DOCSLIB.ORG

The Journey of Robert Monroe

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Journey of Robert Monroe Books by Ronald Russell Focusing the Whole Brain (ed.) The Vast Enquiring Soul Using the Whole Brain (ed.) Swimming for Life: The Therapy of Swimming (and twelve other titles) 2 The Journey of Robert Monroe FROM OUT-OF-BODY EXPLORER TO CONSCIOUSNESS PIONEER Ronald Russell 3 The Journey of Robert Monroe From Out-of-Body Explorer to Consciousness Pioneer Ronald Russell Foreword by Charles Tart Copyright © 2007 by Ronald Russell All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work in any form whatsoever, without permission in writing from the publisher, except for brief passages in connection with a review. Cover design by Jane Hagaman Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc. 1125 Stoney Ridge Road • Charlottesville, VA 22902 434-296-2772 • fax: 434-296-5096 e-mail: [email protected] • www.hrpub.com If you are unable to order this book from your local bookseller, you may order directly from the publisher. Call 1-800-766-8009, toll-free. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Russell, Ronald, 1924- The journey of Robert Monroe: from out-of-body explorer to consciousness pioneer / Ronald Russell; foreword by Charles Tart. p. cm. Summary: “The phrase ‘out-of-body experience’ is 4 widely used today because of Robert Monroe's courage to publicly recount his own experiences back in the 1970s. This compelling biography delves into the private world of Robert Monroe, the pioneer of consciousness research, tracing his journey from a New York radio engineer to the founding of The Monroe Institute”--Provided by publisher. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-57174-533-0 (alk. paper) 1. Monroe, Robert A. 2. Parapsychology--Biography. 3. Psychics-- Biography. 4. Consciousness. 5. Astral projection. I. Title. BF1027.M65R87 2007 133.9092--dc22 [B] 2007009146 ISBN 978-1-57174-533-0 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed on acid-free paper in the United States 5 In memoriam Robert A. Monroe October 30, 1915-March 17, 1995 Laurie A. Monroe April 3, 1951-December 18, 2006 6 CONTENTS Foreword, by Charles T. Tart, PhD Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION Flying Free CHAPTER 1 Young Bob CHAPTER 2 Fame and Fortune CHAPTER 3 Out of the Body! CHAPTER 4 The Whistlefield Years CHAPTER 5 Exploring Within and Without CHAPTER 6 On Roberts Mountain 7 CHAPTER 7 Far Journeys CHAPTER 8 The Supernatural Fisherman CHAPTER 9 Ultimate Journey and Lifeline CHAPTER 10 End Game (1) CHAPTER 11 End Game (2) CHAPTER 12 Legacy CHAPTER 13 Robert Monroe and the Exploration of Consciousness APPENDIX The Hemi-Sync Process, by F. Holmes “Skip” Atwater Index 8 FOREWORD Ron Russell has written the definitive biography of Robert A. Monroe. But why would anyone want to read a book about Monroe? Who was he, anyway, and what did he do that we should care about? For untold thousands of people, the answer is obvious: his work and writings have confirmed their sanity and opened their lives to some marvelous adventures and learnings. But if you're not among the readers of his books (you will be after you read this book) or a graduate of his training programs, why should you care about Monroe's life and work? I will answer as a basic human being, someone who puzzles over life, wonders what its purpose is, tries to live in a sensible way, and faces my own and my loved ones’ inevitable death. This will bother almost all of my scientist colleagues, but it gets right down to essentials. 1. You have a soul. 2. The highest scientific authorities have repeatedly told you there is no such thing as a soul. 9 3. In fact, they think you are stupid or crazy to even think about such a nonsensical idea as a soul. 4. Most of us have suffered and continue to suffer from having our soul, our spiritual nature, denied. 5. Bob Monroe was a sane, down-to-earth, solid, and successful American who discovered his soul and found ways to work with it that benefit all of us wounded people. He was not some arcane, distant historical figure, but someone who speaks our language. 6. A better understanding of Monroe's life, both his talents and his shortcomings, can stimulate and inspire our own personal understandings of our souls and our goals. At the end of this foreword I will say it again in more scientifically nuanced language, but that's the gist of why you would want to read a book about Monroe's life. Robert A. Monroe. Those of us who knew him as a friendly and informal person called him Bob. You'll learn who he was in fascinating detail in this book, but basically Bob embodied a quintessential rags-to-riches American success story, going from young man bumming around as a hobo during the Depression, to successful New York producer of radio shows 10 (remember The Shadow? That was one of Bob's productions!), to businessman. (He owned the cable TV business for a moderate-size city, Charlottesville, Virginia, when I first met him.) In spite of his no-nonsense, practical, indeed irreligious attitudes (he was repelled by the hypocrisy of so many “religious” people), Bob was “drafted” by what he realized, many years later, was a “Higher Power.” At the height of his successful career, he started having what we technically call out-of-body experiences (OBEs, an abbreviation I had the honor of coining). In ordinary language, he experienced leaving his physical body behind and traveling places as a disembodied mind or soul. He worried, as any “normal” American would do, that he was going crazy. When his doctor couldn't “cure” him, he gave in to reality and started exploring his OBEs rather than rejecting them. Bob was obsessed for years with the question of whether his experiences were real, as you or I would be if OBEs happened to us. Was his mind really traveling away from his body, or was this just some vivid, crazy kind of imagination or dream? As his experiences accumulated, he found that “real” was a tricky idea. His OBEs were sometimes partly “real”—in the sense of accurately giving him information about what was happening at a distance in the ordinary world—but there were a lot more places he visited, often more interesting places, than the ordinary world. What kind of reality did they have? Why was it happening to him? What, if anything, was he supposed to do with OBEs and the knowledge he was gaining from them? 11 My wife, Judy, and I met Bob in the fall of 1965, shortly after we had moved to Charlottesville so that I could take up a research position at the University of Virginia. I had looked forward to this meeting for several years, having heard about Bob's OBEs through parapsychologist Andrija Puharich (who wrote about him while protecting his identity by calling him Bob Rame). As you'll learn in this book, Puharich's writing was actually rather inaccurate from Bob's perspective and angered him, as it took some isolated instances where exposure to glue fumes preceded an OBE and made it sound like Bob was a habitual glue-sniffer. This was not a socially desirable role to be portrayed in, given the antidrug hysteria of the times—to put it mildly! Bob said nothing about this anger at the time I met him, though. OBEs had long fascinated me and I had already done some research on them. I expected to meet an unusual person that I would be professionally interested in. Little did I know that this professional interest aspect would be a small part of a deep friendship that would span the next thirty years. My interest in unusual areas like parapsychology, altered states of consciousness, and the nature of the mind was by choice, having been fascinated by them since I was a teenager. Bob's interest in these areas had been forced on him by his OBEs. Because our culture was ignorant, pig-headedly ignorant, prejudiced (“they must be crazy!”), and suppressive about these areas of life, Bob had been struggling to answer his questions 12 pretty much in lonely isolation. But by 1965, cultural changes were occurring, the blossoming of what was later called New Age culture. Bob and I had many exciting conversations as we saw the world starting to open up to spiritual realities. We discussed questions such as how we could learn more about OBEs, both scientifically and spiritually. What did they mean? Was there a soul? What did a word like soul mean? What parts of religion were about great truths, what parts were misleading? How could you teach other people to experience OBEs for themselves, and thus see for themselves what was real? How could the insights of spiritual experiences lead to a better world? Since I'm a scientist, specifically a psychologist, by training, it's natural for me to ask “How do Bob's experiences, observations, and ideas fit into our official knowledge systems of religion and science?” In a formal sense, Bob was neither “religious” nor a “scientist,” yet in the highest sense, he was, deeply. If “religious” is taken to mean dogmatic and narrow aspects of religion that are, unfortunately, all too common in our world—then “religious” certainly didn't describe Bob. But insofar as “religious” means trying to fathom the meaning of life and act with integrity and kindness along the way, Bob was deeply religious. Indeed, Bob had many experiences that would traditionally be classified as mystical, the kind of deeply moving revelations that people easily get overly attached to and inflated by, and which can lead the less 13 mature to an attitude of “I know the truth and you don't, so just believe me and do what I say!” Not Bob.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Journey to Other Worlds – Artifacts Journal - University of Missouri Page 1 of 5
    A Journey to Other Worlds – Artifacts Journal - University of Missouri Page 1 of 5 University of Missouri A Journal of Undergraduate Writing A Journey to Other Worlds Daniel Miller Daniel Miller graduated from MU with a bachelor of English in May 2014, and he is a first-year masters’ student now in English at MU. His fiction has appeared in ZONE 3, Puerto del Sol, and Hobart, among other publications. He selected to write about this topic simply because he has always been fascinated with astral projection and lucid dreaming. He tried to achieve this state while researching and writing the paper. The astral body appears in many different cultures throughout time and throughout the world. In Egypt, the “KA was not the soul of man . but its vehicle” (Muldoon & Carrington, 2011, p. xxii). In the Qur’an, Muhammad’s astral body travels in the Isra and Mi’raj story. And, among other sacred and secular texts, the astral body appears in Hindu scripture, Taoist practice, and even Christianity. In his article regarding the afterlife, Woolger (2014) notes that “in such journeys in the world religions and innumerable tribal practices” scholars have “described a common pattern of ‘ascent’, which is to say an ecstatic, mystical or out-of body experience, wherein the spiritual traveler leaves the physical body and travels in his/her subtle body into ‘higher’ realms” (para. 4). Dually, this quotation makes apparent the historical depth of astral projection as well as uses specific terms—spiritual, mystical, and the idea of ‘higher’ realms—that separates astral projection from other types of out-of body experiences (OBEs).
    [Show full text]
  • What Death Tellsusaboutlife
    S17_Death_INSIDE48_12Nov07_FNL 12/17/07 1:46 PM Page 30 LOVE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON WE ARE HERE TO LEARN What Death Te l l s Us A b o u t L i f e fter forty years of studying the To preface my discussion a little more, I think that there evidence for the survival of consciousness, what is a something else that incarnates in a body.When we get a I’ve come to conclude can be summed up in two body, it is like getting a personal computer that has some Asentences: (1) After a period of confusion, fear, and uncon- programs already installed in it, already on the hard disk or sciousness that I will probably experience in the process of permanent read-only memory.One of those brain/computer dying, I won’t really be too surprised if I regain conscious- programs is a fear of death and pain in the physical body. ness in a postmortem state.(2) On the other hand,I will be Threatening and stressful circumstances activate this program. very surprised if I regain consciousness. Ordinarily we are very identified with I say this because so much of what my CHARLES T. TART the physical body—it is me—so it is ordinary self consists of is dependent on perfectly normal and natural to be afraid having a familiar physical body and constantly getting of death sometimes. Just be careful about taking this as sensory and informational input from a familiar physical some ultimate truth, even though it is a useful program.
    [Show full text]
  • Journeys out of the Body
    JJOOUURRNNEEYYSS OOUUTT OOFF TTHHEE BBOODDYY By Robert A. Monroe CONTENTS Foreword Introduction 1. Not with a Wand, nor Lightly 2. Search and Research 3. On the Evidence 4. Die Here-Now 5. Infinity, Eternity 6. Reverse Image 7. Post Mortem 8. “'Cause the Bible Tells Me So” 9. Angels and Archetypes 10. Intelligent Animals 11. Gift or Burden? 12. Round Holes and Square Pegs 13. The Second Body 14. Mind and Supermind 15. Sexuality in the Second State 16. Preliminary Exercises 17. The Separation Process 18. Analysis of Events 19. Statistical Classification 20. Inconclusive 21. Premises: A Rationale? Epilogue: Personality Profile 1 FOREWORD Much has taken place both in the world and in my personal life since the final manuscript days prior to the publication of JOURNEYS OUT OF THE BODY. It was an interesting experience, to say the least, when I publicly became a member of a highly suspect group labeled Psychic, Sensitive, Freak, and, more generously, Parapsychologist. The publication of the book quite thoroughly “blew my cover” as a reasonably orthodox business executive. However, a good many of the results were totally unexpected, and some of the serious trepidations were unfounded. For example, the fact that I was (and still am) well grounded and active in the material world of business helped greatly in the serious consideration of the book material. Another facet: I should have had more faith and confidence in the business mind as I know it. I had always maintained that business and industry respected “something of value” without particular regard to its origin. If it works, use it.
    [Show full text]
  • Robert Peterson
    Out of Body Experiences: Keywords: OOBE, Astral Projection Featured as Adze's Out of Body Experiences How to have them and what to expect By Robert Peterson This book can be ordered from Amazon book store Copyright 1997 (C) by Robert S. Peterson All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work or portions thereof in any form whatsoever without permission in writing from the publisher, except for brief passages in connection with a review. Contact the author at: [email protected] Keywords: OBE, OOBE, Astral Projection http://www.winternet.com/~rsp/obebook.html (1 of 4) [5/4/1999 9:15:48 AM] Out of Body Experiences: Keywords: OOBE, Astral Projection ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I'd like to thank the following people for their support: ● Kathy Peterson, my wife. Without her support this book would not have been possible. ● Robert Monroe, whose books changed my life forever. Even though you've left your body for the last time, your love and dedication are still spreading spirituality throughout this plane. ● My brother Joe, for his invaluable love and support. ● My friends in Phoenix: John, Peggy, Dawn, Patricia, Sabrina, Bob, Cheri, Brad, Bob, Georgann, Jon, Herb, Mary, Judy, Perry, Carol, Jean and everyone else. ● Those who have inspired me with their music: Jon Anderson, Kerry Livgren, Tom Scholz, and Dan Fogelberg. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword by Charles Tart (only available in the printed edition) Introduction (only available in the online edition) Part 1 - From Skeptic to Believer 1. Background 2. My Childhood 3. First Contact 4. Beliefs Blown to Bits 5. Pokes and Prods 6.
    [Show full text]
  • Are Out-Of-Body Experiences Evidence for Survival?
    Are Out-of-Body Experiences Evidence for Survival? Susan Blackmore Brain and Perception Laboratory University of Bristol Bristol, England ABSTRACT This paper argues that for both theoretical and empirical reasons the out-of-body experience (OBE) cannot provide evidence for survival of death. Definitions of the OBE are discussed and typical features described, including the fact that OBEs often convince people of survival. OBEs can provide survival evidence only if it can be shown that (1) something leaves the body during an OBE, and (2) that that "something" could survive the death of the body. There are serious difficulties in conceiving of anything that could perform the movement, perception, and information transfer required in an OBE. The evidence suggestive of something leaving the body includes (a) perception at a distance during OBEs, (b) the detection of a double or astral body, and (c) near-death experiences. That evidence is reviewed and argued to be inconclusive. A psychological theory of the OBE is presented in which the out-of-body world is seen as constructed by imagination from the cognitive map. It is argued that this theory provides greater hope for understanding mystical and related experiences. It may be rather rash of me to ask whether OBEs are evidence for survival, not because the answer is so obviously "No," nor even because it is "Yes" or "Maybe," but because some of the issues raised are so problematic. Nevertheless I think it is an important question because it forces us to confront the theoretical obstacles involved and the inadequacies of the evidence.
    [Show full text]
  • A Brief Review of Studies of Out-Of-Body Experiences in Both the Healthy and Pathological Populations
    A Brief Review of Studies of Out-of-Body Experiences in both the Healthy and Pathological Populations Julia Sellers Independent Researcher [email protected] Abstract This paper presents a brief overview of some of the out-of-body experiences (OBEs) studied in both the healthy and pathological populations, as well as experiences of paranormal phenomena, with features common to OBEs, in the healthy population. Since spontaneous OBEs in the healthy population are rare, there is a lack of studies describing possible psychological, as well as physiological, mechanisms driving this type of OBE. Consequently, most OBE research available today describes the semiology, phenomenology, etiology, as well as the neurocognitive features of OBEs within the pathological population, as opposed to the healthy population. Below we present an overview of some of the research aimed at identifying OBEs occurring in both healthy as well as pathological individuals. Keywords: out-of-body experience, temporal parietal junction, brain waves, consciousness, paranormal. 1. Introduction The phenomenology of out-of-body experiences (OBEs) has been described somewhat differently in individual studies. According to Blanke and Arzy (2005), an OBE is an event during which one’s visual perspective Journal of Cognitive Science 19-4:471-491, 2018 ©2018 Institute for Cognitive Science, Seoul National University 472 Julia Sellers and one’s self are experienced to have departed from their habitual position within one’s body. Irwin described OBEs as a state of the experiencer during which “the centre of consciousness appears, to the experiencer, to temporarily occupy a position which is spatially remote from his/her body” (Irwin, 1985, p.5).
    [Show full text]
  • Journeys out of the BODY, His First Book, Has Become the Undisputed Classic in the Field
    Robert A Monroe has been a pioneer in exploring out-of-the- body experiences, and Journeys OUT OF THE BODY, his first book, has become the undisputed classic in the field. He had a long and distinguished career in the broadcasting industry, as a writer, director of programs, and creator and producer of some four hundred radio and TV network programs, and eventually as owner and operator of a radio network and cable TV system in Virginia. He is the founder and executive director of the Monroe Institute, interna. tionally known for its work on the effects of sound wave forms on human behavior. Robert Monroe's second book, Far Journeys, tells the story of his research and development of the OOB experience and further explorations beyond time and space. It was published by Doubleday in 1985. Mr. Monroe plays an active part in the work of the Monroe Institute and lives with his family in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. ROBERT A. MONROE Updated DOUBLEDAY NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY AUCKLAND A MAIN STREET BOOK PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. 1540 Broadway New York, New York 10036 MAIN STREET BOOKS, DOUBLEDAY, and the portrayal of a building with a tree are trademarks of Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Journeys Out of the Body was originally published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1971, and in paperback by Anchor Books in 1977. ISBN 0-385-00861-9 Copyright ® 1971, 1977 by Robert A. Monroe All Rights Reserved Printed in the United States of America 32 34 36 38 40 39 37 35 33 31 CONTENTS Foreword Introduction 1.
    [Show full text]
  • After the White Crow: Integrating Science and Anomalous Experience
    Presidential Address AFTER THE WHITE CROW: INTEGRATING SCIENCE AND ANOMALOUS EXPERIENCE Jerry E. Wesch, Ph.D. ABSTRACT In this edited version of the 1996 ISSSEEM Presidential Address given at the annual confer­ ence in Boulder, Colorado, Dr. Wesch outlines some unique issues for "scientifically-inclined mystics" and "mystically-inclined scientists." The nature of anomalous experience tends to produce profound personal effects on the experiencer, creating conflicts for the supposed objectivity of the scientific method if that experiencer is also a working scientist. Using the "White Crow" metaphor from William James' 1896 Presidential Address to the Society for Psychical Research as a starting point, problems of "fear of psi," negative reactions of friends, family and colleagues, and loss of openness are explored. A personal solution to living on the bridge between the mystical and the scientific is offered. KEYWORDS: Anomalous, psi, esp, science, mysticism Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine • 1996 • Volume 7 • Number 1 • Page 1 INTRODUCTION he temptation in giving a talk like this is to try to be really profound, to get up here and say something earth shaking. .. to really tie it all T together. There's real hubris in doing that, and I have enough trouble with the Coyotes as it is. That's why I always liked the "Blind sages and the elephant" story. We go around, each getting our little glimpses of whatever Cosmic truth that we're all interacting with, and then we get involved in arguing whether it's this piece or that piece that's the essence of the elephant. I don't know what the essence of the elephant is.
    [Show full text]
  • The Near Death Experience
    1 TABLE OF CONTENTS THE NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE .......................................................4 Life After Life by Dr Raymond Moody..................................................................... 4 Typical aspects of NDEs .......................................................................................... 4 These experiences are very common........................................................................ 4 Children's NDEs ...................................................................................................... 5 The Near Death Experience of Dannion Brinkley ................................................... 5 Important points in Dannion Brinkley’s NDE ......................................................... 5 Recommended Reading............................................................................................ 6 THE EVIDENCE FOR PAST LIVES......................................................7 The Nature of Human Memory ................................................................................ 7 Hypnotic Regressions............................................................................................... 7 Verification is Often Possible .................................................................................. 7 Xenoglossy ............................................................................................................... 8 Dr Ian Stevenson...................................................................................................... 9 Children's Memories
    [Show full text]
  • Ultimate JOURNEYS out of the BODY Journey FAR JOURNEYS
    Also by Robert A. Monroe Ultimate JOURNEYS OUT OF THE BODY Journey FAR JOURNEYS Robert A. Monroe BROADWAY BOOKS / NEW YORK Dedicated to Nancy Venn Monroe Co-founder, The Monroe Institute BROADWAY and A hardcover edition of this book was originally published in 1994 by Doubleday. the Hundreds of Supporting Friends It is here reprinted by arrangement with Doubleday. Who Have Provided Assistance and Love Ultimate Journey. Copyright © 1994 by Robert A. Monroe. All rights reserved. over the Past Thirty Years Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including in the TMI Pursuit of Obscured Knowns photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information, address: Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036. Broadway Books titles may be purchased for business or promotional use or for special sales. For information, please write to: Special Markets Department, Random House, Inc., 1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036. BROADWAY BOOKS and its logo, a letter B bisected on the diagonal, are trademarks of Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc. First Broadway Books trade paperback edition published 2000. The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as: Monroe, Robert A. Ultimate journey / Robert A. Monroe, p. cm. 1. Astral projection. I. Title. BF1389.A7M667 1994 93-32139 133.9—dc20 CIP ISBN 0-385-47208-0
    [Show full text]
  • Far Journeys (PDF)
    Also by Robert A. Monroe Far Journeys JOURNEYS OUT OF THE BODY ROBERT A. MONROE MAIN STREET BOOKS DOUBLEDAY New York London Toronto Sydney Auckland A M AIN S TREET BOOK PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY DEDICATED TO: a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036 Nancy Penn Monroe, much more than a wife, whose constant and consistent love, support, MAIN STREET BOOKS, DOUBLEDAY, and the portrayal of a building with a tree are sharing, and understanding were the indispensable trademarks of Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing elements in the writing and completion of this Group, Inc. record. Those interested in the activities of the Institute may write: The Monroe Institute Route 1, Box 175 Faber, Virginia 22938 The literally hundreds of others over the past "The Out-of-Body Experience: A Phenomenological Typology Based on fifteen years who freely gave their time, energy, and Questionnaire Responses," by S. W. Twemlow, G. O. Gabbard, and F. C. interest in so many different ways and without Jones. The American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 139.4, pp. 450-55, 1982. whom very little would have been accomplished. Copyright © 1982, the American Psychiatric Association. Reprinted by permission. "The OBE Psychophysiology of Robert A. Monroe" from With the Eyes of the Mind by Glen O. Gabbard and Stuart W. Twemlow. Copyright © 1984 Praeger Publishers. Reprinted by permission. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Monroe, Robert A. Far journeys. "A Main Street book" 1. Monroe, Robert A. 2. Psychical research— Biography. 3. Out-of-Body experiences.
    [Show full text]