Highlighted name: Robert “Bob” Monroe. A mention does not establish authorship. Back to profile →
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EXPLORING THE FINAL FRONTIER
A Presentation
By Robert Monroe
The Association for the Study of Dreams
a International Dream Conference III
June 23-29, 1986
ABSTRACT
Robert Monroe is unique in his approach to the role he plays
in the contemporary cultural scene. A glimpse into his background helps
in the perception. He understands well the patterns of academe from
his familial childhood as the son of a university professor, His
mother, a medical doctor, provided his easy association with those in
related careers. Upon graduation from college, he entered radio broad-
casting where he achieved national recognition at twenty-three for his
writing, production and direction of network radio programs, By the
mid-fifties, he had his own production company in the industry, was
vice president of a radio network, and a significant composer of under-
score music.
At this point, having passed the million word mark in
writing, he stopped until, as he put it, "there was something important
enough to justify the effort." He then moved into radio station and
cable television ownership, and began his research and investigation into
human consciousness which led him into his present field of endeavor,
Among his literary achievements are two books, the first, JOURNEYS OUT OF
THE BODY, still in publication after fifteen years and published world-
wide in six languages, and FAR JOURNEYS, first printed in late 1985, both
issued by DOUBLEDAY.
First and most importantly, Mr. Monroe makes no claims as a
scientist or medical practitioner in the accepted meaning of such labels.
Also, he is not a religionist. He consistently repudiates any attempts
to place him or his work in any related category.
Mr. Monroe does see himself as a synthesizer of ideas, concepts,
processes, and interpretations uninhibited by the limitations of convention-
al disciplines, yet drawing from these such inter-active parts as to create
a different result or prospect. He thus believes that the wheel may be
reinvented many times out of ignorance, but in such flow, something of
original value may emerge. He enjoys being identified as a toolmaker, and
teacher if necessary in the application of such tools to enhance human
consciousness.
In his talk, Mr. Monroe describes the very specific reasons why
his interest shifted gradually away from his successful broadcasting and
television activities into areas completely foreign to his knowledge and
experience, He relates his early adventures from a close personal view-
point, and likes to ask the questions of the pragmatic left-brainer: what
action would you take if faced with an identical problem, one that had
no answers within the scientific and cultural context which you valued
so deeply? Whatever the sugestion, usually he can respond: I did that.
With only a few options remaining, he picked the most likely
and workable from his perspective. Thus he tells of the early activities
of a research and development program quietly and covertly instigated by
his own broadcasting company to study seeming unexplored aspects of
consciousness. At that time, over twenty-five years ago, he soon dis-
covered that very little acceptable data was available. If you were awake,
you were conscious. If you were asleep or unaware for any other reason,
you were UN-conscious. It was light and dark, black and white, no
gray area. Anything less or different was labeled as drunkeness, dreaming,
hallucination, or barring these, some form of psychosis which demanded
immediate treatment and/or hospitalization. Thus all aberrations should
be left in the hands of authoritative professionals to be squeezed into a
rigid mold. If it did not fit, make it. However, this was not the
prime reason for Mr. Monroe's surreptitious attitude. He was then President
of two broadcasting corporations that did include additional stockholders,
whom he felt sure would take a dim view of such unproductive and near-
irrational effort. Therefore, only the company in which he was sole
stockholder funded such research; his business associates remained ig-
norant of his avocation and retained their image of him as a solid reliable
albeit creative chief executive.
During his talk, Mr. Monroe goes into the early days of his
research, how he quite naturally was the initial prime subject in the
laboratory behind his country home in Westchester County, New York; the
early discovery of the effects of various sound patterns upon human con-
sciousness which later became defined as a Frequency Following Response
(FFR) and one of his basic tools. With his wide experience in sound, it
was understandable that he should follow this route. The prime area of
exploration was focused upon the borderland state between wakefulness
and sleep - consciousness - unconsciousness. Any use of medication seemed
contraindicated as too difficult to control in quick changes from one state
to the other. FFR sound came into being as a result of the need to balance
on the thin line between the two. Later, in 1975, Mr. Monroe would be
granted a patent on the process. He found the FFR sound patterns produced
a consistent and similar response among subjects other than himself, and
that consciousness could be extended far beyond the usual boundaries that
commonly identify the sleep state. This was achieved through the careful
application of sleep-producing sounds, simulating the theta delta ranges by
the use of amplitude rather than direct frequency. If normal bio-monitoring
indicated a typical sleep pattern and the subject did not respond easily to
soft vocal interrogation, it became a simple matter to restore consciousnes
by the application of FFR sounds in appropriate waking Beta ranges, still
holding the borderland sleep state.
Much was learned during this period as to the alteration of