Introduction To The Longer Journey

The Longer Journey: Why I Wrote It

I do not have a clear explanation for why I began these writings. I began the daily writing sessions in 1978. Most of the writing was done in 1978 and 1979. The sessions finished in 1984, except for a final session in 1994. My motivation for the sessions could be reflected by a sentence from Thomas Hardy: "We fool ourselves if we imagine that the present ideas about life and evolution are more than a tiny fraction of the truth yet to be discovered in the almost endless years ahead."

We cling to life as long as possible, but finally we die. Death is the end of the physical body. But is it the ultimate "black hole"? Is the connection between self and consciousness severed? Or is there a higher consciousness, a nonmaterial mind or intellect, that transcends the reality we know. The only people who know for sure are dead. They are the only people who may have gone beyond that which has been identified, measured, and explained, beyond the electromagnetic spectrum. What if those "dead people" are there, in a reality as substantial as the physical? Can we loosen our tight-minded grip on physical reality sufficiently to find out?

Death, whatever it is, will come to us anyway, sooner or later, so why not step off the curb. Why not step out and confront the ultimate reality on our own personal terms? Neither science nor religion nor academia nor traditionalism has a monopoly on the truth of reality. Why not avoid dualistic rivalry, the clash of doctrines, or traditions, and go it alone? That is what I decided to do, and I began the writings.

The Longer Journey: How I Wrote It

All of the writings included under The Longer Journey were written through a form of Extrasensory Perception (ESP) known as "automatic writing." Telepathy, the direct experience of another person's mental state or information, is one form of ESP, and automatic writing is one form of telepathy. At no time did I ever write in any form of trance. My only preparation for writing sessions was to maintain a state of relaxed alertness. All writing sessions were conducted in the mornings, before leaving home for work. I wrote for longer sessions on weekends.

At the beginning of each session, a personality who used the name "Granger", assisted by a group referred to as "The Starters" began to write almost immediately. In the section called "Starting Out" Granger explains the process by which the information was presented. The title, The Longer Journey, carries the concept that something more is taking place in the evolution of humans than the physical process of natural selection alone. That concept is explained by Granger in the section called "The Longer Journey."

I invite you to give your personal consideration to the information presented in the writings, then come to your own conclusions.

Gordon Feltmate