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Muddy Tracks: Exploring an Unsuspected Reality

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There are , in the United States, two names that stand out as pioneers in exploring the out of body state- Sylvan Muldoon and Robert Monroe.Those of us, and the numbers are increasing, who are fascinated by this phenomena and may have experience of it, wil readily acknowledge the developmental help these writers provided in their various books.Frank DeMarco has provided a fascinating, and deeply personal, account of his experience at the Monroe Institute in Virginia where he particpated in the Gateway, Guidelines and Lifelines programs which utilise Monroe's Hemi-Sync process where various tapes assist the physical brain to accomodate the spiritual production of various phenomena - including the out of body experience.There have been a number of books already published by such as Ken Eagle Feather and Bruce Moen which go into some depth describing the same experiences at the Monroe Institute.But , anyone with a rough idea of the aims and intention behind the various programs ,quickly realises that absolutely any experience can be produced and is very much linked to the individual's personal history..not only in this life but in previous incarnations too.DeMarco goes into considerable and fascinating detail des cribing his reincarnational links with some fellow students at the Institute which were revealed to him in a progressive manner during the tape exercises. As someone who has been fortunate to experience many and varied out of body experiences and who intends to particpate in the Gateway experience I found this an eminently helpful book and will be a welcome read for those interested in astral projection, altered states of consciousness, reincarnational experiences and one man's philosophical quest to find the turth about himself and his essential nature. It is a touchingly honest and helpfully revealing account of Frank DeMarco's spiritual journey.

Frank DeMarco has spent years searching for the meaning of life and sorting reality from illusion. Muddy Tracks is the chronicle of his quest for answers and self-discovery. One day he asked the universe, "Who am I?" and received "Muddy footprints in the grass" as an answer.

He interpreted this to mean that his experiences could show others the path he'd taken, that he was "here to show you that others have passed through what may appear to be a trackless wilderness [and] to encourage others to do some exploring." His own explorations led him to the knowledge that we are all part of a larger being, and that only our bodies die-our souls live on.

Through the larger being, we are all connected. This connection makes phenomena like psychic abilities, out-of-body experiences, ghosts, and distant healing available to all who want those experiences and abilities. DeMarco is guided on a continual basis by spiritual advisors he calls "The Gentlemen Upstairs." That kind of guidance is also available to others.

DeMarco emphasizes that the answers he received and experiences he had were strictly his own. Everyone must search for their own unique answers. His purpose is to simply show what he tried and what happened as a result. He says his intention is to present "a firsthand narrative of what I've learned and how I use it."

One of his primary resources was The Monroe Institute in Virginia, where students learn how to achieve altered states of consciousness and engage in out-of-body experiences. He provides extensive details of his experiences at the Institute in the hopes of providing others with "the tools and incentive to discover first hand that we, individually and collectively, are more than we have ever believed possible."

In Muddy Tracks, DeMarco has written "an honest and engaging account" for all those questioning the meaning of life and reality.

  Frank is a journalist, an editor, an author, but more to the point here a out-of-body traveler and a loving human being. He shares his growth and journeys with us that we may see how many more things are possible in this life. He has explored and journaled his dream life, has directly connected with his spirit guidance (which he calls The Gentlemen Upstairs) and has ventured into several "past" lives. Samples of the guidance received in the beginning as automatic writing are injected as appropriate. After his training at the Monroe Institute his life blossomed even more to encompass healing, rescue work and travel to the focus levels described by Robert Monroe in his writings. As co-founder of Hampton Roads Publishing Company he has been instrumental in bringing many New Age authors to public attention.
  The book is literate without being pedantic and is full of many insights gleaned from the author's journeys. Here is a quick summary from a final chapter called Interim Report: "We are immortal spirits temporarily inhabiting bodies... This life is not our only life... We "individuals" are all connected one to another... We as individuals are fragments of a larger being that cares about us and can be trusted... Nonetheless, this larger being sees things differently... The larger being is a source of foresight and wisdom... The larger contacts us... We can contact the larger being... Thus our lives need not be disconnected and solitary... Nevertheless, we may often lose communication (but the connection cannot be severed.)"
  Frank is very easy going in his presentation. This is not a hard sell. He knows you will have to experience these things yourself to appreciate their value and reality. Students of metaphysics will not find anything earth-shattering here. The pace does not have the excitement found in some other books. It is an easy read, a gentle style. Anyone curious about the Monroe Institute offerings will find value here. This book is not "proof of anything," but is instead a suggestion that life is more magical than you may have thought--a finger pointing to the moon.

I think this book is outstanding in it's field. I have been to The Monroe Institute and taken two of their programs and have read every book written by people who have been there. The author writes with overwhelming honesty and integrity. The conversations he has with his Higher Self amazed me and set me on a path of trying to contact my own in the same way that he does. I highly recommend this book to all who are interested in self-realization.

Frank DeMarco chronicles his travels through a life of personal discovery. This is a highly personal account, and most times one is likely to feel he's reading someone's sock-drawer diary. Frank is genuine and direct. He wastes no time getting to the point of the work--which is to aid others in self-discovery through example. His is a Castaneda-like tale without the metaphor and mysterious characters. Don Juan is the concrete, accessable Robert Monroe. The forces he encounters are similarly real. This is not a tall tale, but a travelogue offered to anyone who would like to follow in Frank's muddy footsteps. Like many works of this nature readers will be polarized by it. Most will either adore it or loathe it. One doubts there will be little in between. It's impossible to read the story without drawing parallels with one's own life. Whether you want to see these or not will play a large part in dictating how you feel when you put it down.

For me, the hallmark of the Monroe Institute is the emphasis on bringing the unordinary into daily life. This book is an excellent depiction of this process. This personal narrative vividly shows the effects of a program at the Institute on everyday living. Reading it made me feel like I was back at the Institute, and it gave me insight into how to incorporate my experiences there into my own life.

I had high expectations for this book, the author is the owner of Hampton Roads Publishing, a company well known for innovative spiritual and conscousness exploration titles heavily tied in with the Monroe Institute. If you want to know about the limits of human explorations of other states of conscousness and out of body states, Hampton Roads is the place to buy your books. But, embrassingly, this book is quite boring. Colin Wilson's introduction just seems flat out butt kissing to me. He touts this book as being as exciting as Robert Monroe's famous books on his out of body explorations. I don't think this book comes anywhere close to being that. I did find some nice moments in it, having myself been a graduate of the Gateway program, and found very similar personality traits with Frank and his feelings while attending, but his long winded explanations of trying to verify some past life memories are just hard to trudge through and frankly I didn't really care about his trying to justify his visions, I just found it extremely boring reading his attempts to pin down his mental impressions. If you have little knowledge of basic spiritual matters and past life stuff etc. maybe this book will inspire you. I have to admit I am only 3/4's the way through this book and its doubtful I will finish it. I just wonder if the employees at Hampton Roads gave the boss the ol'd "oh yes, nice book boss, oh yes lets publish it." Reading it is like reading a teenage girl's wordy diary on her daily thoughts. Sorry, maybe I am jaded but this book is a big let down. If you want cutting edge spiritual voyage excitement, read any of Bruce Moen's books published by Hampton Roads or Robert Monroe's original works or any of the works of many of its famous writer/graudates and their further adventures after gaining their skills at the Monroe Institute. sorry Frank, can I have my money back?

If you are at all interesred in what happens at the Munroe Institute in the Gateway Program, this book would be an excellent choice for information. It's well written and very informative. Frank DeMarco tells of his personal experances and the results gained from them. Makes you want to contact the Munroe Institute and sign up for their Gateway Voyage.

..you'll enjoy this book. It centers on DeMarco's personal journal of how he's used and grown from what he's learned and experienced through the Monroe Institute. Along the way he explains what he's gained from the experience. He has a different slant in his viewpoint (from Monroe and Moen)on his adventure with the Monroe programs. He tells us what he thinks of the different experiences he's had with the focus levels and the Gateway and Lifeline programs. The more I read, the more I understand the experience of the focus levels and what to look for when I try the hemi sync and meditation, so I've enjoyed this book and learned from it.

This book is painful to read. If you are a real truth seeker and looking for believable insight into past lives or afterdeath realms, forget this very self-centered and plodding .....what....I don't know what to call it. If anything this book would tend to lead me away from the Monroe Institude, as there is just no meat here and leads me to believe that the whole Monroe Institude thing is a scam for upper middle class nitwits. As an author the writer is a good publisher and should stick with that option. At the very best this book left me feeling neutral about what to believe. There is just nothing credible here. Mostly it is a lot of rambling about trying to prove that he once knew some famous people. There is not a shred of what anyone with a critical mind would call evidence for anything in this book. It is a self centered belly button examination by someone who's writing skills are marginal at best. I purchased a copy of his second book at the same time and it is sitting on my Kindle but I don't think I will bother even trying to plough through another truck load of this narcissistic muck. It is all about Frank and nobody or nothing else.