The Ultimate Frontier

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining as Fiction, repulsive as nonfiction.
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: The most important, life-changing book I've ever read-
Review: If you are a seeker after what the nature of existence is about, love God, want to grow as much as possible in this lifetime, then you MUST read this book. I just can't say enough how much I enjoy reading and studying it. Words and ideas are only information. Putting the concepts discussed in this book to work in your life and trying them out to see if they are indeed God-given "Universal Truths" is the way to fully realize what you have your hands on, what a gem you have found-One must be very, very discerning when trying to weed thru the many ideas put forth on this subject, but I have finally, after living 53 years and studying and practicing the info within this book, have found what I had been looking for since I was a small child- God's Truth!! I will be forever grateful to the author.

Rating:
Summary: New Age False Christ
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the Most Expensive Book You Will Ever Buy
Review: My parents bought a copy of this book when I was just a child. They believed the prophecies, so we sold our home and moved to the middle of a cornfield in Stelle, Illinois.

We had been solidly middle class. I was a happy, well-adjusted child--but after we moved to Stelle my life changed completely. There were only about 100 people there, yet everything outside the community described in The Ultimate Frontier was referred to as "the outside world."

I know the author of this book as Richard Kieninger; Eklal Kueshana is his pen name. Richard convinced my father to invest all his savings (money intended for college) in some crazy scheme. The money wasn't supposed to be any good anyway after the United States collapsed during the mid-1970's. By the time we left Stelle we were broke, my parents were disheartened, and I was afraid of everything in "the outside world."

None of the prophecies in The Ultimate Frontier came true. The United States didn't collapse during the mid-1970's, Stelle didn't grow to become a city of 250,000, nor did World War III bring nuclear holocaust in November, 1999. You can buy this book if you want, but please don't believe Richard or the prophecies.

I have talked to quite a few of the children of Stelle, and their experiences are similar to mine. I think it is dangerous to believe people who pretend to know the future, especially if you have children. My parents recovered somewhat--my father refers to Richard Kieninger as "God's cure for naivite." But I think some of us who spent our formative years in Stelle were permanently marked.

The Ultimate Frontier describes a beautiful dream. It says that people with a special destiny will create a new nation on land that will rise out of the Pacific Ocean on May 5, 2000. It may be surprising that intelligent people could believe this, but some do. This dream appeals to their vanity, and they set their common sense aside.

The philosophy described in The Ultimate Frontier is beautiful, but I think there are safer, cheaper ways to learn about it.

Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Pastiche...
Review: Richard, aka Eklal, has put together a narrative of somewhat haphazardly revealed information from esoteric lore. While some of the information is valid, other parts present distortions which make me question the true intentions and wisdom of Richard's "Brotherhood" sources. You can get some more complete and accurate esoteric information for free on various websites. Meanwhile, I'd suggest taking up remote viewing to validate any esoteric information one encounters and plans to act on.

Rating:
Summary: The most influential book of my life
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: This book is for blind followers
Review: This book has influenced me more than any book other than the Bible. If you are searching for answers this book will help. The book rings very true with the exception of Richard's future predictions and his fanciful history. I guess the motivation in 1963 to write predictions for the years 1976, 1999 and May 5, 2000 are to encourage everyone to make the most of their lifetimes, and work and strive toward worthy goals. 10 years ago I used SKYGLOBE computer software to check the alignment of the planets on May 5 2000 - and they do indeed align up in a nearly straight line! I wonder how Richard George Kieninger ( One of 9 defendants of Republic of Texas fraud case I believe ?) figured the planets will align in 1963? It's interesting that 5-5-2000 is my parents 50th anniversary. This is a book I have read in 1969,1972,1975,80... and get more out of it each time. Learn and Grow. Learn and Grow.

Rating:
Summary: Book helps you learn and grow
Review: This book has influenced me more than any book other than the Bible. If you are searching for answers this book will help. The book rings very true with the exception of Richard's future predictions and his fanciful history. I guess the motivation in 1963 to write predictions for the years 1976, 1999 and May 5, 2000 are to encourage everyone to make the most of their lifetimes, and work and strive toward worthy goals. 10 years ago I used SKYGLOBE computer software to check the alignment of the planets on May 5 2000 - and they do indeed align up in a nearly straight line! I wonder how Richard George Kieninger ( One of 9 defendants of Republic of Texas fraud case I believe ?) figured the planets will align in 1963? It's interesting that 5-5-2000 is my parents 50th anniversary. This is a book I have read in 1969,1972,1975,80... and get more out of it each time. Learn and Grow. Learn and Grow.

Rating:
Summary: Opening the Mind to Questions
Review: When I first read this book 3-4 years ago, I had the sensation that I had "come home" to something familiar. It seemed to resonate with thoughts that hadn't even been articulated yet, but were already a part of my psyche. Since that time, I have re-read portions of the book several times. While I certainly don't buy into all of the prophecies and have felt no compulsion to sell everything and move to one of the author's "communities of the enlightened", I have found myself much more open to possibilities I might not have considered before.

I have a very open and curious mind and find great excitement in exploring questions to which I neither have the answer nor expect to have "the" answer in this lifetime. This book presented me with some options I had not thought much about before I read it. Reincarnation, a hierarchy of spiritual advancement, the parallels in the development of the world's major religions; all of these topics opened me up to a number of questions which have fueled my journeys in spiritual development in the years since my first encounter with the book.

For those who find as much joy as I do in exploring the questions, this book can be a valuable catalyst. For those who need "expert" answers and prefer to have someone hand "the truth" to them, this book can be troublesome or even downright dangerous.

Rating:
Summary: New Age False Christ
Review: When I read this book back in the Middle Seventies I was taken in by this New Age False Christ. His original organization was in southern Illinois, called the Stelle Group. Apparently he is no longer associated with the Stelle Group.

He claims association with the Ascended Masters and White Brotherhood both Satanic in origin.

I heard him personnaly speak in 1975 when he made false prophecies about coming world catastrophic events in 1977 - obviously they didn't happen.

His group and others like it are New Age deceivers taking advantage of the gullibility of those seeking spiritual enlightenment and not knowing where to look.