If you can't get your mind around that, you'll just have to visit Focus 34/35 and "find out for yourself," as Bob Monroe would say.

Skip Atwater

Since my father's transition in March of 1995, many have asked if I have talked with him or seen him. In order to understand here-now, I will review a past encounter that leads to present awareness.

In the early days when my father began having OBE's (out-of-body experiences), I was unaware of what was actually taking place. I was seven years old at the time. As I grew older, he felt more comfortable discussing his adventures with me. There were several times when he would "visit" me in the OBE state and we would later compare our perceptions of the experience. I remember one such event when I was at boarding school. I was sitting under a tree, writing in my journal, and expressing my feelings of loneliness through poetry. I was crying--missing my family and friends at home. Slowly I became aware of someone touching my face, a familiar presence. I knew it was my father. I didn't physically "see" him, but I knew he was there. A tremendous surge of energy, of love, encompassed my total being. I felt secure and the sadness seemed to drift away as a smile came across my face. His hug was greatly needed and I thanked him for always being there. My signal to him was strong; that is why he was drawn to my physical presence. A few days later I received a letter from him. The letter verified what I had written about the experience in my journal. He had definitely been with me, for he described the tree and the sadness I was feeling. In the letter, he told me that he loved me very much and there was no need to cry. I was not alone for there is a part of him that is always with me and that I would soon understand the greater part of me.

There are many other instances in my life where communications with him were through NVC (non-verbal communication). His favorite way of communicating is still by ROTE. This method has been consistent throughout the years. Through his transition, there were many such communications taking place on many different levels of awareness as well as in C-1 consciousness.

The week after his transition, I went to the top of the mountain behind his home to meditate. Sitting beneath the trees, I felt their strength and the comfort of the gentle breeze as it caressed my face. Moving into my place of silence, to the place of stillness within, I felt safe and secure. I became aware of my father and was immediately overwhelmed with the feeling of unconditional love. It felt as if he were all around me and within me at the same time--this pure love energy enfolding me and surrounding every part of my physical being. In this state of bliss, he said clearly, "Feel the presence rather than trying to perceive the vision." I floated within the feeling of those words and experienced the power of the energy of love. Slowly the feeling faded on a physical level but the essence of that experience will always remain.

There is a common thread that extends through all of us in all different levels of awareness. It is an energy--it is what we truly are after all other emotions have been erased. It is love. We are love. This energy we experience is the energy of all, the energy of one. We seek love in all that we do for we seek to know the essence of who and what we are.

I recently encountered Bob again in the Exploration 27 Program last week. His excitement was exhilarating concerning our group's learning experiences. His love and encouragement continue to assist us. He continues to be the explorer and his curiosity continues to propel him to seek out new adventures There. His message is that we have to continue to seek the answers and the only way we will KNOW is to find out for ourselves through our own direct experience. There is a rule that one must follow after transition from the Earth Life System. It is the only rule that applies in the Park environment, Focus 27. The rule is that there is to be no imposition of one's will upon another. He has given us the map of the Interstate. It is our choice to follow that Interstate or explore other routes along the way.

Through personal experience and communications, I have found that my father has reconnected with his I-There, yet continues to appear on occasion as an energy form at the Park. It is easiest for him to appear as a face or as a tear drop form to those still in the physical. The longer one is not in the physical, the harder it is to project a physical-type form. The message "Feel the presence" holds profound meaning for me. Communication occurs in many different ways. It can be visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or through a sense of knowing. It varies with each individual.

It was made clear by my father that he would not channel through any physical human being. If he were to communicate through physical means, it would most likely be through a computer or some other electronic means. This is evident through his writing in Journeys out of the Body. He talks about receiving a signal from his great-great-grandson in Locale I, who is communicating through a hand-held device similar to a portable radio. He perceives the signal and greets him warmly. This could be a probability in our lifetime. The work at the Institute in many ways is building the bridges between the dimensions. We will continue to explore areas of research related to communication with those who exist in other dimensions. One such avenue is Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC), which is the use of electronic equipment to receive information from non-physical dimensions. This research and experimentation have been ongoing for the past decade and results have been validated. It is likely that a collaboration of research efforts will occur in the near future.

To summarize in simple terms, yes I do communicate with my father and others. One message I receive consistently is similar to Bob's writing in Ultimate Journey. There is only change, there is no separateness, there is only one, and there is only love. This is an intelligent Universe in which we exist and there is a plan. There is nothing by chance and there are no coincidences. With the increasing awareness of the uplifting of human consciousness, our intention in this area is to work in harmony within all the dimensions in which we exist. Through various forms of communication, our knowledge will be greater and our experience Here more rewarding.

© 1997 by The Monroe Institute