Petaluma Magazine
May/June 2006

The Institute of Noetic Sciences

The word “noetics” comes from the Greek word “nous” meaning “direct knowing”

Story by Karen V. Hess | Photos by Scott Hess

Have you ever felt someone’s gaze? Have you ever thought about your friend, the phone rings, and it’s her? Have you ever felt frustrated, then meditated and felt more centered, even though the outer circumstances haven’t changed? If you have experienced any of the above, then you have experienced the presence of universal consciousness and interconnectivity. This is traditionally traditionally unrecognized by western science, but if we all experience it, then maybe it is our scientific understanding that is lacking.

Thirty-five years ago, Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell was returning from the moon. He looked out the window of the spacecraft and had an experience that completely changed his life. He saw the Earth.

The sight of the Earth in its wholeness, a luminous blue globe in the middle of the cosmos, suddenly generated all around him “a sense of universal connectedness” and he directly understood that the universe was not only interconnected but conscious. A scientist, Mitchell knew that science didn’t yet understand this. So, in 1973, after retiring from the Navy, Mitchell founded The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) to further scientific research focused on consciousness and our interconnected nature.

“Mitchell saw the pristine wholeness of the planet and came back with that insight to start an institute,” says Dr. Marilyn Schlitz, IONS vice president of research and education. “We are about that moment of transformation.”

Fast forward 33 years – IONS is now internationally known with over 30,000 members and has settled in the hills south of Petaluma, where their research lab, offices and a retreat and learning center are located. IONS is a leader in the field of consciousness research. They also maintain an engaging, interactive Web site, publish Shift magazine and host educational and hands-on conferences and programs at the Petaluma Retreat Center and worldwide.

Over the past three decades, science has made discoveries that explain phenomena that seemed incomprehensible before. The sleeper hit movie “What the Bleep do we Know?” (for which IONS wrote the study guide), gave the average person more direct access to the mysteries of quantum physics, allowing us to glimpse a scientific basis for heretofore unexplained occurrences. What is the new role for the organization organization 35 years later?

“New areas we are looking at include frontier sciences like integral health and healing, and the influential capacities of our minds,” says Schlitz.

She recently led a study researching distant healing, funded by the federal government’s National Institutes of Health, involving 120 breast cancer patients, some of whom were prayed for. Over time, collagen levels in scars from a small wound each received as part of the study will be measured to see if those prayed for heal better than those whodid not receive prayer.

“I’ve been looking at claims made by healers from different traditions throughout history that they can use their minds to influence someone at a distance,” she says. And to those who say prayer and distant healing can’t or shouldn’t be studied, Schlitz says, “It’s an obligation for science to begin to look, and look critically but openmindedly, at the possibility that our minds are more powerful than we previously understood.”

IONS senior scientist Dean Radin is also studying the power of focused intention. His research includes experiments with distant healing and the effects of intention on cell growth.

“The relationship between quantum entanglement and psychic and mystical experiences transcends the senses,” says Radin. “Science has had no way to understand these things until recently, and we see now that everything really is connected, just like the mystics have always said.”

Radin, featured in a new version of “What the Bleep do we Know?” called “Down the Rabbit Hole,” is the author of a new book, “Entangled Minds.” “My book presents a plausibility case that psychic and mystical cases are related,” he says. “It’s a book with lots of data.

I’m an empiricist, so three-quarters of the book is looking at data.” But what do we do after the data is gathered and the results are in? So we are all one – now what? Scientific research is not always about discovering how something works, but whether it works. For example, we don’t know the mechanisms of how certain antidepressants and anesthetics work, just that they do. Only recently have we discovered how aspirin works. And if a healing mechanism is proven to work, especially with no negative side effects, then the next step is using it.

IONS researcher Cassandra Vitten has recently begun a project in collaboration with Petaluma’s Committee on the Shelterless (COTS). The At Home Within program is a practical application of trained positive intention. Participants go through an eight-week cycle during which they learn meditation techniques to help them navigate what may be the most difficult experience of their lives: being homeless.

“There are practices like meditation and qi gong that can support people in their healing and transformational process,” says John Records, executive director of COTS. “These practices should be available to people in dire need as well as to those who can afford them. There have been great results for those who stayed with it, including pain reduction, stress reduction and better sleep.”

While acting locally, IONS has always had a global vision. The institute hosts educational conferences at the Retreat Center and worldwide, on diverse topics from health and healing to science and intuition. The Retreat Center grounds themselves are an example of land stewardship: IONS partners with the Regenerative Design Institute to establish a healthy connection with the earth. Additionally, the IONS art program hosts international artists who create work that stimulates expanded awareness.

Most of us will never see the earth from space, but we can still have that moment of direct knowing. IONS is a resource right here in Petaluma where we can begin learning how to enter and utilize that moment.

At bookstores

“Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind Body Medicine,” edited by Marilyn Schlitz. A well thought-out and presented book of essays by leaders in the field of integral health and healing. Includes an introduction by Ken Wilber, a preface and sectional introductions by Schlitz and a DVD discussing the new field of integral medicine. A must for those in the healing professions.

“Entangled Minds” is the latest book by Dean Radin, author of “The Conscious Universe.” It explains, through the use of scientific data gathered over many years, how we really are all connected, just as the mystics have always said.

On screen

“Down the Rabbit Hole.” This new version of “What the Bleep do We Know?,” is longer, includes all new interviews and great animations explaining difficult concepts like how light is both wave and particle, and the idea of dimensions in the universe. The idea of intentionality is further emphasized in this new version. Using the same storyline, new interviews, including IONS Senior Scientist Dean Radin, further explain how our very thoughts can transform our reality.

On line

Regenerative Design Institute: RDI offers permaculture and wilderness awareness courses in the Bay Area, at www.regenerativedesign.org

IONS Web site: Check the IONS Web site, www.noetic.org, for upcoming conferences, gatherings and programs, participate in tele-seminars; play interactive games testing your intuitive abilities and find out the latest in consciousness research.

The IONS Retreat and Learning Center has indoor and outdoor meeting spaces, residential and banquet facilities for groups up to 120 people, ongoing art exhibits, a ceremonial area and permaculture gardens. Regular tours of the campus take place on the second Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2 p.m.

RSVP to 775-3500 or e-mail membership@noetic.org.

Shift magazine: A beautiful and intelligent quarterly publication by IONS exploring ways of knowing and being that open us to transformations in our beliefs, values and actions. To order a free sample copy, go to www.noetic.org/publications/magazine.cfm.

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