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recent books I've read

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soarin12

Hello all.  I haven't been on in a while but have been busy reading the OOBE books I bought myself for Christmas.  Here are two I've finished...

My Descent into Death by Howard Storm. -- This is an old one from the 80's and I'm surprised I hadn't heard of it before.  Howard, a self proclaimed atheist, materialist, lookin' out for #1 kind of guy, had an OOBE while very ill in the hospital.  He found himself in the RTZ next to his body trying to unsuccessfully communicate with his wife who was at his bedside.  From there he followed some spirits to another area and had a very negative experience in which he tells most of the details but left some parts out because they were too painful to think about.  He was then rescued by Jesus and had a very detailed life review in the presence of Jesus and some angels.  He was able to ask many questions and get answers about a number of subjects including the probable fate of the U.S. if it continued in so much greed, and the different directions we can take after we die including helping out people on earth or living a lifetime on another planet.  This was a very loaded experience and I thoroughly enjoyed.  I believe it was sincere because I watched him tell it on U-tube and he cried when he told about the great love he felt during his rescue.

The Multi-Dimensional Human by Kurt Leland --Kurt shares a few of his own experiences in this one, but mostly teaches about developing your inner (psychic) senses.  If you develop these and use AP as a spiritual practice you will be able to advance to the higher planes, he says.  He seems to embrace Theosophy, and gives a description of each theosophical plane.  He says you have to start at the bottom and work your way up.  Generally speaking I agree with this, but as far as my own experiences go, I had my first on what he would call the Nirvanic plane, then a series of them on the mental plane, then down to the astral plane.  I went backwards!  (I don't know what that says about me, lol.)  So anyway, I don't think people should get locked into thinking a certain way about it.  You'll just limit yourself.  I found most of  his inner sense exercises mostly too complicated and I probably won't try them unless I feel 'stuck' with my AP.  I did like his spiritual emphasis on love and service to all, and although I don't put stock in all his words, I respect and identify quite a bit with his spiritual path.

I'm reading some Swedenborg books now. He's a OOBE guy from the 1700s. Interesting reading something from that far back. I'll report on it later.  :)

EscapeVelocity

I enjoyed Kurt's second book; I think it is probably better suited for more advanced projectors. I just finished my second read-through. Those are a lot of astral/mental body senses to begin working on, jeez, like 24 or something. I broke them down to six at a time and am working on them. Grade myself at a 'C' so far...lol... But seriously, I will probably read this book two or three more times in my life. I can't say that about many others...

Back in the seventies, all I could find to read was either Monroe or the books about the Theosophical version of OBE, not much a thirteen year old could manage; so Kurt's Theosophical leaning I can go with; I admit, it's just a labeling system...

I even went online and paid an exorbitant amount to buy his first book used, which I liked very much...positing that Dante's Inferno was a recount of his Astral trip through Hell... Made sense...
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
                                                          -O. Wilde

soarin12

Which is his second book?  The 'Unanswered Question'?  I ordered that one along with Multidimensional Human but they were out of stock.  That was months ago now and still nothing.  I've heard 'Otherwhere' is extremely hard to get a hold of too.   I really like his writing style.  He communicates well and is enjoyable to read. --Unlike Monroe, who goes on ok for awhile, then suddenly it's like he's up inside his own head and provides no examples to make his concepts clear.

EscapeVelocity

#3
You're right soarin, my bad; Unanswered Question is apparently his second book; I was commenting on MultiDimensional Human. The book I bought used online was Otherwhere, which was excellent, much like Monroe's Far Journeys. I hope it reprints someday.

Monroe's books were among the first I discovered and were excellent I thought, but totally lacking in offering exit techniques for the general population. Monroe was simply a 'natural' but he didn't realize that until much later. In his books, he was just offering his readers the best of his understanding at the time. The exit tech he offers in Journeys Out of the Body is somewhat difficult conceptually and geometrically as I remember trying it although I did manage to hit strong vibrations twice, but could do nothing with them. Did scare the crap out of me as a 13 yr old.lol

I thought Leland made an astute observation about Monroe's books: He surmised that the first book Journeys was from the perspective of Monroe's Etheric/RTZ and Astral bodies; the second book, Far Journeys was from the perspective of largely his Astral and Mental bodies; the third, Ultimate Journey was from the viewpoint of his Mental and Causal bodies.

The Multidimensional Human is a good read, but I agree, it's a bit complicated and slightly overwhelming in all the sense-development practices. But I have recognized in his 20 something (not 24!) supra-physical senses that need to be discovered and developed, I have in the last few years, recognized several senses he describes, as developing in my own experience; and been hinted at, pointed out or suggested by some here on the Forum.

Like I said, I'll be reading it a few more times, taking notes and highlighting.

With that said, your comment that your early experiences tracked an almost reverse course from the Nirvanic to the Mental to the Astral and on down sounds like a definite need for its own re-telling on its own thread...

I wanna hear about that!  :-)
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
                                                          -O. Wilde

soarin12

EV--I'd love to hear about what supra-senses you've experienced.  And were there particular exercises of Leland's that you can point to and say, yea that really helped me to expand my own experiences?

I'll just tell you my nirvanic, mental, astral journey here cuz I know I've posted most of this before at different times. I've had quite a few experiences that I consider to be of the 'higher planes' but these are the ones that really seemed to coincide with Leland's specific descriptions of them.

My Nirvanic  one actually happened in the physical so I don't know if it really 'counts' to an APer, lol, but it certainly had a life changing impact on me.  I was 24 yrs. old and agnostic at the time, but started to really seek to discover if God existed.  I put my question out to the universe.  'God do you exist?  If so show me!'  A few days later I was just hanging out doing some laundry when I suddenly lost awareness of myself as 'me' and it was like I became one with everything and comprehended everything.  There were no visuals except light and an impression of 'infinity' if that makes any sense.  No words can really describe...  It only lasted seconds and afterword I was left with an afterglow of perfect wisdom and bliss that lasted for weeks.

I always wonder why some people become non-dualists after their 'oneness' experiences and some people don't.  I didn't.  I would describe myself as more of a panentheist.  I think of God as both separate from us and one with us at the same time.  So basically I embrace the paradox.

My mental plane experiences were a series of musical experiences I had about a week after I started praying for the return of some beautiful music I had heard in trance as a child.  I was around 30 yrs. at the time of these experiences.  I was in trance and unaware of my physical body.  I had no NP body.  I heard a symphony, a classical guitar piece, and some classical piano pieces.  All amazingly beautiful and complex.  I'd NEVER heard any of this music before.  I consider it to be genius in nature.  I had some super abilities in these.  In some of them, The score of the music was available for me to look at as I listened.  I could turn this feature on or off as I pleased.  I could also zoom in or out on the volume, and I could listen to the orchestra from different perspectives. --from a distance, or I could experience it from the center as if I was a player. 

Leland says that in the mental plane, there is a artistic library where all known music, art and theatric performances can be accessed.  My music experiences seem to conform to his description of this plane.

It was years later (40 yrs. old--I'm 42 now) when I had my first spontaneous projection where I felt myself 'leaving my body'.  This is the first time I actually looked up 'astral projection' and understood what I was doing as such.  At that point I started having the more normal mix of RTZ  and astral proper projections.  Great visuals, flying, basic/elementary communication, still some negs. --but they are what I'd consider to be on the usual Astral level.  Every once in a while I'll have a higher plane one.  (super-love, bliss, color w/o form, help from Jesus)  Always hoping for more of those!  :)

EscapeVelocity

Soarin, those are some spectacular experiences and I enjoyed the way you describe them.

Occurring in the Physical makes them even more powerful, I've had a few! My "Power of Love" experience was in the Physical. The music experience I've read about but not had for myself, though I'm a great music lover.

Is this where some of the great compositions and writings and ideas come from? It's incredible!

To describe some of the supra-physical senses I've noticed through Leland's writings will take some study with book in hand, but I'll do that in a day or two. Based on your wonderful descriptions of your experiences, I think you can find some of these senses developing for you, as well.

I made a list of his described senses and try to look for them now in each of my experiences. Just gotta keep learning.

I embrace the paradox, as well.

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
                                                          -O. Wilde

soarin12

Thanks, EV.  I look forward to hearing about the supra-physical senses (I know going through his exercises is a big undertaking!) and would love to hear about your 'power of love' experience as well!  :)

Szaxx

There's far more where the eye can't see.
Close your eyes and open your mind.

soarin12

Szaxx, Thanks for the link.  Very interesting!  Ah, to have that kind of explanation and communication in my projections!  And all that symbolism... I never really think of my APs as being symbolic, but my regular dreams, yes, very much so.  Hmm... Do I need to reevaluate?

Szaxx

Taking our experiences as a whole, it appears we cannot fully grasp the range of experiences. The interpretation made is daunting on anything not related to the physical world. The fact that it's all part and parcel of a far wider reality than we can possibly understand, I'd stay open minded.
Some experiences are indescribable, those where you connect with everything are one example.
There's far more where the eye can't see.
Close your eyes and open your mind.

soarin12

I went through my journal looking for less obvious or symbolic interpretations for some of my projections, but nah... it would all be speculation.  I have to believe that if I was supposed to know more, I would know more. lol.

EscapeVelocity

#11
Hi soarin,

This is to answer your question and share a few more comments about The Multidimensional Human

It was good for me to dig back into this book, there's so much for me to gain from it at this time, but it does require work and determination! Sometimes I'm in short supply of those! So much still to learn!

Over the last several years, I have had a sufficient number of, and variety of, NPR experiences that I'm starting to finally get the feel of my own NPR map. I am also recognizing more of the supra-physical senses Leland describes. He groups the senses into four broad categories: Existential, Environmental, Kinesthetic and Relational. So I take the most obvious ones that I think I am detecting in my own experiences and work with those. For instance, the five Environmental senses are: Space, Time, Position, Navigation, Perception. If I look at each one and where I might be sensing it or making use of it within an experience, I begin to feel the wider, deeper capability of it; it's really like exercising a new muscle.

Example-Position and Navigation- Physical space and distance don't exist in NPR, but psychological space and distance do. Having a variety of experiences is beginning to give me a stronger sense/feel of where I am and how to get somewhere else. I have a definite knowing of where the RTZ is, where the 3D Blackness/Void is, where my Dreamspace is and where the Astral is. And I know it's not a "where" out there, it's an inner "where", a mental relationship of these states or focuses of attention. And I'm on the lookout for portals like never before: Windows, doors, pictures, mirrors, tunnels, spirals, etc. I'll probably instinctively dive down the kitchen drain if I come across one. lol

The Relational senses include: Cooperation, Vibration, Communication, Information, Permeation.

Example- Communication/Information- Over the years, in some of my experiences, I have been slowly introduced to the concept and use of Non-Verbal Communication (Monroe's NVC) with less than stellar results. Then, in my Fieldtrip experience, I feel like I took a significant leap forward using telepathy and receiving packets of info and unzipping them like compressed files. This is how Leland described it, how Szaxx described it, and how I interpreted it. I "feel" the understanding of how this is done to a much greater extent than I can put into words (that's a weird concept in itself!). For that matter, the majority of my Fieldtrip experience was "downloaded" in a way that had never happened for me before. I remember having the experience and writing down a few paragraphs at the time. But I really didn't have much more than those three paragraphs for detail at the time. 2 and a half years later, I came across them in my notes and I felt the urge to lay down and do a reverie-review and see if I could pull any more detail from the experience. What came forth astonished me: I went from three paragraphs to ten pages of notes of descriptions, thoughts, feelings, new concepts.  I seriously doubted myself for a time, wondering if I was somehow unconsciously embellishing the event, but each time I tried to pick at a thought to test or question it's validity, rather than deflate the thought, more info would come flooding in; just the opposite of what I expected. I had never experienced this type or level of recall before.

Example-Permeation- This is the sense or technique of the mindmeld or imprint that I experienced in my Fieldtrip and had explained to me by Szaxx. Leland also has a pretty thorough and similar description. The whole experience still blows me away.

Leland offers some 30+ exercises to awaken these 20 senses; it's a little daunting, so he offers a list of 6 exercises as a kind of crash course to get one started. That's what I'm doing.

Some final thoughts:

"The true language of Otherwhere (NPR) is feel/think or feeling-based telepathy." This, to me, is a fundamentally important concept for explorers to be aware of. In my Fieldtrip analysis, the concept was reinforced to me over and over, not to spend too much time trying to translate my thoughts of the events into words but more importantly to pay attention to and memorize the "feel" of the experience/event/situation.

Leland describes specific categories of senses to work on depending on where you are in your development:

"If you come to this book having had some psychic and mystical adventures and wanting to go farther afield than your bedroom or the astral plane Dream Zone then focus on your kinesthetic senses...These practices are especially beneficial when you hit a wall---when your adventures have ceased for an extended period of time or repeat themselves with no signs of progress."

"If you come to this book with a long history of psychic experiences, lucid dreams, OBEs, and other adventures in consciousness, focus on developing your relational inner senses...especially if you encounter no one during such adventures, you're not sure which nonphysical entities to trust, you're not meeting guides, or you're not getting clear and detailed information from them."

"Everything in NPR can be conceived in three ways: as information, energy and consciousness."
                                                         ________________________
Two thumbs up!

Soarin, I'll post my Power of Love experience in a separate thread so as to not muddy this one.
Be well and see you out there!

EV
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
                                                          -O. Wilde

soarin12

Thanks, EV.  That gives me plenty to think about.  I experience the feeling based telepathy sometimes, but never have gotten the big 'download' that you unzip.  Actually, I do feel like I have been given tons of information--like I experience very profound 'lectures' in dreams but when I wake up, have no memory of the content.  That's amazing that 2 years later you found out that more was there all along!!  I'll have to do some meditating and see if I can pull anything from mine.

When you say that you have a map of RTZ, 3-D void, Astral, etc., do you mean you choose which one you want to go to and are able to go right to it?  Sometimes I'd like to go to the RTZ again but if I get there it seems only by accident.

EscapeVelocity

Soarin, As far as my inner map, right now it's more of an understanding of where each state is with relation to each other. I know how (most times, lol) to jump from the RTZ to the Astral or from the Void to the Astral, but not the other way around. There was also a grey, foggy cloud area I was in one time between RTZ destinations, maybe it was actually just a cumulus...

I get the impression from others that going from the Astral to the RTZ is rather difficult; not sure why.
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
                                                          -O. Wilde

Xanth

Quote from: EscapeVelocity on March 30, 2014, 19:55:32
I get the impression from others that going from the Astral to the RTZ is rather difficult; not sure why.
Because that's exactly what people think.

Essentially what you're doing is going from one environment which is unfamiliar to you to one that is. 
This label of the "RTZ" defines nothing more than a "familiar physical environment".

Learn to work with your Intent, and you can do anywhere you wish.

soarin12

Quote from: Xanth on March 30, 2014, 22:07:26
Because that's exactly what people think.

Essentially what you're doing is going from one environment which is unfamiliar to you to one that is. 
This label of the "RTZ" defines nothing more than a "familiar physical environment".

Learn to work with your Intent, and you can do anywhere you wish.

Yea, although one has to wonder why Szaxx, who seems to be a master at creating environments, can't get back to the RTZ.  Maybe he was kicked out after breaking into too many government buildings.  Lol.

Lionheart

Quote from: soarin12 on March 31, 2014, 00:03:51
Yea, although one has to wonder why Szaxx, who seems to be a master at creating environments, can't get back to the RTZ.  Maybe he was kicked out after breaking into too many government buildings.  Lol.
Once you experience the other dimensions and awesome sights, you really don't have a desire to experience the RTZ anymore.

Like they say, "keep moving forward"!  :-)


soarin12

Quote from: Lionheart on March 31, 2014, 00:09:56
Once you experience the other dimensions and awesome sights, you really don't have a desire to experience the RTZ anymore.

Like they say, "keep moving forward"!  :-)



The reason I want to go back sometimes, is I feel I have unfinished business there.  I wanted to get one good validation (like the playing card thing) and I never got it.  Also the lighting was always too dark and people were always asleep cuz I only project at night. (maybe I could work on seeing people during the day even though I am projecting at night. --the 'outside of time' thing.)  Also, lots of reality fluctuation.  It just seems like I never mastered the environment before I moved on.

Szaxx

Breaking into government buildings? Nah, I wouldn't do that. It was the 70's and fun too. Lol.
From reading many posts it appears a slower exit method may be the order of the day along with more sleep.
I'm looking for these books too in PDF or e-book format.
I'd really like to read all Kurts work. Time is against me again aasggghhh.
Has anyone found along these lines?
There's far more where the eye can't see.
Close your eyes and open your mind.

dust8879

I've just finished Multi Dimensional Man from Jurgen Ziewe. I thought the book was outstanding. The descriptions of scenery in the astral world were excellent, too. I recently heard an interview from him where during an OBE he demanded to see his father who passed away years ago, and instantly Jurgen was taken to somewhere on earth and saw his dad reincarnated as a little boy, and then the boy called his name. I was amazed at that.

Michael Raduga's "School of out of body travel" is good, too. The indirect techniques are the only techniques that work for me. So far I've had three non physical experiences and all of them came from attempting a projection immediately after waking up.

Xanth

Quote from: Lionheart on March 31, 2014, 00:09:56
Once you experience the other dimensions and awesome sights, you really don't have a desire to experience the RTZ anymore.

Like they say, "keep moving forward"!  :-)
That's kind of my perspective as well.

I spend so much of my "life" here in this physical reality... why would I want to waste the precious little non-physical time here as well?

FireFly9

#21
Actually all of Kurt's books except Multidimensional Human are out of print.  He does realize that getting the earlier ones issued in eBook is a good idea, but so far he hasn't gotten to it.  I 'believe' he is working on another book, but have no idea when it will come out.

I think I have read MH three times now.  There are lots of theosophy links from his website as well.  Plus there are logs of some of his travels on his site. www.kurtleland.com

Multidimensional Human is available from Amazon. I was able to get a copy of Unanswered Question but have not put the bucks out for a second hand copy of "Otherwhere".  I'm hoping it will come out in eBook someday. 

Otherwhere is more or less his early astral travels, and Unanswered Question, written later, is his journeys to the after-death zone. 

Update - I found another post on Kurt here: http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/welcome_to_book_reviews/kurt_leland_books_amp_astral_projection_log-t33199.0.html

soarin12

Otherwhere has a lot of after-death zone material in it too -great stuff!  What did you think of The Unanswered Question?  Like it?  Love it?

Yeah, I could probably read MH over and over for the rest of my life and still just scratch the surface!