Worldview Transformation

How does consciousness transform?
How can we support individual and
collective transformation?

This research program area focuses on the phenomena of consciousness transformation: how it occurs, how it can be stimulated, and how it can be translated into long-term beneficial changes for oneself and one’s community. A series of studies including narrative analyses, focus groups, surveys, in-depth interviews, and longitudinal studies conducted by our research team has shed light on experiences and practices that can catalyze fundamental shifts in worldview. Continuing studies are focused on mechanisms by which people’s worldviews transform, and we are translating what we’ve learned into training programs and curricula for youth and adults.

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  The Spiritual Engagement Project

  A study of how engagement in spiritual practices is related to health and well-being.

  • Intramural
  • Currently Active
  • Started 2008

  Topics:

  Spirituality, Transformation, Transformative Practices
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  The Science of Peace

  This project proposes a comprehensive strategy to form a new multidisciplinary “science of peace.”

  • Intramural
  • Currently Active
  • Started 2006

  Topics:

  Collective Consciousness, Community and Society, Nature and Ecology, Philosophy, Prosocial Emotions, Relationships and Family, Transformation, Worldviews
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  Bay Area Science and Spirit Dialogues

  Dynamic community dialogues between scientists, scholars, and spiritual wisdom keepers at the interface of science and spirituality.

  • Intramural
  • Completed
  • Started 2005

  Topics:

  Education
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  End of Life Care: Cosmologies of the Afterlife and Their Clinical Relevance

  Where does our consciousness go when we die? This online educational program directed toward both health and healing professionals and life-long learners delves into this intriguing but often marginalized topic.

  • Intramural
  • Currently Active
  • Started 2004

  Topics:

  Death, Dying & Beyond, Mind-Matter Interaction
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  At Home Within

  The Institute of Noetic Sciences has collaborated with the Committee on the Shelterless to develop and pilot test a transformational practice program for homeless adults.

  • Intramural
  • Currently Active
  • Started 2003

  Topics:

  Community and Society, Health and Healing, Transformation, Transformative Practices
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  The Legacy of Transformation

  This project sought to identify new approaches to the therapuetic and transformational use of psychedelic substances by convening and interviewing researchers who stood at the frontiers of this field.

  • Intramural
  • Completed
  • Started 2002

  Topics:

  Health and Healing, Neuroscience, States of Consciousness, Transformation, Transformative Practices
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  Connexiones

  This study aimed to examine the effects of a specially developed noetic intervention designed to encourage maternal infant bonding and communication in Latina pregnant teenagers in Marin County.

  • Intramural
  • Currently Active
  • Started 1998

  Topics:

  Transformation, Transformative Practices, Worldviews
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  The Achuar Project

  This project takes us deeply into the Achuar worldview of the Ecuadorian Amazon to better understand the process of dream sharing among this remote group.

  • Intramural
  • Currently Active
  • Started 1997

  Topics:

  Collective Consciousness, Community and Society, Indigenous Wisdom, Intuition, Mind-Matter Interaction, Parapsychology, Spirituality, States of Consciousness, Transformation, Transformative Practices
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  The Transformation Project

  A series of studies over a decade has investigated transformations in consciousness, or how people make fundamental shifts in perception that alter how they view and interact with themselves and the world around them.

  • Intramural
  • Currently Active
  • Started 1997

  Topics:

  Education, Indigenous Wisdom, Intention, Prosocial Emotions, Psychology, Relationships and Family, Spirituality, Transformation, Transformative Practices, Worldviews
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  Living Deeply

  A book, DVD, and series of workshops that move spirituality off the mountain top and into your daily life... one step at a time.

  • Intramural
  • Currently Active
  • Started 1997

  Topics:

  Education, Indigenous Wisdom, Intention, Prosocial Emotions, Psychology, Relationships and Family, Spirituality, Transformation, Transformative Practices, Worldviews