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The Journeys Trilogy #2
Far Journeys
In his bestselling classic, Journeys Out of the Body, Robert Monroe revealed to readers his enthralling excursions out of the body and into outer consciousness. Now, after more than a decade and, sessions of intensive psychological and psychic research, he presents persuasive new, fully documented evidence of realities even further beyond the known dimensions of the physical universe. Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross has praised the book as "wonderful, it describes for the first time in understandable form the cycle of human existence through life and death".
At the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences in the United States, the author has developed a revolutionary sound wave process which facilitates out-of-body experiences, enabling many very ordinary - and sometimes skeptical - people to make controlled journeys similar to those of the author, "reporting back" verbally at every point along the way. This book includes many transcripts of their "reports", describing in fascinating yet objective detail their travels in time and space, the extraordinary experiences of freedom and discovery that they come to take for granted, and the profound significance of these journeys for mankind as a whole.
At the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences in the United States, the author has developed a revolutionary sound wave process which facilitates out-of-body experiences, enabling many very ordinary - and sometimes skeptical - people to make controlled journeys similar to those of the author, "reporting back" verbally at every point along the way. This book includes many transcripts of their "reports", describing in fascinating yet objective detail their travels in time and space, the extraordinary experiences of freedom and discovery that they come to take for granted, and the profound significance of these journeys for mankind as a whole.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
229 people are currently reading
2560 people want to read
About the author
Robert A. Monroe
31 books354 followersRobert Allan Monroe has had wide career experience in communications, having written for newspapers and magazines, and worked in television and electronics.
Since the 1950s, Monroe researched the effects of various sound patterns on human consciousness, including the feasibility of learning during sleep. He often used himself as a test subject for this research and in 1958 he began experiencing a state of consciousness separate and apart from the physical body. He described the state as an “out of body experience”. This led to much more research into human consciousness. He chronicled his early explorations in the book, Journeys Out of the Body (1971).
Monroe's research led to the development of an audio-guidance technology called hemispheric synchronization or Hemi-Sync®.
In 1974, his research expanded to become The Monroe Institute which continued exploring expanded states of human consciousness and how to enhance human potential.
In 1985 he wrote a second book, "Far Journeys", which expanded upon his personal investigations of nonphysical reality.
In 1994 his third book, "Ultimate Journey" was released, exploring basic truths about the meaning and purpose of life and what lies beyond the limits of our physical world.
The Monroes lived on a farm near the Blue Ridge in Virginia, America. This is also the site of a Mind Research Institute opened by Monroe in 1971.
Since the 1950s, Monroe researched the effects of various sound patterns on human consciousness, including the feasibility of learning during sleep. He often used himself as a test subject for this research and in 1958 he began experiencing a state of consciousness separate and apart from the physical body. He described the state as an “out of body experience”. This led to much more research into human consciousness. He chronicled his early explorations in the book, Journeys Out of the Body (1971).
Monroe's research led to the development of an audio-guidance technology called hemispheric synchronization or Hemi-Sync®.
In 1974, his research expanded to become The Monroe Institute which continued exploring expanded states of human consciousness and how to enhance human potential.
In 1985 he wrote a second book, "Far Journeys", which expanded upon his personal investigations of nonphysical reality.
In 1994 his third book, "Ultimate Journey" was released, exploring basic truths about the meaning and purpose of life and what lies beyond the limits of our physical world.
The Monroes lived on a farm near the Blue Ridge in Virginia, America. This is also the site of a Mind Research Institute opened by Monroe in 1971.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
August 28, 2016
It took me a little bit to get into this book as there was a decent amount of 'lead-in' for those who wanted more of the 'process' regarding the information given in the first book. It talked about his foundation and laboratory and various sessions undergone by his researches, and overall it was interesting in a clinical and dry kind of way.
But then... it got good. A lot of people who read this book will want to believe it (but still reserve judgement), outright disbelieve it (because it sounds so fantastical) or actually Gnow and Understand that what Robert Monrone wrote was shades of Truth. I am one of those. Any justification I can give you, a non-experiencer, about things that I have come to understand will sound just as fantastical as what Robert Monroe has written between these pages.
However, I do recommend this book for several types of people:
Anyone who follows paths of Qabbalah, Gnosticism, Hermeticism ... ought to take a look at Robert Monroe -- especially this book, FAR JOURNEYS, due to the synchronicitous subjects he touches on that that are common to all three of the above paths:
- The Green Man (hood & robe, helping you with your learning)
- Overcoming the Ego that keeps you rooted in the material
- Archons (Known as The Collectors)
- Energy Harvesting (loosh) to 'feed' the/a World/universe above ours
- A ball of energy with myriad points of experience (consciousness)
- The generation of energy caused by toil / conflict / friction
- The Garden (of Eden aka farm)
- The Someone (took a piece of himself and put it into his - creation / crop 4 ... Epinoia)
- Commerce / Law of Supply and Demand
- Commerce / Pay with your energy to experience compressed learning and repay with with your energy as you generate loosh into the system
- The WILD state / WILD ones / WILD 'rote'
- Reincarnation
- The incarnation of plant to animal to human as evolution of the soul
... and more.
Really, really worth a read if you have already dug into at least one of the above paths.
Also, for Law of One readers -- it talks about HARVEST and The EVENT and other items, such as distortion.
And for SETH readers... lot's of stuff (too much to mention), for instance refers to 'entities' as 'curls' (because of their waveform signatures), the various 'levels', OOBE, etc.
And for Matrix Theory readers -- many of the explanations / anecdotes will line up with a super-creator that is AI and that the universe itself is a simulation.
I really didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. I liked his first book, but it wasn't nearly as engrossing as this one. However, because of my own system of experience and gnosis, this book had a bigger impact on me than it might on others who are just starting out. Regardless, if you like a good adventure, I think you might still enjoy this book even if you decide to classify it as Science Fiction rather than biographical and experiential in nature.
But then... it got good. A lot of people who read this book will want to believe it (but still reserve judgement), outright disbelieve it (because it sounds so fantastical) or actually Gnow and Understand that what Robert Monrone wrote was shades of Truth. I am one of those. Any justification I can give you, a non-experiencer, about things that I have come to understand will sound just as fantastical as what Robert Monroe has written between these pages.
However, I do recommend this book for several types of people:
Anyone who follows paths of Qabbalah, Gnosticism, Hermeticism ... ought to take a look at Robert Monroe -- especially this book, FAR JOURNEYS, due to the synchronicitous subjects he touches on that that are common to all three of the above paths:
- The Green Man (hood & robe, helping you with your learning)
- Overcoming the Ego that keeps you rooted in the material
- Archons (Known as The Collectors)
- Energy Harvesting (loosh) to 'feed' the/a World/universe above ours
- A ball of energy with myriad points of experience (consciousness)
- The generation of energy caused by toil / conflict / friction
- The Garden (of Eden aka farm)
- The Someone (took a piece of himself and put it into his - creation / crop 4 ... Epinoia)
- Commerce / Law of Supply and Demand
- Commerce / Pay with your energy to experience compressed learning and repay with with your energy as you generate loosh into the system
- The WILD state / WILD ones / WILD 'rote'
- Reincarnation
- The incarnation of plant to animal to human as evolution of the soul
... and more.
Really, really worth a read if you have already dug into at least one of the above paths.
Also, for Law of One readers -- it talks about HARVEST and The EVENT and other items, such as distortion.
And for SETH readers... lot's of stuff (too much to mention), for instance refers to 'entities' as 'curls' (because of their waveform signatures), the various 'levels', OOBE, etc.
And for Matrix Theory readers -- many of the explanations / anecdotes will line up with a super-creator that is AI and that the universe itself is a simulation.
I really didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. I liked his first book, but it wasn't nearly as engrossing as this one. However, because of my own system of experience and gnosis, this book had a bigger impact on me than it might on others who are just starting out. Regardless, if you like a good adventure, I think you might still enjoy this book even if you decide to classify it as Science Fiction rather than biographical and experiential in nature.
August 23, 2014
This is a follow-up on Monroe’s classic work ”Journeys out of the body”. Here I would like to say that Monroe’s three books as a whole constitute a unique contribution to scientific knowledge: our understanding of the Universe/universes takes a great leap forward after reading them.
As the author states in chapter 1 of this book regarding OBEs, “You can visit a friend three thousand miles away, you can explore the moon, the solar system, and the galaxy … you can enter other reality systems only dimly perceived and theorized by our time/space consciousness”.
He has found that his innumerable OBEs have led to his body rejecting all chemicals, including alcohol, prescription drugs and caffeine. During surgery he rejects the anesthesia and wakes up (not very nice). When gambling (playing cards) he knows what the cards are without seeing them, so always wins.
He tells us about his work at the Monroe Institute and the development of hemi-sync. This creates simultaneously an identical wave form in both brain hemispheres. (You can down-load a hemi-sync mp3 from the Monroe Institute’s web-site.) Using the process can apparently remove psychotic symptoms, improve sleep and memory, inter alia. It has “a great ability to focus and hold attention”.
Monroe informs us about the Gateway Programme, in which various states of consciousness were investigated. Focus 10, for example, was “mind awake, body asleep”. “Participants learn to move into what is called Focus 12, where all physical-data input is shut off and the consciousness can reach out and begin to perceive in ways other than through the five senses.” The Gateway Programme first surmounts the Fear Barrier (fear of the unknown, of change).
The borders between this and other reality-energy systems are crossed. Reunions with “dead” friends and family are reported, as well as encounters with other forms of intelligent energy not generally recognized.
The basic effect of the Hemi-Sync process is to provide an access to many levels of consciousness simultaneously. (I don’t really understand this, I admit,)
We are given reports by people in the Programme who have had various amazing experiences.
The so-called Explorer team makes innumerable visits to inner space, or whatever it is. Reports from these visits, as they occur, are not only given in this book but also available as free downloads from the Institute’s web-site.
Explorers communicate with and are helped by beings they encounter and given much interesting information. For example, plants exist on levels 1-7, animals on levels 8-14. Levels 15-21 “are what you call human life on this Earth”. A person that progresses to level 21 cannot go higher unless he is willing to give up human form. Levels 22-28 are the levels you enter upon death.
One Explorer is told that part of one’s energy may be used to develop a personality and one may have several personalities going on at the same time, being developed at the same time in the physical reality. She is informed that she has one that is old, one crippled, one male, but she is not ready to know where they are.
Our energy can inhabit other places than Earth, and is aware of all these other places. We do not inhabit bodies like human Earth bodies but “other forms of things or beings”. One is “like a gelatin kind of thing … slimy kinds of things”. These forms we inhabit are thousands of light years away.
Monroe writes that all of the Explorer material poses more questions than it answers, and I can confirm this.
Beings encountered have the ability to remove the energy essence of a human from his physical body without “disrupting his biologic systems”. They utilize the vocal cords to communicate with us and have total access to the “memory storage lodged in the individual”. They can and did move that extracted human essence to various other sites/realities and returned it in safety. The entire history of humankind and Earth is available to them in the most minute detail.
All other intelligent species than man, either in the physical universe or in other energy systems, use non-verbal communication (NVC).
Monroe encounters a high glowing being reminiscent of God (but, apparently, not God) who calls him “Mister Monroe” and provides him with information in NVC. He meets with this being several times and is greatly reassured by their contact, until he is told that they can no longer meet. (As far as I remember, it is because Monroe has now reached the stage where he can find out things for himself.)
Monroe (who is often referred as RAM) also has continued unexpected meetings with a character called BB who is looking for someone called AA. Sometimes Monroe saves people in these realms, but generally they suddenly disappear again. BB or Monroe perhaps too originally come from a planet/system/place called KT-95.
The book contains detailed, scientific information relating to Monroe’s and the Explorers’ voyages. These voyages are fascinating and provide new information. Drawbacks are that Monroe presents the material in such a way that it is often difficult to comprehend, and his use of abbreviations and special terms, not immediately defined, complicates matters greatly.
However, nonetheless, I highly recommend that you read this unique, illuminating book.
As the author states in chapter 1 of this book regarding OBEs, “You can visit a friend three thousand miles away, you can explore the moon, the solar system, and the galaxy … you can enter other reality systems only dimly perceived and theorized by our time/space consciousness”.
He has found that his innumerable OBEs have led to his body rejecting all chemicals, including alcohol, prescription drugs and caffeine. During surgery he rejects the anesthesia and wakes up (not very nice). When gambling (playing cards) he knows what the cards are without seeing them, so always wins.
He tells us about his work at the Monroe Institute and the development of hemi-sync. This creates simultaneously an identical wave form in both brain hemispheres. (You can down-load a hemi-sync mp3 from the Monroe Institute’s web-site.) Using the process can apparently remove psychotic symptoms, improve sleep and memory, inter alia. It has “a great ability to focus and hold attention”.
Monroe informs us about the Gateway Programme, in which various states of consciousness were investigated. Focus 10, for example, was “mind awake, body asleep”. “Participants learn to move into what is called Focus 12, where all physical-data input is shut off and the consciousness can reach out and begin to perceive in ways other than through the five senses.” The Gateway Programme first surmounts the Fear Barrier (fear of the unknown, of change).
The borders between this and other reality-energy systems are crossed. Reunions with “dead” friends and family are reported, as well as encounters with other forms of intelligent energy not generally recognized.
The basic effect of the Hemi-Sync process is to provide an access to many levels of consciousness simultaneously. (I don’t really understand this, I admit,)
We are given reports by people in the Programme who have had various amazing experiences.
The so-called Explorer team makes innumerable visits to inner space, or whatever it is. Reports from these visits, as they occur, are not only given in this book but also available as free downloads from the Institute’s web-site.
Explorers communicate with and are helped by beings they encounter and given much interesting information. For example, plants exist on levels 1-7, animals on levels 8-14. Levels 15-21 “are what you call human life on this Earth”. A person that progresses to level 21 cannot go higher unless he is willing to give up human form. Levels 22-28 are the levels you enter upon death.
One Explorer is told that part of one’s energy may be used to develop a personality and one may have several personalities going on at the same time, being developed at the same time in the physical reality. She is informed that she has one that is old, one crippled, one male, but she is not ready to know where they are.
Our energy can inhabit other places than Earth, and is aware of all these other places. We do not inhabit bodies like human Earth bodies but “other forms of things or beings”. One is “like a gelatin kind of thing … slimy kinds of things”. These forms we inhabit are thousands of light years away.
Monroe writes that all of the Explorer material poses more questions than it answers, and I can confirm this.
Beings encountered have the ability to remove the energy essence of a human from his physical body without “disrupting his biologic systems”. They utilize the vocal cords to communicate with us and have total access to the “memory storage lodged in the individual”. They can and did move that extracted human essence to various other sites/realities and returned it in safety. The entire history of humankind and Earth is available to them in the most minute detail.
All other intelligent species than man, either in the physical universe or in other energy systems, use non-verbal communication (NVC).
Monroe encounters a high glowing being reminiscent of God (but, apparently, not God) who calls him “Mister Monroe” and provides him with information in NVC. He meets with this being several times and is greatly reassured by their contact, until he is told that they can no longer meet. (As far as I remember, it is because Monroe has now reached the stage where he can find out things for himself.)
Monroe (who is often referred as RAM) also has continued unexpected meetings with a character called BB who is looking for someone called AA. Sometimes Monroe saves people in these realms, but generally they suddenly disappear again. BB or Monroe perhaps too originally come from a planet/system/place called KT-95.
The book contains detailed, scientific information relating to Monroe’s and the Explorers’ voyages. These voyages are fascinating and provide new information. Drawbacks are that Monroe presents the material in such a way that it is often difficult to comprehend, and his use of abbreviations and special terms, not immediately defined, complicates matters greatly.
However, nonetheless, I highly recommend that you read this unique, illuminating book.
January 24, 2023
Explorations beyond human time and space -- nothing less is the subject of this magnificent book by Robert Monroe.
I wish he could live on Earth now, since the Age of Awakening began. Because today countless people are doing "Invisible Astral Travel," and doing it often, doing it routinely.
Seems to me, we sure could use somebody with his clarity and leadership to help folks understand this better.
In "Far Journeys," as always (on his Hemi-Synch recordings, or in program that he developed for the Monroe Institute, both of which have benefitted me, years ago), Robert Monroe's verbal talent is strongly evident. Not every author is a master communicator, but Bob Monroe certainly was.
Not that he was also a fancy kind of writer, oozing literary cultivation like C.S. Lewis or J. R. R. Tolkien. The author of "Journeys out of the Body" and "Far Journeys" was a broadcaster. To me, that fits with the futuristic quality of his teachings, designed to help humanity move forward... whatever the degree of literary cultivation of all of us who seek The Final Frontier.
I wish he could live on Earth now, since the Age of Awakening began. Because today countless people are doing "Invisible Astral Travel," and doing it often, doing it routinely.
Seems to me, we sure could use somebody with his clarity and leadership to help folks understand this better.
In "Far Journeys," as always (on his Hemi-Synch recordings, or in program that he developed for the Monroe Institute, both of which have benefitted me, years ago), Robert Monroe's verbal talent is strongly evident. Not every author is a master communicator, but Bob Monroe certainly was.
Not that he was also a fancy kind of writer, oozing literary cultivation like C.S. Lewis or J. R. R. Tolkien. The author of "Journeys out of the Body" and "Far Journeys" was a broadcaster. To me, that fits with the futuristic quality of his teachings, designed to help humanity move forward... whatever the degree of literary cultivation of all of us who seek The Final Frontier.
June 10, 2013
Of the few books I have reviewed I feel this is probably the most difficult, and yet maybe the most required in terms of explanation and relevance to what you might be looking for. Its premise is a phenomenal story of one mans journeys during his experiences of travelling out of his body, and through his own curiosity and endeavour he is taken on a series of incredible journeys through time and space. He meets with various entities from other realities, and through the action of simulation and experience they attempt to show him the purpose of life and the world upon which it depends, from its initial creation to its ultimate completion.
It is both an incredible and immensely thought provoking book and will leave you with many sleepless nights trying to correlate and make sense of his story, and whatever your conclusion it is almost certain that life will not be quite the same as it was before you opened its pages.
Depending on where you are in your quest and the part you are still looking for it will leave you either exhilarated or despondent, and there are certainly elements in this book that will do both. Like `Journeys out of the Body' when it was originally published, I suspect `Far Journeys' is still quite a few years ahead of its time. However, if you think you are at the point where you have read all there is in your quest to fully understand the nature of existence but feel there is still something missing then this might well be the book you are looking for. I hope it resonates and you will go on to read his follow up `Ultimate Journey', if not then I suggest you put it aside and wait. I'm sure there is something here for you, but maybe it's just not the piece of the puzzle you are looking for at this moment.
It is both an incredible and immensely thought provoking book and will leave you with many sleepless nights trying to correlate and make sense of his story, and whatever your conclusion it is almost certain that life will not be quite the same as it was before you opened its pages.
Depending on where you are in your quest and the part you are still looking for it will leave you either exhilarated or despondent, and there are certainly elements in this book that will do both. Like `Journeys out of the Body' when it was originally published, I suspect `Far Journeys' is still quite a few years ahead of its time. However, if you think you are at the point where you have read all there is in your quest to fully understand the nature of existence but feel there is still something missing then this might well be the book you are looking for. I hope it resonates and you will go on to read his follow up `Ultimate Journey', if not then I suggest you put it aside and wait. I'm sure there is something here for you, but maybe it's just not the piece of the puzzle you are looking for at this moment.
July 9, 2022
Súper loco y delirante, como leer un sueño que uno tuvo que es verdad pero a la vez sueño y que puede ser cierto pero a la vez no. Fue como navegar por los campos extensos del subsconsciente, ni siquiera en barco, sino que en submarino nuclear.
Súper interesante, en todo caso, aunque creo que entendí la mitad con suerte. Es para releerlo en su momento, opino. Usé toda la fuerza de mi cabeza para pasar por sus páginas pero esta vez tengo más esperanzas de que sea mi mente inconsciente quien lo haya entendido, porque la consciente NO andaba con ansias de cooperación, jajaja.
En cuanto a facilidad y claridad, el primer libro de esta saga es MUCHO MEJOR, porque éste, como dicen los gringos, está "all over the place" y es mucho menos práctico, pero por otro lado se puede decir que el autor realmente despegó camino a sus viajes espirituales y eso es algo bastante curioso de ver.
Recomendaría solo el primer tomo al público general eso sí, porque éste es WILD, pero igual yo DE TODAS MANERAS voy a seguir ahora con el tomo tercero y final.
Súper interesante, en todo caso, aunque creo que entendí la mitad con suerte. Es para releerlo en su momento, opino. Usé toda la fuerza de mi cabeza para pasar por sus páginas pero esta vez tengo más esperanzas de que sea mi mente inconsciente quien lo haya entendido, porque la consciente NO andaba con ansias de cooperación, jajaja.
En cuanto a facilidad y claridad, el primer libro de esta saga es MUCHO MEJOR, porque éste, como dicen los gringos, está "all over the place" y es mucho menos práctico, pero por otro lado se puede decir que el autor realmente despegó camino a sus viajes espirituales y eso es algo bastante curioso de ver.
Recomendaría solo el primer tomo al público general eso sí, porque éste es WILD, pero igual yo DE TODAS MANERAS voy a seguir ahora con el tomo tercero y final.
May 27, 2020
As with the first book, Journeys Out of the Body, Far Journeys documents Robert Monroe's fascinating experiences in the second (astral) body, including visiting the future and receiving a "rote" (information download) on the purpose of human existence.
Many of the less interesting experiences are recorded as almost a transcript of the (largely nonverbal) conversations, however - most would have benefitted from being condensed. Couple this with Robert's consistent use of jargon such as inspec, rolling, rote, skip, percept, and lighted, and parts become tougher to wade through.
I could have done without the attempts at fitting the ideas into a scientific theory, too.
Editing would have made the book more readable but it contains solid gold nonetheless.
Many of the less interesting experiences are recorded as almost a transcript of the (largely nonverbal) conversations, however - most would have benefitted from being condensed. Couple this with Robert's consistent use of jargon such as inspec, rolling, rote, skip, percept, and lighted, and parts become tougher to wade through.
I could have done without the attempts at fitting the ideas into a scientific theory, too.
Editing would have made the book more readable but it contains solid gold nonetheless.
September 3, 2016
One of the few books to truly blow my mind. I shall re-read it many times. Fascinating.
March 17, 2022
That was one of (if not the most) out there books I have ever read. Most of it read like pure science fiction! Regardless, it was a fun read. It definitely gave me lots of food for thought and inspiration to attempt to journey into deeper consciousness.
May 24, 2008
I love the conversations he has with divine beings about the meaning of human life.
August 13, 2016
I read this because I read that Joseph McMoneagle and other remote viewers went to the Monroe Institute to see if HemiSync helped them. While the beginning section of the book was good, I didn't find the experiences and dialogues Monroe detailed all that interesting, which make up most of the book.
I liked the writing style and comprehensive explanations in the Seth books much better.
If this book is to be believed, it sounds like there are a lot of entities you may encounter OOB, some good, some not, some masquerading as things they aren't, and it sounds like you can't really tell the difference. The book pretty much claims that your initial affirmations determine which you will meet, that doesn't sound very reassuring to me. Also his experiences obviously meant a lot to him; beyond establishing that he had them and he found them very meaningful, they weren't all that interesting ot me. So I wouldn't be surprised to find that there are as many types of OOB experience as there are individuals who have them.
I think it's a good book for people who are preparing to do OOB.
I liked the writing style and comprehensive explanations in the Seth books much better.
If this book is to be believed, it sounds like there are a lot of entities you may encounter OOB, some good, some not, some masquerading as things they aren't, and it sounds like you can't really tell the difference. The book pretty much claims that your initial affirmations determine which you will meet, that doesn't sound very reassuring to me. Also his experiences obviously meant a lot to him; beyond establishing that he had them and he found them very meaningful, they weren't all that interesting ot me. So I wouldn't be surprised to find that there are as many types of OOB experience as there are individuals who have them.
I think it's a good book for people who are preparing to do OOB.
May 16, 2020
Another fascinating, perception-shifting account of Monroe’s journeys out of body and in communication with higher intelligent beings that relay answers to many of life’s mysteries, including the ultimate questions of where we can from and why we go through the trials and tribulations of the human experience and this great lesson called life. I found many similarities in spiritual beliefs of reincarnation and the ultimate goal of higher consciousness or Nirvana.
December 30, 2009
By the author of the well-known Journeys Out Of The Body, this one is really useless and more or less an obvious ploy to make money by selling books. There isn't any useful content if you want to know about OBEs. Read the initial book for that.
February 28, 2022
I came here for OBE experiences and transcendental ways to detach consciousness from the human body, but lol, it looks like I’ve read a bad plot of starwars. The first book was good, hoping for an improvement for the third and last book
May 1, 2023
This is the worst novel from the trilogy, I can't even believe it's written by the same author. Unlike book I and III which I really liked and found intriguing, this one just felt like poor quality science fiction. Stick to book I and III in this order to make the most of your time.
January 31, 2010
Who needs frequent flyer miles...
July 8, 2018
Absolutely mind-blowing.
February 24, 2020
I'm not entirely sure what to say about this book. I don't think any of the other books I have read involving OOB had these findings. I guess I will need to wait until I'm dead to find out.
October 16, 2025
This book could be described as a heady amalgamation of the mythological sections of Plato's Republic, Hitch-hiker's Guide to Galaxy and Erowid trip reports, except with out-of-body experiences achieved without the use of drugs. It consists of a short description of his use of a patented invention Hemi-Sync which segues into reports of his own strange experiences with beings out of the so-called "time-space illusion". Hemi-Sync itself is pretty wild, as there is seemingly some kind of evidence that it can act as a partial replacement of fentanyl in surgeries, fulfilling a proof that infamous websites like I-doser have been known to offer: simulation of a chemical agent through means of sound waves alone. But as it turns out, this is only the start when it comes to the weird world of Robert Monroe.
The first issue with the book is that Robert Monroe has taken on a heavy task of having to translate communications with beings that are supposedly from beyond the time-space illusion. There is a clear epistemological problem here, since all of Monroe's communications with these beings are then necessarily to be interpreted as translation of something inaccessible to the reader, since in absence of time, verbal communication would be impossible. Additionally, the actual content of these experiences would be inaccessible to Monroe himself, since he describes circles and other spatial objects of such sort that he encountered on his travels. So there are at least two sets of translation going on here before the reader has even entered the picture. Assuming the communications are transmitted from beyond time-space illusion, the difference is so great, too, that you might as well interpret these stories as works of fiction in any possible case, even if you believe he has truly contacted some being beyond time-space.
But since I'm able to find meaning in the fantastic visions of the latter half of the Republic, why not here? Obviously I think this book is worse than the Republic. Monroe has no sense of subtlety and in a sense, attempts to reduce a potentially awesome revelation of reality to a lame mixture of science fiction and trip report. Which brings me to problem #2: if you believe that you can encounter beings from other worlds during altered states, reading this book will take that belief away from you. This is simply because in the back of your mind, if you experience something similar to what Monroe experienced, you will always have the suspicion "Ah, but that's only because I was influenced by these crazy books by Monroe". So, even if what Monroe says were real in some context larger than cultural reference/subject-limited experiences, you would not be able tell since because you read it in an experientially uncertain context that could influence your experience. It's the same thing which ruins all the talk among the psychedelics community about the "bizarre similarities" between various experiences, at least during online era: maybe for some it comes as a genuine revelation that someone had the same experience totally disconnected from him, but by and large we're now all connected, everybody's read similar scripts of what is supposed to happen and so the miracle of discovery, aside from the pure force of experience which just means you have to submit to your expectations, is gone. This is a generic problem with relaying of experiential information. If you want to find out what something is really like, don't read the trip report...if you want to find out what happens in OOBE, do it spontaneously on your own without any prior reading. So, in a sense, this book defeats its purpose, a fatal flaw you might say: to get the information the author claims to have, having not read the book and being ignorant of the ideas it contains would be a better option than having read it!
Interpreting this as a piece of mythology, however, is undeniably interesting. Not to go too deep into drawing random connections, but seeing as I recently connected Plato's Myth of Er with the Krebs cycle in my mind, along with some biblical myths, the incorporation of Krebs Cycle in the Loosh myth here was definitely intriguing. In his vision of loosh, the world exists because someone wanted to harvest the energetic by-product of the Krebs Cycle called Loosh, and he gets it best from the loneliness of humans, combat situations, mothers defending younglings and sacrifices. This is the reason why there was a reversal of the carbon cycle: someone was experimenting to get the best loosh possible. The circles spinning in opposite directions in the Myth of Er-section seems analogical to this process: there is the autotrophic ring corresponding to stars( related to which:starst...) but then there are the inner rings which spin in the other direction, indicating heterotrophy. Also, iirc in the loosh model autotrophs were also creatures created to produce loosh: so in the myth the "original" carbon cycle was the reversed one. In any case, some further guidelines for study here. It also matches with the darker side of Plato's Republic ie. when the text ramps up intensity towards the end with the multiplicity of meaning Plato embeds into the text. Monroe's book does not reach even close to those sublime levels, even if on the surface it goes into all sorts of crazy places. But it is still a highly intriguing inquiry, continuing in a metaphilosophical line of inquiry concerning things like: What actually is the form of the good? What is the relation of the forms to the practice of statue making and therefore to statues and therefore to totems? How does categorical imperative relate to this? There clearly seems to be a some sort of meaning to this. It's an interesting myth, nonetheless: if you can read Plato or Lovecraft, you can read this without a care.
It's a shame, then, that Monroe didn't use the format of philosophy to deal with his experiences or make sense of them: as it stands, his mind filters it all through a lens that seems a bit overly banal, despite hitting on some key things that can be understood from elsewhere. In addition to these connections, however, the book is interesting as a study of authorship and mythmaking in the modern era. I personally rate myths higher than novels, quite aside from my own laziness or preferences, for the simple reason that they came first: novels are just commentaries on an already established mythology, which is where the most potent text production happens. Just look at Don Quixote: completely parasitic on a colossal amount of mythology. You can't have culture without what you call bullshit...Monroe's books can be read with this in mind and be enjoyed just as you would enjoy earlier mythologists: and in fact, it seems pretty irrefutable that already this book has influenced narrative fiction that is explicitly framed as fiction since many themes from Twin Peaks come straight from this book to the point where I can't believe it's a coincidence: to take the most glaring example, the aliens in the movie and the show consume garmonbozia(pain and suffering) much like the world-maker here consumes loosh. In any case, given my doubts about the validity of strict compartmentalization of fiction and non-fiction, doubts which are historically supported, I can recommend this as a strange experience on that very borderland where it is officially non-fiction but much of it requires you take it as fiction.
The first issue with the book is that Robert Monroe has taken on a heavy task of having to translate communications with beings that are supposedly from beyond the time-space illusion. There is a clear epistemological problem here, since all of Monroe's communications with these beings are then necessarily to be interpreted as translation of something inaccessible to the reader, since in absence of time, verbal communication would be impossible. Additionally, the actual content of these experiences would be inaccessible to Monroe himself, since he describes circles and other spatial objects of such sort that he encountered on his travels. So there are at least two sets of translation going on here before the reader has even entered the picture. Assuming the communications are transmitted from beyond time-space illusion, the difference is so great, too, that you might as well interpret these stories as works of fiction in any possible case, even if you believe he has truly contacted some being beyond time-space.
But since I'm able to find meaning in the fantastic visions of the latter half of the Republic, why not here? Obviously I think this book is worse than the Republic. Monroe has no sense of subtlety and in a sense, attempts to reduce a potentially awesome revelation of reality to a lame mixture of science fiction and trip report. Which brings me to problem #2: if you believe that you can encounter beings from other worlds during altered states, reading this book will take that belief away from you. This is simply because in the back of your mind, if you experience something similar to what Monroe experienced, you will always have the suspicion "Ah, but that's only because I was influenced by these crazy books by Monroe". So, even if what Monroe says were real in some context larger than cultural reference/subject-limited experiences, you would not be able tell since because you read it in an experientially uncertain context that could influence your experience. It's the same thing which ruins all the talk among the psychedelics community about the "bizarre similarities" between various experiences, at least during online era: maybe for some it comes as a genuine revelation that someone had the same experience totally disconnected from him, but by and large we're now all connected, everybody's read similar scripts of what is supposed to happen and so the miracle of discovery, aside from the pure force of experience which just means you have to submit to your expectations, is gone. This is a generic problem with relaying of experiential information. If you want to find out what something is really like, don't read the trip report...if you want to find out what happens in OOBE, do it spontaneously on your own without any prior reading. So, in a sense, this book defeats its purpose, a fatal flaw you might say: to get the information the author claims to have, having not read the book and being ignorant of the ideas it contains would be a better option than having read it!
Interpreting this as a piece of mythology, however, is undeniably interesting. Not to go too deep into drawing random connections, but seeing as I recently connected Plato's Myth of Er with the Krebs cycle in my mind, along with some biblical myths, the incorporation of Krebs Cycle in the Loosh myth here was definitely intriguing. In his vision of loosh, the world exists because someone wanted to harvest the energetic by-product of the Krebs Cycle called Loosh, and he gets it best from the loneliness of humans, combat situations, mothers defending younglings and sacrifices. This is the reason why there was a reversal of the carbon cycle: someone was experimenting to get the best loosh possible. The circles spinning in opposite directions in the Myth of Er-section seems analogical to this process: there is the autotrophic ring corresponding to stars( related to which:starst...) but then there are the inner rings which spin in the other direction, indicating heterotrophy. Also, iirc in the loosh model autotrophs were also creatures created to produce loosh: so in the myth the "original" carbon cycle was the reversed one. In any case, some further guidelines for study here. It also matches with the darker side of Plato's Republic ie. when the text ramps up intensity towards the end with the multiplicity of meaning Plato embeds into the text. Monroe's book does not reach even close to those sublime levels, even if on the surface it goes into all sorts of crazy places. But it is still a highly intriguing inquiry, continuing in a metaphilosophical line of inquiry concerning things like: What actually is the form of the good? What is the relation of the forms to the practice of statue making and therefore to statues and therefore to totems? How does categorical imperative relate to this? There clearly seems to be a some sort of meaning to this. It's an interesting myth, nonetheless: if you can read Plato or Lovecraft, you can read this without a care.
It's a shame, then, that Monroe didn't use the format of philosophy to deal with his experiences or make sense of them: as it stands, his mind filters it all through a lens that seems a bit overly banal, despite hitting on some key things that can be understood from elsewhere. In addition to these connections, however, the book is interesting as a study of authorship and mythmaking in the modern era. I personally rate myths higher than novels, quite aside from my own laziness or preferences, for the simple reason that they came first: novels are just commentaries on an already established mythology, which is where the most potent text production happens. Just look at Don Quixote: completely parasitic on a colossal amount of mythology. You can't have culture without what you call bullshit...Monroe's books can be read with this in mind and be enjoyed just as you would enjoy earlier mythologists: and in fact, it seems pretty irrefutable that already this book has influenced narrative fiction that is explicitly framed as fiction since many themes from Twin Peaks come straight from this book to the point where I can't believe it's a coincidence: to take the most glaring example, the aliens in the movie and the show consume garmonbozia(pain and suffering) much like the world-maker here consumes loosh. In any case, given my doubts about the validity of strict compartmentalization of fiction and non-fiction, doubts which are historically supported, I can recommend this as a strange experience on that very borderland where it is officially non-fiction but much of it requires you take it as fiction.
November 2, 2017
Hemi-sync! We need to learn how to use our right brains.
Process can be done with sound frequencies.
OOBE testimony too.
Too tired to write more right now.
3 to 3.5 stars.
Process can be done with sound frequencies.
OOBE testimony too.
Too tired to write more right now.
3 to 3.5 stars.
October 31, 2020
Extremely disappointing. I was initially drawn to Monroe because of his apparent earnestness and dedication to trying to understand his OBEs. At first, this book seemed like a good follow up to Journeys Out of the Body, with explanations of his later OBE/consciousness studies and experiments... Then out of nowhere it became a first person narrative/science fiction novel with way too many inconsistencies to be taken seriously. Monroe was flying around with beings who could read his thoughts and explain the mysteries of the universe but needed to pause like a foreigner learning English nearly every other sentence to say things like, "how do you say? "Ah yes, (insert random 80s idiom)." The aliens also loved using English acronyms, which was especially odd since they were all supposedly communicating without language. Monroe skipped past most of the insight and explanations OBE seekers actually care about to instead deliver an elaborate series of hokey dialogues and new age wet dream alien adventures. I could have forgiven some of this if it had been presented as merely an illustration of actual experiences he had, but there was no such disclaimer.
He also included a massive amount of personal reflection, which was irritatingly like reading a too-long word salad full of technical terms and historical and philosophical points he seemed to think added credence to the world view given to him by his alien friends. He provided his own overview of the entire history of existence more than once in the text with this world view overlayed, and both times seemed disappointingly full of contemporary ideas and infirmation that were by no means revelatory. A lot of people seem to gobble this stuff up, but it struck me as disengenous and not at all what I expected from Monroe. The fact that he started the book off talking about how he had run into more issues with getting out of his own body and was struggling to reconcile information provided by other OBE participants at his institute made it seem even more suspicious that he managed to suddenly completely solve all such mysteries by himself... not using the scientific method, research, or analysis of his signature detailed records of OBEs but through Hollywood style adventures with his spirit guides.
He also included a massive amount of personal reflection, which was irritatingly like reading a too-long word salad full of technical terms and historical and philosophical points he seemed to think added credence to the world view given to him by his alien friends. He provided his own overview of the entire history of existence more than once in the text with this world view overlayed, and both times seemed disappointingly full of contemporary ideas and infirmation that were by no means revelatory. A lot of people seem to gobble this stuff up, but it struck me as disengenous and not at all what I expected from Monroe. The fact that he started the book off talking about how he had run into more issues with getting out of his own body and was struggling to reconcile information provided by other OBE participants at his institute made it seem even more suspicious that he managed to suddenly completely solve all such mysteries by himself... not using the scientific method, research, or analysis of his signature detailed records of OBEs but through Hollywood style adventures with his spirit guides.
July 22, 2024
Monroe introduces some principles for OOBE as they are used with Hemi-Sync, at the Monroe Institute (you can look it up, as a lot of that work is available now online).
Then you get a bit of an OOB education:
- the rings of consciousness around Earth (repeater beings) that reflect different degrees of awareness, from addiction to aspects of human life, to schools or just resting zones, to the ring of the last-timers (close to graduation)
- he describes the velocity needed to leave the Samsara, in as technical terms as possible
- there are bits and pieces about the purpose of mankind and about becoming +humans (as one of the many possibilities)
There’s also his cleverly crafted origins story, as an OOB traveler.
It made me think of some parallels with QHHT and how the HS awareness is reached (and what it may entail past the obvious).
It is a helpful read if you are into altered states of mind, soul expansion and mildly tasting the fruits of other people’s courage and curiously (or imagination; which to me is, quite frankly, the same thing).
Then you get a bit of an OOB education:
- the rings of consciousness around Earth (repeater beings) that reflect different degrees of awareness, from addiction to aspects of human life, to schools or just resting zones, to the ring of the last-timers (close to graduation)
- he describes the velocity needed to leave the Samsara, in as technical terms as possible
- there are bits and pieces about the purpose of mankind and about becoming +humans (as one of the many possibilities)
There’s also his cleverly crafted origins story, as an OOB traveler.
It made me think of some parallels with QHHT and how the HS awareness is reached (and what it may entail past the obvious).
It is a helpful read if you are into altered states of mind, soul expansion and mildly tasting the fruits of other people’s courage and curiously (or imagination; which to me is, quite frankly, the same thing).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2022
I mean, what can you say about Far Journeys? If you're a believer, then it's a critical document that explains important metaphysical truths. If you're not a believer (and you probably shouldn't be), then it's a 4th rate science fiction novel passing itself off as auto-biography.
Monroe's first book was mostly about his life as someone who has out of body experiences, and about "conventional" out of body experiences, although it did explore his more unusual OOBEs, including his claims of experiencing other dimensions and planes of reality. Far Journeys, on the other hand, is almost 100% about traveling through other realities. To describe it as "hard to swallow" would be an understatement.
Monroe's first book was mostly about his life as someone who has out of body experiences, and about "conventional" out of body experiences, although it did explore his more unusual OOBEs, including his claims of experiencing other dimensions and planes of reality. Far Journeys, on the other hand, is almost 100% about traveling through other realities. To describe it as "hard to swallow" would be an understatement.
October 6, 2020
Premium, Excellent & mind bending journey into the experiences of a team of OOBE researchers and their findings in the astral realms about the nature of reality outside of the reality of physical existence. It is a stretch for the belief system of modern peoples but Robert A Monroe is a solid no nonsense business man who was also the greatest skeptic until his world was taken in a new direction...worthy of the attention of even the most skeptical. The appendix even includes a psyche evaluation of the man by professionals in a submitted research paper to confirm that he is of sound mind and of reasonable nature...
June 1, 2021
For a much more riveting and entertaining entry in the "nonfiction science fiction" genre, check out the old X-Files episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space." Monroe's "Far Journeys" is a much less imaginative snoozefest. It starts out just fine, promising insights on out-of-body experiences, but then progresses into a nonsensical fantasy that embodies Monroe's views on life, the universe and everything--and what he serves up is deadly dull balderdash. What caused me to demote his work from a limp two stars to one is the horrid life advice he doles out at the end. It struck me as a brazen attempt to lure followers to his new religion. No thanks, keep the loosh. I'll take the cannoli.
June 10, 2016
Interesting
I wonder how much of this is opinion or point of view interpretation. Do all sleepers go through this process? Also, the structure and titles and jobs, all seem governed. What's the government? I don't doubt the OOB experience and I believe most of this is true, but some parts, like the sexual energy interpretation, seems to be the author's personal projection. Which, as Charlie as an example, is very probable.
I wonder how much of this is opinion or point of view interpretation. Do all sleepers go through this process? Also, the structure and titles and jobs, all seem governed. What's the government? I don't doubt the OOB experience and I believe most of this is true, but some parts, like the sexual energy interpretation, seems to be the author's personal projection. Which, as Charlie as an example, is very probable.
May 14, 2016
How can you possibly rate this? If what he says is true then this is absolute treasure, but more likely this is utter lunacy. Yet, i will keep attempting my OBE's and come to my own conclusions. Glad to have read this.
April 8, 2024
This started off great!
thought it was going to be different from his first book.
But about the third of the way through it, it because records of his travels to the astral plane.
Still interesting at times. But expect the same as his first book.
Enjoy.
thought it was going to be different from his first book.
But about the third of the way through it, it because records of his travels to the astral plane.
Still interesting at times. But expect the same as his first book.
Enjoy.
June 9, 2019
Such a good book.
Can't believe I didn't move on to this second book in this series after finishing the first one 7 years ago until now.
This book is all stories and no techniques, which I like. I also like Monroe's scientific mind.
Can't believe I didn't move on to this second book in this series after finishing the first one 7 years ago until now.
This book is all stories and no techniques, which I like. I also like Monroe's scientific mind.
January 20, 2022
My favorite out of the three.
Robert Monroe's Hemispheric Synchronization technology is really interesting way to expand our consciousness.
I think it's a good thing that it's available to all to experiment with.
Should begin with book 1
Robert Monroe's Hemispheric Synchronization technology is really interesting way to expand our consciousness.
I think it's a good thing that it's available to all to experiment with.
Should begin with book 1
May 12, 2022
Anecdotal evidence for OBEs is delivered chaotically without a care for the reader. I love Monroe's work, but this book feels rushed and incomplete with few ties to some of his overarching arguments.
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