COSMOS AND CONSCIOUSNESS An Exciting Weekend at Loon Lodge, Rangeley Maine This event was held in early September 2003 We are writing to you about a very exciting event that The Mindshift Institute is presenting. The conference, Cosmos and Consciousness: The Transformative Impact of New Knowledge, is being held in the beautiful Rangeley Lakes region of Maine. This area of deep mountain lakes is known for its peacefulness, serenity and tranquility. In addition, many feel it is a place with a special spiritual quality. It provides the perfect setting for expansive thinking and exploration. The Mindshift Institute Presents Cosmos and Consciousness: The Transformative Impact of New Knowledge An Exciting One-Day Conference Apollo 14 Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, Sc.D. Pulitzer Prize-winning Author John E. Mack, M.D. Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysicist Rudy Schild, Ph.D. Hosts: Trish Corbett and Michael Mannion, Co-Founders of The Mindshift Institute. A Conference at The Rangeley School. Join us in the beautiful, serene surroundings of the Rangeley Lakes Region of Maine for a conference that will surely make you look at the universe, and your place in it, in a completely new way. COSMOS AND CONSCIOUSNESS is a conference designed to explore the transformative impact on our worldview—our conception of ourselves and our reality— brought about by: the interconnectedness of the cosmos and the inner universe of consciousness; leading edge thinking about the physical universe; the information gained from men and women who have had extraordinary experiences with life from beyond earth; worldviews in conflict Changing Worldviews How can a worldview-something which seems so distant and ivory tower-influence daily life? Over 400 years ago, Galileo used the new invention of the telescope to study the skies. He discovered moons around the planet Jupiter. The leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, the powers that ruled the Western world at that time, were threatened by Galileo's discovery. Why? They understood correctly that Galileo had provided evidence that reality was different than the way it was described by the Catholic Church and that once their worldview was seen as incomplete or in error, their authority and control would be undermined and then lost. This is in fact what did occur. Today another dramatic confrontation is underway. Rudy Schild, Edgar Mitchell and John E. Mack are helping to create a new science that has the potential to change our world as greatly as Galileo's science changed his world four centuries ago. As a result, our view of reality is undergoing a major transformation. And this transformation is poised to have a profound impact on our understanding of how we shape our societies and conduct our lives. However, the 300 year-old worldview created by Newton, Locke, Descartes and others still shapes our science, religious views, political institutions, educational practices, technological developments and other key aspects of society. Today's dominant worldview will not go gentle into that good night. It will fight to maintain itself. As a result, once again, new discoveries are coming into conflict with old views. Cosmos and Consciousness will bring to life the new worldview now emerging. Three Pioneering Investigators Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist Rudy Schild is now developing a new picture of the physical universe that will demonstrate that the cosmos is not what we thought it to be only 10, 5 or even 2 years ago. He will share with us the progress he is making in his exciting investigation of dark energy and dark matter, a phenomenon being observed by eight major observatories around the world 24 hours a day. Dr. Schild also will explain how his view of the cosmos has been transformed in recent years by new findings in astrophysics and by the inability of his discipline to explain what are called “anomalous phenomena,” persistent reports that seem to contradict current physical theory. He sees that the tools of his discipline all look outward to the objective world. Yet he now finds he must look inward as well, to subjective reports, if he is to understand the universe he is investigating. MIT graduate and Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell reached the pinnacle of success in his field when he became the sixth man to walk on the moon, one of only 12 ever to do so. On his way home from the lunar mission, he had a sudden insight into the nature of the physical universe that contradicted everything he believed and everything he had been taught. This transformative experience caused a fundamental shift in his scientific views. He saw that the universe is not a Newtonian cosmos of dead matter and energy, with isolated specks scattered throughout a vast vacuum. Instead, he perceived the cosmos as interconnected, alive, aware and self-aware, self-teaching and self-learning. For the last 30 years, Dr. Mitchell has produced a body of work including interconnectedness, quantum holograms and nonlocality that is changing our image of who we are and what our place in the universe is. The explorer of the outer universe retuned home to become an explorer of the inner universe, showing the intimate interconnectedness of both realms. Harvard psychiatrist John E. Mack earned an international reputation for his work studying the subjective life of human beings, finding answers for their behaviors in their inner lives. Then he encountered ordinary people who told extraordinary stories. Dr. Mack had to look to the outer world as well as the inner for answers. After working with many of these people for years, he concluded that our definition of reality has to be expanded to include these “extraordinary experiences.” Dr. Mack's worldview was transformed, not by the study of the heavens or by the direct experience of being in space, but through his work with "experiencers," people who have had encounters with non-human intelligences. A major focus for him is the great transformative potential that may be a result of direct contact between human beings and other life forms in the cosmos. He also addresses the applications of this knowledge for our personal and social lives, indicating how the dominant worldview in each era fiercely resists challenges to its authority. Transformation Rudy Schild the astrophysicist has had to learn about the inner, subjective aspects of life in order to understand the cosmos; Edgar Mitchell was transformed by direct contact with the cosmos and has devoted 30 years to developing his new science; and John Mack has seen his world turned upside down because of his controversial work with extraterrestrial life and other “anomalous phenomena.” Experiments show that we can perceive things we are not conscious of and are conscious of the reality of phenomena we cannot demonstrate to others. Science has shown that most of what we call reality is invisible or inaudible to us. In fact, 50% of what we “see” is not based on what we actually perceive with our eyes, but instead on what we expect to see, that is, our worldview. The connection between the outer and inner worlds is the great new frontier for exploration. When the ideas and discoveries of all three investigators are combined, the foundation for and a new understanding of ourselves and the universe we inhabit begins to take shape. As has always happened in the past, this change is going on behind the scenes of the wars, political and economic conflicts, natural disasters and personal triumphs and tragedies that capture our attention and determine much of our lives. We hope you will come to Rangeley for COSMOS AND CONSCIOUSNESS which will focus on the new consciousness now being born. Trish Corbett and Michael Mannion (The above event was held in early September 2003)

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