Sometimes you can observe how a certain energy cloud rises above the just dead, which indicates that the next earthly incarnation is completed.

The connecting link between the astral and physical bodies is the "silver cord".

SILVER CORD

The silver cord refers to the light beam connecting the physical and astral bodies. It usually begins at the forehead of the physical body and ends at the navel of the astral body. Its color range varies from pale smoky to iridescent. In esoteric literature, the silver cord is referred to as a line, a rope, a chain, a string, a channel, a ribbon, a magnetic thread, etc. In the book In Search of the Secrets of Egypt, Paul Brighton calls it the "trail of silver light" and the "mysterious psychic umbilical cord." Dr. A. S. Wiltz describes it as "the thinnest thread, like a cobweb"*. In the book Fundamentals of Clairvoyance, Vincent Turney also mentions the web: "... this thread looks like a cobweb, is colored in silvery tones and has the property of shrinking and expanding like an elastic cord." Staveley Balford claimed that when his astral body was at a great distance from the physical shell, "the cord looked like a thin beam of light" **.

* F. W. H. Myers, Human Personality and Survival of Bodily Death, Volume 2 (London: Longmans Green and Company, 1903), 252.
** Smith, Out-of-Body Experiences for the Millions, 70.

The silver cord is elastic and can be stretched almost indefinitely. Thus, the further the astral body moves away from the physical body, the thinner the silver cord becomes. People who have closely studied the silver cord say that it consists of a bundle of twisted threads, securely fastened at both ends.

Some people describe the silver cord as a pulsating life energy. Dr. Robert Crookall refers to the experience of a young African who claimed that his cord emitted a "phosphorescent light"*.

Not all astral travelers notice the silver cord. This happens only when a person holds his gaze on the physical body "left" behind. As a rule, these people, before going on a trip, looked back at their shell.

The reason some people see the silver cord and others don't is that the cord itself is rather imaginary and not a familiar physical object.

As proof of the reality of the astral exit, William Gherardi cited the presence of a silver cord. "How can you tell a dream from reality? Look at the luminous trail behind you!" In another place, he writes: "Perhaps I died without regaining consciousness? I ... turned around and saw my faithful companion - a silver cord" *.

* Robert Crookall, Out-of-the-Body Experiences (Secaucas: Citadel Press, 1970), 149.

Many believe that breaking the silver cord means certain death. Mr X was present at the death of his wife. According to him, at the moment of agony, a certain energy haze separated from the body of the wife, which soared over the dead body, forming a kind of ghostly double of the wife. The astral double communicated with the physical body with the help of a "cord", which "suddenly broke"*. Dr. Burgess, who was also present at the deathbed, states that Mr. X "never read occult literature" and his mental state at the time of his wife's death "does not allow any thoughts of possible hallucinations."

* Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, Volume XIII (London: 1918), 368.

A similar experience was experienced by Dr. R. B. Hout, who was present at the death of an aunt. The first thing he saw was "the vague outlines of some airy substance." This haze became more and more distinct and took on the contours of the body of a dying woman. "The double was, as it were, suspended in a horizontal position, a few tens of centimeters above the physical body. Suddenly, the witness saw with his inner vision some kind of silvery substance connecting the bodies. "For the first time I realized this. Body and soul were connected by a silver cord, just as the umbilical cord unites mother and child. The cord was round, perhaps two and a half centimeters in diameter, and emitted an iridescent silvery light. It seemed to be filled with the energy of life." Dr. Hout saw a stream of pulsating light flow through the cord. With each pulsation, "energy flowed from the physical body into the astral. He watched as the strands of the silver cord broke one after the other until "the last thread was broken and the spiritual body was finally freed"*.

* Light Magazine, Volume IV (London: 1935), 209.

ASTRAL PLANE

The astral plane should be understood as one of the parallel worlds. Most people simply do not notice the difference between ours and the astral world. Usually in the astral plane a person goes anywhere and does what he wants. However, there are some limitations.

For example, most people cannot visit their friends and still be aware of their presence. However, in some cases it is possible. Astral Projection author Oliver Fox recalls his girlfriend's reaction to his admission of an astral experience. The girl was convinced of the sinfulness of entering the astral plane. Young Oliver, with peremptory teenageness, declared that she had no idea what she was judging.

"I know more than you think," said Elsie. "If I want, I'll come to you tonight."

Oliver laughed and the teens got into an argument. Anyway, on the evening of the same day, getting ready for bed, he "suddenly saw a huge shining pale blue cloud in the form of a cocoon, inside of which was Elsie with her hair loose and in a nightgown." She stood nearby, her gaze was sad, and her fingers frantically ran on the lid of the desk.

Oliver called her name and she disappeared. Elsie triumphed the next morning. She gave the most detailed description of Oliver's bedroom. She's right about everything except for one detail, Oliver thought. The girl mentioned a characteristic protrusion on the surface of the table, which he did not suspect. After checking, Oliver was convinced of the groundlessness of his doubts - there was a ledge, and Elsie felt it with her fingers during an astral visit.

After the incident, Oliver perked up and after a couple of months gave Elsie a surprise by astrally appearing in her bedroom. The girl thought that her friend was intruding into her room on the very grandfather, and was seriously frightened when she heard her mother going up the stairs. As soon as the door opened, Oliver disappeared*.

* Oliver Fox, Astral Projection (London: Rider and Company, n. d. Reprinted New York: University Books, Inc., 1962), 56-61.

Although astral bodies are usually not seen by outsiders, very often the presence of the latter does not go unnoticed. In this sense, animals are especially sensitive.

In 1973, research into the phenomenon of astral travel was conducted in North Carolina. Stuart Blue Garary participated in the experiment on transferring astral projection to another building. In the room where the astral transfer was carried out, there was a kitten named Spirit (what an unfamiliar name!), Which was placed in a box equipped with special equipment for recording the movements of the animal. The kitten turned out to be nimble and did not sit still for a minute, actively moving around in an impromptu cage. However, as soon as Blue Gary's astral double appeared in the room. The spirit froze and subsided *.

* Rogo, Leaving the Body: A Complete Guide to Astral Projection, 174-175.

Animal experiments were continued by Dr. Robert Morris in 1978. Four animals were chosen for the experiment - a jerboa, a hamster, a snake and a kitten. Blue Gary, by this time known as Keith Gary, having entered the astral plane, approached each of the four cells in turn. The jerboa and the hamster did not react in any way to his approach, but the snake showed obvious activity. Dr. Morris's assistant, D. Scott Rogo, made the following entry: "The snake attacked. For about twenty seconds, and just at the time when Kit should have been near her cage, she bit the air around her furiously"*. The kitten behaved in the same way as in the previous experiment, that is, it seemed to be numb. The experiment was repeated four more times with the same results.

* Rodney Davies, Discover Your Psychic Powers (London: The Aguarien Press, 1992), 135.

Surely many will be puzzled by the impossibility of communicating with friends during astral visits. Be that as it may, you should console yourself with the thought that they are all right and you can at any time find out about their well-being, no matter where they are in the world.

REMOTE VISION (VISION)

Over the past twenty-five to thirty years, parapsychologists have intensively studied this area of ​​esoteric knowledge. The term itself was first heard at the Stanford Research Institute (Menlo Park, California) in 1972. Remote viewing has a lot in common with astral travel. During the astral flight, you leave the body and go to any place of your own free will. Remote viewing (psychometry at a distance) does not involve leaving the body. Instead, a part of the consciousness is sent to a specific place, and then returned back, receiving the appropriate information.

At first, the purity of the experiment was monitored by two people. The clairvoyant was asked to choose one of sixty places from a list. Having made an arbitrary choice, he "went" to this place and "stayed" there for fifteen minutes "During this time, one of the assistants focused his attention on the possible" location "of the psychic. At the same time, the second assistant, who also remained in the dark about the choice made, mentally "prompted" to his colleague.

The results of the experiments exceeded all the expectations of scientists, who were pleasantly surprised that paranormal abilities were demonstrated by people who had never shown interest in such topics before.

CONSCIOUSNESS

So, astral travel, like remote vision, involves the conscious transfer of a particle of our "I" to any place. It may sound a bit strange, but it's true nonetheless.

The ability to perceive cannot be regarded as a purely physical phenomenon. Despite the fact that the work of consciousness is associated with the activity of the brain, there is no convincing evidence that it is the brain that contains consciousness. So, in the astral journey, it is the astral double that is the carrier of consciousness.

Any person repeatedly went to the astral plane in a dream. This form of exit is called involuntary astral travel, and it will be the subject of the next chapter.

3. Spontaneous astral travel

World history knows many cases of involuntary astral travel. Some people went into the astral for no apparent reason. Mr. P. J. Hitchhock, in The Psychology for Sleep, writes of how his son woke up in the middle of the night, got out of bed, and, going out into the hallway, felt "something was wrong." Glancing back, he saw a beam of light coming from the bedroom and ending behind him. Not in the least preoccupied, he proceeded to the bedroom and found that none other than himself was sleeping on the bed. In the morning he could not remember how he returned to the physical body*. A similar exit to the astral plane in a dream can happen to anyone. The only noteworthy detail of this incident is that this man woke up and experienced a feeling of anxiety.

* Crookall, Out-of-the-Body Experiences, 55.

Spontaneous waking out-of-body experience was experienced by Mrs. Nellie Schlankster of Scotia, New York. Once, sitting in a circle of acquaintances, she felt "something alive" leaving her body. She wanted to scream, but her voice wouldn't obey. The "second self" stopped about two and a half meters away, and she observed this "something" until it returned to the body*.

* Sylvan Muldoon and Hereward Carrington, The Phenomena of Astral Projection (London: Rider and Company Limited, 1951), 200-201.

Fortunately, such cases are relatively rare. Most of the episodes associated with involuntary exit from the body occurred due to a stressful situation or extreme fatigue. Some people go into the astral at the moment of the climax of sexual intercourse. In this connection, it is worth mentioning the specific Eastern techniques of deliberate astral travel, the impetus for which is given by orgasm.

AStral EXPERIENCE IN THE BORDER STATE

There are many cases of astral experience experienced by people in a critical, near-death state. Phoebe Payne states that "during accidents, the momentary exit (of the soul) from the body can be compared to the action of anesthetics." Karol Zaleecki discovered many descriptions of the borderline state in the myths and legends of ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt and the Middle East*. A 1981 Gallup study showed that approximately two million American adults experienced spontaneous astral exit when faced with a life-threatening situation.

* Carol Zaieski, Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experiences in Medieval and Modern Times (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987).
**George Galiup, Jr. and William Proctor, Adventures in Immortality (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1982), 32-41.

Among people who experienced a state similar to clinical death, approximately nine percent spontaneously left their bodies. As a rule, this happened immediately after they, for one reason or another, were put on the verge of life and death. The man suddenly realized that he was floating above his physical body, and his consciousness belonged to the astral double.

In this state, most people experienced joyful and elevated feelings. They were fully aware of what was happening on the physical level and at the same time surrendered to the intoxicating feeling of liberation from the mortal shell. For example, during resuscitation procedures, the patient hovered over the operating table and impartially observed the actions of doctors.

In some cases, people who were in the astral provided themselves with practical help. So, the Italian engineer Giuseppe Costa, in a state of extreme physical and moral exhaustion, collapsed on the bed one evening without strength and fell into a deep sleep. At the head of the bed stood an unextinguished paraffin lamp, which he had knocked over in his sleep. The room was filled with "a cloud of black acrid smoke".

At the same moment, Giuseppe found himself in the astral plane and felt himself floating under the ceiling. Despite the fact that the room was plunged into darkness, he clearly distinguished all the "phosphorescent contours". Moreover, he saw "every vein and every nerve on the body lying on the bed and felt it as a living, luminous stream of atoms."

The feeling of freedom owned him completely, but was overshadowed by the bitter realization that he was physically unable to open the window.

He needed help, and Giuseppe remembered his mother sleeping in the next room. As soon as he thought about it, she woke up, opened the window in her bedroom and went into her son's room, accidentally touching him. The touch of the mother instantly returned Giuseppe to the physical body, and he woke up. There was a lump in my throat, my head was breaking into pieces, and my heart seemed to be about to jump out of my chest.

This experience was the first, but not the last. Giuseppe later wrote a book, Di la della Vita (Life in another dimension), about his psychic experiences and spiritual development*.

* Stewart Robb, Strange Prophecies That Came True (New York: Ace Books, Inc., 1967), 114-117.

Most often, in a borderline condition, people experience flying through a tunnel towards a bright light. Often during the flight they are accompanied by a deafening noise. A person who has entered a coma usually does not want to come back.

As a schoolboy, I knew a girl who experienced a comatose state after a traffic accident. She miraculously survived, but almost died on the operating table while the surgeons "conjured" over her body.

She told me the following: “I was literally being pulled into the tunnel at great speed, so that I heard a strong tinnitus. I was drawn towards a beautiful light. I. People approached me, and I recognized them. They were Granny and Uncle Bill. Nearby was my younger brother Phil, who died at the age of eight. The meeting was joyful, and our mental conversations left an indelible mark on my soul.

Finally, the all-consuming Light appeared. I do not know what it was, most likely - the Lord. Goodness and understanding came from Him. In a split second, my whole life flashed before me. Suddenly, I felt myself drawn back. I didn't want to, but in the blink of an eye I was back in my body. I assure you, this event changed my whole life. Everyone says that I became not myself, and they explain this by the consequences of the accident. However, it is not. Having been on the "other side", I became tolerant and merciful."

I heard and read about many similar testimonies, but no one attached much importance to them until such cases interested a young student from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Raymond A. Moody was the first to draw public attention to the phenomenon of astral flight in people who had experienced clinical death. A university professor told twenty-year-old Moody the story of a psychiatrist friend, George Ritchie, who was declared dead from bilateral pneumonia, and later miraculously came back to life. At the time this happened, George was serving as a private "His death was recorded in an army hospital in Texas, in 1943. After his body was covered with a sheet, it seemed to the orderly that the deceased had moved his hand. The doctor re-examined the body and confirmed his original verdict "However, at the request of an orderly, he injected adrenaline into Richie's heart. To the surprise of those present, the young soldier returned to life, and after the end of the war he took up the practice of medicine. Dr. Moody in this story was most interested in George's "posthumous" story about how he flew through the tunnel and met the Luminous Beings.

Many years later, Moody recalled this episode in connection with the story of one of his students about almost the same case.

Dr. Moody told both stories to the students, who in turn shared with him the testimonies of their relatives and friends. Many years later, he had every reason to say: "In any group of thirty people there is at least one who experienced himself or knows someone who has experienced such an experience in a state of clinical death" *.

* Melvin Morse, M. D., with Paul Perry, Closer to the Light (New York: Villard Books, 1990), 12.

After years of research, Dr. Moody has published several books on the subject, including the world-famous Life After Life*.

*Dr. Raymond Moody, Life after Life (New York: Bantam Books, 1975); Reflections on Life After Life (New York: Bantam Books, 1977); and The Light Beyond (New York: Bantam Books, 1988).

It should be noted that Moody was not the first to pay attention to cases of astral exit at the moment of clinical death. The case of Dr. Wiltz of Kansas is widely known. In 1889, it was announced that this gentleman had died of typhus, and even the funeral bells were rung in the local church. However, he survived. The St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal reproduced in its pages the "memoirs of a dead man": amazing, the process of separating the soul from the body "*.

*St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal (St. Louis: February 1890).

In the same article, Dr. Wiltz describes his "post-mortem" experience. After leaving the body, he noticed a man standing at the door of the hospital room. As Wiltz approached the exit of the ward, "this man's hand passed through my body without meeting any resistance ... I looked at his face, wanting to check his reaction to what had happened, but he obviously did not notice anything and continued to stare blankly at the hospital bed I had just left. but no one paid any attention to my silent calls. The situation in which I found myself began to seem funny, and I laughed ... I felt great. Just a few minutes ago I had experienced unbearable suffering, and suddenly came the deliverance called death, which I was so afraid of. Now all this is in the past, and here I am - alive and thinking, yes, yes, just thinking, and with greater clarity and without a shadow of anxiety. My state of health is excellent; threatens; I am immortal".

Almost everyone who has experienced the borderline state got rid of the fear of death, realizing the immortality of the soul. Another characteristic feature of most people who have been "beyond the horizon" is a rare patience and philanthropy.

In 1944, renowned psychiatrist Carl Jung broke his leg. Immediately after the injury, he suffered a heart attack that almost brought him to his grave. Later, the nurse said that a bright glow emanated from his body, similar to that which she observed in some dying people.

Luckily. Carl Jung is not dead. He found himself in outer space, watching from above the Earth, which was "bathed in waves of sky-blue light." The depths of the seas and the outlines of the continents appeared in all their splendor. Ceylon (Sri Lanka) lay under his feet, and India was visible ahead. He could not see the whole planet, but "its form was clearly manifested by a silvery glow against the background of blue light."

After admiring the Earth, Jung turned around and saw a huge rock rushing through space like a meteorite. On the ledge, in front of the entrance, a Hindu was sitting in a lotus position, and Jung, stepping on a rock, felt peace, humility and a kind of religious enlightenment: "I had everything, and it was all me."

Jung was already ready to enter the illuminated chamber, where, as he felt, answers to all questions about the meaning of being were waiting for him. Suddenly, his attending physician appeared, "crowned with a golden laurel wreath", who told Jung that his time had not yet come and it was time to return to Earth. Reluctantly and "very disappointed", Carl Jung returned to the world of the living*.

* C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (London: William Collins, Sons and Company Limited and Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1963), 270-273.

The experience of Carl Jung turned out to be much richer than an ordinary flight through the "light tunnel", indicating that the sensations of people in the borderline state are different. Before finally recovering, Jung experienced several more visions. He writes: “The beauty and emotional richness during these visions is beyond description. Everything experienced before pales in comparison with this experience ... I could not even imagine that this was possible. The visions cannot be considered a figment of the imagination, since they were completely real; there was nothing subjective in them; on the contrary, they reflected absolute objectivity. The words of the famous scientist are quite consistent with the stories of other people who perceived the experience experienced in the near-death state as a reality. We can safely say that all this has nothing to do with dreams.

Many people mistake such experiences for hallucinations. However, this is unlikely, since similar impressions are typical for representatives of all countries and peoples, including children. In Closer to the Light, Dr. Melvin Morse cites many cases of children leaving their bodies in life-threatening situations.

Renowned borderline researcher Kim Clark, who was a staff psychologist at a Seattle clinic, has received irrefutable proof that spontaneous astral experiences are real.

Before the cardiac patient was discharged from the clinic, she tried to tell her about the methods of psychological rehabilitation. However, the woman did not show the slightest interest in her instructions. Instead of listening, the patient began to talk about her astral journey while the doctors were struggling to get her heart to beat again.

Seeing the skeptical attitude of the psychologist towards her story, the woman suggested that Kim be convinced of the veracity of her presentation. In support of her words, she stated that there was a shoe on the window ledge. Kim opened the window but saw nothing. The patient continued to insist on her point, but when she tried again, Kim did not find any shoe.

We need to look around the corner, - said the woman.

The room where the interview took place was located on the fifth floor, but Kim bravely climbed the ledge and was convinced of the truth of the patient's words - the shoe was where she indicated. It was this incident that launched Kim Clark's career as a borderline researcher.

* Morse, Closer to the Light, 18-19.

Dr. Melvin Morse has shown that the astral experience in the borderline state is the result of this state, and not the result of insomnia, drug use or subconscious fears. Leading a group of scientists, Dr. Morse compared the data on the sensations of dying and seriously ill people. It turned out that astral experience is available only to those who are on the verge of death. The results of these studies were published in November 1986 in the American Journal of Pediatrics.

Dr. Morse identified the region of the brain responsible for the near-death experience, and suggested that it is this that is the "abode of the soul."

It should be noted that a very small number of patients who have experienced out-of-body experiences in the near-death state identify an astral double. As a rule, they indicate a certain "spark of consciousness". Nevertheless, their experience must be qualified as an obvious astral flight. Keith Garary, who was subjected to rigorous psychic testing in 1970, traveled to the astral plane in the form of a "ghost", a ball of light or a beam. In some cases it traveled through space as a "point of consciousness"*. So, there are many ways of astral travel, and all of them are absolutely real.

* D. Scott Rogo, "Experiments with Blue Harary" in Mind Beyond Body, D. Scott Rogo, ed. (New York: Penguin Books, 1978), 192.

VISIONS IN CRISES

There are many cases when people had visions of their loved ones or loved ones, whose death occurred immediately at the time of the visit of these "ghosts". This happened when a dead person suddenly appeared in front of a living person in order to say the last "sorry".

A lady who attended my lectures told me about one such episode. The woman had an uncle who lived a hundred kilometers from her home. The old man, who was in his eighties, was widowed ten years ago and lived all alone. The niece was haunted by the thought that her uncle should have been visited, but urgent business did not allow her to carry out her good intention. On top of that, the old man was deaf, as a result of which the telephone conversation lost all meaning.

One fine day, she firmly decided to bake a cake and make her uncle happy with her arrival the next morning. Unfortunately, the next day her son fell off his bike, and all morning she fussed around the child.

Already lying in bed, she told her husband that she would definitely visit the old man next week. Early in the morning, something woke her up and she saw her uncle's ghost standing next to the bed. Something told her that her uncle had died, and she began to wake her husband. By the time he woke up, the ghost was gone. "I will never forget the mournful, reproachful expression on his face," she complained. When the family arrived to put the house in order before the sale, the neighbors told her about the loneliness of the last days of the old man. According to them, they helped the lonely widower as best they could, but did not even suspect that he had relatives.

“It taught me a lot,” she said in conclusion, “not to put off anything until later; next week or even tomorrow. When deciding to do something, you need to do it immediately.”

The author of the monograph Living Ghosts, Edmund Gurney, claims that ghosts can appear twelve hours before death and within twelve hours after death. In this book, Gurney gives one of the most famous examples of such a phenomenon.

The English statesman, Lord Bruham, in his childhood and youth often discussed with his friend X questions related to life after death and the immortality of the soul. Their discussion ended with an oath, which the young men solemnly sealed with blood. According to this agreement, the one who dies first must appear before the living in confirmation of the reality of life after death.

After graduating from college, everyone went their own way, and X went to India. After a few years, all communication between friends ceased.

In 1799 Lord Bruham traveled in Sweden. The weather was cold, and Brugham was taking a hot bath at the inn where he and his companions were staying for the night. As he was about to leave the bath, the lord looked at the chair on the back of which he hung his clothes, and, in disbelief, saw his old friend X. “I don’t remember how I got out of the bath,” writes Lord Brugham, “but when I came to myself , then I found myself lying on the floor. The ghost, or whatever took the form of X, had disappeared..." Upon returning home to Edinburgh, the Lord learned that X had died on December 19, that is, the day he saw the ghost*.

* Gumey, Myers and Podmore, Phantasms of the Living, Case 146.

In 1991, the Icelandic parapsychologist Erdendur Haroldson published the results of a study of phenomena of this order. According to these data, crisis management accounted for about fourteen percent of all ghost sightings. The figure could be even more impressive if not only fatal episodes were added to the list, but also all cases that occurred in extreme situations. In eighty-five percent of cases, people did not know in advance about the death of the person whose ghost they happened to meet. In half the cases, ghosts appeared within half an hour of death. It seems quite probable that about five percent of the population has met or will meet such a "ghost" at least once in their lives*.

* Jean Ritchie, Inside the Supernatural (London: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992), 95-96.

In reality, a vision in a crisis is nothing more than the last astral flight of a dying person.

In some cases, this phenomenon takes other forms. So, a person hears a voice or smells a familiar smell. According to research by Dr. Louise Rain, most people in these situations hear a familiar voice say their name.

Something similar happened in France in 1907. A woman from Bordeaux heard a sad voice at night, calling her by name three times. Later, she was informed that it was that night that the unsuccessful applicant for her hand had died. From his deathbed, he called out to her for help.

DREAMS

We all astral travel in our sleep, although few are aware of it. Dreams in which a person flies are characteristic of representatives of all peoples and historical eras. There is a belief that a sleeping person should not be disturbed, as his soul went on a journey. According to another view, during sleep, the astral body hovers over the physical, that is, sleep means the automatic exit of the astral double.

Often a person experiences a feeling of falling just before falling asleep. This is explained by the fact that the soul that separates from the body is forcibly returned to its shell, unable to cope with the load of problems or due to excessive stress.

Scientists have noted the difference between a drowsy state and a deep sleep regimen. In a drowsy state, the eyeballs move involuntarily, and the wave activity of the brain increases. During this phase, body twitches and signs of sexual arousal are often observed. Scientists call this state "mode D". It was noted that people who were awakened during this period clearly remembered their dreams and spoke about them in great detail.

The deep sleep phase was called "mode A". During this period, a person is practically motionless, brain activity decreases, and the body works only to maintain vital physiological functions. A person sleeping in this mode, after waking up, talks about experienced dreams as about the events of everyday life. It is possible that "Mode A" is a form of astral travel*.

* Gavin and Yvonne Frost, Astral Travel (London: Granada Publishing Limited, 1982), 41.

Three-quarters of a typical night's sleep is in mode A, and one-quarter is in mode D.

With going to sleep, a person goes through a phase of the so-called "hypnogenic state"; during this period, the mind and emotions calm down. It is at the end of this "preparation" that a person experiences a feeling of falling.

Unfortunately, in most cases, people do not remember their dreams. After waking up, some vague images still hover in our head, but literally an hour later there is not a trace of them left.

In order to remember a dream, special preparation is required, which in many ways resembles the preparatory actions before astral travel in the waking state.

First of all, you should determine the place of the journey proposed in the dream. In the absence of such a plan, a person can end up anywhere, and this is one of the causes of nightmares. You should have a clear idea of ​​​​the place of the intended trip. To this end, it is useful to learn about it from magazines, books, or use the available photographs.

Always go to bed on time. If a person has not had enough sleep for a long time, his sleep will be so deep that, upon waking up, he will not be able to restore the picture of the dream in his memory. You should not eat immediately before going to bed, because in this case, nightmares rather than pleasant dreams await you.

A person burdened with a lot of problems and unable to relax is also doomed to failure. In this case, it is better to wait until life returns to its usual track, and only then experiment with the astral. Stress and strong emotional upheavals can cause spontaneous and short-term astral exit, which usually occurs during wakefulness.

Turn off the electricity in the room and imagine yourself bathed in waves of bright, healing light. Take several deep breaths of this beautiful, life-giving energy. Relax completely and mentally imagine the place where you are going to go in a dream. Pre-planning greatly enhances memory capacity.

Place a notepad at the head of your bed and immediately after waking up, write down your impressions in it. Usually, after sleep, I remember and analyze night visions while lying down for a while, and only then get out of bed and make entries in my diary. One of my friends puts a cassette recorder next to his bed and, upon waking up, speaks his impressions into the microphone.

The technique of complete relaxation before astral travel in a dream is described in the tenth chapter.

For many people, the first memory of an astral experience is associated with awakening from sleep. The author of Astral Projection, Oliver Fox, at the age of sixteen, experienced the first astral exits in a dream. He discovered that even in a state of deep sleep, he could control what was happening and influence the situation. He designated this phenomenon as a "cognitive dream", since in a dream he received the knowledge that he dreamed about in reality *. The secret was that during sleep, his mind retained the ability to think critically. By working hard on yourself, everyone can achieve this, no matter how difficult it may seem at first glance.

* Fox, Astral Projection, 34-35.

People who experienced the first astral experience in a dream include such famous psychics as the author of "Projection of the Astral Body" Sylvan Muldoon and the famous Keith Garary, who, like no other, succeeded in the field of out-of-body experience.

Some methods of astral exit are applicable in a drowsy state. Robert Monroe wrote that when a person was able to "keep the borderline state without going to sleep," he was halfway to mastering the technique of entering the astral plane*.

* Robert A. Monroe, Journeys out of the Body (New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1971), 208.

Oliver Fox coined the term "conscious dreaming", meaning a state of controlled sleep. Most often, a person encounters this phenomenon in nightmares, when by an effort of will he forces himself to wake up. However, in this case we are not talking about conscious control over the situation, since a person who has seen a nightmare cannot change the “plot”, but simply wakes up. Prepared people easily acquire the ability to "conscious dream".

The famous Russian mystic P. D. Uspensky, before falling asleep, concentrated his attention on consciousness for some time, and after falling into sleep, it continued to "work" in the usual way. In this way he achieved complete control over dreams*.

* Ouspensky, P. D., A New Model of the Universe (n. d. Reprinted New York: Random House, and London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Limited, 1960). This most accessible of Ouspensky's writings includes a fascinating chapter called "The Study of Dreams and Hypnosis."

The easiest way to develop these abilities is to focus on dreams immediately after waking up. While half asleep, remind yourself that, as much as you would like, dreams are not reality. Then try to go back to sleep and experience "lucid dreaming".

When conducting experiments of this kind, I usually imagine myself flying over familiar cities. For example, I like to soar over London and admire the familiar landscape. You can go anywhere. The target of the flight can also be an imaginary landscape. Flying will help you fall asleep and experience "lucid dreaming".

It is possible that during the flight there will be a spontaneous astral exit. This method of astral travel was one of Sylvan Muldoon's favorite methods. He believed that any flight in a dream is a direct astral experience, despite the fact that the consciousness remains in the physical shell. In this state, Muldoon had no difficulty in controlling the moment of awakening.

Realizing that the dream is not real will help you avoid the unpleasant moments that every dream abounds with. As soon as your mind fixes one of these absurdities, by an effort of will "transfer" it into a "conscious dream", and control over the situation will be ensured. You may want to watch the dream to its logical conclusion. In this case, you may want to extend or change the plot. One way or another, having gained control, you become a "co-author" of the script.

Some people resort to key phrases to transform an ordinary dream into a conscious one. For example, in conscious dreams, flight is a common occurrence; so you can repeat to yourself something like: "Taking off, I know that this is a dream." Often, during sleep, people are visited by a variety of sexual fantasies, which can also be exploited to move to the conscious level of dreams. However, any dream can be used for the same purpose.

I have found from my own experience that when I go to bed physically exhausted, I prefer conscious dreams to ordinary ones. Emotional issues can also cause lucid dreams. During a period when my family was having serious problems with one of our children, I had lucid dreams every night. However, I do not want to invite trouble and therefore I recommend taking advantage of physical fatigue, and not expecting emotional upheavals.

As already mentioned, conscious dreams can be accompanied by an astral exit. During such a dream, you can order yourself to go back and see yourself sleeping. After that, it is enough to wish to leave the body and instantly soar to the ceiling.

Don't be discouraged if the first attempt fails. Keep experimenting and sooner or later you will get what you want. Persistently and with confidence in your soul move towards the intended goal, and you will succeed.

The Danish psychic and psychologist Dr. Frederik van Eeden was the first person to use conscious dreaming as a springboard for astral travel. He began his research in 1896 and a year later experienced "conscious dreaming" and astral flight. He especially liked flights, contacts with the souls of the dead and visiting uncharted places in order to explore them. During astral exits, he sometimes, as if from the outside, saw his astral double standing at the head of his sleeping wife. The results of his discoveries were published in 1913*.

* Frederick Van Eeden, A study of Dreams in Proceeding of the Society for Psychical Research Volume 26 (London: 1913), 431-461.

Dreams and OBEs go hand in hand. In Psychic Strengthening, Dr. Joe G. Slate tells of a woman who had a dream in which her car rolled over several times. Soon what he saw in a dream became reality. At the moment of the catastrophe, the woman spontaneously went into the astral plane and from the side watched what she had already seen in a dream. Moreover, when she got out of the wrecked car, there was not a single scratch on her body *.

* Joe H. Slate, Ph. D., Psychic Empowerment (St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 1995), 159.

Spontaneous astral travel is of undoubted interest, but, unfortunately, we cannot fully control it. In the next chapter, we will begin to study the technique of astral exit at will.

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Tags: Astral travel for beginners, out-of-body travel, Richard Webster.

In order to understand what astral travel is, one must firmly believe in. At the same time, astral travel, the method of exiting the body of which is diverse, and individual methods are sometimes contradictory, suggests that the human essence has five bodies:

• material shell- the physical body itself;
• an astral body that can move in space and time;
• mental body giving a person the ability to think and rationalize his thinking;
• mind - consciousness, which forms the psycho-emotional essence of a person;
• soul given to man by the Creator, which is the immortal essence of the individual.

Before dealing with specific methods of astral travel, it is necessary to briefly familiarize yourself with modern ideas about them and possible ways of liberating the astral body from the body shell.

Astral travel basics

In order for an individual to master the method of exiting the astral body from its physiological shell, he must have a strong will and the ability to concentrate. To the greatest extent, people who “fly” in a dream are predisposed to astral travel. Depending on the development of this ability, the following options are possible:

• when flying during dreams, a person will not spend any physical effort to the rise and fall of his astral body, which can soar, but not move in space;
• for a controlled movement, a person will waste his physical energy, and the astral journey itself goes through several stages:
• repulsion from the ground (bed) - takeoff - soaring - descent;
• movement in space provided by a trained physical body and its astral component.

Separated from the physical shell, astral bodies hover above their place of residence, and energetically stronger and better prepared individuals can make longer and more distant journeys. Usually people cannot see the flight of someone else's body, but those with psychic or paranormal abilities (clairvoyants) perceive someone else's astral shell in the same way as an ordinary physical body.

Some esotericists are convinced that astral travel can end in death, since the soul will not be able to find its way to the physiological shell. This is a profound delusion, since the astral flight takes place under the guidance of the subconscious, which, unlike the mind, is always awake.

Some danger is represented by anomalous zones and territories with strong electromagnetic fields. However, even in them, astral travel does not always lead to death. In most cases, a person falls ill and loses the ability to astral travel for a while, even in exoterically safe zones.

Training Methods for Astral Travel

People who do not have the innate ability to fly in a dream can independently, after certain training, make astral journeys, the method of leaving the body of which offers various sets of spiritual and physical exercises. Regardless of the chosen method, there are certain requirements that are common to all, the main of which is the regularity and continuity of training, which must be taken daily from five minutes to half an hour. At the initial stage of training, a person must master the ability to separate his astral body from the physical. After that, having chosen one of the sets of exercises, one should begin to master the control of the astral substance. At the same time, at first, a person may not actually feel the skill that has appeared, but he will increasingly fly in a dream.

Currently, the following methods are most often used to realize one's astral essence and control astral travel:

• exit of the astral body from the physiological shell using Alice Anna Bailey techniques (Alice Ann Bailey) - American Theosophical writer and founder of the Arcane School;
• a technique for separating the physical and astral components by self-hypnosis ;
• a technique using a visualization engine (self-visualization), sometimes called Aleister Crowley's method (Aleister Crowley);
• astral method traveler Yuri Borisov .

At the first stage, any astral movements and journeys, the exit from the body of which is chosen and accepted, must be carried out under the supervision of a curator (mentor, inductor).

• Installation text for astral travel in a dream.

Introduction

Since time immemorial, people have experienced an inexplicable craving for astral travel. How did a person manage to leave his physical shell and rush into unknown distances, going beyond the boundaries of time and space? Was this ability inherent only to the elect, or did each person have such an opportunity from birth? It is quite obvious that it was beneficial for shamans to keep people in the dark about such brilliant and unique opportunities: to be aware of upcoming events, and even influence them. That is why the technique of astral exit was shrouded in a veil of mystery.

Nevertheless, there are many examples of how some people have acquired the gift of astral exit spontaneously. In most cases, the astral experience left pleasant impressions. However, some stories horrified people, forming a misconception about this phenomenon.

Fortunately, my first astral experience at the age of fifteen, although spontaneous, intrigued me rather than frightened me. One day after class, before going home, I went to the school library. I knew I might miss the train, but I couldn't stop looking for the books I needed to do my homework. Unexpectedly for myself, I found myself at the railway station, among other students. The sensation was quite natural, except for the distinct awareness of leaving the physical body. The platform was filled with the usual liveliness and carefree fuss, and I wanted to check if my classmates could see me. I tried to slap my friend on the back and saw my hand pass through his body. However, no one reacted, and I realized that my presence had gone unnoticed by those around me. Then I called out to a friend, but received no answer. Suddenly I remembered that I had left my briefcase at school, and in the blink of an eye I was back in the library. Trying to catch the train, I frantically began stuffing books into my briefcase, but time was hopelessly lost.

The next train did not arrive until forty-five minutes later, and I had a lot of time to comprehend what had happened to me. This is not to say that what happened was something out of the ordinary for me, since I had already read several books by Sylvan Muldoon about astral travel, although I did not experience it myself. My first astral experience awakened in me the desire to learn how to leave the body at will.

Now, remembering those distant Days, I understand that the circumstances could not have been more favorable to what happened. On the one hand, I made desperate attempts to find the right book, and on the other hand, I was afraid of missing the train. Both circumstances created a kind of stressful situation, and since I was already familiar with the theory, the third favorable factor - desire - was evident. So, for a spontaneous exit to the astral, a state of stress is necessary, supported by the desire to experience such an experience.

Some people believe that leaving the physical body is a serious risk. In fact, astral travel is much safer than driving a car. In this book, I provide recommendations that virtually eliminate all adverse effects. For many years I have taught people and been their guide to another dimension, and they all claim that astral travel enriches life, filling it with new colors and pleasant experiences.

What is astral travel? In practice, this type of journey means leaving the physical body, visiting any places of one's choice and returning to the body shell.

Humans had astral experiences in prehistoric times as well. Descriptions of astral travel left the ancient civilizations of Egypt, India, China and Tibet. In the Tibetan tradition, people capable of astral exit were called "delogs", which meant "those who returned from the beyond".

The ancient Egyptians believed in Ka (astral counterpart) and Ba (soul or spirit) and believed that these entities could leave the body at any moment. In the preface to The Egyptian Book of the Dead, Wallis Budge writes that the Egyptians endowed Ka with traits characteristic of the person to whom this essence belonged. At the same time, it was believed that such an entity has a kind of independence and intrinsic value.

Plato was convinced that the earthly life of a person is only a pitiful semblance of what is available to the spirit, freed from the body. Aristotle believed that the spirit is able to leave the physical shell and meet with their own kind in another world. The ancient Greeks also believed that in addition to the physical body, a person has a second, subtle body.

In Holy Scripture we find mention of astral travel: after baptism, “Philip was caught up by the Angel of the Lord” and “Philip was in Azoth” [Acts. 8:39, 40].

In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, the holy Apostle Paul writes: “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago ... was caught up to the third heaven ... he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words that a man cannot retell.”

The ancient Celts had a legend that told how the druid Mog Ruit turned into a bird and flew over the positions of a hostile army, looking for vulnerabilities in the enemy's defenses. This is direct evidence of astral travel.

In 1808, the German merchant Herr Wasermann discovered in himself the ability to astral flight - he "appeared" in the dreams of his friends. Wasermann conducted a series of experiments, in four of which friends confirmed his "visits", and their dreams unfolded in accordance with the scenario of the experimenter. The fifth experience made a particularly strong impression. According to the proposed scenario, Lieutenant N was supposed to see in a dream a woman who died five years ago. At the appointed time (11 p.m.), the lieutenant was still awake, discussing with his friend the details of the military campaign against the French. Suddenly the door opened and a bare-haired woman in black and white entered. Nodding three times to the lieutenant's friend and once to the master himself, she smiled and left. A few seconds later, the startled men rushed after her. However, her trace was gone, and the sentry standing in the door swore that he had not noticed anyone.

The first scientist to apply scientific methods to the study of astral experience was the Frenchman Hector d'Urville. The object of his experiments was a man who went into the astral plane of his own free will and at any time. During the experiments, this subject drummed at a distance on a table standing at the far end of the room, illuminated photographic plates and caused a glow on screens coated with calcium sulfate.

Madame Blavatsky, or HPB [Abbr. from "Helena Petrovna Blavatsky"], as her associates called her, in 1875 founded the Theosophical Society in New York. For forty years, this woman traveled through the countries of Asia, comprehending the wisdom of the East. Members of the Theosophical Society believed that the true essence of man is not limited to his physical shell and consists of at least seven bodies. The Society itself has made an invaluable contribution to the popularization of Eastern traditions and, in particular, astral travel.

In the 20th century, interest in the astral has increased unheard of. While Europe was ravaged by the battles of the First World War, two enthusiasts, as if nothing had happened, boldly experimented in the field of astral projection. One of them, the engineer and theosophist Hugh Callaway, wrote the book Astral Projection, which is still well-deservedly popular. This study, published under the pseudonym Oliver Fox by Hugh Callaway before the outbreak of World War II, collects lengthy articles previously published in the 1920 issues of The Occult Review. Hugh's colleague, the French mystic Marcel Louis Foran, lived across the English Channel and, under the pseudonym Iram, published the book Le Medecin de l "Ame", better known as "Practical Astral Projection".

The American researcher Sylvan Muldoon, in collaboration with Hervard Carrington, wrote the book Projection of the Astral Body in 1929. Unlike Oliver Fox and Iram, who considered the ability to astral exit the prerogative of especially gifted people, this author believed that astral travel is available to everyone. As evidence, he cited numerous examples that people can spontaneously go on an astral flight.

Muldoon's work was continued by retired geologist Dr. Robert Crookell, who collected and analyzed over 750 astral experiences over ten years. His first work, The Study and Practice of Astral Projection, was published in 1960.

Carefully analyzing each episode, Dr. Crookall tried to identify the main factors that could explain the essence of this extraordinary phenomenon. As a result of research, the scientist came to the conclusion that all cases have six main characteristics.

1. In all cases, people feel they are leaving the physical body in the head region.
2. At the moment the astral body leaves the physical shell, the human consciousness "turns off".
3. Before setting off on a journey, the astral bodies of people “hover” over their physical shells for some time.
4. Before returning, the astral double also “hovers” over the physical body for some time.
5. Before the final return, there is again an instant "blackout" of consciousness.
6. In the case of an accelerated return of the astral body, the physical bodies of people experience involuntary shudders.

Before Dr. Crookall's research was published, few thought of a scientific explanation for the phenomena of the astral plane. However, not so much time passed before scientists became seriously interested in the problem and found that the circle of people who had astral experience was much wider than previously thought.

It was during these years that an employee of the Institute for Parapsychological Research, Celia Green, was collecting data on cases of out-of-body experience. The information received can be considered the most complete. In addition to the usual methods of research and questioning, the search for the necessary information was carried out through newspaper advertisements.

Despite the fact that the statistical data of representatives of different countries had some differences, there was basically a single trend: about twenty percent of the inhabitants of the Earth had an astral experience at least once in their lives. As it turned out, compared to other people, university students were more susceptible to astral exit. Celia Green found that thirty-four percent of her 1968 Oxford graduates had astralized at least once. In 1975, an even more serious study was conducted, the participants of which concluded that, compared with fourteen percent of other populations who had astral experience, students held the palm (25%). Even more impressive were the data obtained by an American magazine that turned to its readers: 700 out of 1500 respondents (46%) declared their ability to go into the astral plane.

In 1980, at the annual convention of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Stuart Tuemlow, a representative of the Topek Veterans Affairs Medical Center, presented the results of his own research. According to his data, eighty-five percent of those surveyed liked the astral experience, and more than half of them said they experienced "joy." In Dr. Tuemlow's report, the following was literally said: "At least forty-three percent of respondents insisted that what happened to them is the most vivid memory in their lives." Not surprisingly, most of them sought to repeat their experience. Singer Kate Bush compared the astral exit to a "kite" hovering in the sky and connected to the physical shell only by a thin thread. My students unanimously recognized this comparison as very successful and accurate.

Today, many parapsychologists demonstrate the ability to remote view (an aspect of the so-called psychometry), which is a form of astral travel. During such experiments, the subject is asked to describe something that happens thousands of kilometers from the place of the experiment.

The ever-increasing interest of the scientific world in such a phenomenon as astral travel is encouraging. Thus, Dr. Eugene I. Bernard, a professor at North Carolina State University, stated: “It seems unlikely that so many mentally healthy people experience hallucinations. The brain and its capabilities are still a secret for scientists with seven seals. It is difficult to say when this will happen, but I firmly believe that sooner or later the theory of astral projection will receive scientific justification and confirmation.

There is much other evidence of astral experience. A well-known example, labeled "Case Number Fourteen", is given in Edmond Gurney's fascinating book Living Ghosts, which contains 702 psychic experiments. Mr. Werd tells how, in November 1881, he astrally visited his fiancee's bedroom. He writes: “Reading about the mighty possibilities of the human will on a November Sunday evening in 1881, I believed that I could mentally transfer my soul to the second floor of No. 22 Hogard Road, Kensington, and actually found myself in one of the bedrooms.” This room was occupied by his fiancée, Miss Verigi, and her eleven-year-old sister.

Bird's house was located three miles from the home of the bride, who knew nothing of his plans. The next morning, an agitated Miss Verity told the groom about the shock she had experienced when she saw his ghost at her bedside. Awakened by her cry, the younger sister also saw a ghost.

The culprit of the commotion was very pleased with his experience, which he repeated twice more. Bird tried to explain how he managed to leave the physical shell; “In addition to a purely volitional desire, I made some effort that cannot be described in words. I was aware of some mystical fluids in my body and was fully aware that forces were involved that lay beyond my understanding. Nevertheless, at certain moments they obeyed my will. Emmanuel Swedenborg (1689-1772) tells of another documented case. On July 17, 1759, he attended a dinner party in Gothenburg. At this time, an unprecedented fire broke out in Stockholm, located three hundred miles from the scene of action. At six o'clock in the afternoon, Swedenborg suddenly turned pale and announced to the guests that a fire had begun. Going out into the garden, he began to talk about the details and the spread of the conflagration in the capital. The guests learned that his friend's house had burned down and his own mansion was in danger. Two hours later, Swedenborg returned to the house and exclaimed, "Praise be to God, the fire is out three blocks from my residence!" The next day, the clairvoyant confirmed his words with the governor, since many Gothenburgers had friends and relatives in Stockholm and were disturbed by the alarming message. There were also those who owned real estate in the capital. Only two days later, the victims of the fire arrived in Gothenburg and confirmed Swedenborg's words in the smallest detail. The hero of the day could go into the astral at his own will and, moreover, repeatedly visited the angelic worlds. His mystical revelations are described in numerous diaries.

In 1918, nineteen-year-old Ernest Hemingway fought in the Italian army. Carrying cocoa around the positions, he received severe shrapnel wounds to his legs, which served as a cause or some kind of impetus for a spontaneous astral exit. He recalls: “I felt my soul, or something else, leave my body, like a silk handkerchief, which is pulled out of a pocket by the tip.” The writer reflected his experience in the novel “Farewell to Arms!”, endowing it with the main character of the book, Frederick Henry.

One of the most famous astral travelers is Edgar Cayce. In a state of trance, he diagnosed patients who were thousands of kilometers from the place of the experiment. While in a trance, Casey abstracted from the traditional senses, brought himself into a borderline state in which his "subtle body" interacted with the patient's subconscious, revealing a particular pathology.

It should be noted that Edgar Cayce categorically forbade those present to move objects in front of his body while he was in the astral plane, fearing for the state of an invisible thread or cord through which his physical body was connected to the subtle body. This thread is commonly referred to as the "silver cord".

The ability to travel in the astral plane is difficult to overestimate. So, you can find out what people really think about you, get answers to many previously unsolvable questions, visit your friends and loved ones at any time. Without leaving (physically) your home, you will travel through time and space at will and forget what boredom is.

One of the most important aspects of the astral exit is what worries many people - the question of the finiteness of earthly existence. The realization that death does not put an end to your path will help you get rid of the fears associated with the frailty of earthly life. Scientific studies have confirmed that at the time of physical death, the human body loses approximately 60 to 90 grams of its mass, and a certain haze appears in the head area. It is possible that it is these signs that indicate that a person is going on his last lifetime astral journey.

Almost everyone who has experienced astral experience (including involuntary) strives to repeat it again and again.

Fortunately, the technique of astral exit can be mastered by anyone; in many ways, it resembles the technique of driving a car. Some people learn the skills of "astral driving" playfully; others require more serious and lengthy preparation. However, both in the first and in the second case, a serious attitude to the subject of study brings the expected results. In exceptional cases, a person has to spend several years on training. This happens due to internal complexes, "tightness", as well as in the case of training under incompetent guidance. Nevertheless, I hasten to assure you that completely hopeless students simply do not exist.

My personal teaching experience convinces me that anyone can learn to astral exit. Working with students, I have never been able to determine with certainty which of them had the greatest abilities, but at one time each of them went on an astral flight.

My book contains a variety of methods for entering the astral. This was not done by chance - despite all the efforts, I did not manage to develop a single, universal technique. As a rule, a person can learn to “leave” the physical body in several ways, and at least one of them will work for you.

Before moving on to specific exercises, I would advise you to read the entire book and only after a second, more careful reading, begin to master the proposed techniques. Perhaps some exercises will seem too easy and ineffective. However, you should not jump from one chapter to another (this is especially true of the ninth chapter), since the methods given in the book have proven to be effective in practice in this sequence. So, be consistent, do not be afraid to lose an extra ten minutes, and the results will not be long in coming.

The surrounding world perceived by the human senses is far from its complete picture. Ministers of the occult sciences have been saying this for a long time. According to the conventional scientific view, the physical world is all we have. However, even at the dawn of civilization, people had a different opinion, and believed that along with our ordinary world, there is another, invisible, and maybe even several. For example, occultism recognizes the existence of three worlds: physical, spiritual and astral.

The main role in the spiritual world is assigned to the spirit, in the astral world - to strength or energy, but in the physical, matter dominates. The astral world acts as an intermediary between the spiritual and physical worlds, and all these worlds are more or less interconnected, but a person is simultaneously present in each of these worlds.

The entire Universe is saturated with astral matter, solar and stellar systems are connected by it. There are no specifics in the astral world - there are numerous options for the past and the future, energy copies of dead and unborn people, as well as all kinds of entities, immediately live here. It is by entering the astral plane that psychics and mediums can obtain the information they need.

The practice of flying into the astral plane has been practiced by people for a long time, while the astral (etheric) double of a person leaves the physical shell without losing awareness of what is happening. Going into the astral plane, a person can see his physical body from the side, but the astral body is perceived by people in different ways: some feel like just a particle of consciousness, and some perceive themselves as if in a cocoon.

However, Monroe gradually got used to this strangeness of his, and in the middle of the last century, the Monroe Institute began to conduct experiments with the impact on the human brain of sound signals, with which it was possible to control both the state of wakefulness and induce sleep. In 1968, researchers made an interesting discovery: with the help of certain sound combinations, they managed to induce states of consciousness that are not characteristic of the human mind. The Monroe Institute also studied the experience of out-of-body experiences of people. As it turned out, the exits of the astral body occurred not only during dreams, but also during loss of consciousness or during its artificial shutdown (under anesthesia). At the same time, people could see themselves from the outside, and observe the actions of others.

Any person repeatedly goes to the astral plane in a dream. This form of exit is called involuntary astral travel, which is completely forgotten upon awakening. However, with the help of conscious travel, a person can remember everything that happened to him during a walk in the astral plane: he can visit different cities and countries, communicate with dead or still unfamiliar people, and even fly into space. Such exits are achieved through training and practice, but there are more primitive ways, such as taking drugs or alcohol, which help the soul to leave the body. But such measures do not allow the Soul to go to higher levels, and most often the walk is limited to the lower layers, where it will be very unpleasant for an unprepared person to meet some unattractive entity.

At the same time, some entity can settle into the physical body, which has remained in the material world for some time without a soul, and this is fraught with problems. In addition, frequent astral walks weaken a person’s energy, and this especially affects his psyche. Therefore, before you begin to develop the ability to "fly" in yourself, you need to clearly understand whether you need it. And if necessary, then make every effort to ensure that, along with the development of this skill, all the necessary safety conditions are observed for both the physical and astral bodies.