William Buhlman - Adventures Beyond the Body

Five hundred years ago, a few courageous explorers crossed an ocean in search of a new landa mysterious land hidden by an unexplored and uncharted ocean. Many people considered this journey a waste of time and resources. After all, modern civilization had flourished for centuries without this kind of exploration.

Against all odds this handful of explorers ventured forward, their burning desire for discovery propelling them into the unknown. They abandoned the comforts of home to embark on a journey beyond the known horizons. Facing both their own and societys fears and doubts, they continued their course, finally achieving their goal of discovery.

Today we face the same kind of explorationan unexplored ocean of energy waiting to be conquered by individuals who possess the foresight and courage to go beyond the limits of their physical horizons. As in the past, the explorers vision must extend past the physical shoreline. As in the past, the explorer must possess the internal drive and determination to travel beyond the known limits of society and science. He or she must travel alone, far from the masses who cling to the firm security of land.

As in the past, explorers are driven by one thingthe need to discover for themselves, because accepting anything less than firsthand knowledge is settling for the beliefs and assumptions of the landlocked.

Today each of us has an opportunity to go beyond the physical shoreline and become an explorer. This great adventure is available for all of us to share.

My heartfelt thanks go out to the people who have helped to make this book a reality. To Kate Tacie, thank you for your excellent word processing and computer skills. You always responded quickly and flawlessly. Loretta and John Drury, your creativity in computer graphics brought my concepts to life. Thanks to William Birchfield, whose patience in translating computer programs was tried, but true. To my agent, Nat Sobel, for having faith in the potential of this project, thank you. Sol Lewis, I thank you for inviting me to participate in the Michigan Metaphysical Society with you. Thanks to Jerry Castle for his hypnotherapy insights and expertise. Debbie Aronson, your comments about the original manuscript were valued.

I would especially like to thank the many participants of my workshops and lectures. The sharing of your personal out-of-body experiences has proved invaluable. In addition, I would like to thank Kevin Bentley for his valued comments and assistance.

And a special thanks goes to Michelle Griffith. Your friendship and enthusiasm helped to bring this book from someday to today.

Albert Einstein wrote these words many years ago, and they are forever etched in my mind. Twenty years ago I firmly believed that the physical world we see and experience was the only reality. I believed what my eyes told melife possessed no hidden mysteries, only countless forms of matter living and dying. The facts were clear; there was no evidence or proof of nonphysical worlds or our continued existence after death. I questioned the intelligence of anyone softheaded enough to accept the illogical concepts of heaven, God, and immortality. In my mind these were fairy tales created to comfort the weak and manipulate the masses. For me, life was simple to understand: the world consisted of solid matter and form, and the concepts of life after death and heaven were feeble human attempts to create hope where none existed.

I possessed the arrogant knowledge of a man who judges the world with his physical senses alone. I supported my conclusions with the overwhelming observations provided by science and technology. After all, if something mysterious was there, science would certainly be aware of it.

My firm convictions of reality and life continued until June of 1972. During a conversation with a neighbor, our discussion turned to the possibilities of life after death and the existence of heaven. I proceeded to present my agnostic viewpoints with vigor. To my surprise my neighbor didnt contest my conclusions; instead, he related an experience that he had had several weeks before. One evening just after drifting to sleep, he was shocked to discover himself floating above his body. Completely awake and aware, he became frightened and instantly fell back into his physical body. Excited, he told me it wasnt a dream or his imagination, but a fully conscious experience.

Intrigued by his experience, I decided to investigate this strange phenomenon for myself. After several days of research I discovered numerous references to out-of-body experiences throughout history. With some searching I found a book on the topic that actually described how out-of-body experiences are induced. The entire subject seemed extremely weird, and I considered the book the result of an overly active imagination.

Out of curiosity, I decided to try one of the out-of-body techniques before sleep. After repeated daily attempts, I began to feel a little ridiculous. In three weeks the only thing I experienced out of the norm was an increase in my dream recall. I became more and more convinced that this entire subject was nothing more than an intense or vivid dream stimulated by the so-called out-of-body techniques.

Then, one night about eleven oclock I drifted to sleep during my out-of-body technique and began dreaming that I was sitting at a round table with several people. They all seemed to be asking me questions related to my self-development and state of consciousness. At that moment in the dream I began to feel extremely dizzy, and a strange numbness, like from Novocain, began to spread throughout my body. Unable to keep my head up, I passed out, hitting my head on the table. Instantly I was awake, fully conscious, lying in bed facing the wall. I could hear an unusual buzzing sound and felt somehow different. Extending my arm, I reached for the wall in front of me. I stared in amazement as my hand actually entered the wall; I could feel the vibrational energy of it as if I was touching its very molecular structure. Only then did the overwhelming reality hit me, My God, Im not in my body .

Excited, my only thought was, Its real. My God, its real! Lying in bed, I stared at my hand in disbelief. When I tried clenching my fist, I could feel the pressure of my grip; my hand felt completely solid, but the physical wall in front of me looked and felt like a dense, vaporous material with form.

Determined to stand, I began to move effortlessly to the foot of my bed, my mind racing with the reality of it all. Standing, I quickly touched my arms and legs, checking to see if I was solid, and to my surprise I was completely solid, completely real. But around me, the familiar physical objects in my room no longer appeared completely real or solid; instead, they now looked like three-dimensional mirages. Glancing down, I noticed a large lump in my bed. Amazed, I could see that it was the sleeping form of my physical body silently facing the wall.

As I focused my vision on the opposite side of the room, the wall seemed to fade slowly from view. In front of me I could see a wide, green field extending far beyond my room. Looking around, I noticed a figure silently watching me from about ten yards away. It was a tall man with dark hair, a beard, and a purple robe. Startled by his presence, I became frightened and instantly snapped back into my physical body. With a jolt I was in my body, and a strange feeling of numbness and tingling faded as I opened my eyes. Excited, I sat up, my mind exploding with the realization of what had just occurred. I knew it was absolutely real, not a dream or my imagination. My entire ego awareness had been present.