The Beyond the Brain conference series

Introducing our speakers:


Beyond the Brain is the world’s premier conference series exploring new research on whether and how consciousness and mind extend beyond the physical brain and body. The conferences were initiated at St John’s College, Cambridge in 1995, by the Scientific & Medical Network (SMN) with the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). Over the years, we have covered a wide range of topics that cover the frontiers of consciousness research.
This year we are collaborating with the Alef Trust and The Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences (AAPS) to explore science and spiritual practices, the boundary between neuroscience and mystical experience, transpersonal psychology, psychedelics and the brain, death and after-death communication, consciousness in relation to the brain and the universe, and the relationship between science and spirituality.

2017 marks the centenary of two of the most creative scientists of the 20th century, Prof David Bohm FRS (1917 – 1992) and Prof Vicomte Ilya Prigogine (1917 – 2004). Both men thought out-of-the-box, and introduced new and influential concepts that have had a wide reach outside their specialist fields. The Network arranged a weekend of dialogue with David Bohm in 1988, and a day with Ilya Prigogine in 1995, which was attended by more than 400 people. Both were Honorary Members. Addressed by experts who worked closely with both men, this centenary conference will consider their legacies and the extensive influence, showing how their ideas still shape our thinking.
There are some things we cannot get our heads around, like billions of light years or collapsing the walls of gravity. However we have the capacity to relate to mystery with other ways of knowing. With this we can explore the cosmos of wholeness and release the powers of healing. Our ship into this world is stillness and the pure silence of attention. Our challenge today is to recognise and integrate these different ways of knowing.
But what psycho-spiritual factors are at work behind the emergence of ISIS, and how may humanity collectively deal with The ISIS Crisis?
Chair: Neil Douglas-Klotz, is the author of several well-known books on Middle Eastern mysticism, including Prayers of the Cosmos, Desert Wisdom and […]