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In this issue:
Bruce's 5th Book, the Afterlife Knowledge Guidebook, and accompanying CD sets are now available.Read the Afterlife Knowledge Guidebook in this & future Newsletters.
Contents:
Scheduled Workshops
Scheduled 2-Day Exploring the Afterlife WorkshopsCancelled : : Hampton Roads Publishing Co. workshop in Charlottesville, VA March 10-11, 2005 Contact Carolyn to get details and make your reservation. All registrations and payments for Hampton Roads workshops MUST be made thru Hampton Roads. Participants have the option of registering by phone (800-766-8009), fax (800-766-9042) or on their website HRPub.com
Hampton Roads Publishing Co. workshop in Charlottesville, VA July 18-19, 2005 Contact Carolyn to get details and make your reservation. All registrations and payments for Hampton Roads workshops MUST be made thru Hampton Roads. Participants have the option of registering by phone (800-766-8009), fax (800-766-9042) or on their website HRPub.com
Scheduled 2-Day Partnered Exploring Workshops
Hampton Roads Publishing Co. workshop in Charlottesville, VA May 16-17, 2005 Contact Carolyn to get details and make your reservation. All registrations and payments for Hampton Roads workshops MUST be made thru Hampton Roads. Participants have the option of registering by phone (800-766-8009), fax (800-766-9042) or on their website HRPub.com
Hampton Roads Publishing Co. workshop in Charlottesville, VA September 8-9, 20055 Contact Carolyn to get details and make your reservation. All registrations and payments for Hampton Roads workshops MUST be made thru Hampton Roads. Participants have the option of registering by phone (800-766-8009), fax (800-766-9042) or on their website HRPub.com
Scheduled 5-Day Combined Workshops
This workshop combines both the Exploring the Afterlife and Partnered Exploration into a single workshop.
Klaus's workshop in Wiesbaden, Germany, April 6-10, 2005 Contact Klaus at cnlpa@cnlpa.de to get details and make your reservation.
Asia's workshop in Wroclaw, Poland April 13-17, 2005 Contact Asia at altaya@go2.pl to get details and make your reservation.
Wojtek's workshop in Krakow, Poland April 20-24, 2005 Contact Wojtek at portal_seven@vp.pl to get details and make your reservation.
Frank's workshop in Frankfort, Germany, April 27-May 1, 2005 Contact Frank at frank.goermar@changeworks.de to get details and make your reservation.
Personal Appearances
UFO Congress in Laughlin, Nevada. Speaking on Monday, March 7, 2005Hampton Roads Applied Learning Series
Hampton Roads Publishing Company, publisher of my books, is now sponsoring lectures and workshops by many of its authors. These are held in Charlottesville, Virginia and you may check the schedule for all events at Hampton Roads website. To check out all the events in Hampton Roads Applied Learning Series visit the Events CalendarExpress Interest in hosting or attending a workshop
If you think you might ever be interested in hosting or attending a future workshop please take a few moments right now to go to the new form fill it out, and submit it for entry into the database. It will only take a minute and by submitting the form you'll be kept informed of potential workshops near where you live.This Newsletter's Installment of the Afterlife Knowledge Guidebook
Each Issue of this Newsletter will include material from the Afterlife Knowledge Guidebook, A Manual for the Art of Retrieval & Afterlife Exploration. In this issue you can read the fourth chapter.To see the book's Table of Contents Click Here and scroll down below the picture of the book cover.
CHAPTER 4: STATE SPECIFIC MEMORY
While we're on the subject of navigating consciousness, I've got a useful tip I would like to pass along to you. Many times I returned from an afterlife exploration with only tiny fragments of memory of the experience, and it was a struggle to bring more memory of the exploration back into my awareness. It was a little like waking up and trying to remember a dream. After waking up, as time goes by, it becomes more difficult to remember the experience. 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.
Remembering dreams is a good example to illustrate this concept. 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, let's call it physical world consciousness. As you begin the process of waking up, while you're dreaming, the dream is very vivid. Your awareness is still focused within dream consciousness and that is where the event, the dream, is occurring. You can see it all clearly, you know all the characters, you know what they are doing, and you know what they were doing a few minutes ago in the dream. 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 who is 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. As you wake up a little more, you can remember what you were dreaming about, but the details are starting to get fuzzy. Waking up a little more you might remember that you were dreaming but none of the scenes or images of the dream come to mind. The concept of State Specific Memory can explain this, and suggest a way to remember the dream.
The dream is an event that occurred within dream consciousness, 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. The concept of State Specific Memory would say that once you're fully awake, it's difficult to remember the dream because your awareness is now located within physical reality, and that's not where the memory of the dream is stored.
If you try to remember that dream from a physical consciousness perspective, it's really tough. You kind of mentally grunt and groan, but for all your struggling all you can remember, perhaps, is that you were dreaming. 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 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 of a hot, muggy day as best you can, to the point of re-experiencing 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 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.
The concept of State Specific Memory would say that you have shifted your awareness back to the area of consciousness in which the dream occurred and its memory is stored. At that point it is not so much a matter of remembering the dream as it is re-experiencing it. You can focus your attention on any facet of the dream and it comes clearly and fully into awareness. You can use this concept to remember more of the details of your afterlife exploration experiences in the same way. This same process of using the Hemi-Sync model of consciousness and State Specific Memory to shift awareness back to the area of consciousness in which events occurred is a useful tool of afterlife exploration.
TIP FOR IMPROVING MEMORY OF YOUR AFTERLIFE EXPLORATION EXPERIENCES
MAKING WRITTEN NOTES
Whether you're learning to remember your dreams or your 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, recording any dream or exploration memories, can be used to facilitate remembering more. The way I wrote my books can serve as an example from my own experience. Many times I would return from an afterlife exploration experience and be able to remember only enough material 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. I found that from a few skimpy notes I could easily remember enough of the experience to write a detailed description several pages in length. This was actually 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 verbally, out loud 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 listening to my tape-recorded notes, these subtleties seem to automatically elicit re-experiencing the feeling and emotional content of the explorations. It's almost like 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 purchasing and using a tape recorder, especially for use in later exercises in this book.
EDITORIAL COMMENTS ON SOME IMPLICATIONS OF STATE SPECIFIC MEMORY
During a workshop, after lecturing about State Specific Memory, one of the participants volunteered a story that I'd like to pass along. While in college the participant's 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. I pass along this story for two reasons. First, for me it illustrates the concept of State Specific Memory. Second, it's a comment on the misguided, in my opinion, 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 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, but remembering the successful experiences will most likely require that the student continue to use the prop. Shifts of consciousness are required to successfully explore beyond physical reality and remember our experiences. I personally prefer that these shifts of consciousness not require the use of chemicals, diets, magic powders, drugs, etc. In my experience such props are completely unnecessary and are often counter productive.
OTHER LINKS TO AREAS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
The Hemi-Sync Model of Consciousness says that we can use feelings to navigate to specific areas of consciousness, and the concept of State Specific Memory talks about how shifting awareness to specific areas of consciousness facilitates memory of experiences There. 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, perhaps long forgotten experience. For many it's more than just remembering, it's more like re-experiencing that long forgotten event. I'd like to 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 re-experience past events. When we smelled that smell or heard that old song, we were within a specific area of consciousness. We could call that area of consciousness, the past. Experiencing that certain smell again in the present seems to automatically shift our awareness back to the area of consciousness in which the events we experienced are stored, the past. Then, out pops full, detailed memory of those often long forgotten events. While trying to remember your dreams or afterlife exploration experiences, sometimes it's a smell, an itch or other such "feeling" that provides the means of shifting one's awareness back to the area of consciousness where the event occurred.
Installment in the Next Issue of the Newsletter
Chapter 5: RELAXATION AS A STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Workshop Hosting Guidelines
If you think you might like to host a workshop, but aren't sure how to go about it, check out the updated hosting guidelines page I've updated the page taking into account the latest experiences of workshop hosts. If you have questions that aren't answered by the information on that page please email them to me at bamoen@afterlife-knowledge.com Hosts attend the workshop free in exchange for handling some of the logistics of putting it on. And, I usually stay in the home of the host to reduce costs and give us a chance to visit and chat.Workshop Price Reduction
To make workshops more affordable I've rolled the price back. The price for attending workshops is now 250 $US for those who pay their 50 $US deposit at least two weeks before the workshop date 275 $US for later deposits. Both workshop deposits and fees can now be paid for using a secure credit card payment system via PayPal.com at the credit card purchasing page on the website.Workshops LIVE Audio Cassette Tapes
I'm so pleased to see that so many folks who have never attended the workshop are successfully using these audiotape sets and posting their retrieval and exploration experiences on the Conversation Board at the website. One of these posts told the story of retrieval of a fireman from the World Trade Center Towers area. This retrieval brought the explorer verification that his experience was real, and comfort to the fireman's friends and family.
Improvements to Shopping at the Website
A new shopping cart system is installed on the website's Credit Card purchasing page. It is part of the Paypal system now used for all online purchases at the website. This system provides a more integrated, easy to use shopping experience. You do not need to open or have a Paypal account to make purchases with a credit card. If you already have a Paypal account you will be able to use your already registered bank or credit card account to make you purchases.Credit Card payments:
Those of you who have visited the website know that you can now use credit cards to make purchases at the website. A web company called Paypal will process your credit card purchases of books, tapes and workshop payments at their secure website. You can order autographed copies of any of my five books and I'll sign and ship them to you.
That's the March 2005 Workshop Newsletter. I hope to hear from those of you interested in hosting a workshop and look forward to meeting some of you in person at a workshop soon.
Love,
Bruce
Copyright 2005, by Bruce A. Moen, All Rights Reserved