Ultimate Journey

«A hardcover edition of this book was originally published in 1994 by Doubleday» — la datación editorial

«I assumed it was some form of severe hallucination caused by something dangerous—a brain tumor, a stroke, or impending mental illness» — cómo interpretó al principio el fenómeno: patología, no revelación

«I would float up a few feet above my body before I became aware of what was happ» — la descripción del episodio; el corte de página trunca la frase

«The I-There of me—the IT that each of us has, containing all previous and present lifetimes» — la definición del I-There, el concepto que organiza este volumen

«personal CHEC unit (Controlled Holistic Environmental Chamber) where the actual learning process takes place. By 1993 over seven thousand people had experienced the evolving program, known as the Gateway Voyage» — el dispositivo y el nombre del programa, con su cifra de participantes

«Programs and workshops are also organized at locations throughout the United States and in other countries around the world» — el alcance que declara

«I perceive you need to return to the physical now.» — cierre de un diálogo con un INSPEC, en su propia transcripción

«I returned to the physical to empty a full bladder. The signal—my signal—was all too familiar! How small it is to be human—but how much fun» — cómo remata ese episodio, sin solemnidad

«Fear is the great barrier to human growth. It is said that when we are born into this physical universe we bring with us only two fears, of loud noise and of falling, both engendered by the birth process.» — la tesis con que Monroe abre el libro: el miedo es la barrera del crecimiento humano, y solo dos miedos son de nacimiento —al ruido fuerte y a la caída—, ambos producidos por el propio parto.

«As we grow older we learn more and more fears so that by the time we reach maturity we—or most of us—are loaded with them. We have grown physically, but our real growth, the realization of our true potential, has been sadly impeded.» — y su consecuencia, en su voz: los demás miedos se aprenden, de modo que el crecimiento físico llega pero el del potencial real queda impedido.

«Unknowns create fears. We may fear the darkness because we don’t know what’s there. A physical pain may create fear because we don’t know what it may imply. When these Unknowns become Knowns the fears diminish and disappear and we are able to cope with whatever confronts us.» — la mecánica que propone y que da nombre al vocabulario del volumen: el miedo lo crea lo desconocido, y convertir *Unknowns* en *Knowns* lo disuelve.

«It is generally believed that as we go through life we don’t really change. We just become more of the same. Barring the usual exceptions that, as we say, prove the rule, when we look around us as the years go by, this seems quite valid. On the whole, people don’t change, and most of us strongly resist change.» — Monroe recoge la creencia general —que la gente no cambia, solo se vuelve más de lo mismo— y la da por verosímil a simple vista antes de discutirla.

«Nevertheless, all our worries and wars are based upon change. We fear that something will happen, or we fear that it won’t; so we fight to prevent change or to speed up the process. But whatever we do, change is 100 percent guaranteed. The only question is its rate. Slow change we interpret as evolution, fast as revolution. Changes are the epitome of Unknowns—the greatest of fear generators.» — y la corrige: el cambio está garantizado al cien por ciento y lo único en discusión es su ritmo —evolución si es lento, revolución si es rápido—, de modo que el cambio es el mayor generador de miedo.

«In my own case, there seemed to be no choice. I fell, unknowing and panic-stricken, into the process that engendered the new recognition of reality—what I call the Different Overview—that I now carry with me. The change in my life was not simply more of the same. It was something that hadn’t worried me beforehand because I had no idea that such things existed. Was this change in my life accidental or evolutionary? To me, it was revolutionary.» — cómo sitúa su propio caso: cayó en el proceso sin saberlo y presa del pánico, y de ahí salió lo que llama el *Different Overview*; califica el cambio de revolucionario, no de evolutivo.

«In 1958, without any apparent cause, I began to float out of my physical body. It was not voluntary; I wasn’t attempting any mental feats. It was not during sleep, so I couldn’t dismiss it as simply a dream. I had full, conscious awareness of what was happening, which of course only made it worse.» — el arranque del fenómeno, fechado en 1958 y descrito con sus descartes: no era voluntario, no ocurría durmiendo y la conciencia plena de lo que pasaba lo empeoraba.

«The phenomenon continued. I had no control over it. It occurred usually when I would lie down or relax for rest or preparatory to sleep—not every time, but several times weekly.» — la frecuencia que declara, sin control de su parte: varias veces por semana, al acostarse o al relajarse.

«Terrified, I would struggle through the air and back into my physical body. I was sure I was dying. Try as I might, I could not prevent it from recurring.» — y la reacción, en su testimonio: terror, forcejeo por volver al cuerpo y la certeza de estar muriendo.

«At the time, I thought I was in reasonably good health with no major problems or stress. I was fully occupied; I owned several radio stations and other businesses, had offices on Madison Avenue in New York, a home in Westchester County, and, not the least, a wife and two small children. I was taking no medication, used no drugs, and drank very little alcohol. I was not particularly involved in any religion, nor was I a student of philosophies or Eastern disciplines. I was completely unprepared for such a radical change.» — Monroe descarta uno por uno los factores que podrían explicarlo: salud razonable, sin medicación, drogas ni apenas alcohol, sin religión ni estudio de filosofías o disciplinas orientales.

«It is impossible to describe the fear and the loneliness that took over during these episodes. There was no one I could talk with about it, not even my wife in the early days because I didn’t want to alarm her. Strongly attached to Western culture and science in general, I automatically turned to conventional medicine and orthodox science for answers. After extensive examinations and tests, my doctor reassured me that there was no brain tumor or physiological factor involved. But more he could not tell.» — a quién acudió primero y qué obtuvo: medicina convencional y ciencia ortodoxa descartaron tumor cerebral y factor fisiológico, y de ahí no pasaron. La abstención del médico se ficha como parte del testimonio.

«Eventually I found the courage to talk to a psychiatrist and a psychologist, both of whom I knew as friends. One assured me I was not psychotic—he knew me too well. The other suggested indeterminate years of study under a guru in India—a concept wholly alien to me. I revealed to neither of them, nor to anyone else, how extremely frightened I was. I was a misfit in a culture of which I thought I was a part, a culture that I admired and respected.» — la segunda consulta, con psiquiatra y psicólogo: uno lo declara no psicótico, el otro le propone años de estudio con un gurú en India, y él calla ante ambos lo asustado que estaba.

«Yet the drive for survival is very strong. Slowly, very slowly, I learned to control the process. I found that it was not necessarily a prelude to dying, that it could be directed. But it took a full year before I came to accept the reality of the out-of-body experience— now familiarly known as OBE. This came about as the result of some forty carefully validated OBE “trips,” giving me—and no one else—extensive documentation. With this knowledge the fear soon receded, to be replaced by something almost as demanding— curiosity!» — cómo dice haber salido del miedo: un año y unas cuarenta salidas validadas con cuidado, documentación que reconoce válida para él y para nadie más; el miedo cede y lo reemplaza la curiosidad.

«Still, something had to be done. I needed answers, and I was sure I would not find them in an Indian ashram. My thought processes were the product of Western civilization, for good or ill. Therefore, to provide systematic help to me and also to gather information related to this strange “Unknown,” I set up a research and development division in the corporation privately owned by me and my family. This division later was detached and became eventually what is now The Monroe Institute.» — el origen que declara del instituto: una división de investigación y desarrollo dentro de la empresa familiar, montada para resolver su propio caso, que después se desprendió.

«Thus the original purpose was solely to solve my own personal and urgent problems: to convert my fear-producing Unknowns into Knowns if at all possible. That meant learning how to control and understand the out-of-body experience. To begin with, I was the only one I knew who needed such help, so the motive was personal and selfish, not profound, idealistic, or noble. I offer no apology for this; I was the one who paid the bills.» — y el motivo, que se niega a ennoblecer: personal y egoísta, convertir sus *Unknowns* generadores de miedo en *Knowns*, sin disculpa porque él pagaba las cuentas.

«In a contemporary view, the OBE is a state of consciousness where you perceive yourself as distinct and separate from your physical body. This separateness can be two inches or two thousand miles, or more. You can think, act, and perceive in this state much as you do physically, although with some important exceptions.» — la definición de OBE que adopta: un estado de conciencia en que uno se percibe distinto y separado del cuerpo físico, con la salvedad de unas excepciones importantes.

«In the early stages of OBE activity, you seem to retain the form of your physical body—head, shoulders, arms, legs, and so on. As you become more familiar with this other state of being, you may become less humanoid in shape. It is similar to gelatin when taken out of the mold. For a short period it retains the form of the mold; then it begins to melt around the edges and finally it becomes a liquid or a blob. When this happens in an OBE, it takes only a thought for you to become totally human again in shape and form.» — la fenomenología de la forma, con su símil de la gelatina desmoldada: al principio se conserva la figura humana, luego se pierde y basta un pensamiento para recobrarla.

«From this description it is clear that this “second body” is extremely plastic. However, it is very important to know that, whatever the shape, you remain you. That does not change—except that you discover you are more than you realized.» — aquí aparece el término del primer volumen: llama *second body* a lo que describe, lo declara extremadamente plástico y sostiene que la identidad no cambia con la forma.

«As to where you go and what you do, there seems to be no limitation. If there is, we have not found it. In an out-of-body state, you are no longer bounded by time-space. You can be in it but not part of it. You—your nonphysical self—are comfortable in another energy system. You have a great sense of freedom. Yet you are not totally free. You are like a balloon or a kite on a tether. At the other end of the cord—the invisible cord—is your physical body.» — el límite de la libertad que describe: fuera del tiempo-espacio y sin limitación hallada, pero atado como un globo o una cometa por un cordón invisible al cuerpo físico.

«Early in our investigation, we realized that we live in a culture and civilization where waking physical consciousness is the most vital of all qualities. It is not easy to make a case for any state of being that is different. A little inquiry soon produces any number of anomalies which cannot be fitted or answered within the confines of current Knowns or belief systems—bearing in mind that “belief” is a currently popular label for anything that cannot be fully understood or identified.» — la observación cultural con que explica la dificultad: en esta civilización la conciencia física de vigilia es la cualidad decisiva, y *belief* funciona como etiqueta de moda para lo que no se entiende ni se identifica.

«We began to work on questions about consciousness in general. What happens to it when we become unconscious through a hit on the head, shock, fainting, alcohol or drug overdose, anesthesia, sleep, or death? Is consciousness akin to a magnetic field produced by an electromagnet that ceases to exist once the electricity is cut off? If so, does it get weaker or stronger if we vary the “electrical” current? If we do this, we are doing it without any awareness of the “how” of it. How can we control such action, if at all?» — las preguntas con que dice haber empezado —qué le pasa a la conciencia en el golpe, el desmayo, la anestesia, el sueño o la muerte— y la analogía del campo magnético; quedan como preguntas, no como respuestas.

«We moved away from seeking materialistic explanations to look at the other end of the spectrum. What if consciousness does continue when the current is reduced? Immediately we began to find examples.» — el giro metodológico que declara: abandonar la explicación materialista y probar la hipótesis contraria, que la conciencia siga cuando baja la corriente.

«The problem is that when out-of-body we have lost consciousness and yet we haven’t, our memory is or is not impaired, some of our physical senses are working and some are not, and so on. At the least, we don’t have total consciousness as we like to think of it, and therefore we don’t regard this state as valid.» — el problema que reconoce en su propio material: fuera del cuerpo la conciencia ni está perdida ni está entera, y por eso el estado no se tiene por válido.

«Yet there have been many comatose human beings who have continued to be conscious—they simply had not the means to communicate physically.» — el contraejemplo con que discute el criterio de conciencia por respuesta motora: comatosos que siguieron conscientes y solo carecían de medio para comunicarlo.

«Thus to explain, or explain away, all of the many physical functions we perform without conscious awareness, our culture had to invent nonconscious systems. These are identified as autonomic, subconscious, limbic, and so on, including sleep. Any activity we cannot willfully control is not within consciousness.» — su lectura de las categorías establecidas: autónomo, subconsciente y límbico serían invenciones para explicar —o explicar de más— lo que se hace sin conciencia; es su juicio, no un dato clínico.

«At The Monroe Institute in the 1960s we began not only historical research into aspects of consciousness but also study of out-of-body events, mine and others’. We discovered that many OBEs have been related to the sleep state and thus dismissed as simply dreams— except that they do not fit the hazy and unreal quality associated with dreaming. Other spontaneous OBEs have occurred under anesthesia during surgery, when the patient found himself six or eight feet above the operating table and later reported accurately what he heard and saw from this vantage point—a physical impossibility. Events such as these happen frequently but for the most part are never publicly reported.» — lo que dice haber hallado al estudiar salidas espontáneas: las asociadas al sueño no tienen la calidad brumosa del sueño, y las de quirófano incluyen informes exactos desde encima de la mesa de operaciones que casi nunca se hacen públicos.

«Some of the most striking of the spontaneous OBEs are now often identified as near-death experiences. Again, these occur frequently, usually during surgery under anesthesia. Most have the effect of changing completely the belief systems of the patients, providing them with a genuine Different Overview. They return knowing that not only are they more than their physical bodies, but that, without equivocation, they will survive physical death.» — y el puente que traza con la experiencia cercana a la muerte: cambia por completo el sistema de creencias del paciente y devuelve, dice, la certeza de sobrevivir a la muerte física.

«One of the very few relevant surveys in the past ten years showed that over 25 percent of our national population recall having at least one spontaneous out-of-body experience.» — la única cifra de prevalencia que aporta, y con reserva sobre su base: una de las poquísimas encuestas del decenio da más del 25 por ciento de la población nacional con al menos un episodio espontáneo recordado.

«If you think about it, you may be among that 25 percent. Can you remember having a “flying” dream, with or without an airplane? Can you remember dreaming of looking for your car among many others in a parking lot, finding it, and waking up immediately after doing so? (We often subconsciously look upon our car as an additional body.) Can you remember having a “falling” dream, where you wake up instead of hitting “bottom”? This is quite common when reentry into the physical body is hastened by the ringing of an alarm clock!» — y los indicios domésticos con que invita al lector a reconocerse en esa cifra: el sueño de volar, el del coche en el estacionamiento y el de caer sin llegar al fondo, que él lee como reentrada apresurada por el despertador.

«Until 1970 the whole research effort operated quietly, if not covertly. After all, I was the head of a conventional business dealing with conventional people. I was sure that any public revelation of my secret life activity would bring doubt of my ability to conduct responsible business affairs.» — por qué la investigación fue reservada hasta 1970, en su testimonio: dirigía un negocio convencional y temía que revelarla pusiera en duda su capacidad para llevarlo.

«But I could not remain silent forever. With the publication of my first book, Journeys Out of the Body, our work began to attract much attention. We were able to select a number of volunteers as subjects in our laboratory. Most of them were able to replicate the out-of-body state so familiar to me, using the methods we had developed.» — el efecto que le atribuye a la publicación del primer volumen: atención, voluntarios de laboratorio y, dice, réplica del estado por la mayoría de ellos con los métodos desarrollados.

«During the 1980s, talks on out-of-body experiences were given at various colleges and universities, on radio and TV, and even at the Smithsonian Institution. Three papers were delivered on the subject at the annual convention of the American Psychiatric Association, the presentation being sponsored by the University of Kansas Medical Center and The Monroe Institute. Currently there are occasional cartoon jokes in magazines based upon the out-of-body state as real. T-shirts have OBE themes and even Bob Hope had an out-of-body joke on a TV appearance. The reality of the OBE is slowly becoming accepted, and the term “OBE” is now part of our language.» — cómo describe la normalización del término en los ochenta: charlas en universidades, radio, televisión y el Smithsonian, tres ponencias en el congreso anual de la American Psychiatric Association patrocinadas por el University of Kansas Medical Center y su instituto, y hasta chistes de Bob Hope y camisetas.

«Ultimate Journey. Copyright © 1994 by Robert A. Monroe. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the» — el aviso de derechos: el texto es de 1994 y el titular es el propio Robert A. Monroe, no el instituto. La frase queda cortada por el salto de plana.

«It is here reprinted by arrangement with Doubleday.» — y la genealogía del ejemplar que se ficha: una reimpresión de Broadway por acuerdo con Doubleday, que fue quien publicó la edición en pasta dura.

«First Broadway Books trade paperback edition published 2000.» — la fecha que la página de derechos le pone a esta impresión —2000—, distinta del 2014 con que el corpus registra el ejemplar; se consigna lo que imprime la fuente y no se arbitra.

«The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as: Monroe, Robert A. Ultimate journey / Robert A. Monroe. p. cm. 1. Astral projection. I. Title. BF1389.A7M667 1994 93-32139 133.9—dc20» — cómo cataloga la obra la Biblioteca del Congreso, con un dato que vale la pena retener: el único encabezamiento de materia que le asigna es *astral projection*, justamente el término que Monroe rechaza en los tres volúmenes.

«ISBN 0-385-47208-0 eBook ISBN: 978-0-8041-5398-0» — los dos ISBN que la plana declara, el de la pasta dura y el del libro electrónico del que sale la capa de texto que se cita.

«Dedicated to Nancy Penn Monroe Co-Founder, The Monroe Institute and the Hundreds of Supporting Friends Who Have Provided Assistance and Love over the Past Thirty Years in the TMI Pursuit of Obscured Knowns» — la dedicatoria entera: nombra a Nancy Penn Monroe como cofundadora del instituto y a cientos de amigos a lo largo de treinta años, y define la empresa con el vocabulario propio del libro, la persecución de *Knowns* oscurecidos.

«Contents Cover Other Books by This Author Title Page Copyright Dedication Foreword 1 The Variable 2 The Long, Long Trail 3 Along the Interstate 4 Hail and Farewell 5 Recoup and Regroup 6 Inside and Outside 7 Tour Guide 8 Recall and Review 9 The Hard Way 10 Detached Retinue 11 Turning Inward 12 Inside the Inside 13 Fine Tuning 14 The Sum and the Parts 15 Long Trail A-Winding 16 The Roadside View 17 More Work in Progress 18 The New Direction 19 Taking Timeout Glossary The Monroe Institute Research Papers and Reports Going Home Series» — el índice tal como lo imprime la plana: diecinueve capítulos numerados y cuatro piezas de cierre —glosario, el instituto, los informes de investigación y la serie Going Home—; la lista sigue en la plana siguiente con la nota biográfica.

«Robert Monroe is a mapmaker. In Ultimate Journey he seeks to chart that area which lies “over the edge,” beyond the limits of the physical world. He presents us with a map of the “Interstate”—the route that opens to us when we leave our physical lives, with its entry and exit ramps, its signposts and its hazards. This he is able to do because he has traveled the route himself; he writes from knowledge, not from belief.» — abre el prólogo, que no es de Monroe sino de Ronald Russell: lo presenta como cartógrafo de la zona de más allá del borde y le atribuye escribir desde conocimiento y no desde creencia.

«Monroe’s first book, Journeys out of the Body, was published in 1971. Since then, according to Dr. Charles Tart, one of the leading experts on consciousness and human potential, “innumerable people have found comfort and help in the knowledge that they weren’t alone and weren’t crazy just because they had had out-of-body experiences.” In that book and its successor, Far Journeys, Monroe recorded his out-of-body experiences over three decades and established a reputation as a trailblazer in the exploration of the far reaches of human consciousness.» — Russell encadena los tres volúmenes y apoya la recepción del primero en una frase que atribuye a Charles Tart; la valoración es del prologuista y la frase entrecomillada, de Tart.

«There is one major difference between this book and its predecessors. Until now, the story has been Monroe’s alone; it has been his own adventures he has described, his own meetings, dialogues, perils, and discoveries. In Ultimate Journey, he tells how he found the route—the new direction—traveled it, and uncovered the reason and the purpose for this pioneering expedition. And, most important, he includes the reports of others who, through his new teaching program, have been able to read the map, follow the direction, and fulfill the same purpose.» — Russell señala qué cambia en este tercer volumen respecto de los dos anteriores: deja de ser solo la aventura de Monroe e incorpora los informes de otros participantes de su programa.

«All may know that it is possible for anyone to follow this new direction if belief systems are set aside and the mind is open and willing.» — la condición que el prologuista le pone al lector para seguir la nueva dirección: dejar de lado los sistemas de creencias y mantener la mente abierta.

«Monroe says that nothing in this book negates the validity of its two predecessors, “which represent stages of growth and are accurate according to the Knowns available through personal experience at the time.” His personal experience while working on his third book, however, took a sad and unforeseen turn when his wife Nancy was diagnosed with cancer. His search for the missing Basic was intensified by the knowledge that for Nancy’s sake there was little time to spare.» — Russell cita a Monroe para que los dos volúmenes anteriores no queden invalidados —los llama etapas de crecimiento, exactas según los *Knowns* disponibles entonces— y sitúa el motivo personal del libro, el cáncer de Nancy.

«It is good to record that he completed his exploration and found both the new direction and the missing Basic while Nancy was still with him in physical reality, and that he and others were able to apply the knowledge he gained to help her in her own ultimate journey. —Ronald Russell» — el cierre del prólogo, firmado por Ronald Russell desde Cambridge: da por hallados la nueva dirección y el *Basic* que faltaba mientras Nancy vivía todavía.