Lehal Library

3. The Gateway Program In the mid-seventies, a development took place that changed drastically much of our activities. Only in retrospect did it become discernible. Esalen at Big Sur in California invited us to conduct a weekend workshop using our new methods and techniques. In a way, we took it to be somewhat of a recognition of what we were doing. Esalen was then known as a beginning source for many new types of psychological theory and practice, and somewhat a fountainhead of intellectual approaches to the human mind. We accepted, and made the trip, not quite sure what to expect when we got there. We had never handled twenty-four people at one time in the consciousness states familiar to us. I am sure the participants really didn’t know what to expect either, except that it had to do with the out-of-body experience. We had planned a roundthe-clock program, with food available at all times, and breaking up occasionally for two cycles of sleep. I and an engineer associate, Bill Yost, were the only ones there to conduct this marathon. Because we were dealing with unknown subjects, we brought with us an affirmation for all of the participants to memorize before they started the session. I am more than my physical body. Because I am more than physical matter, I can perceive that which is greater than the physical world. Therefore, I deeply desire to expand, to experience: to know, to understand, to control, to use such greater energies and energy systems as may be beneficial and constructive to me and to those who follow me.