Hi. I hope it's okay if I jump in here. I'm Zen's life partner, and we were discussing skepticism and how I used to be the ultimate one. I just had to say something.

       I once was the  ultimate skeptic and a confirmed atheist and existentialist (when you're dead, you're vegetable fodder). I thought of myself as a true scientist. I should have been from Missouri because if you couldn't "show me" then I didn't believe. Consequently, I believed in nothing, which, of course, is a philosophical paradox as well as a syntactical ambiguity.

      I had been having some of my own "paranormal" experiences since I was young. However, I did not give them any credence - just the meanderings of a childish imagination. When I was about 18, I had a powerful experience that opened my "eyes" and I began exploring the metaphysical world - reading, meditating, getting involved in different groups here and there for a bit, studying, talking to people. Over the years, I've had more of my own experiences, but still - being the pure scientist I wanted to be, every experience was open to interpretation and I wouldn't accept any explanations unless they were "quantifiable and repeatable" yada yada.  The thing is, the more I explored and experienced, the less sense anything seemed to make. Eventually, I met Zen, and being around him has accelerated my experience of the "other realms" (I will give you some accounts momentarily).

         I came to realize several things:   When scientists don't understand something, they might need to realize that either their methods of measurement are not adequate, or don't even exist yet, or...perhaps they need to change their perspective. Scientists have a belief system, like everyone else, and whatever those beliefs are- define their reality. Thus, they may need to find new methods and approaches to understand things sometimes. When Newton or Copernicus or Einstein or Galileo, et al, came up with their theories, the world wasn't ready to accept them either. However, the truth still existed, and once we opened our minds, we were able to accept things we couldn't see , like atoms or gravity or theories of relativity, and now they seem like household words. 

     Furthermore, the study of paranormal, metaphysical stuff is not , at present, an exacting science. It's more of an art in the sense that you have to be open to the experience. When I'm tired, and not resisting - just open, I become quite psychic, and I also have a ton of synchronistic moments. Constantly, when I see a written word, someone will be saying it (totally different context), and the like. Even Zen doesn't get these very much. It's way cool !

    Onto my own experiences with Zen.  Sometimes we have bleedthrough of consciousness. He has been able to contact dead spirits for a very long time. Well, a few times, when we lay down in bed, I would be in that space between sleep and wakefulness, the place where the psyche is very open to psychic energy, and Zen would be in the process of calling on some dead friends or beings, unbeknownst to me, and a powerful energy would rush through me, sometimes with images (of which he described exactly as the same afterwards, without my provocation) and I would bolt straight up from the bed. Phew! Intense.

       Another time, Zen was en route to my house. I was sleeping but I was awaken out of a dead sleep. My eyes were closed but I could see, and directly above me was Zen's face, speaking to me in his soothing, rich voice. It absolutely gripped me. The thing is, I stopped being afraid of these things long ago, and so now I relish the experiences. I just wish they would happen consciously more often.

         Another time, last year, I was in bed and for the first time ever, I experienced my astral body lift up from my physical body in a slow, sort of fluid fashion. This was just after Zen had taken me through my first "Multi-Level Awareness session. I believe he describes that in more detail on the page you referenced. (Every other time, I was just "out"). I could then turn and see my body and float around it. It was similar to my first lucid experience at 18 (I'm now 45) but at that time I did not notice my astral body at all. I was simply unable to move from my bed and I floated around the room, feeling the breeze from the window, looking at the moon outside, and wondering what the hell was going on. At that time, I tried to make my body move but it wouldn't budge. (No, there were no substances involved at all and I was perfectly sane.)

         Anyway, I could go on for quite a while, but I've got shopping to finish and I think you get the idea.

 I don't really know what compelled me to sit down here today as I don't usually get involved in this anymore. I figure, people are going to find their own truth. I guess I was just connected with you because you sounded like me 20 years ago. Well, I hope you have fun exploring. If you get the chance, check out Robert Monroe's books "Journeys out of the Body" and "Far Journeys". Then, take a trip to the institute in Virginia where they do this kind of research. He was a total skeptic when he started having experiences in his 30's. Fascinating, and informative. Good luck.....