This is a review of the IAC (International Academy of Consciousness) workshop I have taken. It lasted 4 weekends, which was taken place on Saturdays and Sundays.
I didn't really want to take this worship because I am one of those people that stays home most of the time, and has no life. It's hard for me to go out there, try things, and "live". But, coincidently, it happened through someone linking me with IAC people. So, I decided to take the workshop.
It started out being intriguing, but what I didn't like was that there was too much talking, and not enough practicing. The first weekend was just sitting there listening to the lecturer talk talk talk talk talk talk talk. It was hard to stay focused, considering I have ADD. And with all that talking, there was a lot of new jargon I did not understand. That was the first sign to me that I wasn't going to like this.
Here is the thing, there are universal terms in OBE/AP community that are used to describe Out-of-Body Experiences. Terms like Astral Body, Energy, Sleep Paralyses, Spirit Guides, etc.. In IAC, all of these terms are replaced by totally different, and may I say confusing, terms that basically mean the same thing. Astral Body means "Psychosoma", Energy means "Thosene", Sleep Paralyses means "Projective Catalepsy", Spirit Guides means "Helpers", etc.. This class really confused me, to say the least.
I remember the second, third, and fourth week we started doing exercises. One of the exercises was to lay down on mats, and practice projecting. But before doing so, we had to stand up straight, close our eyes, and do a bunch of pre-OBE exercises that were lead by the instructor. One of the main terms that really confused the heck out of me in this IAC workshop, was the term "vibrations". Here is the thing, I've had over 200 OBEs, and I can tell you from experience what "vibrations" are. The term "vibrations", is a pre-OBE state. Right before when you are about to project, your body goes into the vibrational stage. It feels almost as if your whole body is being shocked with electric current, except there is no pain. It is the same thing people experience in Sleep Paralyses, except they already wake up consciously without remembering the vibrations. This is because their body went through this stage when they were asleep, and when they wake up, they cannot move. This stage is there so that your body stays safely still in this world, while you explore the other world(s). In IAC, "vibrations" has two meanings. First, it is what I described, and second is when you feel tingly, and numbing of your body parts. If you ever laid down to practice leaving your body, you already know that after 15 or so minutes of laying still, you'll start feeling numbness in your body parts, or may even feel tingles. According to IAC, those are "vibrations", which are NOT in my book. But it is just that, numbness in your body parts, and tingly sensations. So, from there I was really confused when students were saying "I was laying down, and felt the vibrations". After a few minutes, it was obvious they were talking about the numbness, and NOT the vibrational stage.
As I was saying, we were standing up with eyes closed doing the exercise. Now the instructor would say something like "feel relaxed, and try to induce the 'vibrations'". The first thought in my mind was "HUH!?!" You cannot induce the "vibrations" by standing up. You must lay down! But I guess she was talking about the second meaning. Either way, every class these terms confused me more and more.
I remember thinking "what about protection? Don't they have any technique for that in IAC?", and boy do they. They have this thing called the VELO, which stands for Voluntary Energetic Longitudinal Oscillation (are you confused yet?) It's when you move energy up and down your body. Here is what it looks like. Fast forward to 2:48 to see what I'm talking about.
Here is what I don't like and don't agree with. What will VELO gonna do when an entity is going to grab you? Even Robert Monroe, that has his own unique terms, has the same exact protection shield that everyone seems to use in the Occult community. But instead of terms like "Shield", "Psychic Shield", etc., Monroe calls it "REBAL", which stands for Resonant Energy Balloon. In the end, it's the same thing as the shield. And Monroe talks about being attacked in one of his OBEs by some sort of animal in his first book. So, I trust this man with knowledge of how to protect yourself in the OBE state. And since Monroe's method of protection is exactly the same as what the universal method for protection is in the OBE community, it's as good as gold in my book. But what is VELO? In my opinion, you need that space inside the balloon/shield to protect you from what's out there. VELO does not provide this sort of protection. But I am sure it works for many IAC people. It just doesn't work for me.
Another reason why I was so bored in this class, was because a lot of the material covered I was already exposed to. There was nothing new here for me to learn. They talked about reincarnation, and it was so boring I almost fell asleep on several occasions. If you really want to save $500 on this IAC workshop, just read Journey of Souls, by Michael Newton. This book will teach you about the reincarnation process in the most simplistic terms, and you wouldn't have to learn all these confusing jargons which you wouldn't be able to use outside of the IAC community.
I was actually going to purchase Waldo Vieira's (CEO of IAC) first book, but after thinking about how bored and confused I was in the classes, I thank myself now that I didn't. You can actually check out the reviews of Luis Minero's (an IAC instructor) 'Demystifying OBEs' book on amazon, and the few 1 and 2 star reviews are saying the same thing I am saying here. All these jargons are confusing and redundant. I mean, I sort of I understand because they are all translated from Portuguese, but even then, it makes me feel like I part of a cult or something. Like no one would understand what I'm talking about except for the people in my group.
Another thing I did not like about IAC, was how against they were using additional tools to project. Tools like stones, binaural beats, etc.. Even though they were very open, the conversation would go something like this. "You can use stones, BUT...", or "you can use hemi-sync, BUT what if you project and you won't need it anymore?" After having countless OBEs, I gotta say that once you project, you won't be hearing what you are hearing with your physical ears, but you'll be hearing what you perceive in whatever world you are in at that moment. I also use sage to cleanse my space, but I am sure IAC would find something wrong with that too. And stones, along with binaural beats, have helped me to have my first experience. But do not rely on stones and hemi-sync to do all the work for you. In the end, use all the tools you can, but you yourself have to do the work. IAC seems to promote this idea that "your mind is better than any tool that could help you to have an OBE." Yes, your mind is more powerful than a rock, or a binaural beat, but it doesn't mean you have to shut out all the tools that are available to you in this age and time.
Now let's talk about something very important, naps. At this point in my life, I could have an OBE any night, as long as I take a nap first, which is hard to do since I have insomnia. Naps are KEY in Astral Projecting. But in the IAC workshop, naps weren't covered even once!
So, if you feel like being part of something 'unique', if you feel like being 'different', and completely separate yourself from the rest of the OBE/AP community, go ahead and take this workshop. I gotta warn you, though. You will have to re-learn everything you already know about OBEs, at least terminology. I didn't even have this hard of a time learning Robert Monroe's terms, because they at least made sense and were simple.
Looking back, I really should've signed up for just the first week instead of all four. But I am glad I did it because I learned a lot about the company and what the people there believe in, and also met like minded people who are interested in Out-of-Body/Astral Projection Experiences and exploring consciousness.
I give this workshop 2 out of 5 stars. 2 because people behind IAC aren't bad. They won't lead you astray. IAC is not really a cult, and won't brainwash you. They'll just confuse the crap out of you, and teach you the basics of the process of life and death. This stuff you could learn from books, or having your own OBE experiences.
But which books? Can you recommend me some? The first one I already linked. And the other book that really helped me to have my first Out-of-Body Experience was Out-of-Body Experiences: How to Have Them and What to Expect by Robert Peterson.
Lastly, I want to say this. Peace and Love to all the people at the IAC institute. I liked all of the instructors, but just don't resonate with your methods, and your jargons. A lot of the stuff you teach is the same thing, just described with different terms. I'd rather stick with what I know, because I don't want to be that guy that no one understands except for one community I am part of. God bless.
IAC Website: http://www.iacworld.org/
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