Non-Local Mind and Survival (from Survival of Bodily Death Conference Summary), Esalen Center for Theory & Research

Survival of Bodily Death
An Esalen Invitational Conference
February 11 - 16, 2000

Non-Local Mind and Survival
Marilyn Schlitz

As the Director of Research at the Institute for Noetic Sciences, Marilyn Schlitz spoke to the issue of survival of bodily death from the perspective of his research into non-local mind—or the communication and information transfer that seems to be possible between human minds. Schlitz said she is not directly involved in survival research but has conducted numerous experiments that buttress the view that human consciousness can operate independently of the physical body alone. Schlitz said that if her type of research helps demonstrate from several angles that the human mind is capable of functioning in ways that are not limited to the immediate physical world, then there is a firmer basis for speculating about the survival thesis. Looking at the big picture, Schlitz said there may be a broader paradigm shift at work, one which may reveal that consciousness has an influential and causal relationship to the human body and brain and ultimately to the physical world at large. As more data accumulates demonstrating that the human experience of consciousness cannot be explained as simply a physical production of the human brain, then a more comprehensive understanding and mapping of what consciousness really is can begin in earnest. It will be within this new consciousness-based paradigm that the survival of bodily death can be viewed with fresh eyes.

To inform the participants at the conference of her research, Schlitz described numerous experiments and studies that support the thesis that the human mind and intentionality are causal properties that can influence the world directly. Schlitz’s first exposure to this point of view began with her anthropological field work with the indigenous shamanic cultures of South America. In particular, she noted that many of the tribes in the Amazon areas of Brazil and Peru maintain a worldview that is 180 degrees opposite of the standard Western materialistic and reductionistic view. She said that the Achwar tribe, for example, is deeply immersed in a worldview in which dreams, spirits, and human consciousness all interpenetrate with the everyday physical world. For them, "mind" is not derivative of the brain at all, but rather a co-participant in a more encompassing and interpenetrating reality.

Here in America over the past several years, Schlitz has been involved in numerous conferences and experiments that have looked at instances of non-local mind from a Western, scientific perspective. Schlitz mentioned her involvement with Esalen’s DMILS conference series (standing for "distant mental interaction with living systems") and her work with Richard Wiseman, Elizabeth Targ, and the California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC). (For details of this work, see some of the other conference summaries at this website, such as those from the Subtle Energies Conference that happened in 1999 and 2000.) As she cited numerous experiments and studies, Schlitz drove home the point that the parapsychology and healing fields have now amassed strong sets of data demonstrating non-local mind. In particular, Schlitz mentioned Elizabeth Targ’s recent studies at the CPMC, which inquired into the effects of non-local prayer on AIDS patients. Targ’s studies resulted in quite significant results, and follow-up studies already have been planned.

Overall, Schlitz noted that her work in the field of non-local mind is part of a sizable and growing body of evidence that is helping scuttle the current materialistic paradigm of consciousness. With respect to the study of the survival of bodily death, all data that contributes to the broader goal of understanding human consciousness and how it is not necessarily derived directly from the human body and brain, can only serve to further the more specific task of assessing how such consciousness may continue after the human body has died.