Since 1962, Esalen has sponsored a great variety of invitational conferences alongside its public programs. From these have come pioneering projects in education, medicine, psychology, somatics, meditation research, physics, Soviet-American relations, and other fields. The review of our history and mission prompted by last winter's storms has increased our appreciation for this part of our work. It has reminded us that we have enhanced the lives of people who, for all sorts of reasons, will never come to Big Sur, and has confirmed our sense that Esalen has a special ability to promote new perspectives, insights, and approaches in many disciplines. Part of that ability comes from the sheer beauty of our Big Sur property, which brings magic and expansiveness to the meetings held there.
Part comes from the atmosphere created by seminarians and staff.
Part comes from our experience of more than three decades in organizing pioneering explorations of the human potential. With renewed appreciation for this side of our program, we have formed a Center for Theory and Research to concentrate on fundamental fields of inquiry that are ripe for development but which, for various reasons, are largely neglected by mainstream academic and religious institutions. We have chosen four such fields with which to begin the Center's activities this year. From its birth as a tiny seed to the emergence of life to the appearance of humankind, the cosmos is increasingly revealed as a journey to higher levels of complexity and consciousness. Since the late nineteenth century, scientists, philosophers, and religious thinkers have worked to develop a comprehensive understanding of evolution that honors the established truths of science while extending evolutionary ideas into realms of higher human possibility.