The Ultimate Journey

This is my favorite of the Monroe books but it helps to read all three in order. I think that the jargon he uses (often times different from other source of knowledge about OBEs or Astral Travel) would otherwise be difficult to grasp. Also it is interesting to see how his perception becomes more refined over time (nearly 20 years from the first book to this one). I think that there is advanced spiritual knowledge here in disguise as a travelouge (albeit astral travelogue).

Robert Monroe achieved his masterpiece in this volume. The final missing Basic became a Known. At least it did for him, and for those who take the time to contemplate it- or better yet, experience it for themselves. As for those who aren't yet ready for the truth, well, maybe on their next trip around.... Over the years I have been fascinated with Mr. Monroe's books. Here was a thoroughly left-brain type of individual (a successful engineer and business man) with an open mind. He wasn't a "convert" to the perrenial philosophy, no, he just totally reconstructed the core of metaphysical truth FROM SCRATCH. Or rather, he remembered. Mr. Monroe was no student of religion or metaphysics yet he reached a model of existance that is fully compatible with neoplatonism. We originate from a Creator beyond space and time, we descend into the holographic dream of space-time, we gain experience (along with our kindred sparks) through a varying number of lifetimes, our more evolved "higher selves" reach back through time and space to help ourselves at crucial moments, and we finally return back to the Creator bearing our hard-won gifts. He didn't get this from Plato, Plotinus, or the Upanishads- HE FOUND IT OUT FOR HIMSELF THROUGH DIRECT EXPERIENCE. Oh yes, he even came to an understanding of M-field energy and manipulation techniques ( most call it magic and correspondence theory.) He also realised the truth of the rare few who "can do covertly anything imaginable- and much that we cannot imagine." Well done, wanderer, well done....

Read this book couple of years ago... and what i learned from it still guides me in my daily life, and it has reshaped my view about the Universe, about humans, about LIFE itself.. and most of all, myself. Monroe writes about his exploration in the OBE astral realm, and there are many spiritual lessons he learned. It is recommended that you read his other 2 books Far Journeys and Journeys Out of the Body as well to get the full picture. Time travelling, Space travelling in the astral world is indeed an amazing adventure. 'Far Journeys' and this book are focused on the spiritual learnings that he accummulated on his astral travels. As he states in Far Journey, the first book "Journeys Out Of the Body" was about the mechanics of the OBE experience, about the methods and his observation of this phenomena. But after a while, he got bored with exploring his immediate physical surrounds (left brain logic), OBE had become a routine. One night, he made the conscious choice to let his unconscious(right brain) take over his options, and he was transported to another phase of his OBE - his exploration out of time-space. Here he learns about his life, makes new spirit friends and learn amazing things from them, travel to the past and future, learn about life as human. An excellent exciting read!

I first became aware of Robert Monroe in the late 70's and found him 'too deep' for my understanding. At the time I was about 18 or 19 years old. With time, and a neverending thirst for knowledge, my capacity for understanding has increased. I guess age does that to a person. After recently picking up a copy of this book, I realized that I enjoyed as never before, what this man had to say. His encounters read almost like a novel, with perhaps the most interesting being his experiences with what he called an INSPEC (Intelligent Species), a type of highly evolved being which serves as guide and mentor. Though he writes with great clarity and wit, he at times uses terminology that some readers might find a bit confusing, or dry (like reading a medical dictionary)! At these times it may be helpful to look past the jargon and see the total picture (story) rather than focussing on particulars (technical lingo). If you can do this you will get far greater enjoyment (at least I did) for your efforts. Know this: This book is well worth the read and in my humble opinion, is destined to become one of the classics in astral projection literature.

Unlike his previous two books, Monroe answers many more questions than he raises. He has come full circle to tell the "truth" about who we are, why we are here and where we can go. More than a guidebook, this book is tantamount to being the Bible for those who believe in the reality of OBE's. Monroe ties all the loose ends together, in as tight a knot as he can, and is finally able to present to us that elusive jewel of insight-the reason for our human existence. It will (hopefully) change, in a fundamental way, how we view reality and our ourselves. However, to truly appreciate and understand this book, readers should first familiarize themselves with his previous two works. Despite an introductory chapter intended to acquaint unfamiliar readers with his history and experiences with OBE's, Monroe quickly plunges into charting new territory and insights. This is not a how-to book but the author's firsthand experiences traveling out-of-body. Understanding these experiences are difficult enough to grasp by the initiated reader but they may be indecipherable to the unfamiliar. The author's writings are also heavily laden with his own terminologies for describing reality in "the other side." If not familir with his his style and his vocabulary, one could find him or herself a bit perplexed.