I.D.E.A.S. News

February 2007: The Institute for the Development of Enlightened Arts and Sciences Inc. (I.D.E.A.S.) co-planned and promoted of the "Fairfield (Iowa) Connection Film Festival," part of the monthly Fairfield Art Walk program. I.D.E.A.S. sponsored the visit of Leigh Badgley, a Canadian documentary film-maker who espouses quality-of-life topics her award-winning documentaries. See articles "Six Degrees of Connection: The Fairfield Film Festival. What's Your Bacon Number?" in The Iowa Source and Acting as Self-Discovery: Neil Cunningham in The Fairfield Weekly Reader.

2006-2007: The Institute for the Development of Enlightened Arts and Sciences Inc. (I.D.E.A.S.) funded two human developmental programs using scientific approaches to consciousness. I.D.E.A.S. raised funds and sent $55,000 to two non-profit programs in Peru and Europe. Hundreds of students in Peru have learned the Transcendental Meditation technique.

2005: I.D.E.A.S. founders John Sorflaten and Theresa Olson co-authored a paper published in The Journal of Social Behavior and Personality titled "Maharishi Vedic Science addresses the 'hard' problem of consciousness. Applications of Maharishi Vedic Science" (published in Applications of Maharishi Vedic Science: Honoring the Lifework of Charles N. Alexander, Ph.D. Select Press, 2005). The article reviewed the measurable personal experiences of the Transcendental Meditation practice, and discuss the significance of these experiences for defining and understanding consciousness. They proposed that the Vedic tradition can create critical research questions about consciousness that could be empirically tested.