For many years, I’ve been a member of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), a “New Age” organization that studies consciousness. I’ve met many amazing people in IONS, including physicists, physicians, psychiatrists, business leaders, and other seekers. Since the work in which they engage is as “cutting edge” or New Age as it gets, I thought I’d share with you some of the language gleaned from their invitation to the Thirteenth International Conference.
- Fields of Consciousness
- Episodes of Spontaneous Resonance
- Non-Ordinary States
- Collective Consciousness
- Inspiring Vision
- Journey of Initiation
- Mind-Body Connection
- Responsible Co-Creators
- Collaborative Inquiry
- Collective Learning
- Group Coherence
- Personal Transformation
- Creative Altruism
- Sustainable Future
- Inner Engineering
- Inner Wellbeing
- Indigenous Wisdom
- Carbon Offsetting
- Conversation Cafes
- Living Deeply
- Living Simply
- Quantum Entanglement
- Transcending Duality
I share these terms to stretch your thinking about what they might mean for you and your organization. The very language itself is important — collectedness, transformation, well-being, and so on. Chances are that most if not all of it “feels right” to you and yes, it is very New Age. To understand how important these concepts are, think of their opposites: Disconnection, individualism, living shallowly, working alone, disharmony, non-sustainability. When you think about it like that, you realize we don’t really have much of a choice in which direction to go.
The reason for our recent recession lays within the collective “us.” It’s “we” who are the government, businesses, and consumers. It’s simply not sustainable. As Einstein stated, “The thinking that got us to this insanity won’t be the thinking that gets us out of it.” That’s why IONS continues to excite me. It’s about what can be. It’s about creating a future — not just reacting to the past.
If you’re in HR, even part time, what could be more important work for you to do than this? Payroll? Benefits administration? Sure those are tasks, but they’re void of any real meaning. Since we all search for meaning in our work, the opportunity for us is to be a seed in the transformation of our workplace. I have seen entire organizations transformed by the suggestion of a single employee. If you have a story about how you’re engaging in transformational work at your company, please let me know. I’d love to discuss it with you and perhaps share it with our other readers.
Keep stretching!
