Big ideas · 13 MIN READ · 8 SOURCE QUOTES
Fear and the out-of-body experience
Robert Monroe named fear as the first and biggest barrier to exploring consciousness, and he spoke from experience. When the vibrations began in 1958 he feared a brain tumor or mental illness and went through extensive medical examinations and tests; a psychiatrist friend had to reassure him he was sane. His first out-of-body experience ended in panic, and by his own account it took many more attempts before he could stay out long enough to look around calmly.
In his talks he traced the barrier to one root: a survival imprint, laid down from birth, that treats anything separate from the physical body as death. That fear, he said, sits under everyone, often with a matching rage at having to die, and even people who insist they have neither tend to discover both as they explore. Gateway answers this in two ways. Its first premise, I am more than my physical body, invites you to consider that something of you continues. And its exercises are arranged as what Monroe called a very careful fear-reducing process: the Energy Conversion Box to set fears aside before each session, the Gateway Affirmation, the Resonant Energy Balloon, and Release and Recharge to let fear go, so that each new state becomes familiar before the next one.
Fear still shows up. Listeners who leave the body for the first time, and especially those who turn and see their own body in bed, describe sheer terror and an instant return. In Monroe's laboratory, monitors treated fear as material to work with, asking Explorers to name it, locate it and notice that they were safe. Monroe's advice stayed simple: unload the fear, expect a little to remain, and remember that what you meet out there will not bite.
Monroe called fear the biggest barrier to exploring consciousness, rooted in the fear of death, and built Gateway as a step-by-step way to unload it.
Key points
Fear is the first barrier
In a welcome talk to Gateway Voyage participants, Monroe named two or possibly three primary barriers to exploration, and fear came first. In a lecture to an Institute group he said the biggest problem is unloading the fear barrier, because it is so heavily built into the whole culture. In Journeys Out of the Body he had already described fear as the chief obstacle to exploring the second body, present in everyone, including people who believe they are fearless until they meet it.
The root is the fear of death
Monroe traced the barrier to a survival imprint, a pattern set from birth that keeps us alive physically and says anything separate from the body is death. Scientists, he added, reinforce it by saying nothing measurable survives death. He paired that fear with rage: fear that I will die turns into anger that I have to die. Even people who insist they feel neither, he said, discover both as they probe deeper into themselves.
His own fears came first
Monroe's first fears were medical and mental. When the vibrations started in 1958 he went through extensive medical examinations, worried he had a brain tumor, until a psychiatrist friend told him he could certify that Monroe was sane. When he finally found himself out of the body and saw himself in bed, he panicked and dove back in. By his account it took many more tries before he could stay out calmly long enough to observe.
Gateway as a fear-reducing process
Monroe described the step-by-step Focus levels as a very careful fear-reducing process, so that unknown states stop being frightening. The method, he said, is to show each person that they are only learning to control what they have been doing all along. Once Focus 10 is familiar and the fear is gone, you can go there whenever you want, and the same pattern repeats with each new state, up to Focus 21, where he said all fear of these unknown areas has gone.
The tools that handle fear
Every Gateway session opens with tools aimed partly at fear. The Energy Conversion Box is a visualized container where you set down worries and fears before you start; the 1983 Army assessment describes it as a device for isolating extraneous concerns. The Gateway Affirmation states that you are more than your physical body and asks for the help, guidance and protection of those whose wisdom and experience are equal to or greater than your own. The Resonant Energy Balloon, introduced in Advanced Focus 10, surrounds you with protective energy. Release and Recharge, also on Wave I, is devoted to releasing fears and converting their charge into energy.
The first sight of your own body
The moment listeners most often describe as terrifying is turning around and seeing their own body lying in bed. One man who had promised himself not to be scared described the sheer terror as paralyzing and said he swam straight back into his body. Another said it was the scariest thing he had ever seen and that he could not sleep afterward. Fear like this usually ends the experience at once, which is also why it reliably brings people back.
Fear as material in the lab
In Monroe's laboratory, monitors did not try to argue Explorers out of fear. They asked them to make it specific: what it was, where it sat, what it was connected to. One Explorer described fear as an inverted triangle and realized it was fear of letting go of the body; the monitor explored it before moving on and reminded the Explorer that the place and the process were safe. Another felt suddenly naked without a space suit while out among the stars and pulled back.
The payoff: less fear of death
Monroe saw losing the fear of death as one of the main freedoms Gateway offers. If you take seriously that you are more than your physical body, he argued, you have to consider that you may continue beyond it, and the tools help you find that out for yourself. Many graduates and presenters echo this: a 1993 seminar speaker who worked with AIDS patients said she had been terribly afraid of death and no longer was.
Some fear always remains
Monroe never promised a fearless state. In a 1990 Gateway talk he said that as you get past the barriers of fear you will still have some left, of course, but the freedom from most of it lets you go out and explore, because what you meet will not bite. On a 1985 call-in show he told a caller struggling with fear that it seemed simple: she had developed quite a fear, and once she unloaded it there would be no problem.
In their own words
Quotes are checked word for word against the recordings and documents they come from. Bracketed words correct transcription errors; “…” marks an omission.
“The biggest one is that fear barrier, and that fear barrier prevents you because you have this heavy survival imprint that's necessary to live here physically. And that survival imprint says, 'Oh, anything over there, that's bad stuff, that's death, and we don't want to die. And anything that's separate and apart from this physical body, that's terrible.'”
“The rage is due to the fact that you're going to have to die. See how they connect? Fear, 'I'm afraid I'm going to die,' to anger, 'because I have to die.' And that defeats the whole concept, the entire concept of survival, because that imprint you have learned or believe has to do strictly with physical survival. So, so much of your life has been geared to physical survival. Virtually all of our [culture's] aimed at physical survival. So what are we talking about? Consider that first pattern, the first pattern being 'I am more than my physical body.'”
“This is … basically a very careful fear-reducing process, so that you're not afraid of these unknown states. And the way we do it is that we prove very succinctly to the individual that he's … only learning to control what he's been doing all the time, and it's the control factor that [counts], so that when he wants to go to [10] he can do it, because he has no fear of it anymore.”
“And I certainly can't counsel you on it. That's not what my role is. But it seems very simple. You've developed quite a fear. Unload the fear, and you have no problem.”
“The moment, you know, you're getting so far past any barriers of fear (you will have some left, of course), but then that, that freedom from the fear [lets] you go out and grab these things. As you know, they won't bite.”
“I see me, and oh my God, the fear, the sheer terror that grips you is paralyzing. Imagine I'm talking to you right now and imagine I go, 'Hey Nelson, look at that,' and you look and it's just you sitting there. Yeah, that's how scared I was.”
“I just became aware of my environment out there, and it seemed dangerous. … Nothing threatening was happening to me at all, but when the astronaut came up next to me again, for some reason, I felt naked out there. Looking at his space suit seemed to be protection.”
“You're totally safe. You're in a totally, totally safe place. And a totally safe process. In addition to which there isn't anything that could harm you anyway in your, in your reality.”
Important things to consider
Expect fear, even if you feel fearless
Monroe's point was that the fear barrier shows up in everyone, including people who are sure they have none. Feeling a jolt of alarm at the vibrations, the sense of floating or the first sight of your body is normal, not a sign that something has gone wrong. Knowing it is coming makes it easier to notice it and stay put a moment longer.
Use the Energy Conversion Box every time
The box only works if you put real things in it. Before each session, name the specific worries and fears you are carrying, including fears about the exercise itself, and set them inside. It is a habit as much as a visualization: over weeks it teaches the mind that fear can be put down and picked up again later.
Make the fear specific
The lab monitors' method works alone too. When fear appears, ask what exactly it is, where you feel it, what shape it has and what it is connected to. Vague dread is hard to release; a named fear, such as letting go of the body or being unprotected, usually loosens once it is seen clearly.
Go one step at a time
Gateway's order is deliberate: Focus 10 becomes familiar before Focus 12, and only later do exercises aim at leaving the body. Rushing to separation before the earlier states feel safe invites panic. Monroe himself needed many short, frightened attempts before he could stay out and observe. Short, repeated exposures are the method.
Fear brings you back
The most common result of fear during an out-of-body experience is an instant return to the body, often with a jolt. Listeners report that simply thinking of the body or moving a finger brings them back. Monroe called the idea that you might not get back a great misconception. If you want to end an experience, intend to return and you will.
Know about sleep paralysis
The vibrations and paralysis that often come before an OBE happen at the edge of sleep, where many people also experience sleep paralysis, sometimes with a sense of a presence and strong fear. Knowing this is a recognized sleep-state event can take some of the panic out of it. If episodes are frequent or distressing, talk to a clinician.
Gateway is not a treatment for anxiety
Release and Recharge and the other tools are practices for exploration, not a therapy. If you live with an anxiety disorder, trauma or another mental-health condition, or if sessions stir up fear that follows you into daily life, read the publisher's guidance and speak with a qualified professional before continuing.
Watch what you feed the fear
Online stories about demons, entities and getting trapped can plant expectations that shape what you meet. Monroe and his monitors kept steering people back to the facts of the session: nothing threatening was happening, the place was safe, and what you meet will not bite. Choose sources that inform rather than frighten.
Common questions
Why did Robert Monroe call fear the biggest barrier?
Because, in his view, it stops almost everyone before they start. Monroe said we carry a heavy survival imprint from birth that keeps us alive physically and tells us that anything separate from the body means death. Leaving the body, or even entering unfamiliar states, sets off that alarm automatically, whatever you believe intellectually. He linked the fear of dying to a matching rage at having to die and said both sit under everyone. Gateway's first premise, that you are more than your physical body, and its gradual exercises are designed to loosen that imprint so you can explore instead of retreating.
Is it normal to be scared when I leave my body?
Yes. Fear is the most common reaction to a first out-of-body experience, and the moment many people describe as pure terror is turning around and seeing their own body in bed. Monroe panicked and dove back during his own first experience in 1958 and needed many more attempts before he could stay out calmly. Fear usually ends the experience at once by pulling you straight back, which is safe if unsettling. With repetition the alarm fades. Monroe's own summary was that some fear always remains, but once you are past most of it you can go out and explore, because what you meet will not bite.
Can I get stuck out of my body?
Monroe said no. Asked on a 1985 radio call-in show whether someone could leave the body and fail to get back, he called it a great misconception. Listeners consistently report the opposite problem: the slightest fear or thought of the body brings them back instantly, often with a jolt. In Monroe's laboratory, monitors also reminded Explorers that they were in a totally safe place and process and would return at the monitor's request. If you want to end any experience, think of your physical body, move a finger or simply intend to return.
How does the Gateway Experience deal with fear?
Monroe called the whole sequence a very careful fear-reducing process. Each session starts with the Energy Conversion Box, where you set aside worries and fears, then the Gateway Affirmation, which affirms that you are more than your physical body and asks for the help and guidance of those whose wisdom and experience are equal to or greater than your own. The Resonant Energy Balloon adds a sense of protection, and Release and Recharge on the first album is built around letting fears go and turning their charge into energy. Above all, the states are taught in order, so each one becomes familiar before the next. As Monroe put it, once there is no fear of a state, you can go there whenever you want.
What should I do if I panic during a session?
Stop pushing and come back. Fear is a signal to slow down, not a failure. Think of your physical body or move a finger, open your eyes, and let the session end. Afterward, look at the fear the way Monroe's lab monitors taught Explorers to: what exactly was it, where did you feel it, what was it about? Explorers often found it was something specific, such as letting go of the body or feeling unprotected. Put that fear in the Energy Conversion Box next time and repeat the earlier, familiar states before trying again. If fear keeps following you into daily life, take a break and talk with a professional.
Does Gateway take away the fear of death?
That was one of Monroe's main hopes for it. He argued that the fear of death drives the barrier, and that if you seriously consider the premise that you are more than your physical body, you have to consider that you may continue beyond it. Gateway, he said, gives you tools to find that out for yourself rather than believe it. Many graduates report losing much of their fear of death; a 1993 seminar speaker who used the tapes with AIDS patients said she had been terribly afraid of death and no longer was. These are personal reports, and the program makes no guarantee.
In Monroe’s books
Summarized in our own words; the books are not reproduced on this site.
Journeys Out of the Body. Monroe presents fear as the main obstacle to exploring the second body, starting with an automatic fear of death on separation. He reports that his early exits sent him rushing back, and that only after a long series of attempts could he remain outside and observe calmly.
Keep exploring
Prepared answers open instantly in the chat; anything else you ask gets a fresh answer.
Connected ideas
Big ideas
The vibrations
The vibrations are the whole-body buzzing Monroe felt before his first OBE in 1958; he stopped fearing them, and Gateway listeners report similar sensations.
Read the summary →11 min · 7 quotes · 6 answersGateway practices
The Energy Conversion Box
The first Gateway tool: picture a strong box with a heavy lid, put your worries inside for the session, and close it before the exercise begins.
Read the summary →12 min · 8 quotes · 6 answersBig ideas
Out-of-body experiences
Monroe's out-of-body experiences began in 1958 with the vibrations and led to the Monroe Institute; Gateway uses that territory without requiring it.
Read the summary →13 min · 8 quotes · 6 answersGateway practices
Monroe's out-of-body techniques
Monroe's method was patient, not a trick: relax to the edge of sleep, accept the vibrations, then roll or float out, best after waking from sleep.
Read the summary →12 min · 7 quotes · 7 answersGateway practices
Release and Recharge
Wave I's fourth exercise uses Focus 10 to let go of old fears and negative emotions, the first barrier Monroe says he had to get past.
Read the summary →12 min · 7 quotes · 6 answersGateway practices
The Gateway affirmation
The statement that opens Gateway exercises: you are more than your physical body, you want to explore, and you ask for help and protection.
Read the summary →12 min · 7 quotes · 7 answers