Robert Allan Monroe has had wide career experience in communications, having written for newspapers and magazines, and worked in television and electronics.

Since the 1950s, Monroe researched the effects of various sound patterns on human consciousness, including the feasibility of learning during sleep. He often used himself as a test subject for this research and in 1958 he began experiencing a state of consciousness separate and apart from the physical body. He described the state as an “out of body experience”. This led to much more research into human consciousness. He chronicled his early explorations in the book, Journeys Out of the Body (1971).

Monroe's research led to the development of an audio-guidance technology called hemispheric synchronization or Hemi-Sync®.

In 1974, his research expanded to become The Monroe Institute which continued exploring expanded states of human consciousness and how to enhance human potential.

In 1985 he wrote a second book, "Far Journeys", which expanded upon his personal investigations of nonphysical reality.

In 1994 his third book, "Ultimate Journey" was released, exploring basic truths about the meaning and purpose of life and what lies beyond the limits of our physical world.

The Monroes lived on a farm near the Blue Ridge in Virginia, America. This is also the site of a Mind Research Institute opened by Monroe in 1971.