Friends, here is the intro from "More Adventures"; it covers many of the points we've been discussing of late.

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"While it has become a commonplace in esoteric studies to declare
that when the student is ready the teacher will appear, it is also pretty
much a given that many of those thus subpoenaed by the questing
soul might well be residents of planes other than the physical. And
although I’d been given several lucid hints throughout the decades
that my course of study would be sparked and supervised from,
well, to put it simply, above, it was not until the winter of 1998 that
my convention bound ego finally surrendered to the flow of
images deposited by ‘Henry’ on the mental level of my tiny,
cluttered apartment. It was there they had waited, patiently, to be
translated into words on a page, words which readers of A First
Hand Account will likely have by now absorbed.

"Doubtlessly, ‘Henry’ was a teacher, a teacher who had
appeared when ‘Gordon’ was ready. But he had appeared on the
astral* plane. (Later he would disappear, not quite when I felt
ready, but that’s another story) Previous teachers, such as Cyril
Scott, David Spangler, Georges Gurdjieff, Jeddah Krishnamurti,
and Dorothy MacLean, to name but a few, whether alive or then
passed on, had all been physical plane residents at the time of their
transmissions. And although I’d been deeply impressed with such
discarnates as ‘The Tibetan’, ‘Seth’, and ‘Emmanuel’, I hadn’t quite
put them on the same level as the others. A slight bit of physical
plane snobbishness perhaps?

"Well, now I was talking to a dead man, a dead man that no-one
else could see, a dead man whose ability to outsmart my attempts
at verification were effortless and quite childish in their glee. What
on earth would people think? Well, hey neat and pretty cool were
two responses. Amazing and awesome were two more I heard after
folks had read some of the pamphlets I published. If anyone
tittered behind my back they did so very discreetly. And once I’d
done a little research, especially works like Jon Klimo’s Channeling,
I realized my experience was not so odd. If anything, it was a bit
too predictable. Channeling your guide and then your Higher Self?
Been there, done that.

"Part two, More Adventures In Eternity, now in your hand, picks
up the stories exactly where part one concluded. In fact, the
opening section was transcribed almost immediately after
finishing part one. But because of a long delay in finding a suitable
publisher I filed my notes, feeling then that to pursue what seemed
to be shaping up into a long series without securing a print outlet
would be foolish.

"However, in those intervening years, I gave many talks and
seminars locally, and here in the western suburbs of Toronto, it
was not hard to notice the audiences’ hunger for more and more
details of the deeper, wider consciousness I was experiencing.
Even without a publisher I came to see I was on the right track.
When Frank DeMarco of Hampton Roads finally declared his
delight with the manuscript, I could feel the full steam ahead signs
popping up. Some months later, with the editing and polishing of
A First Hand Account completed, and that all-important nod from
my editor, I lunged with great enthusiasm into what I then called
the ‘Afterlife Sequel’.

"From September 2003 until the summer of 2004, I spent much of
my time in libraries and cafes with a laptop, transcribing fresh
‘Henry’ material and trawling through what seemed like acres of
notes to piece together ‘Gordon’s’ expansion. Both these names are
in inverted commas because, as one moves gradually through
deeper and wider expressions of consciousness, the nametags of
both incarnate and discarnate personalities seem less and less
significant. Rather than the individual expression, one identifies
more with consciousness itself. Individuals seem more like actors
than essences. Actors whose performances deserve appreciation
and applause, but only in the context of a play whose drama,
however compelling, will soon be over. Needless to say, the postperformance
cast party is the afterlife, where we can all sip, nibble
and rehash to our heart’s content.


Higher Self/Monad/Disc/Source Self/Atman (take your pick)


"Theosophists and others used the term Monad to denote that part
of the human which was (a) eternal and (b) did not descend into
incarnation, but sent tiny sparks of itself into the physical to
explore and report back to base. They also stated that Higher Self
was an aspect of the Monad, an aspect existing one level ‘lower
down’. The entity Seth, as translated by Jane Roberts, spoke of the
Source Self from which all others were projected. That flowering of
Hinduism called Vedanta saw Atman as the immortal part of the
self, which is eternal, absolute being, bliss and consciousness, and
expressed its union with Brahman (the one god) as tat tvam asi
(thou art that). Bruce Moen experienced his soul source as a Disc
which included many other souls intimately concerned with the
progress of his journey and ultimate transcendence.

"Having absorbed all these concepts over the years of my
reading and meditation, I now feel most comfortable with the term
Higher Self, although I have absolutely no objection to the others.
I see it as my source and succor, and feel its existence on the vibrational
level just one step down from the ultimate, or god, level.
Although it is virtually omniscient, it can only communicate to me,
‘physical Gordon’ what (a) I am ready to receive, and (b) what my
brain has language for. Your Higher Self, by the way, is much the
same. Please feel free to continue as you alone see fit.

"Although the post-mortem progress of the individual in the
general direction of the Higher Self was hinted at on several
occasions in part one, I did not then realize that the evocation of
Higher Self consciousness was to be one of the main purposes of
the trilogy. As pointed out by entities such as Seth and others,
Higher Self exists not in time but eternity, and amongst other
attributes, experiences its various expressions (incarnations) as
simultaneous, and not as the linear cause-and-effect progress
implied by past-life regression studies.

"However useful and instructive past life regressions are, and I
myself am both an experiencer and practitioner, the
involution/evolution journey of that ‘divine spark from the
godhead’ discussed by many systems seems quite inoperative
from the p.o.v. of the Higher Self. To the reincarnating personality,
the relationships, traumas and ecstasies of past lives can all seem
too real and relevant to currently experienced situations, and as a
therapeutic and educative tool their value to the psyche is
unimpeachable. But to the Higher Self such psychic reparations
may be little more than timely first aid. Higher Self seems (to me,
as of this writing, August 2004) endlessly fascinated with
combining and recombining various energies into packets of information
which function as psychic templates for incarnate personalities
to express their always evolving reactions to the challenges
posed by physical plane existence.

"In a sentence, Higher Self sees things one way while the
incarnate personality sees things another way. Will there be a
blending of perspectives? I sure hope so; ‘physical Gordon’ has
been chiseling out his response for years. The progress report looks
like this: as the incarnate personality continues to expand, its
perceptions overflow their original dimension. What was once
defined by space (a body), becomes defined by time (many bodies).
What was once defined by physical plane reality (inevitable
extinction) becomes redefined by astral plane reality (apparent
immortality) and then further refined by Higher Self contact
(eternity experienced in a huge variety of self-engineered limitations).
And as a result, the one-track mind becomes the multidimensional
being.

"In considering both these multiple incarnation models and how
one might possibly merge the two, or at least travel smoothly
between them, one gradually arrives at the following understanding:
the Higher Self model, with its group soul/source hotel
scenario, has the great advantage of allowing one to unload the
burden of ‘famous’ past lives onto the more-than-willing, couldn’t-care-
less Higher Self. And in doing so, you see that ‘you’ are not
the direct result of any past life. You’re related, psychically and
energetically, but you are not simply the latest version of whoever
appeared to go before. In family terms, you’re much more like a
cousin than a son or daughter. And as I had come across at least
three historically notable characters in my ship of holy fools, none
of which I disclosed to any but my most trusted friends, I
embraced this knowing with a great relief, a ‘relief beyond conceit’,
as I once termed it.

"Some traditions speak of the ‘soul-infused personality’. That
state is considered the result of the incarnate personality
overcoming the relentless pull of his desires and fears long enough
to feel ‘the still small voice within’, that of the soul which seeks to
establish a secure knowledge base on the physical plane. Since the
soul and its energies are the core emanation from Higher Self into
the body of man, such a state is the patient ambition of Higher Self.
Simply put, such experiments have a success rate of varying
percentages. But due to the inevitable influence of the economic,
political and religious belief systems fashioned throughout history
by man, in his denial and ignorance, such soul connections are
usually translated into the acceptable frameworks of ‘angel’,
‘deity’, ‘savior’, ‘saint’, ‘demon’, ‘spirit guide’, and ‘prophet’. That
the beings indicated by such terminologies really exist is not to be
denied, but on many occasions that ‘light of inspiration’ is actually
one’s soul, swinging from the rafters of your current belief system,
trying to get your attention.

"One thinks of Robert Monroe’s ‘Inspecs’, remarkably wise
guides who turned out, much to his shock, to be aspects of his Self
on a mission from god. Monroe Institute graduate Bruce Moen has
also elaborated on his experience of this phenomenon in his
Exploring The Afterlife series. Which brings me to "www.afterlife-knowledge.
com" , Bruce’s online home. Though A First Hand
Account was experienced and put together by ‘Gordon’ before he
joined this online community, the experiences and explorations
discussed herein were often shared on the conversation board of
‘afterlife-knowledge’. As such sharing was of great value to
‘Gordon’ in his quest, I would like to thank Bruce Moen, Marilyn
Traver, Ginny Rankin, David Pierce, Jeff Williams, ‘Alisha’,
‘Rebecca’, ‘Rosalie’, and all the unnamed others for their
invaluable contributions to the unfolding of this sweet little
mystery.


*Astral vs. Mental Body

When reading Robert Monroe’s trilogy, beginning with Journeys
Out of The Body, it becomes obvious that his modus operandi is
that of the astral body. As he rather pointedly avoids mention of
any of the traditional teachings of this nature, it is unclear which,
if any, he was influenced by. But if one studies the work of
esoterists such as Charles Leadbeater, Cyril Scott, and the two
works by Hereward Carrington and Sylvan Muldoon, all of which
predate Monroe, it is plain that he is, in no uncertain terms, an
astral adept. Lesser know works such as Practical Astral Projection
by ‘Yram’ and The Art And Practice of Astral Projection by ‘Ophiel’
only confirm this view.
(In fact another couple of out-of-print rarities, both predating
Monroe, make for a fascinating comparison. Caroline D. Larsen’s
1927 My Travels In The Spirit World and Alice Gilbert’s 1949 Philip
In The Spheres are well worth the search. Readers of Monroe’s Far
Journeys, where he moves through time by over a thousand years,
will be intrigued to find Gilbert and her deceased son doing much
the same while obe at night.)

"All of which underscores a fascinating conclusion: Monroe
decided not to teach astral travel. For the hemi-sync tapes, as I
discovered after reading Bruce Moen’s first book and purchasing
the set Going Home for myself, enable a projection of consciousness
that is decidedly not astral, but is strongly suggestive of mental
body activity. As recent works by Robert Bruce, Robert Peterson
and Preston Dennett attest, astral travel beginners continue to be
shocked by loud noises and shuddering vibrations, not to mention
threatening apparitions and seductive desires. The experiences are
very much in your face, as they say, and can, quite easily, be
overwhelming, chasing the newbie student right back into his
physical body. Hemi-sync, on the other hand, is very subtle in its
effects. Those of a paranoiac frame of mind might even say
insidious. Events tend to the wispy and telepathic, the emotions
and fears/desires of the post-mortem crowd more, shall we say,
theatrical than overwhelming, more distanced and easier to deal
with.

"For those of a basic trusting disposition, as Bruce Moen often
points out, the problem can often be, not initiating a transcendent
series of events as such, but believing that they have already
occurred. Retrievals and explorations can often be astoundingly
easy. This, as you will see, was very often my experience. Very
early on I found myself doing retrievals while I thought I was just
getting ready to do one. And from the conversation board I found
others had much the same experience. My conclusions were
twofold: the world of spirit operates at a much faster rate than ours
‘here’, and one’s experiences ‘there’ seem to just whiz by, and/or
the retrievals had been done while obe at night and were merely
being replayed by soul so that physical Gordon’s brain would get
the message and relay it on the conversation board to others.
While I found Bruce Moen to be a very reliable guide in this
matter, - trust is always the first issue - he would say, I discovered on
rereading some of the older (1850onward) esoteric literature, much
advice on the wisdom of using the mental body over the astral. In
the areas of mediumship, healing and travel, the mental body was
definitely the way to go, if only students could be shown how.

"In one’s astral, it was implied, one was prey to all the nasty detritus
of that plane, mischievous elementals, manipulative
magicians/shamans, the malicious deceased, – but in the mental
one was freed from such astral white trash. My puzzle-completing
Aha! experience came while reading lucid dreamer Robert Moss’s
"Dreamgates". A journal entry from 1995 sums it all up rather nicely:
“I enter a sphere of light. My physical body is far below; I look
down on it as if I am looking down from an airplane. I see a second
body floating above it. I have a sense of liberation from the tug of
feelings and desires. I am told ‘You are now in your mental body’.
Its form is that of a point of light. I am guided through a series of
exercises to test the role of Kama, or desire. I descend into the
astral body to experience the force of appetites that live within it. I
return to a sphere of light that now embraces the whole scene.”
Yes, that’s what I was doing! Being a point of light and
expanding into whatever body and clothing was useful for the
situation at hand. A trickster with a divine sense of mission and
compassion. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Indeed it does, as do the rest
of the expanded states I shall describe for you, all of which lead me
to believe that using consciousness as my tool and intent as my
motive force, I can be virtually anywhere, do anything, and
communicate with everyone, from the highest to the lowest. As can
you. The only limitations are the parameters of your current belief
system and your level of self-esteem. The entire spectrum of
created beings throughout time and space await your calling card,
should you so wish to pass it along. For example, a small series of
episodes not included in the text.

"Some years ago I read in regressionist Bruce Goldberg’s Time
Travelers From The Future that in some discoveries of repeated alien
abduction scenarios the guiding presence of tall blond humans
from over 1,000 years in the future was inescapable. And not only
that, they seemed to be more or less in charge of the Greys and
Hybrids doing the legwork. Because of the vast divergence of
opinion amongst serious abduction researchers, I shall limit myself
to merely pointing out that I was affected by this, and like much of
one’s reading in the metaphysical and paranormal, it was filed for
future reference.

"Some time in the middle of the period later referred to as
‘Gordon’s expansion’, I took to meditating in a serene and lovely
church garden. As was common for the time I suggested to
whomever that I was available for retrieval work. I immediately
found myself in the upper bedroom of an old house, with a woman
seemingly at the end of her tether: rushing about, tearing at her
hair, wailing. Her husband had been lost at sea. I tried to make
myself a visible and calming influence, and was soon taken for an
angelic presence. A spiritual dialogue conforming to the norms of
mid-nineteenth century Protestantism developed. Having grown
tired of taking so many notes on retrievals by then, I have none for
this and apologize. But I can tell you that over the next couple of
months, about every week I would return to the scene of this poor
lady’s aggravation, to work with her on the themes of (a)
abandoning dissolute behavior, and (b) calmly accepting god’s
ways. She seemed to truly feel that I was an angel, and her sense of
being blessed was truly humbling. More than once I had to raise
her from my feet. On about visit four, I promised to bring the spirit
of her beloved to her. On visit five he appeared, thank god, and I
stood back quietly. The joyful, ghostly reunion, perhaps solid
evidence of instability to neighbors, seemed to seal her road to
recovery.

"On another visit I tried to explain that I was not an angel
but a human from about one hundred years in the future, guided
by kindly spirits. She tried to understand, asking about the quality
of life in my world. I spoke about telephones, television, cars and
planes. Yes, it was a challenge, and I wonder if ultimately such
information might have been more upsetting than inspiring. In the
months to come I often had psychic visions of her walking the
streets of the town, lonely but somehow at peace with her
loneliness. And as the area had a well documented history of boat
building and seafaring, I assumed I had merely shifted backward
in time, perhaps not moving more than a couple of hundred yards
from my bench in the garden. And it was not until much later that
I recalled Bruce Goldberg’s book.


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