The Human Experience · Episode
Episode 13 – Robert Bruce – PPSD (Part 1)
A conversation with Robert Bruce
This is our interview with Robert Bruce. Where we discussed his book, Practical Psychic Self Defense. Robert Bruce (born 1955) is an English-born mystic author living in Australia. Bruce is best known for his…

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Episode field notes
Show notes
This is our interview with Robert Bruce.
Where we discussed his book, Practical Psychic Self Defense.
Robert Bruce (born 1955) is an English-born mystic author living in Australia. Bruce is best known for his studies of out of body experience, which first became public in the early 1990s through his activity in the alt.out-of-body Internet news group. Over time, he collected and peer-tested his findings in an evolving set of articles, A Treatise on Astral Projection,[1] which he later expanded upon substantially to form his first book, Astral Dynamics, which has sold over 50, 000 copies as of 2008.[2]
In 2008, Robert Bruce was listed as one of the world’s foremost OBE experts by EnlightenNext magazine.[3]
Energy Body Development
Whilst prototyping a visualisation-free method of out of body experience for blind people, Bruce discovered a form of mental focus on parts of the body called tactile imaging,[4] which is based on the sense of touch. This method was released in the mid-1990s in Bruce’s tutorial New Energy Ways, or NEW for short. Robert claims that these sensations are caused by pre-movement neuron charging and discharging, and that this also stimulates the human energy body. This finding is in accordance with the claims of Eckhart Tolle and the Taoist teachings of Mantak Chia.[5]
Bruce largely avoids traditional Eastern terms for aspects of the human energy body, considering them a significant barrier to Western understanding and acceptance.[6] Bruce believes that many Eastern ‘visualisation’ practices were not designed to be visual at all, with this interpretation being received by the West solely due to translation issues.[7] By this reasoning, Western visualisations are largely misguided and ineffectual, whereas through explicitly working directly with visceral sensations, NEW is not. This direct nature gives NEW several of the qualities of a biofeedback system, most notably instant gauging of stimulative success. This additional intuitiveness over visualisation is claimed to allow noticeable results in a matter of minutes.[7] Tolle taught a method of focusing on physical body awareness as a way of connecting with The Now, that is similar to Bruce’s Tactile Imaging methods, but Tolle does not offer a system of energy work per se.[citation needed]
Through exploratory manipulation of energy with NEW, Bruce has mapped out energy centres on the human body beyond the familiar spinal chakras. In his terminology, Taoist dantians are termed “energy storage centers”, and Vedic chakras are examples of “energy centers”
Astral Projection
The Mind Split Effect
A key concept in Bruce’s theory of projection is the Mind Split Effect.[8] In contrast to the traditional view that projection leaves the physical body empty of consciousness, Bruce’s interpretation is that physical consciousness remains in-situ, but is subject to a duplication process. According to this theory, after duplication the multiple versions of a projector’s consciousness operate largely independently, building up separate but simultaneous memory traces that compete when they recombine (cf. Schroedinger’s cat), confusing later recollections
- 1999 – Astral Dynamics: A NEW Approach to Out-of-Body Experiences ISBN 1-57174-143-7
- 2002 – Practical Psychic Self-Defense: Understanding and Surviving Unseen Influences ISBN 1-57174-221-2
- 2004 – Mastering Astral Projection: 90-day Guide To Out-of-body Experience ISBN 0-7387-0467-9
- 2007 – Mastering Astral Projection: CD Companion
- 2007 – Energy Work: The Secret of Healing and Spiritual Development ISBN 1-57174-540-8
- 2009 – Astral Dynamics: The Complete Book of Out-of-Body Experiences ISBN 1-57174-616-1
- 2011 – The Practical Psychic Self Defense Handbook: A Survival Guide ISBN 1-57174-639-0
- 2011 – Evolution: What You Need To Know About How To Be Successful With Spirituality
Find Mr. Bruce’s work on his website: www.astraldynamics.com
Transcript: https://thehumanxp.com/robert-bruce-practical-psychic-self-defense-transcript/
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Transcript
A full transcript has been published for this conversation.
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Quotes
Five substantial excerpts from the published transcript, lightly edited for clarity without changing their meaning.
“What I call psychic attack may begin with tingling, heaviness, anxiety, and intrusive violent or sexual thoughts. Those symptoms can also have psychological or medical causes, so they should not automatically be attributed to an entity. Whatever the interpretation, maintaining distance from the thoughts and seeking appropriate support is safer than treating them as commands.”
From the conversation“Sleep is essential during any period of fear or mental disturbance. Deprivation rapidly weakens attention, emotional regulation, and judgment, making every experience harder to evaluate. I interpret prolonged insomnia within a spiritual framework, but protecting sleep and consulting qualified health professionals should come before escalating a supernatural explanation.”
From the conversation“My spiritual model describes troubling entities as earthbound and proposes practices based on the classical elements. This is not a finding accepted by mainstream science. Its practical value, if any, should be judged cautiously and should never replace medical assessment when someone experiences distress, hallucinations, or loss of functioning.”
From the conversation“During an overwhelming episode, people may feel they are losing their minds and experience pain, spasms, cramps, or tremors. A shower can provide an immediate sensory reset and a place to make a plan. Yet severe physical or mental symptoms require medical help; temporary relief does not establish what caused them.”
From the conversation“After decades studying afterlife reports, I became interested in the claim that some people do not realize they have died because experience initially appears unchanged. A sudden death would provide no gradual transition. This remains a spiritual interpretation of testimony, not something the living can verify as an ordinary observation.”
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About the guest
Robert Bruce
Robert Bruce (born 1955) is an English-born mystic author living in Australia. Bruce is best known for his studies of out of body experience, which first became public in the early 1990s through his activity in the alt.out-of-body Internet news group. Over time, he collected and peer-tested his findings in an evolving set of articles, A Treatise on Astral Projection,[1] which he later expanded upon substantially to form his first book, Astral Dynamics, which has sold over 50, 000 copies as of 2008.[2]
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