Gregg Braden
Fractal Time: The Secret of 2012 and a New World Age

In this compelling exploration of life, Gregg Braden merges the modern discoveries of nature's patterns (fractals) with the ancient view of a cyclic universe. The result is a powerful model of time—fractal time—and a realistic window into what we can expect for the mysterious year 2012 and beyond. What makes this model so important today is that the returning cycles also carry a window of opportunity—a choice point—that allows us to choose a new outcome for the cycle. Braden suggests that if we can see time from this perspective, the patterns will show us what's in store for the future, and perhaps how to avoid the mistakes of our past. In a narrative format of easy-to-read science and true-life accounts, Fractal Time shows us what we can expect as we close the Great World Age described by the Mayan Calendar, and the secret to our moment in history.

The International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine is a community of individuals and naturally allied organizations dedicated to "living subtle energies" as they relate to the experience of consciousness, healing arts and medicines, and human potential.

Deepak Chopra, Lynne McTaggart, Mae Wan Ho, Richard Bartlett, Rustum Roy, and more indulge your sense of discovery, enliven your spirit, and challenge your certainties at the 19th Annual ISSSEEM Conference, Sacred Synthesis: Science with Heart, June 26–29 in beautiful Colorado.

An exclusive download for iShift readers: Bridges Magazine, Issue 1, 2009.

Expand your mind, open your heart, and activate your full potential.

April 24–26, 2009
Creating Personal and Global Coherence: Skills and Practices to Assist Your Journey Toward Wholeness and Global Transformation
Howard Martin

Breakthrough scientific research on the heart-brain-body connection has emerged that demonstrates how our physical hearts send out powerful healing commands. In this program, you will learn coherence techniques that activate the power of the heart to reduce feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, and depression, as compassion and appreciation are increased. Compassion and appreciation are access codes for an integration of our spirit into our humanness.

Register online, email workshops@noetic.org, or call 707-779-8224.

See a complete list of 2009 workshops.

Located on 200 acres of beautiful rolling hills just 25 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, we offer meeting facilities, cuisine, and accommodations for 5–120. Our clients offer educational programs, workshops, and retreats, with a broad focus on health, personal growth, and transformation. We also welcome weekend workshops and retreats for small groups (less than 25). Many programs are open to the public.

For more information and an Events Schedule: www.noetic.org/retreat.cfm
events@noetic.org

June 17–21, 2009
JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort
Tucson, Arizona

Our early-bird discount has been extended. Register online.

This month's featured presenter:
Van Jones, NY Times best-selling author, The Green Collar Economy, founder of Green for All, recently appointed White House Special Advisor for Green Jobs

"I'm in a steady state of buzz from the conference. It broke my heart wide open. It was the best experience of my life." Harold Aldrich, previous participant

Course preview video on YouTube

Our hypothesis is that teaching worldview literacy will increase students' capacity for compassion and tolerance toward others, broaden their sense of "in-group" identification, improve creative problem solving, and stimulate capacities for communication, collaboration, and cognitive flexibility. We have secured several seed grants and are seeking additional funding to expand this program beyond the prototype stage; translate the curriculum into Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Mandarin; launch a website to support teachers and students; develop a multiplayer 3-D adventure game; and adapt the program to community groups.

For more information, visit www.livingdeeply.org.

For those of you on the East Coast, there will be a two-day Living Deeply workshop led by IONS Research Director Cassandra Vieten, PhD, at the River's Edge retreat center near Cleveland on May 1–2.

Richard S. Gunther

"Years ago, I began making notes on lessons I have learned by living a long, intense, and questioning life," writes Richard Gunther, longtime IONS Circle member. "Could I take those notes and write a book that would offer my three sons and their families any information that might enrich their lives?" Indeed he could. Emerald Book Company released Richard's memoir, How High Is Up? The Tales of a Restless Spirit, early this year, and it's not only enriching his family but also inspiring a larger community. "What capacity for learning and new life! I love this book," says Michael Murphy, founder of Esalen Institute. "Dick's commitment to repair the world comes through on every page...this is an important and compelling book that has lessons for us all," writes Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

Richard's book is just one more instance of giving from a man who has spent his life giving. A successful entrepreneur who made a fortune by age 34, he has asked one core question throughout his life—How to live a meaningful life?—which he has answered by helping untold thousands through charitable organizations and programs he either founded, steered, or participated in—among them, the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Richard was a catalyst and steward for the Institute's decade-long research on how people achieve transformation, which culminated in last year's publication of Living Deeply. In the preface to that book, he describes the joy and tragedy of transformational experiences that deepened his wonder, sensitivity, compassion, and gratitude for life. Richard's generosity has brought him many awards and much recognition—one of his favorites, though, was being listed on former President Richard M. Nixon's Enemy List after the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Currently, Richard is a board member of the Grameen Foundation, supporting microfinance programs in China and India. He has also created a microfinancing program in his own community of Los Angeles.

"Times are tough now, but they have been tough before," says Richard, who was initiated into the world of desperation and generosity as a boy during the Great Depression. "If we can manage to keep our eyes and our hearts focused on things that truly matter, we can reduce and sometimes defeat fear and anxiety. More importantly, the key to a fulfilling life lies within our ability to think and be of service to others." At 83, Richard shows no signs of slowing down in his philanthropic work. "One of the secrets of a happy and serene life," he says, "is that enriching the lives of others also enriches you." The Institute of Noetic Sciences is most grateful for the gift of Richard Gunther. To learn more about him and his memoir, go to www.dickgunther.com.

Remembering Barbara Dee McNeill (1940–2009)

The Institute of Noetic Sciences honored late Visionary Circle member and longtime IONS staff member Barbara Dee McNeill with a memorial luncheon and tree planting ceremony at the Institute's Board and Circle Member Weekend in early March. During her nearly thirty years of service to the Institute, Barbara sat on the board of directors, was executive editor of Noetic Sciences Review (now Shift), and when she retired in 2005 was vice president of Communications.

"Among the many roles and duties she upheld over the years, Barbara loved her role as editor-in-chief of the Noetic Sciences Review," recalls Sandra Leicester, close friend and former Communications associate at IONS. "She enjoyed the ongoing creative collaboration and the invention and evolution of each issue. Her particular love and gift, however, was the editing of manuscripts, for which she had her own special way of working. Barbara took her work home on those days, and with papers spread out before her, a cup of freshly brewed coffee, a handful of pens and pencils, and a view of Richardson Bay from her apartment in Corte Madera, she entered a timeless space. As an editor, Barbara was an artist. A transformed manuscript was her private joy."

IONS President Marilyn Mandala Schlitz remembers Barbara as "a quiet revolutionary. Her battleground lay in the realm of words and ideas. She stood for social justice, conceptual fairness, and an expansion of human potential beyond the limits of mainstream ideology. She brought rigor and discernment to everything she did."

Barbara passed away peacefully on January 9, 2009, after a long illness. She was a friend and colleague to many and will be deeply missed. Her family, who traveled from Ohio to attend the memorial lunch, requests that those who knew her and wish to honor her spirit carry out random acts of kindness while keeping Barbara in their hearts.

IONS is deeply grateful to its Visionary Circle Members. Visionary Circle members provide for the Institute in their will or estate plan. These gifts leave a legacy that ensures the quality programs IONS has produced and supported since 1973 continue to enrich the lives of future generations.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of Visionary Circle membership, contact Kathleen Erickson-Freeman at 707-779-8232.

The Institute of Noetic Sciences is a nonprofit research organization located in Northern California that conducts and sponsors leading-edge research into the potentials and powers of consciousness—including perceptions, beliefs, attention, intention, and intuition. The Institute explores phenomena that do not necessarily fit conventional scientific models, while maintaining a commitment to scientific rigor.

We are a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that depends on and gratefully accepts your generous financial support.