Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Frontier

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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.

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.

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!

I read the book in 1969 and became involved with the Stelle Group for the next five years--until the author/leader was exposed as a regular human of questionable integrity; was expelled; and went off to start his Adelphi project in Texas. The Great White Brotherhood stories presented in the book were allegedly learned by the author during his involvement with the same organization in Southern California that Elizabeth Clair Prophet sprang from. None of this material is new to anyone who has studied the esoteric traditions. Standard Masonic, Illuminati Grand Plan drama reading. Helpful, insightful, but of questionable relevance to the author and his projects. The author does a good job of casting himself as a significant player.

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.

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.

The best review I can give of the book is to say what effect it had on me. I first read it in the early '80's, and five years later finally took action, moved to the Dallas area to contact the Adelphi group, and see what it was all about. That was one of the most important decisions I've ever made, and it has led me on an always-interesting adventure of working on new challenges. Richard is one of the nicest people I've ever met, who just happens to have a lot of information (TUF contains less than a third of the info he's been given, evidently) -- but he'll remind you that You have to try that info out for yourself to make sure that it's Truth (or not). Many people will focus on the May 5, 2000 predictions that are made in the book, but it is advancement-of-Self that is the main message. This is not a book that is easy to put down, and whether you agree or not, it will certainly make you think. Just a few of the topics covered in it would include: religion, evolution, history, politics, the physical body, and so on. None of these are treated lightly.... The reason the book is so inexpensive is simply to get the word out -- not to make $. Hope you get as much (or more!) out of it as I did.

I first read this book when I was in College in 1979. It was actually in the library. It was quite influential to me at that time, as other books/authors have been since. The book does tie in very well with other "new age"/theosophical beliefs. After reading the book I did a thesis on cults (not implying this of Adelphi or anyone else) studied the Rosicrucians and Freemasonry some, read all of Carlos Castaneda, Dan Millman, Ayn Rand, went to Stelle,IL (as part of the thesis..those of you familiar with Adelphi will probably know of/about Stelle). Through the internet I have found an org. that interests me. Has anyone had 1st hand experience with the Universal Church in Corwin Springs MT? After being to Stelle (trying to form an Atlas Shrugged/John Galt form of commune)and hearing a Richard Keininger lecture, reading others, etc...I'm still a searcher. I think universal truths are experienced and not read.

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.

I read UFs original edition in 1963 and joined the Stelle Group in Chicago; wonderful people from all over the world. Worked on the site as the "city" came into being. It grew more and more "cult-like" with Richard making personal decisions--I quit when he suggested that my wife was not for me and that we should separate. Then Richard was asked to leave for Clintonesque reasons; he did and went to Texas while his second wife, Gail, mentioned in the orig book, took a splinter group to Wisconsin. Learned a lot in my time w/the group and have verified the philosophy many times over thru other sources--but not the predictions. Never saw a more committed group of fine people--the book is worth a read but be careful. Richard is a very complex person, seems cool, highly objective and intelligent both as RK and as Ejlal Kueshana, his pen name. Haven't seen him since 1973. Have no idea how many of the orig group remain in Stelle or at "Philadelphia", the "city" he's building in Texas!