Afterlife Knowledge Guidebook

Book Excerpt: chapter One

1

A Concept of Consciousness

     A university professor friend of mine says that when academics discuss the survival of consciousness beyond death they make little progress because they get stuck trying to define consciousness. As an engineer I?m more interested in the practical side of things. If a simplified concept makes progress possible, it can be used as a tool to complete a task.
     Believers in the religion of science accept that the origin of consciousness lies within the physical brain. When the brain dies, there is no longer a place for consciousness to exist, so for such scientists, when your brain dies, you cease to exist. Most religions claim that consciousness continues to exist after death in a state dictated by their own rules and beliefs. In other words, you continue to exist in their version of eternal Heaven or eternal Hell.
     In my view, neither science nor religion has much to offer regarding a useful concept of consciousness. To simplify your exploration, I?d like to share a concept of consciousness I find practical. Our physical universe is said to be very large. Astronomers say that the farthest reaches of our physical universe are at least 15 billion light years?about 8,790,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles?from the Earth. The number is incomprehensible. It?s a very large physical universe.
     I suggest that everything that exists within our physical universe is a form, or manifestation, of whatever consciousness is. Whatever consciousness is, it must be at least as large as our physical universe just to contain it all. And by this concept, every object within our physical universe?the Earth, the Moon, the planets, the Sun, the stars, and galaxies?can be thought of as small areas of consciousness within one larger Consciousness. Likewise, a rock, a tree, a squirrel, a lake, a human being, or a mountain within our universe can be conceptualized as small areas of consciousness within Consciousness.
     My own explorations beyond physical reality suggest that ours is not the only universe that exists, though it may be more accurate to define these other universes as nonphysical dimensions. To their inhabitants these dimensions are just as real as our universe is to us. My concept of consciousness would say that all of these other dimensions and everything in them are also small areas of consciousness within the same, single, larger Consciousness that contains our physical universe. My concept of Consciousness is now much bigger than our physical universe, and each of these nonphysical dimensions and all objects and occupants can be thought of as areas of consciousness within a single, larger Consciousness. I find this concept useful because I don?t have to precisely define what consciousness is. Instead, I am free to explore whatever consciousness might be and let my discoveries build a clearer understanding of what it actually is. Besides, it allows me to talk about how it is that we can explore beyond physical reality.
     If we wanted to know about an area of consciousness within our physical universe?say, the Moon?we could observe it through a telescope. We could send a rocket with cameras and sensors to make observations. We could land humans to walk on it, gather samples, observe it, and experience it. Each of these methods of exploring can be thought of as shifting our focus of attention to the area of consciousness called the Moon. Once our focus of attention is shifted to the Moon we can gather information about it by observing our surroundings within this area of consciousness called the Moon. The way in which this Afterlife Knowledge Guidebook teaches exploration beyond physical reality is, conceptually, the very same.
     All that we need do to explore nonphysical realities is to first learn how to shift our focus of attention from one area of consciousness to a different area of consciousness within one all-encompassing Consciousness. Then we need to understand how to observe our surroundings from within that nonphysical area of Consciousness. That might sound simplistic to some readers, but that?s an engineer?s concept. It?s a simplified way of thinking about something that can be used to make progress toward a goal.
     Throughout this guidebook we?ll use this concept of shifting one?s focus of attention as a means of exploring beyond physical reality. I use Focused Attention as the label for the method of exploration I?m teaching. You can use what you learn in this book to explore those areas of consciousness called our afterlife. You can also use what you learn here to explore areas of consciousness beyond our human afterlife?way beyond.

Trust
     A word about trust. As you begin learning to explore our afterlife you face the most basic trust issue all human beings must face:
     Can I trust that the information my senses bring into my awareness from my surroundings is real?
     Learning to explore our afterlife requires that we learn to use what might be called our nonphysical senses. As I learned to use them, trust was a continuing issue.
     Early in life every human being went through this process of learning to trust the information our senses bring. Perhaps thinking about how we made it through this process before can serve as a model for how we can do it again. Think of your physical birth as entry into an unfamiliar reality, in a body equipped with unknown, unfamiliar senses. Before we could use physical senses to explore and interact, we had to first realize that we had them. We had to then find ways to determine if what these senses told us about the physical world surrounding us was real or fantasy. I got insight into that process by watching my infant daughter learn to become aware of and trust her physical senses.
     When I first shook a baby rattle close to her, its sound didn?t get much of a reaction from her. She just continued waving her arms, sucking her toes, or whatever she was doing. But with repeated experience, I noticed the look on her face change to a quizzical, wide-eyed look that expressed the feeling of ?What?s that?? That look was my first indication that the rattle?s physical reality sound was entering my daughter?s awareness. It was the beginning of her realization that she had the physical sense we call hearing. Her physical sense of hearing was bringing her into connection with physical reality. With repeated experience, the look on my daughter?s face acquired that quizzical, wide-eyed look just by my bringing the rattle where she could see it. I could move the rattle slowly back and forth in front of her and watch her eyes follow its motion. That showed me that she was becoming aware of the rattle by using her physical sense of sight. Now, her physical sense of sight too was bringing her into connection with physical reality. Shaking the rattle enough that it made its sound, where she could see it, I watched her begin to associate the sight and sound of the rattle as being connected to the physical world object.
     As my daughter grew and gained enough control of her physical body to move it where she wanted it to go, bringing the rattle into her view brought an interesting response. She?d grab the rattle in her tiny little hand and shake it. Then I?d see a huge smile of satisfaction form on her cute, tiny little face. Reaching for the rattle expressed her trust in her sense of sight. Shaking the rattle to hear its noise was her verification that what her sight and hearing were bringing into her awareness was real.
     Our afterlife exists within a nonphysical reality in which our physical world senses are completely useless. To explore and learn about our afterlife, you first need to realize that you have nonphysical senses. Ultimately, you will need to trust these senses enough to try to verify and validate what these senses bring into your awareness.
     One of my earliest, biggest mistakes was to expect that perception within nonphysical realities, using nonphysical senses, would be the same as perception within physical reality using physical senses. Like my daughter with her baby rattle, only through repeated experiences did I develop these nonphysical senses to a useful, reliable level and develop trust in what my new nonphysical senses were telling me. I had to find a way to grab the baby rattle and shake it. I had to find ways to verify what my nonphysical senses were telling me.
     For the first three and a half years of my exploration of our afterlife, I was more than half convinced that at some point I?d realize that I was subconsciously creating some grand, self-deceptive fantasy. As you learn to explore our afterlife, don?t be surprised if you find yourself asking, ?Am I making this all up? Is this just my imagination?? My intent in writing this Afterlife Knowledge Guidebook is to help you answer these questions far more quickly than I did.

The Hemi-Sync Model of Consciousness
     My basic nonphysical-reality navigation tool I learned while participating in programs at The Monroe Institute (TMI). I call it a Hemi-Sync Model of Consciousness:
     Once you can identify the feeling of any area within consciousness, merely remembering and reexperiencing that feeling will automatically shift your awareness back to that area of consciousness.
     Hemi-Sync is a patented audio technology using specific sound patterns that have been demonstrated to automatically shift one?s awareness to specific areas of consciousness. Robert Monroe, out-of-body traveler, author, founder of The Monroe Institute, and the inventor of Hemi-Sync, labeled various areas of consciousness Focus 10, Focus 12, etc. Program participants shift their awareness to various focus levels using Hemi-Sync sounds, and then they learn to do so without the sounds. The trainers told us that each focus level has a specific feeling and that after the Hemi-Sync sound patterns guide you to experience the feeling, remembering that specific feeling automatically shifts your awareness to that specific area of consciousness, or focus level. Of course I did not believe the trainers. I was certain that without the magic Hemi-Sync sound patterns I would never get to any of the focus levels. But in time, experience taught me the TMI trainers were right, which resulted in what I call the Hemi-Sync Model of Consciousness.
     Each state of consciousness has specific feelings associated with it, and you will learn to return to any area of consciousness by remembering its feeling. As you focus your attention on sensing any feeling associated with the exercises in this book, you learn to shift your focus of attention to specific areas of consciousness. People exist, in our afterlife, in specific areas of consciousness. The Hemi-Sync Model of Consciousness is a tool you learn to use to go There.

State-Specific Memory
     While we?re on the subject of navigating consciousness, I?ve got a useful tip for you. Many times I returned from an afterlife exploration with only tiny fragments of memory of the experience, and to bring more memory of the exploration back into my awareness was a little like waking up and trying to remember a dream. I?ve come to understand this phenomenon as something Charles Tart, a consciousness researcher, calls ?State-Specific Memory.? The concept of State-Specific Memory means:
     The memory of an event is stored within the area of consciousness in which that event occurred.
     Awakening from sleep can be thought of as a shifting of your focus of attention from one area of consciousness?let?s call it dream consciousness?to another area of consciousness, physical-world consciousness. As you begin the process of waking up, while you?re dreaming, the dream is vivid. Your awareness is focused within dream consciousness and that is where the dream is occurring. It?s all clear in your mind just before you begin waking up. For example:
     It feels hot and humid. There is the sound of pesky insects buzzing around in the air. You are in a small hut in a jungle looking at a man tied to the chair he is sitting in. Two men with rifles, bayonets fixed, stand at attention behind the chair. Another man, standing in front of the chair, is interrogating the man sitting in it. A lit cigarette hovers a fraction of an inch above the left forearm of the man tied in the chair.
     As you begin to wake up a little, the colors and sounds begin to fade, and as you wake up a little more, the whole scene begins to fade. A little more, and you can still remember what you were dreaming about, but the details are starting to get fuzzy. A little more, and you might remember only that you were dreaming. The concept of State-Specific Memory explains this, and suggests a way to remember the dream.
     The dream occurred within dream consciousness, and that is the area of consciousness where the memory of the event is stored. Waking up is the process of shifting your awareness away from dream consciousness to ?physical-world consciousness. Once you?re fully awake, it?s difficult to remember the dream because your awareness is now located within physical reality, instead of where the memory of the dream is stored.
     If you try to remember that dream from a physical consciousness perspective, it?s really tough. If you want to remember more of the dream, you will need to find a way to shift your awareness back to the area of consciousness in which the dream occurred. The Hemi-Sync Model of Consciousness provides a simple way to do that.
     As you try to remember the dream, you might suddenly realize that you are remembering the feeling of a hot, muggy day. You probably don?t know why you?re experiencing that, just that you are. Focus your attention on that feeling. Remember that feeling as best you can, to the point of reexperiencing it. As you do, your attention begins to shift back toward the area of consciousness in which the dream occurred. You might get a flash image of a burning cigarette and a feeling of anxiety without knowing why. Focus your attention on any feelings that accompanied the image. While you are focusing attention on these feelings, the image of two soldiers, rifles at their sides, might flash through your mind. As you focus on the feelings associated with any of the images you get, your awareness shifts further and further toward dream consciousness. As you do, your attention shifts further toward the area of consciousness in which the dream occurred and memory of the dream is stored. As you continue this process, at some point you will have shifted enough of your awareness back into dream consciousness that you will remember the dream. Suddenly, you?re back in the hut in the jungle. All the images of the dream come flooding into awareness and you remember the entire dream.
     You have shifted your awareness back to the area of consciousness in which the dream occurred and where its memory is stored. At that point it is less a matter of remembering the dream than of reexperiencing it. You can focus your attention on any facet of the dream and it comes clearly and fully into awareness. In the same way, you can use this concept to remember more of the details of your afterlife exploration experiences.
     I?d like to add a little more to what I mean by feelings.
     Many folks have had the experience of smelling a specific odor, or hearing an old song on the radio, and immediately remembering a past experience, perhaps long forgotten. For many it?s more like reexperiencing that long-forgotten event. I include things like smells, songs, an itch, and other such memory triggers in the definition of ?feelings? in the Hemi-Sync Model of Consciousness. Also, perhaps the concept of State-Specific Memory makes it easier to understand why things like certain smells or songs cause us to immediately remember or reexperience past events. When we smelled that smell or heard that old song, we were within a specific area of consciousness. Experiencing that certain smell again seems to automatically shift our awareness back to the area of consciousness in which the events we experienced are stored. Then, out pops full detailed memory of those events. While you are trying to remember your dreams or afterlife exploration experiences, sometimes a smell, an itch, or other such ?feeling? provides the means of shifting one?s awareness back to the area of consciousness where the event occurred.

Making Written Notes
     Whether you?re learning to remember dreams or afterlife exploration experiences, making notes immediately after the experience is a good first step. If you?ve ever read much about learning to remember your dreams you know that most sources recommend that you write down anything and everything you can remember immediately upon waking. I agree with this completely. Shifting one?s awareness from dream consciousness to physical world consciousness is not an instantaneous process. Immediately upon waking some portion of our awareness is still aware within dream consciousness. The notes we make immediately upon waking can be used to facilitate remembering more.
     The way I wrote my books can serve as an example. Many times I would return from an afterlife exploration experience able to remember only enough for three or four short lines of notes. When it came time to write about that experience for one of my books I was faced with writing an entire chapter with only those skimpy notes. I found that if I read a line from my notes, focusing my attention on any feelings that resulted as I read it, I?d remember more of the experience. My writing became a process of focusing attention on feelings that happened during my exploration experiences and then remembering more of the details. From a few skimpy notes I could easily remember enough of the experience to write a detailed description several pages in length. This was part of what led me to understand and utilize Dr. Tart?s concept of State-Specific Memory.

Making Verbal Notes
     With practice it?s possible to describe your afterlife exploration experiences into a tape recorder. I use a small, inexpensive, voice-activated tape recorder with a lapel microphone for this purpose. The advantage I find in using a tape recorder is that it records not only the content of my notes, but also the subtleties of voice inflections, pace, etc. Later, when I am listening to my tape-recorded notes, these subtleties seem to automatically elicit reexperiencing the feeling and emotional content of the explorations. It?s as if the feelings that I was experiencing at the time are somehow recorded right along with my voice. Focusing attention on my recording automatically shifts my awareness to the feelings and back to the area of consciousness in which the experience occurred, making memory of the experience much easier. And that is just what I?d expect to happen using the combination of the Hemi-Sync Model of Consciousness and State-Specific Memory as tools of consciousness exploration. I strongly suggest you consider using a tape recorder, especially in later exercises in this book.

Some Implications of State-Specific Memory
     During a workshop, after I lectured about State-Specific Memory, one participant volunteered a story that I?d like to pass along. While in college, his roommate was a pot smoker. This guy did all of his studying for tests under the influence of marijuana. He discovered that the only way he could remember enough of what he studied to pass the tests was to be stoned on pot while taking the test. To me this illustrates the concept of State-Specific Memory. It also is a comment on the misguided use of drugs as an attempt to enhance one?s exploration experiences. The memory of what the roommate studied was stored in an area of consciousness you might call ?stoned on pot consciousness.? And the only way he could gain access to the memory of what he studied was to be in the state of consciousness where the memory was stored, stoned on pot.
     Too often those who teach in the metaphysical arena suggest that a specific diet, incense, drug, chemical, magic powder, state of poverty, or other prop is necessary for the student?s success. These props usually only serve to shift awareness to states or areas of consciousness unnecessary for success. To remember the successful experiences, the student will most likely have to continue to use the prop. To successfully explore beyond physical reality and remember our experiences, shifts of consciousness are required. I personally prefer that these shifts not require the use of chemicals, diets, magic powders, drugs, etc. Such props are unnecessary and often counterproductive.

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