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David Scott Rogo - Leaving the Body: A Complete Guide to Astral Projection

Despite the unwieldiness of the Muller mantra system, it has been successfully employed by German occultists. Walter K. Paul, a German spiritualist, published a complete report on his use of the system in the spring 1968 issue of Light, the official publication of the College of Psychic Studies in London.

Paul began his experiments in January 1965 by using the mantra daily. His first success came six weeks later when he awoke from sleep to find himself floating over his physical body in a phantom duplicate. The experience lasted from 15 to 20 seconds, and then he experienced a momentary blackout and awoke in his body. The same thing happened two months later as a result of a conscious attempt at astral projection.

Upon going to bed, he "willed" himself to leave the body, but nothing happened. He awoke sometime later and immediately felt his body vibrating. He remained motionless and then experienced his etheric "leg" raise out of his physical body and then back down again.

His next experience came the next night, when he had a full-blown release. He was just about to fall asleep when the vibrations began again.

This startled him back into a waking state, and as he lay motionless, he felt himself rising right out of his body. "At that moment," he writes, "l felt an arm under my back which was pulling me sideways, and I felt the bedcover slip." His first thought was that he was actually being carried out of bed. Then he realized he was having an out-of-body experience, which was somehow being aided by a discarnate being. "He put me on my feet," continued Paul, "to the left of the bed, a little way from the foot, and behind me, with a hand on both shoulders." Paul's impression was that the friendly helper was keeping him from falling. "Then he or she turned me to the right and pushed me gently, and I walked till l stood directly in front of the foot of my bed." Paul then blacked out and came to back in his physical body.

Paul's account is virtually identical to my own childhood experiences. l, too, felt as though the presence that accompanied me on my first OBEs was virtually carrying me (that is, my etheric double) through the house. He was apparently "spotting me" the way one spots a weight-lifter. Although my recollections are dim on this specific point, I do remember seeing this helper on at least one occasion.

Paul had an identical experience two months later. He awoke to find himself standing in the hall in front of his bedroom. At first he thought he had been sleepwalking, so he went back to his room. He experienced a bizarre sucking sensation as he approached his bed as though a vacuum were being formed around his bed, and this odd sensation alerted him to his out-of-body state. The bedroom was dark, so he sat down at the foot of his bed and actually felt his physical body there. Within a moment he awoke in bed. The entire episode had lasted 30 or 40 seconds.

These OBEs lasted for several months, during which time Paul diligently continued his mantra recitations. They apparently stopped when Paul ceased the exercise.

Paul returned to his Cabalistic practices two years later, curious as to whether he could induce OBEs by mentally reviewing the formulas instead of reciting them. After six weeks of daily practice, he began having OBEs once again. They were primarily nocturnal experiences and would begin with a sense of bodily vibration. When these sensations arose, Paul would simply will himself out-of-the-body. This would cause him to float out of his body, usually coming to rest at the foot of his bed. These incidents were less prolonged and complex than his earlier OBEs, which Paul believes may have resulted from his purely mental use of the letter combinations.