The School of Out-of-Body Travel and OOBE Research Center Present: Teaching Out-of-Body Travel And Lucid Dreaming How to Find and Train Students Effectively Michael Raduga First Edition (June 2012) Translated by Peter Orange Cover art: SEGA www.obe4u.com Introduction Ultra-Concentrated Version Part 1. Training Session Formats Part 2. Enrolling Students and Promotion Part 3. Classroom Instruction Appendix Full Table of Contents This book is free online, so feel free to distribute it! Send it to all your friends! Post it on your websites and blogs! For proposals regarding the translation and publication of this and other books by Michael Raduga, please write obe4u@obe4u.com Teaching out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming means success, an easy and interesting way to make good money, and travel all around the world to lead seminars and network. This is the hottest and most promising field of personal development. Let's change the world together - join us! Perhaps it's your destiny? After many years of experimental work on thousands of pupils, we are going public with our super-effective teaching methodologies. This altruistic deed was performed in order to create motivation for third parties to further develop the field. Though teaching out-of-body travel used to be the purview of the elect few, now anybody can do it, and even do a good job at it without any particular experience! Introduction What Am I Holding in My Hands? What you are reading is a constantly-updated guide to teaching out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming that has been honed through practical, experimental training involving thousands of people in several countries. These instructions are so finely-calibrated that results are guaranteed in no less than a quarter of attempts made by students or novices, even if the teacher himself has no experience. The result is that at least 50% of your students will have an out-of-body experience or lucid dream by day two of the lessons. Is This for Me? This book is for everyone who wants to teach out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming to friends, family, or study groups. It's for those who simply want to bring this idea to the masses and those who want to make some money doing so (and pretty good money at that). It's for leaders of groups studying other practices who want to bring their group-mates new attainments, as well as those who devote their labor to this phenomenon alone. Our aim is to make this a routine, everyday phenomenon of modern civilization. The existence of a critical mass of people interested in spreading it could greatly facilitate our task. In addition, the free availability of these instructions will let people who tried to teach this phenomenon without having the requisite knowledge do something else besides discrediting it. There are no strings attached - though giving credit to and citing this source is appreciated. Simply help yourself and follow our instructions as closely as you can, and you'll touch many lives by giving people what they have always dreamed of - the opportunity to live in two worlds. The Phenomenon According to modern science, out-of-body travel, lucid dreaming, and a whole slew of similar phenomena in which one is fully conscious but does not perceive the physical body are forms of one and the same dissociative phenomenon, which has been dubbed the "phase" or "phase state" in this book for the purposes of bringing all of its sub-phenomena together under a single umbrella term. Accordingly, its practitioners are referred to herein as phasers and to phase has been adopted as the verb form in English. To put it briefly, the physiology of the phenomenon is characterized by activation of the frontal areas of the brain during REM sleep. Meanwhile, people perceive what seems to be a separation from their physical body and input from their five senses that is substantially more vivid than that of everyday reality. They can walk, see, hear, touch, and even eat, feel pain, pleasure, and much more. This phenomenon has hundreds of practical applications, including not only obtaining information, self-healing, artistic development, and traveling, but also meeting with the deceased, rehabilitation for the disabled, an alternative to computer games, fulfilling desires, and much, much more. According to some estimates, about 80% of the population has encountered this phenomenon in its full-fledged form at least once in their lives. Meanwhile, nearly everyone has experienced it in its shallower variations. Our knowledge of this unusual state becomes more complete with each passing year, and allows any person to not only control the state, but also to enjoy it practically every day. In many mystical and religious movements, this practice is the highest stage of development and the end goal itself. For example, in many Eastern traditions this practice allows one to achieve the end goal - stopping the cycle of reincarnation through controlled dying, which is possible only by mastering techniques for entering the phase state. Trust Us This book reflects not only our experience teaching the out-of-body experience/lucid dreaming phenomenon to thousands of people, but also many years studying it. Every word and every statement in this book is the result of painstaking, real-life work, and not empty theories or musings. That's why success at using our methodologies hinges on following these tried-and-true instructions to the letter. It's the only way that guarantees results. If it's written here that something needs to be done in one way or another, then it means that that's exactly what worked most of the time on thousands of people. If something is left out here or it's written that it's best not to do something, then that means that it didn't work or worked poorly on thousands of people. If you already have this book in your hands, then you only need concentrate on following the instructions herein, and nothing else. This approach - and only this approach - guarantees results. Success Rate Using the classic three-day seminar format, you can get at least 75% of the group to have the experience of leaving the body or becoming conscious while dreaming. On bad days this figure might drop to 35 or 40%, and on good days it might reach 90% or more, depending on the number of people in the group, the type of training system, and how closely you follow the instructions. In actuality, you only need to make people perform proper attempts, and then every third, fourth, or fifth one will surely result in success. Either way, since this phenomenon is still considered by the masses to be either impossible, a fabrication, extremely difficult to learn, or one requiring many years of training and preparation, even a success rate of 35% is going to be astounding (not to speak of higher ones). When using this book, it will sometimes happen that half of the students have an experience on day two, and this is despite all the biases and incredulity of our society. Disclaimer The author would like to remind readers that they follow the instructions in this book at their own risk and that they alone are fully responsibility for their actions. When followed correctly, these instructions for practicing out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming bring no harm to the body or mind. However, due to the impossibility of monitoring or checking how closely the instructions in this book are followed, all liability arising from the application of the methods and procedures given hereunder rests with the reader. Michael Raduga OOBE Research Center June 19th, 2012 Ultra-Concentrated Version Read in one sitting how to put together a group of people and successfully teach them out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming, and get the ball rolling today! Finding a Venue Considering the time required to get together a group and the difficulties typically encountered in finding a suitable conference room on short notice, you should start looking for a place 3 to 4 weeks before the start of your event and reserve it. For the simplest and most effective format - the three-day seminar on out-of-body travel - you'll need to reserve a place for 7pm to 10pm on Friday and 2pm to 6pm the following Saturday and Sunday. The room for the first seminar should seat from 15 to 20 people. Ideally, the place should come with a flip-chart or whiteboard and be quiet. The closer the venue is to the city center, the higher the seminar turnout will be and the easier it will be for people to get there. When looking for such a place you should pay special attention to ads for conference rooms, training-session rooms, and auditoriums. Such offers are easy to find online and in the classified section of newspapers. It's worth paying attention to various personal development centers (e.g. yoga, bioenergetics, motivational speaking, or self-actualization, etc.), which will have not only premises with the right atmosphere, but also the right kind of audience. Once you are in touch with the real-estate agent or landlord, you'll want to find out the price of the venue, the dates it is available, how many people it will fit, and the exact location, as well as agree upon a time to see the place yourself. If you're satisfied that the place is suitable after having seen it, then you'll need to reserve it by prepaying in part or in full, or making arrangements to pay after the event is over. Enrollment You need to decide upon the event venue and admission price before you start enrolling students. The cost of attending a three-day seminar should average from 5 to 20% the median monthly income in the community. You need to calculate it so that you will still break even if attendance is minimal (location rental + advertising). The admission price for a well-organized event can reach up to a third of the median monthly income and students can number up to several dozen, which means that you can buy a new car or live for a year off of the proceeds from a single seminar. This should provide ample incentive to spread awareness of out-of-body experiences and lucid dreams. Meanwhile, you'll need to create a website for the event or simply put up a page on free hosting servers or social networks. You'll definitely need to put up a description of the seminar on the Internet where people can learn more information or randomly stumble upon it. As soon as you've put up the website and determined the venue and admission price, you can go ahead with recruiting students using some of the simplest methods out there: - Tell all your friends about the seminar you're holding (free) - Put up ads on local websites and forums (free and paid) - Send out invites via social networks and e-mail (free) - Run contextual ads on the Internet (paid) - Put up ads at centers and stores that focus on related topics (paid) - Paste fliers on lampposts and designated outdoor places (free and paid) - Take out paid ads in local media (paid) - Make a deal with people or organizations who have a database of customers from a suitable industry (free and paid) - Hand out fliers at events with a similar subject matter, like self-actualization seminars (free and paid) - Ads on local TV (paid) - Talk to the editors of local newspapers and TV shows and offer them the chance to write or talk about the event and the phenomenon (free) - Send out press releases about the event to local media and news agencies (free and paid) The ads should contain the event venue, date, and time, as well as contact information. It's also preferable to include the internet address (URL) of the website where people can find out more. In order to grab attention, a large part of the ad should feature easily recognizable concepts that are related to the topic in one way or another and will attract an audience to the seminar, e.g. OUT-OF-BODY TRAVEL, LUCID DREAMING, ASTRAL PROJECTION, etc. If space allows, you can briefly list the practical applications of the phenomenon: obtaining information, self-healing, meeting the deceased, travel, creative development, etc. However, the ads should not be too saturated with information or contain lots of text. The Instructor The organizer of the seminar can either teach it himself or hire an instructor. The seminar teacher should follow the instructions in this book to the letter so that the audience gets real results, and right after the first lesson at that. It's preferable that the teacher has at least some personal experience so that he might better impart the seminar material. The more experience he has, the easier it will be for him to explain things and the lower the odds that he will say something incorrect. Day 1: Introduction and Motivation Friday, 6:40pm While people trickle in, the teacher can ask each attendee whether or not he has had any experiences, and if so, what kind. Friday, 7:10pm At the beginning, it's necessary to get better acquainted with the attendees, briefly describe the seminar subject and format, and then get the audience pumped up to apply the techniques. Introduction Say a little something about yourself and your accomplishments, why you decided to be an instructor on the topic, and what role it has had in your life. Topic: The Phase State Phenomenon Start off with how the phenomenon is a normal occurrence. To illustrate this, ask the audience to, "Raise your hand if you've ever had an out-of-body experience." Also ask them to raise their hands if they've experienced becoming conscious while dreaming. Then, do the same for sleep paralysis and false awakenings. A least a third of the attendees will raise their hands, which goes to prove how widespread these kinds of things are. After this survey, tell people that what you'll be talking about is how to control the one and only phenomenon behind all those you just asked about, i.e. the phase or phase state (the instructor may choose his own terminology), which is an umbrella term for all phenomena in which people do not have sensory awareness of their physical bodies but meanwhile remain conscious. Meanwhile, the phantom sensations people experience can be even more vivid than those of the physical body: you can see, walk, touch things, and feel pain or any other sensation. Try to give an example from your own experiences or read aloud a passage from the chapter in the book The Phase containing practitioner accounts. Pick a passage that illustrates the intensity and unusualness of sensations in the phase state. Seminar Outcomes Explain that the aim of the seminar is for the majority of the group to become able to enter the phase state within two days, and for all participants to understand how to do so. Seminar Format Let the attendees know what you'll be doing on each day. Day 1: The most-simple indirect method, which is employed upon awakening and allows one to obtain an experience within several attempts as soon as day two. Day 2: Joint analysis of attempts and tallying results; additional background on techniques; deepening and maintaining the state; and applying the phenomenon to obtain information. Day 3: Joint analysis of attempts and tallying results; additional background on techniques; direct techniques which are employed without preceding sleep; and applying the phenomenon to influence physiology (self-healing). Students will get real practical experience in the comfort of home between lessons. The lessons only provide training on theoretical concepts, as well as limited practical exercises. Light a Fire under People to Try the Techniques Let the attendees know that this is the most out-of-the-ordinary phenomenon that they'll ever master. It's almost the only ability among a number of "paranormal" ones that is actually attainable in practice. There are a large number of real-life applications for it. Before listing them, ask each member of the audience to choose the application he's most interested in so that he can try to carry it out as soon as he enters the phase (i.e. as soon as he leaves his body): - Briefly obtaining information (by asking objects for it) - Briefly influencing one's physiology (by taking a pill in the phase) - Traveling across the Earth, the Universe, and time - Meeting with relatives, the deceased, and celebrities - Creative development - Fulfilling desires - Rehabilitation for the disabled - An alternative to video games Don't forget to reiterate that people should pick something that they personally find interesting for their plans of action in the phase. This will be their second task. The students' first task is to find a mirror and look into it as soon as they fall into phase. This is mandatory for everyone. Meanwhile, everyone chooses his own second task. Day 1: The Indirect Method Friday, 7:45pm Now to teach the class how to actually do it. Immediately let the group know that you won't be talking about techniques for having lucid dreams since lucid dreaming will happen spontaneously anyway and account for 20 to 40% of all results. You'll be talking about methods for leaving the body without prior sleep (i.e. direct methods) on another day. Meanwhile, today you'll be talking about the easiest method - the indirect method, which opens the doors to the phenomenon for anybody in only a few tries. 1. Introduction to the Indirect Method The indirect method involves techniques that the phaser performs while awakening from sleep. These techniques are extremely simple because people are already in the right physiological state upon awakening - it just needs minor adjustment. Out-of-body experiences can be had at least 90% of the time when this method is practiced correctly. 2. When to Make Attempts All participants who don't need to wake up the next morning should be urged to employ the deferred method, which is where the practitioner goes to bed at midnight, sets his alarm clock for 6am, does something for between 5 to 50 minutes, and goes back to sleep for as long a period of time as possible in order to take advantage of each subsequent awakening. Slumber interrupted in this way will lead to many awakenings over the course of the remaining period of time set aside for sleep, which will allow you to make many attempts over the course of a single morning. People who don't have opportunities to use the deferred method might take advantage of any spontaneous nighttime or morning awakenings. Moreover, awakenings after daytime naps are also good for getting results in one's practice. Some students may get such an opportunity before the second lesson begins. 3. Creating Desire An important part of the procedure is the desire to wake up and try the techniques. This desire is affirmed before falling asleep before the awakening that one plans to use. Thus, after a practitioner lies down to go back to bed after awakening at 6am, he mentally resolves to awaken and try the techniques. Some kind of motivation helps to make that resolution stronger, e.g. a plan of action (go up to a mirror and then do something of your own that you find quite interesting). Such a desire should be kindled before each new awakening after 6am. For example: a practitioner affirms his desire at 6:07am, wakes up at about 7:13am, immediately tries the techniques, and success or no success, reaffirms his desire to try again on the next awakening, etc. The affirmation should also include the intention to awaken without movement - although attempts must be made even if movement occurs. 4. The Importance of Doing It No Matter What Let people know that they already awaken in the right state in the majority of cases - that's the secret simplicity of the indirect method. This means that relaxed and passive actions are not what's needed most of the time. What's needed is exactly the opposite: to break out of your body and try to get out of it no matter what using the techniques. You need to put your all into the techniques you're doing and immerse yourself in the sensation of performing them with your entire being. Each action should be made extremely assertively, forcefully, and with a great deal of confidence that everything will work out right then and there. If you omit this part, your students will simply fail to press on - even when things are going their way. 5. Introduction to Cycles of Indirect Techniques This is the point where you should explain how indirect techniques work by describing a single awakening as an example. Draw a diagram illustrating cycles of indirect techniques, and then use it to explain each part step-by-step. 6. Separation The practitioner should energetically alternate separation techniques for the first 3 to 5 seconds, as he might already be in the right state. Here it will be necessary to make a digression regarding separation techniques. The most common ones are getting up, rolling out, and levitation. Explain to people that it's not worth worrying about how exactly you're going to separate. It actually feels like a regular movement, as if you were simply getting up out of bed, rolling out of it, or levitating above it. And it feels like it's you yourself doing it in your perceived body and not some mysterious etheric or astral body. That’s why there is no need to overdo it or overthink it. What you need to do is to try to get up as you normally do but while trying not move a muscle in your physical body. Try to do it no matter what and do it right then and there. If separation is successful, you'll need to implement your plan of action: finding and mirror and then accomplishing your personal goal. 7. Alternating Techniques If separation was unsuccessful, you should cycle through 2 to 3 techniques over the course of a minute until one of them works, upon which it will again be possible to try separation. Here it will be necessary to make a digression regarding the techniques. Though there are an enormous number of them, for the purposes of the seminar it's enough to provide a selection of the 4 easiest and most-straightforward techniques. Students should select the two or three they are most comfortable with. Rotation After an attempt to separate, the practitioner tries to imagine or feel the sensation of rotating around his head-to-toe axis for 3 to 5 seconds. If the sensation of rotation arises, you should once again try to separate (via getting up, rolling out, levitating, etc.). If separation after rotation was unsuccessful, you'll need to return to rotation and intensify it, and then try to separate again. You can repeat this sequence several times, which means that you can do this technique for even an entire minute. If not even a slight sensation of rotation arises within 5 seconds, switch to another technique. The main feature of this technique is its arousal of the vestibular system. You don't need to try to visualize yourself or the room around you rotating. What you do need to do is try to rotate on your own by your internal sensations. The process is made easier by turning your eyes to the side you want to rotate towards, but while still keeping them closed. Observing Images If rotation doesn't yield results within 5 seconds, the practitioner should peer into the void before his eyes for 3 to 5 seconds and meanwhile try to see an image of some sort. If the practitioner starts to see something during those 3 to 5 seconds - no matter how dimly - he may then try to separate. If unsuccessful with separation, the practitioner should return to observing images, do it more precisely, and try once again to separate, etc. However, if no images arise within the first 3 to 5 seconds, he is to switch to another technique. The key to performing this technique is to see an image that appears on its own before your eyes, and not an imagined one. This is not a visualization exercise. It is observation. You need only peer into the void before your eyes. If an image does arise and your aim is to make it sharper and more realistic, then you need to look at it in a defocused way, as if you were looking through it or past it. This will make the image more stable and vivid. It's worth keeping in mind that practitioners are often simply pulled into the image. In that case they're already in the phase and it's not necessary to separate. The Swimmer Technique If the preceding technique didn't work, the practitioner should begin to assertively imagine movement of some sort for 3 to 5 seconds, e.g. swimming, running, arm circles, pedaling, etc. If within 3 to 5 seconds the imagined sensation suddenly becomes (or starts becoming) so realistic that it replaces physical perception, that's a signal to attempt to separate by getting up, rolling out, or levitating. If separation is unsuccessful, you'll need to return to feelings of movement, intensify them, and try again to separate, etc. If no unusual sensations arise with the first 3 to 5 seconds, switch to another technique. As with many other techniques, an enormous role in whether or not the practitioner is successful is played by the desire to feel the requisite sensations no matter what, as if one had become completely absorbed by the image when trying to experience it. Practitioners are often immediately sucked into some place in the phase when performing this technique. In such a case it's not necessary to find a way to separate, as separation has already occurred. Visualizing the Hands If the previous technique didn't work from the very beginning, then the practitioner should intensely imagine for 3 to 5 seconds that he is rubbing his hands together about 2 to 4 inches from his face a bit higher than eye level, while trying to see, feel, and/or hear his hands rubbing together with full realism. If one or more of the expected sensations arises, you should try to separate from your body by starting off from those very sensations, like with the other techniques. If that doesn't work, you should intensify the sensations and try again to separate, etc. If no sensations at all arise over the first 3 to 5 seconds, switch to another technique. 8. Cycling It doesn't matter what order the techniques are in. What matters most is that students select 2 or 3 techniques and just cycle through them upon awakening. As soon as something starts to work, it's time to try to separate and then rush over to the mirror and accomplish one's personal goal. Let's say a practitioner has chosen the techniques of rotation and visualizing the hands. He awakens and tries to separate, without success. He then does the rotation technique. However, since no unusual sensations arise after 5 seconds, he moves on to the visualizing the hands technique by imagining that he's rubbing his hands in front of his closed eyes. After that technique also fails to work, he goes back to the rotation technique and switches from it 5 seconds later as it too yields no results. He once again tries the visualization of the hands technique and after several seconds realizes that he's not simply trying to see them in front of his face, but is actually beholding them as in real life. He immediately tries to separate by starting off from the sensations coming from his phantom hands. Nothing happens. That's when he tries to see his hands more clearly and feel them with greater sensation by scrutinizing them and rubbing them together more intensely. He then gets up from his physical body and immediately goes to the mirror in the hallway, peers at it, and goes on to carry out his personal task, like blasting off to Mars, for example. The idea is to perform at least 4 such cycles of techniques, but do so in under one minute. Since students will stubbornly do a mere 1 or 2 cycles, you'll need to repeatedly underscore that it's necessary to perform no less than 4 cycles, even if no techniques work during any of them. This will substantially improve the overall success rate, as the majority of results come after the first cycle. Naturally, as soon as some technique starts to work, the practitioner should focus on it alone and work with it until he is able to enter the phase. In other words, do not switch from a technique that is working. 9. Falling Back Asleep with an Affirmed Desire If the practitioner realizes after 4 cycles or one minute that nothing is working, the best thing to do is to try to fall back asleep with the desire and self-motivation to subsequently wake up and try again from the beginning. 10. Addendum It's worth mentioning that students will often wake up and then forget what they were supposed to do. In such a situation it's best to do whatever comes to mind. Doing at least something is much better than missing one's chance while trying to remember one's detailed plan of action. Practitioners will also occasionally have awakenings that they subjectively feel were too abrupt and conclude that there's no point in attempting anything. Such subjective feelings are to be ignored - if you've woken up, make an attempt no matter what things may seem. If students awaken to movement all the time, then they might start the indirect method off with cycling techniques instead of an attempt to separate. Sometimes practitioners are bothered by bright sunlight or lots of distracting sounds in the morning. If this is the case, they can put in earplugs and put on a sleep mask after their 6am awakening and then go back to sleep. This will substantially increase the duration and soundness of subsequent sleep. Friday, 8:50pm A 20-minute break is recommended after finishing this module so that people can relax, drink coffee or tea, go to the bathroom, meet other people and socialize, and buy some supplementary educational materials or other products. Day 1: Practicing and Reinforcing New Knowledge Friday, 9:10pm The goal here is to reinforce practical and theoretical knowledge of the indirect method so that students go home with an extremely straightforward and well-tuned plan of action awaiting them that night and the next morning. Practice the Techniques The already briefly-explained techniques of rotation, observing images, swimming, and visualizing the hands need now be practiced so that students know how everything should look in real life. Ask the students to sit down comfortably (or lie down, if possible), relax, close their eyes, and then carry out your instructions as follows: Rotation Ask the students to imagine themselves rotating along their head-to-toe axis, but to the left. Have them turn their eyes to that side too. After a few moments, ask them to try to imagine the vestibular sensation of rotating to the right. Have them turn their eyes to that side without opening them. Emphasize that they are not to try to see anything. They need to create the internal sensation of rotation, first to the left, and, a bit later, to the right. Guide them through it several times and then ask them to do it on their own for a minute or two. While they're busy with that, tell them that anyone who was able to imagine internal rotation and feel the corresponding vestibular sensation should try to accelerate that rotation. If anyone is able to rotate only a quarter of the way or halfway, then he should simply try to rotate all the way around. If nothing at all happens for some people, they should keep trying without getting upset. Observing Images It's preferable that the room be dark when practicing this technique. Ask the students to peer into the void in front of their closed eyes. Tell them to not try to see anything, but to instead fixate on any image that arises. Have them try to keep up an appearing image via a defocused gaze. The students should do most of the practicing of this technique on their own and during periods of silence. Remind them periodically that the goal is to keep up the images and make them more realistic. If they fade away or quickly change, that's a sign that one is focusing on them. If no images appear at all, there's nothing wrong with that since this is just training, and the technique might work during actual practice. The Swimmer Technique Ask people to imagine as vividly and true-to-life as possible that they're swimming. Have them try to feel all the minor details of this movement and absorb themselves in it. Ask them to accelerate the imagined sensation. After half a minute, ask them to imagine with the same intensity that they're running. Next, practice arm circles and pedaling using both the legs and the arms. Then quickly go back through all of the movements, emphasizing speed and the determination to feel them no matter what. Afterwards, ask the students to determine which movement they liked the most and let them practice it on their own for a minute. Visualizing the Hands First ask the students to raise their physical hands a bit higher than their eyes and about 2 to 4 inches away from them. Have them rub their hands together as if trying to warm them in the cold. They are to commit all of these sensations to memory while scrutinizing their hands. They should all then put down their hands, close their eyes, and begin to do the same thing again, but this time in their minds. That means they should imagine that they've once again raised their hands to forehead level, are once again vigorously rubbing their hands together, and are once again scrutinizing them and listening to the sound of them rubbing together. The students are to imagine this action as vividly as possible. Ask them to accelerate the rubbing and scrutinize their imagined hands with increased concentration. Wait a moment, and then ask them to rub even faster. Give them a minute to practice the technique on their own so that they remember what it feels like to perform it. Each technique should be practiced for no longer than 3 or 4 minutes. Now, ask the students about the sensations that arose while performing the technique, and answer any questions that occurred to them while going through the process. Simulated Awakenings At the very end, it's worthwhile to reinforce all the students' newly-acquired knowledge via fully-simulated awakenings. Walk them through it using the words below as a guide: "It's as if you've just awoken at 6 o'clock in the morning, walked around for a bit, and gone back to sleep. Affirm your desire to try not to move when you wake up and to immediately try to leave your body so that you can go to the mirror and carry out your personal plan of action. It's as if you've fallen asleep... You're sleeping... sleeping... sleeping... you suddenly wake up and try no-matter-what to roll out of your body... levitate... get up, without moving a muscle... You weren't successful. Rotation. Try no-matter-what to rotate... It's not working out. The swimmer technique... Make an aggressive effort to feel like you're swimming or making any other motion... No luck. Now, rotation once again... Actively and aggressively try to feel the sensation of rotation right now. It doesn't work. The swimmer technique... Try no-matter-what to feel an imagined swimming stroke... Nothing. Once again rotation... Actively, quickly... it's a no go. The swimmer technique.... That's 4 cycles. It seems as if nothing's worked. You think to yourself, "No big deal," and you decide to go back to sleep and subsequently wake up to try it all again. Next time, you're going to try the observing-images and visualizing-the-hands techniques." In order to best master and conceptualize the techniques, 2 or 3 awakenings should be simulated with the instructor giving a detailed walk-through. The students should do another 2 or 3 simulations completely on their own. During such independent simulations, the instructor should signal both the moment of awakening and when a minute of time has elapsed. Here, the obvious must be stated: what's being simulated are unsuccessful attempts, as if not a single technique were working. During a real-life attempt, one should try to separate using a technique as soon as it starts working. And if it doesn't work at all, one should intensify the sensations derived from that same technique and try once again to separate. You might also end each simulated attempt with a successful phase entrance, as if one of the techniques had worked. Follow it with a separation attempt and an imagined implementation of the plan of action. Examples Using your own personal experience and the accounts of practitioners' experiences provided in the book The Phase, give some examples of phase entries using the indirect method. Try to point out and trace the use of cycling. If somebody in the group already has experience, he may speak briefly about how he was able to enter the phase upon awakening by alternating through various techniques. Wrapping Up the Lesson Friday, 10pm Go through a one-minute rundown of all the main bullet points, starting with practical applications and ending with cycles of techniques. Also make sure to note that if a student becomes lucid during a dream, that's the phase too. He should immediately look for a mirror instead of trying to separate. When performing the techniques, all that you essentially need to achieve is an unusual sensation of any kind - upon awakening, that's always a sign of the phase. Also let them know that all they need to do to have the most amazing humanly-possible experience is to execute the instructions they've been practicing when the moment is right. Everything depends on the students themselves from this point on. The most important thing is for them to simply make attempts. Day 2: Joint Analysis of Attempts and Supplemental Information Saturday, 2pm The entire first half of the Saturday lesson should be spent analyzing the attempts made by each attendee (depending on the group size). The aim is to tally results, point out mistakes, and teach the students to find their own mistakes. Some adjustments to the students' implementation of the techniques and clarifications regarding them will be in order. Joint Analysis Put the group members into pairs (preferably of mixed gender) and have them sit on chairs in front the group one pair at a time. Make one member of each pair the "teacher" and have him ask his partner about her attempts, find all the mistakes and shortcomings in them, and answer any questions that she may have. If the "teacher" can't find a mistake or answer a question, ask the person sharing her own experience to do so. If she is unable to do so, ask the group to help her out. If the group is also unable to help, then as a last resort (and only then) point out the mistake or answer her question yourself. Such an approach forces people to think, which will subsequently improve the quality of their attempts. As soon as the "pupil" has shared her experience, she and the "teacher" switch roles. If the group is so large that it's not possible for everyone to be interviewed, ask for volunteers come up front to be interviewed instead. Get them to go into technique-related details when describing their attempts. This will allow you to more clearly see their mistakes, which are usually simply due to them ignoring critical steps in the procedure. Typical Mistakes 90% of mistakes are repeat mistakes. They are also well-known mistakes. All that you have to do is point the following mistakes out and get your seminar participants to do the same: – Making an attempt while falling back asleep after a 6am awakening instead of falling asleep with an affirmed desire – While falling back asleep after a 6am awakening: forgetting to affirm the desire to take advantage of subsequent awakenings – Not making an attempt upon awakening due to movement or the feeling of having awakened too abruptly – Lack of assertiveness or self-confidence, lack of a "no-matter-what" attitude, or lack of putting one's all into a technique to make it work – Forgetting to separate upon awakening – Unnecessarily switching from a technique that is working – Dragging out a technique that isn't working instead of switching from it after 5 seconds – Failure to even attempt to separate when a technique is working or putting off doing so for too long - Excessive thought during an attempt, which means that you aren’t concentrating – Forgetting or ignoring one's plan of action after separation – Not performing a minimum of 4 cycles of techniques when nothing is working – Performing an attempt for longer than a minute instead of calmly going back to sleep with the desire to take advantage of the next awakening – Upon becoming conscious while dreaming: attempting to return to the body and ignoring the plan of action – Lack of an interesting plan of action and/or lack of motivation – Excessive analysis of the situation and one's actions, instead of focusing on them Typical Problems When making attempts, students will encounter several problems that were not discussed during the first lesson so as to avoid information overload. Going over such issues can substantially improve the success rate by day three (Sunday). Inability to fall back asleep after a 6am awakening. Solution: shorten the first interval of sleep from 6 to 4? or 5 hours; be active and stay awake for a shorter period of time after waking up with an alarm clock. No awakenings occur after 6am. Solution: extend the first interval of sleep from 6 to 7 or 7? hours; be more active and stay awake longer after waking up with an alarm clock, and motive yourself and do a better job affirming your desire when falling back asleep. The techniques don't work and you become completely awake. Solution: put your all into the techniques - try to throw all your sensations into them and don't perform the techniques just "for the sake of appearances"; instead of performing the techniques with aggressiveness and forcefulness, relax and even perform them as if you were falling asleep to them, which will in any case get them to work; less analysis and more concentration on your actions, and more confidence that everything is going to work right there and then. Falling asleep to techniques Solution: more assertiveness and energy; more focus on actions; switch more frequently from techniques that don't work; try to separate earlier upon the first signs that a technique is working, and sleep longer before awakenings accompanied by attempts. Techniques work, but poorly. Solution: instead of assertiveness and forcefulness, relax and even perform the techniques as if you were falling asleep to them; divert to passive techniques like observing images and then return to the poorly working technique, and focus more on the sensations you get and "immersing" yourself in them. Unable to separate when a technique is working Solution: simply get up using your perceived body without thinking about the ins and outs of it; separate starting off from the sensations you're getting from the techniques; imagine yourself already separated and in the middle of the room - the sensations of doing so will spill over into your imagination; immediately use translocation techniques and concentrate on where you want to go. Partial separation Solution: separate all the way no matter what, as if you were crawling out of yourself. Meanwhile, success at freeing yourself from your body is directly proportional to how hard you push and how much of a fight you put up. Unrecognized success (no body in your bed, like in a dream) Solution: you cannot determine if you are in the phase by checking whether or not your body is in your bed - it doesn't necessarily have to be there after separation; the phase is when there's consciousness and awareness that you are outside of your physical body - that's why there's no sense in paying any attention to inconsistencies in your environment. Weak sensations, being only half aware, and staying in the phase only briefly Solution: deepen and maintain the phase, which is just what you'll discuss with the students on Saturday. Tallying Results To let everyone see the results so far, briefly survey the group at the end of the module by asking questions and counting the number of hands that go up. You should record the answers in a logbook of statistics. If you want, you can also write them on the whiteboard for everyone to see. Questions: – Who realized that they were dreaming right in the middle of a dream last night or this morning? – Who woke up and was immediately able to separate without using techniques? – Who was able to separate by rotating? – Who was able to enter the phase by observing images? – Who was able to enter the phase using the swimmer technique? – Who was able to enter the phase using the visualizing-the-hands technique? – Who had some other techniques work for them? – Who had something happen to them, but didn't understand what it was? (ask follow-up questions) – Who completed at least one task on the plan of action? – Who didn't make even a single attempt? You should aim to have at least one in three students get results on the first night and/or following morning - counting only those who made attempts. Sometimes more than half the group is able to get results immediately after the first session. Saturday, 4pm After tallying the results, announce the program for the second half of the session (deepening the phase, maintaining it, and obtaining information) and send the group off for a twenty-minute break. Day 2: Deepening, Maintaining, and Other Skills Saturday, 4:20pm Many who have gotten results will be left with the feeling that their sensations were not as realistic as promised. This is a result of insufficient awareness of how to deepen the phase. Many will also have problems with the duration of their experience - it will be too brief. The solution lies in techniques for maintaining the phase. Deepening via Sensory Amplification The more a practitioner intensifies his sensations in the phase, the deeper and more vivid his experience there will be. One should therefore quickly and intensively touch and palpate everything while carrying out one's plan of action, including one's own body. To sharpen your vision, you need to briefly focus on the minute details of objects at a close distance of 2 to 6 inches. You might scrutinize the lines on your hands, the pattern of your wallpaper, etc. As soon as you can see an object sharply, switch your focus to another one. This is the simplest way to make sensations in the phase realistic. It's extremely important to deepen each time one is in the phase. Deepening allows one to not only intensify sensations, but also to become fully aware, which is especially important in becoming conscious while dreaming. Resisting a Return to the Body As soon as a practitioner starts to feel that his sensations are on the wane and that he'll soon turn up in his physical body, he should resort to sensory amplification as is described in the paragraph on deepening above. Sensory amplification can also be performed throughout one's entire stay in the phase. Resisting Falling Asleep To avoid falling asleep in the phase, you'll need to always be cognizant that falling asleep is a real possibility and pay close attention how you act, trying not to deviate from your predetermined plan of action. It's also important to be an observer and not get caught up in scenes that you'll encounter along the way, as they'll often cause you to lose control and subsequently fall back asleep. Resisting False Awakenings It will often seem to the practitioner that the phase has ended when what actually happened was a false return to the body (a foul). In order to take advantage of such occurrences, do reality checks after each return to the body. The easiest but by no means foolproof reality check is to pinch your nose and try to breathe out through it. If you're able to do so, that means you're in the phase. An even better way is to scrutinize a small point on something from a distance of 2 to 6 inches for 10 to 15 seconds. If you're in waking life everything will remain stable, but if you're in the phase something will start happening either to the point you're staring at or the space around it. Something also might start going on with your sensory perceptions. Rules for Maintaining Rule number one: be active. You need to always be doing something in the phase. Stand in place and the phase will practically always end in a few seconds. Rule number two: you should always have a predetermined plan of action comprising at least two interesting actions. Adhering to this rule will substantially prolong your phase and allow you to continually develop. Rule number three: make a mandatory attempt at secondary separation upon returning to your body from the phase. Students should realize that an average phase experience consists not of a single entry and exit from the state, but of multiple ones. If you are unable to simply separate, you'll need to use technique cycling as is done upon awakening. Even if that doesn't work, you should still do a reality check, since you might still be in the phase after all. Translocation and Finding Objects in the Phase Some newly-practicing students might wonder how to translocate in the phase and find objects in it. The easiest and quickest way to translocate is to concentrate on the thought that you will separate and find yourself immediately in the place you need to be. You may also think to yourself that the object you need will be next to you, like a person for example. Upon separation, that person will be right there. You can use the door method: go up to a closed door and concentrate on the desire to see the place or person you need behind it. You can also simply close your eyes and concentrate on the place or person you need. You'll then feel a sensation of flight and find yourself thrown into the desired location or brought to the man or woman you're looking for. Creating Vision in the Phase In the phase, vision is usually there right from the start. If it isn't, it should arise during the process of deepening/palpation. If deepening/palpation does not create vision, then you'll need to bring your hands or any other object up close to your eyes and try to scrutinize without opening your eyes - as if you were in a pitch black room. Your vision will usually come to you right then and there. Day 2: Obtaining Information Saturday, 5pm The goal of this module is to provide a detailed description of methods for obtaining information using the phase state. This is the phenomenon's most exciting field of application and one that practically everyone finds interesting. Covering this topic on day two will allow you to further motivate the students to make attempts on yet another night. How is it possible? The most important thing to cover under this topic is that obtaining information from the phase is possible, regardless of what the explanation for the phenomenon itself is. Mystics and the esoterically-minded point to information fields, the actual physical exit of the soul from the body, and akashic records. Pragmatics see an explanation in the enormous resources of the subconscious mind that we have access to in the phase. What kind of information can be obtained? Your task is to teach practical things. With that in mind, it wouldn't be right for you to tell people that they can find out whatever they want from the phase, even if that is your personal belief. Nobody has ever proven that this is the case. The roughest estimate of the upper boundary of the amount of information that can be accessed in the phase is 1,000 times what the waking mind “knows”. This estimate is perhaps far too pessimistic. Meanwhile, the information accessible in the phase relates to us in one way or another: it relates to us personally, to our friends and family, our job, our hobbies, and our environment, which is exactly the information that will be useful in real life. How to Obtain the Information There are three primary techniques for obtaining information used by novices: Animate Objects These include people, animals, and other beings in the phase who you can simply talk to and obtain information from in that way. It's preferable that such objects somehow relate to the information you are to obtain. Inanimate Objects These include books, notes, televisions, radios, computers, signs, captions, symbols, etc. For example, you can look for a book on a given topic while in the phase and then look through it and read it. The Episode Technique Here the phaser goes to a place associated with the information he needs and simply takes it all in through his eyes. For example, say a phaser has lost his real-world car keys. He would concentrate on them in the phase and be translocated to a place where he could have lost them. How to Verify Information The whole difficulty here lies in the fact that while the techniques for obtaining information themselves are quite simple, the information obtained is easily distorted by erratic interference from the human mind. It's therefore necessary to know ways to verify the trustworthiness of information. For example, you can immediately ask a control question when speaking with an object like, "What's my name?" or, "How much is two times two?" If the object is unable to correctly answer even questions like this, you'll need to change your approach. After finding out what you came for, you can also ask a follow-up question like, "Why is that the case?" or, "How do you prove it?" Either way, you should verify any information obtained in the phase in real life before acting on it. There's no guarantee that it will be accurate, even if the objects have passed every test. How to Increase Accuracy There are a number of ways to increase the accuracy of information you obtain. First, start off from the simplest things, and then gradually transition to more complicated ones. Second, the information to be obtained should be as specific as possible (e.g. "How can I increase sales at work?") and not general and vague (e.g. "What's the meaning of life?"). Third, the information should be obtained in a passing manner that is offhanded, detached, indifferent, and deadpan - as if the information were not important. Examples Give some examples of information obtained in the phase either from your own experience or the practitioner accounts in the book The Phase. You can also find a number of illustrative examples on our internet forums and websites. Wrapping Up the Lesson Saturday, 5:45pm If you have the time and desire to do so, you can practice some simulated attempts with the group so that they will better remember the procedure. This should be done in the same way as it was at the end of the Friday session. Also recommend that they practice the techniques more both at home and throughout the day, but never before going to bed. The better the techniques work while practicing, the better they will work upon awakening. Let the students know that on Sunday you will be requiring not only an entrance into the phase and completion of their plans of action, but also phase-control techniques like deepening via sensory amplification and secondary separation from the body. Those who have already accomplished the first item on the group plan of action (finding a mirror in the phase) may go on to task number two, which is simple but mind-expanding experience: eating something in the phase. Pay close attention to group morale regarding the prospect of making attempts on yet another night and morning. People usually start to tire and have difficulty concentrating before yet another set of attempts. This often results in the success rate for the second night being substantially lower than that of the first night - sometimes by several fold. To keep that from happening, try to get the students enthusiastically motivated to make more attempts. Day 3: Joint Analysis of Attempts and Supplemental Information Sunday, 2pm See Day Two. Joint Analysis of Attempts and Supplemental Information. The joint analysis on day three goes basically the same way it did on day two, with the only difference being that you will now be asking more about sensory amplification, maintaining, and mandatory secondary separation from the body. You should also be more demanding when it comes to the thoroughness of the analysis since all the attendees should already know the basics and have discussed various individual problems. If you would like, you may also add in more in-depth information or a new set of techniques. Sunday, 4pm After finishing the in-depth analysis and announcing the topics for the second half of the day (the direct method and self-healing), let the group take a twenty-minute break. Day 3: The Direct Method Sunday, 4:20pm Discussion of the direct method should start with stating that it should only be attempted after mastering the indirect method. It often seems to people that the direct method is better suited to them, and they're nearly always wrong. 1. Introduction to the Direct Method The direct method for phase entry comprises techniques performed without prior sleep or after being awake for a substantial length of time. Although this class of techniques is the hardest to master, out-of-body experiences can be achieved in at least 50% of attempts when practiced correctly. 2. When to Make Attempts It's best to start one's practice of the direct method from the deferred method for direct techniques. In this case one needs to wake up (preferably after 6 or 7 hours of sleep), get up and go do something for several minutes, and then lie back down in bed and immediately make an attempt to enter the phase without first falling asleep to catch a subsequent awakening (as is done with the indirect method). The second most effective window of time for practicing the direct method is before falling asleep for the night. Once you're able to get the direct method to work both using the deferred method and before going to bed for the night, you're ready to try it at any time of the day. 3. Body Position While there is no fixed body position for practicing the phase due to the uniqueness of each person and situation, there is a principle for selecting which position to assume. For example, if a practitioner knows that he might quickly fall asleep while performing a technique, he ought to lie down in a position that is uncomfortable to sleep in. If a practitioner is wide awake and his mind alert, then he's better off lying in the most comfortable sleeping position possible. One may change positions over the course of the process. 4. Frequency of Use Direct techniques may be attempted 3 times a week at most, but no more than once a day. This limit may be exceeded only if one's attempts are successful the majority of the time. A single attempt should not exceed 20 minutes. If one gets no results within this period of time, it's best to just go to sleep. Otherwise, one risks developing a case of insomnia. 5. General Rules First, performing the direct techniques is to be enjoyable. The practitioner should derive pleasure and enthrallment from the very act of performing the actions instead of irritably and impatiently waiting for results. Second, the direct techniques must be performed with deep-seated desire to get results, and yet this yearning must stay well below the surface - one should keep a poker face and feel emotionally indifferent to the outcome. One's approach shouldn't be obsessive. There should not be a sense of exaggerated importance. Just the opposite is called for - the practitioner should be completely indifferent to the outcome, thinking, for example, "If it works, great. If not, no big deal." 6. The Techniques The indirect method and direct method do not differ in terms of techniques. The role of the techniques is of secondary importance in this case, and it doesn't make that big a difference which ones are chosen. Options include rotation, observing images, the swimmer technique, the technique of visualizing the hands, and any other technique. Although the techniques might work from beginning to end, that doesn't mean much with the direct method, unlike with the indirect method. If the practitioner feels that he might fall asleep, then he should switch techniques every few minutes, or even more frequently. If he is wide awake and his mind is clear, then he's better off selecting one technique he finds interesting and performing it for the entire 15 minutes. 7. The Free-Floating State of Mind This is the most important ingredient for success with the direct method. Achieving nothing more than it alone can bring you into the phase. You should draw the depicted free-floating state of mind diagram on the board and explain using examples how the aim of the direct techniques is to achieve microsleep (a brief lapse in consciousness) which is followed by the phase if the microsleep is of the right depth. For example, a practitioner might lie in a comfortable position despite being sleepy, start doing some technique, and fall asleep within several seconds. Another might lie uncomfortably on his back and begin energetically trying to enter the phase using some technique. His mind would be "on" for the entire 15 minutes, and he would be waiting for a result the whole time, hoping for a dramatic transition into the phase. Actually, he's headed for a dead end, as he'll be lying down wide awake the whole time. Meanwhile, an example of the right way to perform it would be a sleepy practitioner intent on entering the phase lying uncomfortably while thinking about something else and starting to do some technique. His awareness gradually fades, but he suddenly comes to and realizes that the phase isn't there yet. He then strives to temporarily "zone out" into a still deeper state. He concentrates on monotonously performing a technique. His consciousness submerges deeper and deeper, but after some time he comes back to. Though a number of unusual sensations make themselves felt, the phase is not yet there. He then starts to do a technique that distracts him and gradually powers down his conscious awareness. After submerging even deeper into unconsciousness, he abruptly comes to and feels the phase. He realizes that he will be able to separate. This is usually immediately clear. He separates and carries out his plan of action. It should be made clear to students that it is practically impossible to both control the direct techniques and remain fully conscious without interruption. Indeed, temporarily "zoning out" is what creates the necessary physiological transition. Although sometimes this is less important with the deferred method for direct techniques, it nearly always holds true for attempts made before going to bed for the night and during the day. Examples Using your own personal experience and the experiences of practitioners provided in the book The Phase, give some examples of phase entries using the direct method. Try to point out evidence of lapses in consciousness before phase entry. Ask the students in the group about their lapses in consciousness and subsequent phase entries. It's almost guaranteed that someone will have had a spontaneous encounter with this phenomenon - but thought nothing of it at the time. Day 3: Influencing the Physiology Sunday, 5:10pm Self-healing is a topic that affects everyone in one way or another. That's why influencing the physiology using the phase must be covered separately and in-depth at the seminar. To put it briefly, the theoretical explanation of the ability to affect the body from within the phase lies in the fact that the body reacts to many stimuli experienced in the phase as if they were real. You should point out that nearly all forms of self-healing have yet to undergo experimental research. Self-healing in the phase may therefore only be employed as a supplementary measure (especially when it comes to serious cases), even though it may bring quick and clear results in many cases. Obtaining Information The methods for obtaining information discussed on Saturday are also applicable to self-healing. All you need to do is focus your efforts in the phase on diagnosing the health concern and finding ways to treat it both in real life and in the phase. For example, you might ask a doctor in the phase how to treat one ailment or another. Seeing a Doctor If a practitioner doesn't know how he can help himself using the phase, he might find a doctor or healer there and ask the latter to help him solve his problem right then and there. The doctor might start giving a massage or administering an injection. He may even perform an operation. Taking Medicine In the phase, you can take either existing medicines or specially-created remedies with special properties. Meanwhile, what's most important is not merely taking the medicines or remedies, but rather feeling the required effect right then and there. Doing will have aftereffects in real life. Auto-Suggestion A person in the phase is in the most radically altered state of consciousness that can be achieved while still retaining conscious awareness. That's why all forms of auto-suggestion and self-hypnosis have a greater influence and effect in the phase. Psychology This application of phase states has already been recognized by science. The phase space can be used as a place to face one's fears and thereby get over real-life phobias. It can also be used as a way to the re-experience negative events of the past with a more accepting attitude, which can remedy a number of physical and psychological complaints. Day 3: Concluding the Seminar Sunday, 5:40pm Concluding the seminar in the right way will improve the general impression students walk away with and increase the quality of their personal practices. It will also keep them interested in your projects and help with enrollment for the next seminar. It is important to mention that the students should wait until the next weekend to make attempts on their own, and that they shouldn't make attempts more than 3 days per week. To practice on their own, students may use the book The Phase, our and your internet forums, websites, social-network groups, video-clips and video-seminars, products and services that you may offer, annual summertime phase practitioner conventions, etc. Also provide them with contact information they can reach you at for support and questions. Part 1. Training Session Formats A detailed description of the primary forms of in-person and remote instruction for individuals, groups, and large crowds The School of Out-of-Body Travel Independent Operations This book was written with the aim of producing geographically-diverse independent instructors who work on their own to take new approaches in furthering the field of out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming. Anyone may freely use these instructions as he sees fit without any strings attached. Giving due credit to this book and citing it as a source is advisable, especially as doing so can increase confidence in the quality of your instruction. However, this remains up to the instructor and his conscious. School of Out-of-Body Travel Branches An instructor meeting certain criteria may be placed on the official list of branches of the School of Out-of-Body Travel. He will however maintain full financial and legal independence. This will allow him to be on a team of other independent practitioners who are constantly making advances in the field while sharing their expertise, launching joint projects, and helping one another to the best of their abilities. Being one of the School's instructors means a certain stamp of quality for the audience and attests to one's real skill in teaching people phase states. Being mentioned on websites under sections for various cities and regions will also bring you an additional stream of students, as will being featured on various lists and ratings of instructors. All the while, the instructor is acting on his own when organizing and holding various educational events. The only thing bringing the School together is the desire of experienced practitioners to take part in the wider movement. Besides holding a seminar in one's capacity as a branch, other forms of cooperation are possible. For example, the School and Research Center are often asked to help find an instructor who could hold a seminar for an already-formed group. A database of vetted instructors is consulted in such cases. There are often interview requests from various media organizations that have to be turned down due to geographical distance. Such requests could be met by new instructors in various cities. Instructors may also take part in a diverse array of other commercial and research projects, be they in-person or over the Internet. While branches of the School of Out-of-Body Travel are completely independent of one another, they do join efforts for the following aims: - to promote actual, real-life practice, and not theorizing or fraud - to ensure the spread of solid, practical information - to bring together people interested in the phenomenon from all over the world - to pool efforts to promote the practice of phase states for everyone's benefit - to collect comprehensive statistics for research on the phenomenon. Requirements for School of Out-of-Body Travel Branches Since participating as a branch of the School of Out-of-Body Travel serves as a kind of seal of quality in its own right and does not involve dues or any other financial obligations, several strict requirements are put forward: - the instructor should be able to deliberately enter the phase at least twice a week (spontaneous experiences and becoming conscious while dreaming do not count) - the instructor should remain neutral regarding theories on the nature of the phase when teaching - the instructor should follow the instructions developed by the School when teaching - conformity of terminology If a person meets these requirements and can prove it, then nothing will stop him from opening his own branch of the School. Applications to open a branch office are to be sent to obe4u@obe4u.com. Legal and Financial Considerations Form of Legal Organization After holding some trial seminars, the instructor should look into the legal standing of such events and thus steer clear of the gray economy and tax evasion. Although few authorities are likely to take interest in someone just starting out who has not yet had a chance to inform them of his activities, it's best to comply with any requirement to do so. Keeping everything compliant with applicable regulations will save you a lot of headaches and stress in the long run, especially if you make it big in the field. Newly-minted instructors who are late with paperwork for one reason or another often treat any incoming funds as voluntary donations. The issue of incorporation is one for the instructor and/or organizer to work out on his/their own. Due to the fact that laws and business-registration procedures vary from place to place, it is not feasible to provide any specific advice in that department here. In order to follow all the rules and avoid mistakes and problems with the government from the very outset, it's recommended that one consult legal advisors who can explain what to do, how to do it, and in what order to do it. Relationship with the School of Out-of-Body Travel Even if your activities fall under those of a branch of the School of Out-of-Body Travel, this entails no actual legal or financial relationship between you and the School. Seminar instructors and organizers act independently of the School on all such matters. The School of Out-of-Body Travel is an informal association of entities interested in promoting the topics of out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming in society, as well as teaching methods that truly work. It goes without saying that there are no contracts or monetary exchanges of any kind within the association. Contracts might be signed and money exchanged for certain limited projects, but not as part of the general functioning of the group. This approach allows for the acceleration and simplification of the process of disseminating knowledge. Meanwhile, decentralization makes the system more robust and less vulnerable. Disclaimer Choosing to act on any of the information presented in this book upon reading it is up to the personal discretion of the reader. As the author is unable to personally supervise everyone's implementation of the methodologies discussed herein, he bears no responsibility for how successfully they are adhered to. This especially applies for those operating outside of the School of Out-of-Body Travel. If view of the foregoing, all liability for any adverse situations (including legal and financial ones) lies solely with the instructor and/or organizer implementing the educational methods and modes laid out in this book. No conflicts are to be brought forward to the author, as being fully independent means being fully responsible. If a minor wishes to attend a training session, it's preferable to obtain the written permission of both his parents. This avoids serious problems if one of them turns out to have an objection. Without knowing much about the phenomenon, many immediately and stubbornly associate it with fraudsters and cult leaders. This is something to be always ready for. How Much You Can Earn One of the aims in creating these instructions was to financially motivate people to spread knowledge of the phase. It's therefore worth mentioning what the financial prospects are in doing so. The instructor should be able to make at least half the (if not the entire) average local monthly salary, and that's even if he only does a couple of things right in getting an audience together. Whether he sees it as his main line of work or as just a side job, half the average local monthly salary is the minimum he needs to make to be taken seriously as an instructor. The extremely high income upper boundary can be considered a big plus of being in this business. Depending on the format of the seminar and kind of audience, people routinely make twice and three times the average local salary. Meanwhile, holding well-organized events over the course of even a few weeks can net an organizer the average person's annual income, a nice new car, and sometimes much more. And this is for hard work that benefits society, and not snake oil or pyramid schemes. Everything depends solely on you and your desires, goals, and ambitions. With a correct approach, the potential of the phase is enormous - everyone can find something exciting in it. Sooner or later it will be the world's most popular practice and an everyday phenomenon. This means that everyone is a potential student, and there are 7 billion people on this planet. In some cases instructors will suffer setbacks, and their seminars will barely stay "in the black". This is always a result of mistakes when promoting the event, a certain element of laziness, or not being motivated to do a good job in the first place. Many new instructors and organizers are under the impression that people will materialize out of thin air to fill huge auditoriums. They forget that large audiences require hard work, creativity, time, and energy. No less than 80% of turnout depends on the work you put in to it. You cannot but succeed if you intensively promote your services. Bringing in a Wider Audience To get the most from teaching out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming, you'll need to try to differentiate your teaching formats as much as possible. This allows you to bring in more attendees, which means better financial results. While holding seminars, you shouldn't forget about one-on-one lessons, creating your own teaching materials, and distance learning. Moreover, it makes no sense at all to stick to your hometown, especially if there are not that many people in it. Expand your horizons as much as possible. Be sure to include nearby cities and towns within your geographical reach. Consider each of your country's metropolitan areas with more than a million people as a potential market. Other countries are not only potential retreat seminar venues: you can also work with people and organizations abroad who are interested in holding seminars in their towns. To get the most out of teaching out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming, you might introduce a stage-based system. For example, large one-time lectures for novices can be considered stage one. Three-day seminars meant for obtaining initial and intermediate-level experiences can be stage two. Meanwhile, a third stage may be created for more advanced practitioners that features a more sophisticated version of the three-day seminar, immersion sessions, and regular lessons. A good piece of advice for expanding your audience is to keep good statistics on how people found out about your services. Whenever you get a new student, ask him how, where, and from whom he found out about you. Write down his answer so that you can later tally the results and determine the most effective source of referrals and invest more effort in it. Keeping such statistics might also reveal that some sources of referrals are coming up short: they ought to be bringing results, but for some reason are not. The Instructor and the Organizer The instructor may assume responsibility for all issues related to organizing training sessions. This especially makes sense when trying keep startup costs down. Otherwise, the instructor can hire others to enroll people and organize training sessions. It's also possible that you yourself might be only the organizer and busy yourself with enrolling attendees and setting up educational events. You might hire someone else to use the methodologies in this book to do the actual teaching or invite an experienced instructor to fly in - you may find the contact information for such instructors on the School's website. The Instructor and the Promoter The instructor may ease the burden of responsibility for enrolling people by working with a promoter or a recruiter. For example, you might make a deal with personable, experienced people where they get a certain commission for each person they bring in (it might be from 15 to 50 percent). This will give them maximum incentive to find attendees. If everything goes well the first time, you can keep working together and expand your joint operations while deriving benefit from the division of labor and areas of responsibility. Upfront Investment Depending on your personal desire, free time, and means, your out-of-body travel and lucid-dreaming educational venture can be launched either without any initial investment or can start out with unlimited resources. For example, even a classic three-day seminar can be held without investing a penny upfront. It's quite easy to do so, especially if you have good communication skills. You can usually make a deal with the landlord to pay only after the first day of the seminar, since by then you should have some working capital. You can get a group together using your efforts alone, including: promoting it online, putting up fliers around town, and telling all your friends and acquaintances about it. Even in a small town, you can put together a large group after a month of hitting the pavement every day. You can also handle all issues related to registering, paying for (e.g. collecting donations), and organizing the seminar all on your own. Alternatively, you can pay upfront for the conference room, outdoor and online advertising, a secretary to answer phone calls, and even pay in advance for the instructor's fee, travel expenses, and lodging. Such an approach can obviously create cash-flow challenges, though it will save much time and energy. In life, you often need to try find a balance between what you can do yourself and what you're better off paying for. Either way, big-ticket expenses for such events are a symptom of an unsound system that is bound to come crashing down sooner or later. Pricing The organizer himself should determine what the price or suggested donation for his products or services should be. Find out what amounts are realistic and commonplace from the competition or other people who work in similar fields. Pricing also greatly depends on the training format. For example, admission to a large-scale event with several hundred participants might run from 3 to 10% the average local monthly income, while one-on-one lessons (especially for an entire course) might cost anywhere from one-third to one-hundred times the average monthly salary. The affluent might pay whatever amount asked for your opening the door to life in two worlds, which is indeed what the practice of the phase is. You can come to a separate agreement with each VIP client. Since pricing falls squarely on the business side of things, you need to approach it like you're running a business. For example, you might offer a discount to people who do group-buys of tickets, as well as use other well-known pricing and event-promotion incentives. Considering the nature and uniqueness of the methods on offer and the fact that this is indeed to the only attainable "superpower", the organizer should feel free to play with the pricing until he finds the ideal solution. The price or suggested donation should be sufficiently elastic. For example, sometimes doubling the price doesn't cut attendance in half, but instead has a negligible impact on turnout. Perhaps paradoxically, advertising low prices does not necessarily lead to people being more willing to buy tickets to seminars. Low prices might put them on guard, especially if similar kinds of training sessions in other fields cost substantially more. There is also the paradox of perceived value, which means that high prices often don't put people off, but attract them instead. Explanations for this phenomenon include people attributing increased importance to the event due to the increased expense, thinking, "It's expensive - that means it must work and that everybody needs it. I am going to carefully follow all the instructions." Meanwhile, don't forget that you're putting your own money at risk when fiddling with the pricing: you'll still have to pay for the auditorium, advertising, and the work of the instructor if you're only performing the role of the organizer. Discounts and Free Admission It's recommended that one accommodate those who are for one reason or another unable to pay full price for out-of-body travel and lucid-dreaming products and services. These aren't simply techniques - they're a path to self-actualization, which is something that cannot go hand-in-hand with "heartless capitalism". This especially applies when it comes to certain groups of people: high school and university students, people unable to work due to disability, retirees, and repeat customers attending your training sessions over and over again. It's sensible to offer or agree to give them substantial discounts or take them on free-of-charge. Youth and the otherwise able-bodied who would like discounts or free training might be offered the chance to work off their tuition. They might be tasked with putting up fliers or promoting the event online. People will usually happily agree to such an arrangement if they have no other way of paying. You might also waive the admission fee for anyone who brings two or more "payers" along with him. That way he'll get what he wants and you'll come out ahead. One-Time Lessons Description One-time lectures are 1 to 4 hour events in the form of either commercial undertakings or free introductory lessons that aim to recruit groups of paying students. This type of training session is suitable not only for small groups (or even just a single student), but also for thousands of people in enormous auditoriums. This kind of training session may be used to popularize your services at various personal development centers, esoteric bookstores, and even schools and universities for the public at large. This is more an introduction to the phenomenon than instruction in it, and therefore the audience will be much wider than usual. It's best to hold such sessions on Friday evening or during the day on weekends. How often you hold the lessons depends on the size of the groups. If the group size is small (i.e. up to 50 people), you might hold sessions on a monthly basis in small cities and on a weekly basis in large ones. However, it's not worth it to gather hundreds of attendees together more frequently than once every few months, even in cities of over a million people. Since for the majority of attendees it will be only a one-day session, there's no way to track the success rate or really teach anything in full. The only person who can force an attendee to sit down and learn or find out more about the subject is the attendee himself. Therefore, the main task of the instructor is not so much to impart methods for mastering out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming as it is to motivate people to take up its practice. It goes without saying that the public will demand the revelation of the most basic methods, but that should not be your main focus. It's best to spend the majority of your time inspiring and astounding people, as well as opening their eyes to the possibility of living in two worlds and how they can apply it in various areas of their everyday lives. Success Rate Although these kinds of events can be quite interesting and arouse public curiosity, the intensiveness of training at one-time lectures is minimal since they are of more of an introduction to the phenomenon. They are to be considered a success if at least half the audience decides to simply attempt what they had been told about. Unless you're giving a free lecture to popularize the phenomenon or advertise a paid seminar, quite impressive sums are to be had giving talks to large groups, even if the cost of admission is relatively low and even after large expenses such as advertising, auditorium rental, and paying helpers (who are indispensable in case of audiences of 50 or more) are factored in. Let's do the math: if you're able to bring in 500 people at an admission price of 5% the average local monthly income, you'll gross 25 times the latter figure. If even half that amount is spent on expenses and taxes, the net profit for one day's work as an instructor will still amount to the yearly earnings for the man-in-the-street in that town. Meanwhile, 500 people will become potential practitioners, and many thousands more will learn about the phenomenon second-hand. As you can see, it's worth a gamble - the risk of investing in the venture is justifiable. Advantages - Opportunity to reach a large audience - The short time-frame of the event - Opportunity to sell a large amount of educational material - Opportunity to enroll students for other kinds of training sessions - Moderate to high profitability - Windfall potential Disadvantages - High financial risk with mass events - The instructor almost has to be a good public entertainer - The instructor has to be good at working with crowds - Motley audiences (novices mixed in with experienced practitioners) -Nearly no practical training is given Format To a certain extent, teaching out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming always involves putting on a show, and giving one-time lectures means putting on a show with elements of practical training. That's the main thing that the instructor has to master. There's no sense in going into the technique-related details of methods for mastering the phase here. The main thing to worry about is keeping the audience in a good mood and holding its interest. Module No.1: Introduction: General theory and motivation Module No. 10: Practical applications (the most interesting items) - Break Module No. 2: The indirect method (only indispensable key points) Three-Day Seminars Description Besides being a classic, the three-day seminar is also the most well-honed training format. With success occurring for 50 to 80% of the group within only 48 hours, it allows you to achieve the most pronounced results within the shortest period of time. Fast results and effectiveness make recruitment for this out-of-body experience and lucid-dreaming training format a breeze. Meanwhile, the training sessions themselves are easy and fun to conduct. The three-day seminar is therefore the most recommended training format. In order to allow personal contact with each attendee, the optimal group size is between 30 and 40 people, though these are by no means upper or lower limits. The best time to hold a three-day seminar is to have Day 1 on Friday from 7pm to 10pm and Days 2 and 3 on Saturday and Sunday from 2pm to 6pm. Depending on the size of the groups and the city itself, you might hold such seminars at least once every four to six weeks. If need be, the information given to students over 3 days of lessons can be compressed into 2 days. This might be necessary at certain retreat seminars or when working together with other organizations that are unable to provide you with more time for one reason or another. There is also a more advanced, hybrid version of the three-day seminar that involves full immersion: at the end of the agendas for Days 2 and 3, add in a break and then tack on an hour's worth of practice of the indirect techniques (Day 2) and direct techniques (Day 3). As a result, all three days of lessons will conclude with real practice, which should be performed with the students lying down and listening to soft background music. The room you're in should allow for this. Success Rate The three-day seminar has one of the highest success rates, which can exceed even eighty percent. There are known cases of instructors achieving a 100% rate of success with groups of five to ten people. Sometimes even over 50% of the group enters the phase at least once between days one and two. The three-day seminar is also optimal from a financial point of view. This is mainly due to the fact that people are ready to pay well for it because they often get all of the information and full-fledged practice that they need there. For example, at an admission price of 20% the local average monthly income and a group size of 30, the seminar will gross 6 months of the local average salary, of which four months will be net profit depending on the tax rate as well as premises rental and advertising expenses, if any. That means that a month spent passively enrolling people and three days of active work will net more than the average quarterly pay in the region. Meanwhile, the price of admission might just be at least 30% the average local monthly income and the group size at least 50. Thus, you might earn your yearly living expenses or enough to buy a new car by simply doing a good job at enrollment. Not bad for motivation to popularize out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming, is it? Advantages - Practical training given - The most well-developed training format - Moderate to high return on investment - Low startup costs Disadvantages - Instructor must be well-versed in the practice and be a good analyst - Cannot be held too often in the same city - People must be kept in a state of maximum motivation to make attempts throughout all three days Format Day 1: Module No. 1: Introduction: General theory and motivation Module No. 2: The indirect method (theoretical background) - Break Module No. 2: The indirect method (practice and simulation) Day 2: Module No. 11: Analysis - Break Module No. 6: Deepening the state Module No. 7: Maintaining the state Module No. 9: Translocation and finding objects Module No. 10: Practical application (obtaining information) Day 3: Module No. 11: Analysis - Break Module No. 3 The direct method Module No. 10: Practical application (self-healing) Two-Day Seminars with Immersion Description Two-day seminars with immersion are the most intensive form of training. They offer the largest amount of practice, simulation, and attempts to enter the phase immediately during the seminar itself. Full immersion is the most difficult form of training, though it can attract a certain kind of crowd - one that wants to obtain as much practice as possible and is willing to pay for it. It's not worth recruiting really large groups for this form of training, as doing so can cause great difficulty. In particular, large groups make it difficult to maintain the silence necessary to simulate attempts and make real ones. It's best to have no more than 20 to a group and hold lessons on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm. In some cases this seminar format can be modified by introducing uninterrupted training over the course of two days and the nights in-between and following them. In this case, the instructor is able to provide advice regarding nighttime and morning practice. Success Rate This form of training can yield a high rate of success if comfortable conditions can be ensured for attempts made during the lessons. Such full immersion in the phenomenon greatly increases motivation to take up its practice and the overall desire to carry everything out. As sessions involving immersion entail more effort on the part of the instructor, more practice, and greater intensity of practical and theoretical instruction, they can command substantially higher admission fees than other training formats, and accordingly, substantially higher return-on-investment. For example, the price of admission might be at least 30% the local average monthly income, which would allow you to obtain net profit in the amount of two months of the local average salary with a group of only 10 people. Advantages - Practical training given - Large amount of practice and simulation of the techniques - Attempts to enter the phase during the training session - Moderate to high return on investment - Low startup costs Disadvantages - Instructor must be well-versed in the practice and be a good analyst - Enormous amount of effort required on the part of the instructor - Conditions conducive to making attempts must be ensured - People must be kept in a state of maximum motivation to make attempts throughout two whole days Format Day 1: Module No. 1: Introduction: General theory and motivation Module No. 2: The indirect method (theoretical background) - Break Module No. 2: The indirect method (practice and simulation) - Break Module No. 10: Practical application (obtaining information) - Meal break - Sleep and indirect attempts to enter the phase Module No. 11: Analysis Module No. 6: Deepening the state Module No. 7: Maintaining the state Module No. 5: Non-autonomous methods Day 2: Module No. 11: Analysis - Break Module No. 8: Primary skills Module No. 3 The direct method (theoretical background) - Break Module No. 3 The direct method (practice and simulation) Module No. 10: Practical application (self-healing) - Meal break - Sleep and indirect attempts to enter the phase Module No. 11: Analysis Module No. 9: Translocation and finding objects Module No. 4: Becoming conscious while dreaming Regular Lessons Description Regular lessons are a training-session format that implies a long-term relationship between the instructor and his students. It's theoretically the most effective training format, as it involves repeated meetings with students, the opportunity to go into great detail with them, and allows them an unlimited number of attempts. Lessons can be held from one to three times a week. They can take place any day of the week and at any time convenient for working people. There's no point in having the lessons themselves last more than 3 hours (including the break), so as not to wear out the audience. Now freed from the need to have students urgently make attempts immediately after the session, you are at liberty to set any schedule you see fit. Students will usually have up to a week to make attempts, and they can make them only when conditions are conducive. Such groups can also be open enrollment. A new student coming to the lessons for the first time will be grouped together with more experienced practitioners and will gradually catch up with them. It's common to have from 20 to 30 regular students. This format can be combined with one-time lectures and three-day seminars if such events are considered to be the first stage of instruction and regular lessons the second, more advanced one. You can also plan special lessons for advanced practitioners and those who are already well-versed in general theory. Such special lessons can be held every few weeks or even months. However, the instructor should be extremely experienced if he is to competently conduct such lessons and field questions from the more demanding audience. These instructions do not reflect the lesson format at so high a level, and so the instructor himself will have to take the initiative and use all the knowledge at his disposal. Success Rate Regular lessons are the most effective instructional format, audience turnover notwithstanding. Meanwhile, audience turnover diminishes with time as only the most motivated and truly interested remain. The rest might leave the group before they even obtain good results. On account of the more substantial premises-rental costs involved, this training format may offer less profitability. In order to stay in the black, it's best to hold lessons no more often than once a week. It's best to collect payment for a month upfront, regardless of whether or not the student will attend all the classes. To do otherwise risks increasing the rate of student turnover. For example, with monthly tuition at 10% the local average monthly income and a group of at least twenty regular students, your gross earnings will be about twice that of the average man and equal to or less than it after taxes and other expenses are factored in. On the other hand, that's not that bad for a 4-day work week and the fact that it might be extra income from the same audience that was already at other training sessions with different formats. Meanwhile, no one's stopping you from enrolling not only 20, but even 30 or more people per group. Advantages - Moderate to high rate of success - Unhurried and relaxed instruction - Long-term student retention (important for small towns) - Opportunity to cover all topics in detail - A lot of time for attempts - Close familiarity with the audience Disadvantages - It can be challenging to hold the audience's attention over the course of weeks or months - High rate of audience turnover - Moderate to low return on investment - Mixed groups of novices and already-experienced practitioners at the same lesson Format Day 1: Module No. 1: Introduction: General theory and motivation - Break Module No. 2: The indirect method Day 2: Module No. 11: Analysis - Break Module No. 6: Deepening the state Module No. 7: Maintaining the state Module No. 8: Primary skills Day 3: Module No. 11: Analysis - Break Module No. 9: Translocation and finding objects Module No. 10: Practical applications Day 4: Module No. 11: Analysis - Break Module No. 3 The direct method Day 5: Module No. 11: Analysis - Break Module No. 4: Becoming conscious while dreaming Module No. 5: Non-autonomous methods Day 6 (1) Module No. 11: Analysis - Break Module No. 2: The indirect method Day 7 (2) Module No. 11: Analysis - Break Module No. 6: Deepening the state Module No. 7: Maintaining the state Module No. 8: Primary skills etc. One-on-One Lessons Description One-on-one lessons involve an intensive, personal approach to the student for one-time lessons or an entire course of instruction. If your student so desires, this training format can allow you to make him into a professional practitioner of the phase who has mastered it in all its aspects. When, where, how long, and at what cost the lessons are to be provided are issues for you to decide individually with your budding practitioner. However, the lessons should not be too long or boring, nor take place when the student is quite busy with work or other affairs. Since one-on-one lesson clients are often well-to-do, famous, and/or influential people, you will want to take their busy schedules into account and adapt your methodologies to their needs. Success Rate Assuming the student does not quickly give up on the lessons (and that will depend on how interesting and high-quality the lessons are), quite a high rate of success can be achieved. However, the success rate for one-on-one lessons may fall behind that of regular lessons due to the lack of numerous examples provided by other students making attempts and the overall positive atmosphere typical of very large groups. One-on-one lessons can be quite profitable a commercial undertaking thanks to minimal expenses (it is usually not necessary to rent anything) and high pay. Generally speaking, there is no limit to the amount that can be charged for them. Meanwhile, it's better to collect payment upfront for an entire course or at least several lessons instead of at the end of each lesson. Although a fixed price for all students may be set, it's better to come to an agreement on pricing for each specific situation, as some clients taking individual lessons are able to express gratitude for good results with truly astronomical and unlimited sums of money. A normal course of one-on-one lessons that lasts until the student achieves success might cost from 50 to 100% the average local monthly salary. In certain cases, your fee might equal several years' worth of the average salary, as for many millionaires this may be the only thing that can bring new experiences to a life in which every material need is met. Advantages - Practical training given - High return on investment - Windfall potential - Relaxed instruction in a private setting - Minimal startup costs - Network with successful and influential people Disadvantages - In-depth interaction with another person, with all its associated benefits and drawbacks - High requirements regarding quality of instruction - The atmosphere created by actively practicing in a group is missing - No opportunity to watch other practitioners' attempts and learn by example, unlike with groups - One-on-one lessons do not popularize the phenomenon among the masses Format A unique feature of one-on-one lessons is that there is no need to teach theories that it is unnecessary for the student to know when he is first starting out with the practice. For example, until a student is able to get results using the indirect method, he doesn't need to know anything besides how to get motivated, how to apply the phase, and how to employ the indirect method itself. Deepening and maintaining should be added in as soon as he is able to enter the phase either using the indirect method, by becoming conscious while dreaming, or spontaneously. As soon as he is good at the indirect method, you may introduce the direct method. You can gradually create a professional practitioner out of anyone in this way. Day 1: Module No. 1: Introduction: General theory and motivation Module No. 2: The indirect method Day 2 (to be repeated until the first indirect phase entry) Module No. 11: Analysis Module No. 2: The indirect method Module No. 10: Practical applications Day 3 (upon the first phase entries) Module No. 11: Analysis Module No. 6: Deepening the state Module No. 7: Maintaining the state Day 4 (upon the first phase entries) Module No. 11: Analysis Module No. 8: Primary skills Module No. 9: Translocation and finding objects Day 5 (upon stable use of the indirect method) Module No. 11: Analysis Module No. 4: Becoming conscious while dreaming Day 7 (upon stable use of the indirect method) Module No. 11: Analysis Module No. 3: The direct method Day 8 (to be repeated until the first direct phase entry) Module No. 11: Analysis Module No. 3 The direct method Module No. 10: Practical applications Day 9 (upon mastery of the direct method) Module No. 11: Analysis As-needed modules etc. Distance Learning Description Distance learning is a form of instruction whereby a student or group of students is taught by an instructor using various means of remote communication. All other process-related specifics are determined by the given instructional sub-format (e.g. one-time lecture, three-day seminar, regular lessons, or one-on-one lessons), which is in turn shaped by the medium of communication, be it the telephone, the Internet, or even written letters. Neither student enrollment, payment, nor learning take place in-person. There are several common variations on this form of instruction. The first is instruction via e-mail. The instructor e-mails methods to employ in-sequence and tasks to accomplish. The student performs them on his own and then writes back with an account of his attempts. The instructor then responds with an analysis of the student's mistakes and provides the next tasks to accomplish and methods to learn. Another, easier way is for the instructor to send pre-prepared general methods and tasks to a group of several students at once, regardless of their current level of progress. The second variation on distance learning is one-time, three-day, or regular webinars. Here, the instructor conducts training sessions online using a webcam. Although the instructor cannot see his students (and he might have a thousand of them at once), they can ask him questions by instant-message chat or e-mail. Third, distance learning can take place via regular telephone or videoconference using free online tools like Skype, which allow for computer-to-computer video calls. Internet-enabled mobile phones running Skype can be used to make free phone-to-phone video calls. In this case, one would be having a one-on-one lesson with all that it entails. Success Rate Telephone lessons aside, distance learning provides a low rate of success, as it's difficult to monitor attempts made and their quality. Also missing is the special atmosphere created when groups of real practitioners gather. This atmosphere greatly facilitates learning, in addition to making it easier and more interesting. Distance learning can yield a high return-on-investment thanks to the inherently-unlimited group sizes of formats like webinars and group e-mails. Many people can join thanks to the lack of geographical limitations. An instructor can have thousands of students scattered across dozens of countries while living in a small town in some backwater. The problem, however, is that people don't pay as readily for lessons that aren't face-to-face, which is why distance learning usually pays substantially less than in-person instruction. On the other hand, minimal expenses (the sole expense might be advertising, and that's only if it's paid) and the unbridled, vast potential of such forms of instruction (as well as the potential of the Internet itself) make distance learning most promising. Take, for example, a one-time webinar. It would be realistic to enroll 1,000 people at a price of 1% the national average monthly income. You would bring in 10 times the average monthly salary and have at least half a year's average pay left over after taxes and other expenses - not bad for work performed while wearing your slippers. Advantages - No being bound by geography - Best future prospects - Ability to work from home - Moderate to high income - Usually free to set your own schedule Disadvantages - Low success rate - High rate of audience turnover - Instructional process is more complicated technology-wise than other forms of instruction - Lack of the atmosphere created by in-person group practice - No opportunity to watch other practitioners' attempts and learn by example, unlike with groups - Alternative payment methods Format The way in which distance learning takes place depends on the instructional sub-format chosen. For one-time webinars, you'll need to use the same approach as with one-time lectures. Use the procedure for one-on-one instruction for one-on-one distance learning, etc. Creating Educational Materials Description Educational materials are any products that can teach people out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming without the personal participation of the instructor. Actually, this refers to any form of instruction where the instructor and student are not in personal contact, and may include: - brief, printed instructions - short instructional videos on DVD - brief instructions in electronic text format - brief instructional videos in electronic format - books - electronic books - audio-books on CD - electronic audio-books - electronic mailings - video-seminars on DVD - electronic video-seminars - audio-seminars on CD - electronic audio-seminars - software - games - electronic applications - short films on DVD - short films in electronic format - feature-length films on DVD - feature-length films in electronic format - others The School of Out-of-Body Travel and OOBE Research Center have produced significant amounts of such materials. You might resell them at seminars or over the Internet. What we'll be talking about, however, is how to create and distribute your own products. This will allow you to be their sole distributor, make more money on them, and become more of an authority in this field, which will sooner or later yield dividends in your other educational activities. Anyone who seriously wants to enter the field will have to deal with this issue sooner or later. You can use both your personal knowledge and any information from the School of Out-of-Body Travel or the OOBE Research Center (the book The Phase is the primary text) to create your products. All of our information is free-of-charge and freely available. Meanwhile, this information is packaged in practically every known format, and might serve as an approximate example of how your products might look. However, you need express the information you use in your own words, instead of just copying it. You need to develop some strength or "specialty" of your own. Meanwhile, if your goal is to make as much money as possible, it also doesn't make sense to do what we did and give out all of your information right away and in great detail. For example, the free (!) book The Phase would alone contain enough information to create an entire series of books and educational materials in volumes divided by subject matter and level. In the long run, you could sell a whole assortment of products instead of selling just one book. In order to create products on physical media, you'll need to use the services of special publishing companies that can print books, brochures, CDs, and DVDs in small batches. If your products are good enough, the rights to them might be bought up by real publishing houses who would then not only print your work, but also promote and distribute it. To get the ball rolling, you would need to send your work to those companies for review. You can distribute your educational materials over the Internet by creating online stores, as well as sell them in person at educational events. Meanwhile, you can also have third-party intermediaries or stores carry and promote your products. A properly-configured product distribution system should bring in enough revenue to allow you to hire people to handle both printing and shipping the product. You might find yourself asking, "What's the point of doing all this if it's already out there, and you can get it for free?" There's no point in troubling yourself with such doubts, since this field remains quite poorly developed in our society. The masses have no idea that they can download a free book somewhere to find out everything about the subject. If you turn up on their path before others, they'll come to you. That's exactly why this book was created - so that the practice of phase states becomes widespread and normal in society thanks to the motivation provided by people like you. Success Rate Experience shows that due to the special ways that the human mind works, no product - no matter how advanced - will ever be more effective than working face-to-face with an instructor. A product can be considered successful if it is at least half as effective as in-person instruction. This is due to the increased independence that one has when working alone with instructional materials. Instead of closely following the instructions, novices will stubbornly do whatever seems right to them. They will nevertheless send all their complaints to the author. However, it's nearly impossible to remotely instruct people in how to analyze their mistakes, let alone track their progress. Financially speaking, creating instructional materials can bring in a good and steady stream of income, especially if you build your brand and keep your work from being pirated. Once you have this kind of business set up, you might consider yourself to have "passive income," i.e. someone who enjoys a steady income from an operation that requires little personal participation. Advantages - No being bound by geography - Large audience - Opportunity to obtain "passive income" - Opportunity to obtain a high income - Ability to work from home - 100% free to set your own schedule - Interpersonal communication can be avoided if that's your preference - Builds the instructor's personal brand and name-recognition Disadvantages - Low success rate - Large investments of energy, time, and sometimes money - Getting drawn into new ends of the business (publishing, distribution, etc.) - Lack of real teaching experience unless other forms of instruction are practiced Part 2. Enrolling Students and Promotion A description of the key ways to recruit diverse groups of people to learn out-of-body experiences and lucid dreaming. How to Find the Right Premises Requirements for the Premises If the organizer is not aiming to teach phase states to a mass audience or use the same premises for other purposes and seminars, there is no need to sign a full-time lease for a venue, let alone buy one. It's much easier to rent a conference room by the hour or by the day. Doing so is many times cheaper and simpler. It also reduces financial risks. This is the path most instructors take. Requirements regarding the premises are mainly determined by the session format and group size. Meanwhile, there are several general points that one had better adhere to most of the time: - the premises should be in the center of town - the premises should have a flip-chart or a whiteboard - the premises should be enclosed and insulated from outside noise These are the minimum premises-related requirements. Premises that meet these requirements are sufficient for holding lessons. However, people spending not only their time but also their money will expect conditions to be as comfortable as possible. A pleasant and pretty setting will smooth over many an imperfection in one's delivery. And conversely, the impression made by an ideally led training session with a high rate of success will be pretty much tarnished by a dirty and dingy room in a place that takes forever to get to. The seminar instructor or organizer should never forget that learning out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming is a form of entertainment for many of the participants, some of whom might expect a kind of show. And this show should take place on a suitable stage. It's best to find a room that fits the theme and sets the right mood - one with decorations that bring thoughts of spirituality and self-development to mind. For many people, just one such piece of d?cor will be enough to fully immerse them in the subject matter of the training session. As regards the capacity of the room, aim for at least 15 to 25 square feet per person. That means that you will need at least 150 square feet for a group of ten people, and at least 750 square feet for a group of fifty. Sometimes it's difficult to predict the actual number of participants because more people might show up than planned. Using 15 to 25 square feet per person as a rule of thumb, you will be able to accommodate substantially more people than you had planned on, though it will be a tight fit. One-on-one consultations and lessons require the least floorspace of all. There are no minimum requirements at all here, seeing as two people can meet wherever they want: at a cafe, at a park, at a conference room for regular seminars, at an apartment, etc. However, it makes sense to have an office ready for such meetings so that you can practice techniques, have a bit of privacy, and show an air of authority. Some believe that personal-development and spiritual practices (with which the practice of out-of-body travel & lucid dreaming are partially and yet inevitably intertwined) can forgo external material trappings. If your work is tied in with altruism in the sense that you're providing free-of-charge instruction, then it makes a lot of sense to economize on the venue. If this is the case, you might meet on the lawn of a public park, in the woods, at private apartments, at summer houses, etc. What's most important is that the attendees be in agreement on this point. If your goal is to hold immersion lessons, i.e. practice the techniques as much as possible or even make attempts to enter the phase, the requirements for the premises might include the ability to accommodate all of the participants while lying down, keep out as much noise and sunlight as possible, a sound system, comfortable mats, and blankets. Country houses and retreat centers are good for such events, though they might be quite expensive. Large-scale events are the hardest to find a venue for. Even large cities have few conference halls for 100 or 500 people, let alone over 1,000. Such halls are booked well in advance, and the greatest difficulty in organizing such an event may be the large rental payment, which will almost certainly have to be paid up front. Far more requirements must be considered for large conference halls than for smaller venues: a well-lit stage, a sound system, an overhead projector, etc. Finding a Venue The organizer should realize that if there is a room that is suitable in terms of capacity and other factors, it's nearly always possible to make a deal to rent it out - no matter where it is and who the owner is. When looking for a venue, it therefore makes sense to be on the lookout not only for conference rooms up for rent, but also for those supposedly "off the market," so to speak. You need to try to think ahead when looking for a room by trying to find long-term partners so that you don't have to look for a place each time you hold a new seminar, but can instead go right on to making other preparations. It's better to invest a lot of time in looking for a good fit in terms of quality and value-for-money than to scramble before each seminar to find a marginally suitable place. You can find places for rent advertised in advertisement books and magazines for relevant industries. It is easy to search for premises online using the following queries: premises rental, conference halls, seminar rooms, training-session rooms, seminar premises, training-session premises, etc. Special attention should be paid to corporate training companies that have their own conference rooms available and will help to fill them for you. A wide selection of rooms is often a big advantage to working with such companies. Although their conference rooms are often of quite a high standard, they tend to be impersonal, have a "cold" feel about them, and lack the necessary ambiance. Therefore, the best solutions for venue rentals are to be found at specialized centers for personal development, yoga, meditation, awakening dormant abilities, etc. They will have an ambiance in keeping with the subject matter, a constant stream of new potential students, and a large number of conference rooms that meet the basic requirements. They should be the first places you turn to. Such centers try to keep their rooms rented out non-stop, and so they'll be happy to fill up their schedule with your sessions. Your working with such a center is likely to have all the ingredients of a long-term business relationship, which will relieve you from having to look for a venue for at least the next few seminars. If you need a small room for individual lessons, they are usually to be found at personal-development centers, seeing as one-on-one lessons are quite popular in such fields. Since the actual location of the room doesn't matter as much, you might also look for one at universities. Auditoriums that would otherwise be empty might be rented out by the hour. Most companies have rooms that are quite varied in terms of capacity and quality. This is especially true of large and medium-sized enterprises. Since such rooms are vacant most hours of the day, you might rent them out. In certain countries, most public libraries and community centers have conference rooms that can be rented out. When searching for premises for lessons with full immersion, pay attention to countryside retreat centers and guest houses. You might find anything from large complexes to small homes with from 1 to 6 rooms. For large events for hundreds or even thousands of people, you'll need to consider community centers, movie theaters, concert halls, and even stadiums. In no case should you sign the line to rent a conference room without first stepping inside it. The only exception might be if you have organized a seminar in another city and will only arrive just in time to start the lessons. The landlord's description and photographs will often differ from the actual state of things and might be misleading. You'll also need to evaluate how easy it is to get to there. Chair Arrangement For the lesson, chairs should be evenly arranged either theater-style or in a round shape so that the entire room is used, there is more room for each student, and there are no empty gaps. It's preferable that the instructor be in the center of chairs forming a semi-circle. For smaller groups, the chairs might form a full circle. This allows for better student engagement. The Name of Your Organization Names for Branches of the School of Out-of-Body Travel If the instructor is operating under the aegis of the School of Out-of-Body Travel, then he can and should use that brand name. If you are operating in Chicago, then your name should be "School of Out-of-Body Travel. Chicago Branch," or, "Chicago Branch of the School of Out-of-Body Travel." If you already have your own organization and want to provide instruction in out-of-body experiences and lucid dreams as a side activity, that instruction will still have to be carried out under the name and brand of the branch of the School. Names for Independent Operations An instructor operating completely on his own (or an organizer who hires instructors) may choose whatever name he likes besides "School of Out-of-Body Travel." However, there are several guidelines to follow so that the name works for you. First, it should be as short and memorable as possible. A successfully chosen name will be easy to recall for someone who has just heard of it for the first time and wants to learn more about it. Second, the name should speak for itself. That means that it should describe the subject matter of your training session in one way or another. For example, when somebody sees or hears the name "School of Out-of-Body Travel," he usually knows more or less what it's about. Third, don't forget to pick a unique name. If it's too similar or even identical to another brand, you not only risk legal problems, but also losing potential attendees when other organizations besides yours come up when they search for you online. You can get a preliminary (and pretty accurate) idea of whether or not a name is already in use by using search engines like Google or Bing. Examples of names: - Lucid Dreaming Academy - The School of Lucid Dreaming - The School of Phase States - A Course in Out-of-Body Experiences - The School of Astral Travel - Astral Academy - The Out-of-Body Traveler - Lucid Dreaming Mastery - etc. Word of Mouth Personal Initiative At the beginning stages, the simplest, quickest, and most effective way to enroll a group is a word-of-mouth campaign initiated by the instructor or organizer himself. Though there are certain limits to how effective a one-man word-of-mouth campaign will be, it should be of some help with your very first local seminars. After that, it will take on a life of its own. The idea is to personally get the word out to as many people as possible, be they friends, relatives, acquaintances, co-workers, people from your department, people you know from other seminars, friends of friends, friends of family, family of friends, etc. If you have any database of contact information (especially one related to the topic), you might use it too by personally calling around and informing people of the upcoming event in a way that isn't pushy. When you let people know about the event, also ask them to pass on the information to other people who might be interested. What you essentially need to do is call all of the people on your contact list one-by-one and do the same with your friends' contact lists. Throughout the entire period of enrollment for your event, tell everyone you meet everywhere you go about it and personally invite them to come. Hand out your business card and advertising brochure at the first opportunity. To hand out as many as possible, you'll need to try to go out as often as possible and frequent various mixers and relevant networking events. There will usually be tons of people around who are interested in out-of-body travel and lucid dreams. However, you won't find out who is until you start telling people about it. You can go to seminars on kindred topics and tell people about your seminar without coming off as pushy. Seminar leaders usually make good use of such opportunities. After several such visits they will have gotten through to their key target audience - one that is not only interested in the topic, but is also ready to pay for and attend seminars. This is a special type of person, and you need to know where to find him. If your friends (even ones that aren't especially close) have any kind of "in" with groups of people potentially interested in your training sessions, don't be afraid to ask for help. You should take advantage of each and every opportunity. It goes without saying that such work is greatly simplified in today's world by using online social networks, where it's easy to find your friends' friends, their friends, the friends of friends of your friends' friends, and so on. If this work is done correctly, you'll be able to enroll a group for your first training session within one to two weeks and do so without paying a dime or mobilizing more heavy-duty resources, which we will go into later. The idea is to make people talk about you and your enterprise. By starting a kind of rumor about yourself, you will force people to keep it going around in one form or another. The end result is that many times more people than you had personally spoken with will find out about your training session. This is especially relevant for "people people" and those whose life circumstances put them in contact with a large number of people. People Showing Up Spontaneously An instructor who holds serious and regular training sessions on out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming can count on a substantial stream of people who turn up "out of nowhere". A substantial portion of the group will turn up on its own without any advertisement or effort on your part or that of your helpers. Meanwhile, the more effort you put in and the more you advertise, the sooner this spontaneity will start. However, there's no guarantee of this, as people showing up spontaneously is a kind of seal of quality for your seminars and level of teaching. Accordingly, quality of instruction is in large part what will make it all happen. This is precisely why the instructor should devote time and energy to maintaining a positive image, as well as keep seminar participants as happy as possible. This includes not only giving interesting and effective training sessions, but also talking with students after the lessons. Make every effort to get them to practice as effectively as possible on their own after personal training sessions with you. It's in your interest, too. If everything is done correctly, people will talk about you and recommend your lessons to their friends - and that's whether you like it or not. For example, a superbly-run seminar alone can lead to half the tickets for the next seminar being sold without any effort on your part because the students will enthusiastically tell everybody about you, especially for the first week afterwards. This effect will gradually snowball over time and can even allow you to bring your advertising activities to a minimum. If you hold training sessions for the sole purpose of constantly recruiting new people and then getting them out of your hair as quickly as possible, you're going to get to spend tons of time and energy on recruitment. Bad teaching not only cancels out any positive "word-of-mouth" effect, but will also work against you. For example, if someone is planning to come to you for a training session, others might simply dissuade him. As a result, there is no point in chasing after purely material gain without taking an interest in the field itself and the people you work with. It will be obvious to the audience if you're only interested in their money, and it will come back to bite you sooner or later. The Internet Modern Realities The Internet has an ever-expanding place in each of our lives. This is especially true of the most forward-looking, educated, and affluent socioeconomic brackets. This also makes it possible to promote training in out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming using the Internet. Many instructors and/or organizers of such training sessions operate exclusively over the World Wide Web. This is especially true of distance learning and marketing your own educational materials. On the other hand, it seems unlikely that one will reach one's full potential as a teacher in this field while ignoring the Internet. Even after finding out about you from other sources, most people will try to learn as much as they can about you from the Internet before using your services. There are quite a number of ways to promote your seminars and other training formats online. Use at least a few of the methods discussed below. Ideally, you would use every tool at your disposal. Websites For starters, it goes without saying that there's no point in selling something online without having your own website. You should maintain a website, blog, webpage, online profile, or group on popular social networks that you always refer to and always keep updated with the latest information on your activities, as well as a schedule of your training sessions. Ideally, you'd want to pursue all the aforementioned ways of having an online presence, and would simply copy the same updates to each platform. This will allow you to reach as large an audience as possible. When it comes to online social networks, don't focus on just one. Use at least 3 of the most popular ones. Each will have its own user base and potential audience. Contrary to popular wisdom, setting up your own website and internet domain name is nothing difficult, let alone expensive. Everything can be done using ready-made templates. Even many hosting services are free-of-charge. Of course, you ideally want everything done as professionally as possible, or at least with help from people who know what they're doing. An online presence is necessary not only so that people can find you and you can keep them up-to-date. It also allows you to show up in search engines, which will always bring in people without any effort on your part. The more extensive your online activities, the stronger your presence in search engine results, and the more this will be reflected in the size of your student audience. Forums It's important to provide your readers and students with ways to communicate with each other on your website. You might do this by setting up a forum divided into sections by topic where people can share their thoughts and experiences. Active and high-quality forums will once again bring people in and allow you to strengthen your website's position in search engine results. There are countless forums across a wide variety of websites throughout the World Wide Web. Even if they are not on your subject matter, there will usually be sections entitled "Other" or "Advertisements" where you can place advertisements for your activities, be they overt or indirect. The more you embrace forums, the better. This form of promotion is especially effective on forums and websites devoted to your city or town, where every reader is a potential event attendee. Location obviously doesn't matter when it comes to distance learning or selling educational materials. Articles on Third-Party Websites There are thousands of websites on self-development and other phase-related subjects with webmasters who are open to working together. You can write unique articles for them that mention you, your activities, and your contact information. Web portals are always interested in these kinds of arrangements as such enrichment of their content allows them to rank better in search-engine results. Meanwhile, you'll gain a new audience. The most important thing is to write articles on interesting topics in the field of out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming. There's little sense in copying articles from other authors as this gives you no boost in search engine rankings and may lead to conflicts with copyright holders. Social Networks Social networks like Facebook and VK.com are an integral part of the Internet itself. Some predict that they may become the backbone of the future Internet. Many users spend much more time on social networks than on the rest of the Internet, and visit social networks on a daily basis. The availability of personal data, contact info, and a diverse array of groups opens up great opportunities to promote any kind of product or service. It suffices to say that many branches of the School of Out-of-Body Travel recruit using only one or two of the most popular social networks without promoting their seminars in any other way. So, how do you promote your seminar on a social network? The answer is quite easy and intuitive. It's enough to personally invite users who are preferably already potential students, i.e. people who are already in groups in a similar field of interest. You can post advertisements in various groups or on the profiles of popular users. You also need to create your own groups and events. Once someone decides to attend, all of his "friends" will be automatically kept updated regarding his attendance, which will help to expand your audience even further. By posting interesting information (and not necessarily direct advertisements) on your profile pages and in your groups, you will also bring in more new people, as your "friends", subscribers, and group members will leave comments that their "friends" and subscribers will see. In addition to everything else, social networks have many popular users and groups with followers and members numbering in the hundreds of thousands. You can make some deal with them or simply pay them to post your information in a way that will immediately draw the attention of large masses of users. Contextual Advertising Contextual advertising means placing your Internet ads only on pages and websites that mention key phrases (e.g. "lucid dreaming," "out-of-body travel," and hundreds of other words and phrases from this and related fields). Such services are provided by all major search engines, with Google leading the pack. Many social networks also provide contextual advertising. A key feature is that you only pay for the number of times your ad is shown (or even just the number of times it's actually clicked on), and you have it shown only where visitors might be potentially interested in it. For example, there's no sense in publishing an ad for a phase seminar on commercial real-estate websites. But if that website has a forum and someone has started up a discussion on lucid dreaming, that's exactly where your advertisement will be shown. Moreover, if your activities are tied to a town or city, you might choose to have your ads shown only to users who are in that area. For example, if someone from your city visits a webpage about lucid dreaming on a popular esoterica website, then he and only he will be shown your text ad or advertising banner on that page. This clearly allows you ways to optimize your advertising budget. Though quite expensive, contextual advertising is most effective. The only problem that might arise is an insufficient number of queries on your topic in your region. Out-of-body experiences and lucid dreaming are not very well-known yet, and so not that many people discuss them. This problem is partially solved by diversifying your contextual advertising providers as much as possible. There are usually 3 to 4 large providers on any given market. Banner Ads Popular websites devoted to esoterica, personal development, and other related topics have sufficiently large day-to-day audiences, with unique visitors sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands. They keep themselves afloat by selling advertisements and publishing announcements. You can easily make a deal with them to get your banner-ads up on their site. The cost will depend on the amount of website traffic: from practically free to quite large sums of money. A list of such websites can be found in various rankings, which will usually include statistics on how popular the sites actually are. Taking out such an advertisement isn't the most effective promotional tool, especially if your activities are limited to a certain geographical location. However, it may be justifiable for distance learning and selling educational materials. Announcements on Websites Devoted to Related Topics Both the aforementioned esoterica web portals and many specialized websites devoted to various seminars will usually publish seminar-enrollment announcements - sometimes for free and sometimes for a fee. The total number of such sites may number in the dozens. Even free announcements can garner a good response when published. It makes sense to publish free announcements wherever you can. You might do so on websites devoted to these kinds of phenomena. There are also paid services that will automatically publish your announcements on thousands of such platforms. You can't expect a massive response overnight, but such services might benefit both your event and the website that the links in your announcement point to. Electronic Mailings The most widespread internet-based method for informing people of services and events is the opt-in electronic mailing. You might use special services that will help you sign up new participants, or special programs that you would have to configure yourself. It all essentially boils down to publishing an opt-in form on the most visible part of your website where people enter their first name and e-mail address and are then promised a ton of interesting and beneficial information that they otherwise would not be able to obtain. Websites often consist of literally a single page that uses the most diverse tricks and spares no effort or expense to get the visitor to enter his e-mail address and be put on the list for mailings that are potentially of interest to him. For example, a person might be promised new methods for exiting the body as well as free books that he wouldn't find anywhere else. The result is that the subscriber indeed receives everything promised to him in e-mails that come at regular intervals, be they every few days or months. Meanwhile, there is always an in-passing mention of an invitation to use some service, visit some seminar or webinar, or obtain some product. With a long-enough mailing list, this might bring you some pretty good results. It's not for nothing that this system is quite widespread worldwide, and especially in the distance-learning and educational-materials industries. It is always recommended to conduct mailings of this sort in one way or another. To keep such mailings legal, subscribers should opt-in themselves and have the ability to opt-out at any time. Many resort to illegal mailings by simply paying for the service of sending out a mass mailing to a list of thousands or even millions of addresses from big cities or other areas. Alternatively, the address list is simply purchased (such offers are easy to find online) and then used to carry out a mailing on one's own. Advertising in such a way is becoming less effective with each passing year. Moreover, it often angers the addressees of the unauthorized mail. Such mailing lists and services are not all that expensive, which is a testament to how ineffective they are. Mass e-mails don't even make it to their addressees the majority of the time, and that's even if the addresses are up-to-date. Such activity is illegal and is thus not recommended. Mass Media Advertising in the Mass Media Direct advertisement in mass media is one of the most expensive and effective ways to promote your out-of-body travel and lucid-dreaming educational services and products. It might involve advertising blocks and modules in the following traditional and modern mass media: newspapers, journals, web portals, television, and radio. It's quite feasible to take out advertisements or paid articles in newspapers and magazines. Television and radio ads might only be used in special cases like mass events where your budget allows for them and you need to reach as wide an audience as possible. Direct advertising in local media alone is sufficient in most cases. Any metropolitan region will have a number of publications where you can place your ad or article. It's enough to go to a newsstand to find out what all the main local rags are. In any publication there should always be a section with the telephone number of the advertising department, which you should call to find out the terms for taking out an ad and the cost of doing so. There's a belief out there that advertising in traditional media and even advertising itself has practically outlived its effectiveness. There's some truth to that, considering that people are increasingly turning to new sources of information and becoming less responsive to advertising on the whole. However, it still works. It's possible that it will always work to one degree or another. This is especially true of impoverished and poorly developed regions. Working With the Media A good working relationship with the media should be a priority for the instructor and/or person organizing out-of-body experiences or lucid dreaming lessons. It's much more effective than simply advertising in mass media. And it's free. However, it's also much more difficult to achieve. The point is that the topic of phase states is extremely interesting for people in practically all forms of mass media. It's a "scoop" in and of itself. They'll be happy to fill their columns and airwaves with the interesting interview you give them. That's how they make their money - people like you are their lifeblood. So why don't they chase after you with open arms? The answer's quite simple. Contrary to popular wisdom, it is not journalists who seek information, but information that seeks journalists. True, sometimes they get an assignment to do something on a certain topic and might then find you on their own. But even if that is the case, they should already have been aware of your existence in the first place! The key thing to realize is that the doors of any editorial office are open to you as someone who teaches an extremely unusual phenomenon. They're waiting for you. Call and go in and tell them about yourself. Even if they don't immediately do a story about you, they'll still remember about you as soon as they have a need for something out-of-the-ordinary or unusual. And this will happen on a regular basis. Success in any field will get journalists to begin lining up all on their own. But you don't have to wait for that. You can achieve it on your own and without doing anything especially difficult. Call up the editorial offices of local newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and television studios to ask them which editor you could speak with regarding your activities. Call - don't write. Letters and e-mails usually either won't make it, will get lost, or will not be taken seriously. Tell them about yourself and about how you can tell them about the phenomenon. Leave your contact information and just wait. Sooner or later, they'll remember about you and call. By calling all the local editorial offices, you can become a frequent guest on local morning talk shows and the center of feature stories in all kinds of local media. The media attention can't but have an effect on how many students you have. It's important to remember one rule for working with the media and stick to it all your life: keep everybody's contact information. As you make a new contact at some media outlet, and especially one that has expressed interest in you, save his contact info and store it in a safe place. Such data is pure gold. Especially valuable are the personal contact details of journalists who you can call at any time to propose something that will be of interest. Give Them a Scoop As our work has shown in practice, good rapport with even just a single (!) journalist can get you in headlines around the world in every language. 99% of the time, journalists don't discover news, but simply reprint it or retell it from other sources. That's how their job actually is. This means that if you do something interesting and it makes it into an authoritative media outlet, it's guaranteed that it will be reprinted and retold by many other outlets. If it's something that's actually quite interesting, they'll do reprints of reprints until the story is everywhere. To let the media know about your activities, simply call them up. This especially applies for media contacts whom you've already built a good rapport with. But to call them, you'll need to have some news to give them - a "scoop". Considering the novelty of the field, you yourself will initially be the news. This especially applies at the local level. However, this novelty will soon wear off. To get back in the limelight, you'll need to do something interesting or beneficial. For example, you might run some experiment or campaign, or give your personal opinion about some event if it might be related to the phase, etc. The more varied and interesting your activities, the more frequently you will get free advertising in the media, which will lead to success as an instructor in phase states. You will also be contributing to our worldwide efforts to popularize the field itself. Press Releases The press-release system serves to facilitate contact between journalists, editorial boards, and the sources of scoops. Up to once a week, you should create/find scoops and write articles about them according to the Five Ws (who/what/when/where/why) and then send them to your media contacts by e-mail or fax. There are many specialized services that can send out press releases to their own media contacts. Not every press release will lead to a response. Your task is to remind people about yourself and show that work is constantly ongoing. If they decide they could use the press-release subject matter at some point, they will reprint it or write an article based on it. Outdoor Advertising Organizing Outdoor Advertising A well-organized outdoor advertising campaign can greatly support the operations of the instructor or organizer of a phase-state seminar. Of course, this only applies to forms of instruction in which geographical limitations come into play. There are many advertising agencies who will publish your ads on their platforms, be they their own billboards, designated public places, and areas for advertising on public transportation systems. Such a format may be suitable for promoting your out-of-body travel and lucid-dreaming educational services if its cost fits within your advertising budget. Large billboards are rarely rented out in this industry, as they involve large expenses for what is quite small a market. However, they might be used if substantial discounts or promotional pricing can be taken advantage of. They might also be considered in case of large-scale, high-budget events. Paper the Town When resources are limited, people often put up letter- or poster-size fliers without prior authorization. Instructors and/or organizers might either do this themselves or hire people to do it for them. Implementing such a campaign involves creating a simple mockup, making copies of it at a print shop or at home using a computer printer, and then putting them up wherever possible: apartment-building entrances, multi-unit houses, columns, bus stations, free community advertisement boards, paid commercial advertisement boards, fences, trees, etc. Highly-trafficked areas are chosen in order to maximize results. Since advertisements don't stay up for long in visible places (people will take them down or tape their own advertisements on top of them), the same places have to be papered over multiple times. If you have your own car, you can put fliers up on its windows and the car body itself. You might recruit a pretty large group if your aim is to paper entire neighbors or even towns with a few thousand fliers. However, you should keep in mind that you might be risking a fine by pursuing such an advertising campaign. You alone are responsible for the consequences of whichever path you choose. It's quite effective and perfectly legal to put up such fliers and posters in special personal development centers and schools, esoteric bookstores, and so on. There will be some cost involved, but your advertisement will be on display to a key audience for an agreed-upon period of time. Effective Design Ideally, you would use the services of both a designer and a copywriter to create a great flier. The former would make it visually attractive and the latter would make the text right for your purposes. Such services easily pay for themselves, as the same flier can be used over and over again for all kinds of events. If you produce a flier on your own, there are a few basic rules that you should follow. First, from one fourth to one half the flier should be taken up by the key word or phrase (e.g. OUT-OF-BODY TRAVEL, LUCID DREAMING, ASTRAL PROJECTION, etc.). This will allow even the somewhat nearsighted to read it from afar. Otherwise, people will all just walk past it - nobody wants to go up to a flier and read small print without first knowing what it's about. Second, one shouldn't try to fit too much information on a flier. Stick only to what's most important: what, where, when, and contact information. The description itself should consist of no more than a few highly-motivational sentences. Third, you should briefly point to how people can use the phenomenon in real life. The applications that get the best response are obtaining information and self-healing. Fourth, design the flier so that the background makes the text stand out, instead of camouflaging it. Clubs Types of Clubs There are thousands of personal-development groups and clubs out there that have already been formed and are ready to be taught. Here you need only gain access to the leadership of such clubs, get them interested, and offer your services. Existing clubs will usually come in the following forms: - study groups - groups based on a common interest - databases of contact information from various festivals and seminars - databases of contact information from service providers or those selling products - lists of e-mail addresses - a list of online social-network group and community members What brings these people together? It could be anything related to personal development, from positive thinking to esoterica. For example, it might be yoga courses, specialized websites that send out mailings on how to "find yourself", sorcery & ESP workshops, alternative medicine festivals, etc. Basically, these are all fields that go hand-in-hand with out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming. It is easy to get the leadership of such groups or the owners of such contact-information databases to work with you if you motivate them with a nice bit of money or a percentage of the profits. They are often satisfied with free admission to your seminars in lieu of payment. As soon as you've reached a deal, you'll either be presented with a database of potential pupils for your own use, or a group of pupils put together for you by a club that you've found common ground with. The lessons may take on any form or be of any duration. This method for finding an audience requires no financial investment as long as you don't take out paid announcements regarding your search for club leaders interested in working together or buy a database of contact information. You need only invest your time and energy. Finding Partners Partners are most easily found among leaders of already-existing clubs in fields analogous to yours. You can find an enormous variety of personal-development seminars and training sessions on the Internet, in print, and on outdoor advertisements. It's best to schedule an appointment to meet up with the leaders of such events and explain your offer to them in a matter-of-fact way. They will usually be interested in only two things: how much money they'll make by working with you and how close the subject matter of your seminar is to their field. You should also make it clear to them that you are not going to steal their audience, but are simply proposing to temporarily borrow it for everyone's benefit. Clearly, the closer the groups' activities are to yours, the more students you will recruit from among them. You can work together in the same way with the owners of websites, online stores, mailing lists, and social-network communities. Owners of mailing lists are more likely to simply sell their list for a modest sum than entertain other ways of doing business together. For example, a database with the contact information for a few hundred people might cost as much as a single ticket to one of your seminars. If you already have a mailing list made up of the contact information of your own students, you might trade for it and thus minimize your own expenses. However, such transactions are not recommended as it's not just anyone's personal data, but it's the personal data of your own students, who might not be happy with the idea of you selling it off. You can find a large number of personal-development festivals and conferences. By meeting with the organizers of such conferences (which will sometimes bring in many thousands of participants), you can come to an agreement regarding your participation in the event on mutually beneficial terms. Corporate Groups Definition Many companies (and especially medium-sized and large ones) have well-developed systems of corporate training and corporate recreation (i.e. team-building) that include various kinds of events for employees that improve interaction and internal cohesion, overall morale, and satisfaction with life. Such events usually include motivational seminars, games involving physical activities, treks into nature, and trips to health resorts. Even though companies usually have workforce productivity in mind when planning such events, they are sometimes conceived as a form of relaxation and entertainment for personnel, which will also eventually improve employee output. The point is that a phase-state seminar instructor or organizer may confidently propose his services to such companies and hold corporate training sessions on out-of-body experiences and lucid dreaming. In this case, the lesson format may hardly differ from that of your regular seminars, and vary just as much, taking forms ranging from one-time lectures to webinars. Working with companies solves a whole number of issues at once. First, instead of having to find a large number of students for the lessons, you only have to find a single partner, and he will put together the group on his own. Second, this might be a source of repeat business if it's a large company with forward-looking management. Third, such work does not involve financial risk, as the instructor will receive a flat fee. It might even be highly profitable. Drawbacks worth mentioning include the not-insignificant fact that corporate groups are not primarily composed of the main target audience, and so the students might be preoccupied or not take things seriously, as well as exhibit a low success rate. However, these problems can be overcome if the instructor conducts the lessons properly and pays special attention to key points. Finding Clients The easiest way to find clients is free-of-charge: calling companies and asking to speak with the person in charge of rest and recuperation as well as corporate training. You would then pitch your services to that manager and give him a detailed outline of the benefits. If the potential client is even a bit interested, you should schedule a meeting with him to tell him about your offer in more detail. Such an approach naturally requires strong communication and negotiating skills. Unfortunately, it is only suitable for a certain type of person. One person might be too nervous to pick up the phone and dial a number, while another might be able to effortlessly make calls all day. Naturally, you'll need to belong to the second category if you want to use the phone to find corporate clients. If you have the money, you might create and publish an advertisement for corporate-training sessions in business periodicals and other publications (including online publications) that are read by company managers and decision makers. Considering the unusualness of such corporate services, you might get free publicity in the form of an article on your activities if you can get the attention of the editor of the right media outlet. Instead of directly searching for corporate clients yourself, you can use the services of agencies that specialize in such work. Such companies can be found using the following search keywords: team building, coaching, corporate seminars, corporate training, corporate retreats, etc. They will already have a client base of their own, and so all you have to do is get them interested in your services. If everything is a good fit, the company will ask you to sign an agreement, and it will then task its agents with finding suitable clients for you and working out all the details with those potential clients. You will get paid either in the form of a flat fee or on a commission basis. If you lack the necessary communication skills, motivation, or time, you might find someone who will agree to a certain percentage of the profit or an hourly wage to perform the work of looking for corporate clients and thus free you to concentrate only on issues directly related to instruction. If you have friends who are managers at medium-sized or large companies or have friends with such connections, you definitely should take advantage of the opportunity to present your services from within their inner circle. Due to the novelty of this type of corporate training session, you may encounter certain problems when looking for your first clients, but such problems will be only at the beginning stages. Moreover, considering the large number of advantages of this type of work, any and all effort put in will be more than worth it. That's why what's most important is to have unflinching desire, persistence, and belief in your idea. This will bring results sooner or later. The most important thing is to not flinch at offering such unique services. This is the world of business, where everything is bought and sold. You are selling your services with all their associated benefits, and potential clients are going to make a decision based on what they need. They won't be aware of the benefit that this can bring their employees until you explain it to them yourself. Employers will definitely ask you what benefits this practice could bring them via their employees. You should really think through your answers to this question. Here are some examples of why employers need it: - an additional resource for solving problems and accomplishing tasks at work thanks to techniques for obtaining information - greater employee satisfaction with life thanks to discovering more of what it has to offer - team cohesion is improved by dealing with atypical situations - team cohesion is improved by dealing with extremely unusual practices - team morale and health improved by practicing phase states - decreased internal frustration among employees thanks to fulfillment of desires in the phase - overall personal development among team members and expanded life experiences - much, much more Naturally, you should rely only on more scientific terms and concepts when appealing to such clients, with phase state or form of lucid dreaming being the most appropriate ones. Maintaining Interest Before Training Sessions Since many people will sign up ahead-of-time for your training sessions (sometimes by a month or more), there will be the issue of how to maintain their interest. For example, if a person signs up for a seminar 6 weeks in advance, then in most cases he will change his mind or decide go to another seminar instead. This might happen within only a week or several days of signing up. People often simply forget that they had been planning to go somewhere in the first place. This problem is partially solved by asking for upfront deposits. You can try several tricks for keeping your students. First, begin to actively promote your event 2 to 3 weeks beforehand if you have planned powerful promotional activities that are known to be effective. This will help you retain more of the already-enrolled students on whom you have already spent a portion of your advertising budget. Second, you can give people pre-seminar tasks or readings to complete. This will draw them into the subject matter and reinforce their desire to explore it in more depth. Third, you can put those who have just signed up on a mailing list and send them not only event reminders, but also a large amount of beneficial and interesting information. Fourth, everyone who signs up should be reminded of the event regularly. To do so, you should call them 1 to 3 days after they sign up to confirm their spot, and then send them a text message 2 weeks prior to the event, a week before it, and the morning of. Little things like this will allow you to get many more people to come to an event. If possible, have the notifications request that people not make attempts to enter the phase on their own for about an entire week before the seminar. This will allow people to accumulate more willpower and desire, which you can then put to use as they improve their technique. This will improve the quality of instruction in the long run. After the Event Keeping in touch with your audience after they participate in your event is no less important. Many don't understand this and immediately forget about their students as soon as they walk out the door. This is wrong no matter how you look at it. First, many people could use the help. Second, those people might take part in other projects of yours. Third, they will be advertising you to their friends and family - assuming they are completely satisfied in the first place. That's why you should devote the end of any training session to letting people know how they can get in touch with you, what other services you can offer them, and where they can mingle and learn more. The aforementioned information should also be repeated in fliers, text messages, and mass mailings. Certificates It's preferable to issue participants high-quality, name-bearing certificates and diplomas affirming that they have undergone training in lucid dreaming and out-of-body travel. In addition to the participant's name, the certificate should indicate the certificate number, date, training format, location, and the name of the instructor. Such certificates will remind people of the knowledge that they have acquired and motivate others to obtain them as well. Websites Send people to both your website and ours for more in-depth information on other methods and practitioner news. Don't forget to tell people about our forums and yours, where they can get in touch with thousands of other practitioners of all levels. Many keep online journals that are not only interesting to read, but also motivate people to make their own attempts. Your students might also start keeping online journals so that they can share experiences and seek advice from others. Social Networks Create special groups or communities in social networks for people who have undergone training with you. This will remind them about the practice. They will periodically bring up topics for discussion and ask questions. If people don't join such groups on their own, you can invite them or add them yourself. Practitioner Clubs Non-commercial Practitioner Clubs exist under the aegis of the School of Out-of-Body Travel. Every large city has one, and even some small ones do. They are usually kept going thanks to nothing but the pure altruism of their leaders, who keep people informed of the date, time, and place (e.g. a cafe, park, or private apartment) of the next face-to-face meeting. This allows people to not only meet one another and socialize with the like-minded, but also to surface from the virtual reality they are often submerged in (i.e. the Internet). As a rule, such meetings create an atmosphere that's quite amicable and warm, helping many to make new friends. When bringing a training session to a close, give people the contact information for the Practitioner Club in your city www.obe4u.com ). Alternatively, you might organize your own Club and meetups, but don't forget that these events should be non-profit. If you accept anything more than a Coca-Cola or cupcake as payment, you're no longer running a Club, but are now co nducting a different form of educational activity or money-making venture. Electronic Mailings Include your students on various mailing lists so that they obtain periodic updates with news, new techniques, and new lessons. This will allow you to not only keep them up to date, but will also allow them to make real use of the training you've given them and not forget about it as soon as it's over. Part 3. Classroom Instruction Detailed instructions on methodologies for teaching out-of-body experiences and lucid dreaming that allow you to train large numbers of people quickly and effectively. Terminology, the Instructor, and the Amount of Information to be Taught Terminology and Theory The author maintains that experiences of all types in which a) consciousness is present and b) sensory information from the physical body is completely lacking but is replaced by realistic sensations from the phantom body are forms of one and the same phenomenon. That is to say, both consciousness while dreaming and experiencing an exit from the body are in this case one and the same, i.e. "the phase" or "phase state". This view is based on the author's personal practice, having trained thousands of people, and a number of academic publications on the probable commonality of such phenomena. Outside of the School of Out-of-Body Travel, a freely-practicing instructor is entitled to use whichever term he wishes to refer to the phenomenon of out-of-body experiences and lucid dreaming in his work. However, it should be kept in mind that propensity to use one term over another can betray the instructor's point of view on the phenomenon, which might not coincide with the beliefs of his students, which would inevitably have an effect on both the size and composition of the group. It is therefore worth discussing the connotations of each term. Lucid Dreaming In most cases, this is a pragmatic term that describes the phenomenon as a certain state that the brain enters. This is the term used for the phenomenon in science and academia. However, in certain mystical circles it can also be code for entering parallel worlds and dimensions. In some practices it is also believed that the "dream body" can travel throughout the physical world. This term does little to arouse the average person's interest due to its unfortunate associations with ordinary dreaming. Out-of-Body Experience This term usually means the exit of some essence or another (the soul, for example) from the confines of the body into either the physical world or a parallel one. Due to the fact that one's sensory perception of the phenomenon often seems identical to the sensation of leaving the body, this term is also appropriate from a pragmatic perspective, whatever the real nature of the phenomenon may be. Astral Projection This term most often implies the ability of some essence (e.g. the soul or astral body) to not only separate from the body and enter the astral plane, but also to enter the physical world or the world of dreams. This term, being the most mystical one, easily attracts people of corresponding views while repelling pragmatists. The Phase or Phase State This is the term that unites all other names for the phenomenon. This term does not imply a priori support for any theory regarding the phenomenon besides the fact that all of the terms it encompasses refer to one and the same phenomenon, which many people might not agree with, i.e. the phase = lucid dreaming = out-of-body travel = astral projection. Although the phase is the ideal term to use when giving lessons, it is ill-suited for advertising since only seasoned practitioners are familiar with it. It also lacks intuitiveness. Besides being free to come up with his own name for the phenomenon, a freely-practicing instructor is also entitled to create his own terminology regarding all other facets of it. However, he should be aware that using idiosyncratic terminology could cause serious difficulties for his students in their individual practices. Meanwhile, the instructions in this book only use terms that are intuitively clear and non-idiosyncratic. An instructor is entitled to subscribe to any point-of-view regarding theories on the nature of the phase phenomenon. Experience shows that such views are best kept to oneself when teaching. The right thing to do is to give people practical experience while leaving it up to them to decide what the true nature of the phenomenon is: a state the brain enters, an exit to a parallel dimension, or something else. Although the final decision is up to you, keep in mind that theorizing during training sessions distracts from real practical experience and constitutes imposition of your own worldview - a worldview which may turn out to be erroneous. Being neutral when it comes to theories on the nature of the phase is not only the right approach to take when teaching, but it also allows you to have more students, as you can bring in both mystics and pragmatists. It also allows you to sidestep numerous misunderstandings, disputes, and bad feelings. Following this rule is especially important for those wishing to make it onto the School of Out-of-Body Travel's list of instructors. Neutrality regarding theory is especially important when your work is focused solely on this phenomenon. If you are only teaching this practice to supplement your group's pursuit of other practices, then you might adhere to theories appropriate for those practices. The Instructor's Practical Experience These instructions were created so that the phenomenon of out-of-body experiences and lucid dreaming (the phase) could even be successfully explained in practical terms by a person who, for one reason or another, has no experience at all. That is to say, if a person with no experience gets a group of students together and works with them in strict adherence to these instructions, then they will not only succeed at entering the phase state, but will do so on a regular basis. These instructions were written with inexperienced instructors in mind for the simple reason that the aforementioned scenario is quite common. In pursuit of their desire to make money or earn some authority, many adhere to the principle that a swimming instructor doesn't necessarily have to know how to swim. In the past, such opportunists would have simply discredited the phenomenon itself or disappointed society's hopes in it. Until this book came out, they simply had nowhere to find a real methodology for teaching phase states - there were no books, there was no such profession, and there weren't even any abridged instructions. As a result, the role of instructional material was filled by run-of-the-mill books on the topic written by people who weren't specialists in the field, nor even practitioners themselves 90% of the time. However, the more real practical experience the instructor has, the better. To obtain such experience, one should follow the OOBE Research Center instructions for individual practice that are described in detail in the book The Phase, which is available as a free download in every major world language. Any kind of primitive or even spontaneous experience will lend authority and add credence to an instructor's words. On the other hand, if an instructor is an average practitioner able to enter the phase in at least one of ten indirect attempts, this will allow him to field many unique and specific student questions, as well as explain the methods more clearly by referring more to his own experience than these instructions. An instructor should ideally be an advanced practitioner, i.e. someone who is successful at using the indirect method at least one third of the time (not counting spontaneous experiences). Considering that it's completely realistic to achieve a success rate of 90% and above using the indirect method, this is not an overly difficult requirement. It's just the opposite. This level of personal experience will allow the instructor to thoroughly explain methods and techniques, give more examples from his personal practice, find answers to the most unique and specific questions that students ask, and make fewer mistakes when explaining finer points regarding techniques. If this is the case, it will allow for instruction of the highest quality and level of effectiveness. If the instructor wants to be included on the official list of School of Out-of-Body Travel instructors, he will have to comply with strict requirements regarding having a steady and regular practice, which is to be described and substantiated in his application. On the other hand, if someone's aim is to be become an independent instructor or use these instructions for some personal goal or another, then he might be at any level in his practice. The most important thing is to follow the instructions. Nonetheless, any self-respecting person should at least strive to master what he teaches others. It's not possible to be a true professional in this field without doing so, and the instructor's actual level of practical knowledge will sooner or later be brought to light by the large number of real practitioners who will often be among his students. You can't achieve great heights in this field without a real personal practice of your own. How Much Information Should Be Taught The most detailed and modern description of techniques for mastering the phase state (out-of-body experiences and lucid dreams) can always be found in the free guide from the OOBE Research Center entitled The Phase. That book contains hundreds of useful tips and facts, and is the most informative work in the field. However, the fact that it goes into so much detail on the techniques does not mean that all of it needs to be taught during the lessons. Both the students and the instructor himself may use the book The Phase to further their personal practices. During training sessions, dwell upon only the simplest and most important items. This holds true for nearly all teaching formats, unless one is working with advanced practitioners. If the goal is to really get people to learn, then there is no sense in overwhelming them with details and detracting from what's most important. New instructors often think that their students will see them as high-level and high-status practitioners if they give out a large number of techniques. What this actually leads to is pretty-boring and hardly effective lessons that accomplish the exact opposite of what the instructor had set out to do. To steer clear of such situations, this instruction book contains only the most important information regarding the techniques, and even that information is divided into two groups: need-to-know and nice-to-know. The information in the "nice-to-know" category has been pared down as much as possible. In any case, the instructor can easily find "nice-to-know" information in the book The Phase. The less detail you go into on the techniques, the better the students will learn them, because you will have more time to devote to the big picture on each one. The less time you devote to finer points of technique, the more time you'll have left to teach people analysis and get them highly motivated to practice. Being able to focus on what's most important is the hallmark of a successful teacher. That's why you should start with teaching the fundamentals and gradually increase the complexity of the material in keeping with the students' length of study and level of proficiency. All of the essentials for teaching are broken up into concise modules. It only remains to structure these modules in accordance with the appropriate training-session format. The instructor needs only follow these well-honed and tried-and-true instructions to achieve incredibly amazing results. Deviating from these instructions often imperils the instructor's success rate. The Psychology of Teaching and the Rules of Rhetoric Starting From a Fresh Slate Assuming that the instructions you give out are taken from this book, half the battle is already won if you can get your students to follow them carefully. The more exactly everything is performed, the better the results. This clear truth bears repeating often to the audience. You should start each lesson off by doing so. To bring this point home, hold up a blank sheet of paper and ask your students to make their minds as clear as that sheet by suspending everything they know about out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming for the duration of the lesson. What most people "know" about this phenomenon is nearly entirely based on false expectations and conceptualizations, as well as a lack of understanding of how to get results. Their minds are usually filled with murky techniques for anything and everything at once instead of procedures. Unless you let the audience know that they won't get far without starting from a blank slate, not getting far is exactly what they'll do. People will stir your instructions into the mishmash already inside their heads, and the result will be a poor rate of success. However, responsibility for this always will always lie squarely with the instructor. Your task is not only to provide techniques, but also to properly instill and reinforce them in people's minds. The Phase Is Easy It should be understood that entering the phase state is nothing difficult as long as the methods are performed correctly. How to do so has been well known for a long time, and it's really quite easy. If it doesn't work, it's always because of some mistake. The most important thing is that the instructor understand this and bring his students to do the same. This is the most correct approach to the phenomenon, and one that allows students to become ever more proficient at it. Students should enjoy such a sense of ease throughout their entire course of study. It will give them confidence in their actions, and confidence is one of the key requirements for the already-easy indirect method, for example. Make the Audience Think One of primary rules of rhetoric is that the audience should move together with the orator towards the specific aim of his speech. However, teaching out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming means more than simply giving speeches. It means teaching a full-fledged skill. The aim is not only to impart certain knowledge, but also to instill certain procedures into the conscious and subconscious mind. To that end, this rule of rhetoric can be fine-tuned and made even more effective: have the audience independently discover the necessary steps and their sequence. At first glance, this approach might seem unrealistic. However, not only is it possible, but it also makes the lessons truly interesting for all. Nearly every procedure for mastering the phase makes sense at an intuitive level. They are by and large easy to guess if you are given the right hints. The instructor's job is to give people those hints and point them in the right direction. Thus, don't simply rephrase the contents of the practical modules in this book. Doing so makes little sense and will hardly sink in for the average person. Say "A" and wait until somebody says "B". Say "C" and wait until somebody guesses "D", and so on. To illustrate, let's go through several specific examples of playing this game with the audience. Example one: at the very beginning of the lesson, you need to lead students to the conclusion that indirect techniques are best performed in the morning when the body is in less need of non-REM sleep and enters REM more often, which is just what is necessary for the phase. To accomplish this, start by asking, "What time of day is best for making indirect attempts? Why?" Someone is sure to know or guess the answer. If not, then (and only then) may you give the answer. But before you do so, give people the opportunity to discuss it and come up with as many ideas as possible. That's the whole idea - TO FORCE PEOPLE TO THINK! Example two: "We have the greatest chances of entering the phase while we are awakening, as that's when we are already in the phase or are practically already in it. If this is the case, what action should you start an attempt to enter the phase with?" The answer is seemingly simple: you should separate. However, the audience will put forward all kinds of conjectures if they haven't read our Research Center's book. Even if the correct answer is given right away, don't let you face show it. Let people keep on thinking and come up with other ways. Of course you'll eventually say the correct one, but by then the audience will already be wound up and fully enthralled with the process of opening doors to a parallel world. Example three: "What will happen if I come to a halt while in the phase and start thinking?" After a bit of discussion, the right answer will be hit upon: a return to the body is what will happen. That's when you should ask the next question, i.e., "Right, so you need to always be active. But what then do you always need to have or do so that you never come to a stop?" - hint at "plan of action". Questions can sometimes be asked sequentially so that people starting from a "blank state" are able to arrive at the answer using their intuition and logic alone. For example: "How do you think it's possible to obtain information in the phase?" Even a group of 10 people will find three primary methods on its own, and all that it remains for you to do is write them on the board. The same holds true for self-healing and other matters where people can arrive at answers by simply going through various possibilities. There's no sense in making the game too complicated. Make the hints clear and quickly elicit opinions from the room. As soon as you hear the right answer, praise the person who gave it and move right on ahead. Don't drag out the process forever. The end result should be that the audience comes up with the correct procedure on its own without you giving it to them. Of course, it's not always possible to play such games with the audience. Responsiveness will occasionally be lacking. Unresponsive students make for quite boring lessons since you will have to resort to giving lectures on the methods. Instincts People probably overestimate themselves and others on a regular basis. That's why new instructors often try to impress the audience with their vast knowledge and ability to go into technical details. After all, isn't that what people came for and that what they need? It's actually a big mistake. Everything is just the opposite. The amount of information given out has no effect at all on the opinion of the audience or the seminar's success rate. Various studies have shown that the impression a speaker gives is based 60% on his appearance, 30% on how he talks, and only 10% on what he says. There's why there are so many popular and respected instructors in various fields openly teaching nonsense. The entire problem lies in the fact that people follow their instincts no matter what. It's not so big a deal as long as you are simply aware of it and try to use it to your own advantage by employing various tricks to make people as effective as possible at mastering the methods. That's why a highly-educated person who has come in to learn how to obtain information from his subconscious mind using the phase suddenly goes bonkers once he realizes that there are unlimited possibilities for sexual gratification in the phase. That's why you need to toss people hints (i.e. throw them a bone) and watch how they come to the solution themselves (i.e. fetch it and bring it back to you). That's why the number one priority isn't to teach the techniques, but to motivate the students. That's why people will find the techniques that they came in to learn boring. Keep a student's most basic human instincts in mind and satisfy them to bring him a high level of success in his practice. Stage Fright Many instructors experience stage fright when speaking before an audience. This is especially true when they are first starting out. Few are able to make it through their first lesson without stammering, trembling, sweating profusely, breathing heavily, or forgetting material. However, there are simple tricks to alleviate such tension. The easiest way is to go up to people some time before the start of the lesson and answer the students' questions or ask your own (e.g. "Who has already had an experience? Ma'am, have you ever had an out-of-body experience or lucid dream?"). What’s interesting is that if you are the first person in the room, the members of the audience who trickle in after you will be more nervous than you are. Other tricks are purely psychological. For example, it helps to decrease the importance of the event. Stage fright is basically due to focusing on the importance of the event and importance of being up to it. Acknowledge your fears and calmly carry on. Also simply be aware that stage fright is a temporary phenomenon. It will only be with you for the first few minutes, and then you will become so engaged in the process that you won't notice anything else around you. Simply being aware that stage fright works in this way will substantially reduce it. You take it as a given and bravely march on to meet it. Your "body language" can even come to the rescue. Many masters of the art of rhetoric recommend assuming as open a pose as possible, as this creates a feedback loop that puts you in a more receptive state-of-mind. Find enjoyment in working with people. They came to see you. They paid money for the opportunity. They want to spend their free time with you. Who's in charge here? Who's got control of the situation in his hands? All of the good cards start out in your hand - don't squander them. Go into the room with that in mind, and mold your prot?g?s into real practitioners, all the while handling the event like you would a car on the road. Motivation Out-of-body travel is possibly the most unusual and interesting practice there is in and of itself. Yet no matter how perfectly-honed the techniques are, people will still perform them reluctantly and without concentrating. It's a problem of engaging those proverbial instincts. Supposedly people know that this is what they need. Supposedly they realize that it's beneficial and interesting. But you still need to engage deeper human drives to get someone to strive with all his being to perform the techniques no matter what. Although this of course doesn't apply to all students, it does for most of them. That's why every training session should start with discussing how people will be able to put to use what they are going to learn. You don't have to go into detail straight away. You need to give them at least some approximate benchmarks. Meanwhile, there's no point in turning your nose up at more primitive things. Mentioning the possibility of finding out how to make a million dollars does not brighten people's faces as much as hinting at how genuine sexual experiences are in the phase. The ability to meet any celebrity in the phase will never take the place of the ability to see deceased relatives there. Budding practitioners should be clear on why they are going into the phase. Moreover, they should have a clear idea of what they will do as soon as they get there. If it happens to be something interesting, your instructions will be adhered to much more closely. This is why they need to have a plan of action before you teach them the easiest phase entrance method. Lightheartedness vs. Seriousness It has been observed that the more relaxed, laid-back, and cheerful the atmosphere during the lessons, the more people will make attempts and the more effective those attempts will be. This is of course determined not by the group itself but by both the manner in which the instructor conducts the lessons and his overall personality. It should be kept in mind that everybody already has enough serious things to deal with in life. There's no need to add one more, and so the more jokes, funny stories from one's own practice, self-deprecating humor, and anecdotes, the better. There's no harm in humor. Actually, the more cheerful the instruction, the less people will skip classes and the more they will recommend you to others. Holding the Students' Attention Considering the large amount of information provided and the duration of most lesson formats, the instructor will inevitably encounter the issue of holding the audience's attention during each lesson. Losing the audience's attention and concentration will lead to catastrophic outcomes both in terms of the seminar success rate and the students' general impression of it. You should be versed in all of the primary tactics for saving the situation and getting people to happily absorb large amounts of information. First, try to give as many breaks as possible. As soon as a lesson goes over 90 uninterrupted minutes, everyone will start to fidget and many will want to eat, drink, go to the bathroom, chat with somebody in the group, or make a business/family phone call. Relieve the tension with a 15 to 20 minute break and then carry on. It's best to offer some light snacks or refreshments during breaks. You can also use breaks to sell an assortment of topic-related products (books, sleep masks, etc.). The teacher himself should go off somewhere on his own during breaks. Otherwise, he will be inundated with questions and will not have a chance to gather the strength to continue on delivering high-quality instruction. Second, don't sit or stand in one place. Try to not only move about in front of the audience, but also periodically go into it. This simple action in concert with active gesticulation and enthusiasm will add dynamism to the event. Otherwise, most of the audience will start to nod off within several minutes. When working with the audience, use various drawings, graphics, and even props. Frequently alternate between auditory, visual, and kinesthetic ways of delivering information - let the students hear you say something, then let them watch you draw something, and then finally let them do something where they have to move themselves. Fourth, don't forget the old adage that people forget 90% of what they hear, 60% of what they see, and only 10% of what they do. These are of course only rough estimates, but they do a great job at illustrating the way things really are. A big advantage to teaching out-of-body experiences and lucid dreaming is the fact that there are a lot of things you can do. You need to take full advantage of this. Practically all of the techniques can be practiced right during the lessons. You can practice not only techniques, but also entire procedures. All of this can be practiced in the mind or through real movements using the physical body. For example, the technique of visualizing the hands can be started off with the physical hands and then continued in the mind's eye. Techniques like deepening and sensory amplification can basically only be practiced in real life by actually palpating and scrutinizing the details of a room while actively moving about it. Fifth, occasionally digress from directly describing the techniques and either completely change the subject or move on to examples from actual practice. Let everyone's brain take a breather and soak in some non-mandatory information while at ease. Sixth, you should periodically give people a good mental workout by making them go through the creative process of coming upon the techniques. Don't merely describe the techniques, but instead let people come to them on their own - make them think a little. To make all of the above diversions work, you need to combine them together and constantly alternate them without staying on one for more than a few minutes. This will force people to participate with their whole being in the process of putting together the procedures for using the techniques. The lessons will become faster-paced, easier, more interesting, and more effective. They will become professional. Working with Different Types of Students The instructor needs to have a basic understanding of what kind of person attends his seminars and why those people chose the given seminar format. Most of the information given out can be gleaned from books or various videos that are freely available in great number online or can be bought in stores. Meanwhile, people sometimes fly in from the other side of the country and spend a lot of money and time to take part in a live seminar. Why? Knowing the answers to this question will help you to better meet the needs of your audience. Reasons might include: - they want to be in a down-to-earth atmosphere with like-minded people - they want to obtain more motivation and desire, as well as be psychologically jolted into action by the instructor - they want personal help from the instructor - many dislike reading books - it's easier and simpler for them to learn the techniques from somebody else than to spend a lot of time learning something on their own - it allows for quicker progress since fewer mistakes will be made during attempts - they want new information instead of antiquated material from books and videos - somebody wants to meet you and talk with you personally - many people simply like to go to various seminars as a form of entertainment and personal development - somebody wants to get first-hand experience of a seminar before holding his own - somebody just happened to tag along or is taking the place of a friend who couldn't go - some people simply don't know that all this information is freely available As you can see, people rarely attend for learning's sake alone. They need something else, and the instructor should always keep that in mind. Don't be surprised when a very experienced practitioner who knows the techniques better than the instructor himself still attends seminars and obtains much satisfaction from doing so. Most attendees are no problem at all to teach. However, there are some typical characters who are nearly always encountered in the audience and who you should know how to deal with so as not to harm the general atmosphere or make things difficult for yourself or those characters themselves. The Skeptic The skeptic will try to cast doubt on almost everything you say. He will often do this in a way so that everybody or at least his neighbors can hear him. It's never, ever worth it to get into a discussion with him. You should politely ask him to keep quiet and hold his questions for the question-and-answer session. He will quiet down on his own if you ignore him after that. His neighbors will often help him to do so. The Gullible Some people are so open to new information that they will take every word of yours to be the God-given truth. The problem is that it's hardly likely that it's your personal powers of suggestion that are so convincing. What's more likely is that they approach everything in a similar manner, and so their heads might be full extraneous garbage that would seriously interfere with their practice. All of their "knowledge" will usually mix together with the unadulterated procedures you give them, and no good will come as a result. You usually have to talk to them one-on-one to warn them of the problems that they might run into. The Know-It-All This type of student attends lessons and yet for some unclear reason stubbornly does everything in the way that seems right to him, which is often the exact opposite of the instructions he was given. Politely ask a know-it-all to follow your instructions, and only your instructions, during the seminar, and then do things any way he wants after the lesson. Let him know that you can't help him until he follows the procedure he was taught when making attempts. The Motor-Mouth You need to be very careful when asking this type of student a question and even more careful when giving him the floor. Instead of a clear answer, you might get a 5 to 10 minute speech about everything and nothing. Immediately nip it in the bud. There usually isn't enough time during the lesson for what's most important. Moreover, other attendees don't really want to listen to motor-mouths either, as they came to listen to you. The Wallflower If you notice people who sit as far back in the room as they can and participate as little as possible in everything, put them in the front row on day two. Involve them in the process and ask them more questions, as otherwise there's the risk of them ruining your rate-of-success due to lackluster and unfocused attempts. If somebody constantly gets sidetracked, simply ask him questions more often during the lesson. In critical situations you can always ask a disruptive person to leave the classroom so that he doesn't interrupt the lesson. You should do so politely and give him a full refund if it happens on the first day. However, such situations are quite infrequent. Homework To improve the overall success rate, you need to ask people to not only make attempts at home, but to also practice the techniques and entire procedures for phase entry. This is especially true of longer courses in which the student has lots of time for additional activities. The better the techniques work during practice, the easier it is to get results with them during an actual attempt, the more you will understand them at a fundamental level, and the better acquainted you will become with them. Various literature on the topic can also be assigned as reading homework. Practitioner accounts of phase experiences are especially well suited for this. They can be found in large numbers on our websites and forums. Reading them will substantially increase motivation and provide a large number of real-life examples of how the phase is mastered. Constant Improvement Think of teaching as a way to constantly improve your skills as a public speaker and at the art of rhetoric. It's a useful skill that will come in handy in many other areas of life. In addition, the quality of your lessons depends on your ability to talk in front of an audience, which is why you should never stop improving. There is an enormous amount of literature and courses on the art of rhetoric and oratory. Though not required, it would be worthwhile for the instructor to study this subject in more detail if he felt he had certain challenges with it. Module No. 1: Introduction: General Theory and Motivation Aim Briefly introduce students to the subject of phase states and get them fully motivated to make attempts, as the success rate of the lessons depends on both the students' desire to perform attempts and the total number of attempts made. Key Concepts Mandatory: Introduction, seminar aim, the umbrella term the phase, the perceptual qualities and properties of the experience, overview of practical applications of the phenomenon, and lesson format. Non-Mandatory: Survey the group to find out their level of practice, the story of the instructor's personal practice, how widespread the phenomenon is, the nature of the phenomenon from various points of view, the future of the phenomenon, contraindications, having a balanced approach to the phenomenon, how often to practice, faith in the methods, and examples. Lesson Plan Survey the Group to Find Out their Level of Practice In order to break the ice and get to know all of the participants better, the instructor should ask each person, "Have you ever had an out-of-body experience or lucid dream? If so, how did it go or how does it usually happen?" Since this phenomenon is not all that rare, more than half the group will tell you how it happened to them in their lives. You should be prepared for when one of them turns out to be a highly-experienced practitioner. Such people will be much more demanding when it comes to the quality of your lessons. If a participant doesn't have any experience, ask him whether or not he has tried to gain some. If a practitioner has had experiences, be sure to ask him how his first one went. It's also important to ask your students how much they are in control during their experiences. The amount of detail people go into should vary in proportion to the group size. In rather small groups, you can have an in-depth conversation with each person. In large groups you can limit the sharing to volunteers or stretch it out over the course of several days (e.g. before lessons). In some cases it's enough to ask whether or not there are people with experience, without having them go into details. Introduction As soon as the latecomers have trickled in and the bulk of the group is in its seats for the first lesson, introduce yourself and any organization in whose name you are holding the event. The Story of the Instructor's Personal Practice If the instructor has a good deal of personal experience with phase states and teaching them, he should briefly relate it so that the students realize that they're dealing with a real practitioner and can take him at his word for that reason alone. If the instructor has little to no experience, then in order to obtain more of it he should simply follow the instructions in this book as well as closely keep to the recommendations in the book The Phase. By performing the actions correctly and purposefully, he can become quite advanced a practitioner in a matter of mere weeks - which is the amount of time needed to enroll one's first group. Aim of the Seminar Explain that the aim of the seminar is for the majority of the group to have an out-of-body experience by the time the seminar is over or for at least all of the participants to understand how to have such an experience. Make it abundantly clear that you won't be discussing theory at all - just practice and nothing but practice. Each participant is entitled to his own opinion on the nature of the phenomenon, be it that the soul leaves the body or that it's all in one's head. Your task is to give them nothing but the phenomenon in practice and refrain from imposing your own views, no matter what the case. This approach is the main advantage to this system of instruction, as it allows you to bring in people with the most diverse views on how the world works. How Widespread the Phenomenon Is Start off with how out-of-body experiences are a normal occurrence. Prove your point by providing the following statistics on the prevalence of phase states: between 25 and 30% of the population has had the experience of leaving the body, from 50 to 70% has had a lucid dream, and between 25 to 30% have experienced sleep paralysis. Get the audience to confirm the accuracy of these numbers by saying, "Raise your hand if you've ever had an out-of-body experience." Also ask them to raise their hands if they have had sleep paralysis, false awakenings, or even near-death experiences. Up to a third or more of the attendees will raise their hands, which goes to prove how widespread these things are. After this survey, tell people that what you'll be talking about is how to control the single phenomenon behind all the aforementioned ones. The Umbrella Term The Phase Tell the audience that you're going to use a new and perhaps unintuitive term to refer to all of these phenomena together. From a pragmatic and scientific point of view, leaving the body, becoming conscious while dreaming, and other such phenomena are of a similar nature, to say the very least. Achieving that very state is what your lessons aim to do, which is why students should start using the terms "phase" and "phase state" (with "the phase" being the name of the phenomenon, a "phaser" being a practitioner of it, and "to phase" meaning to actually do it). The term encompasses not only phenomena like out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming, but also even mystical concepts like astral projection (in its more realistic forms). If someone finds himself outside the perceptions of the physical body and is fully aware of his surroundings (i.e. is conscious), then that's the phase. Any phenomena that meet these two criteria are forms of the phase state. It may be that you often use the term out-of-body experience. It's the most accurate term as regards the sensations actually experienced, but it does not necessarily imply an exit of some essence from the body. At the end of the day, you may use any term you like, especially if you are an independent instructor. However, remember that whatever term you choose may be laden with a theoretical outlook that will please far from all the audience. The Perceptual Qualities and Properties of the Experience Be ready for a large part of the audience to have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Many will think that the phase is some kind of sleep, meditation, or visualization. That's why you should make it clear that this is an extremely realistic experience in which the physical body is not felt at all, and yet all sensations are fully carried over into the phase space. While there you can also see, touch, walk, hear, and feel any other sensation. The sensations are so realistic that people often become frightened or unable to tell the difference between the real world and the phase world that they have entered. It's not for nothing that the concept of hyper-realism of experience exists - sensations in the phase can be much more vivid than those in real life. This hyper-realism is impossible to describe in words, and more often-than-not comes as a complete shock. Overview of Practical Applications of the Phenomenon Let the students know that this is the most unusual phenomenon that they can learn and that it is pretty much the only "extrasensory" one that is actually achievable in practice. However, most novices who are yet unacquainted with the startling realism of the experience will have the simple question of why do I need this? churning around in their minds. You should aim to answer this question immediately so as to increase their interest in the learning process. There are a large number of areas in everyone's life in which the phase can be applied to accomplish quite specific aims. Before listing them, ask each member of the audience to choose the application he's most interested in so that he can try to carry it out as soon as he enters the phase for the first time over the course of the seminar: - Obtaining information - Influencing the physiology - Traveling across the Earth, the Universe, and time - Meeting with relatives, the deceased, and celebrities - Creative development - Fulfilling desires, including sexual ones - Rehabilitation for the disabled - An alternative to video games After listing and briefly describing these opportunities, you can ask who is interested in what. Be sure to let the students know ahead of time if you are planning to go into more detail on practical applications like obtaining information or influencing the physiology during a subsequent lesson. This will perk their interest in the upcoming lessons. Plan of Action Don't forget to reiterate that people should pick something that they personally find interesting from the list of practical applications for their plan of action in the phase. Whatever they pick will serve as the second task on their plan of action. The students' first task is to find a mirror and look into it as soon as they fall into phase. This is mandatory for everyone. Meanwhile, everyone chooses his own second task. Having the mandatory task and then a simple item on the plan of action substantially increases the quality and duration of initial attempts. Once a student subsequently finds a mirror and looks into it, give him another simple but mandatory task. For example, it might be to eat something in the phase, visit a neighbor, try to go through a wall, or fly. Various Points of View on the Nature of the Phenomenon The audience will nearly always be hung up on the nature of the phenomenon. What is it? Is it all in your head? A parallel world? Although you shouldn't appear to be taking sides, you can give a brief outline of possible explanations for the phase state. From the point of view of science, the phase is due to the activation of parts of the brain largely responsible for consciousness (the frontal lobe) during rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep. Of course, that would make it an internally-generated experience that occurs entirely within the bounds of the physical body. There are an enormous number of alternative theories and viewpoints on the phenomenon. Although out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming are often deemed to be different in nature, practitioners of both phenomena use the same techniques. The phrase "out-of-body travel" may be taken to mean the soul exiting the body and going out into either the physical world or a parallel one, the astral plane, or the world of dreams. Even the term "lucid dreaming" can be taken to imply a parallel world that everyone goes to while asleep. Theories often postulate that whether the experience is either simply a state of mind, entry into the physical world, or entry into another world depends on the situation. However, there is no clear proof for this, nor are there methods for transitioning from one state to another. The Future of the Phenomenon According to one theory, phenomena of this class arose as a result of the evolution of human consciousness. That is to say, human consciousness arose within the waking state. It gradually expanded from there and began "intruding" with increasingly frequency on the physiological state nearest it - rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep. Quite possibly, the phase will be as ordinary in the future as it is extraordinary now. It's completely possible that the phase has new heights in scientific and technological progress in store for humanity. Due to the unusual realism of phase-state experiences, they will someday be well-studied and mastered using equipment. This will allow for a merger of the Internet and the human mind to create the Mindnet, i.e. a completely virtual space where there is no limit to what people can experience with all 5 senses. It may find widespread application in communications, entertainment, business, and many other fields. Either way, you should let the audience know that they can now glimpse the future through their personal practice, and that this is still the only way to do so. Contraindications Although there are no contraindications proven to apply regarding the practice of the phase, there are some obvious things that should be kept in mind. The intensity of sensation in this practice can easily cause shock, horror, and fear. This happens especially often with novices. Such stressful experiences can negatively affect people with serious heart conditions, children, pregnant women, and others who need to avoid such unpleasant experiences. However, it's worth reminding the audience once again that it's not the experience itself that's dangerous, but the emotions and sensations that it may evoke. To make things more relaxed, you might have novices follow the safety rule of not translocating via jumping through windows. The phase is so realistic that people often confuse it with reality, which - purely theoretically speaking - might lead to negative outcomes. This is hardly likely to happen in actual practice, as it is the phase that is usually taken for reality, and not reality for the phase. Having a Balanced Approach to the Phenomenon This is the point where you put serious emphasis on the role that this phenomenon should play in one's life. This is quite serious a topic, as mixed-up and distorted life priorities are often encountered. The phase enriches life, and is part of it. But it's not life itself. In order to have a balanced practice, it's important that everyday life be as healthy and successful as possible. Novices need to know that they will not be able to solve or escape all of their problems in the phase. Emphasizing this will help students to avoid false hopes regarding the phenomenon that are based on unrealistic expectations, e.g. those inspired by the occult. How Often to Practice Many attendees are "obsessed" with mastering the phase no matter what. There would be no harm in that if it weren't for them going down the path of making daily attempts. This mistake is second only to starting one's practice from the direct method in terms of its ability to retard one's practice. To ensure more successful personal practices for attendees, be sure to tell them that novices must not make attempts on more than 3 days per week. They may make many attempts on a single day, as long as such days are few per week. Otherwise, they risk losing their ability to focus and may even end up disappointed in the phenomenon. You can phase more often once you are experienced and able to do everything. However, even experienced practitioners do not make attempts more than 5 days a week. There's no need to try this every day. Moreover, people shouldn't get upset that there are so few days on which they may make attempts. This is because spontaneous phase experiences occur more often on days when there are no deliberate attempts to enter the phase. If a novice wakes up suddenly in the middle of the night and realizes that it's a great opportunity to try the indirect method, he may do so. The most important thing is that one not have an intense desire to make attempts on days off. Phase-Entry Methods Explain the different kinds of phase-entry methods to your students and tell them which ones you will go over during the seminar. The methods you cover will depend on the seminar format. The indirect method is both the primary phase entry method and the simplest one. It comprises techniques performed upon awakening. A novice usually only needs make several attempts to get results. This method often starts working from the very first time. Novices often needlessly start their practice from the direct method, which is why the phenomenon was long considered to be extremely difficult or completely unattainable. The direct method comprises actions performed upon awakening or without any prior sleep. This is a higher-difficulty method and is best approached only after mastering the other ones. One can also enter the phase by becoming conscious while dreaming. As soon as you realize that you are asleep and can do whatever you want, you're no longer dreaming, but are in the phase. It usually becomes unnecessary to teach becoming conscious while dreaming because the phenomenon often occurs as a side effect of employing other methods. There are also non-autonomous methods, which include various devices, computer software, special audio files, pairwork with another practitioner, and natural (or even artificial) supplements and substances. However, the audience should realize that unaided practice is the easiest path to a complete and controllable experience. Indeed, many of the substances that lead to phase states are themselves narcotics. Moreover, unaided practice helps one to develop ability and skill. This cannot be said for the non-autonomous methods, which may do the opposite. Lesson Format Let the audience know how the training sessions will take place. This will depend on the instructional format of the seminar. Spell out the topics scheduled to be covered each day or week. Also, do not forget to note that real practical experience will take place in the comfort of home between lessons. Unless a seminar format with direct practice during the lesson has been chosen, the lessons will only provide instruction regarding theory and a bit of actual practice. Faith in the Methods Before going on to any direct instruction, it makes sense to explain where the techniques that you are going to teach came from and why the students should have confidence in them. Let them know that the techniques were not cooked up just the other day, but are the fruit of intense labor experimentally teaching it to thousands of people. The best teaching methodologies were distilled over the course of many years and then further refined. They have been well-known for a long time. Carefully following the instructions is half the battle. If you say that something should be done in a certain way, then that's how it should be done, as that is just how it worked many times before. If you say that something should not be done or leave something out, then it simply should not be done. If you are able to put this across clearly, then you will save your audience from the many problems associated with excessive self-reliance on issues they know nothing about, and thereby improve the overall succes s rate of your lessons. People should know that they have come to a person who knows what he's talking about and takes responsibility for the results, and so all that remains for them to do is relax and fully comply with his instructions. And that's the secret of success. Otherwise, it's all just wasted time and money. Examples If time permits, the audience would find it extremely interesting to hear at least a few clear examples of what the phase experience looks like in practice and not just in theory. To that end, it's best to have a few illustrative experiences of your own to read aloud or simply retell. It's preferable that these accounts emphasize both the vividness of sensation and some practical application of the phenomenon. Suitable examples may also be taken from our internet forum or book The Phase. Typical Instructional Difficulties At this stage, there is nearly always but one primary aim: to motivate seminar participants to keep practicing and intensively try out the methods they have been taught. No matter what lengths the teacher goes to, the only person who can make a student make attempts is the student himself. Motivation is the only key to a person's own actions. No motivation means no focused attempts and no results. The result is a total waste of time. Experience shows that the seminar success rate is much determined by how well-motivated students were at the very beginning. And this is exactly where instructors often make their mistake when starting out. An instructor who is still hardly acquainted with how people's minds work might immediately focus on the techniques and count on them to yield results since they have been finely honed on thousands of people - and he would be correct to do so. However, what he doesn't realize is that people need to know what's in it for them before they will perform the techniques. That's why he should use all possible means to put an emphasis on motivation. He needs to do everything he can to try to light a fire under the audience so that they are extremely impatient to get to the part where he goes over the first techniques, and think to themselves, "Are we there yet? When will he finally tell us how to do it?!" After this module, students should be literally squirming in their seats with impatience. That's exactly the level that you need to get the group to - the boiling point where they all immediately and happily "soak up" all the techniques taught and then eagerly go home to try them out. Another obvious problem during the introductory part of the lesson is the theoretical approach to the problem. There's practically no way to avoid questions regarding the most diverse views on the phase-state phenomenon. Groups nearly always have many people with completely contradictory views. Nearly everyone shows up for lessons counting on some unrealistic expectation they have of the phenomenon being met. That's why there will be constant nagging like, "So what on earth is it?" Or, "So it's all in your head?" Although at times it can't be easy to deal with a tough audience, there are some ways to turn down the pressure. First, never put your weight as an instructor behind any theory regarding the nature of the phenomenon. Second, state upfront that everyone has his own worldview and a different explanation for the phase phenomenon. Third, explain that your task is to provide actual practice, unlike many others instructors who teach only theory. Meanwhile, let everyone decide what the phase actually is on the basis of the actual practice you help him achieve. Typical Student Questions - Are out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming the same thing? According to the phase-state theory, yes. - Is it possible that I won't come back from the phase? That's only a superstition. Physiologically speaking, this state is not dangerous. - Could somebody take over my body while I am out of it? That's a mystical superstition. It's not physically possible, although you might have a phase episode about it - especially if you believe in it. - Is the phase all in your head? You need to decide for yourself what the nature of the phenomenon is. Our task is to give you practical experience to base your decision on. Many practitioners believe that this is an exit of some essence from the body. Others believe that it's all in the mind. Meanwhile, they all use one and the same techniques. - Can everybody do this? Yes, everybody can do this. For some it's easier and for some it's more difficult, but in the end it all depends on how well the techniques are performed. - What if I'm not successful at it over the course of the seminar? That sometimes happens, but in any case you'll learn how to do it and see how the majority of the group does it. Only mistakes you make when performing the techniques can cause such misfires. It's often the case that people who are unsuccessful during a seminar succeed immediately after it. - Aren't such practices symptomatic of schizophrenia or other mental illnesses? The existence of phase states (at least in the context of lucid dreaming) has been a proven scientific fact since the 1970s. Most people encounter it at least once in their lives - so it cannot be a symptom of mental illness. - Could I die in the phase? The odds of dying in the phase are the same as that of dying while having an ordinary dream. - Can two practitioners meet in the phase? It's easy from a technical point of view. However, the true nature of such an encounter is another issue. For example, the small details or even key moments of both of their experiences are hardly likely to coincide when the practitioners discuss them afterwards in real life. Moreover, even if they do coincide, there's no guarantee that what happened wasn't just an exact simulation in the individual phase space of each practitioner. - Can I find out the number of the winning lottery ticket in the phase? No. In the phase you can learn how to solve one issue or another, or even exactly how to earn a million dollars - but you won't learn how to win it, since lottery-ticket numbers are the result of chance. No one has ever proven that this can be done using the phase. - Can I practice superpowers in the phase and then use them in real life? Although any superpower can be practiced in the phase, doing so is hardly likely to have any effect on your abilities in the physical world. At least no one has proven that this is possible. However, you can practice ordinary abilities in the phase. - Can I go backwards or forwards in time in the phase? You can learn information from the past or for the future, but that does not mean that you will actually travel in time. - Can astral beings attack me in the phase? That's a mystical superstition. Only materialized fears can attack you, and that's if you expect them to. For that matter, anyone can attack you - but this doesn't mean anything. - I was told that your system involves entering only a lower-level astral plane or a lucid dream. Is that true? How can I get to a higher-level astral plane? These are mystical superstitions. Of course, it all depends on your views, and everyone determines his worldview for himself, but it suffices to say that there are no principal differences in practicing "higher" and "lower" levels of astral travel (for those who use such terminology). Both lucid dreaming and out-of-body travel use the very same methods. The term the phase was coined for the purpose of uniting all such phenomena that can be achieved using the same techniques. - Are there any age limits for practicing the phase? A person who finds the topic interesting and is able to understand what to do can phase no matter what his age. Both children and the elderly can do it. Module No. 2: The Indirect Method Aim Students learn the easiest method for mastering out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming - one that accounts for 60 to 70% of the results people get at seminars of all formats. The indirect method is performed while awakening from sleep. Key Concepts Mandatory: Definition, when to perform the techniques, conscious awakening, intensity and confidence, separation techniques, indirect techniques, and cycles of indirect techniques. Non-Mandatory: When to practice, awakening without movement, hints, forced falling asleep, overcoming barriers, auxiliary factors, plan of action, a brief discussion of deepening and maintaining, practicing the techniques, practicing the procedure by playing a game, simulating attempts, and examples. Lesson Plan Definition After they leave your classroom, your students should remember what the indirect method is for the rest of their lives: techniques performed while awakening from sleep. This is the simplest way to achieve an out-of-body experience and yields success in over 90% of attempts when performed correctly. When to Practice This the first method for mastering the phase state should be taught not only to novices, but also to experienced practitioners who have reached their current level using other methods. This approach is due to the ease with which the indirect method is mastered and how it lends itself to analysis when searching for mistakes made in employing it. When to Perform the Techniques If one doesn't need to wake up the next morning one might employ the deferred method, which is where the practitioner goes to bed at midnight, sets his alarm clock for 6am, does something for between 5 to 50 minutes, and goes back to sleep for as long a period of time as possible in order to take advantage of each subsequent awakening. Slumber interrupted in this way will lead to many awakenings over the second half of the night's sleep, which will allow you to make many attempts over the course of a single morning. It's important that rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep predominate over the remaining period of time set aside for sleep, as this makes attempts many times more effective than they otherwise would be. Moreover, a desire affirmed during an early-morning interruption in sleep will remain firmer in the mind during subsequent brief awakenings than one affirmed the evening before. It should also be understood that what's important is not so much waking up at exactly 6am, but rather sleeping for 4? to 7? hours (depending on what time you go to bed and how long you sleep). You need to get less than but nearly a full night's sleep. If there is no opportunity to use the deferred method, students might take advantage of any spontaneous nighttime or morning awakenings. Awakenings after daytime naps are also good for getting results in one's practice. Conscious Awakening An important part of the procedure is the desire to wake up and try the techniques. This desire is affirmed before falling asleep before the awakening that one plans to use. Thus, after a practitioner lies down to go back to bed after awakening at say 6am, he mentally resolves to awaken and try the techniques. Some kind of motivation helps to make that resolution stronger, e.g. a plan of action (go up to a mirror and then do something of your own that you find quite interesting). Such a desire should be kindled each time before falling asleep after 6am. For example: a practitioner affirms his desire at 6:07am, wakes up at about 7:13am, immediately tries the techniques, and success or no success, reaffirms his desire to try again on the next awakening, etc. Meanwhile, if the practitioner has decided to try the indirect method during the day, he should then think about the phase while falling asleep. The same applies for nighttime awakenings. Awakening without Movement The less a practitioner moves upon awakening, the greater his odds of having an out-of-body experience. That's why one's affirmation when falling asleep should include not only resolving to immediately perform actions upon wakening, but also the desire to have a perfectly still physical body. However, it bears repeating often during the first lessons that awakening without movement is preferable, but not at all mandatory. If someone wakes up and has made a movement, he needs to nevertheless make an attempt. If this is not emphasized, people will simply not make attempts after awakenings with movement, which will be the majority of them. This will substantially drag down the rate of success for your lessons. Intensity and Confidence Let people know that they already awaken in the right state in the majority of cases - this is the secret to the simplicity of the indirect method. This means that relaxed and passive actions are not what's needed most of the time. What's needed is exactly the opposite: to "break out" of your body and try to climb out of it no matter what using the techniques. You need to put your all into the techniques and immerse yourself with your entire being in the sensations of performing them. Each action should be made extremely aggressively, forcefully, and with a great deal of confidence that everything will work out right then and there. If you leave this message out, your students simply won't press their advantage when they are clearly already in the right state. They should have clear instructions in their minds - break out of their bodies no matter what. Confidence in the outcome is of extreme importance. It alone is often sufficient to achieve success. The opposite also holds true: when confidence is lacking, even a person who is already in the phase will find himself unable to do anything with it. In order to increase your students' confidence, you should let your students know as often as possible that the phenomenon is not anything extraordinary and that any person can easily achieve it. Separation Techniques Before going on to the procedure for the indirect method, review its primary components: separation techniques and phase-creation techniques. The most commonplace separation techniques are getting up, rolling out, and levitation. Explain to people that it's not worth worrying about how exactly you're going to separate. It actually feels like a regular movement, as if you were simply getting up out of bed, rolling out of it, or levitating above it. And it feels like it's you yourself doing it in your perceived body and not some mysterious etheric or astral body. The term separation rarely succeeds at describing the actual sensations felt. That’s why there is no need to overdo it or overthink it. What you need to do is to try to get up as you normally do, but while trying not to move a muscle in your physical body. Try to do it no matter what and do it right then and there. If a technique starts working, you need to simply use those sensations to move with the body that you feel the techni que working in. The result is that once it works for a person, he can't describe how exactly he did it without using the words "simple," "easy," or "as usual." Practitioners who are already in the phase are often stopped by fear of making a physical movement, and this is especially true if they still do not understand that everything is as it should be in terms of sensations. Invite them to move anyway in such situations. Even if a practitioner actually stands up with his physical body (which is hardly likely), then at least he will have learned how not to move his "phase" body instead of his physical one. This is many times better than simply "missing the boat" out of a fear of making a mistake. Separation in the phase is quite intuitive. As with a regular movement, there's practically nothing to explain about it: you just do it. It's just the same here. There's why there's no sense in focusing too much on it. Students need only realize that their burning desire when the moment is right will be the decisive factor. No other insight is necessary. Separation often occurs quite easily, but sometimes it can be quite slow-going. It's as if the body begins weighing many times more than it actually does and some rubbery harness is pulling you back into bed. It's normal for practitioners to encounter this. To turn such a situation in to a full-fledged phase, it's sufficient to resist that sluggishness and, if strength allows, to move and crawl out of the physical body. After struggling like this for a few seconds, movement will become easy. If a student stubbornly makes a physical movement during separation attempts, ask him to use separation techniques during which real physical movement is simply impossible, like levitation, falling, imagining oneself already separated, etc. Indirect Techniques Phase creation techniques are the second component of the indirect-method procedure. Though there are an enormous number of them, for the purposes of the seminar it's enough to provide a selection of 4 or 5 of the easiest and most-straightforward techniques. Students should select the two or three they are most comfortable with. Try to go over these techniques in as much detail as possible: Rotation After an attempt to separate, the practitioner tries to imagine or feel the sensation of rotating around his or her head-to-toe axis for 3 to 5 seconds. If the sensation of rotation arises, you should once again try to separate (via getting up, rolling out, levitating, etc.). If separation after rotation was unsuccessful, you'll need to return to rotation and intensify it, and then try to separate again. You can repeat this sequence several times, which means that you can even do this technique for an entire minute. If not even a slight sensation of rotation arises within 5 seconds, immediately switch to another technique. The main feature of this technique is its arousal of the vestibular system. You don't need to try to visualize yourself or the room around you rotating. What you do need to do is try to rotate on your own by your internal sensations. The process is made easier by turning your eyes to the side you want to rotate towards, but while still keeping them closed. Observing Images If rotation doesn't yield results within 5 seconds, the practitioner should peer into the void before his eyes for 3 to 5 seconds and meanwhile try to see an image of some sort. If the practitioner starts to see something during that period of time (any image - even a dim one), he may then try to separate. If unsuccessful with separation, the practitioner should return to observing images, make the imagery sharper, and try once again to separate, etc. However, if no images arise within the first 3 to 5 seconds, he is to switch to another technique. The key to performing this technique is to see an image that appears on its own before your eyes, and not an imagined one. This is not a visualization exercise. It is observation. You need only peer into the void before your eyes. If an image does arise and your aim is to make it sharper and more realistic, then you need to look at it in a defocused way, as if you were looking through it or past it. This will make the image more stable and vivid. I t's worth keeping in mind that practitioners are sometimes enveloped by imagery and then teleported to that place. In this case they are already in the phase, and it's not necessary to separate. The Swimmer Technique If the preceding technique didn't work, the practitioner should begin to assertively imagine movement of some sort for 3 to 5 seconds, e.g. swimming, running, arm circles, pedaling, etc. If within 3 to 5 seconds the imagined sensation suddenly becomes or starts becoming realistic enough to replace physical perception, that's a signal to attempt to separate by getting up, rolling out, or levitating. If separation is unsuccessful, then you'll need to return to feelings of movement, intensify them, try again to separate, etc. If no unusual sensations arise with the first 3 to 5 seconds, switch to another technique. As with many other techniques, an enormous role in whether or not the practitioner is successful is played by the desire to feel the requisite sensations no matter what, as if one had become completely absorbed by the image when trying to experience it. Practitioners are often immediately sucked into some place in the phase when performing this technique. In this case it's not ne cessary to find a way to separate, as separation has already occurred. Visualizing the Hands If the previous technique didn't work from the start, the practitioner should then intensely imagine for 3 to 5 seconds that he is rubbing his hands together about 2 to 4 inches from his face at a bit higher than eye level, while trying to see, feel, and/or hear his hands rubbing together with full realism. If one or more of the expected sensations arises, you should try to separate from your body by starting off from those very sensations, as with other techniques. If that doesn't work, you should intensify the sensations and try again to separate, etc. If no sensations at all arise over the first 3 to 5 seconds, switch to another technique. Listening In If the previous technique did not work, the practitioner should listen in within his head for 3 to 5 seconds, trying to hear any internal sounds. If some sounds actually arise during this time, separation may be attempted. This might be hissing, droning, ringing, voices, or music, etc. If separation does not occur, you will need to return to the sound, amplify it, and try again to separate, etc. If no sounds arise within 3 to 5 seconds, switch to another technique. Cycles of Indirect Techniques This is the key moment when teaching the procedure of actions to perform upon awakening. You should now explain how the separation and phase-state creation techniques come into optimum synergy upon awakening. Each time a practitioner awakens, he should try to separate from his body within 3 to 5 seconds. If successful, he will be in the phase. If unsuccessful, he will begin to cycle 2 to 3 techniques for 3 to 5 seconds each and do at least 4 such cycles, but for no longer than a total of one minute. As soon as some technique begins to work, the practitioner will once again try to separate. If it does not work, he will return to the technique that worked, intensify the sensations derived from it, and then try again to separate. If separation is once again unsuccessful, he will return to the technique in order to intensify it, and then try again to separate, etc. The main take-away here is that techniques are cycled only until one of them starts working. It's not important what order the techniques are in. What matters most is that students select 2 or 3 techniques and just cycle through them upon awakening. Let's say a practitioner has chosen the techniques of rotation and visualizing the hands. He awakens and tries to separate, without success. He then does the rotation technique, but since no unusual sensations arise after 5 seconds, he moves on to the visualizing the hands technique and quickly rubs his hands in front of his closed eyes. After that technique also fails to work, he goes back to the rotation technique and switches from it 5 seconds later, as it too yields no results. He once again tries the visualization of the hands technique with added intensity, and after several seconds realizes that he's not simply trying to see his hands in front of his face, but is actually beholding them as if in real life. He tries to separate right then and there, but without success. That's when he tries to see and feel his hands more distinctly by scrutinizing a nd rubbing them together more intensely. He then gets up from his physical body and immediately goes on to carry out his previously-prepared plan of action. The idea is to perform at least 4 such cycles of techniques, but do so in under one minute. Since students will stubbornly do a mere 1 or 2 cycles, you'll need to repeatedly underscore that it's necessary to perform no less than 4 cycles, even if no techniques work during any of them. This will substantially improve the overall success rate, as the majority of results come after the first cycle. Naturally, as soon as some technique starts to work, the practitioner should focus on it alone and work with it until he is able to enter the phase. In other words, there's no need to switch from a technique once it starts working. If the practitioner realizes after 4 cycles or one minute that nothing is working, the best thing to do is to try to fall back asleep with the desire and self-motivation to subsequently wake up and try again from the beginning. It's no big deal if it didn't work the first time - it will work another time. The most important thing is that these attempts take place. Thus, over the course of a single morning a student might wake up from 3 to 10 times and get in a lot of attempts. Even if he doesn't understand everything that happens to him, at least one of the techniques will surely lead to success. It's worth mentioning that students will often wake up but then forget what they were supposed to do. In such situations, it's best to do whatever comes to mind. Doing at least something is much better than missing one's chance while trying to remember one's detailed plan of action. Practitioners will also occasionally have awakenings that they subjectively feel were too abrupt and conclude that there's no point in attempting anything. Such subjective feelings are to be ignored - if you've woken up, make an attempt no matter what things may seem. If students awaken to movement all the time, then they might start the indirect method off with cycling techniques instead of an attempt to separate. Hints Budding practitioners should keep in mind that the classic prescription of cycles of indirect techniques upon awakening is not the cure-all for every situation. Sometimes the body itself will let you know what to start off from. It will even do so quite often. For example, if a practitioner sees imagery immediately upon waking, there's no point in starting a cycle of techniques. He can immediately try to separate, or make the images more vivid and then try to separate. There is no point in alternating other techniques, seeing as one is already working. The second most common hint is sound. If a practitioner awakens and immediately realizes that he hears some unreal sounds - hissing, whistling, music, or voices - that's a sign of the phase. In this case you can either amplify the sound and separate, or immediately try to separate and then return to the sounds if unsuccessful. The third hint is vibrations. The sensation is similar to that of a current passing through the body without causing harm. It's also a sign of the phase, and one can try to separate or amplify vibrations by force of will and then try again to separate. The fourth hint is numbness. In most cases, numbness upon awakenings belongs to the same class of phantom perceptions that includes imagery and noises. That is to say, it arises not because a cutoff in blood circulation, but is rather a phantom sensation in and of itself. To use it, you should try to move the numb part of your body without moving a muscle, i.e. transition to the technique of phantom wiggling. You will usually succeed easily. What's interesting is that this works not only with false numbness, but also with real numbness. This is why some experienced practitioners purposefully fall asleep in an uncomfortable position so that there will be a limb gone-numb-upon-awakening that they can use. The fifth hint is sleep paralysis. This is a situation where a practitioner awakens or falls asleep and suddenly realizes that he can't move at all, no matter how much he wants to or how hard he tries. There's nothing dangerous about this as it's a natural property of REM sleep and does not last more than a few minutes once one is conscious. It's essentially a sign of a phase being quite stable. All that needs to be done upon awakening in a state of sleep paralysis is to try to separate from the body no matter what. If you are able to do good job at getting the hints across, this may substantially improve the effectiveness of the classes as hints arise quite often in actual practice. All that remains is to use them. Moreover, if a practitioner has understood how hints work, he will better understand the overarching principle behind the indirect method: find an unusual sensation upon awakening and intensify it in order to enter the phase. Forced Falling Asleep There are actually two primary ways of working with the indirect method: the active and the passive way. What's usually taught first is the active version, which is when the practitioner aggressively tries to enter the phase "no matter what" upon awakening. Although you might immediately add that the passive version can be taken up if the active one fails, it's best to wait until the students try the active one first. This is especially relevant when the practitioner awakens too alertly or constantly moves upon awakening before he makes attempts. The idea is to do the techniques as if one were falling asleep to them. One does not actually need to fall asleep, of course. The trick is to try to fool the brain, which will obey the desire to fall asleep and reflexively activate the mechanisms for prolonging necessary REM sleep if you've just awoken after a long night's sleep or daytime nap. This takes literally a matter of seconds upon awakening. Knowing the right moment to separate is also simple: it's when the techniques start to work. The most important thing is to not drag out the process. Separate right then and there instead. Otherwise, it's easy to fall asleep, which is the main problem when employing this kind of method. It's counterproductive to focus too much on exactly how you're doing it. This is yet another one of those purely intuitive matters that are quite difficult to describe in words. Everything needs to be done as if you actually wanted to fall asleep, but while keeping in the back of your mind that you really don't. Your body will perform the rest of the work on its own. The most important thing is to give it the signal that is usually given when one simply must fall asleep right away - a situation that nearly everyone encounters. If a practitioner thinks about something too much at this moment and complicates what is otherwise a simple process, he might simply get no results. The most important thing is the simple desire to sink back into sleep using the techniques, but then separate once they start working and enter the phase. If the active form does not work for experienced practitioners, the similar, passive form will always work and yield a near 100% success rate. There is also another version whereby forced falling asleep is used as a separate technique that is alternated together with the other techniques. Overcoming Barriers Students quite often encounter the problem where the techniques seem to work, but work poorly or only a little - i.e. in a way that is insufficient for separation. You should skip this issue if the problem lies in the students misunderstanding how separation itself works. The problem here is indeed that the techniques aren't working sufficiently well. In such a case, one may briefly switch from a poorly working technique to another one. One might alternate the stalled technique with forced falling asleep or observing images and do so in an especially active way. Once the practitioner has returned to the previous technique after a few seconds, it will usually work much better. Auxiliary Factors A discussion of some side issues may substantially help students practicing the indirect method. The advice given here may be critically important for some people to hear. For example, sometimes the main impediment to the practice is something easily remedied, like external light or sound. A large amount of sunlight in the morning or during daytime attempts will substantially shorten sleep stages, including necessary REM sleep. The result is that fewer attempts are made and there are fewer chances to enter the phase. The solution is to get a regular sleep mask or special blackout curtains. Such measures can even prolong regular sleep by several hours. The same applies for noise control. If your surroundings are extremely loud when you make attempts, you might use earplugs. For example, if a practitioner has decided to use the deferred method, he should get up after 6 hours of sleep, put in earplugs, put on a sleep mask, and go back to sleep with the firm desire to catch the next natural awakening in order to make attempts to enter the phase. Meanwhile, it's best to make sure that pets are fed and put in another room, that people you live with know not to disturb you, and that phones and doorbells are turned off. Plan of Action It's preferable that students be at least briefly brought up-to-speed on possible applications of the phase. They should have at least one application that is most interesting to them and that they will try to perform in the phase as soon as they enter it. For example, it might be traveling to Mars or meeting with a deceased family member. Having such a plan of action will substantially improve the quality of a student's first attempt and the likelihood of him making the attempt in the first place. However, due to certain traits of human psychology, all practitioners should be given the same first item for their plans of action. This item will be mandatory for everybody. It should be something simple yet interesting. For example: find a mirror and look into it, go through a wall, fly, or eat something in the phase. The reason behind this is that students confronted with the enormous possibilities of the phase often fail to choose something specific to do during their first attempts. The result is that their first experiences are less likely to take place, and will be brief when they do. Make it easier on your students by giving them something specific to do. Let it be something down-to-earth that doesn't require too much imagination or fantasy. This will let you see if they are able to not only enter the phase, but also act inside it. Moreover, a professional instructor should consider success to be students not merely entering the phase, but also completing at least one item on their pre-prepared plans of action. Brief Discussion of Deepening and Maintaining Deepening and maintaining are separate topics for discussion, but it can be briefly mentioned that if sensations are indistinct, students should simply try to move more, touch whatever is around them, and scrutinize things up close to stimulate their senses. The same applies for prolonging an attempt. As soon as a practitioner in the phase feels that sensations are fading and that everything might end soon, he should at least touch and scrutinize everything anew while not forgetting to move as much as possible. Practicing the Techniques It is preferable to practice the techniques one-by-one so that the students see how they should be performed in practice. This will familiarize them with the techniques so that there are no surprises during actual attempts. Moreover, practicing the techniques during the lesson will allow people to choose the most suitable ones right away. Let them know upfront that nobody will be entering any phase states, astral planes, or out-of-body worlds when practicing during the lesson. Although these techniques can be fruitlessly performed for hours when in a wakeful state, they yield immediate results just upon awakening from sleep. In other words, practicing techniques during the lesson is a merely a drill, and not the real deal. Ask the students to sit down comfortably (or lie down, if possible), relax, close their eyes, and then carry out your instructions as follows: Rotation Ask the students to imagine themselves rotating along their head-to-toe axes, but to the left. Have them turn their eyes to that side too. After a few moments, ask them to try to imagine the vestibular sensation of rotating to the right. Have them move their eyes to that side without opening them. Emphasize that they are not to try to see anything. They need to create the internal sensation of rotation, first to the left, and, a bit later, to the right. Guide them through it several times and then ask them to do it on their own for a minute or two. While they're busy with that, tell them that anyone who was able to imagine internal rotation and feel the corresponding vestibular sensation should try to accelerate that rotation. If anyone is able to rotate only a quarter of the way or halfway, then he should simply try harder to rotate all the way around. If some people have no success at all, they should keep trying without getting upset. Observing Images It's preferable that the room be dark when practicing this technique. Ask the students to peer into the void in front of their closed eyes. Tell them to not try to see anything, but to instead fixate on any image that arises. Have them try to keep up an appearing image by means of a defocused gaze. The students should do most of the practicing of this technique on their own and during periods of silence. Remind them periodically that the goal is to keep up the images and make them more realistic. If they fade away or quickly change, that's a sign that one is focusing on them. If no imagery at all appears, there's nothing wrong with that as this is just a form of training, and the technique might work during actual practice. The Swimmer Technique Ask people to imagine as vividly and true-to-life as possible that they're swimming. Have them try to feel all the minor details of this movement and absorb themselves in it. Ask them to accelerate the imagined rotation. After half a minute, ask them to imagine with the same intensity that they're running. Next, practice arm circles and pedaling using both the legs and the arms. Then, quickly go back through all of the movements, emphasizing speed and the determination to feel them no matter what. Afterwards, ask the students to determine which movement they liked the most and let them practice it on their own for a minute. Visualizing the Hands First, ask the students to raise their physical hands a bit higher than their eyes and about 2 to 4 inches away from their faces. Have them rub their hands together as if trying to warm their palms in the cold. They are to commit all of these sensations to memory while scrutinizing their hands. They should all then put down their hands, close their eyes, and begin to do the same thing again, but this time in their minds. That means they should imagine that they've once again raised their hands to forehead level, are once again vigorously rubbing their hands together, and are once again scrutinizing them and listening to the sound of them rubbing together. The students are to imagine this action as vividly as possible. Ask them to accelerate the hand rubbing and scrutinize their imagined hands with increased concentration. Wait a bit and then ask them to speed up again, and give them a minute to practice the technique on their own and commit its accompanying associations to memory. Listening In Try to get the audience to be silent and then ask them to tune out all external sensations and listen in to what's inside their heads. After some time, they should get an internal noise like buzzing, hissing, or ringing. They will need to try to listen in to this sound while trying to make it as loud as possible. Its volume will increase in proportion to the amount of attention devoted to it. Since it's hard to listen to both internally- and externally-generated noise at the same time, the students should practice this technique completely on their own for nearly the entire time. Practicing each technique should last no longer than 3 or 4 minutes. Next, ask the students who felt what while performing the technique, and answer any questions that occurred to them while going through the process. The questions might be asked as follows: - Who didn't get any sensations at all, or had no idea what to do or how to do it? - Who did get some sensations, but found that they were weak or not full-fledged? - Who had the technique work really well for them? - Who could describe the sensations they got in their own words? - Who has questions about this technique? The separation techniques can be practiced in a similar manner. However, in this case one is working on one's desire and internal drive to get up, levitate, and roll out without moving a muscle, and not on the resultant sensations, as would be the case with phase-creation techniques. A Game for Practicing the Procedure Get the procedure to better sink in with the students by playing a game with them that verbally simulates real attempts and all kinds of situations that might arise. Start from the very beginning since, as you will soon see, many will not have understood even the simplest, most preliminary things. Give the first part of each action, and then ask the students either in-a-row or at-random to give the second part. - I go to bed at midnight and… (I set my alarm for 6am) - At 6am I… (get up and walk around for 5 to 50 minutes) - At 6:05 I lie down and… (I affirm my desire to wake up and try the techniques) - I sleep, sleep, sleep, and then unexpectedly awaken and… (I try to roll out, stand up, or levitate right here and now) - I have been unable to separate within 5 seconds and now I… (I do rotation right away - require specific techniques) - I try to rotate for 5 seconds, but no feeling of rotation arises and… (I transition to observing images) - No images arise within 5 seconds and… (I transition to the swimmer technique) - The swimmer technique doesn't work either I try visualization of the hands - it doesn't work either, and then I… (start the cycle over from rotation) - I try to rotate for 5 seconds, but no feeling of rotation arises and… (I transition to observing images) - I try scrutinizing images, but none arise... (I now try to roll out, stand up, or levitate) - I am unable to separate... (I return to the image and try to make it sharper) - How do I try to make it more realistic? (I stare at it as if I were looking past it) - The image has become even more vivid... (I again try to roll out, stand up, or levitate) - I was able to stand up in the phase... (I run to look for a mirror in the room) - I saw a mirror and... (go on to my second, personal item on my plan of action) - I was returned to my body and I... (I try to leave my body again, and if unable to, I fall asleep with the desire to wake up and try once again) Do many different variations on the above examples with your students. It's important that you require immediate answers when having the students play this game. When answering questions, hesitating for several seconds is considered a fail. If someone gives a wrong answer, you need to quickly ask others for the right answer and then start the attempt all over again, thus obtaining perfect attempts from beginning to end. It makes sense to vary the questions as much as possible and make people think by bringing up some non-standard situations. This will allow them to learn the procedure more thoroughly. Simulating Attempts Last but not least, it's worthwhile to reinforce all the students' newly-acquired knowledge via fully-simulated awakenings. This can be done either sitting on chairs or lying down, if possible. As soon as everyone has gotten comfortable and closed their eyes, you should say something to the following effect: "It's as if you've just awoken at 6 o'clock in the morning, walked around for a bit, and gone back to sleep. Affirm your desire both to try not to move when you wake up and to immediately try to leave your body so that you can go to the mirror and carry out your personal plan of action. It's as if you've fallen asleep... You're sleeping... sleeping... sleeping... you suddenly wake up and try no-matter-what to roll out of your body... levitate... get up without moving a muscle... You weren't successful. Rotation. Try no-matter-what to rotate... It's not working out. The swimmer technique... Make an aggressive effort to feel like you're swimming or making any other motion... No luck. Now, rotation once again... Actively and aggressively try to feel the sensation of rotation right now. It doesn't work. The swimmer technique... Try no-matter-what to feel an imagined swimming stroke... Nothing. Once again rotation... Actively, quickly... it's a no go. The swimmer technique.... That's 4 cycles. It seems as if nothing's worked. You think to yourself, "no big deal," and you decide to go back to sleep and subsequently wake up to try it all again. Next time you're going to try the observing images and visualizing the hands techniques." In order to best master and conceptualize the techniques, 2 or 3 awakenings should be simulated by means of the instructor giving a detailed walk-through. The students should do another 2 or 3 simulations completely on their own. Over the course of such independent practice, the teacher should signal both the moment of awakening and when a minute of time has elapsed. It's important to state the obvious here: what's being simulated are unsuccessful attempts, as if not a single technique were working. During an actual attempt, one should try to separate using a technique as soon as it starts working. And if it doesn't work at all, one should intensify the sensations derived from that same technique and try once again to separate. Never switch from a technique that starts working within seconds. You might sometimes simulate successful attempts by asking the students to imagine that a technique starts working and asking them to separate and go through their plan of action - this successful attempt would be all in their imaginations, unlike the technique cycling, which is authentic and actually happens during the regular simulations. Techniques and attempts may be simulated not only during the first lesson, but also during subsequent ones if the need arises. Examples Have some specific examples of using cycles of indirect techniques ready beforehand. Give examples of how cycling can bring results immediately upon separation, upon alternating techniques, and upon using hints from the mind. It's preferable that these be examples from your personal experience. If you are for some reason unable or unwilling to produce your own examples, you may find an abundance of them in the book The Phase and on our forum. There is no need to read aloud long passages. It's sufficient to read one paragraph that describes a phase entry. The audience needs to hear a specific example. This will further motivate them and increase their understanding of the process. Typical Instructional Difficulties Basically, the indirect method is simple: wake up, try to separate, and if you are unsuccessful - alternate techniques for 3 to 5 seconds each over the course of a minute; if something works, try to separate. If you are unable to separate, intensify the sensation derived from the technique that is working and try again to separate. If nothing works over the course of a minute, then fall asleep with the desire to catch the next awakening and make another attempt. However, even after spoon-feeding the group this procedure for a good two hours, it might seem that many still do not grasp the simplest and most obvious points. For example, someone might make attempts while falling asleep for the night instead of upon awakening. This is precisely why it's important to simulate attempts during the lessons and thus avoid such situations as much as possible. Three purely psychological points are hardest of all to drive home. First, upon awakening to physical movement or what seems to be an alert awakening, your students will often simply forgo making attempts at a time when they could make them and could achieve results. It will seem to them that nothing will work out anyway ("Why try now?... I'll try next time..."). This alone can reduce the success rate of your lessons by a third! You should therefore strictly forbid any improvisation. If it is written that they need to awaken and try, that means that they really need to do so, no matter what it might seem to them or what they might think. Second, the effectiveness of employing the techniques upon awakening nearly completely depends on one's desire to get them to work, one's belief in their effectiveness, and the aggressiveness in one's desire to achieve it. If your students don't get this, they will perform everything sluggishly and passively, which will substantially lower your success rate. Therefore, when teaching theory or leading practice of the techniques, frequently emphasize the importance of internal drive when performing the indirect method. Third, what's hardest of all is to get the students to perform the indirect-technique cycling procedure in a step-by-step manner. Most people will try to ignore the rule that the techniques should be alternated for between 30 and 60 seconds, even if they don't work. Only afterwards may you back go to sleep for your next attempt. Human psychology is what's at the root of this. After waking up and unsuccessfully going through one cycle of techniques, the student sees no results. It seems to him that nothing will work, even if he keeps up with it. However, the point of cycling is to obtain results when the phase does not come immediately. Typical Student Questions - With the deferred method, can you try to separate immediately after the alarm goes off at 6 o' clock in the morning? You may, but it's much more effective to wake up at a predetermined time and then catch subsequent natural awakenings. - Do I need to employ the deferred method if I sleep only 6 hours and this is all my body needs? You can try to shorten the first period of sleep from 6 hours to 4. You might have to catch any awakening you can. - If I was planning to use the deferred method but woke up in the middle of the night, could I have used that awakening? Basically, you can make an attempt if you feel that the moment is right. The most important thing is that the night doesn't turn into a constant string of attempts, as it's important to get the sound sleep your body needs. - I don't normally wake up until I have to. Are the indirect techniques something I should try out? This is a learnable skill. The main thing is to do everything correctly and better affirm your desire while falling asleep. Many often fear this problem, though it's actually rarely encountered. - Will my spouse who shares the bed with me interfere? It depends on how you look at it. Some are happy to get extra opportunities to make attempts when their partners accidentally wake them up. Others find this bothersome and try to sleep alone, perhaps in another room. - If I go to bed at 4am (or say 8pm), should I still set my alarm for 6am? No. 6 hours refers to the length of time that you should sleep rather than the time that you should get up. You should therefore decide for yourself when to have an awakening for the deferred method. You need to get most but not all of the sleep that your body needs. - Should I count down seconds (i.e. down from 3 to 5 seconds) while performing the techniques in order to know when to switch them? No. 3 to 5 seconds is about how long it should take you to realize whether or not a technique is working. - If several techniques immediately start working upon awakening, which one should I choose? If the techniques aren’t interfering with each other, you can intensify the sensations in all of them at once. Alternatively, you might choose the technique that’s working the best and stick with that one. It depends on the situation and your preference. - If the sensation of having a double body arises upon separation, what should I do? Try to transfer all of the sensations into the body that you perceive in the phase. Simply focus on its sensations. - Can you do more than 4 cycles? You can, but there's no point in dragging out an indirect-method attempt for too long. It's best to go back to bed and catch the next awakening. - I find myself in a void upon awakening. What should I do? It's best to immediately employ a translocation technique by focusing on your destination or attempting to create vision by trying to scrutinize your hands from a close distance without opening your eyes. - All of the techniques work, but why am I unable to separate? The problem lies in your understanding of the separation process and some internal psychological blocks. At that moment, you were lying down in bed in the phase. All that you had to do was simply get up out of bed. - Can I employ both direct and indirect techniques at the same time? It's best for novices not to combine those methods. Otherwise, they risk dissipating their attention and desire. - I always wake up to physical movement. What should I do? It's no big deal. The most important thing is to make attempts anyway. It might be worth it to skip separation and immediately move on to cycling techniques. It's also worth it to consider forced falling asleep and its variations. - If I am awoken by my cat or a loud noise, may I try indirect techniques upon that awakening? Yes, you may, as long as the distraction will no longer bother you. - How do I get out of the phase? You don't have to worry about that. Issues related to maintaining the state will be studied separately, as initial experiences are usually quite brief. Module No. 3 The Direct Method Aim Students learn or are given the fundamentals of the most difficult and yet most alluring method for mastering out-of-body experiences: phase entry without prior sleep. Key Concepts Mandatory: Definition, when to perform the techniques, level of activeness and duration, being indifferent, the techniques, and the free-floating state of mind. Non-Mandatory: When to practice, body position, relaxation, enjoying yourself, practicing the free-floating state of mind, and examples. Lesson Plan Definition The direct method for phase entry comprises techniques performed without prior sleep or after being awake for a substantial length of time. Although this class of techniques is the hardest to master, phasing can be achieved in at least 50% of attempts when it is practiced correctly. When to Practice Considering the difficulty of the direct method and its allure for practically all budding practitioners, the audience should be advised beforehand that this method should be approached only after other methods (e.g. the indirect method) have been mastered. If a novice begins his attempts to master the phase from these direct techniques, he is practically doomed to failure and spending his time and energy in vain. It suffices to say that even many experienced practitioners avoid direct techniques due to the relatively high amount of energy that has to be put in to get results. Every second spent on the indirect techniques is dozens if not hundreds of times more effective. These techniques come easily to about 10% of the population. The problem is that everybody wants to undeservedly be included in that ten percent. As soon as a practitioner is able to enter the phase using one method or another, he may allow himself periodic attempts to master the direct techniques. No matter what your students may think or what it may seem to them, if you really want to teach them something, be strict about them keeping to this development strategy. People often make fundamental mistakes with the indirect techniques, which is why they can't learn them. Yet they think that the problem is with the techniques themselves, and then figure that the direct method will work for them. To dispel such false hopes, provide a humorous analogy to a workout gym: a guy who doesn't work out enters the gym for the first time, walks up to a barbell with 250 pounds on it and tries to bench-press it. Of course, the barbell doesn't budge and the newbie thinks to himself, "For some reason I'm unable to bench 250 pounds... Well, in that case I'll try 500 pounds...." This analogy describes the situation quite well. If you can't do what's easy, how are you going to do what's many times harder? When to Perform the Techniques It's best to start one's practice of the direct method from the deferred method for direct techniques. In this case one needs to wake up (preferably after 6 or 7 hours of sleep), get up and go do something for a couple of minutes, and then lie back down in bed and immediately make an attempt to enter the phase. Unlike with the indirect method, here one does not first fall asleep to catch a subsequent awakening. The second most-effective window of time for practicing the direct method is the moment before falling asleep for the night. Once you're able to get the direct method to work both using the deferred method and before going to bed for the night, you're ready to try it at any time of the day, though it will be much more difficult. Body Position While no exact body position is prescribed due to the uniqueness of each person and situation, there is a principle for selecting which position to assume. For example, if a practitioner feels that he might quickly fall asleep while performing a technique, he ought to lie down in a position that is uncomfortable to sleep in. If a practitioner is wide awake and his mind alert, then he's better off lying in the most comfortable sleeping position possible. To illustrate, you might ask the audience whether it's easy or difficult for them to sleep while lying on their backs. It will usually turn out that it's a comfortable position for half the room and an uncomfortable position for the other half. That's the reason why there are no prescribed body positions, as one and the same body position might have a completely different effect on different people. Therefore, if a practitioner finds it uncomfortable to sleep on his back, he should lie on his back when he is tired and might fall asleep quickly. When excessively awake, he should assume another position that is more comfortable for him to sleep in and will help him to relax (e.g. sleeping on his side). It's also worth mentioning that it's not necessary at all to lie completely motionlessly while performing the techniques. If something itches or gets the circulation to it cut off, it's better to rid yourself of the problem than attempt something while in discomfort. Relaxation Contrary to popular opinion, there's not much to explain here. The best way to relax is to simply lie down for 1 to 3 minutes and think or daydream about something. The main problem is that 99% of the population either does not know how to relax or does not really know what it means to relax. As a result, they activate their minds instead of relaxing, which translates into wasted time. The phase entrance techniques might be considered relaxation techniques in and of themselves, which is why it doesn't especially matter if the student is relaxed before performing them. Level of Activeness and Duration Direct techniques can be attempted no more than 2 to 3 times a week and no more than once a day. This limit may be exceeded only if one enjoys a high rate of success when making attempts. A single attempt should not exceed 20 minutes. If one gets no results within this period of time, it's best to just go to sleep. Otherwise, one risks developing a case of insomnia. Each group will usually include people who have already tried the direct techniques. It's a safe guess that they did them completely wrong and oftentimes for hours on end. It's enough to ask such people what the outcomes of their experiments were so that others can once again realize that there's no point in making attempts that are excessively long. Many advanced practitioners will note that success usually comes within the first 10 minutes of an attempt or doesn't come at all. When it comes to the deferred method with direct techniques, the length of time the direct techniques are performed may be reduced to 5 minutes (10 minutes max) as it's even easier to catch sleep by the tail using this kind of controlled relaxation in the middle of the night or in the morning. Enjoying Yourself Your students should know that the direct techniques are to be performed with enjoyment. Instead of irritably and impatiently awaiting results, the practitioner should derive pleasure and enthrallment from the very act of performing the actions. Both the quality and success rate of attempts substantially improve when this rule is followed. It is also of great importance that unsuccessful attempts stop irritating students and bringing them down. How can you get irritated if you derive enjoyment from the techniques? Practitioners should simply pay careful attention to the sensations they derive from the techniques, as they're interesting in and of themselves. Being Indifferent The direct techniques must be performed with a deep-seated desire to get results, and yet this yearning must stay well below the surface - one should keep a poker face and feel emotionally indifferent to the outcome. One's approach shouldn't be obsessive. There should not be a sense of exaggerated importance. Just the opposite is called for - the practitioner should be completely indifferent to the outcome, thinking, for example, "If it works, great. If not, no big deal." It's practically impossible to get results besides the rare lucky break if one ignores this seeming trifle. If you're stuck on the idea of entering the phase using the direct method right away and no matter what, you might as well not even try. It would be a pure waste of time. It's best to wait until only a cool indifference remains. Provide the audience with a description of an illustrative and common occurrence with the direct method: one person tells another about the phase and explains the basics of the direct techniques. That other person lies down in bed that night and thinks to himself, "What a bunch of hooey. But why not try it out?" Without any particular expectations, he tries it out detachedly. Quite expectedly, everything works. The next day, he goes back to bed thinking, "That was so cool! That was the most out-of-this-world event in my life! I want some more! I want a lot more of it! I'm going to leave my body again right now!" However, he has no success either that day or that week. Meanwhile, he does everything in the same way as he did on that lucky first try. So - if his actions are identical, what is the one way in which his unsuccessful attempts differ from his first, successful attempt? Answer: his attitude towards the process and exaggerated expectations. Let the students find the answer to this question themselves. The Techniques The direct and indirect methods do not differ in terms of techniques (both for creating the phase and for separating from the body). In this case, the role of the techniques is secondary. It doesn't make that big a difference which ones are chosen. Options include rotation, observing images, the swimmer technique, the technique of visualizing the hands, or any other technique. Although the techniques might work from beginning to end, that doesn't mean much with the direct method, unlike with the indirect method. For example, if the phaser sees images upon awakening, then he's guaranteed to be already in the phase - all that remains for him is to get up and go. On the other hand, images seen not upon awakening but during implementation of the direct method are not directly related to the phase. If the practitioner feels that he might fall asleep, he should switch techniques every few minutes, or even more frequently. If he is wide awake and his mind is clear, then he's better off selecting one technique he finds interesting and performing it for the entire 15 minutes. You can control initially excessive or insufficient relaxedness in this way. The Free-Floating State of Mind This is the most important ingredient for success with the direct method. Achieving nothing more than it alone can bring you into the phase. You should draw a diagram of the free-floating state of mind (see illustration below) on the board and explain using examples how the aim of the direct techniques is to achieve microsleep (a brief lapse in consciousness), which will be followed by the phase if the microsleep is of the right depth. For example, a practitioner might lie in a comfortable position despite being sleepy, start doing some technique, and fall asleep within several seconds. Another might lie uncomfortably on his back and begin energetically trying to enter the phase using some technique. His mind would be "on" for the entire 15 minutes, and he would be waiting for a result the whole time, hoping for a dramatic transition into the phase. Actually, he's headed for a dead end, and will be lying down wide awake the whole time. Meanwhile, an example of the right way to perform it would be: a sleepy practitioner intent on entering the phase lies uncomfortably while thinking about something else and starts doing some technique. His awareness gradually fades, but he suddenly comes to and realizes that the phase isn't there yet. He then strives to temporarily "zone out" into a still deeper state. He concentrates on monotonously performing a technique. His consciousness submerges deeper and deeper, but after some time he comes back to. Though a number of unusual sensations make themselves felt, the phase is not yet there. He then starts to do a technique that distracts him and gradually powers down his conscious awareness. After "diving" even deeper into unconsciousness, he abruptly comes to and discerns the phase. He realizes that he will be able to separate. This is usually immediately apparent. He separates and carries out his plan of action. It should be made clear to students that it is practically impossible to both control the direct techniques and remain fully conscious without interruption. Indeed, temporarily "zoning out" is what creates the necessary physiological transition. Although this is sometimes less important with the deferred method for direct techniques, it nearly always holds true for attempts made before going to bed for the night and during the day. It is clear that the techniques only play an auxiliary role here. If the practitioner is somehow able to create these lapses in consciousness without even using techniques, he can then use those lapses with the same degree of success. That's why many experienced practitioners often simply lie down in a position that's uncomfortable to sleep in and just "await" lapses in consciousness and an ensuing phase experience. Explain to the class that it's not worth overthinking how to achieve those dips in consciousness. Actually, such lapses are quite easy to control. After no more than a few attempts, even a novice will achieve lapses at a rate of nearly once a minute. The entire task consists in gradually making each attempt deeper, but without falling asleep. That is to say, the entire skill of direct techniques boils down to balancing between sleep and wakefulness while gradually deepening. Before announcing the start of instruction in direct techniques, you can nearly always hear cries of, "Finally, just what I needed! I can control these better, unlike the techniques used upon awakening." A clear error is apparent at the very root of this and other such observations: control over one's actions. This is primarily why this type of technique is nearly always performed incorrectly. People try to keep up their concentration and conscious awareness, although getting results requires the exact opposite approach. This is what you should try to get across to the audience in any way you can. Practicing the Free-Floating State of Mind If find an opportunity to do so, ask your students to lie down or simply sit back comfortably on their chairs, close their eyes, and relax. It's preferable that the room be as dark and as quiet as possible. You might turn on some neutral music to mask any outside noises. Then, ask your students to choose the technique that they are most interested in, e.g.: rotation, observing images, swimming, visualizing the hands, or listening in. Ask them to perform the selected technique for 10 to 15 minutes with the goal of obtaining “dips” out of consciousness. Let 10 to 15 minutes tick by and try not to distract the students at all during that period of time. After 10 to 15 minutes have elapsed, ask everyone to open his eyes and say whether or not he was able to achieve dips in consciousness. The goal here is not to enter the phase, but to practice at least the free-floating state of mind. Meanwhile, the phase may nevertheless arise for some. Ask the students about the sensations they had and set straight those who didn't have dips in consciousness (tell them to perform their techniques more passively and lie down more comfortably) and those who fell asleep (tell them to lie down uncomfortably, switch techniques more often, and perform those techniques more actively). Then, ask everyone to assume the right position again and start to do a second set of 10 to 15 minutes. After finishing the second round of practice, ask again about who had a free-floating state of mind and suggest appropriate corrections in case of any problems. There's not much sense in starting a third round of practice, as people will usually lose interest and concentration by that time - they'll usually torment themselves and suffer instead of doing something useful. Examples Have some specific examples of using the direct method ready beforehand. The examples should focus on lapses in consciousness before the phase. It's preferable that these be examples from your personal experience, as the key moment (a lapse in consciousness) might be left out in other practitioner accounts or not even mentioned by their authors. If you are for some reason unable or unwilling to produce your own examples, you will find some in our book The Phase and on our forum. There is no need to read aloud long passages. It's sufficient to read through the one paragraph that describes phase entry. To close the topic, you might ask the audience for examples of encountering the free-floating state of mind in actual practice. If the group is large enough, there will usually be several people in it who will recall making direct-method attempts to enter the phase (both spontaneously and deliberately) that were successful after short dips in consciousness. Typical Instructional Difficulties Perhaps the only serious problem encountered when teaching the direct method is the excessive desire of nearly all students to try it out no matter what, preferably that very day. And that's regardless of you forbidding them to do so. For that very reason, the direct method is brought up as late as possible, and on the last day for many instructional formats. This protects people from being tempted to try difficult direct techniques and thereby keeps them from running out of motivation, becoming demoralized, and slacking off with the relatively easy indirect techniques. To put it another way, saving the direct method for last will substantially improve your success rate. If you give out the direct and indirect techniques on the very first lesson and repeat dozens of times that the direct techniques are not necessary, you will get minimal results by the next day since a lot of the students will nevertheless try out the direct methods - so great will be their desire to try them out. Even if you teach the direct method to your students at the very end of the course, you will have to come to terms with the possibility of it ruining their subsequent personal practice. The situation is so dire that conversations among instructors often turn to the idea that it's best not to even mention the direct methods during seminars. This does make some sense - after all, discussing the direct methods leads to time and energy being wasted on what most of the group may never need. Even many experienced practitioners avoid direct methods due to the large amount of time and energy it takes on average to get results. However, teaching phase states admittedly involves more than pure instruction - most of the time, at least. It's often a form of entertainment or show business. Meanwhile, you sometimes have to sacrifice quality of instruction in order to placate the public, who are paying money to see and learn what they want. And direct techniques are what people want to know about. Many come for them alone, which is why it should be repeated from the very beginning that the direct techniques will be taught during the training program, but not right away. Otherwise, the audience may lose interest. Typical Student Questions - Can I transition to the direct method if the indirect method is not working out for me? Such a transition would be futile 99% of the time. How can you achieve what's difficult if you cannot achieve what's easy? Students' problems always lie in the mistakes they make. That's why you should look for your mistakes first. - When exactly can I try the direct techniques? As soon as you are able to enter the phase using indirect techniques on a regular basis. - Are lapses in consciousness while falling asleep “the normal way” something similar to what needs to be achieved for the free-floating state of mind? Yes, they're essentially the same thing. That's why out-of-body experiences sometimes occur spontaneously while people are falling asleep. - When coming up from a lapse in consciousness, how will I know that I'm already in the phase? It will be obvious, which is why there is no need to think too much about it. It will be immediately apparent. - Can I change my body position during an attempt? Yes. As soon as you become uncomfortable, you may change your body position, scratch an itch, etc. Doing so will not make or break the attempt. - Do I have to make an attempt in the evening if I really want to just go to sleep instead? Attempts should be enjoyable. Don't beat yourself up. - Although I know it's not recommended, may I perform direct techniques for more than 20 minutes if it won't interfere with me falling asleep afterwards? Yes, you may. However, success nevertheless comes much earlier most of the time. Doing direct techniques for so long is going to result in a poor time-and-energy to results ratio. This is especially true in comparison with indirect techniques. - I fall asleep quickly, no matter what position I am in. What should I do? In your case, you might try the direct method during the day when you aren't sleepy. Alternatively, you might try it in uncomfortable positions like sitting in a chair, or sitting anywhere for that matter. - Do I have to sleep for 6 hours to employ the deferred method for direct techniques? In this case it's less important than it is for the indirect method. However, it should be kept in mind that the portion of time spent in REM sleep (which is necessary for the phase) increases the longer you sleep. That's why the longer you sleep before an attempt, the better your chances of immediately entering the phase. - After several cycles (or lapses in consciousness), I always fall into deep sleep. What should I do? Assume a more uncomfortable position and try to switch techniques more frequently. Also try to stay resolute and highly motivated. - My extremities tremble when I come up from lapses in consciousness. Is this normal? What should I do about this? It is normal. It's a sign that you're moving in the right direction with your actions. All that remains is to make the lapses even deeper. This will prevent a complete physiological awakening from occurring. Module No. 4: Becoming Conscious While Dreaming Aim Provide a general background on the neutral phase-entry method of becoming conscious while dreaming. Although it is often a side effect of attempts made using other techniques, practitioners should still know the mechanisms that lie at its core. This method indirectly accounts for up to 50 percent of phase entries. Key Concepts Mandatory: Definition, the techniques and when to perform them, and actions to be performed when becoming conscious while dreaming. Non-Mandatory: When to practice, simulating attempts, and examples. Lesson Plan Definition The phase-entry method of becoming conscious while dreaming consists of entering the phase by realizing that a) everything around you is but a dream and b) that you can do anything that you want instead of going along with the storyline of the dream. You're already in the phase as soon as your waking thought processes and awareness of what's happening to you arise for whatever reason in a regular dream. When to Practice When all is said and done, techniques for becoming conscious while dreaming shouldn't have to be resorted to during normal practice. Consciousness in dreams should be a side effect of using the direct and indirect methods. There are only two situations in which these techniques should be taught. The first is when a student has trouble with all of the other methods for one reason or another. Becoming conscious while dreaming can become a temporary way out of such a situation. After having learned how to become conscious while dreaming, one can get a better handle on the indirect method by returning to the body and separating using it. With enough practice, the indirect method can then be employed without becoming conscious while dreaming beforehand. Second, this topic can be gone over solely for the purpose of increasing one's knowledge of the phenomenon, i.e. to better understand and control it. Some practitioners try to learn all the methods as a matter of principle, regardless of their difficulty or actual necessity. Of course, learning such skills will be necessary for a practitioner who wants to become a professional phaser. When to Perform the Techniques The uniqueness of techniques for becoming conscious while dreaming lies in the fact that they are not performed immediately before phase entry (as is the case with direct and indirect methods), but are instead performed long beforehand (even several hours before an attempt). Sometimes, they are even performed over the course of an extended period of time. That is to say, there is no immediate cause and effect or instant gratification. That's what makes these techniques harder to control and attempts at it more difficult to analyze for mistakes. And that's mainly why this method need not even be mentioned during short seminars. Even if the results are good, the students will have a hard time understanding what exactly they did right and what they did wrong so that they can repeat their success. Certain techniques are better used with the deferred method, as the number of dreams one has significantly increases after 6 hours of sleep, and odds improve that one will become conscious during at least one of those dreams. Other techniques are performed over the course of an entire day, and some are performed over the course of several days or even weeks. The Techniques Students may employ several techniques for becoming conscious while dreaming at the same time. Not only are they compatible, but they can even complement one another. Desire A heightened personal desire to experience becoming conscious while dreaming plays a key role. This is essentially the main point that needs to be explained to the audience. Desire is extremely important when performing any technique, but in this case it can be the deciding factor. The point is that affirming a desire is linked to the creation of an internal drive that finds expression at both conscious and unconscious junctures. This technique is performed as a general, intense desire to become conscious during a dream that is affirmed both during waking life and immediately before the falling asleep. This moment before sleep is especially relevant. Before nighttime, morning, or afternoon sleep one needs to simply intensely desire to become conscious during the dreams that are to follow. It's best to go above and beyond desiring the mere fact of consciousness during dreams. One's musing should also turn to what actions will be performed in case of success and what ends they can be applied towards. That is to say, the desire should also include one's incentive. Remembering Dreams Students must understand that there is a direct correlation between the probability of becoming conscious while dreaming and the number of dreams remembered. Developing the ability to remember dreams is therefore considered one of the fundamental techniques. Increasing the number of dreams remembered allows you to first dream more frequently, then dream more realistically, and finally become conscious during dreams more and more often. In terms of technique, one increases the number of dreams remembered by simply recalling dreams upon awakening. The practitioner should spend the first several minutes after awakening recalling as many dreams from the previous night as possible. This should be done quite attentively and diligently, as those are the key factors when it comes to strengthening one's memory. If possible, you should once again recall all the previous night's dreams later on during the day (or even better, before going to sleep that night) at least in general terms, if not in great detail. Writing down your dreams in a special dream diary is even more effective than merely repeating them to yourself in an attempt to commit them to memory. To increase the number of dreams recalled, commit dreams to memory during temporary middle-of-the-night awakenings instead of when you get up for the morning. This is done by quickly writing down one phrase or even some keywords from the storylines of your most recent dreams on a piece of paper and then going back to sleep. You will be able to recall the majority of your dreams by going over those keywords in the morning. Creating an Anchor Since becoming conscious while dreaming is not linked to performing specific actions within a dream as the necessary control and sense of awareness are missing, and yet sensory perception continues to operate in the dream state, it is possible to develop and use an artificially conditioned reflex to achieve consciousness. The essence of this technique is to train the consciousness to uniformly react to certain stimuli that occur while awake and when dreaming. In other words, one establishes the habit of analyzing one's surroundings every time a certain situation occurs. For example, while awake, practitioners may ask, “Am I dreaming?” every time he sees an anchor. An anchor is any object that is often encountered while awake and while dreaming. Examples of anchors include a practitioner’s own hands, red objects, or running water. When first using this technique, a practitioner will be unable to question whether a dream is in progress every time a pre-established anchor is encountered. However, with training and a strong desire this technique quickly produces results. Over time, subconscious questioning of the practitioner’s state becomes habit, happening while awake and dreaming. The end result is dream consciousness. Your students should know that one needs not only to simply ask this question, but that it is also important to answer it mindfully, trying to isolate oneself from surrounding events in order to be able to answer it in an as objective and unpredetermined way as possible. Failing to answer objectively will always result in a negative response ("no, I'm not dreaming"), and dream consciousness will not be achieved. Natural Anchors In addition to creating deliberate anchors that induce conscious dreaming, natural anchors should also be given focused attention. These are objects and actions that regularly cause dream consciousness, even when consciousness is not desired. Being aware of the existence of natural anchors actually doubles the chances of their appearance. The following experiences are common natural anchors that are present in dreams: death, sharp pain, intense fear, stress, flying, electric shock, sexual sensations, and dreaming about phase entrance or the phase environment. With experience, these anchors will produce results nearly 100% of the time. Self-Analysis Consistent analysis of dreams helps to ascertain reasons for an absence of conscious awareness: these analyses are significant to attaining dream consciousness. Over the course of a lifetime, the mind grows accustomed to the paradoxical nature of dreams and pays less attention to them. The essence of self-analysis is remembering dreams and thinking hard about why their paradoxical features had not been adequately evaluated in the dream state. With experience, the everyday analysis of the correspondence of dreams to reality begins to have an effect on a practitioner’s reasoning within the dream state. Actions To Be Done When Becoming Conscious While Dreaming To ensure that dream consciousness leads to a fully developed phase experience, students must know which specific actions may be undertaken in a given situation. There are three primary ones. The best is the techniques for deepening, which should be immediately applied once dream consciousness occurs. Deepening must be performed within the dream episode before all other techniques. Doing so virtually guarantees entrance to the phase. The choice of actions that follow deepening is dependent upon a practitioner’s predetermined plan of action in the phase. Experienced practitioners should perform deepening in parallel with their plan of action. When becoming conscious while dreaming, one risks cutting one's phase short by trying to immediately return to one’s body in order to roll out of it, unless one has deepened beforehand. This could result in a situation where, after having easily returned to one’s body, one is not be able to separate from it, as the phase becomes significantly weaker when sensations coincide with the position of a real body. If one is to employ such an option, then in order to return to one’s body one should simply think about it, which is often sufficient to make the transition occur almost immediately. Many practitioners employ separation after becoming conscious in a dream in order to create more interesting and vivid sensations. Simulating Attempts In order to reinforce the skills of the group, you can carry out a simulation of both techniques for becoming conscious while dreaming and actions to be undertaken immediately thereafter. Since becoming conscious while dreaming is more of a spontaneous phenomenon caused by general desire, it’s best to practice it not separately, but rather in parallel with other skills so that your students are always judging whether or not they are dreaming. For example, after choosing an "anchor" for becoming conscious (looking at the hands, red objects, looking someone in the eye, etc.), students should evaluate the reality of everything around them in terms of whether or not it's all but a dream over the course of a defined period of time, or even the entire lesson. In order to achieve results, it's preferable that people perform this technique outside of the classroom as well, or even all the time until they become conscious while dreaming. You can also give out periodic signals to the audience that everything around is a dream. Upon your signal, the students should immediately deepen and perform their plans of action, which should be something simple during the seminar, e.g. opening a book, going to the window, etc. Naturally, all of these actions should be real and not imagined. Examples Have some specific dream-consciousness scenarios ready. The scenarios should include deepening immediately after becoming conscious and returns to the body in order to separate from it. It's preferable that these be examples from your own personal experience. If you are for some reason unable or unwilling to produce your own examples, you will find some in our book The Phase and on our forum. There is no need to read aloud long passages. It's sufficient to read one paragraph describing the moment of becoming conscious while dreaming and the first actions immediately afterwards. Typical Instructional Difficulties Becoming conscious while dreaming and out-of-body travel will remain separate phenomena in the minds of a substantial portion of the audience, and will remain so no matter what you say or what evidence to the contrary you produce. According to the theory of phase states, they are falling for an illusion. However, it's debatable whether or not it's worth it to confront people who do so. So as not to ruin your success rate or offend the beliefs of part of the audience, people with such views should be asked to return to their bodies and separate from them after becoming conscious while dreaming. They will then experience exactly what they wanted, i.e. "out-of-body travel". The main problem with teaching becoming conscious while dreaming is the lack of actions to be performed immediately before phase entry with this method. For that reason, it's extremely difficult to find mistakes in one's own actions, let alone to control the skill of becoming conscious while dreaming. This primarily results in a complete lack of control over how long it takes to master these techniques. While a person making an attempt with the direct or indirect methods will get an instant result (be it positive or negative), a person might perform the technique of becoming conscious while dreaming every day with results nowhere in sight. Moreover, spontaneously becoming conscious while dreaming will nevertheless occur as a side effect of other techniques. This is yet another reason that dream consciousness is covered quite rarely and only in some instructional formats. There simply isn't enough time for the topic, especially when people need instant results. The phase entry method of becoming conscious while dreaming dominated up until about the first decade of the third millennium, which is why it is still popular with many practitioners. However, it is gradually taking a back seat to the easier and quicker indirect method, which, on top of everything else, causes spontaneous dream consciousness as a side effect. Typical Student Questions - Should I return to my body and separate back out of it after becoming conscious while dreaming? All things considered, there's no point in doing so, as at that moment as you're already in the phase. However, some people do so anyway in order to intensify their sensations. In this case, there is the risk that separation will be unsuccessful. - How long does it usually take to become conscious in a dream for the first time, and how long does it take to master this skill? It depends on how well a person understands the techniques, how long and how deeply he normally sleeps, and his own personal traits. Some are able to just become conscious while dreaming on the very first day and phase on in the same way. Some need several months until their first experience, and years until they have regular ones. Some are unable to do it at all. - It seems to me that becoming conscious while dreaming isn't what I want. What I wanted was out-of-body travel. Can dream consciousness turn into out-of-body travel? In the context of the phase, they're one and the same. If you believe otherwise, it's your right to do so. Turning dream consciousness into out-of-body travel is easy: It's enough to recall your physical body from inside the dream, return to that body, and then employ a separation technique to get the sensation of separation and find yourself out-of-body in your bedroom. - Do I need to perform deepening upon becoming conscious while dreaming? Becoming conscious while dreaming is no different from any other phase-entrance method, and therefore all the phase-control techniques are used with it. - Can I try techniques for becoming conscious while dreaming if I have yet to try out the direct and indirect techniques? Doing so is most likely to be a complete waste of time and energy. Dream consciousness arises as a side effect of affirmed desire to employ the direct or indirect method. - What am I to do if I become conscious while dreaming but am then returned to my body? Follow the procedure for the indirect techniques as if you had just woken up, i.e. try to separate, and if unsuccessful, alternate indirect techniques over the course of a minute. -After seeing my consciousness anchor in a dream (my hands), I asked myself, “Is this a dream?” However, my answer to myself was, “No, this isn't a dream,” and I kept on sleeping. What should I do in such situations? When you encounter a consciousness anchor, you should attentively try to evaluate the situation instead of doing things "for the sake of appearances". To increase your odds of success, you might perform a reality check on your surroundings (e.g. hyperconcentration) after asking yourself if you are dreaming. Module No. 5: Non-Autonomous Method Aim Provide a general background on methods for out-of-body travel and lucid dreaming using external stimuli. Key Concepts Mandatory: Definition, when to perform the techniques, cueing technologies, and chemical substances. Non-Mandatory: When to practice, working in pairs, hypnosis and suggestion, physiological signals, the coffee method, and examples. Lesson Plan Definition Non-autonomous methods for entering the phase are any methods that require more than the practitioner's mental efforts alone. They include devices, preparations, and the help of other people. Let your students know that such methods may be considered supplemental. They do not surpass autonomous methods in terms of effectiveness. When to Practice Somebody with a solid personal practice should actually never have to resort to non-autonomous methods, except perhaps for the purpose of indulging his own curiosity. Non-autonomous methods bring less personal development and more dependence on outside crutches than any of the other methods, including direct methods, indirect methods, and becoming conscious while dreaming. The use of non-autonomous methods is justifiable in those rare cases when novices have problems with conscious awakenings for an indirect technique, but only at the initial stage. When to Perform the Techniques As is the case with any other type of technique, the absolute majority of non-autonomous techniques work best with the deferred method. This is due to the increased amount of REM in sleep cycles after falling back asleep after 6 to 7 hours of sleep. The phase state is possible only while in REM. Cueing Technologies Start out with telling the audience that of all non-autonomous assistance methods, cueing technologies yield the best results. The operating principle behind cueing technologies is quite simple: a device detects rapid eye movement (REM) and sends signals to a sleeping practitioner, prompting dream consciousness or an awakening that may be followed by indirect techniques. REM-detecting technologies work by virtue of special night mask equipped with a motion sensor that detects the frequency of specific eye movements that occur during REM sleep. When the eye movements reach REM quality, the device sends discreet signals to the practitioner through light, sound, vibrations, or a combination of these. In turn, the practitioner must discern the signal and react to it while sleeping with the goal of phase entry through dream consciousness. Cueing programs or devices may also send indicators over specific intervals of time; these are received during REM sleep and are meant to cause a sleeping practitioner to awaken and attempt indirect techniques. However, these technologies are rarely effective in actual practice, and for a couple of reasons. First, the mind quickly develops a tolerance for these types of external stimuli and stops reacting, and, as a result, such technologies are hardly used more than one or two nights per week. Secondly, a practitioner will detect only a small portion of the signals, and conscious reaction occurs in even fewer instances. Cueing technologies are best used to send signals that allow a practitioner to awaken without moving during REM sleep, which facilitates a high probability of phase entrance through indirect techniques. Working in Pairs For this technique, one practitioner is to be the active one, and the other fills the role of helper. The active practitioner attempts to enter the phase while the helper provides various types of support to this end. For example, the active practitioner lies down in bed while the helper stays nearby, waiting for the active one to fall asleep. When sleep occurs, the helper observes the eyes of the active one, watching for the signs of REM (i.e. rapid eye movement) sleep. When REM is apparent, the helper whispers to the sleeper, communicating that everything the practitioner is experiencing is a dream. The helper may vary the volume of the whisper, use touch to strengthen the signal, or shine a flashlight on the sleeper’s eyelids – which is very effective. The active practitioner should detect the signals without waking and indicate a state of conscious awareness by performing quick, cyclical eye movements. If no such indication is given, the helper continues to rouse the active practitioner, who may finally wake. If the active practitioner is unable to stay in the dream, indirect techniques should be performed. Hypnosis and Suggestion This method is only practicable if one is working with a good hypnotist, who might help the practitioner by programming his subconscious mind or suggesting to him that he can better recall the indirect techniques upon awakening or frequently become conscious during dreams. A hypnotist is unlikely to be able to directly induce the phase. Physiological Signals In some cases, the practitioner might use the particularities of his own body to help him master the phase. The simplest way to supplement the practice is establishing a reminder that prompts conscious awakening and subsequent indirect techniques. This may be accomplished by blindfolding the eyes or tying a cord taut around an arm or leg. The idea is that the reminder is immediately felt when the practitioner wakes, prompting the attempt of indirect techniques. A more sophisticated example of a reminder is when a practitioner dozes off in a position meant to cause numbness to a certain body part. While awakening, the practitioner will take the physical numbness as a cue to practice indirect techniques. A secondary benefit to this method of physiological signaling is that the numb body part may easily be used to perform phantom wiggling. Diverse experiments that exploit physiological needs are especially popular for inducing conscious awakening or becoming conscious while dreaming. For example, a practitioner may forgo water over the course of the day before attempting to enter the phase. The effect is an acute thirst while dreaming, which may be used to communicate that the dream state has taken over. Or, thirst causes repeated awakenings, during which the practice of indirect techniques may commence. An alternative to depriving the body of water is including more salt in foods consumed before going to sleep. Another method is to drink a lot of water before sleep, causing the practitioner to awaken, naturally producing an opportunity to perform indirect techniques. Using this has been known to result in dream consciousness. Another popular method helps with direct techniques. It works by falling asleep while keeping the forearm propped up at the elbow. When the practitioner falls asleep, the forearm falls to the bed as the body shuts down. Feeling the arm fall signals a lapse of consciousness, after which direct techniques may be attempted. If this method fails to produce results on the first try, it may be repeated by raising the forearm before falling asleep again. The Coffee Method Out of all of the substances used for practicing the phase, only coffee is readily obtainable. However, it should only be taken by novices who sleep too hard. The essence of this tactic is to use the deferred method in conjunction with taking coffee. For example: a practitioner sleeps for 6 hours, gets up, drinks coffee, and goes back to sleep with the desire to catch the next awakening in order to use indirect techniques or in expectation of becoming conscious while dreaming. Thanks to coffee's invigorating properties, one will be at a higher state of awareness during subsequent awakenings, and awakenings themselves will be more frequent. There will also be a high likelihood of becoming consciousness while dreaming. The most important thing is to be able to fall back asleep afterwards, which far from everybody is able to do. While some hold it's best to take a double dose of the drink, such things are purely individual, and everyone has to find what works for them. Some enjoy the same level of success when drinking black tea instead of coffee. Chemical Substances One thing must be made exceedingly clear to your students: Using any type of chemical or herbal substance to reach the phase must be ruled out, as these make it impossible to experience the phase and ultimately destroy physical and mental health. It also goes against the principles of personal development and serves to discredit the phenomenon in the eyes of society. Considering the gravity of the matter and the fact that such methods were once quite popular, it's not a good idea to cover this issue in too much detail. Moreover, an instructor who decides to shed light on this topic might earn notoriety for what could be construed as encouraging drug abuse. Examples Have some specific examples of using non-autonomous techniques ready beforehand. Try to find examples featuring at least a few different non-autonomous techniques. That way, the difference in how they are used will be apparent to the audience. It's preferable that these be examples from your personal experience. If you are for some reason unable or unwilling to produce your own examples, you may find some on our website and on our forum. There is no need to read aloud long passages. It's sufficient to read out one paragraph that describes the use of a non-autonomous technique and subsequent phase entry. Typical Instructional Difficulties Human psychology is such that people are always looking for the easy way out. In the practice of phase states, this finds expression in the search for devices (or even substances) that do all the hard work for you. In light of this, the instructor's task is to clearly explain that such devices simply do not exist and that it's nevertheless much easier to do without external aids. The entire topic of non-autonomous methods is directed primarily not at going over supplemental technologies and methods, but at gently dissuading people from using them. Essentially, the instructor's task is to satisfy his students' intense curiosity about such things while guiding their thinking in a more rational direction. In discussing this topic, the instructor will be covertly undermining the commercial interests of producers of various devices and supplements for becoming conscious while dreaming and out-of-body experiences - and they are legion. They all falsely advertise their inventions as fabulously effective, and their message sinks deep into the minds of people harboring high hopes for a silver bullet. To conclude the topic of non-autonomous methods on the right note, it's enough to state that no experienced practitioner achieved mastery using them alone. Moreover, not a single device makes it possible to enter the phase as easily and as many times a day as the indirect method. Typical Student Questions - Is it worth it to employ non-autonomous methods? All things considered, there's no need for them. It's still easier and more interesting to do things on one's own. However, in some cases experiencing how they work is interesting in and of itself. They might also be of occasional help. - Many makers of devices and audio files for phase states assert that their products are effective. Are they telling the truth? No. In most cases they work only incidentally, and quite rarely at that. Some will work several times, until the practitioner develops resistance to them. Only a device-free personal practice can guarantee high-quality, solid results. - Might non-autonomous methods help a novice? It's best to see them as an aid for more experienced practitioners who already know what they are working towards. - Might I use programs that wake you up during REM sleep in order to try indirect techniques? Yes, you may. However, they are not to be used more than 1 to 3 times a week, and it's best to do so only in conjunction with the deferred method. They may only be approached when you are completely unable to awaken and make attempts on your own. - Might I find an experienced hypnotist who will help me enter the phase? It's quite difficult to find a good hypnotist. Moreover, only a small percentage of the population is hypnotizable. It's best to master the phase by your own efforts alone. - Where can I buy devices, audio files, and preparations for non-autonomous mastery of the phase? You can learn a lot about that online. Just "google" it. However, in most cases it will cost a lot of money, which at best amounts to paying for one-off phases. It's not only a waste of money, but at the end of the day it's also a waste of time and energy. Module No. 6: Deepening the State Aim Students learn the principles for intensifying the phase state and making experiences in it as realistic as possible. It's often impossible to have a full-fledged phase experience without first doing so. This is the most important technique performed within the phase for students to learn. Key Concepts Mandatory: Definition and sensory amplification. Non-Mandatory: Primary deepening techniques, other techniques, simulated deepening, and examples. Lesson Plan Definition Deepening the phase involves techniques for making phase sensations realistic, if not hyper-realistic. It's an essential step towards a full-fledged phase, as this phenomenon is of no special interest without vivid sensations. These techniques must be employed the majority of time. It's preferable to learn to use them when just starting to carry out one's plan of action and in parallel to it, so as not to waste time. Primary Deepening Techniques Briefly explain to your students that the goal of primary deepening is to achieve complete separation from the body, allowing further actions within the phase. Deepening too early might lead to a foul, i.e. to an involuntary phase exit. Primary deepening itself consists of achieving a complete divergence of one's perceived and physical bodies. As soon as you achieve that - no matter how you do it - you can proceed to further actions. When separation from the body starts to occur through the use of a separation technique, a posture must be assumed that is completely different from the posture of the real, physical body. The greater the degree of postural similarity between the physical and perceived bodies, the more shallow and brief the phase will be. For example, in the case of horizontal levitation, a 90-degree turn must immediately be performed, arms and legs spread, adopting a vertical posture. Under no circumstances should a practitioner in the phase remain in a posture identical to that of the physical body. Sensory Amplification This is the most important aspect of deepening. After teaching it to your students, ask them how they used it in practice starting from the very next lesson. The main premise is that the more a phase is experienced by the sensory faculties, the deeper and longer it will be. Sensory amplification in the phase is the most effective deepening technique precisely because it allows the activation of primary internal sensations during the transition from reality to the phase. After all, one's person consists above all else of its sensations. If we want to enter a full-fledged phase, we need simply bring ourselves (i.e. all our sensations) there. Sensory amplification comes intuitively when you remember a simple rule: if some sensations are lacking or if one of the five senses is dull and vague, then that sense needs to be heightened as much as possible using the phase space. The previously lacking sensation will become intense and highly-charged. There are several variations of sensory amplification. They are each worth taking a closer look at. Palpation This is the first deepening technique that should be recalled when entering the phase. Vision may be absent at the beginning of a phase experience, but the sensation of occupying a defined space is almost always present. In the case of a completely absent sense of sight, only tactile-kinesthetic perception is possible. That is, movement throughout a space and touching objects there is the only option when vision is absent. The sense of touch plays a key role in the perception of everyday reality. Accordingly, if the sense of touch is actively used in the phase space, it is only natural that the phase will deepen and reach its maximum potential. Palpation is performed by fleetingly touching anything that may be found in the immediate surroundings. This should be done by quickly but carefully perceiving the feel of surfaces and shapes. Hands should not remain on a particular place for more than one second, remaining constantly in motion to locate new objects. The goal of palpation is to touch and also to learn something about encountered objects or shapes. Once a practitioner has rolled out of the body, the bed may be touched, as well as the floor, the carpet, nearby walls, or a bedside table. Another palpation technique is performed by rubbing the palms against each other as if trying to warm them on a cold day. Blowing on the palms also produces sensations that will help deepen the phase. As soon as palpation begins, the feeling that the phase is deepening and becoming fixed soon follows. Usually, it takes five to 10 seconds of palpation exercises to reach the maximum level of deepening. Peering This variation of sensory amplification is the primary technical variation of deepening. Once vision appears or has been created using special techniques, peering may begin. The effectiveness of this technique originates in the fact that vision is the human’s primary instrument of perception. Therefore, by exciting vision to its maximum potential within the phase, it is possible to attain a fully immersive phase state that is completely apart from normal reality. Peering should be done at a distance of four to six inches from objects within the phase. A practitioner should glance over the minute details of objects and surfaces to bring definition to the phase space while increasing the quality of vision. When looking at hands, the lines of the palm or the fingernail and cuticles should be examined. If observing a wall, study the texture of its wallpaper. When looking at a mug, one should look carefully at its handle, the curve of its rim, or any inscriptions. Attention should not remain on one area of an object for more than half a second. Active observation should constantly move to new objects and their minute details. Peering brings quick and clear results. Usually, if vision is blurry and there is a yearning to return into the physical body, with just 3-10 seconds of peering all of this will be gone without a trace. After peering, vision adjusts as quickly and clearly as if a camera lens was correctly installed in front of the eyes, capturing the image in the sharpest of focus. Peering and Palpation Simultaneous peering and palpation provide the maximum possible deepening effect in the phase. If vision is present in the phase, simultaneous peering and palpation is an absolute necessity because it facilitates good phase depth in the quickest and simplest manner. The combination of palpation and peering must not only be performed simultaneously, but also upon the same objects. For example, a practitioner may look at his hands and simultaneously rub them against each other; or while looking at a coffee mug, all of its parts may be observed and touched at the same time. It is necessary to maintain dynamism of action, remembering that feelings should be experienced not half-heartedly, and remembering that full concentration on sensory amplification is an excellent means to a deep, quality phase. Other Techniques In the grand scheme of things, a novice doesn't need to know any other deepening techniques. However, you can add in additional techniques if you have the time and desire to do so. This is especially true of lessons with advanced groups. Diving Headfirst Diving headfirst is used if sensory amplification techniques do not work, or when the practitioner in the phase is located in an undefined space where there is nothing to touch or look at. This technique works thanks to the unusual vestibular sensations that it causes, which help to enhance perception. This technique is performed with the eyes shut if vision is available and the practitioner literally dives headfirst into the floor or space at the feet. A feeling of movement away from the physical body will immediately arise during the flight down, and the dive itself will be experienced as if it is really happening. Simultaneously, the surrounding space may darken and become colder. Agitation or fear may also appear. After 5 to 15 seconds of flight, the practitioner either arrives in an undetermined place in the phase or hits a dead end, like a wall. In the case of a dead end, a translocation technique should be used. Aggressive Action This technique may be used as an alternative to any other deepening technique since it can be used at any moment. Practicing this technique only requires aggressive action of the perceived body. A practitioner may run, roll on the floor, perform gymnastics, or move the arms and legs. Maximum activity and aggression are paramount to the successful use of this technique. This is essentially a variation on sensory amplification (kinesthetic sense). Imagining Reality This interesting technique should be used by experienced practitioners, or if all other deepening techniques fail. A practitioner aggressively imagines being located in the physical world, experiencing its intrinsic reality of perception, and not in the phase. This should be done while in a state of separation from the body with a sense of vision present. If successful, the surrounding phase space will immediately brighten and sensory perception of the phase will exceed the normal experience of reality. Simulated Deepening To reinforce deepening at a practical level, ask your students to stand up from their seats and perform deepening on your signal, either one-at-a-time or all together. Let's say that you give the signal to start and all the students start performing sensory amplification at the same time in the classroom. Your task is to see how correctly these actions are performed and correct them, if necessary (and it will surely be necessary). The most frequent mistakes are: - Actions are performed too slowly, instead of as actively as possible - The practitioner stands in place instead of actively moving about - Scrutinizing is performed from too far away, instead of from 4 to 6 inches - Scrutinizing is performed without focusing or subsequent change of subject - Palpation is performed too superficially, without the desire to feel something distinctly and then move on to the next item Keep periods of time for practicing deepening short, as it actually only takes but a few seconds: give them say 15 to 30 seconds to practice deepening, and then take the same amount of time to make corrections to what they did. Repeat this for a total of no more than 5 to 10 minutes. Examples Have some specific examples of deepening in the phase ready beforehand. Meanwhile, provide examples of various different types of deepening in order to be more illustrative. It's preferable that these be examples from your personal experience. If you are for some reason unable or unwilling to produce your own examples, you may find an abundance of them in the book The Phase and on our forum. There is no need to read aloud long passages. It's sufficient to read out one paragraph that describes how to deepen the phase and the aftereffects of doing so. Typical Instructional Difficulties Deepening in the phase is not a difficult topic to teach, although there are two issues that the instructor should always stay on top of. First, many students will simply forget about deepening at the beginning. Their phases will subsequently be brief, boring, and of poor quality. To solve this problem, sensory amplification should be put on the plan of action for the phase. With experience, sensory amplification will take place automatically. However, it's still best to put it on your plan when you're just starting out. After explaining deepening, you should require that the students use it in actual practice. The second problem concerns poorly-performed deepening. This results in its ineffectiveness and subsequent practitioner complaints that it's not working. As a rule, the key to understanding such situations lies in deepening having been performed "for the sake of appearances," as if it were some kind of external ritual that is to magically conjure a deep phase. Explain that what's important with sensory amplification is the desire to experience the phase space more distinctly, as well as the overall desire to use such actions to deepen. Typical Student Questions - Must deepening be performed every time? You should strive to, even if your sensations are initially realistic. This is due to the fact that deepening is not only for distinctness of sensation, but also for alertness of mind. - Must hyperrealism always be maintained? The main thing is that the phase depth suit the practitioner and not be too shallow. Otherwise, there is the risk of the experience coming to a quick end. - Can I deepen using other senses, e.g. by smelling aromas? It might help, but it's better to focus on the most important of the senses: sight, touch, and kinesthetic sense. - Are there people who are unable to fully deepen? It's hardly likely. Poor performance of deepening techniques and incomplete understanding of them are usually at the root of such problems. - What should I do if I am unable to deepen to hyperrealism for an extended period of time? You should follow your plan of action while trying from time to time to fully deepen. - While I deepen and focus my sensations on something, my sensations are vivid. However, everything fades out as soon as I do something else. What should I do? You should try to constantly focus your senses on something. It doesn't necessarily have to be the sense of sight. You can focus your attention on your body, on moving your hands (e.g. constantly rubbing them together), etc. - If I enter into the phase several times over the course of a single attempt using secondary separations from my body, do I need to deepen each time? Yes, you should do it each and every time. - When separating, I don't appear in my room or some other place. Instead, I appear in a dark void where there's nothing to touch or scrutinize. How do I deepen in that case? The easiest thing to do is to employ the technique of translocation via teleportation and deepen once you've arrived at your destination. You can also use the technique of diving headfirst. - Can I deepen in the phase so much that I won't be able to return back to reality? No, that's not possible. Module No. 7: Maintaining the State Aim Students learn how to make their stay in the phase last as long as possible. Otherwise, their experiences will be extremely short and ineffective. This module includes learning how to resist returns to the physical body, normal awakenings, and false awakenings. Key Concepts Mandatory: Definition, the duration of the phase, techniques for resisting returning to the body, techniques for resisting falling asleep, techniques for resisting false awakenings, and general rules for maintaining. Non-Mandatory: Simulations of maintaining and examples. Lesson Plan Definition Maintaining refers to the use of a collection of techniques to remain in the phase for as long as possible. Without knowledge of how to maintain, phase experiences are usually quite short. This makes it difficult to pursue practical tasks and makes the phenomenon itself less satisfying. Duration of Phase Experiences The audience will be quite interested to know how long they can stay in the phase, which is why you will have to touch upon this issue sooner or later. Although techniques for maintaining are not applicable in some cases, with perfect knowledge of all the techniques for maintaining a phase may last two to four minutes, which doesn’t sound like an extended duration, but really is. A particularity of the phase space is that achieving something and moving around in it takes a minimum amount of time, mere seconds. Thus, so much can be done during 2 minutes in the phase that one literally needs a long list, so as not to waste any time. Perception of time varies from practitioner to practitioner. Novices especially perceive a real minute as more like 5 to 10 minutes in the phase. In order to understand how long a phase really lasted, one does not need to try using a stopwatch in the real world, as this method is rarely successful with most phase-entry methods. It is better to count how many actions took place in it and how much time each of them could have taken. The result will differ from one’s first rough estimate several times over. The maximum duration of the phase depends heavily on the ability to apply phase maintenance techniques. Some practitioners have difficulty breaking the two-minute barrier while some find it easy to remain in the phase for 10 minutes or longer. It is physically impossible to remain in the phase indefinitely. Techniques for Resisting a Return to the Body Most of your students will first have to learn how to resist the most typical ending of the phase experience - a return to the body. The primary means of doing so are as follows: Constant Sensory Amplification The same sensory amplification described in the section on deepening also applies to “maintaining”. In essence, having achieved the necessary depth of phase, one should not stop to actively agitate one’s perception, but should keep on doing this all the while, albeit not as actively as during deepening. That is, one should touch and scrutinize everything around in order to obtain as much sensation as possible. For example, if passing by a bookcase, touch and examine some of the books in it, including their pages and corners. Tactile observation should be performed on every encountered object. As-Needed Sensory Amplification Alongside constant sensory amplification, this is a fundamental technique for resisting unwanted returns to the physical body. Applying the as-needed sensory amplification technique is no different than constant sensory amplification. It is used only when a return to a wakeful state is imminent or when phase vision starts to blur and fade. This maintaining technique essentially consists of using regular deepening on an as-needed basis For example, while traveling in the phase everything may start to blur, signaling a weakening of the phase. At this moment, the practitioner should touch every available object and observe everything in fine detail. As soon as everything returns to a clear and realistic state, actions may be continued without needing to perform amplification. Forced Falling Asleep As soon as indicators of a foul appear, immediately lie down on the floor and attempt forced falling asleep; the same as the phase-entry technique. After successfully performing the technique for 3 to 10 seconds, a practitioner may get up and continue to travel through the phase since the perception of reality and its depth will most likely be restored. Resist actually falling asleep. With experience and a good understanding of the technique, forced falling asleep can even be performed while standing or doing something. Hooking onto the Phase Another interesting method of “maintaining” is hooking onto the phase. The name of this technique is to be taken literally. In the event of an impending foul, grab onto an object in the phase and actively palpate or squeeze it. Even if a return to the body occurs during this technique, the hands will continue to hold the phase object and the physical hands will not be perceived. Beginning with these phantom feelings in the hands, separation from the body is possible. Any nearby object may be hooked: the leg of a chair, a drinking glass, a doorknob, a stone, or a stick. If there is nothing to grab hold of, clasp the hands together or bite down on a lip or the tongue. Two rules apply to using the techniques that help to resist a phase exit. First of all, never think that the phase might end and result in a return to the body; thoughts like this are like programming that immediately send the practitioner to a wakened physical state. Secondly, do not think about the physical body. Doing so will also instantly return the practitioner to the body, every time. Techniques and Rules for Resisting Falling Asleep The second problem that your students will encounter on a regular basis in their practices is "falling asleep" in the phase, i.e. when full-fledged and fully-conscious phase experiences disintegrate into regular dreams. There are several primary techniques for making this more rare an occurrence: Constant Understanding of the Possibility of Falling Asleep Most of the time, falling asleep while in the phase can be overcome by a constant awareness that falling asleep is possible and detrimental to a continued phase. A practitioner must always consider the probability of falling asleep and actions must be carefully analyzed to ensure that they are based on real desires and not on the paradoxical notions common to dreams. Periodic Analysis of Awareness Periodically asking the question, “Am I dreaming?” while in the phase helps appraise situations and the appropriateness of the actions being performed at any moment. If everything meets the standards of full phase awareness, actions may be continued. Asked on a regular basis, this question becomes habit automatically used while transitioning to the phase state. If you keep asking this question regularly, sooner or later it will arise automatically at the moment when you are actually transitioning into a dream. This will then help one to “wake up”, after which it is possible to continue to remain in a full-fledged phase. Be Observer There is another important rule related to resisting falling asleep: no practitioner should engage or participate in spontaneous events occurring in the phase. Events that are not planned or deliberate lead to a high probability of being immersed in the side action, which results in a loss of concentrated awareness. Techniques for Resisting False Awakenings The more experienced a practitioner is, the more often he will encounter a completely unexpected problem: the phase will seem to have ended - but, as it turns out, will actually continue on and on. For experienced practitioners, this is how most phase experiences end. It's therefore best to know ahead-of-time how to tell when a phase experience is really over and when it isn't. Such "reality checks" should be performed upon each return to the body, and even when a secondary separation from the body is unsuccessful. This allows for substantially longer phases. Techniques allowing one to differentiate the phase from reality include: Hyper-Concentration The phase space cannot withstand prolonged close visual attention to the minute details of objects. Within several seconds of acute examination, shapes begin to distort, objects change color, produce smoke, melt, or morph in other ways. Perform this test as follows: after exiting the phase, look at a small object from a distance of four to six inches, and remain focused on it for 10 seconds. If the object does not change, a practitioner can be assured that the surroundings are reality. If an object is somehow distorted or askew, a practitioner knows that the phase is intact. The simplest option is to look at the tip of the finger since it is always close at hand. It is also possible to take a book and examine its text. Text in the phase will either blur or appear as alphabetical gibberish, or be full of incomprehensible symbols. Logical Hints There is one quite simple and purely logical way for a practitioner to determine whether or not he is in the phase. If a well-experienced practitioner finds himself doubting whether or not a phase session is over, that doubt alone is sufficient evidence that he is indeed still in the phase. Even the slightest suspicion that one is in the phase most likely means that one truly is. Auxiliary Techniques There are a variety of other procedures to test for the occurrence of a foul. However, since any situation, any quality, or any function can be simulated in the phase, these procedures are not always applicable. For example, some suggest that it is sufficient to attempt doing something that is realistically impossible, and, if a practitioner is in the phase, the impossible action will be possible. The problem with this suggestion is that the laws of the physical world may be simulated in the phase, and so flying, passing through walls or telekinesis may not be possible even in the phase. It has also been suggested that looking at a clock twice in a row may help a practitioner determine whether or not the phase is intact; allegedly, the clock will display a different time each time it is observed. Here again, the clock’s display may not change in the phase. One of the most undeservedly popular reality checks consists of trying to breathe out through a pinched nose. If you are able to do so, consider yourself in the phase. However, if there is serious doubt regarding the nature of the space you are in (i.e. whether it's the phase or not), this method may yield a false positive over one-third of the time. Of all the auxiliary procedures, one deserves mention and works in the majority of cases: searching for inconsistencies with reality in the surroundings. Although the usual surroundings of a practitioner may be 100% accurately simulated in the phase, it is very rare. Therefore, it is possible to figure out whether a phase is intact by carefully examining the room where everything is taking place. In the phase, there will be something extra or something will be missing; the time of day or even the season will be inconsistent with reality, and so on. For example, when verifying whether a foul occurred, a room may be missing the table supporting a television set, or the table may be there, but be a different color. General Rules For Maintaining In addition to the above methods for resisting the end of a phase, there are several general yet important rules that belong in a category of their own, as each of them can have a profound effect on the length of one's stay in the phase. Constant Activity Under no circumstances should a practitioner remain passive and calm in the phase. The more actions performed, the longer the phase is. The fewer actions – the shorter the phase. It is enough to pause for thought, and everything stops. Plan of Action Your students should always have a clear plan of action consisting of at least 2-3 tasks to be carried out in the phase at the earliest opportunity. This is necessary for several important reasons. First, the practitioner must not pause in the phase to think about “what to do next”, which frequently results in a foul. Second, having a plan, the practitioner will subconsciously perform all of the actions necessary for staying in and maintaining the phase to carry out all the tasks that have been planned. Third, intelligent and pre-planned actions permit focused advancement of purposeful actions versus wasting phase experiences on whatever comes to mind at a given moment. Fourth, a plan of action creates necessary motivation and, consequently, pronounced intent to perform the techniques to enter the phase, which is often the decisive factor. Secondary Separation from the Body Always remember that a typical phase experience consists of several repeated entries and exits. Essentially, in most cases it is possible to re-enter the phase through the use of separation or phase state creation techniques immediately after returning to the body. If the practitioner has just left the phase, the brain is still close to it and appropriate techniques may be applied in order to continue the journey. This can be tried over and over again during the same attempt. This rule is so important that students must be asked to follow it no-matter-what once it is given. Simulations of Maintaining To simulate maintaining the phase, see if you can set aside 10 to 20 minutes for the students to act out fundamental scenarios and the use of various techniques. If there are few people in the classroom, they can all do this at once. Otherwise, have them do it either one-by-one or pair-by-pair. There are several scenarios that can be practiced in physical reality. The first ones are constant sensory amplification and as-needed sensory amplification. Give them a task to accomplish and observe how they try to obtain the maximum amount of sensations possible while doing it. For example, say the task is to go from one corner of the room to the opposite one. If the practitioners go slowly, then that's the end of the phase. If they go quickly while constantly touching and scrutinizing everything, then they're doing it right. You might task them with doing something and periodically signal that the phase is losing depth as a cue for the practitioners to perform as-needed sensory amplification. Next, you can practice "hooking" onto the phase. For example, a student might be doing something freestyle as if he were in the phase, and then you signal that the phase is coming to an abrupt end. The practitioner should manage to grab something with his hands and massage it with them in order to intensify his sensations. This may be done several times in order to develop the reflex of acting without overthinking it. Third, you can practice "phase reality checks". What's needed in this case is to simulate an on-signal return from the phase (while lying down or sitting on chairs) and subsequent reality check to determine whether or not the surroundings are the phase or real life. Fourth, you can let the students "go freestyle" and act as if they are in the phase for 1 to 2 minute intervals. Use those intervals to observe their voluntary actions and note who is going to fall out of the phase due to mistakes. For example, someone might come to a standstill without actively obtaining sensations. Someone else might get lost in thought. Another might get sidetracked by conversations without performing techniques for maintaining simultaneously. Yet another might simply lack a plan of action. Examples Have some specific examples of using techniques for maintaining ready beforehand. Meanwhile, provide examples of resisting a) an exit to the waking state, b) falling asleep, and c) false awakening. It's preferable that these be examples from your own personal experience. If you are for some reason unable or unwilling to produce your own examples, you may find an abundance of them in the book The Phase and on our forum. There is no need to read aloud long passages. It's sufficient to read one paragraph that describes a maintaining technique. Typical Instructional Difficulties Maintaining the phase is one of the most difficult things not only to put into practice, but also to teach. The practitioner will inevitably encounter a large number of problems in this area, the most fundamental of which will be beliefs regarding the natural duration of the phase. The audience, steeped in various literature on the topic and having drawn its own conclusions, might reckon that such an experience can last hours or even days. That's why the same question will often come up during the first lesson: how do you return from there? Meanwhile, the real question should be: How can I stay in there for a least a minute? As it turns out, staying in the phase for even 1 to 2 minutes is a fantastic result. This will shock many who had been counting on frolicking about there for hours. Others' jaws will drop in disbelief. Still others will question the competence of the instructor. The task of the instructor is to defuse this situation and make people to take a cold, hard look at reality. The situation is helped by the fact that the relatively short duration of the phase experience psychological feels many times longer than it actually is, and that even a half a minute is sufficient to perform 2 or even 3 items on one's plan of action. You could theoretically be in the phase for at least 10 minutes (and some are able to achieve this feat), but that's more an exception than the rule. Those 10 minutes in the phase will seem like an eternity. Either way, the instructor should make it clear that experiences will be many times shorter without the use of maintaining techniques. Even when working with practitioners long-term and on a regular basis, their failure to come up with predetermined plans of action can still be a fundamental problem. As this will have a catastrophic effect on phase quality, phase effectiveness, and even phase frequency, it's something that you'll need to counteract. You should periodically check to make sure that practitioners have plans of action. They should always be able to recite them by heart, no matter when you ask them. If novices still don't really know what they can obtain from the phase, give them simple tasks that will help them to have an educational and interesting plan of action. Most will be nevertheless unable to remain in the phase for long. This especially applies to one-off experiences. Once an experienced practitioner is able to have multiple phase entries over the course of a single morning, maintaining will cease to be an issue for him. Until he reaches that level, he should evaluate how successful he is at prolonging the phase not in terms of minutes, but in terms of the number of completed items on his plan of action. This approach will guarantee productive use of the phase, and even if experiences only last 30 seconds. Considering that such a short interval of time psychologically feels like 5 to 10 minutes, thinking in terms of the number of completed plan-of-action items completely solves the problem of unsatisfactory phase length. Typical Student Questions - Can you stay in the phase all night? No. It's physiologically impossible. But even a 2 to 3 minute stay there feels like it lasts for half an hour, and so one will not be left unsatisfied. - Should I cut a phase short once my plan of action has already been completed? No, you shouldn't. Intentionally cutting short the storyline of a phase experience does not always mean that it ends at a physiological level. Doing so is fraught with the risk of having various unpleasant experiences like sleep paralysis or multiple, nightmarish false awakenings. - Do deepening and maintaining techniques have anything in common? At times, they're one and the same. Deepening techniques are sometimes employed during maintaining (e.g. sensory amplification), and especially when the vividness of sensation fades, i.e. when regular deepening becomes necessary. - I am only able to take a few steps in the phase before I am returned to my body. Nothing helps. What should I do? Such cases still involve a problem with deepening. However, what's most likely occurring are cyclic thoughts about returning to the body. Such thoughts will "come true" in the phase. Maintaining must be performed to keep you in the phase and prevent you from returning to your body. - For the purposes of maintaining, can I carry something with me the whole time in the phase and touch it in order to perform sensory amplification? Yes, you may. The easiest way is to rub your hands together as if to warm them. You might also chew gum or keep up constant vibrations. Module No. 8: Primary Skills Aim Provide a general background on the most elementary skills for controlling the phase space, which most people will need during their very first experiences. Key Concepts Mandatory: Discerning the phase, creation of vision, fighting fear, and paralysis. Non-Mandatory: Definition, emergency return, contact with animate objects, flight, vibrations, moral standards, and examples. Lesson Plan Definition Primary skills involve a set of various phenomena, skills, and problems that a practitioner will encounter in his everyday practice, and especially at the beginning. Discerning The Phase Quite possibly the most important question novices often have is how to identify the phase upon entering in. You'll therefore have to touch upon it in one way or another. It often happens that a practitioner simply cannot figure out whether or not he's in the phase. If a practitioner stands up and cannot determine if he's in the phase or in reality, then it can be assumed that the practitioner is standing up in the phase. However, often based on the observation that “everything is as in reality”, a practitioner may stand up and note that everything is in fact “as in reality” simply because the practitioner is still in “reality”. In answer to this dilemma, the phenomenon of hyper-concentration has been previously mentioned in relation to maintaining the phase. By using hyper-concentration, it is always possible to ascertain whether the practitioner is in the phase. That is, you need to scrutinize some point or small detail in your surroundings from a close distance over the course of 10 to 15 seconds. If nothing occurs, you're in reality. If something starts to happen (changes of color, curvature of space, blurriness, etc.) - it's the phase. However, as a rule, hyper-concentration is rarely necessary. Most often, the following signs indicate that separation has occurred in the phase: unusual sensations in the body during movement, extreme tightness during movement, a strong physical urge to lie back down, disjointedness of surroundings, and blurred or complete absence of vision. Creation of Vision Vision is often available at the very beginning of a phase, especially when the practitioner uses image observation and visualization techniques to enter. Sometimes vision appears on its own within the very first few seconds or during the deepening process. However, there are cases where vision is not available and must be created quickly, at any cost. Vision may arrive as soon as it is thought about. If this does not occur, then a practitioner needs to bring the hands four to six inches in front of the eyes and try to detect them through the grayness or darkness. Peering aggressively and attentively at the minute details of the palms will cause them to become visible, much like if they were being developed on Polaroid film. After several seconds, vision will become clear, and along with the palms, the surroundings will also become visible. Under no circumstances should the physical eyelids be opened. Vision will appear on its own and will not differ from that of reality. You also need to keep in mind that vision should only be created once you have fully separated from your body and arrived somewhere. Fighting Fear Fear in the phase is a very common occurrence. The practitioner may experience fear at any stage, although it is expressed much more clearly during initial practice. The causes of fear are very diverse: a feeling that returning to the body is impossible; a fear of death; worrying that something bad is going to happen to the body; encountering something scary and terrible in the phase; painful sensations; overly sharp, hyper-realistic sensations. One fear dominates all others: the instinct of self-preservation, which, without any apparent reason, can induce a feeling of absolute horror – a feeling that cannot be explained or controlled. For a novice stricken by insurmountable fear that causes paralysis, there is only one way to gradually overcome it. Each time a novice enters the phase, an attempt should be made to go a step further than the previous time. For example, in spite of feeling terrified, the practitioner should try to raise the hands and then move them back to the initial position. The second time, the practitioner should attempt to sit down. The third time, standing up should be attempted. The fourth time, walking around in the phase is advised. Then, after incremental steps toward experiencing the harmlessness of the phase state, productive, calm action may ensue. When dealing with momentary fear caused by events in the phase, the simplest solution is to tackle it head-on and follow through to the end in order to avoid a fear-driven precedent. If a practitioner always runs away from undesirable events, the events will occur more and more frequently. Emergency Return When necessary, returns to the body nearly always happen easily and effortlessly. Remembering and thinking about the body often suffices and within moments the practitioner is returned to the body from whatever location in the phase. Admittedly, it is advisable during this type of situation to shut the eyes and abstain from touching anything. As a rule, when these actions are performed, simply standing up in the physical world is all that is required to complete a return. Paralysis To avoid misunderstandings as well as unwarranted fears and accusations, you absolutely must discuss this phenomenon, which is just as scary as it is natural. The practitioner will sometimes realize that he cannot control his body upon returning to it. This is because he has fallen into so-called "sleep paralysis". This occurs especially often with deliberate returns to the body. At such moments, it's impossible to scream, call out for help, or even move a finger. Most of the time, not even the eyes will open. The scientific explanation is that what's happening is an attempt to abruptly and unnaturally interrupt rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, a state in which the body is normally paralyzed. It's possible for this paralysis to linger on. The most important thing in case of lingering paralysis is to not undertake any aggressive actions or try no-matter-what to move. Doing so will only make the situation worse. Although the paralysis won't last any longer than 2 minutes in any case, you can employ certain techniques to speed up recovery from it: Complete Relaxation Your students should already know that the more active a practitioner is while in the phase, the better. Conversely, if there is less activity, the quality of the phase declines, allowing for an easy exit. Thus, in order to leave a state of paralysis which is itself a form of the phase, the practitioner only needs to completely relax and ignore any perceived sensations, actions, or thoughts. A practitioner may also recite a prayer, mantra, or rhyme, since that helps the consciousness to be distracted from the situation more quickly. Of course, one needs to calm down and try to get rid of the fear, which in and of itself is capable of keeping such a state going. Periodically, the practitioner should try to move a finger in order to check whether attempts at relaxation have had an effect. Concentration on Possible Movements The physiology of sleep paralysis, the phase state, and dreams is such that when the practitioner is in one of these states, some actions are always associated with movements made in the real body. This is true when moving the eyeballs, the tongue, or while breathing. If the practitioner concentrates attention on these processes, it is possible to counteract inhibitions to physical movement; as a result, a sleep-paralyzed practitioner will become able to move in reality. Reevaluating the Situation Pay more attention to this point than the others, as it will allow you to select the best way to proceed. Under normal circumstances, deliberate exit from the phase is not the norm. Deliberate exit is commonly caused by certain fears and prejudices. If a practitioner is not able to activate the body using other emergency return techniques, a careful consideration of the possibilities offered by the phase is recommended. There are many interesting and useful things that can be experienced in the phase. Why ruin the possibility of great opportunity because of a baseless fear? Basically, you should separate again and enjoy those fantastic opportunities that brought you to the practice of the phase in the first place. Contact with Animate Objects Two problems may surface while conversing with animate objects in the phase: silence or a return to the body. In order to avoid a return to the body, you might actively observe the facial features or clothing of a person you want to communicate with. While communicating, the practitioner should constantly rub the hands together or maintain strong vibrations. Remember to perform the techniques to avoid becoming absorbed in communication. For nearly all novices, the phase ends during attempts to communicate with a phase object since they nearly always halt all activities and begin to get absorbed or lost in thought, as having a conversation entails a certain amount of mental concentration. A more complex problem is overcoming the communicative unresponsiveness of objects in the phase. In many cases, the speech of an object is blocked by the internal stress of the practitioner. The main solution is to treat the objects in as calm a manner as possible. There is no use trying to shout or beat the object to force communication. On the contrary, it is much more effective to treat the object gently, without applying pressure. Do not peer at an object’s mouth expecting sounds to emerge. It is better to look elsewhere; taking a passive interest in communication generally yields the best results. Even if you are temporarily unable to get an object to talk, you'll eventually be able to do so, which is why you should keep trying various ways of getting a conversation going. As a rule, after the first time that communication with a living object is successful, future attempts go unhindered. Flight Taking flight in the phase is a simple matter of remembering past dreams of flight. Nothing needs to be tensed, no word needs to be said. If a flight attempt is unsuccessful, a practitioner may try jumping from any high elevation. The natural instinct of dream flight takes over and the fall becomes a controlled flight. In case of difficulties with take-off, you can also try to jump up and stay airborne for as long as you can. It's better to do it in incremental bounds, as that keeps you more active - which is safer in terms of maintaining the phase. Vibrations The phase is often accompanied by an unforgettably unusual sensation that may be used successfully to enter, deepen or maintain it. It is difficult to describe it better than the sensation of a heavy current passing through the entire body without causing any pain. It may also feel like the whole body is contracting, or a tingling sensation similar to numbness. Most often, the sensations are similar to high-frequency vibrations of the body, which explains the origin of the term “vibration”. Students should also realize that this phenomenon doesn't have to make its presence known in one's practice of the phase, and that its nature is not fully understood. If you have experienced vibrations at least once, the recollection of these sensations helps greatly during the simultaneous application of indirect techniques. Vibrations are created, supported and strengthened by straining the brain or tensing the body without using the muscles. For vibrations to appear, it often suffices merely to think about them. During the first experience, one should experiment with them for a while by rolling them around the body and its parts, as well as strengthening and weakening them. Moral Standards in the Phase From the very beginning, your students should understand that the moral compass of the phase space has nothing in common with the societal norms and laws of the physical world. The phase space seemingly imitates the physical world with all its properties and functions only because we are accustomed to them and are not expecting anything else. Moral principles and rules apply only to the place where they were developed. It does not make sense to profess them while in the phase. The practitioner should not refrain from certain actions in the phase because some would be unacceptable, improper, or bad in the real world. These are merely behavioral patterns that are hardly suited to the world of the phase, where everything operates on the basis of entirely different laws. The only moral rules that might exist in the phase are those that the practitioner establishes. Examples Have ready some specific examples of working with primary skills in the phase. Find at least one example for every 2 to 3 primary skills. It's preferable that these be examples from your own personal experience. If you are for some reason unable or unwilling to produce your own examples, you may find an abundance of them in the book The Phase and on our forum. There is no need to read aloud long passages. It's sufficient to read one paragraph that describes working with primary skills. Typical Instructional Difficulties Only one relatively serious problem might arise here: the issue of morality in the phase. As a rule, people bring not only their desires and habits from the physical world (where they were formed) into the phase, but also their attitude towards various issues. The role of the instructor is to make it clear that the phase is an independent space where there is no need to follow the laws of the physical world. The problem is not only that people do blindly follow those laws of the physical world while in the phase, but also that some concepts are so deeply impressed in people's minds that even mere discussion of removing boundaries in the phase evokes incomprehension and anger. The phase brings people true freedom, which is why it seems plain wrong when a person who is at last free suddenly begins to limit himself and cast judgment as to what's right and what's wrong, as well as judge for himself what is permitted and what is forbidden. The instructor should devote maximum effort to breaking his students' psych ological shackles. This is beneficial not only for the practice itself, but also for a sense of well-being in the everyday world. Typical Student Questions - What does it mean if I cannot stand firmly on my feet in the phase? It's a sign of insufficient deepening. - I get tunnel vision in the phase. Is that normal? Although normal, it's a sign of a phase that's not full-fledged. Your sense of sight should be at least that of everyday reality. - I rolled out of my body, got stuck in the wall, and almost couldn't breathe. What should I do in such situations? What happened was deepening inside the wall via the sensations of going through it. It's no big deal. You need to try to breathe anyway, as the shortness of breath is purely psychological. Also, try to gradually get out of the wall or return to your body and roll out of it towards the other side. - What should I do if various beings constantly attack me? The most important thing is to never run away. Accommodate them instead, and their aggression will disappear. Also keep in mind that they are your own materialized fears. - The phase ends quickly for me when I'm flying. How do I solve this problem? Try to employ procedures for maintaining while you're flying. For example, rub your hands together and look at them periodically. It's also beneficial to not merely fly about, but to fly from place to place with a destination firmly in mind. - An irrepressible sexual attraction arises when communicating with objects. How do I solve this problem? Allow yourself to indulge such weaknesses, but only on the condition that you first accomplish your previously-determined objectives. - When I jump in the phase in order to fly out of the window or from some other height, I am often tormented by doubts as to whether or not it's in real life. Could I actually jump out of a window in real life having thought that I was in the phase? From a purely theoretical standpoint, it's possible. It's therefore best for novices not to jump from windows when entering the phase. It's best to do a reality check if doubts arise in other cases. - Should every exit from the body be accompanied by vibrations? No. Vibrations don't have to be there, and this is especially true for experienced practitioners. For many practitioners, they never occur. - What actually are the vibrations? Science has yet to determine the nature of this phenomenon. Module No. 9: Translocation and Finding Objects Aim Teach techniques for finding objects in the phase and ways to translocate throughout it. This will help practitioners to fully employ the phenomenon to various practical ends instead of being confined to the space they find themselves in at the beginning of the experience. Key Concepts Mandatory: Definition, translocation techniques, and object-finding techniques. Non-Mandatory: The basic property of the phase space, simulations of translocation and object-finding techniques, and examples. Lesson Plan Definition Techniques for translocating and finding objects consist in the ability to use the properties of the phase space for the purpose of translocating throughout it to any place one wishes and finding any desired animate or inanimate object in it. These skills will come in handy for your students on multiple times during practically every phase experience. They will also allow them to use the phase for productive and practical applications. The Basic Property of the Phase Space So that your audience better understands the mechanisms behind the techniques for translocating in the phase and finding objects in it, explain that practically all methods for controlling the phase space stem from a primary law: the degree of changeability of the phase space is inversely proportionate to the depth of the phase and the stability of its objects. That is to say, the deeper and more stable a phase and the longer we perceive it with our senses, the more difficult it is to perform something unusual in it because the laws of physics in a deep and stable phase begin to resemble those of the physical world. All translocation and finding objects techniques are based on knowledge of methods that exploit this primary law. Illustrate this by explaining to the audience that if a practitioner located in the phase holds a red pencil and examines it, tactile and visual perceptions are engaged, which under sharp agitation cause the object to exist in its complete form. However, as soon as the eyes are shut, the stability of pencil image weakens. In this situation, it will be enough for the practitioner to concentrate on believing that the pencil is dark-blue in order for it to appear dark blue after opening the eyes. This phenomenon occurs because the color of the pencil is no longer determined by perceptual areas of the brain and, therefore, it is possible to change it. Translocation Techniques Explain 2 to 3 of the most straightforward techniques for translocating in the phase that your students can use starting from their very first experiences: Translocation during Separation One of the easiest and quickest ways to translocate is to do so while separating from the body. This may be combined with almost any separation technique and is performed by concentrating on the look and feel of the desired location during the initial stages of exiting the body. Even better - imagine that you are already there. You will usually find yourself in your desired location upon separating. A drawback of this technique is that separation occurs only in the beginning of the phase experience and, therefore, can only be used once. Other options should be considered after the first translocation. Translocation through a Door In order to use this technique, approach any door with the strong belief that it leads to the required location. After opening the door, the practitioner will see and be able to step into the destination. If the door was originally open, it's better to completely shut it before applying the technique. A drawback to this technique is that its practice always requires a door. Translocation through Teleportation To apply this technique, shut the eyes (if vision is present), and then concentrate attention on a thought-form or image of a location elsewhere in the phase. At this moment, there will be a sensation of swift flight and the destination will then be reached. The success of this technique depends on a strong concentration upon a single goal: the desired location. The technique must be performed very clearly, confidently, aggressively, and without distractions. Any unrelated thoughts have a profoundly negative influence on its performance. They unnecessarily prolong the flight, cause a foul, or result in arriving at an undesired location. Translocation with Closed Eyes This is one of the easiest techniques. To use this technique, the practitioner simply needs to shut the eyes and have an intense desire that, when the eyes are next opened, the required location will be reached. In order to considerably increase the effectiveness of this technique, it would be useful to imagine, at the moment you close your eyes, that you have already reached the desired location. Translocation should take place then and there, but without flight (as is the case with teleportation with closed eyes). In order to stay in the phase, it's better to perform this technique while moving, i.e. walking, running, or flying. For example, go to “point A”, close your eyes, focus your attention on already being in “point B”, and then open your eyes there. Techniques for Finding Objects The task of the teacher is greatly simplified here due to the fact that all of the translocation techniques are also applicable to techniques for finding objects. Explain to the students that the only difference with object-finding is that you need to focus your attention not on the phase space itself but on its particular features, i.e. the objects you need, be they animate or inanimate. However, if your goal is to find an object that is guaranteed to be found where you are, then you should use the techniques described below: Finding by Calling a Name This technique is only used to find living objects. The practitioner must call a person or an animal by name to cause the animate phase object to enter or appear nearby. The call should be loud, nearly a shout, otherwise it will not always work. Generally, it is often enough to pronounce a name several times to achieve results. Finding by Turning Around In order to use this technique, the practitioner must concentrate and imagine that the required object is located somewhere behind his back, and after turning around he will actually see it there, even if it was not there just a moment earlier. This works best if the practitioner, prior to turning around, has not seen the place where the object is expected to appear. Finding around a Corner When approaching any corner, concentrate and imagine that the required object is just around the corner. Then, after turning the corner, the object will be found. Anything that limits space visibility may be regarded as a corner. This does not have to be the corner of a house or another type of building; it could be the corner of a wardrobe, the corner of a truck, etc. Finding in the Hand This technique is, in essence, only applicable to finding objects that can fit in or be held by the hand. To perform this technique, concentrate on the tactical sensation that the sought object is already in your hand. At that moment, the practitioner must not look at it. Soon after beginning to concentrate on this idea, the practitioner will at first feel a slight sensation of the object lying in his hand, followed by a full sensation and actual appearance of the desired object. Simulations of Translocation and Object-Finding Techniques In order to reinforce translocation and object-finding techniques, you might simulate them right during the lesson. The only thing one can practice for techniques like translocating upon separation or teleportation is affirming one's desire while sitting motionlessly on chairs or lying down. However, you might make practitioners move in order to practice some other techniques. Meanwhile, it's important that the room be sufficiently spacious so that people are able to walk about it without getting in each other's way. For example, you might practice the technique of translocating through a door. Ask the students one-by-one (or only those who volunteer) to go up to a closed door and open it a few times, focusing their attention on what's behind it, be it some space or another or some person or another. What's important is that the budding practitioner remember what he did and how he focused his attention so that he'll easily be able to repeat it during a real phase experience. Similarly, one can practice the technique of translocating with closed eyes, the technique of finding by calling by name, the technique of finding by turning around, and the technique of finding around a corner. Devote 10 to 15 minutes to such practice. It will allow your students a break from studying theory and a way to better commit to memory the actions they are to perform in the phase. Examples Have ready some specific examples of translocations throughout the phase and objects found in it. The examples should feature deliberate translocations and object-findings that the practitioner had set out to perform. It's preferable that these be examples from your own personal experience. If you are for some reason unable or unwilling to produce your own examples, you may find some in our book The Phase and on our forum. There is no need to read aloud long passages. It's sufficient to read out one paragraph that describes how a practitioner translocates in the phase or finds some objects in it. Typical Instructional Difficulties Success at employing techniques for finding objects in the phase and translocating in it depends on only one factor: how hard the practitioner concentrates his attention and desire on achieving the right outcome. Performing techniques "for the sake of appearances" will bring no results at all. The techniques are to be performed with an intense desire to achieve results. This is the issue that the instructor should concentrate on. It's enough to say that given enough desire, even a novice can successfully control the phase without knowing any specific techniques. A person's own desire is essentially what translocates him throughout the phase. The techniques themselves are only there to facilitate that inner process by giving it a certain outward expression. If you leave out this point or don't throw enough light on it, many practitioners' attempts to translocate in the phase or find objects in it will end in failure. Typical Student Questions - How can I go somewhere I've never been before and have no idea what it looks like? If it's your goal to go somewhere, that means that you already have enough of an idea about it. That should be enough. - I fly too long during teleportation and sometimes do not fly to the right place. Where's my problem? Lack of concentration on your destination and having extraneous thoughts. - I always land in the wrong place or not quite the right place when translocating. How can I wind up where I need to? This is also due to a lack of concentration on your destination and having extraneous thoughts. - When I try to find a particular person, somebody else appears. How can I find the person I'm looking for? This problem is nearly always a result of insufficient concentration, subconscious fear of that person, anxiety, or a repressed reluctance to see him. It can also be a result of assigning too much importance to the meeting. - Can I use translocation techniques to travel to the future and find out what will happen to me? This is obtaining information. The quality of the information you obtain depends on your knowledge and your ability to employ the right techniques, including but not limited to the translocation techniques. - Can I create a place in the phase where I can always go - a kind of home base? Yes. Not only is it possible, it's also easy. Module No. 10: Practical Applications Aim Provide ways to practically employ the out-of-body travel & lucid-dreaming phenomenon. This will create greater incentive to practice the phenomenon and spend time in it productively. Key Concepts Mandatory: Travel, encounters with other people, obtaining information, self-healing, and fulfilling desires. Non-Mandatory: Building a strong foundation, creative development, an alternative to computer games, an alternative to narcotics, rehabilitation for the disabled, entertainment, unproven phenomena, and examples. Lesson Plan Building a Strong Foundation As you begin to tell your audience how they can apply the phase to practical ends in real life, emphasize that what you will be saying will only lay a strong foundation for the metaphorical tower of their practice, but is not the tower itself. That is to say, your task is to provide those opportunities that we are 100% sure exist and whose existence can be confirmed in the practice by any phaser. If it turns out in a student's practice that there's something else out there, that will be a brick in the tower that he is constructing on the foundation that you have laid for him. Never teach anything fantastical or those things that novices unrealistically expect from the practice. Everything that you teach must exist beyond a shadow of a doubt. This will greatly help to ensure against futile efforts to obtain things from the phase that have not been proven to exist. People often build their metaphorical tower on absolutely nonsensical and unrealistic expectations, which eventually leads to lost months and even decades, as well as colossal disappointments. Travel One of the names for the phenomenon refers an application of it: out-of-body travel. This is exactly what your students will be doing most of the time in their independent practices. You should therefore give them as much information as possible about this topic so that they won't limit themselves or miss opportunities. First, this is an opportunity to travel about the world we call home. You can visit any place on planet Earth: from the Pyramids at Giza to Niagara Falls, and from Paris to a heaven-on-Earth like the Maldives Islands. This is an opportunity to not only go there and look around, but also to take in the ambiance, enjoy the aromas, and even breathe in the salty, refreshing humidity of seaside air. All sensations there are absolutely authentic and extremely realistic. Second, you can journey throughout outer space. Many practitioners agree that nothing delivers as big a rush or leaves as much of an impact as traveling throughout the universe. You can do close flybys of galaxies, nebulae, black holes, stars, and planets. It might be a long time before a real human foot steps down on Mars, but it's already possible for anyone to go for a stroll across its surface using the phase. Third, there's time travel. We're not talking about obtaining information (that's a separate application-related topic), but about what is perceived by the traditional five senses to be time travel. For example, practitioners often like to visit their childhoods and the places where they grew up. One of the most amazing opportunities is that of going back to the days of the dinosaurs and beholding them with your own eyes. It is vital that the issue of the actual nature of such phase travels be approached only indirectly. Concentrate on the fact that such travel feels absolutely real in terms of sensation, regardless of destination. However, whether or not travel to such places is real or simulated is a question that everyone has to answer for himself, in keeping with his worldview. Encounters with Other People The second most popular application of the phase is taking advantage of the opportunity to see whomever you want. Exploring this topic will open up a world of possibilities that were previously unimaginable. First, you may meet up with any friends or acquaintances you want. It often happens that people cannot meet for long periods of time. The phase gives them an opportunity to do so without any limitations whatsoever. Next, there is meeting with the deceased. Emphasize that whatever the actual nature of such an encounter may be, this is the only opportunity to deliberately, realistically, and consciously meet up with people who are no longer with us during our time on Earth. There's no other way to do this besides the phase. It makes no difference whether it is a mystic or a pragmatist who is using the phase to meet with the deceased. Techniquewise, this fantastical ability is nothing difficult: just enter the phase and use techniques for finding objects to find deceased relatives. The most important thing is to overcome fear. Third, there's the opportunity to see any famous person in the phase, be it heroes of the past, artists, politicians, or other celebrities. Although often pursued purely for the purposes of entertainment, for many practitioners this is a significant opportunity as many dream of meeting and speaking with celebrities. The nature of such phase encounters should only be approached indirectly. The audience will be most interested in whether these people or souls encountered in the phase are real. It would be wrong to give a definitive answer to that question, as the answer would depend on one's worldview. You need only state that the "phase objects" are absolutely, qualitatively real in terms of sensory perception. They have their own psychology and knowledge. You can hug them, feel their touch, and even smell their perfume and hear the familiar timbre of their voice. Every sensation is absolutely authentic. Obtaining Information This area of application of the phenomenon should be brought up more frequently during the lessons as almost everybody will be curious about it and find it to be the most interesting topic. You can always motivate your students to make more attempts by bringing up this topic. How is it possible? The most important thing to cover under this topic is that obtaining information from the phase is possible, regardless of what the explanation for this phenomenon is. Mystics and the esoterically-minded explain the ability to obtain information by pointing to information fields, the actual physical exit of the soul from the body, and akashic records. Pragmatics see an explanation in the enormous resources of the subconscious mind that we have access to in the phase. What kind of information can be obtained? Your task is to teach practical things. With that in mind, it wouldn't be right for you to tell people that they can find out whatever they want from the phase, even if that is your personal belief. Nobody has ever proven that this is the case. The roughest estimate of the upper boundary of the amount of information that can be accessed in the phase is 1,000 times what the waking mind “knows”. The actual figure might be higher by an order of magnitude. Meanwhile, the information accessible in the phase relates to us in one way or another: it relates to us personally, to our friends and family, our job, our hobbies, and our environment, which is exactly the information that will prove useful in real life. How to Obtain the Information Contrary to what students often expect, this is the easiest part. There are several primary techniques for obtaining information: Animate Objects Animate objects include people, animals, and other beings in the phase who you can simply talk to and from whom you can obtain information that you need. It's preferable that such objects be somehow tied to the information you are to obtain from them. Inanimate Objects These include books, notes, televisions, radios, computers, signs, captions, symbols, etc. For example, you can look for a book on a given topic while in the phase and then thumb through it and read it. The Episode Technique Here, the phaser goes to a place associated with the information he needs and simply takes it all in through his eyes. For example, say a phaser has lost his car keys in real life. He would concentrate on them in the phase and then be translocated to a place where he might have lost them. How to Verify Information The whole difficulty here lies in the fact that while the techniques for obtaining information are themselves quite simple, the information obtained is easily distorted by erratic interference from the human mind. It's therefore necessary to know ways to verify the trustworthiness of information. For example, you can immediately ask an easy control question when speaking with an object, for example, "What's my name?" Or, "How much is two times two?" If the object is unable to correctly answer even such simple questions, you'll need to change your approach. You can also ask a follow-up question like, "Why is that the case?" Or, "How do you prove it?" You might also ask the same question twice or paraphrase it to see if the object gives the same answer. Either way, you should verify any information obtained in the phase in real life before acting on it. There's no guarantee that it will be accurate, even if the objects have passed every test. How to Increase Accuracy There are a number of ways to increase the accuracy of information you obtain. First, start off from the simplest things, and then gradually transition to more complicated ones. Second, the information to be obtained should be as specific as possible (e.g. "How can I increase sales at work?") and not general and vague (e.g. "What's the meaning of life?"). Third, the information should be obtained in a passing manner that is offhanded, detached, indifferent, and deadpan - as if the information were not important. Self-Healing Self-healing is a topic that affects everyone in one way or another. That's why influencing the physiology using the phase must be covered in-depth as a separate topic during the lessons. To put it briefly, the fact that the body reacts to many stimuli experienced in the phase as if they were real serves as the basis for the theoretical explanation of the ability to affect the body from within the phase. You should point out that nearly every form of self-healing has yet to undergo "official" scientific research. It may therefore only be employed as a supplementary measure (especially in serious cases). This does not mean that it won't bring quick and clear results in many situations. For best results, self-healing measures should be employed on a periodic basis, instead of during one-off sessions. In order to prove to your students that the body reacts to many processes in the phase as if they were taking place in real life, ask them to conduct the experiment of running fast in the phase for a long time on themselves. Upon returning to physical reality, you might observe shortness of breath, raised blood pressure, blood rushing to the legs, and a sped-up heart-rate. And those are only the externally-observable changes. The more subtle internal processes of the body will also react as they would to physical running. There are also other ways to influence the physiology from the phase: Obtaining Information The methods for obtaining information are also applicable to self-healing. All you need to do is focus your efforts in the phase on diagnosing the health concern and finding ways to treat it both in real life and in the phase. For example, you might ask a doctor in the phase how to treat one ailment or another. Seeing a Doctor If a practitioner doesn't know how he can help himself using the phase, he might find a doctor or healer there and ask the latter to help him solve his problem right then and there. The doctor might start giving a massage or administering an injection. He may even perform an operation. Taking Medicine In the phase, you can take either existing medicines or specially-created remedies with special properties. Meanwhile, what's most important is not simply taking them, but feeling the required effect right then and there. This will have its own impact in real life. It's best to find medicines with weak or no side effects. Directly Acting on the Body You can act directly on a problem in the body or in a specific organ. For example, a diseased liver might be massaged, warmed, and infused with any other beneficial sensation desired. A hurt joint might be massaged, rubbed with icy-hot, or kneaded. In case of a cold or bodily pain, one can create an ideal feeling of well-being in the phase and return with that feeling to the real world. Auto-Suggestion A person in the phase is in the most radically altered state of consciousness that can be achieved while still retaining conscious awareness. That's why all forms of auto-suggestion and self-hypnosis have a greater influence and effect in the phase. Psychology This application of phase states has already been recognized by science. The phase space can be used as a place to face one's fears and thereby get over real-life phobias. It can also be used as a way to the re-experience negative events of the past with a more accepting attitude, which can remedy a number of health complaints. Practicing Skills Due to the fact the brain is affected just as deeply by a physical action in the phase as it is by one in real life, it's possible to practice skills directly in the phase. This is often used by athletes, e.g. martial artists. Creative Development One of the largest segments of the phase-state practitioner population is creative people who wish to use this gift in their artistic work. To see this for yourself, just ask your students to raise their hands if they're interested in creative development in the phase. In and of itself, the phase stirs human emotion and is a fountain of inspiration. There is also good reason why people say that the phase provides direct access to the genius within each and every one of us. It's a simple matter to apply the phase towards quite specific ends for artistic development. Say that you want to find a subject for a work of art while in the phase so that you can create in real life. This might be music, poetry, a landscape, etc. It's also possible to work on art while in the phase. For example, an artist might have a sneak preview at what his current painting will look like so that he can adjust the process if necessary. An architect might walk about a home he's been designing while in the phase and be on the lookout for mistakes and changes that have to be made. An Alternative to Computer Games With its amazing realism and unbridled opportunity in terms of diverse worlds to explore, the phase space can be an excellent alternative to computer games. Instead of staring at a two-dimensional screen, the gamer will find himself in a world that is absolutely real in terms of sensation, and even more realistic than the physical one. After programming the phase space to meet your desires, you can experience any storyline or embark upon any adventure you wish. But this time, the sensations will be real. An Alternative to Narcotics The practice of out-of-travel and lucid dreaming can save people looking for unusual sensations or bored with everyday life from turning to drugs. Instead of sinking into dependence and degradation, once can go down a completely different path - one of personal development and discovery. Rehabilitation for the Disabled Many in the audience will not take applications of the phase seriously. However, this topic is where the need to disseminate knowledge of the phase in society becomes most clearly apparent. While for most people the phase is merely a form of entertainment or at best a means to solve certain problems, it can be the only hope for people living with limited opportunities in the physical world to fully experience simple sensations in a controlled and conscious manner. For example, the blind can see in the phase. A person who has lost the ability to move can run, fly, and experience all the other capabilities of a fully-able body. It's hard to overstate the importance of this practice for people living with disabilities. Explaining this will allow you to get your students to take the phase phenomenon itself more seriously. Fulfillment of Desire It's worth making special note of the fact that the phase provides the opportunity to enjoy any experience or sensation desired. Students should realize that this is the path to fulfillment of all of their desires, including those secret ones that all harbor in their hearts. Some may dream of simply spending time in outer space. For others, this will be the only opportunity to drive a Lamborghini sportscar. For still others, it's the only place where one can allow oneself delicious food. There are those for whom it is an opportunity to fulfill all their sexual desires, and fortunately such sensations are extremely realistic in the phase. Any dream that anyone might have can come true - in the phase, at least. Entertainment No matter what amazing opportunities the phase holds for each practitioner, sometimes it's good to stop trying to be productive all the time and have some fun instead. When used for the purposes of entertainment, the phase itself becomes the object of your efforts. It's quite possible that this is the most popular way to apply the phase. Practitioners often simply travel about the phase without any goal in mind, relishing each session and the opportunity to just be present. The pleasure is a truly indescribable. It's sometimes interesting to just travel across the phase space while looking at every place with curiosity and observing all of the events taking place on their own. This is a true parallel world in terms of sensation. It can't but be interesting. Unproven Phenomena Depending on the general worldview of the group, it's sometimes worth it to make a digression into the various real-word effects attributed to the phase that nevertheless have yet to be proven or confirmed in practice. Physical Exit Thanks to the realness of phase experiences and their frequently authentic rendering of the real world, there exists a persistent theory that phase entry is a real exit of the soul from the body, with all of the associated practical opportunities. Affecting the Physical World Some believe and others preach that one can actually influence physical objects in the phase, e.g. push them, break them, pick them up and put them somewhere else, etc. Others believe that you can physically affect a real person - for example, if you pinch a friend hard in the phase, you'll leave a mark on him in real life. Developing Superpowers Due to the difficulty of learning superpowers in the phase, practitioners often get the idea that they are actually developing them and will be able to bring their newfound skills with them into the physical world. For example, upon learning telekinesis in the phase, they believe that they will have that ability in real life. Extracting Objects from the Phase After hooking onto a phase object with your sensations, it often seems that you can take it back with you into the real world. Many believe that this is actually the case. For example, after grabbing a bar of gold in the phase and returning to the body, the phaser will simultaneously feel both his physical body and the bar of gold in his hands due to the sensory amplification in his palms. Of course, there will be no trace of the gold bar in the room once the phase ends. What will remain is the feeling of having been successful, and it can be quite convincing. Scientifically proving the existence of any of these abilities would earn any practitioner a Noble Prize. However, such abilities remain mere talk despite the fact that each new and thousands-strong generation of practitioners stubbornly tries to make progress on this front. Let your audience know that these things are purely theoretical and that one shouldn't place any special hope in them. It is possible that all the above does indeed exist but is simply too difficult to be consistently controlled. The phase is wonderful in and of itself - even without any practical applications. Examples Have some specific examples of beneficial practical applications of the phase ready beforehand. The examples should emphasize obtaining information, self-healing, or meeting with the deceased, since these will be the most interesting topics for your students. If you have a certain kind of audience that is interested in some specific field of application of the phase, give them examples from that field. It's preferable that these be examples from your own personal experience. If you are for some reason unable or unwilling to produce your own examples, you may find some in our book The Phase and on our forum. Typical Instructional Difficulties Due to the breadth and multifacetedness of the topic, quite a number of issues may arise in regards to practical applications of the phase. Even when given the opportunity to travel wherever they want, practitioners will be stubbornly unable to fully comprehend or act on this freedom. Their minds will still be filled with numerous blocks and hang-ups. It's as if they are afraid to believe that they will indeed be able to appear wherever they want, even if only in terms of what their senses perceive. This ability to go anywhere applies not only to places in the real world, but also to those of any other world, including even those of fairy tales and Hollywood films. The role of the instructor consists in eliminating all the blocks and hang-ups that keep his students from launching into a universe of incredible opportunity and adventure. On that note, there may arise the problem of a practitioner encountering his deceased friends and family in the way that he would least like to see them. To avoid this, you should explain that the practitioner should focus on the best years of his loved ones' lives when employing object-finding techniques to see them. So as not to subconsciously program your students, it's best to leave out the fact that it's possible to see a decomposing body. When obtaining information, there may arise the hard-to-overcome problem of the inner disposition of people who want to find out that things are a certain way, are afraid to find out something, or are simply incredulous. All of these internal conflicts will find reflection in the quality of the information obtained. The instructor's task here is to explain that such matters are to be taken up in as detached a way as possible, as if the results didn't matter. When trying to influence their physiologies, students often forget that it doesn't really make any sense to merely pop pills in the phase. What's extremely important here is to reproduce the sensations that the pill is to induce. Inducing sensations and symptoms is another way of influencing the physiology in the phase. Once students realize this, many will independently come to the conclusion that any “treatment” performed in the phase is nothing more than a ritual that helps one to have greater faith in one's own personal powers. When all is said and done, you can forgo these rituals and directly act upon the required processes in the body. Of course, differing views on the true nature of the practical applications of the phenomenon will be at the root of any heated discussions or issues that arise. At times it can be quite difficult for the instructor to convey what the practice of the phase really is to students who already have their own firm beliefs regarding the phenomenon, beliefs which are often at odds with those of the instructor. For example, when such a person is told that it is possible to experience stepping foot on Mars with all five of his senses, what he will hear is that it's possible to visit Mars using some "etheric" or "astral" body via the phase. The same applies to meeting people, obtaining information, and similar issues. However, the task here is not to change a person's philosophical beliefs or somehow influence them. The instructor is tasked with having all kinds of discussions regarding the nature of the phenomenon. This is no easy job considering the constant questions and follow-up queries of all sorts that will come from students with the most diverse points of view. As soon as the instructor officially espouses one viewpoint or another, he will immediately lose face among the ranks of people with opposite views, and they may be in the majority. This will eventually affect the quality of instruction and the overall mood of the group. Typical Student Questions - Can I learn my future in the phase? You can if you use the techniques for obtaining information properly. However, it's best not to "learn your future". You're better off learning how to alter the future to be the way you need it. - Can I find out the winning lottery number in the phase? It's hardly likely. However, you might learn how to earn or make the money that you wanted to win. Didn't some famous people use the phase to obtain information? Like Nikola Tesla, for example? It's entirely possible. - Can I lose weight using the phase? While in the phase, you can find out how lose weight in real life, take special medicines, and satisfy your need for tasty food. - Can I use the phase to treat cancer or AIDS? It's possible that some methods exist, but they have not been verified or proven. However, the phase can certainly help to at least ease things. - Can I bring harm to myself in the phase? By taking poison, for example? It's unlikely, considering that you have subconscious protection mechanisms that are hardly likely to allow you to bring about a negative effect on yourself. - Are people encountered in the phase real human beings, or something else? The answer to this question depends on your worldview. Some believe that it's the souls of people in some dreamworld or "astral plane". Others believe that it's all simulated in the mind. - If I met a deceased relative in the phase, was that really his soul, and did he really come to me from the world beyond the grave? The answer to that question depends on your worldview and how you want to answer it. The most important thing is that you can see your relative. Everything else is another story. - If I fly over to my neighbor's in the phase, will he be able to see me in real life? No, although many people would like to believe that this is possible. - Can you learn a foreign language in the phase? You can learn how to better learn a language in real life, immerse yourself in it while in the phase, and take lessons with a teacher there. - Can I meet a famous martial-arts master in the phase and have lessons with him? Yes, the phase can be applied in this way to not only obtain information, but also to entertain oneself and practice skills. - If the phase is so great, won't you want to stay in it forever? That would be a sign of an unbalanced approach to your practice. However, it would be simply impossible stay there forever, even if you wanted to. - What will happen if I take drugs in the phase? They will have the same effect there as they would in the real world. - Can people have orgasms in the phase? Yes, and they can have them often and in a controlled manner. This applies for both women and men with varying degrees of real-world symptoms, depending on one's level of sensitivity and experience. - Could a person who has been blind from birth see in the phase? There are no known cases of this happening. However, it's possible that it will become reality in the future. The problem is that such people have no neurological pathways for vision. Therefore, those who went blind later in life will be able to see in the phase, but those who were born blind will not be able to. Module No. 11: Analysis Aim Students learn how to analyze their unsuccessful attempts to enter the phase and search for the mistakes they made during those attempts so that they can develop in their practices without constantly consulting their instructor or the instructions they were given. Key Concepts Mandatory: When to perform analyses, the analysis procedure, joint analysis, keeping a journal, false reports, typical mistakes, typical mistakes with the indirect method, and tallying results. Non-Mandatory: Typical mistakes with the direct method, typical mistakes when practicing becoming conscious while dreaming, typical mistakes with non-autonomous methods, typical mistakes during deepening, typical mistakes with maintaining, typical mistakes with primary skills, typical mistakes with translocation and finding objects, and typical mistakes when using practical applications. Lesson Plan When to Perform Analyses Regardless of the instructional format, the beginning of every lesson besides the first should usually be devoted to analyzing attempts and teaching the students how to do so. The Analysis Procedure Analyzing indirect-method attempts always takes the most time. Start off from the following procedure to facilitate the search for mistakes made during both successful and unsuccessful attempts (separation upon awakening is understood to have occurred but has been left out so that the uninterrupted sequence remains intact): 1. Attempt 2. Technique successful (start of the phase) 3. Separation 4. Deepening 5. Plan of action 6. Maintaining 7. Secondary separation from the body This procedure is different for the direct method: 1. Lapses in consciousness 2. Lapse in consciousness of the necessary depth (start of the phase) 3. Separation 4. Deepening 5. Plan of action 6. Maintaining 7. Secondary separation from the body The procedure for the dream-consciousness method is as follows: 1. Creating desire 2. Falling asleep 3. Becoming conscious while in a dream (start of the phase) 4. Deepening 5. Plan of action 6. Maintaining 7. Secondary separation from the body You can easily find mistakes by using these sequences. For example, if some technique started working with the indirect method, then there's no reason to look to the techniques for the reason behind a lack of success, as the next item on the list is separation. That's where your problem is if a technique upon awakening worked, but the phase did not come. Simple things like this will be clearer to the group if you display a visual of the procedure at the beginning of each post-experience "debriefing". Joint Analysis Teaching others is the best way to learn and remember information. Try to implement this revolutionary approach when working with others. Put the group members into pairs (preferably of mixed gender) and have them sit on chairs in front the group one pair at a time. Make one member of each pair the "teacher" and have him ask his partner (the "pupil") about her attempts, find all her mistakes and shortcomings in those attempts, and answer any questions that she may have. If the "teacher" can't find a mistake or answer a question, ask the person sharing her own experience ("the pupil") to find her own mistakes and answer her own questions. If she is unable to do so, ask the group to help her out. If the group is also unable to help, then point out her mistake or answer her question yourself, but only as a last resort. This approach forces the students to think, which will subsequently improve the quality of their attempts. As soon as the "pupil" has shared her experience, she and the "teacher" sw itch roles. If the group is so large that it's not possible for everyone to be interviewed, ask for volunteers come up front to be interviewed instead. Get them to go into technique-related details when describing their attempts. This will allow you to more clearly see their mistakes, which are usually simply due to them ignoring critical steps in the procedure. Meanwhile, be persistent in asking people to leave out their back stories and general descriptions, as they will constantly be drawn back to them. You can indulge the speaker if there are few people, but with larger groups the audience will quickly tire of listening to the life stories and tangents that are not directly related to attempts. The most common examples of questions able to reveal the quality of actions performed during indirect attempts and point out mistakes are: - How many attempts did you make? - At what time of the day did you make attempts? - Did you make attempts upon falling asleep or awakening? - Did you move physically upon awakening? - Did you begin your attempts from an attempt to separate? - What techniques did you use? - Did any of the techniques work? - Did you try to separate when the techniques worked? - How distinct were the sensations in the phase? - Did you perform deepening in the phase? - Did you have a plan of action? - Did you perform maintaining techniques? - Did you try to make a secondary separation from the body? Keeping a Journal Explain how to keep a journal of phase experiences so that your students are able to analyze their own mistakes independently and effectively, as well as develop their own practice by doing so. When recording a successful attempt, at least four sections need to be filled out: 1) the date, time, experience number, and other general information, 2) a description of the experience that is rich in technique-related details, 3) a list of mistakes made, and 4) no less than 3 items for your plan of action for the next time. The mere fact of keeping a journal will substantially increase the frequency of phase experiences in and of itself. False Reports The teacher should be prepared for students to occasionally not completely understand what the phase is, and in some cases even openly lie about having had an experience. For example, a student may talk about a phase experience that he never had, or an experience in which something else happened, e.g. mere visualization or shallow, trance-like visions. Suspicions will immediately arise as to the authenticity of the account. For example, false reports usually lack technique-related details or descriptions of sensations felt at the beginning of the experience. Other telltale signs of a false report of phase experiences include: extremely easy phase entrance no matter what the time of the day, lack of emotionality about the experience, unlimited duration of stay in the phase, lack of need to deepen or maintain, odd practical applications (simple things are quite boring if merely visualized, but still interesting in a hyper-realistic phase). In order to determine whether an account of an experience is false, it's enough to ask several simple questions that are extremely difficult to answer without having had a real experience. Question number one: Did you feel your physical body in the bed while in the phase? If the answer is yes, then it was hardly likely to have been the phase. Question number two: Could you have a similar experience once again right now? As is well-known, it's not so easy to just enter the phase, unlike with merely imagining things. Question number three: Did you have vision in it like you do right now, or was it imagined? Obviously, vision needs to have been as real as it is in real life, even given the certain lack of realism known to occur without first deepening. Although this is not an exact science, the above questions help to determine whether or not a student is talking about the phase, especially when there are other telltale signs of a false phase report. Typical Mistakes 90% of mistakes are repeat mistakes. They are also well known. All you have to do is point out the following mistakes and get your seminar participants to do the same: Typical Mistakes with the Indirect Method Constantly awakening to movement instead of remaining still. Performing indirect techniques in the evening, instead of upon waking up in the morning. Performing indirect techniques for an extremely long period of time (1 minute or longer). This is a complete waste of time in most cases. Switching from techniques that have begun to work instead of following them through to the end. Passively performing techniques instead of being determined and aggressive. Performing each technique separately for too long a period of time, even if the technique does not work, instead of switching to another technique within several seconds. Excessive thinking and analysis while performing indirect techniques, which require mental tranquility and inner stillness. Stopping and concentrating on unusual sensations when they arise versus continuing the technique that brought them about in the first place. Extremely long anticipation upon awakening instead of immediately performing techniques. Internal certainty that nothing will happen instead of believing in positive results. Holding the breath when unusual sensations appear. Be calm instead. Opening the eyes when the only recommended movement is breathing or moving the eyes behind closed lids. Being agitated instead of relaxed. Ceasing attempts to separate even when partial success is met. Straining the physical muscles while performing the techniques versus remaining physically motionless. Not practicing after an alert awakening, when techniques are best applied - especially in the event of waking without movement. Stopping the performance of techniques after an unsuccessful cycle when a minimum of four cycles should be practiced. Scrutinizing the details of images when using the technique of observing images; the whole image should be observed panoramically lest it disappear. Intentionally trying to force pictures when observing images, instead of looking for what is naturally presented. Simply hearing noise when employing the technique of listening in, instead of attentively trying to pay attention, catch something, and listen in. Visualizing rotation with the technique of rotation, instead of concentrating on vestibular sensations. Typical Mistakes with the Direct Method Lack of a free-floating state of mind, even though it is mandatory. Assuming an incorrect position when lying down. Performing direct techniques during the day when a practitioner is inexperienced, instead of in the evening or at night. Performing more than one attempt per day. Performing protracted relaxation before the techniques, even when this may play a negative role. Performing the techniques for too long when they should be exercised for no more than 20 minutes. Forgetting to affirm a strong desire to awaken upon a lapse of consciousness. Falling asleep during lapses out of consciousness while in a free-floating state of mind, instead of working toward multiple lapses with awakenings. Forgetting separation techniques and awaiting some unknown event upon emergence from a lapse, instead of taking advantage of the moment. Excessively alternating the techniques in a primary repertoire, instead of testing them in a planned and systematic manner. Holding the breath when unusual sensations are encountered. Always be calm. Halting practice when unusual sensations occur when it is necessary to continue what brought about the sensations. Excessive excitement while performing direct techniques. Lack of aggression during attempts due to fatigue and sleep deprivation. Lack of a clear plan of action. Understanding and planning the use of distinct variations of the techniques beforehand is crucial to the analysis of subsequent errors in practice. Typical Mistakes When Practicing Becoming Conscious While Dreaming Perceiving the state of dream consciousness as a non-phase state even though this phenomenon is one and the same with the phase. Attempting dream consciousness while performing other phase entrance techniques when it is better to focus on dream consciousness alone. When falling asleep, lacking sufficient desire to experience conscious dreaming even though this is critical. Continuing to yield to the plot of a dream even after achieving dream consciousness, whereas subsequent actions must be independent and based on free will. Forgetting to immediately begin deepening techniques followed by maintaining once dream consciousness has been achieved. When exercising memory development, recalling the most vivid dreams instead of every dream. Inconsistent concentration while practicing dream consciousness techniques. Typical Mistakes with Non-Autonomous Methods The belief that devices are able to cause phase entrance if autonomous techniques fail, even though it is much easier to enter the phase through strictly individual efforts. Wasting a large amount of time and effort on various technologies to create a phase state. Using cueing technologies on a daily basis, even though they aren’t supposed to be used more than twice a week. Using cueing technologies all night long, when it is much better to use these in conjunction with the deferred method. Using cueing technologies without affirming a personal desire to react appropriately to the cues, although this is crucial to their effectiveness. Working in pairs during the first hours of nighttime sleep, even though REM sleep occurs infrequently during them, and at that for only short periods of time. While working in pairs, the helper giving an active practitioner too strong a signal. Signals should be kept discreet to prevent waking the sleeper. Employing an amateur hypnotist to increase the frequency of dream consciousness. The use of hypnotic suggestion on a practitioner who is not susceptible to hypnosis. Using physiological signals on a daily basis and thus causing physical discomfort versus getting enjoyment out of the practice. The belief that chemical substances are the normal path to dissociative experiences. Acting on this belief is equivalent to drug abuse. Typical Mistakes during Deepening Forgetting to perform deepening techniques when necessary. Carrying out unnecessary deepening while at a sufficient depth. Halting deepening techniques before reaching maximum realism in the phase. Carrying out main deepening techniques prior to having become completely separated from the body, although at this time only primary deepening should be used. Continuing deepening techniques when results have already been achieved. Alternating too quickly between deepening techniques instead of concentrating on each of them for at least 5 to 10 seconds. Performing the techniques slowly and calmly instead of aggressively. Observing objects located too far from the eyes during visual sensory amplification instead of the required four to five inches. When peering, scrutinizing a single detail of an object for too long when it is necessary to quickly switch from one detail to another. Taking in a whole object when peering while only parts of it should be observed. Concentrating too long on the details of a single object instead of focusing on different objects in quick succession. Long palpation of a single object during sensory amplification instead of rapidly switching from one object to another. Deepening via sensory amplification while standing in place, when it is important to maintain constant but unhurried motion. Falling headfirst with the eyes open, although the eyes must be shut to avoid crashing into the floor. Falling headfirst without the desire or intention of falling far and quickly. Forgetting to use translocation techniques after hitting a dead end when falling headfirst. Forgetting to alternate deepening techniques if some of them are not working. Fear of the hyperrealism of the experience and halting deepening instead of calmly continuing with the technique. Typical Mistakes with Maintaining Forgetting to try to re-enter the phase after it is over, although doing so greatly helps to increase the number of experiences. Staying focused on techniques for “maintaining” instead of performing them as background tasks. Getting distracted by events and dropping phase maintenance techniques instead of continually performing what’s needed to maintain the phase. Succumbing to the idea that maintaining is not necessary when the phase appears very deep and stable, even though these could be false sensations. Using the necessary techniques too late. Stopping due to uncertainty about further actions, while there must always be a plan. Forgetting that it is possible to fall asleep in the phase without realizing it. Recognizing the risk of falling asleep must be a primary focus. Getting pulled into events occurring in the phase instead of observing and controlling them from the outside. Forgetting that techniques for “maintaining” must always be used to remain in as deep a phase as possible, and not just for maintaining any odd state. Stopping the use of techniques for “maintaining” during contact with living objects, when the techniques must be used constantly. Counting without the desire to count as high as possible. Performing imagined rotation instead of real rotation. Passiveness and calmness instead of constant activity. Excessive thinking and internal dialogue when these should be kept to an absolute minimum. Typical Mistakes with Primary Skills Judging whether or not a phase is intact by similarity to the departed physical environment, although it all might just be a simulation. Hyper-concentrating on an object for too short a time while trying to determine whether the surroundings are in the phase or in the physical world. Deliberately attempting to end the phase prematurely when the entire natural length of the phase should be taken advantage of. Panic in case of paralysis instead of calm, relaxed action. Refusal to practice the phase because of fear, though this problem is temporary and resolvable. Opening the eyes at the initial stages of the phase, since this frequently leads to a foul. Premature attempts to create vision in the phase, whereas separating from the body and deepening should occur. Excessive haste while creating vision, as in the majority of cases vision appears naturally. While concentrating on the hands to create vision, doing so at an excessive distance versus the recommended four to six inches. Forgetting about the techniques for “maintaining” while in contact with living objects Forgetting to shut the eyes or defocus vision when translocating through walls or other solid objects. Desiring to do something superhuman in the phase without the requisite internal desire and confidence. Such attempts are not likely to succeed. Fear of experiencing pain in the phase instead of learning to control it. Observing moral standards in the phase when they do not apply. A tendency to immediately use the phase for something practical instead of first thoroughly exploring and interacting with the surroundings. Typical Mistakes with Translocation and Finding Objects Applying translocation and object finding techniques without the precondition of a steady phase. Insufficient concentration on a desire to travel to a location or to find an object. Doubting that results will be achieved instead of having complete confidence. Passive performance of the techniques instead of a strong desire and high level of aggression. Forgetting to repeat translocation or object finding techniques when the technique did not work or worked incorrectly during the first attempt. Getting distracted by extraneous thoughts during the lengthy process of teleporting with eyes shut. Total concentration is required at all times. Applying the technique of teleportation with eyes open without adequate experience. Failing to immediately translocate when using the closed eyes technique; this may induce flying ? la teleportation technique. Glossing over minute details or only observing the broad features of a remote object while applying translocation by concentration. A delayed desire to move while translocating during separation. An instantaneous desire to immediately move is necessary. Otherwise, the environment might solidify around you. Forgetting to first shut a door completely when using translocation through a door; otherwise, there will be contact with what is already behind it. Using a translocation technique to go through a wall without knowing how to pass through solid objects. Paying too much attention to the process of translocation through a wall; this leads to being trapped in the wall. Forgetting to shut the eyes while translocating diving headfirst. The eyes should remain closed until after the technique is complete. Insufficient internal association with an animate object while finding it by calling its name. Trying to find an object via interrogation without first developing the ability to communicate with living objects of the phase. Using distant corners when applying the technique of finding an object around the corner. Choose nearby corners to avoid wasting precious travel time. Applying transmutation techniques without possessing sufficient experience in managing the phase space. Typical Mistakes When Using Practical Applications Attempting an applied use of the phase without reaching a good depth. Deepening must always be performed before applications are attempted. Being so involved in phase applications that “maintaining” techniques are forgotten. Forgetting to consider how to breathe when traveling through Outer Space or underwater, which may lead to a temporary feeling of asphyxiation. Concentrating on a certain object while traveling through time instead of concentrating on time travel, which should be the focus since it is the point of performing the application. Forgetting techniques for “maintaining” when animate objects are encountered, when these techniques must always be kept in mind. An inability to overcome fear during contact with deceased people. This fear must be overcome once and it will never resurface again. Limiting desires while practicing the phase. There is no limit to desire within the phase. Limiting the performance of certain actions, although there are no customary norms of behavior in the phase, unless the practitioner decides upon specific limits. While looking for information in the phase, attempting to obtain knowledge which clearly exceeds the scope of the subconscious mind. Applying the technique of obtaining information from animate objects without knowing how to communicate with them. Forgetting to check the ability of an object to convey valid knowledge. The probability of bad information is much higher if it is not verified. Failing to verify information in the phase before using it in reality. Forgetting to verify serious information in reality before using it. Verification absolutely must be performed to avoid using bad information in reality. A single attempt to influence the physiology through the phase. In the majority of cases, results are gained through repeated effort. An attempt to cure some disease only using the phase, whereas it is compulsory to seek medical advice. Initially believing that the phase is the exit of the soul from the body, while this is easily refuted in practice. Concentrating only on unproven applications, despite all the evidence out there that this is most likely a waste of time. Tallying Results To let everyone see the results so far, briefly survey the group by asking about whether each technique worked and counting the number of hands that go up for each technique. You should record the answers in a logbook of statistics. If you want, you can also write them on the whiteboard for everyone to see. Questions: – Who realized that they were dreaming right in the middle of a dream last night or this morning? – Who woke up and was immediately able to separate without using techniques? – Who was able to separate by rotating? – Who was able to enter the phase by observing images? – Who was able to enter the phase using the swimmer technique? – Who was able to enter the phase using the visualizing-the-hands technique? – Who had some other techniques work for them? – Who had something happen to them, but couldn't figure out whether or not it was the phase? (survey the students) – Who completed at least one task on the plan of action? – Who didn't make a single attempt? You should aim to have at least one in three students get results on the first night and/or following morning (students who didn't make attempts don't count). Sometimes, over than half the group is able to get results immediately after the first session. Typical Instructional Difficulties The most important thing that the instructor will have to battle when teaching analysis is people's total lack of willingness to step up to the plate and search for mistakes. This is understandable: for many, this ability borders on fantastic - they are simply unable to believe that they are able to explain from day two why some attempts to enter the phase are successful and some aren't. From their point of view, it's as if you've asked them to try to explain the apparition of a religious figure. However, everything with the phase is usually self-evident and intuitive. That is to say, it is the task of the instructor to convince his students that they too can easily analyze their own attempts like professional practitioners. If the students leave the room without this conviction, their subsequent personal practices will be in jeopardy. After all, the success of a training session is measured in phase experiences that occur not only over the course of the seminar, but after it as well. Leaving people who have undergone training with you dependent on you for answers is borderline criminal. Although it might be unprofitable from a commercial point of view, the goal of these techniques & technologies is to create advanced practitioners, and not eternal novices who are always running to various "gurus" to ask their opinion on something or obtain an answer to a primitive question. Instructors themselves are also often not always morally ready to give answers to every question or step up to the plate and look for mistakes. This is normal for a new instructor who still does not know that problems are always one and the same. It's sufficient to analyze actual attempts to enter the phase a few dozen times to learn how to do it on the fly and not have to go into deep thought in order to see mistakes and shortcomings. Non-standard situations are quite rare. The fact that the great majority of mistakes are due to deviations from the instructions should give one added confidence when analyzing attempts to enter the phase. If the instructor himself gave those instructions, then it will be easy for him to see how well they have been complied with. Typical Student Questions - Should I record my analysis of my attempts in the journal I keep for my practice? If you keep a journal of phase experiences, then you should record all of your mistakes in it. - Is it possible to do everything right but still not obtain success? Only in exceptional cases. If the practitioner does everything right, he should be successful. Actually, success will be practically unavoidable. - Does the phase of the moon or the position of the body relative to due north affect the quality of out-of-body experiences or lucid dreams? It doesn't, as a matter of fact. However, it may have an influence if you believe that it will. - Although I see and realize all of my mistakes when analyzing my attempts, I still repeat those mistakes afterwards. What should I do? This is normal in case of irregular practice, at the beginning stages, or after long breaks. Performance of all of the actions involved with the techniques should become automatic. This will come with practice and regular attempts. The most important thing is to continue to analyze them and note your mistakes each time. - Can the conclusion I come to regarding my mistakes differ from those suggested by the instructions and still be right? It may be, considering that it's impossible to describe every possible situation and every variation thereof. However, you should try to keep to the tried-and-true procedures. - When is it best to analyze attempts: immediately after an attempt or later on during the day? The sooner, the better. You can recall the details later, especially if you fall asleep after the phase. However, in that case you'll have to go back over everything in order to come up with a good analysis. - I don't remember my phases well, and that makes it difficult for me to analyze them later on. How do I resolve this issue? You are most likely falling asleep immediately after the phase or during it. Meanwhile, the phase itself often arises while in a drowsy state, or from becoming conscious while dreaming. All of these factors are on par with insufficient deepening in their ability to cause significant memory loss (and sometimes complete amnesia) regarding a phase experience. If this problem is recurring, then it's best to record all one's recollections on paper or commit them to memory immediately after each phase experience, and then go back to sleep. Analyzing Novices' First Phase Attempts - Real Examples A hundred of other real examples (both with and without accompanying analyses) may be found in the book The Phase. 1 As I lay in bed with my eyes closed after awakening without an alarm clock, I immediately understood that this was the moment that I needed to take advantage of. I tried to separate - nothing. I employed the technique of rotation - still nothing. I then tried visualization, and felt the vibrations right then and there. After stopping for a second out of pure joy, I amplified the vibrations and tried again to separate. I should state here that I was on the top bunk in a sleeper-train compartment, but my desire to separate outweighed my fear of falling, and I did it! I tried to jump off the bunk in what turned out to be quite neat a movement. I did it smoothly, at first reclining back and then straightening my body in the same smooth, flowing manner. I went through the door and saw a mirror. My reflection in it was exactly the same as in real life. I even wondered whether I would still have a beard in the phase, and there it was! I wanted to deepen afterwards, but a mosquito buzzed past my ear. I started shooing it away (unwarranted action; getting drawn into the storyline; and lack of maintaining) and woke up because there was actually a mosquito in my compartment... I wanted to make a secondary exit from the body, but both my exhilaration at having entered the phase and amusement that it was interrupted by a mosquito kept me awake (lack of secondary separation from the body). 2 I fell asleep with the desire to catch the moment of awakening. I woke up in the middle of the night, and remembered that I could start off by simply getting up. Getting up was quite easy, and even unusually so. I didn't have vision, but I began to palpate everything around. Meanwhile, fear arose inside me. I became very afraid (unwarranted emotion; possible loss of activeness). I was thrown out of the phase. I woke up feeling quite uneasy (lack of secondary separation from the body). 3 Upon awakening without movement, I decided to separate. However, as soon as I felt that I was still tucked into my covers, I figured that it would not work (unwarranted inference). I then remembered that it was possible that the covers were just phantom ones. It eventually took me only a second to roll out of bed. Still wrapped in the blankets, I stood up and looked at the bed (unwarranted inference, lack of deepening, and lack of a plan of action)... I couldn't believe that I had been able to get into the phase so easily on the first try (unwarranted inference). I turned around on the spot and immediately woke up. You can imagine my delight once I found myself back in my bed (lack of secondary separation from the body). 4 I awoke at about eight o'clock in the morning. I quickly decided to use an indirect technique and enter the phase while I was still half asleep. I tried to levitate with my phantom body, but nothing happened. I tried to roll over, but something didn't work that time either. I thought, "Well, it's just not going to work today," (unwarranted inference) but decided to make one last attempt by imagining that I was getting up... and, oh, what a miracle! I started to feel as if I was really lifting my body and lowering my legs (as soon as I lifted myself by about 30 to 40 degrees, my whole body began to vibrate - it was really cool!), and then I realized that I was in the phase. I couldn't see. I stood up and immediately began rubbing my hands. My sight came back to me within a few seconds (lack of deepening; lack of a plan of action). As I choked with joy (loss of activeness; unwarranted emotion), I was returned to my own body! (lack of secondary separation from the body) 5 I awoke without movement and tried to separate. It worked: I rolled out of my body and fell onto the floor. I stood up and turned around to have a look at my body, and saw myself asleep (lack of deepening). I began to walk about the room (lack of a plan of action). I went to the balcony and wanted to jump from it (dangerous activity), but was afraid to do so since everything was still so realistic. I then sat down in a chair and began just admiring the room (loss of activeness; lack of maintaining) I was soon returned to my body (lack of secondary separation from the body). 6 I woke up at night unexpectedly and began employing the technique of phantom wiggling with my hand (lack of separation). After several seconds, strong vibrations and noise arose in my ears (it was kind of eerie) (lack of separation). I had wanted to stop already, as the vibrations and noise kept growing louder and louder, but that wasn't what I had spent so much time preparing for! I decided, "what will be, will be," and attempted to raise my arm. My arm did indeed rise - but it was my phantom arm, and not my physical one. When I tried to scrutinize my arm, it seemed somewhat blurry and to be enveloped in dark smoke. I then decided to stand up all the way. The separation happened quickly and was accompanied by something like the crackle of static electricity. I sat up in bed, turned my head, and saw myself lying there (lack of deepening). It was quite a fascinating experience. Afterwards I got up, walked about the room (lack of a plan of action), and jumped up so as to levitate, but came back down to Earth as if pulled by gravity in the real world (apparently my mind was not yet able to forget about the laws of physics of the real world). I got lost in thought (loss of activeness; lack of maintaining) as to what to do next, but since opportunities seemed unlimited, I apparently spent a lot of time thinking and got quite sidetracked. This caused me to be spontaneously returned to my body (lack of secondary separation from the body). 7 I tried to separate upon awakening, but it didn't work out. I then began the techniques - scrutinizing, swimming, phantom wiggling, and straining the brain - but nothing worked. I tried forced falling asleep, and then attempted to separate right then and there. It looked as if I was crawling out of my body. I somehow wound up on the floor. I started to palpate both the floor and my wooden desk. I then put my hands together and rubbed them to deepen. When I blew on my hands, it felt like a breeze was coming out of my elbows. I also don't understand how my sense of sight came to me, but it did. Although it seemed to be not all that vivid, I could see a man standing at the window of the house opposite mine quite well. For some reason, I began to open and close my eyes, hoping that my vision would improve (unwarranted action). The next time I opened my eyes, they opened to what was already the real world (lack of secondary separation from the body). 8 I had sleep paralysis upon awakening (lack of separation), and I already wanted to get out of that paralysis (unwarranted inference), but I then remembered that sleep paralysis was the best time to exit the body. I recalled the methods, relaxed (lack of deepening), and began to listen in to the noise in my head. Within a few seconds, I was ejected from my body. I levitated towards the ceiling. I looked at my own sleeping body and my brother's body sleeping on the next bed (lack of deepening, lack of a plan of action, and possible loss of activeness). Everything in the room was in its place, with the exception of the telephone, which lay next to me. I was not the least bit scared, and wondered, “What will happen if I return to my body right now?” I immediately banished this question from my mind, since I remembered that I could get caught in my stencil by thinking about it. I flew to the living room, closed my eyes, and imagined an object in front of me. When I opened my eyes, the object was indeed next to me! That's when I felt that I was losing consciousness. I looked at my hands to keep from flying out into my body. However, that did not help, and I was soon back in my body (lack of secondary separation from the body). 9 I dreamt that I was running somewhere and picking up speed. I suddenly became airborne. Awareness that I was dreaming slowly came to me (lack of deepening). I gradually became more and more conscious. I landed right next to a river, stepped in, and began to slowly submerge into it (lack of a plan of action). My mind was quite foggy, but I understood that I was asleep and was dreaming (lack of maintaining). That's when I woke up (lack of secondary separation from the body). 10 I woke up in the middle of the night and immediately realized that I was in the right state (lack of separation). While lying in bed, I began to imagine that I was palpating and scrutinizing the wallpaper pattern, and after a few seconds I realized that I was not only imagining it, but was actually doing it (lack of deepening). Two points on one of my old plans of action had been to look at myself in the mirror and see how the light-switch works. I went through them. I saw quite a strange reflection in the mirror - there I was, but it didn't look realistic. Instead, it looked like a stained-glass portrait in one of those old churches or mosaics. The reflection consisted of many colored pieces and changed like a kaleidoscope when I moved. I then went to the light switch (the room was in semi-darkness) flipped it, and noted how the lamp hesitated for a few seconds before emitting a dim light. However, it didn't become any brighter in the room. I then decided to leave my room (short plan of action), but I woke up (lack of maintaining, lack of secondary separation from the body). 11 I caught the moment of coming out of sleep and separated by getting up. I began palpating everything. I was at home. I went to the other room (lack of a plan of action). I decided to jump from wall to wall. I was successful (lack of maintaining). I soon came to in my own body without any gaps in my memory (lack of secondary separation from the body). 12 I was dreaming that I was pulling white kittens out of every corner of my home... Then, I realized that it wasn't possible that I had so many animals at home - I was dreaming! I realized that I could do anything that I wanted, and that's when I appeared in the kitchen (lack of deepening; lack of a plan of action). I saw my father: he was drinking coffee as he normally does at that time before work. I surveyed the kitchen. It wasn't 100% realistic, as I didn't know about the deepening techniques back then. I got the desire to fly up to the ceiling, and was immediately able to! I was now in the attic. I shot up again and was soon in the sky. I flew up higher and caught an air current. I started relaxing since I was enjoying myself (lack of maintaining, loss of activeness), and everything cut off. 13 I woke up to an alarm that went off in my dream, and began my exit right then and there... Wait a minute! It was not even a separation, but rather a tearing out of the body, as though it were just a piece of paper... I became scared that something unusual was going on (unwarranted inference), and decided to return to my body to try doing the known techniques (unwarranted action)... However, I soon realized that I was doing so in vain, as I did not come back into my body because I was already in the phase, and was only wasting my time by trying different techniques. After that, I got out of my body: I simply crawled out. After remembering to deepen, I began to palpate everything. But deepening apparently did not work, because I immediately fell asleep as soon as I went out into the hall (lack of maintaining). 14 It happened this morning. It seemed that I had awoken, but then I felt that my hand held the teaspoon that I had used to stir my coffee while in bed. I immediately realized that this couldn't be, and rolled out of bed. I was suspended in air (lack of deepening). I realized that I could fly (lack of a plan of action). I flew up to the window. The drapes on it were different. I tried to fly through the window, but was unable to. I turned around and flew up to the door, and then easily flew through it and into the kitchen. My mom, who is now deceased, was standing in the kitchen and cooking something. I joyfully greeted her (lack of maintaining; possible loss of activeness) and the phase quickly ended (lack of secondary separation from the body). 15 Upon waking up in the middle of the night (lack of separation), I began trying out techniques, and the second one with rotation worked. I imagined that I was rotating, and at some point realized that I had rolled out of my body. As this was happening to me for the first time, it seemed kind of unconvincing to me (unwarranted inference), and I immediately returned to my body and rolled out again (unwarranted action). I repeated this procedure 5 times. After finally realizing that I had rolled out, I stood up. The darkness made it seem like I was looking at everything in the room through a cloud (lack of deepening). In front of me was the silhouette of a young man who seemed to be aggressively disposed towards me. He tried to attack me. For some reason, I extended my hand out to him as if I wanted to shake hands and mentally proposed that we make peace, to which he readily agreed and shook my hand (unwarranted action). Having resolved to fly around my home, I went around him and headed for the window (lack of a plan of action; dangerous activity). Once I got up to the window, I didn't see anything in it except for a starry sky (possible loss of activeness). Meanwhile, the sky was both above and below the horizon. That's when I felt that I was going to fizzle out (lack of maintaining) and I awoke in my bed (lack of secondary separation from the body). Statistics on Mistakes The 15 experiences presented above are the first phase experiences of real practitioners. The experiences were randomly selected (although preference was given to the indirect method) and might serve as a testament to the typicalness of the simplest mistakes that novices make. They will also give a budding instructor an idea of the situation that most of his students will be in when he starts teaching. And so, we have found 76 mistakes in only 15 practitioner accounts, and that’s counting just the most egregious and obvious ones. - lack of secondary separation from the body: 12 - lack of maintaining: 11 - lack of a plan of action: 10 - lack of deepening: 10 - loss of activeness: 8 - unwarranted inference: 7 - unwarranted action: 6 - lack of separation: 6 - unwarranted emotion: 2 - dangerous activity: 2 - short plan of action: 1 - getting drawn into the storyline: 1 45 Techniques for Creating the Phase The Wide Abundance of Techniques Available and Their Use in the Lessons The techniques presented here are but a small selection of the large number that exist. The instructor should exercise restraint in the quantity of techniques he offers the students, so as not to distract them from the most important and most straightforward ones that feature in the instructional modules. The following information is more for providing a general background and for use in lessons with advanced practitioners, although the instructor has the right to choose which technique-related methods he wants to use in his lessons. It should also be remembered that the techniques play a much more important role with the indirect method than with the direct one. If any of the techniques starts working upon awakening, it means that one is in the phase. However, absent prior sleep, the techniques can "work" indefinitely without producing any results. They might have the secondary effect of helping to achieve a free-floating state of mind, which is the main instrument of the direct techniques. Techniques Based on Movement Separation Technique The practitioner tries to immediately separate from his body without using any techniques for creating the phase state: he simply rolls out, levitates, stands up, crawls out, etc. Phantom Wiggling Technique The phaser tries to move some part of his body without moving a muscle, and meanwhile without imagining or visualizing anything. For example, this could be an arm, leg, shoulder, the head, or even the jaw. When movement arises, the main aim is to increase the range-of-motion as much as possible, but not necessarily the speed of movement or the portion of the body part being wiggled. Imagined Movement Technique A phaser tries to realistically feel some movement that he starts off by simply imagining. For example, this could be swimming, running, walking, flying, or peddling with the legs or arms. The practitioner doesn't have to visualize the technique when performing it, as movement itself is most important here. Techniques Involving Sight Observing Images Technique The phaser peers into the void before his eyes without opening them. As soon as he begins to see any imagery, he tries to discern it better by defocussing his sight, as if he were looking beyond the imagery. This makes it become steadier and more realistic. Technique of Visualization The phaser tries to realistically see and discern an object no more than 6 inches from his eyes. Techniques Based on Vestibular Sense Technique of Imagined Rotation The phaser tries to imagine that his body is rotating along his head-to-toe axis. The end goal is to replace imagined sensations with real ones. Rotation may generally take place on any plane, but one shouldn't try to visualize it or try to see oneself from the side, as the main emphasis is on one's own vestibular sensations. Technique of Real Rotation The phaser tries to rotate the sensation of his physical body along his head-to-toe axis. In this case, the process need not be visualized or imagined. You should start off from real sensations, although the plane of rotation may be changed at will. Swing-Set Technique The phaser tries to feel that he is riding a swing-set, or that his body itself is rocking with the same range of motion. The primary goal is to achieve the realistic sensation of swinging and try to make 360o revolutions. Techniques Involving Hearing Technique of Listening-In The phaser listens inside his head, trying to hear if there is any noise or background static. If sound is heard, one must try to amplify it as much as possible through the same passive listening in. Technique of Forced Listening-In The phaser tries actively, and even strainingly, to hear sounds inside his head or background static with all his might. If this works, he tries to amplify those sounds as much as possible using the same active listening in. Technique of Imagining Sounds The phaser tries to hear some specific sound inside his head. Someone's voice, familiar music, and the sound of one's own name being called work best of all. If such sound arises, then the practitioner tries to make it as loud as possible. Techniques Based on Tactile Sensations Cell-Phone Technique The phaser tries to feel some object lying in his hand, e.g. a cell-phone, an apple, a TV remote control, etc. Meanwhile, one should try to achieve realistic sensations in full detail. Technique of Imagined Sensation The phaser tries to feel tactile sensations on his body, starting with the sensation that someone or something is lying on him, and ending with the feeling of touching someone or something. Straining the Brain Technique The phaser tries to strain his brain either spasmodically or continually, as if it were a muscle. This brings a feeling of real strain inside the cranium, in addition to pressure, noise, and vibrations. This is essentially a technique of creating and intensifying the vibrations that enable phase entrance. Technique of Straining the Body but not the Muscles Like straining the brain, but with the whole body. One tries to strain the body, but not the physical muscles. This causes internal tension, noise, and vibrations, which can eventually lead to the phase. Technique of Bodily Perception The phaser tries to authentically feel that his body is being stretched apart, compressed, inflated, deflated, twisted or otherwise distorted in some way. Techniques Based on Real Movements and Sensations of the Physical Body Technique of Eye Movement The phaser makes abrupt left-to-right or up-and-down eye movements. The eyes are kept closed the whole time. When properly performing the technique, vibrations and possibly separation will occur. Forehead Dot Technique Without opening his eyes, the phaser directs his gaze towards a dot on the center of his forehead. This is not to be a forced or excessively aggressive movement. This will bring the eyes into a position they naturally take during deep sleep, which may lead to a reflexive entrance into the phase or facilitate the performance of other techniques. Technique of Breathing The phaser focuses his attention on the process of breathing and all of its aspects: the expansion and contraction of the chest cavity, the lungs filling with air, and the passage of air through the mouth and throat. A fluid transition to the phase may occur or vibrations may arise. Raised Hand Technique The phaser raises his forearm from the elbow while lying down and simply falls asleep. Once the practitioner fades out of consciousness, his forearm will drop, notifying him that he can perform another technique or immediately separate, as the right transitional state may have occurred during the lapse in consciousness. Tactile Irritation Technique The practitioner loosely ties his ankle or wrist with a cord, or puts on a sleeping mask. The sensations created by these foreign objects can remind the practitioner to perform the right actions either upon awakening or immediately after a lapse in consciousness. Technique of Physiological Discomfort The practitioner eats little throughout the day or drinks little water while eating lots of salty things. Conversely, the practitioner might drink too much water over the course of the day before making an attempt to enter the phase. The resulting physiological discomfort will often awaken the practitioner, induce consciousness while dreaming, or keep him from falling into deep sleep when performing the direct techniques. Techniques Based on Desire and Emotion Technique of Forced Falling Asleep The phaser mimics natural sleep while maintaining control of his conscious mind, and then either employs techniques or immediately tries to leave his body at the last second before fading out. This technique can be used either on its own, or in parallel with any other technique. Technique of Desire The practitioner enters the phase solely through an intense and focused desire to immediately experience the phase. Alternatively, this may also be a calm but constant desire felt over the course of the day. Desire is especially effective not only during an attempt or long before one, but also every time you fall asleep, as this moment can be taken advantage of using the direct or indirect method. Technique of Recalling the State When attempting phase entrance with or without techniques, the practitioner tries to recall - and thus induce - the sensations of a previously had phase experience. Technique of Recalling Vibrations In order to induce vibrations, the phaser tries to simply recall the sensation of them in as much detail as possible. Intensely desiring vibrations can also induce them. Technique of Translocation The practitioner immediately tries to employ the translocation technique in a stubborn and self-assured manner without using a phase creation or separation technique. Technique of Motivation In order to have a phase entrance occur spontaneously or get techniques work better, the practitioner creates a most interesting and important a plan of action for the phase that he wants to carry out no matter what. Technique of Fear The phaser tries to recall something as scary, awful, or graveyard-like as possible, and imagines it right next to him - this is meant to evoke pure terror and horror, which will elevate to a phasic state at the right moment. The main deficiency of the technique is that fear can linger on into the phase, and the practitioner might subsequently try to get out of the state. Technique of Flight Without using a phase creation or separation technique, the practitioner tries to conjure the sensation of flying right from the start. Technique of Counting In order to enter the phase, the practitioner counts down from 100 to 1. Depending on the phase entrance method to follow, he should either try to keep his attention focused on counting, or, conversely, try to achieve lapses in consciousness. Technique of Dotting The practitioner moves his attention to points on the skin atop of the largest joints of the body, or moves his awareness to inside the joints themselves. You should pause at each point for several seconds or breaths, trying to feel them as distinctly as you can. The Best of the Mixed Techniques The Swimmer Technique The phaser tries to imagine the process of swimming in as much detail as possible, trying to feel all of the physical sensations of the process and even feel the water surrounding his body. Any swimming style may be used. (Best technique of 2010 and 2011 at School of Out-of-Body Travel seminars) Rope Technique The phaser imagines that a rope is dangling above him, and that he is climbing up it. Meanwhile, one should try to feel one's own arm movements, the touch of the rope, and the sensation of height. Visualization of the process may occasionally be added in. Technique of Visualizing the Hands The phaser tries to feel that he is rubbing his hands together, as if trying to warm them. Meanwhile, it's important to try to feel the movement of your hands, the feeling of them coming into contact, the sound of rubbing, and also try to see the whole process in front of you. The imagined hands should be rubbed at a distance of no more than 6 inches from your eyes. Sensory-Motor Visualization Technique The phaser should try to imagine as fixedly and actively as possible that he has already separated from his body and is employing a technique for deepening the phase, including the intensification of every sensation possible. He should imagine that he is walking inside a room, scrutinizing everything from a close distance, touching something, and so on. That is, he should immediately deepen the phase without using techniques to create the state or separate. Unconventional Techniques Alien Abduction Technique The practitioner imagines that aliens have invaded his bedroom and are grabbing his ankles and pulling him out of his body. Alternatively, he imagines that he is being pulled out by a tractor beam emanating from a spaceship. Sex Technique The practitioner tries to feel the intimate sensations of the copulative act in as much detail as possible. This works better for women in the passive form. Toothbrush Technique The practitioner tries to feel that he is brushing his teeth. He tries to feel the movement of his hand, the sensation of the brush in his mouth, and the taste of toothpaste. He can also try to add in sensation by imagining himself standing in front of a mirror in a bathroom. Whispering Pillow Technique Lying with his ear to his pillow, the practitioner tries to hear sounds, melodies, and voices coming from it. He can try to hear specific sounds, or simply passively listen in to what's there. Techniques for Becoming Conscious While Dreaming Anchor Technique During wakefulness, the practitioner develops the habit of analyzing his state whenever he encounters specific anchors: his hands, the sound of water, people's faces, etc. This practice will gradually transition over into dreaming, giving him a chance to react to an anchor and realize that everything around him is a dream. An anchor should be something encountered neither rarely nor frequently both when dreaming and during wakefulness. In order to get a clearer understanding of whether one is surrounded by reality or the world of dreams, one should try to levitate or go into hyperconcentration whenever an anchor is encountered. Dream Memory Development Technique The practitioner recalls all of his latest dreams both in the morning and in the evening. For more solid results, one should keep a dream journal and try to enter as many dream episodes into it as possible. The more dreams that the practitioner remembers, the more vivid future ones will become, and the more frequently he will become conscious during them. Technique of Dream Map-Making Here, the practitioner not only keeps a dream journal, but also tries to mark all of the places he dreamt he was in on a special map. The main goal is to create an integrated plane where dream places merge together into a unified world. Technique of Logical Dream Analysis Whenever performing dream analysis, be it mentally or when keeping a dream journal, the phaser should take as critical a stance as possible towards the logical inconsistencies that go unnoticed while dreaming, as they can serve as a clear marker that one is in a dream. Such critical awareness will gradually work its way into one's dreams, enabling one to turn dreams into the phase. This technique is especially effective when analyzing dreams immediately upon awakening. The Highest Technique The Highest Universal Technique A practitioner well acquainted with the phase will try to not use techniques to create the necessary state. He will attempt to obtain it immediately. This is less a technique and more an intense desire to experience the phase coupled with focused recollection of its associated sensations. This technique is only suitable for phasers who have formidable experience. Appendix Proposals for Improving Teaching Methods If you have developed know-how or come up with proposed improvements on methods for teaching phase states, you may send them to our Research Center for our review. It's essential that you try out your proposed methods and teaching techniques on test groups. It would be a complete waste of our time to review purely theoretical inferences that are unlikely to work in actual practice. Please write us at obe4u@obe4u.com The OOBE Research Center The OOBE Research Center was founded in 2007. Its initial task was to conduct mass experiments at the School of Out-of-Body Travel aimed at developing simplified methodologies for teaching the phase. It subsequently took up the study of all aspects of this phenomenon, and is currently undertaking experimental work on determining and working with the fundamental properties of the phase, seeking out and developing the best methods for controlling the state, practical applications of the phenomenon, and its popularization, among other projects. Volunteers for experiments are always being sought! In order to participate, ability to enter the phase at least once a week and basic knowledge of English are necessary. Thanks to modern means of communication, in most cases you can be located anywhere. Don't let your experience go to waste - put our experiments on your plan of action! For more information, visit: http://research.obe4u.com/ Full Table of Contents (Download the book "The Phase" on www.obe4u.com to learn phase states at home) Introduction 4 What Am I Holding in My Hands? 4 Is This for Me? 5 The Phenomenon 5 Trust Us 7 Success Rate 7 Disclaimer 8 Ultra-Concentrated Version 9 Finding a Venue 10 Enrollment 11 The Instructor 13 Day 1: Introduction and Motivation 13 Day 1: The Indirect Method 15 Day 1: Practicing and Reinforcing New Knowledge 22 Day 2: Joint Analysis of Attempts and Supplemental Information 26 Day 2: Deepening, Maintaining, and Other Skills 31 Day 2: Obtaining Information 34 Day 3: Joint Analysis of Attempts and Supplemental Information 36 Day 3: The Direct Method 37 Day 3: Influencing the Physiology 41 Day 3: Concluding the Seminar 42 Part 1. Training Session Formats 43 The School of Out-of-Body Travel 44 Independent Operations 44 School of Out-of-Body Travel Branches 45 Requirements for School of Out-of-Body Travel Branches 46 Legal and Financial Considerations 47 Form of Legal Organization 47 Relationship with the School of Out-of-Body Travel 48 Disclaimer 48 How Much You Can Earn 49 Bringing in a Wider Audience 50 The Instructor and the Organizer 51 The Instructor and the Promoter 52 Upfront Investment 52 Pricing 53 Discounts and Free Admission 54 One-Time Lessons 55 Description 55 Success Rate 56 Advantages 57 Disadvantages 57 Format 58 Three-Day Seminars 59 Description 59 Success Rate 60 Advantages 61 Disadvantages 61 Format 61 Two-Day Seminars with Immersion 63 Description 63 Success Rate 64 Advantages 64 Disadvantages 65 Format 65 Regular Lessons 67 Description 67 Success Rate 68 Advantages 69 Disadvantages 69 Format 70 One-on-One Lessons 72 Description 72 Success Rate 73 Advantages 73 Disadvantages 74 Format 74 Distance Learning 77 Description 77 Success Rate 78 Advantages 79 Disadvantages 79 Format 80 Creating Educational Materials 81 Description 81 Success Rate 84 Advantages 84 Disadvantages 85 Part 2. Enrolling Students and Promotion 86 How to Find the Right Premises 87 Requirements for the Premises 87 Finding a Venue 89 Chair Arrangement 91 The Name of Your Organization 93 Names for Branches of the School of Out-of-Body Travel 93 Names for Independent Operations 94 Word of Mouth 95 Personal Initiative 95 People Showing Up Spontaneously 97 The Internet 99 Modern Realities 99 Websites 100 Forums 101 Articles on Third-Party Websites 101 Social Networks 102 Contextual Advertising 103 Banner Ads 104 Announcements on Websites Devoted to Related Topics 104 Electronic Mailings 105 Mass Media 107 Advertising in the Mass Media 107 Working With the Media 108 Give Them a Scoop 109 Press Releases 110 Outdoor Advertising 112 Organizing Outdoor Advertising 112 Paper the Town 113 Effective Design 114 Clubs 115 Types of Clubs 115 Finding Partners 116 Corporate Groups 118 Definition 118 Finding Clients 119 Maintaining Interest 123 Before Training Sessions 123 After the Event 124 Certificates 125 Websites 125 Social Networks 126 Practitioner Clubs 126 Electronic Mailings 126 Part 3. Classroom Instruction 128 Terminology, the Instructor, and the Amount of Information to be Taught 129 Terminology and Theory 129 The Instructor's Practical Experience 132 How Much Information Should Be Taught 134 The Psychology of Teaching and the Rules of Rhetoric 136 Starting From a Fresh Slate 136 The Phase Is Easy 137 Make the Audience Think 137 Instincts 140 Stage Fright 140 Motivation 142 Lightheartedness vs. Seriousness 142 Holding the Students' Attention 143 Working with Different Types of Students 145 Homework 148 Constant Improvement 148 Module No. 1: Introduction: General Theory and Motivation 149 Aim 149 Key Concepts 150 Lesson Plan 150 Graphics and Diagrams 160 Typical Instructional Difficulties 160 Typical Student Questions 162 Module No. 2: The Indirect Method 165 Aim 165 Key Concepts 165 Lesson Plan 166 Graphics and Diagrams 186 Typical Instructional Difficulties 187 Typical Student Questions 189 Module No. 3 The Direct Method 192 Aim 192 Key Concepts 193 Lesson Plan 193 Graphics and Diagrams 202 Typical Instructional Difficulties 202 Typical Student Questions 203 Module No. 4: Becoming Conscious While Dreaming 206 Aim 206 Key Concepts 207 Lesson Plan 207 Graphics and Diagrams 214 Typical Instructional Difficulties 214 Typical Student Questions 215 Module No. 5: Non-Autonomous Method 218 Aim 218 Key Concepts 218 Lesson Plan 219 Graphics and Diagrams 224 Typical Instructional Difficulties 224 Typical Student Questions 225 Module No. 6: Deepening the State 227 Aim 227 Key Concepts 227 Lesson Plan 228 Graphics and Diagrams 234 Typical Instructional Difficulties 234 Typical Student Questions 235 Module No. 7: Maintaining the State 237 Aim 237 Key Concepts 237 Lesson Plan 238 Graphics and Diagrams 247 Typical Instructional Difficulties 247 Typical Student Questions 249 Module No. 8: Primary Skills 251 Aim 251 Key Concepts 251 Lesson Plan 252 Graphics and Diagrams 259 Typical Instructional Difficulties 259 Typical Student Questions 260 Module No. 9: Translocation and Finding Objects 262 Aim 262 Key Concepts 263 Lesson Plan 263 Graphics and Diagrams 268 Typical Instructional Difficulties 268 Typical Student Questions 269 Module No. 10: Practical Applications 271 Aim 271 Key Concepts 271 Lesson Plan 272 Graphics and Diagrams 283 Typical Instructional Difficulties 284 Typical Student Questions 286 Module No. 11: Analysis 289 Aim 289 Key Concepts 289 Lesson Plan 290 Graphics and Diagrams 306 Typical Instructional Difficulties 306 Typical Student Questions 307 Analyzing Novices' First Phase Attempts - Real Examples 310 1 310 2 311 3 311 4 312 5 313 6 313 7 314 8 314 9 315 10 315 11 316 12 316 13 317 14 317 15 318 Statistics on Mistakes 318 45 Techniques for Creating the Phase 320 The Wide Abundance of Techniques Available and Their Use in the Lessons 320 Techniques Based on Movement 321 Techniques Involving Sight 322 Techniques Based on Vestibular Sense 322 Techniques Involving Hearing 322 Techniques Based on Tactile Sensations 323 Techniques Based on Real Movements and Sensations of the Physical Body 324 Techniques Based on Desire and Emotion 325 The Best of the Mixed Techniques 326 Unconventional Techniques 327 Techniques for Becoming Conscious While Dreaming 328 The Highest Technique 329 Appendix 330 Proposals for Improving Teaching Methods 330 The OOBE Research Center 330 Full Table of Contents 332 This book is free online, so feel free to distribute it! 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