The Biosphere and the Noösphere

1945

A general intellectual outlook of one of the most remarkable scientific leaders of the early 20th century, focusing on a predicted historical and planetary phase transition in which humanity becomes a united force. Published in American Scientist Vol. 33, No. 1.

Essay
Added 1 week ago
4,709 11

Psychedelics in the Age of Intelligent Machines

1999

Terence's last public appearance before falling seriously ill to brain cancer a month later. A techno-centric evening (alternately titled Shamans Among the Machines) in which he explores the inevitable merging of humanity with its AI offspring.

Lecture
Added 1 week ago
01:24:55 9,345 20

The Limits to Growth

1972

In 1972, three scientists from MIT created a computer model that analyzed global resource consumption and production. Their results shocked the world and created stirring conversations about global 'overshoot,' or resource use beyond the carrying capacity of the planet.

Book
Added 5 weeks ago

Developing an Inclusive Consicousness

2016

Renowned yogi, mystic, and visionary humanitarian Sadhguru addresses points and concerns around inclusiveness raised by a panel of VPs and Google employees, explaining how individuals can create a quality of inclusiveness within themselves. By elaborating how such an attitude can impact our work places, homes, and communities, he provides practical thoughts and tools to create a more inclusive consciousness—the most important aspect that’s needed in the world today.

Discussion
Added 6 weeks ago
01:06:19 8,926 13

The Hill We Climb

2021

Delivered at the inauguration of U.S. president Joe Biden, Gorman's eloquent poem reminds us that progress is a never-ending project, setbacks are all but guaranteed, and that a coming-together of humans in acts of love, compassion, and siblinghood will allow us to perservere in the face of any challenge.

Speech
Added 16 weeks ago
05:53 724 4

Evolution and Consciousness: Human Systems in Transition

1976

Evolution and Consciousness is one of the first, still rare, truly transdisciplinary books: it deals with a totality, not a sector of it. Therefore, it defies any disciplinary labeling. It is a scientific book, yet also deals with topics until now reserved for books of mysticism and poetry. It bridges the gap between science and other forms of knowledge. It deals not just with scientific questions, but with existential questions which concern all mankind, such as the meaning of life and the evolutionary significance of human design and action. It challenges the whole dominant Western world view: process thinking instead of structural thinking, dynamic instead of static, evolution instead of permanency.

Book
Added 25 weeks ago
21

Four Ways to the Center

Can an ego overcome egocentrism? Can a self become selfless? Is there even any value in this pursuit, and if so, how should one approach it? Through renunciation and repentance, or through acceptance and merging into it? Many consciousnesses encounter this conundrum on the brisk seas of being, and Alan invites us to take a closer look at our so-called individuality.

Lecture
Added 25 weeks ago
03:00:38 18,613 16

Cosmic Life

1916

Cosmic Life was the first of Teilhard’s extant writings in his characteristic style. Knowing what risks he was exposed to at the warfront, he wrote it as his ‘intellectual testament,’ and it contains in embryo all that was later to be developed in his thought; the ‘fire in his vision’ which he tried to communicate. The essay was posthumously published in the 1955 book Writings in Time of War.

Essay
Added 27 weeks ago
22,463 33

The End of the Species

1952

Written in New York and published a year later in Psyché.

Essay
Added 27 weeks ago
1,926 3

The Inherent Compassion of a Self-Organizing Universe

2019

Buddhism teaches the emptiness of inherent existence: "everything is not a thing." Contemporary physics, chemistry, and biology—seen through the simplifying lens of complexity theory—shows us that the non-dual realm is in complementarity with all of duality, that the presence/absence of boundaries, of separation, is dependent on perspective. "Wisdom" is seeing the world without delusion, and science is one means to washing delusion from one's mind. In doing so, the inherent compassionate nature of the universe and of every being within and of that universe is revealed.

Lecture
Added 28 weeks ago
21:12 3,501 7

Tao Te Ching

506 B.C.E.

Written more than two thousand years ago, the Tao Te Ching is one of the true classics of spiritual literature. It is a guide to cultivating a life of peace, serenity, and compassion. Through aphorisms and parable, it leads readers toward the Tao, or the “Way”: harmony with the life force of the universe. (This version was translated/interpreted by Stephen Mitchell in 1988.)

Classic Literature
6,523 1 180

The Joker

One of Alan’s most popular seminars, and for good reason—in The Joker, listeners will find out why every society needs fools in order to remind itself not to take life so damn seriously.

Lecture
03:08:18 20,436 14 17

Mr. X

1969

Written under the pseudonym Mr. X to avoid the heavy social stigma associated with marijuana consumption at the time, Carl Sagan documented his personal experiences with cannabis in this essay in order to dispel common misconceptions about the drug. It was later published in the 1971 book Marihuana Reconsidered by Lester Grinspoon. Sagan enjoyed cannabis on a regular basis for the rest of his life, but never spoke of it publicly.

Essay
2,946 6 16

Be Here Now

1971

This book is a classic text on Hindu spirituality that bloomed open like a lotus flower in the wake of the hippie movement. The seed for this book was planted in the mind of Harvard psychiatrist turned Indian mystic, Ram Dass, and was written—with the blessings of his guru Neem Karoli Baba—for a Western audience who were, for the most part, materially rich but spiritually poor. Be Here Now offers its readers and followers a drug-free alternative for attaining higher states of consciousness, while its simple message to live in the present encourages the pursuit and cultivation of inner peace.

Book
27,972 22 16

The Power of Myth, Part 1: The Hero’s Adventure

1988

Bill Moyers and mythologist Joseph Campbell begin their groundbreaking and timeless conversation with an exploration of the classic hero cycle, including consistent and enduring hero patterns in literature, real life, and even the Star Wars films. Campbell also encourages the audience to view parts of their own lives as heroic journeys.

Television Episode
54:38 7,461 13 14

The Tao of Philosophy 5: Myth of Myself

1965

Alan Watts explains how we are not born into this world, but grow out of it; for in the same way an apple tree apples, the Earth peoples.

Lecture
41:34 4,891 7 13

Arcology: The City In The Image Of Man

1969

In what is considered his literary magnum opus, visionary architect Paolo Soleri challenges us to think of cities as biological entities, and introduces us to a philosophy for a new kind of urban living: the arcology, a city-sized organism designed to exist in harmony with nature. Split into two sections, the book first explains the moral and economic necessity for humanity’s transition to arcological urban landscapes, and proposes that the general purpose of life is aesthetogenesis: the universe progressively complexifying and interconnecting, consciously reshaping itself into compassionate structures. In the second section, Soleri showcases 30 potential arcologies (including one space habitat) through the use of incredibly detailed diagrams, and explains how each was carefully designed to integrate itself economically and ecologically into the world.

Book
42,122 15 12

The Tao of Philosophy 2: Images of God

Alan Watts talks on the impact of various models of the ultimate reality, and the contrasts between male and female symbolism.

Lecture
25:16 2,822 5 12

A True Materialist Society

Alan presents his argument that the United States—often referred to as the ultimate materialist society—is anything but: it lacks a sincere appreciation for the material world and inadvertently destroys it in an attempt to “live the good life.”

Lecture
01:02:26 7,629 7 11

The Noösphere: A Cosmic Network

Alan takes us from the very small to the very large, explaining the interrelatedness of all things in the universe. Then he takes the argument a step further to examine the implications for humanity: how is networking technology reshaping human consciousness?

Lecture
01:40:41 11,942 6 11