On October 1, questions about telepathy, prophetic dreams, encounters with the dead, near-death experiences, UFOs, and other unexplained phenomena move from the margins into the mainstream. For decades, experiences have lived in an uncomfortable space: too strange for conventional science, too consequential to simply dismiss, and often relegated to the fringes of public conversation. Finally, in just one week, they're getting a television series.
Archive X: Unexplained Phenomena, a six-part docuseries hosted by Jeffrey J. Kripal, chair of Esalen’s Board of Trustees and one of the leading scholars of extraordinary human experience, premieres October 1 on SundanceTV, AMC+ and All Reality.
The series draws on Rice University’s Center for the Impossible, the growing collection of historical records Jeff helped create around phenomena that have long been difficult to fit into conventional categories. The collection includes more than a million documents, recordings and files, including the papers of Harvard psychiatrist John E. Mack, UFO researcher Jacques Vallée, and the Anne and Whitley Strieber Collection.
Jeff describes the archive as occupying a space between “the furthest reaches of science fiction and the impossible strangeness of the real.” The collection preserves accounts, correspondence, photographs, research files and firsthand testimony that might otherwise have disappeared. Of course, every story can’t be explained, but nevertheless the stories themselves are worth examining. That instinct to decidedly not determine in advance what is possible or impossible, but rather to stay with the questions long enough to see what else might be there is very Esalen.
And this is what makes Archive X an interesting companion to the questions at the heart of Esalen's work with the University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies. The subjects, archives, and institutions are different, but the question remains the same: What happens when we take extraordinary human experiences seriously enough to really learn about them?
Across six episodes, Archive X follows people who have had experiences that don't fit neatly anywhere else, including telepathic experiences, prophetic dreams, encounters with unexplained phenomena, and messages from the dead. Many are speaking publicly about them for the first time.
Jeff has spent decades tracing the strange territory where science, religion, culture and human experience collide and most institutions are too nervous to touch. At Rice, the archive is a home for material that has been ignored, ridiculed, and unexplored. Rice describes its purpose as creating the archival foundation for a new phase of scholarly attention to these subjects.
Now that archive travels beyond the stacks to primetime! Six Thursdays. Six episodes. The conversation moves into a new room.
What happens when we finally start looking at the things we've been taught not to see?
Archive X: Unexplained Phenomena premieres October 1 on SundanceTV, AMC+ and All Reality.
“Remembering to be as self compassionate as I can and praying to the divine that we're all a part of.”
–Aaron
“Prayer, reading, meditation, walking.”
–Karen
“Erratically — which is an ongoing stream of practice to find peace.”
–Charles
“Try on a daily basis to be kind to myself and to realize that making mistakes is a part of the human condition. Learning from our mistakes is a journey. But it starts with compassion and caring. First for oneself.”
–Steve
“Physically: aerobic exercise, volleyball, ice hockey, cycling, sailing. Emotionally: unfortunately I have to work to ‘not care’ about people or situations which may end painfully. Along the lines of ‘attachment is the source of suffering’, so best to avoid it or limit its scope. Sad though because it could also be the source of great joy. Is it worth the risk?“
–Rainer
“It's time for my heart to be nurtured on one level yet contained on another. To go easy on me and to allow my feelings to be validated, not judged harshly. On the other hand, to let the heart rule with equanimity and not lead the mind and body around like a master.”
–Suzanne
“I spend time thinking of everything I am grateful for, and I try to develop my ability to express compassion for myself and others without reservation. I take time to do the things I need to do to keep myself healthy and happy. This includes taking experiential workshops, fostering relationships, and participating within groups which have a similar interest to become a more compassionate and fulfilled being.“
–Peter
“Self-forgiveness for my own judgments. And oh yeah, coming to Esalen.”
–David B.
“Hmm, this is a tough one! I guess I take care of my heart through fostering relationships with people I feel connected to. Spending quality time with them (whether we're on the phone, through messages/letters, on Zoom, or in-person). Being there for them, listening to them, sharing what's going on with me, my struggles and my successes... like we do in the Esalen weekly Friends of Esalen Zoom sessions!”
–Lori
“I remind myself in many ways of the fact that " Love is all there is!" LOVE is the prize and this one precious life is the stage we get to learn our lessons. I get out into nature, hike, camp, river kayak, fly fish, garden, I create, I dance (not enough!), and I remain grateful for each day, each breath, each moment. Being in the moment, awake, and remembering the gift of life and my feeling of gratitude for all of creation.”
–Steven
“My physical heart by limiting stress and eating a heart-healthy diet. My emotional heart by staying in love with the world and by knowing that all disappointment and loss will pass.“
–David Z.
Today, September 29, is World Heart Day. Strike up a conversation with your own heart and as you feel comfortable, encourage others to do the same. As part of our own transformations and self-care, we sometimes ask for others to illuminate and enliven our hearts or speak our love language.
What if we could do this for ourselves too, even if just for today… or to start a heart practice, forever?
On October 1, questions about telepathy, prophetic dreams, encounters with the dead, near-death experiences, UFOs, and other unexplained phenomena move from the margins into the mainstream. For decades, experiences have lived in an uncomfortable space: too strange for conventional science, too consequential to simply dismiss, and often relegated to the fringes of public conversation. Finally, in just one week, they're getting a television series.
Archive X: Unexplained Phenomena, a six-part docuseries hosted by Jeffrey J. Kripal, chair of Esalen’s Board of Trustees and one of the leading scholars of extraordinary human experience, premieres October 1 on SundanceTV, AMC+ and All Reality.
The series draws on Rice University’s Center for the Impossible, the growing collection of historical records Jeff helped create around phenomena that have long been difficult to fit into conventional categories. The collection includes more than a million documents, recordings and files, including the papers of Harvard psychiatrist John E. Mack, UFO researcher Jacques Vallée, and the Anne and Whitley Strieber Collection.
Jeff describes the archive as occupying a space between “the furthest reaches of science fiction and the impossible strangeness of the real.” The collection preserves accounts, correspondence, photographs, research files and firsthand testimony that might otherwise have disappeared. Of course, every story can’t be explained, but nevertheless the stories themselves are worth examining. That instinct to decidedly not determine in advance what is possible or impossible, but rather to stay with the questions long enough to see what else might be there is very Esalen.
And this is what makes Archive X an interesting companion to the questions at the heart of Esalen's work with the University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies. The subjects, archives, and institutions are different, but the question remains the same: What happens when we take extraordinary human experiences seriously enough to really learn about them?
Across six episodes, Archive X follows people who have had experiences that don't fit neatly anywhere else, including telepathic experiences, prophetic dreams, encounters with unexplained phenomena, and messages from the dead. Many are speaking publicly about them for the first time.
Jeff has spent decades tracing the strange territory where science, religion, culture and human experience collide and most institutions are too nervous to touch. At Rice, the archive is a home for material that has been ignored, ridiculed, and unexplored. Rice describes its purpose as creating the archival foundation for a new phase of scholarly attention to these subjects.
Now that archive travels beyond the stacks to primetime! Six Thursdays. Six episodes. The conversation moves into a new room.
What happens when we finally start looking at the things we've been taught not to see?
Archive X: Unexplained Phenomena premieres October 1 on SundanceTV, AMC+ and All Reality.
“Remembering to be as self compassionate as I can and praying to the divine that we're all a part of.”
–Aaron
“Prayer, reading, meditation, walking.”
–Karen
“Erratically — which is an ongoing stream of practice to find peace.”
–Charles
“Try on a daily basis to be kind to myself and to realize that making mistakes is a part of the human condition. Learning from our mistakes is a journey. But it starts with compassion and caring. First for oneself.”
–Steve
“Physically: aerobic exercise, volleyball, ice hockey, cycling, sailing. Emotionally: unfortunately I have to work to ‘not care’ about people or situations which may end painfully. Along the lines of ‘attachment is the source of suffering’, so best to avoid it or limit its scope. Sad though because it could also be the source of great joy. Is it worth the risk?“
–Rainer
“It's time for my heart to be nurtured on one level yet contained on another. To go easy on me and to allow my feelings to be validated, not judged harshly. On the other hand, to let the heart rule with equanimity and not lead the mind and body around like a master.”
–Suzanne
“I spend time thinking of everything I am grateful for, and I try to develop my ability to express compassion for myself and others without reservation. I take time to do the things I need to do to keep myself healthy and happy. This includes taking experiential workshops, fostering relationships, and participating within groups which have a similar interest to become a more compassionate and fulfilled being.“
–Peter
“Self-forgiveness for my own judgments. And oh yeah, coming to Esalen.”
–David B.
“Hmm, this is a tough one! I guess I take care of my heart through fostering relationships with people I feel connected to. Spending quality time with them (whether we're on the phone, through messages/letters, on Zoom, or in-person). Being there for them, listening to them, sharing what's going on with me, my struggles and my successes... like we do in the Esalen weekly Friends of Esalen Zoom sessions!”
–Lori
“I remind myself in many ways of the fact that " Love is all there is!" LOVE is the prize and this one precious life is the stage we get to learn our lessons. I get out into nature, hike, camp, river kayak, fly fish, garden, I create, I dance (not enough!), and I remain grateful for each day, each breath, each moment. Being in the moment, awake, and remembering the gift of life and my feeling of gratitude for all of creation.”
–Steven
“My physical heart by limiting stress and eating a heart-healthy diet. My emotional heart by staying in love with the world and by knowing that all disappointment and loss will pass.“
–David Z.
Today, September 29, is World Heart Day. Strike up a conversation with your own heart and as you feel comfortable, encourage others to do the same. As part of our own transformations and self-care, we sometimes ask for others to illuminate and enliven our hearts or speak our love language.
What if we could do this for ourselves too, even if just for today… or to start a heart practice, forever?
On October 1, questions about telepathy, prophetic dreams, encounters with the dead, near-death experiences, UFOs, and other unexplained phenomena move from the margins into the mainstream. For decades, experiences have lived in an uncomfortable space: too strange for conventional science, too consequential to simply dismiss, and often relegated to the fringes of public conversation. Finally, in just one week, they're getting a television series.
Archive X: Unexplained Phenomena, a six-part docuseries hosted by Jeffrey J. Kripal, chair of Esalen’s Board of Trustees and one of the leading scholars of extraordinary human experience, premieres October 1 on SundanceTV, AMC+ and All Reality.
The series draws on Rice University’s Center for the Impossible, the growing collection of historical records Jeff helped create around phenomena that have long been difficult to fit into conventional categories. The collection includes more than a million documents, recordings and files, including the papers of Harvard psychiatrist John E. Mack, UFO researcher Jacques Vallée, and the Anne and Whitley Strieber Collection.
Jeff describes the archive as occupying a space between “the furthest reaches of science fiction and the impossible strangeness of the real.” The collection preserves accounts, correspondence, photographs, research files and firsthand testimony that might otherwise have disappeared. Of course, every story can’t be explained, but nevertheless the stories themselves are worth examining. That instinct to decidedly not determine in advance what is possible or impossible, but rather to stay with the questions long enough to see what else might be there is very Esalen.
And this is what makes Archive X an interesting companion to the questions at the heart of Esalen's work with the University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies. The subjects, archives, and institutions are different, but the question remains the same: What happens when we take extraordinary human experiences seriously enough to really learn about them?
Across six episodes, Archive X follows people who have had experiences that don't fit neatly anywhere else, including telepathic experiences, prophetic dreams, encounters with unexplained phenomena, and messages from the dead. Many are speaking publicly about them for the first time.
Jeff has spent decades tracing the strange territory where science, religion, culture and human experience collide and most institutions are too nervous to touch. At Rice, the archive is a home for material that has been ignored, ridiculed, and unexplored. Rice describes its purpose as creating the archival foundation for a new phase of scholarly attention to these subjects.
Now that archive travels beyond the stacks to primetime! Six Thursdays. Six episodes. The conversation moves into a new room.
What happens when we finally start looking at the things we've been taught not to see?
Archive X: Unexplained Phenomena premieres October 1 on SundanceTV, AMC+ and All Reality.
“Remembering to be as self compassionate as I can and praying to the divine that we're all a part of.”
–Aaron
“Prayer, reading, meditation, walking.”
–Karen
“Erratically — which is an ongoing stream of practice to find peace.”
–Charles
“Try on a daily basis to be kind to myself and to realize that making mistakes is a part of the human condition. Learning from our mistakes is a journey. But it starts with compassion and caring. First for oneself.”
–Steve
“Physically: aerobic exercise, volleyball, ice hockey, cycling, sailing. Emotionally: unfortunately I have to work to ‘not care’ about people or situations which may end painfully. Along the lines of ‘attachment is the source of suffering’, so best to avoid it or limit its scope. Sad though because it could also be the source of great joy. Is it worth the risk?“
–Rainer
“It's time for my heart to be nurtured on one level yet contained on another. To go easy on me and to allow my feelings to be validated, not judged harshly. On the other hand, to let the heart rule with equanimity and not lead the mind and body around like a master.”
–Suzanne
“I spend time thinking of everything I am grateful for, and I try to develop my ability to express compassion for myself and others without reservation. I take time to do the things I need to do to keep myself healthy and happy. This includes taking experiential workshops, fostering relationships, and participating within groups which have a similar interest to become a more compassionate and fulfilled being.“
–Peter
“Self-forgiveness for my own judgments. And oh yeah, coming to Esalen.”
–David B.
“Hmm, this is a tough one! I guess I take care of my heart through fostering relationships with people I feel connected to. Spending quality time with them (whether we're on the phone, through messages/letters, on Zoom, or in-person). Being there for them, listening to them, sharing what's going on with me, my struggles and my successes... like we do in the Esalen weekly Friends of Esalen Zoom sessions!”
–Lori
“I remind myself in many ways of the fact that " Love is all there is!" LOVE is the prize and this one precious life is the stage we get to learn our lessons. I get out into nature, hike, camp, river kayak, fly fish, garden, I create, I dance (not enough!), and I remain grateful for each day, each breath, each moment. Being in the moment, awake, and remembering the gift of life and my feeling of gratitude for all of creation.”
–Steven
“My physical heart by limiting stress and eating a heart-healthy diet. My emotional heart by staying in love with the world and by knowing that all disappointment and loss will pass.“
–David Z.
Today, September 29, is World Heart Day. Strike up a conversation with your own heart and as you feel comfortable, encourage others to do the same. As part of our own transformations and self-care, we sometimes ask for others to illuminate and enliven our hearts or speak our love language.
What if we could do this for ourselves too, even if just for today… or to start a heart practice, forever?
Esalen Institute
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Big Sur, CA 93920
US: 1-831-667-3000
info@esalen.org
