TRANSPERSONAL HISTORY:
TOWARDS A MAP OF A NEW COUNTRY -
FOOTNOTES TO THE PERIODIC TABLE OF THE WORLD’S RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS

This special 2010-2011 course of lectures is being given by Dr. Thomas C Daffern, an academic specialist in interfaith research and comparative global philosophy. It is taking place at the Castle of the Muses in Argyll & Bute, Scotland, one hour north-west of Glasgow. It will be audio-recorded as a record of the proceedings. The cost of admission is by donation. The talks will be taking place on Saturday afternoons, on the last Saturday of each month, from 3-5.30 starting in May 2010. They will be followed by questions and discussion of the issues raised.

The course is based partly on the unique Periodic Table of the World’s Religious and Philosophical Traditions devised by Dr Daffern (www.thewisdompages.co.uk) The course is also based on Dr Daffern’s doctoral thesis, entitled Toward a Transpersonal History of the Search for Peace 1945-2001.

If you wish to attend please contact iipsgp@educationaid.net for an invitation and exact travel details.

More details of Dr Daffern’s work are on www.educationaid.net while his publications are available from www.lulu.com/iipsgp. The course is taking place under the auspices of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy and all students, members and friends of the Institute are  especially welcome.

ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE MEMORIAL LECTURES 2009: A new lecture series started in Dorset organized by IIPSGP Director in March 2007, featuring the first of what will be the A.R. Wallace Memorial Lecture Series. Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was the co-discoverer with Charles Darwin of the Theory of Natural Selection, and was an esteemed Victorian naturalist and scientist. He is buried in Broadstone, Dorset, where an ancient fossilized stone marks his grave. While there is already an annual Darwin Festival in Shrewsbury, and a huge industry of Darwin events, lectures and commemorative memorabilia around the world, as yet there is nothing commemorating Wallace’s work. Unlike Darwin, Wallace did not believe that the Theory of Natural Selection was a complete explanation for the evolution of human psychology. He was keenly interested in the phenomenology of consciousness and spirit, and was interested in the observations he had made at spiritualist events, which he had attended. He was convinced that there were phenomena connected with human nature, which could only be explained by reference to some kind of supernatural or spiritual order of existence. He did however believe that these phenomena should be investigated with as much rigour and objectivity as the world of outer evolution and the development of different animal and biological types should be. He was also a keen social critic and wanted a world in which peace and justice prevailed – and he thought this was indeed within our grasp provided we seized our evolutionary destiny in our own hands, guided by wisdom.

The lectures will be recorded and published, both in a pamphlet form, and also in an eventual book publication at the end of every 5 years. The themes of the lectures will specifically address the following questions, all of which were dear to Wallace’s heart:

1. How can we reconcile the evidence of natural selection occurring in the natural world with some kind of spiritual explanation for biological existence?
2. How can scientific explanations for the nature of consciousness, connected with our understanding the nature of the human brain, be reconciled with more traditional spiritual explanations of the nature of mind and soul?
3. How can science begin to explain the nature of the survival of consciousness after death, apart from the survival of the physical brain? What implications does this research have for learning, memory, identity, healing?
4. What social and political implications can we draw from our philosophical, scientific and spiritual studies of evolution and consciousness: is it possible to develop towards becoming a more altruistic, less violence and more peaceful species?

The first A.R. Wallace Memorial Lecture took place at Poole Grammar School, which is one of the most successful schools in the West Country. Taking over as Head of the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy I had long been interested in the work of A.R. Wallace myself and have been researching and teaching in these and related areas over many years. The first lecture took place during National Science Week, from 9 – 18 March 2007, on Tuesday 13 March. The inaugural lecture was given by Dr. Peter Fenwick, Prof of Neuropsychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital, University of London, and one of the world’s leading experts on Near Death Experiences, followed by tea and informal discussion, in the hall at Poole Grammar School, Dorset. Prof Fenwick spoke eloquently about his researches into the nature of consciousness, and presented evidence that the standard model of consciousness as a product of brain generated activity failed to take account of certain anomalous phenomena, such as telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, the premonition of death, near death experiences, and similar phenomena. Prof Fenwick spoke in detail about the life and work of Alfred Russel Wallace and the ways in which he had pioneered some of the first researches into such phenomena himself. Fenwick argued that perhaps the evolutionary thrust of mankind was now moving in the direction of evolving greater degrees of compassion and spirituality in our basic apparatus of intelligence, and that scientists in the future will be able to map in greater detail how our minds actually work on many levels of awareness and cognition beyond the realms available to scientific study at the current time.

The lecture was a fascinating exposition of both Wallace’s thought and also of contemporary research into the phenomenology of consciousness, presented by a neuroscientist and philosopher of consciousness of considerable expertise. Following the lecture, and questions from the boys and visitors, a smaller party made a brief visit to Wallace’s grave site in Broadstone Cemetery just around the corner from the school for a memorial toast in honour of Wallace’s life and work. The Headmaster, Ian Carter made an introductory speech and co-chaired the event with Thomas Daffern. There was some interest in the local press and the Evening Echo carried a full page article on the subject of the lectures. The event was well attended, not only by the pupils of Poole Grammar School but also by teachers, 6th form pupils from other neighboring schools, school governors and other interested educators and academics in the south west region.

The second lecture took place at Poole Grammar School in Spring 2008. and featured the Pots Twins, from Bournemouth Spiritualist Church, talking about Wallace’s interest in Spiritualism, and was attended by over 500 pupils and staff at the Grammar School.

The third annual lecture will be given by Dr. Thomas Daffern in Bournemouth in June 2009 and will focus on Spirituality and Peacemaking – the legacy of Wallace and Darwin, and will also commemorate the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth.  Please contact the IIPSGP Director for details.

Telephone: 01301 703053 - Mobile: 07500 238523 Email: iipsgp@educationaid.net