Nancy4 wrote on Jan 11th, 2007 at 3:22pm:Forgive my lack of familiarity with tags, etc. I'm returning here after a long period of inability to sit up at pc very long (ongoing, unfortunately). So I'm kind-of a newbie, but not to the subject of OBEs. I first read Robert Monroe's 'Journeys Out of the Body' in the 70's, and reading his books are on my short list of life/mind transforming experiences. I, too, came across Michael Newton's books in a Barnes + Noble, sat down and kind-of speed-read through the 2nd book, then bought it.
Perhaps it's because I didn't read the first book (and read the 2nd a while ago), but there are things about Newton's book that seem colored too heavily by his professional training and experience, which makes me wonder about possible distortions. Monroe's books, while they describe his own personal experiences and reactions, struck me as being more authentic, pure?, from the start... perhaps in part because he wasn't a therapist. His books also seem to be as free of cultural preconceptions as possible, but I'm not as sure of Newton's objectivity. Not everyone is able to recognize and completely sidestep the ego and their conditioning early in this life.
It could be that I'm simply on the same wavelength as Monroe, who I consider
an unrecognized Hero, for having opened a doorway and helped to facilitate the transition/transformation humanity is now experiencing. (Bruce Moen, of course, has expanded the understanding and knowledge beyond that all-important doorway and is a hero as well ...along with those opening other doors-- like Dr. Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) and Dr. Timothy Leary, Dr. Raymond Moody...)
Has anyone else read both Monroe's and Newton's work?
Hi there Nancy,
Having read both of Newton's books and while i like them a lot, i agree, there is definitely a certain amount of "skewing" which has taken place with some more specific info. Yet, when enough clients of his say pretty much the same thing, and he reports the synthesis or underlying similarities, then its about as pure as you can get when dealing with material consciousnesses transmitting info from nonphysical to physical.
There are definitely some things i disagree with in those books, but overall i see (and feel) them as quite positive.
But having read Monroe's first book, i do not see it even remotely close to being free of belief distortion though lacking in some respects strong dogma.
At that point, Monroe was kind of a materialist, and that's a belief system in and of itself, isn't it? Also, there is quite a bit of fear in Monroe's first book, which shows that at the time, he wasn't all that intune (course the fear understandable). There was a certain amount of close mindedness in Monroe at that point. For example, he became aware of Edgar Cayce and his info, yet he lightly dismissed this source in the beginning. Very ironic because much later on, some of Cayce's sources i sense, are some of the same ones which came through Monroe's explorers! And there is quite a lot of basic similarity though of course Cayce's does on a superficial level have a biblical flavor (you have to work with what you predominantly got at the time.). Yet Cayce's info contains bits and pieces from pretty much every major belief system and philosophy out there--its quite universal in nature and goes into fairly new or unknown concepts at the time (like the info on endocrine glands relating to Chakras, etc).
With all that said, i highly, highly respect Monroe and his accomplishments, and i see an immense progression from his 1st to his 2nd book, and espeically so from his 2nd to 3rd.
Its sad, but its a fairly common pattern in the Earth that those who really endeavor to expand human consciousness are often "unsung Heros" by the majority, and quite often even looked down upon. That's just our polarity based world, those with great inner Light, often attract and have an intense negative reaction to them by those who choose to remain within their self created darkness.
Just look at Yeshua's life and pattern which is about as extreme an example as one can see. It's pretty much a give in that someone with unusually intense and pure inner light is going to be, not generally respected, loved, or what not, but often quite the opposite.
Hope things continue to improve for you.