BEHIND THE VEIL

The Complete Guide to Conscious Sleep

by
Daniel Allen Kelley

Foreword by
Stewart Bell

The Original Falcon Press

Tempe, Arizona, U.S.A.
 Copyright © 2018 C.E. by Daniel Allen Kelley

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 Table of Contents

Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Foreword
By Stewart Bell

PART ONE
Prologue
Introduction
Living the Dream: A Personal Story
Chapter One
The Art, Science, and Religion of Dreaming
Chapter Two
The Seven Categories of Dream
Chapter Three
Astral Projection vs. Lucid Dreaming: Signs and
Symptoms
Chapter Four
Paving the Yellow Brick Road: Neuroplasticity and
Conscious Sleep

PART TWO
Introduction
Falling Awake: Stepping Behind the Veil
Chapter Five
Mapping Wonderland: Formatting Your Dream Journal
Chapter Six
 Cleansing, Strengthening, and Loosening the Subtle Body

THE 120-DAYS CURRICULUM

Chapter Seven
Get Vivid!
Chapter Eight
Get Lucid!
Chapter Nine
Get Pellucid!
Chapter Ten
Get Astral!
Afterword
Subliminal Cognition Training and the Integral
Philosophy
About the Author
Appendix
Diagram for Visualization Training
Bibliography
 Dedication
To Aima, for your guidance behind the Veil.
To my wife, Christina Sportiello, for being my dream come true.
And to the Collegium Cherubim: Hoc Opus Hic Labor Est.
 Acknowledgements
I'd like to thank the following people, without whom this book would never
have been written:
My daughter, Page Celeste Kelley, for enduring long creative absences. My
wife, Christina Sportiello, for convincing me to share my story. My son and
fellow Dreamer, Xavier Handfield, for long inspiring talks. My friend and
student, Tom Kinney, for supporting my work and sharing it with others. My
friend and coworker, Shane Mackey, for driving to and from work everyday
while I worked on this book. Fellow oneironauts, Stewart Bell, Ivan Kos, and
David Jay Brown, for your wonderful reviews and endorsements. A very special
thanks to Nick Tharcher for his wise guidance and patience with this “green”
author. Lastly, thank you, dear reader, for deciding to take this quest and
choosing me to assist you on it.
 Foreword
By Stewart Bell
Whenever I find myself at the beginning of a new project I first must clear the
way, so to speak, and often encounter similar hurdles each time. The main focus
of my work is with music so for instance, when it comes to beginning the music
writing part of a project, I’ll often find myself unable to push past the initial
stage of just sitting down and getting on with it. The perfectionist in me arises
and often a reorganization of the work space is required—whether this be the
physical rearrangement of my tools; desk, keyboard, sound modules, PC, etc. or;
the virtual reshuffling of my digital workstation—only then can I proceed. In the
case of this foreword, overcoming that first hurdle required that I obtain a
physical copy of this book as opposed to scanning through lines of digital text on
a flickering computer screen (I’m old school when it comes to reading!) Daniel
quickly obliged and, with book in hand, I jumped that first obstacle. However, I
quickly encountered another—I’ve never written a foreword before.
How does one start? What should it include? How long should it be? How
should I proceed? Simple. I quickly resorted to seeking the help of that infinite
database of knowledge—Google—but still, the hurdle remained. Upon finding
numerous results on, “How to write a good foreword,” the first and foremost
piece of advice was, “Let the readers know how well you know the author.” The
problem here was that I didn’t know Daniel that well—other than our
conversations via e-mail and interactions in online groups related to the subject
matter. Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to let this get in my way, so I decided to
side-step this hurdle and get started with the first task—reading the book.
The first thing that impressed me was Daniel’s handling of the hurdles that
many face when starting on the path to Conscious Sleep. It’ll be no surprise to
you to hear that people want a quick fix or some secret technique for sudden
entry into the inner realms and, rightly so, Daniel doesn’t promise to give either
of these. From the start he points out that there is no quick way to achieve
something as profound as the mastery of our own conscious experience, but he
also quickly sets the reader on the right path for getting over those initial hurdles
using techniques developed from his vast knowledge of old and new traditions
alike. A type of mental and spiritual rearranging, if you like, that is necessary for
laying the groundwork before one can proceed with such a profound project.
 The second thing that became obvious to me is that Daniel has very much
walked the walk and so he draws on his own extensive, lifelong experiences to
teach others what he’s learned. At an early age he was thrown behind the veil
into the pit of his deep, dark unconscious mind where he ultimately learned to
pacify the roaring beasts of that world, thus opening up the long, winding path
through the subconscious realms that leads to the promised land beyond. (Ok,
that’s the Daniel in the lion’s den analogy out of the way!)
Thirdly, as a lifelong Lucid Dreamer and Astral Explorer, I felt I knew all
there was when it came to inner exploration, but I quickly realised in my reading
of this book that I may have been overlooking some important aspects on the
matter. Plus some techniques and practices that I’d discarded as archaic and
deemed of no use in the modern world, were shown to me in a new light through
Daniel’s words. Having been brought up in a similar environment to Daniel,
with strict religious parents, I found that later in life I dismissed many religious
or spiritual philosophies and practices by passing them through the filters of my
rebellious adolescence, and I was quick to resign them to the same fiery pit that
I’d thrown the indoctrination of my childhood into. I see now, by revisiting these
age-old ideas through the fresh and practical perspective given in this book, that
I may well have thrown the baby out with the bath water.
An important factor that Daniel points out that is essential for proceeding on
the path of conscious exploration is the practice of visualization, and, in
particular, a method that is used to quiet down the mind and limit restlessness of
the eyes sounded very familiar to me and brought back memories of childhood.
My own inner journey started at 6 years old when my older brother taught me
how to Lucid Dream to help me overcome a recurring nightmare I was having.
Without realising, my brother, a natural Lucid Dreamer, had taught me an
important lesson in how to recognise dream signs. I won’t tell that particular
story here—I’ve written extensively about it and my countless other experiences
in my music projects, my video series and in my kid’s storybook (shameless
product plug—check!) What sprang to mind when reading Daniel’s visualisation
methods was another trick that my brother had introduced me to shortly after he
had gifted me with the ability of dreaming awake. This trick involved staring at a
particular point on the ceiling and holding your gaze until the room started to
fade, forming a kind of tunnel vision (known as the Troxler effect). I would find
this very relaxing, and, when practiced at bedtime, it would enhance another
important method that my brother taught me. With the eyes closed and drifting
off to sleep he guided me to focus on what ever it was I wanted to dream about.
He advised me to try to bring into my mind’s eye the scene I wished to
encounter upon entering the dream world. On many occasions this had the
desired effect and at other times it would lead to my drifting into a state of deep,
Conscious Sleep. I’m not ashamed to admit that the first time I felt myself cross
over in this way I thought I was dying and I came back to the waking world with
a jolt!
Another childhood memory that was plucked from the deep subconscious
recesses of my mind when reading the induction methods in this book was that
of a little game my granddad used to play with me. It would start with me
closing my eyes then my granddad would start with his finger on my lips and
move upwards while saying, “mouth, nose, eyes a-blinky,” then, while
continuing up over my forehead, through my hair and down my neck to my
lower back, he’d complete the game with the line, “over the hill to Johnny
Stinky!” I, of course, found this highly amusing and enjoyed the tactile sensation
involved. Usually, with my eyes still closed, I’d then follow the imaginary line
started by my granddad’s finger continuing down the hill to…well…down to
Johnny Stinky! At that age I had an issue with incompleteness, with unfinished
shapes and patterns—something that probably developed into that first hurdle I
spoke about earlier—so I’d then be compelled to imagine the line continuing
beyond Mr. Stinky and back up the front of my body closing the circle when it
reached my lips again. I didn’t see my granddad much so I’d often revisit the
memory of that little game while lying in bed trying to get to sleep. The tracing
of this imaginary circular line accompanied with my other early obsession of
syncing my breathing with my heartbeat (4 beats to inhale, 4 beats to exhale)
sounded very similar to one of the first methods Daniel covers in the book
—Embryonic Breathing and the circulation of the breath through what’s known
as the Microcosmic Orbit (and particularly the aptly named “Wind Path”!)
Reading this instantly struck a chord with me and that early imagination game
that I’d play and I wondered, did this and the other early techniques I was
unwittingly using as a child enhance my ability to have Vivid and Lucid Dreams
which ultimately also led to Astral travel?
Is it just coincidence that, as a child, I was unknowingly utilising these
methods which I now discover through this book are actually essential
techniques for anyone serious about conscious exploration? The realisation that,
all those years ago, I was quite possibly innocently tapping into some powerful
inductions—trataka ‘gazing’ meditation, visualisation induction, Embryonic
Breathing and the Microcosmic Orbit, Pellucid Sleep induction—was a rather
profound moment for me and, was also just one of the affirmations for me that
the path Daniel is proposing be taken here in this book is a powerful, unique and
very comprehensive one. Borrowing from the best of the finest of the grandest
old traditions—Shamanic, Kabbalah, Taoist, Vedantic, Tibetan and Tantric to
name a few—and fitting them into an extensive 120-Days Curriculum is
certainly not the quick fix that many seek but, I’m extremely confident that it’s a
definitive path to the goals set forth in this book.
Needless to say, at this point I now felt confident in writing the foreword
however, one thing was still niggling at the back of my mind—the hurdle set up
by the fact that I didn’t personally know the author. Side-stepping that second
hurdle hadn’t felt quite right but, by this point I had started to realise something.
I did know Daniel. Our lives were so similar that, at times, it had felt like I was
reading my own story. The sleep paralysis and night terrors starting at an early
age; the strict religious parents; the vivid dream life; the rebellion against the
indoctrination of our upbringing; the subsequent exploration of western
traditions; returning to the path behind the veil initially revealed to us in
childhood; our self taught piano playing and music-writing skills; our love of
poem and lyric writing and; even our joint ventures into the construction trade!
The parallels between the author and myself are uncanny and that second hurdle
was now gone. (Incidentally, Daniel also happens to quote my favourite singer-
songwriter in his writings. Just one of the many parts of the book that brought a
smile to my face, and instantly brought to mind one of my own favourite and in
this case, quite relevant, lines from the very same artist—“You’ve got to get in
to get out.”)
I then turned to the author’s photo at the back of the book and looked into the
eyes of the man who, through his words, had managed to teach some new tricks
to this old dreaming dog and, even there, I saw similarities. I took a few
moments to seek out some more photos of Daniel online and I quickly realised
why that similarity was present. He bore a striking resemblance to, not one, but
two important figures from my childhood and, specifically, figures from the
period of my life where I was liberated from the confines of the religious
organisation that my family was in. I saw an uncanny combination in Daniel’s
chiseled (and might I add handsome!) features—the face of my brother and the
likeness of my best friend from adolescence. It was as if those two pivotal
characters from that critical period in my life had been merged into one. As
though my older sibling and my childhood buddy had gotten together and
created a love child who…sorry, ok, I think I’ve made my point!
Joking aside, I find it very fitting that the author of this book more or less
mirrors in appearance the two crucial figures involved in helping me escape
from the limited perspectives of the childhood indoctrination that I grew up with.
It seems like more than just a beautiful coincidence that in the face of this fellow
oneironaut I saw the likeness of the duo of adolescent comrades that ushered in a
new era of my life—an era of expansion, freedom, exploration, discovery and
adventure. For that is exactly what Daniel’s words are sure to do for those who
wish to break free from the confines of the limited state of consciousness that
most of us assume is all that we have access to. What follows here in this book is
nothing short of a fully comprehensive manual on how to free oneself from the
indoctrination of modern society with its limited perspectives on consciousness
as Daniel ushers the reader into a new era of conscious expansion, inner
exploration, adventures beyond imagination, deep personal discovery and, of
course, the ultimate goal—liberation.
Stewart Bell is a composer, keys player, lucid dream teacher and author based
in Scotland. He is the author of a wonderful children's story called The
Cupboard of Fear, which teaches children how to overcome their fears via Lucid
Dreaming. He’s currently working on a project entitled The Antechamber of
Being which includes a trilogy of concept albums, a video series, storybooks and
art-books, all based on his long term experience as a lucid dreamer and astral
traveller—a journey which started at 6 years old when a recurring nightmare
prompted his older brother to teach him how to become aware in his dreams. He
can be reached at:
http://www.learntoluciddream.co.uk
PART ONE
 Prologue
When I decided to write this book I didn’t have a clear-cut idea as to how I
wanted it to be written. I knew what I wanted to share, but how to present it in
such a way that makes the information accessible to a larger audience didn’t
occur to me until I’d written well over two chapters. Happily, this book pretty
much wrote itself. Like a dream trying hard to make itself come true the book
you’re about to read pretty much stands as its own creation. It’s been written in a
very conversational tone, using abbreviations and such, with minimal run-on
sentences. Wanting to present the material in as comprehensive a manner as
possible I’ve omitted any footnotes, opting instead to make each point as clear
and descriptive as possible before moving on to the next one. Everything taught
in this book is the result of over twenty years of my own personal experience as
well as modern cutting-edge research on dreams and out of body experience
(OOBE).
There are very few guesses here…
This book has been written to cover all aspects of Conscious Sleep, including
the skills of Dream Recall, Dream Interpretation, Auto-Hypnosis, Creative
Inspiration, Vivid Dreaming, Lucid Dreaming, Pellucid Dreaming, with forays
into the more mystical and controversial aspects of Premonition, Astral
Projection, Dream Control, and Spiritual Epiphany. The material is presented in
two parts. The first section deals with theory and the second with practice.
However, there are many practical tips and tidbits of information in the first part
of the book so the best way to read it is from the first to the last page. I’ve
provided a fairly robust peppering of books in the Bibliography should any
particular topic provoke the desire for further study.
I’d like to say a few words about the information on Astral Projection
presented in these pages. Anyone with experience with Astral Projection will
likely have at least some experience with Lucid Dreaming, and anyone with
dream Lucidity will oftentimes have some experience with Astral Projection. As
you’ll soon see, one of the primary goals of this book is to bring some clarity to
the Lucid Dream/Astral Projection confusion. It’s my sincere belief that anyone
willing to devote their time and energy to the exercises in this book will
eventually experience Astral Projection and see for themselves that it’s not
necessarily a synonym for Lucid Dreaming, similarities notwithstanding. I plan
to write a companion piece to Behind the Veil specifically about Astral
Projection sometime in the near future and flesh out the finer details of my
system, Subliminal Cognition Training. For now, though, the introductory
information presented here should be enough to get your Astral feet wet.
Before taking the plunge down the Rabbit Hole, I’d first like to voice a few
admonitions. You’ll find within these pages an assortment of practices, herbal
prescriptions, and lifestyle suggestions that may or may not be suitable to the
particulars of your situation. I’m not a doctor so please take the following
seriously.
Always check with your doctor first before taking any nutritional supplements
or making any drastic changes to your diet. That said, don’t hesitate to get
creative, and don’t feel limited by any of my suggestions or personal
experiences. Everyone has his or her own unique nature and I’m a firm believer
that you can’t cut the man to fit the coat.
Some of you reading this will experience success rather quickly while others
may take some time. Or it happens often that someone will have “beginner’s
luck” but suddenly lose all behind the Veil access. Don’t lose heart! This
happens even to veterans of the art. Think about it this way:
How is it that we have handed down to us from antiquity countless
documents, teachings, and methods in the various subtle arts filled with pointers
and tips about when and where to best access their secrets?
The answer is:
Individuals just like you and I dared to explore and discovered that certain
conditions promoted or precluded success. When enough adepts had the same
experiences, and setbacks were discovered to have specific causes with specific
solutions, then experiences became rules and those procedures were
systematized. This information was then recorded and passed down to posterity.
Of course, some rules are meant to be broken. All it takes is for someone to
come along with a different degree of talent, perseverance, and a little bit of
eccentricity, and voilà!
Who knows, maybe that person is you?
Individuals with the ability, natural or cultivated, to access worlds and mind-
states apart, beneath, and above consensus reality, have always existed. I call
such people “Veilers.” This is a book for such persons and those wishing to
become one.
In this book you’ll learn:
• The 120-Days Curriculum of Vivid, Lucid, Pellucid, and Astral training.
• How to keep an accurate, organized, and comprehensive dream journal.
• The role that dreams and astral travel have played in Art, Science, and
 Religion.
• How to create the dreams you want to have before falling asleep.
• The role that herbs, diet, sexuality, and nutritional supplements play in
Lucidity and Astral Projection training.
• Rudimentary skills in Subtle Body development, loosening of the Astral
Body, and the storing and circulation of Etheric energy.
• The best times and conditions for Astral and Dream Work.
• Meditation methods to increase Lucidity in the dream state.
• The different dream Types and how to spot them, record them, and access
their transformative power.
• The differences and similarities between Lucid Dreaming, Astral
Projection, and other forms of Out of Body Experience.
• The role of Neuroplasticity in OOBE and Dream Control.
• Useful information about so-called Entity encounters.
• How to develop full-sensory Lucid experiences while in the dream state
and while awake.
Within these pages you’ll find everything needed to begin working creatively
and safely with the art of Conscious Sleep. The main purpose of this book is to
hand you the tools for successful Conscious Sleep and OOBE. In books two and
three of this series, we’ll explore some of the experiences you’re most likely to
have. In the meantime, I’ve tried my very best to be thorough and I trust you’ll
find this book indispensable in your quest, whether it be Lucid Dreaming, Astral
Projection, or Spiritual transformation. It’s my hope that the publication of this
book will generate plenty of discussion, research, and debate in the future so that
the art and science of Conscious Dreaming and Astral Travel will continue to
evolve.
Your Fellow Traveller,
Daniel Kelley
12 December 2016, 5:46 pm
 Introduction
Living the Dream: A Personal Story
For children of all times and places, the Veil that separates the conscious mind
from the worlds which lie beneath and above has always been delightfully thin.
For me, however, it was practically nonexistent and my earliest experiences
behind it were anything but delightful.
My journey began as a lucid Nightmare, not a Lucid Dream.
It began when I was about nine years old. What at first seemed like the typical
nocturnal disturbances experienced by most small children soon erupted like a
volcano of psychic lava. First came the night-terrors. The cold-sweat producing
visions usually reserved for the feverish, the psychedelic trip, or the clinically
insane, were to my childhood self as common as a sneeze.
My mother was at a loss. My school teachers were concerned. I was terrified.
Imagine being nine years old. You share a bunk bed with your older brother,
with you occupying the bottom bunk and he the top one. Every night, after your
mother tucks you in, you lie in bed afraid to close your eyes. Your poor brother,
a normal and healthy boy, is in the bunk above you wondering what type of
theatrics will rob him of sleep this time. Your school work is suffering. Your
social life is suffering. Your family life is suffering; and even at the tender age of
nine you’re beginning to wonder if you’ve lost your mind.
That was my early childhood…
My earliest memory of these psychic eruptions took place in that bunk bed.
My brother and I had just been put to bed and the lights turned off. I can still
remember the terror that seized me in those days as soon as the lights went out,
and this night was no exception. I remember the air felt electrically charged, like
a thunderstorm was brewing right there in my bedroom. Suddenly, as if in
response to my fear of the dark, I saw as plainly as I see the words on this page a
tin-hat light dangle down from my brother’s bed and stop at about midpoint in
the air. At first I thought my brother was playing a joke on me, but then I noticed
something.
The light was on, but the room was still dark!
So I did the only logical thing a boy can do in such a situation and reached for
the tin-hat light. I needed to know that what I was looking at was real and not
some hallucination. As I reached out my left hand, by that time trembling and
slightly pulling back, the light just hung there like a fish hook. It even swayed
slightly as if moved by a gentle breeze that wasn’t there. Then, with a burst of
courage, I made a grab for the chain that held the phantom light aloft; and what
happened next changed me forever.
It simply vanished like a soap bubble stabbed by a sharp pin. Poof! Gone. I
remember pulling the sheets over my head and sweating under the hot blankets,
barely breathing, for the rest of the night.
To expect a plunge behind the Veil to result in nothing but fun and fantasy is
much like plunging into the ocean and expecting mermaids. Of course, there is
lots of fun to be had, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t warn you about how shocking
these experiences can be.
After that experience with the phantom light, things became even more
bizarre. From spontaneous out-of-body-experiences, to disembodied hands
pulling at my hair, to a horrifying dissociative state with a peculiar species of
amnesia rendering me unable to remember my name or recognize my own
mother. Eventually I was sent to psychologists, M.D.’s, and even pastors, all in a
desperate attempt to unearth the source of my “disorder.” I’ve been through test
after test, forced to stay awake all night so that I’d fall asleep during “testing”
the following morning. I’ve been hooked up to electroencephalograph machines
while lights were strobed in front of my eyes, probably to test for epilepsy. The
psychologists blamed it on my parent’s divorce, the doctors blamed it on my
asthma medication, and the pastor blamed it on demons!
Yes, demons…
Finally, at age sixteen, there was one final “attack” and then it all suddenly
stopped without rhyme or reason. I was left confused, traumatized, and curious.
Very curious…
I spent the next five years in single-minded pursuit of finding answers. In
those days I’d spend entire days at the library, pouring over books and
magazines. I read everything I could find on psychological disorders, religion,
dreams, the occult, astral projection, night-terrors, and spirituality. I also began
practicing some of the techniques that I’ll be sharing in this book.
It took about five years of groping in the dark before the Veil opened again. I
kept my practices very secret during this time. I’d already learned my lesson
about what happens when one is too outspoken on these matters. Of course, I
couldn’t hide it for long. Soon I began meeting others of like mind, people with
their own reasons for wrapping themselves up in shadows.
Then, in the year 1999, It happened!
Years of not knowing what had happened to me, of thinking that perhaps I
was just crazy, and now things were starting to make sense! At the time, I began
a strict regimen of meditation practice, Subtle Body exercises, and devotional
practices, many of which I continue to this day. Through these practices I was
able to tap into and awaken that part of my psyche which had experienced all
those childhood horrors, only this time I did so from a lighter place. At first the
terrors came back, but eventually they gave way to something altogether
different and definitely the opposite of horrific.
I’m thirty-eight and have a family now. My world is more magical and
meaningful than it ever was. In fact, it’s far richer and more textured than ever!
Why? Besides the blessing of a wonderful family, once I learned how to
consciously tap into the raw, creative, and spiritual power behind the Veil, a
whole new world opened before me. It’s been largely a trial and error process.
At times I thought that I might lose my mind! Sometimes it’s terrifying.
Sometimes it’s breathtakingly beautiful. But if my years on this earth have
shown me anything, it’s that modern man has lost all sense of meaning and
magic, and yet both are all around us awaiting our participation. Regardless how
it reveals itself, an adventure is always waiting in these hidden worlds behind the
Veil.
I invite you to join me in exploring!
 Chapter One
The Art, Science, and Religion of Dreaming

That dreams, visions, and Astral Travel have had a tremendous impact upon
the arts, religions, and the sciences should come as no surprise. From the
psychedelic paintings of Salvador Dali, to the groundbreaking discoveries of
Albert Einstein, as well as the apocalyptic visions of St. John of Patmos, the
subterranean realm of the human psyche has provided for some of the greatest
minds a creative foundation composed largely of dream stuff.
As one begins to progress in these arts it helps to know they were shared by
some of mankind’s greatest heroes. This is especially true during the period
when the training wheels haven’t yet come off. Some of the personalities that are
and were tapped into these realms are household names. Many of them are
immediately recognizable by anyone who’s ever read a physics book, followed
trends in mainstream music, or pondered fine art.
Then again, many Veilers remain obscure. Some have never heard of terms
like “Veiler” or “Subtle Body” or “Lucid Dreaming.” In fact, there are a great
many people with these skills who keep quiet for fear of being thought insane.
Some of them are insane! Others seem to have been born with these abilities and
think nothing of it. In fact, they usually grow up with the assumption that
everyone can do it! Such people rarely seek further cultivation into the higher
stages of skill because it’s common to take the familiar for granted.
Still, others choose to advance.
 In this chapter, we’ll explore how dreams and visions have influenced
humanity’s development in the three great spheres of Art, Science, and
Spirituality. We’ll meet painters, dancers, sages, physicists, psychologists,
musicians, medicine men and women, all of whom owe some of their best work
to their adventures behind the Veil. Before we do that, though, let’s learn a little
bit about the system I use in this and forthcoming books.
Anatomy of a Veiler
“Our normal state of consciousness, waking consciousness as it’s called, is but one special type of
consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the flimsiest of screens, lie other potential forms
of consciousness.”
— William James

Just a quick walk through the New Age or Religions section of a bookstore
can give the first impression of a spiritual value-meal menu, and it can be
daunting to approach the big picture with fresh eyes. You’ve got the Christian
package, the Buddhist package, the Shinto package, the Muslim package, the
Pagan package, and even the Extraterrestrial package! It’s easy to assume that
these are all discreet spiritual highways with very little in common, but that’s
just not true.
Over the course of my twenty years of involvement in the various Wisdom
Traditions of the world, I’ve discovered their many commonalities despite their
cultural differences. Whether we’re talking about Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, or
any other -ism for that matter, we’re still talking about people, and people have
more similarities than differences. It should then come as no surprise that the
myriad systems created by a given people or person to make sense of their
rarified experiences should, at their core, have more in common than their
surfaces might suggest.
What’s the common core shared by the great spiritual traditions?
ANSWER: The Perennial Philosophy.
Put simply, the Perennial Philosophy is the oldest and most universal
developmental model in the world. The belief that the universe, including human
consciousness, is composed of an onion-like series of layers or nests leading
from dirt to deity, from dust to divine, is found in virtually every known culture
of the world. A common theme running through most versions of the Perennial
Philosophy is that each level, world, plane, body, or realm is separated by
“sheathes” or veils, much like the layers of an onion are separate and yet still
comprise the whole onion itself.
The most stripped-down versions of the Perennial Philosophy tend to look
something like this:
 • Earth=Man=Heaven
• Ecosphere=Biosphere=Noosphere
• Body=Mind=Spirit
And so on…
I’ve worked with the Perennial Philosophy as it appears on the Kabbalah’s
Tree of Life, in the internal Alchemy of Taoism, the five Koshas of Vedanta,
and, of course, the “five primary Veils” of my own system:
• the Veil of Tears
• the Veil of Breath
• the Veil of Dreams
• the Veil of Ghosts
• the Veil of Bliss
(These correspond to the Physical, Etheric, Mental, Astral and Causal realms,
respectively. In this book we’re working with the Veil of Dreams and the Veil of
Ghosts. My system is called Subliminal Cognition Training. See the Afterword
for more details.)
Another important principle of the Perennial Philosophy has to do with the
energetic embodiment in which we travel through and behind these respective
Veils. The most basic description of these “bodies” is found in the well-known
format of Body, Mind, Soul, and Spirit and its many compact versions which
typically look like this:
• Physical Body/Etheric
• Mental Body/Ego Body
• Emotion Body/Astral Body
• Spirit Body/Causal Body
Some systems go a step further and lump Etheric, Mental, Astral, and Causal
under the general heading of “Subtle Body,” with the Causal Body being, on the
one hand, the very root of consciousness itself, and on the other hand, the
subtlest aspect of the Subtle Body. Depending on how and why you choose to
slice that pie, you could just as easily give a scheme of:
• Gross (not so subtle)
• Subtle (subtler)
• Causal (very subtle)
These correspond to the three basic states of Awake, Dreaming, and
Dreamless Sleep, respectively. This is the basic scheme we’ll be using
throughout this book. As we’ll soon see, our conscious participation in all three
of these states holds the key to behind-the-Veil access. That said, how you
categorize the levels of the Perennial Philosophy depends upon why you’re
navigating it in the first place. It all depends on which Veil you’re stepping
behind and the map you’re using for this purpose. For example, in the tradition
of Psychoanalysis, they use the triad of:
• Id
• Ego
• Superego.
In such a system, the Mental Body is obviously of primary importance, and
the Veil which separates the Biosphere (physical life) from the Noosphere (the
realm of Mind) is the one being stepped behind. Because most systems tend to
favor one realm/body over the others, it’s often left to another system to fill in
the gaps. Take sports, for example. Most sports deal primarily with the Gross
(physical) body. Of course, the mental aspect is there in the form of rules and
strategy, but the bulk of athletic sports is a Gross Body endeavor. As a result,
many progressive thinkers in the realm of athletic performance have begun to
study “the zone,” a flow-state experienced by many athletes that has non-dual
characteristics. Today, it’s not uncommon to find football players practicing Tai
Chi, a Subtle Body exercise, or Mindfulness meditation, a Causal Body practice.
The bottom line?
If you’re exercising Body, Mind, and Soul, you’re a complete human being;
and as long as you’re capable of smoothly transitioning from your Gross to
Subtle to Causal Bodies you’re a Veiler!
One of the most significant points to bear in mind is that all of these “bodies”
are just the limbs of one unified body. That bodymind, that organic unity, is the
stuff you’re made of. Being a “Veiler” is simply a snappy way of saying that you
know how to lift the curtain to reveal the secret spaces within that mystery.
But being a Veiler is more than that…
If you wish to learn a skill, you first must possess the necessary equipment to
perform it. You must have the right anatomy for the job, and I mean that
literally. If I want to become a professional track runner I first need strong legs,
a powerful core, and a strong heart and lungs. If I don’t have these fundamental
requirements I’m doomed to fail from the start. It’s one thing to be able to walk.
For that I only require the minimum in terms of physical functioning, but to be a
track runner? Well, for that I’ll need a strong body. Not only that, I’ll need a
specific type of body, too. The body of a runner is different from that of, say, a
professional bodybuilder. A dancer’s body differs in many obvious ways from
that of a powerlifter’s body.
My first encounter with this somewhat obvious fact came when I made the
transition from bodybuilding to the Internal Martial Arts. I planned on keeping
my bodybuilding practice as an adjunct to my Internal Martial Arts training, but
it was clear from the start that this was an impossibility. The Tai Chi body is
completely different from the bodybuilder’s body! So different, in fact, that
they’re totally incompatible. So I had to make a choice: Tai Chi or Big Muscles?
I chose Tai Chi…
The same holds true in any serious endeavor. If I want to learn to play piano,
it’s not enough that I’ve got ten fingers and a piano. I need to have some degree
of natural talent. I’ve got to have a good sense of pitch, good coordination,
focus, and a good memory. All of these requirements demand a certain
physiological and cognitive make-up. Without it, you may be able to play a few
chords. You may even be able to learn to read some musical notation. But you’ll
never be a virtuoso if you’re tone deaf or missing a few fingers. In much the
same way, it’s not enough that you have dreams every night. To learn how to
have Lucid dreams you’ve got to be wired that way, either naturally or through
sincere and long-term training. Lucid Dreamers and Astral Projectors have a
unique neurology. Either they were born that way or they developed it over time.
A Veiler’s body is different from other bodies…
Think about it.
What are advanced yogis, taoists, shamans, and monks doing when they
meditate, eat consciously, practice Qigong, or go on vision quests? They’re
exercising, cultivating, and in a very real sense creating their Subtle Body and
grounding it in their physical body! That’s the whole process in a nutshell.
Furthermore, two people can go to the gym and do the same amount of
exercising and one of them will still burn fat and build muscle faster than the
other.
Not all Veilers are the same. Equality isn’t sameness.
Admittedly, this isn’t the most popular aspect of my approach. In fact, it
makes many people downright angry. After all, assuring people that you can
teach anyone how to go Astral, or Lucid Dream, or contact their dead relatives,
is a great selling point. I get it! Still, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s simply
not true. To become a proficient Veiler you need to first possess and then
cultivate a very specific anatomy (see Chapter Four). There are many Subtle
Body anatomy textbooks available. In this book we’ll be working primarily with
Taoist, Tibetan, and Tantric methodologies.
 That’s all fine and well, you say, but so what? What’s the ultimate goal of
being a Veiler?
The ultimate goal of a Veiler is to attain continuity of consciousness in the
Physical, Dream, Astral, and Causal realms.
That sounds like a tall order, doesn’t it? Well, yes it is, and no it isn’t. Like
any skill, being a Veiler is at least 40% talent. Like any talent, certain
personality types tend to have more success with it than others. For example,
look at most artists. Most of them tend to be introverted, reclusive, and dreamy.
Now contrast that with the outgoing and extroverted personality of, say, a car
salesman. So what’s the best way to know whether you have a natural proclivity
for being a Veiler? Well, first of all, you’re reading this. Chances are you
wouldn’t be if not for the fact that you’ve got a natural interest in these topics.
In my experience, the natural Veiler tends to be a little introverted, right-
hemisphere of the brain dominant, emotionally dynamic, and a sensualist. This
doesn’t necessarily mean that other Personality Types can’t learn how to go
Astral or Lucid Dream, only that they’ll probably have to take an unorthodox
route to get there. We’ll discuss some of these unorthodox methods in Part Two
of this book. For now, though, let’s look at this thing called dreaming. We must
start there. Why? Because, as we’ll soon see, dreams represent a bridge between
the Etheric and Astral Realms.
The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of
Sigmund Freud referred to dreams as “the royal road to the unconscious.” He
believed that dreams, properly interpreted and placed in the correct context,
served as a sort of lighthouse that guides the therapist and client to the source of
mental illness. Detractors of this view have argued that dreams are nothing but
the brain’s way of throwing off emotional stress and are little more than psychic
garbage. Indeed, some researchers have discarded the psychological aspect of
dreams altogether and consider the issue in a strictly physiological context. One
name that immediately comes to mind is Dr. David Maurice, Ph.D. He proposed
that REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is merely an exercise of the eye! His
theory states that the aqueous humor (the fluid behind the eye) is churned or
“mixed” by the rapid eye movements associated with dreaming. This nocturnal
movement of the eyes oxygenates the cornea, which would otherwise starve
during sleep without it.
So, you can add that to your workout routine!
Another contemporary researcher of dreams, Cristina Marzano, demonstrated
that dream recall is enhanced by waking up during or shortly after the REM
phase of sleep. Marzano proved that the same low THETA brainwave activity
observed in the frontal cortex during REM sleep is the same frequency observed
in the frontal cortex while we’re awake and engaged in memory recall. The point
being made is that dreams appear to be the brain’s way of digesting
autobiographical material and nothing more. Because the bioelectrical and
neurological processes we use to process, envision, and recall the events of our
daily lives are the same ones used to dream and recall our dreams, the logical
conclusion is that they’re merely two expressions of the same cognitive function.
In the Taoist Tradition, dreams are believed to be the result of the rebalancing
of life force (Qi) along special pathways (meridians) in the Etheric energy. The
sights, sounds, smells, tastes, sensations, and emotions we experience in our
dreams are, in this system of thought, simply the reorganization of Qi reflected
in the sensorimotor centers of the brain (more on this later). It’s interesting to
note in this regard that the aim of Taoist Alchemy bears a striking resemblance
to Astral Projection. In the higher stages of training, the adept unites his intent
and his refined life-force to create a “spiritual embryo.” He then raises this
spiritual energy up to his brain to re-open the third eye, at which point he begins
to train his consciousness to leave his body for longer and longer periods of time
until the day of his death when it’s believed he has attained eternal life in his
new spirit body.
Do you want to know what I think? I think that all of these perspectives have
something to offer.
One of the problems with the current scientific paradigm is that researchers
tend to specialize. Not that there’s anything wrong with specialization. It’s just
that it often results in a bad case of tunnel-vision. If one has a biological bias, for
example, then all experiences are interpreted biologically. Or if one has a strictly
psychological education, then all experiences are interpreted psychologically.
This is nothing new. Consider the fact that in Medieval times, were one to suffer
from epilepsy, then it simply must be demonic possession. Because the
predominant worldview at the time was drenched in Church theology, any
physical or psychological illness for which a natural cause couldn’t be found was
instantly dubbed the work of God or the Devil. Now, when it comes to so
diaphanous a thing as dreams, it’s hard to pin down just exactly what they are.
So, in walk the specialists! One says that dreams are nothing but the brain going
to the bathroom, another says that dreams are divine, and another says that
dreams are just eye aerobics.
Yes! Yes! And Yes! So, here’s my two cents:
The phenomenon called dreaming is a natural psychedelic experience. The
word psychedelic means “mind enhancing” in the sense of enlarging the contents
of the psyche, both conscious and subconscious, so they become available to
conscious awareness. Dreaming is one of many natural and healthy altered states
of consciousness available to us and conscious dreaming is a rarified version of
it. In my opinion, consciousness is itself a psychedelic experience that most of us
become accustomed to by the time we hit puberty. At that point we typically
begin to take this miracle for granted.
What to say of dreams?
Imagine for a moment that you’re in the middle of the ocean surrounded by
chaotic waves. You’re so preoccupied with the task of staying afloat and fending
off the waves that you have little time to notice all the fish swimming around
and beneath you. This can be likened to the wakeful state of consciousness
(Beta). Now imagine that I come along and give you a scuba diving suit
equipped with oxygen and goggles with night-vision. Exhausted from the
struggle, you put on the scuba gear and allow yourself to rest and slowly sink to
the ocean floor. On your way down, you look up and see the tossing waves from
a quieter place. This is like the lighter stage of sleep (Alpha).
You rest in this calmness for a little while and then decide to look around you.
All at once you’re transported to another world inhabited by strange creatures.
Whales, fish, sharks, glowing jellyfish, and an entire panoply of strange and
exotic creatures surround you. This is much like the deeper stage of sleep, called
REM (Theta) sleep.
Finally, you sink to the ocean floor where it’s absolutely dark. You’re still
aware of yourself and the life forms around you. You’re even aware of the
waves tossing around on the ocean surface. But you’re not concerned at all. Or
maybe you are. It’s up to you, and you know it! This can be likened to the
deepest phase of sleep where dreaming, and usually awareness itself, is
obliterated (Delta). However, it’s possible, and even easy after a while, to
remain alert even in this state of deep dreamless sleep. The Vedantists refer to
this state as Turiya.
We’ll be revisiting and elaborating these topics throughout this book. For
now, simply take note of the fact that dreaming is a very complex phenomenon.
It’s an error to approach the subject of dreaming from only one perspective and
then call it the final word. Each new discovery, collection of new data, context,
and theory, have an equally valuable role to play in our understanding of dreams
and related phenomena.
It’s understandable that there’s some confusion as to the details—how to
qualify and tease apart experiences that look similar but aren’t the same, and so
on—but if you lay all perspectives and discoveries on the table you’ll start to see
patterns emerge. Take, for example, the discovery that dreams and the brain-
centers used for processing emotions are closely linked. Many systems of
thought link the Astral Body to the Emotional Body. The Theosophists, to give
one prominent example, made this connection. If you experience Astral
Projection and Lucid Dreaming and then examine those two experiences, you’ll
understand the association.
Still, they’re not the same thing.
However, because both experiences involve many of the same experiential
elements, and because they involve many of the same neurological structures
and psychological responses, it’s easy to just assume that they’re identical.
Strangely, we don’t apply the same reasoning to other experiences. To give but
one example, when we watch a stimulating movie we register many of the same
biological reactions we’d have were the experience actually happening to us. We
don’t therefore conclude that what happens on the Silver Screen is the same as
what happens to us in real life.
So, what are dreams? I’d have to say that it depends on who you ask. After all,
there are many people who swear that they never dream! If you were to ask me
what dreams are, I’d tell you that they’re not the royal road to the unconscious.
Rather, they’re one of many roads to the unconscious, by whatever name.
They’re more than that, though. They’re fun! They’re creative, inspiring,
exhilarating, terrifying, sexy, mind-blowing, psychedelic, and spiritually potent
expressions of a highly complex bodymind.
And that’s good medicine.
Shamanism (The Physician-Priest)
The earliest record we have of Conscious Sleep playing a pivotal role in
society is arguably that most universal of religions called Shamanism.
Shamanism has existed in virtually every part of the globe from the Foraging age
to our current Digital age. Anthropologists can’t seem to agree upon an absolute
definition of shamanism, but the basic consensus is that a shaman:
• Serves as priest and healer of a community.
• Is a medium between the Seen and Unseen worlds.
• Accesses these worlds and the inhabitants of these worlds by way of
trance, lucid dreams, psychoactive plants, meditation, ecstatic dance, astral
travel, fasting, contemplative prayer, and so on.
The role of shaman is typically inherited patrilineally or matrilineally—
through the father or mother who serves as the Medicine Man or Woman of the
community. But this isn’t always so. Anthropologists have noted that oftentimes
the role of shaman is foisted upon an individual by a spontaneous initiatic ordeal
called “shamanic crisis” in which the shaman-to-be undergoes a powerful death
and rebirth experience. The visions and psychodrama of the shamanic crisis is a
spiritual crossroads with one path leading to enlightenment and the other to
insanity. Which path prevails depends largely upon cultural support and the
psychological fortitude of the sufferer. Assuming the candidate is successful, he
or she assumes the post of Seer, Sage, and Physician of the tribe.
The role of shaman is unique in that it combines artist, doctor, and priest
under the same heading. Most medicine men and women are a colorful synthesis
of musician, dancer, painter, singer, sage, doctor, and priest. In other words, a
true shaman embodies Art, Science, and Religion simultaneously.
Core to most forms of shamanism is the belief that dreams and visions are
produced by spirits (or the Great Spirit, by any name) and can be suppressed by
them as well. Totem animals, power objects, and sacred symbols are often used
by shamans to induce a vision or to terminate one. In the mind-bending film,
Inception, Leonardo DiCaprio uses a spinning top to determine whether he’s
awake or having a Lucid Dream. In the classic film and children’s book, The
Wizard of Oz, Dorothy Gale wields the protective power of ruby slippers to ward
off the evil intentions of the Wicked Witch of the West. We see totems
whenever we enter a Catholic Church. Rosary beads, icons, and even the
Sacraments of the Holy Mass, are all examples of these shamanic power-objects,
the objections of clergy notwithstanding. Millions of people all over the world
hang religious symbols and icons over their beds and the beds and cribs of
children to ensure the production of good dreams and the banishing of
nightmares. And many place a Dream Catcher over their bed to trap vagabond
dreams and visions drifting through the aether.
All of these practices, it can be said, are vestiges of our shamanic roots.
But what do present-day shamans have to say about stepping behind the Veil?
Are they for or against it? After all, if most of the vision quests conducted by
shamans are revelatory in nature, might dream manipulation and other willful
forms of Conscious Sleep be a form of interference? While taking notes and
gathering data for this book, I attempted to contact several institutions claiming
authentic shamanic roots. Most of them refused to be interviewed, and those
willing to discuss these topics at all took an almost nonchalant stance towards
them. However, I believe these practitioners to be in the minority. For most
shamanic practitioners in today’s world it’s the premonitory, visionary, and
psychospiritual (soul-quest) dream types that seem to matter most.
 Debunkers of shamanism believe it to be no more than a vestige of our
infantile past as a species. They point to such primitive notions as the Law of
Signatures, or Pantheism, and the almost mandatory use of psychoactive plants
as just some of the reasons for justifying their contempt. Indeed, many of these
practices are infantile. They’re supposed to be! After all, forming a bridge
between the innocence of childhood and the pragmatism of the adult is just one
of the functions of a Seer. As I said in the Introduction to this book, the Veil that
divides the seen and unseen worlds is delightfully thin in early childhood.
Shamanism continues to be just one among many ways to re-enter that stage of
development, not just one’s own inner child, but the inner child of an entire
culture and possibly our entire species.
Yes, one of the many ways this is done is through the creative use of
psychoactive plants. In many (but not all) shamanic traditions, psychedelics such
as psilocybin, ergot, salvia, LSD, ayahuasca, mescaline, Hawaiian baby
woodrose seeds, and so on, are ingested as a sacrament to loosen the self-
contraction and attune one’s psyche to the subtle-realms. In fact, much of what
occurs while under the influence of that infamous psychoactive tea, ayahuasca,
bears a striking resemblance to many types of Lucid Dreams. Readers interested
in the connection between Lucid Dreaming, Astral Projection, and Psychedelics
are encouraged to consult the book, Dreaming Wide Awake, by David Jay
Brown.
An important component of the shamanic voyage has to do with grounding the
forces encountered behind the Veil by actively participating in the community.
Far from being neurotic self-preoccupation, the powerful experiences evoked by
these “primitive” methods are anchored in a deep respect for productive work,
altruistic self-sacrifice, and overall holistic functioning. Contrasted with the
often one-sided emphasis of modern science on the behavioristic, chemical, and
biological facets of human life, these so-called infantile methodologies are the
cooler side of the pillow. In fact, one culture’s shamanic tradition even
specializes in Dream Yoga. What culture, you ask?
Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s take a journey to Tibet!
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
The Bardo Thodol, erroneously called The Tibetan Book of the Dead, is truly
a classic text for anyone interested in life behind the Veil. In fact, the so-called
“Bardo Realms” described in this text include the dream state among the myriad
“in-between” states experienced by consciousness on its journey from womb to
tomb (and reincarnation into a new womb). The psychedelic high priest,
Timothy Leary, even used the Bardo Thodol as a template in his mapping out of
the anatomy of an LSD trip! Written in the eighth century A.D. by Padma
Sambhava, the text literally describes the skillful use of Conscious Dreaming at
the moment of death.
I find it interesting that the full title of the text is The Liberation Through
Hearing During the Intermediate State. Something that’s always struck me as
too odd to be coincidence is that the parietal lobe, that part of the brain
associated with proprioception and balance, is clearly involved in Lucid
Dreaming as well as the Astral experience. Indeed, one of the most potent
techniques for inducing Lucidity is to imagine yourself at a point in space
opposite that of your sleeping body (“Phasing”). The inner part of the ear, also
heavily involved in balance and one’s sense of spatial orientation, is the window
through which the officiating Tibetan priest communicates with the soul of the
dying person. By way of chanting, ritual, verbal description and reassurance, the
soul of the dying man is guided through the Bardo realms to its new or final
destination.
Is it possible that the tether which links consciousness to the physical brain
remains in residual form for a limited time after the death of the body? Do the
facts of Astral Projection, Conscious Dreaming, and Near-Death Experience
(NDE) prove the existence of a “Jacob’s Ladder” of consciousness? Does the
brain or some Etheric part of it still briefly register sound and assist in
proprioception after the heart stops beating? To what extent is the oxygen-
deprived brain capable of interpreting sound, imagery, and spatial location
immediately after death?
When my grandfather was dying, I was present at his bedside. After the ordeal
had passed, I had everyone leave the room so that I could say my goodbyes. His
eyes were partially closed but still looking directly at me. I told him that I
believe he can still hear me, that I love him, and that it’s okay to move on. That
was eleven years ago today and, out of all those I’ve lost to death, my
grandfather is the only one of them who still visits me in my dreams.
I wonder…
One thing that’s always puzzled me is how hearing, and even the sensation of
touch, can be experienced on the Astral plane. That the five senses can be
experienced in the dream state is clear enough, but how to explain someone
leaving their physical body and eavesdropping on a conversation happening
some two-hundred or so miles away and accurately reporting what the
conversation was about? I personally feel that it has something to do with
electrical signals coming to and from the brains of those involved. In much the
same way that sound is but a vibration interpreted by the brain, it could be that
all sensory phenomena experienced in the Astral is the result of a direct feedback
loop running from the Astral body to the brain. Have you ever had the
experience of knowing immediately beforehand who was going to knock at your
door or call/text you on your phone? Or have you heard a song playing in your
head only to have it come on the radio seconds later?
Could it be possible that these phenomena are somehow related?
The Bardo Thodol also vividly describes the “exit-symptoms” of OOBE
experienced by most Veilers. The powerful “thunderings,” “vibrations,” and
“rays of intense light” are among the most common symptoms reported by most
projectors and survivors of Near Death Experience. I personally believe that the
fifth Bardo, called the Chonyi Bardo, is synonymous with the Astral plane. The
difference between them is that in the fifth Bardo, the “Silver Cord” (astral link
to psychosexual energy) has been severed whereas Astral Projection occurs with
one’s vital force still intact and circulating.
In the Bardo Thodol, the dream state is considered the second Bardo realm,
called the Milam Bardo. This is considered by some Buddhists to be a crucial
component in any truly complete Sadhana (“spiritual practice”). Although
originally a Tantric transmission, this so-called “Dream Yoga” has become an
advanced level of practice in the Hindu, Yogic, and Buddhist traditions of India.
The gist of Dream Yoga, like that of the Bardo Thodol itself, lies in the
attainment of the continuity of consciousness. To get an idea of what this means
we need to imagine that the mind and its objects are like the weather, whereas
our overall consciousness is like the sky in which the changing weather occurs.
The problem is that we tend to identify with the changing weather and forget that
we’re the unchanged sky. This is necessarily a very crude description of the
facts, but it’s all you truly need to know to put it into practice. After some time,
this continuity of consciousness evolves from being a mere passing state and
becomes a stable trait of consciousness. In other words, it ceases to be
something that you do and becomes something that you are. This eventually
grows into the experience of non-dual enlightenment, or the realization that all
things are arising and passing away as unified parts of the same dance of life and
death, and you are that dance!
Remember that the mind, of which the brain is the physical embodiment,
cycles through three broad states (or weather) on a regular basis:
• Wakefulness
• Dreaming
• Deep Dreamless Sleep
For most people, these three states of consciousness are mutually exclusive.
The goal of Subliminal Cognition Training is to maintain conscious awareness
throughout these three states, giving rise to a fourth state (or stage?) of
consciousness that never blinks and embraces them all in one glance.
Next, we’ll look at what these states of awareness look like when put on
paper.
The Electric Brain
That tribal priests, some Tibetan monks, and psychics have access to worlds
behind the Veil is all good and well; but what’s happening inside the brains of
such individuals? Is there a way to measure and record such phenomena?
In fact, yes, there is…
In the year 1924, a scientist by the name of Hans Berger created a
revolutionary device called the Electroencephalogram (EEG). This device works
by registering electrical activity in the brain via electrodes attached to the scalp.
These electrodes are attached to wires leading to the EEG machine whereupon
the electrical activity of the brain is recorded on paper by sensitive needles that
scribble out the peaks and valleys of brainwave activity flowing along the scalp.
Arguably the greatest discovery made using this device was that of the Five
Basic Brain Waves:
• GAMMA
• BETA
• ALPHA
• THETA
• DELTA
An important fact to know about these brainwaves is that even though they
represent discrete states of awareness they can and do overlap. For example,
infants almost always register DELTA waves regardless what they’re doing.
Similarly, an adult can register high BETA while involved in some task, but
ALPHA may be present also.
Although I can’t prove it, I believe that future research will show that Lucid
Dreaming, Astral Projection, and various other psychic talents are largely a
product of Neuroplasticity, in which the adept creates new neural connections in
the brain and learns to combine, receive, and emit bioelectrical frequencies in
creative and novel ways (see Chapter Four). Since dreams are largely the brain’s
attempt at memory consolidation and the neural hardwiring of new skills, the
skills associated with Conscious Sleep are a peculiar case of a brain-function
rewiring itself to enjoy itself. That said, there are certain situations in which one
brainwave will predominate over the others. Take meditation, to give just one
example. Although all five brainwaves may register on a graph during a
meditation session, the dominant one might be GAMMA. Or, let’s imagine that
you’re fast asleep and hooked up to an EEG machine. Although THETA may be
present to a degree, DELTA might be the dominant brainwave. It’s helpful to
understand that the process of sleeping and dreaming is a cycle that repeats
about four to five times in a full and healthy night’s rest. This cycle is not merely
a straight line moving from awake to asleep to awake again, but rather one
which cycles and spirals in 90–120 minute intervals.
For our purposes, delving into what’s experienced during the sleep cycle is at
the heart of our inquiry. In the meantime, I’d like you to take note of the timing
of the sleep cycle. Why? Because what we’re calling “the Veil” is more like a
series of small windows of opportunity, and those windows contain windows,
too. In other words, there are veils within veils. In my own system, I refer to
these as Primary veils, Secondary veils, Tertiary veils, and so on. These veils are
just variations and hybrids of the Primary veils. We encounter them during
psychedelic trips, ecstatic trance, and visionary experiences. Our primary area of
interest in this volume is the Veil of Dreams and its sub-veils. I’ll delve into the
others in subsequent publications.
The thresholds which separate the different phases of the sleep cycle represent
a series of veils that only open for a small fraction of time before they close
again behind you. If you don’t enter these thresholds consciously your chances
of achieving Lucidity or Pellucidity are greatly reduced. This is especially true
during sleep transitions when Sleep Spindles, K-Complexes, and PGO-Waves
are present (more on this later). In my experience, Lucid Dreamers can learn to
prolong these brainwaves; surfing them, so to speak. In Part Two of this book,
we’ll explore a popular technique of Lucidity entrainment with which you’ll
teach your subconscious mind to invite Lucidity while asleep and awake. We’ll
also go a bit more into detail about the technicalities of the sleep cycle.
For now, though, just take note of the fact that the sleep and dream cycle
repeats many times throughout the night. Let’s assume that you fall asleep at
9:00 pm every night. The most potent times for behind the Veil access would be
shortly after you begin to feel drowsy, say, at around 9:30 pm. From there, every
ninety minutes marks an entry point for Lucidity, especially between 4:00 and
5:00 am. In between these ninety-minute intervals marks an entry point for
Pellucidity.
If Lucidity is the peak, then Pellucidity is the valley. In Part Two I'll discuss at
length the differences between Lucidity and Pellucidity. For now, just note that
Lucidity refers to conscious dreaming in which the sleeper takes an active role in
the dream narrative, whereas Pellucidity finds the sleeper more concerned with
and absorbed in the essence of the dream. Lucidity is primarily concerned with
the forms and scenarios which arise in the dreamscape. Pellucidity, on the other
hand, is concerned with the very fabric behind those forms. You might think of it
as meditation carried into the sleep cycle.
Another time-zone to bear in mind is 4:00 am when the sleep hormone
melatonin is beginning to diminish, and the brain is beginning to flood the body
with chemicals to wake you up. Melatonin delays the REM (Rapid Eye
Movement) phase of sleep, but it seems to create a sort of slingshot effect in
which REM bounces back with full intensity. Melatonin, while not necessarily a
dream inducer, certainly is a dream lubricator. That is, it assists in loosening the
rigid grip of BETA, allowing the Veil to open more tangibly into ALPHA,
THETA, DELTA, and possibly even GAMMA. For this to work in a way that
enables you to remain physically asleep and yet remain mentally aware that
you’re sleeping requires techniques which specifically target this skill.
The Five Brainwaves, along with their respective states of awareness, are
listed below. Please note that these are generalizations. Readers interested in a
deeper discussion of this topic are encouraged to consult the Bibliography:
GAMMA: Meditation. Learning. Paradoxical thinking. Microcosmic Orbit
(the gamma wave literally follows this meridian. See Chapter Nine for
more details). Compassion. Feeling blessed. In the “zone.” Peak
performance. Dream Mastery (as opposed to mere Lucidity, which is only a
state of alert dreaming, but not necessarily a state used skillfully)
BETA: Awake. Task oriented. Problem solving. Activity. Test taking and
exams. Socializing. Goal oriented.
ALPHA: Relaxed awareness. “Auto Pilot.” Resting. Reading. Musing.
Global attention. Zen meditation.
THETA: Dreaming. REM sleep. Creativity. “Aha!” Moments. Lucid
dreaming. Astral projection.
DELTA: Deep dreamless sleep. Pellucid Sleep. Coma. Hibernation. Fertile
ground for Premonitory dreams.
Some believe that the art of Dream Control lies somewhere between THETA
and DELTA. There’s some truth to this claim, but recent research out of
Frankfurt University suggests that GAMMA is the dominant brainwave for
consciously stepping behind the Veil and taking action. It truly is a significant
find, for as we’ll see in our discussion of various forms of meditation, Conscious
Dreaming isn’t so much a matter of dreaming colorfully, but rather, dreaming
colorfully and skillfully.
The interesting thing about this electrical cerebral activity is that it’s but one
part of a rather complex electrical/Etheric anatomy. Let’s take a closer look at
this network of subtle energy with an eye to how it might relate to our topic.
The Tao of Dreaming
In Taoist Internal Alchemy and Traditional Chinese Medicine, it’s known that
bioelectricity (Chi or Qi) moves in specific patterns and pathways throughout the
body. These “meridians” are intimately related to the seasons and tides of
Nature. In these systems, it’s believed that the nightly cycling and rebalancing of
bioenergy plays a part in the types of dreams you have. For our purposes, the
three most important of these Qi cycles are found in the Du and Ren channels of
the Microcosmic Orbit (“Small Circulation”), the energy flowing in the Central
Channel of the spine (Chong channel), and the pattern of Qi distribution
throughout the Twelve Internal organs/Meridians (“Grand Circulation”).
Bioelectricity flows strongest in the Ren channel during the daytime hours
and strongest in the Du and Chong channels at night. The Ren channel, also
called the Conception Vessel, runs from the nose-tip down the front of the torso
and ends at the perineum. The Du channel, also called the Governing Vessel,
runs from the perineum up the back of the spine, around the head, and ends at
the nose-tip. The Chong channel, also called the Thrusting Vessel, flows down
the central channel of the body along the interior of the spine, starting at the
Baihui point on the top of the head and ending at the Huiyin point at the
perineum.
The Microcosmic Orbit looks something like this:
 I’m introducing this to you now because we’re going to be learning
Microcosmic Orbit meditation in Part Two of this book along with a practice
called “Embryonic Breathing.” The latter works primarily with the Chong
channel and the former with the Du and Ren channels. The main reason I’m
teaching them to you is because Microcosmic Orbit and Embryonic Breathing
practices are literally Etheric System workouts. Etheric muscles support Astral
muscles. Furthermore, a clean and healthy Etheric System supports and fuels
Lucidity and makes it noticeably more mobile (more on this later).
It took me roughly four years of consistent practice to open the cavities
running along the Microcosmic Orbit enough to sense the circulation of energy
flowing along the Ren and Du meridians. Knowing how to cleanse and balance
your Qi after Vivid or Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection is an indispensable
skill, and the Microcosmic Orbit practice is a powerful way to accomplish just
that. Furthermore, Embryonic Breathing specifically targets the Chong meridian,
and is the fastest method I know of for balancing and neutralizing the intense,
and sometimes exhausting, energies of Subtle Body work.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, they’ve discovered that the internal organs
of the physical body are inextricably linked to the Twelve Primary meridians of
the Etheric force. They also discovered, through centuries of trial and error, that
the twelve organs and their corresponding meridians can be divided into six
Yang organs (positively charged) and five Yin organs (negatively charged), like
the two poles of a magnet (Some Taoists consider the Pericardium to be the 12th
Yin organ.) Just as the Microcosmic Orbit is considered a “small circulation” of
Qi (called Small Cyclic Heaven), the circulation of Qi through the Twelve
Primary meridians is considered a type of “grand circulation” (called Large
Cyclic Heaven). Whether this energy is circulating naturally without conscious
assistance, or one is consciously circulating it with a technique, both small and
grand circulations are inseparable and form a continuous energetic feedback
loop within and around the body.
These organs/meridians are also associated with specific emotions and are
most affected by them, for better or worse. They each have their own cycles and
times of night and day when energy circulates most powerfully in them. It’s
important to know how to cleanse and balance these meridians to some degree
because your “dream body” is also your emotional body, and intense dreams
dramatically affect the way Qi circulates through your Meridians and internal
organs. This is especially true for the five Yin Organs, which I’ll list in a
moment.
How far one chooses to go with these Taoist practices is entirely arbitrary, but
this alignment with the Tao helps dream and Astral development considerably.
You might call it the Feng Shui of the subtle-realms. To be clear, though, this is
NOT a requirement. Most people with skills in Lucid Dreaming and Astral
Projection know nothing about these Taoist concepts, although they often
employ them without knowing it. I only include it as part of my system because I
know it helps tremendously. These practices open doors not typically available
to the average Veiler.
Please don’t be intimidated by any of these concepts. It’s going to be easier
than you think. Believe me, one doesn’t have to be an advanced Yogi/Yogini or
Taoist Immortal to successfully employ these concepts. I’m certainly no master
of them! Neither does one have to work with all the Meridians to reap benefits.
The Twelve Organs/Meridians and their corresponding emotions are as
follows:
Gallbladder: Kindness. Cruelty. Joy. Cowardice.
Liver: Protectiveness. Cleanliness and Purity. Feeling Unclean or shy.
Lung: Sorrow. Fear. Openness. Clarity. Certainty. Anxiety. Vitality.
Forthrightness.
Large Intestine: Irritable. Grounded. Bored. Bodily Awareness.
Stomach: Anger. Endurance. Tolerance. Rootedness. Instinctiveness.
Excitement.
Spleen: Nostalgia. Fairness and Justice. Feeling Open or emotionally
sluggish.
 Heart: Protectiveness. Love. Courage. Passion. Morale. Devotion. Hatred.
Anxiety.
Small Intestine: Anxiety. Over-emotional. Moodiness. Enthusiasm.
Urinary Bladder: Lack of confidence. Peacefulness. Fear. Embarrassment.
Relaxation.
Kidneys: Sexuality. Élan Vital. Determination.
Pericardium: Protectiveness. Altruism. Devotion.
Triple Burner: Bodily Awareness. Sexuality. Appetites. Surrender.
Mortality. Survival.
(NOTE: The pericardium is the sack which surrounds the heart and serves,
among other things, as a lubricant and buffer for the heart. The emotions
associated with the chest area in general share the same energetic and hormonal
structure, so what affects the lungs will also affect the heart, and vice versa.
More on this below.)
It’s important to understand that the circulation of Qi follows an “entry” and
“exit” phase through each of the twelve Meridians. When Qi is entering a
meridian, its corresponding internal organ is becoming Yang. When Qi is exiting
a meridian, its corresponding internal organ is becoming Yin. This is much like
high and low tides in the sea, only the sea here is your Etheric System. This
energetic dance between Yin and Yang is the generator which powers your
behind the Veil travels. Without it, you’d have no fuel with which to think,
move, feel, dream, or go Astral. The Etheric/Qi network becomes especially
important when developing Astral Projection, and though it doesn’t seem to play
a dominant role in how Vivid your dreams are, it influences how Lucid you can
become and especially how long you can sustain Lucidity. Your Qi status also
affects the type of dreams you have. This is due to the powerful link between
your Etheric System, your emotions, and the vitality of your will/desire.
For our purposes, it’s not necessary to discuss the finer points of the Qi
network. All we need to know are the basic energetic rhythms of this network,
the corresponding emotions associated with the internal organs, and how we can
balance them after an intense dream or other Subtle Body practice. Emotions
behind the Veil can get intense, and it helps to know how to balance and
circulate the energies associated with them to avoid Qi stagnation or potential
illness. Remember, dreams are the cognitive reflection of the Etheric process of
rebalancing Qi (Etheric energy). You’re interfering with that process whenever
you have a Lucid Dream and manipulate the dream content. The same holds true
for Astral Projection. It’s an often ignored, but very important, skill for a Veiler
to learn how to balance these energies after stepping behind the Veil.
 One of the reasons why the various Yogas of India and Tibet use the Chakra
system is to show that all the emotions, along with their virtues and diseases, can
be grouped together under one central theme. For example, the negative emotion
associated with the heart is hatred. However, the lungs are in the same vicinity
as the heart (Upper Burner). The negative emotion associated with the lungs is
depression. It goes without saying that too much hatred will exhaust you and
eventually lead to a depressed state. Conversely, people often hide their sadness
behind a facade of anger. This leads to more depression and eventually to heart
and lung diseases. This shows the reciprocal nature of the energies within a
given Chakra area. We’re not using the Chakra system here because the timings
of the Meridians are often separated by many hours, the heart and lungs being
just one example. The Chakras become more central when cultivating meditative
skill and Pellucid Dreaming, which is more stationary than, say, Lucid
Dreaming or Astral Projection (more on this later).
Lastly, the Triple Burner has no emotion per se associated with it. The Triple
Burner’s feeling is centered more on issues of mortality and survival and is more
fundamental and consistent than the other “organs.” You may be wondering why
something like the Triple Burner, which vertically encompasses many other
internal organs, is considered an internal organ. The reason is that the Chinese
consider the biological internal organs and their corresponding Meridians to be
inseparable, much like the ocean isn’t separate from its waves and the sun isn’t
separate from its rays. The Triple Burner is best thought of as the metabolic
function of the second, third, and fourth Chakras (ascending), with their
respective cluster of internal organs sharing an energetic sympathy, as described
in the above example of the heart/lungs/pericardium matrix.
The Triple Burner’s Qi becomes most active at night. This is because the
energies typically burned up in the activities of the day, particularly the energies
employed in the digestive process, are now freed up to focus on the rebalancing
of Qi in the body. At night, in the cold months, when ill or depressed, or when
fasting, the guardian Qi (aura energy) and body heat shrink inward toward the
bone marrow and internal organs to protect and nourish them. This assists in the
burning away of toxins and the replenishing of hormones. I believe that this is
one reason why it’s called the Triple Burner.
In conclusion, our concern is primarily the Five Yin Organs of the Meridian
system as they appear to be the ones most affected by intense dreaming and
OOBE. I only include the Six Yang Organs for introductory purposes. That way,
those wishing to advance their training further will have a handy reference.
The Five Yin Organs are:
 • Heart
• Lungs
• Liver
• Kidneys
• Spleen
Now that we’ve been introduced to some of the rudimentary concepts with
which we’ll be working, let’s look at some of the dream types and how we can
spot, qualify, and ultimately use them to our advantage.
 Chapter Two
The Seven Categories of Dream

Below you’ll find a list of some of the myriad types of dream. This is by no
means an exhaustive list and the order is totally unimportant. I’ve only listed the
dream types most related to our topic.
• The Hedonistic Dream.
• The Physio-Etheric Dream.
• The Premonitory Dream.
• The Biographical Dream.
• The Archetypal Dream.
• The Educational Dream.
• The Astral Dream.
These categories are not rigid compartments, and they do shade into each
other more often than not, but for the sake of convenience let’s take them one at
a time. I can’t stress enough how important this section of the book is to your
navigation of the world of dreams and Astral realms. You may even be able to
add to this list sometime in the future, and I hope that you do! In Part Two of
this book, I’ll show you how you can use these categories to get the most out of
your dream journaling. Life behind the Veil can get confusing and it helps to be
able to make sense out of the kaleidoscope of phenomena encountered there.
The Hedonistic Dream
 To understand this type of dream we could do worse than to consult that most
notorious doctor of dreams, Sigmund Freud. Most of us are familiar with Dr.
Freud’s apparent obsession with sexuality and its expression in the dreams, slips
of the tongue, and body language of those who repress it, confuse it, or fail to
fully express it. In Dream Psychology: Psychoanalysis for Beginners (1921),
Freud wrote:
“The more one is occupied with the solution of dreams, the more willing one must become to
acknowledge that the majority of the dreams of adults treat of sexual material and give expression to
erotic wishes.”

Unfortunately, Freud seemed to completely ignore, or didn’t deem worthy of

attention, the subtler psychological, physical, and spiritual aspects of human life
as seen from outside his sexual theory. Consequently, he saw their expression in
dreams as just another example of the sex drive gone mad. Should one’s dream
be of a spiritual nature, for example, Freud would say that this was no more than
“sublimated” sexuality: the dreamer is unconsciously attempting to merge with a
divine personage due to unfulfilled sexual desires with a mortal man or woman
(oftentimes one’s own mom or dad!)
It would take a petulant child of Freud’s own Secret Committee, Dr. Carl
Gustav Jung, to break with Freud and reaffirm what he called the “the essentially
religious nature of the human psyche.” We’ll return to a fuller discussion of Dr.
Jung later. For now, though, we must give the Father of Psychoanalysis his due
praise, for despite his short-sighted castigation of all things outside the confines
of his sexual theory (he called other theories “the black tide of occultism”), Dr.
Freud was obviously highlighting a very common form of dream.
Up-to-date research on dreams reveals that Freud was, at the very least, onto
something. Researcher Daniel M. Wegner, Ph.D. demonstrated how the
suppression of thoughts and urges reappeared in the dreams and thoughts of
research subjects in his Thought Rebound Experiment. Basically, Dr. Wegner
and his colleagues discovered that whenever someone suppresses or otherwise
ignores a thought, urge, or intuition, the rejected impulse resurfaces in the form
of dreams or incessant thoughts. For many people reading this, this will seem
like common sense. However, many people are unaware of these clandestine
psychic processes. Add to this the fact that a great deal of our subtler energies
often gets tangled up in largely unconscious complexes: it’s possible to misread
and misplace our energies and their related drives, causing otherwise discreet
urges to tangle and intertwine. These “complexes” become what are known as
“neuroses”, “fixations”, “fetishes”, and so on.
Many hedonistic dreams, particularly the sexual variety, are influenced by the
increase in sex hormones during deep sleep. It’s important to understand that not
all hedonistic dreams are sexual in nature, though they’re almost always linked
to sexual energy. The so-called pleasure-principle is a complex phenomenon.
Many things which seem sexual have a non-sexual root, and vice versa. Many
hedonistic dreams involve flying, not the other “F” word. Indeed, flying is by far
one of the most coveted Lucid Dream of which I’m aware! Other dreams which
fall under the heading of “Hedonistic” are dreams about eating fantastic feasts,
breathing underwater, commanding the elements of nature, and interacting with
celebrities. The true significance of willful pleasure dreams is what they say
about the dreamer, namely what he or she feels is lacking in daily life,
addictions, and unexpressed energy. For our purposes, the take-home message is
found in the adage:
“All that is hidden in you shall be revealed.”

Taoists believe that our Third Eye became closed because we began to hide
things from ourselves and others. You can choose to take this with a grain of salt
or experiment with it and see where it leads. Properly understood, Conscious
Dreaming is a powerful form of Psychoanalysis.
Lastly, one of the rewards of learning how to manipulate the dream world is
that there truly is no limit to what you can experience. It’s just downright fun!
Having any adventure you desire at your fingertips and getting all of your senses
involved in the process can be exhilarating, even addicting, which is where
balance becomes a top priority. As one Veiler I know once put it:
“I’m not totally for it. In fact, creating dreams became something of a guilty pleasure for me and I
got a little carried away with it. I think there’s value in both playing with dreams and letting them
just play by themselves. The subconscious mind needs to be allowed to do its own thing sometimes.”

How far down the Rabbit Hole are you willing to go?

The Physio-Etheric Dream

To understand how physiological processes affect the way we dream we need
to know a bit about the changes our bodies undergo while sleeping. In Chapter
One, we learned about the Five Brainwaves and their measurement on an
electroencephalogram (EEG). We saw how these brainwaves and their related
states of consciousness can be self-induced by artists, monks, and anyone with a
little natural talent who takes the time to cultivate this skill. It serves our
purposes to understand that the body, like everything else in Nature, has its own
tides, rhythms, and seasons; and these biological seasons are intricately bound to
the tides and timings of Great Nature. For our purposes, one of the most
important of these bodily rhythms is called the Circadian Rhythm.
The Circadian Rhythm has aptly been dubbed the “internal clock” of the
physical organism. Without getting too technical, the function of this internal
clock is to enable the body’s chemistry to conform to the patterns of light and
dark one regularly experiences. A tiny pinecone shaped gland located deep
within the brain, the Pineal Gland, responds to the approaching night (or
darkness) by secreting a hormone called Melatonin which, as we’ve seen,
induces sleep. I’d like you to take note of the importance of establishing a
regular Circadian Rhythm. I realize that this is impossible for some people in
today’s jet-lagged world, but it really is worth serious consideration if you wish
to gain conscious control of your dreams in a healthy manner.
So how does one establish a Circadian Rhythm? Well, it depends upon a few
factors. For starters, working the Night Shift is the absolute worst thing you can
do. Also, going to bed at different times every night is a no-no. The best way to
honor your own internal clock is to follow the Sun. That’s all there is to it! The
bodymind is a creature of habit and will get used to performing certain tasks at
specific times once a regular pattern is established, so it helps to align yourself to
the tides and timings of Nature to see the best and most balanced results.
Perhaps the most well-known physiological process believed to affect
dreaming is the digestion of food, especially the food we eat just prior to going
to bed. Although studies indicate little to support this claim, they do however
show that eating does affect the way we recall our dreams. Dr. Gary Wenk, in
his informative book, Your Brain On Food, even suggests eating a peanut butter
and jelly sandwich before going to bed to provide the brain with the right
amount of sugar it needs to fuel the dream state!
Also, pay attention to the seasons and how they affect you. Anniversaries,
birthdays, and so on, also stimulate certain types of dream. Of course you may
have to compromise with the demands of work, family, and so on, but try to go
to sleep when the Sun goes down or shortly thereafter. Arrange your sleeping
space in such a way that you can ensure a good night’s sleep without
interruption, and align your body with the Earth’s magnetic field (more on this
later) as the pineal gland has tiny magnetic crystals within it that resonate with
the magnetic fields of the Earth, Sun, Moon, and other sources (called Pulsed
Electromagnetic Fields [PEMF]).
Lastly, make sure your sleeping environment is pitch black, well ventilated,
not too cold or hot, and try to wake up at Sunrise or shortly thereafter. Once
you’ve established a rhythm, I’ll introduce you to a technique called “the
4:00 am method,” which has helped countless people in their quests for Dream
Control, Astral Projection, and Spiritual Enlightenment (Chapter Three). With
this in mind, let’s examine two physiological processes you can utilize to your
advantage while practicing Conscious Sleep.

Breathing
While we’re awake the average breathing pattern is erratic with alternating
patterns of shallowness and depth. This is due to factors such as emotional
response, exercise and work, the neurotransmitter Serotonin, daytime
fluctuations in the Endocrine System, and ingrained breathing habits. During
sleep, however, breathing rhythms become a bit more predictable, alternating
between deep and slow during dreamless sleep (Delta) and becoming more
erratic during REM phases of dreaming (Theta). Unless sleep disorders are
present—such as apnea, asthma, insomnia, restless leg syndrome, and so forth—
this tends to be the norm for most sleeping humans.
One of the worst postures for breathing during sleep is the “supine” posture.
This is the posture in which one lays on one’s back. While great for Astral
Projection and various yoga practices, the supine posture is terrible for sleep,
promotes mouth-breathing, and puts unnecessary strain on the lungs. A
wonderful posture for healthy breathing during sleep is the so-called Fetal
Posture. Although we won’t be employing it in any of our practices, once you
gain some skill in Lucid and Pellucid Dreaming, give it a try and you’ll no doubt
see what I mean.
That’s not to say that any other posture precludes Conscious Sleep, only that
certain postures can adversely affect breathing and how much oxygen the Lucid
brain receives during sleep. Personally, I’ve found that the ideal posture can be
achieved by elevating the upper body on roughly a forty-five-degree angle.
Hospital beds, for example, have this feature. There are also Memory Foam
Wedges that serve the same purpose. In this way one can still utilize the benefits
of sleeping on one’s back without having to worry about the negative
consequences of doing so. This elevated posture is midway between lying down
and sitting up, signaling the subconscious to remain slightly alert but relaxed
enough to fall asleep.
Certain supplemental practices such as the yogic practice called Savasana,
Sung Breathing, Massage and Stretching, even increasing Magnesium in your
diet, can promote better Basal Breathing habits and the amount of oxygen which
the brain receives. In Chapters Six through Nine, we’ll give these practices a
closer look. None of them are necessary to begin working behind the Veil, but I
assure you that they do help significantly.
Digestion
 We’ve already seen how digestion may affect how we dream. But what about
Lucid Dreams in which the dreamer experiences digestion in a dreamlike
context? A rather interesting type of Lucid Dream, but one not often discussed,
involves a synesthesia in which digestive and other metabolic processes are
experienced as color, music, smells (very rarely), changes in body size, shape
and location, as well as all manner of psychedelic hallucinations. This is
admittedly very rare, as most of our dreaming involves a sort of numbing of the
physical senses as we enter the “dream-body.” In my experience, this type of
dream has less to do with the act of digestion and more to do with the
readjustment of bioelectricity in the body.
Anyone with an intermediate to advanced level of cultivation in any Subtle
Body practice is acquainted with the peculiar sensations which often accompany
the movement of lifeforce in and around the body. Whether one practices Tai
Chi, Yoga, Feldenkrais, Taoist Alchemy, or what have you, one eventually
becomes intimately familiar with these energetic/neuronal sensations. This is
especially true during sleep as the Gross Body relaxes and the Subtle Body
expands. A major storage center of bioelectricity is located about three inches
below the navel and three finger-widths inward toward the spine (more on this
later). From this perspective, one can see how the digestive process might
interfere with, or at least influence the movement of this energy.
Most Subtle Body arts share the advice never to eat a heavy meal before or
after Subtle Body practice. When we consider the fact that dreaming and OOBE
are subtle-realm phenomena it becomes clear that digestion plays a role in how
successful we are in consciously tapping into those skills. Indeed, the practice
known as fasting works to purify the bodymind since digestion “grounds” one’s
energies and slows down the circulation of bioelectricity. In other words, so
much energy is used up in the digestive process that there isn’t enough left over
for detoxification, Subtle Body exercise (such as dream work), or spiritual
practice.
One of the reasons why many sages advocate a vegetarian diet is due to the
muddying of one’s Subtle Body energies with the fear, karma, and “fight-or-
flight” hormones said to be trapped inside the muscle (meat) of the slaughtered
animal. At some point in the cultivation of sensitivity to the Subtle Body and its
needs, one becomes immediately aware when something negative has entered
into one’s bodymind. Whether it’s a virus, a negative environment, a malicious
person close by, or even the approach of one’s own death, a skilled Veiler can
sense it immediately. Digestion, being so close to that Second Brain called “the
gut,” occurs primarily at a center where this sensitivity tends to be strongest.
 ***
Before moving on, I’d like to stress one more important facet of the Physio-
Etheric dream type.
One of the functions of dreaming is to inform the conscious mind of important
issues happening below the threshold of awareness. You don’t have to take my
word for it; you’ll find this out for yourself soon enough. A great practice
involves learning how to spot these messages as they appear in recurring dreams
and your Dream Journal. Bear in mind that a dream symbol often represents
more than one thing at the same time. Thus, to give one example, a recurring
dream about losing your teeth can simultaneously mean that you feel powerless
and that you need to see your dentist. Or a trend in your Dream Journal of, say,
being unable to breathe can mean both a suffocating relationship and an
approaching illness affecting your lungs.
I remember having one Vivid Dream that foretold a terrible spinal injury I
sustained. I dreamt of a powerful brown horse that was being ripped apart along
the axis of its spine. Three days later I injured the thoracic region of my spine so
severely that I was forced to miss a great deal of work. The horse, a universal
symbol of labor, is also a symbol of virility and confidence in one’s physical
abilities. That the horse in my dream was being ripped apart along its spine
symbolized an approaching spinal injury that would not only affect my job, but
also my joy and confidence as a man of intense physicality.
I highly recommend the Subtle Body practices listed above. The books I’ve
listed in the Bibliography should be enough to get you started. Especially
recommended are any Subtle and Causal Body arts which train how to raise,
store, and circulate lifeforce within and around the body. I’ve been deeply
involved in these practices for over seventeen years now and can attest to their
ability to assist in Conscious Sleep. To be clear, they aren’t mandatory
requirements for a Veiler, but I’d be lying if I said they weren’t important. In
Chapter Six I’ll introduce you to two powerful practices for Subtle Causal Body
development.
Now let’s move on to the next category of dream. This type of dream is a bit
controversial. It’s called the Premonitory Dream.
The Premonitory Dream
It was the summer of 2012. I awoke from a terrible dream in which my wife
was lying on the side of the road in front of a building. There was a sign in front
with the word “Moe’s” written on it. She was trying to tell me something, but
appeared groggy or drunk and unable to form words properly. The dream had an
aura of foreboding to it, and it really bothered me, so I told her about it the
following morning. Two weeks later I received a frantic phone call in the middle
of the night.
It was my wife…
She’d been in a terrible car accident. The car was a total loss but she,
miraculously, walked away completely unscathed. Grateful that she was
unharmed, I asked her where she was and if the police had been notified. She
told me that she was somewhere in New Jersey in front of a restaurant called
“Moe’s Bar and Grille.” I suddenly recalled the dream I’d had two weeks prior
and reminded her of it.
She was just as shocked as I was…
The strange thing is that I’d come to live in New York only recently. I grew
up in Western Massachusetts where the Moe’s franchise doesn’t exist. I’d never
even heard of Moe’s Bar and Grille before! My wife and I marvel to this day
about how accurate that dream was in predicting her car accident. Granted, there
were no automobiles in the dream but there was a road, a Moe’s, my wife, and
an ominous atmosphere.
That’s four out of five!
When a dream predicts a future event, its technical name is Premonition.
These prognostic visions are more common than you might think. In fact, even
hugely successful persons the likes of Bill Gates and President Donald Trump
have cited premonitions as a major source of their success. For a truly
captivating discussion about premonitions, I highly recommend the book, The
Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives, by
Larry Dossey, M.D.
One rather interesting theory on premonitions proposes that they may be a
biological function that evolved over time. This puts prognostic dreams in the
same category as “hunches,” “gut-feeling,” “intuition” and “déjà vu.”
Most of us can remember at least one time in our lives when our intuition told
us something that turned out to be true, whether it was a person who gave us a
bad vibe, or a vacation plan that created in us a sense of dread, or just a general
feeling of something bad about to happen. Perhaps premonitions tend to be
primarily of negative events because the ability evolved to ensure our survival.
Like my wife’s car accident, there tends to be in premonitions a psychic attempt
to prevent emotional pain, loss, injury, and especially death.
I’ve been a Tarot card reader for over a decade now and I’m repeatedly
impressed with how accurate the cards can be in stimulating the premonitory
process, particularly in dreams. When I first set out to learn to read Tarot cards
my interest was mainly in their usefulness as a psychoanalytical tool. I noticed
that they were a great way to explore different issues in the life of the querent, as
well as my own, in that they provide a creative and fun medium upon which to
project the various issues with which we all grapple. Instead, I noticed the cards
were doing more than that. I’ve seen them predict pregnancies, job promotions,
infidelities, and much more. My opinion is that what we’re calling “predicting
the future” is just an expanded view of the present moment.
Besides the premonition about my wife’s car accident, one of the most
shocking premonitory dreams I’ve ever had involved someone whom I’ve never
met! The dream took place in the studio apartment of a good friend of mine. He
was sitting at his computer while a beautiful woman, a brunette of perhaps
twenty years, was lying down on his bed behind him. She was wearing a short
white skirt and had a tattoo covering almost the full length of her outer thigh. I
introduced myself to her and she told me, in a hippie-chick sort of tone, that her
name was Breeze. A few days later, I told my friend about my dream. He looked
at me with astonishment. As it turns out, he did in fact recently meet and start
dating a woman named Bree. The name was only two letters short of the name
she gave me in my dream, but it gets even more strange. Not only was she in her
early twenties, she was also a brunette, was a hippie-chick, and indeed did have
a full-length tattoo on her outer thigh! I met her about a week later and
confirmed it for myself.
Premonitions are just one example of how interesting things can get once you
step behind the Veil. After all, people aren’t supposed to be able to foretell the
future or meet strangers in their dreams before they meet them in real life. To be
sure, most people to whom I’ve told these stories think I’m either crazy or just
plain lying. Perhaps you’ve already had a few of these experiences yourself?
Well, if not, you will!
The Biographical Dream
Without doubt the most common type of dream involves events and
personalities from the life of the dreamer. Indeed, the dream type which hardly
needs an elaborate explanation is the biographical variety. Be that as it may,
there are a few key points I’d like to highlight regarding this category of dream.
After all, if dreams about one’s personal history-in-the-making occur on a
regular basis then these are precisely the dream scenarios we can readily tap into.
One of my most memorable Lucid Dreams involved a heavy metal band I’d
never heard of, my wife (she shows up a lot!), and an ex-girlfriend. We were all
hanging out in an apartment I lived in seventeen years ago. There was a song
playing on the stereo by a band which the radio DJ called Ichabod Krane. My
ex-girlfriend was in the living room drawing small cartoons on white paper (she
was an artist) while chatting with my wife. The scene was so utterly improbable
that I suddenly became aware that I was dreaming! I looked at my ex-girlfriend
and said, “Wait! None of this is real. I’m dreaming right now.”
To which she responded, “What are you talking about? Of course, this is real.”
So, I took her hand in mine, lifted her to her feet, and then walked with her
into the kitchen where my wife was preparing an elaborate feast. I looked at my
ex-girlfriend and said, “Are you ready?”
I then rose with her through the air, through the kitchen ceiling, and onto the
roof of the apartment building. She looked at me with a look of utter shock and
exclaimed, “Holy shit!”
And the dream faded out like a movie as I woke up.
The above is just one example of how biographical elements can be used as
triggers for Lucidity. I must point out that in the above dream I was very deeply
asleep and very Lucid. I experienced my dream environment and the people in it
as vividly as I experience them while awake. This was no mere reverie or
fantasy. More importantly, though, is that three elements of my personal life—
my wife, ex-girlfriend, and my old apartment—were present in the dream, and
the very thought of these three figures casually occupying the same moment was
so outrageous to both my conscious and subconscious mind that it assured that
part of the brain I call “me” that I was in fact dreaming! This sort of thing
happens to most of us in daily life. Whenever we find ourselves in a situation so
absurd or improbable that it defies all reason we often exclaim, “I must be
dreaming!”
Many Lucid dreamers consider Biographical dreams to be quite therapeutic. I
agree with this evaluation. Just think about that recital you messed up back in the
second grade. Or that embarrassing first date you went on with Mr. Right and
spilled hot coffee all over him. Or that creative project you worked so hard on
that never saw completion. Well, you can fall asleep and consciously ace that
recital. You can move Mr. Right’s coffee slightly to the left. You may even
dream a solution to that creative project gone awry. Personally, I’ve experienced
all kinds of closure and experienced a great deal of healing as a direct result of
lucid Biographical dreaming. There truly is no limit to how far you can go once
you learn the trick.
Oh! By the way. That heavy metal band, “Ichabod Krane,” that was playing
on the radio in my dream? I did an internet search on them the following
morning. As it turns out, they do exist. Sure, that could be a coincidence.
But what if?
So now that we know that Biographical dreams are a wonderful place to begin
utilizing the psychotherapeutic aspects of Lucid Dreaming, how do we begin
doing so? Well, for starters, instead of manipulating the dream to do as you
want, you can ask the dream to reveal what you need to learn from the central
issue in the dream. For example, I’ve had many dreams about my deceased
grandfather in which I became Lucid and asked him what it is he wishes to
communicate to me. I’m not necessarily saying that these were visits from
beyond the grave. Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t. In either case, the
responses were always helpful, and it was nice to interact with the man who
served as the only real father figure I had as a child. In one dream I even hugged
him, and he was as real as he was while living!
It often happens that a key figure from the dreamer’s past or present
manifests, not as a person, but as a voice. This is especially common during the
hypnagogic (falling asleep) and hypnopompic (waking up) stages of sleep. In my
experience, these are the most common times at which voices of people known
by the dreamer tend to manifest. Oftentimes these are nothing more than audible
psychological loops from the past replaying like a broken gramophone record.
These are also common “exit symptoms” of an impending OOBE.
If you’re attempting an Astral Projection, it’s best to ignore these voices and
sounds and focus instead on getting up and out. However, if you’re interested in
opening a dialogue for psychotherapeutic purposes, be sure to ask targeted
questions that are meaningful to you. The first question should almost always be,
“What do you wish to communicate with me?” It’s very important that you stay
in charge of the conversation and banish all fear or temptation to ascribe any
authority to the voices you hear. Simply listen to what’s said and then record it
immediately in your Dream Journal.
The Archetypal Dream
By far one of the most spiritually pregnant types of dream, the Archetypal
dream, usually points to where the dreamer’s psyche (the Self) is centered at the
time. Soul-lessons that need to be learned are represented by one or more of the
panoply of characters familiar to human beings regardless of race, culture, or
creed. The figures of the Teacher, the Guide, the Clown, the Hero, the Lover, the
Mother, the Father, the God and Goddess, and so forth, are among some of the
central themes we encounter in this dream type.
The famous Depth psychologist, Carl Gustav Jung, made the study of
archetypes part of the core of his life’s work. Who could blame him? I’d be lying
if I said that this wasn’t also my favorite category of dream. You see, what Dr.
Jung called Archetypes function as a sort of dream-like bridge between the
human ego and the far greater energy (I’m tempted to say “power”) of which the
archetype is but a reflection. I say “reflection” because the archetypes truly do
appear to use (or pass through) the medium of the collective human psyche and
its common symbols in order to make themselves known (or comprehensible) to
the recipient. In fact, the archetypes are unknowable. We only see the archetypal
images and their innumerable combinations.
The appearance of an archetype in the life of an individual or group of
individuals often contains trans-personal as well as trans-group elements. This
should come as no surprise, really, because archetypes are part of the collective
unconscious of mankind. For example, let’s imagine that the archetype known as
“The Lover” appears in the recurring dreams of some young woman. The
archetype will typically appear not only in that woman’s daily life, but often in
the lives of those closest to her as well. This will often take the form of an actual
man possessing all the qualities of the archetype as he appears in the dream (or
they will be “projected” upon him). The woman will be haunted by a nagging
feeling which goes on in the background of her psyche regardless of what task
she’s engaged in. Songs on the radio will seem to be playing with a message
specifically for her. The birds, the clouds, the streams, the waves in the ocean,
will all seem to whisper to her, “I love you!”
This emergence into the conscious sphere of a primordial force such as love
can sometimes become so powerful that others can sense it without being given
so much as a hint! Imagine that you’re a single young woman. You’re career
driven, logical, sane, and practical, when you’re suddenly invaded by this
presence, not just in your nightly dreams, but also in your daily life. To make
matters worse, you’re head over heels in love with…
Well, with what exactly?
In India, there once lived a woman by the name of Meera Bai who had such a
powerful archetypal encounter with the god Krishna that she came to believe she
was his wife. Dr. Jung himself credited an archetypal manifestation of “The
Teacher” whom he called Philemon for some of his greatest insights, and
claimed to walk with him through his garden having many fruitful discussions.
Jung also made it clear that he could often see Philemon as clearly as he could
see a physical being. Readers who are interested in the byproduct of this
archetypal relationship should consult The Red Book, by Carl Gustav Jung.
My opinion is that archetypes are entry points into the recipient’s soul, driven
by intelligences beyond our current understanding. That they contain what seem
to be universal human principles is confirmed by their oftentimes contagious
nature. For example, the “Loving Father God” of Jesus of Nazareth was so
contagious that it often effected cures, transformed entire personalities, and even
scared the wits out of (and eventually became the sole religion of) the Roman
Empire! The Islamic prophet, Muhammad, apparently had an encounter with the
archangel Gabriel so earth-shattering that it almost sufficed to usurp the tyranny
of the Catholic Church six-hundred or so years ago. Saul of Tarsus, at one time
one of the most virulent opponents of the early Christian cult, was temporarily
physically blinded after an otherworldly encounter with the disembodied voice
of Christ, an archetype in his own right (i.e., the Martyr). He then changed his
name to Paul (St. Paul of the New Testament) and became one of the most
passionate Christians known to history.
Many times it happens that to be in the grip of an archetype is to have psychic
access to that which the archetype represents. Taken far enough, this can border
on the prophetic and paranormal, as the above examples illustrate. However, the
true importance of the emergence of an archetypal image in dreams has more to
do with the lesson it carries with it for the dreamer. Next, we’ll examine
Educational Dreams and see how archetypes might be used to enhance the
transformative power of dreams.
The Educational Dream
Of all the things for which journaling is useful, the first that comes to mind is
the recognition of patterns over time. Symbols, characters, and recurring themes
are an extremely common facet of a vivid dream life and learning to spot and
decipher what they mean is an invaluable tool for personal growth. Therefore,
keeping a descriptive and regular Dream Journal is extremely important. Not
only that but cultivating the ability to become Lucid and communicate with these
dream figures, navigate the dreamscapes, and consciously scan the environment
of the dream for lessons, messages, and the solution to various problems,
represents a real milestone in one’s psychic development.
The Educational dream type takes on many different forms, some not so
obvious at first blush. However, one needn’t become an expert at interpreting
dreams to spot them and work with them in a constructive way. For our
purposes, there are three key points to learning from dreams. First, mostly all
creative problem-solving in dreams occurs when THETA brainwaves
predominate. Granted, one isn’t necessarily Lucid when these dreams occur, but
by way of dream-recall and journaling many patterns can be detected and
messages decoded. Second, when one is having a Lucid Dream, then GAMMA
brainwaves predominate. As we’ve already seen, GAMMA waves are
associated with vision-logic and intuitive problem solving due to greater
hemispheric synchronization in the brain. What that means is that you are
present in the dream to learn and respond directly to challenges and insights.
Lucid Dreams are also easier to recall upon waking. Third, once you begin
tapping into the Astral type of dream you’ll start learning on an entirely different
level…literally.
In my own system, I’ve identified four subcategories of the Educational dream
type. They are:
• Creative/Intellectual
• Spiritual/Moral
• Psychological
• Psychosocial
Let’s discuss them one at a time and in the order listed above.

Creative/Intellectual
Have you ever grappled with a problem the solution of which was so elusive
that you eventually gave up only to have the answer suddenly dawn on you in a
sudden flash of illumination? Or have you ever forgotten someone’s name and
remembered it only after you’ve given up trying? These Aha! moments almost
always occur in the shower, in the car or plane, on the toilet, or while lying down
to rest. That is, they happen while ALPHA brainwaves predominate. Why?
Well, when it comes to ALPHA, it’s your worst enemy when trying to learn
something new, but your best friend when trying to remember something you
already know. Therefore, trying to remember a dream is an exercise in futility.
You become like the fabled centipede who forgot how to walk because a
mischievous toad asked him how it’s possible to walk with so many legs.
Because the centipede had never considered such a thing he became self-
conscious and began to stumble.
When it comes to creative breakthroughs in dreams, the dreamer usually
forgets immediately upon waking because he brings BETA where ALPHA
should be. The best way to avoid this is, of course, to learn how to become Lucid
while dreaming. However, there are two more methods that can be used to keep
these breakthroughs from slipping away forever. First, don’t just hop out of bed
upon waking. Relax and lie there for a while and just watch the free flow of
thoughts floating through your mind. Second, get out of bed slowly and
leisurely. Third, open your Dream Journal and start writing everything you
remember about your prior night’s dreams. Do this as passively as possible,
avoiding any unnecessary cerebration or intellectualizing. This isn’t unlike the
mindset adopted by psychics for automatic-writing.
Many famous films, musical compositions, and works of literature owe their
creation to this dream mechanism. John Lennon’s #9 Dream is just one example.
Christopher Nolan, creator of the film Inception, wrote the film based on his
own experience as a Lucid Dreamer. The Surrealist painter Salvador Dali’s
famous Persistence of Memory painting came from his dreams. The poet Edgar
Allen Poe wrote many of his poems based on his Vivid and Lucid dream life.
The poems Dream Land and A Dream Within a Dream are the most notable
examples. As a musician and poet, I’ve composed music, poetry, and even came
up with the titles to two of my books, all from the creative power of Lucid
Dreaming.

Spiritual/Moral
These are the dreams which reflect back to us our system of values, priorities,
philosophy, and cultural ethics. Sometimes these manifest as one or more of the
archetypes, at other times as people we know, or simply as a moralistic theme.
Political dreams also fall into this category insofar as they embody one’s
political philosophy or cultural background. How self-centric, ethno-centric, or
world-centric this variety of educational dream is will depend upon the
dreamer’s level of spiritual growth. After all, what we value is based largely
upon our capacity to see perspectives other than our own or those which we
borrow from our cultural environment.
Pay close attention to who the primary focus is in these dreams. If the focus is
you, take note of what you feel more than what you think about what you feel.
Do you feel guilty? Elated? Superior? Inferior? More importantly, how (if at all)
does the theme apply to your everyday life? Also, don’t take this sort of dream
as gospel. It isn’t. It’s simply a mirror of your own values. The important thing is
to ask yourself whether your values are evolving or arrested in their
development.
The value of spotting this kind of dream lies in how honestly our
subconscious mirrors back to us how we really feel as opposed to how we think
we should feel and behave. The lessons of these dreams are found in the
recognition of disparity or accord between our moral code and our true level of
growth. What you’re driven to do versus how you believe you should conduct
yourself is a source of tremendous waste of psychic energy. There’s a lot of truth
in that old saying of Jesus:
“If thine eye be single then thy whole body shall be filled with light.”

These dreams remind us to be authentic rather than phony-holy. Even if

you’re a confirmed miscreant, it’s better to be a conscious miscreant than a
pretentious saint. Just try it! When you begin to see these patterns in your journal
entries, be painfully honest with yourself. At first, it’s probably going to be
unflattering. Maybe not, but most likely, yes. Just allow the raw awareness of the
facts to operate and go to work on you. If you resist then you’ll build a wall
between you and your daemon, between you and your subconscious mind. In
fact, it’s this psychic resistance that creates the Veil! Without any resistance the
Veil will simply evaporate.

Psychological
Obviously, all dreams are to an extent psychological. After all, the entire
process is a phenomenological process occurring in your psyche. Even Astral
travel is registered and interpreted by your brain and mind. So why include a
sub-category of dream called psychological? Well, there really is a specific kind
of dream that centers solely on the dreamer’s emotions, obsessions, desires,
goals, shadow repressions, and so on. These dreams are very difficult to tease
apart from the psychosocial dream because our personal psychology is
unavoidably situated in a meshwork of social interactions, cultural conditioning,
and familial ties. However, I think it’s important to treat them separately
whenever possible for the simple fact that how you feel as an individual is just as
important as how and when you choose to share those feelings with the world
around you, just as it’s equally important to be open to other views and
perspectives coming from the world around you even if that means having to put
your own feelings aside. So, a dream about your ill-tempered mother-in-law may
not necessarily include how angry she makes you feel, and a dream about how
angry she makes you feel may overshadow the various reasons why she’s ill-
tempered.
It’s important to leave room in your dream journal for both I and Thou.
A common manifestation of the psychological dream is that of repressed and
unwanted thoughts, urges, and emotions. Because these repressed energies can
never truly be banished (they are yours after all), they are projected onto the
world around you and appear frequently in dreams as monsters, angels, animals,
or people you may or may not know. We can repress our undesirable and
desirable traits equally. The technical term for this repository of banished energy
is Shadow. For over a decade I was haunted by a recurring shadow-symbol in
my dreams: a tornado…
To this very day I’m sometimes revisited by it. I noticed years ago that the
tornado would appear in times of insecurity and repressed rage. Today,
whenever this symbol appears in my dreams I try to become Lucid and
communicate with the twister or, if that fails, run toward it! Also, I ask myself
how or if I’m repressing my anger and fear and what I can do to open to these
feelings and allow them to flower and self-liberate. I also inquire where I might
need to tie up loose ends and create a more stable foundation for me and my
family.
 Pay special attention to figures in dreams that resist control. In my example of
the tornado, the twister would sometimes bend to my will and at other times
would conquer me no matter how Lucid I was or how hard I tried to stare the
thing down. In the former case, the tornado’s stubbornness was an indication that
I felt powerless in the face of some pressure from my environment and the
powerful emotions triggered thereby. In the latter case, the twister’s cooperation
showed that these forces had shrunk to a manageable size. Not only that, there’s
every reason to believe that by facing and subduing these recalcitrant dream
figures we plant the subconscious seed of courage needed to face the situations
and people they represent.
Lastly, there’s a big-picture aspect to the psychological dream. The nature of
the overall Self is cyclic, much like seasons. The psyche moves in spirals and
often has patterns of regression, obsession, evolution, and plateaus. It’s very
helpful to be able to spot these patterns. Just think about it. If you know that
winter will arrive soon then you can plan accordingly. If you know that a storm
is coming, you can take the necessary precautions and psychologically prepare
yourself for the challenge. In other words, by paying attention to the patterns in
your Dream Journal, becoming Lucid, and gaining control over how you interact
with the events and personalities in your dreams, your intuition will grow, and
you’ll be able to sense and creatively respond to the changing seasons of your
psyche.

Psychosocial
The psychosocial dream rarely presents itself without at least something of the
psychological element alongside it. After all, no man or woman is an island, and
we are inextricably linked to one another regardless of caste, color, culture, or
creed. From the moment we take our first breath we become members of the
Order of Co-Creators. As a direct consequence of birth, we can’t think a thought,
write a grocery store list, plan a career, or have a dream without borrowing from
or contributing to the social network that comprises humanity. In fact, even
before we’re born we exist as one being within another being, in the womb of
our mother. Therefore, it’s no surprise that our individual psychology is not so
“individual” after all.
That’s not to say that individuality should then dissolve into the system of
intersubjectivity and lose all sense of uniqueness, but we must bear in mind that
the individual and the collective arise at the same time. We treat them separately
because the language of crowds differs from that of individuals. We see this fact
even in small relationships. Just look at the differences in “love-language”
between a man and a woman! Or the vast differences in the communicative
capacity of an adult and a child.
It’s a good idea to list the psychological and psychosocial categories alongside
each other in your Dream Journal. That way it becomes easy and convenient to
contemplate and record them in the same entry. For example, if I’m having a
dream about wandering naked through the halls of my old high school in full
view of a pointing and laughing audience, then the psychological element would
be the symbol of my own insecurities (nakedness/being laughed at), and the
psychosocial element would be that of my old high-school. After a while you’ll
be able to distinguish between the two intuitively, and this intuition will spill
over into your life.
The questions that define the psychological dream are: How do I feel? What
do I think?
And the questions that define the psychosocial dream are: Where does this
take place? What are the rules here?
If you keep these differences in mind, you should have no problem spotting
them, teasing them apart, and seeing how they interact. From there, it’s up to you
to bring more awareness and care into these areas of your life and apply what’s
being revealed.
***
Lastly, when dealing with Educational dreams, you’re especially looking for:
• Recurring dreams
• Dreams that feature immovable, uncontrollable, and persistent people,
places, and things.
• Dreams that contain solutions to creative, spiritual, intellectual, and any
other kind of problem.
If these elements are present, you’re dealing with the Educational dream type.
The Astral Dream
Out of all the different dream types, none is more misunderstood, debated
over, and misrepresented than the Astral dream. Go ahead and scan through any
number of books on Astral Projection or Lucid Dreaming and the first thing
you’ll notice is the uncanny ambivalence of most authors on whether these two
are separate or the same phenomenon. Where one author defines Astral
Projection as a Lucid Dream in the Astral Body, another will define Lucid
Dreaming as Astral Projection in the Dream Body.
Some authors even distinguish between Astral Projection and OOBE, dubbing
the latter an “astral dream” and the former a 100% pure Astral journey into the
physical world or the so-called Astral Planes. To be honest, I don’t think half of
them know what to think on the matter. From experience I can tell you that the
latter view makes more sense practically, but neither of them can hope to make
sense empirically because there’s currently no scientific method to fully measure
and qualify the many varieties of OOBE.
But they’re all experiences out of body…
Whether you’re having a Lucid Dream, Astral Projection, or a Near Death
Experience, you’re still experiencing yourself as existing separately from your
physical body. Furthermore, in all of these experiences, you’re fully conscious
and aware of what’s happening. You’re not asleep, at least not cognitively. Also,
the only true way to know and apply the differences between an Astral Dream,
Astral Projection, and a Lucid Dream is to test the beings, times, and events
encountered in each and confirm or refute them as existing solely in the mind or
as separate phenomena. For example, I once did this by looking at the time on
my stove’s digital clock after going Astral. The time read 5:37 am. I then came
back to my physical body, woke up, and walked into the kitchen to check the
time. The clock read 5:40 am.
The exact amount of time it would’ve taken me to go from the Astral to
waking up and walking into the kitchen is approximately three minutes!
Coincidence? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Regardless, this is the kind of proof one
should look for when trying to tease apart the various types of OOBE.
Unfortunately, this isn’t easy to do, especially when dealing with the Astral
Planes. The only exception is the validation granted by Premonition, details
given by Astral beings, or situations regarding events beyond the Veiler’s
knowledge which can be confirmed or refuted.
But what’s the difference between the Astral Plane and an Astral Dream?
Aren’t they two ways of describing the same thing?
Well, not exactly.
Recall the story about the phantom light in the Introduction to this book?
Well, therein lies the secret key to the Astral Plane/Astral Dream conundrum.
How so? First, notice that the ghostly light descended from the top bunk as an
obvious response to my childish fear of the dark. Due to the obviousness of the
thing, this serves as a perfect example of how a psychic element can appear as an
Astral apparition, but it doesn’t necessarily always happen that way. There are
things floating around in the depths of the psyche which, if we were suddenly
faced with their externalization, we wouldn’t recognize them as belonging to us
at all; but they do.
The point?
There exists an “in-between” state in which internal psychic processes appear
as external phenomena, and how to tease apart “I” from “Thou” in this regard is
one of the most important skills a Veiler can cultivate.
Consider the well-known “exit symptoms” of an OOBE. Most people hear
voices and sense presences in the room. Powerful vibrations and sleep-paralysis
are also extremely common exit-symptoms. Many people feel hands touching
their skin and hair. Some people hear buzzing, banging, popping sounds and
sounds that resemble an arcade. Sometimes the voices heard are familiar while
others are not. There’s almost always a feeling of floating or sometimes falling
or sinking. Now, the same exact symptoms often occur as one moves from
awake to Lucid Dreaming. These are simply the sensations which accompany
going behind the Veil, but are the voices and visions and sensations always
Astral? Or are they all just symptoms of a Lucid Dream?
Yes, and yes!
When you visit a new country for the first time the language and customs may
appear very strange in some ways and familiar in others. Stay long enough and
you’ll eventually learn the language and customs and what was once confusing
will become common. That’s because, despite our cultural differences, human
beings have more in common than not. The same goes for the Astral and Dream
planes. Let me paint a better picture so that the point is clear.
The dreamscape is a sort of intermediate state between the Physical, Etheric,
and Astral realms. The Physical has more in common with the Etheric just as the
Dream has more in common with the Astral. As one initially transitions from
awake to Lucid Dreaming, the sensations of the Subtle Body become more
pronounced. Feelings of sinking or floating, of being touched, vibrations, and so
forth, are all extremely common. However, once the physical body is completely
asleep while the mind remains aware, sensations of the Astral Body become
more pronounced. Here’s where the well-known exit-symptoms of OOBE often
begin. Now, if any attention is given to the voices or visions at this time, then
one typically either enters a Lucid Dream (where Astral elements may blend in)
or falls totally under the spell of THETA and has a non-lucid dream. Become a
little more experienced with Dream Control and you’ll eventually come to see
the difference between psychological and Astral Dream phenomena. It takes
time and consistent practice, but this much is clear:
Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection are two different experiences and
render different data.
They might be two expressions of the same dissociative reflex, but in practice
Lucid Dreaming belongs to the Veil of Dreams and Astral Projection belongs to
the Veil of Ghosts.
 But what if one wishes to bypass the Lucid Dream and have an Astral
Projection? The trick is simple but not at all easy. What you must do is this:
Ignore the exit-symptoms!
That’s right. Pay no attention to the vibrations or the voices or visions. A very
difficult thing to do because for most people these are nothing short of hypnotic.
I can’t tell you how many times I’d lay down in bed, eager to step behind the
Veil, only to stop at the brink of success because of good ole’ fashioned laziness.
It can still be difficult at times, but time has given me an almost cavalier attitude
toward exit-symptoms. As with anything else worth doing, fear is just a mask
worn by wonder to test your readiness to enjoy her.
Now let’s take a closer look at this thing called Out of Body Experience, shall
we? In the following chapter we’ll go somewhat in-depth about some of the
more controversial aspects of Astral Projection and Lucid Dreaming. We’ll
discuss the controversial topic of “entities” and other ghostly encounters. We’ll
learn a bit more about the differences and similarities between Astral and Lucid.
Finally, I’ll give some personal examples of where the line between them blurs
or disappears altogether.
Let’s get started!
 Chapter Three
Astral Projection vs. Lucid Dreaming: Signs
and Symptoms

As we learned in Chapter One, Conscious Sleep has been around for a very
long time. Whether in Egypt or Tibet or ancient Greece, we find examples of this
art scattered throughout the halls of history. However, the phenomenon known
today as Lucid Dreaming was first introduced to the Western scientific
community in the year 1913 by a man named Frederik van Eeden.
Here’s what he had to say about it:
“The seventh type of dreams, which I call lucid dreams, seems to me the most interesting and worthy
of the most careful observation and study. Of this type I experienced and wrote down 352 cases in
the period between January 20, 1898, and December 26, 1912.
“In these lucid dreams the reintegration of the psychic functions is so complete that the sleeper
remembers day-life and his own condition, reaches a state of perfect awareness, and is able to direct
his attention, and to attempt different acts of free volition. Yet the sleep, as I am able confidently to
state, is undisturbed, deep and refreshing. I obtained my first glimpse of this lucidity during sleep in
June, 1897, in the following way. I dreamt that I was floating through a landscape with bare trees,
knowing that it was April, and I remarked that the perspective of the branches and twigs changed
quite naturally. Then I made the reflection, during sleep, that my fancy would never be able to invent
or to make an image as intricate as the perspective movement of little twigs seen in floating by.”

Thanks for that, good Doctor!

Then again, in the year 1975, another pioneering scientist named Alan
Worsley performed an experiment at the University of Hull in England. He
successfully signaled to researcher Keith Hearne that he was Lucid. Upon
gaining Lucidity, he signaled Worsley with a predetermined set of eye
movements. Finally, in 1978, researcher Stephen LaBerge conducted the same
experiment and documented his findings for the greater scientific community.
As you can see, the art of stepping behind the Veil has a bright future!
That’s certainly good news, but what about research in the field of Astral
Projection? As we learned in Chapter Two in our discussion of the Astral Dream
category, the Lucid Dream and Astral Projection experience have more
similarities than not. Many researchers believe that they’re the same thing, and
one of their arguments is:
If Astral Projection is different from Lucid Dreaming, then why can’t we do it
while awake? Why must we first go to sleep as a prerequisite for going Astral?
Well, first, there are some Veilers who insist they can do it while awake!
Regardless, this question stems from an incomplete understanding of the Gross,
Subtle, and Causal aspects of the human bodymind. Asking why one must be
asleep to go Astral is much like asking why one must be awake to fly an
airplane. To fly an airplane, you need to use the physical body to operate the
aircraft, yes? Also, you need to be awake in order to use your physical body,
right? Well, in order to access the Astral Body, you need to put your physical
body to sleep.
Remember this: To have profound sensory experiences while you’re awake
you need to fully occupy your Gross Body. To have profound sensory
experiences in your dreams you need to fully occupy your Subtle Body. To have
powerful sensory experiences on the Astral Plane you need to fully occupy your
Astral Body, which is really just the Subtle Body made mobile. Put simply, to
have a full-sensory OOBE you need to put your physical body to sleep;
otherwise you’ll have one foot in the Gross Body and the other in the Astral
Body.
However, one’s neuronet can be trained and wired in such a way that it
becomes capable of housing true Astral Projection. How so, you ask? Well, in
the 120-Days Curriculum I’ll be sharing with you some methods for doing just
that. For now, though, consider the following study conducted by Adra M. Smith
and Claude Messierwere of Ottawa University:
In their remarkable experiment, a young woman who claimed to have the
ability to leave her body at will, was asked to prove it. What the researchers
discovered was, at least from a neurological point of view, quite fascinating.
They found that this woman’s brain was lighting up at centers usually
reserved for complex kinesthetic image processing, spatial orientation, and body
awareness in relation to the environment. In other words, she was really
experiencing herself as separate from her physical body. Furthermore, she was
wide awake while doing so!
The research team concluded that OOBE is a kinetic type of synesthesia. The
latter is a peculiarity of cognition in which one perceives sound as color, color as
physical sensation, physical sensation as smell, and so on. However, what the
researchers failed to deduce was whether this young woman was in fact having
an Astral Projection experience, or just a Lucid Dream performed while
physically awake. (Later, I’ll teach you how to do this.) Indeed, the latter could
very well be a unique form of synesthesia, but the former may not be.
My opinion on the above experiment is that the volunteer isn’t an Astral
Projector. Rather, what she’s doing is playing with her perception in a novel and
creative way that paves the way for true Astral Projection. With proper training
she’d undoubtedly make a fantastic Veiler, and her unique talent can most
certainly be used as an Astral exit technique (more on this later), but my guess is
that she’s not having a genuine Astral exit during these experiments.
I include this experiment here to illustrate how easy it is to confuse behind the
Veil experiences. An experiment on genuine Astral Projection would have to
include the test of real Bi-Locationality. That is, the volunteer must be asked to
project to a place he or she has never been, and then describe it in as detailed a
manner as possible. That said, what these two researchers demonstrated is a
wonderful example of the type of research that I’d like to see continue.
Another prominent researcher in the realm of Astral Projection is the well-
known Veiler, Robert Monroe, founder of The Monroe Institute (TMI) in
Virginia and author of the seminal book, Journeys Out of the Body.
Monroe was a rather interesting fellow, wearing many hats. He was a
musician, a broadcaster, a soldier, a father, a husband, and an entrepreneur. He
had his first Astral Projection experience in 1958, describing the ubiquitous exit-
symptoms of sleep-paralysis, vibrations, and a bright light shining on him from
somewhere above.
In 1978–1983, the United States military sent soldiers to the Monroe Institute
to be trained in Astral Projection, the details surrounding which are predictably
ambiguous.
Robert Monroe created the successful Gateway Voyage Program, which offers
a gradual system comprised of “focus levels” that guides the practitioner into
higher and more refined skill in OOBE. The program also features a TMI staple
called Hemi Sync, which utilizes binaural beats sound technology for assisting in
the OOBE process.
I purchased Monroe’s program back in 2000 to research his methods. What I
liked about it was the attention he gives to the loosening of the Subtle Body
(though he doesn’t call it that). In fact, I experimented with his method of
inducing an OOBE by conjuring the sensation of “rolling like a log” while
entering the first stage of sleep. It works wonderfully, and I use it to this very
day. In the practice section of this book, I’ll share this method with you so that
you might benefit from it as well.
For those of you who are interested in learning Astral Projection, keeping
your dream journal up-to-date, thorough, and organized is paramount to avoiding
the Astral/Lucid confusion. Remember, both Astral Projection and Lucid
Dreaming are equally Out of Body Experiences! The major difference between
them is that the former involves real Bi-Locationality whereas the latter tends to
take place right there in your bed, with the occasional influx of Astral elements
(“astral dream”). It’s my wish that one of the contributions of this book will be
to give clarification regarding this distinction.
Entities, Exit-symptoms, and Imagination
“There exists an ‘in-between’ state in which internal psychic processes appear as external
phenomena, and how to tease apart ‘I’ from ‘Thou’ in this regard is one of the most important skills a
Veiler can cultivate.”

The reason I’m repeating myself here is because this topic is of the utmost
importance, not only to becoming a skilled Veiler, but also so you don’t lose
your mind in the process. As the Introduction to this book has hopefully made
clear, ignorance of the mind’s film-projector-like nature can lead to all kinds of
trouble. Psychologists refer to this “psychic film projector” as a dissociative
state, and research shows that at least five percent of the world’s population are
to some extent dissociative. The reflective mind is, after all, a brain-function, the
sole purpose of which is to compartmentalize, split, and reflect upon perceived
reality. Of course, what constitutes a dissociative state versus a dissociative
disorder is whether it enriches or encumbers your well-being and ability to
function efficiently or qualify perceptions accurately. If you encounter
something strange or inexplicable during your attempts at Lucid Dreaming or
Astral Projection, and if you just take it at face value without knowing how to
tell the difference between what’s out there versus what’s simply a projection of
your own psyche, then you can very quickly lose all sense of proportion.
To illustrate just how far this psychic film-projector can go, allow me to share
an experience that I had with a Ouija board when I was fifteen years old:
I was with a friend of mine in the basement of my house. He had sneaked in a
Ouija board that he’d borrowed from his brother, a fact which would’ve brought
out the Devil in my mother had she known about it. But there we were, hands on
the planchette, asking if there were any spirits in my house willing to speak with
us. Nothing happened at first, but soon the planchette began to move to “Yes.” I
accused my friend of moving it and he accused me, but then something strange
happened. My friend asked the spirit for its name and, because it was close to
Halloween, I thought the name “Dracula,” and sure enough the planchette
moved to “D” and then “R” and then “A,” and so on. At that point my buddy
really accused me of moving the planchette, but I was innocent of willfully
moving it. He then asked at what age the spirit died. I thought of the number
“thirty” and again the planchette mirrored my thoughts.
The peculiar thing about the above account is that I truly wasn’t moving the
planchette. And yet it still moved according to my thoughts. There were even
times when it seemed to move ahead of my fingertips! How can this be?
Subsequent research I did on the subject revealed one plausible explanation.
According to this theory, minute electrical impulses coming from the nerve-
endings in the fingertips are responsible for Ouija board phenomena. This makes
sense as thoughts are also electrical impulses. Years later my mother introduced
me to a hypnotist who demonstrated this for me in real-time. She took a piece of
paper and drew the words “Yes” and “No” on it. She gave me a small pendulum
and asked me to dangle it above the paper, using my dominant hand, between the
words YES and NO. She then asked me to hold it steady while rapidly moving
my eyes sharply from YES to NO. Soon the pendulum began to move from side
to side without any conscious volition on my part. She then asked me to stop
moving my eyes and focus only on the “Yes” side of the paper. To my surprise,
the pendulum began to pull in that direction!
So much for communing with the dead…
In this section, I’ll introduce you to some of the more common “entity”
encounters experienced by most Veilers as well as a few of the more uncommon
ones. Rest assured that at least seven out of ten reported entity encounters are
without doubt a product of what I’ve called the “in-between” state of the psyche.
Like a movie projector, the clandestine activities of the bodymind normally
suppressed by wakeful consciousness are externalized and projected whenever
your brainwaves drop down from BETA to ALPHA to THETA until they’re
terminated at DELTA or actualized at GAMMA. This is also the same
mechanism used by hypnotists. These psychic projections can be so convincing
that hypnotized subjects can even be physically burned and scarred by
convincing them that they’re holding something hot!
After all, seeing is believing.
For the same reason, someone having a nightmare about drowning will gasp
for air just as someone might dream of going to the bathroom and wet the bed.
The only difference between a Vivid Dream and a Lucid one is that in the former
you’re reasoning mind is unconscious whereas in the latter it’s at least 40%
involved in the experience. The same holds true for Astral Projection: you must
pass through the Dream Plane to get to the Astral Plane. You’re making these
transitions consciously and are therefore exposed to the phenomena of these
liminal states. Consequently, you’ll experience many of the same phenomena
whether going Lucid or going Astral, as we’ve seen.
But the question remains: How can one tell the difference between an entity
and a psychic projection?
First, let’s assume for the moment that entities do in fact exist. And for the
sake of avoiding any religious or spiritual connotations, let’s avoid words like
angel, demon, or ghost. And let’s also be assured that these experiences are,
quite often, projections of the mind. That said, let me now list the various forms
these experiences might take and then offer some personal experiences to
demonstrate just how slippery this issue can be and how you might gain clarity.
My hope is that you’ll get an inkling, by way of illustration, of when you’re
dealing with a psychic projection and when you might be dealing with
something altogether different.

Being Physically Touched

One of the most common “entity” experiences involves being physically
touched. Sometimes this takes the form of being poked, or of one’s hair being
stroked, or head patted, someone kicking the bed, or even being slapped!
Sometimes there are sexual elements to the experience. The usual response is,
understandably, terror. I mean, if something can stroke my hair then what’s to
stop it from punching me in the face, right?
What you’re experiencing, 99% of the time, is nothing more than a sort of
groggy Lucid Dream.
You’ll recall, in our discussion of the Seven Categories of Dream, the Physio-
Etheric dream and its symptoms. Well, what you’re typically experiencing when
you feel like someone’s touching you as you fall or wake from sleep is the
bodymind relaxing and throwing off stress. They’re in the same class as
myoclonic or hypnic jerks and spasms. Because your mind is entering or just
exiting the dream state, you interpret these sensations as being physically
touched, poked, and prodded. Sometimes these sensations indicate an
approaching Astral Projection, but more often than not they’re nothing more
than the symptoms of a Physio-Etheric dream. Depending upon your degree of
Lucidity at the time of their occurrence, these sensations range from being rather
vague to quite real.
 Another explanation, barring neurological disorders, is digestion. In my
experience, sensations of being poked in the lower back and abdomen are almost
always a direct cause of gas or some other digestive issue. Once I even felt
someone sticking their finger into my navel! Again, this is probably not some
evil entity trying to possess your body or steal your soul. Chances are it’s just an
undercooked potato or an undigested bit of beef, to quote Mr. Scrooge.
Lastly, the sensation of being stroked is typically the rebalancing of Qi in the
Meridians. However, I’ve often experienced this sensation when there was
someone in the room. I often sleep with earplugs in my ears because my wife’s
an insomniac and frequently moves about the house throughout the night. I wake
up for work every morning at 5:30 am, hence the earplugs. Well, there have been
a few times I’ve been awoken from sleep because of the “skin stroking”
sensation only to find that my wife had just walked into the room. It wasn’t the
wind because I sleep with the covers on, so my Etheric energy was probably
reacting to her presence. That said, you’ll probably notice that the sensation of
being stroked is strongest during the Autumn and Winter seasons or in any cold
and dry climate. This seems to have something to do with the peculiar
relationship between Qi and bioelectricity. Also, if there are any powerful
Electromagnetic Field (EMF) sources near your sleeping space such as WiFi, a
cell phone, an electrical outlet in use, a digital meter on your home, or a
plugged-in laptop, those will also produce much of the phenomena associated
with entities.
So, until your bed sheets are ripped off of you by unseen forces or you wake
up with your bed levitating five feet in the air, don’t worry! You’ll be okay.

Feeling Presences in the Room

In his classic book, The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James
describes the experience of felt presences in the room as told to him by one
correspondent. He writes:
“An intimate friend of mine, one of the keenest intellects I know, has had several experiences of this
sort. He writes as follows in response to my inquiries:
“ ‘I have several times within the past few years felt the so-called ‘consciousness of a presence.’
The experiences which I have in mind are clearly distinguishable from another kind of experience
which I have had very frequently, and which I fancy many persons would also call the
‘consciousness of a presence.’ But the difference for me between the two sets of experience is as
great as the difference between feeling a slight warmth originating I know not where and standing in
the midst of a conflagration with all the ordinary senses alert.’ ”

In other words, the feeling that you’re being followed or stared at from across
a crowded room is quite different from the feeling of an unseen presence in your
room at night. Curiously, this type of “entity encounter” is one which happens
not only while in bed but also while awake. More than any other version of the
entity phenomenon, the feeling of a distinct but unseen presence is the one most
often reported by people.
The thing which makes the presence so alarming, besides the obvious
invasion factor, is that it’s almost always accompanied by a specific ambience or
mood. Sometimes the feeling is one of unutterable peace, sometimes joy or love,
and at other times the mood is quite malicious and evil. Rarely, one first feels the
presence and is then physically touched or spoken to. In such a case one’s nerves
are justifiably shaken. Whether pleasant or terrifying, the awareness of an
unseen presence coupled with the sound of a voice or the sensation of being
touched, leaves quite an impression on even the soundest of minds.
Are we dealing with an entity in these cases? Or is this just the good ole’ film-
projector playing a new movie? Should we contact a spirit medium or priest to
come “cleanse” our home? Or maybe burn some sage and recite the rosary?
Well, to be honest, it’s when those methods don’t work that you should begin to
worry! Why? Because if what you’re dealing with is truly a projection of your
own mind then by your mind it can be dispelled. It’s that simple. However, if
what you’re dealing with isn’t a product of your psyche and does exist apart
from you, then chances are it’s going to resist a little. Think about it: if
someone’s robbing you or invading your home do you think praying will
convince them to stop? No! On the other hand, if the presence is a product or
your mind, then it will almost always flee or dissolve when confronted by a firm
and fearless command. In fact, the test which I give to determine whether I’m
dealing with a genuine entity or just a chimera of my psyche is this: project a
feeling of compassion and joy towards it! Even if the presence doesn’t disappear
altogether it’ll change its form to fit your mood.
I’ve been confronted by monsters that I was certain were real. I’ve projected
kindness towards them only to watch them transform into sorrowful and
wounded creatures. How can this be? Well, my conclusion is that the so-called
monsters were really just projections of my own wounded self, hiding sorrow
behind malice. To be sure, that hasn’t always been the case, but often it has.
The presence experience is one of those things best evaluated by two people.
This is where sharing a bed with someone can help. If you both feel a presence
in the room at the same time, then you might be dealing with a genuine entity.
Alas, this is very rare.
Hearing Disembodied Voices
Hearing voices is one of those things that tends to make people question their
sanity before they question their spiritual safety. Be that as it may, when one is
dabbling in practices such as Astral Projection, Lucid Dreaming, and other
behind the Veil activities, hearing voices can be especially frightening. This is
usually due to the association of psychic skills with unseen forces. Many people
have an ingrained belief that Subtle Body practices evokes denizens from unseen
realms. This isn’t altogether untrue. However, most of these encounters are
harmless. To be frank, most genuine supernatural encounters are misinterpreted
by the experiencer. Because we don’t know exactly what we’re dealing with
when such things occur, we imagine the worst and therefore tend to experience
exactly what we expect to see, hear, or feel.
There’s an interesting facet of the disembodied voice phenomenon that bears
more of a resemblance to picking up radio frequencies than it does to unseen
forces. Once you get past the psychic noise of your own thoughts-made-audible,
there begins an entirely different experience that can only be described as
broadcasts of some sort being picked up by the brain. Anyone with long-term
experience of the voices phenomenon will recognize what I’m talking about
here. Sometimes it appears that you’re picking up actual radio or television
broadcasts by some unknown mechanism of the brain. At other times it seems
you’re hearing the thoughts of other people in your neighborhood or the building
you live in. Sometimes the voices are of people you know, and at other times
they’re completely unfamiliar. At any rate, the voices sound and feel like they’re
coming from the center of your brain and not from somewhere in the room.
Then there are other times when you’re hearing voices, not in the center of
your brain, but from somewhere in the room you’re sleeping in. I’ve often heard
these voices while in deep meditation. Sometimes they’re malicious or give bad
news and admonitions, and at other times they’re quite funny or even angelic.
They usually occur alongside the feeling of a presence in the room, which makes
the experience even more spooky. Sometimes the voices will be accompanied by
loud sounds as if there were a party happening right there in your bedroom or
meditation space. There may be the sound of chairs being moved around and
people having loud conversations. Medical science has given this phenomenon
the unflattering title of “Exploding Head Syndrome,” the true causes of which
remain unknown.
Depending upon your goal at the time when they occur, you can deal with
auditory phenomena in a few ways. If you’re just trying to get a good night’s
sleep, I find that sitting up and doing some deep breathing for ten minutes helps
clear the air. Make sure all WiFi is brought to a minimum and that you’re at least
eight feet away from any plugged-in laptops or cell phones. Also, never meditate
or sleep next to an electrical outlet that’s in use. But if your goal is to gain
something from the experience, then try to hear what the voices are saying and
even ask questions! Then write down in your dream journal everything you hear.
However, if you’re trying to go astral, ignore the voices and sounds completely. I
know it’s difficult, but it’s important to ignore exit-symptoms during the initial
phase of Astral Projection. If you pay attention to the sounds and the sights, then
you’ll just end up having a Lucid Dream and your projection attempt will fail.
Also, if you’re meditating, obviously you want to remain centered and
unaffected by voices or anything else for that matter.
Whether or not you’re dealing with an actual entity, I find that the usual
approach of kindness, courage, and joy works to silence them. Wake up if you
must and change your focus from one of fear to one of courage and compassion
and just watch what happens. This is difficult, I know, but once you see how
effective it is you’ll never be afraid again.
Apparitions
This is one of the most feared of all entity encounters. When they occur in
Astral Projection or Lucid Dreams they’re almost always projections of the
psyche. Due to the mind-split effect, these visions can sometimes appear
external as you transition from wakefulness to sleep or vice versa. These are
simply hallucinations. Regardless, they can still be very frightening and
alarmingly real. So real, in fact, that you can sometimes even feel body heat or
smell perfume! This is just one of the reasons why many people confuse Lucid
Dreaming with Astral Projection and sometimes equate the two. It takes time
and experience to be able to tell the difference.
As far as genuine apparitions go, they usually don’t take the form of dead
relatives, spirit guides, or mythical creatures. They’re often much less dramatic
than that. Also, they tend to happen while fully awake and not while you’re
sleeping or just waking up. Sometimes they appear as fleeting orbs of light. I
recall one experience from 2011. I was sitting on a couch opposite my
roommate’s cat when suddenly a bright blue orb floated in front of me for a
moment, and then slowly drifted toward the hallway and out of view. The thing
that assured me if its authenticity was the fact that the cat saw it, too. He
followed the orb with his eyes and his hair stood on end.
I had another similar experience in 2006 with my ex-girlfriend. We were lying
in bed watching TV when a bright golden light that looked like it was made of
liquid slowly floated through the room and toward the window! My girlfriend
turned to me and asked, “Did you just see that?” I said, “Golden light? Floated
across the room?” To which she responded, “Yeah. What the fuck was that?!”
I had no answer for her…
 Apparitions can also take the form of something that resembles heat waves
rising from asphalt. If you’ve ever been on a highway during a hot Summer day
and have seen the squiggly waves of heat emanating from the blacktop, then you
know what this species of apparition looks like. Curiously, this is also what
Auras look like when you first start to see them. Before you begin to see colors
in Auras you’ll see colorless emanations radiating from the object. Well,
sometimes these emanations can be seen unattached to any body or object. They
behave as if they have intention, which is the most bizarre quality they possess.
I’ve sometimes sat and observed them for hours, trying to make sense of their
behavior. Sometimes they’d behave much like fish, swimming through the air or
hugging the floor as though searching for food. At other times I’ve seen them
hovering around plants and people. They seem harmless.
Then there are other apparitions that portend ill fortune. Years ago, I began
seeing what I can only describe as black light darting through the air or
surrounding certain people. They resemble ravens but without wings, are black
as coal, and move very quickly. What was strange about their appearance was
the immediate disaster that always followed in their wake. These little nasties
became such good prognosticators of ill fortune that I began to rely on them as
warning signs. Whether it’s a car crash, an argument, or an illness, these dark
denizens never fail to deliver. My wife began to see them too, and to this day if
we see them we’ll cancel our plans or be extra vigilant. If you see these black
lights before your Subtle Body practice, postpone practice for a later date. Play
upbeat music and surround yourself with positivity. Avoid negative thoughts and
feelings at all cost, and make sure that you’re healthy and in good company.
To see a full-bodied apparition is rare. Sometimes it happens that you see
other people who are Astral. Most of them are asleep and are unaware of your
presence. Sometimes animals and pets are seen while they’re Astral. There’s
nothing to fear. Just enjoy the show and embrace it as a sign of progress.
Possession
This is without doubt the most feared of all entity encounters. To see, hear, or
even feel some unseen force is one thing, but the thought of being possessed by
it is quite a different matter. Looking back at my childhood and adolescence, this
was by far the most traumatizing thing that happened to me. I’ve not found a
satisfactory explanation to this very day, and I’ve done tireless research on the
subject. As I began to say in the Introduction to this book, I used to suffer from a
terrifying waking trance in which I had little control over my body, mind, and
voice. At times I couldn’t even recognize my own mother or remember my own
name!
 But that’s not what made these episodes (let’s call them that) so strange.
There were psychic elements to many of these episodes; elements that simply
can’t be explained in any logical way that I know of. Two events come
immediately to mind. The first occurred when I was about ten years old. I had a
childhood friend at the time named Andy. He seemed every bit the normal kid,
but something happened that revealed a darker side to him. When I think back
on this experience, there’s no way I could know what I came to know while
under the influence of this trance state.
One night I was awoken from sleep by an indescribable sensation. To this day
I can’t find words that adequately describe the feeling. The image of a huge
boulder rolling over a toothpick comes to mind, but that’s still not quite it. It’s as
if your very soul is rapidly shrinking to the point where at any moment it’ll be
extinguished. In its place grows a terrifying feeling of fear and amnesia followed
by blackouts and a pervasive sense of danger.
This night found the ten-year-old me in the grip of this psychic hell. I can’t
recall how she was alerted, but my mother came into the room and was trying
everything she could to snap me out of it, all to no avail. Then it happened…
I started screaming, “Andy, don’t do it! Stop! Andy don’t!!!!”
My mother eventually managed to calm me down and put me back to bed. But
the next day she hit me with some shocking news. My friend, Andy, had been
locked up in a facility for disturbed children because he was caught attempting
to violently rape a five-year-old girl. My mother was alarmed, first at the
horrible crime committed by a friend of her ten-year-old son, and second
because I seemed to have dialed into it during my trance the night before.
These episodes ended abruptly when I turned sixteen, but they went out with a
bang. The second to last episode occurred when I was fourteen years old. My
brother had decided that it would be a fun idea to sneak three of his friends into
the house while the adults were sleeping. His bedroom was in the basement of
the house, so it was easy to sneak them in through the hatch way without making
too much noise. My brother asked me to stand guard for a little while, and to
alert them should our mother wake up and come downstairs. He asked me to do
this by whispering through the floor vent that ran from the hallway floor into the
basement.
I agreed…
After my brother had successfully sneaked his friends in, I fell asleep on the
couch in the living room. Then, suddenly, I awoke to find myself walking slowly
up the stairs to my mother’s bedroom. I was covered in sweat and my body felt
like it was being dragged up the stairs by some foreign energy. I felt like I was
lost inside myself, in some dark cavern of my being.
 I was terrified…
When I reached my mother’s bedroom, I opened the door and begged my
mother to wake up. I kept saying, “They’re downstairs! You need to go
downstairs now!!!” At this point my stepfather, who had to wake up for work at
4:00 am, was angry, but my mother got up and ran toward me. Something about
my demeanor must have alerted her to what was happening to me because I can
remember her trying to shake me. For some reason, though, it hurt me when she
touched me. It wasn’t a physical pain either. It was something else I can’t
describe. To this day she insists that it was because whatever was inside of me
sensed the Holy Spirit inside of her, but I digress.
As soon as my mother opened the basement door I snapped out of my trance. I
remember my muscles twitching violently as though an electrical current was
passing through my body. I was sweating profusely, and my skin felt clammy.
My brother’s friends were promptly kicked out of the house, my brother hated
me for it, and suffice it to say I had trouble going back to sleep that night.
Then the following morning brought news that caused a chill to run down my
spine.
As it turns out, my brother’s friends had brought a few occult books in with
them the previous night and were experimenting with incantations designed to
contact the dead. Using a Ouija board, one of them would recite the incantations
while the other two manned the planchette, and I was busy sleeping on the couch
in the living room above them. Apparently they were successful, and whatever
they summoned came to me to put a stop to it! Whether or not this was a genuine
case of possession, I can’t say for certain. Still, you must admit, that’s quite a
coincidence.
As many sufferers of somnambulism will tell you, the feeling that you’re not
in control of your faculties while in a hypnopompic trance is rather common.
After all, if I gave you a few sleeping pills and a strong cup of Espresso at the
same time, you’ll probably say, do and feel some strange things that are out of
character for you. That said, and as you can see from the above accounts, there
are times when logic fails, and mystery begins. However, these experiences are
rare. They do happen though, and the only advice I can give you is this:
Raise your energetic vibration to that of health, happiness, and above all,
compassion!
Your health will insure you against the nervous shock of unknown
experiences. Your happiness will shield you against the type of negative
thoughts and feelings which tend to attract dark energies. Finally, compassion
will transform your heart into an alchemical furnace capable of turning dark
energies into lighter ones. That way when thorns are thrown into your heart,
roses will come out of it. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that some of the
malicious encounters are subdued by a good hug. I know that sounds corny, but
it happens to be true.
One Final Word
In a future publication, I’ll offer an exhaustive discussion on Astral
Projection. I’m addressing the issue here, in a book about Conscious Sleep,
because the two abilities are so inextricably linked, and a discussion of one
without the other would be pitifully incomplete. Also, in my forays into the
myriad online discussion groups on Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection, I’ve
noticed a bit of confusion and misinformation on OOBE. As I’ve said, this
confusion is an understandable one. Still, someone needs to clear the air and take
the square peg out of the round hole, so to speak.
Lucid Dreaming is an advanced yoga when taken into higher levels of skill. It
requires a subtle mind and an indomitable willpower, but alas, it’s an ability
that’s at least 70% psychological and personal. The other 30% accounts for the
occasional influx of Astral, precognitive, and preternatural elements. Whereas
Astral Projection, on the other hand, is 70% preternatural and Astral with the
remaining 30% being the psychic projections of one’s own biography.
As you’ve probably guessed, being an advanced Veiler means that you’re
capable of both Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection. Few, but some, achieve
Astral Projection first and Lucid Dreaming second. Most people, however, will
achieve dream Lucidity well before Astral Projection. If you keep trying, follow
the methods outlined in this and other books, and consistently ponder and
explore, it’s my firm belief that you’ll eventually succeed in one or both of these
skills.
Lastly, when it comes to serious attempts at Astral Projection, the best advice
that I can give you is this:
Don’t be afraid!
Fear is the number one culprit for unsuccessful attempts at OOBE. If this fear
goes on long enough then the Veil will close, and you may never get another
chance to open it again. This is why I place so much importance on being
healthy, happy, and compassionate. If you don’t have these three keys, then
you’ll probably have some frightening experiences and may give up on your
quest. The best way to cultivate these three keys is entirely a personal affair. For
me, it meant a complete lifestyle change. I switched to an organic diet, moved
out of the city and into a more rural environment, surrounded myself with
positive people, and started a balanced exercise routine. I even changed the way
I breathe! This isn’t necessary for everyone, and being a Veiler wasn’t the
primary reason I made these changes, but it revolutionized my Lucid Dreaming
and Astral Projection practices.
What do you have to lose?
 Chapter Four
Paving the Yellow Brick Road:
Neuroplasticity and Conscious Sleep

Neuroplasticity
The brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections
throughout life is called Neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons
(nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their
activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.
That’s the medical definition of Neuroplasticity, a hot-topic nowadays getting
press from virtually every field of endeavor. Whether we’re talking about sports,
spirituality, business, art, physical therapy, or dog training, the discovery that the
bodymind, especially the brain, is capable of creatively rewiring itself in new
and undreamed of ways is currently stealing the show.
One of the most fascinating discoveries in Neuroplasticity research involves
the power of imagination. In 1985, a neuroscientist named Alvaro Pascual-Leone
performed an experiment that proved the power of imagination over synaptic
development in the brain. The experiment involved two groups of volunteers.
The first group was given a five-finger piano exercise to practice for two hours
every day for a predetermined period. When the time was up, the volunteers
were brought to the lab and their brains scanned for any cortical changes that
may have occurred because of the piano practice. They found that the areas of
the cortex responsible for learning the piano exercise had not only been refined,
but had also spread to surrounding areas of the brain, essentially rewiring it to
“house” the newly acquired piano skills.
But wait, there’s more!
Pascual-Leone then took another group of volunteers and gave them the same
piano exercise, only this time they weren’t given pianos to practice on. Instead
they were told to simply imagine, as vividly as possible, what it might feel and
look like were they to practice the exercise on a real piano. The results were
astonishing. When the volunteers were brought to the lab, and their brains
examined for cortical changes, the same synaptic refinements observed in the
group of volunteers that had practiced on real pianos had also taken place in the
brains of those who had only imagined doing so!
And just like that, Alvaro Pascual Leone proved mind-over-matter.
This remarkable finding soon spread to Sports, then to Physical Therapy, then
to Academic Performance, and finally to Spirituality and the Arts.
Hypnotists also utilize this mechanism with clients suffering from addiction,
obsessive compulsive disorder, learning disabilities, social anxiety, and so on.
Granted, they may not think about it in those terms, but that’s exactly what
they’re doing. The interesting thing about hypnotism is that it’s essentially a
Lucid Dream in which the Hypnotist guides the client into low-grade Lucidity.
Hypnotism works by utilizing what neuroscience refers to as the “top down”
affect, which is simply their way of saying “mind over matter.” In other words,
intention and vivid imagination come together to influence physical changes in
the nervous system.
When this volition is carried through both awake and sleeping states then the
effect is doubled!
Remember when I said that Veilers have a unique anatomy? Well, the
anatomy I was referring to is acquired through neuroplasticity. That’s the
physical part anyway; but you must start from there or you’ll have no foundation
upon which to build your skills, whether your goal is to dream vividly, lucidly,
or to go Astral. So, the take-home message is this:
Unless you rewire yourself to make it happen, you won’t succeed.
In this chapter, I’d like to bring Part One of this book to a close with an in-
depth discussion of the topic of Neuroplasticity and Dream Mastery. It’s my
belief that human beings, sometime in the distant future, will generally have
access to skills such as Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection. When enough
people acquire these abilities they’ll soon be shared by the collective humanity.
Neuroplasticity and OOBE
What if I told you that, in your entire lifetime, you’ll probably spend up to
229,961 hours of your life in unconscious sleep? If you’ll meet the average life
expectancy, and if you’ll get a healthy eight hours of sleep per night for the rest
of your life, then that’s about how many unlived hours of your life you’ll be left
with. Why? Because that’s an estimate of how many hours we spend sleeping in
a single lifetime. Think about it for a minute.
That’s one-third of your life!
That’s roughly twenty-six years of unused potential squandered in
unconscious sleeping and dreaming. Granted, a full eight hours of rest is
essential and difficult enough for most people in today’s jet-set world, but just
think about what you could accomplish in twenty-six years of willful and
productive activity.
My first-hand experience of Neuroplasticity began in my second year of
Internal Martial Arts training. After years of using my body in an unskillful
manner, the basic body-mechanics of Taijiquan (popularly known as Tai Chi)
came as something of a culture shock. In Taijiquan, the use of muscular
contraction is brought to a minimum and is replaced by muscular extension. This
requires a profound relaxation of the musculature of the body so that the
connective tissue can unify the body’s structure from head to toe. Anyone who’s
ever seriously confronted this training knows just how difficult this can be.
When I first began studying Taijiquan, I was in awe of my teacher’s abilities.
With little effort he could send powerful shockwaves through my body,
sometimes targeting specific organs, while leaving the rest of my body
completely unaffected. It was as if his body were made of some sort of powerful
rubber; that is, there wasn’t any hardness or rigidity in his movements to signify
martial intent. Rather, it felt as though he had powerful waves of force rippling
through his bodily structure, and he was issuing that force into my body with an
invisible whip-like power. When I asked my teacher how he was accomplishing
these feats, he asked me to perform the opening movement of my Yang-style Tai
Chi form, but with one proviso: he wanted me to perform the movement without
using the muscles in my shoulders and arms.
Um, okay. There’s just one problem with that request. The opening movement
of the form is a movement of the shoulders and arms! Naturally, I thought this
was an impossible request; so, I just stood there motionless, feeling like a damn
fool.
My teacher just laughed and shook his head…
It took two years of unflinching practice and commitment, but eventually I
performed that opening Tai Chi movement, and I didn’t need to use my arms or
shoulders to do so. Now I not only perform the entire Tai Chi form using
“internal” force, but I perform every movement of my life in that way.
So, what’s my point?
For me to learn how to move my body according to Tai Chi principles, I had
to first unlearn my former way of using my body. On top of that, I had to
maintain a constant and unflinching certainty that this new, and seemingly
magical way of moving my body was indeed possible. In other words, I made
the firm decision to perform every single moment of my waking life according
to Tai Chi principles. Furthermore:
I began to practice these skills in my dreams!
I’d have all kinds of dreams in which I’d be studying with my martial arts
heroes, and I’d perform each movement using internal force rather than muscular
force. I even learned, by way of Lucid Dreaming, a few secrets that would be
confirmed years later in books or by my teachers. Eventually, as time passed, my
body began to move according to these new principles all the time. My body
even rewired itself around previous injuries! It literally began to feel as though I
had created a new body underneath and around the old one.
Eventually, I applied this same method to my piano practice. I had played by
ear for twenty years before finally deciding to teach myself to read musical
notation. At first it was incredibly difficult, as you can imagine, but as soon as
my studies began to pop up in my dreams I knew I was well on my way! In the
same way I learned Taijiquan, I found ways to include my piano practice
throughout the day and night, even when there wasn’t a piano to practice on.
While on lunch at work, I’d practice reading musical notation. Sometimes I’d do
a mental scan of the Bass and Treble Clefs. And when the day was done, and my
head hit the pillow, I’d step behind the Veil and continue my lessons.
Dreaming was and still is one of my most productive times for practicing
piano!
As soon as I feel my consciousness slipping into an ALPHA state, I picture
and really feel myself sitting or standing in front of my piano. I’ll conjure up the
feeling of my fingers against the keys, vividly hear the notes being played, and
as my awareness passes into THETA it becomes fixed in the Lucid Dream state
(GAMMA) and I practice everything from scales to chord progressions to pitch
recognition. It’s important to be in an ALPHA state before doing this, otherwise
the mental stimulation will keep you locked in BETA and prevent you from
falling asleep.
Long story short, I learned how to read and play musical notation in under
three months!
The area that I really noticed especially rapid progress in was my technical
skills on the piano. I noticed that I’d wake up the following morning and could
play faster, more accurately, and in a more relaxed and leisurely way. When I
look back on it, I’m left in awe at just how much can be accomplished in those
eight hours when most people are snoring and drooling on their pillows!
Neurons that Fire Together Wire Together
In the year 1949, a Canadian neuropsychologist named Donald Hebb coined
the phrase, “Neurons that fire together wire together,” to summarize the process
of Associative Learning, an exercise in neuroplasticity designed to skyrocket
academic performance and overcome learning disabilities. Technically speaking,
the brain learns to recognize, repeat, and build upon previous experiences
(lessons) through the synaptic firing of neurons. The brain sends out a
neurotransmitter on one end and on some other end of the brain awaits a neuron
capable of absorbing it. You can think of it as the Yang and Yin of brain
chemistry.
What this means in layman’s terms is that whenever we repeat a task or
experience the brain recognizes it and responds by reproducing the same
biochemical elements needed to respond to it. This can either be a positive or
negative thing. For example, for someone suffering from PTSD, just the sound
of a door being slammed can trigger the “fight or flight” response. On a lighter
note, the scent of burning leaves in Autumn might trigger a flood of memories
and emotions associated with one’s first love.
In a sense, this is common knowledge. We all recognize this process
whenever we remember a person’s name or build upon a skill. However,
utilizing neuroplasticity to build upon our strengths is one thing; using it to work
out our weaknesses is quite another! Let’s take as two specimens my above
examples of the PTSD sufferer and the unrequited lover. In the former case,
we’re presented with an individual whose quality of life is severely impaired due
to the effects and limitations of chronic trauma. She or he may be perfectly fine
and functional in every other way, but the constant anxiety and high levels of
cortisol (stress hormone) suffice to keep this poor soul tied to the whipping post,
and how to unlearn that programmed response is where neuroplasticity truly
comes into play. This requires a firm commitment to revisit the original trauma
and the feelings associated with it. The difference is that the sufferer must now
respond rather than react to the familiar triggers, allowing every feeling to come
up without censorship, only this time looking at and behaving towards it in a
completely novel way. Furthermore, this new response to an old wound must
become a trend in the sufferer’s daily life. Eventually, according to the law of
Neuroplasticity, the neurons associated with the original trauma will dissolve
and rewire themselves to the new and healthier responses.
Neurons that fire together wire together.
This is simply a modern expression of the ancient Alchemical adage: “Solve et
Coagula” (Dissolve and Bind).
You might think that there’s nothing particularly “bad” about remembering
one’s first love, but what happens when every subsequent love affair is measured
against it? What if every time you’re on a date, or strolling with your wife or
husband through the park on a cool Autumn afternoon, you’re swept away by
nostalgia to such an extent that you become blind to the person walking besides
you? To make matters worse, what if every time you hear a love song on the
radio you think of your old flame? What if your first experience of romantic love
was so powerful that you see, in every sunrise and sunset, the “one that got
away”? You might say that this gives new meaning to the Shakespearean line,
“O what tangled webs we weave!”
Tangled webs, indeed…
In our brains, those tangled webs are the synaptic connections of our neuronet.
In our daily lives, they’re the behavioral patterns that keep us running on the
hamster wheel of our past trauma and psychological conditioning. In the
example of our pining lover, the experience of first love left such an emotional
impression that all potentially new romantic encounters were over before they
began. In this case love, as beautiful as it may have been, constitutes a genuine
trauma.
How to unlearn that?
A similar mechanism is at work for many practitioners of the psychic arts. A
common problem for many would-be Veilers has to do with something that I call
the “psychic moat.” I’m referring to the psychological wall that forms between
that part of the brain capable of perceiving subtle-realm phenomena and that part
of the brain capable of interpreting those perceptions. As I’ve said elsewhere,
children typically have access to many subtle-realm experiences. They haven’t
yet developed the higher cortical brain structures capable of filtering them out.
Those bricks haven’t yet been laid and the wall that separates the conscious from
the subconscious mind hasn’t been built yet. Consequently, and for better or
worse, the moat that protects most adults from the shadowy figures looming in
the outer darkness is something that most children swim in until they’re taught
or learn to be wary of the real or imagined sharks lurking in those waters.
Usually, by the time we reach adolescence or shortly thereafter, the psychic
moat has been constructed and we’re safe behind our castle walls, locked inside
the ivory tower of conceptual and ideological thought. This is often a necessary
milestone. After all, the ever-increasing demands of adult life are almost always
at odds with the clandestine activities of one’s Subtle Body.
But there’s another, far more pernicious, reason for the emergence of the
psychic moat. I’m referring to the learned and repeated response of fear to the
confrontation with the Unknown. As I pointed out in the Introduction to this
book, my own experience was exactly that. This terror continued up to the age of
sixteen, at which time the psychic moat was well under construction. It took
years of diligent employment of neuroplasticity to rewire my neuronet to regain
and sustain Subtle Body experiences. Of course, I didn’t think about it in those
terms then, but I now know that this is what happened.
Once the third eye closes, as it were, it can be near impossible to open it
again.
The psychic “block” happened despite ourselves and can’t simply be removed
by an act of will. Like all trauma, one may sincerely wish to gain or regain
access to the subtle-realms, but the reaction of fear can be so primal and visceral
that any behind the Veil encounter is reflexively rejected by the very core of
one’s self.
Neurons that fire together wire together.
This is where the exercises in Part Two of this book can help. They’re the
methods which I used to build a bridge across my own psychic moat, and many
other people have done the same to great effect. It just takes a little courage, a
little natural talent, and a lot of perseverance.
Mirror Mirror on the Wall: Marriage of the Conscious and
Subconscious
So that’s the physical aspect of Conscious Sleep. Alas, though, nobody wakes
up in the morning and says, “I’m going to have a very neuroplastic day today!”
Often, we as human beings interpret our experiences in a deeply personal way.
We don’t, for example, experience love as a neurotransmitter called Serotonin.
We experience it as elation, regard for the beloved, bonding, joy, and emotional
communion. Similarly, we don’t experience a Lucid Dream or Near-Death
Experience as a GAMMA brainwave or a series of neuronal firings. We don’t
experience our Astral Body as a “neuronet”: we experience it as a body!
This distinction between the psychological, spiritual and, in short, the
personal aspects of rarified experiences and their physical embodiments in brain
chemistry is very important on the one hand and totally unimportant on the
other. It’s important because, all too often individuals desiring to cultivate Subtle
Body skills focus overmuch on the phenomenological aspects of the training and
totally ignore the importance of exercising, nourishing, promoting, and
protecting the physical structures that house these capacities. However, it’s also
not important past that point. In other words, the real action and fun is to be had
in the cultivation and experiencing of these skills. In a very true sense, the
repeated experience of Lucid Dreaming, Astral Travel, and so on, is the very
exercising and creation of the anatomy required to perform them. That said,
without a balanced and healthy bodymind, and without an appreciation for the
organic unity between all levels in the garden of your being, as well as your
compatibility with the environment in which you cultivate that garden, your
growth as a Veiler will be lopsided, and possibly even dangerous.
As in all alchemical operations, Conscious Dreaming is a skill resulting from
the pairing of two opposite elements to create a third element. It’s the classic
formula of Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis, only applied to the realm of the
human spirit. In evolutionary terms, abilities such as Lucid Dreaming and Astral
Projection are developmental Emergents in the psychic unfolding of human
potentials. In a universe of seemingly limitless possibilities, as evolution
unfolds, new and undreamed-of capacities emerge out of the dynamic interplay
of opposites. When it comes to higher cortical functions of the human brain,
we’re dealing with a hardwired (and hard earned) method of learning. We call
this unique function of the brain, reflection. That is, we can think about thinking.
We have evolved brain structures capable of sending out a call, as it were, with
the bonus of being able to listen to the echo, and sometimes a genuine response.
Because of the unique physiology of our brain, human beings have a remarkable
capacity for learning, reflecting upon and combining what we learn into new and
exciting inventions, and then digesting all of it to use as fuel for future creations!
When it comes to dream Lucidity, to give one popular example, what we’re
essentially doing is taking our conscious mind—with its higher cortical
reflection abilities—and we’re turning it around to face our subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind is the repository of all our digested and undigested
knowledge and experience. It’s also the fastest route to the Collective
Unconscious of our entire species past, present, and future! Thus, by binding our
conscious and subconscious elements in a new way, we’re setting the stage to
create something new; an emergent called Lucid Dreaming. To be sure, Vivid
Dreaming has probably been around for quite some time now, but Lucid
Dreaming? There are many ancient references to Lucid Dreaming in Egyptian,
Hebrew, Babylonian, Arabic, and Greek literature (to name a few), but this skill
was probably limited to only a handful of people. Such people, as we’ve already
discussed, were often the Sages, Priests, Shamans, and Mages of their respective
societies. Furthermore, if you wanted to learn Lucid Dreaming or Astral
Projection in those days, you had to first be accepted as a student, have some
natural talent, and even then, you were often sworn to secrecy. Some people
even paid with their lives!
Today, we have an open exchange of information the likes of which has never
been seen. Interest in the realm of dreams, visions, psychic powers, OOBE, and
other rare capacities of the human spirit, are at the epicenter of a sort of
Renaissance. In such a climate, the appearance of evolutionary Emergents are
sparking and fizzing up from the depths right before our eyes. We experience
these novel capabilities as adventures of the soul, expansion of the mind, and
sometimes total loss of egoic boundaries (for better or worse!) As more and
more people step behind the Veil, as more and more people transform their
anatomy to house these new abilities, as more and more people share their
knowledge openly and without fear or dishonesty, humanity reaches new heights
of grandeur, and hopefully, new depths of humility.
So, there you have it! You now know the rudimentary details of Conscious
Sleep. We’ve covered the role of dreams and OOBE in Art, Culture, and
Science. We’ve learned about the Seven Categories of Dream and how we can
spot them. We discussed the importance of Journaling. We’ve been introduced
to the roles which the seasons, times of day and night, bodily processes,
geomagnetic tides, and bioelectricity play in Subtle Body development. We shed
some light on the so-called “entity” phenomenon, the differences and similarities
between Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection, and some of the more
controversial aspects of being a Veiler. Finally, we took a quick look at the
importance of neuroplasticity and the grounding of psychic and Subtle Body
development in physical structures and processes.
Before moving on to the practical section of this book, I’d like to reiterate the
importance of a balanced, open-minded, and healthy approach to skillful
Dreaming. Too often a person begins a practice like Lucid Dreaming or Astral
Projection without first checking in with all the other parts of her or his
bodymind. I can’t count how many times I’ve spoken with frustrated students
who’ve read a book or two on OOBE and have either had minimal success, or
worse, a great deal of success accompanied by psychological and spiritual
disturbances. Students are often shocked to discover that something as simple as
drinking too much coffee, or consuming too much alcohol, or eating too close to
bedtime was the one thing keeping them from successful Lucidity or Astral
Projection. Sometimes it’s something as simple as how one’s sleeping space is
oriented, or how stressed out one is, or even how close one sleeps to a plugged-
in laptop! (I can’t stress this enough.)
Lastly, the importance of establishing a psychological center can’t be
overstated. Making meditation a part of your daily life will quite literally
skyrocket your development as a Veiler. Also, it’ll keep you from losing your
grip on reality when you reach a certain height of skill. There are countless
methods of meditation on the market today, and each of them has something to
offer, but the best meditation method for Lucid Dreaming and Astral Projection
is one that centers the practitioner at the root of consciousness itself. As we’ll
see later, this is also the method by which one learns the art of Pellucid
Dreaming and represents the emergence of the goal of being a Veiler:
The continuity of consciousness…
PART TWO
 Introduction
Falling Awake: Stepping Behind the Veil
Now we come to the heart of this book. The practices I’m about to share with
you are the result of over twenty years of personal experience. They represent
the very essence of my own spiritual path and I trust that you too will benefit
from them. The material will be presented in a cumulative fashion. I’ll introduce
you to some powerful techniques to develop the proper anatomy for Vivid,
Lucid, and Pellucid Dreaming, Astral Projection, and other subtle-realm
activities.
Unlike many other books on the subject, we’ll be taking a full-spectrum
approach to Conscious Sleep, one not limited to bedtime. After all, and in a very
real sense, we’re dreaming all the time! This is not a book written solely for
those wishing to learn Lucid Dreaming or Astral Projection, but rather, for those
seeking a genuine transformation of consciousness and a more intimate
acquaintance with their hidden potentials. Some of the practices require a level
of commitment not everyone reading this will be willing to make.
That’s perfectly okay!
Not all practices are suitable for everyone and there’s no “one-size-fits-all”
approach to, well, just about anything. Simply proceed at your own pace, choose
the practices that pique your interest, and have fun! How deep down the Rabbit
Hole you go is largely up to you. There comes a point, however, when your
experiences will gain momentum and occur at a pace beyond your ability to
digest them. This is where meditation and the integral approach offered in this
book can serve you:
There are checks and balances built into the system I’m about to teach you…
Many of the methods offered here are pulled directly from the Taoist, Yogic,
Tibetan, and Tantric traditions I’ve personally used in my own quest. Others are
the result of my own spontaneous breakthroughs. Regardless, I’ve personally
experimented with every method taught in this book, and with great success, for
many years now. I’ve taught them to many other people, too.
I’ll teach you the ideal diet for Subtle Body development, the best nutritional
supplements and herbs for enhancing Vivid and Lucid Dreams, the healthiest
sleeping arrangement for Astral Projection and Dream Yoga, powerful
meditation practices, mind-blowing mental gymnastics, and a powerful sexual
method that’ll catapult your Lucid Dreaming skills into undreamed of territory!
The only thing you’re going to need is an open mind, a quiet bedroom, and a
strong commitment to practice. Also, a community of like-minded individuals is
indispensable. I didn’t have that luxury for a long and lonely time so I know how
much of a blessing it is to have people you can turn to when things start
happening. In the Bibliography, I’ve listed several links to various online forums
and discussion groups, including my own sites on Lucid Dreaming, Astral
Projection, Meditation, and so forth.
The practical core of this book is built on what I call the “120-Days
Curriculum.” Research shows that it takes roughly ninety days for most of us to
acquire a new habit. Many systems, like Tai Chi or Taoist Internal Alchemy,
have what they call “100 Days of Building the Foundation,” which is just
another way of saying that it usually takes about three months to learn and digest
the basics of a new skill. In the first four weeks I’ll teach you Vivid Dreaming.
During this time, you’ll learn time-tested methods to dramatically enhance how
colorful your dreams are, eventually incorporating all five senses into your
dreams. Vivid Dreaming is really the gateway to successful Lucid Dreaming, so
in the second four weeks you’ll learn Lucid Dreaming, which is the gateway to
Pellucid Dreaming (week three), which is the gateway to Astral Projection
(week four). Each of these four skills proceed in a “transcend and include”
fashion, with each new skill including, building upon, and transcending the
former skills. The greater portion of this training aims at carrying awareness
deeper and deeper into the sleep cycle. The reason for this emphasis is simple:
The ability to remain conscious throughout the sleep cycle holds the key to all
the treasures hidden behind the Veil! Everything from Vivid Dreams to Lucid
Dreams, to Prophetic Dreams, to Astral Projection, to psychic abilities in
general.
The crucial point to remember is consistency and perseverance. Without these
qualities, your development will be shallow. Follow the instructions as closely as
possible. If you have trouble with a certain practice, try to modify it to fit your
current situation, but do the practice! Also, if you get stuck on any point or
practice, feel free to contact me directly and I’ll assist you or direct you to
someone that can. Get creative, stay light-hearted but sincere in your efforts, and
you will be successful.
Let’s get started!
Your Fellow Traveler,
Daniel Kelley
http://behindtheveil.simdif.com
27 April 2017, 10:00 am
 Chapter Five
Mapping Wonderland: Formatting Your
Dream Journal

At this point, you should start keeping a daily record of your dreams. If you
already have your own method of recording your dreams, then continue. If you
see anything in the following format that you’d like to add to your existing
format, do so. In fact, you may wish to dispense with jotting down your
experiences and record your voice instead. This is an excellent method of
journaling, and I personally utilize a combination of the written and audio
approach.
The following format is one that I personally developed. I find that it truly
covers most of the dream Categories experienced by most Veilers. I offer it here
as just one of many options for recording dreams and Astral experiences, and I
trust you’ll find it very useful.
If the information presented in Chapter Two is still unclear, I urge you to go
back and re-read the section on the Seven Categories of Dream. Remember, your
journal can be as simple or as textured as you wish it to be. However you decide
to record your dreams and Astral experiences, be sure to be as descriptive as
possible. All variables should be included. For example, the current moon phase,
the weather, the season, what you’ve eaten, etc., all influence dreams and Astral
Travel. Your goal is to spot patterns over time, thereby discovering which set of
circumstances and conditions are best, or detrimental, to Conscious Sleep.
 Let’s begin!
The Dream Journal
The following is an excerpt from my own dream journal. This should give you
a fairly good idea about how to format your own:
ENTRY ONE
DATE: 28 December 2016
TIME (of entry): 12:48 PM
MOON PHASE: waning crescent
SOLAR ACTIVITY: coronal hole sending enormous solar winds toward
earth.
DIET: Organic vegetarian soup: kale, lentils, tomatoes, garlic, onions,
cayenne pepper.
EMF: Smartmeter. WiFi from other apartments.
WEATHER: Cold. Cloudy and windy.
SEXUAL ACTIVITY: Abstinence (from ejaculation) five days. Yi Jin
Jing stimulation (a Taoist practice).
STRESS LEVEL: (1–10 scale): 6
HEALTH: Feeling under the weather. Dizzy. Lethargic. Heavy. Loss of
motivation.

The Dream
I had a spontaneous Lucid Dream last night, one that happened despite myself.
I awoke inside the dreamscape lying on the floor in the same physical posture as
my sleeping body. I was attempting to lift myself into the air upward until I
could feel the ceiling against my back. Although I did manage to become
airborne, I never did feel the ceiling. This lift-off method is just one technique I
employ in Lucid Dreams to induce an OOBE. The sensation of floating became
so strong at one point that I thought that my physical body might begin to
levitate! One thing worthy of jotting down here is that I had dual access to both
my dreaming and physical selves. It’s hard to describe. It’s a sort of mirroring
effect, much like what happens when you have two mirrors facing each other
and the illusion of an unending tunnel is created.
The other dream I had featured anxiety about the upcoming work day. I had to
go back to a job that I thought was already finished. The painter was unhappy
with the work and my boss was unhappy with me. In the dream, the building was
enormous and unlike the actual job site, although it is in the ghetto and the
building in my dream resembled a dilapidated slum house. It was extremely dark
inside and people from every indoor phase of construction were working in
separate rooms with halogen lights on. Only I didn’t have one and my job
requires that I do. Also, there were unsolvable issues on the job, and in the
dream—at this point not Lucid, just Vivid—I recall feeling nonplussed about
just how I was supposed to get out of this without losing my job.
As I wandered through the building on the lower level, I noticed that there
were families living in finished areas of the job site. I asked a woman if she had
a flashlight I could borrow, and she said yes. She reached into the top drawer of
her dresser and handed me a Maglite flashlight. I thanked her and started to go
back upstairs to where my work was to be done, when I was distracted suddenly
by the sound of music coming from down the hall. I followed it to an outside
area where some tenants had made a makeshift recreation area. There was no
finished floor, just the ground and some furnishings they had brought outside for
the occasion. A group of four or more tenants were playing in a little honky-tonk
band and performing for the gathering in a very lively and spirited manner.
Then I zeroed in on the man playing piano. The piano was a crudely built
stand-up with several white keys missing from the upper register, and some of
the keys were cracked, and yet this guy was playing in such a way as I have
rarely witnessed! I was blown away by his skill and the fact that he looked like a
rough sort of man; the sort you’d never imagine could play Brahms. I decided
that I had to speak with this man, since I’m a pianist, and I’d be remiss if I failed
to pick the brain of this virtuoso.
So I waited…
After the show had ended, I approached him. He offered me some whiskey
and I accepted, even though I care little for whiskey. Anything to convince this
man to teach me a few things. But just then he was bombarded by people asking
him to fix this and tend to that, all shouting his name (I can’t remember it,
though the name Dwayne keeps popping into my head). I got the impression that
this guy was incredibly liked by the community. Children especially were drawn
to him.
Finally, I was able to convince him to give me his undivided attention. I asked
if he had gone to Julliard School of Music or something. He said “no” and that
his mother taught him to play and that she gave him that piano as an heirloom.
He mentioned that he and his wife (the woman who gave me the flashlight?)
used to travel the world together playing music.
The dream then shifted to my grandmother’s house (a recurring symbol in my
dream for years). It was haunted (as it always is). There were some adolescents
across the street making a commotion, like a high-school gathering of sorts. I got
into my car and drove away.
 The next thing I recall is becoming Lucid in the manner I described above. I
eventually woke up in a cold sweat.
Psychological: obviously this dream was psychological in nature. Anxiety
about work. The Biographical element of my grandmother’s house.
Educational: I never did get those tips from my pianist friend, but I did notice
that what he played was in the chromatic scale. As it turns out honky-tonk piano
is largely in that scale and incredibly difficult to play.
Dream Recall
One of the most common obstacles to Conscious Sleep is the inability to
remember one’s nightly adventures. Whether we’re talking about Lucid
Dreaming, Astral Travel, or just good old-fashioned Vivid dreaming, without the
ability of Dream Recall we’re just drooling on the pillow for eight hours every
night. Remember, we all go out-of-body every time we sleep, only we’re
unaware that we’re doing so, and Dream Recall is the initial step to bringing
awareness into these unconscious escapades.
So how to do it?
Well, there are a few things you can do to get started, and it begins while
you’re awake. First, you’ll need to sharpen your memory of daily events. I’m not
only talking about those things which leave an emotional impression, but also
those minor details you’d typically omit from memory. For example,
remembering that jerk who rudely cut in front of you in the checkout line of your
local coffee shop is easy to recall; but what were the color of his shoes? Or you
had a casual conversation with the postman about the weather. What was his
name? What color were his eyes?
Another thing you can do is to take a nutritional supplement called Huperzine
before bedtime. It dramatically increases Vivid Dreams and Dream Recall. Of
course, this shouldn’t replace the work of exercising your memory, but should be
used as an adjunct to it. Also, L-Theanine, which is an amino acid found in the
brain, increases dopamine and often assists in making dreams more dramatic.
Lastly, smoking Mugwort or Calea Zacatechichi just before bed can be an
incredibly powerful OOBE inducer. These supplements are categorized as
nootropics, a term that literally means “toward consciousness.”
Another great exercise for increasing memory requires nothing more than a
rubber band and a commitment to practice. Place a rubber band on the wrist of
your non-dominant hand. Next, choose a thought, word, or behavior that you
tend to employ often, and make a mental note that you’ll avoid saying, thinking,
or doing the chosen thing. Now, every time you slip, sharply snap the rubber
band on your wrist. Not too hard! We’re not trying to punish ourselves. Rather,
the goal here is to use this biofeedback device to encourage vigilance of mind.
I’ve used this method for years and I promise that it works wonders!
Lastly, pick an activity you do often and retrace your steps upon completing
it. For example, after you return home from grocery shopping, sit down and
mentally retrace your steps in reverse, starting with putting away the groceries
and ending with the trip to the store. It’s important to imagine as vividly as
possible and to include all five senses in the visualization. If you have trouble
doing this, no worries! Just do the best you can. Later I’ll teach you some
powerful methods for developing your visualization abilities.
So that’s what you can do during the day to increase your Dream Recall skills.
In fact, you may come to find that the above exercises suffice to induce Vivid
and Lucid Dreams! If so, that’s great. Keep practicing, and don’t be afraid to get
creative and come up with your own practices to increase the power of your
memory.
So, what else can be done to develop Dream Recall? What to do in those
moments when you’re sitting there with your journal in front of you and you
can’t recall a single detail of last night’s dreams? Isn’t there a way to just tap
into a state of consciousness where dreams are there at a touch? Isn’t that what
this book is all about?
Absolutely! Try this on for size:
First, you should never wake up and just hop out of bed, as we’ve already
discussed. Lie there for a few minutes and hang on to the twilight state between
awake and asleep for as long as possible. Second, if you must use an alarm to
wake up, use one that slowly increases in volume rather than a loud one that jolts
you from sleep. Third, while still lying in bed, gently turn your thoughts toward
the prior night’s dreams. Please note the word “gently”! Dreams are composed
of Etheric energy. Like all Etheric energy, if you become aggressive or tense, it
will stagnate and prevent Dream Recall. Lastly, get out of bed gracefully with
your mind still on last night’s dreams, and sit down comfortably with your
journal.
If at this point you still have trouble remembering your dreams, try this:
Do a mental scan of the seven Categories of Dream. Because at least 80% of
all dreams are biographical, begin with that Category. Simply conjure up some
images, people, experiences, and places from your life which carry the most
emotional charge and allow them to occupy your mind for a moment. This often
suffices to stimulate Dream Recall. Continue this same thought process with the
other six Dream Categories and see what pops into your mind. Be sure to leave
nothing out! This holds true especially for dreams of a less flattering nature,
whether you’re dreaming of saving the whales or of sleeping with your college
professor.
Be as descriptive as possible and omit nothing. No detail is too small or
insignificant that it shouldn’t be included in your journal entries.
A common issue for many people is privacy. Some dreams can be so bizarre
and unflattering that the prospect of someone stumbling upon one’s journal often
prevents people from journaling. At the very least, it can prevent you from being
honest and thorough in the description of your dreams. Nowadays, this problem
can be easily remedied by keeping a digital journal and protecting it with a
password. If this still doesn’t put your mind at ease, then you can get a little
more creative. For instance, in place of the actual names of people you know,
you can use pseudonyms. Also, instead of writing in a journalist-type style, you
can record your dreams as if writing a fictional story. This can be fun to do. In
fact, I know of several writers who record their dreams and Astral experiences in
this manner and have used them to write novels!
However you decide to record your adventures behind the Veil, there are four
guidelines you should always follow:
• Be descriptive.
• Be thorough.
• Be consistent.
• Be creative.
After a while, you’ll notice patterns in your journal. This is when your journal
truly comes to serve you. You’ll begin to learn which conditions promote and
preclude Conscious Sleep. These may not apply to other Veilers, but they do
represent your unique fingerprint as a navigator of these realms. Of course, there
are some universal principles that affect all Veilers in some way or another, but
it’s to your own unique nature that you must be true. Also, you’ll notice patterns
in your dreams themselves. Recurrent dream scenarios and symbols will begin to
reveal themselves, weaving in and out of the narrative of your journal.
Synchronicities will appear in your daily life as the barrier which separates your
Gross, Etheric, Astral, and Causal Bodies begins to break down. Premonitions
begin to emerge, and your psychic abilities will sharpen.
Why does this happen?
The answer to this question holds half of the key to behind-the-Veil access.
You see, when you consistently pay attention to your dreams, you’re sending a
message to your subconscious mind that you mean business. In fact, there’s
nothing mysterious about this. You probably do it all the time without giving it
much thought. For example, every time you tell yourself that you must wake up
at a certain time in the morning, your subconscious mind responds by waking
you up at that time! It oftentimes does this by sending you a dream that signals
you to wake up. Similarly, if you consistently tell yourself before going to sleep
that you must remain Lucid in your dreams, then you’ll eventually succeed in
doing so. The same holds true for Astral Projection.
It’s your consistent and firm intention to step behind the Veil that unlocks the
mysteries behind the it!
Lastly, whenever your dreams are pointing towards something important
about your life, be sure to take them seriously and follow their advice. This
builds a powerful bridge between the conscious and subconscious regions of
your mind and cultivates your intuition in ways you’ll have to see to believe.
Should you repeatedly ignore these messages coming from behind the Veil,
you’ll see minimal progress in your quest as a Veiler.
Your Dream-Language
As you pay more and more attention to your dreams, your subconscious mind
begins to speak to you in many unexpected ways. This amounts to nothing less
than a dream-language shared by you and your deeper (or higher) self! Some
dream-symbols are universal, such as the Archetypes, as we’ve already
discussed. For the most part, though, the symbols used by your subconscious
mind will be unique to you. There exists no book on the so-called “Interpretation
of Dreams” that can substitute for your direct understanding. Furthermore, this is
a language that evolves! For example, because I’ve read Tarot cards for many
years, I’m pretty good at understanding the innumerable meanings of each card
and combinations of cards. Consequently, my subconscious often speaks to me
by sending me dreams with themes pulled straight from a Tarot deck.
There truly is no limit to how creative you can get regarding the development
of your own dream-language. Symbols tend to work best for most people. At
first, try to keep the symbols as simple and non-abstract as possible. Tarot is a
great place to start, particularly the twenty-two Trumps of the Major Arcana.
However, don’t feel limited to my suggestions. Experiment with different
methods until you find one that works best for you. Just remember one thing:
The making of your dream-language is a two-way street!
On the one hand, your subconscious mind is continuously pulling data from
the environment and converting it into symbols and scenarios to communicate
with you as a Veiler. Your job is to spot them and decode what they mean. At
the same time, you can refine those symbols and enrich them with subtler levels
of meaning. What you’re then left with is a living, dynamic, and multi-textured
language with which to commune with the deepest layers of your being.
 This takes a certain amount of time to develop, but once you do you’ll be
amazed at how honest your subconscious mind can be, sometimes painfully so.
There truly is no pretension or tact involved in the conscious/subconscious
interface! Psychologists have known this for decades. Sigmund Freud was
always on the lookout for slips-of-the-tongue, disparities between verbal
declarations and body-language, and especially contradictions between one’s
social image and the symbolic manifestation in dreams of one’s true personality.
Another excellent, but admittedly rarer, form of dream-language is what’s
known as automatic-writing (Spiritism) or free-association (Psychology). In this
method, one sits down with a blank piece of paper and, with pen in hand, enters
Trance and begins casually scribbling words onto the paper. At first, this
amounts to little more than a sort of mystical doodling. Soon, however, and with
practice, words begin to emerge. Sometimes the words appear to be a different
language. At other times it’s in one’s native tongue.
Speaking of tongues, another rare form of dream-language is called
Glossolalia, better known as “speaking in tongues.” In this rather entertaining
form of dream-language, the adept begins by muttering incoherently in a mantra-
like fashion. As the state of Trance is entered (called “grace” by Pentecostals),
the adept then begins to utter words that are believed to be prophetic at best,
educational at the very least. Personally, I believe that it’s more commonly the
case that Glossolalia produces utterances from one’s subconscious mind. That’s
not to say that these utterances are never prophetic. Sometimes they are. Still,
most of the time they’re entirely biographical or psychosocial. At any rate, why
not give it a try?
Personally, my favorite method of daytime communication with the
subconscious and superconscious regions of my psyche involves the combined
use of Tarot, Trance, and a Pendulum. I call my method of divination
Animitariomancy. Readers interested in a full discussion of this method are
encouraged to read Book Two of this series, called Tarot for Lucid Dreamers:
The Animitariomancy Method.
So, what’s your dream-language? The best way to find out is to keep your
dream journal up to date and always be on the lookout for patterns,
synchronicities, and recurring scenarios in your dreams, reveries, and life in
general. Once you spot them, they can be refined, and you’re left with a living
and dynamic language shared by you and the deeper you.
 Chapter Six
Cleansing, Strengthening, and Loosening the
Subtle Body

You may be wondering what Taoist and Yogic practices have to do with
Conscious Dreaming and OOBE. After all, isn’t Conscious Dreaming a strictly
cognitive skill? Isn’t Astral Projection just, well, an Astral skill? Why bring in
all this meditation stuff? What’s the big deal? Can’t we just focus on what
happens while we sleep and forget all about these other practices?
In this chapter, we’ll discuss the importance of meditation and Subtle Body
development. In my own system, these practices belong to the Veil of Breath. As
such, they focus specifically on the cultivation of Etheric energy (Qi). You may
not yet see the significance of these practices, or how they pertain to Conscious
Sleep, but by the end of this chapter it’ll all make sense. (I use the terms Qi,
Bioelectricity, and Etheric energy interchangeably as they’re three different
words describing the same thing.)
I’m going to introduce you to two powerful methods of meditation that
combine Subtle and Causal Body cultivation. Both techniques are one technique
broken into two parts. The first technique is known as Embryonic Breathing, and
is an ancient Taoist method for storing Etheric energy. It has several other
applications, but we’ll be using it primarily to gather, store, and generate
bioelectricity. The second half of this method is known as the Microcosmic
Orbit (in Yoga) and Small Circulation (in Taoist Qigong). This not only cleanses
the six Yang and five Yin meridians and their corresponding internal organs, but
it also strengthens the Etheric energy and loosens the Astral Body. As I’ve said,
it seems that one must first travel through the Veil of Dreams (the Dream Plane)
before one can reach the Veil of Ghosts (the Astral Plane), and one’s “dream
body” is just one’s Astral Body travelling through the realm of dreams. With that
understood, you can see how the Microcosmic Orbit practice might have
countless applications for Conscious Dreaming and other forms of OOBE.
The Importance of Trance: The Wuji state of No-Extremity
The word “trance” immediately conjures up images of hypnotized subjects
following the suggestions of a hypnotist. Or perhaps some Indian holy man
sitting cross-legged in a cave, endlessly chanting mantras. However, the Trance
which I’m referring to here is a transcendental state brought about by a cessation
of the willful mind combined with a steady flow of attention.
What does this mean?
In the Zen Buddhist tradition, there’s a practice known as Zazen that serves as
a perfect example of what Trance is and how to enter it. Zazen is usually
translated as “sitting for Zen.” What exactly is Zen? Well, to put it plainly, Zen
is the state where there’s no separation between what you’re doing, what you
want to be doing, and who and where you are. In other words, if you’re washing
the dishes, then that’s exactly what you’re doing: you’re washing the dishes.
There’s no hankering to not wash the dishes. In fact, you’re so absorbed in
washing the dishes that you are the act of washing the dishes.
The British philosopher, Alan Watts, once described Zen by giving the
analogy of a rider and a horse. A good horse and a skilled rider are almost one
body, and it’s sometimes hard to tell who leads and who follows. Similarly,
when you’re practising Zazen, you’re literally just sitting. You’re not
“meditating” or “practicing” or “trancing” or really doing anything at all. You’re
just sitting there with whatever is or isn’t arising in the moment. You’re just
being. If thoughts and emotions arise, you don’t engage them, but rather you
simply sit with them until there’s no difference between you and what’s arising.
The Indian sage, Jiddu Krishnamurti, was referring to Trance when he advocated
what he called “choiceless awareness” as “the first and last freedom,” although
he himself would probably shudder at the association. Still, if you can do this
perfectly, then you enter the Trance state. From there, lots of interesting things
can be done!
Acquiring the skill of Trance is not easy, and mastery depends upon a variety
of factors. The two most common obstacles to entering Trance are physical
discomfort and mental restlessness. The posture you’ll be adopting for most of
the exercises in this book is the supine posture (with a memory foam wedge, if
possible). However, the practices of Embryonic Breathing and Microcosmic
Orbit utilize a specific sitting posture (at first), and it takes a little time for the
body to adjust. Also, the mind initially tends to resist the stillness of meditation,
with some sessions being easier than others. Oftentimes a more creative
approach is needed before you can “just sit.” This is where the method called
“mindfulness meditation” can help.
In the mindfulness approach one doesn’t just sit passively like an immovable
mountain of attention, but rather actively notices and feels into all that’s arising.
In mindfulness methods, one brings an active curiosity to one’s thoughts and
feelings without getting swept away by them. For example, if you feel restless
and irritable during a meditation session, the mindfulness approach is to allow
the restlessness without any censorship or attempt to eliminate it. Instead,
observe the feeling of restlessness with an active and almost tactile curiosity
that, without words, asks:
“Where is this restlessness arising?”
“What effect is this restlessness having on my body?”
“What conditions are giving rise to this restlessness?”
And so on with anything else that arises during meditation.
Success in meditation of any variety is won the instant the practitioner stops
trying to see the meditation session from the outside. What this means is that one
ceases to objectify the moment, the Now, which is where meditation takes place.
At first, depending upon the type of meditation you’re doing, this requires an
orientation process on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels of the
practitioner. It’s like learning to drive a car. At first, you’ve got to be very aware
of the stick-shift, the pedals, the steering wheel, and the rules of the road. After a
while, though, you get to a point when you can just focus on driving the car,
maybe listen to the radio, or have a conversation with someone in the passenger
seat. Similarly, once you become accustomed to the physical posture of
meditation, the proper breathing, the correct mental attitude, and so on, then you
can simply meditate. Then you can focus on things like storing and circulating
Etheric energy, deeper levels of absorption, and other forms of Subtle and
Causal Body work. In Taoism, they call this the stage of “regulating without
regulating.” This simply means that now you can truly begin to meditate without
having to check in to see if you’re doing it properly, which only serves to divide
your attention and, therefore, your energy.
However you decide to enter it, the beauty of Trance is that it’s just another
word for meditation. Unfortunately, the word “meditation” has been given
dozens of conflicting definitions. Truly, most of this confusion stems from a
one-sided view of what meditation is and what its purposes are. The type of
meditation you do depends upon your goals. For our purposes, there are two
sides to meditation: a Passive side and an Active side. In other words, there’s a
Yin and a Yang side to meditation, and doing one without the other is like eating
without digesting your food.
So, the first tenet for acquiring the skill of Trance is non-doing, and there are a
few ways to create the situation for non-doing to arise. In Taoist Qigong, this is
known as the “Wuji” state of No-Extremity. Another way of putting this is to say
that energy isn’t moving outward, but rather is pooling within and around your
body. Because you’re being rather than doing, your energies come to rest and
begin to accumulate. Furthermore, when you successfully enter the Trance state,
the Etheric part of your Subtle Body is stimulated, and your Astral Body is
loosened; and once your Etheric energy is stimulated, it can be made to move
and breathe! This is important, because when you lie down in preparation for
Lucid Dreaming or Astral Projection your success is dependent upon your ability
to enter this Trance state successfully and with minimal effort. If you make too
much of an effort, then you’ll interfere with the Trance state. If you make no
effort at all then you’ll just fall asleep. Remember, this isn’t an unconscious state
we’re talking about here. Quite the contrary:
The state of Trance is like a flame of attention burning in a windless room.
When trying to grasp the Trance state it helps to know that intention isn’t the
same thing as effort. An intention carries its own energy, and that energy has a
movement all its own. Effort, on the other hand, is a form of tension. Obviously,
there’s a place where effort is needed, but when it comes to attaining Trance,
manipulating Qi, or going Astral, effort only gets in the way.
Another way of looking at non-doing is that it loosens the grip of the BETA
brainwave and allows for the smooth transition to ALPHA, THETA, DELTA,
and GAMMA brainwaves. In other words:
Trance is the key to behind the Veil access.
There are many situations when we enter Trance naturally—which is really
the only way to enter it when you stop and think about it. Trance can’t be
contrived or premeditated, and it’s only when this fact gets through the ego’s
thick head that one can truly begin to meditate. If you’ve ever lost track of time
listening to the sound of the rain, or staring at a sunset or into your lover’s eyes,
then you’ve experienced one version of the Trance state. The only difference is
that, in meditation, you’re including in this global attention your own thoughts,
feelings, and consciousness itself. So, the passive side of meditation is just a
training in developing a deep enjoyment and appreciation for consciousness
itself, for the simple feeling of being, for the mystery of being aware in the first
place. Take this heightened feeling of “I AM” deep enough and you’ll attain the
continuity of consciousness.
Lastly, success in meditation is dependent upon your lifestyle. This includes
your diet, your social life, your job, your overall well-being, and even how much
sex you have! Like any other aspect of being a Veiler, meditation is an integral
and holistic affair. If you truly want to access the deeper secrets of the following
methods, then there’s a few things you’ll want to seriously ponder and
implement. Please note that everyone is different. Do your own research and
experiments to find the right balance for your needs.
The first thing is diet. The best diet for the Etheric side of Subtle Body
development is organic, non-GMO, gluten free, and low carbohydrate.
Depending upon factors such as how labor-intensive your job or workout routine
is, small but well-rounded meals are ideal. Also, too much caffeine is a no-no.
Many seasoned Veilers will tell you that OOBE can be stopped in its tracks due
to excessive caffeine intake. I’m not saying that you’ve got to give up your
morning cup of Joe. I love coffee myself! But if you’re going to have a second
cup, make it green tea or yerba mate instead. Alcohol doesn’t tend to negatively
impact dreaming, but it does delay it. Since alcohol has been proven to delay
REM sleep, your dream work will begin later in the sleep cycle if you consume
too much alcohol before bedtime. Not only that, but excess alcohol consumption
also ties you to the lower Astral Planes. I find that if I go Astral after consuming
alcohol, the exit-symptoms tend to be more pronounced and uncomfortable.
The second thing is your social life and the overall environment you find
yourself in. Toxic relationships, an overly stressful lifestyle, and lack of personal
space are detrimental. This is a no-brainer. After all, too much on your mind
distracts you from the moment, and lack of solitude means lack of training
space. It also muddles your energy. As for your job, that’s obviously a little
more complicated and most of us can’t just quit earning paychecks. So, the job
thing is something we’ve all got to decide for ourselves.
Lastly, and this one’s especially important for men past the age of thirty, too
much ejaculation of semen drastically weakens the Etheric Force. I know,
bummer, right? Be that as it may, it’s quite true. Still, notice that I said it’s
ejaculation that weakens the Etheric Force? I didn’t say that sex weakens it! It
took me a few years to grow to a point where I could enjoy sex without having
to ejaculate every time, or go without sex entirely for a prolonged period.
Traditionally, a man must wait at least ninety days without sex before he can
begin the following practices. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how, or if, this applies
to women. The standard for men seems to be no more than two ejaculations in a
thirty-day period, but everyone’s got a different level of sexual force. Taoists
call this natural level of Libido Jing. Some Taoist and Buddhist masters even
claim to be able to orgasm without ejaculation! In the Bibliography, I’ve listed
some excellent books on this subject should this topic interest you.
Embryonic Breathing: How to Gather and Store Etheric Energy
In this section, I’m going to teach you the fundamental skill of gathering and
storing Qi. This isn’t necessary for all aspects of Conscious Sleep, but it’s
crucial for Astral Projection. It also plays a part in how lucid your Lucid Dreams
are. Equally important is Embryonic Breathing’s power to ground one’s energies
and set the stage for Microcosmic Orbit practice which, among other things,
serves to loosen one’s Astral Body.
So let’s get started!
Below are the instructions for Embryonic Breathing practice. Be sure to take
your time, and don’t expect quick results. If you follow the instructions to the
letter, then you’re sure to have success. Like all skills worth cultivating, Subtle
Body development takes time, patience, perseverance, and an indomitable will.
I’ve been practicing Embryonic Breathing for ten years now and can personally
attest to its power. I learned it from Dr. Yang Jwing Ming and highly
recommend his work to those readers wishing to cultivate higher levels of this
skill. Please note that there are elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels of
these two practices, and two separate volumes would be required to fully discuss
them. Here, I’m simply offering you the basics.
The Practice
The practice of Embryonic Breathing begins with the correct sitting posture.
Proper posture, as well as the care and attention you give to it, accounts for at
least half of the health and cultivation of your Etheric force. Therefore, a good
Chiropractic adjustment to your spine can help to realign your Chakras. Please
note that you don’t have to sit in full Lotus Posture or bend yourself into a
human pretzel to reap the benefits of this exercise, but if you’re capable of Full
Lotus then by all means use it. Just know that you’ll be sitting in that posture for
upwards of forty minutes or more. The following picture will give you an idea of
how to sit for this practice:

Notice that the spine is straight and the legs are crossed. Whenever possible,
your hips should be elevated slightly above the level of your knees. Placing a
cushion under your butt can accomplish this. This helps keep your spine straight
by forming a tripod out of your torso and lower body. Your spine mustn’t be
held rigid or ramrod straight. Rather, the chest is slightly concave, and the
thoracic region of the spine maintains its natural curve. Be sure that your
tailbone is straight and in line with the lumbar region of your spine and not
jutting out or collapsing inward. Your mouth should be closed, and your jaw
drawn gently inward toward your throat. Your head should feel as though it’s
suspended from above by a string. This takes the weight of your head off your
spine. Your shoulders should be in line with your hips and relaxed downward
naturally. The tip of your tongue should gently touch the upper palate of your
mouth. This connects the Governing and Conception meridians, helps to silence
inner chatter, and generates saliva to swallow at the end of the session. Certain
healing enzymes are generated during Embryonic Breathing that infuse the
saliva, which is then swallowed for healing purposes.
Your forearms should rest on your thighs and your hands should be placed in
front of your navel.
If you’re left-handed, place your left hand under your right, and vice versa if
you’re right-handed. The hands should feel relaxed and comfortable with your
thumbs very lightly pressing each other. If you find this hand posture
uncomfortable, you can simply let them rest folded on your lap. Folded in this
manner your hands create a circuit of energy and helps to keep your awareness
on your lower abdomen where Embryonic Breathing takes place. At first, you
may keep your eyes open slightly if you experience eye-twitching and other
symptoms of a restlessness mind. Zen monks will sometimes meditate while
facing a blank wall or the floor a few feet in front of them, or at the tip of the
nose, until the mind settles at which point they close their eyes.
That’s it! Now you’re ready to begin Embryonic Breathing meditation. When
possible, face East while meditating in the morning and West when meditating at
night. Later, as you advance in skill, you can practice while lying down in
alignment with Earth’s magnetic field. For books offering a complete discussion
on orientations for practice, see the Bibliography.
Now that you’re in the proper posture for Embryonic Breathing, the next step
is to regulate your breathing. During this time, you still regulate your body to
make it more and more relaxed. Be sure that you don’t slouch or hunch over as
this destroys the energetic integrity of the posture, puts undue pressure on your
internal organs, increases the likelihood of falling asleep, and distracts the mind
with discomfort.
Start by entering the Trance state by accepting all that is arising in the moment
with a deep and total YES from the very core of your being. Really feel as
though every problem has been solved and there’s nowhere to go and nothing to
do. Next, become aware of your breathing. Don’t do anything with the breath at
first, but simply watch its rhythm. Eventually, as your body adjusts to the
training, you’ll slowly deepen your breathing and establish a rhythm that’s deep,
silent, slender, steady, and slow. For now, simply breathe naturally and focus on
freeing the breath by relaxing the physical structures around your lungs and
diaphragm. Scan your body for any feeling of tension and, with every exhalation
of breath, feel the tense areas relax and melt downward, following gravity. Do
this until you feel completely relaxed. The attitude that you adopt here is very
important. It should be one of alert curiosity as well as love and care for your
bodymind.
Next, and without any force or rigidity, try to feel yourself becoming more
and more physically motionless. Without sacrificing the relaxation and integrity
of your posture, remain motionless like a stone Buddha. Focus on this stillness
for a few moments while maintaining awareness of your breathing. Pay attention
to the full course of breathing, including the turning points when inhalation
becomes exhalation and when exhalation becomes inhalation. When your mind
wanders (and it will), gently bring your attention back to your body and breath.
You’ll probably notice that by simply becoming aware of your breathing you
change its pattern. Allow this to happen. Take note of where your breathing is
occurring, that is, are you breathing from your chest or from your abdomen? If
you’re breathing from your chest, try to relax your chest, upper back, neck and
shoulders with a few natural exhalations. Remember, the goal here isn’t to force
your breathing into a certain pattern, but rather, to relax and open the physical
structures of your body to allow the breath to return to the same pattern seen in
sleeping babies. This is especially true of the muscles, fascia, ribs, etc.,
surrounding your lungs and diaphragm. You want to relax these areas to allow
your breathing to move from your chest to your abdomen without forcing it to do
so. You want your lungs to be still and silent and to breathe using just your
diaphragm. This takes a lot of practice and should never be forced.
(To help relax the physical cage surrounding your lungs, diaphragm, and other
internal organs, I suggest you purchase a quality Magnesium supplement. The
health benefits of Magnesium are profound and its ability to assist in breathwork
can’t be overstated.)
Go ahead and enjoy this relaxed state for a few moments. Then, gently, and
without “searching” for it, simply become aware of the fact of your beingness,
your “I Am,” the very fact of your consciousness itself. If there are any thoughts
floating around in your mind at this point, notice that you’re not your thoughts.
Rather, you’re the space in which thoughts are arising. Maintain awareness of
your breathing and simply rest in the wonderfully obvious fact of your own
presence. Most people feel this “I Am” in the center of their head. In Taoism,
this is called the Upper Dantian” and the location of Shen (spirit). Do this while
focusing more on the inhalation phase of your breathing. This condenses Qi
inward toward the Yin center of the Upper Dantian. Taoists call this spot the
“Mud Pill Palace,” which refers to the Pineal Gland. When you exhale, simply
relax your concentration and allow the air to expel naturally.
So, the rhythm you’re seeking to establish is a concentrated awareness of your
“I” upon inhalation and, upon exhalation, a relaxing of that concentration.
Eventually, you’ll begin to feel as though you’re breathing from your Upper
Dantian. This is called “Spirit Breathing” in Taoist Qigong. Continue this for a
few moments and then, while maintaining an awareness of your “I” at the Upper
Dantian, include in your awareness the center located at your sternum, called the
Middle Dantian. Continue to focus more on the inhalation phase of breathing.
This cools down the fire Qi located in this region as well as condenses Qi
inward.
At this point, both your Upper Dantian and your Middle Dantian are
breathing. Your “I” is concentrated upon inhalation with a simultaneous
awareness of the center of your sternum and, upon exhalation, relax your
concentration. This should be done gently and very relaxed. Continue this for a
few moments and then move your awareness downward to a point two finger-
widths below your navel and about three finger-widths inward toward your
spine. After you become proficient in this practice, you’ll be able to locate this
area due to the heat generated there. This area—called the Real Lower Dantian
—is the place for storing Etheric energy, and is classified as Yang. The Lower
Dantian is the Yang pole and the Mud Pill Palace in the Upper Dantian is the Yin
pole. They’re in two different locations, but they function as one, much like the
two poles of a battery.
Your attention must be 100% in the Lower Dantian for Qi to begin to
accumulate there. Eventually, you’ll come to feel that your whole body is
breathing, condensing into your Lower Dantian with each inhalation. This
process can also be reversed. That is, when exhaling, you expand Etheric force
outward from the Lower Dantian. This is known as “Girdle Vessel Breathing.”
For now, though, we’re interested only in storing Qi in the Lower Dantian. The
sure sign of success is this:
As soon as you feel your physical breathing disappear and your Etheric
energy starts breathing, this is true Embryonic Breathing.
Now that you’ve successfully condensed Qi to the three Dantians, there’s one
more important thing you must do. There’s a point on the pelvic floor between
the genitals and anus called the Huiyin cavity. We in the West know it as the
perineum and it’s where we find the PC (pubococcygeus), BC
(bulbocavernosus), and IC (iliococcygeus) muscles used in sex, urination, and
bowel movements. The Huiyin cavity is the meeting place of all four Yin vessels
in your Etheric anatomy. The very word, Huiyin, means “meet Yin” in Chinese,
and is the point of extreme Yin in your Qi network. In Embryonic Breathing
practice, there are subtle movements of the Huiyin that assist in the storing,
releasing, and circulating of bioelectricity. The movements must be done
correctly; otherwise Qi will stagnate there or else be released and used up
instead of stored and circulated. This is one of the reasons why the ancient
Taoist documents refer to Huiyin as “the Tricky Gate.” There are two methods
for Huiyin and breathing coordination: the Taoist method and the Buddhist
method. The method which I’m going to teach you is the Buddhist method.
First, you need to locate your Huiyin muscles and learn to move them
properly. The traditional way to locate your Huiyin muscles and tense them
properly is to stop the flow of urine in midstream. The goal is to use the
minimum force required to do this. Once you’ve got the feeling for it, the next
thing you’ll need to do is carry that feeling over to your Embryonic Breathing
practice and coordinate the movement of your Huiyin with your breathing.
The Buddhist method is more relaxed whereas the Taoist method is more
aggressive. Because relaxation is so important when working with Etheric
energy, it’s best to begin with Buddhist breathing and then slowly advance to
Taoist breathing methods.
In the Buddhist breathing method, your abdomen expands on inhalation and
contracts on exhalation. At the same time, your lower back expands on
inhalation and contracts on exhalation. The Huiyin cavity gently pushes down on
inhalation and is gently held up on exhalation. The entire movement of the
abdomen, lower back, and Huiyin is like that of a gently expanding and
contracting balloon in coordination with your breathing. Breathe naturally and
avoid strain or too much effort.
At this point, your attention should be completed absorbed in your Lower
Dantian. Do not concentrate on your Lower Dantian, but rather, allow your
awareness to come to rest there. Please note the distinction. A good analogy is
that of a pool of muddy water (the mind). If you disturb the water (with too
much effort) then it’ll only get muddier. If, on the other hand, you allow the mud
to settle on its own, then the water will eventually become clear and you can
drink it.
At this point I’d like to bring something important to your attention, as it hold
the key to Lucid and Pellucid Dreaming: the state of awareness accessed in
Embryonic Breathing practice rooted in your Causal Body!
This means that the state of Trance is just deep dreamless sleep, but with one
major exception: You’re aware!
The Indian Sage, Ramana Maharshi, used to say of the search for the true Self
that if it’s not present in deep dreamless sleep then it’s not real. Well, since
literally nothing is present in deep dreamless sleep, what could Maharshi
possibly be referring to?
He’s referring to the Causal Body…
The ability to remain conscious in deep dreamless sleep literally represents a
fourth state of awareness. Since the basic three states of consciousness are
Awake, Dreaming, and Dreamless Sleep, then being aware during dreamless
sleep is clearly a fourth state of consciousness. Not only that, it’s the true key to
achieving stable access to both Lucid and Pellucid Dreaming! Why? Because the
Causal state is quite literally the root of your Self. If you can raise consciousness
there, then you can raise consciousness in the Dream and Awake states as well.
This is what the Zen classics mean when they say, “One simply sits quietly,
doing nothing, and the grass grows by itself.”
The “grass” is a reference to the Taoist concept of Shen. In Embryonic
Breathing practice, you “raise your Shen,” for only then can your mind truly
direct Etheric energy. For many years I had no idea what Shen was or what it
referred to. After many years of practice, I slowly began to understand. On the
one hand, you can’t do anything directly to raise your Shen, as we’ve seen. Any
form of doing isn’t the root of your being. How could it be? The root of your
being is just that: being! However, raising and protecting your lifeforce can
assist in feeding your Shen, as we’ve already discussed. However, your Shen—
which, in this context, is just another way of saying Casual Body—can’t be
approached directly by your ego. You can’t will yourself to a heightened
awareness of the Causal Body, but you can, by way of Trance, drop down into
the ever-present ground of your consciousness like a stone falling to the ocean
floor.
As for how Embryonic Breathing practice “breathes”?
If you’ve ever remained conscious during the transition from Awake to
Asleep you know that awareness of your breathing vanishes during the
transition. When your breathing goes silent, and yet a tiny flame of awareness
remains burning, then that is successful Embryonic Breathing. At that point Qi
begins to accumulate. Then it can be circulated. This is the beginning of
Microcosmic Orbit practice.
Lastly, if you can get used to the pungent taste, I recommend you purchase
Shilajit resin and place a small amount of it under your tongue before beginning
Embryonic Breathing and Microcosmic Orbit practice. The spot under the
tongue where saliva accumulates is known in Taoism as “Heavenly Pond.”
When saliva accumulates there, swallow it and the Shilajit. It’s not necessary,
but it’s a powerful stimulator of Yang Qi and assists in its circulation. Be sure to
get authentic Shilajit! Avoid powdered forms and stick to the natural resin form.
Also, a good organic Ashwaganda also works to relax the body, boost hormones,
and enhance the effects of Shilajit. Pertaining to nootropics in general, please
understand that some of them help raise your Shen while others merely excite it.
It’s important to understand this distinction because, depending upon your
purpose, you may want to raise but not excite your Shen, or vice versa. For
example, Ashwaganda and Shilajit raise Shen. This is ideal for Embryonic
Breathing meditation as you wish to have a raised but calm Shen for this
practice. On the other hand, having a raised and excited Shen is ideal for Lucid
Dreaming. By “excited” I don’t mean hyper. Rather, an excited Shen is a
stimulated subconscious. Therefore, nootropics and entheogens such as
Mugwort, Vinpocetine, Huperzine-A, Salvia Divinorum, etc., are appropriate
nootropics for those endeavors.
Microcosmic Orbit Meditation
Do you recall our discussion on the Five Brainwaves? Remember the research
being conducted on the GAMMA brainwave and its appearance on the EEG
graphs of Lucid Dreamers? Well, the pathway in which this bioelectrical current
travels is the same as that of the Microcosmic Orbit. In Taoist terms, the
GAMMA wave follows the so-called “fire path,” also called the Governing
Vessel. As we’ve seen, Qi (bioelectricity) travels this route up the back of the
spine, over the head, and ends at the nose-tip. What this means is that the
Microcosmic Orbit is in complete alignment with the GAMMA brainwave!
Personally, I don’t think this is a coincidence. What I’m proposing is that this
ancient practice has the power to initiate, cultivate, and strengthen, not only
Lucid Dreaming, but all forms of OOBE.
Now that you’re familiar with Embryonic Breathing, and have hopefully
learned to store Etheric energy in the Real Lower Dantian, it’s time to circulate
that energy in the Governing and Conception Vessels. There are a few ways of
doing this. The two methods which I’m going to share are known as the Fire
Path and the Wind Path. The former method follows the path up the spine,
around the head, and ends at the nose tip. The latter is simply a reversal of the
Fire Path and moves upward from the Lower Dantian, up the front of the body
and over the head, down the spine, and ends at the Huiyin cavity. The Fire Path
is used to make the Etheric energy more Yang whereas the Wind Path is used to
make it more Yin. Both methods, however, may be used to cleanse all twelve
Meridians of the Etheric force.
The primary goal of Microcosmic Orbit is to strengthen the Qi Meridians.
Quite literally, Microcosmic Orbit practice is a Subtle Body workout. A strong
Etheric anatomy implies that your Gross (physical) Body is also strengthened by
the practice, as the two are intimately related. This is also why Etheric medical
practices, such as Acupuncture, work to heal the physical body even though they
operate on the Meridians. For our purposes, we’re using Microcosmic Orbit to
cleanse, strengthen, and open the Meridians to fuel our behind-the-Veil
activities. We’re literally making our Subtle Body muscles stronger and more
flexible.
There are a few different ways to begin Microcosmic Orbit. The way I was
taught is to begin the circulation process at the location of stored energy: The
Lower Dantian. It’s important that your Lower Dantian feels warm before
initiating the Microcosmic Orbit, as this signifies that Qi is abundant and ready
to spill over into the Fire Path.
The Fire Path is the natural route of Qi circulation in the Governing and
Conception Vessels of your Etheric system.
Before you begin the practice, you should be aware that there are three
locations on the Fire Path where Qi tends to stagnate. These are the tailbone, the
middle of the spine at level with the heart, and the back of the head directly
above the neck. In Chinese, these are called “San Guan,” literally “Three
Gates.” Because of the narrow musculature of the tailbone area, Qi easily gets
stuck there and can cause all sorts of trouble. The gate at the middle of the back
is dangerous because of its proximity to the heart. If Qi deviates from its path,
and goes to the heart instead, it can cause palpitations and even a heart attack.
Finally, the gate at the back of the head is dangerous due to the narrowness of its
location. Because it can be difficult to feel where Qi is moving here, it can
deviate and go to the brain, causing vertigo and mental imbalance.
The key to avoiding the dangers of the Three Gates is to cultivate the skill of
regulating the mind to be still, calm, and concentrated. Also, as you learn to
circulate Qi in the Microcosmic Orbit, these gates will widen. The trick is to
proceed gently, patiently, and above all, to be relaxed.
Mental and physical tension causes Qi to stagnate.
Here’s a diagram showing the Microcosmic Orbit along with the locations of
the myriad cavities found on the Governing and Conception Vessels. As you can
see, the practice can be done while sitting in a chair. However, it’s best to
practice with legs crossed as this prevent Qi from escaping into the legs:

(In advanced levels of the practice, the “small circulation” of Microcosmic

Orbit expands to become the “grand circulation” of the entire body. There are
many versions of Grand Circulation, but they don’t concern us here. For our
purposes, we’ll be following the Small Circulation paths of the upper body.
Later, as your training advances, you may wish to include the Grand Circulation
to the legs and arms. See the Bibliography for literature on this subject.)

The Practice
Before beginning Microcosmic Orbit circulation, you should first build up
Etheric energy at your Lower Dantian by practicing Embryonic Breathing for at
least ten minutes. As soon as you feel heat or trembling in your Lower Dantian,
it’s time to begin circulating this abundant Qi in the Fire Path. For this beginner-
level method of the practice, it isn’t necessary to feel all the Qi Cavities located
on your Governing and Conception Vessels. Instead, your first goal is to learn to
feel the Path itself. In other words, you must first feel the two Qi Vessels
involved in the Microcosmic Orbit before you can learn to feel the Cavities. As
your capacity for feeling develops, and the Qi Gates widen, you’ll soon begin to
feel the various Cavities of your Etheric system.
So, how do you use your inner feeling to locate the Governing and Conception
Vessels?
As soon as you feel that Qi has reached an abundant level in your Lower
Dantian, place your awareness in both your Lower and Upper Dantian at the
same time. Remember, the best way to locate the Yin center of your Upper
Dantian is to become aware of your “I Am,” your very sense of consciousness
devoid of all objects of perception. This will lead Qi to the Yin Center of the
Upper Dantian, your Pineal Gland. Simply relax for a few moments and breathe
in and out of these two Dantians. Don’t forget to coordinate the movement of
your Huiyin with your breathing! Also, keep the tip of your tongue to your upper
palate for the duration of the session.
Next, while keeping your awareness situated in your Upper and Lower
Dantians, inhale naturally and become aware of the front and back of your torso.
The correct way to do this is through feeling rather than visualization. For some
people this will be easy. For others it may take some time. At any rate, feel into
the back and front of your torso and observe any sensations that arise. Pay
special attention to the midline of your body: your spine, head, face, throat,
chest, abdomen, groin, and perineum (Huiyin). Feel especially for such things as
temperature, tingling, movement, etc., as you’ll be using these sensations to keep
track of how and where Qi is moving in the Microcosmic Orbit. You want to be
sure to keep your mind in this midline area for the duration of the practice. If
your mind deviates from this Path, then Qi may be led to the wrong Path and
cause trouble. At the very least, you’ll waste the goal of your practice.
Remember:
 Where attention goes Qi flows!
Now, there should be three things included in your awareness at this point:
your Upper and Lower Dantians, the coordination of your Huiyin and breathing,
and the midline of the front and back of your torso. Because we’re using the
Buddhist breathing method for this practice, it should now feel as if your entire
upper body is expanding with every inhalation, contracting upon exhalation.
Upon your next inhalation, try to feel outward into the space that surrounds
your body. Feel into the space beneath you as well, as though the ground beneath
you has disappeared. Do this while keeping your awareness rooted in your
Upper and Lower Dantians. This simultaneity of awareness is very important to
the cultivation of your Subtle Body. Personally, I find that using body
temperature as a guide for feeling-attention works well to expand my awareness
into my Etheric system. After a while, you’ll begin to know the difference
between your body heat and the feeling of your Qi. The latter feels like a sort of
“nerve force” with parallels to an electrical current or field. Sometimes it creates
body temperatures ranging from cool to warm to extremely hot.
Once you can feel into your Meridians to a workable degree, become aware of
the heat in your Lower Dantian with a simultaneous awareness of your “I Am”
in your Upper Dantian as well as the surrounding aura of your Etheric force.
Even if all you can do is practice this simultaneity of awareness in a given
session, then it’s perfectly fine! I know that it seems like a lot of things to attend
to at once, but I assure you that it gets easier with time and consistent practice. If
you’re ready to continue, let’s move on to the next step.
Okay! Now that your attention is firmly rooted in your Etheric force, it’s time
to circulate the Qi you’ve gathered at your Lower Dantian. How to do this?
Well, there are few ways to accomplish this. Through trial and error, I’ve
discovered that the best way to do this is to first inhale and lead the sensation of
heat in the Lower Dantian upward to just behind the navel and then outward
from the stomach and downward to the Huiyin. This should be done on an
inhalation of breath while gently pushing your Huiyin down. You want to time it
in such a way that the sensation of heat reaches the Huiyin point at the end of
your inhalation.
Next, as you exhale, sweep the sensation of heat past your tailbone, up your
spine, and around the back of your head, ending at the point where the tip of
your tongue touches your upper palate. Your awareness should reach this point
at exactly the conclusion of your exhalation. It’s important that you keep part of
your feeling-awareness at least three inches away from your body while doing
this. If you have 100% of your awareness inside your body while circulating
Etheric force, then it’s almost sure to stagnate. In fact, in the higher stages of
practice, your Gross Body seems to vanish entirely, and your Qi is all you’re
aware of.
Finally, upon your next inhalation, sweep your feeling-awareness down the
front of your body, starting at your throat, then your chest, your abdomen, and
your groin, ending at your Huiyin. The timing is very important, and you must
reach Huiyin at the end of inhalation and gently push it down and out.
Remember to breathe naturally. Your awareness and timing should follow the
natural flow of your breathing, not vice versa. In more advanced levels of
practice, you’ll deepen and slow your breathing down. For now, stay natural,
start simple, and practice as much as possible. Your main goal at this stage is to
become aware of your Etheric force and increase your capacity for inner feeling.
Continue circulating Qi in the Microcosmic Orbit until the entire process
becomes seamless and smooth. Remember the following rules and you’ll stay on
the correct path of practice:
• There should be no pauses in the circulation of Qi.
• Your feeling-awareness should be about three inches away from the
physical body, with an emphasis on the midline of your body.
• The simultaneity of attention must be trained until it becomes one unified
and global awareness: rooted in your Upper and Lower Dantians,
circulating in your Governing and Conception Vessels, with breathing and
Huiyin coordination trained until you no longer need to be aware of them.
• Train your feeling-awareness until you can circulate very far away from
your Gross Body. Eventually, you’ll also include circulating within your
Gross Body and your Etheric energy at the same time.
• Lastly, guard and maintain your Etheric force always. Avoid unhealthy
foods, toxic environments, imbalanced emotions, and if male, too many
ejaculations of semen. If female, avoid practicing during menses.
That’s it! You’ve completed the Small Circulation of Microcosmic Orbit!
Congratulations. If you’ve come this far you really do deserve to be proud of
yourself. As far as Subtle Body cultivation is concerned, the two treasures of
Embryonic Breathing and Microcosmic Orbit represent a real milestone and
achievement. Later, when we begin our Dream and Astral work, you’ll see
exactly why I place so much importance on these two skills.
Lastly, remember that the circulation of Microcosmic Orbit can also be
reversed and made to follow the Wind Path. Some people find it easier to
circulate Qi in this Path than the Fire Path. Be that as it may, you should practice
both methods to maintain the balance of Yin and Yang in your Etheric and Gross
Bodies. The Fire Path follows the natural flow of Qi in the Governing and
Conception Vessels. The Wind Path reverses this flow thereby calming the
excess Fire Qi generated in the Fire Path circulation. Once you become
proficient in Embryonic Breathing and Microcosmic Orbit, you’ve laid the
foundation for serious Subtle Body work. I say “work” but really, you’re going
to have more fun than most people can imagine.
Literally…
THE 120-DAYS CURRICULUM
 Chapter Seven
Get Vivid!

Now begins your first four weeks of the 120-Days Curriculum. The exercises
in this section will not only increase your sensory experience behind the Veil,
they’ll also lay the foundation for the Lucid Dreaming exercises in the following
section. Everything I’m about to teach you comes from firsthand experience
working with these methods for over two decades. Still, not all practices are
suitable for all people. After all, we’re all unique in many important ways. The
ideal way to approach the exercises is to proceed in the order in which they’re
listed. Of course, you can choose the practices that interest you and then, should
you feel so inclined, return to the other practices later and give them a try.
However, please understand that the exercises are given in a cumulative fashion.
Therefore, each skill parlays over to subsequent exercises.
You should be made aware that, although the skills themselves are presented
in a cumulative fashion, the process unfolds in more of a mandala-like fashion.
It’s perfectly acceptable to take one practice from each of the four weeks and
practice them concurrently. We all have our own unique style by which learning
is made fun and enjoyable. I only present the Curriculum in the present fashion
to illustrate the reliance of each respective skill upon one another. However you
choose to practice the following skills, you’ll notice that the ladder to expertise
is by no means a rigid step-by-step affair but proceeds in a spiral-like way with
each newly acquired skill bolstering the others and gradually converging upon a
center of mastery.
Many people make the unfortunate mistake of assuming that powerful
visualization skills are all that it takes to have Vivid or Lucid Dreams. While in a
certain sense this is true, the word “visualization” pertains to only one of the five
senses: the sense of sight. However, the truth is that unless all five senses are
involved in the dreaming process then you really can’t call it Vivid or Lucid
Dreaming. You may be able to call it visual dreaming, sure, but vivid? No.
Lucid? Not really.
All five senses must be involved in the dream experience for it to be authentic
Vivid and Lucid Dreaming!
So how does someone cultivate the skill of Vivid Dreaming?
Well, I once heard a great quote from the spiritual teacher, Ram Dass, in
which he expressed shock at the number of individuals who are attempting to
have out of body experiences. He suggested to such people, wisely, that they
should first learn to have a complete in the body experience.
I couldn’t agree more…
Many people reading this book are probably already well acquainted with
Vivid Dreaming. Most people with an interest in Lucid Dreaming and Astral
Projection already dream in full color, and are now trying to take their dreaming
experience to the next level. Still, my suggestion to such people is that they not
skip over this section, as there’s more to the following exercises than meets the
eye. For starters, many of the following techniques will enhance your current
capacity for sensory experience in both the dream and awake states. Further,
some of these methods are designed to sharpen your imagination, relaxation, and
concentration to such an extent that you may even have a Lucid Dream while
awake!
Yes, it’s possible…
Finally, for those who have difficulty with visualization and imagination, the
exercises in this section should suffice to build your inner vision. Dig in and
have fun! If you sincerely and consistently practice these exercises you should
see progress in your visualization abilities, your power of concentration, and the
involvement of your five senses in your nightly dreams.
 The exercises in this section range from simple to advanced. Using my own
nomenclature, the Curriculum builds muscles in the Gross, Subtle, and Causal
Bodies, with an emphasis on the Veil of Dreams, the Veil of Ghosts, and the Veil
of Bliss. When you begin the Curriculum, you should start simply and slowly,
building upon your practices with care and patience. If you expect quick results
you’ll only get frustrated, possibly even quit. The key to success in these
practices is to do what you can, no matter how small, with each of the featured
methods. I assure you that you’ll eventually see results if you commit yourself to
them.
Some of the following methods require a willingness and capacity to play with
perception in an unorthodox way. If you’re patient and persevering, I promise
you’ll be well rewarded. Many people reading this will have mini-breakthroughs
because of these methods. These will serve to inspire you and let you know that
you’re on the right track.
I’d also like to point out that the exercises in this section not only increase
your capacity for full sensory dreams, but they also flex your Astral muscles, so
to speak. By learning to alter your perception and involve all five senses in the
process, you’re teaching your subconscious mind that it’s okay to set aside your
normal way of perceiving in favor of another possibility. The first thing you’ll
probably notice is that a doorway to spontaneous Lucid Dreaming is opened by
the exercises I’m about to share with you. Since Lucid Dreaming is itself a form
of OOBE, the Astral Projection experience is just right around the corner.
Now let’s get started!
Week One: Channeling Intensity
Welcome to week one of the Curriculum! This first exercise is the foundation
for all the other skills that you’re going to learn in this book. You should
continue practicing it until it becomes as natural as breathing. I first came across
it in a Tantric document called the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra. I began practicing it
in 2004 and was blown away by the results. When I first began the practice, I
didn’t realize what was in store and the level of commitment required, the doors
that it would open, or the unpredictable effect that it would have on my Astral
development. First, you must understand that the ways by which you can open,
expand, and educate your Astral Body are legion. There truly is no “right” way
to do it. However, regardless which method(s) you choose to adopt, you must
proceed cautiously, patiently, and perseveringly. Remember this important point:
Your Astral Body is intimately connected with your emotions.
The technique that I’m about to share with you has the power to give you
conscious and creative control over that connection, so you should practice it
even while learning the other exercises in this book.
The essence of this technique lies in what’s been called “channeling
intensity.” Certain Tantric and Tibetan schools have called it the “Mahamudra”
or “Supreme Gesture.” I’m referring here to the One Taste teaching of
Mahamudra.
What? One taste? What’s that?
Well, the Indian Sage, Gautama Siddhartha (Buddha), used to describe his
experience of enlightenment with analogy to the salt water of the sea. Just as
every inch of the ocean, no matter where you find it, has the same salty taste, so
too does enlightenment have “one taste” no matter who’s experiencing it.
What does this mean?
The following exercise will answer this question. Properly understood, the
following technique has the power to:
• Get you in touch with your Astral Body.
• Enhance your overall Etheric energy.
• Deepen your emotional intelligence.
• Sharpen your senses.
Why do they call it the Supreme Gesture?
To answer this, you must understand that most of us live in a sort of waking
dream. The average Joe or Jane truly believes that this little thing called “ego” is
a concrete and living thing. It’s understandable, too, since we need to develop a
strong and healthy ego from an early age to survive in this world—which would
be fine were it not for the fact that we mistakenly believe that our little self is all
that there is to us.
The fragility of the ego is revealed in moments of exasperation, when we react
in ways that contradict our self-image. We may be the very picture of poise and
calm when things are going smoothly for us, but just a tiny bit of friction and
immediately the mask falls off. Whenever we lose our temper, allow the
environment to push us around, or respond in a knee-jerk fashion, we’re showing
our true colors, our “side B,” the beast in the basement, as it were. To be sure,
there’s nothing wrong with these repressed urges and thoughts. In fact, once you
strip them of their cultural taboo or remove the moralistic and judgmental weight
that holds them down you’re left with raw energy!
That’s right. Any conceivable thought or emotion you possess is energy, first
and foremost. Just think about how many uses electricity has, to give one
example of energy. On the one hand, electricity is just natural energy. It’s not
trying to hurt anyone. Then someone like Nikola Tesla comes along and turns it
into something productive and transforms human experience forever. Then a
man like Alfred P. Southwick comes along and, using the same energy, creates a
monstrous device called the electric chair! In much the same way your joy,
sadness, excitement, sexuality, creativity, and so on, can be used creatively or
crudely.
Another important point to understand is that an enormous amount of energy
is wasted in this compartmentalizing of our emotions and thoughts. Each time
we feel or think something which we deem or have been taught to believe is
wrong, evil, or taboo, and we suppress it we’re needlessly chasing our own tail
and consuming vast quantities of energy in the process. We do this because
we’re employing morality to do a job that only intelligence can do properly. The
fact is that most of our emotional reactions, and then our reactions to those
reactions, are largely borrowed from the environment we’re raised in. Truly, for
many of us, we take for granted that we’re not behind the wheel at all! Our
parents, teachers, leaders, doctors, and priests, are speaking through us.
The practice of Channeling Intensity reconnects us with the greater portion of
our energies so that we can claim them as our own.
So, let’s begin!

The Practice
The fastest route to grasping the knack of Channeling Intensity is through
your newfound skill of Trance. Recall the Zen practice of “just sitting” that we
discussed earlier? Well, this is the same thing, only it can be done anywhere and
anytime, not just while sitting on your meditation cushion.
Just as Zazen is the art of just sitting, Channeling Intensity could rightly be
called the art of just feeling. It’s one of the most difficult practices you’ll ever
commit too but also one of the most transformative experiences you’ll have, I
promise!
It starts with a firm resolution to surrender to the process and open yourself up
to the full breadth of your emotions.
So, here’s what to do:
You must start by being vigilant and alert to yourself, particularly to your
feeling self. I don’t just mean your emotions, but all your feeling. This includes
the pain you feel when stubbing your toe, the sensation of an approaching
sneeze, your emotional reactions to a movie, the sensations you feel while
making love, or the anxiety you feel when giving a public speech.
I mean all of it!
Next, don’t criticize, censor, or otherwise label what you’re feeling. Just allow
it to be fully present without any preconceived idea of what you should or
shouldn’t be feeling and how it should be dealt with. Also, notice your knee-jerk
reactions to your feelings. Notice the almost instantaneous desire to repress,
blame, express, hide, or excuse what you’re feeling. Simply let all of those
reactions flower and self-liberate in your inner space. Metaphorically speaking,
this is how you take the base lead of raw emotion and turn it into the gold of
refined awareness.
This is inner Alchemy!
Now, once you’ve got a feel for how to do this, notice an interesting paradox
that arises here. In one sense, you removed the separative barrier between your
persona and the greater portion of your being submerged beneath it, and yet now
there’s more space between you and this energy. On the one hand, there’s this
deep well of emotion and sensation churning inside of you, only now you’re not
present as a little voice in your head vainly dictating how these feelings should
be dealt with. You’ve become raw awareness, like the bright summer Sun
shining on the storm clouds. The more you shine your light on all that arises
within you, the more sky you have available to you. Not only that, but you’ll
also notice over time that it enables you to shine even brighter! It’s as if these
freed emotions are a form of food for your very consciousness.
They are!
The keys to success practice are as follows:
1. Be very present and alert to your bodymind. This is like the relaxed
alertness you’d have while fishing or waiting to spot a shooting star. When you
experience powerful emotions or sensations, feel into them and follow their
pathway through your body without personalizing it. Watch them as you would a
passing storm.
2. Start small and gradually move on to more intense emotions. For example,
begin by channeling your emotional reactions to a moving song or film. After
some time, you may move on to more emotionally challenging situations like a
lover’s quarrel or a feud with a coworker.
3. Always be sure to breathe through the entire process. Don’t do anything
with the breath! Simply include your breathing in your awareness. Eventually,
you’ll be able to regulate the effects that strong emotions have on your Qi
Meridians with Embryonic Breathing and Microcosmic Orbit. For now, simply
breathe while Channeling Intensity.
Continue with this practice until it becomes second nature. Remember, the
real attainment is won when you achieve the stage of regulating without
regulating. In Taoism, this process is known as regulating the Xin, or emotional
mind. They refer to the Xin as “monkey mind” because of its wayward and
impulsive nature. The Taoist term for that part of the mind used in Channeling
Intensity is the Yi, or wisdom mind, which they liken to a horse because of its
noble goals and perceptiveness. Once the Xin is regulated by the Yi through
Channeling Intensity, then the Shen (union of subconscious/conscious mind) can
be raised, and the grass grows by itself. Once this becomes second nature, then
practices like Embryonic Breathing and Microcosmic Orbit become something
you’re always doing in much the same way as your normal breathing goes on
whether you’re aware of it or not. At this stage, your Subtle Body development
has reached an advanced level of cultivation. I can’t tell you what happens at
that stage because I’m still working on it myself! Rest assured, the possibilities
are probably endless.
Week Two: Enhancing Sensory Experience
Now is where we begin our second descent down the proverbial Rabbit Hole.
The skills I’m going to teach you here in the second week of the Curriculum are
staples of being a Veiler. They hold the key to Vivid and Lucid Dreaming as
well as the fully embodied Astral Projection experience. They’re at the heart of
the Western Hermetic Tradition and form the basis for self-hypnosis,
neuroplasticity, and creative inspiration. As you’re about to see, there’s no
conceivable limit to how far you can go with these practices.
I can only teach you what I know, but what I’m going to share will be more
than enough to get you started on having intense sensory experiences behind the
Veil—from crystal clear inner-vision in full color, auditory enhancement, tactile
sensation, taste and smell. Imagine having intense sexual encounters that are
more life-like than the real thing! Imagine flying to the moon with all five senses
engaged. Well, the following practices will lay the groundwork for intensely
Vivid Dreams with an eye to becoming Lucid as well.
In our discussion on getting Lucid, I’ll expand on many of the following
exercises. Then, when discussing Pellucid Dreaming, we’ll explore the very root
of sensory experience. Finally, when discussing Astral Projection, you’ll learn to
separate the root of your consciousness from your physical body. In my
experience, initial attempts at Astral Projection are best performed from the
Pellucid state (Causal Body). The reason for this is that there are minimal
distractions from the five senses while in the Pellucid state. For this reason, one
can truly distinguish between a Lucid Dream and an Astral Projection.
It all begins with enhanced sensory experience, both in the dream state and
while awake.
When I first became aware of these practices I was ecstatic. What had
formerly made me feel like a freak was suddenly transformed into a thing of
immense beauty, for to be able to conjure and sustain sensory phenomena
without the aid of any external stimulus is at the heart of many spiritual
traditions. Through the power of willed and life-like inner sensory manipulation
you can change your biochemistry, alter your state of consciousness, expedite
the healing process, stimulate your subconscious mind, enhance your creative
inspiration, provoke peak-experiences, and increase your chances of getting
Lucid and going Astral.
Let’s start with our senses of sight and hearing.

The Practice
You’ll find in the Appendix a diagram which I’ve labeled Diagram for
Visualization Training. I’ve included this as a visual aid for the following
exercises. Place the image in front of you at eye level. Next, you’ll have to do a
test to gauge your level of mental agitation, as too much restlessness will
interfere with the practice.
Close your eyes. Now place both of your palms over your eyes to create a
black visual field. Next, stare gently into the darkness behind your eyes. Do you
see a lot of colors or white spots? Are your eyelids twitching? If so, you’re too
restless for the following exercise and you’ll have to calm your mind before
proceeding. A great way to accomplish this is to practice Zazen for about ten to
fifteen minutes until you enter the Trance state. Just sit in your meditation
posture and focus on being still and attentive to your breathing until your mind
settles. Then place your palms again over your eyes. If the field of vision behind
your eyes is a relaxed, velvety black then you’re ready to begin the exercise.
Open your eyes and gently stare into the diagram. Stare directly into its center
without blinking. This fixed gazing is called Trataka in Yoga. Do this for about
thirty seconds and then suddenly shut your eyes. Soon, the afterimage of the
diagram will appear floating behind your eyes. It will be in contrasting colors to
those of the actual diagram. What you’re seeing is an exact replica of the
diagram composed entirely of phosphene discharge. Later, you’ll be able to
willfully mold this substance into any shape, scene, or dream that you wish! For
now, simply stare into the afterimage floating behind your eyes for as long as it
remains. The more relaxed your mind, the longer the image will remain.
Once the image fades, recreate it with your imagination so that it reappears
before your closed eyes. Be sure to include every detail. Do this for as long as
you’re able. Then repeat the entire process three more times before concluding
the session. Practice this simple exercise every day for one week. Your goal
should be to add ever more complex imagery to your practice. Eventually, you
should be able to include entire vistas and scenes in your inner vision and
actively sustain them with a relaxed but unwavering concentration.
You should expand this practice and perform the above steps on mountains,
people, paintings, and so on, until you can dispense with the “afterimage”
portion of the exercise and simply create an image behind your closed eyes at
will. Begin with simple geometrical shapes and gradually expand to more
complex images and scenes. With practice, you’ll start to notice that you can
manipulate and mold the phosphene discharge behind your eyes at will, without
having to first do the fixed-gaze of Trataka. If you do this while falling asleep
you can induce a WILD (Wake Induced Lucid Dream).
Mastery is attained when you can create an image in front of you with your
eyes open. Go ahead and try it now! Begin by standing or sitting in front of a
wall with a uniform color. It doesn’t matter what the color is, only that it’s
uniform, like a blank canvas. Also, the room you’re in must be a silent as
possible for this exercise. If need be, purchase earplugs. Next, don’t stare at the
surface of the canvas, but rather, stare into it as if it were a window looking out
onto a landscape. Sometimes the landscape will appear on its own and without
any assistance. This is known in the Pagan community as Skrying in the Spirit
Vision. Really, though, that’s just a fancy way of saying that you’re having a
Lucid Dream while awake. What we’re attempting to do here is the same thing,
only we’re going to control the process.
Conjure up the image of the Diagram for Visualization Training and allow it
to float inside the “window” of the canvas. You should visualize it in full color,
but now you’re going to take it a step further. Without losing sight of the
diagram, tune in to the ringing sounds in your ears. There must be total silence
for you to hear these subtle sounds. In Yoga, meditation upon these sounds is
known as Suriya Shabda, or Listening to the Solar Currents. For our purposes,
I’m going to teach you how to use them to cultivate clairaudience and enhanced
hearing in the dream state.
Maintain a relaxed focus on both the hovering image and the ringing in your
ears. At this point, you’ll probably notice that the tones become louder. This is
exactly what you want! Don’t focus overmuch on the tones; otherwise they’ll
decrease in volume. Simply include both the image and the sound in your
awareness at this point. You may notice that you’re beginning to hear voices,
sounds, or perhaps even music within these inner tones. Don’t worry, you’re not
going crazy! When this begins to happen you’re ready to move on to the next
step of manipulating the tones with your will.
Begin by willing the tones to go higher and lower in pitch. When you inhale
make them go higher and when you exhale make them lower. Then try morphing
the tones into simple vowel sounds. After you’ve gotten the hang of that, go
ahead and add a consonant. You could use the infamous “OM” sound, but really
any combination of vowel and consonant will do fine. Try them all! Experiment
with “AAAH”, “OOOSS”, “FAAA”, and so on. With time and practice you’ll
soon be able to form sentences within these tones! If cultivated properly, this
technique holds the key to the psychic skill called “clairaudience.”
If you find that you have difficulty doing this exercise, don’t worry. If you can
hear the tones and concentrate upon them you can use them for Conscious
Dreaming. We’ll be employing them again in our exploration of Lucid
Dreaming. For now, it’s important to note that voices will most often be heard
coming from within the tones, and not as the tones themselves. Usually these are
no more than projections of your own mind, which is what we’re aiming for
here, but sometimes they’re something much more. That’s a discussion for
another time…
Enjoy this exercise for as long as you wish before bringing it to a close. It’s
recommended that you practice Embryonic Breathing to regulate the effects
which these exercises have on your Qi network, and then circulate using
Microcosmic Orbit.
Week Three: The Healing Hands
In week three of the Curriculum, we include inner sight, sound, and feeling in
our practice. Feeling is truly the primary skill in all behind-the-Veil activity.
Whether you’re having a Vivid or Lucid Dream, going Astral, practicing
Qigong, fantasizing, or going under hypnosis, you need a refined capacity for
feeling to reach your goals as a Veiler.
This next practice is a technique for self-healing, but we’re using it here to
develop our behind-the-Veil senses of sight, sound, and feeling. They say that
seeing is believing, and that’s okay, but it’s when you feel what you see that the
true magic happens! At the end of week four of the Curriculum, I’ll introduce
you to a very challenging practice which brings all five senses to bear on the
experience. Once you reach that stage you can expect some interesting
transformations in your nightly dreams!
I call this technique “The Healing Hands.” There are countless versions of this
practice, but this is my favorite. Remember to practice in a quiet room where
you won’t be disturbed for the duration of the practice. Turn your phone off and
remove any source of strong EMF such as a plugged-in laptop or cell phone (as
always).
The Practice
Sit down in your meditation posture in a dark and quiet room. Close your eyes
and slowly enter the Trance state. Enjoy this relaxation for a few moments. Now
become aware of your Etheric energy by feeling into the space around your
physical body. If you feel any physical sensations, such as tingling, skin-
crawling, heat, cold, twitches, and so on, simply notice them dispassionately.
Feel into your Gross, Subtle and Causal Bodies at the same time by relaxing, and
enjoy this moment of conscious embodiment. If thoughts come, let them come
and go without grasping or avoiding them.
Next, move your awareness to a few inches above the crown of your head.
Using your body heat as a guide, try to feel for a point of energy there. When
you feel tingling or heat on the top of your head you’ve found this point. In
Taoism this spot is called Baihui. It’s the Etheric counterpoint to the Huiyin
point located at the perineum. Just as Huiyin is the most Yin spot in the body,
Baihui is the most Yang spot.
Now, if you haven’t already done so, become aware of your natural breathing
rhythm, focusing more on the exhalation phase. At the same time, become aware
of the ringing tones in your ears while vividly imagining two hands hovering
over your head. The palms of the hands are open and emanating a warm,
healing, golden light downward upon and into the top of your head. Feel the
warmth of this light gently and lovingly penetrate your skull, bringing instant
relaxation to your scalp, eyes, ears, and sinuses. As soon as this happens the
tones should become lower in pitch.
Imagine now two more hands appearing from below your buttocks, about
three inches below your Huiyin. The palms are facing up and emanating the
same warm and healing light into your buttocks, coccyx, groin, and Lower
Dantian. Wherever this light goes, instant relaxation and healing follows. At this
same instant, the tones will become even lower in pitch. Remain aware of your
natural breathing throughout this exercise.
Without losing sight, sound, and feeling of these two sets of healing hands and
the tones, two more sets of hands appear on the left and right of you. They
should be about three inches or so from your body and level with your shoulders.
Their palms are open and facing you, sending warm and radiant heat into your
shoulders, gently penetrating your lungs, and converging at the center of the
inside of your chest where they form a bright golden ball of light. Feel these
areas relax and smile from within.
Finally, two more sets of hands appear in front and behind you. They should
be level with the center of your chest and back. These hands also send healing
light toward and into your body. Without becoming tense, really try to visualize
these hands as vividly as possible, including in your awareness your natural
breathing rhythm, the inner tones, and the sensation of healing and relaxation
wherever the golden light travels.
Next, imagine that the hands at your crown descend into your head, down
your spine, and come to rest in your solar plexus. Then the hands below you do
the same, ascending into your pelvis, up your spine, and settling in your solar
plexus. These hands bring warmth, joy, and healing wherever they travel. There,
at your solar plexus, these two sets of hands meet and clasp each other as if in
greeting. A warm golden glow radiates from them. Enjoy this for a few
moments.
Now imagine, and vividly feel, the two sets of hands before and behind you
slowly rotating along the path of the Microcosmic Orbit. Really feel and see
them moving along the Governing and Conception Vessels, bringing healing as
they rotate. The other two sets of hands on either side of you remain where they
are for now, and the two sets of hands united in your solar plexus also remain
where they are. Try to make the inner tones rise and fall in pitch as the hands
rotate in the Microcosmic Orbit. When you inhale, the tones rise in pitch; when
you exhale, they lower in pitch. Breathe naturally, coordinating the rotating
hands with the rise and fall of your breath. Rotate about twenty times, and then
bring the two sets of hand to rest back at their original positions in front and
back of you. Then, with an inhalation of breath, the hands enter the center of
your chest and clasp each other in greeting. A warm glow radiates from them.
Let the inner tones be as they are, but maintain awareness of them.
Now rest in this awareness of these two golden sets of healing hands, two
clasped in your solar plexus and the other two clasped in the center of your
chest, all the while breathing naturally and listening to the inner tones. They
should sound as if they’re surrounding you now. Feel for any tension or numb
spots within and around your body. Send the other two sets of hands resting on
either side of you to these blocked areas, bringing with them healing and
relaxation. Sometimes it helps to picture them operating on these areas, stitching
and repairing them. Do this for as long as you wish or until you feel joyful and
warm.
This concludes the practice.
Week Four: Taste, Smell & the Touchless Orgasm
The fourth week of the Curriculum focuses on the senses of taste and smell.
Because of how intimately related they are, these two senses are best trained
together. Still, don’t let that stop you from training them separately should you
be so inclined. Remember, the exercises of the 120-Days Curriculum are meant
to be introductory only. They’re designed to get you started on the path to
becoming a skilled Veiler and to build the foundation for Conscious Sleep and
Astral Projection. Use them as springboards to further practice.
By now you should be regularly practicing Embryonic Breathing,
Microcosmic Orbit, Channeling Intensity, Visualization, Dream
Recall/Journaling, and the Healing Hands. Although you can be flexible with
these practices, I really do advise that you work with them as often as possible.
It’s a shame that so many people are looking for a quick fix, wanting to master
Astral Projection or Lucid Dreaming overnight. Not that there’s anything wrong
with searching for intelligent ways to access these skills as quickly as possible. I
completely understand and honor that. However, there’s so much more to be
gained by taking an Integral and well-rounded approach to the subject, and that
takes a little more time and patience. There are so many interesting gains to be
had while taking the longer road home. It’s much like hiking. Imagine how
many sights you’d miss out on should you decide to helicopter your way to the
summit of a high mountain! Or consider the difference between a virtuoso
pianist and someone who just knows a few chords. In terms of depth of musical
experience, they’re literally worlds apart.
The essence of the following practices is simple. Pick a food or beverage with
a strong scent and taste. Let’s use coffee as an example. While the coffee is
brewing, stand by and really hone in on your sense of smell. Allow the fragrance
of the coffee to fill your nostrils. Turn it into a meditation! As you do so, try to
conjure up the taste of coffee. Get your taste buds involved and really try to taste
and feel the coffee on your tongue without drinking it. Once the coffee has
finished brewing, drink and enjoy it as you would normally. Once you finish,
wait a few minutes, and then try to recreate the scent and taste of coffee.
You can try this experiment on just about anything, but foods with both a
strong scent and taste work best. Lemon is another favorite of mine. After
performing the above steps on a slice of lemon, see if you can mentally recreate
its smell and taste. If you can make your mouth water by mentally reproducing
the sour smell and taste of lemon, then you’ve got it! Go ahead and spoil
yourself a little and experiment on chocolate, ice cream, wine, or anything else
that makes you smile. Personally, I use Shilajit resin, coffee, lemon, and any
scent with memories attached to it. Smell is a powerful stimulator of memory, so
bringing more awareness to it is a great way to stimulate Conscious Dreaming.
Remember, you can isolate any of the five senses and work on it individually.
Mastery is attained when you can conjure and combine all five senses at once.
At that point, you should notice a profound shift in how lifelike your dreams are
becoming! I find that sensory objects which invoke primal responses are best to
use. The next exercise I'm going to share with you isn’t suitable for everyone. I
decided to include the following technique because it operates directly on the
intimate connection between the Upper and Lower energy centers. Succeeding
with it will stand as irrefutable proof that you’ve attained something special.
I’m referring to something called The Touchless Orgasm.
Consider this: the ability to have an orgasm without the need for physical
stimulation, using only the power of your imagination, is proof of a blossoming
mastery over your inner world.
I discovered this method spontaneously, through my own experimentation.
Because I regularly experienced Vivid and Lucid Dreams of a sexual nature that
sometimes ended in very real orgasms, I found myself wondering if I could
induce the same thing while awake. When I succeeded in doing so I was
shocked. Then again, the only criteria for making it happen is the ability to feel,
see, hear, smell, and taste oneself into believing that the sexual fantasy is real.
Do that skillfully enough and the body responds accordingly.
For this to work you must give it your total attention. Get all of your senses
and emotions involved in the process. Women will most likely approach this
exercise differently than men, as each tend to experience sexuality in different
ways. For example, men tend to be more visual than women. Consequently,
most men may find that they can mentally see their way to sexual arousal, but
they’re unable to achieve orgasm past that point without physical stimulation.
Women, on the other hand, may find that they can mentally feel their way to
arousal but can’t reach orgasm without direct stimulation.
I’ve modified the following technique with these important differences in
mind.
One last thing! If you can’t carry this experiment through to the end, don’t
take it as a failure. It’s not. If you can be totally absorbed in the fantasy with all
five senses involved, you’ve done well. Remember, the goal is to heighten your
sensory experience while awake to such an extent that the ability spills over into
our dreams. From there, you’ve laid the foundation for all other skills as a
Veiler.
The Practice
Naturally, this practice requires a room with a locked door. Be sure that you
won’t be disturbed for at least half an hour. If it helps, create the mood by
arranging the room accordingly. For some, this won’t be necessary. Others may
find that lighting candles, incense, dressing up in sexy clothes, and putting on
romantic music, helps to stimulate sexual longing. Don’t feel embarrassed or
ashamed of autoeroticism. This is nothing but a celebration of your energies and
of life itself. Enjoy it! Do whatever you need to do to get the most out of this
celebration.
 Mentally conjure up your favorite sexual fantasy. Everyone has his or her own
fantasy which most arouses them. For some, this may be their romantic partner,
wife, or husband. I personally feel that the presence of love is a powerful force
to include in just about any practice, but this one benefits from it. That said, it’s
not necessary to succeed in this exercise.
Begin by physically stimulating yourself until you’re very aroused. Try to
include in your fantasy as much of your five senses as possible. If you’re
fantasizing about your lover, for example, try to smell her or his cologne,
perfume, pheromones, etc. Really see her or him in your mind’s eye as vividly as
possible. Some people find that closed eyes are best for this, and others may find
that they can do this with eyes open. Try both methods!
Continue until you feel orgasm approaching, and then stop the physical
stimulation. Continue with the fantasy, but stop touching yourself completely.
At this point, many people feel nothing but frustration. If that’s the case,
alternate between physical stimulation and no stimulation at all. The main thing
is to keep the fantasy going with all five senses engaged. In the example of
fantasizing about one’s lover, follow these five rules:
• See her/him
• Feel her/him
• Smell her/him
• Taste her/him
• Hear her/him
Alternate between short rounds of physical stimulation and prolonged periods
of pure fantasy. The main objective is, of course, to reach orgasm by using
mental stimulation alone. This takes a little practice, but if you can achieve it
then you’re probably already beginning to have Lucid Dreams as well as Vivid
Dreams. Remember, this is an extreme example of a very common mechanism.
It’s no different than imagining a feast and then actually becoming hungry as a
result. Or having a very sexual dream and waking up to a very real orgasm. The
only difference is that, in this exercise, we’re attempting to gain control of this
mind/body interface. Why? Because this is just one of many ways you build and
strengthen the conscious link between your Gross and Subtle Bodies.
If this exercise doesn’t suit you, feel free to get creative. One great alternative
to the Touchless Orgasm is the Dustless Sneeze. Try to conjure a sneeze without
anything provoking it other than your intent. Or else try to conjure a yawn.
Another favorite of mine is to change the size of my pupils according to my
imagination of light or darkness. If you have access to a video recorder, go into a
bright room and film a close-up of your eyes. Without closing them, imagine
that you’re in a pitch-dark room with no windows. Hold this visualization in
mind for a few minutes and then watch the recording. If your pupils widen at the
instant you began the visualization, then you’ve got it!
 Chapter Eight
Get Lucid!
Until you make the unconscious conscious,
It will control your life and you will call it fate.
— Carl Jung

The topic of this chapter hardly requires an introduction. The “white whale”
of many aspiring Veilers and sleep scientists, Lucid Dreaming has achieved a
recent popularity second only to that of Astral Projection. Because it has now
been scientifically validated, Lucid Dreamers are no longer reticent about
coming out and sharing their experiences. As I said earlier, I’ve been having
Lucid Dreams and other OOBE experiences since early childhood, only I didn’t
understand what was happening at the time. It took me many years to get past
my fear of what was happening, evaluate it from a place beyond the narrow
context of my upbringing, and finally explore this remarkably rich and textured
landscape free of fear and confusion. Because of this struggle, I’ve pinpointed
the mechanism by which all OOBE takes place and can now share it with you.
During this fifth week of the Curriculum, we’ll explore the fascinating topic
of Lucid Dreaming with an eye toward acquiring and refining the skill for your
own enjoyment and evolution. We’ll go a little further in-depth regarding the
sleep cycle and how you can tap into it to access Lucidity. Remember, to
become a skilled Veiler you must approach these skills both from the inside and
the outside, as it were. Practices like Trance, Embryonic Breathing, Microcosmic
Orbit, Sensory Enhancement, and so on are the inside part of training. Learning
how to use the natural rhythms of the cosmos and your own bodymind are the
outside part of training. In the former case, you’re building the muscles
necessary to perform these feats. In the latter case, you’re approaching these
realms at right angles, so to speak, and coming at them from the sides. It’s much
like building muscles by first using your own body weight and then going to the
gym and using the equipment there. Or like training on the “inner wall” before
rock-climbing on a real mountain. Both inner and outer approaches are required
to access and maintain dream Lucidity in a full and balanced manner.
If you’ve followed the Curriculum up to this point, then you may have already
begun to have Lucid Dreams. Because these skills are cumulative and
transferrable, training one will typically give rise to the others. Still, you must
approach each skill in a unique fashion, as each has its own unique architecture
and mechanism. When you wake up inside of a dream, you know that what
you’re experiencing is unlike anything else that happens while you’re sleeping
or awake! In a Vivid Dream, you may have full-sensory experiences, but you’re
under a sort of hypnotic spell, whereas in a Lucid Dream you’re in relative or
full control of the experience. You’re engaged in a conscious dance between the
conscious and subconscious regions of your mind…and beyond.
It’s important to understand that dream Lucidity isn’t just a matter of waking
up inside of a dream and manipulating the landscape or narrative. It’s a matter of
psychic projection being sustained by Etheric energy. Ask anyone with
experience in Lucid Dreaming or Astral Projection if they’ve ever felt drained
after a few adventurous nights. Most people with these skills have the first part
of the formula, but lack the second. That is, they can do the psychic projection
part, but lack the foundational Etheric economy to sustain prolonged periods of
time spent behind the Veil.
Some people, especially those with so-called dissociative disorders, have
natural access to these skills. As a result, they can effortlessly conjure a Lucid
Dream or Astral adventure, but they have difficulty grounding their experiences
or controlling them. It’s not unlike a singer with natural vocal talent. Sure, they
can sing, but without proper training they’ll rarely reach their full potential and
may even damage their voice. The same thing tends to happen to individuals
who overuse psychedelics as a means of accessing rarified states of
consciousness. Such persons often become moody, irritable, fatigued, or
mentally ill. Without a stable and grounded approach—one that’s fueled by
abundant Qi and set in an Integral and holistic context—most subtle-realm
experiences tend to leave the aspirant feeling drained and off center. Changed,
yes, but not always for the better.
Dream Lucidity is a skill that requires the capacity for psychic dissociation
fueled by a surplus of Etheric energy, is balanced by holistic evaluation, and
grounded in an integral framework.
What do I mean by the term Integral?
To put it very generally, to be Integral means that you understand that all
sentient beings, events, and aspirations, exist in a universe of other sentient
beings, events, and aspirations. Not only that, but these things are also set within
the context of a culture and political climate. As a conscious being, you have
both a subjective and personal aspect as well as a physical and behavioral aspect,
and you exist among other conscious beings who are in the same predicament.
Furthermore, as a conscious being, you are evolving. You have strengths and
weaknesses, and there are limits to what you can and can’t do. As an evolving
entity, your job is to use your strengths and challenge your weaknesses. You
can’t do that efficiently unless you take these basic facts of your existence into
account. When it comes to the skills being taught in this book, you must
continually check in with these aspects of yourself whenever you practice or
experience something new.
So, what is the essence of the skill of Lucid Dreaming?
The ability to bring all of your senses to bear on creating something that isn’t
there, all the while knowing that it’s an illusion, is the sole talent for Lucid
Dreaming, and this applies whether you’re asleep or awake.
That’s right!
You don’t have to be asleep to have a Lucid Dream!
For example, if my hands are cold and I can warm them by vividly imagining
that I’m holding them over a fire, then I’ve just used Lucid Dreaming while
awake. Literally, the only difference is that my Gross Body is awake while I’m
dreaming. Personally, I believe this to be one half of the Tibetan skill of Tummo,
a skill which allows monks to meditate naked in the snow and still break a sweat.
If I can play with my perception in this manner while asleep and awake, I’ve
mastered Lucid Dreaming. The key is to have complete control over the illusion
and, more importantly, to know that it’s an illusion. Unless you try it, there’s
really no way to convey to you the feeling of creating a convincing illusion
while simultaneously remaining aware that it’s not real. The fun part is playing
with the fine line that separates illusion from the rest of reality.
Developing your concentration and visualization abilities is the crucial key to
success in Lucid Dreaming, and cultivating your spiritual center and
psychological ground is the key to staying sane in the process. All too often I see
books about Lucid Dreaming that completely ignore this very important point.
You’re learning how to play with your perception in very novel ways. Granted,
you’re doing this without the use of drugs or psychoactive substances, but it can
still be just as dangerous if you’re not careful. Furthermore, you need to know
how to cleanse and balance the Qi Meridian system so that you don’t end up
with too much or too little Qi in any of your internal organs. This especially
applies to the five Yin organs, as we’ve already seen.
We’ll start by learning the rudimentary skill called the dissociative reflex.
I’m going to teach you several methods for acquiring and cultivating the film-
projector reflex of the psyche. Please remember that Lucid Dreaming and Astral
Projection are NOT the same thing. They both work along similar lines and
utilize the dissociative talent, but Lucid Dreaming is almost 100% the conscious
use of the dissociative reflex, whereas Astral Projection utilizes that reflex to get
up and out, but then flies above and beyond the noise of one’s own psyche. The
two experiences often unavoidably merge and occupy the same session, hence
the confusion, but they’re not synonyms.
Then the question arises: if Astral Projection and Lucid Dreaming aren’t the
same, then how is it that Lucid and Vivid Dreams often reveal knowledge that
couldn’t have been known otherwise?
To answer this question you must understand that the subconscious part of
your psyche is always picking up details which the conscious mind is totally
unaware of. Advertisers know this all too well and employ it as an effective
means of marketing: a subliminal message here, a flashing billboard sign there.
The ever-open eye of the subconscious mind sees everything. Often our dreams
reveal information of which we’re consciously unaware, but subconsciously we
know quite well. For example, I once lost my debit card and was shown in a
dream where to find it. Sure enough, I checked the next morning and there it
was. Even though my wife and I had searched for it there numerous times, my
subconscious mind detected that the card was pressed up against an object of the
same color and was therefore camouflaged by it.
That’s not to say that this very same thing doesn’t occur during Astral
Projection. It does. The difference is that in Lucid Dreaming you’re often seeing
a memory of something that your conscious mind didn’t register, whereas Astral
Projection tends to reveal events in real-time, especially on the lower Planes. As
always, time and testing will reveal for you the subtle but important differences
between Lucid Dreaming, Astral Projection, and the many ways in which they
merge. As you’ll no doubt see for yourself, Lucid Dreaming and Astral
Projection often merge into what we’ve been calling the Astral Dream, thereby
combining elements of both. Personally, even though I use the term “bodies” to
qualify the general levels of being (the Perennial Philosophy), I’m not wholly
convinced that we leave the physical body during Astral Projection. Rather, I
theorize that what’s happening is that the brain is emitting and receiving
electrical transmissions. These are then experienced by the nervous system and
translated into sensory memories and experiences. Just as we can fuel electrical
output by using water and wind, Astral Projection and Lucid Dreaming are
fueled by Qi (Etheric force).
The exercises in this chapter have been culled from several different sources.
I’ve also included my own discoveries and the exercises I’ve developed along
the way. Before we begin, though, let’s take a brief but closer look at the sleep
cycle and what’s occurring while your head’s on the pillow. Remember, to
understand the rhythm and pattern of your sleep cycle gives you an edge when
trying to attain Lucidity in the dream state and beyond.
The Sleep Cycle Revisited
In Chapter One we explored the rudimentary aspects of the sleep cycle
including the Five Basic Brainwaves and their corresponding states of
awareness. In this section, we’ll explore the sleep cycle more in-depth. Our goal
is to become familiar with this cycle to spot opportunities for Lucid Dreaming.
We’ll learn the when and the why of Lucid Dreaming by examining the sleep
cycle. After that, we’ll learn the how. I’ll teach you time-tested methods for
achieving Lucidity and then introduce you to some of my own methods.
As we’ve already seen, a natural and healthy sleep cycle occurs roughly every
ninety minutes and repeats about five times per night. Sleep starts out light and
becomes heavier until deep sleep prevails. This soon gives way to short bouts of
dreaming. Each time the sleep cycle repeats, the dreaming phase becomes
longer. The technical name for this sleep pattern is Ultradian Rhythm. We’ve
also seen that these sleep phases have bioelectrical correlates, with light sleep
producing ALPHA waves, dreamless sleep producing DELTA waves, dreaming
producing THETA waves, and Lucid Dreaming producing GAMMA waves.
Light sleep, and most periods of deep sleep, present themselves as something
called NREM (non-rapid eye-movement). When profound dreaming begins, it
presents as REM (rapid eye-movement). The greater portion of the sleep cycle
occurs during NREM, with REM-like activity only appearing as short bursts of
dreaming called “sleep spindles” (but not REM proper). Then, as the sleep cycle
repeats, the REM phase becomes longer and dreaming more profound.
NREM dominates about three fourths of the sleep cycle. It’s important to
understand that Lucid Dreaming can and does occur during NREM and not just
REM phases of sleep. Pellucid Dreaming can occur throughout the sleep cycle
as well. However, the degree, strength, and type of Lucidity is very much
influenced by what phase of sleep you’re in. Other factors, such as training and
practice, diet, and economy of Etheric force (Qi), also play a pivotal role in the
strength and staying-power of Lucidity.
I’ve spotted and qualified three stages of Lucidity, which I’ll list simply as:
• LD-1
• LD-2
• LD-3
In LD-1, we experience light Lucidity. Most people are familiar with this
degree and type of Lucidity. As we fall from wakeful BETA to drowsy
ALPHA, we begin to experience minor but noticeable dreamlike patterns called
“hypnagogia.” These typically present as swirling psychedelic colors,
geometrical shapes, landscapes, and audio hallucinations. Sensations of falling
are very common. With practice, one can learn how to enter and manipulate
these minor dream manifestations using something I call the “hitchhiker”
method (more on this later). At any rate, LD-1 almost always lacks the strength
to persist for more than a few minutes and is usually swallowed up by the deeper
levels of NREM.
LD-2 is a stronger form of Lucidity, but still lacks the stamina required for
sustained awareness through and into the deep phases of sleep. Oftentimes this
stage of Lucidity finds the dreamer witnessing the dream scenario, but unable to
control or fully participate in it. This mustn’t be confused with Pellucid
Dreaming, in which the dreamer has full Lucidity, but remains a passive witness
of the dream scenario. LD-2 is a huge step forward in the process of attaining
Dream Control, but it’s still not quite enough to fully withstand the spell of deep
sleep.
LD-3, on the other hand, represents an unmistakable breakthrough in the
consciousness of the individual who achieves it. Just one experience of full
Lucidity will change your life forever. Unlike Vivid Dreaming, or even LD-1
and LD-2, the attainment of LD-3 is an authentic out of body experience. Here,
we have finally achieved a consciousness which is capable of withstanding deep
sleep and is present through the entire REM phase of sleep. When this happens,
you’ve taken a momentous leap in the development of your spirit. To fully
comprehend the power of this breakthrough, you must experience it for yourself.
I’m going to do my best to help you do just that.
When training Conscious Sleep, it helps to know the difference between sleep
and rest and, more importantly, which skills are best applied to each. When
you’re awake and the BETA brainwave predominates, you’re technically asleep
to the subtler aspects of your being and reality itself. By learning to bring more
consciousness into the sleep, dream, and Astral aspects of your being, you’re
literally stimulating those realms and their respective energies to parlay into your
wakeful life.
Says the poet: “Not in entire forgetfulness, but trailing clouds of glory do we
come!”
Should you ever sit quietly and listen to the sound of the rain, not thinking or
desiring to be elsewhere, you might fall into a sort of reverie in which the
ALPHA brainwave predominates. However, you’re still aware of your physical
body, and so you’re not truly asleep but merely at rest. This is the optimal state
to be in for Etheric energy work such as Qigong, Reiki, Raja Yoga, and so on, to
give just a few examples. Then, suddenly, your physical body vanishes from
awareness. You might nod off for a moment and come back to ALPHA, but if
you allow it, soon you’re completely immersed in the dream realm and your
physical body is totally asleep. Continue in this way for a while and dreams too
will vanish, opening the door to the DELTA brainwave. Now you’re totally
asleep to the dream and the wakeful worlds. Should you manage to stay alert at
this deep fathom of your being, GAMMA brainwaves predominate, and you’re
fully anchored in your Causal Body. Soon, this will give way to another sleep
cycle and, if you can remain conscious, the Astral doors open!
Before we begin our Lucid Dreaming training I’d like to offer a few helpful
tips. At this point, you may practice your Vivid Dreaming exercises as you wish.
However, you must continue to regularly practice Embryonic Breathing and
Microcosmic Orbit. You should also obtain an alarm clock, featuring a gradually
increasing volume rather than one that jolts you from sleep with a sudden shriek.
Alarms which can be set to go off at set intervals are ideal for learning Lucid
Dreaming. Remember, we cycle through REM Dreaming roughly every ninety
minutes, so setting your alarm to repeat at these intervals will train you to
become aware at those times. The trick is to hover on the edge of wakefulness
and sleep during these periods without fully waking up.
Also, start doing “reality checks” throughout the day. This is a popular
method of engaging your conscious mind to make Lucid Dreaming both possible
and desirable. It also triggers your subconscious to meet you halfway, and is one
of the highly recommended practices in Tibetan Dream Yoga. Unfortunately, it
tends to be very misunderstood. Periodically checking throughout the day to see
whether you’re awake or dreaming isn’t the essence of this practice. Rather, it
works by tapping into that magical mindset enjoyed by small children, and by
questioning the realness of your perception itself. For example, hold an object in
your hand. It can be anything from a pencil to a billiard ball. Now try to make it
levitate. Really believe that you can make it happen and even go so far as to feel
and see it lift off your palm and into the air. That’s the first aspect of the reality-
check exercise. You can experiment with other reality-check methods
throughout the day, like trying to fly or move objects with your mind. Get
creative! The whole point is to form a bridge between the wakeful and dreaming
regions of your mind. The second aspect of the reality-check method is to see,
not the objects of your awareness as a dream, but your very consciousness as a
dream. If you can manage to sincerely question whether you are real, then
you’ve understood the very essence of the reality-check method.
Finally, stay away from sedatives during these next four weeks. Avoid excess
alcohol consumption, marijuana, and sleeping pills. Also to be avoided are
excess physical and mental strain, overeating, excess ejaculation, and emotional
conflicts. Anything that drains your energy and scatters your mind should be
reduced or omitted for the time being. The skill of Lucid Dreaming requires
discipline and a fierce commitment. You’re not only forging a direct link to your
subconscious mind, but you’re also laying the foundation for Astral Projection,
which is just Lucid Dreaming plus.
So let’s begin!
Week Five: The Dissociative Reflex
All that’s needed to learn Lucid Dreaming is a strong and consistent intention
to do so. That, and a healthy abundance of bioenergy. In fact, the method of self-
hypnosis called Coueism is just one example of how effective the cooperative
use of Will and Imagination can be in cultivating Lucid Dreaming and other
forms of OOBE. Regardless of what method you choose, if you make it a serious
priority and attempt it every night before and during the sleep cycle, sooner or
later you’ll succeed in Lucid Dreaming. However, unless you’re the type of
person who has an inborn talent for Vivid Dreaming and the dissociative reflex,
then you’ll have to acquire them before you can simply demand Lucid Dreaming
to become a regular trait of your consciousness and not merely a passing state
that you sometimes glimpse.
Training the dissociative reflex, enhancing Vivid Dreams, performing reality-
checks, and providing your consciousness with abundant Etheric energy are the
only things you can do to consciously induce stable and recurrent LD-3 stage
Lucid Dreams. Other than that, there’s really nothing you can do directly to
access Lucid Dreaming. The reason for this is that the conscious part of you
functions on a level and with a logic that stands on opposite ends to that of the
dreaming mind. This is why something that can make total sense in a dream
seems totally absurd to the conscious mind. Your goal as a Veiler is to bring
more and more of your conscious mind into the dream state and more of the
dream state into conscious awareness. Illustrated symbolically, the entire process
is like a hexagram. The descending triangle represents your conscious mind, and
the ascending triangle represents your subconscious mind.
That you can’t access full Lucidity through a conscious tour de force is one
reason why acquiring the skill of Trance is so important. The first thing you
learn in Trance training is the art of non-doing, as we’ve seen. It’s important to
remember this as we approach these next four weeks. When it comes to Lucid
Dreaming, it helps to remember this axiom:
Anything done by the conscious mind chains you to the conscious mind!
Oftentimes, simply by allowing this fundamental truth to operate while falling
asleep or just waking up, Lucid Dreaming happens spontaneously. I’ve even
seen it have a positive impact on mild insomnia. Why? Because acceptance of
the fact that nothing can be done to willfully induce Lucid Dreaming, or even
sleep for that matter, does two things. One, it conserves the energy needed to
consciously step behind the Veil, and two, it moves you out of the way so that
something else can break through. In weeks eleven through twelve of the
Curriculum, I’ll introduce you to a few methods that utilize your conscious mind
in a creative and indirect way to induce Pellucid Dreaming.
Since we’ve already covered everything else needed to begin Lucid
Dreaming, I’ll now share with you some of my own methods for training the
dissociative reflex. In a very literal sense, every one of us is to some extent
dissociative. I don’t mean that we’re all mentally ill! Dissociative disorder is a
pathological expression of the dissociative reflex. What I’m referring to is at the
very root of the reflective mind itself. We’ve already discussed this elsewhere,
but now we’ll put it into practice. Without some degree of mastery over our
psychic film-projector, you’ll have difficulty acquiring the skill of Lucid
Dreaming.
Here in week five, I’ll introduce you to two methods for first-hand experience
of the dissociative reflex. In week six, I’ll teach you something that I call “The
Hitchhiker” method. In week seven, we’ll learn how to combine all the above
while falling asleep. Finally, in week eight, we’ll explore how to create the type
of dreams you wish to have.

The Practice: The Trailing Method

Go into a dark room and sit down comfortably. Calm your mind so the field of
vision behind your closed eyes is relatively black with minimal colors or white
spots. Remember, the amount of phosphene discharge behind your closed eyes is
a reliable way to gauge how tense your mind is. The greater the lightshow, the
greater the tension. Once you’ve established a relatively black field of vision, go
ahead and light a candle, any candle. Stare into the flame without blinking until
you see a colored aura or afterimage appear around the candle’s flame. Now
blow the candle out.
Next, stand up and keep your eyes open while gazing gently at the afterimage
of the candle flame. Eventually it’ll begin to move. Follow it! Keep your eyes
glued to it and simply follow it whenever it moves. There will come a point
when the afterimage looks completely external. In fact, go ahead and let it sit in
the palm of your hand. Just stare at it and watch its behavior. The more relaxed
your mind, the longer the afterimage will remain.
I remember the first time I discovered this experiment. I was sixteen years old.
Standing on my mother’s porch, I stared into the porch light for a moment and
looked away. The afterimage appeared, and I just decided to follow it (I’m weird
like that). Eventually it came to rest in the palm of my hand and I watched it
change into all kinds of different things! Geometric shapes, animals, and tiny
scenes of mountains and lakes (dream scenarios). But the real surprise came
when I discovered that I could decide what shape it took. Sound familiar? It
should.
That’s dream control!
Now you can do it, too. I’ll even show you how to shape the phosphene
discharge behind your eyes into anything you wish to see. Try it! Instead of
staring at the afterimage of the candle flame, stare into it. If it moves, follow it
but stare into its center. One of two things will begin to happen if you practice
this for one week. Either the afterimage will morph into all manner of different
things, or you’ll begin to see scenes within the afterimage itself. You can also try
this in bed at night before falling asleep or during sitting meditation. Simply
stare gently into the colored blobs behind your eyes as you’re drifting off to
sleep and watch what happens! With practice, you can even decide what scenes
should appear and what landscape you’d like to step into. If you guessed that this
is how you can choose what to dream before falling asleep then you guessed
right, but the important thing for you to take away from this little experiment is
this:
The psyche projects itself.
When you experience the dissociative reflex while awake, the contents of your
psyche are projected onto the screen of the physical environment. However,
when you experience the dissociative reflex while your physical body is asleep,
you are projected onto the screen of the psychic and Astral environment.
How so?
Well, while you’re awake, your sense of “I” and “Me” is firmly rooted in your
physical body and its five senses. On the other hand, as your physical body falls
asleep, your awareness of bodily processes and sensations vanishes. I believe
that this is because your presence gets in the way of the physical regeneration
achieved through healthy sleep. To be aware of and mentally evaluating the
events of daily life takes energy; therefore, nature has evolved dreams to keep
you occupied while the body heals itself. Well, that’s my theory anyway. More
to the point, your awareness while in REM sleep is firmly rooted in what I’ve
been calling the Subtle Body. If you can maintain awareness and keep alert while
transitioning from awake to asleep, then you’ll notice that the contents of your
psyche, hitherto monitored and controlled by you, have now become
externalized and appear to take on a life of their own! Inner self-talk becomes
audible conversations. Mental imagery becomes lifelike scenarios. Biological
and Etheric processes become elemental sensations. And you’re placed in the
midst of all of this.
So, how to transition from awake to asleep while fully alert? How to become
immune to the intoxicating venom of the sleep serpent?
Sit down comfortably in a dark room. Follow the steps described above: gaze
into a candle flame without blinking until you see an afterimage appear around
the flame. Now blow out the flame and remain seated while continuing to gaze
at the afterimage. This time, instead of merely following the afterimage until it
becomes externalized, follow it until the dissociative reflex kicks in and then do
this:
Feel your entire body moving in the direction of the afterimage.
In other words, if the afterimage moves downward and slightly to the left,
then feel your entire bodymind somersault in that direction. At first, you’ll
probably feel dizzy or drunk. That’s a good sign! If you have difficulty doing
this, there’s something else you can do:
Stand up in a well-lit room. Be sure to remove any sharp or blunt objects that
you might fall on or may fall on you. It’s also a good idea to practice this next to
a bed or couch. Now spin rapidly in circles, moving in the direction of your
dominant hand, until you get dizzy. At that point come to a sudden stop and sit
down. Relax all your muscles and exhale all the air in your lungs naturally and
without forcing it. Next, keep your eyes open and notice that the entire room
appears to be spinning in the direction of your non-dominant hand. Finally,
without moving your body and while keeping the air out of your lungs, feel as
though your entire bodymind is moving in the same direction of the spinning
room. The sensation will be much like letting go and surrendering to a strong
current in a rushing river. The trick is to become quite dizzy and then allow
yourself to become physically limp, sustain breathing, and allow your
consciousness to drift in the direction of the spinning room. With time, and as
you become accustomed to OOBE, you’ll see that this is almost the same
sensation that occurs during the Astral exit and the transition from LD-2 to LD-3
(more on this later).
I can still recall being a child of about ten and experimenting with these little
tricks. It wasn’t until quite recently that I learned that there’s even a technical
term for it. It’s called Phasing in the neo-Astral Projection community (see the
work of Michael Raduga). There are two broad definitions of Phasing. The first
definition is exactly what we accomplished in our Vivid Dreaming practices.
You bring all your senses to bear on an inner experience and really put yourself
at the center of it. The second definition is the ability to manipulate your
awareness in such a way that you can literally feel yourself in various spatial
orientations different from where you’re physically located. In my system of
Subliminal Cognition Training, we utilize what’s called The Tetris Effect to
induce Phasing. Briefly, the Tetris Effect occurs when sensations associated with
repeated activities are reproduced as you’re falling asleep. For example, if
you’ve been on a boat for most of the day, you might fall asleep feeling your
body swaying as if you’re still at sea. Or, if you’ve been jumping up and down
on a trampoline, you’ll feel as though you’re still jumping up and down while
drifting off to sleep.
In Book Two of this series, we’ll be taking a closer look at the Tetris Effect
and how you might use it to induce Phasing and OOBE.
One more thing before we move on to week six: just as Embryonic Breathing
and Microcosmic Orbit practice strengthens and stretches your Etheric muscles,
the practices in this section are designed to strengthen and stretch your Astral
muscles. Soon, and with sincere and consistent practice, you’ll see the gist of
these methods and all will become clear.
Week Six: The Hitchhiker Method
The capacity to engage all five senses in imagination and to sustain a relaxed
but unwavering focus on the experience are the two common features shared by
almost every method taught in this book. If you adequately train these two
abilities, then you’ll have no problem succeeding in stepping behind the Veil. In
fact, entirely new and exciting worlds open for you when you begin to see, hear,
smell, taste, and feel into these secret spaces of your body, mind, soul, and the
universe itself.
This next technique for the attainment of Lucid Dreaming makes use of these
two indispensable skills. I call it The Hitchhiker Method. It’s just one of many
viable ways in which you can induce a WILD (Wake Induced Lucid Dream).
What’s the difference between a WILD and a Lucid Dream which occurs
spontaneously throughout the night?
A Lucid Dream which happens during REM sleep is often the result of long-
term training in which the conscious and subconscious regions of the mind have
agreed, as it were, to make Lucidity a part of the dreaming process. Whether
through affirmation, reality-checks, or hypnosis, a non-WILD Lucid Dream
usually happens without your intending for it to happen. On the other hand, a
WILD is the conscious induction of a Lucid Dream. There are many ways of
doing this. The following method provides the essence of just about every other
WILD technique of which I’m aware. It can be practiced during sitting
meditation, but it’s designed especially for bedtime, just before waking up, or
while taking an afternoon nap.

The Practice
This exercise is best practiced in a dark and quiet room while lying on your
back. If possible, elevate your torso so that your upper body is on an incline of
roughly forty-five degrees. Memory foam wedges serve this purpose well. This
posture ensures that your body’s relaxed enough to fall asleep, but your mind
remains slightly alert. Also, it reduces the possibility of snoring, which robs your
brain of much needed oxygen. A brain robbed of oxygen is a brain robbed of
Lucidity.
Also, be sure to sleep in alignment with Earth’s magnetic field. Your head
should face magnetic North and your feet South. This may seem like a minor
detail, but I assure you that it’s extremely important. People who follow this
principle enjoy better health, longer periods of REM sleep, and a host of other
psychic enhancements. Readers interested in cutting-edge research in this field
should consult the fascinating work of Michael Persinger.
As you lie there, feel yourself getting heavier and heavier. Cultivate the
feeling of your body melting into the mattress with each exhalation of breath.
Try to feel the mattress rise to meet your body as you surrender to gravity. Do
this until your whole body feels relaxed and your mind is calm and content.
Soon you’ll begin to feel drowsy. Be sure not to fall unconscious! As soon as
you feel yourself drifting into sleep, gently stare into the darkness behind your
closed eyes. Don’t strain to do this, but rather, maintain a soft focus on the point
about one inch above the tip of your nose. Cease all mental chatter and internal
dialogue. If any remaining thoughts are lingering in your mind, simply ignore
them and continue to focus on this point behind your closed eyes.
At a certain point, you’ll begin to experience hypnagogia. The most common
of these are bright lights, voices, psychedelic color patterns, buzzing and
popping sounds, sensations of floating or falling, and so on, with visuals tending
to be the most common. This is the beginning of LD-1 and is the lightest form of
Lucidity, most of which is spent in NREM. This is where you need to begin
using the following technique.
As soon as you notice any hypnagogic hallucinations, gently focus on one of
them and stick to it. That is, grab hold of it with your concentrated mind and
don’t let go. It’s important to be relaxed about this as any tension will only serve
to wake you up. If you turn it into a project, then you’ll be right back at the
BETA brainwave and wide awake. So simply relax and allow your awareness to
rest on a dream object and come to a full stop. If you can do this for a few
minutes, then you’ll notice a profound shift in your consciousness, the most
notable being that your breathing disappears, and your physical body goes numb
or appears to morph into strange shapes.
This is the entry into LD-2.
If you’ve made it this far then you’re one step away from full Lucidity! At
first, it usually only lasts for a minute or two, but it will deepen with time and
practice.
So, how to enter full Lucidity?
This is a little tricky to do because the sleep cycle does exactly that: it cycles.
That’s right. Even if you’ve managed to remain conscious up to this point you
may still fall into the abyss of deep dreamless sleep (DELTA). This means that
most of Lucid Dreaming is trained while entering the NREM phases of sleep,
not the REM phase as most people think. Eventually, the subconscious mind
gets the hint and begins to respond by triggering Lucidity while in the deep sleep
phase of REM. One of the perks of mastering the Trance state is that you begin
to learn the skill of Pellucidity, which allows you to remain aware even in deep
dreamless sleep (more on this later). Consequently, your chances of remaining
aware throughout the entire sleep cycle are greatly improved. That said, there’s
one more trick I can teach you to prolong the microbursts of REM that occur in
LD-1 and LD-2. To get the most out of it, though, you need to draw on your
experience of the first four weeks of the Curriculum.
Here’s what to do:
As soon as you’ve transitioned over into LD-2 and hypnagogic hallucinations
give way to dream scenarios, reach out and into the dream with one of your five
senses. For example, if you’re experiencing a particularly visual dream scenario,
become even more involved with it by reaching out with your sense of hearing.
Are there any sounds present? Listen for conversations or music and so forth.
Or, perhaps, there are physical sensations you might feel within the dream. One
example is the feeling of water or wind, maybe the warm sun on your face. And
so on with smell and taste.
In week seven, I’ll teach you how to utilize the Hitchhiker Method while in
deep REM as well. At that point, you’ve achieved full LD-3 Lucidity. When
that happens, you’ve reached a milestone in your development as a Veiler. Why?
Because, unlike LD-1 and LD-2, in LD-3 your emotions are fully involved in
the experience. You’re there, 100% in the dream world.
You’re behind the Veil!
We’ll delve into that in the next section. For now, in week six, I don’t
recommend that you try to get emotionally involved in the dream because we
tend to lose vigilance when emotions are involved. For now, simply try to
involve all of your senses in the dream process with the goal of rooting yourself
within the dream for as long as possible before either falling totally asleep or
waking up. Believe me, emotions will take center stage once you’re able to
maintain Lucidity throughout the REM phase of sleep, which is the focus of the
seventh week of the Curriculum.
Practice the Hitchhiker Method for at least one week before moving on to the
following exercise. Be sure to record the results in your Dream Journal! If you
wish to build on this method, try combining the inner tones with the internal
gazing at the beginning of the exercise. That is, while staring into the darkness
behind your closed eyes, include in your awareness the subtle, high-pitched
ringing sounds in your ears. This will have the effect of adding audio to the
visual hypnagogia of LD-1 and LD-2. Remember, the more you can involve all
of your senses in the process of going behind the Veil the more chances you
have of rooting yourself there.
Week Seven: LD-3 and Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming
While practicing these techniques bear in mind that not only are they powerful
Lucid Dream inducers, they’re also Astral Body looseners. That is, they train
your awareness to “detach” and perceive from various perceptual angles without
the need to relocate your physical body. At first this is merely mental
gymnastics, so to speak. With time, however, it will blossom into full-fledged
Astral Travel. In weeks thirteen through sixteen, we’ll expand on these methods
strictly for Astral Projection.
At this point you should begin practicing regular reality checks. If you’ve
already been practicing them, now is the time to take them to the next level.
How? Practice them more often. How often? As often as you can. Not only
should you regularly question whether your daily life is a dream, but also,
whenever you find yourself lost in thought and you’ve forgotten yourself,
immediately realize that you’ve been dreaming. Of course, that flies in the face
of what we like to think is common sense.
After all, how could I be dreaming if I’m wide awake?
Most people take for granted that there’s not much difference between
dreaming while the body’s asleep and doing so while fully awake. In both cases
you’re lost in an internal narrative or fantasy. More specifically, you aren’t there
anymore. That is, you’ve stopped being self-aware and have been swept away by
reverie and internal dialogue. So, it follows that you can train your mind to
become spontaneously aware in dreams by making self-remembrance a regular
habit. Unlike other reality-check methods, self-remembrance cuts to the very
core of the dreaming mind itself. It undercuts our general ignorance of psychic
processes that parlay into the typical non-Lucid Dreaming most people do.
The twofold essence of self-remembrance is this:
• The recognition that you’re lost in thought, fantasy, or self-talk equals the
spontaneous remembrance of your Self.
• In all activities you must be fully present without going on autopilot.
After a while, you’ll notice that this newfound capacity for presence begins to
penetrate your nightly dreams.
The next thing you need to begin practicing is waking up at roughly 4:00 am
in the morning. REM sleep is particularly deep at this time, and dreaming lasts
for a longer duration. Not only that, but the sleep hormone melatonin is
diminishing at this time and your brain is beginning to flood your body with
chemicals to awaken you. This twilight period is a powerful moment to trick
your brain into Lucidity. In Taoism, this is the time when Yin is receding, and
Yang is on the rise, both in Nature and in your bodymind. The Indians call this
time the Bramamuhurt and consider it the best time for the human soul to
communicate with the divine.
As for the burden of waking up so early, you’ll only have to do this a couple
of times with the aid of an alarm clock. Once your bodymind becomes
accustomed to the new habit, you’ll begin to wake up at that time spontaneously.
In fact, many people find that they don’t even need an alarm clock to make this
happen. Oftentimes you can just make a firm affirmation to wake up at 4:00 am
and you’ll do so, and this is the best way to proceed if you can manage it.
Indeed, this firm intention can also be used to induce Lucidity. Your
subconscious mind is very responsive to sincere commands. It may take some
time to work, but if you tell yourself to remain aware in dreams with enough
sincerity and over a sufficient span of time, you’ll succeed sooner or later.
Finally, provided your doctor gives you the okay, begin taking a nootropic if
you haven’t already been doing so. In these early stages of Lucid Dreaming
training it helps to stack the deck in your favor by giving your brain a boost.
Nootropic compounds assist in making dreams incredibly Vivid and sometimes
Lucidity happens spontaneously because of this. At any rate, turning the
amplitude up on your nightly dreams increases your chances of grabbing hold of
them and becoming Lucid, and nootropics are an excellent way to accomplish
this. I suggest you try Huperzine-A with Vinpocetine. You’ll see why if you do!
With all these considerations in mind, let’s venture even further behind the
Veil and access full scale LD-3 Lucid Dreaming!

The Practice
 First, arrange your bed so you’re in alignment with Earth’s magnetic field. It
may take some time before you notice the effects of this magnetic harmony, but
science has all but proven its effects. As an interesting side note, photos taken by
satellites orbiting the Earth have captured images of cows over vast stretches of
land all sleeping in a uniform arrangement aligned with Earth’s magnetic field.
Make sure that your sleeping environment is completely dark, quiet, and free
of distraction. Earplugs and eyeshades work well if you can’t ensure a dark and
quiet bedroom. Remove all sources of EMF, and if possible, WiFi as well.
Unplug all nearby devices from the electrical outlets in your room. If you sleep
with your body near a wall, be sure that any outlets on the other side of it aren’t
in use. I can’t overstate the deleterious effects which “dirty electricity” has on
your Etheric energy. If you’ve decided to use the nootropics that I
recommended, take them at least thirty minutes before going to bed and
beginning this exercise.
Now set your alarm for 4:00 am. Yes, I know that for many people this is
quite early to be waking up and many people will resent this step, but if you’ve
taken my advice regarding the Circadian rhythm and are going to sleep at sunset,
you’ll have very little problem waking up at 4:00 am. Besides, you’ll only be
awake for a moment.
Lie down on your back and rest your dominant hand on your navel and your
non-dominant hand on the center of your chest. Feel the warmth from your
hands permeating these two centers and gently focus on your breathing. Breathe
naturally, and gradually move your breathing down from your chest to your
abdomen. Now make a firm command to yourself that you wish to remain
conscious throughout the sleep cycle.
Next, become aware of the inner tones ringing in your ears. At the same time,
gently stare into the darkness behind your closed eyes. If there are any colors,
spots, or flashes of light, simply watch them and stare into them as if watching
television. All the while, remain simultaneously aware of your breathing, the
inner tones, the feeling of warmth radiating from your hands into your lower
abdomen and chest, the field of vision behind your closed eyes, and your
affirmation to remain Lucid.
Depending upon a variety of factors, sooner or later you’ll begin to drift off
into the lightest phase of sleep with your awareness still intact. As soon as
hypnagogia present themselves, gently but decisively concentrate on one of them
and don’t let go. Whether it’s a dream image, a sound, or a physical sensation,
latch on with your focus and hold steady.
At this point you reach a pivotal moment. You’ll either continue to the second
stage of the sleep cycle with full consciousness, or else you’ll fall completely
asleep, in which case you may have to wait another ninety minutes or so before
another opportunity for Lucidity presents itself. If so, that’s okay! You have until
4:00 or 5:00 am to practice Lucidity in this exercise, so keep at it.
A good way to sustain Lucidity from LD-1 to LD-2 is to do something
proactive while in the Lucid state. You see, one of the primary things that lures
consciousness out of Lucidity is this:
The logic of the dreaming mind is paradoxical, and the only way the
conscious mind can deal with it is to get out of the way by going to sleep.
The best way to counter this habit is to actively participate in the dream
scenario without getting lost in it. For example, if you see a purple elephant
flying over a mountain top, don’t get lost in the irrational narrative of the scene.
Rather, make the purple elephant do something. You might will the elephant to
come down and lie in front of you. Or you might will the elephant to become a
dog. If you continue this way, you’ll find that you can withstand the seductive
pull of the dream to lull you into unconsciousness.
Lastly, there will come a point when LD-2 fades into LD-3. Once this occurs,
there will be a complete break with the physical world accompanied by total loss
of Gross Body awareness. During this transition it’s common to feel some
strange sensations, sleep-paralysis being foremost among them. When this
happens, you’ll probably wake up immediately.
It usually takes some practice to sustain full-blown Lucidity. If you’re unable
to sustain Lucidity up to this point, don’t worry. Most people can’t. More
commonly, people find that they can sustain awareness up to LD-2, at which
point they invariably fall asleep until their alarm clock wakes them up at
4:00 am. At this time, REM is at its peak duration and strength, so it can be
much easier to jump straight into LD-3 at this point.
It’s important to remember that your attempts at Lucidity as you first lay
down to sleep serve as powerful affirmations to your subconscious mind that
you’re seeking opportunities for Lucid Dreaming. Consequently, you’ll
oftentimes find yourself in a spontaneous LD-3 Lucid Dream at around 4:00 am.
Remember, just as you can often command yourself to wake up at a certain time
each day and your bodymind obeys your will, so too can you command your
bodymind to become Lucid at specific points in the sleep cycle.
Once the alarm sounds at 4:00 am, shut it off and again lie down to sleep. As
soon as a dream scenario presents itself, use the Hitchhiker Method and grab
hold of an aspect of the dream and don’t let it go. Especially important here is
that you get proactive and do something concrete within the dream, such as
flying or manipulating the narrative, to avoid lapsing into unconscious dreaming.
One of my favorite ways to do this is to recall the dream I was having
immediately prior to the alarm going off and re-enter it with full control over the
narrative. Many times I’ve awoken from a nightmare of, say, being chased by
someone, only to re-enter the dream and fight off my attacker.
The possibilities are endless!
In closing, once you enter LD-3, you’ll probably start to notice Astral
elements blending in with the dream scenario (i.e., Astral Dream). Perhaps
you’ll even have a full-blown Astral Projection. We’ll be going more in-depth
on this topic later. For now, just notice how stepping behind the one Veil
immediately grants you glimpses of what lies behind another. Lastly, record
your results in your Dream Journal.
Week Eight: Dream Control
One of the most remarkable perks of attaining Dream Control (besides
enjoying endless adventures!), is that the confidence you gain from it begins to
spill over into your everyday life. As a Veiler, you’ll soon discover that by
facing your demons (literally!), defying the laws of physics, and opening the
lines of communication between the conscious and subconscious regions of your
mind, you’ve been cultivating a more integrated self.
Although it’s necessary to occasionally allow your dreams to be as they are,
you’re likely to find that dreams which contain valuable information will resist
any attempt at manipulation anyway. As much as I hate giving clichéd analogies,
it’s not unlike what the Oracle tells Neo in the movie, The Matrix: nobody can
see beyond the decisions they’re not ready to make.
Dream Control works that way, too…
Recall that in our discussion on the Seven Categories of Dream, whenever you
encounter a dream that resists manipulation you’re having an Educational
Dream. There’s an important soul-lesson hiding behind it, and it’s your job to
find out what that lesson is. Sometimes the lesson is obvious; at other times it
can be elusive. It often happens that the inscrutable meaning behind the dream
suddenly dawns on you while you’re going about your day. This is one of the
more common reasons for the déjà vu phenomenon.
In this section, I’m going to introduce you to the skill of Dream Control. I
realize that some seasoned Veilers will take umbrage at this, but I’d be remiss if
I finished a discussion on Lucid Dreaming without at least introducing the best
part! Of course, some will argue against it. Personally, I never understood why
some Lucid Dreamers are so against the conscious control of dreams. Okay, so
some folks get a little carried away with it. I get that. Still, should we all stop
eating just because a few people have a problem with overeating?
 As with all things, balance is key!
This next technique is designed to give you greater conscious control over
your dreams. It’s one of many methods of accomplishing this and you may have
already experienced a degree of Dream Control if you’ve followed the
Curriculum up to this point. After all, a degree of Dream Control is required to
actively sustain LD-3. However, this skill can be cultivated to the point where
you can literally dream about whatsoever and whomsoever you desire. You can
defy the laws of physics, have superhuman strength, have mind-blowing sex, and
even pre-program your mind for more inspiration and creativity.
There’s no doubt that at least 90% of all Dream Control is an exercise of the
ego. Still, that’s precisely what many of us need! True confidence is hard to
come by. Often, bravado is masquerading as confidence. As you become
proficient in Lucid Dreaming, you’ll eventually begin to gain greater control
over how a given dream begins and ends. Typically, you’ll wake up from a
Vivid Dream only to fall back asleep, become Lucid and change the narrative,
usually from a defeat to a victory. Maybe you’ve already had experiences like
this. Well, soon you’ll be quite adept at it.

The Practice: The Hangover and The Closure Methods

This technique has two parts. First, you’ll utilize the “4:00 am Method” to
jump straight into LD-3 and change the outcome of the dream you were having
just prior to waking up. In the second part, you’ll learn how to create the dream
you want to have before you fall asleep. With practice, you can enjoy any type
of dream you wish to have. I’ve even finished, reworked, and continued dreams
up to two days after having them!
The first part is easy:
Simply perform the same steps from the exercise in week seven all the way to
the 4:00 am mark. Next, stay in close mental contact with the dream you were
having before you woke up. It’s more important to recall the general theme than
the details of the dream. For example, if you were having a Hedonistic Dream,
simply stay in contact with that energy and mood when you awaken. If you do
recall the details that’s even better.
Now re-enter the dream and take control! That is, do something concrete and
dramatic to change the overall trajectory of the dream. If you were previously
having a dream about being chased, for example, re-enter that dream, turn
around and face your pursuer. You can even use super powers in your dream to
fend him off.
Believe me, this can get pretty fun!
Another popular way to access Dream Control is to go back to whatever
dream you were having before waking up and then FLY. This is a universal
method of Dream Control as it can be used in just about any dream scenario.
You simply reach for the sky and soar! It’s not uncommon that Astral Projection
also occurs because of this flying method.
The second part of Dream Control is, well, a little bit trickier:
First, you must decide what type of dream you wish to have. Scan through the
Seven Categories of Dream and select one. Pick a category and affirm it
throughout the day and before you fall asleep. For example, if I’d like to relive
some event of my previous day and change its outcome, then what I wish to have
is a Biographical Dream. Then I’d go about my day contemplating the event in
vivid detail exactly as it occurred. Then, as I fall asleep that night, I’d make a
firm affirmation to dream about that event. As soon as I become Lucid I can then
begin to take control of the outcome. As you might guess, this is a fantastic way
to find closure to certain unhappy moments.
The same can be done with any other category of dream. Take, for example,
the Hedonistic type of dream. Let’s imagine that you desire to dream about being
famous. A great technique is to watch a film or documentary about, say, a
famous actor. After you’ve watched the film, replay in your imagination some of
your favorite scenes, only put yourself in the place of the celebrity. Do this
throughout the day and as you’re falling asleep, and you’ll eventually have a
dream about being famous. At first these dreams may not be Lucid, but with
practice you’ll be able to remain conscious throughout the dream.
As an interesting side note, sleep scientists have recently discovered that
people who play video games are more likely to have Dream Control than non-
gamers. The theory is that because gamers are accustomed to manipulating a
virtual reality, that skill carries over into their dream life. Personally, I’m not a
gamer so I can’t verify this theory, but why not give it a try?
Another secret to accessing Dream Control is something which I call The
Closure Method. In this technique, you begin a vivid mental fantasy about what
or whom you’d like to dream about. You go deep into it, with as much detail as
possible, only you stop short of full satisfaction. In other words, you visualize
your desired scenario fully but leave the gestalt out of the fantasy. For example,
let’s imagine that you wish to have a Lucid Dream about being a superhero.
First, you’d watch a good film featuring your favorite superhero. Then, as you’re
falling asleep, you’d imagine one of your favorite scenes from the film, with you
in the place of the actor playing the superhero. Lastly, you’d stop short of
rescuing that damsel in distress or defeating your arch-nemesis. This
withholding of closure and satisfaction will then reemerge in the form of a
dream. Now combine this with any of the methods for attaining dream Lucidity
and you’ve achieved Dream Control!
At more advanced levels of Dream Control, you begin the work of
manipulating dream content in such a way that gives you full control over the
five primordial Elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Spirit. For example, you
might blend Water and Air by breathing under water in a Lucid Dream, or blend
Fire and Earth (physical body) by walking through fire in a Lucid Dream, and so
on in various other combinations. The primordial Element of Spirit represents
not Lucid but Pellucid Dreaming and the eventual attainment of Astral
Projection. Other forms of Dream Control manifest somewhat spontaneously as
the ability to transcend the egoic limitations spawned by the daily constraints of
the Laws of Physics. The most common of these is unquestionably Lucid
Dreams of flying, but other forms of expression are the ability to become tall or
short or change the size, color, and shape of dream objects and landscapes. In
this introductory course, however, it’s only necessary that you become capable
of choosing both what to dream and how the dream narrative plays out.
These two methods are to be used in combination for the entirety of this week.
Finally, be sure to record all results in your Dream Journal.
 Chapter Nine
Get Pellucid!

If it’s not present in deep dreamless sleep then it’s not real.
— Ramana Maharshi

Pellucid Dreaming is probably the most neglected aspect of Conscious Sleep.

Just about any book you read on the subject focuses solely on Lucid Dreaming
and Astral Projection. In my opinion, this is like teaching someone how to
exercise while neglecting the importance of a healthy diet. At their core, Lucid
Dreaming and Astral Projection are just two spokes in the wheel of which
Pellucid Dreaming is the central hub. Furthermore, true Astral Projection will be
nigh impossible to achieve without profound Causal Body development.
Pellucid Dreaming is a Causal Body skill.
It’s called the Causal Body because, when you’re centered in it, it feels as if
it’s the cause or witness of all passing states and experiences. All phenomena
experienced in the awake and asleep states appear as so many passing clouds in a
vast immovable sky, and you are that sky. There’s no intention or desire to move
outside of yourself or escape the Now. You’re just a flame of awareness burning
in, and as, the pure and simple silence of being.
Sound familiar? It should!
If you’ve been regularly practicing Embryonic Breathing and Microcosmic
Orbit, then you’ve already got an intermediate understanding of Pellucid Sleep.
As we’ve discussed, the secret key to enhancing Causal Body awareness is
what the Taoists refer to as “raising Shen.” We’ve also discussed some methods
for accomplishing this, such as proper diet, regulating the sex drive, the practice
of Trance, Mindfulness and Self-Remembering, Nootropics, and so on. In this
section, we’ll take this raised Shen deep into the sleep cycle to accomplish
Pellucid Dreaming and lay the groundwork for Astral Projection.
Unlike Vivid and Lucid Dreaming, which are best accessed in the REM stage
of sleep, Pellucid Dreaming is best learned during NREM stages of sleep, at
least initially. This is great news since NREM sleep makes up roughly 75% of
the sleep cycle! That means that there are more opportunities for Pellucid
Dreaming than there are for Vivid and Lucid Dreaming. Indeed, some people
learn Lucid Dreaming spontaneously because of learning Pellucid Dreaming first
(more on this later). In fact, I believe that’s how Tibetan Dream Yoga was
developed. Skilled meditators, capable of carrying their meditation through the
entire sleep cycle, eventually discovered that they can choose to either engage or
passively witness their dreams. After all, Lucid Dreaming is impossible without
at least some degree of Causal Body (Pellucid) development.
The goal of learning Pellucid Sleep is the ability to sustain it into and past
REM sleep. I should point out that it’s notoriously difficult to maintain stable
Pellucidity during the transition from NREM to REM. It’s not unlike being
given a powerful psychedelic while attempting to meditate. Imagine trying to
remain psychologically centered and calm after taking LSD or DMT! Naturally,
this requires patience, regular practice, and time.
Pellucidity has four broad phases of depth and stability. I refer to these levels
of skill as:
• PS-1
• PS-2
• PD-3
• PD-4
Phases one and two are more properly named Pellucid Sleep rather than
Pellucid Dreaming, as you’re not really dreaming during NREM. You were
introduced to PS-1 and PS-2 in Embryonic Breathing meditation. In sitting
meditation, PS-1 presents itself as total cessation of abstract thinking and mental
chatter, deep relaxation of the physical body and subjective warming of the
hands and feet. PS-2 presents itself in sitting meditation as total loss of bodily
awareness, “nodding off,” occasional snoring, and sensory withdrawal. This is
the most regenerative stage of sleep, when the DELTA brainwave predominates,
and it’s for this reason that the practice of Embryonic Breathing targets this stage
of Pellucidity. Remember, the main purpose of Embryonic Breathing is to store
abundant Qi in the Lower Dantian to fuel the regeneration process.
 The third and fourth stages of Pellucid Sleep represent Pellucid Dreaming
proper:
PD-3 is achieved the moment you can sustain awareness through hypnagogia,
microbursts of dreaming, and the sedative brainwaves called K-Complexes,
without getting lost in them or falling asleep. This is harder than it sounds.
Unlike the Pellucidity achieved during sitting meditation, the capacity to remain
alert during this phase of sleep while lying down is exceptionally difficult, which
is one reason why most meditation methods are practiced in a sitting posture.
The habit of falling asleep while lying down is very deeply ingrained, and it’s a
habit that must be kicked with both feet while learning Conscious Sleep.
PD-4 is the most profound level of Pellucid Dreaming. It’s been achieved the
moment you can sustain awareness into REM sleep without getting lost in Vivid
or Lucid dreams. It’s difficult to describe what this feels like. The most that can
be said is that it’s like being in the womb of the universe itself, silent and
peaceful, but very much aware of the distant parade called life. Dreams come
and go. Feelings come and go. Indeed, most things that arise are happily
disregarded in favor of the profound bliss of pure being. The only thing that
tends to jolt most people out of the immovable calm of PD-4 is the shock of
Astral Projection exit-symptoms.
In this section you’ll learn four powerful methods of achieving Pellucidity. In
weeks nine and ten, I’ll teach you how to deepen the Pellucid Sleep of
Embryonic Breathing and sustain it while lying down rather than sitting up. In
weeks eleven and twelve, I’ll introduce you to PD-3 and PD-4 through two
beautiful methods that utilize but transcend the other techniques for Pellucidity.
Week Nine: Progressive Relaxation
One of the best ways to induce Pellucid Sleep is through progressive
relaxation of the body. Due to the combined use of profound physical relaxation
and what I call Mobile Mental Focus (MMF), you’re gradually and seamlessly
guided past the Veil and into the sleep cycle while still fully conscious. The
physical relaxation puts your body to sleep while the MMF keeps your mind
awake. Furthermore, because your mind is mobile during the process, it tends to
steer clear of dreaming. Why? Because dreaming is, if nothing else, an internal
psychic movement. In a sense, dreaming is a nightly surrogate for the daily
activities of your bodymind. Thus, by keeping the mind moving during the
transition from awake to asleep, you fulfill that need and negate dreams as a
result—at least temporarily. As an important side note, if you’ve deepened your
Microcosmic Orbit practice to the point where you can sustain it into NREM,
you’ve already seen this mechanism at work! Here, we’re going to take that skill
a step further.
During these next four weeks, it’s important that you cease all other practices
for Vivid and Lucid Dreaming. Just allow them to happen naturally. Also, if
you’ve been taking nootropics, discontinue them for the time being. Eventually,
you’ll reach a point where your being will decide whether to have a Vivid or
Lucid Dream, or just relax into a night of Pellucid Sleep. Remember, the goal of
a Veiler is to achieve continuity of consciousness and make that consciousness
mobile. This is a very relaxed affair once it’s achieved and stabilized. Other than
Dream Control, which is a willful decision to participate in and manipulate a
dream, the continuity of consciousness is a movement, not of your ego, but of
your very soul. Once this is stabilized, you can dispense with these methods
because the Veil no longer exists for you.
The practices that should be continued throughout the Curriculum are
Embryonic Breathing, Microcosmic Orbit, Channeling Intensity, the Healing
Hands, and Dream Journaling/Recall.

The Practice
As always, be sure that your sleeping space is dark, quiet, and without
distractions. Use earplugs and eyeshades if necessary. Remember to align your
body with Earth’s magnetic field. Don’t eat anything for at least an hour before
beginning any of these exercises, as the digestive process steals energy from
your Shen and therefore weakens your vigilance.
This technique is divided into two parts. Here, in week nine, you’ll learn the
first part, which is meant to get you into stable PS-1. In week ten, you’ll deepen
your practice to access stable PS-2. Please read the instructions carefully, a few
times if necessary, before attempting the exercise:
To begin, simply close your eyes and relax into your sleeping posture. You
should lie on your back, preferably on a Memory Foam wedge, so your upper
body is on a forty-five degree incline. If not, the traditional supine posture is
fine. Practitioners of Hatha Yoga will immediately recognize the following
posture as the Savasana posture which typically concludes a yoga routine.
Indeed, I learned the present exercise in 1999 from a Yogi named Dr. John
Mumford (Swami Anandakapila Saraswati), and I learned Pellucid Sleep as a
byproduct of the practice.
Savasana Posture:
 Notice that the palms are facing up and the legs are at least twelve inches
apart. This is important in that it aids in the sensory withdrawal required for the
following technique. Also, the surface upon which you practice this posture is
extremely important to your health first and foremost, and to your level of
comfort. In this exercise, you’ll be learning how to completely surrender your
body to gravity, and therefore your mattress should be customized to fit the
needs of your physical structure so you can fully and comfortably let go of
physical tension. I originally learned this practice on a carpeted floor, but
through years of wear-and-tear from my job and martial arts, my body responds
best when I practice on a good mattress. However, a firmer surface is better for
this exercise because it assists in the melting sensation you’ll be cultivating in
this exercise. Lastly, be sure to adjust the climate of the room so there’s good
ventilation and it’s not too cold or hot. Remember that your body temperature
drops as you fall asleep, so having a blanket covering your midriff is a good
idea.
With these requirements met, lie there for a few moments and simply relax.
Feel the temperature of your mattress becoming warmer as it absorbs your body
heat and feel the weight of your body against the bed and pillow. Notice
especially which areas feel heavier, lighter, warmer, and cooler than others.
Enjoy this moment of tactile awareness, and wholeheartedly embrace the Now
and all that it contains.
Now become aware of your natural breathing rhythm, and with each
exhalation feel your body becoming extremely heavy and sinking into the bed.
As always, breathe through your nose. Imagine that the bed is almost rising to
meet your body as it melts downward and into the mattress. The melting
sensation should begin at your extremities and end at your core. Repeat four or
five times before moving to the next step.
Don’t fall asleep!
Now we’re going to take it a step further and remove any lingering restless
energy in your muscles. To this end we’ll employ a popular biofeedback
technique which utilizes a tense-hold-release mechanism. As you’ll soon see,
this is a powerful method for deepening the true relaxation of the muscles.
Start by becoming aware of your right arm. Gently feel into its structure—the
skin, blood, temperature, muscle, bone—and then, on your next natural
inhalation of breath, gently extend your arm downward as if reaching for your
foot, make a tight fist and extend the contraction up the forearm, ending at the
shoulder. At the same time, raise your arm a few inches off the bed. Hold this
contraction for roughly five seconds. Then, upon exhalation, let your arm go
completely limp and flop back down onto the mattress. It’s important that you
allow your arm to go completely limp, as if it’s dead. Don’t make any
adjustments, no matter how subtle or minute. Just let it lie there as though
lifeless. Now repeat the same sequence with your left arm. Note any sensations
you feel in your arms. Is there heat? Cold? Tingling? Etc.
Now follow the same procedure with your legs. Starting with your right leg,
inhale slowly while gently extending your leg downward, flexing your foot
backward so that your toes are pointing toward your head, and extend this
contraction upward to your knee and finally to your hip. Once the contraction
reaches your hip, raise your leg a few inches off of the mattress, hold the
contraction for a few seconds, and then exhale naturally while allowing your leg
to flop back onto the bed as if lifeless.
Repeat the same procedure with your left leg. Note any sensations that you
feel in your legs.
Next, upon inhalation, gently press the back of your head into the mattress (or
pillow), hold for a few seconds, exhale and release. Note any sensations in your
head, neck, and upper back, and allow these areas to remain motionless and
relaxed.
Now bring your attention to your core. Inhale while pressing your lower back
into the mattress by gently contracting the muscles of your abdomen, much like
doing a subtle “crunch” sit-up. Then, upon exhalation, allow these muscles to go
limp and remain relaxed and motionless.
Lastly, mentally scan your entire body for any trace of tension or pain. With
each exhalation, feel these areas open and relax downward into the mattress.
Feel your whole body surrender to gravity completely. You’re aiming for a slight
extension of your extremities coupled with extreme relaxation of your muscles,
ligaments, and joints.
At a certain point during this exercise, you’ll notice a few things. Foremost
among them is the growing tension between your conscious control and the
approaching sleep cycle. This tension is important. It’s literally the Yang and Yin
of Conscious Sleep! It’s important because this Yang (awake)/Yin (asleep)
dynamic creates energy. This coming together of two opposing forces creates a
third force. I refer to this force—this Yin/Yang lovechild of Awake and Asleep—
as Etheric Dissonance, and its skillful application can result in many different
experiences and psychic skills, such as Lucid Dreaming, Remote Viewing, and
Astral Projection, to name a few.
Practice this for one week before moving onto the second part of the exercise.
Week Ten: The Sixteen Marmasthanani/Mobile Mental Focus
At this point you should be proficient at accessing PS-1. In this second part of
the exercise, I’m going to teach you how to deepen your Pellucidity to PS-2. Our
goal is to put the Gross/physical body completely to sleep while, at the same
time, remaining alert and fully conscious. As we’ve already discussed, we’re
going to accomplish this alertness by way of Mobile Mental Focus, which is a
method of engaging awareness in such a way that precludes and curbs
unconscious dreaming.
As an added perk, this practice is an excellent method for opening the Qi
channels in the body, and would be classified as a form of Wei Dan “Grand
Circulation” by Chinese Taoists. If you’ve gathered and stored enough Etheric
energy through Embryonic Breathing and Microcosmic Orbit (small circulation),
then the following practice will spread this abundant Qi to the rest of the body in
a powerful way to remove blockages and sluggish Qi flow.
The Yogic tradition of India divides the major zones of the body into Sixteen
Marmasthanani. Beginning at the feet and ending at the top of the head, we’re
going to mentally feel into and progressively open and relax these sixteen zones
until stable PS-2 is achieved. Not only that, but by performing this mental sweep
of the body, we’re also keeping our awareness engaged so that we don’t fall
asleep and get lost in dreaming.
The Practice
First, perform the first part of this technique until you feel sufficiently relaxed.
Then, proceed through the Sixteen Marmasthanani as follows:
FEET: Inhale naturally while squeezing your toes together as if making a fist
with your feet. Hold this contraction for a few seconds, and then exhale and
release, feeling with each successive exhalation that your feet, ankles, and
Achilles tendons, are melting into the mattress. Spend at least three minutes
doing this before moving on to the next zone.
SHINS: Become aware of your shins and, upon inhalation, flex your toes back
toward your knees, hold the contraction for a moment, exhale and release. Feel
your shins melt downward with each exhalation. Relax this area fully before
continuing.
CALVES: Bring your awareness now to your calves. Inhale naturally and flex
your calves by pointing your toes forward. Hold for a moment, exhale and
release, while cultivating a heavy melting sensation in both of your calves and
Achilles tendons.
KNEES: Now bring your awareness to your knees. Inhale while pressing the
backs of your knees into the mattress, hold, exhale and release, allowing your
knees to completely surrender to gravity. Feel into the kneecap as well as the
joint itself to open and relax these areas.
THIGHS: Feel into your inner thighs all the way to the groin area. Inhale and
tense this zone by pointing the toes of both feet at each other while
simultaneously imagining that you’re squeezing a large beach ball between your
thighs. Hold, exhale, and release downward.
SOLAR PLEXUS: Although this zone centers primarily on the Solar Plexus,
you’re going to include the lower abdomen, buttocks, groin, and hips. First,
bring your awareness to your Solar Plexus (three finger-widths above your belly
button). Upon exhalation, withdraw your abdomen as if trying to touch your
navel to the back of your lower spine, then allow the inhalation to happen
naturally while squeezing the muscles of your buttocks together. Hold, exhale,
release and relax. Try to feel all these areas open and relax downward with each
exhalation.
CHEST: Moving now to the chest, inhale completely while fully expanding
your chest like a balloon. Hold, exhale, release and relax. Feel into your lungs
and diaphragm and surrender them to gravity. Avoid being overly conscious of
your heart as this may lead too much Qi to it and cause palpitations.
SPINE: Now become aware of your spine, including the musculature,
vertebrae, and the spinal cord itself. Inhale from your abdomen, and feel the
lumbar region of your spine gently press down into the mattress. Hold, release
and relax. Extend this relaxed heaviness to include your spine and entire back as
you cultivate a melting sensation with each exhalation.
HANDS: Move your attention to your hands. Inhale while clenching your
hands into fists. Hold, exhale, release and relax your hands and wrists,
surrendering them to gravity with each exhalation.
FOREARMS: Bring your attention to your forearms (wrist to elbow). Inhale
while opening your hands and extending your fingers as much as possible. Hold,
exhale, release and relax.
UPPER ARMS: Now move to your upper arms (elbow to shoulder). Inhale
while pressing your elbows into the mattress. Hold for a moment, exhale, release
and relax.
THROAT: Move now to your throat. Inhale while pressing your chin
downward toward your throat. Hold, exhale, release and relax. Feel your neck,
throat, larynx, and vocal chords melt downward with gravity.
JAW: Now bring your attention to your jaw, including your teeth, tongue,
gums, and jaw muscles. Inhale while pressing your tongue firmly against the
roof of your mouth. Hold, exhale, release and relax.
EYES: Move on to the eyes. Inhale while firmly squeezing your eyes shut and
scrunching your face muscles. Hold, exhale, release and relax. Feel your eye and
face muscles melt downward with gravity. The sensation in this zone is typically
very pleasant, as we hold much tension in this area throughout the day.
BACK OF HEAD: Now bring your attention to the back of your head. Inhale
while pressing the back of your head against the mattress or pillow. Hold,
exhale, release and relax.
SCALP: Bring your attention to your scalp. Inhale while raising your
eyebrows. If you can also draw your ears back slightly, do that too. Hold, exhale,
release and relax.
At this point you may already be in PS-2. If not, continue with Mobile Mental
Focus by once again going through the sixteen Marmasthanani, only this time
don’t employ the tense, hold, and release mechanism. Simply feel into each
zone and note any sensations you feel while cultivating a profound sense of
heaviness in each area. Also, move through the sixteen zones faster this time.
Continue in this way until your body is quite asleep while you remain
uninterruptedly aware. The Yogic tradition refers to PS-1 and PS-2 as Yoga
Nidra, or psychic sleep, and this is just one of many methods of inducing it.
Practiced with enough sincerity and perseverance, it has the potential to not only
refine your Lucid Dreaming and Pellucid skills, but also to open the door to
conscious Astral Projection.
As always, practice this for one week before moving on to the next exercise.
Week Eleven: PD-3 and the Internal Dialogue Method
Have you ever had a dream in which you were observing yourself as the main
character? If so, you’ve already got an inkling of how this next technique works.
Some people only dream in this way, with the projected image of themselves as
the key player in a dream while their real self simply observes from afar.
Unfortunately, most of these dreams tend to be totally unconscious with little or
no Lucidity/Pellucidity. Also, the difference between this type of dream and true
PD-3 is that the former is still an involvement in the dream process. That is, you
can still get lost in a dream scenario whether you embody or project yourself as a
character within it, whereas true Pellucid Dreaming is marked by an awareness
of dreaming but a total disinterest in getting lost or identified with it.
If you’ve ventured this far into the Curriculum, and if you’ve had any success
with Dream Control, you’ll notice at this point that the process of becoming a
skilled Veiler isn’t at all a ladder-like affair. Eventually, you’ll begin to
experience these capacities as so many hallways, as it were, which you can
choose to walk down at leisure. Sometimes you’ll find yourself wanting to go
Astral. At other times you’ll want to have a Lucid Dream. Or perhaps you’re
very tired and just want to bathe in the silent depths of Pellucid Sleep.
The choice is yours!
Another thing you’ll notice as your skill increases is that you no longer have
unconscious dreams as often as you used to. It gradually becomes impossible to
not recall your dreams, or to have a full night’s sleep where nothing interesting
happens. Sometimes this can be exhausting, which is why it’s so important to
keep your spirit of vitality high and your energies fresh, clean, and abundant.
Even though being a Veiler doesn’t make you a genius, your brain most certainly
is functioning at a higher level than it was before, and this requires fuel, as
we’ve already discussed.
This next practice is something I call the “Internal Dialogue Method.” Its
primary purpose is to open the door to PD-3, but it can also be used to create a
Wake Induced Lucid Dream (WILD), though that’s not how we’ll be employing
it here. Just as we kept the mind from slipping into dreaming by way of Mobile
Mental Focus, so too can we prevent ourselves from getting identified with the
dreaming mind by way of internal commentary. This is like working on a
creative project, and then stepping back for a moment to contemplate it before
resuming the work. Or else it’s much like listening passively to a piece of music
rather than getting lost in the lyrics.

The Practice
For this exercise, you’ll only be venturing into the light phase of sleep. Your
goal is to allow for microbursts of dreaming and hypnagogia, all the while
remaining a detached witness of the entire show. The practice is very easy, but
incredibly potent. In fact, it was the method by which I learned Dream Control
and the deeper levels of Pellucid Dreaming.
 Perform the progressive relaxation exercise of week nine. Repeat this a few
times until you begin to feel drowsy, and then allow yourself to drift off into
light NREM sleep, staring gently into the darkness behind your closed eyes and
relaxing deeper and deeper with each exhalation. Then, the moment hypnagogia
begin to present themselves, silently begin to describe whatsoever you perceive
as if you were talking to someone else. Imagine, for example, that someone else
is with you and perceiving the same dream scenarios that you are. If you catch
yourself drifting in and out of identification with the dreaming process, include
that observation in your internal dialogue. For example, you might say, “I drifted
off there for a minute! I’m back now. What did I miss?”
The conversation can take on any form you like. You might approach it in a
jovial spirit, for instance, like watching a movie with a good friend. Or you
might opt for a more objective, journalistic conversation-style, cataloging
everything that arises in a detached and scientific manner. The tone is totally
arbitrary. What matters is that you remain objective and detached without
sacrificing the relaxation required for PD-3, and that you avoid getting identified
with the dreaming mind.
Finally, become aware of the feeling of your body against the bed and
internally comment on what you feel. At the same time, become aware of your
breathing and any sounds or smells you perceive in the room you’re in, and
comment on those. Continue in this way until you’re completely awake.
There! You just had a Pellucid Dream.
Continue with this practice for a week, all the while trying to extend your
internal dialogue deeper and deeper into the sleep cycle. In week twelve, I’ll
introduce you to PD-4 and how you can use your newfound skills of Trance and
Microcosmic Orbit to access it. Remember, PD-4 is the threshold to true Astral
Projection. To be clear, all you need to access stable and sustained Astral
Projection is an abundant Qi supply, courage, and mastery of PD-4.
Week Twelve: PD-4: Gateway to Astral Projection
You may be wondering why I’ve chosen to present Lucid Dreaming and not
Pellucid Dreaming first in the Curriculum. After all, if Pellucidity equals Causal
Body awareness, and if Causal Body awareness is at the root of waking,
dreaming, and dreamless states of awareness, wouldn’t it make more sense to
learn Pellucid Dreaming first?
It’s true that many people gain proficiency in Lucid Dreaming via Pellucid
Sleep rather than the other way around, but there’s a lot of sense in learning
Vivid, Lucid, Pellucid, and Astral skills first and in that order. Why? Well,
imagine that Pellucid Dreaming is a paintbrush and your consciousness is a
canvas. You first need a palette full of colorful paints before you can put your
paint brush to use and create a work of art. That is, without first developing the
ability to dream in vivid color, how can you expect to have a Lucid Dream worth
remembering? Furthermore, how can you expect yourself to rest in pure
Pellucidity without first becoming familiar with Lucid Dreaming to the point
where you can easily put it aside and avoid the temptation to dream? Regardless,
having at least a rudimentary understanding and experience of Pellucidity is
indispensable when trying to learn Lucid Dreaming, which is why I introduced
you to Embryonic Breathing and Microcosmic Orbit practice before Lucid
Dreaming. Still, Lucid Dreaming is not dependent on first acquiring advanced
Pellucidity.
By now you know that dreams follow their own logic, and it can be easy for
the mind to get lost in that world. When this happens, you lose all sense that
you’re dreaming and you fall into non-Lucid dreaming. Learning Lucid
Dreaming before delving into Pellucid Dreaming acclimates you to the
intoxicating lure of the realm of dreams. Unlike most people, who are taken in
by the absurdity of dream-logic, a skilled Veiler becomes more conscious when
confronted by it. The absurdity of, say, a flying kangaroo, immediately alerts a
skilled Lucid Dreamer to the fact that she’s dreaming. Most unskilled dreamers
would simply embrace the flying kangaroo as a matter of fact and fall into
unconscious sleep. In my experience, if you approach Lucid Dreaming by way
of Pellucid Sleep, you’ll hardwire your neuronet to see Pellucid Sleep primarily
as a means toward Lucid Dreaming. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with
that, if that’s what you’re looking for, but for our purposes it’s crucial that you
hardwire your neuronet to equate Pellucidity with a doorway to Astral Projection
rather than to Lucid Dreaming. My main reason for this is that this route tends to
bypass the Astral/Lucid confusion, whereas approaching Astral Projection
through Lucid Dreaming and Lucid Dreaming through Pellucid Sleep only
serves to confuse the issue, at least in my experience.
That said, this next practice is for the cultivation PD-4. As you’ve no doubt
guessed, the technique builds upon the last three methods.
The Practice: PD-4 and Grand Circulation
First perform the exercises of weeks nine through eleven so they combine and
become one exercise. This takes about one hour to complete. Be sure to use
earplugs and eyeshades to ensure complete sensory withdrawal. It’s very
important that you remain completely undisturbed and undistracted for the
duration of this exercise.
The important thing is to put your body totally asleep while your mind
remains awake. As by now you should know, this awakeness isn’t the same
alertness you have while you’re awake, though it’s in some ways similar. Once
you reach PS-1, you should immediately employ the Internal Dialogue and
Mobile Mental Focus techniques as much as necessary to avoid falling into
unconscious sleep. A good way to combine them is to mentally scan through the
sixteen Marmasthanani while engaging Internal Dialogue about the sensations
you feel in each zone. For example, if you feel heaviness and coldness, you can
internally say, “That area feels very heavy and cold right now. Let me see if I
can send some warmth there.”
And so on with the other fifteen Marmasthanani. The important thing is to
stay mentally engaged without waking up. Quite possibly this may simply be a
matter of keeping a light BETA brainwave while heavy THETA and DELTA
are taking center stage.
Once you reach PD-3, continue with Internal Dialogue but cease Mobile
Mental Focus. As this state deepens, slowly begin Microcosmic Orbit and
jettison the Internal Dialogue. Begin the circulation the same way you would
while sitting, starting at the Lower Dantian and sweeping down past the groin
and the tailbone, up the spine and around the head, and back down the front of
the body to complete one rotation. Try your best to synchronize the Etheric
circulation with the natural rhythm of your breathing, inhaling down the front of
your body and exhaling up your spine, around the back of your head, and ending
at the point where the tip of your tongue touches the upper palate of your mouth.
Once you’ve circulated in the Microcosmic Orbit a few times, you’re then
going to expand the circulation to include your lower body as well. Beginning at
the tip of your tongue, inhale Etheric energy down the entire length of the front
of your body, sweeping down your torso, past your groin, down the front of your
legs, and ending at the soles of your feet. From there, begin your exhale and
sweep the energy up the back of your legs, past your tailbone and up your spine,
around the back of your head and over the top, down your face, ending at the tip
of your tongue to complete another rotation. Continue circulating in this way,
feeling the energy circulating close to your body at first but then expanding
further and further away from your physical form with each rotation.
If performed properly, eventually this Grand Circulation will carry you across
the threshold to PD-4. Like LD-3, the transition to full-blown PD-4 is heralded
by some very specific (and at first uncomfortable) sensations, so be prepared.
The most common of these is the total loss of awareness of breathing. At this
point, because of your Lucid Dreaming training, you may already be familiar
with this alarming sensation. If not, don’t become frustrated if this or any of the
other disturbing sensations of stepping behind the Veil jolts you back to full
consciousness. With practice, you’ll soon become used to the peculiar symptoms
of Conscious Sleep.
Another common symptom is the appearance of a bright light. For me, this
light is almost always gold or bright yellow in color, and can take the form of a
steady and bright spotlight shining directly into my eyes, or the sun, or a rotating
light like those found in lighthouses, or a bright and sudden flash of lightning.
Go ahead and stare into it! Usually this is nothing more than the initial drawing
back of the curtain leading to LD-3 and Astral sight. At that point, you can
usually decide whether to engage or rest in PD-4. Obviously, our present goal is
the latter.
Lastly, just as in LD-3, in PD-4 you’re in a position where Astral Projection is
imminent. There are many ways to induce Astral Projection, but quite often it
happens naturally and with no effort on the part of the person experiencing it. In
the last four weeks of the Curriculum, we’ll explore four powerful methods for
inducing Astral Projection. For now, practice this method for training deep
Pellucid Dreaming and get a good feel for it. You’ll notice that every category of
dream is available to you in PD-4, only the psychedelic nature of dreaming is
more pronounced than it is in Lucid Dreaming. The reason for this shift is that
Lucid Dreaming is an experience that you’re in whereas Pellucid Dreaming is an
experience that you’re having. The real fun is in dancing on the thin line
between them.
 Chapter Ten
Get Astral!
If Lucid Dreaming is the crown jewel for most Veilers, then Astral Projection
is the Holy Grail. As we’ve discussed, there’s a fine line that separates Lucid
Dreaming and Astral Projection, so the confusion is quite understandable. I’ve
been practicing these two arts for over twenty years, and I’m still in the process
of teasing them apart. Indeed, a great number of Veilers live their entire lives
with these two abilities in a state of consistent overlap. Regardless, once you
experience your consciousness separate from your physical body, your life is
forever changed. This is especially true once the experience is validated by
events in real-time.
My first encounter with Astral Projection occurred when I was ten or eleven
years old. Next to my bed, level with my head, was an unused telephone jack. I
was awoken one night to the sound of buzzing that at first seemed to be coming
from somewhere inside my head. When I came to full consciousness, I realized
that the sound couldn’t possibly be coming from inside my head. I had an
intense phobia of bees as a child. I’d been stung a few times and had acquired an
irrational fear of the honey-makers, so that was my next thought: There were
bees in my room!
As soon as the terrifying thought of bees took hold I discovered that I was
unable to move. Also, the sound of my breathing seemed be coming from
somewhere below me. I would later learn that this is just one of the myriad
unpleasant symptoms of sleep paralysis, but at the time I was dumbfounded.
Then the buzzing abruptly stopped and the paralysis lifted. I lay there in a cold
sweat, wondering what the hell just happened to me. In my childlike reasoning, I
drew the conclusion that a bees’ nest must be inside the telephone jack, and my
unusual paralysis was merely the result of my innate fear of being stung. So, I
took some toilet paper, stuffed a small chunk of it into the outlet, grabbed some
Scotch Tape and taped it shut.
Despite my attempts to find a solution to the odd buzzing noises and sleep
paralysis, the same scene would repeat again and again over the course of the
next few nights, only it quickly evolved from an irritating buzzing sound and
paralysis into full-fledged Astral exit-symptoms. One night the peculiar buzzing
sound intensified and eventually gave way to a horrifying feeling of imminent
atomic explosion. Images of being crushed under a mountain of rock flooded my
brain as I struggled to snap out of it and come to my senses. I tried to cry out for
my mother, but to no avail. Just then, and totally against my will, I felt my
consciousness separating from my body!
This was something that I was determined to prevent…
Somehow, with a herculean act of will, I managed to get up and move my
physical body. The feeling was very uncomfortable. Reality seemed to be
moving at the speed of light all around me, but my body felt as if it weighed a
ton! Movement came only with great effort and there was a tangible presence in
the room. In fact, it felt like a crowd of people were in my bedroom watching me
struggle to my feet, trying desperately to reach the door leading from my room
out into the hallway. My mother soon woke up and snapped me out of it, but
with extreme difficulty. The sensation of being slammed back into my physical
form left me shaking and covered in cold sweat for the next hour or so before I
finally fell asleep.
As time elapsed, my Astral Projection experiences ceased, largely due to the
primal fear induced by my then lack of understanding of the process. By age
sixteen the psychic moat was fully constructed and it took a few years to regain
access to Astral Projection. Through this process I learned the basic mechanism
by which Astral Projection works, and it’s my pleasure to be able to share it with
you. You see, once you eliminate the fears and uncertainties associated with
Astral Projection, the experience undergoes a radical transformation. What once
seemed terrifying or impossible suddenly becomes exhilarating and real.
In last four weeks of the Curriculum, I’ll show you how you too can gain
access to this marvelous ability. Indeed, if you’ve followed the Curriculum thus
far, you may have already had a spontaneous Astral Projection or two. If so,
congratulations! This is a huge milestone in your development as a Veiler. If not,
then the following four techniques will certainly jump-start your Astral battery.
In the meantime, I encourage you to explore the work of other seasoned
projectors while working on the following exercises. It never hurts to get as
many perspectives as possible while simultaneously working on these core
techniques.
Let’s get started!
Week Thirteen: The Art of Phasing
The multi-platinum recording artist, Peter Gabriel, once advised an auditorium
full of fans to lie down in some grass and look up at the sky until it appeared to
be no longer above but below them. That’s solid advice! In fact, what Mr.
Gabriel is suggesting is one of the fundamental secrets to a time-tested technique
for inducing OOBE called Phasing. We’ve already discussed Phasing, but here
we’ll learn how to employ it specifically for Astral Projection.
There are three broad components of successful Phasing. They are:
• The Dissociative Reflex.
• Bi-Locationality.
• Malleable Proprioception.
Let’s discuss them in the order listed above.
We’ve already discussed the Dissociative Reflex. Without this ability, natural
or cultivated, you’ll have minimal success in Lucid Dreaming and Astral
Projection. Vivid and Pellucid Dreaming don’t require this skill, but it’s
indispensable to OOBE. Throughout this book I’ve tried my best to stress this
point and offer methods by which the dissociative reflex can be trained. Do
experiment with them and give this skill the attention it deserves.
Now, what do I mean by Bi-Locationality? Quite simply, this is the capacity
to occupy in imagination positions in space not occupied by your physical body.
For example, if you’re lying on your bed, can you convincingly imagine and feel
yourself standing at the foot of your bed staring at your body? Or can you
imagine and feel yourself on the ceiling staring down at your body on the bed?
That’s Bi-Locationality …
But, you might say, isn’t that the same as Astral Projection? Well, not quite.
When true Astral Projection happens, you’ll know it! Bi-Locationality is just a
practice that assures your mind that Astral Projection is possible and desirable.
By cultivating the ability to mentally occupy spaces other than where you
physically are, you’re wiring your neuronet in a manner capable of experiencing
the real thing.
So that’s that…
Now what in the name of all things hard to pronounce is Malleable
Proprioception? Unlike Bi-Locationality, this skill focuses on the separation
phase of Phasing. That is, just as Bi-Locationality teaches your mind to allow
conscious Astral Projection away from your physical body, the cultivation of
malleable proprioception acclimates your mind to the most difficult but crucial
step in OOBE: the separation from your physical body.
In week thirteen of this training, I’ll teach you how to successfully train Bi-
Locationality while fully awake. In week fourteen, I’ll show you how to
combine Bi-Locationality with Malleable Proprioception training while awake.
In week fifteen, you’ll learn how to take these skills into the NREM stages of
the sleep cycle. Finally, in week sixteen, you’ll learn how to properly deal with
exit-symptoms and gradually travel further and further away from your physical
body.

The Practice: Bi-Locationality Training

As I’ve said, these next eight weeks of the Curriculum feature exercises that
are trained while fully awake. That’s really the proper place to start because,
after all, that’s where you are! Remember, the entire process of effectively
rewiring the bodymind to house these new capacities is symbolically much like a
hexagram. Training your mind while awake is the downward pointing triangle
while training them while asleep is the upward pointing triangle of the
hexagram. That’s the shape of the key that unlocks the Veil.
We begin the process of Bi-Locationality training in the good ole’ outdoors. It
doesn’t matter where you go to practice this exercise if you’ll be relaxed and
undisturbed for the duration of the practice, which takes a minimum of thirty
minutes to complete. It’s best practiced on a warm day with a partly cloudy sky
and slices of blue. Training at dusk, dawn, or night time, is ideal. For starters,
these are potent times for this type of work. Also, as you’ll soon see, you want to
avoid blinding sunlight. A local park, beach, your own backyard, or a mountain
top, are all great examples of suitable practice areas.
Do not wear sunglasses. Also, I suggest bringing some music along with you
to listen to while you practice. Instrumental music is better than music with
lyrics as the latter tends to stimulate the analytical part of the brain, which you
want to avoid for this practice. You can analyze later! Be sure to select pieces
that evoke emotions of wonder, love, joy, and peace. This adds to the power of
emotional reward to the training.
Once you’ve established where you’ll train, lie down comfortably on your
back and stare up at the sky. Allow yourself to relax more and more with each
exhalation of breath while you take in all at once the vast and arching dome of
heaven. It’s important that you not focus on any one detail of the sky, but rather
take in the entire panorama in one global stare. Allow yourself to blink whenever
needed and simply lose yourself in this moment of sky-gazing.
After you’ve become sufficiently relaxed, your next step is to flip your
perspective upside down, or rather, downside up. Instead of seeing the sky as
being a vast ceiling high above the earth upon which you lay, imagine that the
sky is below you. This requires a nifty little maneuvering of your awareness. It
isn’t merely imagination, remember. It’s not simply a visualization either. It’s a
full-bodied sensation of feeling yourself on the bottom portion of the planet
Earth, in which case the sky truly is below you! It doesn’t matter if you’re
geographically occupying such a place while doing this exercise. All that matters
is whether you can achieve and sustain this sensation for at least half an hour.
Once you succeed in doing so, you may only be able to sustain this sensation for
a few minutes at a time. That’s fine! Just keep trying until thirty minutes have
elapsed. If you find that you really enjoy the practice, continue for an hour
before finishing up.
Some people experience dizziness and nausea while practicing this technique.
If this happens, discontinue the practice for a few minutes and relax before
resuming. After you’ve become accustomed to this novel sensation, the dizziness
should diminish. Not to mention that, despite the discomfort, these symptoms are
signs of progress! If your body responds to the imagined change of perspective,
then you’re doing it right.
I should mention that this exercise can even be practiced while walking down
street, going for a jog, and even while driving on the highway (although I don’t
recommend it). Once you get the gist of the technique, you can practice just
about anywhere. As you’ll soon see, the best place to practice is in the room you
regularly sleep in.
Practice this method for one week before moving on to week fourteen of
Curriculum.
Week Fourteen: Bi-Locationality and Malleable Proprioception
Training
Now that you’ve got some idea of what Bi-Locationality is and how to wire
your brain to experience it, you must now train your Astral Body to be willing to
separate from the Gross physical body with minimal resistance. How to do this
effectively is the purpose of Malleable Proprioception training. Without this
training, you might still succeed in Astral Projection, but probably with
considerable difficulty. I wish I had access to this training secret when I was a
child suffering from the discomforts of sleep paralysis and exit-symptoms.
Anyway, better late than never!
To begin, revisit the second part of the Trailing Method of week five of the
Curriculum. The Skill cultivated in that section is applied and deepened in the
following exercise, only this time you won’t be using a candle flame to induce it.
Properly understood, this next technique is the culmination of the entire 120-
Days Curriculum. It holds the key to successful Lucid Dreaming and Astral
Projection and to where and how they overlap.
Malleable Proprioception is the most ignored aspect of Astral Projection
training, for whatever reason. Most methods focus almost solely on Bi-
Locationality. This may work for some people, but it’s my opinion that most
failed attempts at Projection can be narrowed down to an omission of this crucial
step.
I hope to presently satisfy this lack with the following technique.

The Practice
Take a trip back to your established outdoors training area. Don’t forget your
music! Lie down comfortably on your back and relax as much as possible
without falling asleep. Once you’ve relaxed your body to the point where it
doesn’t intrude on your awareness, close your eyes and feel inside of your
bodymind. That is, get into your feeling body, your Subtle Body, and occupy it
fully.
Breathe naturally and allow yourself to enjoy this moment before moving on
to the next step.
Next, keeping your eyes closed, feel your body rotate in a backwards
somersault upward towards a hypothetical ceiling. The sensation should be the
same as if you we doing a reverse somersault on the floor, only here the feeling
of the floor is absent, and the somersault is in a vertical line upward. Picture a
professional gymnast performing a high leap into a back flip and you’ll have a
general idea of the feeling we’re trying to cultivate here. The only differences
are we’re lying down and performing the back flip slowly, as if floating in an
upward and backwards somersault toward an imaginary ceiling. This follows the
Wind Path of Microcosmic Orbit, only this time it isn’t just Qi moving in this
path, but your very awareness itself.
The key to making this practice work is to conjure up how it would really feel
were your physical body performing this feat. Try to imagine the effects that
gravity would have on the various parts of your body were you to float upwards
in a slow back flip toward a ceiling. For example, while upside down, you’d feel
blood rushing to your head and your bones, tendons, and muscles relaxing
downward. As you transition from upside down to right side up, you’d feel a
similar effect exerted on your lower body. Feel the ground beneath your body
disappear as you revolve upward. This takes a great deal of concentration to
achieve.
Roll upwards in this fashion for two rotations and come to rest with the back
of your body against an imaginary ceiling. Really feel this ceiling as the back of
your buoyant body presses against it. Cultivate the sensation of weightlessness
and enjoy it for a moment.
Now slowly open your eyes and once again look at the sky as if it were
beneath you. Stay in this feeling for a few minutes, and then imagine that you’re
slowly losing buoyancy and are being gently pulled downward towards the floor
of sky beneath you. Close your eyes and feel this downward fall first in your legs
and then in your upper body until you’re in a rapid free fall. Strongly cultivate
the sensation of a descending broad backward somersault utilizing all the same
sensations felt on your ascent. Rotate at least two times, slowing down on your
second rotation, before gently coming to rest on the ground of the sky. Slowly
come to a sitting position. Then open your eyes.
Practice this for one week before moving on to next week’s practice.
Week Fifteen: The Astral Projection Experience
If by following the Curriculum up to this point you haven’t yet had a
spontaneous Astral Projection experience, you most certainly will now! The
following technique represents the culmination of everything you’ve learned
thus far. Not only that, these methods are time-tested and have worked for
innumerable Veilers.
At this point it’s crucial that you store and circulate a plethora of Etheric
force. As I’ve already stressed elsewhere, the most efficient way to do this is to
avoid excess ejaculation, maintain a temperament that’s cool and calm, avoid
overwork and physical exhaustion, eat organic and non-GMO foods while
drinking only pure water (never from the tap!), and regularly practice Embryonic
Breathing and Microcosmic Orbit meditation. There’s another powerful way to
gather Qi from Nature and other people (willing partners), but this discussion
must be reserved for a future publication.
Here, in week fifteen of the Curriculum, I’m going to show you how you can
combine your Lucid Dreaming and Pellucidity skills to consciously induce
Astral Projection. I can’t overemphasize the impact this experience is going to
have on your life. It’s important to remain level-headed and humble, especially
during your initial success in this magickal art. Above all else you must be
courageous and not allow fear to become a habit; otherwise the door will close
and may never open again. I promise you that so long as your intentions remain
pure, your heart filled with love, and your behavior is one of integrity and
resolve, that you’ll be successful and have nothing to fear. Once you’ve had a
taste of true Astral Projection, we’ll deepen this experience in week sixteen by
taking Astral Projection into Astral Travel. As you’ll soon discover for yourself,
the ability to leave your body is one thing, but the ability to travel further away
from it is an entirely different issue. Why?
Because the Gross physical body has gravity, that’s why!
My own Dream Journal is filled with frustrating accounts of what I eventually
came to call “the Anchor Effect.” This is experienced by most Veilers in the
early stages of Astral training. What causes the Anchor Effect? Well, a few
things are at work here. For starters, awareness is very intimately bound to the
physical body. Even the most cerebral of us have a tenuous identification with
our physical form. Most people have trouble imagining themselves as separate
from their bodies, and this strong affinity for physical embodiment carries its
own energetic magnetism.
Another reason for the Anchor Effect is lack of Etheric fuel. The storing,
purifying, and circulation of Etheric energy is unfortunately ignored by many
practitioners. Like a balloon filled with an insufficient amount of helium, they
can get up and out, but not up and away. Hopefully you’ve taken this matter
seriously and have decided to make Embryonic Breathing and Microcosmic
Orbit meditation a regular part of your life.
The Anchor Effect does tend to lessen as you gain experience with Astral
Projection. It’s much like learning to swim. Sure, you might start out with the
doggie-paddle and dead man’s float, but with enough practice you’ll eventually
be able to swim laps, swim under the water, and move from the shallow to the
deep end of the pool.

The Practice
When attempting Astral Projection, it’s very important that you’re
undisturbed for the duration of the session. If by chance you’re startled by
something, it could seriously damage your nervous system. Not only that, but it
will cause your Qi to deviate and go down a wrong path in your Etheric
circuitry. This can cause serious harm to your health so please take it to heart
and make the necessary arrangements.
The following technique draws upon your newfound skills of Lucidity,
Pellucidity, and Astral and Etheric malleability. All of these serve to make Astral
Projection more accessible to you.
First, lie down comfortably on your back in a dark and quiet room. Be sure
that the temperature in the room is suitable and that your head is facing magnetic
North and your feet South. Also, make sure that your clothing and bed sheets are
made of natural fibers such as cotton or silk. Synthetic fibers disrupt the natural
circulation of your Qi. Disconnect all EMF producing devices for the same
reason.
With these prerequisites taken care of, perform all the exercises of weeks nine
through twelve of the Curriculum. Once you’ve reached the Microcosmic Orbit
phase of the exercise (week twelve), circulate for a few moments, expanding the
circles of Etheric force further and further away from your physical body. Keep
doing this until you feel the onset of PD-3. Why not PD-4, you ask? Well, you
can begin the next step at PD-4, but you’ve probably already noticed that once
you’re deeply embedded in the Causal Body you don’t want to will anything! On
the other hand, if you begin the following step at PD-3, you’ll notice that your
awareness can remain mobile, which is an unavoidable requirement for
conscious Astral Projection.
This is the pivotal moment! Here’s the trick:
Feel yourself rolling in a somersault along the same axis as the Microcosmic
Orbit!
Normally, when practicing Microcosmic Orbit, you circulate Qi while your
awareness stays rooted in your upper and lower Dantians. In this exercise, it isn’t
just your energy that circulates, it’s you that circulates. Do this several times and
then come to a sudden stop, but not where you started. Rather, do this:
Suspend the rotation at the point when you’re upside down, as if you’re doing
a headstand.
It’s important to really embody the perspective of feeling perpendicular to
your sleeping physical body, with your head facing downward. This little
maneuver of your proprioception will trigger your Astral Body to stay up and
out after you’ve successfully loosened it by rolling your awareness in
Microcosmic Orbit. If you’ve ever had the common experience of being jolted
from sleep because you felt like you’re falling, then you’ve inadvertently used
this method.
Now, once you’ve consciously entered REM sleep, the exit-symptoms which
herald an impending OOBE will begin. The best advice I can give you at this
point is:
Don’t panic!
As I’ve said before, if you panic then you’ll abort the Astral exit. Worse,
you’ll build a psychic wall (the psychic moat) that makes achieving Astral
Projection more difficult in future attempts. Believe me, I know all too well how
difficult it can be to remain calm during this phase of separation from the Gross
Body. Be that as it may, I can also tell you with absolute certainty that you’ve
got nothing to be afraid of. If you’re left undisturbed while it’s occurring, Astral
Projection is completely natural and safe. Are there frightening things on the
Astral Plane?
Absolutely!
Just as there are beautiful and pleasurable experiences on the Astral Plane, so
too are there ugly and disquieting ones. The beings dwelling there are just as
varied in temperament as human beings and animals, but in my experience you
needn’t be worried about them. To be honest, the entity you need to be most
concerned about while going Astral is yourself! After all, the first thing that
you’ll probably encounter on the Astral Planes are reflection of your own
intentions, fears, hopes, traumas, passions, and so forth, and this especially
applies to exit-symptoms.
So how to best deal with exit-symptoms?
The loud buzzing, popping, arcade bleeps and bloops, voices, physical
sensations, flashing lights, vibrations, adrenaline surges, and presences
associated with an imminent Astral exit are undeniably distracting. It may take
some getting used to before you can successfully ignore them. Once you’re in
the clear, they’ll vanish, and you’ll be free to focus on phase two of Astral
Projection, which is to travel further away from your physical body. We’ll tackle
that in the next section.
For now, please note that there are dozens of ways to induce the separation
phase of the Astral exit. The “flip and roll” method above is by far one of the
more potent ones. I encourage you to experiment with variations of that method
before trying other techniques: your training thus far has led you to a point
where Astral Projection is best induced in this manner. What are the variations?
Well, to give one example, remember the Trailing Method offered in week five?
Instead of using the Somersault Method to induce Astral separation, why not try
rolling to the side toward your non-dominant hand? You’ve already become
accustomed to the sensation, so you can simply recreate it in your feeling-
awareness and roll out of your body. This is one of my own favorite methods for
going Astral. Try it and see!
Another well-known technique for inducing an Astral exit is the so-called
Rope Technique. In this method, as soon as the exit-symptoms begin, you
visualize a long rope or ladder suspended from high above your sleeping body.
Then, using Malleable Proprioception, you feel yourself climbing up until you’re
completely Astral. Still other methods skip the separation phase entirely and
utilize a Bi-Locationality technique. In these methods, you simply wait until
you’re approaching the PD-4 phase of Pellucidity, and from there imagine
yourself standing at the foot of your bed looking at your sleeping physical body.
That approach has innumerable variations. To be honest, though, Bi-
Locationality methods tend to induce Lucid Dreams that resemble genuine
Astral Projection but aren’t the real deal. In my opinion, methods which skip
over the separation phase of Astral Projection are incomplete and lead, at the
most, to Astral Dreams. That said, give them a try and see if you have any luck!
In closing, always be sure to practice Embryonic Breathing and Microcosmic
Orbit within twenty-four hours after attempting Astral Projection and Lucid
Dreaming. This ensures a proper rebalancing of Qi in the Etheric energy,
particularly the Five Yin meridians.
Week Sixteen: Astral Projection to Astral Travel
Astral Projection and Astral Travel are often used as synonyms. The truth,
however, is that the latter isn’t nearly as common as the former. Astral
Projection technically occurs every time we enter PD-4 or LD-3, only we’re
usually not conscious of it. As we’ve seen, this is primarily due to lack of
awareness during the transition phase between wakefulness and various phases
of the sleep cycle.
In this section, I’ll teach you how to travel further and further away from your
physical body. I’ll discuss the Anchor Effect and how you can get past it. I’ll
also discuss some of the things you can expect to find as you separate from your
body and travel further away from it. This is a rather complex topic which I’ll
elaborate on in a future publication Readers interested in learning more about the
various phenomena associated with Astral Projection are encouraged to consult
my website and blog and join the discussion at:
http://behindtheveil.simdif.com

Tips, Tactics, and Trade Secrets

The sensations associated with Astral Projection will be familiar to anyone
who has ever consciously entered LD-3 or PD-4, especially the transition period.
They’re the same. In fact, Lucid Dreams are just one more exit-symptom which
needs to be ignored for true Astral Projection to occur! If you haven’t already
had a taste of Astral exit-symptoms, and you’re wondering what happens once
they cease, here’s what I can tell you:
First, when you begin to leave your physical body, you’ll know it! There’ll be
no mistaking it, believe me. At first, you’ll either feel as though you’re falling
off your bed or from some high place. Some Veilers feel the opposite. That is,
they feel as though they’re rising through the air, usually at a rapid pace.
Sometimes dream scenarios reflect the approaching Projection, and Lucid
Dreams of flying or falling or swimming beneath water will arise. Sensations
that can only be described as a sudden rush of adrenaline may appear,
threatening to crush you or explode from somewhere deep inside you.
Oftentimes this sensation is accompanied by powerful vibrations pulsing through
your body, especially in the heart area. Internal tones resembling the electric
hum of high voltage wires will sometimes be heard. These are usually
accompanied by bright flashes of light, usually yellow, blue, or white. Regarding
this light, a little trick I learned is to try to sustain this light by staring directly
into it for as long as you can. Eventually, if you can sustain concentration for a
few seconds, this light will give way to Astral Sight. You’ll either begin to see
the room you’re in through your closed eyes, or else you’ll see on the Astral
Planes. Either way, if you continue with your exit technique at this juncture
you’ll have a very quick route to full Projection. The key is to focus on the
separation and ignore the flood of imagery, sensations, and sounds you’re almost
certain to experience.
At any rate, once you’re up and out, you’ll probably only get so far before you
either slip into a Lucid Dream, remain anchored near your physical body, or
wake up completely. Don’t get frustrated! This isn’t a failure. Quite the contrary!
If you’ve gotten this far, you’ve already succeeded in Astral Projection, and
that’s a big deal. With practice, Astral Travel will become easier to do. I’ve been
doing this my whole life and I still get tripped up on the basics. Twenty years
into being a Veiler and I still sometimes get confused between the Astral Planes
and Lucid Dreams, exit-symptoms and genuine entities, and so on.
There are a few things you can do to avoid the Astral Anchor Effect. First, as
we’ve already discussed, don’t eat a heavy meal before bedtime or before
attempting Astral Projection. The same rule applies to alcohol. You may still be
able to Project if you break these rules, but getting past the Projection phase and
into the Travel phase will be nigh impossible. I find that breaking these rules
leaves me stuck in the lower Astral Plane, which has something of a nightmarish
quality to it. In fact, I’ve often wondered if my early experiences of Astral
Projection as a child were nightmarish due to the asthma medication I was
forced to take in those days.
Another thing which has a deleterious effect on Astral Travel is depression
and anxiety. Sadness, self-pity, sexual obsessions, fear, and envy are just a few
of the heavy emotions you’ll want to transmute while learning Astral Travel.
There may be a few people who can Project and Travel successfully even while
intoxicated by these emotions, but for the most part they just weigh you down,
weaken your lifeforce, and keep you tethered to your physical body. This is
probably due to the fact that these emotions are centered on self-preservation.
Just think about it for a minute. When you’re feeling anxious, what happens to
your body? Your breathing becomes shallow, your skin becomes cold and
clammy, and your body language suggests a sort of shrinking away and inward.
The opposite of open up and out! This is important to understand because this
inward shrinking is the very root cause of most failed attempts at Astral Travel.
You can get up but you can’t get out.
So those are just some of the things to avoid when learning Astral Travel.
Some of the things you can be proactive about to bypass the Anchor Effect
involve the opposite of the above prohibitions. Notice how I said that you need
to transmute the aforementioned “heavy” emotions? I didn’t say that you should
avoid them! What do I mean by “transmute”? Transmuting negative emotions
means that you encounter them without suppressing, repressing, projecting, or
expressing them. If you’ve been following the Curriculum thus far, then you’ve
already learned the secret to transmuting negative emotions and thoughts.
We’ve been calling it Channeling Intensity.
It helps to remember that every thought and emotion is, before it’s anything
else we make it into, pure and raw energy. Ideally, you want your energy to be
of high quality and flowing freely and smoothly. Whenever you get hung up on
an emotion, even some positive ones, your energy loses its Yin/Yang balance.
This inevitably happens to all of us, but it helps to know how to ameliorate this
situation as best one can. We’ve been doing it every time we practice
Channeling Intensity in combination with Embryonic Breathing, Microcosmic
Orbit, Healing Hands, Mobile Mental Focus and Progressive Relaxation. Many
Veilers refer to this process of transmuting emotions as raising your vibration.
Regardless what you choose to call it, the basic mechanism involves keeping
your energies clear, abundant, unobstructed, and balanced. To the religious
Taoists, Astral Projection is regarded as the highest attainment and is
synonymous with spiritual enlightenment. Such a person is referred to as a
“Heavenly Fairy.” When he or she dies, it’s said that such a one has “left his
shoes” (left the physical body). The practitioner who fails to accomplish this is
said to have not accumulated enough De. De is a Chinese word which means
“Virtue,” but not in the sense of moral fortitude or ethical refinement. Rather, the
Virtue being referred to suggests the evolved version of one’s essential nature.
For instance, when we speak of the medicinal virtues of a certain plant, we’re
referring to the plant’s De. When it comes to human beings, our “virtue” is
found in the harmonious flowering of our Gross, Etheric, Mental, Astral, and
Causal energies. When this occurs, only the best of what we have to offer flows
out of us in the same way in which a flower gives off its perfume without any
conscious intention to do so. This is probably why many so-called “saints” have
had spontaneous experiences of Astral Projection, Lucid Dreaming, and so on,
without any training whatsoever.
So, the four-fold secret to getting past the Astral Anchor Effect is:
• Transmuting heavy emotions.
• Keeping your energies abundant and flowing freely and smoothly.
• Avoiding heavy meals or excess alcohol before bed.
• Willing yourself to a destination beyond the pull of your physical body.
That last one takes center stage here in this last week of the Curriculum.
If Astral Projection is largely an exercise of abundant Qi and Malleable
Proprioception, then Astral Travel is largely an act of Bi-Locationality and Will.
In fact, it’s very common for Projectors to spontaneously find themselves in
locations or with people that hold special significance to them. For example,
some people Project and—seemingly without intention—find themselves
visiting their children or close friends. That center of authentic emotional charge
is the root of the Will. That’s the difference between Will and Desire. Desire is
fleeting and doesn’t tend to stick around long enough to effect any real change,
whereas Will is focused intention in alignment with genuine affinity. In other
words, what you want may not necessarily be what you need. Astral Travel is
best learned by Projecting to destinations that are in alignment with one’s Will.
During this last week of the Curriculum, focus specifically on getting up and
out. Focus on getting accustomed to Astral exit-symptoms and on sustaining the
out-of-body state. Usually this means hovering close enough to your physical
body that your breathing sounds like you’re under water and breathing through a
snorkel! Once you’ve gotten used to this stage of Astral Projection and the
realization sets in that this is happening, do the following:
Throughout the day of your next Projection attempt, make the mental
affirmation to check the time on, say, the kitchen stove, when you Project that
night. Do this throughout the day and be very specific about which clock you’ll
check while out of body. Then, later that night once you’ve successfully
Projected, will yourself into the area where the clock is. Be sure to choose a
clock in an area that isn’t too far away from your physical body, otherwise you’ll
have difficulty reaching or seeing it while out of body. It’s not uncommon to
have difficulty seeing or moving during your initial trips away from your body. I
still have difficulty in this department!
Once you’re successful, check the time on the clock, return to your body,
wake up and then go check the time. Depending on how long it took you to wake
up and check the clock, the time should be roughly a few minutes past what it
was while you were Astral! This will be your first validation of success. It isn’t
easy, I assure you, but with time and consistent training it’ll become easier.
Once you’ve become proficient at the time-checking exercise, take it a step
further and try to visit someone you know and love—someone with whom you
can discuss these matters and consents to being visited. If you know such a
person, try visiting her or him while out-of-body. The best way to make this
happen is to throughout the day affirm your desire to do so. Then, that night,
before attempting Astral Projection, reaffirm your intention and go!
I’ve only succeeded at this a handful of times, admittedly with most of them
being spontaneous and unplanned. The important thing is that each success was
validated by the person I traveled to. The interesting thing about Projecting to
people and places in what expert Projector, Robert Bruce, calls the “real-time
zone,” is that it truly does seem to be in alignment with chronological time. This
isn’t the case with Projections to the Astral Planes. In these events, time seems to
behave in the same way it does when the mind is under the influence of a
powerful psychedelic. You may have an Astral experience that seems to last
several hours only to come back to find that only a few minutes have elapsed!
The converse is also very common, and you may think that you were Astral for
only a few minutes when you were gone for several hours!
Traveling to the Astral Planes is a very riveting experience. To discuss it
thoroughly would require a separate volume. That said, you’re almost certain to
encounter the Astral Planes at some point, so let me issue a word of caution:
Always remain impartial, calm, objective, and grounded when assessing
anything you encounter on the Astral Planes.
Record everything and everyone you encounter in your dream journal and be
as descriptive and thorough as possible. Some of the more common things you
may encounter are Astral Landscapes, Shadow People, Archetypal Beings,
Deceased Loved Ones, Voices and Visions (often prophetic), Voids, Astral
Dreams, and much more. You might also notice that your dormant psychic
abilities are waking up. You might start seeing auras around people, trees,
animals, and inanimate objects. At one point, roughly between the years 2006–
2010, these energetic patterns became so pronounced that I had difficulty
engaging people in conversation! These auras initially appeared as something
akin to heat waves emanating off asphalt. I saw colorless waves of heat
emanating from people’s bodies, darting to and fro, and I eventually noticed
patterns within these waves. For example, if someone were about to cough or
sneeze, I’d see it in their aura first. I’d see these waves reach out from a person’s
hand toward a cup of coffee just seconds before they reached for it. Soon I
became accustomed to these phenomena, the waves eventually began to evolve
into colors, and it became a source of excitement for me. To this day, if I see red
flashes in my wife’s aura, I know it’s going to be a romantic evening!
Another common psychic ability which tends to be galvanized by repeated
excursions to the Astral Planes is intuition. You might notice that you can feel
energies more strongly, such as high EMF zones from power lines, WiFi, and
“dirty electricity.” You might also notice that you become sensitive to areas
where these toxic energies are absent, such as high mountain elevations, forests,
and near the sea. You may even begin to feel the effects of the moon and solar
activity! The intentions and overall “vibe” of people around you might become
more pronounced. And synchronicities will increase in frequency and
meaningfulness.
 All of these experiences are perfectly normal and are even to be expected. The
main thing is to stay objective, search for meaningful patterns, and record
everything in your journal.
 Afterword
Subliminal Cognition Training and the
Integral Philosophy
That’s it! You’ve completed the 120-Days Curriculum. The exercises you’ve
just learned have literally changed the shape of your bodymind. If a
neuroscientist with the proper equipment took a photo of your neuronet before
you began the Curriculum, and then held it up next to a photo taken of your
neuronet now, you’d see that you don’t look quite the same as you did one-
hundred-and-twenty days ago. The same would happen if a Clairvoyant saw you
before and after your training.
That’s a big deal…
I strongly believe that the current explosion of interest in these psychic
capacities represents a milestone in our evolution as a species. Skills which used
to be reserved for a few eccentric members of a tribe are now emerging within
the lives of people all over the world at an astonishing rate. Everyday people are
noticing a palpable shift within the very core of their psyches, and as the rarified
experiences that come along with this massive shift give rise to questions, it’s
my hope that books like this one will serve as guiding lights for the Veilers of
tomorrow.
The Curriculum represents the practical core of my own system. I call this
system “Subliminal Cognition Training” or SCT. It’s the kind of system I
would have wanted when I was wandering in the desert of confusion and social
alienation. The core tenant of this system is that everybody has access to the
three broad states of Wakefulness, Dreaming, and Dreamless Sleep, and what
SCT aims to do is bring more skillful awareness into these three states of
consciousness. Of course, this is nothing new, and there exists countless
variations on this theme. The Perennial Philosophy being the ubiquitous map
that it is, has spawned innumerable methods and systems for accessing the
clandestine powers of the human bodymind.
The original contribution which my system offers is threefold:
First, SCT is Integral. When I first discovered the Integral Philosophy, I felt
overwhelmed by it. Because it attempts to demonstrate how everything and
everyone fits together, the maps used to explain this can at first appear rather
daunting. So, I gave up! Not for long, though, because I soon stumbled upon the
work of a brilliant American Integral thinker by the name of Ken Wilber. I
rejoiced that I’d finally found someone who could make sense out of a system
that called to me, but confused me at the same time.
Briefly, Wilber successfully demonstrated that every conceivable person,
place, or thing in this universe has at least four basic aspects to its existence.
These aspects give rise to, and are predicated on, one another. Take away one of
them and the others either cease to exist or, at the very least, become
pathological.
What are these four fundamental aspects to the universe?
According to Integral Theory, the universe has four qualities (called
Quadrants):
• Personal (subjective)
• Behavioral (objective)
• Cultural (race, creed, shared values/traditions)
• Social (political climate, economic system)

Without going into the finer details of this system, the Personal makes up the
upper left Quadrant, the Behavioral is the upper right Quadrant, the Cultural is
the lower left Quadrant, and the Social is the lower right Quadrant. Every
thought, feeling, impulse, idea, conversation, skill, or personal philosophy you
have is anchored in the realities represented by these four Quadrants. How they
all interact and function together is a rather messy affair, but the main point for
you to remember is that these aren’t static and unchanging concepts or realities.
I, It, and We evolve! It’s a unified meshwork of depth, height, and dynamic
interplay.
My system of training is anchored in this Integral framework, with an obvious
emphasis on the Subjective aspect. That, in my opinion, is the first thing which
makes SCT unique in the field of Conscious Sleep. After all, most authors focus
either on Lucid Dreaming or Astral Projection, sometimes a cavalier blend of
both.
That’s the second thing offered by SCT: it offers a seamless training of the
three broad states of Wakefulness, Dreaming, and Dreamless Sleep.
This is very important. Training just one or another would be the equivalent of
lifting weights to build muscle in only one arm. On the other hand, if you train
Astral Projection alongside Vivid and Lucid Dreaming, Pellucid
Sleep/Dreaming, Meditation, Diet, Geomancy, Qigong, etc., and you root this
training in a community of fellow Veilers, then you have at your fingertips a
system aimed at incorporating all levels of your being. More importantly, this
training aims at cultivating these skills until your Gross, Subtle, and Causal
bodies are experienced as one unified and seamless whole.
Lastly, SCT aims at turning the students of today into the teachers of
tomorrow. With its emphasis on establishing a community of like-minded
individuals, the fruitful exchange of information on all levels of skill is built into
the very fabric of the system. The motto is ever and always, “If it works, I’ll use
it!” One of the unfortunate tragedies of an Integrally uninformed system is that it
tends to leave out so much of what makes you You. We are each faced with our
own unique set of circumstances, have our own strengths and weaknesses, and
our own natural proclivities. Sadly, many systems seem primarily concerned
with teaching according to the system and not according to the individual
approaching that system.
All too often I’ve opened the pages of a book about Lucid Dreaming only to
discover that the author has written the book under the assumption that the
reader has dreams in the first place! I don’t mean dreams per se. You probably
remember your dreams if you’re reading a How-To book about Lucid Dreaming.
Rather, the author will just assume that the reader’s dreams are as colorful and
vivid as his own. Without first cultivating a colorful and vivid dream life, your
Lucidity will be shallow, yes?
The same holds true for many books on Astral Projection. You’re rarely going
to open the pages of a book on Astral Projection and see a detailed explanation
of the differences among the various types of OOBE, a presentation devoid of
metaphysical assertions or cultural presumptions, or any possible medical
explanations or neurological aspects of the Astral Projection experience. In my
opinion, SCT satisfies this lack.
I hope this book has helped you in your quest. Whether you’re a beginner or
an advanced Veiler, someone seeking an explanation for psychic phenomena
being written off as “sleep disturbances,” or just an evolving human being
seeking to expand your horizons, it’s my sincere hope that I’ve satisfied that
craving in your heart for clarity, understanding, and passionate spirituality.
But let’s not satisfy it completely, aye? After all, lighting the fire is only half
the job. Keeping the fire burning is where the real work begins.
Your Fellow Traveler,
Daniel Allen Kelley
30 July 2017, 9:44 am
Hyde Park, NY
 About the Author

Daniel Kelley is an author, poet, musician, and Integral Life Practitioner with
over two decades of experience in the esoteric arts. He is the creator of
Subliminal Cognition Training. Daniel was born in 1979 to Baptist parents in
Waterloo Canada. His father was a Baptist preacher. After a profound and
prolonged transpersonal crisis in early childhood, he broke away from his strict
Christian upbringing to study the wisdom traditions of the world. At age sixteen
he suffered a breakdown that culminated at age twenty-one in a transpersonal
breakthrough. After joining various Hermetic societies and practicing their
methods, he found his spiritual home in Chinese Taoist Alchemy, Integral Life
Practice, and the Yogas of India and Tibet. He practices and teaches Internal
Chinese Martial Arts, Qigong, Taijiquan and Xingyiquan. He lives with his wife
and daughter in upstate New York.
http://behindtheveil.simdif.com
 Appendix
Diagram for Visualization Training
 Bibliography
Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming: Stephen LaBerge/Howard Rheingold.
Journeys Out of the Body: Robert Monroe.
The Two Week Lucid Dreamer: Derek Ralston.
Dreaming Wide Awake: David Jay Brown.
The Art of Dreaming: Carlos Castaneda.
One Taste: Ken Wilber.
Qigong Meditation/Embryonic Breathing: Dr. Yang Jwing Ming.
Microcosmic Orbit: Dr. Yang Jwing Ming.
Astral Dynamics: Robert Bruce.
Reflections On Life After Life: Raymond Moody.
Consciousness Beyond Life: Pim Van Lommel.
Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: Ken Wilber.
The Multi-Orgasmic Man: Mantak Chia.
Journey to Dylan: Carlos Castaneda.
Astral Projection in 90 Days: Robert Bruce.
The Book of Secrets: Osho.
Dream Therapy: Clare Johnson, Ph.D.
Tibetan Dream Yoga: Stephen LaBerge
Skygates of the Mind: Ivan Kos.
Integral Dreaming: A Holistic Approach to Dreaming: Fariba Bogzaran/Daniel
Deslauriers.