The Next Step in Life

Frank waited until his friend Tim had finished speaking before he spoke. "All right, Tim, I’m going to humor you this time, and agree to what you want me to do, but I’m only going to do it so you’ll find out you’re out of your damned mind, and get back to reality. I’ll be at your place at nine PM sharp."

Frank shut off the phone and tried to get back to work, but it was useless. He couldn’t get his mind off the nonsense Tim had been spending all of his time working on for the last months. He had been his best friend all the way through medical school, and had been a damn good neurosurgeon until he quit his practice and went off the wall.

He stopped trying to work and thought back to the conversation they had a few weeks back when they went to lunch together.

***

"I’m close Frank. It’s only a matter of time before I manage to do it. I know you think I’m going crazy, but you won’t when I actually prove my theory."

"I don’t think you’re going crazy, Tim. I know God damn well you are. You’re a trained professional. You of all people should know that astral projection, or out of body experiences, are just mental aberrations that no doubt have an underlying physical reason, such as extreme fatigue, or some other factor adversely affecting the brain. Hell, it’s a proven fact they can be artificially induced by electrically stimulating certain parts of the brain."

"That’s doesn’t prove they’re not real. What’s reality anyway? That piece of steak you’re cutting into is only real because your conscious mind says it is. How do you know you’re not being fooled? Can you say for sure that everything you see and feel is real? We’ve both had patients who have had hallucinations while they were awake. They’d be the first one’s to tell you they couldn’t tell the difference between them and reality. If your conscious mind can have reality, why can’t your subconscious mind have a reality of it’s own? The bottom line is that if it seems real, for all practical purposes it is real."

"That’s fine, Tim, but how do you explain why people can’t see someone else’s hallucinations if they’re real?"

Tim smiled and replied, "That’s exactly what I intend to find out, old friend. I believe it’s because our conscious minds won’t allow us to see what it doesn’t want us to see. The trick is to get past the blocks it puts up. Our conscious minds allow our subconscious minds to take partial control during our sleep so it can rest, but it’s always watching to make sure it doesn’t lose control. People have dreams about almost dying, but they always wake up before it happens because their conscious mind takes back its control. If dying in a dream isn’t a real experience, why does our conscious mind wake us up to stop it from happening? I believe its because death would be a reality, no matter what form it comes in during the dream."

"You’re saying our conscious minds are preventing us from seeing realities it doesn’t want us to see? Well here’s a reality your conscious mind is blocking you from seeing. If you don’t stop working on this nonsense and get back to normal you’ll ruin your career as a neurosurgeon. That’s reality, now lets finish our meal while we talk about something else." The rest of their meal was spent in strained silence.

***

Frank arrived at Tim’s apartment with the supplies he needed, and at the time he promised. He was shocked at Tim’s appearance when he answered the door and ushered him in. "My God, Tim! What have you done to yourself? You look like you’ve lost twenty pounds. I’ve seen people on their deathbeds that looked healthier than you do. When was the last time you slept? You looked exhausted."

Tim smiled weakly and said, "I’ve been awake for sixty three hours getting ready for tonight’s test. Did you bring the things I asked for?"

Frank nodded and replied, "I’ve got it all; now explain to me why you’ve run yourself down like you have. I have half a notion to have you committed to a mental institution for your own safety."

"Take it easy, Frank. I appreciate your concern, and I’d probably be saying the same things to you if the situation were reversed. I promise to take a break from my experiments after we’re finished tonight, no matter what the outcome."

"Okay, but explain why you let yourself get to the point where it’s jeopardizing your health. You’re a doctor for Christ sake, you should know better."

"Please, Frank, let’s just get this experiment done first, and then I’ll tell you everything. I’m too exhausted to explain now."

Frank realized he was overreacting to his friend’s condition, and decided it was in Tim’s best interests to get this experiment over with so he could get some rest. "I’m sorry, Tim. You’re right of course; we’ll talk later. I know what to do after you’re asleep. How long do you want me to wait before I start?"

"Wait about twenty minutes before you come into the room. If I’m still awake then wait another twenty minutes. Keep doing this until I fall asleep. Don’t let me sleep too long before you start, or you’ll ruin the experiment. Give me a few hours to sleep after you’re finished before you wake me. I need it badly. Everything is set up for you, so I’m going to bed now."

Frank replied, "Okay, Tim," and sat down to wait as his friend went to his bed. Twenty minutes later he entered the bedroom. The room was dark, and it took a little time for his eyes to adjust. Tim appeared to be sleeping soundly as he went behind the screen that shielded the bed from view and sat down in front of a small fold up table. He opened the seal on the envelope, removed the contents Tim had requested, and laid them out on the table. After he followed the instructions he had been given, he placed everything back into a larger envelope he had brought along and sealed it. He left the room quietly to avoid disturbing the sleeping man, and fixed himself a drink before he sat down to wait, determined to let Tim get as much sleep as possible before he woke him. Several hours later he got up to hide the envelope and stretched out on the couch to get a few hours sleep before he woke Tim.

***

He was awakened some time later by Tim’s voice. "Frank, wake up Frank! It’s time to finish our experiment."

Frank shook off his sleep and sat up just as Tim came back from the kitchen with two cups of coffee. He looked more rested although his cheeks were still sunken, and his eyes were still bloodshot. His grin was back to normal though as he said, "Everything went well on my end, as you’re going to find out shortly. I’m glad you decided to sleep for awhile. Did you have a pleasant dream? You seemed to be enjoying it."

He remembered his dream after Tim mentioned it, and thought to himself that he probably was smiling as he slept because he certainly enjoyed what he was dreaming about. He grinned back at his friend and replied, "As a matter of fact I did have a pleasant dream." His grin slowly faded and his expression turned to amazement at Tim’s next words.

"Shame on you. You know the rules about fraternizing with the nurses. Of course if you’re going to do that, Gloria is an excellent choice."

Frank just stared quietly at Tim for a moment before he said, "I must have been talking in my sleep. Did I call out her name?"

Tim laughed. "No, you didn’t. Let’s just say I was a fly on the wall, and let it go at that. Just one more thing, I love your technique."

"Damn you, you’re creeping me out. I wasn’t kidding about having you committed. You’re pushing our friendship a little too far with this crap when you try to convince me you can see my dreams."

"I apologize. I shouldn’t have said anything. There isn’t any reason you should believe me. Why don’t you go get the envelope, and we’ll check the results."

"That’s a damn good idea. Let’s settle this nonsense once and for all, so you can get back to your career, and take some of the load off of me at the hospital. Hang on while I go get it."

Frank returned in a minute with the envelope and sat down. "Okay! Now what do you want me to do?"

"Check the seal first to make sure no one has tampered with it; we’ll start with the playing cards."

Frank checked the seal carefully before breaking it and opening the envelope. He carefully removed the five cards he had randomly selected from the deck just before going into Tim’s room and made sure Tim couldn’t see them. "Okay, I’m ready. Take your best guess."

"No guessing to it, I saw them when you laid them on the table in the bedroom. Three of clubs, seven of spades, king of hearts, nine of clubs, and the seven of diamonds. Does that convince you?"

Frank stared in shock at the five cards he held hidden from view. Things were not turning out the way he expected. His mind fought frantically for an explanation. Tim had named all five cards correctly which made the odds against a wild guess very high. He was at a loss for words as he looked up at his friend. "I don’t know what to say. My mind refuses to accept what’s happening."

Tim smiled with understanding and said quietly, "I know. I’d be having the same problem if I were sitting where you are. Take out the small envelope, and open it up after you examine it to be certain it’s the same one you sealed shut."

Frank did as he was asked and removed the sheet of paper from inside the envelope. It had been blank when he had sealed it up in the bedroom. Now it had writing on it. His mind was whirling as he read the words written in Tim’s familiar handwriting.

‘Dear Frank.
About now you are doubting your own sanity, and I don’t blame you. I doubted my own for a long time until I discovered the truth.
Your friend,
Tim.’

Frank laid the letter down on the table and looked at Tim with a thoughtful expression. Tim sat quietly, and waited for his friend to get his thoughts together. They were both silent for a long time before Frank broke the silence.

"My mind tells me this has to be a trick, but it can’t tell me how it could possibly be done."

"I figured your conscious mind would reject all of this, Frank, so I fooled it into thinking my handwriting was yours and that you had written it, knowing of course you would recognize my writing, once you saw it. Now it knows it made a bad mistake. Take another look at the paper."

Frank did as he was told and found the paper was now blank. His mind reeled as it tried to destroy the memory of the writing having been there, and failed. He looked up and said, "The papers blank now, but I remember what it had said. How can that be? Was I hallucinating?"

Tim grinned. "In a manner of speaking. Actually, there is no such thing as a hallucination. They’re just an alternate reality your conscious mind is fooled into creating because of some kind of trauma. In this case I was the trauma. I’d like to give you another example of a false conscious reality. I want you to call the hospital, and have Gloria paged. You don’t have to talk to her. Just hang up when she comes to the phone. Humor me, Frank. You need to do this before I can explain what’s happening."

Frank picked up the phone and did as Tim requested. When he was finished, he sat the phone down in silence, and stared at Tim without speaking. When he finally did speak he said, "According to the hospital records Gloria doesn’t work there, and never has. I don’t normally drink this soon after getting up, but I feel like I need one now."

Tim replied, "I know the feeling; you know where it is. Help yourself to whatever you want. I’ll explain all of this, as well as I can, whenever you feel up to it."

Frank returned with his drink in a few minutes and sat down. He smiled weakly at Tim and said; "You might as well start filling me in now. The longer I think about what’s happened the more confused I get."

"Okay, just stop me if you have a question, and keep an open mind until I’m done. I don’t fully understand everything myself yet, but I’ll tell you what I do know. Think of your conscious mind as your protector. Its main purpose is to guide you past the obstacles in your life, and to help you keep your body functioning properly. It controls all of your body functions such as heartbeat, respiration, and etc. It also helps you prevent physical danger to your body by controlling the basic survival instincts we’re all born with. For example, if I throw something at you your instinctive reaction is to move out of the way. You don’t think about it, you just react. I’m not saying you don’t have any control of your actions in an emergency, I’m just saying that your basic instincts are not the result of conscious thought on your part. Are you with me so far?"

"Some of what you’ve said is contrary to what I’ve been taught. Never mind what our conscious minds do for us. Let’s move on to our subconscious minds. That’s where you claim out of body experiences come from."

"Not just yet, Frank. Be patient and let me explain in a logical manner. First things first as they say. To continue, our conscious mind also controls our senses. Everything we feel, hear, see, taste, or smell is controlled by our conscious mind. As you know, any of these senses could be shut off with a simple scalpel cut in the correct portion of our brain, but there is a subconscious aspect to this also. Any good hypnotist can distort or block sensory perceptions by manipulating a subject’s subconscious mind. If the subject were to be left in a disabled condition it would soon wear off as the conscious mind regained control. Have I said anything you disagree with so far?"

"A few things, Tim. I won’t argue with anything you’ve said so far, but I can’t say I can see what any of this has to do with out of body experiences. Keep talking and I’ll keep listening."

"Okay! I think you’ll agree that our conscious mind is the primary controller of our bodies while we’re awake, and our subconscious mind comes to the forefront when we sleep. The only reason we sleep is to allow our conscious mind to rest. We could rest our bodies just as easily by lying down quietly and staying awake. It’s only when our conscious mind is resting that our subconscious can influence us. The thing that limits what we can do in a subconscious state is how alert our conscious mind is to what its counterpart is doing. That’s why we wake up from a dream if our subconscious puts us in severe danger; our conscious mind considers leaving our body as the greatest danger of all.
"I was only able to accomplish leaving my body last night because my conscious mind was completely exhausted from my lack of sleep and food. My subconscious literally snuck off like a teenager going out his bedroom window at midnight to meet his friends. By the time my conscious mind noticed I was gone, I was beyond its range of control."

Tim paused for a moment then said, "I’ve got to eat something, Frank. I starved myself for four days getting ready for last night. Why don’t you think about what I’ve said so far while I fix us some breakfast? I can answer your questions while I work."

"I’m a little hungry myself. You’ve given me a lot to think about. What’s it like to be out of your body? What do you see?"

"Anything or anybody I want to see is there. All I have to do is think about what I want and it happens. So far I haven’t went too far from my body. It’s damn hard to get back, and the further you go the harder it gets." He paused then added, "I am my subconscious mind, Frank. My body is just a container for this phase of my existence and my conscious mind will die with it, but I won’t."

"I don’t understand what you mean when you say you are your subconscious, and talk about phases of existence. I’m also curious about what you do while you’re out of your body. Be specific."

"It’s hard to explain. It’s something that has to be experienced to understand, but I’ll try. Our conscious minds control us while we’re alive, but they die with our bodies. When that happens our subconscious minds are free to leave and go to a higher level of existence without the restraints that physical objects have. My personality is part of that subconscious. I guess the combination of us is what religions refer to as a soul. That’s the best I can do." Tim thought for a moment before going on.

"Let me try a different approach to this. Stop thinking about life as being the span of time from your birth to the day your body stops functioning and decays. Think of life as a series of steps we are climbing with each step being a higher plane of existence. We have different reasons for being on each step. There are two main purposes for our being on the step we’re currently on. The first is to reproduce ourselves so that souls coming from lower steps have a body to occupy. The second purpose is to gain as much knowledge as we can to take with us to the next step. What we learn here is what determines what our life is like during that next phase. The more we learn, the richer our life will be. Am I making sense?"

Frank laughed then said, "I’m sorry, Tim. I wasn’t laughing at you or what you’ve said. I was laughing at myself. It appears as if my 160 IQ hasn’t done a very good job of analyzing what life is all about, or else all of this is a dream, and I’m really lying in my bed asleep. I always thought I was in control of my existence, and now you’re saying I never was. Tell me what it’s like on the next step. Is there a Heaven and a Hell?"

"There isn’t a Heaven or Hell as most people think of it. Whatever your life is like on the next step is determined by what you do on the step we’re on now. Everyone has their own unique life, and the only things that are in that life are the things you bring to it. If you bring evil to it, it will be with you there. It brings truth to the old saying, ‘As ye sow, so shall ye reap’."

Frank was quiet as Tim laid out their breakfast. Both men ate in silence until Tim spoke again. "You’ve been concentrating your thoughts on what’s happened. Tell me what you’re thinking."

"To be honest, Tim, I’ve been wondering if there’s such a thing as group insanity, or if there’s some kind of toxin here that’s affecting our brains. At first I didn’t believe any of what you told me earlier was real. Now I’m wondering if anything is real."

"The same kind of thoughts went through my mind too, until I realized it was my conscious mind doing its job. It would rather have you think that way than find out the truth. The truth is simple; reality is whatever you decide it is."

"Are you saying insane people are just living a different reality?"

"Yes, that’s true, however, it’s the wrong reality for our purpose in being here. Insanity is a disease that alters reality. It’s important for us to live the correct reality to prepare us for the next step in life."

"Assuming for a second you’re correct, and I’m still not convinced of anything, what happens when insane people, or very young people, die? You said our main purpose here is to gain knowledge. What if insanity or early death prevent it?"

Tim thought for a few moments before answering. "I don’t know the answer to your question, Frank. Maybe they’re reincarnated so they can repeat that step in the cycle. I do know you don’t have to grow too old to get the knowledge you need to reach the next step. I’m not sure anyone here knows the answer to that question either. I could ask someone if you like."

The wording of Tim’s last sentences sounded strange to Frank. "What do you mean by ‘anyone here’, and who could you possibly ask? We’re alone here. You’re talking as if you were somewhere else."

Tim smiled before replying, "I’ve been waiting for you to calm down before telling you. I’m only here in your reality, not my reality. Take a look in the bedroom."

Frank turned away and walked to the bedroom to humor his friend. His mind was beginning to clear as it came up with possible ideas to explain the impossible facts confronting him. That entire mind clearing came to an end when he looked into the bedroom. Minutes later he was on the phone.

***

He saw a letter addressed to him lying on the kitchen table when he sat down to await the arrival of the police; it was in Tim’s handwriting. He picked it up and began to read.

Dear Frank;
You’ve been my best friend for many years. I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye, and making sure you understood you aren’t insane. I really was with you at breakfast. Keep this letter to remind you of that while you go through the confusing period while your mind adjusts to all you’ve learned.
Don’t try to duplicate the experiment I’ve done with your help. Satisfy yourself with the knowledge there is a better life after death, and wait until your normal time comes before you join me. It’s not possible to go back from here, and stay back once you’ve been here a few times. The temptation is too strong. Use your time where you are to build up your next life. Remember what I told you. Your next step will be what you take to it.
Until we meet again,
Tim

P.S. Don’t show this letter to anyone. They won’t be able to see what I’ve written. You wouldn’t want them to think you’re crazy.

The End