Also by Robert A. Monroe
JOURNEYS OUT OF THE BODY

Far Journeys
ROBERT A. MONROE

MAIN
STREETBOOKSDOUBLEDAY New York London Toronto Sydney Auckland

A MAINS T R E E T B OOK

PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY

DEDICATED TO:

a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036
MAIN STREET BOOKS, DOUBLEDAY, and the portrayal of a building with a tree aretrademarks of Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell PublishingGroup, Inc.
Those interested in the activities of the Institute may write:
The Monroe Institute Route 1, Box 175 Faber, Virginia 22938"The Out-of-Body Experience: A Phenomenological Typology Based on
Questionnaire Responses," by S. W. Twemlow, G. O. Gabbard, and F. C.
Jones. The American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 139.4, pp. 450-55, 1982.
Copyright © 1982, the American Psychiatric Association. Reprinted bypermission.
"The OBE Psychophysiology of Robert A. Monroe" from With the Eyes of theMind by Glen O. Gabbard and Stuart W. Twemlow. Copyright © 1984
Praeger Publishers. Reprinted by permission.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Monroe, Robert A.
Far journeys.
"A Main Street book"
1. Monroe, Robert A. 2. Psychical research—
Biography. 3. Out-of-Body experiences. I. Title.
BF1283.M582A29 1985
133.9'01'3
85-1633
ISBN 0-385-23182-2
Copyright © 1985 by Robert A. Monroe
An Eleanor Friede Book
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
20 19 18 17 16 15

Nancy Penn Monroe, much more than a wife,
whose constant and consistent love, support,
sharing, and understanding were the indispensable
elements in the writing and completion of thisrecord.
The literally hundreds of others over the past
fifteen years who freely gave their time, energy, andinterest in so many different ways and without
whom very little would have been accomplished.

Flow Sheet
Part I1.
2.

Prologue
Near Reaches
Old Local Traffic
Hemi-Sync et al.

1
3
16

3.
4.
5.
6.

The Gateway Program

Segue

26
37
50
63

Part IIFar Reaches

75

7.

Surveys and Schematics

77

8.
9.
10.

Contact Point

91
107
124

11.
12.

Rescue Mission

13.
14.

Shock Treatment

15.
16.

Promised Plan
The Gathering

205
228

Epilogue:

End Game

238

The Out-of-Body Experience:
Most Frequently Asked Questions
and Answers

265

Explorer Team I
New Associations

Rainbow Route
Newfound Friend
Hearsay Evidence
One Easy Lesson

144
157
173
182

Appendices

FLOW SHEET

II.

III.

The OBE Psychophysiology ofRobert A. Monroe
By Stuart W. Twemlow, M.D.,
and Glen O. Gabbard, M.D.

271

The Out-of-Body Experience: Phenomenology
By Stuart W. Twemlow, M.D.,
Glen O. Gabbard, M.D., andFowler C. Jones, Ed.D.
Paper Presented at the 1980
Annual Meeting of the American
Psychiatric Association, May 5-9,
in San Francisco

274

About the Author

291

Prologue

There seems to be an easy way to do—and a hard way. Given the choice,all of us take the easy route simply because it's more efficient, saves timeand energy. If it's too easy, some of us feel guilty. We get the uncomfortable sense that we're missing something if we don't go the laborious, triedand-true pattern. If it's that easy, it must not be good, might even be
sinful.
But after a while, the easy way becomes the ordinary way and we forget
the old road. When you've lived in an area long enough to have traveled
between two cities before the interstates and freeways were built, try theold familiar highway just once. You'll find once is enough. The start-andstop congestion, the total disorder, the growing frustrations far overshadow any remaining nostalgia you may have harbored. You have enoughof such local traffic at the beginning and end of each run on the Interstate.
Now the problem. Suppose you met someone who had never driven on
an interstate. All his life, he has driven only in local traffic. He's heard
about such superhighways. He might even have seen one from a distanceor heard the rumble of vehicles or smelled their exhaust fumes. He rationalizes any number of reasons why he hasn't and won't go interstate; hedoesn't need to, he's satisfied the way he is; they travel too fast so it's not
safe; you have to go out of your way to get on it; it's full of strangers fromall over the place so you don't know whom you'll meet so you can't trust
them; your car isn't in very good condition and it might break down andleave you stranded without anybody to help, in some lonely spot you neverheard of. Maybe sometime you'll try it, but not right now.
Suppose you happened to see a construction order from the state highway department to begin demolition of the old highway so that all local
traffic will have to go interstate eventually, like it or not. What do you do?
What would you do? Nothing? Suppose the recalcitrant is an old and dear

PROLOGUE

friend. Then what? Your friend knows of the order but refuses to believe
it. He can see the work crews beginning to form at the end of the oldhighway and he ignores their existence. Thus you know the intense
trauma he will undergo when the old road is shut off, and he will be
carried kicking and screaming onto the Interstate.
You decide to do something, anything you can. After your decision,
weeks, months—years—pass due to your own inertia. You have your own
rationale. You don't know how to proceed. You don't know how to describe the interstate in local traffic terms, and your friend understands only
local traffic. Someone else will come along and do it for you, for yourfriend.
Finally, finally—you discover the stupidly simple answer. You and yourfriend suffer from the same affliction but from different causes. It is inertia. Back in the old railroad days, a locomotive could pull only four or fivecars at a time because if more cars than that were added, it would simply
spin its drive wheels trying to get started. Inertia. Then a smart young
thinker came along and invented the sliding coupler, which let the locomotive pick up the slack—and inertia—one car at a time. Ask any freight
conductor what it was like to be in a caboose on the tail end of a 100-car
train when he highballs the engineer. Instantaneous zero to thirty miles
per hour. It's the same with automobiles. The transmission is there toprovide big torque in low gear to overcome inertia. Once under way at
cruising speed, power is required only to overcome wind resistance androad friction—and very little of it relatively. The hard case is the catapult
launch on an aircraft carrier, which does the job in a hurry and not too
gently. Guns are inertia-overcoming devices for bullets.
It's doubtful that explosive or catapult methods to full-speed interstate
in a different form will be less than confusing and bewildering, even withmodification to local traEc standards. Take this as an illustration:. . . I can't get the stuff under a null point, there ought to be a betterway to do this!
(Your uncontrolled emotion of anger is using much of your energy. A very
human response.)
A better way to do it . . . stuff can't help being what it is, you kick astone in your path and it hurts your toe, why get angry at the stone, you

PROLOGUE

can't be angry at it for being on the path or being harder than a toe . . .
yes, now let's see if it works.
(It is focus of attention, of consciousness, which is without diversion ordeviation. No other energy available to you as human is as powerful. As alens will direct energy you call light, so you can use consciousness.)
Each time I hear something like that, I realize how far I have to go.
(You are doing very well, Mister Monroe. Your own recognition of such
percept is an indication.)Hey, I got it! It's under the baseline . . . uh, except for this one sawtooth, can't seem to hold onto it, and there's a smaller waveform on thesawtooth, can't get it put away.
(It is another form of rote, as you call it. Take it if you so desire. It may
be interesting to you.)
Sure, why not!
(Click!)Going from local traffic to interstate does indeed require an entry or
acceleration lane to merge into the flow. If you can make the tools supplied by local traffic apply in the design and building of the ramp, so muchthe better. You need to remember especially the inertia factor—pick up
the slack on one loaded car at a time, start in low gear so you don't stall
the engine, then shift smoothly; automatic transmissions don't know when
you need to shift. If the design is correct, your friend is cruising along theinterstate long before the old highway is closed down.
You do the best you can.
Robert A. Monroe
Faber, Virginia
1985

Part I1.
Old Local Traffic

If there is a first and obvious point to be made, I can report that I am still
alive physically after twenty-five years of exploring personally the out-ofbody experience. A little timeworn, but still more or less operational.
There were several moments when I was not so sure. However, some of
the best medical authorities have assured me that the physical problems I
have encountered have been simple cause-and-effect of living in the culture/civilization of mid-twentieth century America. Some take anotherposition. I am still alive as a result of such OOBE activity. Take your pick.
So it would seem that one can practice "going out of the body" regularly and survive. Also, after having been tested periodically by experts, I
can still make the statement that I am reasonably sane in a not so reasonably sane world. There are many people who do strange things and getaway with it. A century ago, it might have been going over Niagara Falls
in a barrel.
What is the out-of-body experience? For those who have not encountered the subject as yet, an out-of-body experience (OOBE) is a condition
where you find yourself outside of your physical body, fully conscious andable to perceive and act as if you were functioning physically—with several exceptions. You can move through space (and time?) slowly or apparently somewhere beyond the speed of light. You can observe, participatein events, make willful decisions based upon what you perceive and do.
You can move through physical matter such as walls, steel plates, concrete,earth, oceans, air, even atomic radiation without effort or effect.
You can go into an adjoining room without bothering to open the door.
You can visit a friend three thousand miles away. You can explore themoon, the solar system, and the galaxy if these interest you. Or—you canenter other reality systems only dimly perceived and theorized by ourtime/space consciousness.
It is not a new phenomenon. Recent surveys indicate some 25 percent

FAR JOURNEYS

of our population remembers having at least one such experience. Man's
history is full of reports of such events. In earlier literature, it was commonly labeled "astral projection." I began by refusing to use this term, as
it had an occult connotation and was certainly nonscientific by our standards. Charles Tart, a psychologist friend, popularized the term "out-ofbody experience" when we were working together in the sixties. In thepast twenty years, it has become the accepted Western generic term forthis particular state of being.
Without any obvious reason, I began to "go" out of my body in the fallof 1958. In the light of later historical events, it is important to state thatno drugs or alcohol were involved. I was a nonuser of the former and an
infrequent imbiber of the latter.
Several years ago, I attended a conference not too far from our former
home in Westchester County, New York—the site of my first out-of-bodyexperiences. As we drove by the house, I commented that the reason why
they began was still obscure.
A psychologist friend riding with me took one look at the house, turned,
and smiled. "The answer is easy. It's the house. Take a good look at it."I stopped the car. The house looked the same. Green roof and stone.
The new owner had maintained it nicely. I turned to my friend. "I don't
see anything different.""The roof." He pointed a finger upward. "It's a perfect pyramid. Moreover, it's covered with copper just like the tops of the big ones in Egypt
before the looters took over."I stared, dumbfounded.
"Pyramid power, Robert," he went on. "You've read about it. You were
living in a pyramid. That did it!"Pyramid power? Well, maybe. There are reports and books that makeclaims about strange energies therein.
That the out-of-body experience frightened me then is a quantum understatement. When it recurred, I was filled with panic-driven visions ofbrain tumors and oncoming insanity. This led to extensive physical exami-.
nations, all negative, followed by recommendations of psychotherapy for"minor hallucinatory dysfunction." I discarded this diagnosis automatically. Some of my best friends at the time were psychiatrists and psychologists with their own problems, albeit certainly more orthodox.

OLD LOCAL TRAFFIC

5

Instead, I stubbornly began a search and research into the phenomenonout of self-preservation and, as the fear and panic subsided, out of growing
curiosity. The trail took me beyond conventional scientific circles (total
rejection), religions ("It's the work of the devil"), parapsychology ("Interesting. Sorry, no data available"), and Eastern disciplines ("Come study at
our ashram in northern India for ten years"). This was chronicled in myprevious book, Journeys Out of the Body.
One thing is certain. The purpose of the previous book was many times
fulfilled. It brought thousands of letters from all parts of the world andamong them many hundreds of people wrote their personal thanks for areassurance that they were not mentally deranged, were not so much alone
after all with their "closet" secret experience that they could not explain,and, most important, that they were not necessarily candidates for thepsychiatric couch or mental hospital. That was the stated purpose of theoriginal book: to help just one person avoid such needless incarceration.
I personally am bemused at the changes in these twenty-five years. In
most academic and intellectual societies, it is now quite acceptable to talkabout OOBEs. However, I'm sure that the great majority of people in our
culture are still unaware of this facet of their lives. In 1959 or 1960, I
certainly would have derided the idea that I might give a talk on OOBEs
at the Smithsonian Institution. Or papers on the subject would be presented before the American Psychiatric Association. But they happened.
One of the most frequent approaches I hear reminds me very much of
the old and worn-out show-business routine about the question a producer
usually puts to the job-seeking performer. He is listening to what he knows
already, that the actor appeared in The Great One in 1922, starred in
Who Goes There? in 1938, won the Critics Award for his lead in Nose toNose, and in 1949 played the role of Willie in What Makes Willie Weep.
The producer interrupts and puts the very simple question: "That's
great, but what have you done yesterday?"And so it is. What have I been doing (out of body) since the publication of Journeys Out of the Body? The answer I usually give is this: Beginning in the seventies, I began to experience a frustration, a limitation in
my out-of-body activities. It is hard for some people to believe, I suppose,but such travels actually became boring. The early excitement had long
passed. It became an effort to participate in controlled tests, and because

FAR JOURNEYS

it was an effort, I began to sense that the particular theme of "proof" wasnot part of my mode of operation. Moreover, when free of such testing
limitations, there didn't seem to be anything exciting to do.
My deliberate inducement of the second state also became tedious because I had found a simpler way to achieve it. I would wake up after twoor possibly three sleep cycles, or approximately after three or four hours,
and find myself already relaxed physically, rested, and completely wideawake. In that state, I found it ridiculously easy to "unhook" and flow
freely out of the body. This, of course, posed the question of what to do.
Everyone else was asleep at three or four-thirty in the morning. There
seemed nothing to be gained by going and meeting people while they
were asleep, not any easy prospect for validation because of the hour. So
with no particular goal or attraction, I usually would drift around a bit,then slip back in, turn on the light, read until I was sleepy again, and thatwas it.
This compounded the frustration, as there was still the compulsion. Allof the effort to work in the out-of-body state had to have some meaning orimportance beyond what my conscious mind (or those of others) thought
to be important.
In the spring of 1972, a decision was made that provided the answer.
The limiting factor was my conscious mind. Therefore, if OOBE decisions were left up to that part of me, as they had been, I would remain justas I was. I was too much in control—this left-brain "I." What would
happen if I turned this decision-making process over to my total self(soul?), who was purportedly conversant with such activities.
Believing this, I then put it into practice. The following night, I went
to sleep, went through two sleep cycles (about three hours), woke up, andremembered the decision. I detached from the physical and floated free. I
said in my conscious mind that the decision to do is to be made by myentire self. After waiting for what seemed only a few seconds, there was atremendous surge, a movement, an energy in that familiar spatial blackness, and there began for me an entire new era in my out-of-body activities. Since that night, my nonphysical experiences have been almost totally due to this procedure.
The results have been of a nature so far removed from anything myconscious mind could conceive of that a new problem arose. Although my

OLD LOCAL TRAFFIC

physical here-now consciousness is always a participant, better than 90
percent of such events seemed to me impossible to translate into the timespace medium. It is as if one were to try to describe music, such as asymphony orchestra with choir, and do it in words without the use of suchtechnical descriptions as notation, instruments, intervals, tonalities, and soon. One can use such words as "nice," "compelling," "frightening," "aweinspiring," "warm," "loving," "beautiful"—and be nowhere remotely
near the actual description.
You do the best you can. Which, I suppose, is what will happen as theattempt is made. I'm sure reporting Niagara Falls barrel-cruising was easier.
My here-now activities posed another problem. None of the exercises
and techniques I had been designing and providing for others would work
for me. Psychologist friends have offered many reasons why they are ineffective in my case. The simplest one is that I just cannot get my left brainout of the way. I have been so deeply involved in the production processthat my critical and analytical faculty simply won't let go of the here-nowattention-focusing material contained therein. Also, in order to produce
these exercises in an audio mode, I have had to listen with an intense formof concentration in the recording and mixing of the various sounds that
we use. Evidently, I have had to shut off the effect. Even a simple onefrequency tone causes me to analyze the frequency and attempt to determine that it is stable.
Perhaps there is an effect I am not aware of. But it is a strange place tobe, looking over the fence at a garden you have planted and fertilized,
watching everybody else have such a good time.
The here-now portions of recent events are relatively straightforward.
For example, I had become painfully (literally) aware that my body hastaken to rejecting chemicals. This includes alcohol, prescription drugs,
caffeine, and evidently anything else my body says is unnatural for its
operation. The rejection or allergic reaction takes the form of profuse
sweating, vomiting, and/or severe abdominal cramps. This may be constructive, but it also has its disadvantages. I never was a consequential
drinker, but even a glass of wine begins the rejection process.
During surgery, it is something intense to cope with. I begin to reject
the anesthesia, and awake on the operating table to feel the surgeon sew-

8

FAR JOURNEYS

ing me up (I am sure to the surprise of the anesthesiologist). In recovery,
under intense pain, a shot of Demerol only brings on extreme vomiting.
You can imagine my frustration when others are using a system we developed that permits excellent nondrug pain control in the postsurgical period. In my hospital visits during the past ten years, only once has thesystem worked for me. I was sorely disappointed when it was not effectiveon the last trip. It was a nearly unbearable event. Yet I knew if I consciously went out of body, I would not have the courage to return to thatsea of scalding pain.
A psychologist friend back in the early days was skeptical of this drug
allergy. Further, he was interested in what the effects of what are now
called entertainment drugs would be on my type of personal and physicalmakeup. We tried "laboratory"-quality mescaline and LSD on my system.
Nothing happened.
Another item: I asked a nonphysical friend if I had been in a physicallife existence in the recent past. It was one of the few clear verbal answers
that I received:"Your last human life was spent as a monk in a monastery in Coshocton,
Pennsylvania."
I looked at the map of Pennsylvania and there was no Coshocton indicated. I knew there was a Coshocton, Ohio, because I had lived in thestate. Therefore I asked again to be sure that the state was right. It was
Pennsylvania. I didn't give it much thought because I personally am notdeeply interested in who I was, if I was. I mentioned the event to a
Catholic monsignor friend, and he offered to look it up in his records.
Some weeks later he called to say there really was a monastery in a placecalled Coshocton, Pennsylvania. He thought it would be interesting todrive up there some weekend and see if I responded to any memories.
Perhaps, someday.
Item: The money-pants pocket. For years, I have kept this as a closet
secret because no one believes it. I have shown it to my wife, Nancy, andshe still is skeptical. It seems that if I leave a certain pair of pants hung in
the bedroom closet, it generates paper money. Real money, not new andcrisp, usually fairly well worn. It is never a great amount; the maximum I
have ever found in the pocket is eleven dollars. Usually there will be only
two, three, or four dollars. Time does not seem to be a factor. I can ignore

OLD LOCAL TRAFFIC

it for a week, and there will be perhaps three dollars. I may not go near it
for three months, and there may be only six dollars. There seems to be no
particular format for the generation or the amount of money. I can takethe pants to the cleaners and return them to the closet in their plastic bag.
It makes no difference. We have theorized that I may walk in my sleep
and insert money in the pants pocket. The unopened plastic bag dispelledthat idea. One rationale is that it is an ongoing result of a very urgent needfor a few dollars back in my teenage period. (There was a strange event
back in that era that might relate to it.) Some part of my system still
remembers that urgent need and attempts to provide for it. Too bad thatwhen you reach another stage in life, five or six or eleven dollars does not
go very far! Very few people really believe it, and I don't blame them. I
wouldn't if it didn't happen to me.
Item: In our house at Whistlefield Farm, there was a screened porch off
the living room. To get to the porch, one had to go through two double
doors and down a series of flagstone steps that led to the porch at a lower
level. These steps were quite steep, the difference in floor height being
approximately four feet.
One morning, with my arms full of books and papers, I walked out theentrance to the porch and stumbled. My left foot crossed over in front of
my right, and I dove headlong in the direction of the flagstone floor of theporch. As I fell I was unable to get my arms out in front of me. I remember thinking, "Well, this will certainly end up with a fractured skull and abroken neck."
About six inches from the floor, my fall was suddenly arrested and I
landed on my head and shoulders very lightly on the flagstone floor, noheavier than if I had simply put my head down very carefully. The rest of
my body then draped down afterward, drifting as gently as a feather. I lay
there for a moment wondering what had happened. I felt my head and myshoulders and there was no pain, no mark, no bruise, nothing. I stood up,
picked up my books and papers, looked at the place from where I had
fallen, and tried to figure some answer. Something had cushioned my fall,but I certainly was not consciously aware of what it was.
Some months later in the middle of winter, a similar event took place. I
was walking down the front steps, which had been reportedly cleaned after
a snow, slipped, and started to fall. This time I was not quite so surprised

10

FAR JOURNEYS

when I again landed very lightly. There have been only two such events,
and I don't think I will deliberately try to fall experimentally. Just anotherone of those "as yet" unexplained moments.
Item: One of the more puzzling events took place as a result of a very
direct communication—or so it seemed. Early one morning in the midseventies, about three o'clock to be exact, I went through my customary
lazy man's way of rolling out of my body. Almost immediately I was
accosted by a vaguely formed individual who gave me this very specificinstruction:"Mr. Monroe, be at Eaglehill at 7 A.M. on July fourth." Surprised, I
asked for a repeat of the instruction. It came exactly the same: "Mr.
Monroe, be at Eaglehill at 7 A.M. on July fourth."
Before I had a chance to ask why or what it was all about, the form
faded and disappeared. I then rolled back into my body and sat up andwrote it down very carefully.
The next night when I performed the same act, almost immediately theform was there again with the same message. It was very definite—almost
a command—and again the figure faded before I had a chance to query
further. I tried the third night to see if it replicated again, but there wasno response. What was so impressive about it was that the instruction wasvery clear. And it was repeated exactly the second night. Most important,"they" actually called me by name.
This instruction elicited a great deal of curiosity from me and those of
my friends and family to whom I related it. We speculated in many ways
about it but the big question was: "Where is Eaglehill?" It was about
April when the instruction was given and there seemed to be plenty oftime to find out what the message meant. But try as we might, we could
not find any place called Eaglehill. After a few weeks, I more or less forgot
about the idea.
An event changed all that. While visiting friends several hundred miles
from home, we were having dinner out on the patio of their house. My
host had a radio receiver that automatically scanned various frequencies
such as police, fire, and so on. We were sitting there chatting when suddenly over the radio came someone saying "Eaglehill." It jarred my attention immediately. I excitedly asked my host what the radio was tuned to.
He replied that it was the FAA aircraft channel for instructions to and

OLD LOCAL TRAFFIC

11

from aircraft. I waited eagerly for something more on the radio. My hostasked curiously what was so important. Needless to say, I didn't feel that I
could tell him. A couple of minutes later the radio came to life loudly andclearly: "This is United 351 over Eaglehill at twelve thousand feet."
The next day, after a long drive home, I went to the FAA facility at our
local airport and asked the FAA man where Eaglehill was. He replied
instantly that it was a holding point in a neighboring state, a radio marker
beacon. He showed it to me on the airways sectional map, and sureenough, there it was—Eaglehill. There evidently was some type of small
village by that name, although it did not show on any of the road maps we
had.
This put a whole new prospect on the message. Therefore, on theafternoon of July 3,1 left home for the long drive over to Eaglehill. I drove
into the small town nearest to the supposed site, checked into a local
motel, had a casual dinner, and went to bed early.
At exactly seven the next morning, I drove into the crossroads called
Eaglehill. It consisted of two or three houses, a garage, and a store, allsituated around a small country crossroads. Not a very impressive place, tosay the least. It looked like it had not changed in the last thirty or forty
years. I pulled over to the side and stopped the car. Several local citizens
sitting outside the garage looked at me curiously as I sat and waited.
I waited for over an hour and nothing happened. No one approached
me. I didn't feel anything except first excitement and then disappointment. Finally, sometime after eight o'clock, under curious stares, I started
the car and drove up through Eaglehill and into the countryside beyond. I
drove about two miles further and there was nothing but farms. I returnedto the crossroads and turned west and drove several miles. Again, nothing
different, no one signaled me, nothing except country and farms. I turned
around and drove east. It was all the same. I returned to my post at thecrossroads, sat in the car, and waited. When it got to be twelve o'clock, I
decided that it had all been an illusion, returned to the motel, checked
out, and had lunch. It was either the wrong Eaglehill, or I understood it
wrong, misinterpreted, or it was all a hoax or a dream.
After much contemplation, I finally decided where my mistake was.
The invitation or request was not that I go to Eaglehill physically: it wasthat I be there in an out-of-body state. What the invitation did not take

12

FAR JOURNEYS

into account was how difficult it is for me to go directly to a specific place,rather than a person.
Adding fuel to the fire: Years later, in encountering a government official, I asked him about that particular site, without reference to why I wasinterested. He related to me that it was a special federal research installation. It was being constructed just about the time I was there. Evidently it
is still not common knowledge, or at least I don't want to take thatchance. Therefore, the location as indicated in my retelling is not thecorrect one. I still like to speculate as to what might have happened if I
had kept the appointment in the out-of-body state.
Item: My company had received the franchise to install a cable television system in Charlottesville, Virginia, and we needed a receiving antenna site on top of a hill just outside of town. The owner of the hill was
Roy, a small, balding, bright-blue-eyed energetic little man with a dry andsubtle sense of humor. His face was wrinkled and tanned from many yearsof supervising the work in the twenty-thousand-apple-tree orchard atop
the hill. As he was a true Scotsman, the negotiation was elaborately casual
but came to a very reasonable and fair end. And we became friends.
After lunch one Friday, he looked at me with a twinkle and asked, "Do
you like to play cards?"
An old familiar surge rose in me. "What kind of cards?""Well," he said, "some people don't call it poker because we play somany wild games, but you can have a lot of fun at it. It's only ten- andtwenty-cent games, so you can't expect to make any money. We hold it ata different fellow's house each Friday night and the only thing is, we don't
have any drinking. It's the oldest, continuous poker game in the city ofCharlottesville. Must have been going on steady for seventy years—andthat's a long time. If you would like to come tonight, I'll pick you up,
wherever you are, about seven-thirty. You'll have a good time at choirpractice."
I looked at him blankly. "Choir practice?"
He smiled. "That's what we call it here in Virginia. Some fellows saythat they are not sure whether it's legal or not and we've heard of othergames being raided for gambling. Course, we aren't doing anything likethat."
I smiled. "No, of course not. See you at seven-thirty for choir practice."

OLD LOCAL TRAFFIC

13

I became a regular member of choir practice. I did not attend every
Friday, but I did show up at least two Fridays per month. Again, it was awelcome change from my daily work in cable television and the participants were strictly local businessmen who had, for the most part, lived in
the Charlottesville area all of their lives.
They also were totally unaware of any strange research or other activities I might be involved in. Even when my first book was published theyknew nothing about it and I made no mention of it. To this day perhaps
one or two are remotely aware of what I now do.
The first indicator that there were unusual factors involved in cardplaying choir practice came about two years later when there were six of us
playing a game of seven-card stud. The deal began normally. My two holecards were a three and four of clubs. Among the face-up cards dealt to me
were a five and seven of clubs. The betting was quite strong; there werepairs all over the table, including a pair of aces showing on Roy's face-up
cards. After I stayed in the betting, which I had no statistical right to do,trying to buy an inside straight or a flush, the final, seventh card was dealt
to each of us face down. I did not look at mine. Suddenly, without anyquestion, I knew that the card dealt to me was the six of clubs. It was very
strange, simply a "knowing.""Roy," I said, indicating the untouched down card, "that's a six of clubs
and that will make me a straight flush. And that will beat your aces full."
Roy looked at the card and looked up at me with a sly grin. He hadalready looked at his last card and he knew he had aces full. "I got fivethat says you don't have it. That's not the six of clubs."
I reached for the pile of chips and said, "There it is, Roy."He smiled and matched the stack. "All right, show me." I turned itover and it was the six of clubs.
Roy smiled. "That doesn't beat my full house." He turned over his aces
full, which beat the other hands on the table. "I have another five thatsays you don't have the three and four of clubs in the hole."
I smiled. "I don't want to take your money, Roy.""A straight flush will beat my aces full." He pushed another stack out.
"I don't think you got it. You somehow knew there was a six of clubs there
and you ought to quit while you're ahead."14

FAR JOURNEYS

I smiled and said, "I don't want the other five, Roy." And then I turned
over the three and four in the hole, making the straight flush in clubs.
He just looked at it and said, "Isn't that something!"
On the very next hand, with Roy doing the dealing, the feeling I had
was still there, very strong, the "knowing." I didn't even look at my holecards. Of the four cards dealt face up to me there was a five and seven ofhearts. I knew. That's all I can tell you, I knew.
"Roy," I said, "you see that five and seven of hearts?" Roy nodded. He
didn't have the aces this time. "Well," I said, "this last card you are going
to deal is a six of hearts and that will make me a straight flush in hearts.
You see, I haven't seen my bottom cards yet, you notice?" He nodded,
watching. Roy had been the dealer. The rest of the players were watchingintently, expecting me to lose. Roy was an exceptional card player.
The last card was dealt to me face down, and before I could pick it up,
Roy said, "I got another five says it's not the six of hearts. No, as a matterof fact, I'll make it ten." He shot a pack of chips forward.
"I don't want to take your money, Roy," I said, smiling.
"You are not taking it from me and I am not giving it to you," he said.
"Put it up."
I did.
"Now turn over the card," he demanded. I did, and it was the six ofhearts. He looked at me with utter astonishment. He was doing the dealing. No trickery was at all possible in his frame of reference.
"Moreover," I said, "those two hole cards that I haven't looked at yet
are the three and four of hearts."
Roy looked at me. "I have twenty that says that they aren't."
With utmost casualness I said, "I don't want to take your money, Roy,"and turned over the two hole cards. They were the three and four ofhearts.
Roy looked at the straight flush, the same one as before except inhearts. "Sometimes you are about the luckiest fellow I ever met."
The others at the table agreed.
That particular run of "luck" was talked about for several months. The
odds against two successive straight flushes of the same denomination held

OLD LOCAL TRAFFIC

15

by the same person in a six-handed card game are about 5,780,000 to one.
How did it happen? I don't know. How did I know? Very simply, asureness. I suspect a lot of high rollers have made a lot of money on suchdealings and lost also because the "knowing" was not right.

HEMI-SYNC ET AL.

2. Hemi-Sync et al.

With the publication of Journeys Out of the Body, we began to receive
surprising inquiries, information, and cooperation from many unexpectedsources. A book intended for the general public was attracting interest inscientific and academic circles. Our laboratory west of Charlottesville,
Virginia, opened on an entirely voluntary basis. Originally named
Whistlefield Research Laboratories, this was later changed to the Monroe
Institute of Applied Sciences. Using the name Monroe was not an ego
factor, but simply the quickest way to clear the title officially. The "Applied Sciences" part was quite specific. We felt that the understanding of
OOBEs could be achieved on a level compatible with our Western sciences and that the greatest service we could perform would be to apply
any discoveries or information that we encountered.
The laboratory consisted of a one-story building designed for the purpose, and included two offices, a lounge, and a research wing. In the wing
were an instrument or control room, three isolation booths, and a briefing
room. All three booths were connected independently to the control roomfor both physiological monitoring and the delivery of various types ofaudio and electromagnetic signals to stimulate a response from a volunteer
subject in a booth.
The booths themselves each contained a heated water bed, thus providing a comfortable condition in total darkness. They were also environmentally controlled in air, temperature, and acoustics. A subject in the booth
could be wired to transmit to the control room a wide array of physiological signals. These included eight-channel EEG (brain-wave electrical patterns), EMG (muscle tone), pulse rate, and body voltage. As things developed, we were able to determine most of what we wanted to know simply
by reading body-voltage changes.
Aside from visiting participants from out of town, we had a local volunteer group consisting of several M.D.s, a physicist, an electronic engineer,17

several psychiatric and social service workers, plus assorted friends andfamily. Most research and experiments took place at night or on weekends, as all of us were employed in other occupations. In retrospect, theimmense contribution that this group gave freely was a major factor in
helping the whole process get started under these new conditions, and forthis I will be forever grateful. It took much patience and dedication topaste up with electrodes, then lie hour after hour in a darkened booth andreport subjective results of various tests—results that could be correlatedwith instrument readouts in the control room to the point where a consensus could be achieved.
Our first studies were a continuation of the sleep research begun in
New York. The demand for a solution to a problem brought one of ourearly results of significance. Because so much of the reported out-of-bodystates, including many of my own, revolved around the sleep state, we still
believed some answers would be found in this area. However, most of our
subjects arrived at night after dinner, and with long, boring periods ofbeing wired up with electrodes, they were either too tired to stay awake inthe booth or too restless to be able to relax enough to report any subtle
and subjective responses. It defeated our purpose to use any types of
medication or drugs to control these states, so we looked for a method
within our own frame of reference.
The old truism held. Necessity is the mother. It was through this needto help our subjects stay awake, get into a borderland sleep state, that webegan to try utilizing sound. This resulted in the discovery of FrequencyFollowing Response (FFR), which permitted us to hold the subject in acertain state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep for extended
periods of time. By introducing certain sound patterns in the subject's ear,
we determined that there was a similar electrical response in the brain
waves of the subject. By controlling that brain-wave frequency, we wereable to help the subject relax, keep him awake, or put him to sleep. One of
our engineering participants suggested that we patent this unusual process, and we received a patent on the method and technique in 1975.
By cross-referencing the various effective frequencies among subjects,
we slowly began to evolve combinations of sound frequencies that created
FFRs highly conducive to OOBEs and other unusual stages of conscious-

18

FAR JOURNEYS

ness. Among these, of course, was a very effective means of moving into
what is commonly known as a meditative state.
All of this did not come quickly. Only a few words cover hundreds ofhours of putting together different sound patterns and testing for responses, with subjects patiently lying in a booth as sound warbled in theirears, slowly changing in pitch, while the technician in the control room
looked for changes in the monitoring instruments.
During such sessions, our volunteer subject participants learned to report verbally on any changes in their mental or physical condition. This
became a very important ability, to speak and perceive when the normal
pattern would be to lose consciousness or be "asleep."
One of the first solid points of identification was a state that we began
to label Focus 10. There was no particular significance to the number 10,
and I am not sure where it originated. Also, we wanted to be sure it was
not confused with other forms of consciousness. Therefore it became simply TEN. We were able to identify this state very specifically and to return
to it again and again with our subjects. Easily defined, Focus 10 is a state
where the mind is awake and the body asleep. All the physiological responses are those of one in light or deep sleep. However, the brain-wave
patterns are different. The EEGs show a mix of waves ordinarily associated with sleep, light and deep, and overlying beta signals (wakefulness).
Gradually there developed a very special group, a total of some eightsubjects completely familiar with the Focus 10 state. Verbal communication in Focus 10 through the microphone/headphone system became asnormal as if we were sitting across from one another in a conference room.
We could tell easily from the instrument readout when they were andwhen they were not in Focus 10. It could not be imagined or faked, even
if there had been any remote desire to do so. There were many times, ofcourse, when they were unable to get into the Focus 10 state because of
external pressures and stresses in their daily lives that they could notabandon easily. In such cases, they simply reported that they could not"do it" that night or canceled the appointment. This saved much timeand effort.
With the constant stream of visitors we began to determine that others,
totally untrained, could be assisted into Focus 10 without a great deal oftrouble. The process of learning to communicate verbally would take

HEMI-SYNC ET AL.

19much longer. To see how far this would go, we sent a tape of the composite signal to a psychiatrist friend in Kansas. In an experiment, he tested it
on four completely naive subjects and with no suggestion as to what toexpect. He reported that one of the four subjects quit the test because hefound that he was bouncing against the ceiling of the room looking down
at his physical body.
Our next step came as an interesting proposition. With the body asleep—i.e., the physical senses turned off or reduced—why not develop frequencies that would enhance perceiving by means other than the fivephysical senses? With the insertion of higher-frequency beta signals, oursubjects began to find much more than the usual blackness. First camelight and color patterns seen visually in the blacked-out booth, with eyes
either closed or open. Next came sounds heard in the head, not a part ofthe synthesized sounds, but voices, music, sometimes loud explosions thatstartled the subject completely out of Focus 10—something that has still
to be explained.
These phenomena were gradually perceived in a pattern, as somewhat
of a band preceding a change into the out-of-body experience. There werealso preliminary physiological responses—lowering of blood pressure andpulse, slight temperature drop (03°), loss of muscle tone. Subjectively,
there were reports of a heaviness in the physical body, sometimes catalepsy, and a strong sense of heat followed by coolness. As the induction of
the OOBE state was examined further, one key element did repeat consistently. Subjects began to locate within their nonphysical perception a
pinpoint of light. When the subject learned to "move" in the direction of
the light until it became larger and larger, and then move through it, the
OOBE state was achieved. In slow motion, it "felt as if one were going
through a tunnel to get to the light," a classic description that has beenbrought forth by many who performed the OOBE inadvertently or in anear-death situation.
One new development was the key that opened many things for us. We
now call it the Hemi-Sync process.
Science has long known that your brain is divided into two halves, orhemispheres. But only in recent years has it been discovered that these
two halves are entirely different in the functions they perform. There is
still controversy about the theory as to details. Most of the time, we think

20

FAR JOURNEYS

only with our "left brain." When we use our "right brain," it is primarily
to support the action of the left. Otherwise, we do our best to ignore it. In
function, the nerve signals from these brain halves act in an X crossover.
The left brain controls the right side of the body, and the right brain
controls the left. We are primarily a right-handed civilization, dominatedby our left brains. Only in the last fifty years have left-handers been
accepted as "equals." In many ways, we still discriminate against lefthanders. Did you know that a pair of scissors is a right-handed tool?
We use the left brain to talk and read, to do mathematics, to reason
deductively, to remember detail, to measure time, among many otherfacets—the source of logical, rational thought. It "knows" nothing else.
Our right brain is the originator of ideas, spatial sense, intuition, music,
emotion, and probably much more than we now realize. It is timeless,apparently with a language all its own.
One of the best descriptions given to illustrate the difference is with areel of movie film. To determine the content, the left brain will put it on a
projector, show the movie on a screen, and thus be informed. The rightbrain will pick up the roll of film, hold it for a moment, then put it down
and say, "Oh, I understand."
Ridiculous! That's your left brain's reaction as you use it to read thesewords. It simply doesn't compute—by left-brain standards.
Basically, we are a half-brained society. Virtually everything we consider
valuable is operated or controlled by our dominant left brain. Even if it
originates in the right brain, such as an idea or music, the left brain takes
over and puts it to use.
How did we get this way? No one is absolutely sure, but one of thebetter guesses is that the left-brain dominance came about because of abasic need to survive in a physical world. Through thousands of years, ourforebears added to left-brainism because that was the way to get things
done. Our entire system—books, schools, colleges and universities, industry, political structures, churches—is fundamentally left-brained in learning, application, and operation. We have generally regarded right-brain
thinking with amused tolerance, suspicion, disgust, irritation, distrust—and awe.
Then why bother! Why not stay half-brained and let it go at that. Who
needs the right brain!

HEMI-SYNC ET AL.

21

We do. Recent studies show we use our right brain throughout our daily
lives in many subtle ways. For example, the left brain remembers thename, but the right brain remembers the face. (How many times have you
spotted a familiar face but couldn't remember his name? Left brain, watch
out! Studies of world leaders throughout history indicate they thoughtwith far more than their analytical, intellectual minds. All great decisions
by mankind have been made with the left brain plus. Plus the right brain?
Evidence supports it, based upon what we now know. Moreover, it's agood guess that the right brain pulls the voting-booth lever in presidential
elections. Current theory centers around the idea that we shift brainhemisphere dominance many times during our daily activities. Such a shift
takes place instantly, depending on the mental or physical need at the
moment. This seems to limit even more rigidly the already minor use of
our brain/mind potential. How we got smart enough long enough toclimb down out of the trees and survive as a species was either dumb luckor a miracle. Or something else.
How do we then go about using more of our brain power? There havebeen many ways attempted over the course of human evolution. Virtually
all of them have had drawbacks or limitations in one form or another. The
Hemi-Sync process offers promise and potential in this area. It can beutilized with relative ease, does not require years of intensive training, andis not limited to a narrow band of application.
Hemi-Sync (short for hemispheric synchronization) uses patterns ofsound to help create simultaneously an identical wave form in both brain
hemispheres. This means that when your ear hears a certain type of soundsignal, the brain tends to respond or "resonate" with similar electricalsignals. Knowing that various electrical brain waves are indicators of statesof consciousness (such as awake or asleep), you thus can listen to a similarsound pattern and it will help you be in the desired state of awareness.
Hemi-Sync takes the process an important step further. Each ear sends
its dominant nerve signal to the opposite brain hemisphere, following the
X pattern. When separate sound pulses are sent to each ear (using headphones to isolate one ear from the other), the halves of the brain must act
in unison to "hear" a third signal, which is the difference between the two
signals in each ear. For example, if you hear a sound measuring 100 in one
ear and another signal of 125 in the other, the signal your whole brain will

22

FAR JOURNEYS"generate" will be 25. It is never an actual sound, but it is an electricalsignal that only can be created by both brain hemispheres acting andworking together. The signal so generated is narrow-band in frequency
and often twice the amplitude or strength of a typical EEG brain-wave
form.
If the 25 signal (above) is one that produces a certain type of consciousness, then the whole brain—both hemispheres—is focused in an identicalstate of awareness at the same time. Most important, the condition can bechanged at will by changing the sound pattern. It also can be learned andre-created from memory when the need arrives.
Once the researcher or clinician is exposed to some of the potentials of
the Hemi-Sync process, his first thought is application within areas of his
own interest. One illustration of this is in the field of psychiatry. The useof Hemi-Sync in analysis apparently opens the patient to levels of memorythat may take years to achieve using standard interview methods. Anotherexperimental use has been in reduction of stress tension in patients. Sometimes the change is so subtle that the patient himself is unaware of it. Oneof our psychiatric associates was treating an Air Force colonel for stressrelated problems. After two weeks working with Hemi-Sync and the psychiatrist, he angrily wanted to give up.
"It isn't doing a damn thing for me," he reported. "Everything's thesame. I don't feel any different, not a thing." He hesitated. "Well, I did
take my wife out for dinner the other night for the first time in six
months. And, oh yes, I finally took my son out fishing for the weekend,which I had promised to do for a long time. But that's all. Nothing else.
Not a single thing!"
Our psychiatrist friend simply nodded.
There has been much talk about the use of Hemi-Sync with terminalcases. However, in spite of the broad interest and numerous requests, very
few have actually utilized the system with specific patients. One exampleof this took place with another psychiatric associate, who was treating
what might be labeled the hard-core terminal case. His patient was a
psychologist who had been ill for two years and had become drug-addicted
in order to handle the pain of his illness. Thus the problems doubled up—
the patient was supposed to know all the answers and would automaticallyresist all normal treatment, with the added drug dependency. Our psychia-

HEMI-SYNC ET AL.

23

trist began working with him daily, utilizing the Hemi-Sync process. By
the Wednesday of the second week, a simple but very significant event
took place. The patient was able to go to sleep at night for the first time in
two years without any pain or sleep medication.
At the end of two weeks, the patient returned home. He died several
months later, and the final report came from his wife. The psychologist
patient had spent a very calm and quiet last week of his life, completely
free of pain, without any medication, and had a pleasant and peaceful lastfew days with his family. Our psychiatrist who treated him believes that
his exposure to Hemi-Sync during treatment made this possible.
Another psychiatrist friend, active in research with schizophrenics,
found that under certain Hemi-Sync patterns one patient lost many of thesymptoms of his illness. When taken off the Hemi-Sync sound, he reverted back to his typical psychotic condition. This was only one particularpatient. However, it does beg for further investigation, to determine if thepatient can be trained to replicate the conditions created by Hemi-Sync,
plus some form of encoding or entrainment that would let him remember
and use it in his daily life.
Certainly one of the most successful applications of Hemi-Sync is a
training series we call Emergency Treatment. This is designed to help anindividual through the process of serious illness, accident injury, or surgery. One of the earliest examples comes to mind.
A psychiatric counselor visited our lab, having heard of some of ourwork, and in the course of conversation we discovered that he was at thattime the second-oldest living kidney transplant recipient. He had undergone some fifteen successive operations over the years to correct the effects of the chemicals that he had to take in order to avoid rejection of thetransplanted kidney. He was due to go in for surgery for the sixteenth timeon the following Thursday. We suggested that he try this Emergency
Treatment series. He readily agreed.
His case was important in that, because of the many previous operations, his doctor had a very precise history of his physiological state during
surgery, how much anesthesia he required, what was needed to control his
pain, and his rate of recuperation, among other items. Knowing this, his
doctor agreed to let him use the tape series, which involved preliminary
exercises and then listening to a Hemi-Sync tape in the operating room

24

FAR JOURNEYS

during the actual operation, during recovery, and again while recuperating.
On the scheduled Thursday, he went into surgery at eleven o'clock.
According to the report, the surgeon very nearly canceled the operation
because of his low blood pressure. However, it was steady, so he decided
that this was not a serious risk. At four o'clock in the afternoon, thepatient called me from his hospital room. He was sitting up in bed.
"I just thought I'd let you know how it went." His voice soundedstrong. "They gave me one shot of pain medication before I had a chance
to stop them, but I have not needed any since. The only problem that I
had was that I tried to get up and go to the bathroom and I fainted. The
doctor reported that my blood pressure still was very low. Is that normal?""Try counting yourself out from ten to one," I replied, "and then see
where your blood pressure is. It would seem that the recovery tape didn't
get you out of it completely. Call me back after your doctor takes yourblood pressure again."
He did as suggested, and reported that his blood pressure had completely returned to normal. According to the records, his recuperation
time was cut in half from what it had been after all of his previous
operations. More important, he was able to control totally his problem ofchronic pain, which had plagued him in the months and years previously.
Once out of the hospital, he began to develop actively the use of HemiSync for pain control. He met with the State Rehabilitation Agency, as
one of their major problems in rehabilitation is the control of pain which
prevents many from living and working normally. The State Rehab people
became interested enough so that we were invited to conduct a demonstration at the Federal Rehabilitation Facility at Hot Springs, Arkansas. As
a result, we received a request for the cost to train personnel in our process
at rehab centers in all fifty states. We provided this, but never received
any further requests. Evidently it was too unorthodox to fit into a federal
budget.
The use of Emergency Treatment during surgery has had varying degrees of success and no failures whenever it has been properly used. One
vascular surgeon has utilized it with over thirty patients and still has difficulty in enlisting his fellow practitioners in its use. The president of amajor corporation used it during surgery, and refused any postoperative

HEMI-SYNC ET AL.

25pain or sleep medication. He evidently became so annoyed at hospital
procedures that he discharged himself three days after surgery. A young
woman had major abdominal surgery and was sky-diving one week later.
The Emergency Treatment series has had a remarkable history. The biggest problem is gaining the consent of the surgeon and the hospital personnel to its use in their highly organized environment.
For a good night's sleep, Hemi-Sync appears as effective as prescription
drugs. Executives on long airline flights use it to overcome jet lag. Others
find it helpful in stress-tension reduction or in playing a better game ofgolf.
As a learning tool, it has a great ability to focus and hold attention. In aparticular course in a government training school, it increased mentalmotor skills by 75 percent. In another test, Morse code students improved
their ability by as much as 30 percent. On the other end of the scale,primary-grade pupils in Tacoma learned in four weeks what ordinarily took
a full semester.
These and other results led us to the beginnings of definitions of what
we were doing and why we were doing it. It appeared to be somethingmuch different from finding ways to trigger OOBE states. This brought us
to the following formal premise:Stated simply, the Institute holds to the concept that (1) consciousness
and the focusing thereof contain any and all solutions to the life processes
that man desires or encounters; (2) greater understanding and appreciation of such consciousness can be achieved only through interdisciplinary
approaches and coordination; (3) the results of related research effort aremeaningful only if reduced to practical application, to "something ofvalue" within the context of the contemporary culture or era.
This led us to the base that consciousness is a form of energy at work.
The first step must therefore be to perceive the energy itself—no small
trick when you are using yourself to measure yourself, as it were. Once it isperceived in its raw form, one can possibly begin to understand how it isnaturally used. Such perception will permit a broader and more deliberatecontrol of such energy fields. From control, it is a very logical step to apply
it in new and expanded forms. This is all a very circumlocutory way to saythat if you can find out the stuff that makes you think and be, you can use
it in ways that you are not using it now.

THE GATEWAY PROGRAM

3. The Gateway
Program

In the mid-seventies, a development took place that changed drasticallymuch of our activities. Only in retrospect did it become discernible.
Esalen at Big Sur in California invited us to conduct a weekend workshop using our new methods and techniques. In a way, we took it to be
somewhat of a recognition of what we were doing. Esalen was then known
as a beginning source for many new types of psychological theory andpractice, and somewhat a fountainhead of intellectual approaches to thehuman mind.
We accepted, and made the trip, not quite sure what to expect when we
got there. We had never handled twenty-four people at one time in the
consciousness states familiar to us. I am sure the participants really didn't
know what to expect either, except that it had to do with the out-of-bodyexperience. We had planned a round-the-clock program, with food available at all times, and breaking up occasionally for two cycles of sleep. I andan engineer associate, Bill Yost, were the only ones there to conduct thismarathon.
Because we were dealing with unknown subjects, we brought with us anaffirmation for all of the participants to memorize before they started thesession.
/ am more than my physical body. Because I am more than physicalmatter, I can perceive that which is greater than the physical world.
Therefore, I deeply desire to expand, to experience: to know, to understand, to control, to use such greater energies and energy systems as may
be beneficial and constructive to me and to those who follow me.
Also, I deeply desire the help and cooperation, the assistance, theunderstanding of those individuals whose wisdom, development, and experience are equal to or greater than my own. I ask their guidance and27

protection from any influence or any source that might provide me withless than my stated desires.
The results of this first workshop were not spectacular, as far as we
could determine, but we did learn much from it. It certainly provided amuch broader base for our experimental testing. Basically we had introduced Focus 10 and various simple applications of the potentials of thisparticular state of consciousness. Our debriefing indicated that we hadachieved this goal. The participants learned what Focus 10 was—mind
awake, body asleep—and learned how to produce it within themselves atwill. We returned to Virginia well satisfied that the method was a practicalone.
Not long thereafter, we began to get requests from individuals andother organizations to conduct more such sessions. After reviewing our
results, we decided that this would be a very productive way to conduct
experiments on such a broad scale that we could certainly not afford to dootherwise. Thus we began to conduct weekend sessions on an occasional
basis. We grandly called it the M-5000 Program, on the premise that wewould have a magnificent statistical base and a highly sophisticated andwell-tuned training system if we ran five thousand participants through it.
The information and experience gleaned from one program would be used
to modify each succeeding program in order to maximize the results.
This involved also obtaining trainers to conduct these sessions, no easytask, and converting the system into headphones so that the Hemi-Sync
effect could be fully utilized. After the first few sessions, we realized that it
was folly to presume that we would ever reach the five-thousand mark. We
also began to recognize that we were creating for the participant a doorway, a window, a gap through which he could achieve other states ofconsciousness. Thus it became known as the Gateway Program.
We did little or no promotion for the training series. Those who attended had heard about it by word of mouth from graduates. Because it
was experimental, each participant signed a statement to that effect andwas obliged to report results beyond the session itself. This is not to saythat all did so, but enough did to give us significant statistics. Earlier
programs were held over weekends at motels, conference centers, andspecial meeting facilities throughout the United States. Participants met

28

FAR JOURNEYS

in a large room where a distribution system we devised provided the taped
training exercises via headphones. In retrospect, it was astounding that the
program was effective at all, because often the meeting place directly
adjoined the motel lounge and bar with a live orchestra playing at nighttime. To get around this problem locally, we wired a small motel some fivemiles from our laboratory where we had two-way communication to eachroom. The major problem there was that the motel had no restaurant, andall food had to be catered during the session. It was at this site that we
tried an interesting experiment.
We developed an exercise whereby the participants simultaneously
would be able to move this special mental energy into a visible pattern oflight some one thousand feet above the motel. In the latter stages of thesession, late one night, we put them through the test. The idea was thatthe combined energy of some twenty-four individuals might provide something we could see. All external lights in the motel were turned out (themotel itself was out in the country) and by stopwatch timing we knew theexact moment when any light should appear above the motel.
Four of us went outside and looked up into the darkness. We had had
plenty of chance to accustom our eyes to the darkness beforehand, sowhen the signal came at the proper time, we looked very eagerly. None ofus saw anything.
Suddenly our electronics engineer yelled excitedly, "Look higher, lookhigher!"We did. Most of us had been looking just above the roof of the motel.
We now looked far up into the sky in astonishment. Against the starlit
night there were soft, red, neonlike waves. They resembled nothing somuch as trickling water moving across an arc of the sky directly atop theroof of the motel. At exactly the time that the exercise called for the lightto shut off, it suddenly disappeared. Three minutes later the exercise wasrepeated on the tape, and the red waving rivulets appeared again and shutoff at the appropriate signal. All four of us observed it and were tremendously excited by the result.
Later at a Gateway session in California, at a ranch north of San Francisco, we repeated the exercise. This time we had an engineer with a
special Polaroid camera pointed upward to attempt to take a picture if thephenomenon was repeated. To ensure against the possibility of fogged

THE GATEWAY PROGRAM

29

film, two photographs were taken just prior to the signal for the lightenergy to be generated. During the exercise when the energy was supposed to be in place, two other pictures were taken. After the signal was
turned off by the tape, subsequent pictures were also taken.
There were some five or six observers present. None of us saw any lightphenomena. However, when we went in afterwards and conducted thedebriefing we examined the Polaroid photographs taken. The ones preceding the light signal were blank; the two after the exercise were blank. The
two taken during the exercise itself showed a round ball with a marbleized
effect much like the earth seen from a distance. Why the Polaroid picked
up a picture and we could not has been explained by several physicists andphotographers. The film can "see" light frequencies our eyes cannot. The
usual explanations of light leaks, film fogging, etc., have also been put
forward as the source of the round-ball-of-energy photograph. The blankfilm before and after made the two energy photographs more significant,being in the center of the film pack—a most unlikely place to be preexposed.
What does the Gateway Program really do for an individual? It varies somuch that each seems to find his own answer. Many, of course, have comeon the possibility that they will have an out-of-body experience. Most of
the time this expectation is not fulfilled during the session itself. Instead,they gain profound insights and understanding of the purposes behind
their being and doing. Not at all unusual are life-changing peak experiences or moments of revelation never before encountered and which
neither cannot nor need be repeated.
The program itself teaches the Focus 10 state (mind awake, bodyasleep). Participants also learn to move into what is called Focus 12, where
all physical-data input is shut off and the consciousness can reach out andbegin to perceive in ways other than through the five senses. The action
really begins here, where perspectives and overviews change drastically. It
is here where the participant truly understands that he is "more than his
physical body."
The Gateway Program thus has evolved into a unique process of selfexploration and discovery. It first surmounts the Fear Barrier (of the unknown, of change), which seems to be the greatest cultural restraint on
individual growth. Think of where you are now as a clearing in a dark

30

FAR JOURNEYS

forest—we call it C-l consciousness. We then take you into the forest to apoint where you can still "see" the familiar clearing. That point is a
guidepost (Focus 10). After a sufficient number of runs between guidepostand clearing, the fear disappears. At the Focus 10 guidepost, you always
know you can get back to the clearing if you get uncomfortable for any
reason.
From the Focus 10 guidepost, another point is established deeper into
the forest and probably "out of sight" of the clearing. This we call Focus
12. After several runs between guideposts 10 and 12, this too becomesfamiliar and secondary fears fade away. You know that even if you can't
perceive the clearing (C-l) from Focus 12, you can "see" Focus 10—andfrom 10, you know the way back to C-l. The process is expanded tosucceeding guideposts, each deeper and different, beyond ever-expanding
limits.
With the Fear Barrier dissolved, one of the greatest gifts to the humanspecies comes into full play. Curiosity. With the tools provided, the participant is then free to do as he wishes. He accepts the authority to do so—and the responsibility.
The individual, of his own accord, without suggestion but through direct experience, begins to know, rather than believe, that he does survive
physical death. It doesn't make any difference what he does during his
physical life, what he believes; he will go on after his physical body dies.
Survival beyond physical death is not a belief system, therefore, but asimple fact as natural as being born. There is no dogma related to the
Gateway Program—except that when you begin the session, you should
seriously consider that you are "more than your physical body."
It is inevitable that the borders between this and other reality-energy
systems are crossed. Many of the results are reported as reunions with"dead" friends and family as well as encounters with other forms of intelligent energy not generally recognized or accepted by mainstream American cultural levels.
Again, if you are aware of the basic effect of the Hemi-Sync process/that of providing an access to many levels of consciousness simultaneously,
something far different from the usual consciousness that we use for themost part in our daily lives, you can begin to grasp some of the potential
results.

THE GATEWAY PROGRAM

31

Through the Gateway Program, we have been able to conduct tests
with the Hemi-Sync process with over 3,000 subjects over the past ten
years. With a minimum of twenty individual test/exercises per subject
participant, that comes out to 60,000-plus individual tests of the effectiveness of the method and techniques involved. That has been and is thebasic value to us of the Gateway Program—a test base of 60,000. At thevery least, we know that we have been able to put people to sleep 60,000
times and awaken them. That is a pretty good statistic for product testing,especially one that is noninvasive in its physiological impact.
Most significant is the analysis of the Gateway population—those whohave attended the sessions over the past eight years. First, 41 percent are
male. This is double the norm for the typical self-awareness workshop.
Most researchers agree this is due to the scientific aspect of the HemiSync process as against more esoteric origins. Second, 29 percent are what
we label professionals—psychologists, psychiatrists, educators, scientists,
engineers, etc. These attend principally to determine possible applicationsin their own areas of interest. Third, the average age is thirty-nine, whichputs Gateway completely out of the age range of the faddist and "in"transient group. Finally, 83 percent attend for one basic reason and comeaway with another, more valuable result.
The best way that we can report the meaning of Gateway is to give yousome of the reports that we have received relative to the program fromthose who have attended. Here are a few of these:
1,135-CM"The most thrilling experience for me was with Focus 15 on increased
vibrations: I felt the energy flow going slowly up on one side and downon the other side of my body, then faster and faster. I felt I would becomea spiral, then a point, and so I did, and as a compact unit I was flying
higher and higher. . . . But then I thought: I cannot go any further, any
higher—and in a flash I 'hear': Hey, you limit yourself! Okay, then, I
overcame, accepted, and off I was, I felt projected like a Sputnik into theuniverse, to the stars, another entity integrated in the all. Feeling thisoneness was an indescribable joy and happiness!
"The deep lesson I took from this exercise was that although having

32

FAR JOURNEYS

heard and read many times that we are what we think, that we limit
ourselves by our mind, there I was experiencing something unique, atleast for me, by overcoming doubts or limitations which I am solely
responsible for."1644-CM". . . That morning, having lost interest in holding the solar system
in my hands (can't believe I just said that!) as the tape had directed me todo, I visualized the Focus 15* blue 'door.' Finding nothing there, I
proceeded through red, yellow, pink, green, purple, and finally into white.
Using white as 'Level 21,' I continued to '26,' where I then (and havesince) received messages for other people in the program. I later moved to'27,' where I had previously found my father. Feeling that he was busy, I
decided to try uncharted (to me) territory.
"Devising a digital counter, I sailed backward through darkness as thecounter flashed numbers faster than I could read them. Somewhere nearwhere I perceived to be 100 (98?), I stopped and saw many people millingaround: They looked like holograms, but conveyed the message of being'alive.' Some ignored me, some moved away, but several approached mewith great joy. I sensed that the latter felt that they were stranded andthought that I was there to guide them back. I asked about the others andwas told that some were just exploring, and would return to their bodies
when they felt like doing so, while others were waiting for their bodies todie, so they could be free. The ones speaking to me, though, said thatthey got there inadvertently, and were not able to return on their own.
"At this point, Bob, I heard your barely audible voice saying, 'You will
now return to Focus 10.' In panic, I felt I needed your voice to find myway back. I tried to piggyback someone, but was not able to, and returned
to my CHEC Unit** in what I felt was the nick of time. With agreat sigh of relief, and an expletive or two, I reexamined theexperience, and am doing so again at the moment of this writing:* "No time" consciousness.
** Controlled Holistic Environmental Chamber.

THE GATEWAY PROGRAM

33/. / don't believe that it was a dream. As I type this, two weeks after the
event took place, I'm still overcome with a feeling of profoundness.
2. I don't believe in coincidence. Although the implications are not clear
to me, I feel that there is a reason I experienced something I had neverconsciously thought about before.
3. Fact: There are people in various institutions who are catatonic or
comatose and whom medical science has not been able to reanimate."
4659-CM"lam now considering what to me is the strong possibility that almost
anything that can be formed into five physical senses, language, oriented
thought is an illusion. Extraphysical feeling is as close as I can come todescribing what is ultimate reality for me now.
"When I seek to perceive ultimate reality for me, (what I think you arereferring to when you use the word 'home'), I experience blankness andbliss. Blankness, not because it is blank, but because I attempt to experience it with mental processes that are geared to the five physical senses
and that are in the habit of perceiving illusion. I am trying to use mybiological illusion computer to perceive beyond the apparent limits ofillusion. Like trying to smell a flower with your ear. I experience bliss
because emotional feeling is the only perceptual tool that I am able touse to sense beyond the illusion. If there are other perceptual tools thatare available to me, they are either atrophied by lack of use, and must
somehow be reactivated, or they must be initially activated.
2312-CF" . . . During one 'Rebal' breathing exercise I experienced what was
the beginning of some rather puzzling happenings. For reasons unknown
to me I was suddenly in a black box—a void of total blackness. It was
like being juggled from one extreme to the other—from total sensation tolack of sensation. Frustration began to invade me, for I found it was
somewhat difficult finding a way out of this vast blackness. In my nexttape I began to experience the blackness again, and that's when I started

34

FAR JOURNEYS

to worry. At our next meal I mentioned what was occurring to our trainer,
hoping she might offer a solution.
"During our discussion, my problem was overheard by a few males at
the table who had apparently been listening in. Later one of the men
took me aside to explain. He told me that a few of the men in our group
had found themselves fantasizing about me during their own tape experiences—hence all the sexual thought vibrations I was picking up. He also
told me that, having a hard time dealing with their sexual attraction, they
were putting me in their 'energy conversion box' (a place to leave problems behind) before embarking into their other states of consciousness.
They had all helped put me in my black void so as not to distract them!
At first I was annoyed at this. How dare they influence my experiences!
How dare their sexual energy have that much control over me! I still
marvel at how powerful thoughts are, and three men's directed at me was
overwhelming. At the same time I felt somewhat naive for not having
picked up the signs earlier, but I was much too wrapped up in how the
workshop was changing me to fully get into what others were thinking.
"But this was not the end. . . . I transformed my annoyance at being
used as a 'sex object,' even if only consciously projected, and started
wondering what growth could be gained from this experience. It started
me thinking along other lines and what was to follow would change thecourse of my life.
"And it happened simply because I asked the divine forces in all
sincerity for me to be able to experience spiritual love. I asked not for me
to be the recipient of it but that I might learn how to give to others to myfullest ability. My request was granted:"As I went into the next tape I kept that thought in mind—/ wanted
to feel what it would be like to feel a part of the love in the universe, to ina sense actually be making love to a part of me, a part of everyone. I left
my own CHEC Unit at that point (nonphysically; OOBE) and felt anurge to visit my other Gateway participants. Straying into one room, I
called softly to one of the people. He seemed taken aback to see me and I
told him not to be alarmed, that I was only there to send him love andthen left after blowing him a quick goodbye kiss. (Later this person
recalled that he heard a soft voice in his ear calling his name. He said

T H E GATEWAY PROGRAM

35

that he had felt a surge of love upon hearing it but wasn't sure where itcame from.)"Then quite unexpectedly I was suddenly drawn by a powerful force to
one room in particular—to one CHEC Unit in particular. It took me bytotal surprise, for the man in that unit was someone I didn’t know very
well. In fact, he was the only one at the workshop I had never really had achance to talk to. He was a young, good-looking psychologist, yet forsome reason we seemed to be purposely avoiding each other.
"All at once I had an all-knowing, as I seemed to float over him, that
his vibrations were my vibrations. I had an overwhelming desire to meld,
to feel a part of him—to become one. It was truly one of the sharpest andclearest of experiences.
"I gave to him both my body and soul until there was this tremendous
energy surge that rocked and exploded in us. It was an experience that isbeyond words, for love, total and absolute, surrounded us more strongly
than can' be earthly experienced or imagined. The more I gave, thegreater I received and I didn't want to let go. I wanted to give him evenmore. It was like two energies in perfect unison becoming one at last. (Ican remember thinking how physical sex paled in comparison.)"Memories of past lives together came rushing in like flashes of light.
We talked in this state and I came to realize this experience could only
have happened at the end of the workshop as it did, for each of us would
have been distracted had we 'met' earlier on—perhaps hampering othergrowth experiences that week. There was a meeting of both our minds
with this experience and I knew our meeting had been more than coincidence—it was predestined.
"I truly experienced everything I asked for and more, and when I came
down to the meeting room after the tape there was an unusual heightened energy where people seemed to be flying. I saw 'him' as I came
down the stairs to join the group and he looked at me excitedly, ecstatically, as if something totally incredible had happened to him. I hadn’t
said a word yet, as he quietly repeated a number of times, 'Thank you.
Thank you.' I felt elated—I had made contact. We compared our individual experiences, making sure each of us was not coloring the other's
story. It didn't matter—our stories fit like puzzle pieces, matching per-36

FAR JOURNEYS

fectly and interlocking. We both had also had the use of all our senses—
the strongest being touch.
"After this experience we were later reunited to share others together.
We've been with each other for the past two years now—growing andloving together.
"So much did I learn at my Gateway experience—but I was truly lucky
to get it all. I not only got the icing—I got the whole cake!"
Today the Gateway Program is held for a full seven-day period at ourCenter facility in Virginia. The Center is designed specifically to handle
the Gateway Program. No longer does one have to lie on the floor for
taped exercises. Instead the Center now provides what are called CHEC
Units (Controlled Holistic Environmental Chambers), which provide isolation much as we had in our original laboratory booths. Not only are thetaped exercises conducted by headphones in the CHEC Unit, but theparticipant actually sleeps in these during the night. Because it is much
like a Pullman berth on the old railroad trains, some people initially feelthey cannot sleep in there the first night, because of a sense of claustrophobia perhaps. With the environmental treatment in the CHEC Unit—
fresh air and temperature control plus sleep sounds that are available—themain problem after the second night is to wake them up, the isolated sleep
has been so productive and restful. It helps achieve such a complete sleepthat a number of participants have built CHEC Units in their own
homes.
Because the Gateway Program is so difficult to produce and conduct
properly, each year we question the value of continuing it. All things
considered, it is certainly not a financial success, although supposedly weare the only research facility that charges for the privilege of being a
volunteer. Each time we consider closing it down, we receive just coincidentally another report from a graduate who states how meaningful andhow constructive have been the results of his attendance.
So we schedule another year of Gateways.

4. Explorer Team

Amid the diversion of Gateway sessions, visitors ranging from psychologists and electronics engineers to ex-flower children with backpacks, mailresponse to the original Journeys, we continued our research program with
our volunteer group in the laboratory. The group became consistently
more proficient in achieving other forms of consciousness, including theout-of-body state. However, personal events in their lives (such as moving
to another city) brought the regular weekly group down to six. These were
the physicist, electronics engineer, social services executive, transpersonal
psychologist, office manager, and psychiatric counselor. I would have liked
to use actual names, but several felt their employers would take a dim viewof it all. Therefore, no names at all.
One of the most peculiar aspects was that their experiences paralleled
my own only in the preliminary stages. They could and did replicate myown near out-of-body experiences but from that point on there seemed
little similarity. Possibly because of the confidence factor of a monitor
with whom to communicate, in some respects they had freedoms that I
had never experienced.
So that the picture is clear: The subject lies on a water bed in a darkened, acoustically and electrically shielded 8-by-10 room (usually booth 2,
everyone's favorite for some unknown reason). The booth has its own airconditioning and heating controls. Electrodes for monitoring physiologicalstates are glued to head, fingers, and body. A sound microphone hangs
about four inches above the face. Audio headphones completely covereach ear. Most important, the subject has just gone to the bathroom to be
sure the bladder is empty. Too many sessions had been aborted because
the subject reported a "problem" in the physical body, only to find upon ahurried return that it was nothing more than a distended bladder. Evidently the total physical relaxation encourages this body process.
In the control room twenty feet down the hall, a human monitor (I or38

FAR JOURNEYS

one of several others) communicates vocally through a sound system withthe person in the booth. The monitor also feeds Hemi-Sync sound into
the subject's headphones, either to test responses to new frequencies or to
aid the subject in achieving desired states of consciousness. Finally, themonitor observes and notes changes in instrument readouts on the subject's physiological condition. Often an assistant is present to help in theprocessing.
Here is a typical "entry" report, the beginning of an OOBE, transcribed from an early file recording during an experiment:
SS/ROMC (OFFICE MANAGER) 7 MINUTES IN----TEST #188

"I am going rapidly now through a tunnel—I was standing straight up
and now I am just sort of sucked up through this tunnel. It is very narrow
and I am rapidly shooting through this tunnel. Now I can see a point oflight at the other end. I am traveling rapidly to this point of light. It is
like I am on some type of light beam that is helping to propel me. I am
coming out. I am going into a different dimension and I have just completely slowed down. And I am right at the opening of this point. And
now I am gently coming through and everything is green. It is so brightthat it is almost blinding because of coming out of a dark tunnel. It is adifferent feeling. Now it is a real strong energy that seems to be pressing
against me. It is a great feeling now. This is a new energy level. I feel astrong—everything around me is green. It is so bright that it is taking me
a minute to adjust and to absorb where I am."There was one "small" problem. Once our subjects passed through thelight or achieved the out-of-body state, they were not particularly interested in hour after hour of dull searching for new effective sound frequency patterns. They would still perform the tasks, but beyond the tunnel and into the light was Paris! Keeping them on the farm was certainly
no trivial problem. So we had to play a little.
And play we did. We sent our subjects to explore the moon, which theyfound a very dull place. We went to other parts of the solar system, theother planets, and found them, as far as we could determine, nothing but
mile after mile of craters and mountains or simply layers of turbulent

EXPLORER TEAM I

39matter—no vegetation, no sign of life, nothing to truly attract our humanattention. We did find that in such a state as the OOBE, a different kindof consciousness seemed to exist. The overview of the subject was different. For example, what to us in the control room was a minute could
become hours or timeless to the volunteer in the booth. It was at thispoint that we began to call them our Explorer team.
Like most humans, we were possessed with the idea or hope that there
had to be intelligent life somewhere among the billions of stars that we
could perceive physically. So in our play we took to sending our Explorers
out beyond the solar system at what appeared a near-instantaneous changeof locale. The instruction was to keep going until he or she perceived
something worthwhile. They passed by the other suns, found other planets, but no intelligent life. It seemed to us a sterile universe.
The change came in 1974. It took place in all of our Explorers withinseveral weeks. Some had never met one another, so there was no crosscommunication. In looking back to examine the reason for this massivechange, the only thing that we could find was: we had inserted the affirmation developed for the Gateway Program at the beginning of each experimental session in the lab. Other than that, we made no significant changes
in Hemi-Sync frequencies, basic environment, or methods of presentation.
It may have been the second part that was the catalyst:. . . Also, I deeply desire the help and cooperation, the assistance, theunderstanding of those individuals whose wisdom, development, and experience are equal to or greater than my own. I ask their guidance andprotection from any influence or any source that might provide me withless than my stated desires.
It was suddenly as if a curtain had been lifted. Almost every time one of
our Explorers went into the out-of-body state or simply into an advanced
Focus 12, they encountered intelligent beings who were more or less willing to communicate—and could do so. After several years of finding only
barrenness, the effect upon us was overwhelming. We sometimes haddifficulty knowing how to handle it. Here is a portion of the transcriptfrom the file recording of one of these early meetings.

40

FAR JOURNEYS

SS / TC ( PHYSICIST) XAL—8:12 MIN #332

"Back into regular 12. Had two encounters—the first with an unseen
intelligence who replied to a general query for communications. Sort ofan 'I'll talk to you,' but it was obvious that he (I guess I say 'he' because I
got the feeling of a 'he') wanted to listen and said 'O.K., what do you
want to talk about?' And as I tried to put the burden on him or it forsome information about itself, about its environment, I got the feeling it
was angry for being bothered. Sort of like bumping into a busy New Yorkpedestrian. The second was much more interesting. The second communication, I didn't just get an intelligence, but got a complete visual
image. Female, late thirties, and she was very pleased to communicate
and offered to show me around and showed me a lot of the facility. I
don % know what else to call it that she was in. We walked up to this walland two big doors swung open and there was nothing there that seemed
impressive at all, but she thought that these markings and irregularities ofthe surface were quite something. I don't know why. Ididn’t relate to it atall. I asked her if she was in any way familiar with physical matter
existence as I knew it and she asked me to explain. I really didn’t know
how to explain physical matter, so I asked if it was all right if I cameback and that I wanted to leave to report in. She seemed a little dismayedthat I was taking off after getting partway through the tour, but she said,'all right,' and that brings us up to the present moment."
Monitor: "Very good. In your return, try and understand the type ofenergy being utilized there."(TIME LAPSE: 3 minutes)"O.K., I thought I had better report back again before I forgot much ofwhat went on. Reestablished contact with same female. She was quite
surprised that I did return. Pleased. At first, I began to wonder what thisintelligence really looked like to itself. Was I just imposing my own
image of female humanoid form? And we discussed this, realizing that I

EXPLORER TEAM I

41

was creating this image of her and could not really tell whether this washer own image of herself or not. She, likewise, was creating an image ofme in a likeness to which she was familiar, and whether or not theselikenesses were similar, mine and hers, there was no way to tell, so we leftthat question. Then I got an itch of some intensity that began on myneck and tried to explain that I existed in another reality besides the one I
was sharing with her and that I had a physical body elsewhere and thatthe physical body had an itch on its neck and was disturbing the focus of
my attention, and that is why I seemed to be fading in and out as myattention wavered. She seemed to think that was quite incredible. I don't
believe she believed me at all. She just kind of ignored that statement
like one might ignore somebody who says an irrational thing. I asked
about her physics. She took me to another place where there was anotherentity. This one male, and there was a writing surface, much like a
blackboard, but not a blackboard, whereupon he attempted to explain thenature of things there. We had no success at all with his writing. The
marks he made on this surface, this blackboard, were totally unintelligible to me, and after a few efforts we gave up. We tried to go to
pictures. All the time we could communicate telepathically. Pictures were
O.K. He drew some pictures, and from the telepathic exchange, I feltthat their science, indeed their concept of their existence and reality wasin many ways similar to our own, in that they were fixed in that reality
and could not travel out of it, as I had traveled out of physical reality into
theirs. I do not know whether they even believed that there was anotherreality other than their own. They had a physical science much as we do,in that objects in their reality obeyed specific laws. I tried to see if any of
their laws were similar to ours, such as gravitation. It was very difficult totell. I could not separate what was their concept of their reality, all I
could do was translate into my own concepts, meaning I did not see them
floating around in air, but whether that was because they experience athing like gravity like we do or whether that was a function of my own
experience, visualizing humanoids not floating in the air, I could not tell.
But I did feel that they had a basic physical science that ruled the objectsof their reality. They did not move things around by thought processes oranything like that. It seemed like an earth-type physical reality to them,although I don't recognize many of their devices and structures—seemed

42

FAR JOURNEYS

very foreign, but they seemed to be fixed and isolated within those devices and structures. Somehow I appear to them as one of their own kind,
whether that's humanoid or not, I don't know. Maybe I should have tried
to find out where they think I came from or who they think I might be."Here is another, to give you a feeling for a different point of contact:
SS/JCA (SOCIAL SERVICES EXECUTIVE) 6:27 MIN #356"/ am talking with my green man and practicing going up and down towhere they are . . . and found out why he has this green robe. He said
that he did not need it but that I needed it to make me more comfortablewith him. And he said that I still have some fears, so he still wants me tofeel more comfortable with going in and out of my body. . . . I want tosit and talk with him some more. . . . he just kind of sat down andtalked about me and where I am. And he told me that he is kind of myoverseer. And he is responsible, somewhat responsible for my growth anddevelopment. Overseer in that contact and responsibility. Apparently hehas been through a lot of lives and different lifetimes . . . and I don't
know if they are a part of him or not.
"I feel very comfortable here, like this is where I belong and I have felt
like this before. Think I made some progress, because this time I did notneed any folks to help me. I was just there seeing them. More like a voteof confidence than anything else. I asked him what he was doing here
and he said, 'Here, that is something that you are trying to pinpoint.
Here isn't . . . here does not matter.' I don't know why but I really feelvery tired. I feel like I am ready to come back all of a sudden. I noticed it
before, that it was like a flash, but it was dark in here. There was asurprise because it was just like a flash of light that came on."EXPLORER TEAM I

43

SS /BY ( ELECTRONICS ENGINEER) 26:20 MIN #325"/ recontacted the source and asked the source about his pointers andperspective and asked him if he was familiar with the earth and his reply
was 'Yes, that is my territory.' I got the idea that the earth was sort of his
assigned beat. I also got the idea that he and other entities are madeavailable to us to help us maximize or get through our earth experience. I
don't mean 'get through' like 'get it over with.' I mean to help us get asmuch out of it as possible. They are there like explainers or helpers andnot particularly assigned to earth duty. I then asked about geologicalconditions in the next ten years. He picked data up from my mind andknew what I was thinking about and said, 'I didn’t know that information was available.' He was surprised that this information was given out
or had been released. He was not aware that such information was being
released."
Another type occurred in this fashion:
SS/SHE (PSYCHIATRIC COUNSELOR) 16:14 MIN #314". . . Point of light. Other than that, I don't perceive anything."
Monitor: "How does the light feel?""It feels like a star. When I focus on it, I begin to float."

Monitor: "Experiment with the light.""Now they are getting closer, now I am getting closer to them."(TIME LAPSE: 2:55)

Far more significant were the instances where our Explorers quickly"made friends" with a being or beings (entities?) who seemed to have no
special interest in or connection to or with our Explorer. Here is a sample
of an Explorer response to one of these:

New Voice: "How are you?"
Monitor: "I am very glad to meet you. I am very thankful that you
came."44

FAR JOURNEYS

New Voice: "It is hard to get here."

EXPLORER TEAM I

45

be some four or five beings, one of whom acted as a spokesman. Hereis the transcript of the recording of a major step in that relationship.

Monitor: "What is the difficulty?"
New Voice: "There are many layers to penetrate."
Monitor: "We are very, very grateful that you did penetrate the layers to
us. We will help in any way that we can."New Voice: "Her color pattern is very good. We must find a way to help
her let go."Monitor: "Do you have any recommendations?"
New Voice: "There needs to be a period in which she goes very deep."
Monitor: "A longer preliminary period, then, would you suggest?"
New Voice: "Possibly. It will get easier as the trust builds. There is still alot of fear."

SS /ROMC ( OFFICE MANAGER ) 8:05 MIN #306"/ was watching what happened and experiencing at the same time.
The four helpers just helped to lift, as this energy body just came to myphysical body. The four helpers helped to lift my energy body out, and I
just felt real light and really, really good and got the sense then that thisenergy form that was then sort of implanted or just, in other words, it wasin my body then. It was just energizing my body. It was just light andwell protected, and I felt good being out and felt very light and then I
could sense that energy of being. One person was just talking about how
they could or would like to experiment in trying to use my body sort oflike a transmitting set between dimensions. I'll be able to step out andfeel very safe and confident with these helpers and light and happy andstill be able to observe, if I would like, what's going on with the energy
being."
Monitor: "Do they want to perform any other experiment now?"

Monitor: "I am very grateful for your concern for her."
New Voice: 'Wow she is feeling a lot of disharmony. I have taken her to aplace where she can rest."
In this case, the subject had no memory whatsoever of the event or
encounter. The last that she remembered was working with the colors.
Changes in voice quality and monitoring instruments supported the ideaof another "presence" or personality in the body of SHE. We had muchdiscussion of the advisability of continuing along this route, in spite of theimmense interest and excitement it generated among our group. The factof the matter is, I suspect, there was at that stage no actual means that we
knew of to "turn off" such communication. I suspect also that no one
wanted to anyway, at the least, myself.
One Explorer developed a very close relationship with what appeared to"O.K. The feeling that maybe they would just like to experiment alittle bit with talking maybe through my vocal cords, but I still am notout far enough that I might get out of the way. It will be with practiceand experimentation, and then as I learn to be less, I mean be morerelaxed and just let it flow and go along and not let my mind stop it. The
more they practice, it will be able to flow more rapidly, so they just want
to experiment for just a short time with trying to come through with somethoughts through my vocal cords and my mental faculties, so to speak. So
we will just see what, we will try to see what happens here."
Monitor: "Right. I will be here if you need me."
"O.K."46

FAR JOURNEYS(TIME LAPSE: 3:23)
New Voice: "Greetings. I am speaking through these vocal cords and I
would like to speak to this young lady as she observes what is taking
place. Her physical body is seeming to heat up very rapidly. Sometimes itwill be in a cool stage, but other times it will be in a heated stage, andthe molecules of the energy body, which is working through her physicalbody, is working at a more rapid rate and, therefore, right at this time,
there is a feeling of heat surrounding this body. This young lady will
understand what is happening when we first come into her aura. There
will be the feeling of warmth, and as she gets more relaxed and is able tobegin her float above her physical body, she will experience as the coolness and feeling of relaxation, complete relaxation, the feeling of complete calm, complete peace, and complete security. And then there willbe the light stage and the coolness that will come over her and she willknow that she is gently going out of the body, but will always be incomplete control if she so chooses. She is always there to observe, tospeak at any time, or can always even choose to step into other dimensions; and there will be those who will help her into those other dimensions, and while this is taking place, we will work with trying to bringthrough information through these vocal cords. This is a special experiment of stepping into knowledge dimensions, and this could never bedone were it not for you with the knowledge that you bring and with thegreat light and confidence that you surround this whole project that you
work on. I have worked with others who will come in as we reach different dimensions and levels. We will not say higher or lower—they arelight dimensions as we break through into the various levels. It is easier
to bring through the knowledge. I am working now on the level where
this entity is presently, but we will work together through various levels.
There are others who are working with her. I speak in terms of 'we'because each time that I come, we come as a group, there are the others,
who are the assistants and will always be there to bring the energy levels
up and to work. And we say that you are doing exactly what is necessary
to help the situation to be in that perfected state whereby the energies
can be released into other levels of consciousness. And now we will step

EXPLORER TEAM I

47

out and allow her to step back fully into her own body. It is a privilege.
Thank you, dear friends."
Her confidence in the group was so great that their assistance was verymuch standard operating procedure. For example, in order to help her getout of the body, four of these beings would position themselves, two on
each side, and simply "lift her out." This made it all the simpler to get on
with what had to be done.
An interesting sidelight to this particular routine took place somemonths later. The Explorer ROMC usually had a lab session at five o'clockon Wednesdays. On this particular Wednesday she had canceled several
days in advance. By coincidence on that Wednesday, a female psychologist from the Washington area dropped in to visit. She was quite skepticalof what we were doing, and we spent several hours that afternoon goingover our methods and techniques. Finally, in order to help her understanda little better, I suggested that she go into booth 2 and lie down and listen
to some of the Hemi-Sync patterns and find out for herself if she had any
response to them. She agreed, fully expecting that there would be nothing
unusual about what was to happen. With her skepticism, I was inclined toagree.
After about five minutes in the booth with the Hemi-Sync sound in her
ears, her voice came through the intercom speaker. "There is someone
else in the booth with me." I pushed the microphone button. "Are you
sure?" I asked. "Of course I am sure. As a matter of fact, there are fourof them." I made contact again. "Are you sure there are four?" "I canperceive them very clearly. There are two at my feet and two at myhead."
I pushed the mike button again. "What are they doing?" "They aretrying to lift me out of my body, if you can believe that." Suddenly I
knew the answer. I looked up at the clock. It was ten minutes after
five—on Wednesday afternoon. ROMC's friends can get trapped inroutines, too. I burst out laughing. I was about to reach for the
microphone and explain it to the woman in the booth when I thought
better of it.
I pushed the mike button. "What are they doing now?"

48

FAR JOURNEYS"They have stopped trying to lift me out of my body," her voice cameback. "And they are arguing,"
It was difficult to keep a calm voice as I responded. "What are theyarguing about?""The four want to lift me out, and now there is a fifth that is arguingwith them that they should not.""Do you want them to?" I asked.
"I don't think so," her voice came back. "Now they have stopped arguing and they are going away, so I guess there is no problem."
I smiled as I pushed the mike button and said, "Well, just relax a bit
and I'll get you out in a few minutes. Are you comfortable now?""Oh yes," she responded. "/ am fine."
I left her in the booth for some ten to fifteen minutes and watched as
the gauges showed that she was relaxing into a light sleep. After a suitable
time I awakened her and brought her out much refreshed. She was somewhat bewildered by the experience and made a valiant attempt to stayskeptical. I showed her the appointment schedule that usually called foran experimental session, then I played a recording of the actual "liftingout" techniques as described by the Explorer subject.
She finally left, a very puzzled and preoccupied individual.
Things like that are hard on belief systems when they happen to mostpeople. The problem was that so many were happening to us. There weremany suspenseful moments.
It should be noted here that reaching this state of trust and communication and/or association with these friendly entities and beings took
hours and hours of preliminary contact, plus "third party" communication
discussions. It did not happen overnight to the degree indicated here. A
great mass of material provided through such beings had to do with information of a philosophic nature or suggestions and advice regarding thepersona] well-being of the Explorers involved. In no case was any drug or
any other medication used in any of our experiments.
Moreover, there are indications that a magnetic field is generated of a
type with which our science is unfamiliar. One of the results of this is to
set up magnetic fields in nearby electrical loops as well as audio cables.
Another is to affect nearby magnetic tape to such an extent that a "printthrough" takes place from one layer of tape to another. The recording

EXPLORER TEAM I

49

industry would like very much to know how to do this at a commercial
level. However, of course, the results that we have are not significant
enough to be commercially viable. Not yet, at least.
One night, when we got into our cars parked outside some twenty feetfrom booth 2, we found that the batteries were dead in all three cars.
They jump-started quite easily, as it was a summer night, and stayed incharge afterward. Cars parked on the other side, or sixty feet away, were
unaffected. Thus we learned we had better not park too close to booth 2during certain experiments with specific Explorers. Exactly why this took
place—and still does so—we don't know.
In the current Explorer group, only two remain from the original team.
The tide of personal events has moved the others away from the area,
their lives visibly altered by the experience. The original material is still
being processed. Meanwhile, more is entering through sessions in our newlab facility.
Perhaps we need a few more doctors, with other credentials.

NEW ASSOCIATIONS

5. New
Associations

In hundreds of hours of Explorer communication to date, about one-third
consists of those instances where, with the Explorer's permission, theirfriendly entities take over their physical bodies and speak using the Explorer's vocal cords. The other two-thirds are contacts made by the Explorer, who then converses with the nonphysical third party and reports
the conversation. In both cases, the monitor in the control room (living
physical domain!) becomes a part of such discussions.
What we call the Explorer Material is a combination of fascinating,baffling, awe-inspiring, thought-provoking, sometimes boring data that iscertainly much in conflict with many of the belief systems that we havewithin our culture and civilization. The most important possibility by far
is the reality of the Explorer Material, their experiences, and especiallythese friendly entities who assist them. Second to this is the fact that theprocess is ongoing, expanding.
To resolve that possibility one way or another will take some doing andsome capacities far beyond the limits of our organization.
In examining the Explorer sessions in consensus, certain elements repeat themselves:
1. Whatever they may be, such nonphysical third parties have the abil
ity to radiate a warmth of friendliness that evokes complete trust—even
with their lives—on the part of the Explorers.
2. Such beings are first of all totally solicitous as to the well-being of the
Explorer and spend much time in attempting to advance the best
mental and physical state of the human being with whom they are"associated."
3. A being usually appears to the Explorer in the form of a hooded
figure whose face is hidden in shadow and apparently invisible to the
Explorer. Once the Explorer becomes completely familiar with the51"feel" of the entity, the hooded robe is discarded and the Explorer canperceive nothing, but still senses the radiation that is the entity.
4. In speaking to the Explorer, the being is limited in vocabulary tothat in the memory bank of said Explorer. Therefore it often shows
hesitation in searching for the correct word to express what needs to be
described—and often there is no such word in the memory of theindividual.
5. During visits by certain of these beings, especially when they use thephysical body to speak through, there is a change in body voltage andother biomonitoring data in the Explorer.
Without further comment, here are excerpts from various sessions.
SS / TC ( PHYSICIST ) 22:30 MIN #372

"I've gotten all kinds of things, and I've been trying to sort them andput them into some kind of rational order. First of all, I had the impression that physical matter reality—inasmuch of I guess what is normallycalled reality, not only physical matter, but also a certain amount of ourdaydreaming and our imaginative intuitive qualities—is part of a, sort oflike a large daydream or thought from a higher consciousness, fust as we
can daydream and invent characters and situations, we are characters in asituation that was invented or dreamt, quite consciously dreamt by amore advanced sort of consciousness. The part that we have to play inthis daydream is one of education, one of learning and bettering ourselves, striving to become more. Now, I'm not clear why this kind of overconsciousness or over-soul is having this daydream, but I have the feelingthat it is for its own education. It learns as we learn. Anyway, we havesuch limited consciousness to begin because if you are going to set up asituation where you expect certain processes to happen—these processes,of course, are our education, our learning—you don't set up the mostcomplex and involved experiment or situation. You set up a simple onethat you can produce, that still has the qualities to get the results that you
want. This is the reason that we are seemingly of such limited consciousness. But the reason that we have an option to develop our consciousness
more fully is part of the experiment itself. We are to learn and grow andevolve and become and learn through experience in doing, and as closely

52

FAR JOURNEYS

as we can come to understanding and being a part of, our understandinga part of our creator, our over-soul daydreamer, if you like, then sort ofthe more power to us. The more of that we can understand, then the
more learning that we've acquired. So it's not really—well, I take thatback. It's not so much that we are driven to expand our awareness or that
we should be, other than it's available, and being available makes it adirection in which we can evolve if we so choose. That's a little jumbled
to myself, but that's the way it's coming out."

NEW ASSOCIATIONS

53

fourteen, and when a person attains, when a consciousness attains level
fourteen, it can no longer go any higher unless it is willing to change its
form of consciousness. Levels fifteen through twenty-one are what you
call human life on this earth. When a person progresses to level twentyone, he then has the choice of going higher or staying within the realm of
human form, but he cannot go higher unless he is willing to give up
human form."
Monitor: "Give up being human?"

SS /SHE ( SOCIAL WORKER ) 18 MIN #366

"I've been on a, almost like a vortex I was caught in. Twenty-two is not
physical in any way. Twenty-one can be either physical or nonphysical,
depending on where you choose to focus the energy.
"It's neither up nor down nor forward or backward. Twenty-one, allappear very comfortable, but very different. The sense I have like a rainbow going before me of colors, and they are like the colors that Miranon
has described, but they are all going at different beats and moving. It is
like I see a spectrum of 22 through, I don't know, through 28, something
like that and they are all interwoven. I think I could draw it for you. I like
21, so I have just kind of stayed here and the sense that I have, it's like,when you asked that, I got the illusion of looking at a sunset and having
it sense that the horizon is the end, but that it's only an illusion because
as you go forward in the levels, new levels arise."(TIME LAPSE: 1:22)
Other Voice: "I apologize for being so late, but I need to thank you and totell you that I am glad you received my message. If you would like toexplore these levels, I would be very happy to do so with you."
Monitor: "I would appreciate it very much."
Other Voice: "As I have said to you earlier, plants exist on levels one
through seven. They are on a vibrational rate on the levels one throughseven. It is the same pattern. Animals exist on the levels eight through

Other Voice: "Levels twenty-two through twenty-eight are your bridge.
They are your levels that you enter upon death. You are on level twenty
and because that is an ascending level, you can enter into the realm
beyond physical life, but you cannot stay there unless you are willing togive up your human form. Is that clear?"
Monitor: "That much is clear, yes."
Other Voice: "And then once a person or a consciousness—we are talking
about consciousness—reaches level twenty-eight, the bridge is crossed,
and from that point on for a consciousness to evolve higher, it would notagain assume human form of any kind, not even as a learning experience.
I will never incarnate again as a human—as another form of life, yes, but
not as a human. The words are very hard because your plane of existence
is not the same. Perhaps I can explain it by asking you to image seven of
the circles, which would give you the forty-nine levels. The first threelevels are physical matter as you know physical matter. They are yourplants, your animals, your humans. The fourth circle is your bridge, yourrealm, your center for that overall plane. It is the time in which a consciousness can choose whether to go back into the lower levels or totranscend into the higher levels, and many consciousnesses do choose togo back into the lower levels in physical form. The upper three circles are
the realm that in your consciousness is called the spiritual realm, andhere much of the work is done. I could not help someone who was not on
the eighteenth level very much because my plane, my vibrational rate

54

FAR JOURNEYS

would be different. This is why it is hard for me to help you with specificproblems. I can give you ideas, but I cannot give you the direct guidance I
could if you were on level eighteen. Our planes do touch since yours is an
ascending spiral—an ascending, what is your word for that? It is anellipse. It is an ascending ellipse, and therefore I can cross and communicate with you, but not as directly. Once I reach level forty-nine, which I
will, I then leave all of this realm of existence. It does not mean I havereached the highest point by any means. It simply means I have left thisgroup of seven, this overall group of seven. Imagine, if you will, the sevencircles enclosed in an even larger circle upon which seven more circles arestacked, which is in turn enclosed in even a great circle. Then you canhave some idea of what infinity is. It does not ever stop."
Monitor: "Well, I must confess that 'it' is kind of hard on my tiny, poor
physical matter consciousness."
Other Voice: "That is true. I must—it is very hard on my consciousness
also. I feel at times, because I am very near to completing this circle, that
I have accomplished a major evolvement for my consciousness, but thenwhen I try to explain it, I realize just how far I have yet to go and how
little I have actually gone through. Because my level of consciousness is
one of love, I leave you with love. Good day."SS / SCA ( EXECUTIVE ) 34 MIN #402

Monitor: "Ask him to describe this interactive unit that is you now andyour physical body. What is this relationship between this energy form
and your physical body?""Part of my energy that I have when I'm out of body is used to build
my body. When I use this energy to build my body here on earth, it
blocks . . . or curves my thinking processes so it doesn’t go out of body.
The thinking process needs to be curved to communicate with the otherpersonalities here on earth again. This is one type of communication
when I'm out of body. I take most of that energy that is used for my bodywith me but enough to keep the body informed is left here. It permits me

NEW ASSOCIATIONS

55

to open up my mind and allows me to communicate with other personalities, other brains so to speak, to communicate with, to learn from, to talkto."
Monitor: "At what point do you first enter to become a part of thisphysical body?""Apparently when, although fertilization is a mechanical thing, achemical thing . . . the personalities out of body are very much awareof when things happen and choose at that time to develop the fetus or
not to develop. So part of my energy at this moment may be used todevelop a personality and I may have several personalities going on at thesame time, being developed at the same time."
Monitor: "At the same time in the physical kind of reality?""Yes, yes. They tell me right now, one is old, one is crippled, one ismale, and where they are I am not ready to know. . . . and I could feelbeing old and crippled but I could not feel being male."
Monitor: "Is this entering of the physical body limited just to the planet
Earth or other planets?""We go to other places. There are beings on other places and ourenergy is aware of all these other places."
Monitor: "Do we inhabit physical bodies in these other places?""Not like human Earth bodies . . . but . . . other forms of thingsor beings."
Monitor: "What are some of the other forms on planets? What are theseother forms?""One's like a gelatin kind of thing . . . slimy kinds of things."

FAR JOURNEYS

56

Monitor: "Are these located anywhere near the planet Earth?""Thousands of light-years away." Monitor: "In this energy, is there
a set of rules in which one operates?""I'm not sure what you are asking." Monitor: "Is there a

NEW ASSOCIATIONS

57

Monitor: "All right, then I think you have given us a lot of material
to think about, so thank your guide and ask if there is a name that hegoes by.""He doesn't want to give a name right now because he doesn't want it
to interfere with the training that we are doing . . . be too concrete, I
need to be more and more aware and he can do his work better right now
without me giving him a name."set of rules in which the body operates?""No, the energy itself decides if the energy itself makes a wrong decision, then it destroys itself. If it makes correct decisions it builds orstrengthens its personality. It is possible for the energy to destroy itself."Monitor: "What is classified then as misuse?""When it has not added to its present knowledge, when it has notgained anything more than it had learned previously. It is more than justa question of good or bad or good or evil. For example, killing by itself
would not mean that it was destroying the energy by killing the animal oranother human being. Not just adding to the knowledge, but enhancing
the personality, the deed actually enhances previous knowledge or understanding that is used as addition . . . strength. If the killing was for thesake of killing, if nothing was learned, nothing gained, then it could
destroy the overall personality. But there also seems to be a hierarchy ofunderstanding and as the energy is strengthened it moves up a hierarchyof knowing."
Monitor: "Then where does this hierarchy of knowing lead to?""It's very important to become a move toward a unified whole likethere is one on the top. . . . As the personalities move and merge themore knowledgeable . . . the level of understanding increases as they
move up. It doesn’t make sense verbally but visually it makes a lot ofsense."

Monitor: "Ask him if there is any other training exercise that he would
like you to perform before we close this session."'No, he thinks I've gone . . . further than he really anticipated."
SS /MSL ( PSYCHOLOGIST) 8:22 MIN #375

Monitor: "Ask your friend how we got here in the first place. How we got
on the planet Earth and in space-time.""I felt like I was being taken back in time and could feel a bombardmentof particles . . . of matter . . . and actually seeing the bombardment ofparticles. Some particles that fuse together actually became a working
mechanism. I guess the only thing that we can understand and relate it towould be like a computer. And as a fusion of these particles occurred,
they actually started communicating with one another by the heat of thelight or the energy that they were radiating. And once they knew they
were communicating with one another, and that is trying tocommunicate on the same level. And there were lots of these things. And
they wanted to find out what they could do with this communication—
how far they could go, could expand, could see, could think. They developed Earth and actually built Earth. They took a part of themselves,played around with animals, people, and they realized the number. How
many they could produce just from one. Like one of these things could
have thousands of people, parts of them, situated everywhere. The problem
after a time, though, they created better minds, or thinking ma-

58

FAR JOURNEYS

chines, and the event that the original should die or disintegrate. They
are not long-lasting, in the sense of thousands and thousands of years,
they are not forever kinds of things. Our spirits seemed to be an improved
model of the original. The original has disintegrated."

NEW ASSOCIATIONS

59"They are creation. Like I said before, months ago, we are experiments. We are the tester to see how far this spirit can think, can fuseparticles together. Can see what its potential is. They are still experimenting to see what their own potential is and we are one part of thatexperiment."

Monitor: "Did the spirit originate in this process?"
Monitor: "Are we an important or a minor part of this experiment?""The spirit was a result of that. The spirit resulted from the fusion ofthese particles. The particles were matter fused together. That was spirit
also. It was and that spirit lived for thousands and thousands and thousands of years and it disintegrated and before it disintegrated it rebuilt
something that was better and it knew that it was going to die. It wasgoing to disintegrate and it created the spirit that I now communicate
with. So in a sense, they both can be called spirits or super minds. But
your spirit could be and is different from my spirit."
Monitor: "How many such spirits are there such as the one you are communicating with?""Only a thousand." Monitor: "Did they remainin the vicinity of Earth?""They don't know that term 'vicinity.' Vicinity to them is, as long as it
is within millions of millions of miles of their reach it is in their vicinity.
To us it means very close. Their minds can reach out over millions oflight-years.""They are afraid that all the brains that they created could fathom it or
could take it. It is like some of the brains that they have developed would
short out."
Monitor: "Have they created all of the human brains that are on theplanet Earth?""Yes."
Monitor: "I see.""They know everything that is going on.. To clarify one thing, whenhumans have offspring, they don't necessarily control the offspring but it
is part of the experimentation to see what results from the mating. Whentwo parts of a spirit or two different spirits actually mate, what happens?
. . . they don't know and that is part of the experimentation."
Monitor: "Can your spirit be in touch with my spirit?""Yes. Anytime."

Monitor: "Are there communications with other spirits or other intelligent entities?"

Monitor: "Ask your spirit to see if he can be in touch with my spirit andsee if there is any special message that my spirit has for me."

"They have created them. If they have created them, yes, there are.""/ am feeling uncomfortable about going to other spirits and he waslaughing at me for doing this, for feeling uncomfortable. Even though I
did it with my mother. I just better come on back."

Monitor: "Why do they give so much attention to man?"FAR JOURNEYS
NEW ASSOCIATIONS

60
Monitor: "Right. And then, thank your spirit.""O.K."
SS / NVP ( DECORATOR ) 92:30 MIN #388

"Blessed are they who seek me. In seeking me, their long period offorgetfulness is coming to an end. They are awakening to who they truly
are—a living part of me, manifesting life and radiating love.
"You have forgotten to look for me, much less gaze upon my countenance, oh, ye of little faith. There are countless numbers who live in the
expectancy of my coming. In truth, I never left.
"Let him who has ears to hear, let him hear, now.
"You seek me amidst your blindness. You look upon me without recognition. You touch my hand and know not whom you have touched.
"You proclaim my name and my teachings as it suits you and theoccasion. Awaken, behold the reality of my being that is among you.
"I am the earthquake, wind, and fire.
"I am the still small voice piercing the thunderous tumult.
"I am the peace beyond all understanding.
"I am the light that guides all men to the Father.
"I am the love that overcometh all things.
"lam the light that illumines the minds of men. lam the sustenanceof men's souls.
"I am your life and you are my own.
"I am the very breath you breathe.
"We are one in the Father.
"Do not despair, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee, nor can you
truly forsake me, for we are one.
"Let the old way be gone. It must die and its ashes be blown to thefour corners of the earth. The new is emerging but you must change yourperspective. Do not look for me in the form of a man. The time is not yet.
But look for me in the life that speaks to you in your everyday activities.
You have looked amiss.
"I have no limitations and am not bound by physical dimensions.

61"I defy logic and am beyond your conceptual imaginings.
"I live and move and have my being in all there is. You have sought meamiss.
"My countenance is seen within each face of my Father's creation.
Look upon your brother and see my face.
"Bend over a still pool. Do not be deceived. The image that you seereflected is my own.
"Do you not see the truth now?
"Learn of me. Take within your hand a leaf, a stone, a drop of water,
and know that nothing exists that does not contain me.
"Have you not known that I am eternal life and therefore recognize
neither the past nor the future? Only the now, that is. Live in the now,with me.
"I stand in the light, as you stand in the light. But you do not know ofyour light. I am here to show you that your light and my light are one andthe same. Once you recognize this divine light to be a part of all that is,will you then begin to understand your own relationship to life, to yourcreator, and thereby to your own sonship eternal.
"I neither slumber nor sleep and you must leant that your soul neither
slumbers nor sleeps. Once you realize this, you are aware of your spiritualvitality and wakefulness to your high consciousness. In so knowing you
will understand that I am truly closer than your hands and your feet. In
this knowing, in this knowledge, we are one.
"Live in truth. Be truth. Live in beauty. Become an artist in living.
"Live in me and let me express you.
"I reside in all space and no space, all time and no time.
"Once you turn and become a part of my reality, all power is restored
unto you. This is the power that makes you one with all things. This is
the power that will set you free.
"My children, abide in me."All of the Explorer Material has one characteristic in common. Theypose more questions than they answer. As they say, we have a problem
here. We thought our "new" associa-

62

FAR JOURNEYS

tions would provide answers. But for every answer, at least fifty new questions arise out of the Explorer Material.
Therefore, it became time to stop counting the trees and look at theforest instead.
And so we did.

6.
Segue

Not being at all loath to borrow a word or term from one cultural context
and apply it aptly here, "segue" is defined as a proper interlude of musicalmelodies and harmonies that moves from the conclusion of one composition to the introduction of another. "Proper" infers a transition thatsmoothly loses that previous theme or mood and sets the stage for what is
to come.
So this is a segue. The movement from what we have labeled "local
traffic," i.e., events and activities that relate directly to here-now time—
space, filled with much congestion, motivations, devious highways andbyways, misconceptions, overwhelming emotions, detours, road repairs,
confusing and conflicting signposts, inaccurate road maps, baits and luresboth subtle and obnoxious—and dreams, ideas, learning, love . . .
To "interstate," where virtually all of the rules, patterns, illusions, andthe rest of "local traffic," with few exceptions, are nonexistent.
To begin the segue, here is the mix of premises and conclusions we hadreached by mid-1984:
1. All humans move into the out-of-body state during sleep. Going, falling,
dropping asleep is simply a process of moving out of phase with physicaltime-space. As the event takes place, the various stages of sleep are readilyinterpreted if viewed from this perspective. Thus deep or "delta" sleep
represents the point where consciousness is completely detached fromphysical reality, and the physical body is operating on an autonomic basiswith preprogrammed alert and alarm systems to recall consciousness if
needed. The fact that most human consciousnesses do not or cannot recall
or remember these nightly excursions is insufficient proof that they do nottake place. A night of OD'ing on booze can provide the same degree ofamnesia.
2. A form of dynamic energy yet to be identified and measured by main-w

64

FAR JOURNEYS

stream human civilization is present in all carbon-based organic life. It is
this essence in organized form that enters the physical body prior to birthand departs at death presumably more educated and with a minimum ofwear and tear. The difference between the human version and that of acow or a worm is only a degree of complexity of such organization.
3. The dominant waking consciousness that Man considers of paramountimportance in the scheme of his existence is but a part—and perhaps thelesser—of the various forms thereof used by and/or available to him. The
addition of other parts can be made systematically, albeit carefully, to thedominant without danger or destruction. The result may be of a magni
tude beyond the comprehension of the present dominant, therefore engendering, at the least, anxieties—at the most, total rejection.
4. Human consciousness is but a manifestation of a system generated
under (2). As a vibrational pattern—multilayered and of many interacting
and resonating frequencies—it responds to and acts upon like patterns
from external sources. The key to greater utilization thus may be thecreation and application of external vibration at appropriate resonating
frequencies so as to enhance a desired or needed specific.
5. Human and other patterns of consciousness are inherently nonphysical.
As such, they are not time-space-dependent. Once released from physicalrestraints, they move into ambience and environment in accordance withthe then total energy matrix generated by each and the complexity con
tained therein. No belief system, illusion, action, or thought incurred dur
ing a sojourn in time-space can alter this basic process. In short, like it ornot, you're going to continue to do and be after you can no longer hang in
there physically. There is no rest not only for the wicked but for everyone
else.
6. In the awe-inspiring cloud of cosmology that has emanated from the
Explorers and their contacts, almost unnoticed is an underlying mosaic ofaction that becomes an astounding potential when examined separately.
We would not have become aware of it ourselves except that we were
exposed time after time to various details of its use.
It is the display and application of a science—call it technology—whichis totally absent from our human culture. We simply don't know anything
about it nor do we have any accepted means by which to begin to gather
information as to its nature or content.

SEGUE

65

Here is a series of excerpts from different Explorer sessions. They areeven more startling when the actual report is heard, taken out of context
just as we are doing here:
SS / ROMC 6:45 MIN #322

"Two discs came to me. At first it looked like two big eyes. I was put
on one of them. I am spinning around and there is a light being put on
me. I had a pain in one part of my body and they are working on that.
They are spinning me around on this disc and shooting a light beam on
me. My body is heavy because of this physical pain I had when I woke up
this morning. I feel sluggish today and not as clear as before, so they aretrying to help me. I say 'they.' I feel there is someone there, but it looks
like two discs and a light. I was put on one disc and I don't know what
happened to the other disc. I am still lying on one disc. It is getting more
light. There is light over all my body. I think the light is coming from theother disc which is up over me. It is as if I am between two energy discs."
Monitor: "Ask who they are.""O.K. I just got the answer back that 'we are a source of light andenergy which your body needs right now!' "Monitor: "Do you feel any results from the energy?""At first I was feeling out of it, but I am starting to feel a little more
consciously energized."
Monitor: "Report when you have any change.""O.K. I am supposed to tell you what is happening, because it helps. I
keep sort of sniffing a little bit, and I get the feeling that it is going tohelp lift the vibration with my voice to keep on the level. I went onto thatdisc that I had gone on before, and I felt like it was twirling around very
rapidly. It is sort of a balance—an energy balancing—and then I sensed
from the center with this light beam that was sort of centering down on

FAR JOURNEYS

66

me. Then they were working on an area of my body that shows up dark.
So I felt that it was like they were putting some little, I don't know what
you call them, like little stakes into my abdomen. They were being put
one by one right across my abdomen. And after these little stakes were
put in one by one, then I felt that they were working with different colors,
especially a violet and a blue. The beam came from the back of me,
through my spine and through these stakes that had been put right across
my abdomen. They were doing some healing work. I'm being taken off
this disc now. They are going to start working to help me to go into thenext level."
SS / MJL 11:23 MIN #351

"When I go up I have to leave that energy ball back down with mybody. What I'm supposed to do is put the energy ball right down myspine and when I take off. I will try it on and this will keep protection on
my physical body and I feel then that they are saying then at that point,
they will be able to talk through me and work through me and I will feelcompletely comfortable, and that I am in control, that I had left myenergy ball which I have been working with as part of me, that I will havethat there in my body to keep the protection and also that I'm going to beout exploring other things and they will be able to talk through my vocal
cords."
SS / ROMC 9:30 MIN #385

"I'm just floating up now. Now I'm supposed to stand and observe
what is going to happen. My ear is ringing now but someone is working
on my face. They are helping to exercise my throat muscles to talk bygetting me prepared."
Other Voice: "We are trying to show that she is multidimensional, andthis is why she is able to see as a great circle of self, of many forms, of theself. It appears to her to be like many selves extending from a circle andbetween. We are trying to show her there are many, many dimensions of
one human self. As she can see and understand that she is much more of

SEGUE

67

that conscious self that she sees in the mirror, and that she experiences inher waking state. She will be much more prepared to go into the multidimensional levels of the consciousness, and this is why we are working
on various levels, and not only the visual. This is very important to workon the visual, but also we are working with the other senses as well."
SS / JCA 39:30 MIN #396

Monitor: "Ask him if he can help you communicate with some othermind on some other planet.""He did, and briefly when I was talking just a second ago, he showedme and I quickly went to this other place and . . . I saw a person, notreally a person, a being and a . . . a place that was a yucky kind ofgreen. That had a bright sky, but was kind of cold. And people live undermounds. That's weird . . . "SS / TC 21:30 MIN #392"/ went back to where I had been before and the entity there didsomething to me. He came over to me and did something to me and myperception began to change and since that time I have progressed
through half a dozen or more altered states, each one being different thanthe other. I tried to strike up other conversations with this entity and heseemed more inclined and he seemed more to say, 'Well, do these things
and we are not ready to discuss things yet.' He didn’t seem in a very
talkative mood. He was more interested in my performing these exercises
than discussing. He came over and his, what I perceive to be hands, inwhat I perceive to be head, although this was not really related to aphysical body. When he did that I could immediately feel these changes
in awareness. Some of the states I went through were very specially disoriented to where I really could not determine up from down to sideways or
anywhere else. Where I seem to be twisting and kind of rotating specially. Until I just lost any kind of sense of orientation. The fact that I
was aware that the states were changing and relating them to my changing
internal states seemed to be the lesson. Just to observe this."FAR JOURNEYS

68

SS/JCA7:45 MIN #318

"I have just experienced being sucked in a long tube and pushed theother way. I'm like in a cocoon. My hands feel they are clasped up tight.
Remember doing that before. Feels kind of neat. Now I'm standing on
my head. Now on my side . . . darkness. But now I'm floating but I'm
in something. I feel someone looking at me. Watching over me. Several
people rode watching over me. They are looking down. Looking down
but they came to see me. No figure, just communication, just his presence. I can see where we are going, or can I see the rest, or can they comehere? He said no, they want to watch me. They want to watch me in thislimbo. Now they are all circled around, bending over, and now they are
touching me. But I didn’t see them. Feel them. They are nice, warm
friendly folk . . . friendly hands, but they were hands leading me someplace. Their presence was all around me leading me someplace. He . . .
it cares about me. The first thing that came is that we're part of one
another. But we are kind of lost in communicating with one another. It's
there on the tip but it's not out in the open. The white presence is trying
to help us or pushing me. It's kind of a transparent, feeling me. . . .
You’re going to laugh at this. I've been practicing going in and out of thistunnel, back down and up there. They thought it was kind of importantto practice that. So I've been zooming up and zooming down. My body
looks like, you know, through a telescope the long way and you kind ofzoom in and then you zoom out. A hug and I said, 'I'll see you later.
SS/MJL 10:10 MIN #367

"They are working on my feet now. Two at the end . . . each of them
are taking my feet and just giving me a real good foot massage. And as
their hands touch my feet I tingle on my feet. These are energy lightbeings. And they are just very gentle and they are working on a different
level than my physical foot. They are working on my other body. My
energy foot and so they are doing some special kind of a touching of myfeet now. They are working on my toes. Barely touching my toes. But I
can feel a lot of energy between their touch and my energy body. It feels

SEGUE

69

good . . . it is a tingle . . . they are going to work on little spots on
my feet. My toes. My big toe. Their fingers now are just working on my
big toe."If one cuts through the purely subjective reporting, even with this small
sample, much becomes apparent:• Notice how easily any potential anxieties or fears are overcome by sim
ply a pattern of radiation emanating from strangers. If you were feelingyour way along in an environment new to you, would you accept so eagerly
the appearance of an unknown being?
• The color patterns. Our Explorers interpret them as visual patterns oflight. This is the best that they can do to report the presence of some
unknown type of radiation. Purple, blue, and green light will not create
this effect on the human. With our sophisticated knowledge of light fre
quencies and our use of them, we would long ago have observed such
effects.
• The use of what appears to be specific devices, such as the counterrevolving discs, which produce an effect totally beyond our comprehen
sion.
• The ability to remove the energy essence of a human from his physicalbody without disrupting his biologic systems. This technology does thiswith a casualness and certainty that indicates standard operating proce
dure. They know what they are doing because they have done it many,
many times.
• The ability to enter such a vacated human body and operate it to somedegree—again, without disrupting said body's normal functions.
• Not only can they utilize the vocal cords and the breathing apparatus,
but they have total access to the memory storage lodged in the individual.
• They can at will change the temperature of that visited human body,make it either hot or cold (which is reflected quite accurately on our
remote-reading body temperature gauges).
• The ability to move that extracted human essence, once taken from thebody, to various other sites (realities?), and return, all under perfect con
trol and what seems to be absolute safety. The trip can be instantaneousor in "slow motion," and can penetrate matter as if it does not exist.

70

FAR JOURNEYS• Although this technology does not seem to have the ability to directly
affect matter, by some method not visible it can create changes in matter.
In other words, there is no evidence that it can produce matter (that is not
to say that it cannot; it simply has not as yet). But it can affect an energy
structure, which in turn connects to our neurological system, which inturn affects the physical structure.
• Perceiving our thoughts, as flickering as they are, is absurdly easy forthis technology, but for the most part they apparently don't find it worth
doing.
• Time and space become our phenomena. This technology understands
them from a viewpoint about which we can only speculate. Even the bestof such speculations do not begin to cover the nuances implicit in theirapproach to the vital conditions under which we exist.
• The entire history of humankind and earth is available to them in themost minute detail, if needed. Where and how such information is stored
and retrieved is a part of such technology, a seeming unimportant part.
Implied also in such information storage is data on the entire physicaluniverse, if there were any reason to require such detail.
• This technology can produce a beam of energy, which is first translated
as light, through which the human energy essence can travel back andforth, information can flow, and the operators of such technology canenter time-space/earth environments. Once properly perceived, they canendow the human mind with the ability to create (enhance?) such a beamof energy.
These observations are based on several hundred encounters with suchtechnology. With our limited contact, the implication is certainly therethat we have learned so little about so much. Our attempts to learn morein a specific sense have been severely hampered by the knowledge andexperience of the Explorer through which the information is being translated. Also, there is a polite inference in the response to our queries that
we would not be able to understand it in any event.
It does not take much speculation to recognize the potential revolutionary changes in our science and culture if but a part of such technology
were actively introduced and applied in the months and years to come.
Any serious consideration of all of the above hinges on one question: How

SEGUE

71

valid is the entire project? To this end, responsible parties who wish to
replicate such experiments are welcomed.
Who are the beings who know and use this technology? (Some haveadmitted that they never have been a human being in physical life existence; others were here thousands of years ago. Some have been in physical life existence in other parts of the universe in nonhuman form.) Why
are they interested in human life on earth? Are there thousands of them,millions, billions? (They apparently do have individuality of a sort.) How
did such a technology begin? Who developed it? Is there some restriction
on our learning such technology and applying it here in time-space/earth?
Is this technology being applied constantly in other ways on earth and in
human affairs that we don't know about and certainly of which we are notconsciously aware?
We do seem to have one answer. In all of our contacts and communication, the application of this technology seems totally benevolent. Therealso seem to be rules and restrictions in regard to its use.
For this we are humbly grateful. To contemplate any other possibility
could lead to mental disaster. I don't think we could do anything about it
whatever our stance.
A key point has surfaced, however. The sum of all my own personal
experience, that of our work in the laboratory and the thousands of Gateway experiments, indicates that all other intelligent species, either in thephysical universe or in other energy systems, use a form of communicationthat is total and certainly nonverbal. When words are used in such communication with us, this is a tight narrow-banded tuning, so that they canbe understood at least in part.
I cannot stress this too much. All other intelligent species use what we
now call nonverbal communication (NVC). It is something far more thanwhat we label body language, telepathy, remote viewing, and the often
mystical or religious connotations so commonly applied to a tiny part of
NVC. We say that a picture is worth 1,000 words. A color picture is worth
10,000 words. A moving color picture is worth 50,000 words, perhaps, anda talking moving picture is worth a 100,000 or more words in the transmission of information and/or communication.
NVC takes a quantum jump beyond a talking moving color picture. It is

72

FAR JOURNEYS

direct instant experience and/or immediate knowing transmitted from
one intelligent energy system and received by another. The content canbe only a two-digit number, or the actual reliving of an event not a part ofyour own life patterns.
Why did we evolve along our particular path so differently from therest? I like the explanation which attributes it to the very rare characteristic of the earth environment—we could see the sun and moon, planetsand stars. This presumes that most life-generating and -sustaining planets
have thick cloud covers that blot out all of these. Their suns visually are no
more than a haze of light. No more, nothing but blackness at night.
Our species, able to see the physical universe from the beginning, took
the route of astronomy, gravity, electromagnetics, particle theory, quantum mechanics, etc., which we call our sciences.
Lacking this clue of a visible physical universe, other species learned
NVC.
If I were proficient at NVC (which I am not), and you asked me what
was the matter because you detected (unconsciously by NVC) that I had aproblem, I would be able to transmit into your sensory system how it felt
to have the sore big toe that I had. You would momentarily have a soretoe, just as I had, still understanding that it was my big toe that hurt, notyours. Thus you would know, far better than by means of any possible
words that I could say, what I was experiencing or feeling or wanted tocommunicate.
Instead of my wife calling by phone to say that she would be late fordinner and that she would arrive at nine o'clock, I would get a picture "inmy head" of her driving the car with the headlights on, with the number 9
flashing simultaneously in the picture. She would also show me a pictureof the right rear tire of the car, flat and being changed by a local state
trooper. All of this could be transmitted superimposed with a signal of
warmth and love in the space of perhaps two or three seconds, no more.
If I were proficient at NVC and my son also was trained in the technique, I could pass along to him, in very short order, all of the educationand experience that I have gathered that he might desire or that might beof use to him. It would not be the absorption of words simply received inserial form, but an instantaneous, or nearly so, transmission absorption of
the entire event—including my emotional reaction, what my five senses

SEGUE

73

perceived, and the interpretations and conclusions that I gleaned from theexperience.
Take this starting point, and draw any extrapolation from it, then understand the limitations of our semi-intelligent species.
NVC implies a control of mental processes so alien to our present
standards of being that I doubt that there is a single human or group ofhumans on our planet who have mastered the technique. If there are, they
are very quiet about it. On the other hand, if it were the case, theycertainly would have had to develop some type of mental shielding tosurvive the cacophony of unorganized thinking that is so common here.
Before man can communicate (and associate) with intelligent species at
all levels of reality, he must become proficient at NVC. I am sure it must
bemuse if not amuse other intelligent species when we spend millions forhuge radio telescopes in the attempt to receive electromagnetic signals
from other intelligent life sources. This is much like another culture measuring the exhaust gases from our cars or our pollution to perceive communication via this loose discharge of energy residue. At the other end,
animals do most of their communication by scents and smell.
It would be easy to give hundreds of illustrations of attempts to copewith NVC problems. We have faced them in so many different ways that
we are probably much more aware than the average group or facility. We
still grope with the rudiments of NVC type of training and mental processing. The only statement that we can make at this moment is that we
recognize the existence and the need.
From this segue, the material following goes "interstate"—an attempt
to translate and transpose the NVC perspective into the written word.
Due to such conversion, the question of validity always will be present.
Some "thought balls" are easier to unravel serially than others; the timespace humanizing is bound to create distortions. It always has.
You do the best you can.

Part II

7. Surveys andSchematics

The following is a deliberately free translation of nonverbal communication. To compound the rendering, most if not all represents the transposing of non-time-space events and ambience into replicas of conscious human physical experience. Thus a "humanizing" process is used extensively
in the retelling—which may increase comprehension and simultaneously
reduce accuracy.
To abet the method, a few specific words are utilized in a different
context to provide a connotation not so totally unlike their common definition. You can't report "he said" or "he walked" or "she smiled"—
because it wasn't that way, the physical equipment wasn't available.
Instead, here are parts of the "replica" vocabulary:Time-Space Illusion (TSI): An anomaly among the "standard" energy
systems, which includes the entire physical universe
M Band: Part of energy spectrum commonly used for thought, notelectromagnetic, electrical, magnetic, nucleonic, etc. M Band noise iscaused by uncontrolled thought.
Ident: Mental name or "address," i.e., energy pattern of item
Rote: Thought ball
A "packet" of thought/mentation, total memory
Knowledge
Information
Experience
History
Run the rote: To recall portions of Rote after receipt of total
Percept: Insight Intuition Understand Open: Receptive

78

FAR JOURNEYS

Closed: Tune down (or out) external stimuli
Flickered: Uncertain
CLICK!: Instantaneous change in consciousness
Blank: Don't understand
Turn in: Consider, think overVibrate: Show emotion
Smooth: Get it together, in charge of self
Dulled: Lost interest
Lighted: Happy, idea, enthusiasm
Rolled: Amused, laughed
Curl: Organized energy, usually intelligent, local slang
Plied: The way things are, goes with the territory
One of the earliest discoveries made in the new mode of Let-SomebodyElse-Do-the-Driving was that I had more than one nonphysical body.
Upon return, I began to notice it took a small additional effort to get backinto the physical. Initially, I assumed this to be nothing more than someminor misalignment as I tried to reenter. On one particularly difficult
attempt, I pulled back slightly, stopped trying, and examined the problem.
My physical body appeared to be not one, but two—much as when yourvision is slightly impaired by astigmatism. They seemed very close together, no more than three or four inches apart, one slightly behind andfainter than the other. I approached the nearest of the two slowly, slid
into it very easily. I held this position for several moments. It seemed as if
I were partially interspersed with the physical, yet not quite in phase. The
condition had a familiarity that took me all the way back to the vibration I
first encountered and the physical paralysis that went with it. The sensation was near-identical—without the panic.
From there, it was easy to reenter the physical with a simple twitchlike
movement, akin to a shrug of the shoulders. Thereafter, I began to takeparticular notice of physical reentry and found that I did indeed reenter asecond form just prior to the physical body. In appearance, it was identicalto the physical, only less dense. However, upon return this second body
appeared more real, the more solid of the two. Upon entering the second,
the actual physical then seemed more definite. Also, I began to observe
more closely my separation process, presuming that if the premise were

SURVEYS AND SCHEMATICS

79

valid, I would be able to perceive the release from this near-second body. I
found it was very real. I could stay in the second body, hovering near thephysical, but could move no more than ten or fifteen feet away. It wasreminiscent of my first limited out-of-body activities. It also brought backthe memory of the many frustrative attempts in those early days to moveaway farther—and the moment I found the release point. Without being
aware of the reason, I had provided subsequently to others in training the
key to such release—the mental "security repository box," where one canplace thoughts that get in the way.
Once I had become aware of the actual process, it became automatic,
and both separation and return contained these elements—leaving thesecond body in "orbit" close to the physical, moving and being entirely
apart and separate from the physical in a "third" body, or an energy
essence (without form?). I no longer concerned myself with the details.
Understanding it functionally—if not the reason—was enough for my
purposes.
Another early result of my new navigator (my total self?) was remembering the going-to-class format. This came after my usual out-of-bodyseparation process, releasing to such guidance, and without much movement finding myself among a crowd of gray forms. "Crowd" means somany they seemed to fade into the distance. All were focused in one
direction, and none seemed to notice my arrival—except one, brighter
than the others. It approached me and stopped.
It opened—with words! In my consciousness. (Glad you’re back, Bob.
You've missed quite a few sessions.)
I flickered. (Well, uh, I've been busy.)
The form focused. (You’re different. You haven't been on drugs or alcohol, have you?)
I opened wide. (I've lost a lot of rote, or I can't pull it out. Where am I?)
The form rolled. (I guess you have! You're back at sleeper's class.)
I turned inward, and the percept came out bright and clear. Sleeper's
classes—attended by countless humans during a portion of their deep
sleep, during the sleeping out-of-body period. The only limitation was thatsuch sleep could not be distorted by chemicals, it had to be natural. How
many times I had been here long before I knew it, before I knew anything
about OOBEs and the like! I just didn't remember when I woke up, like80

FAR JOURNEYS

everyone else. If anything leaked through, it was attributed to a dream,
inspiration, idea, or imagination.
And I knew my instructor. (Hi, Bill.)Bill rolled. (Took you long enough. Want me to plug you in?)I flickered. (Well, I don't know. You see, I think I am different. I'm notasleep.)Bill blanked slightly, then lighted. (Oh, you're one of those. How didthat happen?)
I plied. (I don't know. It just did.)Bill turned inward, then opened. (That means you don't belong here
anymore. Too bad. You were one of my star pupils.)
I flickered. (You’re sure about that? About my not belonging?)
Bill smoothed. (I've had them before. It doesn’t work out. Your type gets
impatient, bored. The biz kids, the OOB-ers, busy, busy, busy.)
I smoothed carefully. (How about plugging me in one last time? As longas I'm here.)Bill dulled. (You probably know it already. Can't change the program.)
I opened wide. (Try me.)Bill flickered and tossed me a rote. I opened it easily.
CLICK!
The anti-ulcer, anxiety-lowering, tension-reduction, get-it-together formula:
The major underlying cause of human worry relates to the Law of
Change. All human conflict relates to this law. Some worry that change
will take place, others that it will not. Wars are fought to resist change orto accelerate it.
At the individual level, this translates into various forms of indecision.
Fear enters into the pattern, fear of the consequences of any decision or
action. The pressure builds up, intensifies as the decision is put off, delayed. The result accumulates toxins in all parts of the human system until
there is failure or severe reduction in operating efficiency. Indecision is thekiller.
Consider the statistics of decision, in general and simplified. In any
abstract decision, there is a 50 percent probability that the correct or

SURVEYS AND SCHEMATICS

81

constructive choice will be made. If the correct path is taken, obviously no
problems will exist. If the incorrect selection is made, it will become
evident. When it does, there is a 50 percent probability that the choice
can be reversed and the constructive path substituted in its place.
Therefore, there is only one chance in four, at the most, that an irrevocable direction may be taken in decision making. All vital decisions in thehistory of man have been made on much worse odds than three to one.
Some were as high as one in twenty and came out positively.
To move away from the null point of indecision, take the position thatany action or decision is better than none at all, based upon the odds ofthree to one. To get the process underway without trauma, perform thefollowing:
Make up an A list. Place on this list all of your worries, anxieties, andconcerns about which you can do absolutely nothing. You cannot do anything about tomorrow's weather conditions. It will rain, snow, be cold or
hot, and there is no action you can take to prevent it. If there is absolutely
nothing you can do today about such items, place them on this A list.
Make up a B list. Place on this list all of your worries, anxieties, andconcerns about which you can do something today, take action, large orsmall.
Make up a C list. Place on this list all of your needs, hopes, and desires,
large or small, which have yet to be fulfilled.
Today, perform the following functions:
1. Take the A list and destroy it, and in so doing, dismiss all items con
tained therein from your consciousness. Why waste your energy worry
ing about that which you cannot control?
2. Take the B list and take some action, however small, to begin the
resolution of each item contained therein. Several may be concluded
immediately and thus can be released and dismissed from your con
sciousness. Others will be reduced in pressure because the flow has
begun, a decision has been made.
3. Take at least one item on the C list and perform one act, large or small,that moves you in the direction of such goal.

82

FAR JOURNEYS

Perform this entire process each day until you have no A list, no B list,
and all of your energy and consciousness are devoted to items on your C
list.
You then will complete serenely your human life purpose.
CLICK!
I folded the rote and tucked it in me, turned to Bill. (That's pretty good.
Seems familiar.)
Bill plied. (It ought to. You must have picked it up a couple hundredclasses hack.)
I opened. (Bill, if I don't belong here, where do I go?)(I don't know. I don't have the slightest percept on that.)(There must be classes for, uh, mavericks like me.)Bill plied. (I'm sure there are. I got to go make my rounds now. Drop in
for a visit if you feel like it. I'm two rings out.)
I opened wide. (Sure, Bill.)
He turned and faded into the host of gray forms, and with nothing
better to pull me, I rotated and dived back for the physical. Reentry was
normal.
The next early absorption was a series of demonstrations—live guided
experiences—of the old saw about fools and angels. I cannot conceive ofthe latter having fear, just selective. As to the former, I had ignorantly
rushed in many times in the early period, so I certainly qualified. I began
to call it the Defooling Treatment.
The presumption I made was that my Greater Self (soul?) always knew
what it was doing. I had learned from it how a homing device loosely
called ident was utilized; this was like a signal you could follow to thesource of that place or being. In this one instance of Defooling, I had
rolled out of body in the early morning, and after releasing the second, I
expressed the mild observation that it would be nice to visit a near-humanculture that was in time-space and that I could understand. Immediately
the ident Z-55 flashed into me, so I reached and stretched. There was aslight sense of movement and I was in front of a slightly glowing figure.
Other, similar figures were in the background. Beyond, nothing.
The figure opened. (Well, Robert, we meet again.)

SURVEYS AND SCHEMATICS

83

I Bickered. (Uh, yes.)(Still digging out the secrets of the universe?)
This wasn't what I expected. It definitely wasn't any near-human culture, and this being seemed to know me. Some mistake in the ident, but
the radiation did seem familiar. I didn't want to ask the obvious, but I had
to. (Where am I?)
The figure smoothed. (Outermost ring, Robert. One more final cycle inhuman and that will be it. For me.)I flickered. (I don't have a percept on the Z-55 ident, but I know you.)
Z-55 rolled. (After all those hours putting music together . . . The run
to Cuba back in the fifties to record in Havana . . .)The percept came bright and sure in me. Of course I knew him. Even
then I called him an old soul! I vibrated strongly. (Lou! Sure! The Z-55
ident threw me. You seem different. It's great to be with you again!)
Z-55/LOU smoothed. (Well, I've had a couple more in-human runs
since we were together, so Lou is sort of covered over a little.)
I turned inward. Lou, one of the most gentle of persons I had ever met. . . musician, arranger, orchestra conductor . . . quietly living throughhis life and his work . . . hours and days we spent together . . . working far into the night developing melody lines . . . chord progressions,orchestrations . . . then our paths diverged . . . and I heard of his early
death . . . the diabetes I knew he lived with . . .
Z-55/LOU opened. (You're still in-human!)
I smoothed. (Yep.)
He flickered. (Oh, a sleeper. You got out this far? That's pretty good. Too
bad you won't remember it.)
I opened more. (It's not quite that way, Lou. I, uh, here.)
I tossed him a short rote covering the out-of-body beginning. He took it
in and closed. Then he opened and rolled lightly. (One of those. You never
told me.)I plied. (I didn’t know myself when we were working together.)He flickered. (So how do I fit in? You come looking for me. More music?)
I plied again. (I'm not sure. I asked to visit a near-human culture, got
your ident . . . and here I am.)84

FAR JOURNEYS

Z-55/LOU lighted. (You want to visit my . . . uh . . . hometown, so
to speak?)I rolled. (Not Kentucky. I've been there. It's too human!)
He rolled with me. (No, no . . . my original home. It's just what you
want, that's why you got my ident. . . . It's, uh, different, but you canunderstand it all right.)

I turned inward.
If you've never been to a particular exotic place—or to a locale that atleast to you seems exotic and exciting from your distant viewpoint—there
is much anticipation. You can conjure up any number of possibilities as towhat you will do and experience.
In your eagerness, you are willing to accept all sorts of limitations,
restrictions, that seem unimportant from the outside. Also, you forget one
most important factor. You take along as hidden extra baggage your own
enculturation as a comparative tool of measurement.
Z-55/LOU lighted brightly. (To really get the feel of it, you ought to go
there just like a regular tourist, limited amount of assets, and stay throughthe regular historical event we, uh, they call the surge.)
I lighted, too. (Great! Good percept.)(And so you can truly experience it), he went on, (cut off communication
with here until after the surge. A little like the in-human training but
without rote erasure.)
I opened wide. (I'm all for it. How do we start?)(I'll be your anchor here. To get back, all you need do is home on myident.) There was a whimsical radiation mixed in with his pattern. (To getthere focus in on ident . . . Zeer-surge . . .)I vibrated. (Zeer surge.)
I reached and stretched.
CLICK!
I was in a city, or what appeared to be a city. There were buildings in all
directions, fairly uniform, none over three or four stories high. They were
not particularly attractive or unusual, had openings in the sides that mypercept took as windows and doors. The streets or spaces between buildings were not unusually wide, but contained only people, percept beings

SURVEYS AND SCHEMATICS

85

like me or what I was temporarily. No cars, trucks, vehicles of any type.
No utility poles or overhead wires, no sidewalks. It was bright daylight, but
I couldn't find a sun overhead.
As I walked and mingled with the population, people noticed me but
didn't seem to react as if I were an alien. With each step, I felt more atease and the population seemed more human. Each inhabitant was very
purposeful and closed, as if preoccupied on a job to be done with notmuch nonsense in the process. If there was any body language present, nopercept showed. Point of fact was I couldn't tell the males from thefemales, which was unusual for me, so I assumed there was no such difference.
Unable to attract the attention of those moving on the street, I entered
one of the buildings and found myself in a large room which greatly
resembled the lobby of a medium-sized hotel. There were people standingaround, apparently in conversation. I approached a man (?) who appeared
to be standing behind a desk. He looked at me expectantly. I knew I
needed a reason.
"Do you, uh, do you have a restaurant here?" I tried to make it casual,
but as he blanked I knew I had done it wrong.
I turned to my rudimentary NVC. (Do you have the means for me torecharge?)

The man lighted brightly, waved me off to the right. As I walked in theindicated direction, I felt smug. I had passed one test. They didn't vocalize but they understood me. Even my weak, nonverbal communication.
From here on, it would be easy. I began to speculate as to the food they
consumed. It was sure to be unusual. An archway, rounded, was in front ofme, and it appeared dark beyond—no, not dark, just lit differently in a
mixture of colors.
I strode confidently through the archway and into the colors. Just inside, the radiation hit me like a sheet of hot flame and I staggered back.
This wasn't the restaurant, the man got it all wrong. From all sides camethe overwhelming attraction of female sexuality, inviting, asking, offering,promising—it was too much. With great effort, I backed out through thearchway, breathing heavily and trying to calm down. I had just aboutsmoothed out when I looked up and the room clerk (?) was in front of me,accompanied by two other men—percept police, authority, KGB, etc.

86

FAR JOURNEYS

One KGB moved in. (Your ident, please?)
I began fumbling in my pockets for my wallet, only there were no
pockets in the one-piece cover I was wearing. But there was a belt on mewith a small pouch attached to it. I reached in the pouch and there was acard in it. I pulled it out and it resembled nothing so much as a typicalcredit card. KGB took it from me, examined it carefully, then looked up.
(From Earth, huh? Never heard of that city. Over on the other side of theocean?)
I smoothed. (Why, uh, yes, you see . . .)KGB waved the card at me. (Well, we don't particularly like you visiting
here, but you got to obey the rules.)I brightened. (Sure, I understand.)(Here, we don't go into private space and take without paying first. Always pay first.) KGB turned to the desk clerk, handing him my card. (Howmuch of it do you want? He hasn’t got very much.)
The desk clerk dropped the card into the pouch on his belt. (That ought
to about cover it.)I started to protest. (But that's all I got, I can't . . .)(In that case we'II have to flag you.) The second KGB stepped forward
and took my hands. (Can't have you walking around upsetting things without any ident.)
I flickered. (What are you going to do?)The second KGB pulled a small flat box out of his pouch and opened it.
(Hold still, this won't hurt.)
He took one hand and pressed my fingertips into the box. I thought,
fingerprints, they're taking my fingerprints. But I was wrong. A black dye
spread quickly up my fingers until it covered my entire hand. As I stared atit, bewildered, they stuck the fingers of my other hand into the box and I
had two black hands. I tried to rub it off, but it had penetrated the skin.
The first KGB looked at my hands, satisfied. (That ought to do it. At
least the people will see you coming.)(And be warned,) the second KGB added. (I'd advise you to go backhome. Not much action for you here, the way you are. No ident to playwith.)
The first KGB looked at me hard. (We'll be keeping an eye on you.)
Then the two turned and walked across the room and out into the street.

SURVEYS AND SCHEMATICS

87

I smoothed at the desk clerk. (Sorry, I didn’t know it was a private
space.)The desk clerk vibrated. (What other kind is there!)
I flickered. (You mean all of these buildings are private?)
The desk clerk dulled.
(Then what are all these people doing here? There must be a hundred!) I
hit it strong enough to catch his attention.
(It's their private space, naturally.)(All one hundred?)
The desk clerk waved me over to the desk and I followed. He pointed tothe drawing on the wall behind him. It showed some five rows of large
black dots that looked like holes, twenty to a row.
(That's our personal space.) He gestured proudly. (Best in the city.)
I stared at the drawing. (You go into those?)
He nodded. (Only when the surge takes place. They’re this big across the
middle.)He indicated a width of about two feet with his arms. He was about tocontinue when there was a sound like thunder in the distance and thefloor began to rock. Immediately, everyone in the room turned and hurried out through exits in the back. The room clerk ran to join them.
(That's the surge starting up,) he called over his shoulder. (I suppose
that's what you came to witness, but you better get to your personal spacefast.)
Then the room was empty and I tried to keep my footing as the floor
heaved rhythmically. I staggered over to the entrance as the roar grew
louder. In the distance and approaching fast was a mighty wave, not water
but in the ground itself, lifting buildings and streets into a tumblingflotsam hundreds of feet high. Behind the first wave, I could see a secondand a third wave, each larger than the first. There may have been more,
but I didn't have a chance to find out, as the first wave came surging into
where I was, and the building lifted and tumbled, me in it, bouncing,rolling, twisting, jarring . . .
. . . desperately, I tried to focus, ident what? ident . . . ident Z-55/
LOU . . . Z-55/LOU . . . reach and stretch, reach and stretch . . .
closed tightly . . . tightly . . .

FAR JOURNEYS

CLICK!
It was quiet, the pounding had stopped. I tried to keep from shaking
long enough to open. I finally made it. I was in front of Z-55/LOU, and I
got a percept of his polite expectation.
I smoothed somewhat. (That's home for you? Where you were before
starting human?)
He plied. (It's not Kentucky.)(And you’re going back there?)
Z-55/LOU opened wide. He glowed very brightly, almost white. (No,not there.)
There was a sudden urgent signal to go back, and before I could reply, I
moved away automatically and he faded. . . . I was back hovering overthe physical, the return signal still strong. I slid into the second, then thephysical, and sat up on the water bed. Body fine, no full bladder. No
signal. What called me back? Nothing I could find.
The Defooling Treatment. They do rush in.
Releasing to my total self for direction and purpose provided what I
now recognize as a crash program in comprehension of what I had formerly labeled Locale II. It began with hard basics at the inner end of thespectrum, with a modified hands-on process that forced inescapable conclusions. Simply put, I could observe but not participate. The purpose, I
discovered, was multifaceted and determined in part long after the event
itself.
One of the principal examples came one night when I rolled out of thephysical, and before I could release from the second body, an overwhelming drive for sexual union rose in me. I was about to employ my usual notnow-but-later cooling technique when I moved away sharply with a sudden shift. The movement was fast and short. When I was able to perceive,
I found I was standing a few feet away from an enormous pile of writhing
forms. It reached up, slanting back as high as I could see. In each direction, right and left, it swept off into the distance. It reminded me ofnothing so much as the interweaving of huge fishing worms in the bottomof a can after being left there overnight. The motion was continuous,
thousands upon thousands, each wet slippery form wiggling in and out

SURVEYS AND SCHEMATICS

89

among the others in the pile, searching, trying to do something . . . butnever achieving satisfaction.
Three perceptive shocks hit me simultaneously. The forms were notworms, they were human! Second, the incredible, staggering radiation ofsexuality, both male and female, that emanated from the seething mass.
Third, they all were physically dead. I wanted to turn and run, but someother part of me held me in place. I finally calmed down enough tobecome analytical. Did I want to join in? My whole being shuddered inrejection. No vestige remained of the sexual drive I found so importantmoments before. I had the strong percept that it would come again, butnever where it would control wholly what I thought or did.
With this flash of knowing, another emotion washed through me—
intense compassion for those trapped in the undulating mass, so focusedand intent on seeking sexual satisfaction they were unaware of any otherexistence—anger at a system that could so inhibit, repress, and distort asto create the situation in front of me. Were these the castoffs of thehuman process, to remain so throughout eternity?
I moved forward slowly and stopped close to the edge of the pile. The
moving bodies were male and female, of all shapes and sizes, glistening
with wetness. A bare hairy leg thrust momentarily from the pile, and I
grabbed it by the foot and pulled. . . . The leg pushed out blindly, trying
to move more deeply back into the pulsating mass. I pulled harder, trying
to keep my grip on the sweat-covered ankle. Slowly, I was able to pull therest of the body clear of the pile. It was a man, small in stature, darkhaired, fine-featured, of indeterminate age. He lay there on his belly, hisarms and legs moving crablike, attempting to pull himself back into thepile, totally oblivious to the fact that I was holding on to his foot andpreventing him from doing so.
I easily held him in place, bent over, and shouted in his ear, (Hey, I wantto talk to you. Hold still for a moment!)
There was not the slightest indication that he heard me. His face was
fixed, a gleam of anticipation spread across it. He kept trying to move backand I held him in place, wondering what to do next.
I tried another approach. (It's the cops, the police, they're raiding thejoint! Gotta get out!)
I waited for some response, but there was none. I couldn't provide him

90

FAR JOURNEYS

with the radiation that would get his attention. I released his foot, and hecrawled back into the mass and was swallowed up in the movement. I
turned away sadly and stretched for my physical ident, and returned without incident.
From that point on, I had a new technique to control any surfacing
sexual drive. All I need do is think of that wriggling, writhing, mindlesspile of humanity. That does it.
This episode was of the milder variety that may be encountered in theimmediate postphysical areas. I soon discovered there was a pattern atwork in my own guided tour through them—states of being I had previously passed through quickly to avoid confrontation. All of these forays
started while in the second body, before I could release it and moveoutward. I felt safe and secure with my higher self doing the driving.
The feeling was right. But not the reason.

8. Contact
Point

The suspicion began where I thought I had a good perspective of thehuman experience. In retrospect, the whole thing may have been planned
that way all along.
I had been moving in and out of OOB situations very blithely andcalmly, always sure that my guiding total self knew the answers, would
take care of anything and any problem as they arose. It had worked perfectly to date, and perhaps that was why the slight scent of suspicion
began to form. However great my ego might think I was, I knew I wasn't
that good.
Thus entered again one of my many questionable characteristics. I can't
let a good thing alone and simply let it do; I have to find out why. In
several succeeding OOB excursions, I tried to become aware of who wasdoing the driving and/or navigating. The contact was elusive in the beginning, no percept other than a gentle presence behind me, directing where
I went. I turned around, but there was nothing—at the most a trace of afriendly presence. But it was there and it seemed definitely external.
I went back through my notes, all the way to the beginning. I was
astounded that I had ignored what was so apparent. A hand helping me
get out, a hand on my arm, a response to my anguished screams, and themore subtle clues apparent from my new perspective. I had called themhelpers at the time and let it go at that. At the minimum, I had notturned my activities over to my "greater self," but to them, whoever"they" were.
Thereafter, during active OOBEs, I tried many times to communicate
with these presences, singular or plural, to no avail. Correction: I thought
1 received no reply because no words were forthcoming, only pictures,
sensations, and action. The change came about when I dimly began torealize I wasn't speaking their "language," as it were. Review of my early
notes supported this, for the most part. Words and language, as we know

92

FAR JOURNEYS

them, are strictly human. The inference was obvious to me—being human. My deflated ego rose somewhat with the realization that whatever
my communication method was, a response was coming from these—
rconhumans?
With this awareness, I continued to ask and let "them" do the driving
and navigating during my OOB states for one simple reason: the process
had been working. Whoever they were, they certainly knew the territory
far better than I. Each time, though, I attempted another kind of communication, and it began getting results. I directed wordless thoughts—pictures, activities, feelings, and emotions to the supposed presence behindme. Each time, there was an immediate response of like quality. It took
some analytical and subjective attitudes combined to comprehend what I
received. It was painfully slow on my side, astoundingly patient on theirs.
Out of it came the rudiments of what we now call nonverbal communication (NVC). It was a milestone in my consciousness. I knew then that
NVC exists and I knew the difference. Not too much more.
With the mutual recognition of such communication, the depth andextent of my OOB patterns shifted. I was escorted frequently to whatmight be loosely described as another kind of class, in that there was an
instructor and there were students, including me. It was entirely different
from the sleeper's classes I remembered. Here, freely translated, there wasa brilliant white, radiating ball of light that was the teacher. I could detect
radiation of others—presumed students—all around me, but nothing beyond that, no form or any indicators as to who and what the others were.
Instruction consisted of a seeming sequential bombardment of packages of
total experiential information to be absorbed instantly and stored thoughtballs, whose actual name cannot be translated into a word, which I calledrotes. It apparently is a very common communication technique in NVC.
What I could bring back, I attempted to convert into in-human usage,
with mixed results. I have been unable to relate the vast majority of suchinformation in any way to life here on time-space earth. It may be preparation for activity yet to take place here, for use in other nonphysical energy
systems, or it is beyond my comprehension. The last is most likely.
Thus the relationship took on an entirely new aspect. I began to trust
my unseen pilot(s?) as I never would have trusted myself. For example, inflying as a passenger on a commercial airliner, I never can trust completely

CONTACT POINT

93

the air crew up front—perhaps I know too much. However, I have to getfrom here to there physically in a short time, so I fasten the seat belt andfly the airplane with nothing but anxiety and muscle twitches. Sleep isunthinkable.
This was different. They knew how and where to fly this airplane overthis route far better than I. With each "flight," my confidence and trustin them grew. Conversely, I realized how little I knew as the route became
more complicated. I fondly began to call them INSPECS—short for "intelligent species," which presumes humans are not quite so.
Knowing of such assistance and help, I approached my visits into thecycling rings in near-earth environs with much more confidence and consciousness than before. I felt an absolute security. If I got in beyond my
depth, THEY would pull me out to safety—although I found that theirconcept of beyond my depth and mine differed somewhat. I may havebelieved that I was going down for the third and last time, screaming for
help, yet THEY waited until the eighth or ninth time before calmly extending a hand. All part of a learning process with built-in intensity.
A favorite quick and learn-forever method of theirs was simulation. It
was based on their ability to create and place into a human consciousness—mine—an earth-type situation so real and so overwhelming that I could
not tell reality from illusion. I don't know the limits of such simulation
talent/technology. Nor do I know the extent to which they employ thetechnique. It may be only in my own particular case, but I doubt it. The
potentials of its application in other ways begs for broad speculation.
In my own pattern, it was usually applied as in instant cleanup of minor
emotional patterns that blocked or distorted my clarity of perception or
my stability. Usually I was unaware of such dysfunction. THEY would noteit and offer to take care of the problem. I would be informed that thelesson was about to take place with my consent, yet once into the simulation, it became absolutely and totally real—and I lived it. Most of themwere short, single events that were the peak decision-making points undervery adverse circumstances. The vital part—the lesson to be learned indelibly—was my constructive and reasoned resolution of the problem. If I did
not come up with the desired action, the simulation would be repeateduntil I did. Even in the repetition, I couldn't break through the reality of94

FAR JOURNEYS

the simulation. Yet once the training sequence was completed, I thenknew it for what it was.
An interesting sidelight arose when our laboratory Explorers met andassociated with intelligent beings who did accommodate to the use ofwords, some of whom closely resembled my percepts of the INSPECS. Further, they greeted me with familiarity and I felt the same toward them.
I had never asked the INSPECS exactly what their role was in the humanearth pattern. I assumed THEY were simply a graduate school version of
the ex-human helpers from the outer rings. Their mode of operation andpurpose seemed very similar, except that the INSPECS had knowledge andtechnology far beyond that drawn from the human experience. The factthat THEY seemed to be independent of the recycling rings supported thisbelief. To pose questions about motives seemed—irreverent. Or perhaps I
didn't want to endanger the good thing I had going for me. Thus I had no
direct and conscious communication with them while in the OOB state.
But we fools can't let it alone. On a particular night, I had an idea and I
decided to try it out. I had been developing a sense of familiarity with theradiation of the INSPECS and thought I could home in on the signal—theident—just as I could others. I might learn much. Here is the event, as
taken from my notes and expanded to a semblance of understanding:Time: 2:17 A.M. . . . bedroom . . . After two sleep cycles, awake,rested, relaxed . . . went through unhook rollout method into second
body, rolled out of second, and this time I did have a percept of the ident
INSPEC . . . not much, but enough, I thought . . . homing on the ident. . . went through normal reach and stretch procedure . . . moved rapidly through ring system . . . and beyond, which did not surprise me. . . began to feel warm, more so as I went until it became almost too
uncomfortable and was at the point of turning back . . . when I rammed
headlong into something and collapsed, shaken . . . I reached out andthere was a barrier, smooth in texture, rigid, impenetrable . . . still very
uncomfortable from the heat, I pulled myself together, knowing this was
the end of the line, I might as well turn back to the physical . . . and abright light, very intense, glowed in front of me, first ovate, reshaping into
a tall humanoid form, so bright I cringed from it . . . for what seemed
an eternity, I shrank back, trying to shield myself from the brightness

CONTACT POINT

95. . . then I began to cool down until I was no longer uncomfortable, andI could tolerate the brightness.
(Is that better for you?)"Better" was an understatement. Much longer, and I would havemelted.
(Did you bump your head?)
Well, I guess I could call it that. Usually my head was out front
when . . .
(It is nothing to be concerned about. You have a hard head, Mister
Monroe.)That turned me around. I never thought of God having a whimsicalsense of humor. That and the Mister Monroe routine. I straightened, nolonger cowering. I almost felt like reaching out and shaking hands ingreeting.
(There are more significant and suitable ways.)
I was getting bewildered. I was just floating there, trying to figure out
what happened . . .
(You encountered a condition similar to that which your scientists call astanding wave, where two like energies in phase appear to cancel one another to zero. Yet there is no zero, as energy does not cancel, it transforms
into other dynamic states.)
So now I supposedly knew what happened. But that didn't explain
where I was. If I asked . . .
("Where" is a relative term. The most reasonable explanation from yourperspective is that you are just outside the portal, the gate to our reality, aconversion point. The ident you used brought you here.)Well! There are gates to heaven, after all. I guess they could be construed as golden and/or pearly, if you thought heaven was beyond.
(You are correct in your assumption. It is all from within the observer.)The percept finally came out. The communication was so natural andso rapid that I had missed it completely. There I was, casually talking—correction: communicating with this wonderfully glowing being just as I
would a new friend. He/It was answering my questions before I asked
them, so I must be using NVC better than I realized-—no point in holdingback any part of me, even if I wanted to. Whatever I was, It was reading
every thought I had anyway. I opened wide, all of what I was.

96

FAR JOURNEYS(That is not necessary, Mister Monroe.)
And I immediately knew why. It/THEY had been a part of the process.
My concept of an external intelligent energy source, helping, navigating,
doing the driving, was accurate.
(With your present need for individuation, yes.)
The question arose automatically: How long had this been going on? I
had become aware of it only recently, and had traced it back to thebeginning of my OOB activity, but how about before then? Have they
always been . . .
(You will become aware of such reality at an appropriate point.)
All I could be sure of was my own direct experience, but they must
communicate with other people . . .
(With very many by different methods, very few as we are functioning at
this point.)
I knew that was the best I would get, but I wondered about the It/
THEY.

(We are many, and you have known many of us.)
So THEY would be correct . . . I hoped they didn't mind the INSPECS
label. Now, it seemed inadequate.

(It will serve nicely at this point, as well as any other.)
I wondered if THEY were the same as those we had met in the lab withthe various Explorers . . .
(In some instances, but not all.)
So many questions, and now was my big opportunity . . .
(There will be others.)
The first question, the first, what should be the first? . . . Are THEY
God or . . . ?
(We are created and we create, just as you. If God and creator are
identical, then you are God to that which you create.)
I couldn't help the next one, even if it killed me. I had to know. Did
THEY . . . ?
(It will not kill, as you put it, nor will it harm you. You are prepared foran answer by your very presence here, your curiosity, as you call it The
essence that is you and others in the human process was not our creation.
As we, you exist before time-space human earth pattern, just as you do at

CONTACT POINT

97

this point. The in-human experience is merely an addition to what you are.
However, it is an important addition.)
I tried to sort out what was so important in being human that it
would . . .
(How do you state it? A drop of water in an ocean cannot understand theseas or the wave that casts it up on a sandy beach.)
Wait a minute! That came out very human. Maybe THEY are only
superhuman graduates, after all.
(Some of us have passed through the in-human. I was selected because I
am one of those few.)
Few . . . I wonder how many are few. Five, ten, a thousand . . .
(It is difficult to assess due to the melding. More than the current inphysical human population, perhaps one hundred times as many.)
That would imply THEY have been involved since the very beginning of
human life.
(That is correct. Before that, we are, just as you.)
And if several hundred billion are just a few, that must mean the totalof THEM must be big numbers . . .
(We do not count the parts of the whole. It is not necessary.)
If there are that many parts of the whole, then there must be otherimportant ways to learn, other non-earth human systems . . .
(No other precisely as you have found in-human physical earth. There aremany other consciousness growth centers or schools, as you call them,throughout what you know as the physical universe.)
I could bet that they participate in all of them. They would have toif . . .
(A very safe bet, Mister Monroe.)This was becoming an event not anything like what I expected. I was
rapidly losing my sense of awe. It was replaced with a great feeling ofwarmth, of understanding, much on the order of old deep friendships, yetfilled with intense respect, not the usual pattern of expected angels, if thatis what THEY were.
(We can quickly grow some wings if you wish.)No, no, please, no wings. No halos either, although I got the clear
percept, staring at my INSPEC —friend? . . .
(At least that, for now.)98

FAR JOURNEYS

I could understand how humans with limited but definite momentarysuperconscious vision could add a halo to make the human-formed INSPEC
stand out as different. A brightly radiant form? How often in humanhistory has such perception taken place? Miracle workers, saints, local
medicine men, and last-timers on their final run, no doubt.
(No doubt at all.)I wanted to be very careful about this, that I had at least a faint comprehension, that I got it as specifically and accurately as I possibly could.
They, INSPECS, were in existence before humans ever came into being,
several million years ago at the minimum.
(By your time measurement, that is correct. As were you and all otherenergies that are now or have been in-human, if you use this perspective.)
Could that infer we as humans, the nonphysical energy part of us,
actually are INSPECS and we don't know it?
(As we understand it, you are created by the same source.)
But we humans are not the same.
(It is difficult to express in your terms. Consider the structure of physicalmatter as various forms. Moving inward, you have named subconstructs as
atoms. These in turn have many organizations of particles that result indistinctive patterns. Your scientists have begun to understand the energy
relationship of these particles. They have begun to perceive the spinning of
the particle itself. It is the creative force that produces such spinning which
we have in common.)Which could mean vast differences if I work outward through the structure from that base. Differences so profound there could be no point ofreconciliation, even similarity.
(You are presuming a complexity which in our reality is very direct andsimple. It is the distortion of time-space illusion that causes this in yourconsciousness.)
I would have to try again. There must be some ongoing relationshipbetween such INSPECS and humans, else why would they bother with us?
For some reason, they need us, we need them, they have been involved
with human existence since we began. I'm drawing a blank.
(All of your percepts are correct within certain limits.)
I began to receive a discomforting signal to take care of something backthere . . . Back where? Where? The signal, annoying, persisted, and I

CONTACT POINT

99

tried to ignore it. What I was doing was much too important to be interrupted. I wanted to concentrate on my next thought-question, but thesignal got in the way. I turned to dismiss it, and realized it was a need toreturn to my physical body . . . Of course, my physical body! I had to go
back, but I didn't want to, the chance might never come again . . .
(We can meet often at this point. We understand your need. A stronger
ident homing signal will be provided that you can do so.)
The radiation was warm, understanding friendship and much more, andI gratefully responded, and reached for the ident of my physical body andstretched. The feeling of movement back seemed short, and I automatically slipped into the second, then into the physical. By habit, I looked at
the clock. 2:23 A.M. Only six minutes? By comparison, the problem thatcalled me back was frustratingly minuscule. My thoughts were filled withthe dazzling import of those six minutes as I got out of bed and went tothe bathroom to empty my bladder.
I slept very little, if at all, the rest of the night.
During the next several weeks, the press of daily physical activity plus
the eagerness and excitement in my anticipation kept me from anothermeeting. I had difficulty in getting into the required pre-sleep. However
carefully I approached the OOB release point after I did get relaxed, I
couldn't get into the OOB state. After repeated effort, I did no more thanfall asleep. I realized I was forcing it too strongly, but it was hard tocontrol. Finally, I gave up trying for the moment—and it happened easily.
Time: 4:45 A. M. . . . awake and rested, although far past my usual
cycle, I went into the unhook rollout, and moved easily into the second
body state . . . moving out of the second was easy, and I reached for an
ident to home in to . . . It was there! I held back my excitement, stayed
calm . . . reached and stretched, following the signal. The feeling of
movement was short and quick and I stopped. Before me was the shining
form. Several others were behind it. Trying to remain calm and casual, I
focused on the radiation that had been so distressing before. Now it wasvery tolerable—or I was getting used to it.
(A little of both, Mister Monroe. We did modify it somewhat for you.)
I had gone over many times how I would resume our communication,
the questions I would ask, the order of priority in case the pattern wasgoing to be broken off again suddenly. And the first one, the first one . . .

100

FAR JOURNEYS(Your interest lay in our relationship with those in human experience
prior to your departure to . . .)To go to the bathroom! What an incongruity! Well, this time I madeabsolutely sure it wouldn't happen, no coffee, very little liquids . . .
(Cause and effect, in which you place such great belief.)
Belief relief! That's a good one, I'll have to remember it. But the otherones behind my friend, I don't remember their . . .
(As you have noted, there are others of us also here at this point. They
have been present throughout our meeting. It is your ability to perceive thathas changed. They are, how do you call it? . . . interested . . . "curious"
is a better definition, which you understand very well.)I'm sure I'll need all the help I can get. Here I am, consulting with abeing or beings whose penetration into human life activity has been interpreted to be God, gods, angels, the devil . . .
(It was not our intent. Certain . . . adjustments had to be made.)
Now it is UFOs and flying saucers, which is more in keeping withcurrent cultural concepts.
(You would have lost that bet, Mister Monroe. Such are manifestationsof another pattern, of which you will soon become aware.)I'd better let that one stay where it is and stick to the main point. Why
adjustments, whatever that means?
(Because free will is such a vital part of the human learning experience,
deviations from the design are frequent and predicted, as you would express
it. Such adjustments are no more than . . . the exact term is not there. . . fine-tuning, yes. Fine-tuning.)
I got a percept of an immense machine . . . infinitely complex andcomplicated . . . with INSPECS climbing all over it, in and out of it, turning a knob here, a valve there, taking off a filter and cleaning it, matching
waveforms on an oscilloscope, checking materials-input flow . . . Flow!
That was it! Their concern was the flow of energy through the humanexperience. The idea of a machine wiped away completely and there was
the physical earth with the human energy rings encircling it, dreamlike inits quality . . .
(Your last percept indicates good progress.)
But if they created the process in the first place, they should have beenaware that it would need . . . maintenance, modification.

CONTACT POINT101(We did not create time-space as you know it, nor the physical earth, nor
the human process, nor the energy flow itself. That is not our department,
as you put it. Our concern is the output and the . . . quality of such. To
this end, we adjust the internal flow as needed.)
I would have to let that one pass by, too. Try to keep from any deviation . . .
(You will learn of the basic or original design.)
The greatest of virtues, patience . . .
(You are intended to walk before you fly, as you put it. Those who fly firstmust reach back and remember they have already learned to walk. This wasnecessary for you.)
Now came the first of the high hard ones. Why me? Why did I learn to
fly first?
(You had the latent capability to perform an important function of a very
minor nature at this point in the development of human consciousness.)
What possible capability could that be! What function! It must be so
minor I can't perceive it.
(You need but examine yourself, as you and only you know what you are.
As to function, you are performing it very well, as expected.)
With a little help now and then, I hope, whatever the function is . . .
Can't pull it all together instantly, have to sort it out . . . even to thebeginning of my flying. Did they help on that one?

(You were given some assistance. One facet of your capability was theactual instigator. It should be obvious to you. It directs your actions sofrequently you have become conscious of it.)
The percept flared instantly. I always felt the trait was of dubious quality. It always created more problems than solutions. Curiosity.
(That is correct.)
And the old saying, curiosity killed . . .
(A different species. It may kill cats on occasion. You are alive in many
forms.)
Now, if I could just get a percept on this function business, I might beable to perform more eEciently.
(We will attempt to bring you into an awareness of the totality of whichyour function is but a part, in other meetings. Until that is accomplished,

102

FAR JOURNEYS

you are unable to obtain a clear percept or any rote you receive will distort
the function you are performing.)
I held on to the promise of that statement, feeling very humble andinadequate . . . and astounded that I remained as calm as I had in theface of the encounter that was taking place . . . the effrontery of myprobing, the extent of my ignorance . . . Their radiant response to theseflickers of thought was so profound that I nearly broke down and lost
control, no patronizing, no compassion, no feeling of superiority . . . but
beyond friendship, beyond brotherhood, beyond father-mother-parent, beyond endearment, beyond words . . . If they had told me they were my Godcreator, I would have settled for that.
(But we are not, Mister Monroe.)
They even knew how to pull me together, the Mister Monroe stuff. If I
had been physical, I would have laughed uproariously in relief. Or: Thankyou, I needed that!
(We have another name for you. We can use that if you wish.)
I was happy to leave it the way it was, for the moment. There wasnothing formal or reserved the way they used their ident for me. But I
wondered how it started.
(One of us began to use it in a meeting in your work area . . . yes,laboratory. Thereafter we applied this ident to you among all of us.)
I knew instantly which one, and it came as no surprise. I wished thatthey would give him my greetings.
(We have done so.)But the problem, the basic question still remains unanswered. If I don't
know where I'm going, what I am supposed to do, I might go in the wrong
direction again. I know I already have done this several times . . .
(We will help you become much more aware very soon in terms of yourtime. There is a facet of your particular process that must be accomplishedfirst. It is all coming together rapidly. The time, as you put it, is growing
short.)
With their perspective of time, that could mean a million years. By thattime, I'll be long gone, and humans, too.
(We refer to the span within your present physical life. So that yourawareness can be accelerated, we recommend that you use only the ident
homing signal, as you describe it, that we provide. If it is not there, you may

CONTACT POINT

103

draw the inference that you need to focus on your physical manifestation
until the point that it is present.)
In other words, if it comes, play time is over, now back to work.
(There are certain patterns you must undergo before you proceed. We will
be with you through them, but not in your physical consciousness. We have
prepared an exercise for you that may help you through such experiences.
Do you wish to use it?)
I had a percept of the kind of exercise, but not its content, and knewthat it would be rough. If THEY say it will help, of course I wish it.
(Turn inward and close tightly.)
CLICK!
I am flying a single-engine Navion over a large city. Bill is in the seatbeside me. We are about two thousand feet up, and we are just below theovercast. Turbulence is minor. Gauges look good. It's a borrowed aircraft.
I need to keep an appointment in the city below.
Bill leans and yells in my ear, (You’re going to have to land now if you
want to be on time!)
I look around. (I don't see the airport.)(Never mind the airport.) Bill points downward. (You have to land now.
Down there!)
I nod, nose the Navion down, throttle back, low pitch, gear down, three
in the green, gentle spiral, trying to decide where to set it down . . . thestreet, full of cars . . . there's a wide, flat roof, I turn to look at Bill for
approval, but he's gone! Gone! I look back quickly, I'm below one thousand, airspeed seventy, 500 down. Have to decide fast, opt for the roof, atleast if I get it stopped I won't kill anybody else, while in the street . . .
line up the roof, full flaps, nose over steeply . . . drop her in right on theedge of the roof . . . stall warning yelling its head off . . . chop throttle, switches off . . . let her drop out, drop out . . . she's down, brakes,
stand on them . . . other edge coming up fast, now slow, she's going to
make it, she's down and stopped! I sigh and stop shaking. It's hot and I
open the canopy and climb down to the roof. I stand there looking at the
Navion, it's all in one piece, not a scratch. All I have to do is find thestairway down and I'll be on time for my appointment. But how will I get

104

FAR JOURNEYS

the Navion back to its owner! It will never be able to take off a 200foot roof. Have to remove the wings, lower it to the street by a crane, whata stupid decision, why did I have to . . .
CLICK!
RESET.
CLICK!
. . . the street or the roof . . . the street, cars will see me coming inand clear a path down the middle . . . full flaps . . . nose down . . .
watch that taller building . . . that's it right over the street, straight
down the middle . . . watch for turbulence, crosswinds at the corner. . . flare out, hold her off . . . get out of the way, get out of the way,
can't you see me! . . . stall warning yelling . . . she's quitting on me,
too quick . . . flash of light, heat, terrible heat.
CLICK!
RESET.
CLICK!
. . . I am flying a single-engine Navion over a large city. Bill is in theseat beside me. We are about two thousand feet up, and we are just below
the overcast. Turbulence is minor. Gauges look good. It's a borrowed
aircraft. I need to keep an appointment in the city below.
Bill leans and yells in my ear, (You’re going to have to land now if you
want to be on time.)
I look around. (I don't see the airport.)(Never mind the airport.) Bill points downward. (You have to land now.
Down there!)(Not this kid!), I yell back. (The appointment will have to wait. If it costs
me the deal, so be it. Now, where's the airport?)

CONTACT POINT

105

CLICK!
RESET.
CLICK!
. . . It's a borrowed aircraft. I need to keep an appointment in the city
below.
Bill leans and yells in my ear, (You're going to have to land now if you
want to be on time!)
I look around. (I don't see the airport!)(Never mind the airport.) Bill points downward. (You have to land now.
Down there!)I laugh, swing the yoke over in front of Bill, clip the parachute harness
across my chest. Then I unsnap my seat belt, open the canopy.
(You fly it home,) I yell as I jump far enough to clear the tail assembly,
pull the D ring, feel the jerk of the chute opening, and start to float down.
CLICK!
RESET.
CLICK!
(. . . Thanks for the offer of a loan of your Navion, but that's playing it
too tight, couldn’t possibly make it on time, so I called and put off theappointment . . .)CLICK!
The haze was very thick and Bill was beside me. He was rolling lightly.
(It took you long enough!)I blanked, then rolled with him. (You certainly weren't any help!)
He smoothed. (Use it in good health.) I spun a little. (Where's,
uh . . .)106

FAR JOURNEYS(I got the assignment. You better go back now. You have many things to
put together.)I plied. (I guess so. See you.)
I turned, dove inward, ident physical body, and reentered without incident. I sat up in bed, then got up, put on a bathrobe, and went out on the
deck. It was a clear night, quiet and warm. I was still unsure as to how or
why it happened, but I had no doubt as to the reality of the experience. If
I encountered it and knew it, how many more thousands of human beings
living right at this time-point on earth also have gone through the same orsimilar pattern? If they have, to whom would they tell it? And the othertraining centers on planets circling those billions of stars, tied to us by an
intelligent energy field common to all of us. Were they as unaware as we?
I felt very small, looking at the stars—and beyond. But not alone. Neveralone.

9. Rainbow
Route

At this point, I began to accept my new role, whatever it was, and nolonger pushed hard for further adventures or activities in the other energy
systems I knew to exist. I did realize that in my sleep state much was
taking place which affected my conscious thought and action. I made noeffort to investigate this, believing that it would take care of itself and was
supportive of the course I was following. If I had resumed the sleeper's
classes, hopefully I was applying what I learned in my daily life.
Spaced through several years of time were periodic meetings-instruction sessions with the INSPEC. I still used this ident because I knew of noother appropriate one that was not tainted with cultural-philosophicalconnotations. The most recent INSPEC event precipitated the gathering of
all of my notes on the interim adventures, and the pieces filled in themosaic.
The following is no more than a survey of the salient or critical parts ofthe sequence. In the interests of brevity and a feeling of get-to-the-pointism, the usual preamble and closure as to going OOB and returning to thephysical are omitted except when highly relevant. Each of the following
events began at the point in non-time-space near the edge of INSPEC"territory," with at least one of them present.
CLICK!
If I have a desire, curiosity—no, more than curiosity—it would be toknow, not believe, but know what is beyond this point . . . where THEY
are . . .
(It is a question of remembering. As you are at this point, you cannot—
the word?—tolerate a visit among us. We can prepare you for it, if that isyour wish. The preparation is not simple.)108

FAR JOURNEYS

When THEY state it's not simple, I knew it was an understatement frommy perspective. But it was what I wanted . . . yes!
(We will make the adjustments necessary in your space-time belief. The
perception must be yours alone.)
CLICK!
. . . I am playing out in the front yard, riding my tricycle on and off
the sidewalk and into the grass . . . the sun has gone out behind a cloud
but it hasn't started to rain . . . I think if it gets dark, I can light thecandle in my tin-can headlight, but I'll have to go in the kitchen to getsome matches . . . when I get bigger, I'm going to have me a blue carthat goes AAAAARRRRR, AAAAARRRRR . . . then I'm going tohave an airplane, that's what I want most, an airplane, so I can fly up
through that dark cloud, up where the sun is shining behind it, then I
could go up and dive through the cloud, WHEEEOOO, WHEEEOOO. . . oh shoot, it's starting to rain, I'll have to go in the house, just one
more circle in the yard . . . I have my airplane, WHEEEOOO,
WHEEEOOO . . . big flash of light . . . white light, lightning! . . .
bang! . . . I am off my tricycle . . . in the grass, grass is wet, got to getup and get in the house, get my tricycle on the porch so it won't get wet. . . but I can't move, I can't move, what's the matter? . . . it's dark, I
can't see . . . can't feel anything . . . I'm not hurt, I don't hurt anywhere but I can't see, can't get my face out of the grass, got to get up, mybike will get wet and it will rust, got to get it on the porch . . . but I
can't move, I can't move! . . . what? . . . what? . . . just beeloon it
and I can go the porch, how could I forget that! How could I forget tobeeloon! What would make me forget something so basic! Yes! Beeloon,
can do it without thinking how, anybody can beeloon! And . . . yes!
Three-way . . . I could do a three-way and it wouldn't be dark . . .
why, any curl can do a three-way without turning, you need to three-way if
you want to keep your spiral going, what happened to me that I would
forget such a simple thing as that! . . . I could pull a skip and . . . skip?
Skip! And there's more, it's all coming back, I remember it all and thoseimportant fundamentals that I never thought about forgetting because it
was impossible, it is as basic as who you are, how is it possible that I forgot

RAINBOW ROUTE

109

these, and all the rest that I know? I am astounded that I could forget!
. . . forget, forget . . . I'm getting wet, it's raining hard . . . I'm getting muddy . . . that big bang was thunder, hurt my ears, but I can hear,and I can move . . . I feel but I don't hurt, so I guess I'm all right . . .
got to get my bike up on the porch and get a rag and wipe the water andmud off . . .
CLICK!
Now I remember! I was very young, playing out in front of the house
before a thunderstorm . . . the lightning hit a power pole near thestreet, not me, my father told me . . . the concussion or something
stunned me . . . and he carried me up to the front porch. I was all rightin a few minutes . . . but the rest of it, I had forgotten completely, even
now I just remember the knowing, not the details . . .
(A glimpse of who you are before you undertake the human experience.
How it took place is not important Such momentary recall occurs frequently during the physical process but is obscured and discarded amid themore immediate consistent impact of physical information input. Yet theevent is retained, below the surface of consciousness, and therefore affects
your subsequent action. It is significant that thenceforth you did not fear
lightning and thunder, as you call it, but found pleasure in such manifestation. This is one effect of such pre-human recall brought near your physicalconscious level. Another, more cogent, was the subtle alteration in yourphysical life process that led you unknowingly to your present state.)
I hope that doesn't mean that everyone has to get almost struck bylightning to begin to wake up. It wouldn't be a very popular method . . .
(Most such events are so gentle as to remain unnoticed. Yet they are there
if recall is necessary. We have another episode for you, if you desire it.)How could I forget these things! . . . Yes, yes.
(Here is another area of your perception that is a part of the emergence
you have long forgotten. It is completely your own. We do no more thanassist you in your recall.)110

FAR JOURNEYS

CLICK!
. . . I want to hear the music . . . I want to hear the special music. . . I know how to make the Victrola play the music because I learned
how, I learned how just from watching, and then she watched me show
her how I could play it, then she said I could play it but I had to be real
careful so I don't break the records . . . so I'm not being bad if I play it. . . I pull the chair over close to the Victrola so I can stand on it and put
the record in the top . . . I have to lift up the heavy lid, but I do it . . .
I turn the shiny crank in the side, more and more until it won't crank any
more, but I don't crank it after that because it might break the spring. . . then I open the front doors of the Victrola, and there is my specialmusic record on the first shelf just where I left it . . . pull the record out
and be real careful to don't break it, and put it up on top. Then I climb up
on the chair. I pull the paper cover off the record and put the record on
the wheel . . . then I put the shiny fat arm part with the sharp needle init down real careful on the edge of the black record . . . now everythingis ready . . . I move the little shiny finger and the wheel with the blackrecord on it starts moving, and I hurry down off the chair to where themusic is . . . the music starts coming out of the Victrola and I feel real
quiet, so I close my eyes . . . it is blank for a long time as I listen to themusic, but then I feel a surge way down at the bottom of me, and it feels
like tingling when my foot goes to sleep, but it doesn't hurt, it feels good,and with it I hear raining, just like rain on the roof, but it comes and goes
. . . and the music gets so soft I can't hear it anymore . . . then it'squiet and I can't hear or feel anything . . . there it is again, coming up
from the bottom of me more, the tingle and the rain surge, and it feels
better than anything I ever felt . . . and I wait for it to happen again. . . here it comes again, stronger and bigger, and it feels so good it starts
to hurt, but I don't mind the hurt because it feels so good . . . then it
fades away again . . . I know it's coming back, and it does . . . much,
much stronger and bigger, up through me, the best and happiest feeling I
could ever have, so happy I want to cry, and the hurt is so strong it's
cutting me right up the middle in two pieces . . . then it goes backagain, down out the bottom of me, and I know that there is nothing,nothing nicer I will ever feel than what just was, no hurt could hurt more

RAINBOW ROUTE

111

than what I just felt . . . and I feel it rising again and I don't think I
could stand it if it was any stronger, but there it is getting bigger andstronger, the good, good, good tingle and the rain roar and the hurt so
hard, coming right up to my head, terrible, terrible sharp hurt . . . this is
so good and so hurting there can't ever be anything that feels so good andhurts so much, never never . . . then it starts to go away and I know that
I will always remember this bright, bright good and the big, big hurt andnothing will ever be as good or hurt so much . . . but there it comesagain, no, no! . . . I can't stand it again, I can't, I can't! The good makes
me cry, it's so good, and the hurt makes me cry, it hurts so much, it can't
be more than the one before, it was the biggest there is, it can't be any
bigger, the good and the hurt . . . but it is, and I scream with joy andpain and I know this is the greatest of all there is, the exquisite joy, beauty,that transcends any thought or consciousness . . . that the pain is merely
the anguish of physical structure attempting to contain energy beyond theability to do so, that one day I will experience it again without the pain
because I will understand better, one day it will take place, the great gloryof . . . I feel hands picking me up and I am crying a little, not too much,and I open my eyes and raise my head. The music in the Victrola has
stopped and she, my mother, is looking at me and saying something . . .
CLICK!
. . . Yes, yes, I remember what a great privilege I felt it was to havebeen given permission to play the Victrola, and I proudly never broke asingle record . . . symphonies, operas my mother liked, plus some saxophone jazz records the college student who roomed upstairs gave me,
which I played when no one was listening but me . . . and I remember
the same sequence when going under anesthesia before surgery, the identical pattern . . .
(The acceptance of pain as a condition of joy is the symbol of conflictwithin physical life existence. The pattern of the present is not consistent
with the promise of the future as you perceive it within time-space illusion.
A conflict of realities, from your aspect.)
I remember so well ... if that is the joy, I will take the pain
again,
if I can stand it ...

112

FAR JOURNEYS(It is not necessary. Your present consciousness now has a beginningpoint of reference. It is possible for you to perceive the destination of therays of pure energy you have called loosh/love as it penetrates into yourearth space in several segments of what you call time. We will assist you inyour placement within the event. The delineation, the decision to distinguish must be yours solely. Are you ready to do this?)I don't know positively what I will be looking for, but I will never forgetagain. If that is what I seek, I will find it.
CLICK!
The sun is setting and I am sitting alone in the sand outside our tent.
The desert is cooling now, and soon it will be dark and it will become verycold. I have built a fire from camel dung so that we will be warm . . .
yes, I am Shola, and my woman and our two offspring, a boy and a girl, arein the tent behind me. We are dying. I can see the village in the distanceand the cooking fires are glowing in the twilight. We came with goods totrade but they would not let us enter. They cast stones at us to keep usaway. We could not go across the desert to another village because we had
little water and we are ill. Now after these many days, we have no waterand no food. We have survived this far only by eating camel dung, something only a dog would do. Our two camels will live and we will die. They
cannot catch the illness, the plague that brings the open sores on our skinwhich do not heal. I would kill the camels to eat, but they are old friends.
We do not eat old friends to continue our own existence. It does notmatter now. Food and water will not help. The illness is taking us along
the course to death. There is nothing to be done. I do not want to crawl
into the tent for fear they are gone, all of my family. I do not want toknow I am alone. We have done so many things together, the pains andthe joys we have shared . . . the working and being together, my woman
and the young ones . . . no illness, no death can remove the bond thatgrew and blossomed among us . . .

RAINBOW ROUTE

113

CLICK!
I can still feel the echoes . . . it's a life I don't remember, if I lived it. . . but the sharing of purpose, of unity required for simple survival . . .
nothing more than that can bring it out . . . the attachment beyond
husband-wife and parenthood . . . that, I remember . . .

(Beyond physical manifestation, misinterpreted, misunderstood, andoften overlooked, this is a facet of the prime expression, it is part of thelearning process peculiar to the human experience.). . . This is the goal in being human? To learn to do or be this?
(Indirectly, that is correct. It is but part of a broad spectrum. One goal is
to become the generator and transformer of such radiation. It is importantthat you perceive the scope and attunement of the recipient. The being on
the desert was attuned and therefore was only the recipient, but neithertransformer nor generator. The goal is generation and transformation only.
Do you desire this pattern of perception to continue?)
If I have smoothed enough to do so . . .
(You have.)
CLICK!
We are lying around the protective defense circle of the encampment. . . it is night. Our bellies are full and our feet hurt from the long march.
The fallen leaves are dry, and make a noise when we roll over. This would
be bad if we were the outer guards, but we need not concern ourselves.
The outer guards will sound the alarm if the enemy attacks by night. My
helmet is close to my left hand, as is my shield. Near my right is my kuri,
whose cold, sharp point and keen cutting edges have become as much apart of me as the arm that wields it. On one side of me is my friend Cheti,
who snores so loudly in his sleep that he awakens the birds. On the otheris my friend Dorn, who sleeps like death itself, yet is instantly awake at thewhisper of his name . . . we are but a part of this great host who will, inthe morrow, meet and cut our enemy to pieces. We are three. I recall well
the day we met on the training ground, many seasons past. Cheti, tall andstumbling, from the high mountains. Dorn, solid as stone, from the great
forest, and I, from the flat midlands. Not a word was spoken among us for114

FAR JOURNEYS

days as we learned the killing arts. How that changed with our first battle,
that moment when we formed a triangle back to back, surrounded bytwice our number of yellow-hairs! Cheti, calling out such stupid curses at
the yellow-hairs that even Dorn was laughing, and laughing gave us freshenergy, so we fought our way out of the trap . . . then we were three.
Through the battles, the wounds, many of both, too many from such as
me to count . . . we are three. They are more to me than my brother,whose face and voice I cannot now bring to mind . . . more than any
woman I have ever known, yet not the same . . . and the man in thatvillage who asked me about my sons and daughters, and I replied I don't
know my sons and daughters if I have any, they go with a woman and I
have no woman, I am of the legion, so I have no woman or sons anddaughters to whom I am bonded . . . just those women I can bed downwhen we capture a town . . . there was one, she was warm and did notscream but whispered in my ear and I was as gentle as I could be with her,I might have bonded with her . . . but we are three and it is different. I
would lay down my life for Cheti or Dorn, that they would live instead ofme, and I know without their speaking that it is the same with them . . .
I do not understand why this is so, but they are me, I am them, and we arethree . . .
CLICK!
. . . Yes, I have the percept three, three hundred, three thousand,three million, three billion, it is the same . . . common effort, willingly
or not, long association, repeated shared experience . . . this special
bonding beyond self can take place without awareness of what it is or its
importance . . . often it can't be called love because local custom would
then attach a physical sexual inference to it, male or female . . . thus it iscovered over and sublimated . . .
(You are learning rapidly. Your human perspective serves you well. Do
you wish to move to the next point in your survey?)
I understand what is happening, the human portion ... if it is still of thatvalue, I am fine . . .
(We will continue, then.)

RAINBOW ROUTE

115

CLICK!
I am standing in front of a stone building with a tall spire. Wide steps
lead down to the cobbled square, and the square is filled with a flow ofpeople, horse-drawn wagons and carts, and the dusty smell of humansweat, animals, cooking, and excrement from all manner of living things. I
am a Priest, and although it is hot, I am wearing my brown-hooded robethat reaches to my ankles. It is cool inside the church, yet I am loath toenter. The Ritual is about to begin, and I must attend and participate aspart of the duties of my calling. I am sick in heart at what I must do. It is
so different from that which I dreamed those years ago, my life in theservice of the Almighty. The glory of the tolling bell in the spire, the richvoices of the choir echoing throughout the arched roof in Holy Harmony,
the majesty and mystery of the Processional, the bowed heads of thereverent, kneeling people, they are the same. These are the parts thatbrought open the rising need in me, and I answered. Now they are thesame, but I am not. Where is the need? It has left, unfulfilled. Where is
the mystery? It has vanished under the weight of the unfolding years andthat which my eyes have seen and my ears have heard . . . the bell
begins its tolling, and that is the signal that I must enter and join theothers. I turn and pass through the smaller door to one side and into theGreat Hall. I move slowly down the main aisle to the waiting group at the
Altar. The High Priest stands in front of the Altar, wearing his white robewith the golden braided symbols across the front. On his head is the Holy
Crescent Moon. Behind him are the Seven Keepers of the Realm, eachholding a staff atop which is one of the Seven Sacred Stars lighted by aflaming taper. As I approach the Altar, I know what I will see upon it, andI am correct. A young girl attired in a flowing gown of bright red to hide
the blood is lying upon its stone surface. Silken cords are attached to herankles and wrists, then to large rings on the sides of the Altar. I know well
the Ritual although I have never performed it. Once I have completed theSacred Act in the name of the Almighty, I will transcend that status of alowly Priest and become an Alternate Keeper of the Realm. When one of
the Seven dies and departs for Chimmon, the Land of Eternal Joy and theThrone of the Almighty, I will become one of the Seven. When the HighPriest departs, one of the Seven will take his place and assume his Power116

FAR JOURNEYS

and Glory as the direct Communicant with the Almighty. Perhaps I may
be that one . . . but now I am not sure. The dream of years past flickers
within me and it is not this. If I do not perform the Ritual, I will be
stripped of my robe, cast out into the street, where I will be stoned todeath by the populace. I move next to the Altar, and the High Priest
hands me the Ritual blade, a slender, sharply pointed knife with a carved
silver handle. I have been instructed carefully where to insert the Ritual
knife at various spots on her body so as to keep from causing her death
immediately, but to engender exquisite ecstasy within her while the HighPriest and the Seven give their Blessings . . . I raise the blade for the
first swift insertion . . . and I stop, arm upraised. I am looking into theeyes of the girl. In them are fear, puzzlement, resignation . . . and beyond these, a knowing, a depth that carries me past the distortion of mydream and into what I was sure was always there . . . I lower my arm,turn, and drop the silver knife, only a knife, in front of the fat man who
calls himself a High Priest . . . I cannot do it, no, I will not do it . . .
and I am free! . . . and a bright white ray comes through the ceiling of
the Great Hall and centers on me, flashes through my entire being, thesilver knife melts to a mound of metal, the silk cords drop from the girl,and the Altar trembles and splits open as the girl rises from it and stands. . . the men in the robes kneel transfixed, their eyes staring into blindness at the brilliant white ray . . .
CLICK!
. . . Yes! . . . and somewhere in man's history, a legend is born . . .
the event is only a dim memory to me, if even that . . . but the emotion
I felt, I experienced . . . that is clear and strong . . .
(What you call emotion is essential to the basic learning process. It is a
specific observable result of exposure to the loosh/love radiation. Therefore,
it is the driving force, the creative energy which motivates human thought
and action. Without it you would remain as animals.)
But animals show something, it is very close to what I know of as
emotion . . .
(What you perceive is a reflection, a response to human radiation of such

RAINBOW ROUTE

117

energy, which has been self-generated or transformed by the human. We
will demonstrate this for you if you wish.)That would be great, I would enjoy that very much . . .
(We shall see, as you put it.)
CLICK!
. . . Our little dog with the funny name, Steamboat, he is walking withme along the road in early morning . . . he is such a friend . . . hisbright gladness at seeing me . . . he actually grins when he wants you toknow what a nice guy he is, just because that's what his human close-by
god does . . . his seeming need to be with you, enthusiastically do what
you want to do . . . just a word from me, and he comes running to me
joyfully . . . it's much more than the fact that I feed him, most of what
we do has no relationship to such . . . w e have a bond that might becalled friendship, he's succeeded in making friends with his god, doing
things together, that's pretty good stuff, making friends with yourgod . . . now he's been diverted into the wooded bank alongside theroad, eagerly seeking an ever-elusive rabbit, but after a short search, hewill return, bounding across the road to walk just in front of me again .
. . then I hear a vehicle, a car or truck, approaching behind the blind
curve and I call to Steamboat to come to me, stand and be where it issafe . . . it is a truck, and it comes around the curve quickly, too quickly. . . just ten feet away from passing me, Steamboat leaps down the bankfrom the woods and directly under the wheel of the truck . . . there is arending scream as the wheel grinds over the lower half of his body,flattening it completely . . . the truck moves away and stops, and thedriver gets down from his cab, sadly apologetic . . . I get to where
Steamboat is still trying to come to me, his front legs trying to drag thecrushed half across the road to where I am . . . I sit down on the roadin front of him, and he stops trying to move as I reach out and rub hishead, tears forming in my eyes as minuscule evidence of the deep
sorrow within me . . .
through my hand, I feel the heavy tremors
moving through his body from the pain, and he licks my hand and looks up
at me, asking, hoping his god will take care of the pain . . . I look at his
body, the damage so irreparable there is no hope . . . he licks my handagain . . . and I accept the118

FAR JOURNEYS

responsibility . . . I get up and move to the waiting truck driver, removing my pullover shirt as I go . . . a look passes between us and he knowsthat I do not blame him, that he should harbor no guilt . . . sadness
shared, yes . . . but no guilt . . . I was responsible, not he . . . I moveto the truck, remove the cap from the gas tank, and push the shirt into thetank, soaking it with fluid . . . then I remove the dripping cloth andmove back to Steamboat, who has watched me expectantly, too weak to
do more . . . I sit down, and his head drops into my lap, eyes looking up
to me, asking, asking . . . gently, I move the cloth over his nose with one
hand and place the other on his head . . . his eyes look at me deeply andthe tremors in his neck subside slowly and are gone . . . I see and know
the closeness we share is eternal, and he somehow knows this, too . . .
the conscious awareness in his eyes dims and is gone . . . and they are
only eyes with my tears in them . . .
CLICK!
. . . But that didn't happen! Steamboat is alive! He is back where I
came from, somewhere near my physical body . . .

(That is correct. The event occurred earlier in this physical life, a different animal, dog as you call them. You identified it as your present attachment. In the earlier episode, uncontrolled emotion overwhelmed you andyou were helpless. You did nothing to fulfill your responsibility. In yourpresent state of awareness, you exercised the control that is so important,which displays your growing ability even in our synthesized demonstration.
The paradox attached to such vital energy, emotion as you call it, is theopportunity for growth it provides and the simultaneous possibility of stasis
and retrogression. Control and direction thereof thus becomes a prime purpose in the evolving human experience. Understanding and comprehension
is the resultant and flows without effort. At no point is the goal to repress or
suppress such energy. Instead, it is enhanced when directed and focused
into the channels for which it was originally designed. What you call yourcuriosity is perhaps the most unrecognized and undistorted form of suchenergy. Yet it is the underlying force that produces what humans consider
their most outstanding historical achievement.)

RAINBOW ROUTE

119. . . This is coming too high and fast, I'll have to put this particularrote away and run it later . . .
(Do you wish to participate in your final demonstration?) . . . As it is thelast one, I assume it is the most stringent . . . if I could just remember itis only a demonstration, as THEY call it, seems more l i k e a t e s t . . . b ut i f
I c o ul d r e m e m b e r , i t w o u l d n ' t be a t e st . . . there's something similar
here to all of human physical experience, this not-remembering businessand the importance of it . . . the final test, y es! . . .
CLICK!
. . . I am sitting alone in the house and it is quiet . . . even our furry
friends seem subdued . . . both dog and cat lie half asleep in the front
hall, facing the door, waiting . . . the sun has just set and twilight ismoving in . . . soon it will be dark, and I can sit in the dark and see thehouse full of things, things she selected and liked so much, things she
made do with until there was better, things her grandmother used, things
she placed or hung in each room or put in closets and drawers where only
she knew where they were . . . all an expression of her and bearing her
reflection . . . but she is gone, she is not here as I expected . . . I don't
need light to see the things to remind me she was here . . . the sight ofthem does not disturb me and I would not change or remove them because they have her strong imprint . . . I can find her in the dark or in
the light, it makes no difference . . . she taught me so much without
knowing she did . . . the very female human response to moments large
and little, uncovered, uncolored except by her own perspective . . . all ofthese she shared with me . . . so that I lead not one but three lives, hers,mine, and our meld . . . and she helped me learn release from one of themost difficult of all, that physical sexual drive is not the fundamental ofthis energy I don't know what else to call but love, but one of the mostcommon inducements to kindle the process . . . once the full flame iscreated, the inducement is not even the fuel that feeds it, but instead a
multileveled minor physical note in an infinite chord . . . I now understand a mother and physical motherhood without being one . . . why awoman likes to be a wife and the admix of the idealistic and the realistic

120

FAR JOURNEYS

that foments such liking . . . a lifetime of human gamut in a fraction
thereof . . . the whither thou goest, I go, is more than true, yet a releasefrom this part is needed and accepted . . . she goes with me and I gowith her . . . aloneness is an illusion . . . here or there, the flame iseternal and we carry within us that which we have received and created. . . she is returning now as I knew she would . . . and we will notexchange goodbyes or forwarding addresses, our idents in one another are
indelible . . . just one final mo ment in this point of time . . .
CLICK!
(Your perception was quite clear, Ashaneen. The demonstration was successful.). . . It was very strange . . . one of us had released from the physical,
and I thought she was the one . . . then as it developed, I momentarily
became unsure, it could have been I . . . and I finally realized it didn't
make any difference which of us . . . the result was the same . . . now,of course, I don't have to ask if it has happened, but I know it will one dayin our serial time . . .

(That is correct. The result is the same. We now believe you are preparedto visit us, where we are as you call it, if that is still your desire. It will not
be a demonstration, but our reality. However, we will guide you and return
you to this point. It is important that you understand that such a visit,
momentary as it may seem, can produce within you changes that are irrevocable.). . . I do desire it, and I accept the responsibility for any changes that
may occur in me.
(Open widely. Have fun, as you put it.)

CLICK!
(I am in a bright white tunnel and moving rapidly. No, it is not a tunnel,
but a tube, a transparent, radiating tube. I am bathed in the radiation whichcourses through all of me, and the intensity and recognition of it envelop
my consciousness and I laugh with great joy. Something has changed, because the last time, they had to shield me from the random vibration of it.

RAINBOW ROUTE

121

Now, I can tolerate it easily, the actual energy itself. The radiation flow is
two-directional in the tube. The flow moving past me in the direction fromwhich I came is smooth, even, and undiluted. The flow that I am is moving
in the opposite direction and appears much different. It is organized in amore complex form. It is the same as the wave moving past me, but it
contains a multitude of small waves impressed upon the basic. I am boththe basic and the small waveforms, moving back to the source. The movement is steady and unhurried, impelled by a desire I know but cannot
express. I vibrate with joyous ecstasy just by the knowing.
(The tube seems to become larger as another joins it from one side, andanother waveform melds into me and we become one. I recognize the otherimmediately, as it does me, and there is the great excitement of reunion,
this other I and I. How could I have forgotten this! We move along together, happily exploring the adventures, experience, and knowledge of theother. The tube widens again, and another I joins us, and the processrepeats itself. Our waveforms are remarkably identical and our pattern
grows stronger as they move in phase. There are variegations in each which,when combined with another related anomaly, create a new and important
modification of the total that we are.
(The tube expands again and I am no longer concerned with its walls as
still another I enters the waveform flow. This is particularly exciting, as it is
the first I perceive as returning from a completely nonhuman sojourn. Yet
the intermesh was near-perfect and we became so much more. Now weknow that, somewhere, a consciously controlled physical tail, much like amonkey's, is useful in ways far more than balance and acting as a third
hand for holding things. It can be a very efficient means of communication
far beyond a super sign language just as eloquent as the spoken word.
(Steadily and surely, one I after another joins us. With each, we become
more aware and remember more of the total. How many does not seem
important. Our knowledge and ability is so great that we do not bother tocontemplate it. It is not important. We are one.
(With this, we divert from the underlying waveform and move away fromit. We watch motionless in unified respect as the action of it continues awayfrom us into an infinity. We also perceive easily the smooth originating
wave coming from such infinity and dissolving into the pattern from whence
we came.

122

FAR JOURNEYS(Flowing through all of us is a coherent energy that is our creation, that
displays immensely the reality of the whole as far greater than the sum of
the parts. Our ability and knowledge seem without limit, yet we know at
this point such is valid only within the energy systems of our experience.
We can create time as we wish or the need arises, reshaping and modifying
within the percept itself. We can create matter from other energy patterns,
or change the structure thereof to any degree desired, including reversion tooriginal form. We can create, enhance, alter, modulate, or eradicate any
percept within the energy fields of our experience. We can transform any
such energy fields one into another or others except for that which we are.
We cannot create or comprehend our prime energy until we are complete.
(We can create physical patterns such as your sun and solar system, yet
we do not. It has been done. We can adjust the environs of your planet
Earth, yet we do not. It is not our design. We can and do monitor, supplement, and enhance the flow of the human learning experience, as well asother learning experiences of similar content throughout time-space. Thiswe perform continuously at all levels of human awareness so as to prepare
properly those entraining units of our prime energy for the entry and meld
into the totality that we are becoming. It is the essence of our growth to doso. Such assistance and preparation is forthcoming from us only by requestfrom one or more levels of consciousness within the entraining unit. Thereafter, a bonding is in effect through which many forms of communication
pass between us until the ultimate transformation occurs.
(We know who we are, and one I laughs and we all laugh at the namethis I had given us. We are an INSPEC, just one. There are many othersaround us.)(You are still incomplete. There are parts of you yet to be transformed,
including that visiting portion so filled with curiosity. Each of us is incomplete. That is why we remain at this point, to reach back and gather additional and remaining parts of us until we are complete.)(Our curiosity desires the effect of completion.)(We move into the creative return flow again, the waveform that brought
you here. When we do so, we leave this reality.)(Can this be demonstrated?)(It is not possible. It is not within our knowledge to do so. When you
have transformed and melded totally into your whole, you will comprehend.

RAINBOW ROUTE

123

That is why this point came into being. It is not possible to continue until
completion.)(Continue to what destination?)(We believe it to be the source of the radiation, the creative emission andreturn. Communication is closed with those who have continued. The desire to continue occurs upon completion. It is more than your curiosity, as
you call it, and difficult to transmit in a form we can understand. There
have been attempts by those completed who are to continue, without success.)(The ultimate home?)(A good beginning concept. A design which unfolds as perception grows.
It is necessary now that you terminate your visit and return.)(We will be with you, our curious I.) Return where! (Your physical environs) . . . Where is that! . . . (In-human, your physical body) . . . Oh, yes, I
had forgotten ... Do I have to go back? (Reach for us and we will be withyou in many ways. You have much to do. Go get them, tiger!)(And a rote, as you call it, to play with.)
CLICK!
The return to the physical was near-instantaneous, my face and eyes
were wet. I sat up in the chair and remembered. I reached for the yellow
pad and pen, to get the rote into words immediately. I knew I hadchanged. For the rest of my physical life, I would remember. But thiswould never change:
For those who would die, there is life. For those
who would dream, there is reality. For those who
would hope, there is knowledge. For those who
would grow, there is eternity.

NEWFOUND FRIEND

10.Newfound
FriendQUICK CUES
Blank: Don't understand
CLICK!: Change consciousness
Closed: Tune down or out
Curl: Organized energy
Dulled: Lost interest
Flickered: Uncertain
Ident: Name/address
Lighted: Idea, happy
M-Band: Thought spectrum
M-Band noise: Uncontrolledthought

Open: Receptive
Percept: Insight,intuition
Plied: The way it isRolled: Laughed
Rote: Thought bundle
Run the rote: Get details
Smooth: Get it together
TSI: Physical universe
Turn in: Consider
Vibrate: Show emotion

R e a l t i me : 3 : 0 5 A . M . . . . b o dy r e s t e d, r e l a xe d . . . se n s e o f w a r mt h
. . . gentle insistent signal, familiar . . . good enough, deep breath, exhale, detach, unhook, down and out, then up . . . free of physical, up
slightly, roll, out of second body, leave it in parking orbit . . . now totally
free . . . begin to home on I N S P EC ident . . . out of phase with physical, moving . . . usual easy process . . . rapidly through dense innerrings . . . ought to be some way to wake all of them up at once, thatwould be something . . . not even a good simulation of hell . . . if you
won't accept you're no longer physical, you're dead, dead, dead and still
alive . . . now more out of phase, into the center major ring, used to callit Locale II . . . what an understatement, misnomer . . . at least
they've begun to understand and remember . . . dim forms, light up if
you focus on them . . . this is where my father was, Dr. Gordon, Agnew. . . more out of phase in spiral, nearly past the last outer ring . . .
Somebody grabbed me! Keep calm, cool, it can be worked out, hap-125

pened before but not this far on the edge, no need to abort and go back tophysical . . . don't move, no movement . . . it's releasing me, easing
back . . . totally different energy pattern, but intelligent, yes, must operate on M Band . . . certainly not . . .
(Didn’t intend to push you.) The form was open, vibrating. (Your ident
almost exactly like somebody else, my percept was he was you.)
I smoothed. (That's O.K.)
The form blanked. (O.K.?)(There's no problem.)
The homing signal was still there, and I turned to move, when suddenly
the signal cut off. It was gone. This had rarely happened before, usually
there was a reason. Almost instantly I got the percept. I turned back to
the form. It was dulled and closed, receding.
(Hey, wait a minute.)
The form opened slightly, blanked, motionless.
(Can I help you?)
The form vibrated slightly. (You’re human, or used to be?)I smoothed. (Well, yes, but not exactly the way you . . .)(If you’re human, you can't help, because you’re addicted like all therest.) The form vibrated heavily. (Takes more smarts than any human or
anyone who's ever been human. They’re contaminated.)
I had a percept of great loneliness. (Try me.)
Small bits of rote drifted out of the form as it flickered half open. They
had a different pattern and I couldn't put them together, too strange. The
first response in me was wariness, then I remembered what I had learned.
I opened wide. (Try me.)
The form flickered, then lighted somewhat. (Well, I have this friend,and . . . there's a problem. Here—)A large bulky rote rolled out of the form and straight to me. I gathered
it in carefully, and certainly with caution. There are some rotes one would
just as soon do without. This one also had an alien ident. Slowly, I opened
it.

126

FAR JOURNEYS

CLICK!
The Tour Guide checked to be sure all members of the group were
present. It had been an extensive cruise and this was the last point ofinterest.
(May I have your attention, please? If you’re ready, we will make one
more entry into TSI. I'm sure you will find it most interesting.)
Ident AA dulled. (I think I'll sit this one out.)
Ident BB turned to his friend. (Aw, come on, AA, it's only one more,then we'll be heading for home.)(One more, one more.) AA vibrated. (The exciting and amazing timespace illusion! TSI! Experience it in person! I could have stayed home andgot the same effect. See one, you’ve seen them all.)(This is supposed to be different.) BB lighted.
(Sure, sure.)(. . . And I am instructed to caution you to be prepared for extreme
discordant M Band radiation), the Tour Guide continued. (So I suggestthat you shield yourselves accordingly.)
AA turned to BB, half closed. (Same old buildup. Probably more rock,
more dust, more craters.)(. . . Stay on the perimeter, keep a safe distance. You'll find enough tokeep your attention at that point. Is everyone ready?)(You coming, AA?) BB queried his friend unnecessarily. He knew himvery well.
AA turned. (Oh, all right. You'll never let me forget it if I don't.)
CLICK!
The blue-green ball rushed closer until it blotted out all other perception. Then they were hovering just above tall rectangular masses set inorderly rows. In deep furrows between the masses, objects of various
shapes were moving slowly. Noise level in the M Band was near unbearable.
BB focused down with disgust. (What a mess!)
The Tour Guide began his carefully prepared spiel. (This is one of the

NEWFOUND FRIEND

127

major matter artifacts created by the dominant species, ident man or human
if you remember your briefing. Local ident is New York.)
BB dulled. (Doesn't look very new to me.)(The human species are the ones that appear more vertical than horizontal,) the Tour Guide continued. (The various colors you perceive are emanating from an artificially produced covering used principally for decorative
reasons. The larger mobiles are in fact artificial physical bodies which areoften temporarily inhabited by the dominant species, and use chemical
reaction of an explosive force to provide operating energy.)(You were right, AA. It's not worth the effort and that M Band noise isturning me inside out.) BB scanned his friend. (Getting to you, too, huh?)
AA focused raptly at the activity around them. (Fascinating, absolutely
fascinating.)
BB turned to him quickly. (What?)(The incredible power. I've never felt anything like it.)
(What power?)(Don't you feel it? So many different kinds, all randomly mixed together.)(Where, what are you talking about?)
AA reached out, stretching. (Coming from them. The M Band energy
patterns, thousands upon thousands, some hard, some soft, and the texture,
the texture!)
BB blanked. (You all right?)
AA opened wide. (I'm fine. In fact, I'm wonderful. I never knew anything
like this existed.)BB suddenly lighted. (It's the MBand noise! You've sopped up too muchof . . .)(Not noise, BB,) AA cut in. (Certainly not noise. It's an amazing mixture of resonance, beat frequencies, standing waves, incalculable patterns.)(Noise. That's what the prep briefing called it. That's what everybody
calls it. Plain old M Band noise . . .)AA turned inward. (I wonder what it's really like.)(What do you mean, really like! It's all over the place. All primitive life
sets have it. MBand noise is MBand noise. Come on, let's get out of here,
the cruise group is leaving.)
AA still remained inward. (To be there, to be in it must be spectacular.)128

FAR JOURNEYS(I wouldn’t know and I don't want to know.) BB grunted. (I've heard it
can be done, BB.) (Rumor, street talk.) BB vibrated impatiently. (Comeon, AA, we’ll lose the group if we don't . . . AA! Where you going?
AA!)
CLICK!
AA entered the Intermediate Area, BB in his wake. He stopped in frontof a tall burly form that seemed to resemble the humans he had just seen.
(I'm looking for the way to get to be human.)(This is ident Entry Station,) the form responded curiously.
(I want to do it.) AA vibrated. (I mean, I want to be human.)
The form blanked. (You want to what?)(I want to find out what it s like to be human, the way they are over down
there.) AA pointed. (I don't mean permanently, just long enough to get thefeel of it.)(fust long enough to get the feel of it.) The form turned inward, thenout. (Why would you want to do a thing like that!)(Well, uh . . .) AA tried to sort out the pattern in himself. (We’re on
this TSI cruise, and when we went in over ident New York, I suddenly . . .
it was very strange, I wanted, uh, wanted . . .)(The M Band noise,) BB put in. (It got to him.)
The form nodded. (Yea, the M Band noise. It'll do it if you're notcareful.)(I don't know how to express it.) AA flickered, attempting to coalesce.
(It seems very important that I try it.)(fust for kicks, a high, something new,) the form suggested.
(Well, yes.) AA lighted. (At least at first. Now, something more thanthat, I've never felt an interest this strongly.)(Where you from?) The form smoothed politely.
(KT-95), BB came in quickly. (I know it's a hefty skip from here, but we
had got a lot of rote about time-space and the TSI. No one had ever visited
it from KT-95, so when this cruise was offered . . . well, you know,) headded, (it can get kind of boring. You do something to break the monotony.)(I can do it?) There was slight anxiety in AA's query. (Rumor rote back

NEWFOUND FRIEND

129

home had wild stories about it, but even in the cruise rote, there's no official
mention, so . . .)The form sighed. (All you have to do is ask. That's all, ask.)
AA lighted with unusual brilliance. (That's just great! I certainly . . .)(AA, hold it, hold it,) BB cut in. (You absolutely sure you know what
you’re doing? I remember some wild rote about parts of it that weren’t quite
so . . .)(I wouldn't miss it for the KT-95!) AA turned to the form. (I ask. Now
what do I do?)(Recorded: You asked.) The form turned and pointed, (fust go that way
and then turn right. Right, not left.)(Got it, down that way, turn right!)(Not left.)(Right.) AA leaned to BB. (Stick around till I get back, old buddy. Will
I have some stuff to feed you! Real rote!)(Yeah,) BB grunted sourly. (The cruise group has already left. Thatmeans we’ll have to pull skip all the way home. Just don't make it forever.)AA lighted brightly and faded into the haze. BB stirred uncomfortably.
(You can wait here if you wish,) the form offered.
(Thanks, I'd appreciate it.) BB dulled, then in passing, (What's to theleft?)
The form spoke absently. (Oh, left. That's another department. Don'twant to get them mixed up.)
(Oh, yeah.) Then perceiving the form more clearly: (Hey, who are you?)(Ident Entry Director. ED. fust call me Ed.)
(Ed.) BB opened curiously. (You ever been through this human stuff?)
Ed was silent for a moment, pulling in old rote. (Yeh. Coupla times.)
BB drifted aimlessly about the station. The Entry Director hovered
motionless, inward and closed.
BB ventured, (Busy operation you got here.)
Ed opened slightly. (Yeh.)(Must be a lot more organization than appears on the surface, huh?)(Yeh.)(You must have picked up some pretty strong rote being here.)(Yeh.)130

FAR JOURNEYS

BB reached out without much result. (Haze is strange stuff. Cuts yourpercept back to near nothing.)(Yeh.)(Effect of the TSI, huh?)(Yeh.)BB rotated slightly, then did a few quick spirals. (We got a game backhome where we do as many as a hundred of these one after the other. Pretty
neat, huh?)(Yeh.)(But you got to keep in practice if you’re going to stay in the game.)(Yeh.)BB did several more tight spirals, then relaxed. (My friend will comeback to the Station when he's through, won't he? Back here?)(Yeh.)(Good, I can't miss him.)(Yeh.)BB blanked. (I can?)Ed popped open. (What?)(My friend has to come back here to the Station, doesn’t he?)Ed closed. (Hey.)(I don't want to . . .)Ed opened, vibrated heavily. (Hasn’t your friend returned?)(No, not yet. My percept was . . .)Ed accelerated. (I should have seen he was the type. Come on, kid.)
BB vibrated. (What's up?)
Ed faded. (Your friend's got a problem. Come on.)He turned and receded rapidly. BB followed, flickering wildly. Ed
turned left and waited for BB to join him. (There. This is our big department. No rote. The real thing. Get your own rote.)
BB blanked, flickered, wide open. Before him was the blue-green
planet, indistinct. Around the planet were rings of haze, gigantic thickrings, of indeterminate number. Demarcation between them was vague as
wisps and tendrils reached from one to the other. Except the ring nearly
touching the planet itself. It appeared isolated. With this exception, theothers were flowing rapidly through portals in the Entry Station. No, there

NEWFOUND FRIEND

131

was one more, on the outer edge. It came nowhere near the Station. Verythin.
BB focused intently. The M Band noise was horrendous, yet not nearlyso bad as it had been down on the planet itself. Moreover, as he singled
out each band, his percept showed that the noise was greatest in the bands
close to the planet. The farther away from the planet, the less noise. Verylittle was present in the outermost band. Little, but still there. BB blanked
further. M Band doesn't decline with "distance" or dimension; even thecruise TSI briefing rote had the whole story. If there was no M Band, nolife. M Band with noise, still primitive, no percept, no communication
worthwhile bothering with. M Band, no noise, great place to visit andgather rote, locals know where they are and what they are, easy but limited
communication—but not a place to stay. Nothing. No decline of intensity, no mix, noise and M signals. It either was or was not. Must be aneffect of the Intermediate Area.
BB focused tightly on a band in the center, nearly fell backward withshock, closed quickly and turned in. The band was composed of forms,
living forms! He opened slightly, focused, one band after another. They
were all the same. Thousands—no, millions, maybe billions of living
forms. BB closed and blanked completely, totally dulled.
(Your friend's in there.) Ed came in both gentle and sad.
BB opened slightly, still dulled. (What?)(When he hadn't appeared at the Station, that's the only answer.)
BB still blanked. (He's in there?)(Yep.)(What is it! There wasn’t anything like that during the TSI cruise, when
we stopped over . . .)(You were focused totally on physical matter. Cruise groups pop throughthe Intermediate Area, like avoiding a bump in the road.)BB blanked again. (Road? Bump?)(Forget it, not important, human terms.)(But all those living forms . . .)(Repeaters.)(Repeat, repeat what?)(They want to go through another experience as human.)BB closed tightly. Rote was coming so fast it was almost beyond con-

132

FAR JOURNEYS

trol. Incredible that anyone would want to go the route a second time.
The first looked bad enough. Yet the percept was obvious. Knowing AA, it
was obvious. He opened. The shock wore off.
(Can we find him among all those others?)
Ed smoothed. (Good possibility. Most First-Timers hitting the repeatroute usually end up in the outer band. Can you spot him? I mean, could
you get a percept on him easily?)BB lighted. (AA? Got more rote on him than anyone in KT-95. No
problem.)(Then you may well be able to turn him out of it.) Ed swung around.
(We better get over to the processing gate.)
CLICK!
BB scanned intently the multitude of animate forms passing under him.
AA and his impulses. Never did know when to stop if he got interested.
But these thousands upon thousands . . . He turned to Ed. (Must be big
stuff to make all of these want to do it again.)(We warn them. It's all in the pre-brief rote.)(Must not be too clear.)(Here, run it yourself. I'll scan for your friend.) Ed tossed a bulky rote at
BB. He ran it quickly. Halfway through, there it was: . . . remain fully
established freedom of will and consciousness at the entry point. This isguaranteed and is required by the compressed learning system in use. . . .
A final note of caution: Certain aspects of the human experience may
produce specific and general effects which may be harmful and unlesscontrolled bring about habituation, with undesirable consequences. Your
imprint affirms your understanding of this section.
BB opened. (That doesn’t seem very clear to me.)Ed vibrated. (That's as far as we can go. Otherwise it would ruin thelearning process.)(What aspects, what effects?)(It would ruin the . . .)(Come on, Ed, it won't ruin me. I'm not going to be a human. Ill nevertouch the stuff.)
Ed dulled, then closed. (Get your own rote.)

NEWFOUND FRIEND

133

BB vibrated. (All right, I will!)
Both remained half closed, focusing on the stream of forms passing
through the portal. Each appeared different from the others, yet possessedsome human trait, however small. In a few, BB's percept found a brightand intense radiation that made him confused and uncomfortable. It was
his reaction to one of these that forced him open and smooth. (Ed, you’rejust doing your job, and I'm pushed about my friend AA.)
Ed opened. (Yeh, I got the percept. Problem is, events like this don't
happen often enough and I lose the rote.)
BB blanked. (Lose the rote! Impossible. Nobody does that.)
Ed indicated the massive bands of living forms. (They did, all of em.)(Lose what rote?)(Who they were. They forgot who they were.)BB blanked and closed. No way anything like that could happen. It wasvital to very existence. No one could be and do if you—how did Ed put it?
—forgot who you were. Yet the percept from Ed was clear.
(Now, this outer ring,) Ed was continuing. (They are made of three types.
One is the First-Timer, such as your friend. He just started to forget. Then
there's the Old-Timers, who mostly remember after going the route, uh,repeating being human a number of times. These hang around and do what
they can to help. They don't remember quite enough to go home.)
BB lighted with a great percept. (You're an Old-Timer, Ed.)
(Yeh. Anyway, you keep a scan for your friend. I'll run the rest of the rotefor you, piece by piece.)
BB opened wide, sweeping focus on the stream of living forms. So manyof them. Still, should be no problem finding AA. Wonder how Ed happened to get assigned to his job. Why him?
(Wasn’t assigned to it. There was a hole where the ED used to be on mytime around, so I just jumped into it.) Ed was smooth and warming. (Thenthere's this third type, the Last-Timers. They make one more recycle, uh,
one more physical life as a human, and then they’re gone.)
BB turned. (Where do they go?)Ed rolled. (I dunno. Home, I guess. They never show up back here. And,oh yeh. There's this other type we call the Seekers. Don't get many of them,slippery as eels. Unstable, flick in and out.)
BB blanked. (As what? Slippery?)134

FAR JOURNEYS(Never mind. Human stuff again.)(Give me a rote and I'll run it.)
(Not worth it. Now, these Seekers, they’re different Near as I get it, theycome poking around here and they still got a physical human body overthere, alive and kicking.)(I didn’t have a percept you can do that. I thought everybody came backonly after the physical body fell apart, wasn’t operational.)(That's what I had until I got here as ED. Then I began to spot them.)
BB was lighting strongly, (There he is!)Ed was gentle, warm. (Go get him, tiger!)BB blanked. (Tiger?)(Go on!)BB moved swiftly into the massive, flowing ring of vibrating forms. The
M Band noise was nowhere near what he had expected, almost withintolerable levels. As he slipped through the edges of various radiationgroups, he was quick to percept that many if not most had signal strength
equal to if not greater than his own. But it was different. It was not justthe noise, it was something different. Nothing like it in KT-95. Also, theforms obviously were aware of his passing . . . short flashes of curiosity,
retracting to let him through, pleasant acknowledgment. Nothing like thepattern he expected from his earlier percept.
Then he was with AA. (Some adventure, huh?)
AA blanked, then lighted brightly. (BB! What are you doing here!)(Came to get you, what else?)(You didn't have to do that.)(Well, you were supposed to return to the Station. What happened?)
AA flickered. (I was?)(You sure were.)AA flickered more deeply. (I don't know. It seemed, uh, easier this way.)
BB smoothed. (How was it?)AA lighted. (Astounding! I don't have anything to express it.)(Start at the beginning.)
AA rolled brightly, and hit BB with a solid rote before he could close.

NEWFOUND FRIEND

135

CLICK!
AA moved among a large mass of beings of all shapes, sizes, and patterns. The crowd was so large that he could not easily perceive the otherside, where it ended. None remotely resembled anyone he had known
back home in KT-95. He dulled, disappointed. Were they all waiting to be
human?
(All of 'em.)
AA spun his focus. A short, human-looking form leaned behind him.
(What?)
The form vibrated. (Ident Routine Entry Dispatcher. RED. . . . fustcall me Red.)(Red?)(Not to be confused with . . . sorry, wrong department You must havejoined in when I was busy. Need to get a rote on you so I can try to place
you properly. Roll it)
AA opened and gave him the best rote he knew.
Red lightened. (KT-95, hey? Well, that's a new one for me. Haven't had
a KT-95 since I've been here.)(I don't believe there ever has been,) AA replied. (No records, only siderote which doesn’t mean anything.)(And you came in on a TSI cruise, and you want to get the feel of it,huh? M Band noise got to you, did it?)(Well, no.) AA flickered. (Not exactly, you see, I . . .)(Not important,) Red cut in. (fust makes it easier to get you processed, asa matter of rote. Now, first, which is your preference, male or female? I can't
guarantee your choice, but I like to match it up with the entry point when I
can.)AA blanked.
Red vibrated. (Oh, you don't know the difference. You are out of thewoods.)
AA blanked further.
(That's a human expression which . . . not important. I guess male orfemale doesn't make any difference in the long run, especially with you. So,
any particular entry point desired?)AA hesitated, then decided. (New York?)

136

FAR JOURNEYS(That's all? Just New York?)
AA lighted.
(New York it is, any available entry point. Either sex. Well, AA, thatshould make it fairly rapid for you. Of course, it would be immediate if you
select Bombay, Calcutta, or a dozen or so other points. Lot of action there.)
AA dimmed and dulled. (New York. At least I have rote. I've been there.)
Red turned in and closed. (Yeah, sure. Sure, you do.) Then he lighted
briskly. (Take this pre-brief rote and focus through it all the way. You'll
need to imprint your agreement and acceptance when you pass through theentry point. Ready?)
Red lobbed the rote and AA fielded it easily. AA probed the outeredges, then opened. (Hey, this is complicated! You mean I have to sort
through all this stuff?)
Red was closed. (Yep.)(Why can't I simply go and be human? Why do I need all of this?)
Red went auto-rote. (When in Rome . . .)(I'm not going to Rome, I'm going to New York.)
Red smoothed. (Oh, uh, yes, well, it applies anywhere. It's the rules, kid.
I don't make them. Now find yourself a quiet spot and run through it. I'll
have you a general point, New York, in no time at all.)AA blanked. (No time at all! I thought time was . . .)(fust run the rote, kid, run the rote.) Red unfocused and was gone.
AA leaned back and let the rote open:
Agreement and Understanding.
Human sojourn only. First Entry
Status (FES).
• Organized as a school for compressed learning. Successful graduatesachieve tangent rating.
• For duration of human sojourn, firm agreement that time-space exists,
has reality. Agreement of reality of particular entry point and its environs(matter, planet Earth, sun, solar system, galaxy, physical universe), of time
indicated at entry point, of physical animate form designated as well as
those of others, of past events recorded as human history, of complete
biostructure as encountered.
• In order for learning system to function at maximum efficiency, tempo-

NEWFOUND FRIEND

137

rary blanking of pre-entry activity is essential. Agreement to perform suchblanking is hereby authorized.
• Anything to the contrary contained herein notwithstanding, all FES
remain fully established in freedom of will and consciousness at the entry
point. This is guaranteed and is required by the compressed learning sys
tem in use.
• A final note of caution: Certain aspects of the human experience may
produce specific and general effects which may be harmful and un . . .
AA released the rote. Scare tactics. Need them to hold back the mobsthat would swamp the place with applications. Well, it won't work thistime. Can't get rid of old AA that easily.
He refocused on a nearby form. (How's it going?)
The form opened, then closed. (Who wants to know?)(Ident AA from KT-95.) AA reached out, then withdrew quickly.
(Where you from?)(You don't want to know.)(Sure, I do. Your first time, too, I guess. How, I mean what made up yourmind to give it a try?)
The form dulled. (I didn't.)
AA blanked. (Sure, you did.)(You don't understand. Here.) The form rolled a rote to AA, who picked
it up gingerly.
The first layer was enough. Assigned HSTI-FES for retraining, don'tcome back until you're better. Details enclosed in . . . The rote grew too
hot to handle. AA hurriedly rolled it back to the form, and the form
reluctantly retrieved it. AA unfocused and turned away.
(A big event, isn’t it!) A tall thin form emerged from the haze.
AA opened uncertainly. (Yes, it is.)(After all the planning and preparation, I'm finally going to do it. Finally!)
AA blanked. (Do what?)(Conduct my experiment!) The form lighted strongly. (I've studied every
aspect of the human system. Incredible how much effort it took. Only stateof consciousness I can test it in. It could change everything!)(Really!) AA focused more carefully. (What does it do?)138

FAR JOURNEYS

The form closed. (Sorry, might spoil the experiment if you had rote.
Maybe we'll meet as humans. See you on earth!)
The form faded, and as AA turned, he became aware of a tiny form
huddled to one side. He focused. (Hi.)
The little one was wide open. (Hi.)(Going to make the big leap, huh?)(Yes . . . I hope so.)AA blanked. (You hope so! Don't you know?)
The tiny form vibrated. (I mean, it came so quickly, it was such asurprise. I'm still not used to it. It's really going to happen, after I tried solong.)(You mean they wouldn’t accept you, wouldn’t let you in before this?)(I guess not. I wanted to, but it never happened . . . before now.)
AA opened more. (I thought anyone could just walk up and get in, if
there were entry points available.)(Oh, no. You have to qualify.)
AA stored and scanned. (Ident?)
The form flickered. (What?)(Ident.)(I don't know what you mean.)
AA blanked heavily, then focused softly. (If you’ll run me your rote, I'll try
to help. I understand, the excitement and all the anticipation.)
The form flickered more. (What's a rote?)(Rote is information you have that . . .) AA cut off, then reset. (Where
did you come from?)
The form lighted. (Over there. It was easy.)
AA followed the focus. (You mean the planet where humans are?)(Yes, yes.)
AA vibrated. (Then it's not your first time. You've been human? There
must be some mix-up!)(No, no, there isn 't.) The form grew brighter. (I've never been a human,
but I've studied them a long time. I've lived with them, they've fed andloved me . . . and now I . . . I'm going to be a human. They tell me I've
earned, I mean learned it. And I'm going to be a good one. I know it!)AA gave warm support and swung away, then unfocused. He turned indeeply for some obscure rote that would explain it. Nothing.

NEWFOUND FRIEND

139

The haze was gathering into clusters, some large, some small. Each had
wispy spirals of rote that brushed through AA as he wandered among theclusters. In KT-95, that was usually a sign of poor discipline or at least
leaky valves. Here, it didn't seem to matter. Further, there didn't appear
to be any lessening of the crowd. If anything, there were more. This
Intermediate Area was deceptive, AA decided. Has a tendency to distort.
What he pulled rote as hundreds must be thousands—all jammed into the
Entry Station. And that little mixed-up one. Couldn't rote anything, noteven where she really came from. She? What's she?
Suddenly, an unusually large spiral reached out from a cluster andyanked AA inward. (I need your help, I need your help!)
AA disengaged just as he was about to fall into the opening cluster.
(What's the problem?)
The form swept aside the last vestiges of haze. (What are your plans
after you enter?)
AA opened slightly. (Why, uh . . . to experience being human.)
The form vibrated. (No more than that?)
AA rolled. (I'm sure that'll be enough for me.)
(Do you know what they're going through over there?)(Well, I . . .)(Untold suffering. Millions upon millions of them, lying and deceiving
one another, violating every known law, including the ones they thought upthemselves, illusion upon illusion, digging deeper and deeper patterns . . .
It's horrible.)
AA began closing. (I'm sure it's not as bad as you . . .)The form vibrated more heavily. (It's worse. I've been studying andobserving them for centuries. Worse!)
AA blanked. (Centuries?)(Now it's getting to a crisis situation, and somebody has to do something
and nobody is, so I'm going to!)AA smoothed. (Do what?)(I'm going in there and change it all. I need your help to do it. I need
yours and everyone else's I can get. Here, here's what we’re going to do.)
The form threw a heavy rote at AA, who held on to it with somedifficulty. The first layers not only shocked but astounded him. How could

140

FAR JOURNEYS

rote ever get so tangled and distorted? He turned in and closed. How torelease gracefully? The solution came easily.
He tossed the rote back to the heavily vibrating form. (Sorry, I can't
help you. I would like to, but I can 't.)
The form vibrated. (You can't! Why not?)AA smoothed even further. (Didn’t you go through your pre-hriefing?)(Yes, of course I did.)(The part about blanking all previous rote? If they do that, I won't have arote of meeting you, anything about what happened here.)
The form dulled, then closed. The haze settled again in a cluster aroundhim. AA unfocused and continued his float among the clusters. He became cautious and avoided all the larger exuding rote tendrils. The others
he moved through, picking up fragments of events, patterns, states ofawareness totally inconsistent with those of home, KT-95.
Suddenly, a quick sharp percept drove into him. (Ident AA! Ident AA!
Ready for you at entry portal!)
AA spun quickly, focused on the signal, following it through the hazeand clusters. Looming through the haze was a large vertical slot, vibratingwith a vivid energy AA had never before perceived. Red and Ed were
waiting beside it.
Red vibrated. (All set and ready, ident AA.)
AA flickered. (What do I do?)Ed leaned in. (Imprint here, acceptance and agreement terms containedin pre-briefing.)
Two carefully controlled spirals emanated from Ed. AA sent his own
spiral in between them, then activated. Ed pulled back the spirals andleaned back.
AA vibrated very highly. (What do I do now!)
Red hit it hard and high. (Jump! Jump through the slot!)AA jumped.
CLICK!
Intense contraction, constricting . . . overwhelming signal input of
unknown types . . . coming from parts of him he never knew existed. . . trapped, can't get out of here . . . nothing works . . . can't get

NEWFOUND FRIEND

141

any thing to work right . . . not what I expected . . . it hurts . . .
what's hurt? . . . what who expected? . . . turn down the signals, turnthem down, they're tearing me up . . . too many of them, too strong. . . help, somebody help me! . . . trapped . . . please, please, somebody help me, get me out of this thing . . . this is the last of AA, screaming, screaming . . .
A new baby cried lustily in the bedroom of a New York tenement. Bothmother and midwife grinned happily, sweat running down their faces.
CLICK!
BB flickered. (Is that all?)AA lighted. (That's only the beginning.)
BB turned in. (Some beginning. You weren’t very happy.)(Oh, after a bit I learned, did I learn! There's so much I can't get it all
into one rote . . . What's wrong?)(I'm getting a wild percept.)
AA blanked. (From where?)
BB smoothed. (Never mind, let's get on home. We're going to have topull at least four skips to get back to KT-95 on our own. So . . .)(Home! I can't go back yet.) AA vibrated rapidly.
(Sure, you can.)(No!)(Now, come on, AA . . .)(I had only forty-five years. Then I got sick. I didn't get to finish!)BB smoothed. (Whatever forty-five years is, that's enough. Come on.)(I can't!) AA flickered violently. (I have only half the experience!)
BB blanked. (Half?)(I was a male this last time! Now I'm going to be female!)BB blanked completely. (Male? Female?)(That's right, old buddy, and they're as different as, as . . . That's what
I'm going to find out.)
BB hardened. (You're in trouble.)(Trouble? What trouble?)(You got the pre-brief rote.)
AA flickered. (Of course I got it.)142

FAR JOURNEYS(Then you know what's happening.)
AA blanked. (No, what?)
BB smoothed. (AA, you’re getting hooked, you’re . . .)The huge portal loomed ahead, a myriad of vibrations. AA was fading
into the massive portal along with the others.
BB vibrated as strongly as he could. (AA, no . . . wait!)
With a strange wave, AA disappeared. BB dulled and closed, andmoved away from the stream.
(Sorry, kid.) Ed came in gently. (I didn’t think you had a chance of asnowball in hell, but I had to let you try.)
BB dulled. (What happens now?)(If he/she follows the pattern, he/she will get more and more and more
involved in the human experience, dropping down a ring each time until
he/she is at the bottom.)BB flickered, still dulled. (Then what?)
Ed opened wide, carefully. (They stay at the bottom and don't comeback, or they begin to work their way back up. Most of 'em stay at thebottom.)BB dulled.
(Go on home, kid. Back to KT-9S.)
BB dulled and closed completely.
He slowly drifted out of the Station, flickering dimly. The haze was less,filled with occasional clean signals which did not have his ident; thus they
did not attract or penetrate and so were ignored.
Then a faint percept did penetrate. BB popped open. A form was
moving past him. He vibrated, stretched.
(AA! You did it! You broke out. How . . .)The form stopped, motionless. BB pulled back quickly. It was not AA.
CLICK!
BB opened wide. (I got my idents crossed. That's why I hooked you.) I
folded the rote back in slowly. (You have a problem, all right.) Then
there was a strong signal to return to the physical. I had a prob-

NEWFOUND FRIEND

143

lem, too. I had the percept of BB in total blank and I must have recededalmost instantaneously. I picked up the second, went back to physical,
took a deep breath, and looked for the problem. The dog was barking
again to go outdoors.

RESCUE MISSION

11.
Rescue Mission

145(Steamboat's dead! Dead! What a tragedy! I'll miss him, I'll miss him.
Let go, big dog, so I can take what's left and . . .)CLICK!
RESET.

Time: 3:55 A.M. . . . full physical wakefulness, usual conditions plus thenot so usual recognition of INSPEC homing signal presence in this consciousness . . . followed normal rollout . . . signal was strong . . .
moved upward and out, through rings, past Intermediate Area—stopped.
Was stopped. Feeling of tiredness, hadn't been aware of it before. No
more homing signal, I was there. So were THEY. Great sense of warmth,
companionship, more.
(Mister Monroe.)
When it came in that way, I was never sure it meant work or play, if I
could possibly tell the difference—or something else. It was somethingelse.
(Some alignment and balance are needed.)
I opened wide.
CLICK!
A huge white dog three times the size of our beloved Steamboat—whata name for such a nice little dog—has him by the neck, the massive jaws
firmly shaking Steamboat back and forth in quick jerks, Steamboat's bodyalready swinging limply.
(No, no!) I can't let it happen! Is it really Steamboat? It is! He's dead,Steamboat's dead! I'll kill that big son of a bitch, he'll never . . .
CLICK!
RESET.
A huge white dog three times the size of Steamboat has him by theneck in massive jaws that are swinging Steamboat from side to side,
Steamboat hanging limply.

A big white dog much larger than Steamboat has him by the neck andis swinging Steamboat back and forth, Steamboat hanging relaxed, eyes
closed.
(Well, little fellow, if that's the way it is, thanks for staying around aslong as you did. We had fun together. You gave me a lot of rote that always
will be a part of me . . .)Still in the jaws of the big white dog, Steamboat raises his head slightly,
opens one eye, winks at me, and grins.
CLICK!
I was calm and relaxed. The tiredness was gone. More than that. My
energy was strong and clear. (Thank you.)(Happy to be of service.)
I rolled. (Dogs will bark.)(Now you can move to your friend from the other system. He is lost. He
will need your help.)
I flickered. (I'm not sure I can help him.)(We will be with you. It is important that you help him.)
I blanked. (Important?)(Important to you. We interrupted your signal so that you would perceive
him. As you put it—time will tell.)
I smoothed. (Shall I make him aware of you?)(Not yet. Take this—how do you say it?—rote with you and perhaps hecan use it. We call it the BHP-1.)
I opened wide. (Sure.)
The rote came to me and I tucked it away. I turned and focused ident
BB KT-95. There was some motion and there he was, still in the haze.
And flickering.

146

FAR JOURNEYS

BB vibrated. (What happened! You faded out, then back. Somebody pulla skip on you?)
I blanked. (Pull a skip? What's that?)(Well, when we want to move from one pattern to another, we, uh, youknow, pull a skip. If you catch somebody wide open, and you get in justright, you can pull their skip and they’re off somewhere before they get apercept.)
I flickered. (Why would you want to do that?)
BB rolled. (It's a game, fun!)I rolled with him. (At least you're open now.)(So somebody did pull a skip on you!)
I smoothed. (No, not exactly.)(Even a skip leaves a trace. No one I ever met could do what you just did.
Neat. What was it?)I flickered. (Well, I, uh, I had to go take care of something.)
BB blanked. (Take care of what?)
I smoothed. (My body.)(What body?)
I rolled. (My physical body, of course. My physical human body. I still
got one and it still works.)
BB closed tightly, then opened slowly. (How, I mean, why, uh, what
(I don't know. It simply happened. I'm trying to find out the why.) BB
turned inward, then opened. (You’re one of those slippery eels!) I
blanked, turned in. Part of Ed's rote came up. I rolled strongly. (Iguess that's as good a percept as any.)
BB rolled, then hardened. (What about AA? Any more I can do?)(We'll try. You need a better percept of what's taking place.)
BB turned inward. (I don't want any real rote of the stuff. I sure don't
want to get addicted.)
I smoothed. (This rote won't do that. As a matter of fact, it'll begin an
inoculation process.)
BB blanked. (Inoculation . . .)(You can close better. I'll push it slowly. Catch the edge. If you don't likeit, don't take it in.)BB opened slowly. I eased the BHP-1 rote THEY gave me at him and it

RESCUE MISSION

147

spun slowly as he cautiously touched it. There was a long moment when
everything stopped, no movement, no response. Then there was a click
and the entire rote slipped into him.
BB turned inward and closed. I waited patiently. We were drifting
slowly out where the haze was thinner. I had only two idents at this point.
I either go back to where THEY were or back to the physical. I had nothingon AA, only part of BB's rote, which wasn't enough. It had to come fromBB. I couldn't find AA for him.
BB turned inward, opened. (It's all new to me. Real rote, huh?)(Yep.)(And that's what AA got himself into?)(Yep.)BB blanked. (This isn't your rote. Where'd you get it?)
I smoothed. (Coupla friends of mine. Most of the rote was new to me,
too. At least I didn’t have a percept like that.)
BB hardened. (Well now, I got a hook on what '$ going on. A little
complicated, but once AA has a1 percept of this quality, he’ll jump right outof the mess.)
I flickered. (Uh . . . there's a little more to it, you see.)(What do we do next?)(I guess catch your friend when he comes out again. If you can find him.)
BB smoothed. (I could find AA inside a black hole. Are you coming?)
BB had the percept that I would follow and he was right. He dove into
the haze and I was behind him, homing on his ident. We did a complete
run through the ring where he had found AA previously. Not a flick. I was
fairly sure that would be the case, which was bad news. Bad news for BB.
There was always a chance that if AA was in the outer ring BB might
convince him to pull out and let go. Bad news for AA? No one could makethat percept, not even AA at this point.
In my few stopovers in the outer ring, it had always been utterly fascinating—the mix. Particularly the Last-Timers, those who knowingly wereabout to make their final recycle. They gave off a radiation that was
unforgettable—tremendous vital power that seemed totally under control.
Within that strength were all of the values and ideals that humans holdimportant—not in time-space context, not in external control systems thatdemanded performance in a specific manner, but something entirely

148

FAR JOURNEYS

apart, something learned from being human. Most important, all undercontrol, all a cooperating, melding part of the whole. They were completely open. You could get a percept easily of the crucible of humanexperience that formulated such greatness—if you could handle it. I tried
once and it was too much. I returned to the physical and was wistful fordays thereafter. The key was that they got that way from being human.
They were not that way at First Entry.
But now it was different. Their radiation had a familiar resonance, and I
wondered why this was so. In the last time around, they evidently close it
all down. Part of the vitality seeps through; it really all can't be closed off.
Yet they don't select history-making roles in that final run—they've probably performed such previously. They are inconspicuous, the mail clerk, theplain dirt farmer, the sailor, the bookkeeper, not gathered as a group, but
quietly spotted here and there in both time and place.
If you ask their destination upon completion, most simply respond witha gentle warmth: Home. The percept comes out that way, but there's an
overtone, a flavor, a nuance that is only slightly familiar.
Yes, BB, there is much beyond the cold data. You pay the price and you
get what you pay for. One way or another. How do you tell a fish what it's
like on dry land? You don't try.
(Hey, I thought you were with me,) BB cut in.
I opened. (I am, I am.)(He's not in this mob. Now what?)
I smoothed. (Down another ring.)
I turned, with BB close to me, and we moved quickly into the lower
haze. It had a different texture. Actually, from this point, it was difficult todetermine where one ring began and the other ended. A part of it wasfamiliar to me. I had attended class here for a while.
I hadn't been closed enough. (What kind of class?) BB cut in.
(Where you learn how to help those who are still in a physical body.)
BB rolled. (AA wouldn't be here. Nobody could teach him anything!)
I turned inward. (If you say so.)BB darted outward and down and I joined his descent. . . . We began
to enter the familiar cleared areas in the haze. Houses, parks, fields ofgrowing plants, woods, forests, large buildings, rows of churches, it went

RESCUE MISSION

149

on endlessly. Humanoid forms were busily occupying themselves in numerous earth-type activities.
BB flickered. (Haze is sure thick. What are they doing?)
I smoothed. (What they want to do.)(Just milling around like that?)(Some are fixing up their houses. Some are working. Let's see. Others areplaying golf. There is a poker game going on in that building over there. . .)
BB cut in. (What building over where? I don't get a percept on anything!)
I flickered. (No building?)(Nope.)(No houses, streets, trees, fields . . .)(fust human-type forms moving around. And a lot of haze.)
I blanked and turned inward. The constructs—all of them were notphysical matter, so BB ought to be able to get percept of them in somemanner. The temporaries knew they were nonphysical; they built all of
this to be in familiar surroundings while they thought over and prepared
for their next human cycle, built it out of . . . I lighted. BB had no ident
on such, thus he couldn't pull a percept. It was strictly humans only.
I smoothed. (I don't think your friend is here. Let's move on.)BB flickered. (Down?)(Yep.)
I swung over and did a flamboyant half-roll and dove through the border haze. You could spend thousands of years in the rings and never
explore all aspects of them. Some parts are great, some not so great. I wastold that whatever man can think of is somewhere in these rings; thus
more is being added constantly as man thinks more. Also I was told somehumans do spend thousands of years here, rotating in and out of physicalearth life. Could be exciting stuff if you planned and thought it out carefully. But most of them . . .
(I got him, got him!) BB almost blew me away, he was vibrating so hard.
(Where?)BB was already spinning away and I was following closely. Curious to
finally meet the notorious AA . . . then I nearly rammed BB, he pulled
up so suddenly.

150

FAR JOURNEYS

BB flickered. (It's AA, but . . . there's something wrong.)
I scanned to get a percept on his focus. There was a form, small, lowenergy base, female, old woman, no, not so old, just . . .
BB vibrated and moved in. (AA! Hey, old boy, it's me!)
The form flickered, half open. (Leave me alone.)BB vibrated. (It's me! BB!)
The form opened more. (What?)BB reached out. (BB, that's who, old buddy, come to take you back!)
The form opened wider, vibrated. (BB! Where did you come from!)
BB smoothed. (Never mind, I'm going to take you back.)
AA flickered. (Back? Back where?)(Back where you belong.)
AA vibrated. (Belong? I belong here! BB, I tell you, I'll never be a female
again! I was all day hoeing in the fields, got up in that cold stone hut while
it was still dark, made the cooking fire, then ground the grain into meal,
then cooked food for the children, then he got up and I made his food, then
the tax collector came and took three pigs, my three best, then my youngest
baby died and I had to bury her longside the other eight, but I kept six ofthe fourteen alive till the plague got me, and all the time he just was lying
around or hunting, or taking a club to me, then him and those other men
came in sousing drunk on wine and laid it to me, all of them. That plague
was God's will. It took me away from all of that!)BB blanked totally, flickering. I started to move in, and suddenly there
was a barrier, a force pushing me back. I kept trying, but it wouldn't letme get close to AA. I had never felt anything like it. I finally stayed away.
BB opened carefully. (AA, I came to help . . .)(I don't need help,) AA cut in. (I know what I'm going to do. I'm goingback and I'm going to be a warrior, a big powerful man, and I'm going to
spread my seed from one corner of England to another. Old King Henry
won't have nuthin' on me, he won't!)(AA!) BB vibrated heavily.
AA blanked, then flickered. (What? Oh, it's you, BB. What do you
want?)
BB smoothed carefully. (Let's go home.)
AA flickered. (Home?)(Back to KT-95. How about it?)RESCUE MISSION151

AA still flickered. (KT-95? K-T-9-5. Yeah . . . yeah! What about it,BB?)
BB smoothed softly. (We need to leave and go back now. Be with ourold friends and buddies, give them some new games, give the big rote you
got here, big stuff in KT-95. Let's go.)AA flickered. (Well, BB, you just might . . . you just might . . . No! I
can't, I haven't finished here! I'm going to be a big strong warrior. Then I
can kill men, kill, lie around, women will get food for me this time, hunt,souse when I want, no babies to carry around . . .)BB reached for him, but he faded quickly into the haze. BB started tofollow, but I got in his way, and I stayed motionless as he slowly closed
and dulled. Various forms moved past us, only one or two showing any
curiosity. What small percept I had of AA indicated this would happen;
he would drop faster than the typical First Entry. BB would have called itwild rote for sure if I had handed it to him before the fact.
(You're leaking.) BB opened slightly. (You can't be closed and open at
the same time. I got that percept as clear as if you 'd thrown it at me.)
I rolled. (I'm still learning.)(I guess you’re right,) BB went on. (It would have been pure raggededged wild rote to me. Smooth, slick handle—anything, AA hitting a highone like that! What got into him?)(Being a female, a woman.) I plied carefully. (Must have lived it three,four hundred years back, uh, past, uh, before now.)
BB blanked. Serial time was too much for him. I had a percept that was
new to me, too. I had always assumed repeaters lived sequential lives
relative to time. Either this is not the case or AA is the rare exception.
BB opened slightly. (That's the way it is being female?)I flickered. (Well, uh . . . that's the way most females lived back then.
It's different now . . . I mean, different for some of them.)(And how many of you humans are female?)I flickered again. (About half, I guess. Ought to be half.)
BB vibrated. (Why would anybody want to be a woman!)
I smoothed. (There are compensations, balances. Some males suspect
women secretly rule the earth.)
BB focused intently. (Do they?)152

FAR JOURNEYS

I turned inward, then rolled. (I'm male at this point, and I suspect theydo.)BB turned inward and closed. I was indeed learning from him in an
inverted form. Evidently his KT-95 was nothing remotely like being physical and human. Explaining the process even with a cloud of rotes seemed
too big to me. Still, there was a sense of warmth, friendliness, even familiarity with BB that didn't fit. I liked him. Nice fellow. Very human in his
responses. Maybe the energy base is common through all systems, physicalor otherwise. Only the experience, the rote is different.
BB popped open. (So what about AA?)
(We can try again.)(But you’re not on it.)I blanked. (On it?)(Your percept has it as wasted effort.)
I lighted. (I leaked again?)BB rolled. (A little.)(AA is in a pattern. I'm not very smart, hut my percept is, you can'tchange it but you have to try.)
BB smoothed. (Once more, only once more.)(Where have I heard that before!)(I owe it to him, is that the way you put it?)
I plied. (One more. But it gets kind of rough from here on.)I turned and gathered up courage, closed tightly. The haze ahead wasmuch thicker, dull gray, with only occasional flares of light moving
through it. I understood the lights; they were those from the outer rings
coming in, trying to help or meeting loved ones at their physical death. I
had tried this several times, although I don't seem particularly suited forthat kind of action. Usually, I pass through these rings as rapidly andunobtrusively as possible.
We entered slowly. Almost immediately, I began to feel uncomfortable
and my percept indicated BB was more so. Any prospect of locating AA
was totally up to him. I threaded our way among the countless forms
hanging motionless. Actually, their movement was so slow as to be almost
imperceptible. These were the ones who had just been released from their
physical body via death and vaguely knew they had but didn't have therote to do much, if anything, about it. Occasionally as we passed, one

RESCUE MISSION

153

would lean in our direction, which I had learned indicated the beginningof remembering—or the last vestiges of the forgetting process. My usual
reaction was: Had I been like that? Had I ever been so unaware? It depressed me to accept the fact that I probably was. I don't remember or I
don't want to.
For the first time, I realized the M Band noise was lower in this muck.
Almost immediately came the percept, naturally: stupid. Nobody is doing
much thinking at all. They're in a state of shock from dying, having
nothing to hang on to, so scared they can't handle it, so they put theirheads in the sand and try to hide. The typical wave of compassion went
through me, and I cut it off. Others are working on the effect, this end of
the blockage. I'm supposed to be with those who try to help cut back thecause. I don't know which is more difficult.
(He's not here.) BB came in grimly. He was barely open. I turned inward.
I had long ago defused the rote of my painful early climb—no,blundering is more apt—through these close-in patterns. My subsequent
training experience was minimal at the most. But I knew the next ringinward. It wasn't nice. Beyond that was physical life. The two weretightly interwoven, the thick ring just slightly out of phase with physicalmatter. It was the interface between one reality system and another. Evenfrom this perspective, it was difficult for a novice to distinguish instantly
the differences in the two. But I could.
That was the problem. The inhabitants of this ring couldn't. They
didn't or couldn't or wouldn't realize they were no longer physical. They
were physically dead, no more physical body. Thus they kept trying to bephysical, to do and be what they had been, to continue physical one way
or another. Bewildered, some spent all of their activity in attempting tocommunicate with friends and loved ones still in bodies or with anyone
else who might come along, all to no avail. Others were held attracted tophysical sites in which they had instilled great meaning or importanceduring their previous human lifetime. All had long forgotten or blocked
deeply the technique that once was so basic: the M Band.
Still others interpreted their change in status as simply a bad dream ornightmare, and were waiting and hoping to wake up soon.
I moved in cautiously, with BB tight behind me. He was almost completely closed, just scanning for ident AA, no more. I don't blame him. I

154

FAR JOURNEYS

would have turned and spun away fast if it had been my first run throughthe place. The M Band noise was thunderous, a cacophony of fear, anger,
and about every other human emotion, every desire, every need connectedwith human physical existence. All open, naked, uncovered, up front. As
we entered more deeply, I kept expecting BB to signal me, but he didn't.
Physical earth and those aboard for the ride were intermixed now as I
speeded up the search, moving faster and faster. But you could tell thedifference. Those still physical seemed less distinct, not quite but almost
transparent. Suddenly, I got a pull from BB and stopped immediately.
(I got him!) BB vibrated strongly. (Not much, all covered over, but it'shim!)
I flickered. (Where?)
BB leaned. (That way!)
I turned inward. That way, that way, that way . . . was out of time,no, another time. Moving to another time ident was not exactly something I performed often, not willfully. Then I had the percept from ourlast contact with AA. It was a different time frame, too. Get lost, left
brain. Then, very clearly, there was that soft vibration in me. (It is important for you to go. He will help.)
I lighted brightly.
CLICK!
BB vibrated. (I thought you couldn’t pull a skip!)
I flickered. (Well, I . . .)(And both of us in the same pull!) BB rolled. (You don't accept your own
strength.)
I smoothed. (That's a skip?)(Just like we do it in KT-95.) Then BB cut off as he scanned the action
below us.
We were hovering over a rugged countryside, rocks, sand, very little
vegetation. Sunlit cloudless sky overhead. Directly below us was a dusty
road. Marching along the road three abreast was a column of men, eighty
or ninety in number. Each was dressed in some kind of knee-length coat,no sleeves, wide leather belt just above the hips, heavy vest over the chest.
A short double-edged sword hung through a loop in the belt. Metal plates

RESCUE MISSION

155

were strapped to the arms. A round, pointed shield was in each left hand,a long wooden spear in the right. They were marching very rapidly. Thiswas out of the ring. This was real physical life rote.
The M Band noise was much less. I opened more. (You ident yourfriend?)BB flickered. (It's very solid, but . . . that's him! There's the humanout in front alone, then AA is the one just behind him . . . but he's
different. So much other rote on top of him. AA is weak. Can't get any
strong percept. The other stuff is too strong. What's going on!)I smoothed. (He's still in a physical body at this point. He's a warrior.)
BB blanked. (What's a warrior?) (He kills other humans.)
I turned away from a totally blanked BB, reached out, and focused for apercept on AA. Almost immediately, I hit a wall of resistance that pushed
me back violently. Try as I might, I couldn't force through it. It was thesame as I encountered before when I reached for AA.
The column of troops moved along the road and deep into a ravine, andI saw the enemy troops hidden above on each side of the ravine. A great
sense of knowing came through me, and I reached out frantically to thewarrior AA, but the barrier threw me back. I knew what was going tohappen and it did. When AA's column was deep in the ravine, the hidden
soldiers stood and unfolded the ambush, and a shower of spears rained
down. AA was one of the first to fall. He writhed in the dusty road, face
down, trying to get up to join the battle, but the spear in his back had
driven through him and into the road, pinning him down. Blood poured
into the dust, and after a moment his body relaxed and went completelylimp.
I vibrated strongly at BB. (Get down there, get to him. I can % so you’ve
got to! Bring him back up here.)
BB moved quickly, and I focused as he went down to the battle scene. Igive him credit, all the action and killing didn't flicker him in the least. He
tugged a struggling AA out of the warrior body, and brought him up
toward me. As he did, I was astounded. As he came closer with AA, abarrier kept pushing me back. Finally I signaled BB to stay where he was.
AA, still in the shape of the warrior, struggled and vibrated heavily. (Gotta
kill the enemy. Kill them, kill them. Gotta get up and kill them . . .

156

FAR JOURNEYS

Where's my spear, my shield? Gotta get up and kill them. I'm missing all
the battle. Leggo of me. You're makin me miss the fightin, it'll be all overand I'll have missed out . . . Gimme my spear. Where is it? . . . Gotta
go and fight, go and fight and kill!)
BB vibrated. (He doesn’t know me! I can't hold him much longer!)I flickered. (Let him go.)BB blanked. (What?)
I smoothed. (Let him go. There's nothing you can do for him at thispoint.)BB released the struggling form, and the AA warrior slipped quickly
down into the battle, trying fruitlessly to pick up a shield and spear andjoin the battle. Unable to do so, he stared at his hands, bewildered, thenbegan to beat at the enemy troops with his fists, which passed throughthem as if they didn't exist. But he kept on trying.
I turn to BB. He was dulled and completely closed. (Come on, let's goback.)BB opened slightly. (Back where?)
CLICK!
We were in the Intermediate Area near the Station. BB was dull, motionless, half closed.
I lighted. (How did you like that skip! Right on target!)BB opened slightly. (Yeah, fine.)
I suddenly became uncomfortable. There was something I had forgotten. It was important. I became more uncomfortable. Something demanded me, my attention. There was an urgency. Yes! My body! Got to
get back.
I vibrated. (Gotta leave! I'll be back!)
BB opened wide. (Hey!)
He faded to a pinpoint, then out as I dropped away quickly. I barely
noticed passing through the rings . . . then there was my second in orbit
around the physical . . . I slipped in easily and slid for the physical, andin. I sat up, feeling tired, unusual. The problem that called me back wasstrongly evident. My body was too cold. The blanket had slipped off.

12.Hearsay
Evidence

Time: Indeterminate, night . . . Went through usual unhook pattern, no
signal present . . . with many options open . . . decided to return to
BB on my own if I could . . . ident BB KT-95 . . . then ran stretch-out
method . . . through the rings without incident, then to edge of thinhaze of Intermediate Area . . . went motionless to get percept of BB
close in, as he didn't seem evident . . . percept brought surprise . . .
he was directly under me. Closed and dulled so tightly, no wonder he was
hard to find.
I opened and vibrated. (Hey, BB, I'm back.)
BB opened slightly, then lighted. (Well! I had about given up on you.
Had you stuck in your human body.)
I rolled slightly. (Sometimes I am.)There was no percept from him regarding AA, and I wasn't going tobring up the subject if he didn't. It was a tender rote at this point and I
knew I didn't have the answer he wanted. If there was one at all. Just to
keep the action going, I stretched, did about three snap rolls, and returned
with a flourish.
BB plied. (What was that?)(Just getting some exercise.)BB opened. (We got a game back in KT-95 where we use that kind of
stuff. Want to try it?)I lighted. (Sure!)
BB rolled slightly. (You just try to do what I do. That's all there is to it.)He turned, spun off, and I stretched behind him. Focused tightly on his
ident. It was like holding on to a greased pig on a sheet of ice, only the ice
was three-dimensional—no, worse than that, it had many dimensions. It
was whirling, stopping, starting, moving slow then fast, passing throughstrange flashes of percepts, into a brilliant sun and out the other side,
dodging around clusters of forms who seemed startled at their percept of158

FAR JOURNEYS

us. All the time I hung on to BB's ident much as the last skater in a crackthe-whip, in and out of clouds, bands of energy that were like gusts of hot
and cold air, electrical shocks, straight through the walls of a magnificently
spired city. I was afraid I couldn't hang on to his ident much longer, afraid
if I let go I'd be thoroughly lost. He stopped suddenly and we were backagain in the thin haze of outer earth environ. I was shaking.
BB vibrated brightly. (Good fun, huh?)
I flickered deeply. (Yeah, good fun. Who invented that one?)BB blanked. (Invented?)(How did it get started?)BB plied. (Oh, I don't know. Always been around. You can begin acomplete new one if you want. The fun of the game is to add to the oldsomething new inside, in the middle, or on the end, sort of a surprise. Get
it?)(Yeah. We humans have something like it called follow-the-leader.)BB lighted. (That's right, follow-the-leader! You did real well at it. You
must play the game a lot.)
I flickered. (Not, uh, not recently. But I did fly airplanes and that
helped.)BB blanked, and I went on. (Incidentally, what happens if you miss aturn, or lose the ident?)
BB rolled strongly. (You lose!)(What happens to the losers?)
BB flickered. (I don't have any rote on that. They never come around toplay again. My percept is, they get lost.)(And stay lost?)(Well, they never come around to play again, as I indicated, so I don't
have a rote on it. Often we have as many as a hundred playing in a group.
Nice game, huh?)(Yeah.) I then had one final query. (What is all that stuff we went
through?)
BB plied. (Don't have a rote on that either. Nobody bothers with that
junk, it's just a game.)
Some game. I had a clear percept on my dropping BB's ident anyplace
along the track. I would have lost and have been lost. I probably would
have stayed lost, too, I'm sure. But it didn't happen, and I got a strong

HEARSAY EVIDENCE

159

percept to know the game before you get into it, certainly if it was playedin KT-95.
There was the other part, where and when the game took us. What was
the effect of such energy as the two of us expended upon the areas we
pushed through so indiscriminately and without purpose. How many ants
did we destroy because we didn't look or care where we stepped on thegolf course fairway. What happened when a hundred played the game?
The locals would consider such things natural disasters or God's will,whether ants or archetypes. Either way, it's a strange percept, possibly
being such an instrument. One illustration of ultimate impersonality, perhaps.
BB cut in. (Hey, you all right?) I
opened. (Yeah, sure.)(You were closed and flickering. Had a percept you were going to skipback to that physical body again.)
I opened and rolled. (No, no. Not yet, anyway.) (Why bother with it?
Why go back at all? Leave it where it is.) I turned inward. The percept
had come up more than once, to say the least, and so far I had rejected
it. The first question always present was: What would I do or be if I did?
There was still a missing element. I knew I could pass through the rings
easily and I might hang around in one of the upper segments andparticipate. Plenty of interesting action there. Most if not all of it was
focused on helping the human process work better. That seems a goodand essential part of the training system, but it's still preparation.
Preparation for what? That was where the missing element came in.
Those Last-Timers in the outer ring were going Home, but my percept
Home had seemed to grow dimmer rather than clearer and cleaner as it
was supposed to. I hadn't visited There in a long, long time. I opened
carefully. (Well, it's, uh . . . I haven't quite finished school, learning
yet . . . and I need a physical body to do it.) BB had blanked
completely.
(It's sort of a game,) I went on, (and I've agreed to play it.) BB lighted.
(Oh, a game! Yeah, I can get that one.) (I'll give you a short rote on it
if you think you can take it.) BB rolled. (After that last skip with AA, I
can handle anything human.) I turned inward. He had mentioned AA
without flickering, and that

160

FAR JOURNEYS

was great. He was smoothing. I put together an edited rote, short form, of
my nonphysical action since 1958, leaving out the THEY sections, andtossed it to him. He took it in, closed, was still, completely motionless.
Then he opened wide, rolled, and flickered.
I vibrated. (It's not that funny!)
BB finally smoothed. (I got an ident I can use for you! RAM the Bam!)
He was off again, flickering and rolling hard.
(Just RAM will do.)He finally quieted down. (Well, Ram, I get the percept that you were justa locked-in, hooked-on human until this thing came up. You had somestrong action after that! You didn’t have much smarts.)
I plied. (I still don't have much.)(And you sure do things the hard way.)
I rolled a little. (Percept you can do any better?)BB flickered. (Why, any dumb curl with only half his ident could . . .)I cut in. (How about with no ident?)
BB blanked, then vibrated. (No, you don't. You’re not going to get me inthat game! I'm staying the way I am!)
I rolled and turned inward. I guess, from an external perspective, muchof my response in my early OOBE states would seem ludicrous. Now I canlaugh at much of it myself. At least I know the human school game canwork. But there are many unknowns. What do you do after you graduate?
Where and how do I practice what I've learned?
BB broke in. (Say, uh, RAM.)I opened. (Yes?)
BB flickered. (I take it back. You’re not really a dumb curl.)I rolled. (Thanks. I needed that.)BB blanked. (You did?)(That's a joke. Human fun.)He turned inward, then went on, opening. (How did you get a percept
and start running this leaving-your-body game?)
I flickered. (I don't know. It just happened.)(Other humans do it, too?)(I know at least some do. I've met them. Problem is, most go OOB
during sleep and they don't remember it when they wake up back in thephysical.)HEARSAY EVIDENCE

161

BB turned inward, and I knew he was sorting out and scanning the rote
I had given him. Things like sleep and wake-up needed new percepts on
his part. Also I knew what he was leading up to. But he put it off.
He opened, flickering. (These three curls that came down the . . . uh,beam, you call it. Who were they?)
I plied. (I don't know.)(They seemed to know you.)(Maybe they were from KT-95.)
BB rolled. (That is wild rote . . . oh, joke fun. But you seemed to know
them. You wanted them to take you with them. Why?)I flickered. (I don't know.)(Ever meet them again?)(Not that I have a percept of.)BB turned inward again, then out. (What about these curls that helped
you when you needed it, or percepted you did. Who were they?)
I smoothed. (Probably from the upper rings. There's plenty of that goingon. Again, most humans don't have any percept on it except what they calldreams, uh, wild rote.)
BB turned inward again, then opened, flickering. (Well, I get the percept that there's too much wild rote floating around here.)I blanked. (Which in particular?)(That rote on human compressed learning, human structure, the one you
tossed me.)I flickered. (Yes?)
BB went on. (That's not wild?)(My percept is that it fits.)(I got another rote, and when I overlay the two, one of them is certainly
wild.)
I blanked. (What rote is that?)(The one we got in the TSI brochure, about all the places and things wewould be visiting. All about earth and humans, how it got started, what it'sfor . . . all of that stuff.)
I closed, then opened slowly. (They don't match up?)
(Here, get your own percept.) BB tossed a rote at me, and I took it
curiously. And unfolded it.

162

FAR JOURNEYS

CLICK!
Someone, Somewhere (or both, in millions, or uncountable) requires,likes, needs, values, collects, drinks, eats, or uses as a drug (sic) a substanceident Loosh. (Electricity, oil, oxygen, gold, wheat, water, land, old coins,uranium.) This is a rare substance in Somewhere, and those who possess
Loosh find it vital for whatever it is used for.
Faced with this question of Supply and Demand (a universal law ofSomewhere), Someone decided to produce it artificially, so to speak,rather than search for it in its "natural" form. He decided to build a
Garden and grow Loosh.
In the natural state, Loosh was found to originate from a series ofvibrational actions in the carbon-oxygen cycle and the residue was Looshin varying degrees of purity. It occurred only during such action, andsecondarily during the reactive process. Prospectors from Somewhereranged far and wide in search of Loosh sources and new discoveries were
hailed with much enthusiasm and reward.
So it was that Someone and his Garden changed all this. Far off, in aremote area, he set to work on his experiment. First, he created a proper
environment for the carbon-oxygen cycle, where it would flourish. He
created a Balance with much care, so that proper radiation and othernourishment would be in continuous supply.
He then tried his First Crop, which actually did produce Loosh, but
only in small quantities and of comparatively low grade, not significant
enough to take back to the heart of Somewhere. The problem was twofold. The life period was too short and the crop units themselves were too
minute. This brought about limits in quality and quantity, as the crop hadno time to generate Loosh in such close tolerances. Moreover, the Looshcould be harvested only at the moment of termination of the life span, notone moment before.
His Second Crop was no better, if as good. He changed the environment to another part of the Garden, where the density was gaseous rather
than liquid and the higher-density chemicals formed a solid base and thus
were still available. He planted numberless units in many varieties in a
new form, with a great increase in size, some many thousands of times
larger and more complex than the simple unicellular First Crop. He re-

HEARSAY EVIDENCE

163

versed the carbon-oxygen cycle. Yet all had a basic uniformity. Like theFirst Crop, they would reseed at regular intervals and terminate their lifespans automatically. To avoid the uneven distribution of chemicals andradiation which had been prevalent in the First Crop, he immobilized theSecond Crop. Each was designed to stay principally in its own section of
the Garden. To this end, each was given firm tendrils which burrowed
deep in the more dense chemical matter. Attached to this was a stem ortrunk which helped elevate the upper portion upward for its share ofneeded radiation. The upper portion, broad, thin, and somewhat fragile,
was designed as a transducer of carbon-oxygen compounds to and fromthe crop unit. As an added thought, brilliant color radiators accompaniedby small particle generators were mounted on each unit, usually near the
top and symmetrically centered.
He set up circulating patterns in the gaseous envelope around the crop,principally to aid in the reseeding process. Later, he discovered that thesame turbulent effect served as a means of harvesting the Loosh. If the
turbulence were violent enough, the Crop would be blown down, the life
span terminated, and the Loosh would discharge. This was especially useful when an immediate Loosh supply was desired at a particular point
rather than at Harvest Time.
Despite all of this, the Second Crop was most unsatisfactory. While it
was true that a much greater quantity was attained, the unrefined Looshproduced was of such low grade that it was scarcely worth the effort. In
addition, the growth period was now too long and no increase in quality
resulted. Some vital element was missing.
Someone hovered over his Garden for a long period in study before he
attempted the Third Crop. It was indeed a challenge. True, he was partially successful. He had grown Loosh. Yet the product of his efforts fell far
short of the wild, uncultivated variety.
It was inevitable that he perceived the answer. The Third Crop was
living proof of this Truth. The original carbon-oxygen cycle must be included. Mobility must be restored. Both factors had shown great promise
in high-grade Loosh production. If size could be added to this, much
could be accomplished.
With this plan in the forefront, Someone removed various sample units
from the First Crop, which was still thriving in the liquid portion of the164

FAR JOURNEYS

Garden. He modified them to exist and grow in the gaseous area. He
adapted them first to take nourishment from the Second Crop, which hepermitted to abound for this very purpose. Thus it was that the first of the
Mobiles, the Third Crop, came into being. The Mobiles took nourishment from the Second Crop, thus ending its life span and producing lowgrade Loosh. When each huge Mobile terminated its own life span, additional Loosh was produced. The quantity was massive, but the frequency
pattern of the Loosh residue still left much to be desired.
It was by accident that Someone came upon the Prime Catalyst as
regards Loosh production. The monstrous and slow-moving Mobiles had alife span far out of proportion to their nourishment input. The growth andlife-termination process was of such length that soon the Mobiles would
all but decimate the Second Crop. The entire Garden would be out ofbalance, and there would be no Loosh production whatsoever. Both theSecond and Third Crop faced extinction.
As the Second Crop grew scarce, energy needs of the Mobiles became
acute. Often two Mobiles would seek to ingest the identical Second Crop
unit. This created Conflict, which resulted in physical struggle among two
or more of the ungainly Mobiles.
Someone observed these struggles, at first bemused with the problem,
then with great interest. As the struggles ensued, the Mobiles were emanating Loosh! Not in fractional amounts, but in sizable, usable quantities
and of a much higher purity.
He quickly put the theory to the test. He removed another unit of First
Crop from the liquid Garden area, redesigned it for the gaseous environment—but with one significant change. The new Mobile would be somewhat smaller, but would require the ingestion of other Mobiles for nourishment. This would solve the problem of overpopulation of Mobiles, andat the same time would create good quantities of usable Loosh during eachconflict-struggle, plus a bonus if the new class of Mobile terminated thelife span of the other. Someone would be able to transmit to Somewherepractical amounts of reasonably pure Loosh.
Thus it was that the Rule of the Prime Catalyst came into being.
Conflict among carbon-oxygen cycle units brings forth consistent emanations of Loosh. It was as simple as that.
Satisfied that he had found the formula, Someone prepared the Fourth

HEARSAY EVIDENCE

165

Crop. He knew now that the Third Crop Mobiles were too large and too
long in life span to be ultimately practical. If grown in large numbers, theentire Garden would have to be expanded and enlarged. There was not
space enough to grow such massive single units and the proportionate
leafy Second Crops to support them. Also, he reasoned correctly that
more rapid and increased mobility would expand the Conflict factor, witha resultant higher Loosh output.
In one single motion, Someone terminated the life spans of all thelumbering Third Crop Mobiles. Going back to the First Crop in theliquid area, he modified and expanded them into a multitude of shapes
and sizes, gave them complex multicellular structures of high mobility. He
designed into them a pattern of balance. There were those that ingested a
Second Crop type of carbon-cycle unit (basically immobile) as an energy
source. There were others, very highly mobile, who required for energy theingestion of other mobile Modified First Crop units.
The completed circuit operated quite satisfactorily. The stationary Second Crop modification in the liquid environment flourished. Small, highly
active liquid-breathing Mobiles took nourishment, "ate" the Second Crop
modification. Larger and/or other active Mobiles consumed for energy
the smaller "plant eaters." When any Mobile grew too large and slow, it
became an easy target for the smaller Mobiles, who attacked in voracious
numbers. The chemical residue from these ingestive actions settled to thebottom of the liquid medium and so provided new nourishment for theStationaries (Modified Second Crop), completing the circuit. The result
was a steady flow of Loosh—from the life-span termination of the Stationaries, from the intense conflict among the Mobiles to avoid ingestion, andfinally from the sudden termination of the life spans of such Mobiles as
the inevitable product of such conflicts.
Turning to another portion of his Garden—the gaseous area with adense-compound base—Someone applied the same techniques with evenmore advanced improvements. He added many varieties of Stationaries(original Second Crop) to provide sufficient and diverse nourishment for
the new Mobiles he was to create. As in the other Garden area, he madesuch Mobiles into a balance of two species, those who ingested and drew
energy from the Second Crop Stationaries, and those who required other
Mobiles for sustenance. He created them in literally thousands of original

166

FAR JOURNEYS

types, small, large—yet none so large as the Third Crop Mobiles—andingeniously gave each some appurtenance for conflict. These took theform of mass, elusive speed, deceptive and/or protective coating and color
radiation, wave-action and particle perceptors and detectors, and uniquehigher-density protuberances for gouging, grasping, and rending duringconflict. All of the latter served neatly to add to and prolong the conflict
periods, with the resultant increase in Loosh emanation.
As a side experiment, Someone designed and created one form of Mobile that was weak and ineffective by the standards of the other Mobiles in
the Fourth Crop. Yet this experimental Mobile had two distinct advantages. It had the ability to ingest and take energy from both the Stationaries and other Mobiles. Second, Someone pulled forth a Piece of Himself—no other source of such Substance being known or available—to act as
an intensive, ultimate trigger to mobility. Following the Rule of Attraction, Someone knew that such infusion would create in this particular
Mobile species an unceasing mobility. Always, it would seek to satisfy theattraction this tiny mote of Himself engendered as it sought reunion with
the infinite Whole. Thus the drive for satisfaction of energy requirements
through ingestion would not be the only motivating force. More important, the needs and compulsions created by the Piece of Someone could
not be satiated throughout the Garden. Thus the need for mobility would
be ever-present and the conflict between this need and that of energy
replacement would be constant—possibly a continuous high-order Looshemanator if it survived.
The Fourth Crop exceeded all of Someone's expectations. It became
apparent that a consistent, useful flow of Loosh was being produced in the
Garden. The balance of "life" operated perfectly, with the Conflict Factor
producing immense amounts of Loosh and a steady supplement brought
into being by the constant life-span terminations from all types of Mobiles
and Stationaries. To handle the output, Someone set up Special Collectors
to aid in the harvest. He set up Channels to convey the raw Loosh fromhis Garden to Somewhere. No longer did Somewhere depend principally
upon the "wild state" as the principal source of Loosh. The Garden of
Someone had ended that.
With the success of the Garden and the production of Loosh by cultivated means, Others began to design and build their Gardens. This was in

HEARSAY EVIDENCE

167

accordance with the Law of Supply and Demand (Vacuum is an unstablecondition), as the amounts of Loosh from Someone's Garden only partially met the requirements of Somewhere. Collectors on behalf of the
Others actually entered the Garden of Someone to take advantage of
those small emanations of Loosh overlooked or ignored by the Collectorsof Someone.
Someone, his work completed, returned to Somewhere and occupied
himself with other matters. Loosh production stayed at a constant level
under the supervision of the Collectors. The only alterations were orderedby Someone himself. Under instructions from Someone, the Collectors
periodically harvested segments of the Fourth Crop. This was done toensure adequate chemicals, radiation, and other nourishment for the
younger, oncoming units. A secondary purpose was to provide occasional
extra amounts of Loosh created by such harvesting.
To reap such harvest, the Collectors generated storms of turbulence andturmoil in both the gaseous envelope and the more solid chemical formations that were the base of the Garden itself. Such upheavals had theeffect of terminating life spans of multitudes of the Fourth Crop as they
were crushed under the rolling base formation or smothered under waves
from the agitated liquid area of the Garden. (By peculiarity of design,
Fourth Crop units could not maintain their carbon-oxygen cycle surrounded by the liquid medium.)
The Garden pattern of "Life" might have gone on thus throughout
eternity had it not been for the perception and inquisitiveness of Someone. On occasion, he would study samples of Loosh from his Garden.
There was no motive in doing so, other than the fact that Someone may
have held a remote continuing interest in his project.
On a particular analysis of a Loosh sample, Someone had casually examined the emanations and was about to return it to the Reservoir—when
he became aware of a Difference. It was very slight, but there it was.
His interest centered immediately, he looked again. Woven delicately inwith the more common Loosh emanations was a slender fragment of
purified and distilled Loosh. This was an impossibility. Purified and distilled Loosh resulted only after the "wild state" Loosh had been processed
many times. The Loosh from the Garden of Someone required the same
treatment before it could be used.

168

FAR JOURNEYS

Yet here it was—so finely graded in its refined radiations that it could or
would not return into compound with the raw substance. Someone reaffirmed his tests, and the result still was positive. There was a factor in his
Garden of which he was unaware.
Quickly, Someone left Somewhere and returned to his Garden. Outwardly, all seemed the same. The solid-base gaseous areas of the Garden
were an endless carpet of green reflection from the thriving Second Crop.
The Modified First Crop in the liquid area was in perfect accord with the
Action-Reaction Law (a Division of Cause and Effect). Someone perceived without delay that the Difference—the source of distilled Loosh—lay neither with the First nor with the Second Crop.
He found his first momentary touch of distilled Loosh emanation in oneof the units of the Fourth Crop (which by then had filtered throughout
the plantings of the Second Crop). The flash came during the unusual
action of this unit as it entered into a life-terminating struggle with another Fourth Crop unit. This alone would not create distilled Loosh,Someone knew, and he probed deeper for the source.
It was at that moment he discovered the Difference. The Fourth Crop
unit was not struggling in Conflict over an ingestible remnant of a weaker
Fourth Crop unit or a tasty frond from a nearby Second Crop stem—or to
avoid termination of life and ingestion by the other conflicting Fourth
Crop unit.
It was in Conflict to protect and save from life termination three of its
own newly generated species huddled under a large Second Crop unit
waiting for the outcome. There was no doubt about it. This was the actionthat produced the flashes of distilled Loosh.
With this clue, Someone examined the actions of other Fourth Crop
units in the Garden. He found similar flashes when other Fourth Crop
units took the same action in defense of their "young." Still, there was aninconsistency. The sum of all such flashes of distilled Loosh emanationfrom all such actions by the current Fourth Crop units would not amountto half of the total he had found in the sample from the Reservoir. It was
obvious that another factor was present.
Systematically, he hovered over the Garden, extending his perception
to all areas. Almost immediately, he found the source. High-order distilled

HEARSAY EVIDENCE

169

Loosh radiation was originating from one particular section of the Garden.
Quickly, he hurried to the spot.
There it was—an experimental Modified Fourth Crop unit, one ofthose that contained a Piece of Himself in its functional pattern. It wasstanding alone under the leafy upper portion of a large Second Crop unit.
It was not "hungry." It was not in Conflict with another Fourth Crop
unit. It was not acting in defense of its "young." Then why did it emanate
distilled Loosh in such great quantity?
Someone moved closer. His perception entered into the Modified
Fourth Crop unit and then he knew. The unit was lonely! It was thiseffect that produced distilled Loosh.
As Someone drew back, he noted another unusual inconsistency. The
Modified Fourth Crop unit suddenly had become aware of His Presence.
It had collapsed and was jerking in strange convulsions on the solid-baseformation. Clear liquid was being expelled from the two radiation-perceiving orifices. With this, the distilled Loosh emitted became even more
pronounced.
It was from this that Someone propounded his now famous DLP Formula, which is in effect in the Garden at this time.
The balance of the story is well known. Someone included the fundamental in his formula: ". . . The creation of pure, distilled Loosh isbrought forth in Type 4M units by the action of unfulfillment, but only ifsuch pattern is enacted at a vibratory level above the sensory bounds ofthe environment. The greater the intensity of said pattern, the greater the
output of Loosh distillate. . . ."To put the formula into effect, Someone designed subtle changes in his
Garden, all of them familiar to every historian. The splitting of all Crop
units into Halves (to engender loneliness as they sought to reunite) andthe encouragement of dominance of the Type 4M unit are but two of themost noteworthy innovations.
As it appears now, the Garden is a fascinating spectacle of efficiency.
The Collectors have long since become Masters at the Art of the DLP
Formula. Type 4M units dominate and have spread through the entire
Garden, with the exception of the deeper portions of the liquid medium.
These are the principal producers of Loosh distillate.
From experience, the Collectors have evolved an entire technology with

170

FAR JOURNEYS

complementary tools for the harvesting of Loosh from the Type 4M units.
The most common have been named love, friendship, family, greed, hate,
pain, guilt, disease, pride, ambition, ownership, possession, sacrifice—andon a larger scale, nations, provincialism, wars, famine, religion, machines,
freedom, industry, trade, to list a few. Loosh production is higher thanever before . . .
CLICK!
I was closed tightly, turned inward, stunned. My first reaction was,there had to be some mistake, this was not the story-history of earth, BB
had it mixed up with some other port of call on their cruise schedule. Yet
as I ran the rote again, the overlay of what little I knew of earth's zoological and human history was uncomfortably accurate, albeit from anotherperspective. The food chain of earth's ecobiologic system had been wellestablished. Knowing this about Mother Nature, some of the hard-corephilosophic speculators had often pondered where the human animal fit in
the process. The downside was obvious, who ate us! Before, it had been
just that, speculation. Now . . .
BB opened, plied. (You get the percept, RAM?)I dulled. (Yeah, I get it.)(Well, then,) BB went on, (what's Loosh got to do with learning?)
I opened slightly. (And you got the rote before you came to Earth?)
BB smoothed. (Like I gave you, it was in the TSI cruise brochure. It wasin with hundreds of other rotes we got before we left.)
I opened more, but tightly. (Where did the brochure come from?)(Why, uh . . . yeah, from the Cruise Director.)(Where did he get it?)BB flickered. (I don't have a rote on that He just dumped them on us
and rolled, "Here's the exciting and interesting stops we'll make on thecruise." I got a good percept because it was the last one we'd visit, so it was
the last rote we got. That's why it's so clear. Some of the others are dim
because they were in the middle. Not the earth rote, or humans. It's all
clean, not wild at all.)I hardened. (And where did the Cruise Director come from?)

HEARSAY EVIDENCE

171

BB lighted. (Oh, he and the rest are a bunch of curls from the system
next to us.)
(Why did they offer the cruise to you in KT-95?)
BB smoothed. (Well, it was sort of a, uh . . . trade. We do it all thetime with systems near us.)
(What did they get in trade?)
BB lighted. (Games, games! We got more games than any system fourskips in any direction!)
I turned inward and closed. It was getting too hot to handle. If the rote
was real . . . a huge if. I began to drop off. Anger, the feeling of being on
the receiving end of a huge deception. The resentment at being manipulated, wanting to strike out at those who were conning me . . . us . . .
all humans . . . who were taking something from us without our consent
or permission. What happened to the freedom idea? Was every thought
and action we took guided—no, directed and controlled just to produce
more Loosh, whatever that was, for a breakfast table or a fuel tank in a
Somewhere? And what could I do about it, even knowing? I dulled deeply
and dropped off more and more . . .
(Hey RAM!) BB was fading rapidly. (Where you going!)
Return to the physical was near-instantaneous, exactly as if I had
pushed the panic button, which I had not done for so long. Strong senseof tiredness, both mental and physical, neglected to check time of return.
Low energy, no desire to do anything. Unable to get to sleep. Got up,
went to the kitchen, and made a cup of coffee. Sat and stared at the cup.
With no energy or desire for exploration during the two weeks following, in a depressed state, the only production that surfaced was:
It is sunset. The Guernsey has walked many miles around the pasture inher forage for food. The grass had been more lush today here, though
she did not bother to consider why. She had come through the gatecalmly when He directed her to do so, instead of the gate across theroad. He knew she would find better grass here, and that was why He
moved her here, though she did not realize it. She only did what He
directed.
But now, at sunset, it is time again. She must go to His place. There

172

FAR JOURNEYS

is a goading pain on her underside that tells her this. At His place up
on the hill, it is cool and there is more food. And He will take the
pain
away.
The Guernsey moves up the hill and waits beside His place. Soon,the gate will open and she will walk into her position in His place, andeat the grass He places before her. While she eats, He will relieve thepain until morning.
After that, the Man will walk away with white water in a roundcontainer. The Guernsey does not know where he got the white water
nor why He desires it.
Not knowing, she doesn't care.

13.Shock
Treatment

It took me several months to adjust to the loosh rote. "Adjust" is a verybroad word to describe a complete cycle of shock, rejection, anger, depression, resignation, acceptance. My sequence paralleled remarkably the pattern others have discovered and studies as to human response when notified of approaching death from illness or injury.
Something was dying in me. I had long realized that the God of mychildhood did not exist, at least not in the form and substance envisionedby my enculturation. However, I had deeply accepted the concept ofcreator and created—I had but to look around me at the elaborate andintricate order of design, of the symbiosis that made the whole process
operate, the trees that grew plumb-line straight up if given the chance,that provided me and other oxygen breathers with what we needed while
we fed to them unknowingly for a long period our waste products, which
they needed to exist . . . the balance of the entire planet, whose outerfiltering bands of energy permitted just the proper quantity and quality ofsunlight so critical to biologic growth . . . and of course the food chain.
The loosh rote explained everything very neatly. Most important, it
explained the purpose, the reason for it all, the why of it. This factor had
long eluded me. The loosh answer was simple and obvious. The reason was
there, in very prosaic fashion. We were indeed producing Something ofValue. Loosh. If one finally was able to get past the emotional barriers
involved, it became hard even then to find holes in the general concept.
An explanation of total human behavior and history.
That left the INSPECS.
Were they the gardeners, the loosh collectors, or the overseers? Thequestion tantalized and tortured me for many weeks before I finally decided I must find out one way or another.
On a particular night, after great difficulty in getting two cycles of
sleep, I awoke with a start and lay quietly in bed. Evidently my fear of174

FAR JOURNEYS

what I might find was greater than I thought, as I unhooked with difficulty from the physical, then slipped out of the second body as it hovered.
I scanned for the INSPEC homing signal, but there was none. This disconcerted me at first, but I was determined and foolhardy. I used the ident
INSPEC—the total rote I had on them—stretched out, focused, and let go.
There was a quick, short sense of spinning movement, no impression ofpassing through the rings, then deep blackness, and I was motionless.
Nothing more.
The percept was forming that the ident I had used wasn't enough. I
might be at the gate to INSPEC territory, but I didn't have the passport toenter. I had never tried to go to them, they had always met me. I had nopercept of their reality/state; therefore I had arrived only at the site of ourmeetings. If I focused on . . .
A warm vibration washed through me. (Very good, Mister Monroe. You
are quite correct.)I began to relax somewhat. At least I had gotten this far, and at least
THEY didn't call me RAM.
(Perhaps you would like it better if we used the ident by which we know
you best. We believe you are ready for it now.)
Ready for it, a name, they know me best . . . What could that be?
(Ashaneen)
Ashaneen. It was both familiar and strange. Again, that feeling of trying
to recover from severe amnesia, and the gentle patience of those trying tohelp me remember. But the loosh . . .
(We are aware of the disturbance you have undergone. It was necessarythat you experience this. It goes with the territory, as you put it.)
Then the loosh rote was real! I began to flicker . . .
(It is the translation that is not real. The difficulty of placing earth andhuman values properly into perspectives and energies that are not of timeand space is a factor very familiar to you.)
I turned inward, picking up the loosh rote. Loosh, an energy generated
by all organic life in varying degrees of purity, the clearest and mostpotent coming from humans—engendered by human activity which triggers emotion, the highest of such emotions being—love? Is love loosh?
(Continue, Ashaneen.)
But according to the rote, loosh is thrown off when life ends its physical

SHOCK TREATMENT

175

existence, when pain occurs, anger, hate . . . these can't be the same as
love.
(How would you define love in your terms?)
I knew that would be next in the order of things, and I couldn't comeup with an answer. Throughout history, great minds and greater philosophers had given it a try, with only partial success, and I was none of these.
I wouldn't even consider trying.
(But you know it exists. Love is not an illusion.)
I released the loosh rote and turned deeply inward, scanning. It waseasier from this perspective, or perhaps it was the presence of the INSPEC
energy. It presented itself much as a simultaneous mixture and sequenceof musical chords and short melodies, only it wasn't sound, it was patterns
in colors of light. Scattered among the clutter of harmony, dissonance,
discord, excitement, fun, fear, and emotion, and beginning shortly after
birth, I had the percept of occasional surges of white . . . first from mymother and father, then smaller flashes I was unable to identify as tosource. I kept scanning through my early years for any slight glimmer ofwhite originating in me, that / put forth. To my dismay, all I could find
was one small white glow for an Airedale dog named Pete. I was certainthat the girl in high school, what was her name? . . . not even a flicker,
either way.
(Most common misconception, early-manifested survival drive.) I agreed.
Yet I could understand why. The bright red and pink chords and urgent
melody were impressive even from this viewpoint; no wonder an ignorantcurl such as I was would come up with the wrong percept. I went on
through the mess that was I in a fast-forward mode, and I could spot sureand solid white surges here and there of which I had then been unaware,and their reality depressed and saddened me—because I found no
significant emission from me that was remotely similar. It was all
coming in, and I took it and didn't respond. I finally cut it off, would go
into it no further. I wasn't much of a loosh producer. Too many othercolor chord patterns and melodies. Except for now. I knew some strong
emissions in a few points were coming out of me. Did it take that long!
(You understand waveforms. All come from the same baseline, the colors
and the white. The difference is frequency and amplitude.)
I knew what THEY were doing, and I appreciated it. My focus was being

176

FAR JOURNEYS

diverted from what I thought was unpleasant back into an abstract yet
trunk-and-roots position. Using the same stuff—interactive experience—
one began to learn to express anger, pain, fear, and all the rest, and finally—hopefully, if you passed the course—a special energy waveform labeledlove. Yet we don't really know what it is and, with my suspicion growing,
how to really use it.
(A carefully designed school of compressed learning.)
To learn to be high-quality loosh/love producers. The fact that humanphysical consciousness was for the most part totally unaware of being
involved in the process may be an important ingredient itself. Precious
few are cognizant of the nonphysical agenda, at least overtly. It was getting pretty heavy for my cognizance. Yet I began to get a very faintpercept, elusive but it was there. What would happen if the Guernsey cow
did discover that her milk had value? What could she herself do with it if
she didn't have a calf to feed it to? Could she save it? Could she spend it
on more hay or protein-vitamin blocks to lick? What if she then discovered man was taking the milk she produced? Rebel, refuse to deliver any
more milk? Then she would no longer have a pasture in which to graze,
protection from wild dogs, a bull when she needed it, and most of all, nobarn to go to where she could get relief from the pain. Without a sense ofserial time, she forgets that the pain eases eventually. Perhaps even knowing, she wouldn't care. She wouldn't want to mess up a good thing. Therefore: Who cares? Who would care!
(To use your term, you can't beat the machine.)
The percept was still there, faint, still to be explained or satisfied. Whatabout those who do beat the machine? There always have to be exceptions, no machine is perfect, only one anomaly is needed to prove a statistic or create one. Are they carted off to be ground up into hamburger
meat? If so, is hamburger a sort of super loosh or something entirely
different? Is this also a part of the machine product, or is it rust that is
scraped away and discarded?
And the bull calves, what is their role? Never will be loosh producers; ittakes only one bull for every fifty cows, so there's a surplus. In nature—themachine?—left alone, there's a way that is automatically taken care of. . . the impersonality of that prospect of dominance and predation iscertainly not in the winning column. Hold it there, the percept is getting

SHOCK TREATMENT

177

stronger. There would be no loosh production without at least one, uh,
one bull. So he is an indirect loosh producer, vital to the method. Thatwould infer, so are grass, hay, water, minerals, and the rest.
(Remember your waveforms, beat frequencies you like so much.)Let's see, here. If a smart transmitter propagates certain waves, they canresonate with other related vibrations of like kind to form a multiple
pattern which if thought of as light—would be: white! So in and of itself,
you don't have to be the end-product antenna or transducer, just one ofthe oscillators. You may never display actual loosh radiation, but you havea vital part in its production. Remembering the scan of my early years, I
felt much better.
(Then why are you disturbed?)
The percept still itched inside me, THEY were right. What would I dowith loosh/love if I had a large warehouse full of it? Hand it out? It would
only come back with interest and I would have to build another warehouseto hold the compounding, growing volume. The percept surged brightly.
It was so obvious . . . Someone, Somewhere. If I could . . .
(You are not ready at this point.)
Ready to go to Somewhere? To meet Someone? And in all of this, how
do you fit in, my friend? If I had the courage to ask these . . .
(We are not Someone, as you put it, nor are we from the Somewhere you
indicate. Also, we are not the keepers of the Garden of Earth, nor thegardeners. Nor do we collect and transfer human-developed loosh/energy
elsewhere or when. We do not fit into any portion of the human compressedlearning process. However, we have observed its generation and growthfrom its inception. We do participate when needed without interrupting thelearning sequence. Such need is expressed when there is blockage in theflow. Such participation ultimately serves a vital need for us.)
I had a need to ask the question. Is . . .
(Somewhere is not the heaven of your history. It was created, as were allother systems.)
Then Someone . . .
(Is a creator who was created. You are a creator who was created. Each ofyou does carry a small rote, as you call it, of Someone, who created you.
Through that rote of Someone, your creator, you carry a percept of thecreator who created Someone.)

178

FAR JOURNEYS

I turned inward. Even with this viewpoint, it was hard to set aside serial
logic. The easy percept was how the multitude of distortions, misconceptions, misdirections came about. A little knowledge can be dangerous, andhuman creative imagination took over from there. If there had not been a
Someone . . .
(Humans would not exist.)
I went over the idea of loosh/love. It must be quite a place to handle
that much loosh, this Somewhere. It would fall neatly into many conceptsof heaven. I grew wistful. Maybe we could go just to the edge of Somewhere, so I could get a feel of the place/state where there was so much
love, surely near it, but not in it, just to observe from a distance. It would
answer so much . . .
(That is not too much to ask, Mister Monroe. We can arrange it. Close
tightly . . .)CLICK!
. . . Even closed tightly, the radiation was so strong that it was nearly
unbearable . . . I felt as if sweat were pouring off me, I was melting . . .
but it wasn't heat . . . and I began to heave with great racking sobs andI couldn't understand why . . . then the radiation eased, and I opened alittle. There was a form between me and the radiation, shielding me, and I
could perceive a corona effect all around the form from the radiation
beyond. It reminded me deeply of religious paintings I had seen, only thiswas live and in something far different from pigmented color . . .
(This is as close as you can tolerate. We are diverting most of the effective energy patterns, which are in themselves only the random residue, theleakage as you might call it, from the fundamental. Focus through us rather
than the outer rim. It will help.)
With great difficulty, I narrowed and held on the center of the form
. . . and I began to cool and calm down . . . slowly my rational andobserving self began to emerge again, dominating the overwhelming emotional surge that had enveloped me . . . it was as if I perceived through adarkly tinted window and I had to work continually to keep the emotion
below the threshold level, the wondrous and brilliant joy, awe, reverence,
melded into one yet with flashes of each sparking momentarily . . . all

SHOCK TREATMENT

179

coursing through me as I responded to the radiation, unable to prevent it
and barely keeping it under control. This would most emphatically be theultimate heaven, the final home . . .
(Observe more carefully. You are capable of doing so.) I looked throughthe smoked-glass shield that was my INSPEC friend . . . and I was
grateful, for I knew if I responded to this degree from just the reflection,
the leakage, the full force of the radiation would have shattered me, I
was not ready for it, if this was the percept from the distant edge . . .
there, in the long view, was a radiant living form of incredible size,
my first percept that of a tall standing humanoid, arms outstretched in
front, palms upward . . . but just as quickly, it was not . . . instead, ashining globe, edges indistinct, behind it another, identical in appearance,
behind it another, a continuous cascade moving away into infinity,
beyond my percept ability . . . from each came numberless beams orrays, some huge in their diameter, others no wider than a pinpoint, alluniform in size throughout their length and beyond my percept as to theirdestination, some of them moving past me so close that I felt I could
reach out and touch one . . .
(Would you like to do so? We will help you if needed.) I hesitated, thenwith the warm assurance from the shielding INSPEC form, I stretched apart of me out, cautiously, and touched the smallest ray nearest me . . .
in an instant, the shock spread throughout all what I thought I was, and I
knew, and in knowing, knew that I would forget if I tried to remember,because what I was could not yet handle the reality of it . . . yet I neveragain would be the same even without remembering, except that it
occurred and the indescribable joy of knowing only that it did take place
and the echoes would reverberate in me throughout eternity, whatever
my eternity was . . . gently, I felt myself being detached from the ray,and I collapsed behind the shielding form of my INSPEC friend. . . .
Friend? INSPEC? I realized then how provincial my percepts were. I also
realized how limited they were . . . the radiating globes, the rays emitted. . .
(You responded very well for the initial exposure. Your human loosh/loveenergy is transmuted into the center of what you perceive. From there it isredirected into what you call the rays, to the points where it is needed most.

180

FAR JOURNEYS

When you have progressed, we can guide you to one of the destinations so
you can observe the results.)
My percept was not strong enough to bring any flicker whatsoever as towhat exposure to the full force of such rays might be. But my humancuriosity wouldn't let the basic question go unanswered, now that I hadsmoothed somewhat.
(It was created. It was always there, we have no percept of a beginning.
Are you ready to return now?)
I turned inward and closed tightly.
CLICK!
. . . We were back again in familiar blackness, only now it seemed
empty and sterile, but the INSPEC energy was still beside me . . . now I
would have to put together a new ident for them, if they could hold up socalmly under . . .

(INSPEC will serve as well as any other.)But I couldn't let it alone. As shaken as I was, I knew I had to ask,
because I had known they were greater, but how much greater now might
be a depth . . .
(We are created, just as you are created. More than that, it is importantthat you obtain from your own percept. In your own—how do you put it?—time, you will find the reason for this.)
Suddenly, I felt a strong, urgent signal pulling at the back of me. I
resisted at first, not wanting to leave, but the signal was persistent. With
the warm pattern of understanding from my INSPEC friend, I turned andfollowed the signal. Instantly, I was hovering over my physical body.
There below me was my second body. I slid into it easily, then into thephysical. My right arm was tingling due to lack of circulation. I evidently
had been lying on it at an angle. I flexed the arm several times, musing as I
had so many times before: Suppose there were no signal to return, howlong would I stay away, would I never return? It was then, lying there in
the darkness, listening to the whippoorwill and the night crickets outside,
the soft earth-scented breeze flowing in through the open window, feelingthe hot warmth of our little dog Steamboat sleeping contentedly against

SHOCK TREATMENT

181

the soles of my feet, the even breathing of Nancy sleeping beside me—that I felt the wetness of my cheeks and a few remaining tears in my eyes.
And I remembered. Not much, but I remembered! I sat up in bed,
wanting to jump up and shout in incomprehensible joy. Steamboat raised
his head and looked at me curiously, then dropped back. My wife shifted
position as I sat up, then gradually resumed her even breathing rhythm. I
would not wake her, she needed her rest and recharge.
I lay back and remembered. Sometime before dawn, I, too, fell asleep.

ONE EASY LESSON

14.One Easy Lesson

Time: 3:40 A.M. . . . awake, alert, rested, relaxed . . . unhooked easily
from the physical, slid out of the second immediately, and waited for a
signal. There was none, so I let go and let the total self take over. There
was the usual blur of movement, not too extensive, and I had the ident of
BB close by me. My percept of him was totally different. He was tightly
closed. And dulled. The thin outer haze of the Intermediate Area madehim even less distinguishable.
I tried to smooth casually. (Hey, old buddy, what's up?)BB opened slightly. (Oh, hello, RAM.) (I had it you
would he pulling skips back to KT-95.) He dulled.
(Sure.)
I smoothed very gently. (Anything I can do for you?) (No . . . no.) He
started to close. (I'm just hanging around.) He had the set of someone
who had lost his best friend, which was exactly the case from his
perspective, and partially so from another— partially in that the sameAA, when he finally emerged, would be the fundamental, with theunique variegation learned from the in-human experience permanently
interwoven and overlaid throughout the being that he had become. It
could be construed as a loss if BB did not accept the change or
expected only the stasis of KT-95 that had been AA. I tried anotherapproach. (Well, you just can't stand here forever.) BB blanked.
(Forever? What's that?) I flickered. (It's, uh . . . human expression.) Hevibrated. (I want nothing to do with that human action!) I put it to him
hard and straight. (You’re going to have to get some kind of rote abouthuman. If you don % you won't know your friend AA when he comes out.
You won't have any ident on him whatsoever.) BB vibrated. (Sure, I will!
You don't lose things like that!) (It won't be the same. Pick up your rotewhen you tried to pull him out.

183

Even then, you had trouble with his ident. I guarantee you that's just thesmall part of it, he was only on his way in, he was just getting started.)
He turned inward and closed. I suddenly got the percept that I had
done it again. What would I do with him? He wasn't a stray cat or dog I
could take back, feed, and find a home for. It was ludicrous. Fix him up
with a human body? How would I do that? And he certainly wasn't going
to join the line and go human via the Entry Station. Can you learn toswim without getting in the water and getting wet?
I tried to ease out of it gracefully. (Maybe it's best that you pull a skip
and go back to KT-95, let it go at that.)
BB opened slightly. (I did. Went and came back.)
I waited. I wasn't going to get in deeper if I could help it. I knew hewould go on and he did.
(There was a hole and the hole was empty. You ever been like that?)
I plied. (Yeah, I've been there. It'll stay empty because it's designed for
one curl. No other will fit in.)
(AA was one smart curl, you can believe it. Too smart for his own good.
Look what it got him.)
I plied again. (It happens.)
I was about to turn and disengage as carefully as I could, but I was toolate. I had the strong percept that he would come to some solution and it
would involve me. I was too right.
He had lighted very brightly. (You can do it!)
(Do what?)(Feed me rotes about humans. Then I'd be ready for him.)
I flickered. (I wouldn’t know where to start.)(Then show me how it works.)(How am I going to do that? You 'd have to be in-human . . .)(No, no, I wouldn't,) BB cut in quickly. (You move around without aphysical body.)(Well, yes, but . . .)(You and me, we had a hook right from the start, RAM. Like old friends.
I got a solid ident on you. So you be my Tour Guide, quick and short. How
about it?)
I smoothed. (What's it like being human in one easy lesson?)
He lighted more. (That's it, that's it!)184

FAR JOURNEYS

That was it all right. Not quite the blind leading the blind, but close.
All I could do was give him a skim over what I did have as the basics, show
him . . . yes! Show! That ought to make it clear.
I opened. (All right. The main thing about being in-human is survival.
That's the biggest percept of all. It drowns out about everything else formost humans.)
He blanked. (What's survival.)(Staying alive.)(What kind of problem is that? You’re alive, you stay alive.)
I smoothed. (Not if you’re in a physical body. The imprint comes up for
most to mean stay alive in a physical body, no more. They use most of theirenergy trying to survive, one way or another. That's the cause of virtually all
human problems. The drive for survival is so strong it messes up everything.
End of lesson.)BB rolled. (Come on, that's the wildest rote I ever had thrown at me!)(It's not so funny if you're in it. You believe it as real and nothing else.)
He continued to roll, and I realized there was only one way he justmight get the idea. Show him. Take him down on the beach and watch
the swimmers . . . (Come on, follow my ident.)
BB lighted. (Sure, RAM!)I turned, did a half-roll, and dove down through the rings with my new
KT-95 friend close behind me. Never mind the big centers, get down tothe basics . . . that would be back from civilization, outlying physicalareas . . . middle of Asia, yes . . . that would do it . . . I pulled to astop just over a bleak hill with a ragged forest down one side. A man was
crouched in the edge of the forest. BB was beside me and I turned his
focus on the man. What looked to be a small deer was grazing in thegrasses not far from the man. The man raised a gun, took aim, and fired.
The deer fell, twitching its legs, and the man ran forward, pulled thedeer's head back, and slashed its throat with a knife. Blood gushed out
from the deer's throat, and it finally went limp. The man hoisted the deer
over his shoulder and moved along the edge of the woods in the directionof a stone hut. We followed as BB pushed at me.
(That human, he killed that other being.)
I plied. (Yep.)(Why did he do that? Not much survival going on there!)

ONE EASY LESSON

185(Not for the deer, that's the other one, the animal . . . uh, the otherbeing. The human needs the body of the deer.)
BB blanked. (What would he want with that? He's already got a body.)
I smoothed, here it comes. (To survive. He needs it to eat.)(Eat! What's eat?)(He puts it in his own physical body to give it energy to survive, so he canstay alive. That's what we ident eating.)(The other being, the uh, deer, it didn't survive, stay alive . . . uh,
physically. I got a good percept of the energy leaving it.)One easy lesson! (Well, humans are what we ident as the dominant
species, uh, beings alive here. They are at the top of what we call the foodchain. Food is what we call the stuff we eat. Little species get eaten bybigger species which in turn get eaten by bigger species until you get up tohuman. He isn't the biggest but he's the smartest, that's why he's thedominant species. He eats about everything that grows.)
BB was turned inward and flickering as we followed the man to thestone hut. The man shifted the deer carcass off his shoulder and hung it
head down on a rack outside the hide-draped doorway. Then he wentinside.
BB flickered. (Isn’t he going to, uh, eat it?)(He will later. Has to cure it a little first, let the blood drain out of it.
Want to go inside?)
He didn't really have a choice, as I led him through the stone wall.
Inside, there was a small fire burning in the center of an earthen floor.
Around the fire were three persons, a woman and two small children. The
woman was stirring a pot hung over the fire, the two children watching
hungrily. The man sat down and joined them, took off his heavy coat, andaccepted the bowl the woman handed him. He started to eat, using his
fingers to pull pieces of food from the bowl and sipping from its rim. BB
pushed at me urgently.
(What was that he did!)(Right now he's eating, he's taking pieces of food and putting them into
his body, and the little stuff, he just pours it in.)
(Yeh, yeh, I got that percept, it was before! He slipped off part of his
body!)
I blanked, then lighted. (That was his coat. It's not his body, it's a piece186

FAR JOURNEYS

of stuff he puts on to keep warm. That's the next thing in the survival need
—to keep your physical body so it's warm enough or cool enough and toprotect it from getting hurt. That's the reason for the cabin, the, uh, hut
we're in now. It helps protect the physical body. The fire . . . the, uh,radiation in the middle, that helps them keep warm.)
I had the percept that BB was focused as one would be fascinated by acobra weaving its hooded head directly in front of your face. I focused onhim, trying to determine exactly what and how much of the scene waspenetrating him as a real rote. How do you explain warm and cold or sucha simple thing as a cooking fire, or the constant attention and servicing aphysical body requires, to one who has never been in one? Then BB was
pushing at me again.
(RAM, RAM!) He was vibrating strongly. (He's killing the other one!)
I turned. The man had moved the woman back from the fire andpushed her to the ground. He was on top of her, his body holding her
down, arms around her tightly, hers around him. Her long rough dress wasthrown up over her hips and they were writhing violently, her open legs
locked around his waist. The two children were eating from the bowl,
totally unconcerned. Not being the voyeur type, I could be quite clinical.
I smoothed. (He's not killing her. They 're, uh, reproducing.)(What's . . .)(They're putting their two energies together to form a third. They're
making copies of themselves, like the smaller two there eating by the fire.
I'm sure they made those two.)(Why would they do that?)(It's the biggest part of the survival stuff. Make a copy of yourself andkeep on living in your copy. It's basic in all living species, not just humans.
The rote is that you reproduce first, before you get around to eating, cold or
warm, whatever.)(But they already made two.)(That's a sort of guarantee that at least one will survive to make more
copies. If those two young new ones die or get killed before they makecopies, then the third they’re making right now might live long enough to
get copies made.)BB flickered. (Why would they die, or how would they get killed?)(That's one of the problems of physical life. It's easier to die or get killed

ONE EASY LESSON

187

than it is to live. The strong survival drive is needed to achieve balance.
That produces other problems.)(What problems?)(We’ll get to them along the way.)
He focused on the couple below, who by now had completed theirsexual act and were back eating before the fire. (The two big ones are not
the same.)(Humans, but different. Run the rote when you caught up with AA—hewanted to go back and be a female. Then the next time around, he had
been a female. Humans are either male or female. It takes a male and afemale to reproduce, to make a copy.)
BB turned inward, then opened. (Which are you?)(Male.)(You ever been female?)(I don't have any rote on it, so I guess not.)He opened more. (Nothing like this in KT-95. Never had a percept likeit, to make a copy of yourself. Fascinating!)
I cut in. (Well, it's not exactly a copy of yourself, it's a physical mix ofthe two, and you hope it might be a copy of you, but it never really turns outthat way. It's just a physical vehicle. The curl who enters it might be a total
stranger.)BB rolled. (Don't get concerned, RAM. I'm not that fascinated.)(I get a percept that stronger curls than you have been caught into being
human.)
He smoothed. (At this point, I don't get any part of this survival stuff.
That would be too much for me. The eating, I can adjust to, the warm andcool. If they can do it, I can do it. The reproducing, copy making, thatwould be fun, make a big game out of it.)
I couldn't hold it back. (Famous last words. Come on.)He blanked. (No percept on that one. Last words?)
I turned, went through the wall, sure that BB was following. I homed inon the one place that I knew would give him a strong rote on how distortion could accumulate. Ident New York, center of Manhattan, start with
West Forty-second Street. The movement was quite short, and we came inat sidewalk level. The usual evening human composites were crowding one
another, jostling, strolling, hurrying, and loitering. The eateries, the old

188

FAR JOURNEYS

movie houses overplugging underdone X-rated pornos on their marquees,
the gimmick and gut shops, record stores blasting it out, the car and truck
traffic filling the street—it hadn't really changed in thirty years, only moreof the same. Yes, this would show it. BB was in the middle of the passing
parade, unnecessarily ducking and trying to avoid bumping into people. I
steered him over to the curb, out of the rush and crush.
He flickered. (Where 'd they all come from?)(Crossroads of the world, they used to call it. Come from everywhere, lotof them live nearby.)(Why do they come here, this place!)
I smoothed. (The percept is, you can find anything you want here in New
York.)
BB vibrated. (Still doesn't come out new to me, even down in it.)
(It's just the ident, that's all. But they're doing the same thing as the manback there by the woods, every one of them. Trying to survive. Doing anything to keep alive.)
BB flickered. (I don't get the same percept. And the M Band noise isshaking me up too much. The scratchy stuff in the band, it's the worst!
Never got that before anywhere! Where's it all coming from?)
I smoothed. (Close a little, that'll make it easier. The noise is comingfrom us humans. The scratchy stuff that screeches so much I finally figuredout. It's their emotions.)(Emotions?)(I won't try to give you a percept on it, you have to be human to experience it. It's the next-biggest problem after the survival drive. Makes humans
do things they really don't want to do.)He flickered, half open. (Why do they make all the noise?)
I plied. (They don't know they're doing it.)He turned inward, closed. Then he opened slightly. (You're human.
How come you don't make M Band noise like that?)(I do. I just have it under control for the moment. Back in the physical, I
blow it all over the place, I'm sure.)
BB opened and smoothed. (All right. If you can take it, so can I. Now,
what about this survival stuff?)
I spun a slow 360. (Within a short time-distance from this spot, you can

ONE EASY LESSON

189

get all of your survival needs taken care of and more. As much as you want,
any kind you want, whenever you want. You ident it and you got it.)BB flickered. (All the, uh, food to, uh, eat?)(From the hamburger joint over there to the top of that tower over in the
distance. Go in and they will supply you.)(The warm and the cool, the, uh, hut to stay in, the stuff you put on yourbody?)(All here.)(How about making copies, the, uh . . . yeh, reproducing?)
I rolled. (I suppose you could get that, too, if you looked hard enough.
Most of it here is, uh, doing the action without making any copies.)
BB blanked. (Why would you want to do it if you’re not making copies!)
I flickered. (My percept has it that the survival imprint was so strong it
wanted to make sure each species took the trouble to reproduce. So the actof doing it was made to be, uh . . . fun.)He blanked again. (Fun! Those back there didn't act like they were
having fun!)I plied. (You have to be human to get that percept. It can't be handed out
in a rote either. Anyway, you can satisfy that part of the survival drive, too,
as much as you want.)
BB lighted brightly. (Then what's all the mix-up about! It's all undercontrol! Humans get what they want, there's plenty of it, each curl soaks it
up and goes back where he came from.)
I turned inward and closed. This was turning into a hard lesson for me,
not him. I was pretty sure it wouldn't work and it wasn't. How do I convey
to him the fact that all humans have to spend most of their waking hours
working one way or another just to survive, that humans want the samething and kill each other to get it, that they get so involved in surviving
they don't know when to stop when they have enough, that humans form
big clubs they call nations and try to destroy other nations who they think
threaten their survival, that the whole thing occupies their thoughts andactions so deeply they forget completely any other existence but physicalhuman . . .
(You're leaking again, RAM,) BB cut in. (You got it right. I wouldn't geta percept on any of it. What's this work stuff? You mean humans kill andeat each other? What do you mean, they forget?)190

FAR JOURNEYS

I did the best I could. (Work is what humans do to get money, uh,energy to pay, uh, give to other humans so those humans will give them
what they want to satisfy their survival needs.)(Money energy, huh? Must be pretty strong stuff. I have no ident on it.)(You wouldn't. Only humans have it, and it's strictly physical. Won't
work anywhere except on physical earth and with other humans. Worsethan that, each group of humans, uh, nations . . .)(The big clubs . . . we have game clubs in KT-95.)(Yes, the big clubs of humans. Each has its own type of money energy
and they trade money.)
BB smoothed. (So if I want a deer to eat, or a hut to be in, a cover for mybody to be in, I got to give money energy to get it.)(You work, you pay, and you get.)He focused on the cars moving by. (How about those covers? Can you
get them for money energy, too?)(That's all it takes.)(It's too messed up for me.) BB smoothed completely. (If I had to be
human, I would stay away from all the rest of it and just hang aroundmaking copies and let it go at that. . . . What's so funny?)
I was rolling hard and couldn't keep closed.
He blanked. (That takes money energy, too?)
I plied. (One way or another.)
Suddenly, I felt an urgent signal to return to the physical, loud andclear. I tried to resist it, and worked to get BB's attention at the sametime. I had to go back, but I couldn't leave him where he was, he wouldn't
know how to get out . . . but the signal was too strong and I couldn't
help myself. I began to move away, slowly as I resisted, then accelerating
quickly as I decided to go back and see what the problem was and returnas fast as I could. I reached the second, slipped in fast, and pulled up into
the physical. I sat up in the bed and looked around. Everything seemed
normal, no full bladder, no tingle in an arm or leg from poor circulation,no aches or pains. Must have been external, phone ringing, jet aircraft
overhead, whatever, it wasn't important. I immediately remembered BB,
and I had the thought of him standing bewildered on the curb at Fortysecond and Broadway. I went through a quick relaxation to try to get

ONE EASY LESSON

191

down and OOB, but I was too keyed up, I couldn't hold it together. On
about the sixth try, I fell asleep.
When I awakened, it was morning. I thought of trying to get out andhelp BB, but it was the wrong time for me. I spent the day in my typical
pattern, with BB flashing in and out of my consciousness. This was a casewhere I was 100 percent responsible and I knew it. Finally, late in theafternoon, I felt tired enough to relax, and went up to the lab, entered,and locked the door. I set up some sound signals and went into the booth.
I lay back on the water bed, put on the headphones, and almost immediately started to relax. The rest was easy. I detached from the physical,rolled out of the second, started to reach, and stopped. There was a form
directly in front of me.
(Hey, RAM, where you going?)
I vibrated. (How did you get here!)BB was very smooth. (When you started to pull that short skip, I justfollowed your ident. I wasn’t going to stay in all that M Band noise if you
didn 't. Much better here.)(I should hope so.)(Your survival must be going strong. You got more than one hut.)
I flickered. (This is not a hut, it's where we work.)(I got a solid percept of you coming out of the physical body there. Thatyours?)
I vibrated. (Certainly it's mine! I don't go into other people s bodies.)(Why not?)I flickered. (Well, uh, it's against the rules.)(What rules?)(I don't know, it doesn 't, uh, the percept is, you don't do it. I don't think
I could if I wanted to.)(You do a lot of turning and twisting when you come out, you know.)
I plied. (I don't have a percept from outside watching me in action.)(We do much the same back in KT-95 in a game we play. Gets us in andout of the system over us. Hey, what are all those curls doing in that big hut
over there?)
I vibrated. (You didn't go over there, did you?)
BB smoothed. (Just hung around a little. Couldn’t get your attention, so192

FAR JOURNEYS/ had to do something. Tossed a couple of rotes to one or two. They were
glad to get them. What they doing?)(They are trying to break the survival habit . . . and to relearn what they
forgot. It's a school.)(I don't get any percept you need a school to do that.) I turned. (Youneed the rest of your one easy lesson.) I reached and stretched, headed
for the lowest of the cycling rings, staying just out of phase with thephysical. This was the part that was the rough stuff but I was sure wewould be ignored and unmolested if we stayed just on the upper
fringes. I didn't look forward to it. For purposes of comparison, I used
the same Forty-second Street ident in New York. It was a short run andwe came out fifty feet over the street. BB was besideme.
He smoothed. (Back here again. No difference, except a big mass moreof humans.)(Focus on the ones that you perceive best.)
BB opened, and evidently the change in the superimposed mass wasapparent to him. The man rushing out from the curb to flag a taxi andrunning through it, and stopping bewildered as car after car passed
through the space he seemed to occupy. The thin young male in long hair,
who looked to be no more than eighteen, trying to get the attention of theyoung group leaning against a parked car, asking for a hit from the joint
being passed around but unable to get their attention because they can't
see or hear him. The burly policeman in full uniform swinging his nightstick, strolling along the storefronts totally unaware that he is unobserved.
The smartly dressed woman of indeterminate age trying to find a coin for
a newspaper in her purse as she unknowingly walks through the side of anearby building. The older man trying to buy the offerings of two young
hookers standing by a doorway leading upstairs, angry because they don't
know he exists, watches as a physical man steps up, waves a double sawbuck in one girl's face as she turns and leads him up the stairs; the firstman following. The old woman walking slowly along the street, oblivious
to everything around her, reaching down occasionally to the sidewalk andattempting to pick up a half-smoked cigarette snipe, but her hand passes
through it. The dark-skinned man standing defiantly in the middle of thepassing crowds, intense hate on his face and knife in hand, slashing

ONE EASY LESSON

193

through each passerby without realizing he is damaging or hurting no one.
The unshaven old man at the open bar across the street, trying to pick up
and toss down every drink set in front of a customer, then climbing on acustomer's back to try and get the taste and effect of the drink as thecustomer feels it, unnoticed and to no avail. I turned to BB. (Hadenough?) He flickered strongly. (What's the matter with them?) (They've
died physically and they don't know it. All they remember is humanphysical existence and they're trying to hang on. That's all they got, they
think.)(Can't you give them a different percept?)
I smoothed. (If you mean me, I have to have help when I get into thatrun. There are others who make a career of it.) BB blanked. (Career?)(That's all they do, try to get the attention of such humans. Would you
like to get a percept of an extreme distortion of the survival drive?) He
flickered. (Sure, lead on.)I knew he was shaken, but I had to push him all the way. Then I could bepositive he would appreciate the outer rings. I reached, homed on ident
sexual pile, and stretched. After a short movement, we stopped. We wereless than ten feet away. Beside me, BB focused, blanked, and closed. I
waited, and he finally opened again slightly. I focused away from the pileof writhing human forms and half-closed. It was about all I could take.
BB vibrated weakly. (What happened to them!)(They've died physically and they at least know they're different, notresponsible, they think, so they're letting it all hang out.) (But, uh, what
are they doing, like that?)(They have no interest but reproducing, not to make copies, but just theact of reproducing. That's all they know and all they care about. They keep
trying but get no satisfaction because it takes a physical body the way theyknow it—and they don't have any.)
BB attempted to focus again, and turned away. (Let's get out of here.)
I wanted his rote to be absolutely real. (Convinced?) (Yeh, yeh, let'sgo.)
I reached and stretched outward, positive he was close behind me,
moved slowly outward. We passed through the density of still gray forms

194

FAR JOURNEYS

who were neither here nor there, barely conscious and waiting for something to happen—and it would, all positive. Very little M Band noise
there. I eased us to a stop in the center of the next-innermost ring. There
were forms all around us, very human. Each was aware and active in atight circle that included only their own rote.
BB nudged me. (Why you stopping here? Noise is still heavy.)
I opened. (There's a big difference. These know they no longer havephysical bodies, but not much more. Focus in on a couple, and you’ll get apercept.)
BB turned and faced a woman who seemed to be walking in slow
motion, in one place. She appeared middle-aged, overweight, tears running down her face . . . (I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Mommy didn't mean toleave you, baby doll, but she just couldn’t help it, but I'm coming back, I'm
coming back to help you just as soon as I can . . . I'm coming backsomehow . . .)I indicated a man who looked to be in his sixties, pacing back and forth
rapidly, pounding his fist in the palm of his other hand . . . BB
refocused . . . (Damn, damn, damn! Just when I had it all set up to goout and enjoy myself. Damn! Now she’ll spend it all on clothes and trips
everywhere and I'm left out. Got to get back somehow, got to get what's
coming to me. Damn! Damn! . . .)We turned in the direction of a man who appeared to be sitting down,
indeterminate age, slowly shaking his head from side to side, staring
blindly . . . (Never got a chance to tell her I didn't mean to beat her up. I
was drunk, I was drunk, that's all. What a hell of a note. What am I goingto do now? I knew that turn in the road was coming . . . There's got to besomething I can do . . .)A thin young girl in blue jeans attracted our attention. Hands on her
hips, she was looking around defiantly . . . (Shit! Is that all there is todying! I don't see any God or angels . . . I knew it, knew it! Shit!)
We moved carefully around the various animate human forms, singled
out another, a man of middle age, gray-haired, standing and looking at thehaze, arms folded . . . (Well, I did the best I could. Left them money inthe bank, house in good shape, insurance will take care of the mortgage.
Right front tire on the station wagon needs replacing. Hope Ben will takecare of the contract on the Holmes deal. Company is going to miss me.

ONE EASY LESSON

195

Would have enjoyed one more dinner at Luigi's, never get seafood like thatagain . . .)BB swung to me. (He's closed up tight. We can't reach him?)
I plied. (Go ahead and try.)
He moved directly in front of the man, tossing small rotes at the man's
face. Each time, the man waved his hand as if he were brushing a persistent fly off his nose. Other than that, there was no response. BB finallygave up and followed as I turned and moved outward through the haze ofthe ring. It was hard for me to accept now that I had once been as deeply
focused in HTSI, but I was sure it was so. If my rote of it was there, it was
deeply covered over. I like to think I released it, of course.
One more stop before we reached the null point should do it. Whenthe haze began to lessen somewhat, I came to a stop. A woman was
standing amid what seemed to be jagged rock outcrop. She was aware ofus immediately and began to scream. BB started to back away.
The woman came at us, waving her arms. (You stay away from me, youspawn of the devil! I was a sinner, but I didn't sin any more than everyone
else, I tell you! You can't take me to hell, because I'm a good woman! Yougo after those harlots down on Front Street!)
She stopped abruptly, sank to her knees, head bowed, sobbing. (Please
don't take me to hell . . . Please! I just want to be with my daughter.
She's around here somewhere, she was so good. She couldn't help dying
before me. I know she didn't go to hell . . . Please, please!)
I did what I could. (Your daughter was good. If you just rest quietly, shewill come and find you. Think of her, sit quietly and think of her, and she
will find you. What was her name?)
The woman's sobbing eased, but her head remained bowed and she wasunable to think clearly. I did get a percept. (Claire will find you very soon.)
The woman slowly raised her head, eyes open in wonder as I turned andled BB further outward through the haze.
BB came beside me. (You sure swung that one, RAM.)I plied. (Beginner's luck.)
He blanked. (What's . . .)(More human stuff. Come on.)Sometimes my navigation wasn't as good as I would like it to be. We
finally broke through the haze into a cleared area. This was my intended

196

FAR JOURNEYS

stopping point. To the right, the surf of a white-capped blue oceancrashed regularly against a rocky shore. Overhead, the sky was a lighter
blue with no clouds. In front of us was a simple log cabin, and behind thecabin rose a forested mountain. It could be either Maine or California, but
it wasn't. It wasn't anything.
(Hey, why we stopping?) BB cut in.
(Ident Charlie. A friend of mine. Try it.)
He did, and I knew what was happening. All I was perceiving suddenly
came into BB, the ocean, the shore, cabin, sky, and mountain. He flickered. (We back on your earth?)
I smoothed. (No, Charlie made it.)BB blanked. (Charlie made it!)(He likes to be reminded of his favorite physical place, so he made a
copy.)(He can do that?)(It's like a rote, almost.)
The door of the cabin opened, and Charlie came out. He was his usual
short, round-bodied, round-faced self and wearing his usual plaid shirt. His
hair was dark and straight this time instead of his usual tight blond curls.
He approached and we shook hands. (Well, Robert, I see you got out
again.)(Hi, Charlie. What happened to your hair?)Charlie flickered. (I, uh, got a new friend. She likes it straight and brown,
so I changed it. She's in the cabin. Want to meet her?)(We just stopped by for a minute. Next time maybe.)
He looked in BB's direction. (You got somebody with you?)
I smoothed. (Yeah, a friend.)
He stared intently. (I can just barely see the edges of something.)(Say hello to BB.)Charlie looked dubious. (I can't see you, but hello, BB. Welcome to
Fantasy Land.)BB flickered. (Uh, hello, Charlie.)
Surprise crossed Charlie's face. (I heard him! I heard him but I can't seehim!)
BB rolled a little. (I get you fine, Charlie!)

ONE EASY LESSON

197

Charlie turned to me. (You taught him the OOB routine. Now you havea traveling companion. That's great!)
I smoothed. (Not exactly, Charlie. You see . . .)(You will have to teach him to fine-tune a little better, Robert. I can't geteven a clear outline, just something like heat distortion on the desert. You
still hear me, uh, BB?)BB must have pulled a percept from Charlie, who was wide open.
(Loud and clear, Charlie. Zero level, plus or minus three DB.)Charlie looked pleased. (That's my language, BB! At least I hear you.
Say, how do you like what I've done here? Took some doing to get the ocean
waves to hit the rocks accurately, I tell you. Hey, Robert, you like sunsets.
Watch this one.)
We turned and looked out over the ocean. Slowly, the light blue sky
darkened, and flares of red, orange, and yellow melded together on thehorizon. Layers of clouds appeared which added perspective and texture to
the scene. The edges of the clouds took on rose and mauve hues. It
reminded me of Oahu in Hawaii.
Charlie turned to me. (How's that for a first draft?)I explained to BB. (Charlie was an electronics engineer in his last physical life.)(I thought I was pretty good,) Charlie added. (That was nothing compared to what you can do here. What's your field, BB? You work with
Robert?)BB flickered. (I'm from KT-95.)
Charlie looked puzzled. (KT-95? New one on me. Where's the company
located?)I decided to give it to him straight. (He's not from earth, Charlie. He
isn’t even human.)
He looked taken aback, but only for a moment. (Now, come on, you’re
not going to start that kind of talk again!)
I laughed. (He's for real, Charlie.)
He turned to where he perceived BB stood. (Robert has been feedingme all these wild ideas about other worlds, energy fields we know nothing
about, that type of thing. I can go along with him as to possible intelligent
life on other planets somewhere beyond our solar system, but that's notwhat he means. Human life, even operating the way I am now, I can handle

198

FAR JOURNEYS

that, too. So he got you to help him pull a fast
yourself a little out of sync
Robert has himself a super being.)
BB flickered. (Now, Charlie, I didn't . . .)(O.K., I can go along with a gag as good as t(Where did you say you're from?)(KT-95, Charlie.) BB smoothed. (It's different from here.)(Sure, I bet it is.) He laughed. (What do you do there? I mean yo
personally.)(I, uh . . . play games.)(What kind of games?)(They're hard to explain, but I can show you one.)
Charlie smiled. (O.K., show me. I'm a Missouri boy.)
I cut in. (I don't think you should . . . BB. We, uh,enough time.)
Charlie laughed hard.
have coached him more. I suppose, BB
humans from ourselves, stop the nukes
BB blanked. (No, no. We(fust visiting, that it?)(That's all. Then . . .)(Just where is this KTBB flickered. (Uh, justCharlie turned to me,
trouble you and BB took to dbelieve you.)
I smiled. (I'll keep trying. We have to leave now. Thanks for ytality. I liked your sunset.)
Charlie and I shook hands, and he turned to BB. (Come back and
BB. You don't have to wait for Robert to bring you.)BB vibrated. (I don't?)(Come whenever you feel
Then I can see you better.)(By the way,) I put in, (you decided yet about your next phy
He shrugged. (I'm still thinking about it. I'm in no hurry.)(That's good. Be selective next time.)

ONE EASY LESSON(That I will.)
I smoothed. (Take care, Charlie.)
We lifted outward, and soon we were back in the haze, and I could tellfrom the change in texture when we passed the null point. From here onout, things would change rapidly. The question was, where to drop in
next? BB was tight beside me, and I knew he was trying to sort out thesolid shots of rote he was receiving. I tried to get a percept of the impact
on him, but he was closed too tightly. But I didn't really need a percept.
Charlie had impressed him. Here was another human being-albeit without a physical body for the moment-that he could relate to easily. Afterthe mess in the lower rings, here was a Charlie who seemed perfectly
normal, who knew how to do things-play?-inways that were new andexciting to BB, and a being who had a sense of humor much as he did.
Only one small problem. Charlie wouldn't believe BB existed if he had thereal rote.
I decided we were deep enough into the outer ring, so without an ident
I pulled to an easy stop. The haze was less dense, and the shape of buildings, irregularly spaced, began to take form-each a suitable distance fromanother, each different in design either extremely or slightly. Many
seemed to be constructed of stone, most were equipped with spires, steeples, domes, or towers in various configurations, some had elaborate
stained-glass circular windows. We moved down near the front of thenearest building. As we did, a woman emerged from the front door anddescended the wide steps. When she reached the last step, she looked up
and stopped short. There was no fear in her eyes, just uncertainty.
I decided to set her straight. (We don't bite.)She responded immediately. (I didn't expect you to. I was trying todecide where to refer you. We have so many committees. You don't act likea newcomer.)
I smiled. (We 're just visiting.)(Our minister says there is no such person as a visitor here,) she replied
confidently. (You wouldn't have found us if you didn't have our faith. It's
really all right to be a newcomer. I'll take you to Thelma. She's in charge of
the welcoming committee.)
I smiled. (No, thanks just the same, we're only passing through.)She looked puzzled. (You keep using "we." Do you think you're more

200

FAR JOURNEYS

than one person? We have a class on multiple personalities that you canattend. Dr. Frankel conducts it.)BB cut in. (Why can't she perceive me, RAM? Charlie did.)She smiled at me. (What did you . . . Oh. Your name is Percy RAM
Charles?)(Not exactly,) I answered. It was interesting. She was mixing BB's radiation with mine to fit her percept.
(Isn’t it wonderful to know, really know you have everlasting life?) She
stretched her arms outward from her side. (Oh, I remember so well how I
felt when I died and they brought me here. How I harbored little secretdoubts, and I do understand how you feel. Sunday school and the reindoctrination classes will clear those up for you. Don't worry. It's just unusualthat you arrived here on your own.)
I had to ask it for BB's sake. He was focused very intently on what was
taking place. (Then this isn't heaven? This isn't where God is?)She laughed lightly. (That's exactly what I asked when I was a newcomer. Don't be disappointed. We're only at the gates of heaven. Our
minister, Dr. Fortune, preaches sermons about it every Sunday. I must
confess they're quite different from the ones Reverend Wilson used topreach back when I was living physically, in Lexington.)(Are you going back?)
She frowned. (You mean back into a physical life?)
I smoothed. (I guess that's what I mean.)
She was thoughtful for a moment. (I don't know. Dr. Fortune has sermons about it. He says when you leave here, you can go back again or you
can go somewhere else.)
BB cut in. (You get that, RAM? This, uh, Fortune curl found himself asolid percept!)
I turned to BB. (That's right.)
The woman was staring at me. (You mumble your words, don't you? Yes,I think Dr. Fortune's perception is right. But he's a man, not a girl.)
I persisted. (Then people do leave here?)She smiled. (Oh yes. We lose several of our congregation every Sunday.
Dr. Fortune says it's all right.)(What happens to them, do you know?)(They get up after services and walk out the front door ahead of everyone

ONE EASY LESSON

201

else. After that, we don't see them again. They’re gone when the rest of us
leave. It's a, uh, ritual our church conducts here.)
I took it as far as I could. (Do they finally go to heaven?) She was very
open and clear. (Most of our congregation think so. Dr. Fortune isambivalent about it. At the close of each service, he issues something likethe call that the Reverend Wilson did back in physical life. People get up,
walk down to the front of the church, and there he says something to them
the rest of us can't hear. Then we sing a hymn, and they march out.)(What do you yourself think? Where are they going?) She hesitated. (I don't
know. Things are so different here from what I expected and I've learnedso much . . . I just haven't made up my mind.) Then she laughed. (But
you’re asking me questions. The welcoming committee are the people you
need. I'll take you over to . . . Wait a minute, where are you going?)(We, uh, I have to leave now.) I called out to her as we moved upward,(See you in heaven, I hope!)
She stood and gazed in wonderment as we moved out, and I finally lost her
in the haze. I've often been curious as to her reporting of our visit—if she
did. We moved slowly as I tried to plan a suitable stop for the last part ofthe lesson. I was glossing and skipping over so much that I was unsure as
to the value of the entire trip. This was no job for a neophyte, and I
certainly was just that when it came to quick, easy lessons. I was still too
human myself. BB gave me the answer when he pushed at me. (Hey,
RAM, we going to heaven now?)
I rolled a little, then smoothed. (Not yet. I have the percept I couldn’t if I
wanted to.)
(Then how about where there are humans who will toss a few rotes withme, not you? This is supposed to be my lesson and all I do is hang around,you know what I mean? Let's go back to Charlie.)
I didn't reply, but the percept flared brightly, and I began moving
rapidly. I was positive where our last visit should take place. I led us to thevery outer fringes of the outermost ring, where the haze was quite thin.
The rim had a glow to it as we approached, and as we entered, the glow
broke down into soft individual light sources, those who resided here.
These were the teachers, the helpers, the so-called guides of the inner

202

FAR JOURNEYS

rings—all on temporary but dedicated duty. I had one ident in particularand I homed in on it, with BB following. It was only moments later that
we eased to a stop. One form broke away from a group and approached us.
It was only slightly humanoid in shape, glowing softly.
I opened. (I took you at your word, Bill. We’ve come visiting.)
The form smoothed. (We were expecting you, Bob, and this is yourfriend from KT-95. Welcome, BB.)BB Bickered. (Uh, hello.)
It was no surprise that Bill was aware of BB and the whole sequence of
events. I sometimes get the dim percept that my entire adventure, including this one, had been neatly planned from the beginning. Thus, I let Billand BB get it together and they did.
BB began it. (You’re human like RAM here?)Bill rolled a little. (I have a solid mass of human rote, BB. I've been
through the mill, as it were. But at this point, I don't have a physical bodyas Bob does.)(You want a rote from me? What I am and that stuff?)(That's not necessary. I have a fine percept of you, your friend, uh, AA,
and KT-95. What I would like is your percept of the human experience
with your one easy lesson.)BB flickered. (It's uh, not too solid. You sure you want it?)
Bill smoothed. (Just as it is.)(Yeh. Well, uh . . . it's the wildest bunch of games inside of games. . . With, uh, rules on top of rules that get so mixed up you don't haveany percept at all of which game you’re playing. Then they get so busy
playing so many games they forget it is a game, the whole thing. Even why
they’re playing it and how they got in it to start.)(That is very well put, BB.)
(Why, I could take the rote I got, just what I got, the real rote, go back to
KT-95, and feed it out one after another, each part as a game, and keep
those curls back there skipping so fast they would spin out.)(I'm sure you could.)
BB flickered. (But there's some missing parts . . . and, uh, the game
isn’t any game without it.)
Bill was very smooth. (Such as . . .)(How do they keep score! Who does the keeping!)

ONE EASY LESSON

203(Good questions.)
BB vibrated. (Where's the fun! Why play a game if you don't have fun
playing it! All those humans in there, I didn’t get a percept of just one
having fun.)Bill plied. (They do part of the time, and some but not many most of thetime, and very few all of the time, but they're hard to find. Your broad
percept missed these fine edges.)
BB flickered. (There's one other thing.)(Yes?)(This other part that messes up the M Band so badly . . . the scratchy
stuff. RAM called it emotion. I don't have the least percept of that. He puts
it I have to be human.)(Emotion is the points, the score.)BB blanked, and I waited for Bill to lay this one out. I would like toknow, too.
Bill went on. (Emotion is what makes the game seem so wild, but it is
the game, the one game in which all other games are played. The others
feed score to the big game in the form of emotional energy. The big game is
to control and develop this emotional energy to its most effective condition,
which is vaguely set by us humans as love, until we graduate. The more wescore, the more fun it becomes. Most of us here—where you are now—wespend our energy going in to help other humans, however and wherever wecan, to improve their score—and so have more fun.)BB turned inward and closed. Finally he opened again. (Uh, Bill?)(Yes, BB?)
BB flickered. (I don't have any percept of this emotion and love energy
stuff. Not a single skim.)
Bill vibrated gently. (Of course you do.)BB blanked. (I do?)(Why are you here now? Why did you take the trouble to come backfrom KT-95? Why have you been . . . hanging around? Why did you
want to go through this one easy lesson with Bob? Why not just go back to
KT-95 and play some games?)
BB blanked completely, then slowly turned inward and closed tightly.
There wasn't the slightest radiation or movement in him that I could
perceive. Bill reached out gently, but BB gave no response. I had never"204

FAR JOURNEYS

been present when anything remotely like this had happened to anyone
nonphysical, except those in the stunned-out ring right after physicaldeath—and I hadn't ever watched the start of the condition in that case. I
began to vibrate.
Bill opened gently. (You 'd better go back now. We’ll take care of him.)
I vibrated more. (Will he be all right?)(It's a big rote he's absorbing. The fact that he's never been humanmakes it . . . different. He'II be fine.)
I began to think that I never should have taken BB on the tour, whenBill cut in. (Bob, I was the one who gave him the rote that put him down.
He's in the equivalent of what we used to call shock. Head back now, yourenergy is weakening. We will take good care of BB. He will recover.)I turned reluctantly, did a half-roll, and dove down, following the identof my physical body. I was relaxed and sure because there was no betterhelp for BB than Bill and his friends, except perhaps the INSPECS—andthe line between the two was very, very thin. I picked up the second andreentered the physical without incident. Everything was calm and normal,
except that I forgot to check the clock.
I kept thinking about the thin line in the weeks and months that
followed.

15.Promised
Plan

Time: 2:32 A.M. . . . awakened with full physical awareness, felt the familiar INSPEC signal, soft, not insistent, but there . . . feeling of relaxed
confidence . . . went into short focusing routine, then unhooked fromthe physical, then the second . . . much like doing two slow half-rolls in
an airplane . . . homed in on the ident, and with very little sense of
movement, I was with them at our usual point of meeting. I knew now
that I would never go beyond this point again, into where they are, until I
had fully released my physical body. Even with the compelling attractionthat the knowledge of it evoked, I believed I could handle it, at least fornow.
(We enjoy your human terms. Handle, as you use it, does not imply apoint of grasp for your physical appendage, but capability to act properly.
Therefore we do learn from you.)
I still found it hard to imagine their learning anything of significant
value from me, but if THEY felt that way, fine.
(We learn much of importance from and through you, Ashaneen.)
I still remember the first time I became aware that I didn't have toform questions, how disconcerting it was that THEY perceived every
thought that I had, including questions before I got a chance to ask. It allsmoothed out when I accepted the fact that whatever I thought, believed,
responded to emotionally, was just being human and no judgment was
passed therefrom. What a joyous freedom!
(Yet you would not know of it as a freedom if you had not experienced
the repression.)
Yes, the comparative factor seems always to apply. Without it, perhaps
there can be no change or at least the awareness.
(At this point, we believe you are ready for another awareness. You may
now appreciate the prospect of what you are attempting to perform in yourpresent time. It is not to state that you alone may bring into earth reality

206

FAR JOURNEYS

such prospect. Yours is hut a small part of a whole that may come into
being, aided and supported by many, many others who contribute theirsmall parts, just as you are doing. However, with your effort in your present
time, you can complete your portion and you can return home, only toreturn and share in the fruits of what you are propounding when they havematured. These fruits are what we are about to show you.)
Their use of the term "home" brought a surge of nostalgic yearning,and I turned inward and closed. Echoing through me came the fragmentsof the rote I could never totally express—the serenity, complete feeling of
belonging, to recall the vitality I had forgotten, the crisp, warming clarityof . . . and yet it was not quite right. Something was missing, too deeply
hidden, or had I . . . I opened.
(We thought it might be important to you. We can show you this as anobserver, not as a participant.)
Even as I vibrated, I blanked. If THEY planned it, it must be something
big, but I couldn't read them as THEY did me. What . . .
(We can escort you to a physical earth possibility at a point in your timemeasurement beyond the year 3000. The principal inhabitants are what wecall H-plus, humans-plus, to indicate modification from those in your present time. As you are now, you will be a visitor.)
Well! So that was it! I had made only a few visits into future time. I
would never have the guts to try such a jump by myself, but withthem . . .
(Close tightly. It will be better that way.)
My excitement was great and my vibrating reflected it, so I turned
inward, folded it all back in a loop, and closed. This would be the real rote,
not the projections and imaginings of those looking at the small trends
which always . . .
CLICK!
We were high above the earth, much as one would perceive it from
halfway to the moon, which was still there, behind us. The earth was thesame blue-green color, with white covers of clouds partially obscuring theland below. We moved in steadily, and I was happy to see that the deepgray and brown rings were no longer there—which meant the blockage

PROMISED PLAN

207

got cleaned up. Good! No more repeaters. But it was the new feature thatpulled my focus and wouldn't let it go. Around the earth was a single flat
ring, much like the ones around Saturn, and it was radiating and sparkling,
not from the reflection of the sun, but from its own internal source.
(You will understand fully the meaning of the ring as we progress.)
As we moved around, not through, the sparkling ring and headed inward, I became aware of another change. The M Band was full of communication, but no noise. No noise! That could mean only one thing—man
had finally got it together. Further evidence was the lack of the haze M
Band noise creates. No more random thought-clutter. This at least gave
me a beginning percept of what I might expect.
We came into a low altitude, at about eight thousand feet, and began
circling the earth over the northern hemisphere, east to west near a 28degree latitude just a few miles off the coast of what appeared to be Japan.
The seas were soft light green, and gentle swells some ten feet fromtrough to crest moved majestically over the surface. Deeper, I could perceive schools of fish leisurely weaving along, not too fast, their track
matching neatly the contour of the distant coastline—thousands of them,silver sides flashing as they made their quick changes in direction. There
had indeed been changes if they schooled so closely to the shore, so manyof them. It was familiar, yet there was a missing element. I scanned theocean surface and knew immediately what it was.
No ships. I reached out along the horizon and far beyond. Not even arowboat or dinghy. I scanned overhead across the sky with its streets ofwhite cumulus clouds. No aircraft, just gulls and terns sweeping andsearching among the heavy swells, and higher than that, beyond cloudbase—nothing. No jet contrails, no jets.
Then we had crossed the coastline and were over Japan. Off to thenorth was Fujiyama, a white cone glistening in the sun. Below us was aneat carpet of tidy fields in large checkerboard squares, each a subtle shadeof green—correction: much more than greens. Spotted among the green
like a gigantic bouquet were clusters of fields each of a different color, onea mass of bright orange, another deep blue, whites, reds—fields of blooming flowers, bushes, and evidently hybrids of the two, because no flower
could be that large. It was a pattern that could be seen only from high208

FAR JOURNEYS

overhead, yet there were no aircraft—and that began to give me anotherfaint percept.
As we moved west, I became aware of other missing signs. There wereno roads, not so much as a lane to service the fields. Also, no buildings, nohouses, no barns, no sheds—I scanned in all directions and there were
none. No cities, no towns, no villages, no power lines, no cars and trucks,
no bicycles—all gone. The air was clear and clean, no smoke or smog.
Then I had a flashing percept. There were no people. That was what I
actually was looking for—men, women, children. What terrible catastrophe took them all away!
(They are there. They are fewer in number, but it was not an event thatmade it so. What you perceive is by design.)
We began to move more rapidly, westward, across the unending array ofcolored bouquets set in green, some so large they appeared to be many
miles in width, and soon we were again over water, the Sea of Japan, as I
remembered it, and still no ships on what once was such an importanttransportation route. Back over land again—the Korean peninsula?—andthe pattern was different. In every direction were tall and stately trees
with close upward-turned branches, of a species unfamiliar to me . . .
but again no sign of human artifact to indicate Kilroy had been anywhere
near the place.
(Your percept is—how do you call it?—obsolete.)
Before I had a chance to turn inward on that one, we were over water
again, moving even faster, and back over land. This would have to be
China. Surely with its teeming millions, some had to be visible. Evidently
they didn't have to be at all. We swept over mile after mile of deep green
forests broken only by occasional grassy clearings and wide rivers andstreams. Where are the rice paddies so vital to human sustenance?
(There are a few, but for a different purpose. Bird sanctuaries.)
The land below became more rugged, and soon we were skimming
between the ranges and peaks of very mountainous terrain. Vegetation wassparse, and snowcaps flashed by as we passed at what seemed Mach 2
speed, or greater. I would be more comfortable with a little safer altitude;
my old half-bold pilot experience was coming out. Being half-bold had letme grow old but not gracefully. The sheer snow-laden rocky side of a highridge came rushing at us.

PROMISED PLAN

209

(You can move through it and out the other side. It is no different now.)
The ridge was almost upon us. I closed tightly just as we were about tocrash. There was a slight change in the texture around me momentarily,
and it was gone. I opened, and scanned behind us. The high range wasfading in the distance. Passing through physical matter is not yet myhabit! Quickly, the earth below was beginning to level out again, the colorof the forest changed into lighter greens, and the cleared areas became
larger. I tried to remember my geography—we were over the Middle East,
I thought . . . yes, there they were coming up, still the rolling, sandy,
near-desert areas, where the oil came from. I scanned in all directions, andsaw very symmetrical clusters of trees, but no tanks, no pipelines, no
pumping wellheads, nothing to indicate man had ever set foot in the area.
Either the oil fields were pumped dry or there was no longer a need for oil.
(Both percepts are accurate.)
We moved out over water again—Mediterranean Sea?—and higher,
faster, a scrap of land blinked by underneath which I could not identify
and more water, heavy waves, this must be the Atlantic . . . land again,a sudden slowing and we landed gently in a field of grass amid rolling hills.
I looked around me, wondering why we had stopped at this particularplace. It was very faintly familiar. I was standing on a knoll, in a field ofrich green grass whose blades were so even they must have been recently
mowed . . . no, not cut, they were growing evenly. The edge of a woodsof oak trees, limbs spreading broadly, rose behind me. In the far distance,a series of ascending green-blue ridges formed giant stair steps upward. . . Why stop here, why at this place?
(It is their wish. They are expecting you.)
The INSPEC energy faded and I was alone. I seemed very physical as I
stood there. I could feel the sun on my face. Light, cool breezes ruffled myhair. Hair? I wasn't supposed to have . . . They were expecting me? Iscanned in all directions, but with no ident, no, no, there is one, and it's
very, very familiar . . . over in the woods. I turned and walked . . .
walked? . . . that inferred legs. I looked down and I did indeed havelegs, very normal and very human, bare legs and bare feet, and I could feelthe grass in my toes as I walked. I touched the rest of me as I headed forthe large oaks, my body was physically real and warm under my fingers. I
glanced down, and it was my body as a bean pole twenty-two years old

210

FAR JOURNEYS. . . hah! No clothes! That's some kind of progress. Now I could feel thesoft wind against my body, the air in my lungs as I breathed. It was thefirst time that I could remember that I experienced a fully operational
physical body in this state of consciousness. But I don't see why I had togo all the way back to a skinny six-foot, one-thirty-seven-pounder . . . I
reached the edge of the woods and started to enter, when I ran into abarrier, something that threw me back into the field. I stopped andlooked, but my percept showed nothing. The familiar ident I couldn't
associate with anything was behind the barrier, so I tried again. It gave alittle, but no more—and the invisible force itself was familiar yet I
couldn't connect the ident and the barrier. Something was missing.
(You can stay in the grass and we will join you there.)
No sound, it was NVC! We made it! Humans did it! We made thequantum jump from monkey chatter and all it implied! I was eager tomeet the welcoming committee, whoever they were. I didn't have to wait
but a moment. A man and a woman came out from under the trees andstood in front of me. At least that nice polarity hadn't changed. Bothappeared to be in their late twenties, attractive, well formed, skin a suntan
color, the man's hair light brown, the woman's dark. They smiled as I
inspected them.
I opened. (Well, I guess we haven't changed as much as I thought wewould. Not physically, anyway.)(Sorry about the mix-up, RAM.) The man rolled. (Your host forgot about
the barrier, so we’re taking his place.)
I blanked. (You must know me with that RAM stuff.)
The man warmed. (Yeh!)(And you're sure a familiar one to me. The ident is fuzzy. The way it
comes out I know it's not right.)
The man vibrated and rolled. (Not in a thousand years would you believe
it! It's more than a thousand, so now you better believe it!)
I had a bright flashing percept, and I didn’t believe it. (BBl)BB rolled. (Who else!)
I turned inward and found the rotes that had percepts on the barrier,where it had repelled me before, and I knew who my host was to havebeen. (That's AA back in the trees.)

PROMISED PLAN

211

BB opened wide. (He was sure eager to meet you in person. He was soeager he forgot about the barrier. But he's getting percepts.)(Does he know what the barrier is?)BB smoothed. (Yeh, he knows. But he told me you have to find out for
yourself.)
I turned to the woman, no longer able to resist the enormous pull she
knowingly or unknowingly was exerting upon me . . . her smile told me
it was the former, but she was closed tightly and I respected the signal.
Like BB's, her ident was strong, far stronger . . . but it was fuzzy. How
could I forget such a vital, important . . .
Her smile was mischievous. (You don't.)(Well, what do you want to know first?) BB cut in. (I could run you myrote but it might not be what you want.)
I turned to BB. (Exactly what year is it?)(Year? Oh . . . time. They gave up that kind of measuring somewhere
after they reached the 3000 mark. Didn't need it anymore. What next?)
I flickered. (Where are we? I know from the way we traveled on our
approach that we’re just inside the United States near the coastline.)
BB smoothed. (AA thought this would be where you would like to comefirst. Not the United States any longer. No states or countries anywhere.
Don't need them. But you ought to get a percept on this particular place.)
I turned and scanned around me. It was familiar. The knoll where wewere standing, the rising tiers of blue-tinted ridges to the west . . . Blueridges! The percept was total. How many times before had I stood on thisvery knoll and looked to the west, had made the stairway of rounded hills
my launching chute, the flood of living human experience I had attachedto this spot, this site . . . the houses, fences, buildings, roads, all weregone. The lake. The lake was still there. And trees, so many more trees
and of varieties I had never seen before, and to the east, there was . .
water. Water where once was a four-lane highway, water stretching off
into the horizon.
(We call it Virginia Bay for old times' sake. Part of the ocean.) BB wasvery smooth. (You always yelled about the law of change. Some of us hibe
here also for old times' sake.)
I blanked. (Hibe?)

212

FAR JOURNEYS

The woman opened ever so slightly. (We store our favorite human bodies here under the oak trees until we need them.)(Which is not too often,) BB added.
I turned inward. Hibe . . . hibernation. Sure, why not? Simply a vast
improvement on the old OOBE pattern. But to leave it lying aroundunder an oak tree . . .
(We put a super Reball around it,) the woman responded, smiling. (It'sso tight not even a virus can get through, so certainly it won't be botheredby ticks, mosquitoes, or anything larger.)
The rote was building fast. "Reball," short for resonant energy balloon,
which we were clumsily trying to generate, with mixed success, an energy
field around the body to shield and protect, back when. And there are stillticks, mosquitoes, viruses, and bears no doubt.
BB grinned. (No doubt at all.)I looked at him. (What did you mean, not too often?)BB swung to the woman. (You tell him.)
The woman opened somewhat wider, and I could feel the attractive
radiation diminish, and I knew it was deliberate. I also was sure she knew I
would not attempt any further percept of her, if that was the way she
wanted it. At least that hadn't changed either. Women still like to be
mysterious.
(Not too often is about twice a week, more or less.) She smoothed,watching my reaction.
She got one. I blanked.
(All three of us here in human physical on the same day is quite unusual,) she went on, enjoying every moment. (We did it just to meet you.)
I smiled. (I appreciate it, believe me.)(Remember how you used to say . . .) She laughed, then started again.
(You were always saying we are more than our physical bodies. Now it's theother way around. You, I mean we keep telling the new ones they are morethan their energy selves.)
I turned inward. This was more than I had ever contemplated, but one
thing hadn't changed. One answer led to a hundred other questions. I
needed to start at . . .
(You want your usual baseline. Well, we are still human beings, or beings
being human. I guess?) She looked at BB, who simply shrugged. That was

PROMISED PLAN

213

unusual. AA must have instructed him to let the woman do the talking—correction: communicating.
I tried another direction. (On the way in, I didn't see a single house orbuilding, no roads, nothing to show that man was here or ever had been, no
cities, factories, aircraft, cars. How come?)
BB laughed. (You didn’t look very hard.)
The woman glowed. (Isn’t it beautiful?)
I was smoothing more. (I can understand how you can sleep under thetrees in weather like this, but how about winter? You still have to keep
warm.)(The Reball takes care of that,) she answered. (It keeps an air temperature layer all around the physical, just whatever you want it to be.)(How about food? You have to eat.)
She held out her arms in front of her body, level with her shoulders,palms upward. She closed her eyes and stood quietly. After a few moments, she lowered her arms, opened her eyes again.
(That gives this body enough energy for at least a week.) She sighed
contentedly.
I flickered. (You mean you don't get to taste food anymore, real food?)(Oh, that. Sure.) BB got into the act again. He reached down, scooped
up a handful of red loam from between the grass roots. (What'll you have?
Wild rice? That's my favorite.)I watched, fascinated . . . decided to go with the game. (No, uh . . .
Silver Queen.)
BB blanked. (Silver Queen? What kind of . . .)(Here, I'll do it.) The woman took the dirt from BB, cupped it in her
right hand, and stared at it intently. The dirt began to bubble and boil,changing color, re-formed into a small full-kerneled mature ear of whitecorn.
She handed it to me and I took it. It was hot to the touch. I carefully
put it up to my mouth, took a bite. It was Silver Queen, the sweetest corn
I ever tasted, with the freshness of just being picked. It even had melted
butter, no, oleo dripping from it. I looked at the woman as I chewed
avidly. She smiled knowingly. If she kept leaking percepts, I'd have her
ident whether I wanted to or not and she wouldn't have her secret. I
handed her the corn, and she bit into it. We both chewed and tasted.

214

FAR JOURNEYS

I swallowed, wondering where the corn went when I did so. It didn't
matter, so I smoothed. (All right, you’ve convinced me. What about noroads, no transportation? Suppose we wanted to go to Japan. That's notwithin walking distance.)
BB grinned. (Why, we just pull a skip, that's all. Short version, of course.
Why Japan?)(I noticed some very unusual patterns of growing things there when wecame in.)
The woman smiled. (It's very lovely, isn't it?)(First stop, Japan.) BB turned toward the woods, and the woman followed. (We'll be right back.)
I watched as they disappeared into the grove of oaks. I stood there
waiting, mulling over the strange mixture of physical and other energies
that was now earth life. I found I was unable to determine where one
began and the other left off. There was no longer a sharp dividing line.
Was it all like this?
(All ready?) I turned and there was BB and the woman standing besideme. They seemed different, lighter. (We had to drop off the bodies.)
I suddenly remembered. (No tricks, BB.)BB rolled. (No chance. She's handling the ident. You and I just playfollow-the-leader after her.)I focused intently on BB, and stretched.
CLICK!
We were hovering over a rolling landscape, at about ten thousand feet.
Directly below us was what seemed to be the center of a lotus blossom,
the outermost petals in magnificent glowing colors spreading out in all
directions for five or six miles. Beyond these were descending tones ofgreen, from the very light of a fresh new leaf to the rich dark of the lower
tropical rain forest. She and BB were beside me.
The woman vibrated. (This is one of the nicest.)
I could see why. I opened. (Who did this?)(A group who wanted the area to give a percept of the beauty that began
here. It was in existence when I came. Now others just take care of it.)

PROMISED PLAN

215

I got a clean, clear percept. (The rest of the world, the earth, is it all likethis?)(It has been restored to its original ecological balance, the way it was
before humans upset it so severely. It's all back together again, every tree,
every plant, every animal . . . all of it.)
(Plus a few improvements,) BB put in.
(But it's not all laid out in huge gardens such as this.) I focused on the
woman.
(Only a small part,) she came back. (The rest is made up of forests,
woodlands, pastures, and prairies. Even the desert areas haw been restored.)
My percept had been quite clear. Humans had taken over Mother
Nature's work—with a few improvements. I didn't need to ask the hows of
it. The rote of the woman converting dirt into an car of fresh sweet cornsaid it all. If a human could do that ... I had to complete it. I was sure of
the answer before I asked.
(Suppose we wanted to walk around down there. I mean in a physicalbody.) I smoothed carefully. (How could we do it?)
The woman vibrated. (I'm sure there are any number of bodies underthose beautiful cherry blossoms.)
I pressed. (We each could take over one, just like that?)(Yes, of course.)
I had to know. (Suppose they all were already occupied . . . so to
speak.)
BB couldn't stay out of it. (We 'd make some new ones. Doesn’t takelong. You want to go down?)
I flickered. (No, no, not yet anyway. But what about the physical bodies
you left under the oak trees? Can just anyone occupy those if they want to?)BB rolled. (Sure, why not?)Why not? That took some fast adjustment. Then I pulled out the rote
from back when, where others had occupied the physical bodies of ourvolunteers in the laboratory, communicated verbally, activated other portions of said body, including playing the piano ... all without any wear andtear, or concern . . . why not!
The woman was smoothed at BB. (I don't get the percept he's ready.)FAR JOURNEYS
216(Sure he is,) BB came back. (He's a big boy now. It would give him thewhole rote in one gulp. Have so much fun it would blow him away!)(Let's go back to the dorm first, as AA planned,) she came back easily.
(Then maybe go from there.)
I opened. (Do I have a choice in this?)
She rolled. (Of course you do.)I smoothed, holding back the vibration. (Let's do what she indicates.
I've had too much experience with your fun, BB. No offense.)
BB rolled. (Sure, sure.)
The woman turned to me. (Close tightly.)
I did.

CLICK!
We were floating amid thousands upon thousands of white sparklingforms, each animated and vibrating. At first, the brightness and radiation
was so overwhelming I was sure I would have to push the panic button or
scream for my INSPEC friend. Then it lessened, and I felt the warm senseof understanding entering from all external points of me. I knew the forms
had deliberately diverted their radiation, whatever it was, away from me soit conformed to my level of tolerance. I wondered how I must ident tothem . . . probably a dull gray piece of fog.
(Welcome to the dorm of the renovated super-human school of compressed learning!) The ident was BB, no mistaking that. (AA decided"dorm " was the best term to use. I have no percept what a dorm is.)I caught the smooth yet vague ident of the woman on the other side ofme. She was bright and sparkling exactly as all the others. I knew she washuman—or did I?—so must be all of the other sparkling forms.
I opened as much as I could. (What's this place?)(You passed it when you entered earth.) As she sent it to me, I immediately got the flash of the sparkling ring. (This is our reference point until
we decide to . . .)She trailed off and closed. I tried to smooth. (Decide to do what?)
She opened slightly. (I, uh . . . graduate.)
I let that one rest for the moment. (What do you do in the meantime?)
She rolled lightly. (Well, for one, we make and gather . . . what did

PROMISED PLAN

217

you call it? . . . loosh. Like honeybees. Or Guernsey cows. Only now weknow what we’re doing and why, and we’re happy to do it.)
I turned inward and closed. This one I did understand, but the vastnessof the change was near-unbelievable. But I was here, and the evidence was
all around me. The interstate to freedom.
I opened again. (What else do you do?)She lighted smoothly. (Experience Earth Consciousness. Not just in
physical human form—remember we could only feel part of it, just a part?
Now we go through it completely, from the smallest unicellular life up,
millions of different life cycles, most of which we were unaware of as only
physical humans. Even the physical earth itself has an active consciousness.)
I let that one go by, too, because I couldn't resist the follow-up. (Thenatural food chain process, it still exists and you experience it? From beginning to end?)
She came back gently. (It's an important part of the learning process. We
couldn’t make loosh without it.)(Hey, RAM!) BB could stay out of it no longer. (Some change, huh? No
more haze, no more M Band noise, no more locked-in rings! Want me toshow you around?)I turned to the woman, but she didn't respond, so I took that to mean it
was all right. Also, she had closed. Evidently she wanted to keep her
secret, and with a little more of her ident leaking, she wouldn't have any
secret.
I followed BB. (Lead on, old buddy.)
We moved easily through the sparkling forms, and I hooked on to BB's
ident to keep from getting lost. I could feel the radiation ease back infront of me, providing a pathway, so to speak, of low-level energy that I
could tolerate. I was surprised when, passing various forms, a spark would
fly out and touch me. In the sparks were spoken words that I heard veryclearly . . . Hello, Bob. Hi, Robert . . . But I couldn't get an ident on
any of them. Finally, BB stopped. In front of us was the First Entry.
Station. It appeared much the same. There was a large cluster of grayforms hovering around it.
(Lot of changes.) BB smoothed. (But you wouldn’t notice them if you
didn’t know better.)

218

FAR JOURNEYS

I ventured, (Such as?)(Heavy cutback on the survival imprint, for one.) BB rolled. (You remember that lecture you gave me, complete with living illustrations in the oldrings? You 'd be amazed at the difference that one change made.)
I opened. (I am.)BB blanked, then went on. (Yeh, well, another thing is a solid prebriefing and training before entry, especially as to continuing contact duringphysical sleep cycles.)I blanked. (But you don't even sleep here, do you?)(No, don't need to.) Then he lighted. (Oh, yeh, that's the other point.
These first-timers go back before the changes as their first entry point, someof them almost back when humans first began being human. They take one
human physical life cycle and one only, and come back here and join in. No
repeaters, just one-timers.)
I turned inward, then opened. (Is this one-timer pattern going on backwhere I came from?)
BB lighted. (Oh, sure.)
I flickered. (I haven't had a percept on that taking place.)
BB smoothed. (Sure, you have.)
I blanked. (How?)(That last outer ring, remember? Didn’t come near the repeater department? fust went up and faded out?)
I flickered again. (But they were the ones going home.)
BB vibrated triumphantly. (Well?)
I turned inward and closed. The whole thing was getting out of hand,or better, out of my mind-set, beyond my ability to absorb and understandinstantly. And BB was pulling at me.
(Come on, RAM.) He vibrated. (Let's live it up, let's have some fun.)I flickered. (Fun? Well, I don't know, your idea of fun . . .)(fust usual stuff, I guarantee it. Things we do every day down there. Also,
I got a hard rote from, uh, AA as to what to show you and what not to.)I scanned beyond the gray forms around the Entry Station and into thesparkling lights beyond. (Where is AA now? I never get a good ident on
him.)
BB indicated behind us. (He's back there. That barrier thing won't let

PROMISED PLAN219

him come closer. But I'll bet he's going to follow us. You ready? fust shortskips, that's all.)I felt much more confident, with that small percept. I reached out andstretched, holding on his ident.
CLICK!
I'm floating over a wide brown field, just about three thousand feet up. . . I'm flat on the bottom and strong life energy is pouring up at mefrom below . . . I'm getting larger and larger and I eagerly convert theenergy into being me . . . I'm a whirling vortex and my action takes
water out of the energy and helps me get bigger, and I become more
conscious, more aware . . . as I get bigger, I'm able to know more . . .
I'm like a round puffball on top, and I feel myself growing upward morethan outward . . . now there's much of my life energy flowing in me,building up . . . (Wait, that's . . . electricity!) . . . if I can keep growing enough before the water leaks out, if the energy from below lasts longenough, I'll get strong, really strong . . . but I'm drifting away from theenergy shaft and I can't stop the drift, so I'm not getting enough to,enough to . . .
CLICK!
We were floating over the earth, over a heavy forest. The brown field in
the near distance was familiar. BB hovered in front of me.
He vibrated. (Fun, huh?)
I flickered. (What was that!)
He indicated behind me. I turned. It was a medium-sized cumulus
cloud, white on the side where the rays of the sun touched it, gray on theback, with a dark flat bottom. Clouds have consciousness? The basis forlife? Waters, minute bits of chemicals . . . and electricity! All the ingredients. What would a thunderhead be? Or a tornado, a hurricane, weatherlows and highs!
BB cut in. (Ready to go again?)
I reached out and stretched, following.

220

FAR JOURNEYS

CLICK!
I am in green water . . . it is lighter above me and darker below . . .
my mouth is opening and closing automatically, taking in water, whichflows through my head and out my ears . . . no, not ears. Gills . . . I'ma fish, a very big fish! . . . I can feel my stabilizing fins waving gently tokeep me in place, my vision is split, I can't see exactly straight in front ofme . . . behind me is almost a blind spot, but my peripheral seeing istremendous, detail is exquisite, but not many colors, only one or two . . .
I try moving, just thinking about it, and I speed forward very rapidly, turnright, left, roll, steep climb, then dive . . . wait, something on the surface when I climbed, gotta go back, grab it, hungry, hungry . . . I shootuncontrolled through the surface, mouth open, gulping in something as I
do . . . then out of the air and back into the water, diving with a great
sense of satisfaction and something wiggling and crunching in the back of
my mouth . . . a bug? . . . deeper, but it's not dark as I thought, I canstill see wonderfully . . . I am aware of another fish diving with me, tailand back of the body sculling, sculling strongly . . . am I doing that, too?
. . . I am! . . . it just takes care of itself . . . I just think and it works,
like walking or running in a physical human body . . . I stop. Ahead ofme is another fish, it is coming at me . . . no, it's gigantic, the water is
deceptive, it's incredibly bigger than I am . . . it has hunger signals radiating . . . go, go, it's after me, swim, swim fast, it's coming after me. . . up to the top, up, up faster . . . signal in from my sides, anotherfish swimming violently beside me . . . signal from the stripes on mysides . . .

(RAM, when you’re in the air, skip! Skip!)
I broke through the surface into the air, reached out, and stretched.

PROMISED PLAN

221

hard, so he went on. (I guaranteed AA I wouldn’t let you go through theend of it. He had a percept you weren't ready and he was right. But you
asked her about the food chain . . .) I
vibrated. (All right, all right!)
BB smoothed. (You always want it the way it is, don't you?) Ismoothed also. (Caught me by surprise, that's all.) (Well, this next
adventure is quiet, nice and quiet. Ready?) Everything is relative,
including BB's idea of quiet. I reached andst r e t c he d . . .
CLICK!
I am waving gently up and down and bending, flexing . . . coursing
into me from the smallest part of me, which is long and narrow with manytubes running through it, comes my share of the glorious life force, coming from the Whole, the family of which I am a part . . . and I know
how much the Whole needs me and I gladly, joyously serve . . . as theenergy that makes me waver and flex flows past my flat sides . . . (Wait,
that's just air, wind!) . . . I take from it the parts needed by the Wholeand send it back through the narrow tubes because it is needed . . . I do
this so easily I don't think of it as work, it's breathing . . . it's what I'mfor, to breathe for the Whole as I take ashes from the Whole and spread it
out into the energy . . . my happy exchange . . . and the other, oh soimportant, my special shape . . . my profile, configuration . . . receivesa special signal that the Whole understands, needs, and uses . . . all I dois receive it and send it on . . . and I'm happy, supremely happy . . .
with a total knowledge of belonging, performing as I was designed to
do . . . beautiful balance, giving . . . receiving . . . security andstrength o f t h e W h o l e . . .

CLICK!
CLICK!

I was just above the water, and I saw the body of my fish, with a second
one alongside it, arch through the air and reenter the water with thesmallest of splashes . . . but immediately there was a rushing, a swirlingunder the surface.
(Fun, huh?) It was BB beside me. I couldn't reply, I was shaking so

BB was beside me. (Gets to you, doesn’t it?) I
flickered. (Where was that!)
He indicated, and I turned. Very close to me was a leaf, an oak leaf. It
was attached by a long stem to a branch. Beyond the branch was the222

FAR JOURNEYS

massive tree trunk, solidly dug into the earth. To have passed such knowing without awareness . . . I understood more this new Human school.

(Ready to go again? This is my favorite.)
I flickered. (Well, uh, I'm not so sure. Maybe we ought to . . .)(This one we designed ourselves,) BB cut in. (If you don't like it, give mea signal and we'II pull a quick skip.)
Reluctantly, I reached and stretched, followed.
CLICK!
I am lying down in soft thick grasses, lying on my side . . . I open myeyes . . . tall trees surround me on all sides, their leaf-laden branches
form a canopy far overhead, sunlight filters through to provide good but
not overbearing luminescence . . . a large tan-colored panther is standing over me, staring at me intently.

(Come on, RAM . . . let's play!)
I roll over and stand up . . . stand up! . . . I have four legs! How
sure and stable it feels! . . . my head is out in front of my body, now I
have to turn to look at my back and hips . . . fur-covered, sleek . . .
what's that waving behind me? . . . it's a tail, I have a tail . . . I think
about moving it, and it jerks . . . back and forth, back and forth, howabout that! . . . but it goes up and down just a little bit, more down thanup . . . a scent gets my attention . . . smells, smells, I didn't know somany different smells existed . . . know instantly if they're near or
far . . . the signal input is as good as or better than my seeing . . . andhearing, I could know everything just from listening . . . I flex my legs,
pull in my claws . . . yes! I have claws! I feel great! Watch out, world,
here I come . . . such a glorious sense of being alive . . . totally alive, I
want to run, jump, climb . . .

(Well, come on, then!)
The tan panther lopes off through the trees, and I follow . . . faster,
now into a gallop . . . now running all out, dodging through the trees,
easily avoiding low branches . . . the exhilarating flow of smells passing
my nose and I sample them all . . . my eyes and ears picking up, identifying and sorting a myriad of signals, all familiar . . . a large tree is deadahead and the tan panther runs right up the side of it and I follow, digging

PROMISED PLAN

223

in claws, pulling up, and digging in claws. It is waiting for me, sitting
casually on a thick branch . . . I pull up beside it, sit back . . . hewaves his tail . . . and I wave mine in reply.

(Pretty good for a beginner, RAM.)I am too stimulated to reply. I am remembering the great sense of
power in my muscles, sorting out the massive input that had comethrough my senses . . . how could humans have ignored and distorted
such profound perceptions . . . have picked up so little of it when alower animal . . . lower? . . . picked up so much.
(Have to go down now.)
The tan panther stands up, turns, and walks down the tree to theground . . . walks down! I didn't know cats could do that, they always
back down . . . I stand up, and slowly back down, jumping the last eightfeet easily.
(fust lie down under the tree, near the trunk. Then pull a short skip, very
short.)
I lie down in the tall grass, and very reluctantly reach and stretch.
CLICK!
We were hovering just above the ground, and I looked down. Below us,
breathing shallowly and slowly, lying in the grass, was the body of the tanpanther . . . and another panther body, a darker brown one, which I had
occupied.
Beside me, BB rolled. (Liked it, huh?)
I vibrated. (Wonderful!)(Well, we got one more for you to sample. This one, NA, uh, she pickedout. She was sure it was your kind of stuff. You'II be alone, but she said you
would know what to do. I'll just guide you there. Ready?)
Wondering what she would pick, I reached and stretched.
CLICK!
I am floating high over a rugged, snowcapped mountain range, and I
can see for hundreds of miles in every direction . . . and I can see down,
down on the ground . . . beautiful focus, in the most minute detail . . .

224

FAR JOURNEYS

the leaves on trees, small animals as they move over the rocks . . . and I
am moving slowly, making a wide easy turn, the standing wave from themountain ridge offering solid and steady lift under my wings . . . wings!
I turn my head. Extending out from my shoulder is a broad arching wing
tapering to a round point, feathers ruffling in the slight turbulence. I roll
my head to the left, there is one to match from the other shoulder . . .
I'm not floating, I'm soaring . . . as a bird, am a bird! . . . a super
sailplane that does exactly what I think! I break the turn, and the featherson the trailing edge bend down on one side, up on the other, instantailerons . . . let's reach for maximum lift . . . there it is, more under
the left wing than the right, turn into the lift . . . feel the lift gettingstronger and stronger . . . it's peaking out, turn and circle . . . tighten
the turn, highest point of lift . . . must have a fifty-to-one glide ratio. . . spiral up, tighter and faster . . . perfect control . . . air is thinner. . . keep higher airspeed . . . wonder where the stall point is . . .
nose, no, head up more, higher angle of attack, more, hey, that's pretty
good! . . . would never think a bird body could . . . oops! it does stall. . . easy to pick up speed again . . . Yeah! Just fold the wings anddoooooown we go!

(Hey, uh, RAM.)And I bet these wings can take a big G load coming out of a dive if you
open them slowly . . . let's see . . . we'll just dive a little faster . . .
(RAM, you know what you’re doing?)
That's about fast enough . . . now to open the wings a little at a time
. . . slowly . . . now back on the stick . . . uh, tail feathers up a little
at a time . . . there! All back to normal, back to cruising speed . . .
what a . . . hah! What a bird! Must be a condor . . . wonder what aquick sparrow would . . .
(RAM, just pull a short skip. Now!)
I sigh . . . reach and stretch . . .
CLICK!
I was back in among the sparkling forms, and I closed tightly. The
radiation was making me break out in waves exquisitely familiar. After a

PROMISED PLAN

225

moment, the radiation lessened and I opened. I had ident immediately on
BB, and the vague ident of the woman.
BB rolled. (That big old bird must be wondering how his wings got bent.)
I rolled with him. (Oh no. There wasn’t one strained tendon or muscle,
not one feather out of line when I left. I guarantee it.)BB turned to the woman, a sparkling form I already had ident as her.
(He's your problem. I'll check with, uh, AA, and see you at the site.)
I turned to the woman. (The site?)(That's where we first greeted you.)
I turned inward. There were so many points left unanswered, and 1 hada percept that my visit was growing short. Get to the key items, those first.
I focused, completely open so nothing would be distorted. (The firsttimers, when they come back . . .)(One-timers,) she corrected.
I went on. (If you have that constant input, you must have an output tokeep the flow, the movement active.)
She waited quietly . . . politely? ... or had she percept of both questions
and answers. I went on. (So humans do graduate from here, the dorm.
Question: What happens to the graduates?)
She flickered. (I . . . I don't have a percept of that. They just click out.)(One at a time or as a group?)
She smoothed. (Usually several at once. Every so often, one goes alone.)(And they never return?)(No. They don't.)(Any communication with them? After they leave?)
She flickered. (Not in a way that we can understand.)I wanted to follow up on that one, but I was sure it would come out.
(Any indications or symptoms they are about to graduate?)
She smoothed again. (Oh yes. They no longer need to experience earth,so they begin to go physical less and less. Finally, they stop completely.)(Is that all?)(No, their . . . uh, radiation begins to change. And they begin to close.
After that, they click out.)
I had the percept she was beginning to vibrate. (I don't want to act likean inquisitor, but . . .)She opened more. (Go on. We expected you to ask just what you are.)226

FAR JOURNEYS

I took another direction. (I need as much of a rote as I can get. I may not
get another chance.)
She smoothed neatly, but there was a little roll in her response. (Oh, I'msure you will.)(In time-space,) I went on, (are there many other growth patterns inconsciousness similar to humans and earth?)
She rolled. (You can't count them if you wanted to, there's that many.
And new ones coming on line constantly.)
I flickered. (On line?)
She rolled stronger. (AA knew you would like it if I used that phrase.)
I went with it. (I would like to meet this AA face to face sometime. He
knows more about me than I do myself.)
She didn't respond, just rolled more strongly. I didn't think it was thatfunny. (But are humans now in communication with other such, uh, civilizations?)
She smoothed out. (Not very much. There is some exchange, but it
doesn’t seem necessary or important.)(What about other, nonphysical energy systems?)
She lighted. (Oh, those! We visit them as often as we can.)I threw a high hard one. (To gather loosh?)She turned inward, then opened carefully. (No. To sow it, to plant theseeds. That lets the, uh, ray have an ident to focus on.)Now I was the one who turned inward and closed. Her simple statement implied so much knowledge that made everything else no more thansophisticated monkey chatter. There was much monkey left in me, toomuch. But I had a sudden percept, and I knew I had to verify it.
I ran it smooth. (Are you about to graduate?)
She flickered. (Yes.)(How do you know this?)
She vibrated. (He told me you would ask the question, but you didn’t ask
it right. So I can't answer it.)
I didn't have to ask who the "he" was. (But you gave me you didn't havea percept what happened to graduates.)
She smoothed nicely. (I don't. But you do.)I blanked completely. Did she or INSPECS have it that I was to do the

PROMISED PLAN

227

informing? A boy to do a man's job? I was so closed I almost missed therest of it.
She was vibrating warmly. (We’ve been expecting this, uh, an event totake place. Then we can leave!)
I was ready to ask about who the "we" was, and the event, but I felt thefamiliar INSPEC signal and began to respond . . . and so did she! So did
she! A great flood of percept ran through me and I had all the answers. . . I thought.
(We have to go back to the site now.) She was smooth, yet vibrating.
(Are you ready?)
I closed . . . ident the knoll . . . reached and stretched.
CLICK!
I was over the knoll . . . about a hundred feet up . . . the ridges
were off to the west, so I turned, looking past the fences . . . fences!
And there were the Center buildings beyond, with their dark red
roofs . . . the gravel road showed a cloud of dust as a car rolled past. I
had made the wrong ident, back to 1982. A strange mixture ofemotions surged through me, and I knew it would take much to sort themout, if I could at all. I had even returned to the second body without
direction, which was unusual. It was old stuff to home in on thephysical, slip in . . . open my eyes and move my arms and legs. I
looked at the clock. Time: 2:40 A.M. Eight minutes! Only eightminutes?

THE GATHERING

16.TheGatheringDays, weeks, and months passed by rapidly without any unusual OOB
activity. I had grown away from the desire to investigate the local events
that used to attract me so deeply. Occasionally, in the familiar earlymorning hours, I would awaken out of habit and detach from the physical.
I would wait for a strong ident INSPEC signal, but there was none. After a
few moments, I would reenter the physical and go to sleep.
During this interim, I had no sense of isolation or deprivation whatsoever. The absence of the signal in no way inferred to me that I was being
ignored or abandoned. Instead, there was a complete sense of security, afull-fledged desire to continue and broaden my participation in physicallife around me, a freedom to express my self-maligned curiosity rather
than anxiety as to daily and upcoming patterns. I simply went back to thegrazing principle—knowing what I found today would lead me to tomorrow, whatever tomorrow was. The signal would come when it was appropriate.
And it did. One morning I began to get a feeling of needing to dosomething I had forgotten. At first, I wasn't sure but what it was indeed
something I had failed to do in my physical activity. However, aroundeleven that morning I became exceedingly drowsy, so much so that I went
into the bedroom to lie down for a short nap. I wasn't tired, but I did needto sleep. Within seconds after stretching out on the bed, I dropped into
deep relaxation. At that point, I could perceive it clearly. The INSPEC
signal was there, cleanly defined and strong. I succeeded in staying calm
enough to develop the OOB pattern, roll out and into the second. Sliding
out of the second was automatic, and I reached and stretched, homing inon the familiar ident.
The change was instantaneous, no sense of movement whatsoever. The
bright glowing figure was in front of me. I was aware of the radiation, but
it was quite comfortable.

229(Very proficient, Ashaneen.)
And progress, too.
(There have been many changes. We believe you are ready for the next—
how do you call it?—step.)
It was not a percept, but I wondered idly if that was a polite way toinform me I would no longer return to the physical. Well, I could go add
some music to Charlie's sunsets, or . . .
(That is not the step we have planned. You will know when your physicalbody release is to take place. We will not need to inform you. Nor do weplan or participate in such release unless you request it. You have much tocomplete prior to such change.)
I received that information with mixed emotions, one great part of me
yearning to get on with it, the other reaching back to physical earth andthe deep, poignant emotions I was sharing there. I remembered many
years ago, during a strong pressure point, when the option to stay orcomplete release from the physical was available to me—and I agreed totake the physical as long as it was operational, whatever the situation,
because I wanted to find out what happened tomorrow. Curiosity!
(We have explained to you that it is one of your assets. Completion ofthis next step will provide you with many answers.)
There was very much a missing element in the pattern, and nothing inthis world would prevent my curiosity from seeking the answer.
(Nor out of this world. You need no longer stay closed for the shift.)I managed to stay calm, but expectant.
CLICK!
We were on the far rim of the outermost ring. I could recognize it fromthe very thin ambience of haze. The soft white forms were all around us. I
could perceive my INSPEC friend was with me, but there was no glowing
form.
(There is no need to distract their attention.)
I reached for any percept of Bill, then of Lou. I couldn't find either.
(They have, graduated, as you put it.)That was to be expected, and I had a percept of their new address, as it
were, but there was some factor involved that disturbed me, and I

230

FAR JOURNEYS

couldn't bring it out. Then I became aware of the intent inward focus of
the entire outermost ring, the inhabitants thereof. There was a strong
radiation of expectancy, not concern, as if the star of the show was about
to make an entrance. I followed the line of their focus. It was the physicalplanet earth, indistinct and nebulous from this perspective.
(Let us take another viewpoint.)
By all means, and the phrase does fit!
CLICK!
We were out in space somewhere between the earth and the moon,indeterminate distance, fifty thousand miles plus from the surface ofearth. It was very clear and detailed, not as it was before. I turned to lookat the moon and blanked. No more than a thousand feet away, or so it
seemed, was an immense, solid-appearing object gray in color, long andslender, conical-shaped with a hemispheric dome at the widest end—theother end was somewhere in the distance, at least several miles. It appeared motionless, but I had the definite percept of M Band radiationfrom it. A spaceship, a physical spaceship?
(In your terms, that is correct. It is not a human construct. There aremany of such around the physical earth at this point. Their origins are ofyour physical universe but not necessarily of your time reference.)"Many" could be five or five thousand. There was no point in trying tofind out. But why around our earth, was it ...
(They are focused on the planet earth and humans just as you observed
the others, and for the same purpose. Shall we move on? The answer will
come soon.)
My curiosity accepted gladly.
CLICK!
My immediate percept of the earth was a pinpoint of reflected light in
the distance, no larger than a small star. From it came irregular waves ofenergy, multidimensional, pulsing, intermittently broken by occasional
quick flares, a complex unorganized pattern composed not of light orelectromagnetic or gravitic structure, but of some other energy that I

THE GATHERING

231

couldn't define. I was so completely fascinated by the display that I did
not at first notice the background. As far as I could perceive in all directions, with the earth at the center, was a host of forms, countless numbers,
it seemed. Some had shape, others appeared as no more than a wisp ofcloud vapor, all glowed in various degrees of intensity. From those nearest
us, I had the same percept of expectancy, of waiting for the show to begin.
It must be some big show to attract all of these . . .
(It is what we call the gathering. These have manifested from othernearby energy systems only to witness the big show, as you call it, just as
those within the physical spacecraft and your final-process humans. This big
show which is about to occur is actually a very rare event—the conflux ofseveral different and intense energy fields arriving at the same point in yourtime-space. It is this rarity that has attracted so much attention. In terms
that you can perceive, it may occur once every eighty-seven million of yourearth years.)
Very long odds, and a long time to wait.
(This does not warrant that it will be produced at that frequency. There
are random elements and variables in the format which cannot be predicted.)
So random that the event might not take place, perhaps. There would
be a lot of disappointed . . .
(It is long past such point. It will occur. The interest lies in the result. It
is best symbolized to you as a convergence of a great number of possibilities
which emerge as several probabilities and few possibilities. One of suchprobabilities may alter not only your time-space but all adjoining energy
systems as well. Therefore the wide interest. In human terms, still symbolized, the gathering is here to observe the possible birth of a new energy.
Will it survive the birth process, and if so, what are the potentials inherent
in such energy that will predict accurately the same at maturity? Or will theenergy arrive stillborn, and all the possibilities remain no more than that—weak uncoordinated possibilities?)
Running a bit of my exquisite H + rote made it quite clear. But my stillin-human self looked at earth and the human system . . .
(There is a human oriental symbol for crisis which is composed of two
subsymbols indicating danger and opportunity. The event in human andphysical earth terms is definitely a point of crisis. It is quite valid that as toFAR JOURNEYS

human existence both danger and opportunity will be present in extreme
232 degrees.)
Danger? Physical danger? Mental? The . . .
(Those are the possibilities, the exact nature of which will be determinedby the event itself. Whatever your percept may be is one of the possibilities.
One or several will occur.)
The other side, the opportunity.
(That is the key to the understanding of the event. It will offer humanconsciousness a rare potential to emerge rapidly into a unified intelligent
energy system that will range far beyond your time-space illusion, creating,constructing, teaching as only a human-trained graduate energy is able todo.)
Our visit to earth in 3000 plus . . .
(A possibility that may become probable with the event. Your action is
one of the minute random factors that may make it so.)If the opportunity is missed . . .
(Humans will retreat as the dominant species on earth until they nolonger survive as active consciousness, eventually in any form.)
I asked it directly. (And you, all of you, what will you do if that takes
place?)
There was a beautiful warmth and a soft smile in the response. (Wewould just have to start up some action on some other planet in time-spacewith new humans.)
I turned inward and closed. There was not much I could think or do. I
was hit hard emotionally and I didn't want to lose it, not now.
(There is one more process we have to perform, then you can return toyour physical.)
I wasn't sure I could handle one more, but I knew that I would.
(Ident your friend BB and guide him here.)
The rote spread instantly. I had left him with Bill, and Bill wasn't
there . . .
(You will locate him easily. There is a very special function he can perform for us.)No questions were needed, and I reached ident BB and stretched.

THE GATHERING233

CLICK!
I was getting better, or older. No sense of motion whatsoever. And I
had very little surprise at the location. I was on the grass in front ofCharlie's cabin. BB and Charlie were over to one side, busily engaged insomething. I went over to them just as BB perceived me.
(Hey, RAM!) He vibrated loudly. (Look what we’re making!)
Charlie was laughing. (I keep telling the kid you can't have a sailboat
and a hang glider all in one. Air and water aren’t the same!)
I flickered. (You can see him now, Charlie, visually?)
Charlie smiled. (Oh, sure. Worked that out the first day he got here. He
must have changed the ocean a hundred times before I got him stopped.
Had it yellow with square waves. How about that. But he's smart, catches
on fast.)I smoothed. (Well, I hate to break it up, but I need BB here to dosomething for me.)BB opened. (You name it, RAM!)Charlie waved. (Come on back, kid.)
BB rolled. (Who's to keep me away!)
Charlie shook his head and laughed, and I reached, stretched for theident INSPEC . . .
CLICK!
BB was beside me. (Hey, you sure tightened your skip. I would never
have hung on except I was used to it from a game we played back in . . .)He cut short and closed tightly as he became aware of the brightly
glowing form of the INSPEC. I should have warned him, I guess. Below us
was the physical earth, about five hundred feet. It was night and occasional lights dotted the countryside. Almost directly under us was an areaof water like a small pond or pool, and immediately beyond, a green
pyramidlike structure with a light glowing inside. It had a strong point offamiliarity, but I couldn't bring it back.
I turned to BB. (Just open slow. It's a friend.)
He did so carefully, then focused on the bright glow. (Uh, hello.)(We appreciate your coming.)

234

FAR JOURNEYS

BB had no cultural restraints. (We had a curl back in KT-95 who
claimed he met you or one just like you. We put it off as some more wildrote.)(It is understandable.)
BB went on. (He kept throwing it at us and after a while he pulled a skip
and never came back. So he was right, you’re real.)(You are needed to perform a specific act, if you will.)
BB flickered. (Uh, sure, sure.)(Let us move closer.)
The three of us moved down slowly, just over the top of the green
pyramid and beyond, and stopped outside a small structure in the middle
of a grove of trees. It was very familiar to me and for some reason I was
becoming uncomfortable. It was as if I were encountering a resistance,something pushing me back the more I tried to move forward.
(Your friend AA is there. It is important that you help him at this point.)
BB blanked. (AA?)(That is correct.)
BB focused and so did I. Inside the small structure, a man was lying on
a bed or cot. The resistance I felt seemed to be emanating from him. It
was exactly the same as the other times. It was AA, I was sure. The
resistance was very strong and it made me vibrate.
BB turned. (I guess it's him, all right. I get a part of his ident, not much.
I'm getting some other with it that I know, too. But the percept is wild.)(It is important that you help him separate from his physical temporarily.)BB lighted. (You mean like RAM here?)(That is correct.)
He blanked. (How can I do it?)(fust pull gently. Use the energy you apply when you skip.)
BB turned and moved in close to the man on the bed. I watched with
fascination, wondering if this was the way it had started with me, if somenonphysical friend had been enlisted to help me move out of body during
the early stages. But I didn't have any nonphysical friends back then—that I knew of.
Suddenly, the resistance grew much stronger and pushed me back. I
held my position as best I could, feeling very uncomfortable. I turned

THE GATHERING

235

inward and closed. The man was standing in the middle of the floor, andhis physical body was on the cot. BB had backed away, flickering heavily.
He focused at the INSPEC . (He's out, I got him out! But, uh . . .)(Inquire as to his purpose.)
The man responded, but all I was able to perceive was M Band scratching and screeching that indicated strong emotion. If it was his first time, I
could understand and empathize with him.
(He stated he wished to serve humankind. Very noble goal.)
I managed to open somewhat. (Why this resistance? It's there if I try to
get close to his friend AA.)(A true paradox refuses to exist. You will understand soon.)
BB came in strong. (He wants to go with us! Can he do that?)
The resistance and screeching were so strong they hurt. Yet I knew I
had the answer before the INSPEC gave it.
(Inform him he must stay and perform his designed function. He has noother choice at this point.)
In spite of the hurt, I tried to observe. After a moment, BB moved up
and joined us. The man sank to his knees in the middle of the floor, andthe screeching became so strong I had to close completely.
(Let us move to a point where it is more comfortable for you.)I agreed eagerly.
CLICK!
We were just outside the thin haze of the Intermediate Area. In the
distance were the rings with the indistinct form of the physical earth at
the center. The M Band noises, especially the screeching, had faded completely. I opened in relief. The INSPEC was in front of me, BB off to one
side, completely closed, which was strange.
(It is done. The pattern is complete.)
There was a point of finality in the statement that made me uneasy. It
echoed back through me, triggering familiar emotional rote as it went, andI dealt with and diverted each one as it arose. This time it was different. I
had far too much exquisite and precious rote to let it be otherwise. The
uneasiness vanished.

236

FAR JOURNEYS

I opened wide and smoothed. (I understand about individuation. It is
not necessary.)(You have learned your lessons well, Ashaneen.)
The brightly glowing form winked out. For now, I knew there would nolonger be an INSPEC ident to follow, but I felt no sense of loneliness. I
moved over to BB as he hovered motionless, still closed.
I focused. (Hey, old buddy. I got to go back.)
He opened slowly. (Yeh, uh, RAM. I got to do something myself, anyway.)
I had no doubt what it was. (Well, you'll do fine, fust like pulling skips
and playing games back on KT-95.)
He lighted. (Yeh, sure! A bunch of games!)
I opened wide. (You can do it, tiger! Keep my ident! And have fun!)
I turned and started to reach but he stopped me. (What's the push,BB?)
He flickered. (Uh, that last thing we did, me pulling AA out, uh, you
don't have any percept on it, do you?)(No—except it was certainly AA. That same resistance stuff was there.
Why? Something I didn’t get?)BB focused on me hard and I waited. Suddenly he lighted very brightly
and started to roll strongly. It almost became human laughter, it was thatstrong.
I flickered. (What's so funny?)(You have fun, uh, RAM!)I watched as he moved in the direction of the First Entry Station, still
rolling. When he disappeared inside, I turned and reached, ident physicalbody, and stretched gently. I moved slowly inward through the rings,
feeling strong and sure, knowing I still had much human rote to pick up
and go through. I entered the second and then into the physical, knowing
one pattern had ended and another would begin.
But what was so funny? The green pyramid, the three of us, serve
humankind . . . green, green pyramid roof, three on a beam . . . hey!
On a clear night before going to bed, I might go out and stand on thesun deck and look up. When I do, sometimes the stars disappear and there
is nothing but blackness overhead. From beyond the black comes an un-

THE GATHERING

237

seen and eternal song that is hauntingly familiar, a reminder if needed,
cutting sharply through the noise of local traffic. INSPEC, BB, Lou, Bill,her, all There, in the song. But not AA!
Then it fades, the stars return to the blackness, I take a deep breath,and go back inside.

EPILOGUE: END GAME

Epilogue: End Game

With the calm that settled over me, I began to sort out and run thevarious rotes tossed me which I had simply tucked away for future reference. I did this not only to check what I may have missed but to lay thepattern down tightly, on the premise that someone, somewhere, as anindividual or group, might seriously investigate the material—under theguise of philosophical, pathological, educational, or some other study. As
before, if the following helps just one individual achieve a profound understanding of who and what he is, the purpose has been served.
Running a rote is much like trying to recall the memory of an event outof the past. The difference rests in the immediate clarity of every detailonce the unrolling process begins. Best results appear to be obtained if one
is in a relaxed state and isolated. It is important to remain completely
awake physically, with your left-brain consciousness in the driver's seat.
Then simply think of the ident—the subject of the rote—and wait. You
can write down notes or dictate into a tape recorder as you attempt toconvert the information into written or spoken words. If you feel you
might have missed something, you can RESET and start again, either at the
beginning or at any given serial point in the information/experience. You
can hit a mental PAUSE button if the phone rings, although this often
requires a complete rework back to the relaxation state if so interrupted.
However, the rote will still be there—"open" at the point you left it. Thistakes time and patience, thus the need for isolation.
The early results came out in the following form, not very tight but
perhaps more cogent:
Cruising the Rings
The first inner layer or ring was clear and more distinct from my nonphysical perspective, and all seemed to be completely focused on theactivities of the in-human physical condition. Any attempts to communi-

239

cate or divert their attention were met with total unawareness at the least
and, at the most, bewilderment, fear, or outright hostility. All were attempting to participate in physical life in one way or another with nosuccess whatsoever. All seemed to have one common characteristic. They
were completely unaware of any existence other than physical. Only
through repeated observation at first hand was it possible to generally sortout and classify such near-earth humans into some semblance of order.
The Dreamers: This group has a distinctive vibration or radiation thatindicates they are attached to a physical body somewhere in the current
earth time-space. This infers but does not verify that they may be in an
out-of-body state during sleep. They apparently are attempting to continue the activity they have been performing during their physical waking
hours, or those they desire or fantasize. Some are simply going through the
motions; others are trying to talk with those they know who are physicallyawake, or eating, drinking, working, playing, trying to perform sexual acts,
acting out Mitty-like roles in the middle of Manhattan—all without fruition; all, with few exceptions, without any recognition of similar activities
around them. What might be loosely termed evidence of their origin isthat they suddenly "wink out" or disappear in the middle of an action.
Are they awakening in the physical again, out of sleep? Dream analysts
may be on the right track but with the wrong perspective.
The Locked-Ins: These are very similar to the previous category, andmight be confused with them initially but for several key differences. This
group is composed solely of those who have permanently exited theircurrent physical body—dead physically but don't know it. Consequently,
they are trying constantly to continue a physical existence to which they
have become habituated. They often remain around physical locations,such as houses, and physically living persons to whom they have become
attached. Some continue to attempt reentry into their dead physical bodies and to reactivate them, even into the grave—which may give credence
to the strange radiation effects sometimes perceived in cemeteries. The
anguish these must go through as they witness the cremation of their
physical remains is certainly something to ponder.
As with the Dreamers, this group is totally and compulsively bonded totime-space materiality. Moreover, they appear to be deep into enveloping
emotionally based fears and drives which they attempt to act out but

FAR JOURNEYS
240
never conclude. As a group, they are the major blockage in the flow of thehuman learning experience. Until they are reached and assisted or someglimmer of awareness occurs, they remain in this locked-in state for years,
perhaps centuries. Their numbers increase constantly and will continue todo so as long as the physical human values that generate the condition
remain unchanged.
The Wild Ones: Much lesser in number than the above but with thesame motivating drives expressed in an entirely different manner. The
reason is a slight shift in awareness. The Wild Ones do not realize they
have lost the use of their physical bodies, and they do not perceive anything other than physical matter reality. However, they are very muchaware that they are somehow different. They don't understand the whys
or hows of it and have no desire to learn. All they realize is that suchdifference releases them from all of the restraints, obligations, and commitments that were a part of their physical lives. They construe this asabsolute freedom and attempt to express themselves accordingly in the
only way they know of—through replicas of physical activity. Thus theirefforts to participate in physical human life—which they perceive as taking place all around them—take on many bizarre forms. The previously
reported visit to the human sexual pile is a sample. There are implications
that whenever a human physical consciousness in waking form becomes"loose" or shaky for whatever reason, it may provide an opportunity for
one of these to "piggyback" just for the experience of it. The frequency ofsuch incidents is not known, from my present perspective. Hopefully, very
few. They can get mean at times.
There was much to be learned from these inner rings, most of it thehard way if your perspective is still heavily encased in human time-space
illusions. It is pointless to recount the many attempted contacts with the
inhabitants therein. You can do it yourself without bothering to enter the
OOBE state. Interview and observe a cross section group of humans now
living in any large city. The resulting data will be a restrained version andmuch easier to handle. The source of such preoccupation in every caseseems to be extreme distortions of the original survival imprint.
Evidently there are methods by which rescues are achieved individuallyand on a relatively large scale—and the process is ongoing. I personallyhave been involved in only one or two that I can remember, and I am not

241
EPILOGUE: END GAME

particularly proud of my efforts. I did learn one or two minor items. First,
awareness of the cacophony of discordant, undirected radiation engendered by human thought—identified as M Band noise (my label). Second,
how to close down my perception to bring it to tolerable levels. The
necessity syndrome again. It's a nice trick to have, even in the physicalwaking state.
The next ring outward is fairly straightforward. It is composed of those
who do realize they are no longer in physical human life, but have noawareness or memory of any other possibility. Often they are stunned by
the loss, and do no more than remain in a motionless, nonperceiving
passive state, as if waiting for something to take place. They are usuallyeasy to contact, instruct, and lead to a suitable outer ring. The population
here is small, relatively, and remains more or less static due to the assistance supplied by the outer rings.
Moving outward, the next ring is the largest of all, and contains anapparently limitless number of sub-rings. However, they all come under astrong general category: At least, all residents here know they have passed
through physical death. There may be vagueness and differing beliefs as towhat and where they are at this point; hence the often sharply delineated
sub-rings. Within this ring, approximately through the center, there exists
what might be labeled a null point of a different variety yet quite perceivable from an external perspective. It is generated by the existence of two
symbolized energy fields overlapping and exerting near-equal pressure/influence without interaction between the two. There are no standing
waves set up by frequencies beating against each other, for the two fields
are not compatible. The analogy of a bar magnet with positive and negative fields meeting at the center of the bar does not apply. It would bebetter to picture a gravity field exerting attraction in one direction and theaction of a sitcom on television in another.
On the inner side of such null point, the dominant force is HTSI, shortfor Human Time-Space Illusion, strongest at the innermost sub-rings andlessening inversely throughout the entire ring until it is quite insignificant
on the outer edge. On the outer side of the ring, the dominant force is
NPR, or Nonphysical Reality, which is as general as one can get if there isno accurate translation available for the little that is known of it. A mirror
image in field strength, the NPR effect is greatest at the outermost edge,

242

FAR JOURNEYS

diminishing slowly to the null point, then exponentially to the inner edgeof the ring.
The pattern of human passage through this particular ring is most fascinating, again from the external view. It is composed of energy in humanexperiential form moving in two directions, both inward and outward. The
inward flow is composed of fresh energy from the NPR area first encountering the HTSI field, becoming more and more attracted by it through aseries of in-human existences, passing through this particular ring more
rapidly once the null point is crossed. From that point inward, the movement accelerates to the inner edge of the ring and through it, terminating
usually in the lowest of the inner rings.
The outward flow, after release from or skirting the innermost rings,
commences the haphazard-seeming yet meticulous path through this largest of rings. For some, the passage is relatively direct, with but a few inhuman physical existences to provide the impetus. Others—the great majority—require up to several hundred in-human lifetimes and thousands ofearth year cycles to complete the process. The reasons for this wide discrepancy are not obvious to me. However, one characteristic of the more
direct route appears to be the careful selection of in-human life experiences, plus accomplishments in the face of what might be termed statistically impossible odds. The two routes both emerge at the outer edge ofthe ring and lead to the outermost ring.
The single outermost ring is composed solely of those who are preparing
for their final in-human experience—the Last-Timers, or Seniors, whichever suits your perspective. They have lost their gray appearance andmuch of their humanoid form; they are nearly white in radiation withoccasional sparkling patterns around them. They are tightly closed, and do
not respond to any communication attempts except possibly among themselves. It is difficult to observe their final reentry into human experience.
It is either too rapid or instantaneous. Their exit from the final cycle isrepresented by a sparkling glowing light which moves rapidly outward
through the rings, with occasional pauses for some unknown reason. Upon
passing this outermost ring, they suddenly disappear from perception,leaving no residual image or trace.
In some respects, the entire process resembles crudely the cycle of an
innocent coping with an addictive drug or chemical such as alcohol. The

EPILOGUE: END GAME

243

first taste is scarcely palatable, but the effect is interesting, something new.
When the opportunity arises, the neophyte takes two drinks just to see if
the effect is enhanced—and it is. Uncontrolled, the pattern is all too
familiar, all the way down to skid row. Nothing is more important to thewino, nothing occupies his thinking other than where the next shot or hit
is coming from. Near-total amnesia is common, and more significantly, alack of desire to change. He has forgotten who he is and couldn't care less.
Reclamation and remembering is a slow and sometimes painful charade.
Once achieved, however, the innocent has transformed into a state ofbeing far different from the original first-taster. Where the analogy does
not match: In the human life experience sequence, the change is permanent.
In serial form, the itinerary of human experience might be mappedsomething like this:

INWARD FLOW OUTWARD FLOW

(read DOWN)(Read UP)ENTRY/EXIT
INTERMEDIATE AREANPR First-Timer

Graduate

To: In-Human Physical To: Home? NPR
Time: Full Spectrum
AMBIENCE FIELDS(Awareness-Focus)
NPR: 95% HTSI:5%OUTERMOST RINGAMBIENCE FIELDS(Awareness-Focus)
NPR: 80% HTSI: 20%

MAJOR RING

Last-Timer (Senior)Indeterminate
To: Final In-Human Time: FullSpectrum244

OUTER QUARTER

AMBIENCE FIELDS(Awareness-Focus)

FAR JOURNEYS

INWARD FLOWOUTWARD FLOW

(read DOWN)(Read UP)First Repeaters, frequent
To: In-Human PhysicalLong Repeaters To:
Selected In-Human
Physical

Time: Full Spectrum

Time: Selected

NPR: 60%
HTSI: 40%

Idents:Contemplatives,
philosophers, certain
religious groups, serviceto-humanity devotees,
helpers, guides, rescue
workers, others

245

EPILOGUE: END GAMEAMBIENCE FIELDS(Awareness-Focus)

To: Desired In-Human
Time: Current

NPR: 30%
HTSI: 70%

Idents:
Certain religious
groups, friends andrelatives, current, rest
and recuperation
facilities, rotesynthesized physicalartifacts and activity
including heavenand hell

MAJOR RING
INNER QUARTER

Short Repeaters
To: Desired In-Human

MAJOR RING
UPPER QUARTERFirst Repeaters, trace

Long Repeaters,intermittent
To: Required In-Human

To: In-Human physical
AMBIENCE FIELDS(Awareness-Focus)
NPR: 50-55%
HTSI: 45-50%

Time: Coordinated

Time: Current

NPR: 5%
HTSI: 95%

Ident:
Refugees from lower
rings, rehab centers,
instructional classes,
nonconformists, theguiltyWAITING RINGFirst-Timers, Short
Repeaters

AMBIENCE FIELDS(Awareness-Focus)

To: Inner Quarter,
Major Ring

NPR:0
HTSI: 0Time: Indeterminate

Time: Random
Idents:
Certain religious
groups,quantum physicists,
transpersonal
psychologists, historicalhumanitarian leaders,specialists

MAJOR RING
LOWER QUARTER

AMBIENCE FIELDS(Awareness-Focus)Long Repeaters,
regularly

Ident: Total
Spectrum"246

FAR JOURNEYSEPILOGUE: END GAME

247

now more powerful attraction of the field, and the Unit settles into thefield itself, to become a part of it.
To launch and achieve escape velocity, the Unit must (1) remove theadhering particles that created the problem while retaining such information/data/experience so as to bring back Something of Value; (2) develop
and store sufficient energy to achieve both launch and escape velocity,which infers a far greater amount than that available at the point oforiginal entry under typical conditions, plus additional reserves to compensate for the extra payload on board.
The solution is made complex by the lack of efficient methods forproper detoxification and removal of adhered particles, as well as the availability of only the most primitive techniques for proper energy distillation
and accumulation. Therefore, at best, extrication is a long and arduous
process. The key is to begin first with ballistic trajectories, followed byelliptical orbiting, ever increasing the perigee until escape velocity isreached.
Thereafter, the Unit can return to its original base with its payload—or,with its increased energy, move on to greater exploration.

Another way to describe the process in contemporary terms: The Unit
(the original you?) is attracted and drawn by the human earth energy field.
The Unit decided to make a close-in pass-by through the field to obtaindata and information. This reduces velocity in the Unit to a degree greaterthan that calculated to occur from friction, due to the unexpected adherence factor of the particles within the field. The reduction is so great as tofall below escape velocity, and the Unit moves inexorably into an ellipticalorbit. At each apogee of the orbit, the Unit passes through the humanearth energy field again and gathers additional adhering particles therefrom, causing greater reduction in velocity—which in turn lowers theperigee of the orbit. Finally, the orbit breaks down and succumbs to the

The foregoing is at best a generalization, specific only in the broadclassifications indicated. It is a simplification of a very complex and intricate pattern of movements perceived from an external perspective. It isdeliberately devoid of as much humanism as is possible by a human, in the
belief that such starkness will gather the attention and understanding
latent in the left-brain modality. However, the problem still remains—theneed to express in a form remotely acceptable to in-human consciousness.
This, then, is a flow sheet of where the action is in which all of us arevitally involved. It could be identified as the Earth-Human Energy Environ, Human Time-Space Illusion. It is a summary based upon several
hundred individual explorations, most of which are beyond literal translation. To chronicle each individually would consume an entire volume initself, if indeed it were possible. Therefore, this baseline will have to serve
for the moment. We might get lost, with or without it, but our chances
are better with it.

248

FAR JOURNEYS

Rote BHP-1
Compressed Learning—Category Human
The first point in consideration of human structure certainly should be
the note that a small percentage have never been through the experience
prior to the present sojourn in time. Some may have had physical life
experience in other parts of time-space and in another physical form, but
this is their first run as a human. Other first-timers have never been in aphysical form of any sort.
Time-space—physical matter—and especially human existence on earth—is an interesting anomaly. It has some peculiar qualities that are uniquein the development of intelligence and consciousness. As a result, humanlife has many attractions. To some it is like attending a vast amusementpark with a multitude of different types of exciting rides to try—a playground where standard rules (non-earthly) are suspended for the moment.
They desire human existence simply out of curiosity. They have received arote on this interesting state, and want to find out what it is to be a part ofit. Many, having observed the state at a particular point in human history,
decide it is an ideal opportunity to try an experiment conceived in theirperiods of contemplation. The peculiarity of human existence at a given
point in evolution provides an opportunity to try out the idea.
Still others find that the limitations imposed by physical incarceration
as a human also engender concentration of certain energies available onlyin that state. This is the only point available to apply such energies.
By far the greatest motivation—surpassing the sum of all others—is theresult. When you encounter and perceive a graduate, your only goal is to
be one yourself once you realize it is possible. And it is.
Thus we "go to physical" because of what it is—an intense learning
process, a school of a very unusual sort. It has the implication that an
important part of that learning process is to force the admixture of two
different types of energy modulation. One enters as male and the other as
female. The drives, needs, enculturation, and other factors all may bedesigned to literally force the accommodation, melding, and understanding between these two systems of consciousness.
The conditions of entering physical life as a human are relatively strict.
It is as if a detailed agreement is entered into. First, the energy form must

EPILOGUE: END GAME

249

agree that time-space truly does exist. Without this agreement, it is impossible to have primary human consciousness. The energy form must agree
that there is a time, such as the 1980s or any other time frame by earth
reckoning. It must be agreed also that there truly is a planet earth designed and created in the form that it is. It must further agree that
consciousness expressed as a human has certain characteristics and limitations.
The blanking or sublimation of previous experience is a part of theprocess. This is to assure that there will be a minimum of interference inthe performance as a human caused by previous life patterns, physical andin other realities. Bear in mind that this is all at the conscious perceiving
level; it is not removed from the essence of the energy form accepting theagreement. Such experience will remain with the newly human energy
form in a nonconscious state. This is important because such experienceor purpose may well be the underlying motive that is the driving force
behind the performance of such energy in human existence.
Once a decision or agreement has been reached, a propitious and probable birth entry point is selected, taking into consideration the genetic,
environmental, social, political, and economic elements that may—not
absolutely—ensure the realization of the purpose for such entry. Manytimes, due to the possibility that all factors may not be appropriate andsuitable, some entries are made simply on the possibility or hope that thegoals can be achieved. Often there are so many variables present that it inturn presents a most enticing challenge to simply try to beat the odds, as it
were, or change them by thought and action. Some make it, some do not.
Another factor is that the demand or need for selective new points ofentry far exceeds the supply. Thus, many may get tired of waiting, as it
were, and will accept entry under the most marginal of circumstances.
A review of the learning processes and the absorption of information by
a first-timer will provide a beginning overview. Upon entry (birth), thefirst-timer is surprised and shocked at the very severe constraints of thephysical body. It can no longer move freely and easily at the mere thought
or desire. Thus, much of the early weeks of existence as a human are taken
up with conscious and frustrating efforts to obtain control of this new
physical body. Simultaneously, it is overwhelmed by astounding demands
for nourishment—a process that was an automatic function in previous

250

FAR JOURNEYS

existence. Add to that a massive battery of strong and chaotic signals
pouring in from sensory sources never before perceived, the five physicalsenses, and one begins to get a better appreciation of the traumatic statethat is undergone. There are indications that the effect would be much
more severe were it not for the reinforcement received by the first-timer
during nonconscious periods (sleep), from interested and concerned observers left behind in the reality outside of time-space.
From this beginning emerges the primary learning system that continues throughout human life. It is the focusing of conscious awareness. Painor pleasure, as reported by the five physical senses, turns attention to theevent being experienced, and such experience is then learned and stored.
Further, if the element of emotion is involved, the storage process isenhanced greatly. Physical experience of an extreme nature also deepens
the learning process. Simply stated, the depth of learning (retention, recall) is in direct relation to the intensity of the experience. Conversely, themore shallow the experience, the lesser the attention, which diminishes
greatly the learning process.
Primary learning is the data base upon which we humans principally
conduct our physical lives. Other learning processes affect our thoughts
and actions, yet the fundamental pattern of performance is based uponthis primary learning.
Secondary learning, another pattern which is present throughout human existence, takes place beyond what we call our level of consciousness.
This is data received through our five physical senses in those areas where
attention is not focused. This takes place during waking physical life and isstored and retained in the most minute detail. Due to the lack of attention, less than 20 percent of such secondary learning is ordinarily available
for recall by the human conscious mind. Still, this entire spectrum of
memory is called upon unknowingly by the individual as the need arises. It
colors and affects our thoughts, decisions, and actions, and we are quite
unaware of it.
A third form of learning occurs during our cyclic nonconscious state(sleep). At our waking conscious level, we remember very little of suchactivity although it becomes deeply embedded in and becomes a part ofthe memory-experience system upon which we base our life activity. Culturally, we have been trained to place the least importance upon those

EPILOGUE: END GAME

251

events we do not remember, and rarely recognize the influence these haveupon our activities/experience. When examined from an external point ofobservation, automatic use of this learning process becomes quite visible.
The principal learning system devised by the various cultures in humanhistory is the most widespread and accepted, yet the most unnatural. For
the greatest part it ignores completely the in-place and operating primaryand secondary learning processes. Thus its very artificiality, without natural means of focusing attention, requires a form of dedication and discipline generally unavailable to the average human conscious mind. Attention flickers, fluctuates, especially in low-order, repetitive experience,
denigrating much of the learning that might take place. Crude as it may
be, such learning methods are held in high esteem in human existence,and virtually all of it revolves around the knowledge, understanding, andcontrol and application of physical matter, including the energy system sogenerated therein.
Most vital, this dominant yet artificial and limited system of learning
operates entirely through input from the five physical senses. Because ofthis foundation, it has the effect of eliminating any last vestiges of originidentity remaining in the individual. This is at once the heart of the
problem and the major challenge to the naiVe energy form.
As the first-timer lives his human life, he finds virtually nothing to guidehis mentation in directions other than those directly related to time-space
physical matter. Unfortunately for the human, this includes those organizations who purvey belief systems based upon individuals both present andin past history whose knowledge of origin-identity was operational during
their human sojourn. In the retelling and conversion to verbal humancommunication, plus the erosion of many retranslations, only portions of
the process remain. Sadly, such portions attempt to teach effects rather
than causes. Only in very rare instances do these provide clear access tothe source.
Therefore, as the first-timer moves through human physical life he picks
up and absorbs many unsuspected attachments. The most powerful ofthese are emotional, or rather distortions thereof, which relate solely to
expression only in time-space reality. These reach such magnitude as to be
virtually impossible to achieve and experience in a single physical human
lifetime. The results are a compulsive need to reenter and recycle to com-

252

FAR JOURNEYS

plete that which had been begun, to perform the purpose for which there
had not been "time," to repay imagined "debts"—the list becomes endless.
In short, the problem can be stated very succinctly, which turns a firsttimer into a repeater: human physical life is addictive.
There are two overwhelming factors that engender such addiction or
decay of orbit, as you prefer. Put the two together and interweave themtightly, and it becomes easy to perceive just how difficult the Human
Compressed Learning System can be, especially for the unaware and uninformed. This may in itself be part of the training. Any attempts to describe the methods are near-incomprehensible to those who have neverbeen human, just as it is extremely difficult to explain postgraduate status
to a human first-timer. The two factors involved are Survival Drive Distortion and Prime Energy Diffusion.
Survival Drive Distortion
Like animals, plants, and other organic life, physical man is heavily
imprinted at birth with the will to continue to grow and live, to survive.
This is expressed in two basic ways: Body Protection and Maintenance
The first demand is the acquisition and consumption of food and water.
This is followed by pressure to keep the body suitably warm or cool. Next
comes the need to keep it safe from predation ranging from other humans
and carnivorous animals through insects and down to the smallest virus.
The fight-or-flee dilemma arises when two or more of such needs comeinto direct conflict as to priority.
Nothing controversial in that, so what's the problem? Most humans
spend most of their waking hours taking care of these matters, one way or
another. There's no choice in the matter. You're in the top .0001 percentof the human pyramid if you know without question these needs will be
met tomorrow, the next week, the rest of your life—by your own action,
your family, or "your" government.
There's also nothing new in the massive distortions that begin to occur
beyond the basic needs. Storage of food or other assets just in case there
may be a change in the future, endless varieties of food aimed not so muchat nutrition as at taste and aesthetics, special food preparation and ser-EPILOGUE: END GAME

253

vices. Entertainment "foods" in the form of alcohol, drugs, tobacco, etc.,
and back around the cycle to foods that are "good" for you, to keep you
healthy. Clothes that not only keep you warm but are made correctly, of adesirable color or texture, made for a variety of occasions, and, of course,
in rapidly changing style. Shelter that goes far beyond the hut in the hills,
larger and/or in a desirable location, equipped and reequipped with newer
furnishings, facilities, decorations, all catering to individual taste and current style primarily, far secondarily to comfort and overstated "need."
Some of these have been brought to the point where it is actuallydifficult to die. Extensive and expensive life-support systems in institutions
are an example. Keep the body alive, never mind the details. In some"civilized" societies, it's a crime to take your own life. Whom will theyprosecute if you're successful? All such extras and add-ons are stimulated
and rationalized by countless inducements, few of which can stand up
under intense scrutiny for validity. This is compounded by competition
both to acquire and to dispense, which brings into full play the natural
physical law of supply and demand.
To protect these accumulated items to serve the body which is you:locks on doors, fences around houses, doors and gates, laws and rules,
medicines and drugs, guns, police officers in prowl cars, lawyers, doctors,
nostrums ad nauseum, cities and nations, banks, armies and atom bombs.
Within this distortion lies the adhesive that binds the heavy particles tothe energy form—which all began with the early agrarian cultures andtribes. Intense overkill by the survival drive—all physical. Nothing else isimportant. It had to happen, free will being what it is. SexualityReproduction
The most powerful of the survival drive imprints takes precedence over
all others, and therefore has been subject to more major distortions thanany other. The greatest among these has been, and is, the illusion that, asa creative act, it thus engenders automatically the creative emotion oflove, ethereal and godlike. The results are attachments and commitmentsthat are both irrational and restrictive, which not only distort severely any
current physical life goals but continue beyond—illusory burdens of guilt,
obligations, and a vast number of related memory patterns too potent torelease. Further, the original motivating drive to reproduce has long since
become secondary to the temporary sensory peak of the act itself. With254

FAR JOURNEYS

few exceptions, it is doubtful if it has ever been otherwise with the male.
Knowing this, the female with a propensity for perception has taken thismanipulative advantage to broad extremes through hundreds of years ofcultural evolution. Those females who succumb to the illusion of permanency have no choice but to lie back and take what is coming. Simply put,
one fuck doesn't make a future. A baby maybe.
With increased objective knowledge of the influential power of the
reproductive survival drive, the lures and blandishments thereto are usedblatantly and consistently to distort even further the high sensory entertainment factor of the act itself—carefully omitting the slightest reference
to its original purpose. Those using such enticements to irrationality range
from the individual through major industries to governments themselves.
The result is a cacophony of distortions, all aimed at increasing reproductive-act desire and need, the amplification of the problem without providing a sensible solution. All of which only adds strongly to the glue thatbinds the human in low orbit.
Prime Energy Diffusion
Consider what we call emotion in all forms to be unknowing expressionsof our Prime Energy Drive, or the Creative Force inherent in each of us.
There are no exceptions. Included are joy, sadness, anger, happiness, hate,friendship, nostalgia, possessiveness, loyalty, ego, greed, guilt, fun, worry,
anxiety, among others. Add a few not ordinarily regarded as such: curiosity, ideas, equality, hope, loneliness—-and, of course, love in a nonordinary
connotation.
In this context, emotion is the key to and the driving force underlying
every thought and action in human existence. The concept of unemotionalism is an illusion. Even the most extreme objectivity covers carefully an
emotional agenda. Rationality and emotion go hand in hand when traced
back to the source. If a human being is the product of a Creative Force,then being human is totally an emotional expression of such energy.
There has not been a single major act in human history that has notbeen driven and/or inspired by emotion. Astute politicians now recognizethat voters emotionally elect presidents, that simple facts and figures contain emotional coloration. All great leaders throughout mankind's existence have had emotional appeal as their source of power. Motivation is

EPILOGUE: END GAME

255

an interim statement of emotion. Many studies, authoritative books, andhundreds of millions of dollars have been dedicated to the application ofthis concept during recent years—all apparently backing away politely
from the fundamental source of the phenomenon, through either ignorance or rejection.
The result is a chaotic mixture of unchecked and misdirected energythat is and has been the human experience. Isolated attempts are made toact and think without emotion, which is an impossibility. Even in thelaboratory, it is slowly being determined that any experiment is affected by
the observer, inadvertently, unconsciously, and unobtrusively. Thus absolute replication can occur only under identical ambience—again an impossibility, considering the flickering thought-emotional patterns of the observer-experimenter. For a simple test, try recording each and every
thought and emotion you have expressed during the past one minute.
Then attempt the same recall for a minute one hour ago.
At the individual level, the generalization becomes specific. In every
moment of existence, we are a seething brew of emotional response toboth internal and external stimuli. Awake or asleep, the ever-changing
mosaic of flowing energy continues to surge at assorted amplitudes andfrequencies. We place value judgments on each and every portion, as
determined by our own experience and impressed upon us by the culture
in which we now exist. When the two conflict, we usually choose thelatter as a sop to expedience. Thus we attempt to let full expression of the"good" emit from us and try to suppress and repress the "evil," hide it
from view. For the vast majority of us, this is the extent of our efforts tocontrol this mighty and most vital energy that is our true heritage. At best,
we are only partially successful using an incorrect standard of measurement.
We make decisions in blind anger and resent the results. We hope andbecome disappointed. We laugh in joy and become depressed when the
moment fades. We hate when a person, place, or thing does not fit ormeet our concept of what it "ought" to be. We think we "love" and break
our hearts when we discover it just isn't so, we were mistaken. The list isendless, and we keep trying because we can't help ourselves and we don't
know any better. We ride the waves of our emotions through the peaks
and the valleys until some of us become cynics—neatly neglecting the256

FAR JOURNEYS

obvious, that cynicism is itself an emotion. The mess gets messier when
we do perceive that effective and achieving left-brain decisions are madeultimately by some emotional factor, hidden and disguised as it may be.
This propounds the old can't-live-with-it, can't-live-without-it syndrome.
Free will is no longer free and hasn't much will, buried under a swarm of
emotional encumbrances.
By far the largest accumulated heavy load is the emotional mass loosely
held as the human ego. Originally a probable sprout from the survival
imprint, it requires and consumes constantly immense amounts of reinforcing emotional patterns, all of which are by their very nature distorted
and distorting. Ego exploits the concept that it is needed to exist andachieve, that the emotion of confidence cannot exist without ego support,that happiness is satiated ego. Ego can bring forth hundreds of irrationalemotional reasons to justify its existence—sidestepping the fact that emotion and irrationality are not synonymous. It steadfastly maintains that
there would be no human personality were it not for the ego.
At least, the ego is correct in one premise. The human is an emotional
being. It's simply a question of utilization, of application.
The epoxy that locks the whole heavy load onto the unit and makes
orbit decay inevitable: The heavy preponderance of such emotions are
directly related or attached to time-space physical matter earth events,
things, and relationships; as such, they are not applicable to nor can they
exist in any reality other than their point of origin.
There is one exception. It is the only clear and accurate representationof the original Prime Energy, and cannot be generated at will. It is asynthesis of other emotional thought and action, brought into expression
and thenceforth indestructible. Most important, it is not peculiar to thetime-space continuum and the existence of it is not contingent upon suchenvirons. As such, it is not part of the load factor. Instead, it is the sourceof power to obtain lift-off, reach orbit, and establish escape velocity.
The major—if not the only—reasons for attending the human experience school are first, to learn to translate such energy into a discernible
form, and second, to become a first-order generator thereof. This is noeasy task if you don't know what it is, if you don't know how to express it,
and if you can't knowingly generate it. How does a person learn to sing if

EPILOGUE: END GAME

257

he's never heard a song, doesn't know of words, melody, and pitch; worse,
if he doesn't know he has vocal cords or even a voice?
Clues may lie in the common mislabeling and misconstruing of emotions akin to but definitely not the same. To avoid confusion, call it Super
Love (SL). Knowing the difference is the key, as the ident love has beenused so broadly as to have lost any significant meaning. Try this crude
overlay for starters: SL is indestructible, as stated. Once activated, no
subsequent thought, emotion, or event can have any effect upon it. SL is
not in any way dependent upon manifestation in physical matter, or activity therein. SL has no object, animate or inanimate, although such may be
one of the catalysts to trigger the generation thereof. SL is a continuousradiation, totally nondependent upon like reception or any other form of
return whatsoever. SL is.
A very complex and rugged curriculum, this Human School of Compressed Learning. Parris Island at its peak was a teatime social by comparison. There, at least, you had a reasonably clear idea of what you were
doing and your probable destination. Knowing this, it was worth it.
My very deeply dedicated response: Among the very few seniors andgraduates I have encountered, there was not one who would not repeat
the in-human learning system again and again, no matter how many times—knowing the indescribably magnificent result. My fleeting glimpses support totally this perspective.
Preparation: Launch and Lift-off
Here is what might be euphemistically called a crib sheet for the course—presumably offered with the knowledge and consent of the instructors.
Like all such aids, it doesn't give all the answers and there is no guarantee
as to accuracy. The best that can be said is that it was hurriedly copiedfrom the instructors' manual with their permission and cooperation. Distorted and poorly filtered as it may be, perhaps this cup of murky water isindeed better than none at all to the parched and thirsty runner. At least
it's water and it may help cross the finish line jogging lightly and happily.
Detoxification/Load Reduction/Purging
The design calls for a continuation and expansion of physical life activity in all forms—physical, mental, and emotional. There is no inference
that a lessening or retreat must occur, as this will extend the process rather

258

FAR JOURNEYS

than shorten it. The change lies in the perception, control, and redirectionof the energy forms that are you, just as coherent light produces far more
effective results as a laser. Start with these fundamentals as a baseline.
Reality Is That Which Is Perceived
As a participant in time-space, you perceive it and it is a reality to you.
If you have not perceived any other energy systems, they are not real toyou. However, you must consider that you have done so but they are notwithin your present awareness. It then becomes simply a matter of remembering. Energy Does Not Exist Until Expressed
We are expressions of energy. The energy that we transform or generate
has no reality until we express it. An idea has no reality until we transmit
it or put it into practice. Knowledge and information are nothing without
dissemination and/or application. A single thought is not real unless it isinstilled into or acts upon another or is acted upon itself. Think and do is
the operating productive combination, either mentally or physically, in
one or more energy systems. Inhibit, restrain, or block the flow of any suchenergy and it ceases to exist. Energy Focused Is Exponential
Just as a lens can concentrate solar radiation to a temperature manytimes greater than normal, so other energies can be transformed and modified. This is particularly valid within the energy spectrum available tohuman consciousness. The fact that we exercise them randomly and unknowingly for the most part, specifically in the nonphysical categories,
does not invalidate such potential. Consciousness Is Focused Energy
In particular, human consciousness is widely focused into time-space
physical matter. This is not the totality of energy consciousness involved,
as other forms of the same consciousness are active concurrently in divergent systems of reality. Two inferences may be drawn from such multiplicity: The human aspect can be adjusted in focus to a much more concentrated point, offering potentials of power and action too immense andunfathomable to be considered lightly. Second, the other, nonhumanforms of the same energy system might be drawn upon if the need arises.
With the above tucked away, it is possible to get to the "hands on"phase. Although the following notes are presented in a sequential manner,

EPILOGUE: END GAME

259

it is quite appropriate to refer to any portion that may serve a given need.
There is no fixed pattern or order common to all of the human learning
experience. An event early in the life exercise of one may surface years
later in another, if at all. Establish Grazing Principle
Instead of actively seeking out needed changes, deal with each as it
appears in your daily life. Live and be just as you have until you perceive
an emotion or attachment that is so obvious you can't ignore it. Live a
Twenty-four-Hour Day
Become aware of what you do and think at all times, in all activities,
and examine the emotional factors that appear to be the strongest, that
attract your attention. Include your sleep periods with their NVC-dreamcontent. Explore these by asking yourself why, repeating the probe until
you reach each source. It is then easy to detach and release the energy forother purposes. Start with the small and work into the large. Begin Ego
Diet Regimen
A frontal attack on this most entrenched and concentrated center ofdistorted emotion is contraindicated as not feasible. Much too many losethat battle, most never begin it. The trick is to start a cutoff of theemotional power feeds that are vital to its existence, modify and redirect
the energy therein. Bear in mind that you are bombarded constantly withego gratification ploys aimed at modification of your behavior for the
benefit of others. The problem is in your emotional response, not in theblandishment itself and the consequential acts you perform. If you want todrive a luxury car simply because you enjoy doing it, that's fine. If it makes
you feel more important, or you like to be seen driving it, if you have toput "my" in front of the identification, you've found an ego power feed.
Keep this perspective and apply it when the need arises, and act accordingly.
The second source of ego-emotional power feeds is internally generated.
It is generally accepted that ambition and the drive for achievement areprimarily ego-gratifying processes. To determine if this is valid or such
motivation comes from a more profound origin, conduct this test: Will
these needs be happily met if you in no way receive any public or private
credit for your success? Are they absolutely essential to your physical survival? If the answer is affirmative to both, you're further along than you

260

FAR JOURNEYS

realize. Even with fame, fortune, and adulation, your load will actuallylighten. If both come out negative, start unplugging the feed by asking
why.
At a point in your unplugging process, you will find glimmers of Prime
Energy radiation which provide any justification you may desire. The
more emotional energy you so release, the greater such energy you will
perceive. Divest Survival Sex Ties
Due to the need to protect and maintain until physical maturity theoffspring of the reproductive act, many cultures have attached certain
obligations thereto. While this is generally a purely physical requisite,many have taken the position or inference that far more is involved. The
reproductive act is first and foremost a very powerful response to purely
sensual stimuli. The response is not in itself an emotion, although thedepth of the experience often causes fantasizing that it is exactly that andof much greater import. To confuse the issue further, sexual union is oneof the significant ways to express the SL emotion found in the Prime
Energy.
The load reducer is to understand the difference. There is no right orwrong engendered either way, only difference. Recognize that, from theperspective of solely a physical act, any emotional attachments thereto
relate only to time-space reality. As a procreative act, it is physical innature. Unless other energy patterns emerge as a result, enjoy it but don't
get hooked on it. You don't need to take it with you, because there's betterin the original form—what you experience here sexually is a very weakimitation of a part of a totality. No male or female "owes" the other anobligation to copulate. Sexual attraction and attractiveness are elements ofa survival drive which is purely physical and no more. Yet these are enoughto alter drastically individual life patterns. Load is induced when more ismade of it than it is.
Sexuality is not love, if love is defined as an expression of Prime Energy,
but may well be a procedure through which the individual eventuallylearns of its existence. If this does indeed take place, keep the love andrelease the sexuality, then no load exists. Release Value Judgments
With the distortion of time-space as a baseline, it is impossible for

EPILOGUE: END GAME

261

anyone to discern accurately the quality of any thought or action; goodevil, right-wrong, exist only as illusion. In orbit, there is no up-down. As apoint of expediency, it may be necessary to adhere to the concepts of theculture in which we exist temporarily. Without a solid overview, we cannot understand the ultimate value of what we do. Therefore, follow yourown design, lighten the load by refusing to bond lasting emotion onto any
physical act or the action of others. Detach Matter-Emotion
Physical things, places, etc., are units within time-space, to be enjoyed
and to be used as tools in the learning experience. None is "ours." We
don't own or possess any thing or person, nothing belongs to us. Even thematter we use for our physical body is "borrowed," as it were. Store thememory and the experience, leave the emotion behind. You Are Your
Responsibility
We like to lay this one off wherever and however we can, blame conditions and/or anyone else for what we do and are when there seem to be
mistakes, take credit when everything is great. As exercisers of free will,
we do our own instigating. Calmly accepting the results will get you lift-off
points. An old folk song with the title "Ain't Nobody's Fault but My
Own" says it very well. Look it up. Free Will Is Fantasy
Within time-space, the very constraints thereof preclude any such theory. At physical birth, we are bound not only by our previous experience,
whatever it may be, but by the genetic structure of the physical body we
inhabit. From that point on, we have no choice but to be bonded into theflesh for that lifetime, long or short. We are bound to maintain and operate our physical bodies within the limitations they impose. The set andsetting of our physical existence is controlled, initially at least, by others.
What remains, colored and modified as it is, might be considered free will.
Exercising this upon another only increases the load. Off-loading is accomplished by maximizing this remainder in nonphysical areas and accepting
without emotion the limitations so imposed. Laughter Is a Purging
Process
As a direct expression of the Prime Energy, when in doubt let it out. An
inadvertent smile is part of the same spectrum. It's one of the best ofemotions, but must be spontaneous to produce results. Seeing and en-

262

FAR JOURNEYS

joying the humor in life is something not to be missed. It relaxes, de-tunes
the ego, puts any event into its proper perspective. Pain-Pleasure (PP) Is
a Learning Curve
Consider these as a waveform originating within the survival imprint,
and therefore signals relating only to time-space physical matter. They are
essential tools that can be used for measurement. Think of it as a sine
wave, with pain below the baseline and pleasure above it. The amplitudeof each is an indicator of intensity, which can be controlled. Step one:
Sort out and remove all emotional energy adhered to your PP accumulated
memory. Step two: Begin control of each portion of the waveform so thatyou can increase or decrease the amplitude at will. You are approaching
escape velocity status when you can reduce your PP waveform to a nearperfect straight line. Maximize Your Sleep Periods
This is the most neglected and misunderstood portion of our existence.
Freed temporarily of the restrictions placed upon us by our left-brainorganization and the press of physical input, the sleep segment offers agreat opportunity to advance in many areas. Any of the previous suggestions can be initiated and developed during the sleep state. Consistency
and frequency are important. You may not get the results the first, third,or fifth time, but eventually you will succeed. Begin by stating the affirmation:/ am more than my physical body. Because I am more than physicalmatter, I can perceive that which is greater than the physical world.
Therefore, I deeply desire to expand, to experience: to know, to understand, to control, to use such greater energies and energy systems as may
be beneficial and constructive to me and to those who follow me.
Also, I deeply desire the help and cooperation, the assistance, theunderstanding of those individuals whose wisdom, development, and experience are equal to or greater than my own. I ask their guidance andprotection from any influence or any source that might provide me withless than my stated desires.
Say it first as words in your mind just as you are drifting off to sleep.
Convert as early as possible to nonverbal communication (NVC), stating

EPILOGUE: END GAME

263

the affirmation in mental action rather than words. After you are wellestablished with the technique, add specific needs such as information,
health care, problem solving, communication, or any of the procedures
listed previously, using NVC. The answer will come usually not in words,
but in pictures, sound, living action in your mind. There is no limit to theways you can use this method provided you do not impinge upon the willof others. If you need help, ask for it by NVC. You will receive it, perhaps
not immediately, but you will, often in the most astounding serendipitousand synchronistic ways. Be sure that you qualify your need and that you
can handle the answer or result. Measure Your Load-Energy Ratio
At physical birth, we enter physical life into a presumed innocent consciousness. The path to adulthood and your progress along it can betermed a loss of such innocence, scaled by the number of responsibilities
you have willfully assumed, as created by your authoritative acts. Maturity,
which is not the same, is calculated by totaling the percentage of illusions
you have released and discarded—deliberately, not forced disillusionment.
Wisdom—the lightest and most valuable of pay loads—and your progressalong the interstate highway thereto are reflected in your willful action,
mental and physical, as the result of your release of such illusions.
The Detoxification/Load Reduction/Purging process can be interpreted as simply the sequence of these three, adulthood, maturity, andwisdom. You ultimately are your own instructor and you will fill out yourown report card. Building Escape Velocity Energy
It will begin to generate automatically as the result of the human learning experience, more than enough to achieve a tangent to your previous
orbit when you graduate. It is the understanding that the actions suggested here may help in such production. Then no longer will you reflect
and transform the Prime Energy as in the past, but create it in and of yourown and radiate it in all ways, in all forms—call it loosh/love or whateverlabel fits—without need for subject or object. "Pas de Lieu Rhone queNous"
A language professor father, now in another reality, used this to wakeup students in his class in French, claiming it was an old and famous
French proverb. Some worked earnestly for hours trying to solve theFAR JOURNEYS

264

enigma. It may be very appropriate here, too. To find the solution, say it inyour mind or vocalize it using a French accent. Listen to what you aresaying.

AppendicesI. The Out-of-Body Experience: Most
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

See you in Home—or along the way.
QUESTION: HOW DO YOU KNOW IT ISN'T JUST A TYPE OF
DREAMING?
Most individuals do dismiss the experience when they encounter it as nothing
more than a vivid dream. At most, it may be categorized by some as what is
identified as a "lucid" dream. In the latter, the dreamer is apparently aware that
he is dreaming, and can control the content of his dream, even to the point ofchanging the event, the participants, and the outcome.
In the OOBE, the individual is near-totally conscious, as our civilization defines
the state. Most if not all of your physical sensory perception is replicated. You can"see," "hear," and "touch"—the weakest seem to be smell and taste. Your perspective is from a position outside your physical body, near or distant. In a nearstate, it is usually from a location impossible for you to "be" with your physicalbody, such as floating against the ceiling. In a far location, it could be in Paris
when you know you are in New York physically. You can observe events taking
place, but you cannot change or significantly affect them. You can verify theauthenticity of such events subsequently if you so desire. You cannot participate to
any major degree in this physical activity because you are not "physical." It is theextreme reality of the OBE that sets it apart from a dream. It is as "real" as any
physical life experience.
QUESTION: CAN ANYONE GO OUT OF BODY?
Several studies made during the past ten years indicate that some 25 percent of
adult humans remember having at least one spontaneous OOBE. Many were
unaware of what had happened to them until the phenomenon was described tothem. As stated earlier, we take the position that everyone goes into the OOBE
state during the delta or deep-sleep state, as a natural process and in varying
degrees. Therefore, one step may be to begin to remember the OOB patterns you
have or are performing each night when you sleep. Further, after specific psychological and/or philosophic preparation, we believe that anyone can indeed consciously move into OOB states.
QUESTION: WILL DELIBERATELY GOING OOB HURT YOU?
COULD YOU DIE FROM IT?
After twenty-five years of investigation as well as personal exploration, there isno evidence to support either possibility. There is no doubt as to the emotional
impact upon discovery of the reality of the OOB state. The major adjustment of

266

APPENDICES

one's belief systems is often traumatic and must be dealt with carefully. Physiologically, there seems to be no effect, including any depletion of energy.
QUESTION: DO DRUGS OR ALCOHOL HELP OR BRING ON AN
OOBE?
There is some data to indicate that hallucinogens may be producing an uncontrolled OOBE. The drug experience in and of itself has not been studied in depth
as to this possibility. Alcohol, as a depressant, tends to inhibit a conscious OOBE,
or at least the memory thereof. There is some support to the concept that anesthetics are no more than chemical triggers to produce deep OOB states, e.g.,
unconsciousness. Experimental slow administration of these under nonthreatening
conditions as well as the medical descriptions of the various "planes" of anesthesia
are the basis for this premise.
QUESTION: IS THE OOBE SIMILAR TO THE NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES THAT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT IN SEVERAL RECENT BOOKS?
It is very similar. More pointedly, with allowances for cultural connotation anduncontrolled action-reaction due to a high-stress ambience of the moment, they
appear to be one and the same. Most if not all of the elements found in the neardeath reports have been replicated repeatedly with various laboratory subjects
using the Hemi-Sync process. The difference lies in the perception of the eventsand situations encountered. Without anxiety and stress, armed with objective
observation, another perspective of the same state/condition is forthcoming.
QUESTION: ARE SUCH THINGS AS WEATHER CONDITIONS,
MOON PHASE, LYING NORTH-SOUTH IMPORTANT
IN ACHIEVING THE OOBE?
We have no hard data to support the premise that any of these have a significant effect on the OOBE. There are a few indicators that lying in the north-south
position does have some effect, which would infer that the earth's magnetic field
may have some bearing on the process. Because it was easily done, the new isolation booth in our laboratory is aligned in a magnetic north-south position. By
setting up artificial magnetic fields within the booth, we will be able to equalize or
produce a "null" magnetically, much as the astronauts experienced in their moon
exploration. Subsequent studies therefore should provide partial answers, at least.
QUESTION: IF I LEAVE MY BODY TEMPORARILY, CAN'T SOMEONE ELSE GET IN IT WHILE I'M GONE?
If our premise is correct, there is no more possibility of this taking place thanthere would be during normal sleep. If there could be statistics worked up on suchpossibility, the odds against an occurrence of this sort are far greater than those of

APPENDICES

267

your being killed in an auto accident during the coming year. Over the past fifteen
years, working with laboratory subjects and program participants, there have been
no incidents that remotely could be construed as "possession" or something destructive or uncontrollable.
QUESTION: IN YOUR PREVIOUS BOOK, YOU GAVE AN "ANGLE"METHOD FOR GETTING OUT OF YOUR BODY, BUT I
CAN'T MAKE IT WORK FOR ME. IS THERE SOMETHING I AM NOT DOING RIGHT?
The method described was a very early technique that worked at that time. We
have since discovered the many other vital factors that are involved in the process.
Also, we currently use other techniques that are easier to understand and perform.
Briefly put, it is not quite as simple as envisioned earlier.
QUESTION: WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN YOU GET STRANGEACHES AND PAINS IN YOUR HEAD AND VARIOUS
PARTS OF YOUR BODY WHEN YOU TRY TO GO OOB?
Generally, it infers unconscious anxieties and concerns that must be sought out
and addressed before you can go on to the OOB state. If you are able to getbehind or perceive the reason for each one at the level they exist, then release theemotion attached, these physical signals will disappear.
QUESTION: CAN YOU GET BACK INTO THE WRONG PHYSICAL
BODY BY MISTAKE?
"Can" implies the ability for such incident to take place. It can happen, as it
did to me in the early days. How often is another matter. In our current civilization, there are no means to understand this possibility even on a speculative basis.
It has never happened to our laboratory subjects or those who have trained withus. We use a simple homing device to ensure return to "your" physical body. To
return neatly and in a hurry, all you need to do is to think of one part of yourphysical body—such as a big right toe—and attempt to move or wiggle it. This
brings prompt results. Because there is no data and the "wrong body" incident has
occurred (to me), it does presume the possibility that it might happen with an
untrained novice. If that is your possibility, remember the "wiggle big toe" signal.
It will save much fear and worry.
QUESTION: WHAT ABOUT ANIMALS IN THE OOB STATE? HAVEYOU MET ANY? COULD YOU COMMUNICATE WITH
THEM?
The only ones recognizable to me have been domestic cats which have been apart of our household family. They evidently have at least a second body, too,
which can be perceived if they are asleep when you are out of body and you go to268

APPENDICES

investigate. Of recent interest to me, during the departure phase, I encountered
three cats just outside, sitting relaxed and observant. In greeting them, I was
surprised to find they were the three of our favorite cats who had died physicallyduring the past three years. In retrospect, why I was surprised I don't know.
QUESTION: WILL YOUR SOUNDS ON YOUR AUDIO CASSETTESOR THOSE ON ANY OTHER SOUND CASSETTE INDUCE THE OOB STATE?
It would be very rare if at all. Certain other factors must be approached Erst—such as the fear barrier, reappraisal of belief systems, among others. It is theextreme exception that balance has been reached sufficiently to move that easily
into the OOB state.
QUESTION: WHAT ABOUT FLYING DREAMS? IS THIS AN OOBE?
We generally recognize that the flying dream, with or without an aircraft, is arationalization of an OOBE which is unacceptable to the belief system of the
conscious mind. Later data suggests that the dream of getting out of your "car"and performing some act falls into a similar category. Have you ever dreamed thatyou forgot where you parked your "car"! Also, the falling dream often becomesreentry into the physical when practiced in "slow motion."
QUESTION: HOW IS REMOTE VIEWING DIFFERENT FROM AN
OOBE?
Remote viewing, or the ability to "see" events taking place at another physicallocation, employs a trained state of consciousness that is effective while still verymuch within the physical body. Usually only one form of perception is utilized
which translates as visual. In the OOB state, there is no awareness of the physicalbecause you are "away" from it. Also, perceptions other than visual are invariably
present. There are other differences, but these are the basics.
QUESTION: CAN AN OOBE BE INDUCED BY HYPNOSIS?
There are a number of reports that this has taken place, and it may be possible.
We have no direct experience with it. The weakness of this technique from ourperspective lies in the fact that the OOB individual is not in control of the activity—which seems to be quite important in the process.
QUESTION: WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF OOB WHILE STILL PERFORMING A PHYSICAL ACT SUCH AS DRIVING A
CAR, WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? HOW DO YOU CONTROL IT?
Get back as fast as you can! Use the quick-return method described earlier. This
has not happened to me personally, but I understand it does occur infrequently.

APPENDICES

269

QUESTI ON: IS IT EASIE R TO GO TO A PLACE OR A PERSONWHILE IN OOB?
Usually to a person, easiest to someone who is close to you emotionally. There
are some who can go to places, but it requires a specific "address" or ident.
QUESTION: IF YOU MEET A BEING WHILE OOB, HOW CAN YOUTELL IF IT IS MALEVOLENT OR BENEVOLENT?
An unqualified reply to this one is difficult. Often what is perceived as vicious orevil is simply a very impersonal energy you have encountered which you interpretas aimed at you personally. A sudden undertow at the beach may seem frightening
and deadly, and it is your fear and the unknown potential of it that makes it so.
The undertow itself doesn't know you exist and cares less. These can be avoided if
you consciously limit your input "frequency," as it were, allowing only those on
your "wavelength" to communicate and/or make contact with you. At best if
there is a question, pat it on the shoulder and tell it to go home. At worst, you goback to the physical and regroup. Otherwise, say hello and enter into some form ofcommunication.
QUESTION: CAN ONE GO FORWARD AND BACKWARD IN TIME
WHILE OOB?
Very much so because the true OOB is not a time-space state or condition. It is
not as productive as one would imagine, for several complex reasons. Most important is to use a strong home ident to get back in your original start-point. Such
ident must include not only place, but time. Practice near-time runs before tackling the "long" ones.
QUESTION: WHAT IS MY "FORM" WHILE OOB?
Think of your second or immediate nonphysical body as much like gelatin thathas been removed from a mold. It "remembers" the human form and thus is nearidentical. The longer one is separated from the physical, the weaker the memory
becomes unless reinforced. Time-distance also seems to be a factor. The farther"away" from the physical, such memory or its effectiveness becomes less. If left toits own devices, you may become a ball, a teardrop, a small cloud, or just a "blob."
All of this can be bypassed by slipping out of the second body immediately after
separation, and becoming clear undiluted energy. You can always "grow" a handand arm if you need one.
QUESTION: WHAT ABOUT THE REINCARNATION PROCESS? ARE
PHYSICAL LIFETIMES SEQUENTIAL, SIMULTANEOUS, OR WHAT?
First, they are not sequential in time. They may indeed be simultaneous. It is aquestion of "who is doing the perceiving?"

270

APPENDICESQUESTION: WHY WOULD SUPER BEINGS AS YOU DESCRIBE
NEED TECHNOLOGY?
They don't. Putting their activities and ability within this context appears to be
one possible way for our left-brained culture to begin to understand what they are
doing. Such "technology" is as natural to them as our autonomic system is to us.
We don't think about our gastrointestinal tract, our circulation system, or ourlungs as technology. We just use them without conscious effort, although we now
understand much of the technology involved. Their technology is much the same,
relatively, except that they deliberately apply it and control it.
QUESTION: IS OUR HUMAN TECHNOLOGY A RESULT OF COMMUNICATION WITH SUCH SUPER BEINGS?
There is much to support this premise, especially when key figures and events inhuman history are objectively studied with this prospect as an alternative to ourpresent belief system.
QUESTION: DO CERTAIN TYPES OF FOOD, COFFEE, SMOKING,SUGAR, ETC., AID OR INHIBIT OOBS?
There is no direct correlation either way, based solely upon those laboratory
subjects and program participants active with the Institute. We are not aware of
any reliable in-depth studies on the matter. Moderation may be the common
factor, if any.
QUESTION: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE NATURE OF GOOD
AND EVIL?
They exist only in the mind of the perceiver, due to ignorance and lack ofunderstanding plus an immersed viewpoint.
QUESTION: CAN ONE LIVE TWO LIVES SIMULTANEOUSLY RELATIVE TO TIME?
This question has been asked of our nonphysical friends, who report that it is
not only possible but does take place frequently. We have no further information
about it, how or why it occurs, except that I personally was given the name andlocation of a "second life" I am living—but I have not had the time or the courage
to verify it, if possible.
QUESTION: HAVE YOUR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS CHANGED AS A
RESULT OF YOUR OOB ACTIVITIES? Yes.

APPENDICES

271

II. The QBE Psychophysiology of Robert A. Monroe
By Stuart W. Twemlow, M.D., and Glen O. Gabbard, M.D.

Robert Monroe is a businessman from Virginia, now in his sixties, who is one of
the most widely known gifted subjects in the OBE literature. He has written abook cataloguing his out-of-body exploits,* and has founded a private institution
devoted to the study of such phenomena: the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences in Faber, Virginia. He voluntarily submitted himself to in-depth psychiatricand psychological evaluation several years prior to the publication of this book. He
underwent intensive psychiatric interviewing and a battery of different psychological tests. Monroe has never had psychiatric treatment of any form. He has performed at a high level of functioning throughout his career as producer, businessman, and entrepreneur.
As we delve into his background, we find that he did not have out-of-bodyexperiences until the age of forty-two. He had an orthodox Southern upbringing
with high-achieving and successful parents. From an early age, Monroe had afascination with flying. He built model planes as a little boy and learned to fly
airplanes when he was only in high school. Later, he became an accomplishedglider pilot. He was also preoccupied with the thrill of movement and has wonderful memories of riding on trains. Tolpin (1974) has related such intense developmental vicissitude to the grandiose fantasy which she calls "the Daedalus Experience." She takes this name, of course, from the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, who
longed to fly over the sea and created wax wings for themselves to accomplish thistask. Icarus, the son of Daedalus, became intoxicated with his ability to fly andflew too near the sun. The sun melted the wax on his wings, and he plunged into
the sea as his father, Daedalus, continued on his way. Tolpin postulates that thismyth and the fascination with flying is intimately connected with a certain developmental period when the infant experiences an ecstatic primal pleasure at being
flung about by his mother and father and doting relatives. This archaic grandiosefantasy of defying gravity and flying through the air is normally tamed in theprocess of maturity and channeled into high achievement and other kinds ofsublimatory activities. Tolstoy, for example, leapt out of a window at the age of* Journeys Out of the Body. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc.,
1971; Anchor Press edition, 1977.

272

APPENDICES

nine in an attempt to fly and suffered a concussion. However, he almost neverrelinquished the literal belief that he could fly. He had ecstatic notions about
merging with the moon, which Tolpin relates to the fantasy of mystical merger
with his mother, whom he lost at the age of two. This early grandiose notion was,of course, channeled into extraordinary mastery and creativity in the area of writing. Winston Churchill had a similar background, and at eighteen jumped off abridge onto treetops. This early grandiosity was gradually transformed from therealm of action into the realm of thought, as in his stirring speeches, e.g., "Weshall never surrender." Tolpin provides another example of a six-year-old child who
leapt off a merry-go-round in an effort to fly and became furious with his motherbecause he could not. This wish to fly was later transformed into a wish to fly anairplane.
The fascination with out-of-body "travel" seen in Monroe is likely an adultderivative of this Daedalus fantasy. His childhood grandiose wish is transformed
not only into out-of-body experiences as an adult but also into the creation of an
institute devoted to the study of these and other esoteric experiences. Hence, inMonroe we see perhaps a more direct translation of the childhood wish to fly into
an adult form of the grandiose wish. However, he has used this interest adaptively
and productively rather than in a self-destructive or counterproductive way. It may
be that this persistent grandiose wish to fly is more likely to be operative as adeterminant in those subjects who have the esoteric variety of out-of-body experience, i.e., travels to distant locations and through other realms which are fantastic
and inexplicable. This determinant may not apply to the more mundane experiences where one simply finds himself floating on the ceiling above his body.
If one of the determinants of Monroe's out-of-body experience is this persistentwish to escape the shackles of the earthbound physical form, what are some of theothers? His history indicates that he was free from childhood trauma and in factsomewhat indulged with creature comforts. His mother, a dynamic and successful
physician, had a certain outlook on life which tended to avoid ugliness and unpleasantness. This attribute also emerges in an analysis of Monroe's personality.
Both Monroe and his mother used the defenses of denial and avoidance to asignificant extent. These hypomanic defenses against aggression, tragedy, and destructiveness were further demonstrated in projective psychological testing. The
Rorschach tests indicated that Monroe was a man who avoids many aspects of his
internal life. He has strong defenses against dealing with sexuality, defensive feelings, and especially aggression, all areas of his psyche that he prefers to keep out of
his awareness. He has a pervasive tendency to avoid and detach himself fromfeelings which shows itself in his patterns of thinking, his use of language, and his
interpersonal relations. He often simply steers off, away, and tangential to the way
others think, feel, perceive, and express themselves. These personality inclinations
contribute to the content of what he saw on a particular inkblot, which is often
seen as a bat or a bird. Monroe saw this as "a flying unit, with wings, in the shape

APPENDICES

273

of a bird or the body of a butterfly or insect, flying upwards toward the top of thecard." Thus, the out-of-body experience in Monroe also serves the function of
avoidance of conflict. By transcending the prison of his body, it allows him to steer
clear of such potential conflict areas as sexuality, depression, and aggression.
Observations of Robert Monroe were made by one of us (SWT) and a colleague, Dr. Fowler Jones of the University of Kansas Medical Center, over a thirtyminute time period when Monroe was monitored by a Beckman polygraph withleft and right occipital EEG electrodes. He was observed by us through a one-way
window (Twemlow, 1977). Most striking was Monroe's spasmodic breathing withperiods of apnea. After these apneic periods, the breaths were gulping. Simultaneously, Dr, Jones and SWT turned to each other and reported the impression of aheat wavelike distortion beginning at Monroe's waist, so that it was difficult to geta clearly focused picture of his upper body, although his lower body was in clear
focus. Previously, Monroe had stated that he would be able to get out of his bodyquickly but could not signal it, although he could signal within five seconds ofreturn. This distortion disappeared rather suddenly a little before he roused himself. At that time his EEG showed a shift in high amplitude patterns to the righthemisphere with a low amplitude in the left occipital lead.
He seemed to wake without anxiety, although he was moderately disoriented inspace for about thirty seconds, with slight slurring of his speech. He could notrecapture his experience immediately. His GSR level during the session showed anincrease in arousal of approximately 150 microvolts, marked by the total absence ofeither specific or nonspecific responses during his out-of-body phase. At one point,
when a technician entered the room to check electrodes, Monroe appeared to be
unaware of his presence, and there was no fluctuation in GSR. The skin of his arm
and forearm were dry and warm to the touch. At that time rapid fluttering eye
movements were noted (although eye movements were not measured).
Sections of Monroe's EEG during this reported out-of-body experience wereanalyzed for frequency differences both within and between hemispheres. An analysis of variance was run, with the data divided into beginning, middle, and end
sections, each section having 29 values for a total of 290 seconds. Two groups wereanalyzed: right and left hemispheres. There seemed to be no significant frequency
differences between hemispheres, although the amplitude differences were obvious. There were significant differences between the beginning and middle, themiddle and end, and the beginning and end sections of Monroe's EEG in eachhemisphere. This latter difference (F = 41.47 and F = 59.08; p < .001) showedthat the "before" and "after" OBE frequencies were much higher than the "during" OBE frequencies. Standard deviations were also significantly smaller with the
middle section as compared to the beginning and end sections. A power spectral
analysis of OBE periods showed power peaks at 4-5 Hertz with very little activity
above 10 Hertz.
What are we to conclude from this experiment? Although the observational

APPENDICES

274

findings were more provocative than the EEG findings, they are less easily explained. Clearly, Monroe was in a state of deep relaxation. In addition, when in his
out-of-body state there is a frequency slowing, with an interesting shift in power to
a 4-5 Hertz range in the theta-delta transitional zone. This electrophysiologicalborderline state correlates closely with Tart's findings and Harary's reference toborderline sleep-wakefulness states.

III. The Out-of-Body Experience: Phenomenology
By Stuart W. Twemlow, M.D., Glen O. Gabbard, M.D., and Fowler C.
Jones, Ed.D.

Paper Presented at the 1980 Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, May 5-9, in San Francisco
Dr. Twemlow, formerly Chief Research Service, Topeka V.A. Medical Center,is now in the private practice of psychiatry, 2145 S.E. Maryland, Topeka, Kans.
66605. Dr. Gabbard is Staff Psychiatrist, The Menninger Foundation. Dr. Jones is
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Kansas Medical Center.
The authors would like to acknowledge Robert Ellsworth, Ph.D., for questionnaire analysis and interpretation; Gary Clark, Ph.D., and Lolafaye Coyne, Ph.D.,for statistical consultation.
The project was supported in part by the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences,
Faber, Va.; University of Kansas Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry; The
Menninger Foundation, Topeka, Kans.

PrecisDescriptive data is presented from 339 subjects who reported out-of-body experiences in response to an advertisement. The data was analyzed according to preexisting conditions, phenomenological features, and impact of the experience.
Questions are raised about the etiology of this phenomenon and its meaning to theindividual.

Introduction
In his 1979 presidential address to the American Psychiatric Association, Dr.
Jules Masserman noted that one of man's three ultimate seekings is "a system ofvalues and mystic beliefs to provide metapsychological serenity." He noted that
there was a growing interest in what he called "metapsychiatry, reflecting a parallel

275

APPENDICES

preoccupation in the general public with esoteric faiths and transcendental seekings for the ultimate." There is scant recognition of such areas in the traditional
psychiatric literature although periodic case reports appear, for example, a casestudy of "self-induced depersonalization" by Kennedy.1 It is true that increasing
numbers of patients who are involved in movements, such as Transcendental Meditation, report experiences traditionally classified as psychopathological. Thesemovements emphasize that some of these symptom complexes should not betreated in the way that a symptom is usually treated (e.g., interpretation, medication), but that many of these phenomena should be viewed by the unfamiliar
treating physician with "benign neglect" and referred back to the meditationteacher for management. This is because a number of them are usual and expectedaccompaniments of changes in cognition, perception, and affect modulation thatare expected to occur and are desirable.2,3
Our two papers summarize a study of one such phenomenon, the out-of-bodyexperience (OBE).
The goal of our study is to address the following questions: (1) what is thecontinuum of phenomenological features which is the "out-of-body" state; (2) how
does it compare with certain other states of consciousness such as dreaming, lifethreatening experience, sensory deprivation states, and mystical religious experience; (3) how does it relate to pathological states; for example, depersonalization,
autoscopy, and psychosis; (4) what are the short- and long-term effects on theindividual and what does the experience mean to him; (5) what, if any, are theimplications of this phenomena for the practice of psychiatry?

Definition of the term "out-of-body experience"
For the purposes of our survey we chose to define the experience in a very
general way since review of the literature clearly revealed that there is little, if any,
agreement about what characterizes the state phenomenologically, physiologically,in terms of personality structure, or in terms of significance to the individual. We
chose the following definition: "An experience where you felt that your mind orawareness was separated from your physical body." As with Palmer4 we felt thatthe only theme in the literature which distinguishes these experiences is a sense of
location of the total sense of self at some place other than in the physical body.
We did not feel that it was wise to restrict our definition further at this point until
the experience had been more thoroughly studied. Such a definition, however,does reflect certain biases on our behalf; explicitly, there are: (1) a belief that withthe current state of knowledge, the subject is in a better position than the investigator to decide whether or not he had an out-of-body experience; (2) we wanted toemphasize the sense of location of self-awareness rather than the complex and
extremely variable visual and auditory experiences reported in the anecdotal literature;5 (3) whether or not there is objective laboratory demonstration of a separationof self-awareness from its normal location in the brain seems not relevant to276

APPENDICES

the study of the phenomenon from a psychiatric point of view. Although some takethe position, for example, Osis,6 that such a criterion should be fundamental to theexperience, we feel it peripheral to an understanding of its psychological impact
and its meaning to the individual, particularly in terms of his value structure andthe organization and functioning of his ego. For now, we feel that the experienceshould be subjectively defined. However, we are very aware of the vast literature on
perceptual illusion suggesting that such research is enormously subject to bias; forexample, Orne7 demonstrated that experimental results are directly affected by theexperimenter's personal belief system.
Attempts such as those of Tart8-9 and Twemlow10 to obtain psychophysiologicalcorrelates of such an experience cannot be said to characterize it even partiallyadequately, not unlike, for example, trying to describe a whole person using only
an EKG. Reported laboratory studies show no stable features, but are suggestive.
In our own studies10 of the gifted subject Robert Monroe, and in a time series
study of 11 Ss conducted to examine his OBE facilitating technique, one naive
subject did show some unusual EEG changes, an occipital EEG pattern mostsimilar to an occipital slow wave of sleep variant. Tart8-9 notes, as we do, that EEG
measures in general show a dramatic reduction in neuronal energy in the alpha andtheta band with some unusual patterns not characteristic of REM sleep or othernormal sleep stages.
The term "out-of-body experience" was coined by Tart in 1960 primarily to
avoid the judgmental alternative names present in the literature which implied
some nonexistent exact knowledge of etiology of the experience, for example, suchterms as astral projection, ESP projection, doubling, astral travel, etc. Some writers
feel that out-of-body experience is a specific form of depersonalization, a point tobe addressed in the third paper of this series. Others such as Ehrenwald11 emphasize not only the sense of separation but also the visual accompaniments of what isseen by the self located "outside" the body.
Following Tart's generally widely accepted definition of an altered state of consciousness as a "qualitative alteration in overall pattern of mental functioning,such that the experiencer feels his consciousness is radically different from the way
it functions ordinarily,"12 an adequate definition of OBE might include the following points: an altered state of consciousness in which the subject feels that his
mind or self-awareness is separated from his physical body and this self-awarenesshas a vivid and real sense about it, quite different from a dream.
To flesh out this rather abstract definition, a letter was selected from one ofapproximately 700 describing such experiences received by one of the authors(SWT). This report is an example without many of the dramatic trappings ofthose reported in the parapsychological and theosophical literature and is given bya 52-year-old retired government employee living in Puerto Rico. He says, "WhenI was approximately ten years old I was living together with my older brother at
my uncle's house, a major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. One day I was

277

APPENDICES

reclined on my bed quite awake and was looking at the ceiling beams of the old
Spanish building where the living quarters were located. I was saying to myself
many questions such as what was I doing there and who was I. All of a sudden I
get up from the bed and start walking toward the next room. At that moment I
felt a strange sensation in me; it was a sensation of weightlessness and a strange
mix of a sense of a feeling of joy. I turned back in my steps in order to go back to
bed when to my big surprise I saw myself reclined on the bed. This surprisingexperience at that very small age gave me the kind of a jerk which, so to say, shookme back to my body." This example, particularly well exemplifies the ordinary,even mundane, content of the experience, its vivid emotional impact, the sense of
a complete functioning self located outside the brain and the considerable surprisewhen the physical body is seen, and the way this anxiety triggers the delicate
balance of the alteration of consciousness causing a restitution of the normal
cognitive set of "in-body state."

Taxonomy of OBEs
As might be expected, all possible classification approaches have been applied tosuch experiences and each generally begs the question because there is no agreement as to what constitutes the OBE. Four possible approaches suggest themselves:• A classification by natural clustering of phenomena, that is, subjective reports, the approach addressed in this paper.
• Classification by precipitating agents or stressors, that is, the conditions ex
isting at the time of the experience, although a cause-effect relationship has neverbeen established (discussed in this paper).
• Classification by psychosocial and psychopathological variables, suggested
only anecdotally and being addressed in the second paper in this series. For exam
ple, Eastman13 reports OBEs associated with fearful states of mind, states ofloneliness, and states of extremely positive mood (ecstatic states).
• Classification by analogy. Here is suggested a state of sensory deprivation,
peak and plateau experiences, and psychopathological states (schizophrenic bodyboundary loss, autoscopy, depersonalization, etc., being addressed in our third
paper).
A correct taxonomy may make use of all four approaches, in an attempt todefine pathognomonic features of the experience. Naturally the ultimate value of ataxonomy would depend on what it can explain. Many features of OBEs are most
likely explainable by the idiosyncratic effects of precipitants (for example, drugs),
personality and defensive constellations, and cultural factors, including belief systems.

278

APPENDICES

Surveys of OBE
Few surveys of the incidence of OBEs exist; the earliest was by Hart in 1954.14
He asked 155 students whether they had ever had an OBE. 27.17c of them said
that they had, most of them having had more than one experience. This result is
not inconsistent with the results of several later surveys. In 1968 Green15 reports
the results of asking 380 Oxford undergraduates: "Have you ever had an experience in which you felt that you were out of your body?" Of these 34% repliedaffirmatively. Palmer and Dennis in 197516 published the first survey using arandomly selected group of 1,000 students and townspeople in a small town in
Virginia. 25% of the students and 14% of the townspeople reported having had
an OBE. A rather original approach to the study of OBEs was that of Shiels,17
who collected data on belief in OBEs from nearly 70 non-Western cultures. Despite cultural differences the beliefs were strikingly similar. Shiels felt that this was
indirect evidence for an account of a genuine event, the OBE. It is quite wellknown, for example, that many cultures attribute to shamans the capacity to fly
out of the body.18 In fact, a shaman cannot be anointed as such unless he has thatcapacity. According to Eliade, such flights express "intelligent understanding ofsecret things, metaphysical truths, symbolic meaning, transcendence, and freedom." A South African study,19 analyzing 122 accounts in response to a press
request, found that the OBE occurred often while the subject was asleep, relaxed,
or dozing, and that over 50% of the subjects claimed to have been in a normal
mental state when the phenomenon occurred.
Anecdotal accounts exist from people already convinced of the veracity andvalidity of such experiences.520-24 All contain vivid and exciting descriptions based on
the assumption that an objective separation and independent existence of mind
from body is possible. Many of the reports are interested in what other dimensionsof reality can be explored under these conditions. Eastman13 reported the firstsummary of conditions under which OBEs occur; for example, before, during, andafter sleep, during hypnotic trance (not supported subsequently in the literature),during illness, drug states, and after shock or accident. The sparse psychiatric
literature11 provides elaborate frameworks to explain the experience based on, forexample, psychoanalytic theories which usually emphasize defenses against theimminence of physical death and various ways to deal with infantile omnipotence.
Thus OBEs are often seen as unconscious attempts to portray aspects of man's
eternal quest for immortality. Literature from philosophical and psychic sources,
however, use the OBE to classify people as more or less spiritual (which usuallymeans psychologically healthy and/or with ESP ability) based on the type andnature of their OBE.25

279

APPENDICES

MethodOn February 15, 1976, one of the investigators (SWT), in an interview with anational periodical (circulation 15 million on the North American continent),
solicited letters from people who thought they might have had an out-of-bodyexperience. Of about 1,500 responses, 700 subjects reported experiences in which
they thought their consciousness was separated from the physical body. About one
year after the interview two multiscale questionnaires (Profile of Out-of-Body Experiences, POBE, and Profile of Adaptation to Life, PAL) were sent to the individuals and 420 people returned valid questionnaires. 339 reported OBE experiences,while 81 people did not have such experiences, but expressed a strong interest in
learning more about them, and for the purposes of this study were used as acomparison group, controlling for high interest in esoteric phenomena.
On the POBE questionnaire, items relating to phenomenology were selectedfrom the following sources: reports of near-death experiences, mystical religious
literature describing transcendent states, philosophical-occult psychic literaturedescribing OBE experiences, psychoanalytic and psychiatric data describing statesof depersonalization, psychotic, autoscopic, and hysterical-dissociative states, anddreaming.
Five psychological test scales described in our second paper were included to
distinguish the psychopathological conditions and states traditionally connectedwith a tendency toward alterations in consciousness, for example: "attention absorption."26
Demographic data focused on previous experience with consciousness-alteringdrugs, hypnosis, and meditative experiences and to determine some of the background belief systems, including religious background and types of reading material.
In addition, the PAL questionnaire,27 a well-validated psychological healthscale, was sent to the subjects. This instrument is one of the few available tests ofpsychological health suitable for use in nondisturbed populations. Its health criteria are largely based on concrete behavioral measures rather than subjective assessment of mood states.
Results
Of the 339 subjects who reported an experience, 228 (66%) have had morethan one such experience, while 117 (34%) have had only one. 74 subjects have
had more than 10 OBEs. A. PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS
Table 1 summarizes the conditions remembered to exist at the time OBE
occurred. Of course, no cause-effect relationship necessarily occurs between these
conditions and the experience itself, although such has been implied by a numberof authors.28 An overwhelming majority of the sample were in a relaxed and calm

280

APPENDICES

state of mind (79%), and the variety of emotionally stressful conditions (23% of
the sample), and states of physical pain, drug and alcohol intoxication, childbirth,and general anesthetic accounted for much smaller percentages of the sample. The
finding that this experience is not usually associated with illness or stress compareswith similar findings by Crookall,28 who found four out of his five subjects normal
and well. He attempted to classify OBEs based on those occurring under stress(physical or mental) and those occurring under nonstressful conditions. Comparing these findings with those of Green,15 those who had one OBE only werecharacteristically people under some identifiable stress prior to the experience,
especially physical trauma. In our sample, an analysis of the top and bottom 25%
for frequency of OBEs utilizing univariate independent group f-tests failed to findany precondition reaching the level of p < .01. The bottom 25% of the sample
reported more spontaneous OBEs, that is, those occurring without effort to leave
the body, significantly more frequently than the top 25%(df = 62, p < .01). A
small but intensive study of 10 subjects* reports that states of mental calm werementioned 20 times more frequently in subjects with multiple OBEs. Single OBE
subjects reported psychological stress only three times in the sample. Most of thepundits of parapsychological literature recommend a physically relaxed state1022
from their own personal experiences. OBE occurring during dreaming is distinguished emphatically by subjects as being "more real than a dream" in the majorityof cases. Flying and falling dreams, quite common in childhood, comprise amajority of the dreams occurring at the time the OBE is noted. It was of interest
to us the certitude with which the subjects emphasize that they knew the difference between a dream state and an OBE state.
Subjects who were in a state of mental calmness at the time of the OBE tended
to have a significantly greater proportion of meditators (df = 178, p < .0001)
than those who were not in such a state of mental calmness; otherwise no otherpreconditions significantly separated this group. Subsequent multivariate analysesof this data will be conducted to determine any cluster emerging from the preconditions listed. Life-threatening experiences as described by Stevenson andGreyson29 have given rise to a prevalent opinion in the literature that OBEs are
frequently associated with severe illness, threat to life, either internal (psychotic)
or external (physical). Can such near-death experiences be separately characterizedfrom out-of-body experiences? Another study will summarize this in more detail,*
However, certain characteristics of the out-of-body experience itself allow a discrimination between nonstress OBE and those that occur while under stress (emotional and that posed by imminent death). A Chit test of associations showed thatthe following experiences are more common in combined subjects (near death andunder emotional stress): (1) experience of going through a dark tunnel (p < .05);(2) brilliant light experience (p < .001); (3) observation of a border or limit(p < .002); (4) a sense of some attachment to the physical body (p < .05); (5) apanoramic vision of images of dead relatives and friends (p < .05).

APPENDICES

281

The use of drugs and alcohol had a low incidence in this population. A study ofmarijuana users30 showed that 44% of the marijuana users had had at least one
OBE. Our population is a lot older (mean age 45 years) than Tart's, and the drugs
reported used by our subjects were not classifiable, ranging from antihypertensives
through vitamin pills and antibiotics. Only four subjects reported using psychedelic drugs (LSD and marijuana) at the time of the experience.
Individual descriptions of the type of emotional stress totaled 74 reports. Striking were the themes of loss, mourning, and loneliness represented in 21 of thesubjects; threats of death, including illness, being in a war zone, pre-surgery, andcancer in 20; marital and family problems in 12; and the remainder miscellaneous,
including unspecified tension states. When the descriptions were reviewed fromthe point of view of those who had had one OBE only (n = 33) and those who
had more than one (n = 41), 21.7% of the one OBE sample reported stressinvolving loss, mourning, and loneliness, compared with 34.2% of those who had
had more than one OBE. Similarly, Eastman13 reports the sense of loneliness asquite frequent at the time of OBE and such findings may be seen to support
theories that place emphasis on defensive methods of adapting to threat of loss ordamage to the ego.
A question was asked to explore why the individual wanted to have an OBE andrevealed some interesting findings. Of 91 classifiable responses, 19 (20.9%) were
simply interested for curiosity or fun, 21 (23.1%) were members of a psychicalresearch or study group, 23 (25.3%) were involved in personal, existential explorations associated with major developmental stages, and in 28 (30.7%) the experience was entirely spontaneous and unexpected. Only 10% of the sample had
previously attended workshops on OBEs and it was significant that approximately
one-third of the sample had not expected in any way to have such an experienceand did not admit at least to expecting or even knowing about such experiences.
B. NATURE OF THE EXPERIENCE
Table 2 summarizes a number of phenomenological features of the experience.
The first six features, occurring in more than 50% of the subjects, do not show themore esoteric aspects described in the literature but describe a simple subjective
perceptual experience of great vividness and reality, showing not only a sense of
separation of the total self from its normal location in the head but also being
aware that this self exists in the same environment as the physical body, which can
be clearly seen and is associated with a feeling of unusual "energy" and a desire to
return to the body.
As might be expected, some of the more vivid and detailed phenomenologicalfeatures were overrepresented in the top 25% of the sample. For example, using
independent group t-tests, the following features were more common in the top
25%: a sense of energy (df = 94, p < .0005), noises, particularly roaring noises(df = 39, p < .0005), vibrations (df = 97, p < .01), seeing the body from a distance (df = 97, p < .005), a sense of being able to pass through objects (df = 93,

282

APPENDICES

p < .00006), awareness of the presence of nonphysical beings (df = 96,
p < .005), and seeing a brilliant light (df =96, p < .002).
These findings show some differences from the major surveys reported in theliterature. For example, Crookall,31 in an analysis of anecdotal reports from 380
subjects, found a high representation of people who felt connected to their bodies
by a cord, who see other apparitions during the experiences, and who demonstrate
ESP during the experience, none of which were significantly represented in our
population. However, some of his major findings—for example, the subject being
able to see his own body from a new and spatially independent vantage point,
finding himself in a form similar to his physical body, and feeling the "other body"tends to float—were supported in our study. Our findings correspond more closelywith those of Celia Green,15 who found that practically none of her correspondents saw a cord. C. IMPACT OF THE EXPERIENCEAs seen in Table 3, a majority of the subjects had remarkably positive experiences. What is striking is the use of superlative adjectives in the reports. By nomeans was this experience ordinary and in 60% of the sample was life-changing.
Even those who experienced the OBE as extremely frightening, or giving sensations of great power, on a Chit test of association were not significantly related tomean scores on the Hysteroid and Psychoticism scales, suggesting that the experience itself neither occurred in particularly sick people nor had a pathologicalimpact. 85% termed it "a very pleasant experience."
T-tests revealed, as would be expected, that those who were in a state of mental
calmness at the time of the OBE experienced more positive moods both during
and after the experience. Mood states such as joy (df = 304, p < .01), freedom(df = 309, p < .008), calm, peace and quiet (df = 90, p < .0002) were experienced much more frequently than in those who had feelings of fear during theexperience. 7"-test comparisons also revealed the fact that those who were mentallycalm had more detailed and vivid experiences than those who experienced fear at
the time of the OBE, for example, senses of energy (df = 312, p < .02), vibrations (df = 322, p < .01), feelings that people not out of the body were aware of
their presence (df = 155, p < .008). In the mentally calm group the experience
was seen as having a more lasting and dramatic impact on life; for example, it was
described as a spiritual or religious experience (df = 302, p < .01), an experienceof great beauty and lasting benefit (df = 301, p < .0003), and effected a change
toward a belief in survival after death (df = 313, p < .01).
The data is quite reminiscent of the categories used to describe peak and plateau experiences32 and mystical religious experiences:33 for example, the sense ofunity, transcendence of time and space, sense of objectivity and reality, a noetic
and sacred quality, a deep positive mood state, and a quality of ineffability.
Subjects who described a sense of purpose to the experience in general indicatedthat the experience enabled them to obtain closure on some of the major existen-

APPENDICES

283

tial questions, for instance: "to show me everything is possible," "to show me new
possibilities or new realities." These accounts reflected a preponderance (85%) of
subjects who were dealing with issues associated with major life changes and requiring much introspection, review, and assessment of personal strengths andweaknesses. DISCUSSION
Even without reviewing the widely recognized defects of the questionnaire approach, this study has a number of added defects, including the fact that many ofthe experiences are remembered from many years before. Structuring the questionnaire in a directive way added forced-choice features; however, the questions
were forced-choice to aid in quantifying data but the sacrifice, of course, is obvious. Although a large number of questions were asked, this approach suffers from alack of detailed individualized protocols. In an attempt to remedy this defect,
extensive psychological testing has been done on a selected sample of 100 of thesesubjects, a random cross section of whom will be personally interviewed and reported in future studies. The generalizability of this data is aided by the semirandom nature of the study and the anonymity of respondents. The study population is highly representative of the general population at large; separate research,
for the Profile of Adaptation to Life Scale, compared a number of different populations, including college students, Transcendental Meditators, professionals, andpsychiatric patients to arrive at norms for the test. It was found that our OBE
group was the "norm" group, representing a broad range of educational age andgeographic characteristics as well as having a good psychological and physicaladjustment.27 The 280 nonrespondents to the questionnaire cast some doubt on
how generalizable our data is even to the OBE population. However, about 100 of
the questionnaires were undeliverable and there was a one-year unavoidable timedelay between the published interview and the mailing of the questionnaires.
As one reviews our results as an attempt to delineate the phenomenology of theOBE, this study adds a number of major features to the understanding of theexperience. An old theosophical tract34 used the concept of "thought form." In
the general case the OBE is a typical "thought form," the question really being:
What form does this thinking take? We have elected not to address the issue of
whether mind really separates from the physical body, but our research has raisedin our minds fundamental questions about the nature of what is "really real." In
addition to the sense of separation of mind from body, what becomes apparent
from the survey is that total mind, perhaps best referred to as "sense of wholeself," is separated. There is visually no self-awareness in the body. The whole self,
including observing and experiencing ego functions, is located at a point in perceptual space other than the brain, with the physical body being seen as inert and"thoughtless." There is no clouding of consciousness as is reported in hypnogogic,
hypnopompic, and dream, including lucid dream states; in fact, consciousness is
felt to be quite clear. A most striking finding reported by subjects is the absolute

284

APPENDICES

certainty that they were not dreaming, whether or not the experience occurred
when quite aroused; for example, when in severe pain or, as in the majority ofcases, in a resting state. Those who are fearful, frightened, or in pain when they
have this experience tend to have a much more negative reaction to it and, as
might be expected, utilize it for much less extensive attitudinal change, and theexperience remains less vivid in the memory. Future studies will further differentiate the latter group, which might be experiences of depersonalization. Far frombeing primarily attributes of illness, painful or toxic states, the majority of theseexperiences occur often when the person is least expecting them and when quite
relaxed. Theories such as those of Palmer35 emphasize the importance of reductionin proprioceptive input in the physically relaxed state akin to sensory deprivation.
As the brain receives less proprioceptive and other sensory input, the ego
theoretically becomes able to relax reality testing. Regressive components of the
OBE seem to occur in the 22% of patients who are reminded of childhood
experiences; thus it is tempting to invoke the psychoanalytic concept of regression
in the service of the ego. But the question remains: What is the service, both froma defensive as well as an adaptive synthetic viewpoint? There is no need to find asingle cause for OBEs. Multideterminism is a widely accepted concept in psychiatry. Thus our approach to the etiology of OBE is to consider there to be contributions from different levels of explanation.
Each OBE experience might thus be determined by a number of factors (psychopathological, toxic/organic, evolutionary, developmental, and perceptual-cognitive), each making a contribution. The same individual would likely have a different etiological combination under different circumstances and the experiencewould have a different impact. This concept is elaborated in a paper we have in
preparation. t
In the Republic, Plato delineates four levels of experiential reality: imaginary,physical, conceptual, and direct transcendental cognition, which he calls direct
seeing or "the Good." In the story of Er (Republic, 616-17) the story is told of avaliant man, Er, who died in battle and who later revived and told a story whereby
his soul had departed from him. Plato claims something utterly alien to the modern mentality; he says that only after death, when we are free of bodily influence,shall we know the whole crux of being. Plato feels that freeing the psyche from thebody is an essential condition for the philosophic journey to ultimate wisdom. As
indicated by Grosso,36,37 monistic materialism has collapsed the architecture ofbeing to a one-level affair: the really real world of sense experience. The middle
kingdom, the unreal domain of dreams, the flimsiest form of epiphenomena, perhaps the collective asylum of artists and the mad, may teach us to be less dogmaticin the way we toss about epithets like "real." It may help us to open up to more
multilevel ontologies.

285

APPENDICES

References• Kennedy, R. B. "Self-induced Depersonalization Syndrome." Am. J. Psychia
try, 133: 1326-28, 1976.
• Twemlow, S. W. Discussion of A Psychoanalytic Theory of Altered States ofConsciousness by Erika Fromm. Bull. Menninger Clinic, 42(6): 538-40, 1978.
• Twemlow, S. W., and Bowen, W. T. "Psychedelic Drug-Induced Psychologi
cal Crises: Attitudes of the 'Crisis Therapist.' " Journal Psychedelic Drugs,
11(4): 331-35, 1979.
• Palmer, J., and Vassar, C. "ESP and Out-of-the-Body Experiences: An Explor
atory Study." /. Amer. Society for Psychical Research, 68(3): 257, 277, 1974.
• Muldoon, S., and Carrington, H. The Phenomenon of Astral Projection. New
York: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1970.
• Osis, K. "Perspectives for Out of Body Research." In W. G. Roll, R. L.
Morris, and J. D. Morris (eds.), Research in Parapsychology. Metuchen, N.J.:
Scarecrow Press, 1973.
• Orne, M. T. "On the Social Psychology of the Psychology Experiment: With
particular reference to demand characteristics and their implications." Ameri
can Psychologist, 17: 776-83, 1962.
• Tart, C. T. "A Psychophysiological Study of Out of the Body Experiences in a
Selected Subject."J. Amer. Society for Psychical Research, 62: 3-27, 1968.
• Tart, C. T. "A Second Psychophysiological Study of Out of the Body Experi
ences in a Gifted Subject." International Journal of Parapsychology, 9: 251-58,
1967.
• Twemlow, S. W. In Journeys Out of the Body by Robert A. Monroe. Garden
City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1977, pp. 275-80.
• Ehrenwald, J. "Out-of-the-Body Experiences and the Denial of Death." /Nervous & Mental Disease, 159(4): 227-33, 1974.
• Tart, C. T. "States of Consciousness and State Specific Sciences." In R. E.
Ornstein (ed.), The Nature of Human Consciousness. San Francisco: W. H.
Freeman, 1973.
• Eastman, M. "Out-of-the-Body Experiences." Proceedings of the Society for
Psychical Research, 53(193): 187-309, 1962.
• Hart, H. "ESP Projection: Spontaneous Cases and the Experimental
Method."J. Amer. Society for Psychical Research, 48: 121-46, 1954.
•
Green, C. Out-of-the-Body Experiences. London: Hamish
Hamilton, 1968.

286
•

•
•
•

•
•

•
•

•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

APPENDICES

Palmer, }., and Dennis, M. "A Community Mail. Survey of Psychic Experi
ences in Research in Parapsychology." Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press,
1975.
Shiels, D. "A Cross-cultural Study of Beliefs in Out of the Body Experiences."/. Amer. Society for Psychical Research, 49: 697-741, 1978.
Eliade, M. Shamanism: Archaic Technique of Ecstasy. Princeton, N.J.: Prince
ton University Press, 1972.
Poynton, J. "Results of an Out of the Body Survey." In J. Poynton (ed),Parapsychology in South Africa. Johannesburg: South African Society for
Psychical Research, 1975.
Landau, L. "An Unusual Out of the Body Experience." /. Amer. Society for
Psychical Research, 42: 126-28, 1963.
Muldoon, S., and Carrington, H. The Projection of the Astral Body. London:
Rider & Co., 1929.
•
Muldoon, S. The Case for Astral Projection. Chicago: Aries
Press, 1936.
Stratton, F. J. M. "An Out of the Body Experience Combined with ESP."
Letter to the Editor,J. Amer. Society for Psychical Research, 39: 92-97, 1957.
Whiteman, J. H. "The Process of Separation and Return in Experiences Fully
Out of the Body." Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 50: 24074, 1956.
Crookall, R. "Astral Projection." Light: A Journal of Psychic Studies, 194—
200, 1970,
Tellegan, A., and Alkinson, G. "Openness to Absorbing and Self-Altering
Experiences ('Absorption'): A trait related to hypnotic susceptibility." /. Ab
normal Psychology, 53: 368-77, 1974.
Ellsworth, R. B. Profile of Adaptation to Life Holistic Scale. Institute for
Program Evaluation, P.O. Box 4654, Roanoke, Va. 24015, 1979.
Crookall, R. The Study and Practice of Astral Projection. New Hyde Park,
NT.: University Books, Inc., 1960.
Stevenson, I,, and Greyson, B. "Near-Death Experiences: Relevance to theQuestion of Survival After Death." J.A.M.A., 243(3): 165-67, 1979.
Tart, C. T. On Being Stoned: A Psychological Study of Marijuana Intoxica
tion. Palo Alto: Science & Behavior Books, 1971.
Crookall, R. Out of the Body Experiences: A Fourth Analysis. New Hyde Park,
N.Y.: University Books, Inc., 1970.
Maslow, A. H. Religions, Values and Peak Experiences. New York: The Vi
king Press, 1970.
James, W. The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York: Crowell-Collier,
1961.
Besant, A., and Leadbeater, C. W. Thought-forms. New York, London, andBenares: The Theosophical Publishing Society, 1905.

287

APPENDICES•••

Palmer, J. "The Out-of-Body Experience: A Psychological Theory." Parapsy
chology Review, Sept.-Oct, 19-22, 1978.
Grosso, M. "Plato and Out-of-the-Body Experiences." /. Amer. Society for
Psychical Research, 69: 61-74, 1975.
Grosso, M. "Some Varieties of Out-of-Body Experiences." /. Amer. Society for
Psychical Research, 70: 179-93, 1976.

Table 1 Pre-existing Conditions

Attribute
Physically relaxed
Mentally calm
Dreaming*
Meditating
Under emotional stress
Unusually fatigued
Near death
Cardiac arrest
Drug
General anesthetic
Severe painChildbirth!
Accident
High fever
Sexual orgasm
Alcohol
Driving a vehicle

Frequencies
Present
Absent
263
70
261
117
88
74
51
34
17
26
20
21
14
13
11
11
5
8

69
211
241
250
279
298
313
300
312
307
316
318
320
322
328
324

% Present
79
79
36
27
23
15
10

* In 97 Ss (83%), the dream was described as a "flying or falling" dream.
f52.5% sample were female.

5
8
6
6

4
4
3
3
2
2

288

APPENDICES

Table 3 Impact of the Experience

Table 2 Nature of the Experience
AttributeMore real than a dream
Form similar to physicalbodySame environment as
physical bodySense of energy
Wanted to return to body
Saw physical body fromdistance
Passed through objects
Vibrations in body
Heard noises in earlystages*Part of awareness still inbody
Awareness of presence ofnonphysical beings t
Change in time sense
Brilliant white light t
Presence of guides orhelpers
Tunnel experience
Attached to physical body
Able to touch objects
Person not out of bodyaware of presence
Sense of border/limit
Panoramic vision

Frequencies
Present
AbsentFrequencies

Yes
281

No
90

% Yi

215
182
173
91
111
89
39
15

103
115
139
161
209
218
267
294

68
63

266
242
232
188
174

46
85
95
127
145

85
74
71
60
55

136
120
87
77
80
20
15

180
195
233
237
242
295
304

43
38
27
25
25
6
5

Like to try again

284

34

89

Developed greaterawareness of reality

281

47

86

During% Present

315

19

94

Calm, peace, quiet

232

73

76

Freedom
Sense of purpose

197
177
164

123
145
138

62
55
54

171
155
128

162
157
204

51
50
38

71

123

37

120

203

37

121
107
96

209
220
225

37
33
30

85
85
68
54

238
242
259
251

26
26
21
18

45

277
279
313

14
14
4

44
14

289

APPENDICES* A variety were reported, the most common being buzzing (29%), roaring(19%), music or singing (16%).
t In 19% were people close to the subject, but who had already died. t 46%
sample found the light strongly attractive; 33% felt it was a being.

Joy
No special feelings
Fear
Power
Sadness
Going crazy

72

55
36
35
29
13

5

Immediately After
Became interested in
psychic phenomona
Talked about it to others
CuriousFelt life changed
Spiritual experience
Felt he possessed psychic
abilities
Ordinary event
Confused
Kept it secret
Upset and frightened
Forgot about it
Going crazyLonger-Term EffectAPPENDICES

Frequencies

Very pleasantLasting benefit
Change toward a belief inlife after deathGreat beauty
Like traveling to far-off land
The greatest thing that ever
happenedReminiscent of childhood
experiences
Disappointing
Like being drunk or highMentally harmful

Yes
273

No
47

% Yes
85

240

67

78

215
208
165

109
112
149

66
65
53

136

177

43

68
20
20

248
299
297
313

22
6
6
2

7

Notes

* Ironson, D. S. "An Investigation into the Preconditions, Characteristics, andBeliefs Associated with the Out-of-the-Body Experience." Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, 1975. t Gabbard, G. O., Twemlow, S. W., and Jones, F. "Do Near Death
Experiences
Occur Only When Near Death?" Submitted for publication 1980; preprint
available from the corresponding author. t Twemlow, S. W., and Gabbard, G. O. "TheOBE as an Overdetermined Stateof Consciousness." Manuscript available from the corresponding author.

About the Author
Robert Allan Monroe is a man of many talents. More
important, he has the ability to explore and experience these different
facets that make up an unusual personality.
The son of a college professor and a medical doctor mother, he received
his degree from Ohio State University after studies in engineering andjournalism, and entered the radio broadcasting industry as a writer anddirector of programs. In 1939 he went to New York, where he was thecreator and producer of some 400 radio and TV network programs in theensuing twenty-year period. In addition to directing and writing, he composed all of the orchestral music for his programs, much of which is still in
use in television and motion pictures.
His first radio network program was Rocky Gordon, a railroad adventure
series which for several years preceded the famous Lowell Thomas-Amos'n' Andy program block on NBC. Some of the other network program
series he created and produced were High Adventure (George Sanders),
Nightmare (Peter Lorre), Starlight Theatre (Madeleine Carroll), Scramble(Bob Ripley), M-G-M Screen Test, and the quiz shows Take a Number
and Meet Your Match.
After an early sojourn at Donahue and Coe, Advertising, he formed
Robert Monroe Productions, which at the peak of its operations was producing as many as twenty-eight radio network shows weekly. He later
became vice-president of programs and director of Mutual Broadcasting
System, Inc., a position he held until mid-1956. He then became president of Laury Associates, which brought him into ownership and operation of radio stations in North Carolina and Virginia. He also formed
Jefferson Cable Corporation, which, as president, he guided in the construction and operation of cable-TV systems in Charlottesville andWaynesboro, Virginia—a position he held until April 1976.
Mr. Monroe's major avocation in recent years has been exploration andresearch into practical methods of accelerated learning through expanded
forms of consciousness. To augment such activity, he founded the Monroe
Institute of Applied Sciences in 1973, with facilities and laboratories at
Afton, Virginia. With his long and varied experience in sound, it was
natural that he utilized this medium for his investigation. One of theresults of his work was a method and technique of inducing relaxation andsleep, which was granted a generic patent in 1975. The technique employsa system of audio pulses which create a frequency-following response in
the human brain. By this method, it is now possible to hold and maintainspecific stages of sleep for any depth and duration in the average person. A
later development at the Institute has utilized the same methods andtechnique in a form of "binaural beats" to create synchronization of bothleft and right hemispheres in the human brain. The unique coherent brain
state that results is known as hemispheric synchronization, or "HemiSync." This discovery also permits external control of the degree of activity of either right or left brain. These two patterns, when employed in anordered sequence to achieve specific effects, offer a significant gateway to
new understanding and application of human thought and endeavor.
Along with others, the Monroe Institute (now located in Nelson County,
Virginia) is exploring the potentials of such methods in all areas of individual and cultural activity.
Mr. Monroe, as executive director and founder of the Institute,
still plays an active part in this educational-research organization. He is
author of the book Journeys Out of the Body (Doubleday & Company, Inc.,
1971; Anchor Press edition, 1977), which has been published in fivelanguages worldwide. With his family, he lives on his farm in Nelson
County, Virginia, near the Institute headquarters.