WHERE CAN I FIND INFORMATION ON THE INSTITUTE'S RESEARCH PROGRAMS?
An
overview of the focus and program areas of IONS' research is available
at
http://www.noetic.org/research.cfm,
which includes links to the Spontaneous
Remission Bibliography, available in its entirety online, as well as The
Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation, updated in 2009. You
can also visit
www.livingdeeply.org for more information
on our studies on transformations in consciousness.
Research at IONS has resulted
in or contributed to the publication of numerous
books, including:
- Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body
Medicine edited by Marilyn Schlitz, Tina Amorok and Marc Micozzi
- Living Deeply:
The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life by Marilyn Schlitz,
Cassandra Vieten and Tina Amorok
- Entangled Minds by Dean Radin
- Mindful Motherhood by Cassandra Vieten
- Global Mind Change by Willis Harman
- Spontaneous Remission Bibliography by Brendan
O'Regan
More on our scientific research can be found at:
For electronic access to articles about some of our research projects in peer-reviewed
journals, go to http://www.noetic.org/publications/journal_pubs.cfm.
To receive our free monthly electronic newsletter, go to http://www.noetic.org/publications/enews.cfm.
To search our magazine archives, go to http://www.noetic.org/search.cfm.
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WHERE CAN I LOCATE MORE INFORMATION/SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES ON SUBJECTS STUDIED
BY IONS AS WELL AS OTHER RELATED TOPICS?
Google Scholar is an excellent,
user-friendly search engine/database that lists articles from peer-reviewed
journals and
academic books. Another helpful source that contains a comprehensive database
of medical research is PubMed.
This online store is an excellent resource for both trade and academic books
across a wide variety of noetic topics: http://astore.amazon.com/thealvazingin-20.
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HOW DOES IONS DEFINE "CONSCIOUSNESS"?
In our work, personal consciousness
is awareness—how an individual
perceives and interprets his or her environment. Collective consciousness
is how a group (an institution, a society, a species) perceives and translates
the world around
them. In its largest sense, consciousness has been referred to as a "milieu
of potential," the shared ground of being from which all experiences
and phenomena arise and eventually return.
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HOW DOES IONS DEFINE "CONSCIOUSNESS TRANSFORMATION"?
We define it as a fundamental shift in perspective or worldview that
results in an expanded understanding of self and the nature of reality. Such
transformations
usually lead the person to a greater sense of meaning and purpose and a reorientation
of priorities toward the health and wholeness of both self and the larger community.
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WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE HISTORY AND NATURE OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENA?
There are several good books, including IONS Senior Scientist Dean Radin's
Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality (2006),
which is endorsed by physics Nobel Laureate Brian Josephson and physicians
Larry
Dossey and Deepak Chopra, and The Conscious Universe (first published
in 1997 and recently made available in paperback). Excerpts from both are posted
at
his website. Another good source is
The End of Materialism: How Evidence of the Paranormal is Bringing Science
and Spirit Together by pioneering
psychologist-researcher Charles Tart, published under our Noetic
Books imprint.
Other sources of information on psychic phenomena, including telepathy and
precognition, include:
- The Parapsychology
Foundation,
which provides links to organizations and individuals who are doing research
of this kind.
- The writings of biologist-theorist Rupert
Sheldrake.
- The
book The Power of Premonitions by Dr. Larry Dossey
- Some of the works by C.G.
Jung (e.g., Man and His Symbols) and Joseph Campbell (e.g., The
Power of Myth) on mythic imagery and symbolism.
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WHAT INSTITUTIONS HAVE DONE RESEARCH ON PSI PHENOMENA?
Institutions (in addition to IONS) that have done active research on psi phenomena
include the following:
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ARE
THERE SOURCES OF INFORMATION TO HELP ME EXPLAIN MY PSYCHIC EXPERIENCES TO SKEPTICAL
FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES?
An important issue for people with psychic abilities is getting support and
confirmation so that you can connect with and relate to others rather than
experience alienation, fear, or isolation. The goal is to use your gifts productively
and to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Again, Dean Radin's books, The Conscious
Universe and Entangled Minds, are helpful in providing scientific information
about psychic phenomena while presenting and discussing the opinions of eminent
scientists throughout history who have been interested in them. While open-minded
skepticism about these phenomena is perfectly reasonable for people who are
curious or haven't experienced them, trying to convince those who are
closed-minded or frightened of such phenomena will always be difficult.
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WHAT
CAN I DO TO PROTECT MYSELF FROM UNWANTED PSYCHIC EXPERIENCES OR INTRUSIVE
THOUGHTS?
Many people report experiences of distressing thoughts and influences. When
this happens, direct your thoughts to pleasant images. Practice thought-stopping
to the extent that you are able. It is also a good practice to engage in activities
that ground you in the material world, such as focusing on your breath or physical
sensations. Pet a friendly animal. Take a walk. See a comedy at the cinema.
Spend time talking with others. Make sure that you are eating and sleeping
well. Exercise, garden, or otherwise keep your attention on activities that
help you feel safe or feel good. Take baby steps; over time they will add up.
In general, the less attention you pay to these phenomena and the more you
pay to the physical world, the better you will feel. The illusion they create
is that they are impossible to escape; it isn't true. The intensity of
such intrusive thoughts will diminish as you turn away from them; as you do,
you will actually begin to create new neural connections in your brain.
If you find that you are frightened, depressed, or otherwise negatively affected
by these experiences for more than a few days, we encourage you to seek the
help of a mental health professional or trusted friend. Getting someone to
accompany you through dark times is important.
The following organizations may also be helpful:
Spiritual Emergence Network
(415) 453-1106
http://www.spiritualemergence.info/
Spiritual Emergency Resource Center at California Institute of Integral Studies
(SEN@CIIS)
415-648-2610
http://www.spiritualcompetency.com/se/resources/senciis.html
The SEN@CIIS Information and Referral Service offers support and resources
for individuals having difficult spiritual or psychic experiences. These can
include:
- Loss or change of faith
- Existential and/or spiritual crisis
- Experience of unitive consciousness or
altered states
- Psychic Openings
- Possession
- Near-Death Experience
- Kundalini
- Shamanic journey
- Difficulties with a meditation practice
Trained graduate students in the School
of Professional Psychology respond to each caller, providing assistance and
educational information regarding
spiritual emergence. The staff can also make referrals to licensed mental
health professionals in the caller's area. SEN@CIIS mental health professionals
are respectful of the diversity of spiritual experiences and are familiar
with
a number of spiritual traditions.
Drawing on transpersonal psychology and
the knowledge from the spiritual traditions which have investigated the stages
and characteristics of spiritual
growth,
the mental health profession in the United States is beginning to understand
that some characteristics of spiritual development can be confused with
symptoms of mental illness. When accurately understood, these characteristics
are
often recognized as evidence of the normal, potentially life-enhancing
aspect of
natural human development.
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CAN I VOLUNTEER AS A RESEARCH PARTICIPANT IN PROGRAMS
THAT WILL STUDY AND VALIDATE MY PSYCHIC GIFTS?
Our Research Associates at the Institute of Noetic Sciences are not available
to study individuals who claim psychic abilities or to provide scientific validation
or corroboration for their work, nor do we have plans for such studies in the
near future. Most of our research projects and analyses are based on the responses
of many subjects because we are interested in reaching conclusions about what
is true, in general, for the population at large, rather than for just a few
unusual or exceptional people.
Occasionally we ask professional intuitive, energetic, or distant healers to
participate in research studies, but this does not involve validation of an
individual healer's skills. To be a research volunteer in one of our
studies, check our website for requests or email Charlene
Farrell to add your name to a list of potential future volunteer research
subjects.
If you have an active dream life, you can post your dreams at the
Gaia's Dreams website, a project
being carried out
by Dr. Radin. As he explains it, "Gaia's Dreams is an experiment
based on Carl Jung's concept of the collective unconscious. It is designed
to gather and analyze collective dream quality and content, and to provide
reports on emerging trends based on aspects of those dreams. This site will
eventually perform daily automated cross-dream linguistic and quality analyses.
Ultimately the goal is to correlate collective dreams with world events, including
natural and unnatural disasters, to see if collective dreams are predictive.
This experiment was partially motivated by reports of unusual dreams prior
to 9/11 and the tsunami of December 2005, and by hundreds of historical cases
of precognitive dreams. Data collected on this site will help us discern whether
such dreams are truly precognitive."
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DOES IONS PROVIDE GRANTS TO SUPPORT
OUTSIDE RESEARCH?
We rarely fund extramural research (research that is done outside of our organization),
although we sometimes provide small seed grants to researchers and have served
as fiscal sponsors for projects closely aligned with our mission and research
interests.
Check online for The Foundation Directory or ask the reference librarian at
your local library if they have a copy. There are hundreds of grant-making
foundations providing billions of dollars every year to charities and nonprofits—including
many that specialize in research. Matching your interests with the right foundation
is an art and a science, but with effort it can be accomplished.
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DOES IONS STUDY
ALTERNATIVE HEALING TECHNIQUES DEVELOPED BY OTHERS?
This is not something we do. Funding clinical studies is an expensive and
time-consuming undertaking involving the creation of rigorous, often double-blind
protocols and meeting Institutional Review Board Standards for human research
subjects.
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CAN YOU RECOMMEND AN ALTERNATIVE PRACTITIONER FOR A SERIOUS ILLNESS?
We do not provide specific medical referrals or recommend specific treatment
options. If you are interested in pursuing alternative medical treatments,
visit the National Council of Complementary and Alternative Medicine's
website at http://nccam.nih.gov/health/decisions/practitioner.htm for guidelines
on choosing a practitioner.
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IS THERE A SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR PEOPLE WITH
CHRONIC ILLNESS?
The Continuum Center for Health and Healing at Beth Israel Medical Center
has launched New Approaches
to Chronic Disease,
an NIH-funded multimedia consumer education website that provides in-depth,
evidence-based information, research summaries, extensive resources, and unique
online exercises that offer patients a multidisciplinary integrative approach
to managing heart disease, diabetes, and chronic pain. The site is bi-lingual
(English and Spanish).
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CAN YOU RECOMMEND PROGRAMS THAT INCLUDE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT
FOR PATIENTS AND FAMILIES WITH CANCER?
Each person has unique needs in this challenging situation, and no single
program or offering works for everyone. Nevertheless, possible sources of help
might be found through the Institute
for Health and Healing at California Pacific
Medical Center or the Commonweal
Cancer Help Program. Honor your
own knowing, trusted medical professionals, and feedback from loved ones when
deciding whether a specific program may be helpful for you.
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CAN THOUGHTS HEAL ME?
While it is now generally agreed that the mind can heal the body (to a degree,
and for some illnesses), this doesn't mean we should dismiss the miracles
of modern medicine. After all, the same minds that mysteriously know how to
heal the body (or reduce pain) were also smart enough to figure out how to
perform incredible surgeries and create amazing medicines. We recommend using
all available resources to treat a health problem.
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HOW CAN I NETWORK WITH OTHER LIKE-MINDED PROFESSIONALS WHO WANT TO ADVANCE
THE FIELD OF NOETIC SCIENCE AND CONTRIBUTE TO POSITIVE SHIFTS IN CONSCIOUSNESS?
There
is a large pool of well-educated people who have important information and
wisdom to contribute to the process of understanding the nature of consciousness
and how this can help us navigate the challenging times in which we find ourselves.
Many of these people are members of IONS and/or colleagues through our research
and workshops. In addition to attending specific events, you can join our monthly
membership program that includes teleseminars in which members
listen to trailblazers in diverse fields discuss noetic subjects, followed
by Q&A and community discussion. Our new website, launching in Spring 2010,
will include various discussion groups, the ability to post and scan events
from anywhere in the world, and a directory of key researchers in the field.
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WHAT
EDUCATIONAL PATH SHOULD I PURSUE IN ORDER TO BECOME QUALIFIED TO CONDUCT
THE KIND OF RESEARCH THAT IONS CARRIES OUT?
At present there are no accredited courses of study or degrees that one can
earn in the noetic sciences. There are some schools that offer advanced degrees
in parapsychology, metaphysics, and so on, but none of them are accredited
by the main academic boards, which means those degrees have little or no
value when applying for jobs. Other schools, like Saybrook Institute or the
Institute
of Transpersonal Psychology, do offer accredited degrees in associated areas,
but the vast majority of people who earn such degrees do not end up earning
a living in the noetic sciences.
We recommend that you earn an advanced degree in a traditional area that
interests you, such as psychology or physics, and build a career there. Do
exceptional
work, and as you gain credibility you can begin to study or conduct noetic
research on the side. To become a viable candidate when one of the rare job
opportunities in noetic research arise, attend appropriate conventions, meet
leaders in the field, publish papers, and become known to decision-makers
at the few institutes around the world that conduct research in these areas.
This
is how virtually all of the people working in the field today have obtained
their positions, and this reality is not likely to change any time soon.
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DOES
IONS OFFER ACADEMIC PROGRAMS IN THE FIELD OF NOETIC SCIENCE?
IONS is not a degree-granting institution, although we may eventually offer
professional certification programs in certain specialized fields.
Graduate studies consistent with the field of noetic science are offered by
the following schools:
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HOW CAN
I JOIN THE IONS' EXTENDED FACULTY?
Our extended faculty members are generally chosen from scientists, researchers,
and educators who have donated their time and expertise to our research and
educational programs. Colleagues contribute in various ways, including donating
time to speak at our lectures and conferences. There is no formal nomination
process at the present time, and we are not actively seeking extended faculty
members, but if you have specific ideas about how you'd like to be involved,
please email research@noetic.org. Due to the high volume of correspondence
we receive, we will only get back with you if we currently have a forum or
other means in which we are able to collaborate.
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ARE THERE OPPORTUNITIES TO
TEACH AT IONS?
We don't have conventional "teaching positions" at IONS.
However, we have recently started to offer our own "Transformative
Learning Weekend Workshops." We handle the registration and share
more of the marketing outreach on these types of workshops than on events held
by outside
groups on our campus. Since they have our support and our name on them, we
do require a high level of credentials, experience, and name recognition. Factors
we consider in choosing presenters include affiliation with academic institutions,
recognized frontier or cutting-edge thought, and the ability to provide marketing
support such as a mailing list. For further information, contact Claudia Holt
at cholt@noetic.org or 707-779-8202.
The
IONS Retreat Center is also available for rent by workshops led by like-minded
individuals and groups. For more information, contact Lisa VanderBoom at
707-779-8224 or lvanderboom@noetic.org.
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DO YOU READ AND COMMENT ON RESEARCH MANUSCRIPTS?
We only have three Research Associates and they all have very busy schedules
conducting research, writing, and speaking. They generally do not have time
available to comment on or confirm individual theories or to support the many
worthy research efforts that come to their attention. This reflects not a lack
of interest but limits in personnel, time, and finances.
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CAN I VOLUNTEER OR
INTERN IN THE IONS RESEARCH DEPARTMENT?
We often work with interns and volunteers at in the IONS Research
Department. Interns are either currently enrolled in or recently graduated
from school
and interested in pursuing research projects related to their education. If
you are interested in a research internship, go here
for more information and an online application. In most cases, internships
work best for people who can come to the IONS campus on a regular basis. Virtually
all internships are unpaid. If you are interested in volunteering (e.g., we
often need people to transcribe or index audio or visual media), email volunteer@noetic.org.
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HOW
DO I FIND OUT ABOUT EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE IONS' RESEARCH
DEPARTMENT?
We do not currently have paid positions in the Research Department. New employment
opportunities will be listed on the IONS website at http://www.noetic.org/about/job_openings.htm and/or on Craig's
List.
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WHERE CAN I LEARN ABOUT EDGAR MITCHELL'S WORK ON QUANTUM HOLOGRAPHY?
You
can begin by reading the chapter, "Quantum Holography: A Basis for
the Interface between Mind and Matter," in Bioelectromagnetic Medicine
(2004) by Paul J. Rosch, Marko S. Markov. Informa Health Care. p. 153-158.
It is available here.
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WHERE CAN I FIND DEAN RADIN'S BLOG ON DR. EMOTO'S WORK WITH WATER
CRYSTALS?
Go to http://deanradin.blogspot.com/2006/10/effects-of-distant-intention-on-water.html.
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WHAT IS THE WORLDVIEW LITERACY PROJECT AND HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT GETTING
INVOLVED?
This study encourages students to consider the fact that
we all have a personal worldview, or way of seeing and interpreting the world,
and to examine how
this worldview affects how we interact with others. Through this project, we
hope to support increased understanding of our individual and cultural differences,
which will then lead to greater emotional intelligence and compassion among
those researchers, educators, and students involved in this study—and
beyond.
Elizabeth Miller, the Worldview Literacy Program Coordinator, is keeping a
list of educators who may be interested in participating in the next phases
of project development. Ultimately, we hope to create an interactive Worldview
Literacy website, through which classrooms around the world can participate.
If you would like your classroom to participate or to be involved in other
ways, please email Liz at lmiller@noetic.org.
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