Despite the many articles I have written on past-life regression, out-of-body experience (OOBE) or astral projection, and spirit communication for more than four decades, I still receive recurring questions about them. Perhaps, this is indicative of the growing interest of the public in these subjects.

From Ernie T. comes the following questions:

“How is past-life regression done? Is it 100-percent successful? Will anyone who undergoes the process see his past lives? Are there dangers in this process?”

Past-life regression is the process of guiding an individual to remember his or her past incarnation by putting him in a meditative state or very light trance. This is normally a safe procedure when done by a trained person. Do not allow just anybody whose background you do not know to do this to you.

Many years ago, I received a call from several teenagers who hypnotized their 18-year-old cousin to remember her past life for fun. They read a book on past-life regression and tried it on her.

Problem was, she went into a past life where she had a traumatic experience. She started crying out loud and trembling. The cousins could not wake her up even if they physically shook and even slapped her. They called me by phone. I talked to the cousin who gave the induction and told him what to do. He was able to wake her up. I told them not to do this again. This is not a game.

Not everybody who undergoes a past-life regression succeeds in seeing his past life incarnation because what a person sees during a regression depends on his subconscious mind, and on his ability to relax his mind and body for a prolonged period of time, say 15 to 30 minutes. I can only guide a person to remember the past. But my success rate is about 90 percent. Those who underwent past-life regression are able to see or at least experience something significant about the past.

Floating

Individuals who are very skeptical or very analytical and cannot just let go have difficulty going back to a memory of the past. Also, those who have preconceived notions of who they were have difficulty seeing past-life information.

The trick here is not to anticipate or expect anything and to accept whatever they see or sense while undergoing regression, no matter how impossible it may seem, and no matter how they dislike what they see.

If you start analyzing what you are seeing, you stop the information coming from your subconscious mind.

The other recurring question is about OOBE, or astral projection. Many seem to be experiencing this and do not know what causes it and what to do when it happens. And the usual reaction is one of fear and panic.

When having an OOBE, the person wakes up from sleep and sees himself floating above his physical body. He thinks he is already dead, so he frantically tries to go back to his body and finds he cannot move. He shouts but no sound comes out of his mouth. He tries to wake his companion sleeping on the bed but cannot do so; she remains unaware or oblivious to what’s happening to him. The more he struggles, the more difficult it becomes to go back to his body.

As I have explained many times in this column and in my books, astral projection is a natural and harmless process or phenomena. You need not panic when this happens to you. You will easily get back to your physical body if you relax and think of going back.

Astral body

Why does OOBE happen? To explain this, I have to explain that a human being is composed of seven bodies or layers of vibrations. The physical is the densest and most solid, and therefore visible and palpable. Then the next is the etheric double, which is your counterpart in the spirit. The next level is the astral body, and the last, the innermost part, is the spirit.

At night, when we are asleep, our astral body may detach itself from our physical body and give it the needed rest. The other reason the astral body detaches itself from the physical body is to learn more about the spirit world, and also meet spirit helpers or guides.

The astral body is also called the “desire body” because it goes wherever you desire to be. What you think of becomes reality in the astral world. Nothing can be hidden when you are in the astral plane. You can see what others are thinking.

Astral projection is not sleep paralysis. The latter is a medical condition. A person who is awake may fall asleep and cannot wake up or move. In astral projection, you are asleep and your astral body goes out of your physical body.

The astral body is connected to your physical body through an elastic astral cord which cannot be severed or broken unless it’s time for the person to die. It is like an invisible umbilical cord.

You should not be afraid when you wake up in the astral world. It is normally a harmless and natural process that almost everybody undergoes at night without being aware of it.

Email the author at [email protected]; visit innermindlearning.com.