The Virtual Reality of Life: Tom Campbell and Jeffrey Mishlove Discuss OBEs, Robert Monroe, and My Big TOE

1. Remembering Robert Monroe and Journeys Out of the Body
2. The Larger Consciousness System and Us
3. Are We Inside a Computer Simulation?
4. Paranormal Phenomena and the Larger Consciousness System
5. Bring Your Toughest Questions to Tom Campbell
6. Tom Campbell Answers More Tough Questions
7. Tom Campbell Answers Even More Tough Questions

Campbell challenges the traditional way we think about OBEs. (~14:56)

Out of body is just not the right term. It’s the way most people think of it. They think that their consciousness is inside their body or their spirit or their soul, whichever they want to say, and that it somehow comes out of the body and then moves around in the non-physical world and so on. But it’s not like that. It’s not that this spirit lives inside your body. It’s not that way at all. To be more accurate, you would have to say that not that you get out of your body but that you get out of your mind. But that has another connotation that isn’t very helpful, being out of your mind. But you’re already out of your body, your consciousness. So the body in my world is an avatar, a body that’s computed, and consciousness is what’s real and fundamental. So in that case, out of body just is the wrong way to look at it. But it’s the natural way that people look at it. It’s kind of the obvious way that people look at it.

Campbell reveals that these encounters are often tests. (~54:49)

People who are trying to go out of body, they read about it and they want to do it. But they’re frightened. And they get out of body and suddenly they’re a stranger in a strange land and they don’t have any idea. Are there monsters live here or what? And they have a fear of the unknown. And that fear of the unknown will manifest into some scary thing. And often they will come back frightened, out of body with a terrifying experience. And they won’t try to do it anymore because it frightens them. Well, the whole point of this virtual reality that we’re in is to get rid of fear, not create more fear. So often tests are given. Right at the process of trying to get out of body, a monster will show up with big fangs of him or something and growl at somebody or a couple of thugs will come by and beat you up or something will happen. And if you deal with it well, which is not to be afraid of it, you know, that monster say, well, hello, nice meeting you here. Have a good day. And then the monster turns into smoke and disappears. You see, but if it’s then back in the body you go and you’re not ready yet. So these tests are given to keep people who really shouldn’t be there from being there, you know, before they’re ready, because what will happen, they’ll get so terrified that then they’re worse off than they were before they started.

One of the most surprising revelations is how Campbell’s work has resonated with religious audiences. (~1:57:49)

Larger Consciousness System. Well, we will be exploring the Larger Consciousness System in great depth. I know people think, well, that’s just your term for God, but I know that it’s not quite the same. No, it’s similar though. You know, I was surprised. I thought, you know, the religious people are not going to like this. You know, because they have their dogma and they have their way of seeing the world and they’re not really going to like this. But I found out that mostly the contrary was true. I had any number of people who would write to me or talk to me and say, I had one lady in particular, she was a nurse, and she said, I’m a very religious person. I take pride in that. And everywhere I go, I take two books, the Bible and My Big Toe. And I thought, that’s wonderful. I really appreciate you telling me that. But why? I thought people who were very religious wouldn’t like this. And they said, no, they said, I got over the dogma and all that stuff a long time ago. So that’s not what religion is about. Religion isn’t a social club. It’s not about the fish fry. It’s not about that at all. So they separated spirituality from religion in their own minds. They were very committed to spirituality and they did it within religion. But when they got my big toe, suddenly they found the logical side of it. And it wasn’t an illogical kind of thing that just required belief. It was actually science.