This page will provide an introduction to The Ultimate Frontier including an image of the cover and links to buy a copy through the Amazon.com store established for this blog site.
Following are some reviews from Amazon.com. Please use the Contact Form below if you would like to share a review of the book.
5.0 out of 5 stars INSPIRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!, December 15, 2006
By Michael – See all my reviews
I would like to attest to the following.
I first read UTF in 1977. The book struck home in no uncertain terms. I have re-read it and re-read it so many times now I have lost count. I determined at that time to embark upon the path of the scientist-philosopher. I approached all of the statements in the book with the expectation that they were false until proven true. I can say that after 29 years of applying the precepts to be found in the UTF, I have found no harm from them and have benefited greatly. I am able to look back 29 years now and appreciate my evolution, small though it is, lowly though it is. I have a stronger and more positive Mind now than I did back then. I have more awareness of everything around me in the universe. I am able to form theories about Truth and to formulate subjective mental experiments that prove or disprove those theories based upon the tests of time, outcome, and repeatability. This has been the most important book of my life.
It has come to my attention that some others who read this book and became more closely involved with Richard were hurt by him to varying degrees, both emotionally and economically. I have read testimony as regards problems associated with his sexuality. I am truly sorry that others were harmed by his imperfections and faults. I only spent a part of a day with him, listened to one Sunday meeting at which he presided, and had a dinner with him. Since he is deceased now, and since some or all of his specific prophesies have now been deleted from this edition of the book, perhaps no one else will be harmed by him.
I recommend this book to all. I have visited both Stelle and Adelphi, and found the most wonderful people on the planet at each place. Stelle is a place where alternate, earth-friendly technologies are implemented quite readily. I think the community of Adelphi is even more important now that Richard has passed on. I believe that they will keep the Ultimate Frontier alive and in publication, and provide a place where those who wish to live by its precepts can gather together in community.
I am sure that it would be great to live in the same neighborhood as others who practice the Lemurian Philosophy.
Remember to read this and all philosophies critically. Devise your own tests and see if the philosophies withstand the test of time, experience, knowledge (soul) growth and outcome.
The best means to soul growth and evolution is in tiny increments, one step at a time, through gradual character uplift. That theory is presented in this book, and I attest to its validity.
My best wishes to you in your evolution.
Michael
4.0 out of 5 stars Don’t Confuse The Message With The Messenger, April 23, 2006 By feralduck “Opinions reasonably priced!” (Austin, TX USA) – See all my reviews
I was a Stelle Group member in the mid 1970’s, and although I don’t espouse the philosophy these days, there was a byproduct of the Ultimate Frontier that was positive. That was the community of Stelle, inhabited by a group of very sincere and dedicated people.
By and large, they held themselves to a higher standard than did the founder, who I met once and found extremely creepy. This was during his period of exile from the group; turns out that exile was well justified.
So, regardless of whether you find the Lemuria and Atlantis material loopy, and you feel the leader was another David Koresh-like charlatan, there was good that came out of discovering the book, and that good was a community that survived despite all the upheavals.
2.0 out of 5 stars It’s like the movie “Meet John Doe”, February 16, 2005 By Timothy Johnson (Madison WI) – See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Richard Kieninger (RK) Eklal Kueshana), author of Ultimate Frontier (TUF), died in March 2002. He first wrote and published TUF in ‘63. He presented what is, at its core, a very beautiful yet idealistic philosophy, but also threw in some cataclysmic predictions and an alternative, maybe warped, view of history and metaphysical trivia. Over the years, he has edited and changed various things in TUF. In later editions RK removed some of the predictions/dates, especially when these did not happen. These changes were made in the context of direct quotes of physical in-person conversations that RK allegedly had with human beings who were “Brothers” in a “Brotherhood” working toward uplifting humanity.
Anyhow, to me, the whole TUF/RK/Stelle enterprise is a lot like the movie, “Meet John Doe,” made in the late 30’s, with young Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper. Barbara has been fired from a newspaper, and in her last column, she makes up a story about a “John Doe” who is out of work, down on his luck, and protests the state of civilization and wants to jump off the city hall building at midnight on Christmas Eve. Anyhow, with this lie, the paper actually re-hires Barbara, hires Gary Cooper to be “John Doe,” and eventually starts a “John Doe”/”love thy neighbor” movement that sweeps the country. One theme of this movie is that good things can come from a lie.
TUF, in my opinion, is a work of fiction. RK plagiarized the Lemurian Fellowship lessons in writing TUF, and wrote himself a major role in the whole undertaking. With RK’s physical death in March 2002, he can no longer have a major role and wreak havoc in other people’s lives. Thank God!
However, there are many many good people in Stelle now, doing many good things. If you want to learn more about these good things, just go to your search engine and punch in terms, such as Stelle community or Center for Sustainable Community. The good people who have done good things in Stelle in past and present have done so, in spite of RK and his dramas.
To give you some context, I read TUF in 1980, it was the 2nd edition 1970. I lived in Stelle from 1983-88 and owned a duplex in Stelle as an investment property from 1993-99. I do think that the community in general was less uptight in recent years and certainly I think the majority of the good people in Stelle were much less wrapped around RK and his various issues in the later years.
Read TUF, if you want. Just read it cafeteria style, taking what you want and leaving the rest. You can leave most of the RK stuff since he’s dead now.
1.0 out of 5 stars New Age False Christ, January 17, 2004
By A Customer
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 personally 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.
1.0 out of 5 stars Less Is More, December 5, 2001
By Walter Cox (Forest Knolls, CA United States) – See all my reviews
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.
5.0 out of 5 stars The most influential book of my life, November 1, 2001 By Robert S. Gebelein “bobgeb” (Provincetown, MA United States) – See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
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.
2.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining as Fiction, repulsive as nonfiction., January 3, 2001By A Reader “Jo-M” (Remsen, NY USA) – See all my reviews
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.
1.0 out of 5 stars This book is for blind followers, July 28, 2000
By A Customer
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.
1.0 out of 5 stars The Ultimate Joke, March 15, 2000
By A Customer
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!
5.0 out of 5 stars Book helps you learn and grow, March 8, 2000
By bbrodhead@iname.com (Houston TX) – See all my reviews
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.
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