The Occult LibraryArticles on Occult and Esoteric subjects

Chapter 12 – Practitioners’ Experiences

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OTHER PEOPLE’S EXPERIENCES

The ability to analyze the experiences of others can be a great supplement to personal training. This allows a practitioner to review and think through situations that have not yet been personally encountered. The more a practitioner analyses the experiences of other practitioners, fewer mistakes will be made during individual practice.

Reading the experiences contained in this section will shed much light on proper phase practice. The actions that these practitioners took to achieve results will be subconsciously retained by the reader’s memory. Later, these actions may reproduce similar circumstances in the phase, affording valuable opportunities to respond using proper actions.

At the beginning stages of practice, many practitioners lack in real descriptions of phase experiences while technique-related knowledge abounds. Techniques can be conceptualized in many different ways, while descriptions of their application are much more demonstrative. Thus, many practitioners have no idea about how genuine practice transpires.

The experiences described in this section are useful – even from a psychological point of view. Even if a person believes that the phase phenomenon exists, it may be construed as extremely difficult or personally impossible. After learning about other people’s experiences, a person will realize that these practitioners have been able to enter the phase without any complicated or incomprehensible techniques. The reader will understand that the key is to take right actions at the right moment, trying to master the phase with calmness and confidence.

While reviewing and analyzing other people’s experiences in this section, the reader should remember that these experiences are based on personal beliefs about the phenomenon, which is why occult terminology and notions may be encountered. However, such aspects of the descriptions are not important. Focus should be given to technique-related actions described in the accounts. The reader should also take into account that some nuances (like experiential realism) are not always clear in the text and that it is not always possible to determine why certain events occurred in the phase experiences described here.

All of the following descriptions belong to real people who either related the accounts orally, wrote them down during classes at the School of Out-of-Body Travel, submitted them via email, or posted them on the forum at www.obe4u.com. Though the total number of recorded, verifiable phase descriptions exceeds one thousand, only several cases that are illustrative and useful for developing analysis have been selected. Primarily, these are descriptions of the practitioners’ initial phase experiences, which are most relevant to new practitioners.

The large number of mistakes made by almost every practitioner, regardless of their level of experience, should not be taken too seriously while reading the comments. Actually, it is a rare occasion that the phase is experienced without any technique-related errors. Everybody makes mistakes.

Experiments are listed in ascending order of quality and number of properly performed actions. Accounts have been published with the permission of the authors.

ANALYSIS OF SELECTED PRACTITIONERS’ EXPERIENCES

No. 1

Boris Pronyakin

Copywriter. Kiev, Ukraine

I woke up in the “correct” state. I immediately felt vibrations, and before I had time to time to think about anything, I was knocked out of my body by a strong kick. I started falling. I had no vision, the floor was gone. Like a nose-diving airplane, I was in a free-fall. I kept dropping faster and faster. I started to feel that I was losing control. The only thing I could do was increase the speed with which I fell, all of the ways that occurred to me to try maintain the phase that I attempted at that moment only lowered my degree of awareness. Touching did not do anything for me, as I was just an unembodied spirit in a complete vacuum. Vision was also missing. I started to panic due to the imminent foul. But the acceleration of the fall did not help either, and I was flying and waiting for the moment when I would be thrown out into the dream world. And I dropped like this until I fell asleep.

Questions: Did Boris describe a direct or indirect technique? What could he have done if no spontaneous separation had occurred? How could Boris have more correctly used deepening techniques? Why wasn’t Boris thrown into a phase episode? Why did he fall asleep?

Answers and Comments: An indirect technique was employed. If spontaneous separation had not occurred, Boris could have tried to separate on his own. If an attempt to separate had failed, it would be necessary to implement indirect techniques by intensifying the vibrations, and then try once again to separate. In order to deepen and, meanwhile, reach a destination while falling, Boris should have applied translocation techniques and, upon reaching a location, continued to deepen by means of sensory amplification. For example, he could have applied the technique of translocation by teleportation with his eyes closed or simply tried to catch sight of his hands through the darkness, which also would have induced an exit.

Boris also did not pay any attention to the roar in his ears. It could have been used for the technique of listening in, which would have helped him to deepen and maintain. The lack of a set aim to land somewhere resulted in his endless fall, though it does not always happen this way. Boris fell asleep due to his passivity and also because he forgot that falling asleep was a possibility, though he did remember about the possibility of an inadvertent return to reality (a foul).

No. 2

Alexei Bakharev

Engineer. Sochi, Russia

This was the first time that I managed to become conscious while dreaming. Before falling asleep, I concentrated on the darkness before my eyes and tried to remain consciousness as long as I could. All of a sudden, I dreamt that I was levitating to the ceiling, which resulted in my becoming conscious that I was dreaming. My phantom body responded poorly to attempts to control it, and simply hovered beneath the ceiling. There were two people sitting on the floor below. They were looking in my direction, but it seemed that they did not see me. At this point I woke up and felt some sort of tingling and itching in my legs.

Questions: What factors led to the entry into the phase through dream consciousness? What needed to be done while hovering about beneath the ceiling? Why did the foul happen so fast? What should have been done immediately after returning to the body?

Answers and Comments: Dream consciousness occurred due to the Alexei’s intent to concentrate on the space before his eyes and his desire to remain conscious for as long as possible. The process of becoming conscious was caused by the sensation of flying while dreaming. Flying almost always becomes an anchor for dream consciousness. Immediately after the phase occurred, Alexei should have started deepening. Instead, he simply hovered about and observed. While all the movements may have been difficult to perform, they should have nevertheless still been done very actively. As a result, lightness and a deepening of the phase would have ensued. His inadvertent exit from the phase happened due to passivity, failure to deepen, and non-compliance with the rules for maintaining the phase. Even upon returning to his body, Alexei should have tried to separate again.

No. 3

Dmitry Markov

Radio Mechanic. Moscow, Russia

My first time was the most terrible event in my life. I had never experienced such terror. It happened in December, 1990. I was falling asleep in my bed at home. Suddenly, I heard someone enter my room, but I did not pay attention to the “intruder”. Then, two female hands grabbed me from behind, and while pressing my belly, started to lift my body up. I distinctly felt thin fingers with long nails on my belly, but was completely paralyzed and absolutely unable move any part of my body or put up any kind of resistance. I felt my body go through the ceiling, but then was pulled still higher and higher.

I got scared that this could be death. I was afraid not so much of death as of the unknown. All of this happened so swiftly that I found myself unprepared for such a crossover. I started to pray. I asked God to help me free myself and go back. I panicked. I can’t say how many seconds my forced levitation lasted or how high I was lifted above my house, but the moment came when I instantly returned to my bed.

Questions: Was this entry into the phase deliberate? What kind of technique led to the phase? What is the name for the complete immobilization that Dmitry encountered? What should he have done in order to start moving? Why did his body easily go through the ceiling? Why was he able to stop this terrible experience by praying? What could he have done immediately upon returning to his body?

Answers and Comments: This phase experience was spontaneous and falls under the category of direct techniques since there was no significant lapse into sleep. The whole experience was accompanied by sleep paralysis, which is why it was difficult for Dmitry to do anything. In order to move in this type of situation, it would have been necessary to intensify the phase state by using an indirect technique or redouble efforts to move.p

Dmitry’s body went through the ceiling without any difficulty because there was no vision and the phase itself had not been deepened, otherwise this would not have happened so easily. Praying and appealing to God helped in this case because praying facilitated a relaxation of perceptions and an intention to go back to reality: two factors which are crucial during emergency return techniques. Upon returning to his body, he could have still tried to separate again, though this would have been easier said than done due to the fear associated with the first experience.

No. 4

Ivan Yakovlev

Student. Antwerp, Belgium

I don’t know what woke me up, but I knew right away that something was out of order. I could not open my eyes, and my body was almost just asking to rise up. I understood what was going on – all of this indicated that I was having an out-of-body experience. The first thing I tried was to lift my left hand up, and it worked. I understood that this was an astral hand, because I could see through it. I moved hastily and carefully to the other side of the bed (There was a strange sensation in my head at that time). I calmed down and tried to do something again. I levitated about half a meter above the bed. Vision came back to me right then and I saw what appeared to be my room, but not exactly it, as the rug on the floor was of a different color pattern and the door was closed for some reason. I could not comprehend why everything was lit from behind my back. Then, I looked over my left shoulder and saw a small bright white ball behind my shoulder blade at a distance of 8 inches. It was lighting up the room up. Then I tried to go through the door, but was unable to. Out of the fear that I would never return to my real body, I woke up in the everyday world.

Questions: During the beginning of his experience, what phenomenon typical to the phase and awakening did Ivan encounter? What kind of technique, direct or indirect, led to the phase? What specific techniques were employed? How could the sensation of “the body just asking to rise up” have been used? What should have been done immediately when he realized that it was possible to raise his hand? What should have been the first actions taken after levitation? Why was it unnecessary to immediately try to go through the door? What should have been done when Ivan returned to his body? Does this practitioner have a down-to-earth view or an esoteric view of the nature of this phenomenon?

Answers and Comments: Upon awakening in a state of sleep paralysis, Ivan understood that he could use this opportunity for the phase and immediately started attempts to separate without employing techniques for creating the state, as they would have been superfluous. This was an indirect technique by nature. He could have followed his impulse to levitate from the very beginning instead of moving his hands. After his hand started to move, he could have stood up or separated. Instead, Ivan simply rolled over and calmed down for an instant, although doing so is strongly discouraged and is a waste of the progress made up to this point. Then, after starting to levitate, he should have, first of all, assumed a position distinct from that of his real body, stood up on the floor, and immediately started deepening. Instead, he diverted his attention to the light source and an attempt to go through the door.

Even if everything had been done correctly from the beginning, there would have been no reason to attempt to go through the door. Ivan could have simply opened it. The skill of going through objects should be learned after first fine-tuning the ability to deepen and maintain the phase. There was no reason to return out of fear, but even a return to the body, another immediate attempt at separating would most likely have been successful.

The use of the term of “astral hand” indicates that the practitioner harbors esoteric views on the subject.

No. 5

Natalya Kozhenova

Engineer. Shchelkovo, Russia

When I was about 17 or 18 years old, I read some esoteric articles on astral projection. They seemed quite interesting to me, but no more than a curiosity – I did not particularly believe in such things.

One evening, I went to bed as usual. I woke up in the middle of the night, but was unable to move my body and there was a loud noise in my head. Having been reminded of those articles, I simply tried to levitate and I managed to do so, as if through my forehead somehow. The sensation of flying was very realistic, to my great surprise. The first thought that occurred to me was, “Wow, these astral guys weren’t lying!” I hovered above my body for some time in the dark. I thought of vision, and it started to appear. I then flew towards the window, and upon turning around in to face my body, I saw it in its proper place. I decided to fly back to it and touch it. When I finally poked it, it sucked my back into it, causing a quite strange sensation.

Questions: What type of technique did Natalya use? What would she have needed to do if her attempt at levitating had been unsuccessful? Why was the phase short-lived? What should she have done upon returning to her body? Why did she use the term “astral”? Were the articles about astral projection of any significant help?

Answers and Comments: Upon awakening in a state of a sleep paralysis, Natalya stumbled upon the idea of employing indirect techniques. She managed to separate immediately, but if she’d encountered problems in doing so, she could have started the technique of listening in to the “noise” in her head. The phase was short-lived due to a lack of activity and failure to perform deepening and “maintaining” techniques. After returning to her body, she should have tried to immediately separate.

Natalya holds esoteric views on the nature of the phase phenomenon, which is why she uses such terminology for it. However, the articles helped her to perform the right actions at the right moment.

No 6

Alexander Furmenkov

Student. Saint Petersburg, Russia

I woke up at early in the night after some difficulties with falling asleep. Blurred images started to float before my eyes and I realized that I could enter the phase. I started to discard unnecessary images, and after getting ahold of one of them, I emerged in some kind of a yellow corridor. The level of general realness and awareness of the experience was about 80% to 90% of that of reality. I remembered about the methods for deepening, which is why I started to look at everything going on around me, but this did not yield any serious results. I started to touch myself, but all sensation seemed somewhat dampened. I realized that I was losing awareness. I came round, but nevertheless fell asleep in about 20 seconds.

Questions: Is it possible to call the technique used in this description a direct technique? What specific technique for creating the phase was employed? Which separation technique did Alexander use? What could have been the reason for the “dampened sensation” and inability to deepen? What caused him to fall asleep?

Answers and Comments: The technique employed cannot be considered a direct one, though it was used at the beginning of the night. As a matter of fact, it appears that the preliminary lapse of consciousness into sleep was significant. If such preliminary sleep had lasted only several minutes, the technique could have been considered partially direct. The technique for observing images was employed correctly because the images appeared on their own.

Alexander did not employ any techniques for separation, as the observing images technique often brings the observer into the observed image or some other world, which is exactly what happened here. Most likely, the weakness of the phase was due to meager levels of activity and motivation, which were caused by the fact that it was early in the night. The practitioner fell asleep because he failed to deepen sufficiently and not keep from falling asleep. General activity was also very low. The body’s desire to fall asleep played a major role in the process. Alexander had, after all, been having problems sleeping.

No. 7

Roman Reutov

System Administrator. Samara, Russia

Truly, the most interesting things almost always happen unexpectedly.

After a sufficiently long break in my attempts to go to the other world, tonight I decided to try it again. I threw in the towel after yet another unsuccessful attempt, rolled to my other side, and decided to simply get a good night’s sleep. I do not know exactly how much time passed while I lay down and thought about what I was still doing wrong while observing interesting images that my imagination was drawing. But at one fine moment, I suddenly felt the phenomenon that is commonly referred to as vibrations. I started to intensify them (I should add that the feeling is indescribable), but I could not levitate, though I really wanted to take a look at myself from the outside. I decided to simply stand up, and that’s when it all became most interesting! The entire process of transitioning from a horizontal position to a vertical one was accompanied by increasingly palpable vibrations and a louder and louder roaring sound in my head. The sensation was the same as that experienced after going to bed after not having slept for 24 hours and then being suddenly roused by somebody: my head spun, everything started crackling inside of it, and I was about to lose consciousness. Then, a flickering picture started to appear. It stabilized after one or two seconds, the roaring in my head died down, and I realized that I was sitting on my bed.

I was in my apartment, thought it was noticeably altered. My room seemed more or less the same, though the interior was indeed different upon detailed examination. For example, my mobile phone, which is always within a reach, was somehow an older and different model. It turned out to be the first object that I tested, as I suddenly wanted very much to find out what time it was and check which day of the month it was. I distinctly felt the phone in my hand, but upon attempting to concentrate on and look at the display, I was thrown back into the reality. I immediately climbed back out of my body and decided to simply pace around the apartment while trying to remember what I could experiment on. I tried to conjure an object, but that didn’t work and resulted in some mental activity. This caused the phase to fade and my being thrown back into reality. In total, there were about five successive entries into the phase that lasted for 2 to 3 minutes each. The experiences were not stable at all, which is why I was examining my surroundings in a hurry, always trying to get ahold of anything I could get my hand on. However, there were a good amount of impressions, considering that it was my first entry.

Questions: What type of technique did Roman use to enter the phase? What were the key precursors of the phase? Which separation technique was used? If Roman had failed to completely separate, what technique, besides vibrations, should he have considered? What is the most likely reason for all of the fouls? Which single action allowed the practitioner to make the phase five times longer?

Answers and Comments: The phase was entered through a direct technique, with the comfortable position that Roman was lying in being the main catalyst. As long as Roman was lying in an uncomfortable position, his mind was unable to completely turn off physical perception, and this was most likely the reason why there were no short lapses in dreaming. If Roman were still unable to separate when using the technique of standing up, or any other technique besides intensifying the vibrations, he could have tried listening in, as there was some noise.

Instead of using his first phase experience to work on mastering the basic skills of deepening and maintaining, Roman immediately indulged in complex experiments, which is why his multiple entries within the same phase were brief, of poor quality, and not used effectively. But this is all typical during initial experiences and a lot was still accomplished, especially considering that a direct technique was used. The relative length of the phase was achieved mainly thanks to complying with the single way to maintain the phase – repeated separation, which Roman managed to do five times.

No. 8

Alexander Dyrenkov

Student. Moscow, Russia

My first entry happened at night. I was lying in bed and thinking about the phase, as I had been unable to fall asleep for a while. I dozed off for a moment and then awoke again, this time already in the proper state, and then easily rolled out (more or less unconsciously and reflexively). I went deeper by means of touching and then falling headfirst. It is a pity that I’ve already forgotten a lot of the experience, but I do remember that after deepening I fell right down onto the yard of my grandmother’s house, but then lost consciousness, and so I returned into my body and rolled out of it several times. I was unable to sharpen all my senses: When I deepened one sense (touch, for example), another (i.e. sight) would fade away. After that, I have a gap in my memory concerning my travels (consciousness and lucidity were weak, and I fell asleep and “resurfaced” several times), but I remember having been to a lot of places.

Here’s how the episode ended: I dove headfirst into water from a high board (after first having deepened a bit), and then my sense of touch grew sharper: I felt “water” and hit my head against a very soft “bottom.” I resumed the interrupted fall through willpower, but then it occurred to me that my grandmother wanted to wake me up. My level of awareness was not quite adequate, as it did not occur to me that I was actually sleeping in a dormitory, and not at my grandmother’s house. That’s why I decided that I needed to return to my body. A sharp fall occurred right after that thought, and was followed by sensations similar to those one experiences when hung-over.

Questions: Was a direct or indirect technique applied? What made the implementation of the technique successful? Why was Alexander ejected into his grandmother’s yard? While deepening, how could the problem of the senses being enhanced only one at a time have been solved? Why did the practitioner have gaps in his memory? What were the main problems associated with maintaining the phase?

Answers and Comments: Despite the brief lapse in consciousness, the technique used was a direct one, and that very lapse facilitated the immediate emergence of the necessary state, even though this was Alexander’s first experience. The ejection into his grandmother’s yard was spontaneous, and was most likely caused by some preceding thoughts about the yard or being in a habit of going there. Unexpected translocation often occurs when deepening while falling headfirst.

Quite possibly, in order to avoid having the senses of sight and touch enhance only one at a time, he should have simultaneously applied the techniques of touching and looking out. As for maintaining the phase, there were three main problems that were also direct causes of the gaps in Alexander’s memory: little depth, lack of a clear plan of action, and non-compliance with the rules for maintaining the phase (with the exception of multiple entries after return to the body).

No. 9

Svyatoslav Baranov

Student. Perm, Russia

I woke up on my side. I didn’t feel like sleeping anymore, but I closed my eyes anyway. When I lay down on my back, I immediately felt the sensation that I was about to fall from the couch (I was lying on the edge), and some kind of lapse occurred, as if I was being pulled somewhere. I lay down once again, and this buzzing started, and a green light appeared before my eyes. I lay back even further, and my eyelids started to flutter. I thought that I might fall from the couch at that moment, but then my vision came to me, and I observed that I was already lying on the floor next to the couch! I got up on my feet and noticed that the room was “spinning” as if I were drunk, but everything quite quickly went back to normal. At that very moment, I understood that this was it! The phase itself!

In ecstasy, I forgot about all the techniques and went to look about the room. Everything was just like in reality, but some things were out of place. I tried to levitate and bent backwards, and was somehow thrust outside. It was dusk out there, and there was a lot of snow on the ground. I went around the house and tried to levitate. I was able to soar upwards, and saw the horizon and sunset. But then I began to lose altitude. After having flown to the window on the other side of the house, I wanted to go up to the roof, but then a foul occurred. In a fraction of a second, I had the sensation that I was “nowhere”. But then, my real eyes opened (with difficulty) and there was once again the feeling of some sort of lapse. Awareness was dim during the phase, apparently due to not having gotten enough sleep.

Questions: What kind of phase entrance technique did Svyatoslav use? Which specific technique produced results? Which separation technique was employed? If separation was unsuccessful, which technique should have been immediately used? Which important actions did he not perform enough after entering the phase? What should have been done after the foul? Why was awareness dim during the phase?

Answers and Commentary: An indirect technique was employed. No phase state creation techniques were employed by Svyatoslav. Instead, separation immediately worked through rolling backwards. If separation were unsuccessful, he should have proceeded with observing images, which would have been possible with the green light.

Deepening was not immediately performed, no effort was made to maintain, and there was no approximation of a plan of action; however, this is not a crucial factor during initial experiences. Another attempt to enter the phase should have been made upon returning to the body, but this was also forgotten. Awareness was dim and memory was weak during the phase because of the initial shallowness of the state, which was reflected in the perception of the surrounding and also the thought processes.

No. 10

Oleg Sushchenko

Sportsman. Moscow, Russia

Last night I spent about an hour developing the interplay of images in my mind after I no left felt any feeling of kinesthetic sense. I was lying on my back in an uncomfortable position. After sliding towards sleep for some time, I felt slight vibrations and echoes of sounds from the dream world, but the uncomfortable position still hindered me. In the end, I thought the heck with it, and decided to lie down however was comfortable, and turned over to lie on my stomach. Despite the fact that the movement upset the process, after about five minutes the state began to return and build up. I was able to get a little vibration this time, although I was unable to amplify it. I drew a picture of my kitchen in my mind, and because the images in that state were really vivid, strong, and realistic, after some time I understood that not only were my attention and awareness there, but so were my bodily sensations. I was quite surprised that the phase had been so easy to fall in to (there was no doubt that this was the phase).

I jumped out through the window and began to fly around the courtyard. Actually, it was the first time that I had flown only upon a single mental command, without any physical effort, as occurs during dreams. The courtyard bore only 10% similarity to its real-life counterpart, but I was not at all surprised by this, and I simply enjoyed it as much as I could, as I was able see and was not immediately thrown out. But, after having looked at and taken in the city, the thought of whether or not this was the phase and not just a lucid dream occurred. I was so conscious in the dream that I was able to know about and comprehend such terms, and differentiate between them – can you imagine?! I have to add that I gave little attention to my memory, so I can’t say how much of my “self-awareness” was there, but I was aware enough to be able to differentiate between the phase and a lucid dream (or at least think about the difference). I even went and asked people around if it was the phase or a lucid dream. Sounds funny, doesn’t it? The funniest thing was that they answered that it was a different world, and they refused to discuss the topic any further with me. Then, I decided to not get my mind all mixed up and just go with the plot, which turned out to be quite long and uninterrupted! I recalled a moment from the day before how I had lain down and induced the phase while lying on my back, and how I had turned over and flown away. I recalled all this periodically during the course of the phase, and realized that I should try to ask about what had been going on with me on the forum later.

Then, later in the phase, I found myself in a basement. As there was just a really nasty smell there, I decided that I had already had enough and that it was time to go back. That happened even more easily, as soon as I thought about going back, a vibration as light as a breeze went through me and then I was back in my body with full awareness and a well-rested body and mind. I was completely refreshed! And that’s despite the fact that I remember everything, every second of the dream, from the moment I started flying!

Questions: Which type of technique helped Oleg enter the phase? What initially made it harder for him to enter the phase, and could this have had a positive effect on later results? What can be said of techniques related to vibrations in the context of Oleg’s entry into the phase? Which specific technique brought him into the phase? Which initial actions should have been taken upon entry into the phase? What was lacking that could have lead to productive use of the phase? Was it worthwhile to immediately translocate by jumping through the window? What was the cause of reflection on whether the experience was the phase or a conscious dream? Was it beneficial to try to offhandedly learn from objects what type of state this was? Why did the desire to return back to the body arise, and what could have caused it?

Answers and Commentary: Oleg entered the phase using a direct technique. He was initially unable to enter due to the uncomfortable position that he had assumed, although lapses in consciousness into short dreams did occur. Nevertheless, the initially unsuccessful technique still ended in a positive final outcome because the state that Oleg was in was close to the phase. However, attention should not have been given to vibration amplification techniques, especially straining the brain and straining the body without using muscles, as they can be detrimental during direct techniques.

The technique of visualization was used immediately before entering the phase instead of observing images, which is used more often. Oleg deliberately conjured the observed images instead of searching for them in front of himself, which is where the difference between the techniques lies. However, he did not perform deepening upon entering the phase. Additionally, he had no clear plan of action to ensure that the phase would be productive Starting to translocate by jumping through windows should only be done by those with a certain amount of experience since beginners sometimes perceive reality to be the phase, or the phase to be reality.

The reason for the reflection on the nature of the phenomenon was due to terminological confusion, which is quite widespread. If a practitioner is aware but does not feel the body as in the physical world, then it can be assumed that the phase has been entered. This is why there was no reason to inquire about this among animate objects.

Deliberately returning to the body was a big mistake. There was no reason to throw away an opportunity to travel and use the phase. Beginners are not often afforded such an opportunity. The reason for the return to the body in this case is most likely found in the absence of a plan of action and lack of clear understanding of how the phase might be used for practical aims.

No. 11

Alexander Lelekov

Computer Programmer. Saint Petersburg, Russia

I tried all night to use the Astral Catapult that cues you when you’re dreaming, but I gave up on the idea after several unsuccessful awakenings and simply fell asleep. When I’m dreaming I usually move by taking great leaps, much further than a kangaroo, about 100-300 yards. This happens regularly in my dreams, and I usually immediately realize that I’m in a dream. During one of the leaps, I realized while airborne that I was dreaming and also realized that I was able to land in a small dirty pond. As expected, I landed right in the pond and went deep under the water. And at that very moment, I found myself in the stencil, with my hands and head half stuck in it.

I got a little nervous that this attempt would also be unsuccessful, and so I immediately tried to separate from my body. I was unable to get my head or hands out, and for the first time I tried to turn around round my axis and managed to get out. Then I either slipped down or fell from the bed, but I did not feel any pain. I crawled for 1-2 meters and then felt that I could go back. I started to touch the rug and some other thing, though I don’t know exactly what it was as it was dark, and, lo and behold: within 20-30 seconds I probably felt what small kittens feel when their eyes open for the first time. Everything was foggy and blurry at first, but then a picture started to appear, the room filled with light, and colors became bright and vivid. I tried very hard to restrain my excitement, and, to my surprise, was able to.

I walked around my apartment thinking about what I should do. Realizing that I did not have that much time, I decided to talk to an elderly man who would answer my questions. I decided that there would be an omniscient elderly man behind the apartment’s front door, which I was about to open. And there he was, half-bald, about 60 years old, in a grey coat waiting for me. I asked him the question, “What should I do to get into the phase more often?” But he started to tell me about how he was raped as a child. And to be more precise, this was already not an elderly man, but an elderly woman. I was not very interested in hearing her story, thus I tried to move away from her, suggesting that we could talk later. But the elderly woman was persistent, and I did not want to offend her, because I thought that this was an unusual dream with its own set of rules, and namely that once you have asked an old woman a question, you are supposed to be courteous and listen to the entire answer.

I went with her to the kitchen of my apartment. The telephone suddenly rang. I got scared that the telephone was ringing in my apartment and would wake me up, which is why I immediately started to look at my hand in order to maintain. But the sensations were quite stable, and I stopped doing that. Then, me and this lady wanted to cook something in my kitchen. She said that I could heat a frying pan without gas. But I instead decided to try the technique of putting the hands together and blowing on them, and returned back into my body.

Questions: Which type of the entry into the phase did Alexander describe? Was the cueing program of any help? Which type of anchor was the leaping? Why was the onset of consciousness immediately followed by a transition into the stencil, i.e., the real body, though not completely? Which separation technique helped him to get out of his body again? Which technique was used for deepening? Which technique for materializing an object was used correctly? What should the procedure for obtaining information have been started with? What importance does a polite attitude towards elderly women in the phase have? Why was the return to body possible? What did Alexander either forget to do or forget to record right after the foul?

Answers and Comments: Alexander described an entry into the phase through dream consciousness. By and large, the onset of consciousness was facilitated by prior work with the cueing program, which, though it failed to yield results, strengthened the necessary intention to enter the phase. The leaping that accompanied the onset of consciousness may be compared with the sensations of levitation that often lead to practitioners achieving dream consciousness. Since the techniques for deepening and maintaining were not used at the moment of dream consciousness, a return to the body, though partial, naturally occurred.

Furthermore, Alexander managed to apply a separation technique that most resembled climbing out. He then managed to deepen correctly by means of touching and immediately felt a result. Despite the lack of a plan of action, the practitioner competently decided to do something useful and employed the technique of finding through a door in order to locate an animate source of information. He should have first tried to test the subject by asking special questions to determine if the object would be able to provide information (see Chapter 10).

Being polite to animate objects in the phase is the prerogative of each person on an individual basis, but it hardly has any real basis. Most likely, the return to the body was triggered by a failure to maintain, excessive thinking, or temporary passivity. Upon exiting the phase, Alexander should have tried to immediately return. However, he failed to do so, even though he had returned to the phase after exiting dream consciousness. Such a step should have been obvious due to an incomplete connection to the body.

No. 12

Boris Bender

Movie Technician, Experienced Practitioner of the Phase. Moscow, Russia

I became conscious in my dream almost immediately after falling asleep. I was in my apartment standing in the corridor. Being surprised by having so suddenly found myself in the phase, I started to touch the walls with my hands to test their firmness or, “realness,” as well as to intensify the phase by touching. I entered the room. There was a bed standing next to the wall, with my mother sleeping on it. I could not see her face, only her body under the blanket. The room and corridor were exact replicas of their real-life counterparts.

While thinking about my sleeping mother, I suddenly started to feel somewhat uneasy. When I approached the window, I saw a grotesque landscape behind it that was similar to pictures from movies about catastrophes: a wasteland, houses in ruins, odd pileups of building materials, slabs of concrete, garbage, craters from explosions here and there, and I noticed human figures in some places.

Fearing a foul caused by the fact that I was taking in a panoramic view (the view from the window spanned 180 degrees and cut off at the horizon, which is in fact almost exactly as the view from my apartment is in real life), I turned back into the room and started to touch the wardrobe, and then knelt down to touch the floor. All the while, my fear had been growing stronger and stronger: both out of thinking about my sleeping mother and due to the view from the window. Anxiety turned into real fear within a matter of several seconds, and then graduated into terror and panic. I lost the ability to think critically. I had only one thought: I had to go back to my body. I darted back to my bed and suddenly found myself lying on it. I closed my eyes, but could not understand if I were in my real body or still in the phase. My terror grew even stronger when I half-opened my eyes and saw that my mother was getting up from her bed. She looked like a character from a horror movie and apparently was hostile to me.

I wanted to disappear, dissolve, and wake up! I hectically tried to recall the techniques for an emergency exit from the phase, but with poor results: I tried to freeze, relax and touch my fingers to my toes in order to feel a connection with my real body. At some moments I felt like I had it, thinking, “The connection had been restored!” I opened my eyes, but realized that I was still in the phase when I saw that the room had changed, and was now awash with garbage.

The fact that the attempts kept ending with false awakenings was driving me crazy. I was especially shocked when I got up after one of the false awakenings and saw my mother standing at my bed, still looking threateningly at me, like a vampire or a zombie from a horror movie. Plus, she started to reach out toward me with her hands!

I nevertheless kept on and tried to freeze and wiggle my toes, this time without opening my eyes, and not checking where I was. I started to calm down after some time, but I was unable to feel my real body, which was confirmed by the fact that sounds were coming in from the phase: I heard sparrows chirping outside the window, though it reality it was too late for sparrows to be out. However, the chirping and the associations that it brought (i.e. day, warmth, sparrows, and sun), probably helped me a lot and calmed me down, as I finally managed to sense my real body and found myself in reality. Nevertheless, after I got up, I immediately started to verify for about half a minute that I was no longer in the phase by touching objects, making sure that they were hard, and feeling all of my bodily sensations.

Questions: Why was there a risk that Boris could return to his body when taking in the view from the window? How could Boris have examined the panoramic view from the window without worrying about a foul? Which technique for deepening and “maintaining” was employed several times? What would have happened if Boris translocated from the source of the fear to another place? How could he have overcome this problem? Why was Boris unable to easily exit the phase and why were all of the techniques that he knew of no practical use?

Answers and Comments: When examining distant objects in the phase, there is always a risk of returning to one’s body because the activity is relaxing and relaxation is detrimental to the length of a phase. Boris could have continued to take in the view by simultaneously keeping up vibrations, periodically examining his hands, or rubbing them together. During the entire length of Boris’s phase, he performed sensory amplification by touching to deepen and maintain the phase.

If he tried to run away from his mother to another place in the phase, she probably would have caught up with him there anyway. He should have tried to yell at her in an aggressive tone. This would have helped him to overcome his fear and either scare the object away or make it more agreeable. Problems with an emergency exit from the phase arose because it was the beginning of the night and the mind still needed to dream and, thus, kept pulling him into that process.

No. 13

Alexei Teslenko

IT Engineer, Experienced Practitioner of the Phase. Moscow, Russia

Actually, I was not planning to travel that night, but when I woke up around midnight I decided to try to enter the phase nevertheless. I started to perform phantom movements with my arms, but then a strong sleepy lethargy overcame me and I suddenly wanted to give up my attempts to enter the phase and simply fall asleep. However, I was persistent and continued to perform phantom movements with my arms. Instead of feeling the usual vibrations that occur when this technique is performed, I simply fell asleep and continued the phantom movements while dreaming. Because of that, my consciousness apparently did not fall asleep completely, and I became aware that I was dreaming.

I immediately climbed out of my body. There was no vision, conscious awareness was no more than 50%, so the phase was not that deep. In order to maintain the phase, I immediately started chaotically touching everything around me. It helped. Vision came, though it was murky. I then found myself in my apartment. I decided to strive to deepen. Each time that I exercised that technique, the phase became deeper and deeper. After I had achieved a stable phase, I decided that it would be good to grab a snack and headed for the fridge. I should add that I was on a strict diet at the time and was craving something sweet or fried. However, when I opened the fridge, I was quite disappointed. There was a lot of food in the fridge, but all of it required preparation (raw meat, fish, dill, etc.). However, there was a bottle of sparkling mineral water on a special lower shelf in the fridge. Without giving it any thought, I took the bottle and started to chug it.

All of the sensations were just as in real life: I felt the bubbles from the carbonation, that peculiar taste that mineral water has, and also how the water went down my throat. In general, everything was quite realistic, though there was no sensation of my stomach filling up with water and, moreover, the water felt somewhat dry. It sounds funny, but that very feeling of water’s dryness spoiled my overall impression somewhat. After a foul, I realized that a possible reason for this might have been dryness in the mouth of my real body.

Usually, if there are, for example, candies in the kitchen or in the fridge, I actually take a handful of them and consume them while traveling through the phase.

After going to the fridge, I wanted to see something interesting. I decided to employ the technique for creating objects and people, and so I closed my eyes and focused on the image of a girl whom I wanted to see at that very moment. I affirmed my desire, and I then opened my eyes, concentrating on the area to my side. The air grew misty at first, and then the person I was expecting materialized out of the air, and came to life, seemingly fully autonomous and with free will – she had the same manner of speaking as in real life, and acted in the same way. The foul happened while my conversation with the girl was in full swing…

Questions: Which type of the technique did Alexei ultimately use? Why did lethargy and drowsiness arise during phantom wiggling? What should be done in this type of situation? What was most likely lacking when the indirect technique was performed, and why did the experience end with Alexei falling asleep? What techniques for deepening were used? What could have been done to quickly fill the fridge with ready-to-eat food? Which technique for finding an object was used with regard to the girl? What else could have been used for the same purpose, considering Alexei’s actions? What should have been done immediately after the foul? How many practical applications of the phase did Alexei manage to try?

Answers and Comments: The entry to the phase happened because Alexei had become aware that he was dreaming while he rightly tried to resist the sudden tiredness and drowsiness over the course of the unsuccessful attempt with the indirect technique of phantom wiggling. Usually, such drowsiness signifies that a phase is approaching, signaling a need for aggression, activeness and attention in order to overcome inertia and enter the phase. However, attentiveness was lacking, so Alexei fell asleep. However, his desire to enter the phase was so strong that the phantom wiggling continued even while he was dreaming, causing him to experience dream consciousness.

Among techniques employed for deepening were sensory amplification through touching and jogging. It would have been sufficient to employ the technique of finding through a door to ensure that the fridge was properly stocked. For example, Alexei should have closed the door on the refrigerator, focused his attention on a full stock of snacks and food, and then opened the door to discover that everything he’d envisioned was there.

The technique for finding an object through transformation was used to make the girl appear, but this technique should be considered only by experienced practitioners because it can lead to a foul in case of insufficient concentration. Before employing the technique, Alexei shut his eyes, and only then imagined the girl right in front of him. He could have immediately created her using the technique of closed eyes, which usually is easier to do since there is no direct visual contact with surroundings.

Upon returning to his body, he should have tried to separate again. Altogether, Alexei managed to and make progress in two specific, applied tasks, though did not complete them satisfactorily.

Exercises for Chapter 12

Tasks

Try to assess the experiences described above using the rubric below. The answers are located in the appendix.

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