The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) is an American non-profit parapsychological research institute. It was co-founded in 1973 by former

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

Edgar Mitchell Edgar Dean "Ed" Mitchell (September 17, 1930 – February 4, 2016) was a United States Navy officer and United States Naval Aviator, aviator, test pilot, Aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer, Ufology, ufologist, and NASA astronaut. ...

, the sixth man to walk on the Moon, along with investor Paul N. Temple and others interested in purported paranormal phenomena, in order to encourage and conduct research on noetics and human potentials. The Institute conducts research on topics such as

spontaneous remission Spontaneous remission, also called spontaneous healing or spontaneous regression, is an unexpected improvement or cure from a disease that usually progresses. These terms are commonly used for unexpected transient or final improvements in cancer. S ...

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

alternative healing Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices ar ...

practices, consciousness-based healthcare,

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

, human potential, psychic abilities,

psychokinesis Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

and survival of consciousness after bodily death. The Institute maintains a free database, available on the Internet, with citations to more than 6,500 articles about whether physical and mental health benefits might be connected to meditation and yoga. Headquartered outside

Petaluma, California Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, the IONS is situated on a campus that includes offices, a research laboratory and a retreat center (originally the campus of World College West). Researchers associated with it include Dean Radin and

Rupert Sheldrake Alfred Rupert Sheldrake (born 28 June 1942) is an English author and parapsychology researcher. He proposed the concept of morphic resonance, a conjecture that lacks mainstream acceptance and has been widely criticized as pseudoscience. He has ...

History

Edgar Mitchell has reported that on his return to Earth, after the 1971

Apollo 14 Apollo 14 (January 31February 9, 1971) was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, the third to Moon landing, land on the Moon, and the first to land in the Geology of the Moon#Highlands, lunar highlands. It was the las ...

Moon landing, he had an experience comparable to savikalpa samādhi. He also says that he conducted ESP experiments with earthbound friends during spaceflight. In 1973, along with investor Paul N. Temple and some others, Mitchell co-founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). It was founded as a

501(c)(3) non-profit organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 5 ...

in 1973.

Willis Harman Willis W. Harman (August 16, 1918 – January 30, 1997) was an American engineer, futurist, and author associated with the human potential movement. He was convinced that late industrial civilization faced a period of major cultural crisis whic ...

served as president from 1975 until his death in 1997. The word ''noetic'' derives from the Greek ''

nous ''Nous'' (, ), from , is a concept from classical philosophy, sometimes equated to intellect or intelligence, for the cognitive skill, faculty of the human mind necessary for understanding what is truth, true or reality, real. Alternative Eng ...

'', meaning "mind or ways of knowing."Murphy, Michael and Stephen Donovan
''The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation: A Review of Contemporary Research With a Comprehensive Bibliography, 1931-1996''
Institute of Noetic Sciences, Petaluma, CA (1997), p. 282. . Writing in ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', the Institute's director of research pointed to philosopher

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th c ...

' 1902 definition of the word as:

... states of insight into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect. They are illuminations, revelations, full of significance and importance, all inarticulate though they remain; and as a rule they carry with them a curious sense of authority. ...

The Institute figures prominently in ''

The Lost Symbol ''The Lost Symbol'' is a 2009 novel written by American writer Dan Brown. It is a thriller set in Washington, D.C., after the events of ''The Da Vinci Code'', and relies on Freemasonry for both its recurring theme and its major characters. Relea ...

'', a 2009 work of fiction by best-selling author

Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon (book series), Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), ''The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), '' ...

. Brown, Dan
''The Lost Symbol''

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

(2009).

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

postings on the day before the book's release led Institute director Marilyn Schlitz to purchase the book and read it in one sitting. She told

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

that she found ten experiments conducted by the real-world Institute referred to in Brown's fictional account. NPR reported that after its publication "traffic to he institute'swebsite ... increased twelvefold", applications for membership increased and "journalists from places like Dateline NBC — not to mention NPR ..." were seeking interviews with Schlitz.Hagerty, Barbara Bradley
''Woman Reads Dan Brown Novel, Discovers Herself''

, 12 October 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2013. The Institute confers the Temple Award for Creative Altruism,''Political author, social activist to speak at SJU''

College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University are two closely related private, Benedictine liberal arts colleges in Minnesota. The College of Saint Benedict is a college for women in St. Joseph and Saint John's University is a u ...

"Campus News" web page. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013.''Distinguished Visiting Professor: Bill Milliken, Communities in Schools Founder''

Marymount University Marymount University is a Private university, private Catholic university with its main campus in Arlington County, Virginia, United States. It was founded as Marymount College in 1950. Marymount offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degre ...

Campus News and Events webpage. Retrieved 6 October 2013, biennially.IONS Grants and Awards web page
. Retrieved 6 October 2013. The $25,000 award fund is divided among recipients selected by an independent jury.

Research

Projects sponsored by the Institute include a bibliography on the physical and psychological effects of

and

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

, and a

bibliography. The Institute has also conducted a number of parapsychological studies into

extra-sensory perception Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was ado ...

lucid dreaming In the psychology subfield of oneirology, a lucid dream is a type of dream wherein the dreamer realizes that they are dreaming during their dream. The capacity to have lucid dreams is a trainable cognitive skill. During a lucid dream, the dreamer ...

telekinesis Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

, and presentiment. According to ''

The Roanoke Times ''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...

,'' the Institute is "... devoted to exploring psychic phenomena and the role of consciousness in the cosmos." ''

'' also noted that co-founder Mitchell's assertions "... have often been criticized by skeptics." Told "your research goes into a number of territories that are regarded with skepticism in some circles", Mitchell replied:

That's what's fun about it. We're breaking down barriers and finding things. That's what science is all about: new discovery. ... There's nothing that we have done or have demonstrated that doesn't have good science behind it. Skeptics be damned.

The Institute is listed on Stephen Barrett's

Quackwatch Quackwatch is a United States-based website focused on promoting consumer protection and providing information about health related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct. It primarily targets alternative medicine, questionable health cl ...

website, for its research on fringe topics.

Documentaries and publications

In 1994, TBS broadcast a three-part, six-hour documentary based on work at the Institute, entitled ''The Heart of Healing'' and narrated by actress

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (; 24 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was ...

.McVicar, Nancy
''More Than Medicine''
, ''

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Broward County, an ...

'', 26 October 1993. Retrieved 6 October 2013.''Heart Healing''
Turner Publishing (1993) Since 2009, the Institute has published a semi-annual bulletin, ''The Noetic Post''. From 2003 to 2009, it published a quarterly magazine, ''Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness''.

Notes

References

External links