Navigating the Out-of-Body Experience

by Graham Nicholls

  Sleep Paralysis: Sleep paralysis is the inability to move upon waking (although usually into a semi-dream state). The mind is active and aware, but the body will not respond normally. It can happen during the period of falling asleep (known as hypnogogic or predormital form) or when waking up (known as hypnopompic or postdormital form). Some elements of the experience seem to resemble the out-of-body state, although this has not been explored in enough detail to draw any conclusions.

  Society for Psychical Research, The: The Society for Psychical Research was founded in 1882 in London, becoming the first organisation of its kind in the world. Still in existence today, it continues to undertake research and promote a scientific understanding of the nature of psychic abilities, and especially the question of survival of consciousness after death.

  Swann, Ingo: Ingo Swann is an artist and author, but is best known for co-creating the system of controlled clairvoyance known as remote viewing. He was one of the key psychics involved in the military remote viewing program in the United States, which ran during the Cold War period. He has taken part in many scientific experiments into psi, and is widely considered a leading expert on the subject. (See also Remote Viewing.)

  Tattva: Tattvas are a series of symbols originating in Indian religious philosophy, which represent the elements in nature—such as earth, air, fire, water, and aether or akasha—using simple shapes such as a circle or triangle. In Western occult interpretations, the tattvas are used as a method of entering into a trance state that can lead to a form of clairvoyant perception akin to a mild out-of-body experience.

  Theosophical Society, The: Founded in 1875, the Theosophical Society is an international organisation promoting and educating in the aims and philosophy of Theosophy. (See also Theosophy.)

  Theosophy: A philosophy or religious tradition that blends elements of Eastern and Western thought. Theosophy has been an influential source of much of contemporary New Age thought.

  Transphysical: I use this term to describe the sensory awareness or level of consciousness after brain function has ceased. I use it as a more neutral term, like psi, to avoid making assumptions about an afterlife or the nature of the state we will experience after physical death. It indicates only that there appears to be some continuation of consciousness or awareness after brain activity has stopped.

  Van Lommel, Pim: Pim Van Lommel was a cardiologist at the Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, in the Netherlands, from 1977 to 2003. During his time there, he conducted the most extensive research to date into the near-death experience. He continues to lecture and raise public awareness about the scientific understanding of the possible continuation of consciousness after death.

  Vibrational State: The vibrational state is a sensation of energy experienced during the process of exiting the physical body. Although it is defined differently by both authors and the general public, some descriptions include a physical sensation arising from the core of the body, while others describe a strictly nonphysical vibration. Robert Bruce, author of Astral Dynamics, defines the vibrational state thus: “meaning strong, usually whole-body, energy-movement sensations, that are felt as vibrations in the physical body.”2 Yet Robert A. Monroe stated that the sensation or energy was nonphysical in nature.137 My own experience suggests a wave sensation that has some physical elements, but is far more nonphysical. For example, it would not be visible to an onlooker, so may be best described as something between a physical sensation and a psychological shift.

  [contents]

  Endnotes

  * * *

  Chapter 1

  1. U.S. National Library of Medicine, “Hallucinations: Definition,” MedlinePlus Database, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003258.htm.

  2. Penny Sartori, The Near-Death Experiences of Hospitalized Intensive Care Patients: A Five Year Clinical Study (Lewiston, Queenston, Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2008).

  3. Ray Hyman, “Evaluation of a Program on Anomalous Mental Phenomena,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 10, no. 1 (1996): 43.

  Chapter 2

  1. Rupert Sheldrake, “Consciousness and the Extended Mind,” (Lecture Abstract, Royal College of Psychiatrists, Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group, 2009).

  2. Rupert Sheldrake, “Answers to Your Most Frequently Asked Questions,” http://www.sheldrake.org/Resources/faq/answers.html.

  3. Rita Pizzi, Andrea Fantasia, Fabrizio Gelain, Danilo Rossetti, and Angelo Vescovi, “Quantum Information and Computation II.” Proceedings of the SPIE (2004): 107–117.

  4. Michael Persinger, interview with Alex Tsakiris, Skeptiko podcast 89, December 16, 2009.

  5. Dean Radin, Entangled Minds (New York: Pocket Books, 2006), 120.

  6. M. A. Persinger, “Propensity To Report Paranormal Experiences Is Correlated With Temporal Lobe Signs,” Perceptual and Motor Skills 59 (1984): 583–586.

  7. M. A. Persinger, “Geophysical Variables and Behavior: Intense Paranormal Experiences Occur During Days of Quiet Global Geomagnetic Activity,” Perceptual and Motor Skills 61 (1985): 320-322.

  8. Charles Tart, “Geomagnetic effects on GESP: Two studies,” Journal of the American Society of Psychical Research 82 (1988), 193–216.

  9. S. Krippner, A. Becker, M. Cavallo, and B. Washburn, “Electrophysiological Studies of ESP in Dreams: Lunar Cycle Differences in 80 Telepathy Sessions,” Human Dimensions (1972), 14–19.

  10. Ingo Swann, “The Emergence of Project SCANATE,” Remote Viewing—The Real Story! (unpublished manuscript, 1995).

  11. Pim Van Lommel, “About the Continuity of Our Consciousness, Brain Death and Disorders of Consciousness,” Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 550 (2004), 115-132.

  12. Pim Van Lommel, “Near-Death Experience, Consciousness, and the Brain: A New Concept About the Continuity of Our Consciousness Based on Recent Scientific Research on Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest,” World Futures 62 (2006): 134–151.

  13. BBC News Online, “Nurse Writes Book on Near-Death,” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7463606.stm. (June 19, 2008.)

  Chapter 3

  1. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., “Skepticism.”

  2. Carl Sagan, “Encyclopaedia Galactica,” Cosmos 12: 01:24 minutes.

  3. Marcello Truzzi, “Editorial,” The Zetetic 1, no. 1 (Fall/Winter, 1976): 4.

  4. Marcello Truzzi, The Zetetic Scholar 12-13 (1987).

  5. Chris Carter, “Research of the Skeptics,” Skeptical Investigations, http://www.skepticalinvestigations.org/Anomali/skeptic_research.html.

  6. Susan Blackmore, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 83 (April 1989): 152.

  7. Susan Blackmore, “An Evening with James Randi and Friends,” lecture, Conway Hall, London. 2008.

  8. Susan Blackmore, interview with Alex Tsakiris, Skeptiko podcast 114, Sept. 21, 2010.

  9. Susan Blackmore, “OBEs and Sleep Paralysis” (paper for presentation at the 23rd International Conference of the Society for Psychical Research, Durham, United Kingdom 1999).

  10. Ibid.

  11. Andy Coghlan, “Out-of-body Experiences Are ‘All in the Mind,’” New Scientist, http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12531-outofbody-experiences-are-all-in-the-mind.html.

  12. Dr. Peter Fenwick, interview with the author, March 31, 2011.

  13. Andy Coghlan, “Out-of-Body Experiences Are ‘All in the Mind,’” New Scientist, http://www.newscientist.com/article/ dn12531-outofbody-experiences-are-all-in-the-mind.html.

  14. Jan Holden, Jeff Long, and Jason MacLurg, “Out-of-Body Experiences: All in the Brain?”, International Association for Near-Death Studies, http://www.iands.org/research/ important-research-articles/69-out-of-body-experiences-all-in-the-brain.html?start=3.

  15. James Randi, “Caltech Lecture Recordin
g,” James Randi Educational Foundation, 1992.

  16. Randi’s dishonest claims about dogs by Rupert Sheldrake (accessed January 2012) http://www.skepticalinvestigations.org/ Mediaskeptics/Randi_dogs.html.

  Chapter 5

  1. Richard Bandler, Time for a Change (Cupertino, CA: Meta Publications, 1993).

  Chapter 6

  1. Dean Radin, The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena (New York: HarperOne, 1997).

  Chapter 7

  1. Milton R. Mills, M.D., “The Comparative Anatomy of Eating,” http://www.vegsource.com/news/2009/11/the-comparative-anatomy-of-eating.html.

  Chapter 8

  1. V. C. Rubin, “Dark Matter in the Universe,” Scientific American Presents 9, no. 1 (1998): 106–110.

  2. Duncan MacDougall, “Hypothesis Concerning Soul Substance Together with Experimental Evidence of The Existence of Such Substance,” American Medicine (April 1907).

  3. Ibid.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Ibid.

  6. The Global Consciousness Project, “An Introduction,” http://gcp.grama.co/introduction-gcp.

  Chapter 9

  1. Robert Monroe, Journeys Out of the Body (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971).

  2. Aleister Crowley, Magick: In Theory and Practice (Secaucus, NJ: Castle Books, 1991).

  Chapter 10

  1. Dean Radin, “Entangled Minds Blog,” http://deanradin.blogspot.com/2006/10/effects-of-distant-intention-on-water.html.

  2. Dean Radin, “Entangled Minds Blog,” http://deanradin.blogspot.com/2009/01/water-crystal-replication-study.html.

  Chapter 11

  1. Robert Monroe, interview on KPIX San Francisco, 1979. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qcr7FfYloY.

  2. Sylvan Muldoon and Hereward Carrington, Projection of the Astral Body (Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2003).

  3. Dr. Peter Fenwick, interview with author, March 31, 2011.

  Chapter 12

  1. Dean Radin, “Electrodermal Presentiments of Future Emotions,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 18, no. 2 (2004): 253–273.

  Chapter 13

  1. Samuel C. Eby, The Story of the Swedenborg Manuscripts (New

  York: New-Church Press, 1926).

  2. C. W. Leadbeater, A Textbook of Theosophy (Charleston, SC:

  Forgotten Books, 2008).

  Glossary

  1. Jessica Utts, “An Assessment of the Evidence for Psychic Functioning” Journal of Scientific Exploration 10, no. 1 (1996) 3–30.

  2. Robert Bruce, Astral Dynamics: A New Approach to Out-of- Body Experience (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads, 1999).

  3. Robert Monroe, interview on KPIX San Francisco, 1979. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qcr7FfYloY.

  [contents]

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