Speakers 2003-04 Season
Sep, 03
Interstellar Travel; Is It Scientifically Plausible?
Dr. Bernard Haisch
Our September speaker is Dr. Bernard Haisch who will address two rather different reasons why one might ponder the possibility of interstellar travel. The first concerns the likelihood that we will eventually discover a way to fly to Alpha Centauri and beyond. The second involves the question of whether other civilizations have been visiting Earth. Dr. Haisch will concentrate on the former but not dismiss the latter.
While relativity limits the maximum velocity of any object through space, there is no limit on the speed with which space itself might stretch carrying an embedded object. Moreover modern theories posit the existence of many additional dimensions, which may in principle afford the opportunity to move in and out of ordinary space, perhaps emerging at different locations. Dr. Haisch will explore these topics and others including zero-point fluctuations, zero-point energy, and the possible connection between inertia and gravitation.
Speaker's Bio
Dr. Haisch is a high energy astrophysicist and director of the California Institute for Physics and Astrophysics (CIPA) in Palo Alto, CA. He serves as a scientific editor of the Astrophysics Journal, was the former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Scientific Exploration, and has authored over 120 scientific articles. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and did three years of postdoctoral research at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics at the Univ. of CO. He was a research scientist for 20 years at Lockheed laboratories before becoming director of CIPA (www.calphysics.org). Dr. Haisch believes a skeptic is one who practices the method of suspended judgment, seeks out evidence, and carefully scrutinizes its validity. On the UFO phenomenon he has established an information web site (www.ufoskeptic.org) for professional scientists.
Home page of Dr. Bernard Haisch
Oct, 03
Energy Healing and Psychokinesis
Jack Houck
Our October speaker will be Jack Houck, an aeronautical engineer (MS) and research manager for 42 years at Boeing/McDonald Douglas. His avocation, however, was paranormal phenomena research. Jack will discuss the relationship between "energy" healing practices and psychokinesis (PK). He has conducted and researched over 360 PK Parties during the past 22 years with over 17,000 people. During these events people often report a spontaneous healing experience. In addition, Jack has conducted numerous experiments and workshops on remote viewing and firewalking. His web address is: www.jackhouck.com.
Jack will also discuss his own experiences using Life Vessel technology for healing his diabetes and its history with other diseases. The patented technology employs a form of light energy and sound energy that supports the innate self-regulatory and self-healing capacity of the human body. Jack has been an insulin dependent diabetic for over 35 years and has tried many of the alternative healing practices with no success. Eventually, a friend arranged for Jack to go to a clinic in northern Arizona to get treatments using the Life Vessel technology. The timing was good because as they approached the clinic, Jack's autonomic nervous system began shutting down and he was in the process of dying. After a one-hour treatment, his autonomic nervous system responded -- he was alive and the pain was gone! He has continued treatments once a month with steady progress in the healing of his diabetes.
For information on "Life Vessel technology go to the web site of Jack Houck at www.JackHouck.com
Nov, 03
Intuitively Perceiving the Future; The latest Scientific Research
Dr. Rollin McCraty
At our November meeting Dr. Rollin McCraty will discuss an ongoing research program to increase the scientific understanding of intuition. Intuition is defined as a process by which information normally outside the range of conscious awareness is perceived by our psychophysiological systems.
The objectives of the research are:
- to replicate and extend the results of previous experiments by Dr. Dean Radin that found that the body can respond to an emotionally arousing stimulus seconds before it is actually experienced and
- develop a theory that explains how the body receives and processes information involved in intuitive perception.
The new research results show that both the heart and brain receive and respond to information about a future emotional stimulus prior to actually experiencing the stimulus. These results suggest that some aspect of our perceptual apparatus is continuously scanning the future. The hope is that this type of scientific research can build an understanding of how and under what conditions intuition occurs, and thereby help us learn how to harness and develop its power.
Speaker's Bio
Dr. Rollin McCraty is the Director of Research at the Institute of HeartMath in Boulder Creek, CA. Rollin has an extensive background in systems engineering, radiation physics and instrumentation. He was one of the founders of Static Control Services, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in problems in electrostatics. For the last 12 years he has directed the research activities at the Institute of HeartMath where he has applied his background to the mechanisms by which our mental and emotional systems interact with and affect our performance and the quality of our lives.
Home page of Institute of Heart Math
Jan, 04
Self-Generated Art and Healing, and Journeys Through Breast Cancer
Linda Pedrazzini Hevern
"It has been said that the health care system misses a huge healing resource by ignoring the spiritual aspect of being human. Huston Smith has pointed out the fact that art is a "spiritual technology" and medical anthropologists tell us that artists and healers over the generations have considered their art a voice of the soul speaking the language of the deeper Self or Great Spirit. I believe this is a powerful argument for utilizing creative art as a technology for self- healing, particularly in the face of our disintegrating health care system."
Linda Pedrazzini Hevern
Linda will give a brief theoretical overview of arts as tools for healing and development: the aesthetic as a global system that integrates body/mind/spirit and delivers "the big picture" of reality with meaning and value and the concept of self-generated art as experience in its integrity.
She will show a 20-minute video sponsored in part by the Breast Cancer Action Group, which she co-founded. This video ART AND HEALING; Journeys Through Breast Cancer is illustrated by testimonials of 8 women artists facing cancer and fighting for their lives by using creativity and self-generated art. The video documents art as a tool to access images from the deeper Self, to act as a vehicle for emotional catharsis and access states of reverie and meditation, as well as to create visions of healing. This works as a relief from stress and pain, is a proactive alternative to worry, and develops inner and social resources as creative coping strategies of connection and wholeness.
Linda will build on the video presentation with examples from her own healing experience with aesthetic methods and self-generated art after a cancer diagnosis in 1995. She looks forward to hearing how those in attendance may have experienced the power of the arts to heal or might use it in their future work.
Speaker's Bio
Linda Pedrazzini Hevern is one of a new evolution of integral artists called "healing artists" who uses creative & expressive arts as tools to help people heal and rebalance themselves. She has a Masters in Creative Arts Education, is a certified Expressive Therapist and pioneered the use of arts as tools in human resource development. She is a founder of the Breast Cancer Action Group of the Monterey Peninsula and has 4 decades of experience applying the arts to promote wholeness for health and development in human systems.
Feb 04
Journey Into Infinity
William C. Gough
Our February speaker will be Bill Gough who will present a chronicle of his adventures along the bridge that modern science is building to address the inter-relationship between the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of Nature. This is a personal story and reflects the evolution of Bill's belief system as rooted in mainstream science.
The clues or guides to his personal belief changes came from four sources:
- his knowledge of modern science,
- recognition of the mysteries and underlying assumptions of modern science,
- appreciation of the wisdom of ancient science and religions, and
- experiences that have expanded the boundaries of his perception. The goal of the talk is to present the ideas and research in a visual way.
The illustrator is Robert Bourdeaux who has transformed the ideas into a visual format and contributed to the development of the overall presentation.
Speaker's Bio
Bill Gough co-founded the Foundation for Mind-Being Research over 23 years ago to help bring the field of consciousness studies into wider recognition as a bona fide science. Prior to devoting full time to the Foundation, Bill was the DOE's Site Manager at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and the Fusion Power Manager at the Electric Power Research Institute. His scientific and consciousness research articles are published in numerous books and journals. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University, did advanced studies at Harvard University, and is a registered Professional Nuclear Engineer.
Mar 04
Arthur Young's Theory of Process
Jack Engstrom
Mr. Engstrom will present an overview of Arthur M. Young's Theory of Process, both "esoteric" and "exoteric" parts, namely its abstract essence (notably its Geometry of Meaning) and its illustrations (applications in nature and in the evolution of consciousness as detailed in the 1976 book The Reflexive Universe).
The Theory of Process is offered as a "metaparadigm" that integrates modern science and ancient wisdom and puts one’s personal experience, as well as scientific knowledge, history, myth, and most everything else into a perspective based on wholeness, light, and consciousness. After the presentation, the discussion might range more freely to include other systems or paradigms.
Speaker's Bio
Jack Engstrom is president of the Institute for the Study of Consciousness, which Arthur M. Young founded in 1973 in Berkeley, CA. Jack has been pursuing integrations of science and consciousness since graduating from college in 1972 (B.A. Chemistry, UCSC) and working as a research chemist at SRI International in Menlo Park, CA. Jack was a student of Arthur M. Young from 1976 until Arthur's death in 1995. Jack was the first to teach Arthur's works, in 1977, at Young's Institute for the Study of Consciousness. A practitioner of Transcendental Meditation since 1973, Jack resides in Fairfield, Iowa at Maharishi University of Management (formerly Maharishi International University), where he received his masters degree (M.S. Mathematics) in 1994. His masters thesis was on G. Spencer-Brown's Laws of Form.
Apr, 04
Energy Medicine and Practical Magic
Master Timothy Dunphy
Master Timothy Dunphy believe that we, as a community of people can, indeed, heal ourselves from past and present trauma. We will share in each others healing, assist each other in our transformations, and witness the profound changes on our journey towards wholeness.
The lecture/demonstration is designed to give you an immediate connection with the Hearts of Heaven and Earth and increase your capacity to hold higher vibrational Light. We will discuss and experience the bodys ability to utilize coherent radiation from celestial and geophysical sources. This method of tuning into Universal Chi will allow the participants to experience immediate relief from stress; and, show them how to enter the deeper brain waves of Alpha, Theta, and Delta.
A synthesis of traditional, spiritual, and scientific perspectives will be presented. We will discuss the Heart as a Torus; the piezoelectric property of the body; tensegrity; and the specific release of deep trauma by using the bio-electric and bio-magnetic fields.
Speaker's Bio
Master Timothy Dunphy is a gold-medal national champion martial artist. As a result of a personal transformation, he has acquired the remarkable healing gift of connecting himself and those around him with the invisible forces that shape their lives and relationships. He is the founder of Chi-Aura Integration which has been evolving since 1987 (www.chi-aura.com).
For many years, Master Dunphy has maintained a personal inner practice of energetic transformations that has sustained him through rigorous training and daily practice as a champion martial artist. He works with individuals and groups to assist in healing the energetic body. He has taught workshops in Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, East West Bookshop, Divine Science Community Center, Esalen Institute and many other parts of the United States.
Recognized by the World Taekwondo Federation as a Master Instructor, Mr. Dunphy is a sixth degree black belt and has recently won Gold Medals in Taekwondo at the International Jincheon Festival in Jincheon, Korea. He has taught people to access their inner powers and perform at levels far beyond their personal expectations. As co-founder of internationally known KIDPOWER/TEENPOWER/FULLPOWER, he has taught thousands of children how to defend themselves and maintain their personal, emotional, and sexual boundaries. In addition, Timothy¹s years of work with Women?s Defense Programs has empowered women of all walks of life to feel deeply self-secure.
May, 04
Primary Perception
Cleve Backster
Our May speaker is Cleve Backster author of the new book Primary Perception who will talk about his path to discovery of biocommunication with plants, living foods, and human cells. Since 1966 when he attached a plant to a polygraph, Cleve has pursued an understanding of the cellular communication process.
The instrumentation used was primarily the GSR (skin conductance) component of the polygraph, but later included electro-encephalograph (EEG) and electro-cardiograph (EKG). Neither distance nor electromagnetic shielding seemed to impose any limitations to communication between cells; and his research has been replicated.
Speaker's Bio
Cleve Backster, an expert with the use of lie detectors, was Director of the Keeler Polygraph Institute and worked for the CIA on interrogation tactics. Cleve's biocommunication research was featured in the best-selling book, The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, and in The Secret Life of Cells by Robert Stone. Copies of Cleve's autobiographical book, Primary Perception, that describes all of his research in understandable terms can be ordered from FMBR for $15.00. Information about the book and the research can be obtained on Cleve's website: www.primaryperception.com.