The Transformative Power of Identity

I recently learned about how verbal commands can be used to initiate out of body experiences into the subtle realm of being and I was curious to try using them. During my recent yoga nidra sessions I have found myself moving through what has become a familiar experience of progressive deepening of awareness. The progression begins as I become very relaxed and begin to experience energy moving throughout my body. The movement ebbs and flows, periodically building to peaks of intensity and then receding.
The peaks of intensity come every few minutes and during one particular practice I experienced an unusually powerful peak and that is when I tried my command. I must admit that I felt some ambivalence about using a command in my practice because my training has always been to avoid any effort to manipulate my experience. In addition, I was skeptical that a command like this would work. I had decided to try the command and when that unusually high peak came I said it. In retrospect I see that I did not say it with as much confidence, conviction and force that I had learned they require, but at that moment of peak intensity I commanded, “Cosmos now!” because I wanted to experience cosmic consciousness, and to my surprise I immediately shot up out of my body and into the stars. I could hardly believe it had worked. I was out in deep space floating without my body. I was so free. I have had experiences like this during deep meditation practices, but I had never participated in initiating them before.

For a time I floated in space occasionally descending downward and then rising up again. With each descent there was a decrease in energetic intensity that was followed by a new peak at the apex of each ascent. When the practice was over I had to consider what had happened. My experience of that practice was very different from my usual meditation experience because I had been involved in initiating a spiritual journey. Since that time I have found that I can consistently propel myself into those higher realms by using my command during my yoga nidra practice. Sometimes the experience of cosmic consciousness is more dramatic and sometimes less, but invariably I would enter a pulsating energetic space and at a peak of intensity use my command to move out of my body and into the heavens.

While in that higher space I began to feel as if I was being shown how to navigate there. It is hard to describe, but I was learning that there were certain energies that I could release myself into and they would carry me into experiences of light that were communicating with me in a language I do not understand. It felt like flying through spiritual space by following energetic currents of subtle emotion. I was learning more each time, and with each return I could navigate more effectively. The lessons have continued in my practice ever since and very recently I had a very strange and wonderful experience.

I used the command and shot up into the stars as I have become used to, but this time I experienced the history of that cosmic self. I realized that it had continued to learn and grow even while I had been away. It had a history independent of mine and I was beginning to share its memories when I merged with it. That cosmic self was not just an experience I was having, and it was more than an identity that I adopted. It was an independent entity, a higher dimensional self that is separate from me and an integral part of me at the same time. In my earthbound human form I lost touch with it, but during the time of my absence it continued to exist and learn and develop. It was me and not me. I know this sounds strange, but it is exactly how I experience it. Not only did my use of a command give me access to my cosmic self, and not only was I learning to navigate a different reality, but it was now clear that my cosmic self was in continuous existence, learning and growing, even when I was not aware of it. I am living simultaneously in multiple dimensions.

By learning to step into the reality of higher selves we gain access to their experience and capacities. We can transcend the limited capacities and perceptual powers of our current self by stepping into the reality of a higher one. I have no doubt that what I experience is real and that you can experience it for yourself if you want to. The ideas, perspectives and practices in this book represent my best attempt to articulate the path that will guide you there.