Social anthropologist, consciousness researcher, Professor at Sofia Univ, and curious explorer of culture, science, and the wonder of it all.

Blog

17 Aug

Posted at 11:00h in Death and Afterlife, Featured, News and Press, Non-Fiction

Sukie Miller, Ph.D. was a force of nature. She brought gusto to every moment of every day. Her insights about culture, the after death realms, and depth psychology were spell-binding. Her enthusiasm for life was contagious. Her friendship was deep and true. As she approached the end of her embodiment, she was open to the next adventure  with characteristic panache. After a protracted illness that she would not let defeat her, she died on December 18, 2013. Sukie was a psychotherapist who dedicated her life to understanding human nature in all its complexities. Her seminal book, After Death, Mapping the Journey,...

14 Aug

Posted at 02:27h in Death Makes Life Possible, Featured, News and Press, Transformation

Positive transformation is afoot in the world. From various corners of the earth people are coming together to talk about the powers and potentials within us to affect life-affirming changes in ourselves and the world. This summer I engaged in a worldwide tour. I found myself moved by the remarkable people and the extraordinary work that is underway on every continent. This included the kinds of people and the types of activities that are often not featured in the prime time news. And yet, as I learned time and again, it involves groundbreaking initiatives to improve our collective wellbeing that are...

15 May

Posted at 01:23h in Death and Afterlife, Featured, News and Press, Non-Fiction

For many years I have been studying the nature of worldview transformations. How do we change our minds? What actions do we need to take to make fundamental shifts in how we experience ourselves and the world? How can we shift our view of death in order to live life more fully? Over the past two decades I had the privilege to work with a team of researchers through the Institute of Noetic Sciences to study the nature of individual and social transformation. We published our results in Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life (Schlitz, Vieten,...

12 May

Posted at 04:45h in Featured

In honor of Mother's Day and mothers everywhere, below is a historical reflection that speaks to the heritage of this special day. Mother's Day first began after the Civil War, its emergence a protest by women who had lost their sons to the carnage brought by the many years of war. Here is the original Mother's Day Proclamation from 1870: Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, Whether our baptism be that of water or of fears! Say firmly: "We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking...

28 Apr

Posted at 09:00h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured

It is an exciting time in the journey to bring the Death Makes Life Possible film to a wider audience. Our world tour will begin in May with our world premiere at the Illuminate Film Festival in Sedona, Arizona May 29-June 1! Responses to our initial screenings have been uniformly positive. Viewers are profoundly affected and it has stimulated deep and dynamic conversations. It’s clear this is a film that moves people to speak about their personal stories, explore their own beliefs and those of others, and think in transformative terms about death and dying. Below is a list of private screenings we've done prior...

25 Apr

Posted at 18:14h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured, healthcare

This blog series is a transcript of a recent interview I did as a speaker for Dr. Karen Wyatt’s End-of-Life University. In our conversation we shared our own personal stories about death, transformation and the end of life. We also talked about our work in this realm, including my backstory on the documentary film Death Makes Life Possible, which will be world premiering at the Illuminate Film Festival in late May and also screened at the Afterlife Conference in early June. The beautiful web site for the movie will be launched very soon as well! Karen Wyatt: Is there anything else, Marilyn, that you would like...

18 Apr

Posted at 18:08h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured, healthcare

This blog series is a transcript of a recent interview I did as a speaker for Dr. Karen Wyatt’s End-of-Life University. In our conversation we shared our own personal stories about death, transformation and the end of life. We also talked about our work in this realm, including my backstory on the documentary film Death Makes Life Possible, which will be world premiering at the Illuminate Film Festival in late May and also screened at the Afterlife Conference in early June. The beautiful web site for the movie will be launched very soon as well! Karen Wyatt: I definitely feel that the timing is right, and...

11 Apr

Posted at 09:00h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured, healthcare

This blog series is a transcript of a recent interview I did as a speaker for Dr. Karen Wyatt's End-of-Life University. In our conversation we shared our own personal stories about death, transformation and the end of life. We also talked about our work in this realm, including my backstory on the documentary film Death Makes Life Possible, which will be world premiering at the Illuminate Film Festival in late May and also screened at the Afterlife Conference in early June. The beautiful web site for the movie will be launched very soon as well! Marilyn Schlitz: I’ve been reading Ernest Becker and The Denial of...

04 Apr

Posted at 06:06h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured, healthcare

This blog series is a transcript of a recent interview I did as a speaker for Dr. Karen Wyatt's End-of-Life University. In our conversation we shared our own personal stories about death, transformation and the end of life. We also talked about our work in this realm, including my backstory on the documentary film Death Makes Life Possible, which will be world premiering at the Illuminate Film Festival in late May and also screened at the Afterlife Conference in early June. The beautiful web site for the movie will be launched very soon as well! Karen Wyatt: One question that I had for you that I...

28 Mar

Posted at 19:24h in Death and Afterlife, Death Makes Life Possible, Featured, healthcare

This blog series is a transcript of a recent interview I did as a speaker for Dr. Karen Wyatt's End-of-Life University. In our conversation we shared our own personal stories about death, transformation and the end of life. We also talked about our work in this realm, including my backstory on the documentary film Death Makes Life Possible, which will be world premiering at the Illuminate Film Festival in late May and also screened at the Afterlife Conference in early June. The beautiful web site for the movie will be launched very soon as well! Karen Wyatt: I wanted to start first...

12 Mar

Posted at 02:54h in Featured, News and Press

The vast majority of mainstream consciousness science is focused on the physical and material nature of the brain. And yet, much more is possible. While considered heretical in many domains of science, frontier scientists are exploring the ways in which data from various studies now suggest that we take a more expansive view of consciousness and the mind. To support this, one can draw on developments in quantum physics that shake the foundations of conventional causality and common sense notions of space and time. While progress in the areas of nonlocal consciousness have been slow and poorly funded, scientists are now...

21 Feb

Posted at 17:37h in Featured, Non-Fiction, Research

  Final Reflections Through my work and my life experiences, I have seen that the transformative process involves a change in self that includes both our inner and our outer realities. It provides links between our direct experiences and our being in the world through action and service. Bridging the Akashic and the rational has allowed me to develop a deeper and richer sense of connection to myself, my family, my community, and my environment. In this process, I have developed an increasing awareness and appreciation for the sacred in every aspect of life. As each of us lives into expanded human capacities,...

14 Feb

Posted at 07:21h in Featured, Non-Fiction, Research

The Quest for a New Paradigm This leads me back to where I started: questing for a fundamental paradigm, cosmology, or story of the world that’s inclusive enough to embrace the Akashic, noetic dimensions while not losing sight of what is real and true in the objective and intersubjective realms of lived experience. We are alive in a time of enormous complexity—how do we make sense of the fact that a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, secular humanist, and Pagan are all using the same grocery stores, public schools, and health care centers? How is it that a materialist scientist can sit with...

07 Feb

Posted at 20:13h in Featured, Non-Fiction, Research

Exceptional and Transformative Experiences Over time, I have sought to understand the nature of psi and other Akashic experiences outside the laboratory. Obtaining a Ph.D. in anthropology, I felt that qualitative methods may reveal details that are left on the cutting room floor in our lab-based studies. I have been interested in how exceptional experiences impact people’s lives in ways that are transformative. This has led me to engage in a decade of research on what stimulates transformation, what sustains it, and what results from experiences that open us to a larger set of possibilities. In a recent book, Living Deeply: The...

03 Feb

Posted at 13:14h in Featured, News and Press

We are embarking on many exciting events and opportunities that will seed positive transformation in the world. The Death Makes Life Possible Film is moving out into the world with gusto, helping redefine death and transform fear into an inspiration for living and dying well. Marilyn is involved in many conferences and will be speaking in many venues in the next few months. Here’s a calendar for where we will be in 2015. October 15-16,2015 - Death Make Life Possible Film Viewing and Discussion (Kansas City, MO) September 11-13, 2015 - The Final Transition Conference (Tuscon, AZ) July 22-26, 2015 - Living the Noetic...