“There is no death - there is only a change in dimensions,” and according to Dr. Bruce Goldberg a clinical hypnotherapist well known for his work in the field of past life regression, astral travel and other alternative modalities, we can consciously interact with that realm.
I sat down with Dr. Goldberg last month at his Woodland Hills, California offices to have a discussion about using controlled out of body experiences (OBE’s) as a means to contact our loved ones in spirit which may greatly mitigate the emotion of grief.
What then ensued was a crash dis-course on a process he calls “conscious dying,” whereby an individual can deeply relieve their own personal burden of bereavement, and also assist their loved one in spirit to ascend beyond what he refers to as the lower astral realms. The term conscious dying, at first blush seemed irrelevant to my objective in this interview as I had been familiar with the term in my research to mean teaching the dying how to do so in a conscious and lucid manner. However, I found his approach quite intriguing. Essentially he explained that although conscious dying is used to teach a proactive transition for those who are terminal, this modality could be used effectively in other ways.
Although still a provocative and highly speculative subject in many scientific circles, the general idea of an afterlife, and furthermore interacting with the beyond, has increased in interest and become a growing field of inquiry, both academically and to the lay public, respectively. Goldberg says however that there are still very few in his field of hypnotherapy, teaching techniques that show people how to proactively go into realms beyond the third dimension.
In Goldberg’s book Exploring the Fifth Dimension and during our nearly two hour exchange, he discusses Atlanta cardiologist Michael Sabom’s detailed inquiry into the validity and mystery of the near death experience. Sabom’s research has been well documented, most notably with his 1994 “Atlanta Study.” Although his findings have yielded a wealth of curious phenomena suggesting an actual experience outside of the five sense framework, he still maintains that the NDE experience although “hints at the afterlife,” still may not be a direct experience of it.
Goldberg’s understanding draws a direct association to NDE, OBE and afterlife experiences. In fact, his surmise is that the astral realms, mainly lower, represent the fundamental underpinnings of the afterlife for many; that is until they can ascend into finer vibrational realms. And we can help them in this process through conscious out of body experiences and his conscious dying techniques.
Conscious Dying and the Upper Planes
“There are techniques highlighted in the book where loved ones can help the patient to have a conscious dying experience, but let’s say there is someone who has already died, they have already crossed into spirit and let’s say you didn’t have the opportunity to work with them while they were here, you can still send out the energy to them. What you are doing is training them on the other side to connect with their higher self. This is called ‘after death meditation.’”
Goldberg says that often at the point of physical death the individual, due to preconceived notions, belief systems, etc. neglects to acknowledge that a merging of sorts between what he calls the “soul energy” and the “higher self” need to take place. This coalescing of energies allows the dying individual to avoid the lower astral realms, a place he describes as one where many third dimensional-like aspects still exist, although not as dense as the earth plan, but with all the trappings of earth like activity. The temptation to stay there and relive many of the habitual patterns (including the negative ones) can overcome the soul and ascension can be thwarted for possibly thousands of earth years.
Rather than merging, a bifurcation of energies takes place and then karma is created where one will reincarnate back onto the earth plane and be destined to repeat many of the life lessons, often with great, but unnecessary suffering in a cyclical pattern.
I asked Dr. Goldberg about how a conscious dying technique would work for someone who died suddenly. How could they trigger this process?
He says that one can achieve a conscious dying state no matter what the cause of death, even a car accident for instance. State of mind during one’s life; spiritual practices like meditation, an open mind, free of any set belief system will help one with the conscious dying process, even if they initially end up on the lower astral planes. When they see the white light they will recognize it based on their practices and mind set while incarnated. “This is a freeing mechanism. It is recognition,” he says.
But beyond first person practice of conscious dying techniques, Goldberg definitively draws a correlation between conscious dying and Conscious OBE’s or COBE’s.
He explains that there are three kinds of OBE’s. First is the near death experience (NDE) where an individual is declared clinically dead and as a result is taken out of body and the consciousness is thrust into a vivid other-worldly experience. Then there is the typical OBE that can occur often spontaneously, where one will literally feel their consciousness leave their body, often viewing it from another perspective and through their “astral eyes.” And then there is something called COBE’s, a practice that can be used in conjunction with the conscious dying techniques that can yield a precious and often therapeutic unification with our deceased loved ones.
Pets in the Afterlife
In our discussion he gave several examples of patients he had worked with using the COBE and conscious dying techniques. One was a woman who was desperately grief stricken over the loss of a beloved pet, to the extent where she fell into a clinical depression. Going through a series of steps, Goldberg guided the woman to an altered state using in part something he calls an “In the body experience” or IBE wherein you can perceive and experience the astral realm while still being consciously grounded in physical form. Whilst in the experience the woman became overwhelmed with joy as tears streamed down her face. She declared she saw her beloved dog and felt renewed by knowing that he still existed in this realm. Additionally, the act of “going” to visit with her pet in this dimension resulted in her diminished grief and thus acted as a catalyst for the pet to ascend. In a strange but revealing twist, sometime later the woman who had been shopping at a mall, returned to her locked car to find a small German Sheppard puppy in the passenger’s seat. There was no note and certainly no explanation as to how the dog got there. Perplexed, she nonetheless took the dog home and ultimately decided to keep him. Once settled in, she noticed the dog beginning to take on the very attributes of her deceased pet; embodying many of the personality traits and command responses of her former companion. Goldberg maintains that using these techniques can even facilitate a union in the form of reincarnation of the loved one – yes, even with a pet!
He highlighted another example of a woman who had participated in one of his workshops in Canada some years ago, on conscious dying and OBE’s. The woman had been forlorn at the loss of her mother who had died several months previous and the grief had nearly incapacitated her. She feared nothing would help her. After going through an exercise during the workshop, the participants had the opportunity to share their experiences while in a group led exercise facilitated by Dr. Goldberg. The woman, eager to share her story exclaimed as tears flowed how she saw her mother during the process that Goldberg had been guiding the group through. A breakthrough had taken place. Six months later the woman returned to a follow up workshop Goldberg was giving, again enthusiastically proclaiming that she had been healed of her bereavement and had found a new found fervor to her life since that initial experience.
There appears to be some alchemical component to this unique process that Dr. Goldberg has used to successfully convert grief into, in many cases, out right joy and renewal. Although he says, he is not the one doing the healing of the patient. “I’m 1% and they’re 99% of the therapy.” They are clearly doing the work and as a result, a true healing from loss takes place. He also makes a strong point of saying that these practices are indigenous to many ancient cultures. “They are shamanic techniques that have been around for thousands of years. I’ve just ‘westernized’ them to make them more accessible.”
It is also worth noting here that Goldberg stresses the consequences of sustained bereavement as an impediment to our loved one’s ascension. He says, “When you bereave for someone you are actually hurting them. Your sadness sends out a negative energy.” That coupled with their possible sense of confusion if indeed they reside on the lower astral levels can make for a toxic concoction and no one will ultimately benefit from this mix of ingredients. Rather, if your loved one needs assistance in order to ascend into their true state, you can become an integral partner in that process and as a result, you free the loved one from possible entrapment in the lower realms and you free yourself of feeling trapped in grief.
Although Dr. Goldberg believes that people wanting to learn these techniques, including COBE’s, for the purposes of diminishing grief may be increasing slightly, there are still very few who are aware that this approach is available to them because it is not widely practiced and offered as a therapeutic modality.
As we forge toward a new model of life and reality; one that requires a new paradigm of thought and action, let us consider these approaches to understanding the process of life and the afterlife. And in so doing, we not only renew our trust in the continuation of life for our loved ones but tap into the “intimations of immortality” for ourselves.
Dr. Bruce Goldberg holds a B.A. degree in Biology and Chemistry, is a Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, and has a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology. He retired from dentistry and since then has concentrated on his thriving international hypnotherapy practice in Los Angeles, California. He is the author of 21 best-selling and award winning books, including Past Lives, Future Lives. His second book, The Search For Grace, was made into a television movie by CBS. Dr. Goldberg was the consultant on the film.
Dr. Goldberg has appeared on Oprah, Regis, Jerry Springer, Montel, CNN, CBS News, NBC, ABC, FOX, CNBC, The History Channel and Coast to Coast AM. He has also been featured in The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. He has conducted more than 35,000 past life regressions and future life progressions and has helped thousands of patients to empower themselves through the use of these valuable techniques. Visit his web site at: www.drbrucegoldberg.com
You can get his latest book, Exploring the Fifth Dimension directly from his web site or from Amazon:
If you enjoyed this article and would like to see the work of Higher Journeys continue, in addition to my broadcast of Conscious Inquiry with Alexis Brooks on CLN, please consider making a small donation today to keep us going!
...thank you!
...thank you!
