Far Journeys

«Contents Flow Sheet Cover Other Books by This Author Title Page Copyright Dedication Prologue Part I Near Reaches 1. Old Local Traffic 2. Hemi-Sync et al. 3. The Gateway Program 4. Explorer Team I 5. New Associations 6. Segue» — el índice declara la arquitectura: Hemi-Sync, el programa Gateway y los equipos de Explorers

«we took to sending our Explorers out beyond the solar system at what appeared a near-instantaneous change of locale. The instruction was to keep going until he or she perceived something worthwhile. They passed by the other suns, found other planets, but no intelligent life» — el método declarado y su resultado inicial

«It seemed to us a sterile universe. The change came in 1974. It took place in all of our Explorers» — cómo nombra ese resultado, y la fecha en que dice que cambió

«Those interested in the activities of the Institute may write The Monroe Institute Route 1, Box 175 Faber, Virginia» — la obra remite a una institución con domicilio: el trabajo ya no es privado

«A later development at the Institute has utilized the same methods and technique in a form of “binaural beats” to create synchronization of both left and right hemispheres in the human brain. The unique coherent brain state that results is known as hemispheric synchronization, or “Hemi-Sync.”» — define el Hemi-Sync: latidos binaurales para sincronizar los hemisferios

«This discovery also permits external control of the degree of activity of eit» — y lo que dice permitir; el corte trunca la frase

«In the current Explorer group, only two remain from the original team. The tide of personal events has moved the others away from the area, their lives visibly altered by the experience» — la rotación del equipo, y cómo describe su efecto en quienes lo dejaron

«Part of my energy that I have when I’m out of body» — palabras de un Explorer, no de Monroe: la energía se reparte entre construir el cuerpo y salir de él

«There seems to be an easy way to do—and a hard way. Given the choice, all of us take the easy route simply because it’s more efficient, saves time and energy. If it’s too easy, some of us feel guilty. We get the uncomfortable sense that we’re missing something if we don’t go the laborious, tried-and-true pattern. If it’s that easy, it must not be good, might even be sinful.» — abre el prólogo, en voz de Monroe, con la sospecha cultural contra lo fácil: si algo ahorra tiempo y energía, sentimos que nos falta algo y hasta que peca.

«Now the problem. Suppose you met someone who had never driven on an interstate. All his life, he has driven only in local traffic. He’s heard about such superhighways. He might even have seen one from a distance or heard the rumble of vehicles or smelled their exhaust fumes. He rationalizes any number of reasons why he hasn’t and won’t go interstate; he doesn’t need to, he’s satisfied the way he is; they travel too fast so it’s not safe; you have to go out of your way to get on it; it’s full of strangers from all over the place so you don’t know whom you’ll meet so you can’t trust them; your car isn’t in very good condition and it might break down and leave you stranded without anybody to help, in some lonely spot you never heard of. Maybe sometime you’ll try it, but not right now.» — la parábola central del prólogo: el amigo que solo ha manejado en tráfico local enumera razones para no entrar a la autopista, y Monroe las llama racionalizaciones.

«Suppose you happened to see a construction order from the state highway department to begin demolition of the old highway so that all local traffic will have to go interstate eventually, like it or not. What do you do? What would you do? Nothing? Suppose the recalcitrant is an old and dear friend. Then what? Your friend knows of the order but refuses to believe it. He can see the work crews beginning to form at the end of the old highway and he» — y el plazo que la parábola impone: la vieja carretera se va a demoler, el amigo lo sabe y lo niega. La frase sigue en la plana siguiente, donde dice que ignora la existencia de las cuadrillas.

«Finally, finally—you discover the stupidly simple answer. You and your friend suffer from the same affliction but from different causes. It is inertia.» — el diagnóstico del prólogo, y su reparto: el obstáculo es la inercia, y el autor se la adjudica también a sí mismo, no solo a quien no quiere cruzar.

«Back in the old railroad days, a locomotive could pull only four or five cars at a time because if more cars than that were added, it would simply spin its drive wheels trying to get started. Inertia. Then a smart young thinker came along and invented the sliding coupler, which let the locomotive pick up the slack—and inertia—one car at a time. Ask any freight conductor what it was like to be in a caboose on the tail end of a 100-car train when he highballs the engineer.» — de dónde deriva el remedio: el acoplador deslizante, que deja a la locomotora recoger la inercia vagón por vagón, es el modelo del paso gradual que propone.

«It’s doubtful that explosive or catapult methods to full-speed interstate in a different form will be less than confusing and bewildering, even with modification to local traffic standards.» — y la reserva con que lo acota: el método explosivo o de catapulta llevaría a la autopista de golpe, y Monroe duda de que resulte otra cosa que confusión.

«(It is focus of attention, of consciousness, which is without diversion or deviation. No other energy available to you as human is as» — la definición de conciencia que el prólogo trae, y que NO es de Monroe: la dice el interlocutor no humano cuya voz el libro imprime entre paréntesis. Conciencia es foco de atención sin desviación ni diversión, y ninguna energía humana es tan poderosa; la frase sigue en la plana siguiente, donde la compara con una lente que dirige la luz.

«Each time I hear something like that, I realize how far I have to go. (You are doing very well, Mister Monroe. Your own recognition of such percept is an indication.)» — la réplica de Monroe a esa voz y la respuesta de ella: él mide lo que le falta, y el interlocutor lo llama por su nombre. El intercambio muestra el reparto de voces con que trabaja todo el libro.

«Going from local traffic to interstate does indeed require an entry or acceleration lane to merge into the flow. If you can make the tools supplied by local traffic apply in the design and building of the ramp, so much the better. You need to remember especially the inertia factor—pick up the slack on one loaded car at a time, start in low gear so you don’t stall the engine, then shift smoothly; automatic transmissions don’t know when you need to shift. If the design is correct, your friend is cruising along the interstate long before the old highway is closed down.» — el cierre del prólogo: la vía de acceso se construye con las herramientas del tráfico local, y esa concesión es el programa declarado del libro.

«If there is a first and obvious point to be made, I can report that I am still alive physically after twenty-five years of exploring personally the out-of-body experience. A little timeworn, but still more or less operational.» — abre el primer capítulo, en voz de Monroe, con lo que llama su punto primero y obvio: veinticinco años de exploración y sigue vivo.

«There were several moments when I was not so sure. However, some of the best medical authorities have assured me that the physical problems I have encountered have been simple causeand-effect of living in the culture/civilization of mid-twentieth century America. Some take another position. I am still alive as a result of such OOBE activity. Take your pick.» — consigna las dos lecturas de sus problemas físicos sin arbitrar entre ellas: unos médicos las atribuyen a vivir en la cultura estadounidense de mediados del siglo XX, otros a la propia actividad, y Monroe deja la elección al lector. La fuente parte *cause-and-effect* con guion de fin de línea y la herramienta lo une.

«So it would seem that one can practice “going out of the body” regularly and survive. Also, after having been tested periodically by experts, I can still make the statement that I am reasonably sane in a not so reasonably sane world.» — la conclusión que saca de su propia supervivencia, y la acota con ironía: la práctica es compatible con seguir vivo y, según los expertos que lo probaron, razonablemente cuerdo.

«What is the out-of-body experience? For those who have not encountered the subject as yet, an out-of-body experience (OOBE) is a condition where you find yourself outside of your physical body, fully conscious and able to perceive and act as if you were functioning physically—with several exceptions. You can move through space (and time?) slowly or apparently somewhere beyond the speed of light. You can observe, participate in events, make willful decisions based upon what you perceive and do. You can move through physical matter such as walls, steel plates, concrete, earth, oceans, air, even atomic radiation without effort or effect.» — la definición operativa que da del OOBE: hallarse fuera del cuerpo físico, plenamente consciente y capaz de percibir y actuar, con la salvedad de que se atraviesa el espacio, se decide y se pasa a través de la materia.

«In earlier literature, it was commonly labeled “astral projection.” I began by refusing to use this term, as it had an occult connotation and was certainly nonscientific by our standards.» — el rechazo explícito del vocabulario astral, y su motivo: Monroe dice haber empezado negándose a usar el término por su connotación oculta y por no ser científico. Es la raíz de la nomenclatura propia que sostiene todo el libro.

«Charles Tart, a psychologist friend, popularized the term “out-of-body experience” when we were working together in the sixties. In the past twenty years, it has become the accepted Western generic term for this particular state of being.» — y a quién adjudica el término que lo sustituye: Charles Tart popularizó out-of-body experience mientras trabajaban juntos en los años sesenta.

«A psychologist friend riding with me took one look at the house, turned, and smiled. “The answer is easy. It’s the house. Take a good look at it.” I stopped the car. The house looked the same. Green roof and stone. The new owner had maintained it nicely. I turned to my friend. “I don’t see anything different.” “The roof.” He pointed a finger upward. “It’s a perfect pyramid. Moreover, it’s covered with copper just like the tops of the big ones in Egypt before the looters took over.”» — palabras de un amigo psicólogo, no de Monroe: atribuye las salidas a la casa misma, un piramidal recubierto de cobre. Monroe lo transcribe como hipótesis ajena.

«That the out-of-body experience frightened me then is a quantum understatement.» — cómo describe su reacción inicial, sin suavizarla.

«One thing is certain. The purpose of the previous book was many times fulfilled.» — lo único que declara cierto sobre el primer volumen: su propósito se cumplió muchas veces.

«However, I’m sure that the great majority of people in our culture are still unaware of this facet of their lives.» — y el límite que le pone a ese cumplimiento: la gran mayoría de la gente sigue sin saber que esta faceta forma parte de su vida.

«I would remain just as I was. I was too much in control—this left-brain “I.” What would happen if I turned this decision-making process over to my total self (soul?), who was purportedly conversant with such activities.» — el giro del método, y la reserva con que Monroe lo enuncia: entregar la decisión al total self —al que él mismo añade un signo de interrogación tras la palabra alma— en vez del yo de cerebro izquierdo.

«Since that night, my nonphysical experiences have been almost totally due to this procedure.» — y lo que adjudica a ese cambio: casi todas sus experiencias no físicas posteriores.

«The results have been of a nature so far removed from anything my conscious mind could conceive of that a new problem arose.» — el problema que dice haberle traído el nuevo método: los resultados quedan fuera de lo que su mente consciente podía concebir.

«Although my physical here-now consciousness is always a participant, better than 90 percent of such events seemed to me impossible to translate into the time-space medium.» — y la abstención con que lo mide: más del noventa por ciento de esos sucesos le parece imposible de traducir al medio tiempo-espacio.

«I never was a consequential drinker, but even a glass of wine begins the rejection process.» — los cambios corporales que consigna al cierre del capítulo, sin explicarlos.

«In recovery, under intense pain, a shot of Demerol only brings on extreme vomiting.» — y el más concreto de ellos: en recuperación quirúrgica, el Demerol solo le provoca vómito.

«A psychologist friend back in the early days was skeptical of this drug allergy. Further, he was interested in what the effects of what are now called entertainment drugs would be on my type of personal and physical makeup. We tried “laboratory”-quality mescaline and LSD on my system. Nothing happened.» — el episodio de las drogas, en voz de Monroe: un psicólogo amigo dudaba de la alergia y probó mescalina y LSD de calidad de laboratorio. El resultado que consigna es el nulo.

«Another item: I asked a nonphysical friend if I had been in a physical life existence in the recent past. It was one of the few clear verbal answers that I received: “Your last human life was spent as a monk in a monastery in Coshocton, Pennsylvania.”» — palabras de un amigo no físico transcritas por Monroe, no afirmación suya: sitúan su última vida humana como monje en un monasterio de Coshocton, Pennsylvania.

«I looked at the map of Pennsylvania and there was no Coshocton indicated. I knew there was a Coshocton, Ohio, because I had lived in the state.» — y la primera comprobación, que sale en contra: en el mapa de Pennsylvania no hay Coshocton; el que él conoce está en Ohio.

«I mentioned the event to a Catholic monsignor friend, and he offered to look it up in his records. Some weeks later he called to say there really was a monastery in a place called Coshocton, Pennsylvania.» — la segunda comprobación, que sale a favor y que Monroe adjudica a un tercero: un monseñor católico buscó en sus registros y confirmó el monasterio.

«For years, I have kept this as a closet secret because no one believes it. I have shown it to my wife, Nancy, and she still is skeptical. It seems that if I leave a certain pair of pants hung in the bedroom closet, it generates paper money.» — el episodio del pantalón, presentado como secreto de armario porque nadie le cree, con su mujer entre los escépticos.

«We have theorized that I may walk in my sleep and insert money in the pants pocket.» — y la hipótesis mundana que él mismo pone a prueba antes que ninguna otra: caminar dormido y meter el dinero.

«One rationale is that it is an ongoing result of a very urgent need for a few dollars back in my teenage period.» — la única explicación que ofrece, y la ofrece como racionalización, no como causa establecida.

«Very few people really believe it, and I don’t blame them.» — y cómo cierra el episodio: reconoce la incredulidad ajena y no la reprocha.

«There have been only two such events, and I don’t think I will deliberately try to fall experimentally. Just another one of those “as yet” unexplained moments.» — las dos caídas en que dice haber aterrizado ligero: no propone mecanismo y las archiva entre lo aún no explicado.

«Almost immediately I was accosted by a vaguely formed individual who gave me this very specific instruction: “Mr. Monroe, be at Eaglehill at 7 A.M. on July fourth.”» — palabras de un individuo apenas formado que Monroe transcribe: la cita a Eaglehill, con hora y fecha.

«Most important, “they” actually called me by name.» — lo que a él le parece más importante del episodio: que lo llamaran por su nombre.

«It was either the wrong Eaglehill, or I understood it wrong, misinterpreted, or it was all a hoax or a dream.» — la abstención con que cierra el viaje fallido a Eaglehill: enumera cuatro lecturas posibles, entre ellas el engaño y el sueño, sin quedarse con ninguna.

«The invitation or request was not that I go to Eaglehill physically: it was that I be there in an out-of-body state. What the invitation did not take into account was how difficult it is for me to go directly to a specific place, rather than a person.» — la lectura que finalmente adopta, y el límite técnico que le añade: la cita era para el estado fuera del cuerpo, y llegar a un lugar concreto le resulta difícil, más que llegar a una persona.

«He related to me that it was a special federal research installation. It was being constructed just about the time I was there. Evidently it is still not common knowledge, or at least I don’t want to take that chance.» — lo que le contó un tercero sobre el sitio, y por qué Monroe no lo divulga.

«He smiled. “That’s what we call it here in Virginia.» — palabras de Roy, no de Monroe: bautizan la partida de póker semanal con el nombre que el capítulo usará en adelante.

«The first indicator that there were unusual factors involved in card-playing choir practice came about two years later when there were six of us playing a game of seven-card stud.» — cómo fecha el primer indicio de algo inusual en esas partidas: dos años después, en una mano de seven-card stud.

«Suddenly, without any question, I knew that the card dealt to me was the six of clubs.» — el fenómeno que reporta, en su formulación más escueta: un saber inmediato de la carta oculta, sin pregunta ni duda.

«The odds against two successive straight flushes of the same denomination held by the same person in a six-handed card game are about 5,780,000 to one.» — el argumento con que lo respalda es estadístico, no experiencial: la improbabilidad de dos escaleras de color seguidas en una mesa de seis.

«I suspect a lot of high rollers have made a lot of money on such dealings and lost also because the “knowing” was not right.» — y la reserva con que lo acota en el mismo párrafo: el saber también falla, y quien apuesta por él también pierde.

«With the publication of Journeys Out of the Body, we began to receive surprising inquiries, information, and cooperation from many unexpected sources. A book intended for the general public was attracting interest in scientific and academic circles.» — el punto de giro del libro, en voz de Monroe: el primer volumen, escrito para el público general, le trajo consultas y cooperación de círculos científicos y académicos.

«Our laboratory west of Charlottesville, Virginia, opened on an entirely voluntary basis. Originally named Whistlefield Research Laboratories, this was later changed to the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences. Using the name Monroe was not an ego factor, but simply the quickest way to clear the title officially.» — la fundación del laboratorio y su cambio de nombre, de Whistlefield Research Laboratories a Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences. Monroe declara que el apellido fue trámite, no ego.

«The laboratory consisted of a one-story building designed for the purpose, and included two offices, a lounge, and a research wing.» — la descripción material de la instalación, que es donde el testimonio se vuelve institucional.

«All three booths were connected independently to the control room for both physiological monitoring and the delivery of various types of audio and electromagnetic signals to stimulate a response from a volunteer subject in a booth.» — y el dispositivo: tres cabinas conectadas por separado a una sala de control, con monitoreo fisiológico y envío de señales de audio y electromagnéticas.

«As things developed, we were able to determine most of what we wanted to know simply by reading body-voltage changes.» — qué medida resultó bastar, según él: el voltaje corporal.

«It was through this need to help our subjects stay awake, get into a borderland sleep state, that we began to try utilizing sound.» — de qué necesidad dice haber salido el sonido: mantener al sujeto en el estado limítrofe entre vigilia y sueño.

«This resulted in the discovery of Frequency-Following Response (FFR), which permitted us to hold the subject in a certain state of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep for extended periods of time.» — lo que dice haber descubierto ahí: la Frequency-Following Response, que permitía sostener el estado por largos periodos.

«By introducing certain sound patterns in the subject’s ear, we determined that there was a similar electrical response in the brain waves of the subject. By controlling that brain-wave frequency, we were able to help the subject relax, keep him awake, or put him to sleep.» — y el mecanismo que le atribuye: patrones de sonido en el oído producen una respuesta eléctrica análoga en las ondas cerebrales, y controlar esa frecuencia relaja, mantiene despierto o duerme.

«One of our engineering participants suggested that we patent this unusual process, and we received a patent on the method and technique in 1975.» — la fecha de la patente y de quién partió la idea: un participante ingeniero, no él.

«One of the first solid points of identification was a state that we began to label Focus 10. There was no particular significance to the number 10, and I am not sure where it originated. Also, we wanted to be sure it was not confused with other forms of consciousness. Therefore it became simply TEN. We were able to identify this state very specifically and to return to it again and again with our subjects. Easily defined, Focus 10 is a state where the mind is awake and the body asleep.» — el primer estado que el instituto nombra, y su definición canónica: Focus 10, mente despierta y cuerpo dormido.

«It could not be imagined or faked, even if there had been any remote desire to do so.» — cómo defiende la solidez del estado, sin aportar más prueba que la propia afirmación.

«To see how far this would go, we sent a tape of the composite signal to a psychiatrist friend in Kansas. In an experiment, he tested it on four completely naïve subjects and with no suggestion as to what to expect. He reported that one of the four subjects quit the test because he found that he was bouncing against the ceiling of the room looking down at his physical body.» — el ensayo con sujetos ajenos al instituto, y el resultado lo reporta el psiquiatra de Kansas, no Monroe: uno de cuatro sujetos ingenuos abandonó la prueba al verse rebotando contra el techo.

«Next came sounds heard in the head, not a part of the synthesized sounds, but voices, music, sometimes loud explosions that startled the subject completely out of Focus 10—something that has still to be explained.» — los fenómenos auditivos que consigna en Focus 10 —voces, música, explosiones— y la abstención con que los cierra: quedan por explicar.

«These phenomena were gradually perceived in a pattern, as somewhat of a band preceding a change into the out-of-body experience. There were also preliminary physiological responses —lowering of blood pressure and pulse, slight temperature drop (0.3°), loss of muscle tone. Subjectively, there were reports of a heaviness in the physical body, sometimes catalepsy, and a strong sense of heat followed by coolness. As the induction of the OOBE state was examined further, one key element did repeat consistently. Subjects began to locate within their nonphysical perception a pinpoint of light. When the subject learned to “move” in the direction of the light until it became larger and larger, and then move through it, the OOBE state was achieved.» — el patrón que dice haber encontrado: esos fenómenos forman una banda previa a la salida, y moverse hacia la luz hasta atravesarla produce el estado.

«But only in recent years has it been discovered that these two halves are entirely different in the functions they perform.» — la base neurológica que invoca para el Hemi-Sync: que los dos hemisferios cumplen funciones enteramente distintas.

«Our right brain is the originator of ideas, spatial sense, intuition, music, emotion, and probably much more than we now realize.» — qué le adjudica al hemisferio derecho, con su propia acotación de que probablemente sea más de lo que se sabe.

«Basically, we are a half-brained society.» — el diagnóstico cultural con que sostiene la necesidad del método.

«How did we get this way? No one is absolutely sure, but one of the better guesses is that the left-brain dominance came about because of a basic need to survive in a physical world.» — y cómo lo acota al enunciarlo: nadie está seguro, y lo que ofrece es una de las mejores conjeturas, no un hecho.

«Moreover, it’s a good guess that the right brain pulls the votingbooth lever in presidential elections.» — un ejemplo suyo del uso cotidiano del hemisferio derecho, presentado también como conjetura. La fuente parte voting-booth con guion de fin de línea y la herramienta lo une.

«Current theory centers around the idea that we shift brain-hemisphere dominance many times during our daily activities.» — la teoría vigente que dice recoger: la dominancia hemisférica se alterna muchas veces al día.

«Hemi-Sync (short for hemispheric synchronization) uses patterns of sound to help create simultaneously an identical wave form in both brain hemispheres.» — la definición del Hemi-Sync en el cuerpo del libro: patrones de sonido que crean simultáneamente la misma forma de onda en los dos hemisferios.

«It is never an actual sound, but it is an electrical signal that only can be created by both brain hemispheres acting and working together.» — y la precisión técnica que le añade: lo que resulta no es sonido sino una señal eléctrica que solo producen los dos hemisferios juntos.

«However, in spite of the broad interest and numerous requests, very few have actually utilized the system with specific patients.» — el límite que reconoce en la difusión clínica: mucho interés y pocos usos reales con pacientes.

«The use of Hemi-Sync in analysis apparently opens the patient to levels of memory that may take years to achieve using standard interview methods.» — lo que dice que abre en análisis, marcado por él mismo como aparente, no como demostrado.

«Our psychiatrist who treated him believes that his exposure to Hemi-Sync during treatment made this possible.» — y a quién adjudica la mejoría de un paciente: es el psiquiatra quien lo cree, no Monroe quien lo afirma.

«Certainly one of the most successful applications of Hemi-Sync is a training series we call Emergency Treatment.» — la aplicación clínica que el instituto declara más lograda, con su nombre propio.

«His case was important in that, because of the many previous operations, his doctor had a very precise history of his physiological state during surgery, how much anesthesia he required, what was needed to control his pain, and his rate of recuperation, among other items.» — por qué presenta ese caso como probatorio: el paciente llevaba quince operaciones y su médico tenía historia fisiológica precisa contra la cual comparar.

«More important, he was able to control totally his problem of chronic pain, which had plagued him in the months and years previously.» — y qué resultado destaca por encima del tiempo de convalecencia: el control del dolor crónico.

«The use of Emergency Treatment during surgery has had varying degrees of success and no failures whenever it has been properly used.» — cómo formula el balance, con la salvedad metida dentro de la afirmación: ningún fracaso siempre que se haya usado bien.

«The president of a major corporation used it during surgery, and refused any postoperative pain or sleep medication.» — uno de los casos que enumera, sin más aparato que el propio relato.

«Executives on long airline flights use it to overcome jet lag.» — y el extremo doméstico de esos usos, que la obra pone al lado de la cirugía sin distinguir de rango.

«In a particular course in a government training school, it increased mental-motor skills by 75 percent. In another test, Morse code students improved their ability by as much as 30 percent.» — las dos cifras de rendimiento que aporta, sin referencia a estudio publicado.

«Stated simply, the Institute holds to the concept that (1) consciousness and the focusing thereof contain any and all solutions to the life processes that man desires or encounters; (2) greater understanding and appreciation of such consciousness can be achieved only through interdisciplinary approaches and coordination; (3) the results of related research effort are meaningful only if reduced to practical application, to “something of value” within the context of the contemporary culture or era.» — el credo declarado del instituto en tres puntos: la conciencia enfocada contiene todas las soluciones, solo se entiende por vía interdisciplinaria, y la investigación vale solo si se reduce a aplicación práctica.

«This led us to the base that consciousness is a form of energy at work.» — la premisa de la que todo lo demás se deriva: la conciencia es energía en obra.

«Once it is perceived in its raw form, one can possibly begin to understand how it is naturally used.» — y la consecuencia que le saca, dicha en potencial: percibida en crudo, quizá pueda entenderse su uso natural.

«Esalen at Big Sur in California invited us to conduct a weekend workshop using our new methods and techniques.» — de dónde salió el formato de taller que se volvió el Gateway: una invitación de Esalen.

«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.» — el dispositivo con que se abre cada sesión, y su motivo declarado: sujetos desconocidos memorizan una afirmación antes de empezar.

«Because I am more than physical matter, I can perceive that which is greater than the physical world.» — la afirmación misma, que los participantes recitan; es fórmula del programa, no proposición que Monroe argumente.

«The results of this first workshop were not spectacular, as far as we could determine, but we did learn much from it. It certainly provided a much broader base for our experimental testing.» — cómo mide el primer taller, sin inflarlo: los resultados no fueron espectaculares y lo que ganaron fue base experimental.

«After reviewing our results, we decided that this would be a very productive way to conduct experiments on such a broad scale that we could certainly not afford to do otherwise.» — y la razón económica que declara para adoptar el formato: era la única manera de experimentar a esa escala.

«We grandly called it the M-5000 Program, on the premise that we would have a magnificent statistical base and a highly sophisticated and welltuned training system if we ran five thousand participants through it.» — el nombre del programa masivo y la premisa estadística que lo justifica, que él mismo califica de grandilocuente. La fuente parte welltuned con guion de fin de línea y la herramienta lo une.

«None of us saw any light phenomena. However, when we went in afterwards and conducted the debriefing we examined the Polaroid photographs taken. The ones preceding the light signal were blank; the two after the exercise were blank. The two taken during the exercise itself showed a round ball with a marbleized effect much like the earth seen from a distance. Why the Polaroid picked up a picture and we could not has been explained by several physicists and photographers. The film can “see” light frequencies our eyes cannot.» — el episodio de la cámara, y cómo Monroe lo argumenta: nadie vio nada, la fotografía sí, y la explicación que propone es que la película registra frecuencias que el ojo no.

«blank film before and after made the two energy photographs more significant, being in the center of the film pack—a most unlikely place to be pre-exposed.» — el control que ofrece contra la objeción obvia: los cuadros en blanco a ambos lados hacen improbable la preexposición.

«Participants also learn to move into what is called Focus 12, where all physical-data input is shut off and the consciousness can reach out and begin to perceive in ways other than through the five senses. The action really begins here, where perspectives and overviews change drastically.» — la definición del segundo estado del programa: Focus 12, con toda entrada de datos físicos cortada y la conciencia percibiendo por fuera de los cinco sentidos.

«Think of where you are now as a clearing in a dark forest—we call it C-1 consciousness. We then take you into the forest to a point where you can still “see” the familiar clearing. That point is a guidepost (Focus 10). After a sufficient number of runs between guidepost and clearing, the fear disappears. At the Focus 10 guidepost, you always know you can get back to the clearing if you get uncomfortable for any reason. From the Focus 10 guidepost, another point is established deeper into the forest and probably “out of sight” of the clearing. This we call Focus 12. After several runs between guideposts 10 and 12, this too becomes familiar and secondary fears fade away. You know that even if you can’t perceive the clearing (C-1) from Focus 12, you can “see” Focus 10—and from 10, you know the way back to C-1.» — la metáfora del bosque con que el programa ordena sus estados: el claro es C-1, Focus 10 y Focus 12 son postes de guía cada vez más adentro, y el método consiste en ir y volver hasta que el miedo se disuelva.

«With the Fear Barrier dissolved, one of the greatest gifts to the human species comes into full play. Curiosity. With the tools provided, the participant is then free to do as he wishes. He accepts the authority to do so—and the responsibility.» — qué dice que queda cuando cae la Barrera del Miedo: la curiosidad, y con ella la autoridad y la responsabilidad del participante.

«The individual, of his own accord, without suggestion but through direct experience, begins to know, rather than believe, that he does survive physical death. It doesn’t make any difference what he does during his physical life, what he believes; he will go on after his physical body dies. Survival beyond physical death is not a belief system, therefore, but a simple fact as natural as being born.» — la afirmación más fuerte que el capítulo hace sobre el programa, y la distinción en que se apoya: el participante pasa de creer a saber que sobrevive a la muerte, y eso deja de ser sistema de creencia para volverse hecho.

«It is inevitable that the borders between this and other realityenergy systems are crossed.» — y lo que da por seguro que ocurre en el proceso: cruzar los bordes entre este sistema de realidad-energía y otros. La fuente parte realityenergy con guion de fin de línea y la herramienta lo une.

«There is no dogma related to the Gateway Program—except that when you begin the session, you should seriously consider that you are “more than your physical body.”» — cómo acota el propio programa su alcance doctrinal: no hay dogma, salvo considerar en serio que uno es más que su cuerpo físico.

«The deep lesson I took from this exercise was that although having heard and read many times that we are what we think, that we limit ourselves by our mind, there I was experiencing something unique, at least for me, by overcoming doubts or limitations which I am solely responsible for.”» — palabras de un participante del Gateway, transcritas por el libro: lo que dice haber aprendido es que los límites que venció eran de él mismo.

«I don’t believe in coincidence. Although the implications are not clear to me, I feel that there is a reason I experienced something I had never consciously thought about before.» — otro participante, en el mismo bloque de reportes, deja abierto lo que significa lo que vivió: no le ve implicaciones claras.

«I am now considering what to me is the strong possibility that almost anything that can be formed into five physical senses, language, oriented thought is an illusion.» — y un tercero lleva el reporte al extremo especulativo, marcándolo como posibilidad fuerte y no como certeza.

«When I seek to perceive ultimate reality for me, (what I think you are referring to when you use the word ‘home’), I experience blankness and bliss.» — el mismo reporte donde el participante describe lo que encuentra al buscar la realidad última, entre paréntesis su propia glosa del término que le propusieron.

«During one ‘Rebal’ breathing exercise I experienced what was the beginning of some rather puzzling happenings. For reasons unknown to me I was suddenly in a black box—a void of total blackness.» — abre el reporte del participante identificado como 2312-CF, no la voz de Monroe: durante un ejercicio de respiración se halla en una caja negra.

«Later one of the men took me aside to explain. He told me that a few of the men in our group had found themselves fantasizing about me during their own tape experiences—hence all the sexual thought vibrations I was picking up. He also told me that, having a hard time dealing with their sexual attraction, they were putting me in their ‘energy conversion box’ (a place to leave problems behind) before embarking into their other states of consciousness. They had all helped put me in my black void so as not to distract them!» — y la explicación que otro participante le da, dentro del mismo reporte: varios hombres del grupo fantaseaban con ella y la habían puesto ahí para no distraerse.

«I transformed my annoyance at being used as a ‘sex object,’ even if only consciously projected, and started wondering what growth could be gained from this experience. It started me thinking along other lines and what was to follow would change the course of my life. “And it happened simply because I asked the divine forces in all sincerity for me to be able to experience spiritual love.» — cómo el reporte narra el giro, y a qué lo atribuye: haber pedido a las fuerzas divinas experimentar amor espiritual.

«Then quite unexpectedly I was suddenly drawn by a powerful force to one room in particular—to one CHEC Unit in particular. It took me by total surprise, for the man in that unit was someone I didn’t know very well. In fact, he was the only one at the workshop I had never really had a chance to talk to. He was a young, good-looking psychologist, yet for some reason we seemed to be purposely avoiding each other.» — el encuentro que sigue en el reporte, con la CHEC Unit ajena como lugar y un psicólogo joven al que apenas conocía.

«All at once I had an all-knowing, as I seemed to float over him, that his vibrations were my vibrations. I had an overwhelming desire to meld, to feel a part of him—to become one. It was truly one of the sharpest and clearest of experiences. “I gave to him both my body and soul until there was this tremendous energy surge that rocked and exploded in us. It was an experience that is beyond words, for love, total and absolute, surrounded us more strongly than can be earthly experienced or imagined. The more I gave, the greater I received and I didn’t want to let go. I wanted to give him even more. It was like two energies in perfect unison becoming one at last.» — y el núcleo del reporte, en sus propias palabras: un saber inmediato de que las vibraciones del otro eran las suyas, una entrega que describe como más allá de las palabras y dos energías que se vuelven una.

«Memories of past lives together came rushing in like flashes of light.» — lo que el reporte dice que trajo consigo la unión, sin que el libro lo respalde ni lo discuta.

«It didn’t matter—our stories fit like puzzle pieces, matching perfectly and interlocking.» — y la única comprobación que el reporte ofrece: que los dos relatos coincidieron al contrastarlos.

«Instead the Center now provides what are called CHEC Units (Controlled Holistic Environmental Chambers), which provide isolation much as we had in our original laboratory booths. Not only are the taped exercises conducted by headphones in the CHEC Unit, but the participant actually sleeps in these during the night.» — la instalación con su nombre desplegado: las Controlled Holistic Environmental Chambers, herederas de las cabinas del laboratorio, donde además se duerme.

«Because it is much like a Pullman berth on the old railroad trains, some people initially feel they cannot sleep in there the first night, because of a sense of claustrophobia perhaps. With the environmental treatment in the CHEC Unit—fresh air and temperature control plus sleep sounds that are available—the main problem after the second night is to wake them up, the isolated sleep has been so productive and restful. It helps achieve such a complete sleep that a number of participants have built CHEC Units in their own homes.» — cómo describe la vida dentro de ellas, con el inconveniente por delante: claustrofobia la primera noche, y después el problema de despertar a la gente.

«Because the Gateway Program is so difficult to produce and conduct properly, each year we question the value of continuing it. All things considered, it is certainly not a financial success, although supposedly we are the only research facility that charges for the privilege of being a volunteer. Each time we consider closing it down, we receive just coincidentally another report from a graduate who states how meaningful and how constructive have been the results of his attendance. So we schedule another year of Gateways.» — la declaración económica más franca del capítulo: el programa no es un éxito financiero, y el instituto cobra por el privilegio de ser voluntario. Lo que lo sostiene, dice, es el reporte de un egresado que llega justo cuando piensan cerrarlo.

«Too many sessions had been aborted because the subject reported a “problem” in the physical body, only to find upon a hurried return that it was nothing more than a distended bladder.» — el detalle con que rebaja sus propias sesiones: muchas se abortaron por un problema del cuerpo que resultó ser la vejiga llena.

«We sent our subjects to explore the moon, which they found a very dull place.» — cómo resume el resultado de la exploración lunar, sin adorno.

«For example, what to us in the control room was a minute could become hours or timeless to the volunteer in the booth.» — una divergencia que el laboratorio consigna sin resolver: el minuto de la sala de control puede ser horas o ser sin tiempo para el sujeto en la cabina.

«It was at this point that we began to call them our Explorer team.» — cuándo aparece el nombre que reordena todo el libro: los sujetos pasan a llamarse equipo de Explorers.

«Some had never met one another, so there was no cross-communication. In looking back to examine the reason for this massive change, the only thing that we could find was: we had inserted the affirmation developed for the Gateway Program at the beginning of each experimental session in the lab. Other than that, we made no significant changes in Hemi-Sync frequencies, basic environment, or methods of presentation.» — el argumento con que aísla la causa del cambio de 1974: ocurrió en todos, algunos sin conocerse entre sí, y lo único que había cambiado era la afirmación insertada al inicio de cada sesión.

«It may have been the second part that was the catalyst: … Also, I deeply desire the help and cooperation, the assistance, the understanding of those individuals whose wisdom, development, and experience are equal to or greater than my own. I ask their guidance and protection from any influence or any source that might provide me with less than my stated desires.» — y la parte de la afirmación que señala como catalizador, marcada por él mismo como conjetura: pedir la ayuda y la protección de individuos de sabiduría igual o mayor.

«It was suddenly as if a curtain had been lifted. Almost every time one of our Explorers went into the out-of-body state or simply into an advanced Focus 12, they encountered intelligent beings who were more or less willing to communicate—and could do so. After several years of finding only barrenness, the effect upon us was overwhelming. We sometimes had difficulty» — cómo describe el resultado: los Explorers empiezan a encontrar seres inteligentes dispuestos a comunicarse casi siempre, y el efecto sobre el equipo lo declara abrumador. La frase sigue en la plana siguiente, donde dice que a veces no sabían cómo manejarlo.

«Here is a portion of the transcript from the file recording of one of these early meetings. SS/TC (PHYSICIST) XAL—8:12 MIN #332» — cómo el libro introduce el material de sesión, con su etiqueta de archivo: es transcripción del Explorer marcado XAL, físico, no relato de Monroe.

«Back into regular 12. Had two encounters—the first with an unseen intelligence who replied to a general query for communications. Sort of an ‘I’ll talk to you,’ but it was obvious that he (I guess I say ‘he’ because I got the feeling of a ‘he’) wanted to listen and said ‘O.K., what do you want to talk about?’ And as I tried to put the burden on him or it for some information about itself, about its environment, I got the feeling it was angry for being bothered. Sort of like bumping into a busy New York pedestrian.» — palabras del Explorer XAL, con sus propias reservas metidas dentro: dice que le atribuye género por una sensación, y compara al interlocutor con un peatón neoyorquino molesto.

«The second was much more interesting. The second communication, I didn’t just get an intelligence, but got a complete visual image. Female, late thirties, and she was very pleased to communicate and offered to show me around and showed me a lot of the facility.» — y el segundo encuentro que reporta XAL, con imagen visual completa de una mujer que se ofrece a mostrarle el sitio.

«I do not know whether they even believed that there was another reality other than their own.» — una abstención dentro del propio material de Explorer: no sabe si aquellos creían que hubiera otra realidad que la suya.

«It seemed like an earth-type physical reality to them, although I don’t recognize many of their devices and structures—seemed very foreign» — cómo el Explorer describe el entorno percibido, con el límite dentro: le parece una realidad física de tipo terrestre pero no reconoce los aparatos. La frase sigue en la plana siguiente.

«I feel very comfortable here, like this is where I belong and I have felt like this before.» — y el tipo de dato que estas transcripciones aportan con más frecuencia: no cosmología, sino pertenencia y reconocimiento.

«The fact of the matter is, I suspect, there was at that stage no actual means that we knew of to “turn off” such communication. I suspect also that no one wanted to anyway, at the least, myself.» — cómo Monroe explica que no cortaran la comunicación, con la sospecha por delante en las dos mitades: no sabían cómo apagarla, y de todos modos nadie quería.

«One Explorer developed a very close relationship with what appeared to be some four or five beings, one of whom acted as a spokesman.» — el formato recurrente del material: un Explorer trata con cuatro o cinco seres, uno de los cuales hace de portavoz.

«The four helpers just helped to lift, as this energy body just came to my physical body.» — palabras del Explorer en sesión, no de Monroe: describe a cuatro ayudantes levantando su cuerpo energético.

«We will not say higher or lower—they are light dimensions as we break through into the various levels.» — la voz que el Explorer transcribe se corrige a sí misma sobre la jerarquía: no dice más alto ni más bajo, sino dimensiones de luz.

«She was quite skeptical of what we were doing, and we spent several hours that afternoon going over our methods and techniques. Finally, in order to help her understand a little better, I suggested that she go into booth 2 and lie down and listen to some of the Hemi-Sync patterns and find out for herself if she had any response to them. She agreed, fully expecting that there would be nothing unusual about what was to happen.» — el montaje del episodio de la psicóloga escéptica, declarado por Monroe como tal: aceptó esperando que no pasara nada.

«As a matter of fact, there are four of them.” I made contact again. “Are you sure there are four?” “I can perceive them very clearly. There are two at my feet and two at my head.” I pushed the mike button again. “What are they doing?” “They are trying to lift me out of my body, if you can believe that.» — palabras de ella dentro de la cabina, con su propia incredulidad incorporada a la frase: percibe cuatro entidades, dos a los pies y dos a la cabeza, que intentan levantarla.

«The four want to lift me out, and now there is a fifth that is arguing with them that they should not.” “Do you want them to?” I asked. “I don’t think so,” her voice came back. “Now they have stopped arguing and they are going away, so I guess there is no problem.» — y cómo termina el episodio en su propio relato: una quinta entidad discute con las cuatro, dejan de discutir y se van.

«It should be noted here that reaching this state of trust and communication and/or association with these friendly entities and beings took hours and hours of preliminary contact, plus “third party” communication discussions. It did not happen overnight to the degree indicated here.» — la advertencia con que Monroe acota todo el material de Explorers: ese grado de trato costó horas y horas de contacto previo, no se dio de un día para otro.

«In no case was any drug or any other medication used in any of our experiments.» — la abstención de método que declara para todo el laboratorio.

«Moreover, there are indications that a magnetic field is generated of a type with which our science is unfamiliar. One of the results of this is to set up magnetic fields in nearby electrical loops as well as audio cables. Another is to affect nearby magnetic tape to such an extent that a “print-through” takes place from one layer of tape to another. The recording industry would like very much to know how to do this at a commercial level. However, of course, the results that we have are not significant enough to be commercially viable. Not yet, at least.» — el efecto físico que consigna, con el rango de la afirmación medido: hay indicios de un campo magnético que la ciencia no conoce, y él mismo dice que los resultados no bastan para ser comercialmente viables.

«One night, when we got into our cars parked outside some twenty feet from booth 2, we found that the batteries were dead in all three cars. They jump-started quite easily, as it was a summer night, and stayed in charge afterward. Cars parked on the other side, or sixty feet away, were unaffected. Thus we learned we had better not park too close to booth 2 during certain experiments with specific Explorers.» — el episodio de las baterías descargadas, contado con su control incorporado: los coches a veinte pies quedaron muertos y los de sesenta pies, intactos.

«Exactly why this took place—and still does so—we don’t know.» — y la abstención con que lo cierra, sin proponer mecanismo.

«In hundreds of hours of Explorer communication to date, about one-third consists of those instances where, with the Explorer’s permission, their friendly entities take over their physical bodies and speak using the Explorer’s vocal cords. The other two-thirds are contacts made by the Explorer, who then converses with the nonphysical third party and reports the conversation.» — el reparto declarado del corpus de sesiones, que es la clave para leer las voces del libro: un tercio son entidades hablando por las cuerdas vocales del Explorer con su permiso, dos tercios son el Explorer reportando una conversación.

«What we call the Explorer Material is a combination of fascinating, baffling, awe-inspiring, thought-provoking, sometimes boring data that is certainly much in conflict with many of the belief systems that we have within our culture and civilization. The most important possibility by far is the reality of the Explorer Material, their experiences, and especially these friendly entities who assist them. Second to this is the fact that the process is ongoing, expanding.» — cómo Monroe nombra y califica el corpus entero de sesiones: lo llama fascinante, desconcertante y a veces aburrido, en conflicto con los sistemas de creencia de la cultura, y dice que lo más importante sería su realidad.

«To resolve that possibility one way or another will take some doing and some capacities far beyond the limits of our organization.» — y la abstención institucional con que lo entrega: resolver si es real está fuera de la capacidad de su organización.

«In examining the Explorer sessions in consensus, certain elements repeat themselves: 1. Whatever they may be, such nonphysical third parties have the ability to radiate a warmth of friendliness that evokes complete trust—even with their lives—on the part of the Explorers.» — el primero de los patrones que dice repetirse en las sesiones, y con qué reserva lo enuncia: sean lo que sean, esos terceros irradian una calidez que evoca confianza total.

«The part that we have to play in this daydream is one of education, one of learning and bettering ourselves, striving to become more. Now, I’m not clear why this kind of overconsciousness or over-soul is having this daydream, but I have the feeling that it is for its own education. It learns as we learn.» — palabras de un Explorer físico, no de Monroe: propone que la realidad es el ensueño de una over-soul que se educa a través de nosotros, y él mismo dice no tener claro por qué lo sueña. La fuente parte overconsciousness con guion de fin de línea y la herramienta lo une.

«I’ve gotten all kinds of things, and I’ve been trying to sort them and put them into some kind of rational order.» — y cómo el mismo Explorer describe su propio material antes de exponerlo: cosas de toda clase que intenta poner en orden racional.

«through twenty-one are what you call human life on this earth. When a person progresses to level twenty-one, he then has the choice of going higher or staying within the realm of human form, but he cannot go higher unless he is willing to give up human form.” Monitor: “Give up being human?” Other Voice: “Levels twenty-two through twenty-eight are your bridge. They are your levels that you enter upon death. You are on level twenty and because that is an ascending level, you can enter into the realm beyond physical life, but you cannot stay there unless you are willing to give up your human form. Is that clear?”» — la escala de niveles, en voz de la Other Voice que habla en sesión: hasta el veintiuno es vida humana, del veintidós al veintiocho el puente que se cruza al morir, y no se sube sin renunciar a la forma humana.

«And then once a person or a consciousness—we are talking about consciousness—reaches level twenty-eight, the bridge is crossed, and from that point on for a consciousness to evolve higher, it would not again assume human form of any kind,» — y el corte que la misma voz pone en el veintiocho: cruzado el puente, la conciencia ya no vuelve a tomar forma humana.

«I could not help someone who was not on the eighteenth level very much because my plane, my vibrational rate would be different.» — el límite que esa voz se pone a sí misma: no puede ayudar a quien está en otro nivel porque el ritmo vibratorio difiere.

«It does not mean I have reached the highest point by any means. It simply means I have left this group of seven, this overall group of seven.» — y la desmentida que hace de su propio rango: haber llegado a donde está no significa el punto más alto.

«The thinking process needs to be curved to communicate with the other personalities here on earth again.» — el mismo ejecutivo del equipo de Explorers explica qué le cuesta comunicarse: hay que curvar el proceso de pensamiento para hablar con las otras personalidades.

«Apparently when, although fertilization is a mechanical thing, a chemical thing … the personalities out of body are very much aware of when things happen and choose at that time to develop the fetus or not to develop.» — y lo que la misma sesión dice sobre la concepción, marcado por el propio hablante como aparente: la fertilización es mecánica y química, y las personalidades fuera del cuerpo eligen desarrollar el feto o no.

«They tell me right now, one is old, one is crippled, one is male, and where they are I am not ready to know.… and I could feel being old and crippled but I could not feel being male.” Monitor: “Is this entering of the physical body limited just to the planet Earth or other planets?” “We go to other places. There are beings on other places and our energy is aware of all these other places.” Monitor: “Do we inhabit physical bodies in these other places?” “Not like human Earth bodies … but … other forms of things or beings.» — el Explorer reporta lo que le dicen sobre sus otras personalidades simultáneas, y declara el límite: dónde están, no está listo para saberlo.

«decisions it builds or strengthens its personality. It is possible for the energy to destroy itself.” Monitor: “What is classified then as misuse?” “When it has not added to its present knowledge, when it has not gained anything more than it had learned previously. It is more than just a question of good or bad or good or evil. For example, killing by itself would not mean that it was destroying the energy by killing the animal or another human being.» — la voz que habla en sesión define el mal uso de la energía sin recurrir al bien y al mal: mal uso es no haber añadido conocimiento, y matar por sí solo no cuenta como destrucción.

«He doesn’t want to give a name right now because he doesn’t want it to interfere with the training that we are doing … be too concrete, I need to be more and more aware and he can do his work better right now without me giving him a name.» — el Explorer transmite la negativa de su interlocutor a darse nombre, y el motivo que le atribuye: un nombre sería demasiado concreto para el trabajo en curso.

«The spirit was a result of that. The spirit resulted from the fusion of these particles.» — la cosmogonía que la sesión propone, en boca de la entidad: el espíritu resulta de la fusión de partículas.

«They are not long-lasting, in the sense of thousands and thousands of years, they are not forever kinds of things.» — y la acotación que la misma voz le pone: esos espíritus no son eternos.

«We are the tester to see how far this spirit can think, can fuse particles together.» — el papel que la voz adjudica a los humanos dentro de ese esquema: son la prueba con que el espíritu mide su propio alcance.

«They are afraid that all the brains that they created could fathom it or could take it.» — y el temor que les atribuye, que es lo que vuelve inestable la jerarquía: las mentes creadas podrían alcanzar o tomar al espíritu.

«They are still experimenting to see what their own potential is and we are one part of that experiment.» — cómo la voz sitúa a la humanidad: no como fin, sino como una parte de un experimento en curso.

«They don’t know that term ‘vicinity.’ Vicinity to them is, as long as it is within millions of millions of miles of their reach it is in their vicinity.» — la escala que la sesión atribuye a esos seres, dicha por el Explorer al traducir un término que ellos no usan.

«Blessed are they who seek me. In seeking me, their long period of forgetfulness is coming to an end. They are awakening to who they truly are—a living part of me, manifesting life and radiating love.» — cambio de registro dentro del mismo material: la sesión etiquetada NVP habla en primera persona divina, con cadencia de escritura devocional. Es transcripción de sesión, no doctrina que Monroe suscriba.

«I defy logic and am beyond your conceptual imaginings. “I live and move and have my being in all there is. You have sought me amiss.» — y cómo esa misma voz se sustrae a toda comprobación: dice desafiar la lógica y estar más allá de lo imaginable.

«“I neither slumber nor sleep and you must learn that your soul neither slumbers nor sleeps.» — la fórmula con que esa voz enuncia la continuidad del alma, calcada de la dicción bíblica.

«All of the Explorer Material has one characteristic in common. They pose more questions than they answer. As they say, we have a problem here. We thought our “new” associations would provide answers. But for every answer, at least fifty new questions arise out of the Explorer Material.» — cómo Monroe cierra el capítulo del material, y es una abstención, no una conclusión: el material plantea más preguntas que las que responde, cincuenta nuevas por cada respuesta.

«Thus deep or “delta” sleep represents the point where consciousness is completely detached from physical reality, and the physical body is operating on an autonomic basis with preprogrammed alert and alarm systems to recall consciousness if needed. The fact that most human consciousnesses do not or cannot recall or remember these nightly excursions is insufficient proof that they do not take place. A night of OD’ing on booze can provide the same degree of amnesia.» — la primera de las cinco proposiciones numeradas con que Monroe resume su posición: el sueño delta es el punto en que la conciencia se separa del todo, y no recordarlo no prueba que no ocurra, como no lo prueba la amnesia por alcohol.

«A form of dynamic energy yet to be identified and measured by mainstream human civilization is present in all carbon-based» — la segunda proposición, en la parte que cabe en la plana: una energía dinámica que la civilización aún no identifica ni mide está en toda vida basada en carbono. Sigue en la plana siguiente.

«organic life. It is this essence in organized form that enters the physical body prior to birth and departs at death presumably more educated and with a minimum of wear and tear. The difference between the human version and that of a cow or a worm is only a degree of complexity of such organization.» — y su continuación en la plana siguiente: esa esencia entra en el cuerpo antes del nacimiento y sale al morir, y lo que separa al humano de una vaca o un gusano es solo el grado de complejidad.

«The dominant waking consciousness that Man considers of paramount importance in the scheme of his existence is but a part —and perhaps the lesser—of the various forms thereof used by and/or available to him. The addition of other parts can be made systematically, albeit carefully, to the dominant without danger or destruction. The result may be of a magnitude beyond the comprehension of the present dominant, therefore engendering, at the least, anxieties—at the most, total rejection.» — la tercera, con el efecto adverso previsto dentro: la conciencia despierta es solo una parte, y añadirle otras produce ansiedad o rechazo total.

«Human consciousness is but a manifestation of a system generated under (2). As a vibrational pattern—multilayered and of many interacting and resonating frequencies—it responds to and acts upon like patterns from external sources. The key to greater utilization thus may be the creation and application of external vibration at appropriate resonating frequencies so as to enhance a desired or needed specific.» — la cuarta, que es la que fundamenta el Hemi-Sync: la conciencia es un patrón vibratorio de muchas frecuencias que responde a patrones externos semejantes.

«Human and other patterns of consciousness are inherently nonphysical. As such, they are not time-space-dependent. Once released from physical restraints, they move into ambience and environment in accordance with the then total energy matrix generated by each and the complexity contained therein. No belief system, illusion, action, or thought incurred during a sojourn in time-space can alter this basic process. In short, like it or not, you’re going to continue to do and be after you can no longer hang in there physically. There is no rest not only for the wicked but for everyone else.» — y la quinta, dicha sin consuelo: los patrones de conciencia no dependen del tiempo-espacio, ningún sistema de creencia altera el proceso, y no hay descanso ni para los malos ni para nadie.

«We are trying to show her there are many, many dimensions of one human self.» — palabras de la voz que habla en sesión sobre la Explorer a la que atiende, no de Monroe: dice estar mostrándole las muchas dimensiones de un mismo yo humano.

«He came over to me and did something to me and my perception began to change and since that time I have progressed through half a dozen or more altered states, each one being different than the other. I tried to strike up other conversations with this entity and he seemed more inclined and he seemed more to say, ‘Well, do these things and we are not ready to discuss things yet.’ He didn’t seem in a very talkative mood. He was more interested in my performing these exercises than discussing. He came over and his, what I perceive to be hands, in what I perceive to be head, although this was not really related to a physical body. When he did that I could immediately feel these changes in awareness. Some of the states I went through were very specially disoriented to where I really could not determine up from down to sideways or anywhere else. Where I seem to be twisting and kind of rotating specially. Until I just lost any kind of sense of orientation. The fact that I was aware that the states were changing and relating them to my changing internal states seemed to be the lesson.» — el reporte de un Explorer, con su propia lectura pegada: lo que le pareció la lección no fue el contenido de los estados sino advertir que cambiaban.

«They are nice, warm friendly folk … friendly hands, but they were hands leading me someplace. Their presence was all around me leading me someplace. He … it cares about me. The first thing that came is that we’re part of one another. But we are kind of lost in communicating with one another. It’s there on the tip but it’s not out in the open. The white presence is trying to help us or pushing me.» — y la ambigüedad que otro reporte deja sin resolver: manos amistosas que llevan a alguna parte, y una presencia blanca que ayuda o empuja.

«All humans move into the out-of-body state during sleep.» — el encabezado de esa primera proposición, dicho sin matiz: todos los humanos entran al estado fuera del cuerpo mientras duermen.

«The ability to move that extracted human essence, once taken from the body, to various other sites (realities?), and return, all under perfect control and what seems to be absolute safety.» — una de las capacidades que Monroe atribuye a esa tecnología ajena, y el signo de interrogación que él mismo mete dentro al nombrar los destinos como realidades.

«The ability to enter such a vacated human body and operate it to some degree—again, without disrupting said body’s normal functions.» — otra de la misma lista, que es la que sostiene las sesiones donde una entidad habla por las cuerdas vocales del Explorer.

«The entire history of humankind and earth is available to them in the most minute detail, if needed.» — y la que más alcance le da: la historia entera de la humanidad y de la tierra les estaría disponible al detalle.

«This technology does this with a casualness and certainty that indicates standard operating procedure. They know what they are doing because they have done it many, many times.» — cómo argumenta que no es improvisación: la naturalidad con que lo hacen le indica procedimiento habitual.

«Although this technology does not seem to have the ability to directly affect matter, by some method not visible it can create changes in matter.» — el mecanismo que propone para que algo no material altere la materia: sin tocarla directamente, por un método no visible.

«But it can affect an energy structure, which in turn connects to our neurological system, which in turn affects the physical structure.» — y la cadena con que lo detalla en la plana siguiente: estructura energética, sistema neurológico, estructura física.

«Our attempts to learn more in a specific sense have been severely hampered by the knowledge and experience of the Explorer through which the information is being translated.» — el límite metodológico que reconoce en todo el material: lo que llega está filtrado por el conocimiento y la experiencia del Explorer que lo traduce.

«A key point has surfaced, however. The sum of all my own personal experience, that of our work in the laboratory and the thousands of Gateway experiments, indicates that all other intelligent species, either in the physical universe or in other energy systems, use a form of communication that is total and certainly nonverbal. When words are used in such communication with us, this is a tight narrow-banded tuning, so that they can be understood at least in part. I cannot stress this too much. All other intelligent species use what we now call nonverbal communication (NVC).» — la tesis que cierra la primera parte del libro, con la base en que la apoya: su experiencia, el laboratorio y miles de ensayos Gateway indican que toda otra especie inteligente usa comunicación no verbal.

«It is direct instant experience and/or immediate knowing transmitted from one intelligent energy system and received by another.» — y la definición que da de esa comunicación: experiencia directa instantánea transmitida de un sistema de energía inteligente a otro.

«I like the explanation which attributes it to the very rare characteristic of the earth environment—we could see the sun and moon, planets and stars. This presumes that most lifegenerating and -sustaining planets have thick cloud covers that blot out all of these. Their suns visually are no more than a haze of light. No more, nothing but blackness at night. Our species, able to see the physical universe from the beginning, took the route of astronomy, gravity, electromagnetics, particle theory, quantum mechanics, etc., which we call our sciences.» — por qué cree que la especie humana tomó el camino verbal, y lo marca como explicación que le gusta, no como hecho: se podía ver el cielo, y de ahí salieron la astronomía y las demás ciencias. La fuente parte lifegenerating con guion de fin de línea y la herramienta lo une.

«If I were proficient at NVC (which I am not), and you asked me what was the matter because you detected (unconsciously by NVC) that I had a problem, I would be able to transmit into your sensory system how it felt to have the sore big toe that I had. You would momentarily have a sore toe, just as I had, still understanding that it was my big toe that hurt, not yours. Thus you would know, far better than by means of any possible words that I could say, what I was experiencing or feeling or wanted to communicate.» — el ejemplo con que explica la NVC, y la abstención que mete entre paréntesis sobre sí mismo: él no la domina.

«NVC implies a control of mental processes so alien to our present standards of being that I doubt that there is a single human or group of humans on our planet who have mastered the technique. If there are, they are very quiet about it.» — hasta dónde lleva la duda: duda de que exista un solo humano que domine la técnica, y si lo hay, guarda silencio.

«Before man can communicate (and associate) with intelligent species at all levels of reality, he must become proficient at NVC.» — la consecuencia que saca, y es el programa del resto del libro: sin NVC no hay trato con especies inteligentes en ningún nivel.

«I am sure it must bemuse if not amuse other intelligent species when we spend millions for huge radio telescopes in the attempt to receive electromagnetic signals from other intelligent life sources.» — y la pulla con que remata: gastar millones en radiotelescopios debe divertir a quien ya se comunica de otro modo.

«The following is a deliberately free translation of nonverbal communication. To compound the rendering, most if not all represents the transposing of non-time-space events and ambience into replicas of conscious human physical experience. Thus a “humanizing” process is used extensively in the retelling—which may increase comprehension and simultaneously reduce accuracy.» — la advertencia con que Monroe abre la segunda parte del libro, y es la más importante para leerla: lo que sigue es traducción libre de comunicación no verbal, humanizada, y él declara que ese proceso aumenta la comprensión y a la vez REDUCE la exactitud.

«To abet the method, a few specific words are utilized in a different context to provide a connotation not so totally unlike their common definition. You can’t report “he said” or “he walked” or “she smiled”—because it wasn’t that way, the physical equipment wasn’t available.» — y por qué inventa vocabulario en vez de usar el corriente: no puede escribir que alguien dijo, caminó o sonrió, porque no había equipo físico para ello.

«Time-Space Illusion (TSI): An anomaly among the “standard” energy systems, which includes the entire physical universe M Band: Part of energy spectrum commonly used for thought, not electromagnetic, electrical, magnetic, nucleonic, etc. M Band noise is caused by uncontrolled thought. Ident: Mental name or “address,” i.e., energy pattern of item» — el glosario propio con que trabaja la segunda parte: Time-Space Illusion para el universo físico entero, M Band para la franja del espectro usada por el pensamiento —cuyo ruido viene del pensamiento descontrolado— e ident como nombre o dirección mental.

«Rote: Thought ball A “packet” of thought/mentation, total memory Knowledge Information Experience History Run the rote: To recall portions of Rote after receipt of total Percept: Insight Intuition Understand» — y las tres entradas que gobiernan el resto del libro: el rote es una bola de pensamiento, un paquete de memoria total; correrlo es recordar sus partes; el percept es intuición o comprensión.

«Open: Receptive Closed: Tune down (or out) external stimuli Flickered: Uncertain CLICK!: Instantaneous change in consciousness Blank: Don’t understand Turn in: Consider, think over Vibrate: Show emotion Smooth: Get it together, in charge of self Dulled: Lost interest Lighted: Happy, idea, enthusiasm Rolled: Amused, laughed Curl: Organized energy, usually intelligent, local slang Plied: The way things are, goes with the territory» — la segunda mitad del glosario, donde los verbos de la narración quedan definidos: parpadear es dudar, vibrar es mostrar emoción, alisarse es dominarse, rodar es reírse.

«One of the earliest discoveries made in the new mode of Let-Somebody-Else-Do-the-Driving was that I had more than one nonphysical body. Upon return, I began to notice it took a small additional effort to get back into the physical. Initially, I assumed this to be nothing more than some minor misalignment as I tried to reenter. On one particularly difficult attempt, I pulled back slightly, stopped trying, and examined the problem. My physical body appeared to be not one, but two—much as when your vision is slightly impaired by astigmatism. They seemed very close together, no more than three or four inches apart, one slightly behind and fainter than the other. I approached the nearest of the two slowly, slid into it very easily. I held this position for several moments. It seemed as if I were partially interspersed with the physical, yet not quite in phase. The condition had a familiarity that took me all the way back to the vibration I first encountered and the physical paralysis that went with it. The sensation was near-identical—without the panic. From there, it was easy to reenter the physical with a simple twitchlike movement, akin to a shrug of the shoulders. Thereafter, I began to take particular notice of physical reentry and found that I did indeed reenter a second form just prior to the physical body. In appearance, it was identical to the physical, only less dense. However, upon return this second body appeared more real, the more solid of the two.» — cómo llega Monroe al segundo cuerpo, y por qué vía: no por doctrina sino por una dificultad de reentrada que examina hasta ver dos cuerpos, uno menos denso, que al entrar en él le resulta el más sólido de los dos.

«The major underlying cause of human worry relates to the Law of Change. All human conflict relates to this law. Some worry that change will take place, others that it will not. Wars are fought to resist change or to accelerate it. At the individual level, this translates into various forms of indecision. Fear enters into the pattern, fear of the consequences of any decision or action. The pressure builds up, intensifies as the decision is put off, delayed. The result accumulates toxins in all parts of the human system until there is failure or severe reduction in operating efficiency.» — la Ley del Cambio, tal como el libro la formula: toda preocupación y todo conflicto humano se remiten a ella, unos porque temen que el cambio ocurra y otros porque temen que no, y el saldo lo cobra el cuerpo en toxinas.

«Consider the statistics of decision, in general and simplified. In any abstract decision, there is a 50 percent probability that the correct or constructive choice will be made. If the correct path is» — el cálculo con que la fórmula ataca la indecisión, dicho como estadística: cincuenta por ciento de probabilidad de elegir bien. Sigue en la plana siguiente.

«Therefore, there is only one chance in four, at the most, that an irrevocable direction may be taken in decision making. All vital decisions in the history of man have been made on much worse odds than three to one. Some were as high as one in twenty and came out positively. To move away from the null point of indecision, take the position that any action or decision is better than none at all, based upon the odds of three to one.» — y la conclusión que saca en la plana siguiente: una sola posibilidad entre cuatro de tomar un rumbo irrevocable, las decisiones históricas se tomaron con probabilidades peores, y por eso cualquier acción vale más que ninguna.

«You cannot do anything about tomorrow’s weather conditions. It will rain, snow, be cold or hot, and there is no action you can take to prevent it. If there is absolutely nothing you can do today about such items, place them on this A list.» — la lista A de la fórmula, con su ejemplo: lo que no admite acción hoy se aparta.

«Take at least one item on the C list and perform one act, large or small, that moves you in the direction of such goal.» — y la lista C, que es la que exige acto: un solo movimiento, grande o pequeño, hacia la meta.

«I began to call it the Defooling Treatment. The presumption I made was that my Greater Self (soul?) always knew what it was doing.» — el nombre que le pone al procedimiento y la presunción que lo sostiene, con su propio signo de interrogación sobre la palabra alma.

«I had learned from it how a homing device loosely called ident was utilized;» — y qué dice haber aprendido de ese procedimiento: el uso del ident como dispositivo de localización.

«If you’ve never been to a particular exotic place—or to a locale that at least to you seems exotic and exciting from your distant viewpoint—there is much anticipation. You can conjure up any number of possibilities as to what you will do and experience. In your eagerness, you are willing to accept all sorts of limitations, restrictions, that seem unimportant from the outside. Also, you forget one most important factor. You take along as hidden extra baggage your own enculturation as a comparative tool of measurement.» — el principio de método que Monroe enuncia antes del viaje, y es el que sostiene su relato entero: uno se lleva su propia enculturación como instrumento de medida, sin darse cuenta.

«Z-55/LOU lighted brightly. (To really get the feel of it, you ought to go there just like a regular tourist, limited amount of assets, and stay through the regular historical event we, uh, they call the surge.) I lighted, too. (Great! Good percept.) (And so you can truly experience it), he went on, (cut off communication with here until after the surge. A little like the in-human training but without rote erasure.)» — palabras del identificador Z-55/LOU, no de Monroe: la instrucción de ir como turista, con recursos limitados y comunicación cortada, pero sin borrado de rote. El libro imprime esa voz entre paréntesis.

«I was in a city, or what appeared to be a city. There were buildings in all directions, fairly uniform, none over three or four stories high. They were not particularly attractive or unusual, had openings in the sides that my percept took as windows and doors.» — cómo Monroe describe lo que percibe, con la reserva incorporada dos veces: una ciudad o lo que parecía serlo, con aberturas que su percept tomó por ventanas y puertas.

«As I walked and mingled with the population, people noticed me but didn’t seem to react as if I were an alien.» — y el dato que le llama la atención: lo notan, pero no reaccionan como ante un extraño.

«They didn’t vocalize but they understood me.» — el modo de trato que reporta en esa ciudad, coherente con su tesis sobre la comunicación no verbal.

«I tried to make it casual, but as he blanked I knew I had done it wrong.» — cómo consigna sus propios errores en el trato, sin borrarlos del relato.

«Well, we don’t particularly like you visiting here, but you got to obey the rules.» — palabras de la autoridad local que él compara con el KGB: no lo quieren ahí, pero lo dejan si acata las reglas.

«I thought, fingerprints, they’re taking my fingerprints. But I was wrong.» — y cómo se corrige a sí mismo en el acto: la analogía que le vino de su propia cultura resultó equivocada.

«(That’s our personal space.) He gestured proudly. (Best in the city.) I stared at the drawing. (You go into those?) He nodded. (Only when the surge takes place. They’re this big across the middle.)» — el habitante explica el espacio personal, que solo se usa durante lo que llaman la surge.

«In the distance and approaching fast was a mighty wave, not water but in the ground itself, lifting buildings and streets into a tumbling flotsam hundreds of feet high.» — la surge misma, tal como Monroe la describe: una ola en el suelo, no de agua, que levanta edificios y calles.

«Simply put, I could observe but not participate. The purpose, I discovered, was multifaceted and determined in part long after the event itself.» — el límite de su papel en esas visitas, y una reserva sobre el sentido: el propósito, dice, se determinó en parte mucho después del hecho.

«The forms were not worms, they were human! Second, the incredible, staggering radiation of sexuality, both male and female, that emanated from the seething mass. Third, they all were physically dead.» — la escena a la que vuelve una y otra vez en el capítulo, dicha sin atenuantes: las formas eran humanas y todas estaban físicamente muertas.

«All I need do is think of that wriggling, writhing, mindless pile of humanity. That does it.» — y el uso práctico que le da: la imagen le sirve de freno contra el impulso sexual.

«However great my ego might think I was, I knew I wasn’t that good. Thus entered again one of my many questionable characteristics. I can’t let a good thing alone and simply let it do; I have to find out why.» — cómo justifica ponerse a indagar quién lo guiaba, con una desmentida de sí mismo por delante.

«I had not turned my activities over to my “greater self,” but to them, whoever “they” were.» — la corrección que hace de su propia hipótesis anterior: no era su greater self quien decidía, sino otros, y deja las comillas puestas sobre el pronombre.

«It was a milestone in my consciousness. I knew then that NVC exists and I knew the difference.» — cómo fecha el hallazgo central del capítulo: supo que la comunicación no verbal existe y supo distinguirla.

«If I did not come up with the desired action, the simulation would be repeated until I did. Even in the repetition, I couldn’t break through the reality of the simulation.» — el método de enseñanza que atribuye a esos guías: la simulación se repite hasta que uno da con la acción buscada, y ni en la repetición logra ver que es simulación.

«I don’t know the limits of such simulation talent/technology. Nor do I know the extent to which they employ the technique.» — y la doble abstención con que lo entrega: no sabe los límites de esa técnica ni cuánto la usan.

«It may be preparation for activity yet to take place here, for use in other nonphysical energy systems, or it is beyond my comprehension. The last is most likely.» — las tres lecturas que ofrece de lo que le enseñan, y con cuál se queda: la más probable, dice, es que esté fuera de su comprensión.

«believed that I was going down for the third and last time, screaming for help, yet THEY waited until the eighth or ninth time before calmly extending a hand. All part of a learning process with built-in intensity.» — cómo describe la conducta de esos guías, sin dulcificarla: esperaron a la octava o novena vez antes de tender la mano, y eso lo lee como intensidad incorporada al aprendizaje.

«I fondly began to call them INSPECS—short for “intelligent species,” which presumes humans are not quite so.» — el término INSPECS entra al libro aquí, y Monroe declara de una vez su carga: abrevia especie inteligente, lo que presume que los humanos no lo son del todo.

«Here is the event, as taken from my notes and expanded to a semblance of understanding: Time: 2:17 A.M. … bedroom … After two sleep cycles, awake, rested, relaxed … went through unhook rollout method into second body, rolled out of second, and this time I did have a percept of the ident INSPEC … not much, but enough, I thought … homing on the ident … went through normal reach and stretch procedure … moved rapidly» — cómo declara el estatuto textual de estos capítulos: sale de sus notas y está expandido hasta una apariencia de comprensión, es decir, reelaborado.

«(You encountered a condition similar to that which your scientists call a standing wave, where two like energies in phase appear to cancel one another to zero. Yet there is no zero, as energy does not cancel, it transforms into other dynamic states.)» — palabras del INSPEC, no de Monroe: explica la barrera con la analogía de la onda estacionaria, y niega el cero: la energía no se cancela, se transforma.

«(“Where” is a relative term. The most reasonable explanation from your perspective is that you are just outside the portal, the gate to our reality, a conversion point.» — y cómo el mismo interlocutor sitúa el lugar, relativizando la pregunta: fuera del portal, la puerta a su realidad, un punto de conversión.

«It is all from within the observer.)» — la fórmula con que el INSPEC devuelve la percepción a quien percibe.

«We are many, and you have known many of us.)» — lo que el INSPEC dice de sí mismo en plural, sin dar número.

«We are created and we create, just as you.» — y cómo se sitúa respecto de la creación: creados y creadores, igual que los humanos. Es la respuesta que el libro pone en lugar de una doctrina sobre Dios.

«(All of your percepts are correct within certain limits.)» — la acotación con que el propio interlocutor limita lo que Monroe entiende.

«In some instances, but not all.)» — y otra del mismo tenor, que el libro conserva en vez de redondear la respuesta.

«They, INSPECS, were in existence before humans ever came into being, several million years ago at the minimum.» — la historicidad que Monroe les atribuye a partir de lo dicho en sesión: existían antes que los humanos, varios millones de años como mínimo.

«There must be some ongoing relationship between such INSPECS and humans, else why would they bother with us?» — el único argumento que ofrece para esa relación, y lo formula como pregunta, no como prueba.

«I was rapidly losing my sense of awe. It was replaced with a great feeling of warmth, of understanding, much on the order of old deep friendships, yet filled with intense respect, not the usual pattern of expected angels, if that is what THEY were.» — cómo describe el trato con ellos, y la distancia que marca con la iconografía recibida: calidez y respeto de amistad vieja, no el patrón esperado de los ángeles.

«(We can quickly grow some wings if you wish.) No, no, please, no wings. No halos either,» — y la broma del INSPEC sobre las alas, que Monroe rechaza: el libro deja el humor dentro del intercambio en vez de solemnizarlo.

«I realized I was forcing it too strongly, but it was hard to control. Finally, I gave up trying for the moment—and it happened easily. Time: 4:45 A.M. … awake and rested, although far past my usual cycle, I went into the unhook rollout, and moved easily into the second body state … moving out of the second was easy, and I reached for an ident to home in to … It was there! I held back my excitement, stayed calm … reached and stretched, following the signal. The feeling of movement was short and quick and I stopped. Before me was the shining form. Several others were behind it. Trying to remain calm and casual, I focused on the radiation that had been so distressing before. Now it was very tolerable—or I was getting used to it.» — cómo consigna sus propios fallos de método antes del encuentro, sin quitarlos del relato.

«Here I am, consulting with a being or beings whose penetration into human life activity has been interpreted to be God, gods, angels, the devil … (It was not our intent. Certain … adjustments had to be made.)» — el punto donde el libro toca la historia de las religiones: Monroe dice estar tratando con seres cuya penetración en la vida humana se ha interpretado como Dios, dioses, ángeles y el diablo, y el INSPEC responde que no fue su intención.

«Now it is UFOs and flying saucers, which is more in keeping with current cultural concepts. (You would have lost that bet, Mister Monroe. Such are manifestations of another pattern, of which you will soon become aware.)» — y la continuación, que es donde el INSPEC se desmarca del platillo volador: Monroe apunta que ahora se los lee como ovnis, y la voz lo corrige diciendo que eso es manifestación de otro patrón.

«(Because free will is such a vital part of the human learning experience, deviations from the design are frequent and predicted, as you would express it. Such adjustments are no more than … the exact term is not there … fine-tuning, yes. Fine-tuning.)» — la función que el INSPEC se atribuye, y el límite que la hace necesaria: como el libre albedrío es parte vital del aprendizaje humano, las desviaciones del diseño son frecuentes y previstas, y lo suyo es afinar.

«I got a percept of an immense machine … infinitely complex and complicated … with INSPECS climbing all over it, in and out of it, turning a knob here, a valve there, taking off a filter and cleaning it, matching waveforms on an oscilloscope, checking materials-input flow … Flow! That was it! Their concern was the flow of energy through the human experience.» — la imagen con que Monroe traduce esa función, y su corrección inmediata: la máquina se le borra y lo que queda es el flujo de energía a través de la experiencia humana.

«Our concern is the output and the … quality of such.» — cómo el propio INSPEC nombra su interés, con la pausa que el libro conserva: la salida y su calidad.

«You had the latent capability to perform an important function of a very minor nature at this point in the development of human consciousness.) What possible capability could that be! What function! It must be so minor I can’t perceive it. (You need but examine yourself, as you and only you know what you are.» — lo que el INSPEC le dice a Monroe sobre su papel, rebajándolo al enunciarlo: una función importante y de naturaleza muy menor, que solo él puede examinar.

«One facet of your capability was the actual instigator. It should be obvious to you. It directs your actions so frequently you have become conscious of it.) The percept flared instantly. I always felt the trait was of dubious quality.» — y el rasgo al que se lo atribuye —la curiosidad—, que Monroe dice haber tenido siempre por dudoso.

«We will attempt to bring you into an awareness of the totality of which your function is but a part, in other meetings.» — la promesa con que el encuentro se cierra, formulada como intento, no como garantía.

«But the problem, the basic question still remains unanswered.» — y cómo Monroe cierra ese tramo pese a todo lo dicho: la pregunta básica sigue sin respuesta.

«stall warning yelling … she’s quitting on me, too quick … flash of light, heat, terrible heat. CLICK! RESET. CLICK! … I am flying a single-engine Navion over a large city. Bill is in the seat beside me. We are about two thousand feet up, and we are just below the overcast. Turbulence is minor. Gauges look good. It’s a borrowed aircraft. I need to keep an appointment in the city below.» — el mecanismo de la simulación, visible en la propia página: el aterrizaje termina en luz y calor, y tras CLICK! RESET! CLICK! el párrafo del Navion vuelve a empezar palabra por palabra.

«(You fly it home,) I yell as I jump far enough to clear the tail assembly, pull the D ring, feel the jerk of the chute opening, and start to float down. CLICK! RESET. CLICK! (… Thanks for the offer of a loan of your Navion, but that’s playing it too tight, couldn’t possibly make it on time, so I called and put off the appointment …) CLICK! The haze was very thick and Bill was beside me. He was rolling lightly.» — el cierre del bucle de simulaciones: Monroe salta en paracaídas y Bill, que iba a bordo, aparece a su lado en la niebla, riéndose.

«I was still unsure as to how or why it happened, but I had no doubt as to the reality of the experience.» — cómo separa dos cosas que suele confundirse: no sabe cómo ni por qué pasó, y aun así no duda de que pasó.

«At this point, I began to accept my new role, whatever it was, and no longer pushed hard for further adventures or activities in the other energy systems I knew to exist. I did realize that in my sleep state much was taking place which affected my conscious thought and action. I made no effort to investigate this, believing that it would take care of itself and was supportive of the course I was following.» — el giro que da nombre al capítulo Rainbow Route, y lo que declara dejar de hacer: aceptar el papel sin empujar por más aventuras, y ni siquiera investigar lo que ocurre mientras duerme.

«Spaced through several years of time were periodic meetingsinstruction sessions with the INSPEC.» — el formato del trato en esos años, dicho como calendario: reuniones periódicas de instrucción. La fuente parte meetingsinstruction con guion de fin de línea y la herramienta lo une.

«When THEY state it’s not simple, I knew it was an understatement from my perspective.» — cómo mide la advertencia que le hacen sobre conocer a THEY: desde donde él está, decir que no es simple se queda corto.

«It is significant that thenceforth you did not fear lightning and thunder, as you call it, but found pleasure in such manifestation.» — palabras del INSPEC sobre el accidente de infancia con el rayo, no de Monroe: le atribuye el efecto de que después el trueno le diera placer en vez de miedo.

«I hope that doesn’t mean that everyone has to get almost struck by lightning to begin to wake up. It wouldn’t be a very popular method … (Most such events are so gentle as to remain unnoticed.» — y la objeción de Monroe con la respuesta pegada: no todos necesitan casi ser fulminados, porque la mayoría de esos sucesos son tan suaves que pasan inadvertidos.

«my father told me … the concussion or something stunned me … and he carried me up to the front porch. I was all right in a few minutes … but the rest of it, I had forgotten completely, even now I just remember the knowing, not the details» — cómo declara el estatuto de ese recuerdo: lo que sabe del episodio se lo contó su padre, y de lo demás solo le queda el saber, no los detalles.

«I know how to make the Victrola play the music because I learned how, I learned how just from watching, and then she watched me show her how I could play it, then she said I could play it but I had to be real careful» — el registro cambia a la voz del niño que él fue, en presente y sin puntuación de adulto: la escena de la Victrola se narra desde dentro de la regresión.

«the music starts coming out of the Victrola and I feel real quiet, so I close my eyes … it is blank for a long time as I listen to the music, but then I feel a surge way down at the bottom of me, and it feels like tingling when my foot goes to sleep, but it doesn’t hurt, it feels good, and with it I hear raining, just like rain on the roof, but it comes and goes … and the music gets so soft I can’t hear it anymore … then it’s quiet and I can’t hear or feel anything … there it is again, coming up from the bottom of me more, the tingle and the rain surge, and it feels better than anything I ever felt … and I wait for it to happen again … here it comes again, stronger and bigger, and it feels so good it starts to hurt, but I don’t mind the hurt» — y lo que esa voz describe al escuchar: una oleada que se vuelve tan buena que empieza a doler, y el dolor no le importa.

«that the pain is merely the anguish of physical structure attempting to contain energy beyond the ability to do so, that one day I will experience it again without the pain because I will understand better» — la lectura que la escena de la Victrola da del dolor, dentro de la propia voz regresiva: el dolor es la angustia de una estructura física que no alcanza a contener la energía.

«(It is not necessary. Your present consciousness now has a beginning point of reference. It is possible for you to perceive the destination of the rays of pure energy you have called loosh/love as it» — palabras del INSPEC que abren la serie de escenas: propone percibir el destino de los rayos de energía pura que Monroe ha llamado loosh o amor. El nombre lo puso él, y la voz se lo devuelve.

«We will assist you in your placement within the event. The delineation, the decision to distinguish must be yours solely. Are you ready to do this?)» — y el reparto de responsabilidades que la misma voz establece: ellos lo colocan dentro del suceso, la distinción la decide solo él.

«I would kill the camels to eat, but they are old friends. We do not eat old friends to continue our own existence. It does not matter now. Food and water will not help. The illness is taking us along the course to death. There is nothing to be done.» — la primera escena, en el desierto, dicha en presente y sin salida: no matan a los camellos porque son viejos amigos, y la enfermedad los lleva a la muerte.

«The being on the desert was attuned and therefore was only the recipient, but neither transformer nor generator. The goal is generation and transformation only.» — la corrección del INSPEC sobre lo que Monroe acaba de ver, que es la distinción de todo el capítulo: aquel ser era receptor, no transformador ni generador, y la meta es generar y transformar.

«I would lay down my life for Cheti or Dorn, that they would live instead of me, and I know without their speaking that it is the same with them … I do not understand why this is so, but they are me, I am them, and we are three» — la segunda escena, en el campamento militar, con la misma estructura y la misma abstención: daría la vida por los otros dos, no entiende por qué, y los tres son uno.

«It is cool inside the church, yet I am loath to enter. The Ritual is about to begin, and I must attend and participate as part of the duties of my calling. I am sick in heart at what I must do. It is so different from that which I dreamed those years ago, my life in the service of the Almighty. The glory of the tolling bell in the spire, the rich voices of the choir echoing throughout the arched roof in Holy Harmony, the majesty and mystery of the Processional, the bowed heads of the reverent, kneeling people, they are the same. These are the parts that brought open the rising need in me, and I answered. Now they are the same, but I am not. Where is the need? It has left, unfulfilled. Where is the mystery? It has vanished under the weight of the unfolding years and that which my eyes have seen and my ears have heard» — y lo que la escena consigna, que no es fervor sino desafección: el sacerdote no quiere entrar, la comunidad sigue igual y él no, y el misterio se le fue con los años.

«I am a Priest, and although it is hot, I am wearing my brown-hooded robe that reaches to my ankles.» — la tercera escena abre con el narrador convertido en sacerdote, descrito por su hábito.

«I do not want to crawl into the tent for fear they are gone, all of my family. I do not want to know I am alone. We have done so many things together, the pains and the joys we have shared … the working and being together, my woman and the young ones … no illness, no death can remove the bond that grew and blossomed among us» — y lo que la escena del desierto pone en el lugar de la supervivencia: el miedo a quedarse solo y un vínculo que ni la enfermedad ni la muerte le quitan.

«Behind him are the Seven Keepers of the Realm, each holding a staff atop which is one of the Seven Sacred Stars lighted by a flaming taper. As I approach the Altar, I know what I will see upon it, and I am correct. A young girl attired in a flowing gown of bright red to hide the blood is lying upon its stone surface. Silken cords are attached to her ankles and wrists, then to large rings on the sides of the Altar.» — la escena ritual tal como el narrador la describe, dentro de la regresión: siete Guardianes del Reino con sus estrellas sagradas, y en el altar una muchacha atada de tobillos y muñecas, vestida de rojo para que no se vea la sangre.

«I know well the Ritual although I have never performed it. Once I have completed the Sacred Act in the name of the Almighty, I will transcend that status of a lowly Priest and become an Alternate Keeper of the Realm. When one of the Seven dies and departs for Chimmon, the Land of Eternal Joy and the Throne of the Almighty, I will become one of the Seven. When the High Priest departs, one of the Seven will take his place and assume his Power and Glory as the direct Communicant with the Almighty.» — y la carrera que el rito promete al sacerdote: Guardián Alternativo, luego uno de los Siete, y al final el interlocutor directo del Altísimo.

«Perhaps I may be that one … but now I am not sure. The dream of years past flickers within me and it is not this. If I do not perform the Ritual, I will» — la duda del narrador y la sanción prevista, que es lo que da peso a su abstención. La frase sigue en la plana siguiente, donde dice que lo despojarían del hábito y lo apedrearían.

«be stripped of my robe, cast out into the street, where I will be stoned to death by the populace. I move next to the Altar, and the High Priest hands me the Ritual blade, a slender, sharply pointed knife with a carved silver handle. I have been instructed carefully where to insert the Ritual knife at various spots on her body so as to keep from causing her death immediately, but to engender exquisite ecstasy within her while the High Priest and the Seven» — la continuación en la plana siguiente, con el detalle técnico que la escena no ahorra: la instrucción es dónde clavar para no matarla de inmediato.

«I raise the blade for the first swift insertion … and I stop, arm upraised. I am looking into the eyes of the girl. In them are fear, puzzlement, resignation … and beyond these, a knowing, a depth that carries me past the distortion of my dream and into what I was sure was always there … I lower my arm, turn, and drop the silver knife, only a knife, in front of the fat man who calls himself a High Priest … I cannot do it, no, I will not do it … and I am free!» — el desenlace, que es una negativa: levanta la hoja, se detiene, dice que no lo hará y se declara libre.

«(What you call emotion is essential to the basic learning process. It is a specific observable result of exposure to the loosh/love radiation. Therefore, it is the driving force, the creative energy which motivates human thought and action.» — la lectura que el INSPEC da de la serie de escenas, no Monroe: la emoción es esencial al aprendizaje y es la fuerza que mueve el pensamiento y la acción.

«At no point is the goal to repress or suppress such energy. Instead, it is enhanced when directed and focused into the channels for which it was originally designed. What you call your curiosity is perhaps the most unrecognized and undistorted form of such energy» — y el límite que la misma voz le pone a esa doctrina: la meta nunca es reprimir esa energía, y la curiosidad le parece su forma menos distorsionada.

«the event is only a dim memory to me, if even that … but the emotion I felt, I experienced … that is clear and strong» — cómo Monroe mide lo que le queda de esas escenas: el suceso apenas lo recuerda, la emoción sí.

«I get to where Steamboat is still trying to come to me, his front legs trying to drag the crushed half across the road to where I am … I sit down on the road in front of him, and he stops trying to move as I reach out and rub his head, tears forming in my eyes» — la escena del perro Steamboat, contada sin poder ni prodigio: se sienta en el camino frente al animal atropellado y le acaricia la cabeza.

«I look at his body, the damage so irreparable there is no hope … he licks my hand again … and I accept the responsibility … I get up and move to the waiting truck driver, removing my pullover shirt as I go» — y la decisión que toma, con la responsabilidad adjudicada: no hay remedio, acepta la responsabilidad y va hacia el camión.

«I see and know the closeness we share is eternal, and he somehow knows this, too» — lo que dice saber en el momento de la muerte, atribuyéndoselo también al perro.

«But that didn’t happen! Steamboat is alive! He is back where I came from, somewhere near my physical body» — y el corte que deshace la escena: Monroe recuerda que el perro está vivo donde quedó su cuerpo físico, de modo que lo vivido era simulación.

«aloneness is an illusion … here or there, the flame is eternal and we carry within us that which we have received and created» — el cierre del capítulo sobre la mujer, con el vocabulario propio del libro puesto a decir un afecto: la soledad es ilusión y la llama es eterna.

«(Your perception was quite clear, Ashaneen. The demonstration was successful.)» — y quién valida la escena: el INSPEC, llamándolo por el nombre que le dieron, la califica de demostración lograda. La escena era ejercicio, no visión espontánea.

«It is important that you understand that such a visit, momentary as it may seem, can produce within you changes that are irrevocable.» — la advertencia del INSPEC antes de la visita, que el libro imprime como consentimiento informado: los cambios pueden ser irrevocables.

«I do desire it, and I accept the responsibility for any changes that may occur in me.» — y la respuesta de Monroe, que acepta la responsabilidad por lo que le ocurra.

«No, it is not a tunnel, but a tube, a transparent, radiating tube. I am bathed in the radiation which courses through all of me, and the intensity and recognition of it envelop my consciousness and I laugh with great joy. Something has changed, because the last time, they had to shield me from the random vibration of it. Now, I can tolerate it easily, the actual energy itself. The radiation flow is two-directional in the tube. The flow moving past me in the direction from which I came» — cómo se corrige a sí mismo al describir el lugar: no un túnel sino un tubo transparente y radiante, con flujo en dos direcciones.

«(We know who we are, and one I laughs and we all laugh at the name this I had given us. We are an INSPEC, just one. There are many others around us.)» — palabras del INSPEC sobre su propia naturaleza, y se ríen del nombre que Monroe les puso: son una sola entidad hecha de muchos yo, y hay muchas más alrededor.

«(You are still incomplete. There are parts of you yet to be transformed, including that visiting portion so filled with curiosity. Each of us is incomplete. That is why we remain at this point, to reach back and gather additional and remaining parts of us until we are» — y por qué siguen ahí, según ellos mismos: cada uno está incompleto y permanecen para recoger las partes que les faltan.

«(Our curiosity desires the effect of completion.)» — la fórmula con que resumen ese motivo, que es a la vez el rasgo que le adjudicaron a Monroe.

«We can create time as we wish or the need arises, reshaping and modifying within the percept itself. We can create matter from other energy patterns, or change the structure thereof to any degree desired, including reversion to original form. We can create, enhance, alter, modulate, or eradicate any percept within the» — las capacidades que se atribuyen: crear tiempo según haga falta, y crear, alterar, modular o borrar cualquier percept. La frase sigue en la plana siguiente.

«I knew I had changed. For the rest of my physical life, I would remember. But this would never change: For those who would die, there is life. For those who would dream, there is reality. For those who would hope, there is knowledge. For those who would grow, there is eternity.» — el cierre del capítulo, en voz de Monroe: dice haber cambiado para el resto de su vida física, y formula cuatro máximas emparejando lo que se busca con lo que hay.

«QUICK CUES Blank: Don’t understand CLICK!: Change consciousness Closed: Tune down or out Curl: Organized energy Dulled: Lost interest Flickered: Uncertain Ident: Name/address Lighted: Idea, happy M-Band: Thought spectrum M-Band noise: Uncontrolled thought Open: Receptive Percept: Insight, intuition Plied: The way it is Rolled: Laughed Rote: Thought bundle Run the rote: Get details Smooth: Get it together TSI: Physical universe Turn in: Consider Vibrate: Show emotion» — el libro reimprime su glosario abreviado al abrir el capítulo siguiente, y esta versión difiere de la primera: aquí el rote es un fardo de pensamiento y correrlo es obtener detalles.

«this is where my father was, Dr. Gordon, Agnew … more out of phase in spiral, nearly past the last outer ring» — el único nombre propio que Monroe pone en esos anillos es el de su padre, y lo sitúa fuera de fase, casi pasado el anillo exterior.

«(If you’re human, you can’t help, because you’re addicted like all the rest.) The form vibrated heavily. (Takes more smarts than any human or anyone who’s ever been human. They’re contaminated.)» — palabras de una forma que Monroe encuentra, no suyas: descalifica a todo humano y a todo lo que alguna vez fue humano por contaminado.

«The Tour Guide checked to be sure all members of the group were present. It had been an extensive cruise and this was the last point of interest.» — y el cambio de narrador con que arranca el tramo siguiente: aparece un Tour Guide y un crucero con grupo, no ya Monroe en primera persona.

«The Tour Guide began his carefully prepared spiel. (This is one of the major matter artifacts created by the dominant species, ident» — el registro del capítulo cambia por completo: aquí no habla Monroe sino un guía turístico no humano, con discurso preparado, que presenta la ciudad como artefacto material de la especie dominante. La frase sigue en la plana siguiente, donde la identifica como Nueva York.

«(The human species are the ones that appear more vertical than horizontal,) the Tour Guide continued. (The various colors you perceive are emanating from an artificially produced covering used principally for decorative reasons. The larger mobiles are in fact artificial physical bodies which are often temporarily inhabited by the dominant species, and use chemical reaction of an explosive force to provide operating energy.» — cómo el guía describe a los humanos y sus coches a los turistas: más verticales que horizontales, con cubiertas de color decorativas, y unos cuerpos artificiales que funcionan por reacción explosiva.

«Certainly not noise. It’s an amazing mixture of resonance, beat frequencies, standing waves, incalculable patterns.) (Noise. That’s what the prep briefing called it. That’s what everybody calls it. Plain old M Band noise …) AA turned inward. (I wonder what it’s really like.) (What do you mean, really like! It’s all over the place. All primitive life sets have it. M Band noise is M Band noise.» — el desacuerdo entre los dos visitantes sobre el ruido del M Band, que el libro deja sin resolver: para uno es una mezcla admirable de resonancias, para el otro es solo ruido.

«AA entered the Intermediate Area, BB in his wake. He stopped in front of a tall burly form that seemed to resemble the humans he had just seen. (I’m looking for the way to get to be human.) (This is ident Entry Station,) the form responded curiously. (I want to do it.) AA vibrated. (I mean, I want to be human.) The form blanked. (You want to what?) (I want to find out what it’s like to be human, the way they are over down there.) AA pointed. (I don’t mean permanently, just long enough to get the feel of it.)» — el pedido que arma el resto del libro, en boca del visitante AA: quiere ser humano, y aclara que no de forma permanente, solo lo bastante para sentirlo.

«The form nodded. (Yea, the M Band noise. It’ll do it if you’re not careful.)» — y la advertencia que le devuelve el encargado de la Entry Station sobre el ruido del M Band.

«All you have to do is ask. That’s all, ask.» — la regla de trato del lugar, dicha dos veces por el mismo interlocutor.

«M Band doesn’t decline with “distance” or dimension; even the cruise TSI briefing rote had the whole story.» — un dato físico del sistema que el libro consigna por boca de BB: el M Band no decae con la distancia ni con la dimensión.

«BB focused tightly on a band in the center, nearly fell backward with shock, closed quickly and turned in. The band was composed of forms, living forms! He opened slightly, focused, one band after another. They were all the same. Thousands—no, millions, maybe billions of living forms. BB closed and blanked completely, totally dulled.» — lo que BB descubre al enfocar las bandas, y su reacción: son formas vivas, millones o miles de millones, y él se cierra por completo.

«(Your friend’s in there.) Ed came in both gentle and sad. BB opened slightly, still dulled. (What?)» — cómo se lo dice Ed, el encargado de la Entrada: el amigo está dentro de esas bandas.

«Each appeared different from the others, yet possessed some human trait, however small.» — cómo BB describe la corriente de formas que atraviesa el portal: todas distintas y todas con algún rasgo humano, por pequeño que sea.

«They are made of three types. One is the First-Timer, such as your friend. He just started to forget. Then there’s the Old-Timers, who mostly remember after going the route, uh, repeating being human a number of times.» — la taxonomía que Ed le da, en su propia lengua coloquial: First-Timers como el amigo de BB, y Old-Timers que recuerdan después de repetir varias veces.

«(Then there’s this third type, the Last-Timers. They make one more recycle, uh, one more physical life as a human, and then they’re gone.) BB turned. (Where do they go?) Ed rolled. (I dunno. Home, I guess. They never show up back here.» — el tercer tipo y la abstención de quien lo explica: los Last-Timers hacen una última vida humana y se van, y Ed dice no saber adónde.

«There’s this other type we call the Seekers. Don’t get many of them, slippery as eels. Unstable, flick in and out.) BB blanked. (As what? Slippery?) (Never mind. Human stuff again.) (Give me a rote and I’ll run it.) (Not worth it. Now, these Seekers, they’re different. Near as I get it, they come poking around here and they still got a physical human» — y una cuarta clase que rompe la serie: los Seekers rondan el lugar teniendo todavía un cuerpo humano. Es la categoría en que cae el propio Monroe; la frase sigue en la plana siguiente.

«Agreement and Understanding. Human sojourn only. First Entry Status (FES). • Organized as a school for compressed learning. Successful graduates achieve tangent rating. • For duration of human sojourn, firm agreement that time-space exists, has reality. Agreement of reality of particular entry point and its environs (matter, planet Earth, sun, solar system, galaxy, physical universe), of time indicated at entry point, of physical animate form designated as well as those of others, of past events recorded as human history, of complete biostructure as encountered.» — el documento que AA abre, que es la pieza doctrinal del capítulo: la estancia humana es una escuela de aprendizaje comprimido, y el acuerdo obliga a dar por real el tiempo-espacio, el punto de entrada, la forma animada, la historia humana y la biostructura.

«In order for learning system to function at maximum efficiency, temporary blanking of pre-entry activity is essential. Agreement to perform such blanking is hereby authorized. • Anything to the contrary contained herein notwithstanding, all FES remain fully established in freedom of will and consciousness at the entry point.» — las dos cláusulas que cierran el documento y que se tensan entre sí: la actividad previa a la entrada se borra por eficiencia, y aun así se declara intacta la libertad de voluntad en el punto de entrada.

«required by the compressed learning system in use.… A final note of caution: Certain aspects of the human experience may produce specific and general effects which may be harmful and unless controlled bring about habituation, with undesirable consequences. Your imprint affirms your understanding of this section.» — la advertencia legal con que el documento termina, y que anuncia el tema del resto del libro: ciertos aspectos de la experiencia humana pueden ser dañinos y, sin control, producir habituación.

«BB opened. (That doesn’t seem very clear to me.) Ed vibrated. (That’s as far as we can go. Otherwise it would ruin the learning process.) (What aspects, what effects?) (It would ruin the …) (Come on, Ed, it won’t ruin me. I’m not going to be a human. I’ll never touch the stuff.) Ed dulled, then closed. (Get your own rote.)» — y el diálogo que sigue, donde Ed se niega a explicar más: aclararlo arruinaría el aprendizaje. La objeción de BB queda sin responder.

«No one could be and do if you—how did Ed put it?—forgot who you were.» — lo que BB saca en claro de todo ello, citando a Ed: no se puede ser ni hacer si uno olvida quién es.

«The haze was gathering into clusters, some large, some small. Each had wispy spirals of rote that brushed through AA as he wandered among the clusters. In KT-95, that was usually a sign of poor discipline or at least leaky valves. Here, it didn’t seem to matter.» — cómo describe el Área Intermedia, y el juicio comparativo que trae de su propio lugar: allí las espirales de rote sueltas serían mala disciplina o válvulas con fuga, aquí no importa.

«I’ve been studying and observing them for centuries. Worse!) AA blanked. (Centuries?) (Now it’s getting to a crisis situation, and somebody has to do something and nobody is, so I’m going to!) AA smoothed. (Do what?) (I’m going in there and change it all. I need your help to do it.» — palabras de otro ente que aborda a AA, no de Monroe: dice llevar siglos estudiando a los humanos y querer entrar a cambiarlo todo.

«He turned in and closed. How to release gracefully? The solution came easily.» — y cómo AA se lo quita de encima, contado con la frialdad de un trámite.

«A new baby cried lustily in the bedroom of a New York tenement.» — el corte con que el capítulo cierra la entrada de AA a lo humano: una sola frase de registro físico en medio del relato no material.

«(I had only forty-five years. Then I got sick. I didn’t get to finish!)» — palabras de AA cuando se niega a volver, ya con memoria de una vida humana entera: la queja no es metafísica sino biográfica.

«The huge portal loomed ahead, a myriad of vibrations. AA was fading into the massive portal along with the others.» — cómo el libro narra el paso por el portal, sin ceremonia.

«Ed opened wide, carefully. (They stay at the bottom and don’t come back, or they begin to work their way back up.» — y las dos salidas que Ed reconoce para quienes caen al fondo, dichas como alternativa simple.

«(Not yet. Take this—how do you say it?—rote with you and perhaps he can use it. We call it the BHP-1.)» — el INSPEC entrega un rote con nombre de código, y el propio libro deja ver que el término rote es prestado: la voz duda al usarlo.

«BB vibrated. (What happened! You faded out, then back. Somebody pull a skip on you?)» — y cómo se introduce el skip: no por definición del autor sino porque BB lo usa como cosa obvia.

«I flickered. (I’m not sure I can help him.) (We will be with you. It is important that you help him.)» — la reserva de Monroe ante el encargo y la respuesta del INSPEC, que no la discute: estarán con él y es importante que ayude.

«(I don’t want any real rote of the stuff. I sure don’t want to get addicted.) I smoothed. (This rote won’t do that. As a matter of fact, it’ll begin an inoculation process.)» — el vocabulario de la adicción entra explícito en el diálogo: BB teme volverse adicto al material humano, y la respuesta le ofrece una inoculación.

«(You can close better. I’ll push it slowly. Catch the edge. If you don’t like it, don’t take it in.)» — y la instrucción con que se lo pasan, dejándole la salida abierta.

«They gave off a radiation that was unforgettable—tremendous vital power that seemed totally under control. Within that strength were all of the values and ideals that humans hold important—not in time-space context, not in external control systems that demanded performance in a specific manner, but something entirely apart, something learned from being human. Most important, all under control, all a cooperating, melding part of the whole.» — cómo describe Monroe a los Last-Timers: una potencia vital enorme que le parece del todo bajo control, cooperando dentro del conjunto.

«The key was that they got that way from being human. They were not that way at First Entry.» — y la clave que saca de ellos, que es la tesis del libro sobre para qué sirve la vida humana: llegaron a eso por haber sido humanos, no lo eran al entrar.

«They are inconspicuous, the mail clerk, the plain dirt farmer, the sailor, the bookkeeper, not gathered as a group, but quietly spotted here and there in both time and place. If you ask their destination upon completion, most simply respond with a gentle warmth: Home.» — cómo los sitúa en el mundo, sin nada de espectacular: empleado de correos, granjero, marinero, contable, repartidos en el tiempo y en el espacio, y dicen ir a casa.

«You pay the price and you get what you pay for. One way or another. How do you tell a fish what it’s like on dry land? You don’t try.» — las dos fórmulas con que cierra ese pasaje, y la segunda es una abstención de comunicar: no se le explica a un pez cómo es la tierra firme.

«You could spend thousands of years in the rings and never explore all aspects of them. Some parts are great, some not so great.» — cómo describe los anillos, sin idealizarlos: partes buenas y partes no tanto.

«I was told that whatever man can think of is somewhere in these rings; thus more is being added constantly as man thinks more. Also I was told some humans do spend thousands of years here, rotating in and out of physical earth life.» — y de dónde saca esa cosmografía: se la dijeron, y él lo declara al enunciarla. Todo lo que el hombre puede pensar está en los anillos, y algunos pasan ahí miles de años.

«I had always assumed repeaters lived sequential lives relative to time.» — una suposición propia que el capítulo viene a desmentir: creía que los repetidores vivían vidas en secuencia temporal.

«BB vibrated. (Why would anybody want to be a woman!) I smoothed. (There are compensations, balances. Some males suspect women secretly rule the earth.) BB focused intently. (Do they?) I turned inward, then rolled. (I’m male at this point, and I suspect they do.)» — el intercambio sobre la condición femenina, con la voz repartida: la pregunta es de BB, y Monroe responde con una sospecha declarada como sospecha, y desde su propio sexo.

«BB turned inward and closed. I was indeed learning from him in an inverted form.» — y cómo Monroe describe el sentido del aprendizaje en estos capítulos: aprende de BB en forma invertida, es decir, por las preguntas de un no humano.

«The M Band noise was thunderous, a cacophony of fear, anger, and about every other human emotion, every desire, every need connected with human physical existence.» — qué contiene el ruido del M Band en los anillos, según él: miedo, ira y toda otra emoción y necesidad ligada a la existencia física.

«But you could tell the difference. Those still physical seemed less distinct, not quite but almost transparent.» — el criterio con que distingue vivos de muertos en esa zona, dicho con la reserva puesta: casi transparentes, no del todo.

«A great sense of knowing came through me, and I reached out frantically to the warrior AA, but the barrier threw me back.» — el intento de rescate y su fracaso, contado sin adorno.

«When AA’s column was deep in the ravine, the hidden soldiers stood and unfolded the ambush, and a shower of spears rained down. AA was one of the first to fall. He writhed in the dusty road, face down, trying to get up to join the battle, but the spear in his back had driven through him and into the road, pinning him down.» — la escena de la emboscada donde AA, ya humano y guerrero, cae con una lanza clavada al camino.

«I give him credit, all the action and killing didn’t flicker him in the least.» — y lo que Monroe destaca de BB en ese momento, que marca la distancia entre las dos voces: la matanza no lo inmutó.

«I became more uncomfortable. Something demanded me, my attention. There was an urgency.» — cómo termina la incursión: no por decisión, sino por una urgencia que resulta ser su propio cuerpo físico.

«BB lighted. (That’s right, follow-the-leader! You did real well at it. You must play the game a lot.) I flickered. (Not, uh, not recently. But I did fly airplanes and that helped.) BB blanked, and I went on. (Incidentally, what happens if you miss a turn, or lose the ident?) BB rolled strongly. (You lose!) (What happens to the losers?) BB flickered. (I don’t have any rote on that. They never come around to play again. My percept is, they get lost.)» — cómo BB nombra lo que están haciendo —seguir al líder— y qué dice de quienes pierden: no vuelven a jugar, y su percept es que se pierden. Es él quien lo dice, no Monroe.

«(Don’t have a rote on that either. Nobody bothers with that junk, it’s just a game.)» — y la abstención con que BB despacha las preguntas de fondo: nadie se ocupa de eso, es solo un juego.

«I was shaking. BB vibrated brightly. (Good fun, huh?)» — el desajuste entre las dos voces, puesto en dos frases: Monroe temblando y BB divertido.

«Most if not all of it was focused on helping the human process work better. That seems a good and essential part of the training system, but it’s still preparation.» — cómo Monroe mide su propio trabajo con el instituto, sin rebajarlo y sin exagerarlo: bueno y esencial, y aun así preparación.

«He finally quieted down. (Well, Ram, I get the percept that you were just a locked-in, hooked-on human until this thing came up.» — el diagnóstico que BB le hace a Monroe, en los términos de adicción que el libro viene usando: un humano enganchado y encerrado hasta que esto apareció.

«But there are many unknowns. What do you do after you graduate?» — y la pregunta que Monroe deja abierta al cerrar el tramo.

«(The one we got in the TSI brochure, about all the places and things we would be visiting. All about earth and humans, how it got started, what it’s for … all of that stuff.) I closed, then opened slowly. (They don’t match up?) (Here, get your own percept.) BB tossed a rote at me, and I took it curiously. And unfolded it.» — cómo el libro introduce la fábula del Loosh, y de qué modo la enmarca: es un rote del folleto turístico que BB le pasa, y uno de los dos rotes, dice él, tiene que ser falso.

«Someone, Somewhere (or both, in millions, or uncountable) requires, likes, needs, values, collects, drinks, eats, or uses as a drug (sic) a substance ident Loosh.» — la premisa de la fábula: alguien en alguna parte necesita, valora o usa como droga una sustancia llamada Loosh; el texto marca con un sic esa última palabra.

«Faced with this question of Supply and Demand (a universal law of Somewhere), Someone decided to produce it artificially, so to speak, rather than search for it in its “natural” form. He decided to build a Garden and grow Loosh.» — y el motivo económico que la mueve: ante la oferta y la demanda, Someone decide producir Loosh en vez de buscarlo, y para eso construye un Jardín.

«In the natural state, Loosh was found to originate from a series of vibrational actions in the carbon-oxygen cycle and the residue was Loosh in varying degrees of purity. It occurred only during such action, and secondarily during the reactive process. Prospectors from Somewhere ranged far and wide in search of Loosh sources and new discoveries were hailed with much enthusiasm and reward.» — de dónde sale el Loosh natural según la fábula: del ciclo carbono-oxígeno, y solo durante esa acción, lo que vuelve valiosa la prospección.

«He then tried his First Crop, which actually did produce Loosh, but only in small quantities and of comparatively low grade, not» — el Primer Cultivo de la fábula, en términos agrícolas: produjo Loosh en poca cantidad y de grado bajo. La frase sigue en la plana siguiente.

«The problem was twofold. The life period was too short and the crop units themselves were too minute. This brought about limits in quality and quantity, as the crop had no time to generate Loosh in such close tolerances. Moreover, the Loosh could be harvested only at the moment of termination of» — y el diagnóstico del fracaso en la plana siguiente: vida demasiado corta, unidades demasiado pequeñas, y el Loosh solo cosechable en el momento de la muerte.

«His Second Crop was no better, if as good. He changed the environment to another part of the Garden, where the density was gaseous rather than liquid and the higher-density chemicals formed a solid base and thus were still available.» — el Segundo Cultivo, con el cambio de ambiente de líquido a gaseoso.

«While it was true that a much greater quantity was attained, the unrefined Loosh produced was of such low grade that it was scarcely worth the effort. In addition, the growth period was now too long and no increase in quality resulted. Some vital element was missing. Someone hovered over his Garden for a long period in study before he attempted the Third Crop. It was indeed a challenge. True, he was partially successful. He had grown Loosh. Yet the product of his efforts fell far short of the wild, uncultivated variety.» — y por qué también falla: mucha cantidad y grado tan bajo que apenas compensa, muy por debajo de la variedad silvestre.

«As the struggles ensued, the Mobiles were emanating Loosh! Not in fractional amounts, but in sizable, usable quantities and of a much higher purity.» — el hallazgo que da la vuelta a la fábula, y es el que la vuelve incómoda: el conflicto entre los Mobiles produce Loosh en cantidad y pureza.

«He removed another unit of First Crop from the liquid Garden area, redesigned it for the gaseous environment—but with one significant change. The new Mobile would be somewhat smaller, but would require the ingestion of other Mobiles for nourishment. This would solve the problem of overpopulation of Mobiles, and at the same time would create good quantities of usable Loosh during each conflict-struggle, plus a bonus if the new class of Mobile terminated the life span of the other. Someone would be able to transmit to Somewhere practical amounts of reasonably pure Loosh. Thus it was that the Rule of the Prime Catalyst came into being.» — y qué hace Someone con ese hallazgo: rediseña una unidad para que necesite comerse a otras, y de ahí sale la Regla del Catalizador Primario.

«Also, he reasoned correctly that more rapid and increased mobility would expand the Conflict factor, with a resultant higher Loosh output.» — el razonamiento que el texto declara correcto: más movilidad, más conflicto, más Loosh.

«In one single motion, Someone terminated the life spans of all the lumbering Third Crop Mobiles.» — cómo la fábula narra la extinción del Tercer Cultivo, en una sola frase administrativa.

«The Fourth Crop exceeded all of Someone’s expectations. It became apparent that a consistent, useful flow of Loosh was being produced in the Garden. The balance of “life” operated perfectly, with the Conflict Factor producing immense amounts of Loosh and a steady supplement brought into being by the constant life-span terminations from all types of Mobiles and Stationaries. To handle the output, Someone set up Special Collectors to aid in the harvest. He set up Channels to convey the raw Loosh from his Garden to Somewhere. No longer did Somewhere depend principally upon the “wild state” as the principal source of Loosh.» — el Cuarto Cultivo y su balance, con las comillas que el propio texto le pone a la palabra vida: el factor Conflicto produce cantidades inmensas y las muertes constantes lo complementan.

«There was a factor in his Garden of which he was unaware.» — el giro de la fábula: el propio Someone ignora algo que ocurre en su Jardín.

«It was in Conflict to protect and save from life termination three of its own newly generated species huddled under a large Second Crop unit waiting» — la primera pista, y es la que desplaza el conflicto de la depredación al cuidado: una unidad pelea por salvar a sus crías.

«The creation of pure, distilled Loosh is brought forth in Type 4M units by the action of unfulfillment, but only if such pattern is enacted at a vibratory level above the sensory bounds of the environment.» — la fórmula DLP tal como el texto la enuncia, con su condición explícita: el Loosh puro sale de la falta de plenitud, y solo si ocurre por encima de los límites sensoriales del ambiente.

«The splitting of all Crop units into Halves (to engender loneliness as they sought to reunite) and the encouragement of dominance of the Type 4M unit are but two of the most noteworthy innovations. As it appears now, the Garden is a fascinating spectacle of efficiency. The Collectors have long since become Masters at the Art of the DLP Formula. Type 4M units dominate and have spread through the entire Garden, with the exception of the deeper portions of the liquid medium.» — las dos innovaciones que la fábula deriva de esa fórmula: partir en mitades para producir soledad al buscar reunirse, y favorecer el dominio de la unidad tipo 4M.

«From experience, the Collectors have evolved an entire technology with complementary tools for the harvesting of Loosh from the Type 4M units. The most common have been named love, friendship, family, greed, hate, pain, guilt, disease, pride, ambition, ownership, possession, sacrifice—and on a larger scale, nations, provincialism, wars, famine, religion, machines, freedom, industry, trade, to list a few. Loosh production is higher than ever before» — y la lista que remata la fábula, donde las herramientas de cosecha son las palabras con que se nombra la vida humana: amor, amistad, familia, codicia, odio, culpa, orgullo, naciones, guerras, religión, comercio.

«Yet as I ran the rote again, the overlay of what little I knew of earth’s zoological and human history was uncomfortably accurate, albeit from another perspective.» — cómo Monroe mide la fábula al releerla, sin suscribirla y sin descartarla: le resulta incómodamente exacta contra lo poco que sabe de historia zoológica y humana.

«I turned inward and closed. It was getting too hot to handle. If the rote was real … a huge if. I began to drop off. Anger, the feeling of being on the receiving end of a huge deception. The resentment at being manipulated, wanting to strike out at those who were conning me … us … all humans … who were taking something from us without our consent or permission. What happened to the freedom idea? Was every thought and action we took guided—no, directed and controlled just to produce more Loosh, whatever that was, for a breakfast table or a fuel tank in a Somewhere? And what could I do about it, even knowing? I dulled deeply and dropped off more and more … (Hey RAM!) BB was fading rapidly. (Where you going!) Return to the physical was near-instantaneous, exactly as if I had pushed the panic button, which I had not done for so long.» — y qué hace con ella: cierra y vuelve al cuerpo de golpe, como si hubiera apretado el botón de pánico.

«I had long realized that the God of my childhood did not exist, at least not in the form and substance envisioned by my enculturation. However, I had deeply accepted the concept of creator and created—» — lo que dice que la fábula le remueve, y la distinción con que lo formula: hacía tiempo que el Dios de su infancia no existía para él, pero la idea de creador y creado la tenía aceptada a fondo.

«We were indeed producing Something of Value.» — y el remate del capítulo, que devuelve la frase del credo del instituto puesta del revés: lo que los humanos producen es algo de valor, para otro.

«Ready for it, a name, they know me best … What could that be? (Ashaneen) Ashaneen. It was both familiar and strange. Again, that feeling of trying to recover from severe amnesia, and the gentle patience of those trying to help me remember.» — cómo recibe el nombre Ashaneen, y con qué figura lo describe: no revelación sino amnesia grave y ayuda paciente para recordar.

«(We are aware of the disturbance you have undergone. It was necessary that you experience this. It goes with the territory, as you put it.)» — palabras del INSPEC sobre el trastorno que le dejó la fábula del Loosh: dicen que era necesario pasar por ahí, y usan el modismo del propio Monroe.

«But according to the rote, loosh is thrown off when life ends its physical existence, when pain occurs, anger, hate … these can’t be the same as love.» — la objeción que Monroe le pone a la ecuación entre loosh y amor, y el argumento con que la sostiene: el rote hace salir loosh del dolor, la ira y el odio.

«Using the same stuff— interactive experience—one began to learn to express anger, pain, fear, and all the rest, and finally—hopefully, if you passed the course—a special energy waveform labeled love. Yet we don’t really know what it is and, with my suspicion growing, how to really use it.» — cómo reordena el asunto para sí mismo, con la reserva metida en medio: la experiencia interactiva enseña a expresar ira, dolor y miedo, y al final —si uno aprueba el curso— amor, del que dice no saber qué es ni cómo usarlo.

«The fact that human physical consciousness was for the most part totally unaware of being involved in the process may be an important ingredient itself. Precious few are cognizant of the nonphysical agenda, at least overtly.» — y la vuelta de tuerca que le añade: que la conciencia humana no sepa que participa del proceso podría ser un ingrediente del proceso.

«There always have to be exceptions, no machine is perfect, only one anomaly is needed to prove a statistic or create one.» — el principio con que se resiste a la fábula, y no es doctrinal sino estadístico: basta una anomalía.

«Never will be loosh producers; it takes only one bull for every fifty cows, so there’s a surplus.» — cómo aplica la fábula al ganado que tiene delante, con la aritmética cruda que la escena impone.

«It was getting pretty heavy for my cognizance. Yet I began to get a very faint percept, elusive but it was there. What would happen if the Guernsey cow did discover that her milk had value? What could she herself do with it if she didn’t have a calf to feed it to? Could she save it? Could she spend it on more hay or protein-vitamin blocks to lick? What if she then discovered man was taking the milk she produced? Rebel, refuse to deliver any more milk? Then she would no longer have a pasture in which to graze, protection from wild dogs, a bull when she needed it, and most of all, no barn to go to where she could get relief from the pain. Without a sense of serial time, she forgets that the pain eases eventually. Perhaps even knowing, she wouldn’t care. She wouldn’t want to mess up a good thing. Therefore: Who cares? Who would care! (To use your term, you can’t beat the machine.) The percept was still there, faint, still to be explained or satisfied.» — y la abstención con que cierra: un percept tenue que sigue ahí, sin explicar ni satisfacer.

«I looked through the smoked-glass shield that was my INSPEC friend … and I was grateful, for I knew if I responded to this degree from just the reflection, the leakage, the full force of the radiation would have shattered me, I was not ready for it, if this was the percept from the distant edge … there, in the long view, was a radiant living form of incredible size, my first percept that of a tall standing humanoid, arms outstretched in front, palms upward … but just as quickly, it was not» — el encuentro más alto del libro, contado con un filtro de por medio: Monroe dice ver a través del INSPEC que le hace de vidrio ahumado, porque la radiación directa lo habría destrozado, y la forma humanoide que percibe se deshace en el acto.

«I realized then how provincial my percepts were. I also realized how limited they were … the radiating globes, the rays emitted» — y cómo califica su propia percepción de la escena: provinciana y limitada.

«I hesitated, then with the warm assurance from the shielding INSPEC form, I stretched a part of me out, cautiously, and touched the smallest ray nearest me … in an instant, the shock spread throughout all what I thought I was, and I knew, and in knowing, knew that I would forget if I tried to remember, because what I was could not yet handle the reality of it … yet I never again would be the same» — lo que ocurre al tocar el rayo más pequeño, y la abstención que Monroe mete dentro: supo, y supo que olvidaría si trataba de recordar, porque lo que él era no podía con esa realidad.

«We were back again in familiar blackness, only now it seemed empty and sterile, but the INSPEC energy was still beside me» — el regreso, y cómo le queda el lugar de siempre después: vacío y estéril.

«I remembered. Not much, but I remembered! I sat» — lo que sí conserva al volver al cuerpo, medido a la baja: no mucho, pero recordó.

«I would not wake her, she needed her rest and recharge.» — y el detalle doméstico con que el libro aterriza esa escena.

«The main thing about being in-human is survival. That’s the biggest percept of all.» — la lección que Monroe se propone darle a BB, y que ordena los capítulos siguientes: lo principal de ser humano es la supervivencia.

«The drive for survival is so strong it messes up everything. End of lesson.)» — cómo la formula al cerrarla, sin adornos: el impulso de sobrevivir lo desordena todo.

«Not if you’re in a physical body. The imprint comes up for most to mean stay alive in a physical body, no more.» — y el límite que le pone al enunciarla: dentro de un cuerpo físico, la impronta se reduce a seguir vivo.

«He puts it in his own physical body to give it energy to survive, so he can stay alive. That’s what we ident eating.) (The other being, the uh, deer, it didn’t survive, stay alive … uh, physically. I got a good percept of the energy leaving it.) One easy lesson! (Well, humans are what we ident as the dominant species, uh, beings alive here. They are at the top of what we call the food chain. Food is what we call the stuff we eat.» — cómo Monroe le explica a BB la cadena alimentaria, en el registro más llano posible: el cazador mete el cuerpo del ciervo en el suyo para seguir vivo, y a eso se le llama comida.

«It’s easier to die or get killed than it is to live.» — y la fórmula con que resume la condición física.

«It’s the biggest part of the survival stuff. Make a copy of yourself and keep on living in your copy.» — cómo presenta la reproducción dentro de esa lógica: hacer una copia de uno y seguir viviendo en ella.

«Humans are either male or female. It takes a male and a female to reproduce, to make a copy.) BB turned inward, then opened. (Which are you?) (Male.) (You ever been female?) (I don’t have any rote on it, so I guess not.) He opened more. (Nothing like this in KT-9S. Never had a percept like it, to make a copy of yourself. Fascinating!) I cut in. (Well, it’s not exactly a copy of yourself, it’s a physical mix of the two, and you hope it might be a copy of you, but it never really turns out that way.» — y la corrección que él mismo le hace enseguida a esa idea de copia: es una mezcla física de dos, y nunca sale como uno esperaba.

«The percept is, you can find anything you want here in New York.» — el traslado de la lección a la ciudad, con la frase hecha que la propia cultura usa.

«The scratchy stuff that screeches so much I finally figured out. It’s their emotions.» — lo que BB descubre por su cuenta sobre el ruido del M Band, y es él quien lo dice: son las emociones humanas.

«The noise is coming from us humans.» — y lo que Monroe le responde sobre el origen de ese ruido.

«This was turning into a hard lesson for me, not him.» — cómo cierra el capítulo, invirtiendo quién aprende: la lección dura resultó para él, no para BB.

«BB smoothed. (So if I want a deer to eat, or a hut to be in, a cover for my body to be in, I got to give money energy to get it.) (You work, you pay, and you get.) He focused on the cars moving by. (How about those covers? Can you get them for money energy, too?) (That’s all it takes.) (It’s too messed up for me.) BB smoothed completely. (If I had to be human, I would stay away from all the rest of it and just hang around making copies and let it go at that.… What’s so funny?) I was rolling hard and couldn’t keep closed. He blanked. (That takes money energy, too?) I plied. (One way or another.)» — cómo el libro explica la economía a un no humano, y la conclusión que él saca: si tuviera que ser humano se quedaría solo haciendo copias, y ni eso sale gratis.

«I had to go back, but I couldn’t leave him where he was, he wouldn’t know how to get out … but the signal was too strong and I couldn’t help myself.» — el conflicto con que termina la sesión: no puede dejar ahí a BB y tampoco resistirse a la señal de vuelta.

«I went through a quick relaxation to try to get down and OOB, but I was too keyed up, I couldn’t hold it together.» — y los fallos de método que sigue consignando, sin quitarlos.

«They’ve died physically and they don’t know it. All they remember is human physical existence and they’re trying to hang on.» — cómo describe a los que aparecen en los anillos exteriores: han muerto y no lo saben, y se aferran a lo único que recuerdan.

«That’s all they do, try to get the attention of such humans.» — y a quiénes dedica el libro el trabajo de rescate: los que se ocupan de llamar la atención de esos humanos.

«They have no interest but reproducing, not to make copies, but just the act of reproducing.» — la distorsión más cruda que consigna en esa zona: no hacer copias, solo el acto.

«These know they no longer have physical bodies, but not much more.» — y el escalón siguiente, medido con la misma parquedad: saben que ya no tienen cuerpo, y poco más.

«We passed through the density of still gray forms who were neither here nor there, barely conscious and waiting for something to happen—and» — cómo describe a los que no están ni aquí ni allá: apenas conscientes y a la espera.

«I wanted his rote to be absolutely real.» — y lo que Monroe declara querer de todo aquello, que no es lo mismo que afirmar que lo sea.

«She was aware of us immediately and began to scream.» — el encuentro con la mujer angustiada en la niebla, y su primera reacción.

«The woman’s sobbing eased, but her head remained bowed and she was unable to think clearly. I did get a percept. (Claire will find you very soon.) The woman slowly raised her head, eyes open in wonder as I turned and led BB further outward through the haze.» — lo que Monroe le dice, y de dónde declara sacarlo: no de un saber sino de un percept, y consuela con una promesa sobre su hija.

«BB came beside me. (You sure swung that one, RAM.) I plied. (Beginner’s luck.)» — cómo despacha el elogio de BB, sin atribuirse poder.

«It could be either Maine or California, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t anything.» — el estatuto del paisaje que encuentran, dicho sin ambigüedad: no es ningún lugar.

«I can’t see you, but hello, BB. Welcome to Fantasy Land.» — palabras de Charlie, un ingeniero electrónico de una vida anterior que fabricó ese paisaje, y el nombre con que él mismo lo llama.

«He’s not from earth, Charlie. He isn’t even human.» — cómo Monroe le presenta a BB, y de una vez el dato que el resto del libro sostiene.

«Robert has been feeding me all these wild ideas about other worlds, energy fields we know nothing about, that type of thing. I can go along with him as to possible intelligent life on other planets somewhere beyond our solar system, but that’s not what he means. Human life, even operating the way I am now, I can handle that, too. So he got you to help him pull a fast one on Charlie. You put yourself a little out of sync to make yourself look hazy, and whammo. Robert has himself a super being.) BB flickered. (Now, Charlie, I didn’t …) (O.K., I can go along with a gag as good as the next one.» — y la respuesta de Charlie, que es escéptica: dice que le vienen contando ideas descabelladas y que sabe seguirle la corriente a una broma.

«Only one small problem. Charlie wouldn’t believe BB existed if he had the real rote.» — el límite que Monroe reconoce en ese trato, y vale para todo el libro: ni con el rote verdadero le creería.

«You wouldn’t have found us if you didn’t have our faith. It’s really all right to be a newcomer. I’ll take you to Thelma. She’s in charge of the welcoming committee.) I smiled. (No, thanks just the same, we’re only passing through.) She looked puzzled. (You keep using “we.” Do you think you’re more than one person? We have a class on multiple personalities that you can attend. Dr. Frankel conducts it.)» — palabras de una mujer del comité de bienvenida en la ciudad siguiente: le atribuye una fe compartida y le ofrece una clase sobre personalidades múltiples, porque él habla en plural.

«She laughed lightly. (That’s exactly what I asked when I was a newcomer. Don’t be disappointed. We’re only at the gates of heaven. Our minister, Dr. Fortune, preaches sermons about it every Sunday. I must confess they’re quite different from the ones Reverend Wilson used to preach back when I was living physically, in Lexington.)» — palabras de una residente de la ciudad no física, no de Monroe: sitúa el lugar en las puertas del cielo y compara los sermones de ahí con los de su parroquia terrena.

«sermons about it. He says when you leave here, you can go back again or you can go somewhere else.)» — y la doctrina del lugar tal como ella la transmite, atribuida a su ministro: al salir de ahí se puede volver o ir a otra parte.

«She hesitated. (I don’t know. Things are so different here from what I expected and I’ve learned so much … I just haven’t made up my mind.)» — la abstención de la propia residente sobre qué hará, que el libro conserva en vez de cerrarla.

«I was positive where our last visit should take place. I led us to the very outer fringes of the outermost ring, where the haze was quite thin. The rim had a glow to it as we approached, and as we entered, the glow broke down into soft individual light sources, those who resided here.» — cómo describe el borde exterior del anillo más externo, donde el resplandor se resuelve en luces individuales.

«Emotion is what makes the game seem so wild, but it is the game, the one game in which all other games are played. The others feed score to the big game in the form of emotional energy. The big game is to control and develop this emotional energy to its most effective condition, which is vaguely set by us humans as love, until we graduate.» — la doctrina que Bill enuncia al cerrar el recorrido, y es la fórmula que ordena todo el libro: la emoción es el juego dentro del cual se juegan los demás, y el gran juego es llevarla a la condición que los humanos llaman amor.

«I don’t have any percept of this emotion and love energy stuff.» — y la incapacidad que BB declara al oírla, que el libro no resuelve: no tiene percept de la emoción ni del amor.

«It’s a big rote he’s absorbing. The fact that he’s never been human makes it … different.» — cómo se explica el estado en que queda BB: nunca fue humano, y eso lo hace distinto.

«I sometimes get the dim percept that my entire adventure, including this one, had been neatly planned from the beginning.» — la sospecha que Monroe deja caer sobre su propia aventura, marcada como percept tenue, no como certeza.

«Everything was calm and normal, except that I forgot to check the clock.» — y el detalle con que rebaja el regreso: olvidó mirar el reloj.

«(We can escort you to a physical earth possibility at a point in your time measurement beyond the year 3000. The principal inhabitants are what we call H-plus, humans-plus, to indicate modification from those in your present time. As you are now, you will be a visitor.)» — cómo el INSPEC formula el viaje al futuro, y la palabra clave con que lo acota: una POSIBILIDAD de tierra física más allá del año 3000, no un futuro cierto, con habitantes que llaman H-plus.

«I would never have the guts to try such a jump by myself, but with them …» — y la reserva de Monroe sobre sí mismo antes de ir.

«Their use of the term “home” brought a surge of nostalgic yearning, and I turned inward and closed. Echoing through me came the fragments of the rote I could never totally express—the serenity, complete feeling of belonging, to recall the vitality I had forgotten, the crisp, warming clarity of … and yet it was not quite right. Something was missing, too deeply hidden, or had I … I opened.» — lo que la palabra hogar le remueve, y la abstención con que lo deja: recuerda fragmentos de un rote que nunca logra expresar del todo, y algo falta.

«The M Band was full of communication, but no noise. No noise! That could mean only» — el dato que le hace de medida en ese futuro: el M Band lleno de comunicación y sin ruido, es decir, sin pensamiento descontrolado. La frase sigue en la plana siguiente.

«There were no roads, not so much as a lane to service the fields. Also, no buildings, no houses, no barns, no sheds—I scanned in all directions and there were none.» — cómo describe el paisaje: ni caminos ni edificios de ninguna clase, comprobado en todas direcciones.

«The air was clear and clean, no smoke or smog.» — y lo que sí hay, dicho por lo que falta.

«Surely with its teeming millions, some had to be visible. Evidently they didn’t have to be at all. We swept over mile after mile of deep green forests broken only by occasional grassy clearings and wide rivers and streams.» — la comprobación que se impone sobre China, y su resultado: bosques y ríos, ninguna persona.

«In every direction were tall and stately trees with close upward-turned branches, of a species unfamiliar to me … but again no sign of human artifact to indicate Kilroy» — el modo en que registra la ausencia humana, con el guiño del grafiti de guerra.

«However, with your effort in your present time, you can complete your portion and you can return home, only to return and share in the fruits of what you are propounding when they have matured.» — palabras del INSPEC a Monroe sobre su propio papel, con la promesa y la condición juntas: completar su parte, volver a casa y regresar a compartir los frutos.

«BB smoothed. (AA thought this would be where you would like to come first. Not the United States any longer. No states or countries anywhere. Don’t need them. But you ought to get a percept on this particular place.)» — el dato político de ese futuro, dicho de paso por BB: no hay ya Estados Unidos, ni estados ni países en ninguna parte, y no hacen falta.

«(We call it Virginia Bay for old times’ sake. Part of the ocean.) BB was very smooth. (You always yelled about the law of change. Some of us hibe here also for old times’ sake.) I blanked. (Hibe?) The woman opened ever so slightly. (We store our favorite» — el nombre que le dejan al lugar y la práctica que explica la escena. La frase sigue en la plana siguiente, donde dice que guardan sus cuerpos humanos favoritos bajo los robles hasta necesitarlos.

«I turned inward. Hibe … hibernation. Sure, why not? Simply a vast improvement on the old OOBE pattern. But to leave it lying around under an oak tree …» — cómo Monroe lo asimila a su propio vocabulario y dónde se le atasca: una mejora del viejo patrón OOBE, salvo por dejar el cuerpo tirado bajo un roble.

«(We put a super Reball around it,) the woman responded, smiling. (It’s so tight not even a virus can get through, so certainly it won’t be bothered by ticks, mosquitoes, or anything larger.)» — la respuesta a esa objeción, con la técnica descrita por lo que impide: ni un virus atraviesa la esfera.

«(The Reball takes care of that,) she answered. (It keeps an air temperature layer all around the physical, just whatever you want it to be.) (How about food? You have to eat.) She held out her arms in front of her body, level with her shoulders, palms upward. She closed her eyes and stood quietly. After a few moments, she lowered her arms, opened her eyes again. (That gives this body enough energy for at least a week.)» — y las dos funciones que le atribuyen: mantener la temperatura del aire alrededor y darle energía al cuerpo por una semana.

«(Here, I’ll do it.) The woman took the dirt from BB, cupped it in her right hand, and stared at it intently. The dirt began to bubble and boil, changing color, re-formed into a small full-kerneled mature ear of white corn.» — la demostración con que cierran la visita: tierra roja convertida en una mazorca madura, contada sin ceremonia.

«I found I was unable to determine where one began and the other left off.» — la abstención de Monroe sobre lo que percibe ahí: no logra separar una energía de otra.

«It has been restored to its original ecological balance, the way it was before humans upset it so severely.» — cómo le explican el estado del planeta en ese futuro: devuelto a su equilibrio ecológico original, el de antes de que los humanos lo trastornaran.

«Humans had taken over Mother Nature’s work—with a few improvements.» — y el matiz que no lo vuelve virgen, en voz de Monroe: los humanos se hicieron cargo del trabajo de la naturaleza, con algunas mejoras.

«We were floating amid thousands upon thousands of white sparkling forms, each animated and vibrating. At first, the brightness and radiation was so overwhelming I was sure I would have to push the panic button or scream for my INSPEC friend. Then it lessened, and I felt the warm sense of understanding entering from all external points of me. I knew the forms had deliberately diverted their radiation, whatever it was, away from me so it conformed to my level of tolerance.» — cómo describe el plano de formas brillantes, y el detalle que consigna sobre el trato: desviaron deliberadamente su radiación para no pasarse de su tolerancia.

«She rolled lightly. (Well, for one, we make and gather … what did you call it?… loosh. Like honeybees. Or Guernsey cows. Only now we know what we’re doing and why, and we’re happy to do it.)» — la respuesta que da la mujer a qué hacen ahí, y desactiva la fábula del Loosh sin negarla: hacen y recogen loosh como abejas o como vacas Guernsey, solo que ahora saben qué hacen y por qué, y lo hacen contentos.

«I turned inward and closed. This one I did understand, but the vastness of the change was near-unbelievable. But I was here, and the evidence was all around me. The interstate to freedom.» — y cómo Monroe recibe eso, retomando la metáfora del prólogo: la autopista a la libertad.

«In the sparks were spoken words that I heard very clearly … Hello, Bob. Hi, Robert … But I couldn’t get an ident on any of them. Finally, BB stopped. In front of us was the First Entry Station. It appeared much the same. There was a large cluster of gray forms hovering around it.» — el trayecto hasta la First Entry Station, donde oye saludos con su propio nombre sin poder identificar a nadie.

«(Lot of changes.) BB smoothed. (But you wouldn’t notice them if you didn’t know better.)» — cómo BB le presenta lo cambiado, y el límite que le pone: no se notaría sin saberlo de antemano.

«some of them almost back when humans first began being human. They take one human physical life cycle and one only, and come back here and join in. No repeaters, just one-timers.)» — el cambio de patrón que le explican: una sola vida humana y de vuelta, sin repetidores.

«I turned inward, then opened. (Is this one-timer pattern going on back where I came from?) BB lighted. (Oh, sure) I flickered. (I haven’t had a percept on that taking place.) BB smoothed. (Sure, you have.)» — y el intercambio sobre si eso ya ocurre en su propio tiempo, donde Monroe declara no tener percept y BB le dice que sí lo tiene.

«We couldn’t make loosh without it.» — la frase con que el capítulo devuelve el loosh al centro, ahora en boca de quienes lo producen sabiéndolo.

«The whole thing was getting out of hand, or better, out of my mind-set, beyond my ability to absorb and understand instantly.» — y la abstención con que Monroe mide su propia capacidad ante todo eso.

«I am lying down in soft thick grasses, lying on my side … I open my eyes … tall trees surround me on all sides, their leafladen branches form a canopy far overhead, sunlight filters through to provide good but not overbearing luminescence … a large tan-colored panther is standing over me, staring at me intently.» — cómo abre la escena de la transformación animal, en presente y con detalle sensorial antes de nombrar nada. La fuente parte leafladen con guion de fin de línea y la herramienta lo une.

«I roll over and stand up … stand up!… I have four legs! How sure and stable it feels!» — y el momento en que el narrador se descubre en cuatro patas, contado desde dentro del cuerpo.

«The tan panther lopes off through the trees, and I follow … faster, now into a gallop … now running all out, dodging through the trees, easily avoiding low branches … the exhilarating flow of smells passing my nose and I sample them all … my eyes and ears picking up, identifying and sorting a myriad of signals, all familiar … a large tree is dead ahead and the tan panther runs right up the side of it and I follow, digging in claws, pulling up, and digging in claws. It is waiting for me, sitting casually on a thick branch … I pull up beside it, sit back … he waves his tail … and I wave mine in reply.» — la carrera con la pantera, donde lo que la escena consigna es la percepción integrada: olores, oídos y ojos clasificando señales todas familiares.

«I’m not floating, I’m soaring … as a bird, am a bird!… a super sailplane that does exactly what I think!» — la segunda transformación, con la comparación técnica que Monroe, piloto, elige: un velero que hace exactamente lo que él piensa.

«Oh no. There wasn’t one strained tendon or muscle, not one feather out of line when I left. I guarantee it.)» — cómo garantiza que el cuerpo prestado quedó intacto, en el registro de quien devuelve un vehículo.

«Oh yes. They no longer need to experience earth, so they begin to go physical less and less. Finally, they stop completely.) (Is that all?) (No, their … uh, radiation begins to change. And they begin to close. After that, they click out.)» — cómo describe la mujer el proceso de graduación: dejan de necesitar la tierra, van cada vez menos, la radiación cambia, se cierran y desaparecen.

«I … I don’t have a percept of that. They just click out.) (One at a time or as a group?) She smoothed. (Usually several at once. Every so often, one goes alone.) (And they never return?) (No. They don’t.) (Any communication with them? After they leave?) She flickered. (Not in a way that we can understand.)» — y la abstención con que ella misma corta la pregunta por el destino: no tiene percept de eso, y no de un modo que puedan entender.

«You can’t count them if you wanted to, there’s that many. And new ones coming on line constantly.)» — la escala que le atribuye a ese proceso, sin cifra.

«Now I was the one who turned inward and closed. Her simple statement implied so much knowledge that made everything else no more than sophisticated monkey chatter.» — cómo Monroe mide lo dicho por ella contra lo demás, incluido lo suyo.

«I had made the wrong ident, back to 1982. A strange mixture of emotions surged through me, and I knew it would take much to sort them out, if I could at all.» — cómo consigna su propio error de identificación, con la reserva sobre poder ordenarlo.

«The absence of the signal in no way inferred to me that I was being ignored or abandoned. Instead, there was a complete sense of security, a full-fledged desire to continue and broaden my participation in physical life around me, a freedom to express my self-maligned curiosity rather than anxiety as to daily and upcoming patterns. I simply went back to the grazing principle—knowing what I found today would lead me to tomorrow, whatever tomorrow was.» — el principio de método que se aplica cuando no hay señal, y que él llama grazing principle: lo hallado hoy lleva a mañana, sea lo que sea.

«There was a strong radiation of expectancy, not concern, as if the star of the show was about to make an entrance.» — cómo describe el ambiente del anillo exterior antes del suceso.

«(It is what we call the gathering. These have manifested from other nearby energy systems only to witness the big show, as you call it, just as those within the physical spacecraft and your final-process humans. This big show which is about to occur is actually a very rare event— the conflux of several different and intense energy fields arriving at the same point in your time-space. It is this rarity that has attracted so much attention. In terms that you can perceive, it may occur once every eighty-seven million of your earth years.)» — el INSPEC define la Reunión: un conflujo raro de campos de energía intensos que coinciden en el mismo punto del tiempo-espacio, y sitúa su frecuencia en una vez cada ochenta y siete millones de años terrestres.

«(It is long past such point. It will occur. The interest lies in the result. It is best symbolized to you as a convergence of a great number of possibilities which emerge as several probabilities and few possibilities. One of such probabilities may alter not only your time-space but all adjoining energy systems as well. Therefore the wide interest. In human terms, still symbolized, the gathering is here to observe the possible birth of a new energy.» — y qué dice que está en juego, con la escala de modalidad que el propio texto emplea: muchas posibilidades que se reducen a varias probabilidades, una de las cuales podría alterar los sistemas vecinos. En términos humanos, el nacimiento POSIBLE de una energía nueva.

«(There is a human oriental symbol for crisis which is composed of two subsymbols indicating danger and opportunity. The event in human and physical earth terms is definitely a point of crisis. It is» — cómo el INSPEC traduce el suceso a términos humanos, con un símbolo de dos mitades: peligro y oportunidad. La frase sigue en la plana siguiente, donde dice que ambos estarán presentes en grado extremo.

«Danger? Physical danger? Mental? The … (Those are the possibilities, the exact nature of which will be determined by the event itself Whatever your percept may be is one of the possibilities. One or several will occur.)» — y la abstención con que responde a la pregunta por el peligro: son posibilidades cuya naturaleza exacta la determinará el suceso mismo.

«Charlie was laughing. (I keep telling the kid you can’t have a sailboat and a hang glider all in one. Air and water aren’t the same!)» — el tono con que el libro entra a su último episodio: una broma de Charlie sobre velero y ala delta.

«(He kept throwing it at us and after a while he pulled a skip and never came back. So he was right, you’re real.)» — cómo BB le asegura a Monroe que existe, y por qué vía: alguien en KT-95 lo sostenía y acabó saltando sin volver.

«(Your friend AA is there. It is important that you help him at this point.) BB blanked. (AA?) (That is correct.) BB focused and so did I. Inside the small structure, a man was lying on a bed or cot. The resistance I felt seemed to be emanating from him. It was exactly the same as the other times. It was AA, I was sure. The resistance was very strong and it made me vibrate. BB turned. (I guess it’s him, all right. I get a part of his ident, not much. I’m getting some other with it that I know, too. But the percept is wild.) (It is important that you help him separate from his physical temporarily.)» — el encargo del INSPEC, formulado como importancia y no como orden: ayudar a AA a separarse temporalmente de su cuerpo físico.

«(He stated he wished to serve humankind. Very noble goal.) I managed to open somewhat. (Why this resistance? It’s there if I try to get close to his friend AA.) (A true paradox refuses to exist. You will understand soon.)» — cómo el INSPEC explica la resistencia que Monroe encuentra, y con qué figura la deja pendiente: una paradoja verdadera se niega a existir.

«(Inform him he must stay and perform his designed function. He has no other choice at this point.)» — y la respuesta al pedido de AA de irse con ellos, que es una negativa: debe quedarse y cumplir su función.

«I opened wide and smoothed. (I understand about individuation. It is not necessary.)» — la lección que Monroe declara haber aprendido al cerrar la segunda parte: la individuación no es necesaria. El INSPEC la aprueba en la plana siguiente.

«The brightly glowing form winked out. For now, I knew there would no longer be an INSPEC ident to follow, but I felt no sense of loneliness.» — y cómo termina el trato con el INSPEC: la forma se apaga, no habrá ya ident que seguir, y él dice no sentir soledad.

«I did this not only to check what I may have missed but to lay the pattern down tightly, on the premise that someone, somewhere, as an individual or group, might seriously investigate the material—under the guise of philosophical, pathological, educational, or some other study.» — por qué escribe el epílogo, en voz de Monroe: para que alguien pueda investigar el material en serio, bajo el rótulo que sea, filosófico o patológico.

«You can hit a mental PAUSE button if the phone rings, although this often requires a complete rework back to the relaxation state if so interrupted. However, the rote will still be there—“open” at the point you left it.» — cómo describe la técnica de correr un rote, en registro doméstico: hay botón de pausa, aunque suele obligar a rehacer la relajación.

«The early results came out in the following form, not very tight but perhaps more cogent:» — y cómo califica sus propios primeros resultados: poco ceñidos, quizá más convincentes.

«The Dreamers: This group has a distinctive vibration or radiation that indicates they are attached to a physical body somewhere in the current earth time-space. This infers but does not verify that they may be in an out-of-body state during sleep. They apparently are attempting to continue the activity they have been performing during their physical waking hours, or those they desire or fantasize.» — la primera clase de su taxonomía, con la reserva metida en la frase: los Dreamers están ligados a un cuerpo físico, lo que INFIERE pero no verifica que estén fuera del cuerpo durmiendo.

«Dream analysts may be on the right track but with the wrong perspective.» — la única glosa que le añade, dicha con cautela: los analistas de sueños podrían ir por buen camino con la perspectiva equivocada.

«The Locked-Ins: These are very similar to the previous category, and might be confused with them initially but for several key differences.» — la segunda clase, definida por contraste con la anterior.

«The Wild Ones do not realize they have lost the use of their physical bodies, and they do not perceive anything other than physical matter reality. However, they are very much aware that they are somehow different. They don’t understand the whys or hows of it and have no desire to learn. All they realize is that such difference releases them from all of the restraints, obligations, and commitments that were a part of their physical lives. They construe this as absolute freedom and attempt to express themselves accordingly in the only way they know of—through replicas of physical activity. Thus their efforts to participate in physical human life—which they perceive as taking place all around them—take on many bizarre forms.» — la tercera clase, y lo que la caracteriza: no saben que perdieron el cuerpo, saben que algo cambió, lo leen como libertad absoluta y la ejercen imitando la actividad física.

«The frequency of such incidents is not known, from my present perspective.» — y la abstención con que acota su propio censo: no sabe con qué frecuencia ocurre.

«Moving outward, the next ring is the largest of all, and contains an apparently limitless number of sub-rings. However, they all come under a strong general category: At least, all residents here know they have passed through physical death. There may be vagueness and differing beliefs as to what and where they are at this point; hence the often sharply delineated sub-rings.» — cómo describe la estructura de anillos, y a qué atribuye sus subdivisiones: a la vaguedad y a la diferencia de creencias sobre dónde se está.

«There are no standing waves set up by frequencies beating against each other, for the two fields are not compatible. The analogy of a bar magnet with positive and negative fields meeting at the center of the bar does not apply. It would be better to picture a gravity field exerting attraction in one direction and the action of a sitcom on television in another.» — la precisión física que introduce para no confundir su modelo con una interferencia de ondas, con una analogía deliberadamente prosaica.

«The reasons for this wide discrepancy are not obvious to me.» — y otra abstención expresa, sobre una discrepancia que él mismo consigna sin explicar.

«In some respects, the entire process resembles crudely the cycle of an innocent coping with an addictive drug or chemical such as alcohol. The first taste is scarcely palatable, but the effect is interesting, something new.» — la analogía con que cierra el tramo, y que gobierna todo el epílogo: el ciclo entero se parece burdamente al de una adicción.

«Nothing is more important to the wino, nothing occupies his thinking other than where the next shot or hit is coming from. Near-total amnesia is common, and more significantly, a lack of desire to change. He has forgotten who he is and couldn’t care less.» — cómo desarrolla la analogía de la adicción, sin suavizarla: lo único que importa es la próxima dosis, y hay amnesia y ninguna gana de cambiar.

«Where the analogy does not match: In the human life experience sequence, the change is permanent.» — y dónde la analogía deja de valer, según él: en la secuencia de vida humana el cambio es permanente.

«The Unit decided to make a close-in pass-by through the field to obtain data and information.» — el modelo balístico con que el epílogo reescribe la encarnación, y de dónde parte: la Unit decide pasar cerca del campo para obtener datos.

«This reduces velocity in the Unit to a degree greater than that calculated to occur from friction, due to the unexpected adherence factor of the particles within the field. The reduction is so great as to fall below escape velocity, and the Unit moves inexorably into an elliptical orbit.» — el mecanismo de la caída, contado como mecánica orbital: las partículas se adhieren y la velocidad cae por debajo de la de escape.

«At each apogee of the orbit, the Unit passes through the human earth energy field again and gathers additional adhering particles therefrom, causing greater reduction in velocity—which in turn lowers the perigee of the orbit. Finally, the orbit breaks down and succumbs to the now more powerful attraction of the field, and the Unit settles into the field itself, to become a part of it.» — y la espiral que ese modelo predice: cada paso añade partículas, baja el perigeo y termina con la Unit incorporada al campo.

«To launch and achieve escape velocity, the Unit must (1) remove the adhering particles that created the problem while retaining such information/data/experience so as to bring back Something of Value;» — la condición de salida, y la cláusula que la vuelve tarea y no huida: quitarse las partículas conservando la información, para traer algo de valor.

«The solution is made complex by the lack of efficient methods for proper detoxification and removal of adhered particles, as well as the availability of only the most primitive techniques for proper energy distillation and accumulation. Therefore, at best, extrication is a long and arduous process.» — el balance del propio Monroe sobre los medios disponibles: no hay método eficiente de desintoxicación y las técnicas de acumulación son primitivas.

«The key is to begin first with ballistic trajectories, followed by elliptical orbiting, ever increasing the perigee until escape velocity is reached. Thereafter, the Unit can return to its original base with its payload—or, with its increased energy, move on to greater exploration.» — y la vía que propone, gradual como el prólogo prometía: trayectorias balísticas, órbitas elípticas, perigeo cada vez mayor hasta la velocidad de escape.

«Primary learning is the data base upon which we humans principally conduct our physical lives. Other learning processes affect our thoughts and actions, yet the fundamental pattern of performance is based upon this primary learning.» — cómo define el primero de los tres niveles de aprendizaje: la base de datos sobre la que los humanos conducen su vida física.

«As the first-timer lives his human life, he finds virtually nothing to guide his mentation in directions other than those directly related to time-space physical matter. Unfortunately for the human, this includes those organizations who purvey belief systems based upon individuals both present and in past history whose knowledge of origin-identity was operational during their human sojourn. In the retelling and conversion to verbal human communication, plus the erosion of many retranslations, only portions of the process remain. Sadly, such portions attempt to teach effects rather than causes. Only in very rare instances do these provide clear access to the source.» — el diagnóstico del primerizo, y a quiénes incluye en el problema sin excluirlos: también los sistemas de creencia organizados, que solo en casos rarísimos dan acceso claro a la fuente.

«In short, the problem can be stated very succinctly, which turns a first-timer into a repeater: human physical life is addictive.» — la frase que condensa el epílogo entero, y con ella el libro: la vida física humana es adictiva.

«The two factors involved are Survival Drive Distortion and Prime Energy Diffusion.» — los dos factores con que lo explica, cada uno con su nombre propio.

«The fight-or-flee dilemma arises when two or more of such needs come into direct conflict as to priority.» — cómo define el conflicto dentro del impulso de supervivencia.

«You’re in the top .0001 percent of the human pyramid if you know without question these needs will be met tomorrow, the next week, the rest of your life—by your own action, your family, or “your” government.» — la cifra con que sitúa al lector, y las comillas que le pone al posesivo sobre el gobierno.

«The most powerful of the survival drive imprints takes precedence over all others, and therefore has been subject to more major distortions than any other.» — cuál de las improntas de supervivencia dice que se distorsiona más, por ser la más fuerte.

«The greatest among these has been, and is, the illusion that, as a creative act, it thus engenders automatically the creative emotion of love, ethereal and godlike.» — y cuál es para él la mayor de esas distorsiones: creer que el acto creativo genera por sí mismo la emoción del amor.

«We make decisions in blind anger and resent the results.» — cómo describe la mezcla de decisión y emoción, sin salvarse a sí mismo del reproche.

«The mess gets messier when we do perceive that effective and achieving left-brain decisions are made ultimately by some emotional factor, hidden and disguised as it may be.» — y el paso siguiente, que no salva al hemisferio izquierdo: hasta las decisiones eficaces las decide al final un factor emocional oculto.

«Free will is no longer free and hasn’t much will, buried under a swarm of emotional encumbrances.» — la conclusión que saca sobre el libre albedrío, que es la que tensa con el acuerdo de entrada citado antes.

«Ego exploits the concept that it is needed to exist and achieve, that the emotion of confidence cannot exist without ego support, that happiness is satiated ego. Ego can bring forth hundreds of irrational emotional reasons to justify its existence—sidestepping the fact that emotion and irrationality are not synonymous. It steadfastly maintains that there would be no human personality were it not for the ego.» — y las tres pretensiones que atribuye al ego, enunciadas como argumentos de él mismo, no como verdades.

«The major—if not the only—reasons for attending the human experience school are first, to learn to translate such energy into a discernible form, and second, to become a first-order generator thereof.» — para qué sirve la escuela humana, según el epílogo, en dos puntos: aprender a traducir esa energía a forma discernible y volverse su generador de primer orden.

«SL is indestructible, as stated. Once activated, no subsequent thought, emotion, or event can have any effect upon it. SL is not in any way dependent upon manifestation in physical matter, or activity therein. SL has no object, animate or inanimate, although such may be one of the catalysts to trigger the generation thereof. SL is a continuous radiation, totally nondependent upon like reception or any other form of return whatsoever. SL is.» — las tres propiedades que le atribuye al Super Love, y todas son negativas: indestructible, no dependiente de la materia, y radiación que no espera retorno de ninguna clase.

«A very complex and rugged curriculum, this Human School of Compressed Learning. Parris Island at its peak was a teatime social by comparison. There, at least, you had a reasonably clear idea of what you were doing and your probable destination. Knowing this, it was worth it.» — cómo mide el precio del programa con una comparación militar, y el matiz que la salva: en el campo de reclutas al menos se sabía adónde iba uno.

«My very deeply dedicated response: Among the very few seniors and graduates I have encountered, there was not one who would not repeat the in-human learning system again and again, no matter how many times—knowing the indescribably magnificent result.» — y el único testimonio que ofrece a favor, adjudicado a otros y no a sí mismo: ninguno de los graduados que encontró se negaría a repetirlo.

«Establish Grazing Principle Instead of actively seeking out needed changes, deal with each as it appears in your daily life. Live and be just as you have until you perceive an emotion or attachment that is so obvious you can’t ignore it.» — la primera regla práctica del currículo, y es de no forzar: tratar cada cosa cuando aparece sola, no salir a buscar cambios.

«Live a Twenty-four-Hour Day Become aware of what you do and think at all times, in all activities, and examine the emotional factors that appear to be the strongest, that attract your attention. Include your sleep periods with their NVC-dream content. Explore these by asking yourself why, repeating the probe until you reach each source. It is then easy to detach and release the energy for other purposes. Start with the small and work into the large.» — la segunda, con el sueño incluido en la jornada, y el orden que propone: empezar por lo pequeño.

«If you have not perceived any other energy systems, they are not real to you. However, you must consider that you have done so but they are not within your present awareness.» — cómo trata la objeción de quien no ha percibido nada, sin descalificarla: si no lo percibiste no es real PARA TI, y aun así considera que quizá lo hiciste sin advertirlo.

«The energy that we transform or generate has no reality until we express it. An idea has no reality until we transmit it or put it into practice. Knowledge and information are nothing without dissemination and/or application. A single thought is not real unless it is instilled into or acts upon another or is acted upon itself. Think and do is the operating productive combination, either mentally or physically, in one or more energy systems. Inhibit, restrain, or block the flow of any such energy and it ceases to exist.» — la doctrina de la expresión que sostiene el currículo: la energía, la idea y el pensamiento no tienen realidad hasta que se expresan, y bloquear el flujo los anula.

«Just as a lens can concentrate solar radiation to a temperature many times greater than normal, so other energies can be transformed and modified. This is particularly valid within the energy spectrum available to human consciousness. The fact that we exercise them randomly and unknowingly for the most part, specifically in the nonphysical categories, does not invalidate such potential.» — y la imagen de la lente, que vuelve del prólogo: la conciencia concentra y transforma energía, y usarla al azar no invalida esa capacidad.

«It’s one of the best of emotions, but must be spontaneous to produce results. Seeing and enjoying the humor in life is something not to be missed.» — la risa dentro del currículo, con la condición que la vuelve inútil si se fuerza: ha de ser espontánea.

«Consider these as a waveform originating within the survival imprint, and therefore signals relating only to time-space physical matter. They are essential tools that can be used for measurement. Think of it as a sine wave, with pain below the baseline and pleasure above it. The amplitude of each is an indicator of intensity, which can be controlled. Step one: Sort out and remove all emotional energy adhered to your PP accumulated memory.» — cómo trata el par dolor-placer: como una onda que nace en la impronta de supervivencia, y el primer paso es quitarle la energía emocional a la memoria acumulada.

«You may not get the results the first, third, or fifth time, but eventually you will succeed.» — y con qué expectativa lo entrega: puede que no funcione a la primera ni a la quinta vez.

«Say it first as words in your mind just as you are drifting off to sleep. Convert as early as possible to nonverbal communication (NVC), stating the affirmation in mental action rather than words. After you are well established with the technique, add specific needs such as information, health care, problem solving, communication, or any of the procedures listed previously, using NVC. The answer will come usually not in words, but in pictures, sound, living action in your mind. There is no limit to the ways you can use this method provided you do not impinge upon the will of others. If you need help, ask for it by NVC. You will receive it, perhaps not immediately, but you will, often in the most astounding serendipitous and synchronistic ways. Be sure that you qualify your need and that you can handle the answer or result.» — el procedimiento nocturno, con dos límites explícitos dentro: no invadir la voluntad de otros, y asegurarse de poder manejar la respuesta.

«Measure Your Load-Energy Ratio At physical birth, we enter physical life into a presumed innocent consciousness. The path to adulthood and your progress along it can be termed a loss of such innocence, scaled by the number of responsibilities you have willfully assumed, as created by your authoritative acts. Maturity, which is not the same, is calculated by totaling the percentage of illusions you have released and discarded—deliberately, not forced disillusionment.» — cómo define la madurez, distinguiéndola de la adultez y de la desilusión sufrida: el porcentaje de ilusiones soltadas deliberadamente.

«You ultimately are your own instructor and you will fill out your own report card.» — y dónde deja la evaluación, que es la abstención final del currículo.

«A language professor father, now in another reality, used this to wake up students in his class in French, claiming it was an old and famous French proverb. Some worked earnestly for hours trying to solve the enigma. It may be very appropriate here, too.» — cómo cierra el epílogo: con un falso proverbio francés que un profesor usaba para despertar a sus alumnos, y que Monroe considera apropiado aquí.

«In the OOBE, the individual is near-totally conscious, as our civilization defines the state. Most if not all of your physical sensory perception is replicated. You can “see,” “hear,” and “touch”—the weakest seem to be smell and taste. Your perspective is from a position outside your physical body, near or distant. In a near state, it is usually from a location impossible for you to “be” with your physical body, such as floating against the ceiling. In a far location, it could be in Paris when you know you are in New York physically. You can observe events taking place, but you cannot change or significantly affect them. You can verify the authenticity of such events subsequently if you so desire. You cannot participate to any major degree in this physical activity because you are not “physical.”» — cómo distingue el apéndice la OOBE del sueño lúcido: la conciencia está casi entera, se ve, se oye y se toca, y lo que no se puede es participar de la actividad física.

«Several studies made during the past ten years indicate that some 25 percent of adult humans remember having at least one spontaneous OOBE.» — la cifra que aporta, atribuida a estudios y no a sí mismo.

«After twenty-five years of investigation as well as personal exploration, there is no evidence to support either possibility.» — la abstención más fuerte del apéndice, y es doble: veinticinco años no dan evidencia ni de que sea peligrosa ni de que sea segura.

«Physiologically, there seems to be no effect, including any depletion of energy.» — y qué mide él como no ocurrido, marcado con un parece.

«There is some data to indicate that hallucinogens may be producing an uncontrolled OOBE. The drug experience in and of itself has not been studied in depth as to this possibility. Alcohol, as a depressant, tends to inhibit a conscious OOBE, or at least the memory thereof.» — lo que dice sobre las sustancias, con el rango de la afirmación medido: algunos datos indican que los alucinógenos producen una OOBE descontrolada, y el alcohol la inhibe.

«Most if not all of the elements found in the near-death reports have been replicated repeatedly with various laboratory subjects using the Hemi-Sync process.» — el paralelo que traza con las experiencias cercanas a la muerte, en términos de replicación de laboratorio.

«We have no hard data to support the premise that any of these have a significant effect on the OOBE. There are a few indicators that lying in the north-south position does have some effect, which would infer that the earth’s magnetic field may have some bearing on the process.» — cómo trata las variables ambientales: sin datos duros para clima ni luna, y unos pocos indicadores para la orientación norte-sur.

«Over the past fifteen years, working with laboratory subjects and program participants, there have been no incidents that remotely could be construed as “possession” or something destructive or uncontrollable.» — la negativa que da sobre la posesión, acotada al periodo y a la población que declara haber visto.

«An unqualified reply to this one is difficult. Often what is perceived as vicious or evil is simply a very impersonal energy you have encountered which you interpret as aimed at you personally. A sudden undertow at the beach may seem frightening and deadly, and it is your fear and the unknown potential of it that makes it so. The undertow itself doesn’t know you exist and cares less.» — cómo desactiva la pregunta por las energías malignas: lo que se percibe como vicioso suele ser una energía impersonal, y usa la resaca del mar como analogía.

«The weakness of this technique from our perspective lies in the fact that the OOB individual is not in control of the activity» — la objeción que le pone a la OOBE inducida por hipnosis: el sujeto no controla la actividad.

«Usually to a person, easiest to someone who is close to you emotionally.» — y el criterio práctico que da para desplazarse: a una persona, y mejor si es cercana.

«They exist only in the mind of the perceiver, due to ignorance and lack of understanding plus an immersed viewpoint.» — cómo despacha Monroe la pregunta por el bien y el mal en el apéndice de preguntas: existen solo en la mente de quien percibe.

«We don’t think about our gastrointestinal tract, our circulation system, or our lungs as technology.» — y con qué argumento naturaliza la tecnología que atribuye a los seres superiores.

«There is much to support this premise, especially when key figures and events in human history are objectively studied with this prospect as an alternative to our present belief system.» — cómo formula, con toda la cautela puesta en la frase, la hipótesis de intervención en la historia humana: hay mucho que la apoya si se estudia como alternativa al sistema de creencia vigente.

«Robert Monroe is a businessman from Virginia, now in his sixties, who is one of the most widely known gifted subjects in the OBE literature. He has written a book cataloguing his out-of-body exploits,* and has founded a private institution devoted to the study of such phenomena: the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences in Faber, Virginia. He voluntarily submitted himself to in-depth psychiatric and psychological evaluation several years prior to the publication of this book. He underwent intensive psychiatric interviewing and a battery of different psychological tests. Monroe has never had psychiatric treatment of any form. He has performed at a high level of functioning throughout his career as producer, businessman, and entrepreneur.» — arranca el apéndice clínico, que NO es de Monroe sino de Twemlow y Gabbard: lo presentan como hombre de negocios y sujeto dotado, y consignan que se sometió voluntariamente a evaluación psiquiátrica.

«As we delve into his background, we find that he did not have out-of-body experiences until the age of forty-two. He had an orthodox Southern upbringing with high-achieving and successful parents. From an early age, Monroe had a fascination with flying. He built model planes as a little boy and learned to fly airplanes when he was only in high school.» — el dato biográfico sobre el que montan su lectura: no tuvo experiencias fuera del cuerpo hasta los cuarenta y dos, y de niño construía aviones y aprendió a volar en la preparatoria.

«Tolpin (1974) has related such intense developmental vicissitude to the grandiose fantasy which she calls “the Daedalus Experience.”» — y de dónde toman el marco, citado con autor y año: la fantasía grandiosa que Tolpin llama la Experiencia de Dédalo.

«Tolpin postulates that this myth and the fascination with flying is intimately connected with a certain developmental period when the infant experiences an ecstatic primal pleasure at being flung about by his mother and father and doting relatives.» — cómo la misma fuente explica esa fantasía, y el verbo con que los autores lo marcan: Tolpin lo POSTULA, ligándolo a un placer primario del lactante.

«Thus, the out-of-body experience in Monroe also serves the function of avoidance of conflict.» — la lectura psicodinámica que los autores le dan a la experiencia de Monroe, y que la ficha consigna como voz ajena a la del libro.

«Most striking was Monroe’s spasmodic breathing with periods of apnea. After these apneic periods, the breaths were gulping. Simultaneously, Dr. Jones and SWT turned to each other and reported the impression of a heat wavelike distortion beginning at Monroe’s waist, so that it was difficult to get a clearly focused picture of his upper body, although his lower body was in clear focus. Previously, Monroe had stated that he would be able to get out of his body quickly but could not signal it, although he could signal within five seconds of return. This distortion disappeared rather suddenly a little before he roused himself. At that time his EEG showed a shift in high amplitude patterns to the right hemisphere with a low amplitude in the left occipital lead. He seemed to wake without anxiety, although he was moderately disoriented in space for about thirty seconds, with slight slurring of his speech.» — lo que los clínicos observan durante la sesión monitorizada: respiración espasmódica con apneas, y al despertar, desorientación breve sin ansiedad.

«At one point, when a technician entered the room to check electrodes, Monroe appeared to be unaware of his presence, and there was no fluctuation in GSR.» — la única prueba de aislamiento que reportan, contada como observación y no como demostración.

«There seemed to be no significant frequency differences between hemispheres, although the amplitude differences were obvious. There were significant differences between the beginning and middle, the middle and end, and the beginning and end sections of Monroe’s EEG in each hemisphere.» — y el hallazgo electroencefalográfico que declaran, con el matiz de que la diferencia entre hemisferios es de amplitud y no de frecuencia.

«In his 1979 presidential address to the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Jules Masserman noted that one of man’s three ultimate seekings is “a system of values and mystic beliefs to provide metapsychological serenity.” He noted that there was a growing interest in what he called “metapsychiatry, reflecting a parallel preoccupation in the general public with esoteric faiths and transcendental seekings for the ultimate.”» — cómo abren Twemlow, Gabbard y Jones su artículo, apoyándose en el discurso presidencial de Masserman ante la American Psychiatric Association: la metapsiquiatría como interés creciente.

«symptom is usually treated (e.g., interpretation, medication), but that many of these phenomena should be viewed by the unfamiliar treating physician with “benign neglect” and referred back to the meditation teacher for management.» — y la conducta clínica que recomiendan ante estos fenómenos, con la fórmula que usan: negligencia benigna, y devolver el caso al maestro de meditación.

«We chose the following definition “An experience where you felt that your mind or awareness was separated from your physical body.” As with Palmer4 we felt that the only theme in the literature which distinguishes these experiences is a sense of location of the total sense of self at some place other than in the physical body. We did not feel that it was wise to restrict our definition further at this point until the experience had been more thoroughly studied.» — la definición operativa que adoptan, y por qué no la estrechan: sentir que la mente o la conciencia se separó del cuerpo, sin restringirla mientras el fenómeno no esté mejor estudiado.

«(1) a belief that with the current state of knowledge, the subject is in a better position than the investigator to decide whether or not he had an out-of-body experience; (2) we wanted to emphasize the sense of location of self-awareness rather than the complex and extremely variable visual and auditory experiences reported in the anecdotal literature;5 (3) whether or not there is objective laboratory demonstration of a separation of self-awareness from its normal location in the brain seems not relevant to the study of the phenomenon from a psychiatric point of view.» — las tres razones que dan para esa definición, y la tercera es una abstención metodológica: si hay o no separación demostrable en laboratorio les resulta irrelevante desde la psiquiatría.

«However, we are very aware of the vast literature on perceptual illusion suggesting that such research is enormously subject to bias; for example, Orne7 demonstrated that experimental results are directly affected by the experimenter’s personal belief system.» — el sesgo que reconocen en su propio terreno, citado con fuente: los resultados experimentales dependen del sistema de creencias del experimentador.

«Attempts such as those of Tart8,9 and Twemlow10 to obtain psychophysiological correlates of such an experience cannot be said to characterize it even partially adequately, not unlike, for example, trying to describe a whole person using only an EKG.» — y el límite que le ponen a la correlación fisiológica, incluida la suya propia, con una comparación explícita.

«The term “out-of-body experience” was coined by Tart in 1960 primarily to avoid the judgmental alternative names present in the literature which implied some nonexistent exact knowledge of etiology of the experience, for example, such terms as astral projection, ESP projection, doubling, astral travel, etc.» — por qué se acuñó el término, según ellos: para evitar los que implicaban un conocimiento inexistente de la etiología, como proyección astral o doubling. Es la misma decisión que Monroe cuenta en el capítulo primero, dicha desde el otro lado.

«Some writers feel that out-of-body experience is a specific form of depersonalization, a point to be addressed in the third paper of this series. Others such as Ehrenwald11 emphasize not only the sense of separation but also the visual accompaniments of what is seen by the self located “outside” the body.» — y el desacuerdo que consignan sin resolver: unos leen la OBE como forma de despersonalización, otros subrayan además los acompañamientos visuales.

«with a national periodical (circulation 15 million on the North American continent), solicited letters from people who thought they might have had an out-of-body experience. Of about 1,500 responses, 700 subjects reported experiences in which they thought their consciousness was separated from the physical body. About one year after the interview two multiscale questionnaires (Profile of Out-of-Body Experiences, POBE, and Profile of Adaptation to Life, PAL) were sent to the individuals and 420 people returned valid questionnaires. 339 reported OBE experiences, while 81 people did not have such experiences, but expressed a strong interest in learning more about them, and for the purposes of this study were used as a comparison group, controlling for high interest in esoteric phenomena.» — cómo se armó la muestra del estudio, con su sesgo declarado: convocatoria en una revista, 1 500 respuestas, 420 cuestionarios válidos, y 81 sin experiencia usados como grupo de comparación para controlar el interés por lo esotérico.

«The finding that this experience is not usually associated with illness or stress compares with similar findings by Crookall,28 who found four out of his five subjects normal and well. He attempted to classify OBEs based on those occurring under stress (physical or mental) and those occurring under nonstressful conditions.» — el hallazgo principal y con quién lo contrastan: la experiencia no suele ir asociada a enfermedad ni a estrés, como ya había encontrado Crookall en cuatro de sus cinco sujetos.

«Comparing these findings with those of Green,15 those who had one OBE only were characteristically people under some identifiable stress prior to the experience, especially physical trauma.» — y la divergencia que consignan con Green: los de una sola OBE sí venían de un estrés identificable, sobre todo trauma físico.

«In our sample, an analysis of the top and bottom 25% for frequency of OBEs utilizing univariate independent group t-tests failed to find any precondition reaching the level of p < .01. The bottom 25% of the sample reported more spontaneous OBEs, that is, those occurring without effort to leave the body, significantly more frequently than the top 25%(df = 62, p < .01).» — cómo reportan el resultado negativo, con su estadístico: ninguna precondición alcanzó el umbral.

«A small but intensive study of 10 subjects* reports that states of mental calm were mentioned 20 times more frequently in subjects with multiple OBEs. Single OBE subjects reported psychological stress only three times in the sample. Most of the pundits of parapsychological literature recommend a physically relaxed state10,22 from their own personal experiences.» — el dato sobre la calma mental, y de dónde viene la recomendación equivalente en la otra literatura: de la experiencia personal de sus autores.

«OBE occurring during dreaming is distinguished emphatically by subjects as being “more real than a dream” in the majority of cases.» — cómo separan la OBE del sueño, y la distinción la ponen en boca de los sujetos.

«Subjects who were in a state of mental calmness at the time of the OBE tended to have a significantly greater proportion of meditators (df = 178, p < .0001) than those who were not in such a state of mental calmness; otherwise no other preconditions significantly separated this group.» — el único rasgo que sí separa al grupo en calma, y el límite con que lo dicen: más meditadores, y ninguna otra precondición.

«Lifethreatening experiences as described by Stevenson and Greyson29 have given rise to a prevalent opinion in the literature that OBEs are frequently associated with severe illness, threat to life, either internal (psychotic) or external (physical).» — la opinión prevalente en la literatura que su estudio viene a matizar, atribuida a autores concretos. La fuente parte Lifethreatening con guion de fin de línea y la herramienta lo une.

«Even without reviewing the widely recognized defects of the questionnaire approach, this study has a number of added defects, including the fact that many of the experiences are remembered from many years before. Structuring the questionnaire in a directive way added forced-choice features; however, the questions were forced-choice to aid in quantifying data but the sacrifice, of course, is obvious. Although a large number of questions were asked, this approach suffers from a lack of detailed individualized protocols.» — los defectos que los autores le reconocen a su propio estudio: recuerdos de muchos años atrás y falta de protocolos individualizados.

«The 280 nonrespondents to the questionnaire cast some doubt on how generalizable our data is even to the OBE population.» — y hasta dónde llega esa autocrítica: los no respondientes ponen en duda que los datos valgan siquiera para la población con OBE.

«It was found that our OBE group was the “norm” group, representing a broad range of educational age and geographic characteristics as well as having a good psychological and physical adjustment.» — el resultado que sí sostienen: el grupo con OBE es el grupo norma, con buen ajuste psicológico y físico.

«Far from being primarily attributes of illness, painful or toxic states, the majority of these experiences occur often when the person is least expecting them and when quite relaxed.» — y la conclusión que sacan contra la lectura patológica: la mayoría de las experiencias ocurren cuando menos se esperan y en calma.

«We have elected not to address the issue of whether mind really separates from the physical body, but our research has raised in our minds fundamental questions about the nature of what is “really real.”» — la abstención explícita de los autores sobre la pregunta de fondo, y lo que dicen que su investigación sí les removió.

«There is no clouding of consciousness as is reported in hypnogogic, hypnopompic, and dream, including lucid dream states; in fact, consciousness is felt to be quite clear.» — el rasgo con que separan la OBE de los estados hipnagógicos y del sueño lúcido.

«The whole self, including observing and experiencing ego functions, is located at a point in perceptual space other than the brain, with the physical body being seen as inert and “thoughtless.”» — cómo formulan el núcleo del fenómeno: el yo entero situado en otro punto del espacio perceptual, con el cuerpo visto como inerte.

«Thus our approach to the etiology of OBE is to consider there to be contributions from different levels of explanation.» — y la posición multideterminista con que cierran, que es una renuncia a la causa única.

«In the Republic, Plato delineates four levels of experiential reality: imaginary, physical, conceptual, and direct transcendental cognition, which he calls direct seeing or “the Good.” In the story of Er (Republic, 616–17) the story is told of a valiant man, Er, who died in battle and who later revived and told a story whereby his soul had departed from him. Plato claims something utterly alien to the modern mentality; he says that only after death, when we are free of bodily influence, shall we know the whole crux of being. Plato feels that freeing the psyche from the body is an essential condition for the philosophic journey to ultimate» — el remate del apéndice, que va a buscar precedente en la República: cuatro niveles de realidad, la historia de Er, y la tesis de que solo libre del cuerpo se conoce el fondo del ser.

«This discovery also permits external control of the degree of activity of either right or left brain.» — la frase que la ficha traía cortada, ahora entera: el mismo procedimiento permitiría controlar desde fuera el grado de actividad de cada hemisferio.

«The technique employs a system of audio pulses which create a frequency-following response in the human brain. By this method, it is now possible to hold and maintain specific stages of sleep for any depth and duration in the average person.» — cómo la nota biográfica resume la técnica patentada, y hasta dónde llega la afirmación: sostener etapas concretas de sueño a cualquier profundidad y duración en una persona media.

«These two patterns, when employed in an ordered sequence to achieve specific effects, offer a significant gateway to new understanding and application of human thought and endeavor.» — y lo que la nota le atribuye, en potencial y no en pasado: una puerta significativa a nuevo entendimiento.

«A previous edition of this book was originally published in 1985 by Doubleday It is here reprinted by arrangement with Doubleday.» — la página de derechos declara la genealogía del ejemplar: el texto es de 1985 y esta impresión de Broadway lo reedita por acuerdo con Doubleday.

«First Broadway Books trade paperback edition published 2001 An Eleanor Friede Book» — y fecha el ejemplar que se ficha: la edición en rústica de Broadway, 2001.

«“The Out-of-Body Experience A Phenomenological Typology Based on Questionnaire Responses,” by S. W. Twemlow, G.O. Gabbard, and F.C. Jones. The American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 139 4, pp. 450-55, 1982. Copyright © 1982, the American Psychiatric Association.» — el aparato externo que la obra incorpora en apéndice y consigna en el copyright: el artículo de Twemlow, Gabbard y Jones en el American Journal of Psychiatry, reimpreso con permiso. No es texto de Monroe.

«“The OBE Psychophysiology of Robert A Monroe” from With the Eyes of the Mind by Glen O. Gabbard and Stuart W. Twemlow. Copyright © 1984 Praeger Publishers Reprinted by permission.» — y la segunda pieza ajena: el estudio psicofisiológico sobre Monroe firmado por Gabbard y Twemlow, tomado de un libro suyo de 1984.

«The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has cataloged the previous edition as: Monroe, Robert A. Far journeys “A Main Street book” 1. Monroe, Robert A. 2. Psychical research—» — cómo cataloga la obra la Biblioteca del Congreso, según la propia página de derechos.

«DEDICATED TO: Nancy Penn Monroe, much more than a wife, whose constant and consistent love, support, sharing, and understanding were the indispensable elements in the writing and completion of this record.» — la dedicatoria, en voz de Monroe: nombra a su mujer, Nancy Penn Monroe, como elemento indispensable y llama al libro un registro, no un relato.

«The literally hundreds of others over the past fifteen years who freely gave their time, energy, and interest in so many different ways and without whom very little would have been accomplished.» — y la segunda mitad de la dedicatoria, donde el sujeto se vuelve colectivo: cientos de personas a lo largo de quince años, sin las cuales dice que poco se habría logrado.

«Contents Flow Sheet Cover Other Books by This Author Title Page Copyright Dedication Prologue Part I Near Reaches 1. Old Local Traffic 2. Hemi-Sync et al. 3. The Gateway Program 4. Explorer Team I 5. New Associations 6. Segue Part II Far Reaches 7. Surveys and Schematics 8. Contact Point 9. Rainbow Route 10. Newfound Friend 11. Rescue Mission 12. Hearsay Evidence 13. Shock Treatment 14. One Easy Lesson 15. Promised Plan 16. The Gathering Epilogue: End Game» — el índice completo de la plana, del que la ficha traía solo la primera mitad: las dieciséis unidades numeradas se reparten en Near Reaches y Far Reaches, y el epílogo se titula End Game.

«Appendices I. The Out-of-Body Experience: Most Frequently Asked Questions and Answers II. The OBE Psychophysiology of Robert A. Monroe By Stuart W. Twemlow, M.D., and Glen O. Gabbard, M.D. III. The Out-of-Body Experience: Phenomenology By Stuart W. Twemlow, M.D., Glen O. Gabbard, M.D., and Fowler C. Jones, Ed.D. Paper Presented at the 1980 Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, May 5-9, in San Francisco» — y la plana siguiente lista los tres apéndices, dos de ellos firmados por Twemlow, Gabbard y Jones: el aparato clínico sobre Monroe es de otras manos y la obra lo declara desde el índice.

«Robert Allan Monroe is a man of many talents. More important, he has the ability to explore and experience these different facets that make up an unusual personality.» — abre la nota biográfica del editor, en tercera persona: no es voz de Monroe sino aparato del volumen.

«The son of a college professor and a medical doctor mother, he received his degree from Ohio State University after studies in engineering and journalism, and entered the radio broadcasting industry as a writer and director of programs. In 1939 he went to New York, where he was the creator and producer of some 400 radio and TV network programs in the ensuing twenty-year period. In addition to directing and writing, he composed all of the orchestral music for his programs, much of which is still in use in television and motion pictures.» — la formación y la carrera que la nota le adjudica: ingeniería y periodismo en Ohio State, y unos cuatrocientos programas de radio y televisión en veinte años.

«He later became vice-president of programs and director of Mutual Broadcasting System, Inc., a position he held until mid-1956. He then became president of Laury Associates, which brought him into ownership and operation of radio stations in North Carolina and Virginia. He also formed Jefferson Cable Corporation, which, as president, he guided in the construction and operation of cable-TV systems in Charlottesville and Waynesboro, Virginia—a position he held until April 1976.» — y los cargos empresariales con que la nota cierra esa etapa, hasta la televisión por cable en Charlottesville.

«Mr. Monroe’s major avocation in recent years has been exploration and research into practical methods of accelerated learning through expanded forms of consciousness. To augment such activity, he founded the Monroe Institute of Applied» — cómo la nota nombra el giro de su ocupación: métodos prácticos de aprendizaje acelerado por formas expandidas de conciencia. La frase sigue en la plana siguiente, donde fecha el instituto en 1973.

«Sciences in 1973, with facilities and laboratories at Afton, Virginia. With his long and varied experience in sound, it was natural that he utilized this medium for his investigation. One of the results of his work was a method and technique of inducing relaxation and sleep, which was granted a generic patent in 1975.» — su continuación en la plana siguiente: laboratorios en Afton, Virginia, y una patente genérica en 1975 para el método de inducir relajación y sueño.

«Along with others, the Monroe Institute (now located in Nelson County, Virginia) is exploring the potentials of such methods in all areas of individual and cultural activity.» — el dato que sitúa al instituto al momento de esta edición, ya en el condado de Nelson.

«He is author of the book Journeys Out of the Body (Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1971; Anchor Press edition, 1977), which has been published in five languages worldwide.» — y la referencia bibliográfica del primer volumen tal como la nota la imprime, con editorial y las dos fechas.

Oobe — Hallarse fuera del cuerpo físico, plenamente consciente y capaz de percibir y actuar, con la salvedad de que se atraviesa el espacio, se decide y se pasa a través de la materia.

Proyeccion Astral — Nombre que Monroe rechaza por su connotación oculta y por no ser científico; los clínicos del apéndice lo descartan por implicar un conocimiento inexistente de la etiología.

Segundo Cuerpo — Un segundo cuerpo idéntico al físico pero menos denso, descubierto por una dificultad de reentrada; al entrar en él, el físico se le vuelve más definido.

Barrera del Miedo — Resistencia cultural que el programa Gateway disuelve yendo y volviendo entre postes de guía; caída ella, dice que queda la curiosidad.

Hemi Sync — Patrones de sonido que crean simultáneamente la misma forma de onda en los dos hemisferios; lo que resulta no es sonido sino una señal eléctrica que solo producen los dos juntos.

Frequency Following Response — Respuesta que permite sostener al sujeto en un estado entre vigilia y sueño por largos periodos; patentada en 1975.

Explorer Material — El corpus de sesiones del equipo de Explorers: un tercio son entidades hablando por sus cuerdas vocales con permiso, dos tercios el Explorer reportando una conversación.

Inspec — Abreviatura de intelligent species que Monroe les pone, y que él mismo declara que presume que los humanos no lo son del todo; dicen ser una sola entidad hecha de muchos yo.

Rote — Bola de pensamiento: un paquete de memoria total —conocimiento, información, experiencia, historia—; correrlo es recordar sus partes.

Ident — Nombre o dirección mental, el patrón de energía de una cosa; funciona como dispositivo de localización.

M Band — Franja del espectro que el pensamiento usa, ni electromagnética ni nucleónica; su ruido lo produce el pensamiento descontrolado, y no decae con la distancia.

Tsi — Time-Space Illusion: anomalía entre los sistemas de energía estándar, que incluye el universo físico entero.

Loosh — Sustancia que en la fábula del Jardín alguien recoge de la vida basada en carbono; el conflicto y la falta de plenitud la producen pura, y las herramientas de cosecha llevan nombres de emociones humanas.

Nvc — Comunicación no verbal: experiencia directa instantánea transmitida de un sistema de energía inteligente a otro. Monroe dice no dominarla y dudar de que algún humano lo haga.

Ley del Cambio — Toda preocupación y todo conflicto humano se remiten a ella: unos temen que el cambio ocurra y otros que no. La fórmula contra la indecisión reparte los asuntos en tres listas.

Adiccion — La vida física humana es adictiva; el epílogo desarrolla el paralelo con el alcohol y separa dónde deja de valer.

Super Love — Radiación indestructible, no dependiente de la materia y que no espera retorno de ninguna clase.

Supervivencia — Lo principal de ser humano; dentro de un cuerpo físico la impronta se reduce a seguir vivo, y su distorsión es uno de los dos factores que vuelven adictiva la vida.

Primeros Tiempos — El sistema reparte a los visitantes en First-Timers, Old-Timers, Last-Timers y Seekers, estos últimos con cuerpo físico vivo todavía.