Dear iShift subscribers,

In the last issue of iShift (#45), sent two months ago, I wrote the following:

This will be the last issue of iShift in its current format. Subsequent monthly e-bulletins will highlight what's new and interesting on the [new] IONS website, including feature articles, reviews, and new blog postings in Noetic Now, and relevant research updates...now scheduled for launch in early May...

Well, it is now early July, and if you haven’t noticed, there hasn’t been another newsletter or a new website since the last correspondence. I kept waiting for the new site to launch, eager to show off its many new features in a reformatted monthly bulletin, but that day kept getting delayed, and so did the new bulletin. Which brings us to now.

Building a vast new website from scratch that effectively represents the breadth and complexities of a place like IONS is not for the faint of heart (or the impatient). Nevertheless, I have it on high authority that the website will launch by the end of July, and my apologies for having waited so long to keep you informed. In the meantime, here is a flavor for what you’ll experience there...

—MG

A Twittering of Consciousness, Part II

With cautious anticipation, I attended an inaugural gathering of technocrats and wisdom-sowing digerati at the Wisdom 2.0 Conference in Silicon Valley. My motivation was both professional education and personal curiosity. Admittedly a late adopter of anything more complicated than a transistor radio, I nevertheless felt the call of a phenomenon that, with me or without me, is moving forward at breakneck speed. And of course the irony of technology serving or even reflecting our deepest spiritual yearnings—the primary focus of this event—was not lost on me. At the intersection of faith and reality, could wisdom really be found?

After two days of rich dialogue and presentations, I came to the conclusion that the answer is...maybe. I was intrigued and even inspired at times by the authenticity of motivation behind the many new initiatives seeking to raise consciousness, inspire social action, and unearth our better selves, but still nagged by a vague sense of unease. Are we deluding ourselves into thinking that technology is the answer to the most persistent challenges of existence, or are we blessed by a tool that may only be at the cusp of its potential to help spark a global social and spiritual renaissance?

Consciousness and Parapsychology: A Thought Experiment

By Michael Grosso

Consciousness is a recent phenomenon in the history of planet Earth; we know nothing of it beyond or prior to terrestrial history. What we do know is part of the story—the unfinished story—of human evolution. The true function of consciousness is quite puzzling, and its relationship to the central nervous system is riddled with hard questions. Some regard consciousness as eluding rational explanation, as does the mysterian philosopher, Colin McGinn, while some like the late psychologist William James contend that consciousness does not exist, at least not in any substantive sense.

As to its causal powers, there is a spectrum of opinions, ranging from epiphenomenalism (consciousness as impotent brain offshoot) to hypophenomenalism (brain as somehow derivative from consciousness). Some say it is an emergent property, the result of a critical measure of brain complexity; others think it something implicit in being or nature, waiting to be teased into manifestation. Some call it a glorious excresence of chance, others see in its purity God throwing off sparks of soul life. Dostoysevsky thought consciousness was a disease, a freakish pain, an impediment to life.

Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences

Book review by Jane Holden

In 1998, Jeffrey Long, a radiation oncologist long fascinated with near-death experiences (NDEs), founded the Near Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF) and its website. As with the International Association for Near-Death Studies' (IANDS) predecessor website, anyone who thought or knew they’d had an NDE and who had Internet access could provide a narrative and complete a questionnaire about the experience and its aftereffects. Long revised his questionnaire in 2004, and between 2004 and 2008, 613 people from around the world met Long’s criteria of a legitimate entry. Evidence of the Afterlife is based on his analysis of these data and on corresponding findings from previous NDE research.

News from IONS

In addition to the flurry of activity getting the website ready for launch, we have been busy getting IONS' research and ideas out into the world as we expand what we are calling our Global Learning Community:

• Marilyn Mandala Schlitz was caught in volcanic ash while she completed a series of invitational lectures in Europe in April. She engaged audiences in London, Portugal, Brussels and Paris, and was interviewed by numerous magazines and media outlets.
• Dean Radin was the keynote speaker at the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology in San Diego, the Superpowers Symposium at the Esalen Institute, and the Indian Council of Philosophical Research in New Delhi.
• Cassandra Vieten has been sharing IONS' work at the San Francisco Zen Center, conducted a Mindful Motherhood workshop on the IONS campus, and gave a presentation on the Spiritual Engagement Project at Duke University.
• Edgar Mitchell, Marilyn, and 35 IONS Circle members and guests experienced a moment in history as they witnessed the launch of the last mission of the Shuttle Atlantis in May.

We are currently wrapping up the teleseminar series, "Exploring the Noetic Sciences." There are only three remaining segments! The next one, "What's behind the Scientific and Spiritual Nature of Psi?," will feature IONS Senior Scientist Dean Radin interviewing physicist/psi researcher Russell Targ. This show is open to everyone. To sign up, go here. For more information on the series, go here.

Our Fall 2010 series, "Essentials of Noetic Sciences," begins on September 1. It will explore such topics as the historical roots of noetic, metaphysics in popular culture, near-death experiences, transformative practices, integral healing, and energy medicine. We hope you'll join us for these lively in-depth conversations with leaders in the field. Stay tuned for more information.

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