“The idea that we live in a multidimensional universe populated by beings or life-forms that are less densely embodied than we are, or perhaps not embodied at all, is not new to Eastern religious traditions or to most of the indigenous peoples of the world. But it is a cosmos that is familiar or accepted as existing by the scientific culture of Western society, which has, perhaps once necessarily, constructed a universe in which the material or psychological, the seen and unseen realms, have been kept largely separate so that the physical world might be understood and mastered in its own right.”
Passport to the Cosmos: Human Transformation and Alien Encounters
John Mack (1999, p. 289)
“What the abduction phenomenon has led me (I would now say inevitably), to see is that we participate in a universe or universes that are filled with intelligences from which we have cut ourselves off, having lost the senses by which we might know them.”
Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens
John Mack (1994, p. 2)
In this post I want to tell you about an exciting conversation I recently had with Michael Zimmerman and Stuart Davis – about the ontological status of subtle beings and non-human intelligences! But let me provide a little context before I say more…Back in November I launched a new course and this website – www.exostudies.org – devoted to Exo Studies – a new integrative metafield – I’m helping to create. It is dedicated to exploring the psychological, sociological, and scientific implications of living in a multidimensional multiverse. When I launched this site I did a soft launch in November 2018 and informed about 200 of my friends and colleagues. You can see that first announcement as the first blog entry on the Exo Studies website under this Updates tab.
I received a number of supportive responses from people including two invitations to do a podcast discussing these topics – one with Jeff Salzman @ The Daily Evolver and one with Michael Garfield @ Future Fossils – both of those are posted in the Update section of the Exo Studies website listed above. After each of these podcasts aired (in February and May respectively) I got even more positive and supportive comments form the Integral community. I continue to be amazed at how many thought leaders and colleagues within the integral space have had their own paranormal encounters and bizarre experiences – many with subtle beings that would qualify as extraterrestrial!
Building on the momentum of the exo studies conversations I had with Jeff Salzman and then Michael Garfield, I’m now taking the conversation further with two dear long-time integral friends: Michael Zimmerman and Stuart Davis. My connections with both Michael and Stuart go back to the first Integral Institute meetings in 1999/2000.
Michael and I, as many of you know, worked for a long time on co-authoring Integral Ecology (2009). Michael responded to my initial exo studies announcement and we began exchanging emails on the topic with me trying to convince him to write a book on exophilosophy with me!
Stuart and I were part of the so called “integral kids” group (i.e., 20 somethings who attended the early I-I meetings) and have stayed in touch over the years. Then in August, Stuart heard that I had some interest in UFOs/ETs as a result of some of my own experiences and so he reached out to me to compare notes. He shared with me his own profound experience which he describes in wild detail in his Man Meets Mantis audio-documentary (over 1 hour in length with over 6K YouTube views) which got him a spot on Coast-to-Coast with George Knapp on May 2nd.
So for the last 6 months I’ve been in individual conversations with both Michael and Stuart and since they both know each other and both independently worked closely for many years with John Mack the famous Harvard professor of psychiatry who studied the alien abduction we decided to get together and have a three way conversation. I was inspired to have the three of us get together and discuss one of the topics I think is most provocative and important – the ontological status of subtle beings – be they extraterrestrial, angels, dakinis, nature spirits, devas, ghosts etc. Are these beings just psychological or cultural projections or do they have their own autonomous or semi-autonomous existence? And if they do “exist” as independent beings what are the implications of this for us and Integral Theory? And how can Exo Studies include this topic in its own discourse? Not surprisingly we spent a lot of time talking about John Mack and his courage to follow the facts even when they led him down a rabbit hole of the bizarre and unbelievable. We all three acknowledge him as an unsung integral hero who engaged in an integrative inquiry into transpersonal realities beyond what is socially acceptable. As such he serves as a model for all of us in approaching Exo Studies.
Our conversation is 1.5 hours in length and can be viewed/listened to at the newly created Exo Studies YouTube channel or view it here:
And if you are interested in being part of a larger conversation about this and other related Exo Studies topics please join us in September when I kick off a three-month online Exo Studies Master Course. Both Michael and Stuart will be part of the course!
I honestly can’t think of a topic in more need of an integral approach than Exo Studies.
At the same time I can’t think of a topic more important in the 21st century than Exo Studies.
So come join us for an out of this world exploration of an integral approach to Exo Studies!
Warmly,
Sean