A classic psychic powers book

Part 2

MANILA, Philippines—In the first printing of the book, I asked a lady friend if she could pose naked for the cover. Just out of fun, she agreed to do it, provided her face would not be shown and that her identity would not be revealed. I asked well-known photographer Toch Arellano to take the photo and the rest was history.

The book has since become a classic in the field and in book-publishing history.

Why the book had such staying power may be attributed to the following factors:

First, it fulfilled a hunger of the Filipino public for rational and credible answers to many questions regarding psychic experiences that could not be explained by either science or religion.

Second, it was written in a very simple and easily understood language. Even elementary and high-school students could read the book and understand it. Every new word I used was explained simply and with examples. I even provided a glossary of terms at the end of the book.

Third, I found out that some professors of psychology and English literature in several schools, such as San Beda College, University of the Philippines and Perpetual Help College in Las Piñas, recommended the book as collateral reading material to their students. One faculty member also required his students to read my column in the newspaper and discussed it in class.

Many students began to write term papers and theses about ESP or psychic powers for their school requirements. And teachers were encouraging such research on these subjects because they themselves were interested in them.

I also discovered later that the book could be found in most school libraries all over the Philippines. My children and later on my grandchildren would suddenly find the book in their school libraries, to my great surprise.

The influence the book has had on the lives of many was simply incredible and really unexpected.

One female doctor, for example, told me in the late ’80s that the book saved her from being confined in the mental hospital.

How? She said she was having strange psychic experiences she could not understand and which no medical specialist could explain. She was seeing spirits and hearing voices. She thought she was going crazy, then she read the book and learned there were people who possessed such powers. It didn’t mean they were hallucinating. She found out she was clairvoyant. She could see and hear things others could not. Then she studied pranic healing and became a pranic healer as well as teacher of this healing modality.

Another person wrote me a very interesting story of how he got hold of my book. He was a junk dealer and buyer of old newspapers and magazines. One day, he saw a small book among the pile of old newspapers. Its cover had already been torn, but he got curious and started reading it. He found the subject matter very interesting. It was my book “Understanding the Psychic Powers of Man.” He was so fascinated by the book that he said he read it over and over again. When he read my name in the newspaper with my address in it, he decided to write me to tell me how he found the book among the old newspapers he was about to sell. He thanked me for the knowledge he had acquired about the subject.

When the book ceased to be published in 1998, people still kept looking for it. It became a collector’s item. Some who wanted to have a complete collection of all my books, which after 20 years number 15, had the first book photocopied. One of those who found my works so fascinating that he had to have a complete collection was the former Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines, Dada Olisa. Another was a Russian healer and researcher named Yuri Vedov, who also had the original book photocopied.

So after much prodding from my publisher and friends, I decided to revise and update the book for those who never had a chance to read the first book written in this field by a Filipino author. Now this book will soon be available in all branches of National Book Store and PowerBooks.

Note: For information on books, seminars and paranormal consultancy provided by the Inner Mind Development Institute, please call 8107245 or 8926806, or e-mail innerawareness_2005@yahoo.com.ph.

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