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Longtime readers will welcome the new pared down Tenth Edition of THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER, which was released just a few months ago. This new edition represents a significant improvement over previous editions, which since 1963 have provided readers with an excellent introduction to the precepts of Lemurian Philosophy through the literary device of discussions with various scientist/philosophers.
First and foremost, THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER is the non-fiction autobiography of Richard Kieninger, who spent his early years in the Chicago area and who currently resides in an intentional community called Adelphi, which he founded just east of Dallas, Texas. Mr. Kieninger has always claimed access to special information provided by an organization called "The Brotherhoods," which early on gave him the titles "Harbinger of Aquarius," "The Judge of Israel," "The Builder of Lemuria" and "The Fountainhead of Christ." References to such self-aggrandizing titles are refreshingly absent from Chapter Three of the new Tenth Edition.
Gone too are Chapter Four references to a session with "The Council of Seven," a group of seven advanced beings who supposedly officiated at a ceremony during which Mr. Kieninger's pen name, Eklal Kueshana, was carved into his right thigh when he was twelve years old. Also at this ceremony, Mr. Kieninger's "Council of Seven" confirmed his possession of "the Key of David, by which your works are given authority."
As the young Richard Kieninger is introduced to the Lemurian Philosophy by various of his scientist-philosopher teachers, the reader learns that the author's "works" are to be the building of two precursor communities, one located eighty miles south of Chicago, Illinois called "Stelle" and the other located twenty miles east of Dallas, Texas called "Adelphi." We also learn that Mr. Kieninger is charged with the founding of a new nation, "The Nation of God," on a continent that will someday rise out of the Pacific Ocean.
All previous editions of THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER cited the date for the rising of this new continent as May 5, 2000, when a unique alignment of various celestial bodies would trigger "Doom's Day"-a massive seismic event that would lead to the shifting of the continents. A devastating nuclear Armageddon would already have occurred in November, 1999 and the wretched survivors of this earlier event were to have greeted May 5, 2000 as "a blessing." In all previous editions, Mr. Kieninger quoted the prophetic words of a certain Dr. White, "After Armageddon and Doom's Day, less than a tenth of the world's population will be alive to see the year A.D. 2001."
Readers of the new Tenth Edition of THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER may be forgiven if they wonder why the author simply deleted all references to these aforementioned dates, while he continues to maintain the Armageddon and Doomsday predictions in full force. No explanation is offered for the failed prophecies.
In all fairness, Mr. Kieninger's decision not to include specific dates is more a return to his roots than a fresh approach. As a 1950's student of the Lemurian Fellowship in Ramona, California, the author was introduced to Lemurian Philosophy through a series of twelve lessons that mention no specific dates for the prophesied Armageddon and Doomsday events. By eliminating such references in the new Tenth Edition, Mr. Kieninger may be honoring the spirit of the original Fellowship lesson material.
The cover of the new Tenth Edition includes a subtitle, "A Call to the Builders." Of course THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER has always been a call to action, and Mr. Kieninger has founded a number of non-profit organizations to facilitate the work of building his Stelle, Illinois and Adelphi, Texas communities as well as the building of a new city that is to be called "Philadelphia"--Lemuria Builders, The Stelle Group, Builders of the Nation, The Adelphi Organization, and The Philadelphia Fund. It should be noted that in 1986 The Stelle Group and its associated Stelle, Illinois community disavowed any affiliation with Mr. Kieninger because of his well-documented tendency to abuse his authority and seduce the young women of both communities--patterns of behavior that have carried over to at least 1997. Despite this recent history (not to mention Mr. Kieninger's April 14, 1998 conviction on federal bank fraud and mail fraud charges), The Adelphi Organization and its associated Adelphi, Texas community continue to support Mr. Kieninger's building projects. Current readers of THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER are encouraged to tithe 10% of their incomes to support expansion of the Adelphi community and to finance the building of the new city of Philadelphia on Cedros Island, just off the coast of Baja California.
The new Tenth Edition of THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER includes one new section of commentary in "Remarks by the Biographee." Mr. Kieninger writes, "Inasmuch as freedom to experience and to experiment are essential to attaining meaningful Egoic growth, Adelphi is the very opposite of a cult. It is important that no one turn his life over to a guru or be obedient to one." Longtime observers may wonder, then, why Mr. Kieninger retains final decision making authority, both in the Adelphi community and within the structure of The Adelphi Organization. Even more troubling are Mr. Kieninger's claims that he has sometimes found it necessary to use his "Key of David" powers to discipline disobedient members by removing the veil of protection from evil that Christ promises all sincere Christians. In his landmark book on modern cults, RELEASING THE BONDS--EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES, Steve Hassan cites precisely such behaviors when he defines what makes any political, economic or religious organization a cult.
This update of THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER is indeed a welcome improvement over all previous editions. Learning to live in community has always been a worthwhile goal, and the author is to be commended for inspiring this sort of thing. It seems, however, that readers contemplating full and active involvement in Mr. Kieninger's current projects would be well-advised to consult with former participants before committing large sums of money and years of their lives to such endeavors.
As for Mr. Kieninger's claim that "The Brotherhoods" assigned him the task of developing an advanced culture in Adelphi that will someday lead to the establishment of a perfect civilization in a future "Nation of God," thousands of readers of THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER can attest that taking such claims too literally has in the past led to major disappointments. The small band of true believers who currently populate Mr. Kieninger's Adelphi community might do well to read Eric Hoffer's namesake classic, THE TRUE BELIEVER. Perhaps they too will someday decide to reduce their dependence on Mr. Kieninger's future talk and concentrate instead on the very legitimate, though somewhat less ambitious, goal of simply learning to live in community.
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THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER has been the single most influential book of my life. This was after having graduated from Harvard and read a great many books and successfully completing psychotherapy and successfully completing my own search for a new civilization and proving to myself the existence of God and reincarnation and the Law of Karma. Coming to it from that level of education, I found that the book took my education to a new level, a level that the present culture is not aware of. I would start with what I call "The Gospel According to Eklal Kueshana," a more plausible explanation of our spiritual purpose here on earth, and who Christ was, than what is taught in the Christian Church. Then there are "The Twelve Great Virtues," which are the virtues I have been trying to follow all my life, named and defined: patience, courage, devotion, charity, kindness, tolerance, forbearance, precision, efficiency, discernment, sincerity, humility. And conspicuously absent are things that aren't virtues, like chastity, obedience, and vegetarianism. The role of the Black Mentalists in interfering with our lives and trying to drag everybody down to their level is perhaps the most important message of the book if humanity is to advance, but I think this message seems to be lost (because it is terrifying) on anybody who is not already psychologically advanced, including people I talked to at Stelle. I don't know why Edgar Cayce and Eklal Kueshana made such dire predictions for the Millenium. These dire predictions detract from the really good philosophical and metaphysical stuff they have to offer. Also the Hippie mentality seems to have had a huge influence on every organization working towards the spiritual advancement of humanity, The Stelle Group included. But the message of THE ULTIMATE FRONTIER is definitely not the Hippie message. It really has nothing to do with the limited worldview that was born in the drug movement and survives today as the New Age. Not that the book is flawless -- there are plenty of things I take issue with, starting with the Doomsday prophecy. But for the discerning reader, there is a huge treasure of information in this book, and certainly the kind of powerful ideas that could lead us to a whole new level of civilization.
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If one takes this work as fictional approach to secret societies and intrigue therein, then the book is entertaining. BUT this individual wants us to take his work as a piece of non-fiction. Luckily (if this is truly non-fiction) I read this so that I now I know for sure than no woman of any intelligence would want to follow this man. I give two stars just for the look into his belief of secret society workings.
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I have lived in the Stelle area for many years and have had many friends and acquaintances who were either members of Stelle or who wished to become members. I was given the book to read in 1973, when the settlement was fairly new, and was shocked that anyone with any critical reasoning ability would find it believable. I have found many of the members of the group to be credulous, judgmental and able to rationalize their (individual) egregious behavior.
I am surprised that there are so many reviewers who call this book "idealistic." I do not consider it idealistic to divide people into those who are chosen and those who are not, those who are part of the "brotherhood" and those who are "black mentalists", as any are said to be who disbelieve the philosophy (those who are not with us are against us: sound familiar?) True idealism is not secretive, nor does it seek to dispossess the many, or discount their virtue, while seeking a favored state for the few.
I understand the desire for a better world. You already know how to do this: love both your friends and your enemies, treat all with respect, share what you have and rejoice in the accomplishments of any and all. You know the drill. It is easy to state, but takes work. Perhaps, for some, it feels more rewarding to believe in something which is more selective, less well-known. Be idealistic, but don't wait for the world to fall apart to start living your idealism. Those who follow a doomsday lifestyle have a tendency to rejoice in things going badly; this is anything but idealistic.
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This book gave me the most profoundly negative learning experience of my life. I am another "graduate" of Stelle. I read the book in the early 70's and my husband and I sold all we owned and moved to Stelle. We wanted to get there before 1976, as the United States was not supposed to see it's 201st birthday. I remember the celebrations on July 4th at Stelle as everyone was excited that one of the predictions was about to come true. I couldn't believe anyone could be happy about the downfall of our country. But, we were told not to care about what happened "outside." Of course, nothing happened, and the leaders of the community made excuses as to WHEN the actual birthday of the US was supposed to be. Richard Kieninger had already been forced out of Stelle by this time and was starting a community outside of Dallas.
This book is filled with esoterica and new age ideas (before new age was "in") but you can get much more from other sources. In fact, much of Kieninger's information is gleaned from the Lemurian Fellowship, which existed in California in the 1950's.
Fortunately, I finally figured out what was going on, and left Stelle after about 3 years. I had no money to invest and I was told by the leaders that my ideas were too "radical."
This book is a utopic view of what a community can be, but has no basis in reality. Buyer beware!
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