Nexus - 0603 - New Times Magazine-pages

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In "partnered exploring", two or more people agree to meet non-physically and carry out retrievals or other activities beyond the horizon. Such an exploration can be as short as a few minutes or last for an hour or more. After each session, participants record in their journal everything they remember about of their non- physical voyage together. Rebecca and I lived 1,600 miles apart while learning this technique. Comparing notes afterwards by phone, I always heard my recollection of our partnered exploration in her notes, and she in mine. It didn't matter if we had planned the excursion beforehand or just spontaneously sailed into each other's non- physical experience. Our notes always matched! Several years later I used partnered exploring with a group that numbered from two to five, to gather material for the fourth book in my Exploring the Afterlife series. the reason death felt imminent. In that same struggle, a new me was born; and, like a baby fresh from the womb, I was looking through a new telescope at the world around me. With my old identity dead and gone, I was free to open my perception within a world now extending far beyond physical reality. THE NEW WORLD OF CONSCIOUSNESS The map of this New World is labelled "Consciousness: Human and Other". It can be thought of as stretching from physical reality outward through our afterlife and beyond. In his explorations, Robert Monroe assigned labels to his landfalls based upon the level of consciousness of the inhabitants living there. No doubt you'll see some resemblance between the labels on Monroe's maps and places you've heard or read about from other sources. I find his labels useful in that they allow a fresh perspective, a way of bringing as few previously held beliefs as possible along on my voyages. BELIEFS AND IDENTITY fresh perspective, a way of bringing as few Throughout those first years of exploring, my own ship's log as possible along on my voyages. was filled with enough verified information that existence of an afterlife beyond death's horizon should have been a known. Yet Focus 22 doubt continued to sail with me. I remained convinced there must Sailing outward from physical reality, my first sightings were be some other explanation for the accuracy of information, and of other ships that seemed to have ‘crazies' at the helm. Focus 22 rationalised it away. is open sea that can't rightly be called part of our afterlife, since Then, on a voyage to retrieve Joe, the recently deceased father _ those you find there are still physically alive. Some are drugged of a friend, I voyaged beyond all doubt. or drunk, in a coma, or lost in the Aspects of this experience were so elusions of their dreams or insanities. undeniably verified that I was forced to The non-physical world is a Strongly held fear is often a common accept our afterlife as real. shipmate for those aimlessly sailing For several days after accepting the place where thoughts can be these waters. afterlife's reality, I wandered things Our beliefs can take Marty, a man who'd suffered a disorientedly, believing that at any debilitating stroke, is someone I found moment the world around me would forms that look and act as real there. Fear overwhelmed his fade to black like the end of a movie; . consciousness and was preventing his and when it did, I knew I'd be adrift in a . as anything leath—something that could have been black, formless void from which there In the physical world. a merciful end to terrible physical was no escape. I didn't recognise the person thinking the unfamiliar thoughts From the time Marty went to sleep at in my mind. I felt certain I was about to night until he awoke in the morning, his die. A shrink would probably describe my experience as an terrified screams and shouting kept everyone else in the house identity crisis; can't say I'd disagree. awake. His fear of a banshee that would come and take him to Gradually, I began to feel that after the world around me faded Hell as punishment for his sins created one. His fear became the to black, a new, completely different one would fade in around very real image of just such a hideous, vaporous being, pursuing me and I'd be living in an unfamiliar New World. In this process, him in endless terror across the desert landscape of his dreams. I learned something about beliefs and my identity. But there was no real banshee. It was only Marty's fear, projected My world is fabricated, as all worlds are, using beliefs as the outwards and taking the form of what he feared. most basic building material. Since birth, I've viewed all experience through the telescope of a growing set of beliefs to - The Law of Love and Fear construct the world-view in which I exist. Lenses always add Marty's Focus 22 existence brings up something I found about distortion (my beliefs) to the reality passing through them, and fear and the power of love and I want to share it with you. The accepting the afterlife's reality conflicted deeply with core beliefs non-physical world is a place where thoughts can be things. Our suffering. Iheld. In the aftermath of accepting our afterlife as real, my beliefs can take forms that look and act as real as anything in the world-view crumbled and disappeared, leaving nowhere for the J _ physical world. that lived in that world-view to exist. In my experience with Marty and his banshee, I learned one of My old beliefs created a reality in which J experienced the laws of our existence—not like a Congress-imposed law that everything, and in that way created the identity of the J who we're all supposed to obey, but one more like the law of gravity: experienced them. I am my beliefs. Anything entering my it's just always there and it's always working. Love and fear awareness that challenges my beliefs, challenges my very cannot coexist, and I'm certain this law applies to any reality in existence. Survival of my identity requires that awareness of such —_ which we may find ourselves. things be either prevented or rationalised away by distortion. T encountered Marty during a partnered exploring session with Accepting anything conflicting with my beliefs triggers a life- Rebecca, requested by Marty's sleepless daughter. We stood on and-death struggle in which that /'s existence is threatened. By the sand of a night-time desert, watching Marty's banshee accepting the reality of our afterlife, / lost that struggle and swooping down on him. We saw him run to exhaustion and then literally died. That was the source of the disorientation I'd felt, try to hide, only to be found and pursued in terror again. Rebecca as anything in the physical world. + The Law of Love and Fear Marty's Focus 22 existence brings up something I found about fear and the power of love and I want to share it with you. The non-physical world is a place where thoughts can be things. Our beliefs can take forms that look and act as real as anything in the physical world. In my experience with Marty and his banshee, I learned one of the laws of our existence—not like a Congress-imposed law that we're all supposed to obey, but one more like the law of gravity: it's just always there and it's always working. Love and fear cannot coexist, and I'm certain this law applies to any reality in which we may find ourselves. T encountered Marty during a partnered exploring session with Rebecca, requested by Marty's sleepless daughter. We stood on the sand of a night-time desert, watching Marty's banshee swooping down on him. We saw him run to exhaustion and then try to hide, only to be found and pursued in terror again. Rebecca APRIL — MAY 1999 NEXUS - 65