Forward
In thinking about this book my mind kept coming back to my children and grandchildren. How do I reach them with the knowledge I have gleaned over the years? They think of me as a renegade who stopped going to church regularly years ago. Have they bothered to ask me why? This small e-book tells the story of my journey. No, it’s not an autobiography; I merely want all of them, and you, to know what I now have come to believe are the FACTS OF LIFE, and how I came to those conclusions.
The idea for the theme of the book came as I was reading one of Dolores Cannon’s books in the series entitled The Convoluted Universe. Therein she made mention of the fact that we don’t start babies out on solid food, but milk and baby food. The menu idea was born. Spirit Food—how better to reach and to teach?
It is common knowledge that no baby, as they grow, can stay on a perpetual diet of milk and baby food, but must at some time begin to be introduced to solid food. This is what I have attempted to do with this writing. What happens to a baby that never gets solid food? I’ll give you an illustration.
A friend and neighbor once decided he could make a lot of money raising calves (baby cows, for you city folks). He had discovered a market with a huge demand for these animals. He built a special barn, well heated, lighted and ventilated. Then he had numerous special small pens built that covered the floor, with only aisles separating row upon row. There must have been a couple hundred pens, as I recall. Then he filled the pens with calves. Most were of the dairy variety from large factory farms that produced milk. The factory farm had no need or provision for the calves that were born to the lactating mothers, so they were sold to people like my friend for food, or to others who raised them up to become milk-cows.
Having now the pens filled, and a market for live calves, my friend felt he was on a roll. It was intense labor to feed all those calves. When in nature they would have suckled several times a day until being weaned off milk and onto forage of some kind. In this setting they were fed three times a day, a diet of milk replacer which is a product made from milk solids, and mixed with water. So essentially they were getting only milk. As time went on sickness set in. Diarrhea was rampant in the barn, the smell was nauseating, and one could only stand to be in there for a short time, and the face covered with a mask. Calves began to die. They needed sunlight, fresh air and roughage. They got only fetid air, artificial lighting and—milk.
Let me tell you about the market for these milk-fed calves. In certain quarters there is great demand for veal. Not just any old veal but milk-fed veal. The flesh of milk-fed veal calves is light in color, soft in texture, and said to have a distinctive mild taste. It satisfies the palates of this large group of veal-lovers.
When “ready” for market the calves that survived the diet are forced up the ramp and onto a cattle transport. Most cannot make it with their own strength; they are too weak to walk. Bloated, weak and sickly, they meet their ignominious end.
I tell you this because somehow I must get you to understand that many of you are milk-fed individuals--and you don’t even know it. You have never been given solid food before. You have lived in the barn with fetid air and artificial light. Please don’t take offense at what I tell you. You are as innocent as the calves that were led into that barn.
I invite you to read further. I will introduce you to solid food, and the Light of the world, in all His splendor. There you will not only survive but thrive on the diet I have for you.
I promise—you will not go away hungry.
Children Menu
Selection 3
Mashed Potatoes with Butter
Served with:
A glass of Milk
Blended mixed vegetables
A touch of Salt for seasoning
In 1975 a book was published that had an enormous effect on my life. It was Dr. Raymond Moody’s book entitled “Life after Life.”
I cannot recall the date, or even the year, when I was browsing a bookstore in a mall in Youngstown, OH, and was led to a section of the store labeled Religion and Occult. When I say led, I look back on the many times I have browsed like that with no thought of a particular book or author in mind, and a book would almost leap into my hand. That book, became one of my favorites at the time, and led me to research others on the subject over the years.
I remember taking the book back to my Motel room that night and starting to read but soon fell asleep and it was laid aside. When I got home the next evening I unpacked, took out the book, kicked back in my recliner and began to read.
As I read the first chapter something mystical happened to me. I was reading of the actual near-death experience of a patient in a hospital. All of a sudden I was overtaken by a wave of experience I can only describe as love. It had just now been revealed to me that the entity the “dead” person encountered, at the end of the tunnel, was completely non-judgmental, full of love and compassion.
Whereas before I started to read I believed in “The Judgment Seat of Christ” as had been drummed into my head for so many years. At this moment I saw the truth—I saw and felt unconditional love.
I immediately dropped the book into my lap and felt a communion with Christ I had never experienced before, even though I was a professing Christian. It’s as if I was having the tunnel experience vicariously. I cannot describe how sublime the feeling was. I walked out into the night, and came to realize what it meant to be “A Child of the Universe.” As I viewed the heavens above I felt a oneness with all of creation; the stars, the trees—everything.
I tell this story to encourage you to read, as I have done, these many accounts of people having the near death experience (NDE). Perhaps you will feel that same wave of unconditional love that came over me.
But even if you don’t, just keep this in mind; these people know what happened to them. These are not lies told to sell books. Their lives were changed—they no longer feared death because they now knew that the Soul lives on after death of the body. They had watched, from a vantage point above, the nurses and doctors try to bring life back into that dead body.
There were times when the medical team gave up and parked the body in a hallway, declared dead, and ready for the morgue. However, the fully aware entity, the Soul, had lost interest in the futile attempts at resuscitation and had been drawn into the tunnel towards that brilliant light of love.
Even if you are not convinced by the many personal accounts of the NDE you simply cannot discount the reports made by children having the same experience. Children do not lie about such things. Neither can so many of them in different parts of the world come up with the same story time after time. Of the many books on NDEs I have in my growing library the most convincing, and precious, is the one written by Dr. Melvin Morse, a Pediatrician and NDE researcher, who wrote, Closer To The Light. It contains story after story of actual accounts related by children who “came back” to life after having a NDE, to tell their parents, or Doctor, what they had experienced when out of the body.
If you’re still not convinced, even by the reports of children, then consider one more body of evidence, copied from the website http://www.near-death.com/experiences/experts04.html:
In 1977, Kenneth Ring, a brilliant young professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut, read Raymond Moody's book, Life After Life, and was inspired by it. However, he felt that a more scientifically structured study would strengthen Moody's findings. He sought out 102 near-death survivors for his research. This web page documents some of Ken Ring's basic insights based on his meticulous research.
His research involves the ground-breaking work of investigating near-death experiences among blind persons. His findings are detailed in his latest book Mindsight which is bound to become a classic in the annals of near-death research much like his previous books, Lessons From The Light, Heading Toward Omega, Life At Death, and The Omega Project. Ken Ring researched NDEs that involve the experiencer witnessing events while out of their body which is later proven to have taken place. Ken has also researched NDEs that affirms reincarnation. Ken has also examined NDEs among those who attempted suicide. During his extensive research, Ken was also able to examine NDEs where the future was foretold. The following information is Ken Ring's research conclusions from his study.
(1) Those cases who came closest to death, or were clinically dead, just as Moody's cases reported, told of being outside of their bodies, of moving through a void or dark tunnel toward a luminous light, of meeting with departed relatives and friends, of having a feeling of great comfort and bliss and of being surrounded by compassionate love, a feeling so beautiful they longed to remain, and when they returned to the "earthly" realm, they were affected by this feeling the rest of their lives.
(2) No one type of person was especially likely to have this experience. It cut across race, gender, age, education, marital status, and social class.
(3) Religious orientation was not a factor affecting either the likelihood or the depth of the NDE. An atheist was as likely to have one as was a devoutly religious person.
(4) Regardless of their prior attitudes - whether skeptical or deeply religious - and regardless of the many variations in religious beliefs and degrees of skepticism from tolerant disbelief to outspoken atheism - most of these people were convinced that they had been in the presence of some supreme and loving power and had a glimpse of a life yet to come.
(5) Drugs, anesthesia and medication did not seem to be a factor in inducing these impressions and exquisite feelings of a NDE. Indeed, drugs and anesthesia seemed to be more likely to cause a person to forget memories of a NDE.
(6) He definitely concluded that NDEs are not hallucinations because hallucinations are rambling, unconnected, often unintelligible and vary widely, whereas NDEs tend to have similar elements of a clear, connected pattern.
(7) Based on the information of those who had reported such incidents, the moment of death was often one of unparalleled beauty, peace and comfort - a feeling of total love and total acceptance. This was possible even for those involved in horrible accidents in which they suffered very serious injuries. Dr. Ring found there was a tremendous comfort potential in this information for people who were facing death.
(8) After going through a NDE, people reported a loss of fear of death as well as a greater appreciation of life. They also reported stronger feelings of self-acceptance and a greater concern and sense of caring for other people. They had less interest in material things for their own sake. Many tended to become more spiritual - though not necessarily more involved in organized religion.
(9) Almost all subjects who experienced a NDE found their lives transformed and a change in their attitudes and values, and in their inclination to love and to help others. Dr. Ring was convinced that these were absolutely authentic experiences and noted that since returning, many of them had occasion to think about ‘what might have been.' And their subsequent lives were powerful testimony to our common ability to live more deeply, more appreciatively, more lovingly, and more spiritually.
"For any culture which is primarily concerned with meaning, the study of death - the only certainty that life holds for us - must be central, for an understanding of death is the key to liberation in life." - Dr. Stanislav Grof
If you wish for more convincing evidence of NDEs visit; http://www.near-death.com/experiences/experts04.html
Have we whetted your appetite for more solid food yet? If you’re still hungry then put your bib on, sit still in your high-chair, and we’ll feed you even more solid food.
Children Menu Selection 4
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Served with:
A glass of Milk
Peas in warm Milk
A touch of Salt for seasoning
If you have been able to digest the mashed potatoes, with a little butter melted on top, then perhaps you can now stand some stronger food.
In our last chapter we described the phenomenon called the dear-death experience. Particularly noteworthy in that experience is the separation of the Soul from the body.
When out of the body the Soul, in most instances, meets the lighted entity who emits enormous amounts of love and compassion. Again, in most cases, loved ones are seen in the background. They beckon to the visiting Soul, but there seems to be a separation, a line of demarcation, which when crossed means a permanent egress from the body. In that experience the Soul is sent back to the body, regardless of how much they would wish otherwise.
I now wish to introduce you to another phenomenon--another type of out of body experience, (OBE). By the way, I use the word phenomenon very deliberately. To quote from the Merriam-Webster dictionary the word is defined as; “An object or aspect known through the senses rather than by thought or intuition.”
I would now like you to review the OBE from the life and writings of one of its pioneers. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia;
Robert Allen Monroe was born in Indiana, weighing twelve pounds. He grew up in Lexington, Kentucky and Columbus, Ohio; his mother, Georgia Helen Jordan Monroe, was a non-practicing medical doctor and cellist and piano player. His father, Robert Emmett Monroe, was a college professor of Romance Languages who lead tours in Europe in the summers. Monroe had two older sisters, Dorothy and Peggy, and a younger brother, Emmett, who became a medical doctor.
According to his third book "Ultimate Journey" [7], he dropped out of Ohio State University in his sophomore year due to a hospital stay for a facial burn that caused him to fall behind in his studies. During almost a year away from college, a desire to find work led him to become a hobo who rode freight trains. He returned to Ohio State College to graduate after having studied pre-med, English, engineering and journalism.
He had an early fascination with flying and music and had great mechanical aptitude. He displayed some ability to read music by age four without having studied the subject, perhaps by listening to his mother and sisters playing piano.
He married Jeanette, a graduate student and daughter of a lawyer, in 1937 and divorced her in 1938 or 1939. He married Mary Ashworth, a divorcee with a daughter Maria, in 1950 or 1951. They had Bob's only biological child together, daughter Laurie. They divorced in 1968. He then married Nancy Penn Honeycutt, a divorcee with four children. They remained married until her death from breast cancer in about 1993 or 1994.
Monroe developed ulcers in young adulthood and so was classified 4F (unfit for service) during World War II. He spent the war years working for a manufacturing company that designed a flight-simulator prototype. He wrote for an aviation column in "Argosy" magazine and was given a job with the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), for whom he produced a weekly radio show called "Scramble!" the primary purpose of which was to interest youth in aviation.
In 1953 Mr. Monroe formed RAM Enterprises, a corporation that produced network radio programs, as many as 28 programs monthly, principally in dramatic and popular quiz shows.
In 1956 the firm created a Research and Development division to study the effects of various sound patterns on human consciousness, including the sleep state. Monroe was especially attracted to the concept of sleep-learning. This was a natural direction to take, applying to this new area the audio production methods used in the firm's commercial activity. The purpose was to find more constructive uses for such knowledge than was ordinarily available, and the results of this research have become internationally known.
According to his own account, while experimenting with sleep-learning in 1958 Monroe experienced an unusual phenomenon, which he described as sensations of paralysis and vibration accompanied by a bright light that appeared to be shining on him from a shallow angle. Monroe went on to say that this occurred another nine times over the next six weeks, culminating in his first out-of-body experience. Monroe recorded his account in his 1971 book Journeys Out Of The Body and went on to become a prominent researcher in the field of human consciousness. Monroe later authored two more books, Far Journeys (1985) and Ultimate Journey (1994).
In 1962 the company moved to Virginia, and a few years later changed the corporate name to Monroe Industries. In this location it became active in radio station ownership, cable television, and later in the production and sale of audio cassettes. These cassettes were practical expressions of the discoveries made in the earlier and ongoing corporate research program.
In 1985 the company officially changed its name, once again, to Interstate Industries, Inc. This reflected Monroe’s analogy of how the use of Hemi-Sync serves as a ramp from the “local road” to the “interstate” in allowing people to go "full steam ahead" in the exploration of consciousness, avoiding all of the stops and starts.
The research subsidiary was divested and established as an independent non-profit organization, The Monroe Institute, later in 1985. Interstate Industries, Inc. remains a privately-held company, now doing business as Monroe Products.
Robert Monroe's leadership of the entire program of development was supported for more than 50 years by many specialists who continue their participation to this day. His daughter, Laurie Monroe, continued her father’s research into consciousness and the mind’s potential until her death in 2006. Under the current direction of another of Monroe's daughters, Maria Monroe Whitehead, Monroe's stepson, A. J. Honeycutt, and Teresa West, president of Monroe Products, the company's objective is to continue to expand the Hemi-Sync line of products and their benefits into markets worldwide.
In 1975, Monroe registered the first of several patents concerning audio techniques designed to stimulate brain functions until the left and right hemispheres became synchronized. Monroe held that this state, dubbed Hemi-Sync (hemispherical synchronization), could be used to promote mental well-being or to trigger an altered state of consciousness. Monroe's concept was based on an earlier hypothesis known as binaural beats and has since been expanded upon a commercial basis by the self-help industry.[
O.K., now why would I include a long biography in the text of this short book? I just wanted to prove to you that what I write about Monroe is not a figment of my imagination. It gives credibility to what I am about to tell you. He lived, he died, he explored. He explored?
That was not in his biography, but that’s the most important part of his life and work. The part I’m going to tell you about now. I hope you will bear with me as I remember and relate parts of his three books. I have read them over and over, as well might you, if you have opened your mind to that degree.
In his first book, Journeys Out Of The Body, Monroe describes the events leading up to his exploration. He tells of the first time he found himself out of his body; there he was, up above, and looking down on his own body, which was lying on the bed asleep. When the reality of the scene sunk in he panicked. At that point he dove back into his body and awoke in a cold sweat.
Monroe, as you might have gathered from his biography, was a left-brain, pragmatic person—an engineer. He had no rational answer for what he had just experienced. So, he did what any rational thinking engineer would do—he went to his doctor. After explaining what had happened and a very thorough physical examination the doctor concluded that there was nothing wrong with him—physically.
Then, it happened again. Once more he found himself bouncing along the ceiling of his bedroom, looking down at his body lying there asleep on the bed. Once more he panicked and dove back into his body. And, once more he did what any rational thinking engineer would do—he went to the doctor—this time to a psychiatrist. After a thorough examination the doctor concluded he was not losing his mind or anything like that.
With this latest information in hand he came to the conclusion that he might as well try to understand, and even enjoy, the next time it happened. And it soon did happen.
Again, his awareness was that he was hovering at the ceiling level and looking down at his breathing, sleeping body. This time he did not panic. The engineer, explorer part of his psyche decided to examine what was going on, and see what would happen. Nothing happened. This time he decided, rationally, to return to his body, which he did, and awoke remembering every detail.
The next time, he decided to move out of his room, if possible. He then moved up and out through the ceiling, noting the construction of the house, as he went. He then found himself outside and above the house roof. Then, he decided to move down the street, noting the lamp posts and buildings along the way.
When he decided to return to his body he found that the mere decision alone was enough to cause an immediate return, whereupon he could awaken and recall everything he had experienced.
These small excursions were happening quite apart from any conscious decision on his part to initiate them. But, as time went on, he found that he could cause the departure upon awakening in the night after a short period of sleep.
At this time he became the consummate explorer. His books tell of many, many out of body excursions he experienced, recalled, and wrote about. He developed and became so familiar with a routine that it became second nature to him. He would, as he related, simply “roll out” of his body, as he lay there on his bed. Then he would merely think about a place to check out, to explore, and he would immediately find himself there—faster than the speed of light!
As he became familiar with his new ability he went farther and farther from earth’s environment. To stay in the immediate proximity of earth’s atmosphere caused great discomfort. He found it to be a cacophony of screeching and squawking that he could hardly move through fast enough. What he concluded was that these terrible sounds came from the discordant thoughts emitted by people on the surface of the earth as they went about their business of quarreling and discord with one another.
During the course of his many trips he developed a system of identification of distinct layers, or, bands, that surrounded the earth. The bands, starting from the earth’s surface, were labeled “Focus” areas. For example, the band closest to earth per se was Focus 22.
They can also be called states of mind, or, awareness. He begins with, as I mentioned, the earth’s environment, with a state or condition of mind where humans are still in physical existence but are only partially conscious. They may be suffering from dementia, delirium, drug overdose or are described by the medical term, comatose. This is what he called Focus 22.
Focus 23 is described as a level, again, within the earth’s immediate environment and where the inhabitants have left physical existence but apparently either do not know they are no longer physical, or, have such an attachment to someone or something that they are unwilling to move along. These inhabitants can be from all periods of human history.
Focus 24-26, are the Belief System Territories about which he wrote. These are occupied by nonphysical humans from all periods of human history and geographical areas who subscribe to various religions and philosophies but necessarily are drawn to like-minded entities.
For example, those of the Muslim faith, the Hindu faith, the Catholic faith, or, the Fundamentalist persuasion will be drawn to these areas that contain only those of that particular belief--“Birds of a feather flock together,” so goes the old adage.
Focus 27 is what may be called the reception center or the Park, which is the focal attraction of it. This is an artificial creation wrought by human minds, a reception station designed to alleviate the trauma and shock of one’s death and passing out of earth’s environment. It was designed as a place of solace and recuperation if required.
Focus 28 is a state of higher existence which, Monroe felt, limited any possible return to human existence.
Monroe, in his spirit form, actually visited these Focus territories and wrote about them extensively. His three books are still available on Amazon.com, and are a thrilling read.
What is particularly important about this man’s adventures is that he, like Edgar Cayce, did not ask for them. There was nothing in his life that could be construed as having invited the first foray out of his body. Not only that but he didn’t want the experience. It frightened him, upset his whole life and lifestyle.
It appears that some higher force had chosen him for a mission that could be shared with the millions that have read his books.
Have you lost your appetite yet? If not, then let’s enjoy some even more solid food, if you’ve got the stomach, or heart, for the next menu item. So, let’s get down from the high-chair, lay the bib aside, and sit at the table, in your helper –chair, with the big folks.
