Transpersonal Psychology and Consciousness Studies Links
Adyashanti
After a series of transformative spiritual awakenings, Adyashanti began teaching in 1996, at the request of his Zen teacher with whom he had been studying for 14 years. Adya’s teachings have been compared to some of the early chan (Zen) masters of China as well as teachers of Advaita Vedanta in India. Adyashanti is a teacher of growing acclaim and popularity on the West Coast. He is recognized by his spiritual peers to be a living example of an awakened human being.
Arjuna
Arjuna Ardagh is the founding Director of the Living Essence Foundation and author of Relaxing Into Clear Seeing and How About Now. The Living Essence Foundation offers a professional hypnotherapy certification training deeply influenced by Ramana Maharshi, the Dzogchen teachings, and the nondual view found in all mysticism. Rather than bringing about behavioral or mental changes, this training uses hypnotherapy to deepen and stabilize the awakening to the unchanging nature of the Self. www.livingessence.com
Association for Transpersonal Psychology
Transpersonal Psychology was formally founded as a distinct perspective in psychology by Abraham Maslow and Anthony Sutich in 1969 with the publication of the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology. This was followed by the founding of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology by Sutich, James Fadiman, Michael Murphy, and Miles Vich in 1972. These men saw a need for modern psychology to address issues arising from claims of mystical experience, the purported positive consequences of these experiences, and the lack of systematic evaluation of the claims and the methods put forward to facilitate these experiences. Today, Transpersonal Psychology forms the core of Transpersonal Studies, and has expanded a transpersonal perspective to include allied health disciplines (counseling, medicine, nursing, psychiatry, social work), social sciences (anthropology, economics, political science), and practical arts (business, governance, law). www.atpweb.org
Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle is emerging as one of the most original and inspiring spiritual teachers of our time. At the core of Eckhart’s teachings lies the transformation of individual and collective human consciousness – a global spiritual awakening. His profound yet simple and practical teachings have helped thousands of people find inner peace and greater fulfillment in their lives. Eckhart is the author of "The Power of Now," widely recognized as one of the most influential spiritual books of our time. First published in 1998, it grew quickly through word of mouth and reached the New York Times bestseller list in December 2002. It has been translated into 17 languages.
Enneagram Institute
The Enneagram Institute is dedicated to the work of human liberation and transformation. One of the most powerful tools for understanding ourselves is the Enneagram, an ancient symbol of unity and diversity, change and transformation. Check out the nine Enneagram personality types, or their independently scientifically validated, online Enneagram test, recommended by Time magazine as one of the top online personality tests. You can also check out their introduction on how the Enneagram system works, and the frequently asked questions about the Enneagram. For more in-depth study of the Enneagram to aid in your personal or professional development, the Institute has a variety of books and tapes, an extensive selection of workshops, and more.
Evolve
Founded by visionary Barbara Marx Hubbard, Evolve: Global Community Center for Conscious Evolution provides a framework and resource hub to foster greater cooperation and coherence within the vast global movement towards positive change now arising on Earth. Its premiere online program, Gateway to Conscious Evolution, is a six-month process that introduces the worldview of Conscious Evolution and many experiential practices for individual and group application. See www.evolve.org for more info on this tremendous program.
Institute for Noetic Sciences
IONS is a nonprofit organization that conducts and sponsors research into the potentials and powers of consciousness — including perceptions, beliefs, attention, intention, and intuition. They explore phenomena that do not fit the conventional scientific model, yet with an equal commitment to scientific rigor. Through their publications, conferences, and website, they educate the public about the latest findings on consciousness and how it relates to the physical world.
Ken Wilber Online
Ken Wilber is the author of over a dozen books, including The Spectrum of Consciousness, written when he was twenty-three years old, establishing him as perhaps the most comprehensive philosophical thinker of our times. Credited with developing a unified field theory of consciousness—a synthesis and interpretation of the world's great psychological, philosophical, and spiritual traditions — Ken Wilber is the most cogent and penetrating voice in the recent emergence of a uniquely American wisdom. Three websites to check include:
www.wilber.shambhala.com/
www.integralinstitute.org/training.cfm
www.worldofkenwilber.com/
Nonviolent Communication (NVC)
Created by Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D., Nonviolent Communication is a process that strengthens our ability to respond consciously and compassionately to others and ourselves. NVC guides us to reframe how we express ourselves and how we hear others by focusing our awareness on what we are observing, feeling, needing, and requesting. It is a language of empathy and honesty, and is sometimes described as “the language of the heart”. www.nonviolentcommunication.com
gwww.cnvc.or
School for Awakening / Stephan Bodian
Faculty Member Sites
Kamala Allen, Ph.D. has a beautiful site focusing on relationships, intimacy and awakening, at www.openinghearts.com. The key message in her many workshops and retreats is "An open heart becomes the path to your essential self". Check out all that she offers.
Note: We are currently in the process of adding a substantial number of links for each of our degree program areas, so check back soon for ongoing additions.
BodyWay: The Aliveness Experience
This site is a holistic, educational and experiential program that empowers participants to listen to the wisdom of their own body, and works with the symptoms of our wounds, eating disorders, addictions, and codependency to evolve the wounded self through spiritual transformation. The program was created by Jane E. Latimer, M.A., who pioneered this spiritual approach to healing emotional eating with her breakthrough first book in 1988. It is now being expanded to reach additional audiences, such as those dealing with dis-ease due to stress, emotional healing, weight loss and cancer recovery. Offerings include classes, extensive training and professional certification. Check out both websites: www.emotionaleating.com and www.sacredhunger.com
In 1986, Byron Katie experienced the profound realization that without any story about how life is supposed to be, we are left with a sense of peace far beyond what we hoped to find by fulfilling our dreams. On the other side of our myths about reality is reality itself, completely indescribable—and unknowable as long as we're still pursuing how things should be. Only when we give up "what should be" can we experience the profound peace of "what is." The Work is a simple, effective tool for freeing oneself from suffering. www.thework.org
Catherine Ingram
Catherine Ingram is an internationally known dharma teacher with communities serving several thousand students in a dozen cities in the U.S. and Europe. A former journalist specializing in issues of consciousness and activism, Catherine Ingram is the author of Passionate Presence: Experiencing the Seven Qualities of Awakened Awareness (2003) and In the Footsteps of Gandhi: Conversations with Spiritual/Social Activists (1990). She is a co-founder of Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts (1976), widely considered the most prestigious Buddhist meditation center in the West and has helped thousands of students in their quest for awakening by encouraging them to give up the quest and to let their own heart intelligence guide them in life. www.dharmadialogues.org
Douglas Harding
A method of self-inquiry, sometimes called 'headlessness' or 'seeing who you really are' ('seeing' for short), has been pioneered by the English philosopher and workshop leader Douglas E. Harding, born in 1909. It is a contemporary approach that investigates the question Who am I? and suggests that you can see Who you really are here and now. It provides simple but deep awareness exercises that direct you to this Seeing within yourself.