| Contents
/ Oct. - Issue #16 |
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Partner
Spotlight |
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Men's
Wearhouse has been the single most generous corporate
sponsor to IONS, as well as being our only Gold Partner.
It might seem unlikely for a men's clothing retailer
to be supportive of the scientific study of consciousness,
much less conscious business practices. We often associate
leading-edge business practices with high-tech or other
industries known for innovation.
However,
Men's Wearhouse has steadily built a corporate culture
that cares in meaningful ways for its employees and
the larger world, as well as maintaining a healthy return
on investment for shareholders. The result? Strong financial
performance, and a 2007 award from Fortune magazine
as one of America's 100 Best Places to Work, as well
as a robust program of corporate giving.
A
visit to the "philosophy" section of their corporate
website, itself an unusual area, leads us to a variety
of articles on servant-leadership and good corporate
citizenship. In a teleseminar last year, founder and
CEO George Zimmer went still further in talking about
innovative approaches for everything from executive
pay to training. We're now making this interview available
for free to iShift subscribers (Listen
now).
We
encourage our members to support Men's Wearhouse with
your business and we thank them for putting conscious
shifts into practice!
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Event
Spotlight |
3rd
North American Conference on the Spirituality of Children
& Youth
November 7-11, 2007
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Join: Jean Houston, Joseph Chilton Pearce, E. Jane Garland, Cynthia Bourgeault, Tobin Hart,
Rachael Kessler and many more.
This conference designed to
ENGAGE in dialogue,
EXPERIENCE innovative practices,
NETWORK with like-minded folks and
NOURISH your inner spirit.
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IONS
Retreat Center Events |
Monroe
Institute Gateway Voyage
October 6-12, 2007
Petaluma, California
Spend an intensive week of exploration into progressively
higher states of consciousness. Now in its 33rd
year, this legendary program as helped thousands
realize they are more than their physical body.
Spirit
Heals: Learning to Light Up Your Life
October 13-16, 2007
Petaluma, California
Dr. Meredith Young-Sowers will guide you to become
your own wise guide and compassionate friend, generate
greater love and intimacy, find meaning in the success
you've already achieved, accept that happiness is
your birthright.
Favors.org Event at IONS
October 18, 2007
Petaluma, California
EVON PETER - Indigenous understandings of the natural
world. Potluck dinner and presentation on the sustainability
efforts by young indigenous leaders that is rooted
in traditional knowledge and spiritual understanding.
Favors.org Event at the IONS Campus
October 30, 2007
Petaluma, California
Potluck dinner and presentation by a British doctor
who dared to explore cutting-edge scientific theories
to understand mystical phenomena such as mediumship,
psychic abilities, channeling, distant healing and
more.
11th
Annual Expressive Arts Therapy Harvest Symposium
2007
November 1, 2007
Petaluma, California
A Fragile Bridge: Imagination and the Arts in
Therapy, Education, Consulting and Social Change
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Special
Events |
Favors.org
Event at the Presidio of San Francisco
October 4th, 2007
San Francisco, California
Potluck
dinner and presentation by one of Britain's leading
plant scientist, and first son of the legendary
Louis Leakey, discoverer of our oldest ancestors
and mentor to many notables, including Dr. Jane
Goodall.
Favors.org Event at the Mount Diablo Peace Center
October 23, 2007
Walnut Creek, California
Potluck dinner & presentation by the founder of
the Sarvodaya Movement and Gandhi Peace Award Recipient.
2nd
Annual International Conference on Engaging the
Other: The power of compassion
October 25-28, 2007
Dearborn, Michigan
Speakers include: Sam Keen, Danny
Glover, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, James O'Dea
WE
INVITE YOU TO an extraordinary international conference
to address the roots of negative stereotypes, prejudice,
and artificial barriers of misunderstanding and
distrust that separate us. JOIN more than 65 leading
presenters to cultivate our capacity for reconciliation,
appreciation of diversity, and peace.
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Media
Spotlight |
Spiritual
Cinema showcases DÉJÀ VU
Reviewed by Christiane Northrup, M.D.
Déjà
Vu (a Henry Jaglom film) is a wonderfully romantic
love story, with a stellar cast (that includes pros
like Vanessa Redgrave) and a script that is funny, poignant,
and thought provoking. This movie was released in theaters
several years ago-- but because of inadequate distribution
and marketing, never got the attention it so richly
deserves. (Otherwise, I would have seen it, believe
me!)
Déjà
Vu is intelligent, thought -provoking, beautifully
acted, and beautifully filmed. And, it will appeal to
both men and women. I urge you to enjoy this film. It
will be good for your health and your heart!!
Members
of the Spiritual Cinema Circle are receiving DÉJÀ
VU as part of the October 2007 DVD collection.
For a limited time, new subscribers to the Circle can
receive a free trial membership (for a nominal shipping
fee) by visiting: www.spiritualcinemacircle.com or by
calling: (800) 556-0129.
Christiane
Northrup, MD, obstetrician/ gynecologist, is internationally
known for her visionary, empowering approach to women's
health and wellness. www.drnorthrup.com
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Products
Spotlight |
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VISIT
THE BLEEPSTORE Information • Community •
Networking
The
filmmakers of What the BLEEP Do We Know?! started
Bleepstore.com
in 2005 to make DVDs and books about quantum physics,
brain function and conscious creation easily available.
Now Bleepstore.com
has turned into a full-fledged online store AND a conscious
social networking site where people of like mind can
gather and make new connections!
At
Bleepstore.com
you can find inspiring, enlightening, and intriguing
books, music, videos and more. PLUS there are monthly
articles online about the latest in
Consciousness
studies • Science • Green living •
Alternative health • Conscious parenting
There
will also be articles and book and movie reviews from
The Bleeping
Herald as well as The
Global Intelligencer.
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| From the Editor |
|   Stephen
Dinan /
In
October, we deepen our exploration of the nature and
power of intention with two new Shift in Action interviews
featuring prominent spiritual leaders Michael
Bernard Beckwith and Neale Donald Walsch.
All of these interviews are now available for download
at Shift in Action for only $1 in the Intention Campaign
trial month offer, which includes Lynne McTaggart's
book The Intention Experiment
(more).
Our
brand new Patrons Plus program for
$100/month donors is moving into production on our second
set of CDs, which will include Deepak Chopra, Stanislav
Grof, and Lynne Twist. This new program offers a quarterly
6 pack of the best teleseminars and insider information
about IONS research. When you sign up this month you'll
get our first set as well as the new set when it is
released (details below).
Finally,
please voice your opinions to help us sculpt the next
conference in 2009 (vote
now). You can also purchase audio and video from
the conference here (link).
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Special
Announcement |
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IONS
launches Noetic Books
What
would it be like to be free from your limitations
and to soar beyond your boundaries? What can you
do each day to find this kind of inner peace and
freedom? Find out when you buy
The Untethered Soul,
the first release from IONS’ new book imprint,
Noetic
Books. It will transform your relationship
with yourself and with the world around you.
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| At
the Frontiers / The Edge |
Igniting
the Modern Mystic
By
Stacey Lawson
Our
newest IONS Board member begins a weekly lifestyle column
at the Huffington Post
"I've
always adored the great mystics - Hafiz, Rumi, St. Teresa
of Avila, St. John of the Cross. Their writings transcend
our mundane human perception and give glimpses into
the rapturous experience of a higher reality. Truth
be told, I fancy myself a modern day mystic, someone
weaving together these worlds of the mundane and the
magical."
Eminent
transpersonal psychologist Stanislav Grof
to be awarded prestigious Vision 97 prize by Vaclav
Havel on October 5th. The Award is given to "thinkers,
whose scientific work returns science into the framework
of general culture, transcends the dominant concepts
of knowledge and being, reveals unknown, surprising,
or overlooked connections, and touches in a new way
the mysteries of the universe and of life." It is thus
an Award to bring the attention of the public to spiritual
achievements which, "in the best sense of the word,
do not meet the criteria of the established ways of
exploring reality."
The Buckminster Fuller Design Challenge
- $100K for novel solutions to major global problems.
This
month we share two more Intention Downloads
transcripts:
John
Hagelin - "Literally the power of thought
varies by factors of millions, between people and even
for a given subject, depending on whether that subject
is using the mind at a stressed and agitated state of
consciousness, a superficial level of consciousness,
or whether they're using the mind at a very expanded,
very deep level of consciousness. "
Michael Murphy - "[T]here is, am absolutely
convinced now, a kind of secret magic that accompanies
the ordinary efforts of will we all make. There’s a
kind of, I would call, a covert prayer process that
goes on when you start to intend something. Now, you
can use it for destructive ends as well, but when, again,
it’s aligned with your daimon, with your deep
self, with your dharma, then this magic blossoms."
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At
the Frontiers / Media |
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Noteworthy
Releases
 1.
The 11th Hour, featuring Leonardo diCaprio
- builds on An Inconvenient Truth
and introduces consciousness in the discussion
about sustainable lifestyles. Let's make sure
this movie is a success everywhere it plays! (view)
  1.
Digital Dharma, by Steven Vedro
(buy)
 2.
Parapsychology & the Skeptics,
by Chris Carter (buy)
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At
the Frontiers / WebWatch |
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1. Severm
Suzuki - a 13 year old offers a powerful
speech at the U.N. conference on environmental
and social justice issues in Rio de Janeiro by
Severn Suzuki.
2. Plenty
Magazine - offers a positive angle
on living green in an abundant way. Useful weekly
newsletter.
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At
the Frontiers / Top Ten |
Top
ten Shift in Action teleseminars in the last year
by attendance, by Stephen Dinan:
1. Deepak
Chopra, A Story of Enlightenment
2. Neale
Donald Walsch, What is the New Spirituality
3.
Richard
Tarnas, Cosmos and Psyche
4.
Swami
Beyondananda, The Upwising Continues
5.
Joan
Borysenko, Wisdom of the Heart
6.
Angeles
Arrien, Shamanic Wisdom and Healing
7.
Stanislav
Grof, Birthing a New World
8.
O'Dea/Radin
with Unity leaders, Using Science and Spirituality
to Create a Transformed World
9.
Catherine
Austin Fitts, Building True Wealth
10.
Bernard
Haisch, The God Theory
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Shift
in Action / Recent Releases |
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 Free
Audio Sample
- Lynne
Twist teleseminar on "Changing
the Dream" - Details
Other
releases available to Partners this month include
Intention interviews with Michael
Bernard Beckwith and Neale Donald
Walsch as additions to the series:
- The
Science of Intention - Astronaut Edgar
Mitchell, John Hagelin, Ervin Laszlo, Rupert
Sheldrake, Charles Tart, Rollin McCraty, Dean
Radin, Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, Roger Nelson
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The Practice of Intention -
Marianne Williamson, Michael Murphy, Angeles
Arrien, Neale Donald Walsch, Michael Bernard
Beckwith, Larry Dossey, Bernie Siegel, Shiva
Rea, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Dattatreya Siva Baba,
James O'Dea, Sequoyah Trueblood, Brian Johnson,
Steven Sadleir, Baba Harihar Ramji
Join
Shift in Action today! |
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Shift
Magazine |
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 Shift
#16, "Brave Neuro World?," is receiving strong
positive feedback. We believe it is one of our
best and most provocative issues, exploring the
benefits and shadows of emerging neuroscience.
If you sign up for membership now, you can still
receive this issue. (Join
now)
Shift
#16
Brave
Neuro World?
Table of Contents
The
Enchanted Loom
Diane Ackerman
With
sensuous and inventive prose, this celebrated
author-poet reminds us that the brain is not just
a machine to be probed but a phenomenon to be
marveled at. A “dream factory,” a
“chemistry lab,” a “hall of
mirrors”—the brain and mind beguile
us into thinking we know who we are.
Peering
into Our Potential
Matthew Solan
From
the placebo effect and meditating monks to the
adolescent brain and food cravings, the tools
of neuroscience keep penetrating the nature of
being human. And as they do, new insights are
revealed about our physical, emotional, and spiritual
well-being.
Neurotechnology’s
Shadow
Byron Belitsos
For
all the promise of neuroscience there is plenty
of peril. While most attention is focused on its
positive applications, other more unsettling purposes
are quietly moving forward. Are the secrets of
the brain falling into the wrong hands?
Our
Evolving Global Brain
Steven Vedro
Rapid
advances in media and communication technology
are rewiring our brains while challenging our
capacity to process a relentless onslaught of
new stimuli. More than a “stew of electromagnetic
noise,” it’s a sign that we’re
moving toward cooperative intelligence and planetary
cocreation.
Consciousness:
Still a Mystery
John Hick
The
brain is not the mind, argues this eminent UK
scholar, despite what the majority of neuroscientists
are concluding. In fact, there are still far more
questions than answers in the quest to understand
consciousness.
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Shift
in Action / Featured Channel |
The
Radical Spirit channel explores
the meeting point between consciousness and
societal change, highlighting leaders who exemplify
spiritual depth and passionate engagement in
public processes, as well as offering practical
steps to engage change work in life-enhancing
ways. Our preference is to look at the leading
edge - how is a more integral version of spiritual
activism emerging in a next generation of leaders?
How are these leaders engaging the public sphere?
In the last year, we've hosted teleseminars
with Anodea Judith, Matthew Sanford, Swami Beyondananda,
Barbara Marx Hubbard, Erik Davis, Shiva Rea,
and Suzanne Sterling. Partners can now download
all of these teleseminars from our Radical Spirit
home page.
Coming soon: Stuart Davis,
Oct. 24th: Integral Media.
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Personal
Connections / Tales of Transformation |
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 Water
Journeying
By Sara Firman-Pitt
"We all have a deeper nature, or as the aborigines have called it, a song-line. When we are truly singing along with that song, vibrating for all we are worth, experiences become beautiful overtones and we can create a melodious underwater life."
Submit your own tales of transformation.
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Personal
Connections / Donor Spotlight |
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Donor Spotlight: David Ritchey
Sensitivity and the Transpersonal Experience
 "I
have always been fascinated by the question 'what
is "really" real,'" says IONS member
David Ritchey, whose initial connection to IONS
was in his support of the 1987 IONS conference,
"The Greater Self: New Frontiers in Exceptional
Abilities." This fascination is revealed consistently
in his life from his interest in the subjective reality of strong emotional experiences, to his illusion-making through his avocation as a magician, to his manipulation of reality using digital
photography, to his work as a clinical hypnotherapist.
During
his years working with hypnotherapy clients, Ritchey
came to suspect that people who report having
transpersonal (metaphysical, paranormal) experiences
are different, in a variety of ways, from those
who don’t. To test his hypothesis, he developed
an innovative questionnaire, the “Holistic
Inventory of Stimulus Sensitivities (HISS).”
His most notable finding was that the people who
report having transpersonal experiences are much
more sensitive than the norm, not just in the
realm of transpersonal experiences, but also in
the physiological, cognitive, emotional, and altered
states of consciousness realms. He calls these
highly sensitive people Anomalously Sensitive
Persons (ASPs) in his book The HISS of the
ASP (Headline, 2003).
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Personal
Connections / Comedy Corner |
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DEAR
SWAMI
by Swami Beyondananda
"Where
Swami Answers Your Questions - and You Will Question
His Answers" 
Dear
Swami:
I heard a rumor that you've found the secret for being young again. Is this true, or is it just an idle rumor?
Sarah Tonin,
Brattleboro, Vermont
Dear
Sarah:
Obviously, it's not an idle rumor at all since it picked itself up and made it all the way out to the east coast. But yes, the rumor is true. I came upon the secret quite accidentally. I was on a radio show promoting an anti-aging product and because of the equal time rule, they had to have a pro-aging person on as well. And it was this person who revealed the secret of getting young ... through aging. The secret? Reincarnation! The quicker you get old, the quicker you'll reincarnate and be young again. Hey, I've done it thousands of times and I can tell you there's nothing quite like popping out of the oven fresh. The soul still progresses, so even though you're coming back young, you're a little bit older, if you know what I mean. And guess what? At some point, you'll be old from the very beginning ... and stay young all the way through.
©
Copyright 2007 by Steve Bhaerman. All rights
reserved. Give the gift of laughter with Swami's
Fool Enchilada Special. To find out more about
that and Swami's schedule, call (800) SWAMI-BE
or visit the Swami online at http://www.wakeuplaughing.com
Ask
Swami your own question. Send it here.
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Personal
Connections / Monthly Intention |
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October
Intention:
The
first of every month at noon (US Pacific), we
encourage you to take a quiet moment to link your
intention with people around the world. This month,
our intention is to open to a relaxed sense of
strength. At least in the northern hemisphere,
fall is a time of first crispness in the air,
which often leads to exciting new projects. Our
suggestion is to take the relaxed feeling of summer
and marry it with the boldness of new projects.
Relaxed strength is far different than tension
or aggression; it's a way of being that is at
peace with what is while boldly creating the new.
October
Action:
This month, we encourage you to take on one project with the repeating thought of approaching it with relaxed strength: confident, steady, and patient.
October
Question for Reflection:
How much more effective would we be if we are able to approach each new project from a stance of relaxed strength?
This month's member intention is from Douglas Bonar:
"My intention is to continue being
my most authentic self in every moment and in
every situation that I encounter. For I know that
my authentic self is my Divine Self and my most
reliable self in effecting personal and planetary
transformation for the highest enlightenment of
all!"
If
you would like to offer an intention for next
month, please send it here.
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