What do you think?
The Ultimate Journey: Consciousness and the Mystery of Death
Beyond personal history and archetypal themes, a comprehensive psychology must also address the fundamental significance of birth and death. Stanislav Grof, M.D., renowned for his pioneering contributions regarding the psychological and spiritual aspects of the birth process, now adds invaluable insights from more than half a century of research and personal discovery into the experience of death and dying. Dr. Grof distills teachings from ancient wisdom and modern science that suggest how to face the process of death and dying. The ultimate journey challenges us all, and how we approach it is much more than major personal issue. Those who come to terms with death in deep experiential self-exploration tend to develop a sense of planetary citizenship, reverence for life in all its forms, and spirituality of a universal and all-encompassing nature. Such radial inner transformation might be humanityís only real chance for survival. The Ultimate Journey describes ancient and aboriginal ritual and spiritual practices that help us understand the experience of death, develop effective ways of making dying easier, and integrate it as a meaningful part of life. The book also summarizes modern studies that shed new light on a variety of phenomena related to death and dying, including psycho-spiritual death and rebirth, near-death experiences, and the new expanded cartography y of the psyche that has emerged from Grofís fifty years of research of psychedelic therapy, Holotropic Breathwork, and spontaneous psychospiritual crises.
644 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Stanislav Grof
133 books713 followersStanislav Grof is known for his early studies of LSD and its effects on the psyche—the field of psychedelic psychotherapy. Building on his observations while conducting LSD research and on Otto Rank's theory of birth trauma, Grof constructed a theoretical framework for pre- and perinatal psychology and transpersonal psychology in which LSD trips and other powerfully emotional experiences were mapped onto one's early fetal and neonatal experiences. Over time, this theory developed into an in-depth "cartography" of the deep human psyche.
Following the legal suppression of LSD use in the late 1960s, Grof went on to discover that many of these states of mind could be explored without drugs by using certain breathing techniques in a supportive environment. He continues this work today under the title "Holotropic Breathwork".
Grof received his M.D. from Charles University in Prague in 1957, and then completed his Ph.D. in Medicine at the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences in 1965, training as a Freudian psychoanalyst at this time. In 1967, he was invited as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, United States, and went on to become Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center where he worked with Walter Pahnke and Bill Richards among others. In 1973, Dr. Grof was invited to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, and lived there until 1987 as a scholar-in-residence, developing his ideas.
Being the founding president of the International Transpersonal Association (founded in 1977), he went on to become distinguished adjunct faculty member of the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at the California Institute of Integral Studies, a position he remains in today.
Grof was featured in the film Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within, a 2006 documentary about rediscovering an enchanted cosmos in the modern world.
Following the legal suppression of LSD use in the late 1960s, Grof went on to discover that many of these states of mind could be explored without drugs by using certain breathing techniques in a supportive environment. He continues this work today under the title "Holotropic Breathwork".
Grof received his M.D. from Charles University in Prague in 1957, and then completed his Ph.D. in Medicine at the Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences in 1965, training as a Freudian psychoanalyst at this time. In 1967, he was invited as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, United States, and went on to become Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center where he worked with Walter Pahnke and Bill Richards among others. In 1973, Dr. Grof was invited to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, and lived there until 1987 as a scholar-in-residence, developing his ideas.
Being the founding president of the International Transpersonal Association (founded in 1977), he went on to become distinguished adjunct faculty member of the Department of Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at the California Institute of Integral Studies, a position he remains in today.
Grof was featured in the film Entheogen: Awakening the Divine Within, a 2006 documentary about rediscovering an enchanted cosmos in the modern world.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 23, 2018
After reading the clear-headed A. Hofmann, this book was quite something different.
Except for what happens in enigmatic singularities according to science, data, is never actually destroyed, and time isn't linear, that's just how we regularly experience it. If no data, no information is ever truly destroyed, then that can be interpreted as the scientific version of the Akashic Records.
It requires a leap of faith, but unusual experiences of being other people, plants, ... during psychedelic sessions and similar entranced states of consciousness could be explained as jumping from your own groove in the Akashic Records to other grooves, downloading, playing that information into your own brain. So far it's some kind of spiritual science fiction but ok, it still makes sense.
S. Grof, however, often goes on long rants against the modern scientific world and is talking about ridiculous superstitious nonsense and myths like birthmarks being indicators of how you died in previous lives, or about how he attended some 19th-century type spiritist performer asking ghosts in the room what painting they would like him to make?? Seriously? This would be hilarious if he had a self-deprecating sense of humour like T. McKenna, but he doesn't.
Trust me you can take lots of psychedelics without turning into a gullible idiot, whom psychics like the one mentioned above would love to have as a client.
It's not all bad, the psychedelic case studies, for example, are trip reports of terminal cancer patients and how it affects their mental state afterwards. Without ranting on the scientific world or superstitious anecdotes.
The book has other good chapters, like a summary of the books of the dead in the world according to different mythologies, but he always spoils it with his own rants and anecdotes, devoid of a sense of humour.
Except for what happens in enigmatic singularities according to science, data, is never actually destroyed, and time isn't linear, that's just how we regularly experience it. If no data, no information is ever truly destroyed, then that can be interpreted as the scientific version of the Akashic Records.
It requires a leap of faith, but unusual experiences of being other people, plants, ... during psychedelic sessions and similar entranced states of consciousness could be explained as jumping from your own groove in the Akashic Records to other grooves, downloading, playing that information into your own brain. So far it's some kind of spiritual science fiction but ok, it still makes sense.
S. Grof, however, often goes on long rants against the modern scientific world and is talking about ridiculous superstitious nonsense and myths like birthmarks being indicators of how you died in previous lives, or about how he attended some 19th-century type spiritist performer asking ghosts in the room what painting they would like him to make?? Seriously? This would be hilarious if he had a self-deprecating sense of humour like T. McKenna, but he doesn't.
Trust me you can take lots of psychedelics without turning into a gullible idiot, whom psychics like the one mentioned above would love to have as a client.
It's not all bad, the psychedelic case studies, for example, are trip reports of terminal cancer patients and how it affects their mental state afterwards. Without ranting on the scientific world or superstitious anecdotes.
The book has other good chapters, like a summary of the books of the dead in the world according to different mythologies, but he always spoils it with his own rants and anecdotes, devoid of a sense of humour.
July 3, 2022
A veces es inverosímil, porque la traducción y la edición son problemáticas. "Absurdidad", por ejemplo, no existe.
Los capítulos de LSD son interesantes, pero las conclusiones son muy largas y repetitivas y esto le quita fuerza.
En todo caso, me parece un buen libro sobre la muerte y el tránsito, y me encanta que abra con la experiencia de diferentes culturas.
Vale la pena.
Los capítulos de LSD son interesantes, pero las conclusiones son muy largas y repetitivas y esto le quita fuerza.
En todo caso, me parece un buen libro sobre la muerte y el tránsito, y me encanta que abra con la experiencia de diferentes culturas.
Vale la pena.
June 8, 2023
2.5
¿Debe esta forma de morir quedar ahora en nuestro recuerdo, y sólo en nuestro recuerdo, o pueden también otras personas beneficiarse de ella? ¿No hemos nacido todos con nobleza y, por tanto, deberíamos poder expirar de una forma noble también?
Un libro muy educativo. Relamente interesante conocer como otras culturas piensan acerca deque hay más allá de la vida
¿Debe esta forma de morir quedar ahora en nuestro recuerdo, y sólo en nuestro recuerdo, o pueden también otras personas beneficiarse de ella? ¿No hemos nacido todos con nobleza y, por tanto, deberíamos poder expirar de una forma noble también?
Un libro muy educativo. Relamente interesante conocer como otras culturas piensan acerca deque hay más allá de la vida
December 7, 2018
Profound collection of related experience, overview of relevant literature and personal perspectives. A useful introduction to the field.
"Adequate preparation, support, and guidance are critical prerequisites for exploring the deep territories of the human mind."
"Adequate preparation, support, and guidance are critical prerequisites for exploring the deep territories of the human mind."
January 22, 2026
libro extremadamente verborreico, abarca muchos temas sin profundizar, y repite sumamente las mismas ideas.
pésima traducción de la liebre de marzo.
me quedo con las preguntas esenciales sobre la muerte y el uso de los psicodélicos en su acompañamiento
pésima traducción de la liebre de marzo.
me quedo con las preguntas esenciales sobre la muerte y el uso de los psicodélicos en su acompañamiento
March 29, 2021
Medicine!
November 29, 2023
Una gran perspectiva a como diferentes culturas encaran la muerte y a las terapias psidelicas. Datos, investigaciones desde un enfoque muy empírico.
April 12, 2011
This is the most challenging, and intelligent book that I may have ever laid my hands. It is baffling in its comprehensiveness. I feel that I shall have to read it several times to soak it all in.
February 18, 2015
Great book on subject of death. We don't think about it much and that's why death is nearly always so sudden.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews