Institute of Noetic Sciences

It was co-founded in 1973 by former astronaut Edgar Mitchell,[3][4][5] the sixth man to walk on the Moon, along with investor Paul N. Temple[6] and others interested in purported paranormal phenomena,[2] in order to encourage and conduct research on noetics and human potentials.

[11][12] The Institute maintains a free database, available on the Internet,[3] with citations to more than 6,500 articles about whether physical and mental health benefits might be connected to meditation and yoga.

Edgar Mitchell has reported that on his return to Earth, after the 1971 Apollo 14 Moon landing, he had an experience comparable to savikalpa samādhi.

"[21] Writing in The Huffington Post, the Institute's director of research pointed to philosopher William James' 1902 definition of the word as: ... states of insight into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect.

They are illuminations, revelations, full of significance and importance, all inarticulate though they remain; and as a rule they carry with them a curious sense of authority.

She told NPR that she found ten experiments conducted by the real-world Institute referred to in Brown's fictional account.

[29] In 1994, TBS broadcast a three-part, six-hour documentary based on work at the Institute, entitled The Heart of Healing and narrated by actress Jane Seymour.