Monte Ullman (1916-2008)
The Little Prince
Montague Ullman, popularly known
as Monte, had a stately bearing befitting that of a Nobel laureate. His dignity,
his superior intellect, his accomplishments, his empathy were evident to all who
knew him. But there was another equally engaging prism to this multifaceted
doctor, teacher, healer, dream worker, scientist, parapsychologist. As Monte’s
companion and colleague for the last five years of his life, reflected in that
prism I saw Monte as the Little Prince, embodying the classic story by Antoine
de Saint-Exupery. Like the Little
Prince, Monte was an explorer who set out on a journey to learn about the
invisible parts of life. He had the
innocent wonder of a shy little boy in search of truth, using his imagination,
memory, creativity and honesty – all his keys to dreaming – to write scholarly
papers.
Where did this little Monte
Prince live? As in the story of the Little Prince, he lived on a planet that was
scarcely larger than a house – a house of dreams, but he was in search of
something much larger than a single planet. He referred to this incomprehensibly
vast realm that had many more planets than anyone could count, as the Implicate
Order. Like the Little Prince, when scientists would only listen to him if he
behaved and dressed as they did, Monte wore blue jeans and broke from the
establishment proudly claiming his independent status as “a recovering
psychiatrist.” With all the right
credentials and insights advancing far beyond traditional psychoanalytic theory,
he created a new way of thinking about the dream.
He fathered the process of dream sharing and the sense of oneness it
produced.
For
those of you who hadn’t the great pleasure of knowing Monte, he was a life force
in the world of dreams. There was no substitute for his insight. In his last
paper, “The Dream: In Search of a New Abode” (2006), he had the prescience to
connect the theories of physicist David Bohm to dreaming consciousness. Like the
dream, Bohm’s implicate order was an order of wholeness that includes all that
exists in a state of interconnectedness which actually mirrors what Monte
had accomplished in his dream-sharing approach.
Monte frequently said that in a
dream sharing group, there was a true sense of communion. The
human connection he experienced in each and every
group produced in him overwhelming feelings of connectivity for his dream
of species survival had come to life. Every dream group was the “best one ever,”
so said Monte.
He remained devoted to his
Saturday groups to the end and held a special place in his heart for the
The
Dream Group Forum (Drömgruppsforum), a national society formed in
Monte
often referred to our society as dream deprived and credited the Swedes for
opening the door to his concept of dream sharing.
He felt that
Monte taught us the power of love
and the secrets of what is important in life through our dreams. His soul-stirring
influence on those whose lives he touched is testimony to his great wisdom, his
incredible kindness and extraordinary contributions.
And for all of his brilliance and wisdom, he was a
terrific tease with a wonderfully zany sense of humor.
Once when we were watching David Blane,
the street performer, on TV, Monte decided he was going to outperform Blane’s
levitation technique so he dramatically elongated his body and stood very, very
tall on tip toe. One foot might have been about a quarter inch above the ground,
while he cleverly concealed the other. I
feigned wonder and whispered in awe, “How did you do that?” Grinning like
a Cheshire cat, he said, “It’s a secret!”
Monte was
so modest he never wanted to take credit for anything. I would often tell him
how much people loved him and what a contribution he
was making. Invariably he would reply, “Oh – go on.” After some two years, I
told him I figured out what that meant. He
bashfully said, “Yeah, okay, so what does it mean?
I said, “It means you want more,” and he
burst into gales of laughter. He secretly treasured those compliments.
Monte was a happy, charming spirit who loved to laugh
and never forgot to be human. His enormous compassion affected dreamers in every
walk of life. One by one, each person I had spoken with after Monte passed
revealed a profoundly intimate soul-connection to him, be it his gardener, his
health-care aides, his barber, his dry-cleaner, his dream workers, his esteemed
colleagues – friends he hadn’t seen or spoken to for decades – even people he
knew only peripherally – and his family who are so very proud of him. Grown men
wept, words fell short and the world wobbled for each of us had suffered an
inexpressible loss. He lived his theory of species-connectedness as his presence
on earth elicited every loving emotion on the scale of human feelings. They are
reflected in these tributes:
My father was a special man. He had the gift to heal.
He was able to listen to and solve problems with ease. His gentle soft voice was
soothing and so heartfelt in his words. Magic was an early passion, in
particular, Houdini who really captured his imagination. This led to séances as
a teenager which brought back the spirit of
Dr. Bindelof and triggered his
interest in the paranormal. But his dream work was his ultimate passion. Holding
workshops and teaching his own method of how to analyze dreams was his goal. Not
too many people achieve their goal in life and he was able to do just that. My
father was such a quiet and unassuming guy who possessed so many fine qualities;
he never bragged or boasted. He was always honest and truthful. He had a wicked
sense of humor. He worked hard to provide for his family and in the end, his
dream did come true. (From Monte’s youngest daughter, Lucy Bain, who lives in
“I just got the news. I am almost without words.” (Gunnar)
“He always had time for me. He helped me with the adoption of my son with the
Russian authorities. They broke the mold when they made Monte.” (Ted Chaiko -
handyman)
“I instantly broke down in tears when I received the sad news last night.” (Bob
Van De Castle)
“Monte was a happy man. He was so at peace with himself. He had a great appetite
and never complained. (Myrna Rodriquez - Health Care Aide)
“Monte has been very important for us in
“Monte has left us and we are poorer without him. His
contributions to psychiatry, psychology and parapsychology are a marvelous,
stunning. incredible legacy that reflect his wisdom, his insight and his
critical acumen.” (
“Monte taught me so much about wisdom, compassion,
imagery, love, laughter, kindness, truth, and love of humankind.” (Linda Raab)
“Monte was one of the truly great human beings I have
known in my life. His kindness, wisdom and vision were inspirational.” (Patrice
Keane - ASPR)
“It was a gift for us to know Monte, as delightful a
spirit as I’ve ever known and whom I can imagine is smiling kindly down on us at
this very moment.” (Sally Rhine-Feather)
“I loved Monte. I feel as though I’ve lost a
brother.” (Jan Tolles -
“Thank you Monte, for changing my life by your dream
research and work which gave me the reassurance I needed to accept my
extraordinary dreams, despite familial, societal and religious discouragements.”
(Goshengolly)
“He was an inspiration to us and helped find the path
to dreaming. I cherish those great memories of Monte.” (Dale Graff)
“I have lost a very dear friend to whom I am deeply
grateful. He has enriched my life, my soul, my very capacity for seeing, and I
cannot mull over a dream without an awareness of Monte. That myriad ties have
formed around the globe through the sharing of dreams is as fitting a tribute to
Monte as I can imagine.” (Deborah Hillman)
“If this were my dream” is an important and famous
contribution of Monte’s work, but the real and unfailing safety I always felt in
Monte’s groups was because of its full structure.” (Gloria Sturzenacker)
“Monte’s groundbreaking research and pioneering explorations and work in the
field of dreams, dreaming, and psi have made the paths wider for those following
their dreams and the wisdom therein.” (
“What a loss that Monty is no longer in life.”
(Elisabeth Bratt-Neuberg)
“He will be dearly, deeply missed but through his
well said and researched words, he’ll be around forever.” (Roberta)
“I feel like the earth is less solid and the air is
harder to breathe … (Judy Kaplan)
“He was a very important and very influential person
in my life and career.” (
“One Swedish pupil said: My life changed when I met
him and his method: I sat for half an hour thinking of what he has meant
personally and professionally for me.” (Kerstin Andersson)
In 2006, the IASD (International Association for the Study of Dreams) honored
him with a Lifetime Achievement
Award for his research and contributions to the field of dreams.
IASD’s support of Monte’s method at the 2008
Montreal Conference for CEU credits may be one giant step for dreaming
consciousness in granting his life-long dream of incorporating the value of
dreaming into an educational curriculum. How miraculous it would be if the
Ullman Method of dream sharing were introduced in higher education: in the
college graduate school curriculums.
He also wanted to expand his method beyond the dream
community to children. Just days before he passed, at the suggestion of Bill
Stimson, I encouraged Monte to speak of his feelings about dreams and education.
This is what he said:
"I would like to see more activity on the parts of
adults in managing children in their dream life by bringing it down to their
level and helping them see that dreaming is a way of thinking while they're
sleeping through creating active imagery -- getting something across by
collective imagery. It's a unique language.
“Adults can bring out the fact that children have
dreams and can talk about them and begin to reflect on what's going on in them.
In other words, we're offering a free education to children about taking the
pictures in their dreams seriously, because they're meant to have meaning.
“Dreaming is a language that helps to bring feelings
to the surface. It's a pictorial elocution, a way of talking in pictures.”
I thought – who can better understand a picture than a child? Children’s minds
are so fertile. Grownups overlook the little details that children pay strict
attention to. As written in the Little
Prince "Only children know what they are looking for." Monte managed to tap into
the child in all of us.
Monte Ullman was a humanitarian to his very core. Our
humble mentor who tenderly fathered our dreams and taught us to share and fed
our hearts, left his physical body on
In Loving
Memory
Judy
Gardiner