Hi to Everyone.  It’s been a great summer for me so far.  I've missed you but I've been kind of busy so I haven’t been spending much time here.   In June I went to the Gateway Voyage program at IONS in California, a great experience.  And now I’ve just returned from Bruce’s Afterlife Knowledge Workshop, another great experience and what I want to discuss here.

For me the two programs were somewhat symbiotic.  If it weren’t for some of the exercises in Bruce’s Guidebook, I don’t think I would have gotten as much as I did out of the Gateway Voyage – more on that later.  And the Gateway experience helped me get more out of Bruce’s workshop.  For me it was largely a matter of learning to trust myself and my ability to sense.  In fact, Bruce starts his workshop on the subject of Trust!

I’m sort of the skeptical type.  I enjoy reading the sorts of books people here read and the topics we discuss.  For me reading Bruce’s books was proof that what Monroe was saying and doing was right.  In fact Bruce convinced me well before he finally overcame his own skepticism with the Punky story.

But skepticism is a funny thing.  It’s one thing to accept that Bruce’s experiences are valid and real.  It’s a whole different thing to accept the idea that I can have those same types of experiences.  I think this is where my left brain kicks in.  It’s fun to talk about and read about and I fully accept that many of you can and do have those experiences.  But for myself?  Well, I’m not so sure.

Yet the other day I did a basic retrieval.  The idea that anyone could learn to and actually do a retrieval in a two day workshop plus a few hours together on the first night is still difficult for me to believe.  My retrieval didn’t have the vividness or detail that the others in the workshop had but it covered all the elements of a classic retrieval.

My second retrieval exercise was more of a dud – something was going on but it would be a stretch to call it a retrieval.  I was concerned that I was drying up.  My skepticism was throwing on the censors.  But the last exercise was a big surprise.

This exercise isn’t so much a retrieval as it’s asking your helper to take you to someone who’s name your draw out of a hat that someone else in the workshop wrote down.  We’re supposed to obtain information about some real dead person that someone else in the room knew.  I was all but convinced that this was going to be another dud.

But, POW.  I had a number of substantial hits and more partial, so-so hits as well as a number of total misses.  The biggest hit was that I knew how this person died even though it was very unusual.  I was astounded especially after thinking I was drying up and all that skepticism was coming back.

Interestingly, what made the difference is one of those ironies we have to deal with.  I was determined to get something but at the same time had greatly reduced my expectation levels because of the lack of success on the previous exercise.  Bruce had suggested just trying to write down my impressions because some of them were so vague that I had trouble remembering them.  Somehow reduced expectations led me to not trying so hard and let me open up to receiving impressions, images, feelings, senses, etc.  Somewhere in the beginnings of this exploration I realized I was trying to put together a coherent story where all the impressions had to fit together.  I told myself to forget the story and just go for the impressions. 

Amazingly it worked!  Two things happened.  First, I released that left brain part of me that wanted everything to fit coherently together.  And, second by just letting the impressions do what they wanted to do or come and go as they wanted (instead of what I wanted them to do), I opened up to the non-physical and finally just trusted what was happening.

I expected something to happen at the workshop but I couldn’t have been more surprised at what actually did happen.  If you get one of Bruce’s workshops in your area make a point of going to it!  It’s worth even driving a few hundred miles or even trying to put one together yourself.

I’ve already cut this post down substantially and it’s still to long for my taste.  If anyone has questions or wants to share their experiences about Bruce’s workshops or exercises or other experiences, I’d be happy to keep the discussion going.  This was an amazing experience, at least for a skeptic like myself.  Vicky was there too, so maybe she'll share some of her experiences.

Rob

thanks Rob, it always means a lot to me when people come here and express what happened at a workshop or TMI. its inspiring.

just to share, I have 8 hours of Bruce's tapes where they are talking in a workshop setting. One of the segments on it talks about trusting.
it hit me pretty hard, this idea about trusting, or playing along during these exercises, and also about releasing expectations of how it should come down.
One time during a growth period a friend, a medium on another board also hit me in the face with this trust issue. She said as a medium she had to trust what she was getting and just go with it.
I think Juditha said it too.
Marriane Williamson, an ACIM teacher also said similar: she said she was talking to her god one day and asked what shall I say, what shall I do when I get to my appointment with the public?
(insecurity thought)  and god replied: "I'll tell you when you get there, get in the car and start driving."

then I was praying one day for healing of, ok, a hangover. (long ago)
lol. I didn't see that my prayer had been answered and a voice said just act like it's already here; keep working at what you're doing and don't think doubt thoughts. then it was healing was delivered.

trust, it's the priority.
thanks for putting your energy here Rob.

Quote Rob: "But skepticism is a funny thing.  It’s one thing to accept that Bruce’s experiences are valid and real.  It’s a whole different thing to accept the idea that I can have those same types of experiences."
Yes, and it is, as Bruce wrote, a difference to believe (from hearsay) or to know (by personal experience). This is a main thing in self-exploration, once in a while you just get astonished when you get aware of your own beliefs by experiencing something that make that beliefs crash- even when experiencing something what these beliefs had predicted!. Usually, this hearsay-beliefs, tend to say "You know it all", but when you actually experience something relating this belief, you know you didn't know it all.

Good observation about this expectations thing!

Spooky

Sounds good Vicky!

Hi Again Folks:

Seeker -  I think most people could do it but you have to be open to the possibilities of non-physical afterlife contact and you have to trust yourself when you start having non-physical impressions or sensings of things.  These are areas that I’ve had to work with or I probably wouldn’t have gotten as much out of the workshop as I did.

As to my retrieval – it was only the basic elements of one – a helper that was mostly a sense of green color; a request to be of help to anyone who needed it and for the guide to take me there; an image of a police car that I assume was from the 70s or 80s because of the lights on top of the car; an image of a young girl laid on an older style gurney; my green helper turning into a green blanket with some pattern on it and then wrapping itself around the girl.  Like I said the basic elements.  Whenever I realized I was coming up with an image of something that might be relevant, I think I’d get too excited and sort of interrupt the flow of things.

To myself at least I’ve proven I can get there and by opening myself up and working on that trust thing that Alysia mentions, I know there is more to come.

Alysia trust is critical and it looks like you’ve received that message from many sources and they’re right.  You describe the issue well!  I still have to think more about it and experience more – maybe that means think about it less.  Ha!

Betson, yup I have this urge to make everything fit into some preconceived pattern.  Trouble is that just messes things up.  Think it may be related to Bruce’s interpreter/perceiver concept but in me it works a little different.  It’s definitely a left brained sort of censoring effect – that image can’t be right it doesn’t fit in with that last thing that happened – gotta tell myself ok Rob, let it go just remember what’s coming in.  Bruce even suggested writing notes as we were going through the exercise so I wouldn’t waste mental energy on trying to remember things or think about them.  That was a great suggestion and that last exercise right after he made it, bingo! – I had more impressions by far than in any of the other exercises.

Spooky – that’s what keeps me going hear.  Although I still enjoy reading all those books, I’m tired of the hearsay and definitely want to experience it more.  And it works!

Vicky – you made the workshop all that much more enjoyable.  And what you say about Bruce’s Feeling Love exercises (and the Heart Intelligence ones as well) is absolutely right.  I think they were keys to let me open up to the experience of my non-physical perception at both Gateway and Bruce’s workshop.

Thanks for all your comments and observations.

Rob

  I second Irene's reply on all fronts, thanks to you both for sharing your experiences, insights, and feelings Rob and Vicky.

  If Bruce ever does a workshop near my area, particularly somewhere in VA, i would like to attend.  Mostly cause i want to support people and activities such as Bruce and what he is doing, and i'm sure i could learn a thing or two as well.

  At Gateway Voyage, i got a couple of rather immediate and obvious verifications of some nonphysically received info... and i guess for me, its mostly a matter of practice, consistentcy, and trust. 

  Trust and letting go seems to be a big issue for a lot of people, but it seems especially so for men on average.   We're repeatedly 'taught' (more like hammered on) from a young age to shut down our feeling, trusting, and letting go nature, basically we're forced to disown, repress, supress our feminine side.  Sucks big time, and so often we don't realize just how much it hurts us, till it's more obvious and in our face.

  Well cheers and thanks to the Feminine half

great thread Rob totally topical stuff.  when I first got to this forum Ginny was here, a great explorer, a good friend. I was reading her posts one day where she reported the mind expanding principle of PUL. It suddenly hit me as I glanced backwards relating to what love is on this planet. while in the first part of a relationship  I noticed the mind expansion principle of it acting to bring in new perceptions in every area of life.
then, when the honeymoon is over, so is that mind expansion principle and the new, positive perceptions which made life truly worth living and made the flowers even smell better. etc etc.    I think relationships of family and lovers are very very important on this  planet (believe it or not aliens are living life quite focused on other areas)

important to be in "love" 24/7 and stabilize and remember that its truly life we love, and needing each other to help us stabilize ourselves in having life in abundance, that feeling of widened perception that goes along with the feelings, but this is not to say we ignore the logic, love is logical to me, to choose it.

I guess the Beatles were right all along love is all ya need..da da da da daaa..and I thought they were simpletons! haha!

Hi All,

Ok, now that I think I got this photo thing down, I'm gonna put a few up. 

Here goes, enjoy!


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