Avenues of the Human Spirit
This article first appeared in Watkins Mind Body Spirit Magazine in 2012.
As a young teenager when I made my way into Cecil Court, staring up at the image of Thoth, the scribe of the Gods, on the Watkins books sign, I wondered what my first visit to an esoteric bookshop would be like. We have all seen films that would feature shops full of metaphysical titles and strange objects that fill our minds with fantastical images. In many ways Watkins was far more exciting than the fictional images I held in mind. Instead of dust and obscure potions, I found ideas. Crystalline and exciting ideas about the nature of our world. Books that encourage us to enquire into the nature of things, to step out beyond the safe and the everyday. I loved the basement especially in those days, sometimes over hearing the conversations of a customer and one of the staff, or maybe the excitement of looking through the second hand titles, where I would spend my time in search of a gem long out of print. I guess I was looking for a fragment, a hidden insight into my experiences. Some more of those crystalline perceptions. A few months before my first visit to Watkins I laid down on my bed in an attempt to induce an out-of-body experience. Moments later a jolt of energy had surged through my body throwing me up into the air in a spirit-like form. Energy seemed to pulse through me, and the room was visible from the light that emanated from my second self. Looking down at my body it seemed captivating, like looking at a great work of art in real life for the first time, but also somehow not really me. Moments later I was back in my body, wanting to be free and out again, I wanted to see the wonders of space, all the continents of the world, and maybe even journey to other levels of reality. I was not disappointed, as in the months and years that followed I would have regular journeys out of my body, many hundreds as I write this. Yet my connection with Watkins didn’t end there, the out-of-body experiences had opened the door, but now the books I would buy were my teachers, my guides along the path to explore the vast array of ideas and experiences available to us. Yet this new direction in my life was very unusual for someone from my background, as I did not grow up in a spiritual environment. In fact I grew up in a working class area of London in a large 60s tower block, my mother a carer and my father a dustman. Neither of them had any particular religious or spiritual beliefs, they were and are classic Londoner’s with no grand ideas, so my journey was destined to be a solitary one. My first book, Avenues of the Human Spirit, charts my personal process of spiritual inquiry, but even more than that, it explores my growth from someone surrounded by the problems of the inner city, to a life that is now full of peace, harmony and genuine happiness. The book starts with my first experience, in which I saw an apparition as a small child, it then continues through my out-of-body experiences, and even the hardships of street violence, to a trip to the island of Sardinia, where I underwent a transformation of my consciousness in a single moment. That moment has defined my life since and led to the writing of Avenues of the Human Spirit. Even science has become a source of insight along my journey, I began to research the world of parapsychology and became a member of the Society for Psychical Research, the oldest of its type in the world. I worked with Rupert Sheldrake, famous biologist and researcher into telepathy and other areas. I envisioned and built environments designed to alter our state of consciousness, one of which was shown at London’s Science Museum. It is clear that these inquiries into the nature of things and my metaphysical perceptions, have led me to explore the biggest questions, including: is there life after death? Are psychic abilities real? What are the practices or understandings that lead to spiritual awakening or fulfilment? These questions form the basis of my second book, Navigating the Out-of-Body Experience. As a teenager I always knew I would write a book that teaches others how to have OBEs for themselves. This year for the 25 year anniversary of my first glimpses of the out-of-body state I have written that book I envisioned as a boy. But it is much more than I could have imagined then, Navigating the Out-of-Body Experience, is more because with this book I have stepped outside of the box of previous notions of how to leave the body and delved into new territory. I have explored ways to enhance psychical abilities based on the findings of parapsychology over the last 130 years; I have made my system personal to the reader through a questionnaire giving insights into their strengths; I have also included the findings of my own research and technology including my immersive structures, virtual reality and Infra-liminal sound frequencies. I am very excited about the impact that these methods and techniques will have on the next generation of out-of-body explorers. For me there is no better way to communicate spirituality than to offer the reader the tools to experience a change for themselves. So when I look back, a simple book that I read as a young teenager led to a total shift in my life. It took me away from the limitations of my background and transformed my view of reality. I hope that my books might inspire someone who visits a bookshop looking for a similar understanding, maybe you will be inspired to explore these areas, maybe you already have, and can see common ground in my words. Whichever the case, if someone from my beginnings in life can open to these perceptions, then I believe everyone has that potential waiting to be tapped. I hope that the insights in my books will allow many more to transform their world. Find out more, follow these links for information on: OBE Coaching, Workshops & Events, Books and Infra-liminal recordings.
As a young teenager when I made my way into Cecil Court, staring up at the image of Thoth, the scribe of the Gods, on the Watkins books sign, I wondered what my first visit to an esoteric bookshop would be like. We have all seen films that would feature shops full of metaphysical titles and strange objects that fill our minds with fantastical images. In many ways Watkins was far more exciting than the fictional images I held in mind. Instead of dust and obscure potions, I found ideas. Crystalline and exciting ideas about the nature of our world. Books that encourage us to enquire into the nature of things, to step out beyond the safe and the everyday. I loved the basement especially in those days, sometimes over hearing the conversations of a customer and one of the staff, or maybe the excitement of looking through the second hand titles, where I would spend my time in search of a gem long out of print. I guess I was looking for a fragment, a hidden insight into my experiences. Some more of those crystalline perceptions. A few months before my first visit to Watkins I laid down on my bed in an attempt to induce an out-of-body experience. Moments later a jolt of energy had surged through my body throwing me up into the air in a spirit-like form. Energy seemed to pulse through me, and the room was visible from the light that emanated from my second self. Looking down at my body it seemed captivating, like looking at a great work of art in real life for the first time, but also somehow not really me. Moments later I was back in my body, wanting to be free and out again, I wanted to see the wonders of space, all the continents of the world, and maybe even journey to other levels of reality. I was not disappointed, as in the months and years that followed I would have regular journeys out of my body, many hundreds as I write this. Yet my connection with Watkins didn’t end there, the out-of-body experiences had opened the door, but now the books I would buy were my teachers, my guides along the path to explore the vast array of ideas and experiences available to us. Yet this new direction in my life was very unusual for someone from my background, as I did not grow up in a spiritual environment. In fact I grew up in a working class area of London in a large 60s tower block, my mother a carer and my father a dustman. Neither of them had any particular religious or spiritual beliefs, they were and are classic Londoner’s with no grand ideas, so my journey was destined to be a solitary one. My first book, Avenues of the Human Spirit, charts my personal process of spiritual inquiry, but even more than that, it explores my growth from someone surrounded by the problems of the inner city, to a life that is now full of peace, harmony and genuine happiness. The book starts with my first experience, in which I saw an apparition as a small child, it then continues through my out-of-body experiences, and even the hardships of street violence, to a trip to the island of Sardinia, where I underwent a transformation of my consciousness in a single moment. That moment has defined my life since and led to the writing of Avenues of the Human Spirit. Even science has become a source of insight along my journey, I began to research the world of parapsychology and became a member of the Society for Psychical Research, the oldest of its type in the world. I worked with Rupert Sheldrake, famous biologist and researcher into telepathy and other areas. I envisioned and built environments designed to alter our state of consciousness, one of which was shown at London’s Science Museum. It is clear that these inquiries into the nature of things and my metaphysical perceptions, have led me to explore the biggest questions, including: is there life after death? Are psychic abilities real? What are the practices or understandings that lead to spiritual awakening or fulfilment? These questions form the basis of my second book, Navigating the Out-of-Body Experience. As a teenager I always knew I would write a book that teaches others how to have OBEs for themselves. This year for the 25 year anniversary of my first glimpses of the out-of-body state I have written that book I envisioned as a boy. But it is much more than I could have imagined then, Navigating the Out-of-Body Experience, is more because with this book I have stepped outside of the box of previous notions of how to leave the body and delved into new territory. I have explored ways to enhance psychical abilities based on the findings of parapsychology over the last 130 years; I have made my system personal to the reader through a questionnaire giving insights into their strengths; I have also included the findings of my own research and technology including my immersive structures, virtual reality and Infra-liminal sound frequencies. I am very excited about the impact that these methods and techniques will have on the next generation of out-of-body explorers. For me there is no better way to communicate spirituality than to offer the reader the tools to experience a change for themselves. So when I look back, a simple book that I read as a young teenager led to a total shift in my life. It took me away from the limitations of my background and transformed my view of reality. I hope that my books might inspire someone who visits a bookshop looking for a similar understanding, maybe you will be inspired to explore these areas, maybe you already have, and can see common ground in my words. Whichever the case, if someone from my beginnings in life can open to these perceptions, then I believe everyone has that potential waiting to be tapped. I hope that the insights in my books will allow many more to transform their world. Find out more, follow these links for information on: OBE Coaching, Workshops & Events, Books and Infra-liminal recordings.
