Noetic Now

East Meets West on Evolution’s Border

The official theme of the third annual Science and Nonduality conference was “On the Edge of Time,” but the unofficial narrative was about time running out on the flat-earth paradigms of our day: the world works like a machine, consciousness follows matter, our lives are essentially meaningless, we are in this thing alone.

When Skeptics Face the Evidence

This last weekend found me in Washington, DC, at the Society for Experimental and Social Psychology Annual Conference (SESP). I was invited to discuss the controversy that was kicked up in the field of social psychology about the study of precognition.

Social psychologists (and other scientists) as a whole are extremely skeptical not only of the research on psi but of the very idea that psi can or should be studied by scientists. But this may be changing. The session I presented in was very well-attended, and I found that most people, while not exactly open-minded, were open-hearted, thoughtful, and willing to engage in respectful discussion about the topic.

What’s the Matter with Miracles?

Some days I wake up and it hits me all over again. There’s a lot of science going on in the world, but how many people get to work at a place where a few very brainy and dedicated scientists are measuring the farthest reaches of the mind for clues to higher levels of the human experience?

Meditation Research: A Bridge between Worldviews…

Research on meditation is not off limits any longer. Scientists are learning from the spiritual traditions without contaminating the scientific method. Spiritual groups are seeking scientific evidence for the role of meditation to better understand their practice and deepen their faith. Health interventions are benefitting from centuries of scientific research as well as millennia of spiritual inquiry. This is something that we get really excited about at IONS. And meditation research paved the way.

Farewell Lee Lipsenthal

Beloved IONS Board member, colleague, and friend Lee Lipsenthal passed away last Tuesday, September 20, after a two-year battle with untreatable esophageal cancer.

Assisting the Minds that Assist Change

The world is changing before our eyes. As we dip our toes into the 21^st century, you and I are watching a full tidal shift in world order... Some may respond by denying the experience and others respond by opening up to further exploration.

Give Unity a Chance

Transformation. It’s a powerful word, a game-changing process. When we listen to the stories of how the tragedy of September 11, 2001, transformed people’s lives, we are moved by the recurring theme of unity...

Consciousness Matters—The New IONS Blog

After a year of publishing contributed blog posts from a variety of visionaries, we will be focusing more on the inner life of IONS. Here at the blog, each week a member of our staff will bring you a close-up view of life inside IONS and/or commentary on what we are learning about the evolving field of consciousness research.

Is there Evidence for Universal Consciousness?

In Dan Brown’s new book The Lost Symbol, the fictional character Katherine Solomon mentions “universal consciousness,” which is an ongoing topic of interest at the real-life Institute of Noetic Sciences.

Rejecting Uncommon Beliefs: How Worldview Shapes our Experience

What limits our desire and capacity to take in new ideas – even when we hold an intention to transform and grow? How can we shift a paradigm that we see as flawed and incomplete without understanding the barriers to changing our minds and behaviors? And how can we develop habits that allow us to explore and reveal our own biases and intolerance of ideas that refute our prevailing beliefs and opinions?

How Do I Pray?

We usually think of prayer as an appeal to God or some other spiritual entity to change the world in some way. We might pray for someone’s healing, for success in some venture, for a better life, or for guidance on some challenging issue. Behind such prayers is the recognition that we don’t have the power to make the world the way we would like it to be – if we did, we would simply get on with the task – so we beseech a higher power to change things for us.

The Noetic Change Model — Living a Life of Meaning

We all have experience of a noetic nature: things we know to be true even without external “proof.” We often refer to these “knowings” as intuitions or synchronicities. Sometimes, for many of us, in workshops, retreats, or deep meditations, these events can be large and even shake us up… we can sit and practice, go deeper and ask ourselves, How does this noetic moment inform my life and my ability to serve others in a way that they wish to be served? How can I live it fully?

Generation Wired…and Wise?

Wisdom and technology had their friendly faceoff at the second annual Wisdom 2.0 conference as some of Silicon Valley’s finest mixed comfortably with a trio of mindfulness masters and an audience of new media pioneers...

A Path Forward: Embracing our Creative Imagination

It’s been quite a year – and it’s barely April. Extreme political unrest is underway throughout the Middle East. Earthquakes rock New Zealand, China, California, and Japan. Shifting plates and tsunami waves in the Pacific Ocean have nuclear power plants perched on the edge of total meltdown.

Absent-Minded Science, Part VI: On Natural Selection and the Universal Eros

This essay continues my extended critique of “absent-minded science” – the tendency in modern science to ignore, intentionally or through oversight, the role of mind in nature. I want to be clear up front that I am not a supporter of Intelligent Design or any religiously-motivated critique of natural selection. Rather, I approach these very difficult problems primarily from the point of view of a hard-nosed philosopher and scientist trying to make sense of it all – and finding that many mainstream approaches could be significantly improved.

Absent-Minded Science, Part V: Sex, Psyche, and Evolution

Many species reproduce without sex, including some complex vertebrates like lizards and fish. So why do we have sex? No one really knows, but there are many theories. I won’t delve much into why our species reproduces sexually; rather, I’m going to delve into what sex is as a general principle and the role of sex in evolution.

Integral Health and the Role of Consciousness

A consciousness-based integral approach taps into the last uncharted frontier in health and healing: It builds on the pivotal realization that the expansion of consciousness is the driving force underlying a comprehensive and integral health and healing. By focusing on inner development we gain the most from our time and effort. We undertake the most important step towards assuring a larger life and optimal well being.

Absent-minded Science, Part IV: The “C” Word and Emergence

The “hard problem” of consciousness is figuring out the relationship between mind and matter and why some matter gives rise to unitary subjects and why others don’t? Why am I conscious, and you, and my cat, but not the chair or the rock?

Responding to the Debate – Psi Research at a Tipping Point

I posted an article about Psi Research on my Huffington Post blog Friday morning and by Friday evening had nearly 1000 views and 250 comments. It’s been very interesting to read the comments on this article – now nearly 900 - and to see the great interest this topic generated. In this follow-up post I share my response to some of these comments.

Absent-Minded Science, Part III: What Is Matter?

Whether we call our philosophy “idealism” or “materialism” or “panpsychism,” we are trying to explain the same thing: reality, this. Some approaches are better than others, but our criteria are themselves necessarily subjective. I have highlighted empirical adequacy, logical consistency, and intellectual pedigree here, but other criteria could be used and different conclusions reached.

It’s about Time – Psi Research at a Tipping Point

Why is the existing literature on psi phenomena routinely dismissed by the scientific community and virtually ignored within the broader academic community? I think it's fear that some of our most cherished beliefs, about how the world works and about who and what we are, may be wrong. Such examination may lead to radical revisions in understanding our human potentials.

There Is No Such Thing as an Ego

What we call the ego is not another separate self so much as a mode of being that can dominate our thinking, decisions, speech, and actions, leading us to behave in ways that are uncaring, self-centered, or manipulative.

Inner Space – Technology’s New Frontier?

It’s immersive, it’s interactive, it’s embodied (sort of), and it’s actually changing people’s lives, tapping into each individual’s potential to get beyond their conditioning and become engaged in transforming themselves and their world.

There's Nothing "Magical" about Societal Healing

I know that affirmations, gratefulness, and forgiveness can bring swift benefits, and that sometimes it seems as if we achieve dramatic and miraculous support for our best intentions. But social healing is slow.

Cultivating Social Consciousness

What does it mean to be part of a greater whole? How does our worldview, or model of reality, impact what we understand about who we are and how we relate to others? And how can we become more aware of all the ways we are part of an interrelated, global community?