Journeys Out of the Body [Paperback]

As someone who has direct experience with the out of body phenomenon, this book was invaluable. It is not the best book on this topic but those of us who have these experiences often fear for our sanity. This book lets us know that we are not alone. Unlike many books dealing with this subject, the author is not someone who has a spiritual message to shove down our throats. He gives an honest account of his experiences and all of the accompanying fears and troubles and joys. He is highly credible and one can identify with his very human and normal reactions to a baffling phenomenon. It is important to take into account when reading this book that Monroe wrote it at a time before people had wide spread knowledge of thw out-of-body experience. It took great courage for him to share his experiences with the world. It is also commendable that he sought to try and find a scientific basis for the phenomenon and founded the Monroe institute towards this end.
My only criticism is that his terminology is at times a bit cumbersome, but I think overall this book is worth the read. I think his next book, Far Journeys is actually better.
Finally, after delving into this subject for many years, I think it is important to understand that the out-of -body experience serves as a gateway to perceptual abilities that we consider to be paranormal. These abilities include but are not limited to clairvoyance, telepathy and telekinesis. As such, learning to have this type of experience is part of the Toltec sorcery teachings. For more information about this approach to the out-of-body experience read 1)The Art of Dreaming (Carlos Castaneda), 2)The Path: A Practical Approach to Sorcery (Esmeralda Arana)

This book has been in print for so many years and read by so many people that it should be considered a classic. I also believe that the book is basically a truthful account of Monroe's experiences because several of those experiences he relates closely parallel my own. For example: I clearly remember as a child being sent to bed for a nap and then finding myself under the bed floating a few inches above the floor while resting on my fingertips. This is not the kind of detail that someone else could dream up independently; but Monroe tells of having that identical experience.
However the book does have two major flaws. First: Monroe never seems to have heard of lucid dreams. While other authors, such as Oliver Fox, spend considerable effort to distinguish LD's from true projections, Monroe seem to consider all his nighttime adventures as OBE's. Second: His style is stiff and has a pseudo-scientific air to it. This second criticism is especially unfortunate because, having listened to a number of his tapes, his natural down-to-earth storytelling ability would have made this book more of a pleasure to read. Thats why his book is a flawed classic.

The Master at work . Robert Monroe is a pioneer in this spiritual endeavor.He inspired others to follow him. A great read.