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esalen

5 min read

The text discusses the Esalen Institute, a fellowship aiming to embody a new world and emerging human nature, founded in 1962 at Slate’s Hot Springs, Big Sur, California. It was co-founded by Michael Murphy and Richard “Dick” Price. The land was owned by Michael Murphy’s grandmother, Vinnie “Bunny” McDonald Murphy, whose husband, Dr. Henry Cloyd Murphy, a physician in Salinas, had purchased the springs.

The institute’s origins are linked to the Human Potentials Movement, with Aldous Huxley and Henry Fitzgerald Heard being instrumental. They created Trabuco College and influenced Michael Murphy and Richard Price. Aldous Huxley’s lecture on “Human Potentialities” was a key event. Gerald Heard is described as a guide to influential figures, including Henry Luce and Bill Wilson.

Connections are drawn to authors like Henry Valentine Miller, whose works were controversial and influential, and to the Beat Generation, with authors like Jack Kerouac. The text also highlights Laurance Spelman Rockefeller’s involvement in funding The Transformation Project at esalen, which led to Michael Murphy’s book “The Future of the Body.” Rockefeller’s interest in sex and psychedelics is noted, linking to discussions on these topics by Miles Mathis and Michael Pollan.

Gregory Bateson, an anthropologist, also had early ties to esalen and participated in its seminars. His involvement with the OSS during World War II and his work on systems theory, particularly the Macy conferences and The Bateson Project (funded by Rockefeller), are mentioned. Stewart Brand, a co-founder of Global Business Network, is also linked to Bateson and the Rockefellers, Rothschilds, Stewarts, Cohens, and Gates.

The geographical location of esalen near the top-secret Naval Facility Point Sur is discussed, with the name “Esselen” possibly deriving from a local term related to “the rock” of Point Sur. The Naval Facility Point Sur was part of the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS), designed to detect Soviet submarines during the Cold War. The insignia of Naval Facility Point Sur and Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (IUSS) feature a seahorse, which the author links to Phoenician maritime traditions.

The text concludes by suggesting esalen has served as a conduit for propaganda, encouraging self-focus to facilitate control. Its influence is seen as peaking before and after the Monterey Pop Festival (1967). The author posits that esalen’s reduced prominence may be linked to the death of Gregory Bateson and the shutdown of Naval Facility Point Sur. The piece ends with a quote from Miles Mathis about government infiltration of movements and the need for collective action against the “super-rich.”

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