CHAPTER 1

The Other Side of Reality

You do not have a single existence. The world that you are familiar with, thephysical, material world, is not the only one in which you move and interact.Every day when you get up, shower, and go to work, each and every stepreverberates through two sides of reality at once. Your physical body walks inthe world of matter, but a subtler aspect of you, woven within and throughoutyour physical body, moves and interacts on a level of pure energy. In order tolive up to your greatest potential as a whole and complete being, you mustbecome aware of this subtle aspect of yourself that is so often ignored in favorof the physical part of your being.

People who are naturally sensitive to this subtle side of existence are whatmany label "psychic." All too often, we hear the word "psychic" and assume thatit is a quality possessed by only a privileged few. We accept that Madam Circe,the Tarot card reader down the street, is psychic, but most of us would not seeBob the businessman or Carrie the cashier as people who are also psychic. Butdon't let cultural assumptions about terminology fool you. Each and every one ofus is psychic. As beings of both body and spirit, our ability to perceive more-than-physicalreality is nothing magickal or supernatural. It is completelyinborn, and every one of us already experiences psychic perceptions on aninstinctive and unconscious level. The trick to harnessing your psychicabilities simply relies on learning how to bring these subtle perceptions into aconscious and controllable portion of your mind.

Most people in our Western society are completely unaware of their existencebeyond the material world. They are so thoroughly grounded in physical realitythat they are blind to everything else that surrounds them. And yet that doesnot stop the subtle aspects of reality from affecting them. There are spiritsand invisible energies moving all around us. We generate some of those energiesourselves, affecting and being affected by them. We can be touched subtly byspirits, sensing the thoughts and feelings they project, and unconsciouslyreacting to those impressions. Our physical and emotional well-being can bedrastically influenced by energies and entities that we cannot physically see,and even the healthy atmosphere of our living spaces can be influenced by theseinvisible aspects of the subtle world.

Ever walk into a house and feel immediately uncomfortable? Perhaps it made youfeel cold or the air just seemed too close. Perhaps you got a distinctimpression of a certain emotion—anger, or maybe sorrow. If there were otherswith you, did you notice how they reacted? I'll bet they did not necessarilycomment on a specific impression, but if you asked them later, they would admitto being uncomfortable in the house without really knowing why.

Even when we do not consciously use them, all of us have psychic sensitivitiesthat allow us to respond to the energy of places and people. Most people willinstinctively react to their impressions of these energies, but are soaccustomed to ignoring that side of their existence that they never evenquestion why they are reacting in a particular way. An unawakened person,someone who has chosen to remain blind to anything but his or her materialexistence, would feel uncomfortable in a house like the one described above, andhe or she might suddenly want to leave. If you asked, this person wouldn't beable to tell you why he or she felt uncomfortable, only that the place felt"bad" or "weird." Another reaction might be to get very agitated while in thehouse. Similarly, if you asked the person, he or she wouldn't be able to explainthe unusual behavior. At best, the person might say he or she "just felt out ofsorts."

This is an example of our latent psychic sensitivities at work. The house mighthave been haunted or the feeling may have just been a strong, lingeringemotional impression. There are many more things moving in the realm of spiritthan the spirits themselves. The subtle energies that move in currents throughthis level of reality that intersects our familiar physical space can have apowerful affect on how we perceive the world around us. Even if we are totallyunaware of sensing energy, we might find a particular place frightening andrepellent while another will strike us as fascinatingly attractive. The physicalappearance of both places may be identical, but on the level that we cannot seewith our eyes alone, there is a difference, and that difference is somethingthat we sense on an almost instinctual level. Even when we don't understand whatit is we are doing, our natural psychic sensitivities give us information wereact to.

This is one of the most important things to know about the subtle reality. Evenif we are unconscious of this aspect of our existence, we still sense and reactto it. The same is true when it comes to affecting the subtle reality ourselves.Our physical bodies are mirrored by a body of subtle energy, and this bodyinteracts with the subtle world we move through, whether we will it or not. Ouremotions, our dreams, the very energy of our life force reverberate around us,rippling through the subtle reality and leaving impressions of us behind.Wherever we walk, wherever we live, we leave these echoes, like fingerprints onthe subtle world. Some of us have more impact on the subtle world that others,and so the echoes that we leave behind are much stronger and more palpable. Someimpressions are so strong, they may linger in a place for years after we havepassed through. This is just one of the most basic ways that we interact—almostcompletely unconsciously—with the invisible world that surrounds us.

How do we control this interaction that happens on such a basic and unconsciouslevel? How do we learn to cultivate, harness, and control those psychicsensitivities that all of us are born with? The first step is to become aware ofthe subtle reality, thereby becoming aware of how we affect it and how itaffects us. But how do we learn to perceive something that is largelyimperceptible to the five senses we're most accustomed to using?

Well, first of all, you are probably more attuned to your psychic sensitivitiesthan most people, otherwise you probably wouldn't be reading this book.Secondly, you already have the subtle senses that you need. It's just a matterof cultivating them and learning to process the information they're telling youin a conscious way. There is a part of you that already understands andinteracts with this aspect of your existence. Like the part of your brain thatcontrols your heartbeat and breathing, this deeper part of you works on its own,whether you pay attention to it or not. Some systems call it your Higher Self.You can think of it as your super-ego or your unconscious mind. It's tied to theright-brain part of you that functions intuitively, and it communicates itsexperiences to the conscious part of you in abstracts and in symbols. The trickto learning how to harness and control what this deeper part of you takes careof day by day is to simply bring its functions into the realm of consciousness.There you can analyze them and make informed decisions on how you react to them.

This book is about cultivating your psychic senses and coming to understandthose invisible aspects of everyday life that most people experience onlyunconsciously. Its main premise is that those abilities traditionally labeled"psychic" or "magickal" are simply the results of our natural awareness of andinteraction with energy. The primary energy involved in this awareness is humanvital energy, and most psychic abilities are a product of our ability toperceive and harness this energy in ourselves, in others, and in the outsideworld. The subtle reality is nothing more or less than this energetic aspect ofour experience—the emanations and residues that we and all other living thingsleave in the world around us.

The subtle reality is a vast and wondrous place, but that is no reason to remainignorant or frightened of it. In order to achieve a balanced life, we mustaccept and unify these two aspects of our existence into a harmonious whole. Andthe first step toward this harmonious interaction is achieving understanding. Sobefore we start experimenting with perceiving the realm of the subtle reality,let's get a good idea of what we're trying to look at in the first place.

The Shamanic View

There are several different views on the subtle reality and how it relates toour physical world. In the shamanic system, there are actually three distinctrealms of spirits. These three realms are often depicted as lying along a greattree. The tree is the World Tree or Axis Mundi, and it appears as an archetypalimage in systems from the Kabbalah to Nordic myth. According to the shamanicview, the tree grows through all three realms and travel occurs along its trunk.This is why many shamans often climb a tree or ceremonial tent pole prior toembarking on otherworld journeys. The ritual is symbolic of climbing the WorldTree (pp. 259–269, Eliade). When a shaman journeys between worlds, there arethree realms he can traverse. The first realm is the Middle Realm, and it liesalong the center of the World Tree's trunk. The Middle Realm is the spiritualdouble of our world. It exists in the same space as our physical reality,layered over and through it like a double exposure on film. This realm is theeasiest and safest to traverse, and sometimes ordinary people accidentallywander into this realm in dreams. The souls of the dead linger in this realmonly if they are still very tied to their former lives. Otherwise, they arebelieved to move on to the Nether Realm or, in very special cases, the CelestialRealm.

To a certain extent, the shaman moves in this Middle Realm all the time, evenwhen he is not actively journeying. It is the shaman's unique double-vision,what Holger Kalweit refers to as his "shamanic illumination," that allows him toperceive both the physical and the spiritual aspects of the Middle Realm at once(p. 203, Kalweit).

In some shamanic systems, the Middle Realm is concurrent with our everydayphysical reality, woven within and throughout the world that non-shamans know.In other systems, this Middle Realm is a spirit-aspect of the physical worldthat is located a half-step off from "ordinary reality." Only the shaman knowshow to move in the direction of this other half of our world, shifting from oneto the other in visions, dreams, and trance. Because he is a shaman and awalker-between-worlds, he also moves more consciously in both realms at once.

The next realm a shaman might journey to is the Underworld or Nether Realm. Thisrealm is located at the roots of the world tree. The Underworld is populated byspirits of the dead, totem animals, ancestor spirits, and demonic entities. Thisrealm can be equated with the deep parts of the unconscious mind (pp. 24–26,Harner). Appropriately, certain visualizations give the shaman access to thisunderground realm through a cave or a passage that can only be reachedunderwater. Although it tends to be a dark or twilight landscape, the NetherRealm should not be equated with Hell. The concept of Hell doesn't exactly existin the shamanic system. It is just below—or more precisely within.

The final realm is the Celestial Realm. It is located high up in the branches ofthe World Tree. This realm is the abode of the stars, as well as angelic andgod-like beings. Great heroes and creatures from myth populate this realm. Insome traditions, only certain shamans are able to travel to the celestialrealms. Female shamans in general are thought to only be able to travel to theMiddle and Nether Realms. So-called "black" shamans are also limited to theMiddle and Nether Realms (pp. 181–184, Eliade). If the Nether Realm can beequated with the unconscious mind, the Celestial Realm can be equated with thesuper-ego. And, just as the Netherworld should not be thought of as Hell,neither should the Celestial Realm be associated with Heaven. "Evil" does notlie below in the shamanic reality any more than "good" resides above (p. 186,Eliade). There is danger to be encountered in both realms, and there is noguarantee that beings in the Celestial Realm are going to be benign and helpfulsimply because they reside in that "heavenly" space.

The Between Places

The Tibetan Art of Dying, known to most Westerners as The Tibetan Book of theDead, presents a view of the subtle reality that is at once simpler and morecomplex than the shamanic view. First of all, there are six lokas which a soulcan be born into. The lokas are individual realities that are separate from yetcontingent to one another. The concept of the lokas seems echoed in ancientGreek beliefs as recorded in Hesiod's Works and Days. Here, four races arethought to have preceded the current human race, which is known as the "race ofiron." Two of the four previous races, the race of silver and the race of gold,were believed to have lingered ghostlike in the mortal realm. The race of goldbecame benevolent daimons, while the race of silver became spirits of a lesskindly sort.

Both were worshipped by the ancient Greeks because even though they had passedon, they could sometimes interact with the physical world (pp. 180–182, Luck).Similarly, beings from one loka can sometimes cross over to different lokas, sothe lines between them are not necessarily clear. What distinguishes a loka isthe quality of being that inhabits it.

The foremost loka is the realm of the peaceful deities. These are highly evolvedbeings who, through sensitivity, generosity, and enlightenment, have advanced toa state of near-godhood. They bear much in common with Hesiod's "race of gold."One level beneath the peaceful deities is the realm of the wrathful deities.Like the "race of silver," these are semi-divine and elevated above humanity,but they are still competitive, violent, and desire-driven. The third loka isthe human realm with which we are already familiar. The fourth loka is the realmof the animals. Spirits that have been dragged down by ignorance, stupidity, andsmall-mindedness are reborn into this realm. The fifth loka is the realm of thehungry ghosts or pretans. The hungry ghosts are not spirits exactly, but areviewed as living, embodied beings. The souls of people who are overcome withgreed, lust, craving, and frustration are born into this loka. Finally, there isthe loka of the hell-beings, the lowest and most agonizing of realms. Soulsdragged down by hatred find themselves reborn into this realm where the eighthot hells, the eight cold hells, the eight crushing hells, the eight cuttinghells, and an infinite variety of other unpleasant places await them.

Beyond the lokas, or more appropriately, between them, is another realm. This isthe Bardo, which means "island between" (p. 10, Trungpa), and it is a thresholdspace, existing between realities, between absolute matter and absolute spirit,between life and death. This realm is vast and populous. It is the realm ofspirits who are awaiting rebirth. The newly dead, and those who cannot or willnot find their way to a womb, can be found in this realm. Certain adepts canalso send their spirits out into this realm and interact with it as if they werebetween-beings themselves (pp. 44–45, Thurman). It is much like the shamanicMiddle Realm in that it is very close to our familiar reality, if not directlyon top of it. The spirits that find themselves in this between-place canperceive our ordinary reality, although in most cases they cannot makethemselves seen or heard. Is it as if they are somewhere that is just out ofsync with the physical world—inhabiting a dimension slightly out of phase withthe rest of us.

The Bardo Thodrol (or The Tibetan Book of the Dead) attributes some interestingqualities to this realm and its denizens. First of all, it is so peopled withspirits that if a clairvoyant could perceive it upon all levels at once, shewould not be able to distinguish one entity from another (p. 171, Thurman).Since the limitations of physical space do not apply to this between-space,entities can and often do exist in the same space as other entities. Also, thebetween-beings in this realm can pass through the physical objects of our world,for they possess what is known as a "Bardo body," a body of energy completelycontrolled by their own imaginations or wills. A between-being, in addition tobeing able to travel anywhere in the world with a mere thought, can also be intwo or more places at once, as he wills it. Between-beings enjoy a limitedclairvoyance in the respect that they can see and hear all other between-beingsof the same species. Thus, if you are a human who has died, you will be aware ofall the other human spirits lingering in the between place. Hungry ghosts willperceive all the other hungry ghosts, wrathful deities will perceive otherwrathful deities, and so forth.