Themes Arising in the Field
I.Worldview Shifts and their Relationship to Social Healing
We interviewed professionals in the fields of international peacemaking,international mediation
and dialogue, racial healing, mindbody science, trauma recovery, evolutionary theory, social
development theory, social organizing, systems theory, psychology and consciousness research on
the topic of worldview and its relation to societal healing and transformation. This exploration is
a logical next step in this work since it is from understanding the structure of belief that we can
best map the healing journey for humanity.
Interviews were conducted with people as diverse as Dr. James Gordon whose Center for Mind
Body Medicine is doing innovative trauma work in such places as Israel/Palestine and Haiti;
Howard Martin, who is a scientist and senior researcher at The Institute of HeartMath; Sharif
Abdullah, founder of The Commonway Institute, which has collaborated in healing and renewal
initiatives in US urban settings and Sri Lanka; Marilyn Schlitz, President of the Institute of Noetic
Scienceswhich tracks emerging worldviews and the science of consciousness; Barbara Marx
Hubbard, leading futurist and evolutionary theorist; Mark Gerzon, a prominent leader in the
field of international mediation; Louise Diamond, international peacemaker and integral systems
theorist; Jean Houston, evolutionary evocateur; and Joan Borysenko, celebrated for her work in
integral medicine and holistic healing. (See Appendix A for complete list).
Here are some of the insights and areas of consensus that came from these conversatio