TMI Journal 2011-1&2 (Winter/Spring)

Journal TMI Vol. III Winter/Spring 2011 Nos. 1 & 2 A Research and Educational Publication of The Monroe Institute EDITOR’S INTRO: DIALOGUES IN THIS ISSUE Editor’s Intro: Dialogues ................ 1 H ello and welcome to the latest issue of TMI Journal. Before anything else, I want to by Hillary Webb, Ph.D. take this opportunity to thank Shirley Bliley for all she has In Memory of Steve Graf......... 3 done over the years to bring us The Monroe Institute's® two Becoming Our Own Guinea Pigs: publications, TMI Focus and TMI A Phenomenological Study of the Relationship Journal. Since taking over her between Experiences of “Wonder” and editorial duties this past winter, Philosophical Inquiry ............. 4 I have come to understand and by Joseph M. Felser, Ph.D. admire even more the effort and care that goes into putting together these publications. New Roads to Familiar Places: A Life-Long Thank you, Shirley, for all your guidance. I also want to Consciousness Traveler Reflects on thank Ann Vaughan for her support and assistance as I the Focus Levels .......... 9 moved into this role. Thank you, Ann. by Natalie Sudman I am excited to share with you the contents of this latest issue and hope you will find it as inspiring as I do. In The State of Psychological Research in the addition to offering ideas and insights to support our own U.S. and Abroad: An Interview with The Rhine work, the intent of TMI Journal is to inspire respectful Center’s Senior Research Fellow and thought-provoking dialogue amongst community Christine Simmonds-Moore, Ph.D ...........13 members regarding the content and form of our various research projects. In some cases this is a literal dialogue, Applications of Altered States of such as: Consciousness in Daily Life ...........19 • The interview with Christine Simmonds-Moore, by Ruth-Inge Heinze, Ph.D Senior Research Fellow at the Rhine Research Center, in which she reflects upon the differences between Recent Member/Affiliate Publications...........26 the U.S. and U.K. when it comes to how the field of parapsychology is approached and supported; the Book Review: Out-of-Body Exploring: recent uproar about Bem’s article on ESP research to A Beginner’s Approach be published in the APA’s Journal of Personality and by Preston Dennett......... 27 Social Psychology; and her vision for the future of para- by Matthew Fike, Ph.D. psychological research. In other cases, this “conversation” model includes a direct invitation for the members of our community to Next Page TMI JOURNAL Winter/Spring 2011 enter into a conversation about ongoing research projects underway at The Monroe Institute, such as: • Joseph Felser’s article, “Becoming Our Own Guinea Pigs: A Phenomenological Study of the Relationship Between Experiences of ‘Wonder’ and Philosophical Inquiry,” in which he discusses his ongoing study investi- gating TMI program participants’ experiences of “wonder” and what this might say about the source of philo- sophical thought. At the end of the article, Joe extends an invitation to you all to contact him with input about the direction of his research. Some articles that would have normally appeared in the Institute’s newsletter, TMI Focus, have been moved into TMI Journal. While in the past we have made a sharp distinction between research papers and anecdotal reports, future issues will offer an opportunity to consider what can be learned from subjective reports describing the explora- tion of consciousness through personal experience. To that end, in this issue we have: • TMI program participant Natalie Sudman’s intriguing and beautifully written essay entitled “New Roads to Familiar Places: A Life-Long Consciousness Traveler Reflects on the Focus Levels,” in which she describes her experience at the GATEWAY VOYAGE®, LIFELINE, and GUIDELINES® programs. In addition to this, it is our intent that from now on TMI Journal will contain at least one review of a book or monograph that is likely to be of interest to TMI members and their work. In this issue we have: • Matthew Fike’s insightful review of Preston Dennett’s spiritual autobiography, Out-of-Body Exploring: A Beginner’s Approach. This issue of TMI Journal includes: • An article by the late anthropologist (and one of my graduate school mentors) Ruth-Inge Heinze. The article, entitled “Applications of Altered States of Consciousness in Daily Life,” reflects upon the importance of rec- ognizing different states of consciousness, evaluates the respective techniques that can be used to access these states of consciousness, and shows how they can be applied to everyday life. Finally, on page 3 you will see a tribute to Professional Member Stephen Graf, long-time friend and supporter of The Monroe Institute who passed away on May 31, 2011. Our thoughts and prayers are with Stephen’s family, and we wish to extend our deepest love and gratitude to him as he moves into the next part of his journey. I hope you enjoy this issue of TMI Journal. I welcome feedback, both about the content of a given issue as well as suggestions for future articles and interviews. If there is something you would like to see featured in TMI Journal, or if you have comments in general, please feel free to drop me a note. You can email me at hillary. webb@monroeinstitute.org Best wishes, Hillary Webb, Ph.D. Research Director The Monroe Institute Because our entire universe is made up of consciousness, we never really experience the universe directly, we just experience our consciousness of the universe, our perception of it, so right, our only universe is perception. ~Alan Moore Next Page 2 TMI JOURNAL Winter/Spring 2011 IN MEMORY OF STEVE GRAF No matter how powerfully we know we are more than our physical bodies, that con- sciousness is a continuum, and that nothing ever dies, losing a friend hurts. There’s just something exquisitely poignant about realizing that a beloved and unique body-mind-spirit entity will never again grace this, or any, existence in precisely the same way. We heard recently of the death of Stephen Graf, long-time friend and supporter of The Monroe Institute. Steve’s brother-in-law and fellow Professional Member Jack Auman kindly brought us the news. He attached the lovely tribute written by Steve’s wife and three daughters, which can be viewed in full HERE. Excerpted from that tribute: Stephen A. Graf, 67, of Poland, Ohio, died at his home in the company of his family on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 [from a rare form of lung cancer]. … Steve went to Miami (OH) University and was a three-year letter winner in baseball. He then obtained his Doctorate from the Ohio State University before becoming a psychology professor at Youngstown State University. While at YSU, he was also an assistant baseball coach with Dom Rosselli for several years. Honored as a distinguished professor, and featured in Who’s Who Among American Teachers, ‘The Graffer’ influenced the lives of many of his students. Some of his more memorable teaching methods included the use of SAFMEDS, standard celera- tion charts, clicker training, and authoring the books he used for his classes. He retired from YSU in 2005, but he and Jack Auman, continued to teach a course about extraterrestrials through 2010. In January of this year, Steve was honored with the Ogden R. Lindsley Lifetime Achievement Award from the Standard Celeration Society, an organization he presided over for two years. He was a keynote speaker at the International Precision Teaching Conference and editor of the Association for Behavioral Analysis newsletter for nine years. He was highly involved in the CSETI organization and The Orion Project. During the more than two decades he served as a Professional Member of The Monroe Institute, Steve’s pres- ence at the Professional Seminar became synonymous with the spirit of collaboration and camaraderie that defined that group. His many contributions include several articles published in TMI’s Journal, including • Measuring Inner and Outer Behavioral Effects of Hemi-Sync [1993] • Re-Creating Recreation: Hemi-Sync in Competitive and Cooperative Situations [1995] • Analyzing Results From the Remote Viewing Practicum [2002] Steve was a dedicated Dolphin Energy Club member from the inception of DEC. True to form, he acknowl- edged every request. Each e-mail, letter, and card he signed, “As ever.” We remember Steve’s shy ready smile, his quiet quirky sense of humor, and that he was game for pretty much anything. Not to mention, the man could count! Steve took good-natured ribbing from his TMI colleagues for counting absolutely everything—to excellent effect. Thank you, Steve! You are deeply appreciated. You are missed. As ever, Your Friends at The Monroe Institute Next Page 3 TMI JOURNAL Winter/Spring 2011 Becoming Our Own Guinea Pigs: