[Jnana]

Then I became aware of the intent inward focus of the entire outermost ring, the inhabitants thereof. There was a strong radiation of expectancy, not concern, as if the star of the show was about to make an entrance. I followed the line of their focus. It was the physical planet earth, indistinct and nebulous from this perspective.

(Let us take another viewpoint.)

By all means, and the phrase does fit!

CLICK!

We were out in space somewhere between the earth and the moon, indeterminate distance, fifty thousand miles plus from the surface of the earth. It was very clear and detailed, not as it was before. I turned to look at the moon and blanked. No more than a thousand feet away, or so it seemed, was an immense, solid-appearing object gray in color, long and slender, conical-shaped with a hemispheric dome at the widest end - the other end was somewhere in the distance, at least sveral miles. It appeared motionless, but I had the definite percept of M Band radiation from it. A spaceship, a physical spaceship?

(In your terms, that is correct. It is not a human construct. There are many of such around the physical earth at this point. Their origins are of your physical universe but not necessarily of your time reference.)

"Many" could be five or five thousand. There was no point in trying to find out. But why around our earth, was it....

(They are focused on the planet earth and humans just as you observed the others, and for the same purpose. Shall we move on? The answer will come soon.)
My curiosity accepted gladly.

CLICK!

My immediate percept of the earth was a pinpoint of reflected light in the distance, no larger than a small star. From it came irregular waves of energy, multidimensional, pulsing, intermittently broken by occasional quick flares, a complex unorganized pattern composed not of light or electromagnetic or gravitic structure, but of some other energy that I couldn't define. I was so completely fascinated by the display that I did not at first notice the background. As far as I could perceive in all directions, with the earth at the center, was a host of forms, countless numbers, it seemed. Some had shape, others appeared as no more than a wisp of cloud vapor, all glowed in various degrees of intensity. From those nearest us, I had the same percept of expectancy, of waiting for the show to begin. It must be some big show to attract all of these....

(It is what we call the gathering. These have manifested from other nearby energy systems only to witness the big show, as you call it, just as those within the physical spacecraft and your final-process humans. This big show which is about to occur is actually a very rare event - the conflux of several different and intense energy fields arriving at the same point in your time-space. It is this rarity that has attracted so much attention. In terms that you can perceive, it may occur once every eight-seven million of your earth years.)

Very long odds, and a long time to wait.

(This does not warrant that it will be produced at that frequency. There are random elements and variables in the format which cannot be predicted.)

So random that the event might not take place, perhaps. There would be a lot of disappointed...

(It is long past such a point. It will occur. The interest lies in the result. It is best symbolized to you as a convergence of a great number of possibilities which emerge as several probabilities and few possibilities. One of such probabilities may alter not only your time-space but all adjoining energy systems as well. Therefore the wide interest. In human terms, still symbolized, the gathering is here to observe the possible birth of a new energy. Will it survive the birth process, and if so, what are the potentials inherent in such energy that will predict accurately the same at maturity? Or will the energy arrive stillborn, and all the possibilities remain no more than that - weak uncoordinated possibilities?)

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From "Far Journeys" by Robert A. Monroe, Chaper 16 "The Gathering", first published in 1985. This is part of an out of body experience into the future guided by a high-level advisor ("Inspec"). The advisor's comments are in italics, the rest is Monroe describing the experience.