Lehal Library

That the out-of-body experience frightened me then is a quantum understatement. When it recurred, I was filled with panic-driven visions of brain tumors and oncoming insanity. This led to extensive physical examinations, all negative, followed by recommendations of psychotherapy for “minor hallucinatory dysfunction.” I discarded this diagnosis automatically. Some of my best friends at the time were psychiatrists and psychologists with their own problems, albeit certainly more orthodox. Instead, I stubbornly began a search and research into the phenomenon out of self-preservation and, as the fear and panic subsided, out of growing curiosity. The trail took me beyond conventional scientific circles (total rejection), religions (“It’s the work of the devil”), parapsychology (“Interesting. Sorry, no data available”), and Eastern disciplines (“Come study at our ashram in northern India for ten years”). This was chronicled in my previous book, Journeys Out of the Body. One thing is certain. The purpose of the previous book was many times fulfilled. It brought thousands of letters from all parts of the world and among them many hundreds of people wrote their personal thanks for a reassurance that they were not mentally deranged, were not so much alone after all with their “closet” secret experience that they could not explain, and, most important, that they were not necessarily candidates for the psychiatric couch or mental hospital. That was the stated purpose of the original book: to help just one person avoid such needless incarceration. I personally am bemused at the changes in these twenty-five years. In most academic and intellectual societies, it is now quite acceptable to talk about OOBEs. However, I’m sure that the great majority of people in our culture are still unaware of this facet of their lives. In 1959 or 1960, I certainly would have derided the idea that I might give a talk on OOBEs at the Smithsonian Institution. Or papers on the subject would be presented before the American Psychiatric Association. But they happened. One of the most frequent approaches I hear reminds me very much of the old and worn-out show-business routine about the question a