Summary by Clayton Montez,
Atlantic University

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 Do events in your life reflect something that you thought you had previously experienced? If you are thinking déjà vu, P.M.H. Atwater says think again. Unlike déjà vu that resurrects surreal shadows of the past, Atwater claims that you may find a life-transforming phenomenon she calls a “brain shift” that brings sensory-rich experiences of the future into the present and, at some point later in your life, the actual event triggers the memory of the scenario you are now part of.

This event is no mysterious link with phantom memories or images, Atwater explains. While engaged in the present moment we are simultaneously immersed in a future activity with full mental and sensual awareness. Our recall of the incident “registers in the mind as if a segment of physical reality was just experienced in its complete entirety – as if the future had unfolded in the present.” In her new book, Future Memory (Hampton Roads), Atwater juxtaposes examples from her near-death experiences with interviews from other time travelers to show that transcending space-time dimensions is possible and necessary.

“ We remember the future because our true nature is in remembering who and what we really are, and then behaving accordingly.”

Atwater finds that trauma triggers future memory. An episode such as a near death experience jump-starts the limbic system and creates a neural network expansion that leads to higher brain development, or brain shift. The consequent shift in consciousness displaces the traditional bias of conditioned existence toward an awakening to higher levels of knowledge or wisdom. However, we can leap into the future with less turbulence than an NDE creates through spontaneous calamity.

Atwater’s research shows a discernible pattern of what happens during future memory.

Future memory may last a few seconds to a minute of clock time, while foretelling several hours that later manifest. It can be rather lengthy and encompass several days or months of future activities.

During this brief interlude the time traveler experiences the following:
1) a physical sensation of rushing heat with a feeling of exhilaration;
2) heightened senses, yet nothing moves in the present;
3) a feeling of expansion while surrounding elements diminish;
4) a future scenario manifests without warning or guidance and is nearly impossible to differentiate from the present;
5) the scenario ends as quickly as it began and the present time-space dimension resumes, although there is a lingering feeling that something has happened;
6) emotional aftereffects help to keep the event alive, but eventually it is forgotten or set aside;
7) the future event physically manifests and a key element triggers the memory of the entire affair as having done this before, but with the idea of self control rather than resignation to fate; and
8) a resolution that future memory instills a sense of orderliness or gift from God.

After comparing these experiences with other studies of the inner workings of expanded awareness, Atwater found a future memory development technique through its creator James Van Avery, an electronics design specialist for a Seattle, Washington aerospace company.

Avery created the following exercises after a decade of experimentation and apparently successful replication by others with future memory experiences:

Improve memory exercise. During a quiet time gaze upon a scene, close your eyes and start visualizing it. Repeat this exercise until you can automatically recall the smallest of details with many scenes throughout the day.

Use imagination. Visualize what things may look like behind other objects in order to build confidence in your hunches.

Focus the mind. Know how you keep track of information and avoid details that clutter your thought processes.

Keep records. Your progress will be recorded for positive feedback to guide future performance and build confidence.

Seek patterns and shapes. Never anticipate what an object or scene will be. Rather, trust your imagination to describe what something looks like. Look for shapes and forms of light and dark. Images are usually black & white and contrast is important.

Identify details. Coincidences appear to happen more frequently during future memory exercises. This is often due to an inability to control and identify real, accurate details. Don’t dwell on any one detail. Keep moving and piece details later.

Future memory.  When advancing to a future event, visualize yourself further ahead than the target time. Then use your memory to remember back to the time you wish to observe. While imagining your position in a room that you can enter in the near future, picture the furniture and look for details. Now go to the room and check for results. Give yourself a score and keep all records.

Transformation. Believe that what you are doing is real, actually happening and can be controlled. It shall be so.

Problems and Solutions. Emotional experiences may have opened the door to future memory episodes and should be engaged to maintain interest. However, don’t let wrong results discourage your progress. There is no need for rituals or magic, just accurate and honest documentation, then careful examination of the results to steer the learning process in the right direction.

Atwater concludes from Avery’s successful technique that future memory is not some incredulous anomaly, but instead, shows that one’s brain structure and brain capacity can indeed change. Such a change, she reasons, leads to a greater awareness of life’s meaning and spiritual purpose: “As we explore how consciousness can change, we re-explore creation itself and the wonder of the universe.”

One illustration in Future Memory describes a man who experienced regular episodes of pre-living the future. Reality seemed to him as if an echo from some primal movement in time and space, and that the opportunity to live advancements of time was an indication that those echoes were of different wavelengths and sizes. “When we slip through the waves,” he conjectured, “we are able to experience reality from a different vantage point, literally from another frequency of vibration. It is the focus of our awareness, our perception, that determines what frequency we pick up. It all seems real because it is real.”

Atwater underscores the experiences above with the notion that we condition ourselves to see the world selectively. Alternate realities and other dimensions of vibration are missed or by-passed simply because we ignore their existence. Here are some brief examples: The mind indulges our perceptual preferences to see a continuous storyline in the projection of a series of still frames separated by periods of darkness that make up a movie. The continuous firing of electrons on a television picture tube is reassembled in the mind’s eye as picture images. Or, we experience an auditory illusion when the mind perceives music as continuous sound from a series of disjointed notes. “We create the reality we think exists by the way we connect together the data we receive within our brain.” Pointing to the findings of Quantum physics, Atwater adds, “Creation, as we think it exists, is a physical illusion.”

Therefore, time and space are malleable constructs that vary with our perceptual abilities. When vibrations within and around us speed up, time seems to whiz by. The slower the speed of vibration, the greater the distance and the longer the timing between events exists. Atwater’s notion of time travel may be crudely summarized here. As brain shift (the alteration of brain structure and chemistry and the effect it has on enhancing awareness) changes the vibrational speed in our environment (space), time shifts accordingly.

Should anyone think future memory is the road to nirvana, Atwater warns that enlightenment, such as it is uncovered in her research, offers no panacea or quick fix to a better life. Closer connection to the truths about creation’s story, about who we are, bring this challenge: “Take initiative to act upon the knowledge you have gained, don’t just receive it; then accept responsibility for the power unleashed when you do.”