Markdown lines 47–163 · Part 1 of 3
[0.6-12.1] The author of this book, Journeys Out of the Body. Would you welcome Robert Monroe. What
[12.1-33.7] is an out-of-body experience? Let's start with this very important question. What is an out-of-the-body
[33.7-41.9] experience? What is it? Well, it's best described as a state of consciousness awareness that does
[41.9-50.1] not depend on physical sensory input, meaning it is acting separate and apart from your physical
[50.1-57.4] body. Recent studies indicated that 25 percent of the population in the United States remembers
[57.4-63.4] having at least one spontaneous out-of-body experience. There's been a lot of scientific
[63.4-69.0] discussion as to what that is, and our religions have given it a name too. Basically, you are
[69.0-76.2] able to exercise facsimiles is the best word of the sensory input that you have in the physical
[76.2-82.0] sense, in the physical continuity is the word. So, if you can think of that, that you are perceiving
[82.0-86.5] and separate and apart from this physical mechanism that provides you with this input,
[86.5-93.3] you are able to see, for example, and you are able to hear. That out-of-body consciousness,
[93.3-100.3] as it were, is able to be, let's say, two inches away from the physical, or if you want to put it
[100.3-109.4] the extreme, you can go to Mars and cruise around Mars and see what's going on there. It's that
[109.4-115.3] unlimited. Now, there are those who would refer to this as the astral body. Would that be a good
[115.3-119.8] term to use here? Well, we don't like it, and the reason we don't like it is because it has
[119.8-127.0] sort of an occult connotation to it, in the sense that it was used in a time sort of prior to the
[127.0-133.1] scientific model that we attempt to follow. So, we like, way back in the early sixties, came up with
[133.1-140.8] the OB, out-of-body experiences. We were, in our professional sound people, in other words, sound
[140.8-146.2] was our business, the production of sound in various ways. So, we turned to sound quite naturally in
[146.2-151.5] order to do these things. First of all, in order to find out how we could begin to control the
[151.5-159.8] out-of-body experience, we began to use sound. Sound to affect consciousness. We soon learned
[160.1-166.5] that by using known brainwave frequencies and converting them into what sound amplitudes,
[166.5-173.4] not frequency, but sound amplitudes, we were able to induce sleep very easily and to stay awake very
[173.4-179.3] easily. And that was the beginning. Those are categories of consciousness. And we use that
[179.3-186.1] running frequency of amplitude to create a resonance by listening to it, and these induce various states
[186.2-191.4] of consciousness, basically. We call it a frequency following response because you can identify them
[191.4-197.0] by taking an EEG, a brainwave study, and see these particular patterns within the brain. So,
[197.0-202.2] if you wanted a person to go to sleep, you would feed a particular system of theta and delta waves,
[202.2-208.1] and they would get sleepy. And then, as we found out, a better way to do it, because these
[208.1-214.7] brainwave frequencies that are common in the human brain are of a frequency that is lower than
[214.7-220.9] human hearing. Let's use an illustration that hears an 8 Hz signal, which means 8 cycles per second,
[220.9-226.4] that we cannot hear. So, how to get it into the human brain other than using an amplitude method?
[226.4-230.6] We found that the binaural beat would work very beautifully in that respect, but in essence,
[230.6-238.7] it works this way. If we put a 100 Hz audio signal, which you can hear, and put it in one ear,
[238.8-246.6] and put a 108 Hz signal in the other ear, the differential between those two would be an 8 Hz
[246.6-253.1] signal. When we used that and had a person listen to it, the brain would synthesize that 8 Hz
[253.1-259.9] frequency. The brain wouldn't hear it, incidentally, but the electrical signals in the brain synthesize
[259.9-264.5] that 8 Hz differential. A slight variation of it is part of the Schumann resonance,
[264.5-270.4] is the one that we as humans grew up with through millions of years, and it will create a form of
[270.4-275.8] physical relaxation. There are different kinds of meditative states. For example, years back,
[275.8-280.9] there was a great to-do about getting into the Alpha state, and it was, oh, let's get ourselves
[280.9-286.2] into Alpha. Alpha is just a state of conscious relaxation, and we have not found it interesting
[286.2-292.7] enough to play with. What about theta? Theta is a state where a lot of creativity occurs in
[292.7-299.1] theta. It's great for ideas, word pictures, and things like that. The crossover state between
[299.1-305.0] this type of consciousness and the consciousness of Delta sleep. Because of that, you are partially
[305.0-320.1] freed of the restrictions that are upon you during normal before, and that's where a lot of
[320.1-326.0] meditation takes place. So you like to look at this thing in a pragmatic way, I guess,
[326.7-331.2] scientifically speaking. Very much. All right, now let's say then, pragmatically,
[331.8-338.0] what would be the purpose of an out-of-the-body experience then? Well, that's the enigma. The
[338.7-344.4] question that took me a lot of work to find out what value it had, if any. And the second thing
[344.4-348.9] is that through the years, what purpose, that's open to a lot of discussion. There have been all
[348.9-354.3] sorts of ways that one can use it, and one does use it. I think the key thing is to recognize
[354.3-361.0] that we are firmly sure now that everyone goes out of their body during what we call Delta sleep,
[361.0-367.6] or sleep. But that's a sleep where you are at very low level of physical response,
[367.6-378.8] or anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. We all have cycles of Delta, and we have cycles, an hour and
[378.8-383.5] a half cycle of sleep pattern we have all during our whole sleep period. But a part of that is the
[383.5-392.6] Delta sleep. It's to drift down to that Delta state, and then slowly inert. Blood pressure goes
[392.6-401.6] down, temperature goes down, internal stimulant. We found in lab studies that a person in the
[401.6-407.9] out-of-body state resembles near perfectly the profile of Delta sleep. Now, the difference,
[407.9-412.7] of course, is their consciousness. That's a person in the out-of-body state. By
[412.7-418.5] a peculiar kind of means of establishing a still a relationship with a physical body
[418.5-423.0] can report in while they're in the out-of-body state. Now, let me stop for a second.
[423.0-427.9] What you're saying is that people that you have worked with recorded out-of-body
[427.9-433.6] experiences, is that correct? That those experiences from those people are such that
[433.6-439.6] they're actually able to respond while they are out of body. What do we know about that then?
[439.6-447.3] They report what they're doing and how they're doing. Some very few and back to them, because
[447.3-455.6] they're using their vocal means to connect with you. It's a learned thing, a thing that you have
[455.6-462.6] to learn. Not everyone can do it. Now, then each EEG looks at a person who is talking to you
[462.6-470.0] during this state. Does the EEG show Delta still? It shows Delta superimposed with beta signal,
[470.0-475.3] or composite beta signal, that indicates a part of the brain is operating to do this
[475.3-480.1] commutation process. That's very interesting. I presume that was really interesting. Yeah,
[480.1-486.2] the speech center. Okay, so let's come back then to this question that I started out with. I'm
[486.2-490.6] sure, Robert, that this question was asked when, for example, Columbus went to the New World. People
[490.6-494.4] said, why would you want to go there? I'm sure that this question is being asked now to you.
[494.4-500.6] Why would people want to do this type of research? Well, I had to face that quality back in, would you
[500.6-507.2] believe it, back in 1958 and 59, which is a long ways back. I desperately need to learn how to
[507.2-514.1] control it, because I would suddenly move out of my body anytime I would lie down. That became very
[514.1-518.5] embarrassing and very frightening, and I had to learn how to control it. Conventional science
[518.5-523.9] had no answer whatsoever for that. My close-in psychologist and psychiatrist didn't have the
[523.9-529.8] answer either. So we set up an R&D program in my company trying to find out answers for this.
[529.8-538.4] And one of the things that had a full year of validation and documentation of what I did and
[538.4-543.5] what I perceived in order for me to recognize that it was nothing more than an hallucination.
[543.5-551.2] Well, it's not that easy to do it from what might be a dream or an hallucination into reality. It
[551.2-555.5] just takes the left brain of ours. It takes sometimes a great deal of evidence to consider.
[556.1-560.8] All right. Are you saying then that when a person first has an out-of-body experience,
[560.8-565.4] they may not be able to logically understand what has happened?
[565.4-570.3] That's quite true. Rationalize it away, because we just don't have,
[570.3-580.7] describe that, is for that anyone who has a flying dream is symbolizing an out-of-body state.
[580.7-585.8] They can't identify any other way. So they have a flying dream, and some people have to rationalize it,
[585.8-590.6] but say they were in an airplane. So they're actually experiencing the feeling of free flight,
[591.5-596.0] and then through the dream, they interpret it in whatever way they can through their logic.
[596.0-598.0] Yes, in virtually all cases.
[600.0-603.7] Phrygian This person has a falling dream and that's re-entering their physical body.
[603.7-608.6] You can pick up hundreds and thousands of people who have had a falling dream where they fall
[608.6-611.2] and wake up and that's re-entering their physical.
[611.2-616.1] The interpretation of it, because they are totally unaware of it, has to translate it
[616.1-619.1] somehow, so they do the best they can.
[619.1-624.9] I can give you one of the most interesting facets of out-of-body activity, that has been
[624.9-627.6] attracting attention over the last, say, 10 years.
[627.6-628.6] What is it?
[628.6-633.2] something like 25 million people that they know of that have had it, and that's a near-death
[633.2-640.3] experience, which is a rather extreme version of the out-of-body. The one thing that that
[640.3-645.4] certainly does with everyone who has an NDE, as they call it, is get them past the belief
[645.4-651.6] stage into the knowing that they survived physical death. That is a very profound piece
[651.6-656.4] of knowledge, that if you get that knowledge, it alters your life considerably. Now we
[656.4-661.9] have better and more scientific explanation for what's taking place. Think of it this way.
[661.9-668.9] You, I, at this moment, are very carefully focused in time-space. We have a focusing mechanism
[668.9-675.1] that we call a physical body, and it gives us all this heavy physical sensory input that
[675.1-680.9] gets us and keeps us phased into time-space. In other words, we're here. Our consciousness
[680.9-687.9] is here. Our mind is totally here. The moment that you stop focusing in that time-space that
[687.9-693.2] intently, let's call it inattention, just that much, you've become slightly out of phase
[693.2-699.0] with this physical time-space. This means that you are in thought, as it were, instead
[699.0-703.5] of totally there. And let's say that you're still 90 degrees focused in time-space and
[703.5-710.6] 10 degrees into something somewhere, some way else. And then you have the stages called