Question everything

The Great Robert Monroe

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[Snip] Monroe's exploration, and consequent explanation, of
consciousness is grounded on a firm philosophic base. Professor Joseph
Felser sums up Monroe's philosophy as deriving from two key principles.
"expressed in imperative form, they are: 'Explore everywhere!' and
'Question' everything." These, he explains, may be understood as the
principle of "radical empiricism" and "radical iconoclasm,"
respectively. Taking "radical" in its literal meaning of "deeply
rooted," Felser affirms that "Bob's philosophical roots are so deeply
and closely intertwined as to be practically and theoretically
inseparable. Like the Taoist root principles of Yin and Yang, each leads
to, and compliments, the other."

A working definition of an empiricist is, Felser says, "someone who
believes that knowledge is based primarily on experience." He continues:
"The more experience we have, the faster our knowledge grows. So it's
quite logical and natural that an empiricist is an explorer of new
worlds of facts, a patient, but persistent, gathers of raw data." As for
Iconoclasm, we have Monroe's own words from Ultimate Journey: What we
need to do, whether in or out-of-body, is to ignore or tear down the No
Trespassing signs, the taboos, the notice that says Holy of Holies, the
distortions of time and translation, the soft black holes of euphoria,
the mysterious, the myths, the fantasies of an eternal father or mother
image, and then take a good look with our acquired and growing left
brain. Nothing is sacred to the point where it should not be
investigated or put under inquiry.

Personal experience uninhibited by belief systems is at the core of his
thinking.
The preoccupation of so much of humankind with belief systems was a
major concern of Robert Monroe, especially those systems applying to
science and religion. He became convinced that belief systems were
incompatible with genuine freedom, inhibited personal experience, and
hence also impeded the expansion of consciousness.((BELIEFS DO NOT
REVEAL REALITY, THEY DISTORT REALITY))

Through his personal experiences Monroe came to understand that, as he
expresses it, "the physical universe, including the whole of humankind,
is an ongoing creative process. There is, indeed," he continues "a
Creator." Monroe regards the existence of a Creator as "Known," not a
belief. He takes this "Known" a stage further, adding that the Creator
"is beyond our comprehension as long as we remain human." The Creator
does not require worship,(uh, oh) or recognition, does not punish or
intercede in human lives, has a purpose that we do not comprehend,
establishes simple universal laws, and "is the designer of the ongoing
process of which we are a part." In the light of current controversies,
there are some who would leap upon that last statement in order to
recruit Monroe to the host of contemporary believers in Intelligent
Design. At this he would raise an eyebrow, murmur that his statement,
however others might understand or interpret them, came not through any
belief but through his own personal experience. So, if you want to know,
go find out for yourself. It was to help others to find out for
themselves that he created the program know as Lifeline.

FROM THE JOURNEY OF ROBERT MONROE


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