Folks -

I received an email a few days back, from Bruce notifying me that he was adding this page to his site, to talk about  experiences, insights and thoughts, and I welcome the chance to post here.

This is my first opportunity to say "Hello" on the Afterlife-Knowledge site, and talk a bit about the recent workshop that Bruce presented at our home in the rural area south of St. Paul, Alberta.

We (my wife and I) had contemplated holding the workshop in a rented meeting room, but St. Paul is a small town - at most 5,000 people live there - and the selection of suitable rooms was limited.

After confirming the dates for the workshop with Bruce, I went to check on the room which I considered to meet our needs most satisfactorily, and found that it was no longer available.

Given that we have lived in this area for over 6 years now, and had yet to really discuss our exposure to the work that the Monroe Institute and Bruce have done to explore and work in altered states, we decided to arrange for the participants to come to our house for the workshop.

I am no stranger to Bruce's work, or to the Monroe Institute, and retrievals - while not an everyday occurrance - are certainly familiar territory for me, and this would be the third Exploring the Afterlife workshop that I had participated in.

We have a good-sized main floor area, and with all the furniture pushed out of the way, we were able to set up folding lounge chairs - the kind one would take camping or to the beach - which allowed most participants to recline while performing the exercises. This worked out pretty well for most, although a few chose conventional furniture or the floor.

We had a mix of local and travelling participants, with the farthest journeyer coming in from Thunder Bay, Ontario, in a marathon 20 hour drive over 2 days. Other came from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and from Edmonton, a 2 hour drive to the west.

Of those who attended, there were 4 or 5 local folks who had never been exposed to either the Monroe Institute or Bruce's work, so it was a real treat to watch as they went through the exercises, and made contact with non-physical folk.

We invited everyone to meet in town at a local restuarant on the Friday night, from 6:30 to 8:30. We met most of the participants - and some non-participants who were curious - and visited until probably 9 pm.

On Saturday, the workshop ran from 8:30 in the morning until 9 om at night, with breaks for lunch and a frozen pizza dinner for everyone. One of the local lady participants brought 3 home-made apple pies, which were a hit for dessert when heated in the oven.

On Sunday, the workshop ran from 8:30 in the morning until around 7 in the evening. The Retrieval exercise and the "Making Contact" exercise were the highlights for everyone, and there were many excited people after these had finished.

Of the 12 folks who joined us at our house, 2 had previously attended one of Bruce's workshops, which we held in 2006 in the Calgary area For the other 10, this was a meaningful event, and I've received several emails wanting to attend another workshop in the future.

There were several local folk who are interested in meditation and related work that were uncertain about how far this workshop would push into the non-physical. I talked to several who were interested, but fearful of what they might experience. These folks now have other local folks who can talk about their experiences, to help ease the fear which they felt.

Overall, Bruce presented the material in a measured, progressive manner which conveyed dignity and respect for everyone, and I congratulate him for making such an effort.

We were pleased to be able to take an extra day to visit and recharge our energy levels before driving Bruce to the airport, but we are already talking about an encore presentation for the spring/summer of 2009.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Jim Szpajcher
St. Paul, AB

Vicki -

Thanks for the post.

Yes, holding it in our house created a wonderful energy around our place. There were dozens of Helpers, Guides and Friends on the "other side" which came by while we were doing the exercises.



In the retrieval exercise, I had a very nice experience in the Belief System Territories, participating in the "graduation" of what appeared to me to be a young man and woman from a Roman era reality. I'm looking to find the time to write it up, and perhaps post it.

In the "Getting Confirmation" exercise, the man whose name I was given came through pretty loud and clear, and all he was interested in sharing was how good a time he was having, driving around in a late 1950's car, playing 1950's and early 1960's Rock and Roll music.

During the debrief, I found out that he had played in a band which specialized in music from that era, and owned several late 1950's cars.

I missed out on much of the other information we were to ask for, but the confirmation of what I was getting was most amusing.

I've done this kind of thing before, but it was a lot of fun watching people who had no experience with this type of exercise as they got their own confirmation.

I see by the number of posts that you've written, that you are a long time member here. Congratulations. I've usually been posting on some other message boards. Given my limited time, that has kept me busy.

Keep well,

Jim

Jim,
Jim-Alberta wrote on Nov 24^th, 2008 at 11:34am:

That Belief System Territory (BST) retrieval was a really interesting one-of-a-kind as I seldom hear about such a smoothly coordinated interface between the Retriever and Helpers.  It was obvious that Helpers had been working within the structure of this BST for some time and were just waiting for the opportunity for someone with experience to step into the roll they had set up.  Your way of trusting that you could play along with the situation that was suddenly thrust upon you, and handle your role so seamlessly, speaks volumes about your progress in learning the Art of Retrieval.  A less experienced, less skilled retriever probably would have gotten sidetracked trying to figure it out.  You just took it as presented and ran with it, resulting in a smooth transition for the two you retrieved.  Folks are going to get a rare glimpse into the world of retrievals in the BSTs with the details of your account.  
Jim-Alberta wrote on Nov 24^th, 2008 at 11:34am:


So many detailed, specific pieces of information were verified in your debriefing!  Good strong evidence that the man continues to exist.

Bruce

Jim,

As the host, do you feel you can get in touch with the other workshop members and see if anyone wants to share their experiences? 


Romain,

I was surprised you didn't attend!  I was going to ask you if you had.

Bruce, Hi,
I've recently moved to a level of trust that I noticed in your early books and wondered of I'd ever get there.  mainly they're immediate contacts with spirit, no meditation time, no hemi-sync, resulting in almost instantaneous answers and images.
My post Terrorist attack in Mumbai is one such experience.  Have you noticed this yourself, the permanent astral plane residents actually anticipating such violent outburts well ahead of time?

best wishes, gordon p.





Bruce Moen wrote on Nov 24^th, 2008 at 7:24pm:

Owwwwwww----Envy, Envy, Envy!!!
How wonderful to have a workshop in such comfort. TMI in Virgina is homey, but to have a small, close group sounds so personal.  My first group was a weekend TMI in Connecticut with 23 other people. Then a group of us met for one day at a motel conferance room to explore "Opening the Heart". I attended two week-long excursions at TMI.  You're right about the energy that keeps building up around the gathering places. It sounds so wonderful. 
Welcome to Bruce's forum. 

Bruce--- how about New England sometime? You or a represenitive? Would love to attend one of your workshops. 

Hugs to all-- Carol Ann