This was the keynote lecture delivered by Fr. Laurence at the 2012 Mystics and Scientists conference on Western contemplative traditions. We are, each of us, the product of a union of opposites. Perhaps we enjoy, for an instant after our personal big bang, a fleeting experience of unity which […]
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The SMN members have created a large volume of written material over the years, much of which has been published in the Network Review. Here you will find a selection of the member articles.
Within the next 10 years, the SMN will: Be a protective place and springboard for a new generation of scientists. Be an organisation which is challenging whatever is the current orthodoxy and continuing to be leading-edge. Hold events which are more participative and experiential – and have acquired the understanding […]
Here Mary Midgley, now in her 90s, reflects on the profound implications of attempting to abolish death. The more one thinks it through, the less desirable the prospect seems. An earlier version of this article appeared in Philosophy Now, March-April 2012 Till lately, people discussing death didn’t have to consider […]
These days, there’s no shortage of scientific optimism, that this or that problem, even though it cannot be solved today will one day be solved. One day we will understand the nature of consciousness and, yes, it will be shown to be material in origin. One day we’ll prove […]
We’re all used to hearing that a course in yoga and meditation can make you feel better. Help you cope with stress. Now a new study headed by Helen Lavretsky of UCLA and published in the May edition of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Research indicates yoga and meditation may also […]
Do you have a purpose, in your life, or in your work, or both? Perhaps this is something you never ask yourself. Or perhaps it changes from day to day as you try to grapple with the challenges that life seems to throw at you. I have found that having […]
ABSTRACT The popular view of the inherent conflict between science and the occult has been rendered obsolete by recent advances in the history of science. Yet, these historiographical revisions have gone unnoticed in the public understanding of science and public education at large. Particularly, reconstructions of the formation of modern […]
A recent study by scientists at Imperial College London has revealed for the first time how the brain behaves during an LSD induced experience. The study, led by David J. Nutt, involved fMRI scans of subjects who had taken LSD and compared them with others who had been given a […]
Epigenetics — the science of gene expression is a moving target. Over the past thirty years geneticists recognised that the way a gene is expressed can be influenced by environmental factors. A mother’s obesity, diabetes stress or even mental illness can be passed onto her offspring even if the condition […]
Introduction Despite the recognition by modern medicine that electrophysical exchanges underlie most cellular activity, scant attention has been directed to the possible existence of a total or unified field or fields underlying the human organism. Such recognition might revolutionise modern medicine in the areas of causation, diagnosis and treatment of […]