 the esalen institute, commonly just called esalen, is a retreat center and intentional community in big sur, california, which focuses upon humanistic alternative education. esalen is a nonprofit organization devoted to activities such as personal growth, meditation, massage, gestalt, yoga, psychology, ecology, spirituality, and organic food. the institute offers more than 500 public workshops a year, in addition to conferences, research initiatives, residential work-study programs, and internships.http://www.esalen.org/ esalen's website. esalen was founded by michael murphy and dick price in 1962. their goal was to explore work in the humanities and sciences, in order to fully realize what aldous huxley had called the "human potentialities".anderson, walter truett. the upstart spring: esalen and the american awakening, addison wesley publishing company (1983, 2004) p. 64 esalen is located about 45 miles (72&nbsp;km) south of monterey and nine miles (14&nbsp;km) north of lucia.http://esalen.cfdv.net/page/getting-here esalen is situated on 120 acresgoldman, marion s. the american soul rush: esalen and the rise of spiritual privilege. new york university press. (2012) p. 2 of big sur coast.kripal (2007) p. 27 the grounds were once home to a native american tribe known as the esselen, from which the institute got its name.kripal (2007) p. 30 ==history== ===pre-esalen=== carbon dating tests of artifacts found on esalen's property have indicated a human presence as early as 2600 bp.documentation provided by steven harper of radiocarbon dating, performed by members of the sonoma state university cultural resources faculty, that produced the following results: 4,630 +/- 100 years bp (before present). harper notes confirmation by similar tests from big creek (4-5 miles south of esalen institute), which produced: 6,400 years bp, as cited in the prehistory of big creek by terry jones (2000). given access to the ocean, fresh water and hot springs, the esselen people used the site regularly, with certain areas reserved for burial grounds. the esselen population was largely decimated by diseases contracted at the carmel mission, where measles, smallpox, and syphilis wiped out 90 percent of the native population.kripal (2007) p. 31. today, a few people in the area can still trace their ancestry to the esselen. in
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