Hidden Technologies: A Complementary Approach to Ecosystem Management?  Stuart Moody (CAPS, Mindful Ambassadors, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ )   C24

Many spiritual traditions hold that the quality of human consciousness can affect natural phenomena such as the frequency and suitability of rain. Several lines of inquiry give suggestive, though not definitive, evidence of this kind of mind-nature connection. The status of this notion may be analogous to our earlier understanding of the mind-body connection. In the 1960s, claims that psychosomatic illness could be healed through meditation were viewed with skepticism. Now, fifty years later, the reciprocal, integrated relationship of mind and body is the subject of multiple clinical applications, educational programs, and continued research. This paper asks, "Is it possible that human thoughts and feelings can be invisibly communicated and affect the body of the earth as they affect our own bodies?" In particular, "Can the structure of water and/or hydrologic processes be affected by human consciousness?" If so, "Can technologies of consciousness be used to restore aquifers, improve stream flows, or cleanse polluted bodies of water?" The paper opens with anecdotal accounts of an apparent effect of consciousness on the environment, then reviews a range of reports and research articles on diverse "technologies" of consciousness: Transcendental Meditation, prayer, distant intentionality, and biofields. It outlines arguments in support of the mind-nature relationship, as well as critiques of the notion, concluding with two proposals: one for research, the other for personal application.