Markdown lines 46–192 · Part 1 of 5
[0.4-4.7] Hello and welcome once again to Earth Mysteries.
[4.7-5.7] This is Hayne Zeely.
[5.7-11.9] You're listening to KVMR, full spectrum technicolor radio, 89.5 in Nevada City.
[11.9-14.7] Today our guest is Robert A. Monroe.
[14.7-20.2] Our topic is astral travel or journeys out of the body.
[20.2-24.9] Journeys Out of the Body was the title of a book that Mr. Monroe wrote and it related
[24.9-29.7] his story about what happened to him beginning in 1958.
[29.7-32.9] Prior to his first journey out of the body, Mr. Monroe had a long and distinguished career
[32.9-37.4] in the broadcasting industry as a writer, director of programs, and creator and producer
[37.4-41.0] of some 400 radio and TV network programs.
[41.0-47.1] He was very experienced in the manipulation of sound, and at one time he had 28 network
[47.1-51.6] radio shows under production in his studio in one week.
[51.6-58.9] In 1958, Mr. Monroe began experimenting on himself with sleep learning techniques.
[58.9-64.4] He was listening to tapes in the evening trying to recall what was on the tapes, and
[64.4-69.8] it was a simple attempt, in his words, to force concentration on a single intelligent
[69.8-75.1] signal source, which was oral, with lowered signal input from the other senses.
[75.1-80.4] The degree of retention and recall would indicate the success of the technique.
[80.4-85.3] When he was doing this experiment, or shortly after doing this experiment, he began to
[85.3-90.3] experience vibrations which felt like they were vibrating his entire body.
[90.3-94.5] He over a period of two months experienced these vibrations nine or ten times, and each
[94.5-98.9] time they were quite disconcerting to him, and he would stand up and try to shake them
[98.9-101.0] off.
[101.0-106.3] One time when he was lying face down on the bed, dangling his arm over the bed,
[106.3-111.2] he felt the vibrations coming on, and he noticed shortly after they ceased that his
[111.2-113.2] fingers were brushing the rug.
[113.2-117.7] He imagined his hand going down through the rug, perhaps through a hole in the floor,
[117.7-121.4] and he could feel the rafters and the nails on the rafters, and if he extended his arm
[121.4-123.9] a little further, he could feel water.
[123.9-126.8] He thought this was very odd because there wasn't any water on the floor, so he got
[126.8-131.0] up and looked and discovered there was no hole in the rug and no water.
[131.0-134.1] It was a very odd sensation, to say the least.
[134.1-138.8] He experienced a few other episodes of shaking and vibration in his body, sometimes
[138.8-144.8] in association with a crampy abdominal pain, and he went to see several doctors
[144.8-148.0] about this, thinking perhaps he was ill.
[148.0-151.9] Reading again from Journeys Out of the Body, Mr. Monroe said,
[151.9-155.4] Some four weeks later, when the vibrations came again, I was duly
[155.4-158.1] cautious about attempting to move an arm or a leg.
[158.1-161.2] It was late at night, and I was lying in bed before sleep.
[161.2-163.3] My wife had fallen asleep beside me.
[163.3-166.7] There was a surge that seemed to be in my head, and quickly the condition
[166.7-168.3] sped throughout my body.
[168.3-169.8] It all seemed the same.
[169.8-173.8] As I lay there trying to decide how to analyze the thing in another way, I just happened to
[173.8-178.1] think how nice it would be to take a glider up and fly the next afternoon, my hobby at
[178.1-179.4] the time.
[179.4-183.7] Without considering any consequences, not knowing there would be any, I thought of the pleasure
[183.7-184.8] it would bring.
[184.8-188.5] After a moment, I became aware of something pressing against my shoulder.
[188.5-192.1] Half curious, I reached back and up to feel what it was.
[192.1-193.9] My hand encountered a smooth wall.
[193.9-198.2] I moved my hand along the wall, the length of my arm, and a continued smooth and unbroken
[198.2-199.2] motion.
[199.2-202.2] My senses fully alert, I tried to see in the dim light.
[202.2-205.1] It was a wall, and I was lying against it with my shoulder.
[205.1-208.1] I immediately reasoned that I had gone to sleep and fallen out of bed.
[208.1-212.4] I had never done so before, but all sorts of strange things were happening, and falling
[212.4-214.5] out of bed was quite possible.
[214.5-215.7] Then I looked again.
[215.7-217.0] Something was wrong.
[217.0-220.6] This wall had no windows, no furniture against it, no doors.
[220.6-224.8] It was not a wall in my bedroom, yet somehow it was familiar.
[224.8-225.9] Identification came instantly.
[225.9-228.0] It wasn't a wall, it was the ceiling.
[228.0-232.7] I was floating against the ceiling, bouncing gently with any movement I made.
[232.7-235.7] I rolled in the air, startled, and looked down.
[235.7-237.7] There in the dim light below me was the bed.
[237.7-239.7] There were two figures lying in the bed.
[239.7-242.4] To the right was my wife, beside her was someone else.
[242.4-244.1] Both seemed to sleep.
[244.1-246.0] This was a strange dream, I thought.
[246.0-247.3] I was curious.
[247.3-249.4] Whom would I dream to be in bed with my wife?
[249.4-252.3] I looked more closely, and the shock was intense.
[252.3-255.9] I was the someone on the bed.
[255.9-262.5] Mr. Monroe, being a broadcasting executive and having a number of employees, began experimenting
[262.5-266.9] with his ability to do out-of-the-body travel and became quite good at it.
[266.9-271.8] He was very curious as to what was going on, so he formed a research and development corporation
[271.8-276.6] as part of his business, and had some of his employees go search out people all over
[276.6-279.9] the country who might know about out-of-body travel.
[279.9-284.4] They finally found somebody in Virginia Beach who apparently knew about it, but when they
[284.4-289.4] called back to tell Mr. Monroe about the character who was aware of out-of-the-body travel, it
[289.4-294.2] turned out it was Edgar Cayce, and he had died in 1948, ten years earlier.
[294.2-297.6] Mr. Monroe traveled to Duke University and saw J.B.
[297.6-302.0] Rine, the famous parapsychologist, and he was unable to help him in any way, but did
[302.0-309.0] suggest that he try some of the card experiments that Dr. Rine was doing at the time.
[309.0-313.5] Mr. Monroe had other people tell him he should go to India, perhaps spend ten to
[313.5-317.7] twenty years in an ashram under the supervision of a yogi who could tell him
[317.7-319.6] all about astral travel.
[319.6-323.8] This didn't fit in with his business plans at the time, and he continued to search out
[323.8-325.4] some explanation.
[325.4-328.8] He went to many doctors, had electroencephalograms, complete thorough
[328.8-332.9] neurological exams, all the while worrying that perhaps he had a brain tumor or some
[332.9-337.6] other neurological condition which allowed him to leave his body.
[337.6-341.2] Nobody gave him any help until he went to see Eileen Garrett, a noted psychic in
[341.2-345.9] New York whose office was a block or two away from his studios on Madison Avenue.
[345.9-351.3] Eileen Garrett apparently left her own body, went out to the waiting room to examine
[351.3-357.0] Mr. Monroe, came back to her desk, decided he was an okay guy, and ushered him in.
[357.0-360.7] She told him that she was familiar with astral travel or out-of-the-body
[360.7-365.3] experiences, and when he asked her, what good are they or what can you do with
[365.3-369.2] these experiences, Mrs. Garrett said that each morning when she got on her
[369.2-373.1] dress, she would take herself out of her body and from behind look to see if her
[373.1-374.7] slip was showing.
[374.7-378.9] This wasn't exactly the type of information that Mr. Monroe was looking for, so he set
[378.9-383.4] up a laboratory on his farm in Westchester County, filled it with all of the finest
[383.4-389.1] equipment he could get, and exposed some of his friends as experimental subjects to
[389.1-394.5] multiple different types of monoral beat sound waves and binaural beat sound waves,
[394.5-399.5] which he discovered could cause entrainment or a frequency following response,
[399.5-401.9] and he patented this type of response.
[401.9-406.5] A frequency following response means that if a certain frequency is presented to the
[406.5-410.2] body or to the ears, the brain will follow that frequency.
[410.2-415.7] The brain waves will start beating along at the same frequency, and this was at
[415.7-421.1] fairly high frequencies above what we would consider normal brain wave functions,
[421.1-425.9] and he tried to figure out how he could get lower frequencies such as four cycles per second,
[425.9-430.1] the theta rhythm of the brain, or one and a half cycles per second, the delta rhythm,
[430.1-435.7] or 13 cycles per second, the normal type of rhythms that we see on an electroencephalogram.
[435.7-440.1] He discovered along the way that if you took two different sounds and applied them
[440.1-445.9] to the ears, the two halves of the brain would become united and one would hear a
[445.9-448.1] single solitary beat.
[448.1-453.7] I'll have Mr. Monroe show you this and explain this to you a little bit later when we start talking to him,
[453.7-460.4] but the general outcome of his experimentation was that he could induce out of the body experiences
[460.4-463.0] in other people in experimental subjects.
[463.0-469.1] I shouldn't say more or less at will, but as soon as the subjects had learned enough of the technique
[469.1-475.5] to relax themselves completely and follow the instructions that he gave, they could also repeat his findings.
[476.7-484.3] Journeys Out of the Body, his first book, was really intended as a diary of his experiences rather than a publishable manuscript,
[484.3-489.5] and it was lent to a friend of his who, unknown to Bob Monroe, turned it into a publisher.
[489.5-493.5] Bob first heard it was going to be published when the publisher called him and asked
[493.5-496.6] if he'd like to see the galley proofs.
[496.6-503.8] He moved to Richmond, Virginia, and then to Nelson County, Virginia, where he set up the Monroe Institute.
[503.9-509.4] At the Monroe Institute, there is a laboratory which is extremely well equipped and an isolation booth,
[509.4-515.0] which consists of a water bed, a recorder, a microphone, a thing called a mind mirror,
[515.0-523.6] which is like a mini encephalogram, and thousands of dollars worth of recording equipment and sound generating equipment.
[523.6-529.2] In this lab, Bob has studied a number of people who he calls, quote,
[530.2-535.6] and these people are able to go into a deep state of relaxation, leave their bodies,
[535.6-540.2] and report back while they're out of their bodies on the things that they experience.
[540.2-547.8] Bob's work with these explorers was done over a 20-year period with just intense amounts of time and effort
[547.8-555.8] on finding the exact right combinations of sound, frequency, brainwave, etc., which would produce the required states.
[557.2-562.2] He put these findings into effect in a program which he calls the Gateway Program,
[562.2-566.2] and this is administered at the Monroe Institute in Faber, Virginia.
[566.2-573.2] He wrote about some of the things that happened to him subsequent to 1958 in a book called Far Journeys,
[573.2-575.2] and this was published in 1985.
[575.2-581.2] Subsequent to the publication of this book, there have been a tide of people who have shown up in Faber, Virginia,
[581.2-587.2] who have taken the Gateway experience and tried to duplicate some of the things that Bob and Roe wrote about in Far Journeys.
[587.2-593.4] I was one of those people, and not only was I delighted with the program,
[593.4-599.4] but I'd like to say that without giving too much of a plug, Far Journeys is the best book I've ever read in my life.