Robert Monroe had countless out-of-body experiences throughout his lifetime. In this, his first book, he takes us through the early days of the discovery, development, and maturation of his special talent.

In the beginning, he worried a great deal about whether something was wrong with him or not. He sought hard to find an explanation as to what was happening to him. Wherever he looked, however, it always seemed that people had more questions than answers. Eventually he came to accept that he was, for the most part, on his own to explore, discover, and document these unusual experiences that he was having.  

On the back cover, the book promises to be a scientific and objective report of out-of-body/subtle-world experiences. Despite that promise, I found there too be too many opinions and overly imaginative interpretations of the facts. More on that later, but for now, let’s talk about how Monroe maps out the landscape of the area we inhabit when out of body.

The body we inhabit when outside of our physical body, he calls the “second body”. That is what we call here the “subtle body” and what has been called “astral body” in other literature. Once in the “second body”, there are 3 main regions it may travel to:

1. “Locale I” – A.K.A. the “here-now”. This is essentially the physical plane. All the things, people, and places one sees here are actual existing items in the physical world. Monroe recounts several experiences in which he traveled to different physical places while in his subtle body and then successfully relating events that took place there with astonishing accuracy.
2. “Locale II” – As best I can tell, this is what he calls the subtle realm. He says that its most defining feature is its likeness and responsiveness to thought: “Superceding all appears to be one prime law. Locale II is a state of being where that which we label thought is the wellspring of existence. It is the vital creative force that produces energy, assembles “matter” into form, and provides channels of perception and communication … As you think, so you are.” (p. 74) And he continues, “’Mere’ thought is the force that supplies any need or desire, and what you think is the matrix of your action, situation, and position in this greater reality … Like attracts like … Your destination seems to be grounded completely within the framework of your innermost constant motivations, emotions, and desires.” (p. 74-75)
3. “Locale III” – This is where things get a little kooky. Monroe’s thesis on “Locale III” is the main reason for me giving this book a 2-star rating. The characteristics he ascribes to do not even remotely resemble anything we’ve read on our extensive “references” page. As far as we can tell he is the only one to assert that in this section of the subtle realm is a “reverse image” reality in which we all have “doubles”, or doppelgangers, living out their own lives in an entirely different alternate reality. When he visits there, he “pops” into the body of his “double” and takes control of it, often at inopportune times for his double, like arguments with his spouse, for example. Monroe says he “popped” into his double’s body, and not knowing why he and his spouse were fighting in the first place, simply returned blank stares and looks of discomfort and confusion. Monroe laments that he caused his double much trouble and anguish for these intrusions into his life. His double eventually divorced and led a solitary, lonely life. Personally, I believe this is a completely fabricated illusion.

In addition to the weirdness of his “Locale III” fantasy, he had a few other oddball interpretations of his experiences in the book that also don’t align with anything else we’ve read and reviewed here at subtlerealm.org. One of which is his description of what “God” is like in Locale II. It one of the was strangest things I have ever heard and it was not something that was even close in resembling anything I’ve come across in any of my other readings.

This book can be very misleading for beginners. One should read this book with great care, finely discriminating between what Monroe actually experienced and his interpretations of those experiences.

It is worth pointing out that, as he himself writes, his experiences began at the same time he had suffered from a mild coronary and when he was under the influence of drugs. This suggests physical and mental imbalance.

Notwithstanding the many oddities, there is still a lot of value in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his many different experiences and experiments and the need to address and resolve one’s emotional challenges before it is possible to make much progress in the subtle realm. He also gives many tips on how to develop this talent whin oneself. His telling of the stages he went through as his talent developed was most valuable.

In conclusion, while I don’t doubt Robert Monroe regularly and consistently left his physical body and explored the subtle realm in his subtle body, his book contains too many opinions dressed up as facts and this could severely mislead people who are just starting to learn about existence out of the physical body. I was lucky to have read this book after reading several other books about this topic before picking this one up. I suggest beginners do the same.

This book is considered by many to be one of the best available guidebooks on how to astral project. Muldoon wrote this book because he saw a real lack of a “how-to” guide from the literature of his day (1929). In the preface he writes, “I am optimistic enough to believe that no one can give the methods which I have outlined a conscientious and thorough trial, and not obtain results.” I can vouch for the veracity of that statement.

The book is about 50% method and 50% background and contextual information. The informational sections of the book include: accounts of several of his own experiences, brief surveys of the relevant literature of his day, descriptions of the trajectory of the withdrawing astral body, attempts at explaining some paranormal phenomena, and reporting on his investigations into the “astral cord” that binds the astral and physical bodies together.

The essence of Muldoon’s formula for producing an astral projection is:

1. Incapacitation of the physical body
2. Intense stress of the mind

In other words, you must desire something so intently that when you are asleep and remember the thing in your dream, the will to get up and go get the thing is overwhelming and overpowering. At the same time, the physical body must be so quiescent and subdued that it is essentially unresponsive to the mind’s will. When these two things are generated together, then what moves up and out of bed is not the physical, but the astral body. This showed me that even biological needs could be used for the driving force of desire in producing out of body projections.

He suggests an experiment with thirst. I followed his instructions one night and went to bed thirsty and after having ate some salty snacks. Exactly what he said would happen did happen: I found myself in my astral body at my sink trying, and failing, to turn it on to get some water to drink.

The most solid piece of advice I found in this whole book was the following:

                “Develop a strong habit of the study of astral projection, make a routine of the practice of the art, desire the ability to project in your astral body so strongly that your mind is dominated by ‘astral projection.’ Induce complete passivity of the physical body, and ‘rise’ to sleep, visualizing the route the phantom (astral body) invariably takes, on projecting. That is the way to project at will.”

I did exactly this for a while and the result were incredible.

I was reading this book every chance I got, soaking it all in and thinking about it deeply and intently. For a few nights in a row I tried out the method of visualizing and feeling myself floating up and out of my body. A few days later I read the section on “incapacitating” the physical body and combined it with the visualizing and feeling. The results were startling that night.

At first, I was dreaming, and because what was happening in my dream was so absurd (I’ll spare you the details), I suddenly became fully aware that I was in a dream. I was fully conscious, as conscious as I am right now, writing this review. Once “awake” in my dream, I got excited and asked myself, “Well, what should I do now?” My answer came quickly: “Meditate!” So, I began to meditate. I quickly entered the “vibrational” or “hypnagogic” state and remained collected and relaxed, enjoying the sensations and welcoming them to spread throughout my body. After about 30 seconds, it suddenly struck me: it’s time! And with all my will, I rolled out of my bed and landed on the floor. I stood up and looked around. At first, I thought I was in my physical body, but after a few seconds, I realized I had done it! I was standing next to my bed in my astral body, completely conscious and aware. I couldn’t hold that awareness for long, however, and quickly slipped back into dream state. But, as many people who have experienced astral projections say, I have absolutely no doubt about what I experienced. The methods in this book really work.

I found that there were many things in this book that I hadn’t read anywhere else. For instance, with great depth and detail, the author discusses the working dynamics of the “astral cord”. In his experience, the cord is responsible for passing vitality to the physical body when the astral is “out” and connects the two by attaching to the pituitary gland of each. (Of personal note, during the time I was reading this section, I had a very vivid dream where I looked down and saw a silvery, thin, and brittle line emerging from my solar plexus and disappearing into the distance ahead of me). He then introduces the concept of “cord-activity range”. This is a range of about 15 feet. When the astral body has left the physical, but remains within cord-activity range, the cord is quite thick (as thick as a silver dollar) and exerts a great deal of influence over the astral body. The cord can shift the astral body around, move it back up over the physical body, and sometimes rapidly pull it back into the physical body. It is important for an astral traveler to get outside this cord-activity range as quickly as possible. Once outside this range, the cord becomes much thinner and has much less influence over the movements of the astral body. The projector is then “free”. As long as this cord remains intact, the astral will always return to the physical body -one need not worry. “Death” results when this astral cable is severed or broken for good. In that case, the astral body becomes entirely free from the physical body and the person cannot return to it even if he/she wanted to.

Another new concept I encountered in this book is the idea that the energy we derive from food is not as crucially important as we westerners think it is. In fact, according to Muldoon’s research, food is mostly used as raw building material for the construction and maintenance of our physical bodies. The bulk of the energy used in animating our bodies and minds is accumulated from the space around us by our astral bodies when we are exteriorized from our physical, whether we are aware of being exteriorized or not. Furthermore, fasting promotes astral projection because the body becomes deprived of one source of energy (food), so it must compensate by ejecting the astral body in order to accumulate more of the “cosmic” energy from the surrounding space. Yogis and mystics from the east have been known to go with little or no food for months, or even years.

One thing that could have been better was if he had ended the book before he began writing about the “crypto-conscious mind”. It becomes clear after a few pages that he is using this as an umbrella term under which to categorize all the dynamics of projection and the subtle world he does not yet understand.

In closing, this book provides a lot of good material, advice, and instructions for helping you induce astral projections in your daily life. Despite its minor peculiarities, this book is very much worth a read for anybody that wants to get serious about astral projection.

Background

In Mexico, the “Day of the Dead” is a day of festive remembrance of family and friends who have passed away.  Families typically visit the graveyards where their loved ones are buried and bring pictures of the deceased along with their favorite food, drink, and music.  These items are thought to encourage the visit of the deceased one’s spirit from the “land of the dead”.  The origins of this cultural tradition are thought be among the Aztec civilization 2,500 – 3,000 years ago (see reference 1 below for more information).

The movie Coco depicts this Mexican festival beautifully and the movie has become mandatory viewing for all young Americans of Mexican descent (trust me on this one).

Movie Synopsis

Miguel is a young boy who desires more than anything else to be a musician.  However, he has the bad fortune of being born into a family that has completely shunned music and anything having to do with music for generations.  On the day of the dead, Miguel somehow passes into the “land of the dead”, meets several of his ancestors he’s only seen in pictures, explores the history of his family’s relationship to music and fame, helps his family discover the truth behind a terrible incident, and resolves conflicts that have robbed the family of peace for decades.

It is a wonderful story exposing children and adults alike to concepts worth thinking about and discussing.

The Land of the Dead

Not only does the whole country of Mexico believe that people continue their existence after death in a subtler realm, but so do several other cultures like modern Tibetan Buddhists (ref: The Tibetan Book of the Dead), ancient Egyptians (2), the Ancient Mayans (3) and Aztecs (4), modern Hindus (5), Celtics (6), and even several modern American and British authors like the clairvoyants CW Leadbeater (7) and Annie Besant (8).  In many cases, the aforementioned peoples and writings give a detailed geography of the other world, outlining various regions of it and describing their qualities.  All these people and cultures (except Mexico, oddly enough), say that a person goes there after death and stays there for a time before eventually reincarnating in another body for another round of earthly life.  [Sometimes in dreams we really speak to those people who are living in that realm for the time being.]

Crossing Over

There are 3 ways to cross over into and have experiences in the “Land of the Dead” (i.e. Subtle Realm):

1. Death – when the physical body ceases to function, this has absolutely no bearing on a person’s other energy bodies.  Hence, his next level up” body -his subtle body- is perfectly fine at the time of physical death and he/she is able to interact with things and people on that plane.
2. Sleep – During sleep, the dreams we experience are usually a jumble mess of memories from the day, imaginings from the brain, and actual impression from the subtle realm where the astral body finds itself when the physical body is “deactivated”. 
3. Meditation – In certain yogic practices, like Raja Yoga, sense withdraw is practiced.  This means that a yogi can stop the functioning of his 5 physical senses and thereby become sensitive to impressions made upon his non-physical bodies by non-physical objects and/or people. 

Conclusion

The “Land of the Dead” is a concept embraced by many different cultures around the world and throughout time.  This movie does a great job depicting, in a fun and family-friendly way, what that “place” (realm) might be like. 

If you liked this movie, there is another movie that came out a few years earlier that didn’t get as much attention but that is equally enjoyable and beautiful and also centers around the day of the dead and traveling to the land of the dead.  It’s called “Book of Life”.

References

1) https://www.diffen.com/difference/Day_of_the_Dead_vs_Halloween

2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_religion#Afterlife 

3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_death_rituals#Beliefs_about_the_afterlife

4) http://www.pitlanemagazine.com/cultures/aztec-mythology-and-afterlife-and-life-after-death-in-aztec-beliefs.html

5) http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/rs/death/hindubeliefrev2.shtml

6) https://www.adf.org/articles/gods-and-spirits/ancestors/afterlife-hero-dead.html 

7) Book: Life After Death

8) Book: Death - and After?

Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854–1934) was a highly developed clairvoyant who unfolded and perfected his psychic faculties under the guidance of his Adept-Teacher.  He commenced clairvoyant investigations in 1893, on occasion collaborating with Annie Besant, the second President of The Theosophical Society, and wrote over thirty books on the spiritual life and the psychic nature of man.(1)

What are dreams and how are they caused?

This short piece by CW Leadbeater answers these questions. He lays out his approach early on:

“The most convenient method in which we can arrange the various branches of our subject will perhaps be the following: first, to consider rather carefully the mechanism –physical, etheric, and astral– by means of which impressions are conveyed to our consciousness; secondly, to see how the consciousness in its turn affects and uses this mechanism; thirdly, to note the condition both of the consciousness and its mechanism during sleep; and fourthly, to enquire how the various kinds of dreams which men experience are thereby produced.”

In simpler terms, 1) the consciousness is separate from its three-fold body, 2) the varying states of the body and consciousness are always interacting with one another, and 3) during the hours of sleep, these interactions produce the different kinds of dreams we experience.

Leadbeater identifies 5 major types of dreams and explains how and why they come about. Having been a regular dreamer my whole life, his explanations have really helped me begin to pick apart my dream experiences and sort out which parts came from where. He also points out the way to cultivate the “better” kind of dreams and gives ample reasoning why a person might want to do so.

This is a fairly technical document and, as with most of CW Leadbeater’s work, a beginner will have a very hard time with the concepts and vocabulary. Therefore, I strongly recommend beginning with Annie Besant’s little books The Seven Principles of Man and/or Man and his Bodies before attempting to read this one.

1) http://www.ts-adyar.org/content/charles-webster-leadbeater-1854-1934