Thoughts of the Day
Over the years, ICRL’s president, Jeff Dunne, has found that the study of the natural world – animals, plants, stones, the land and sky, and many things beyond – is one of the best ways to understand oneself, and likewise that self-exploration often gives powerful insights into the nature of the world. On this page, Jeff aims to capture some of the insights that have come to him over the years, lessons that the world has offered to him, in hopes that perhaps one of them might be just the thing that someone else needs to hear at this moment. And even if not the exact right message, perhaps one will point the way through a door of discovery, sparking an idea that will lead to seeing things in a new light.
| December 3, 2025 | Receiving a gift is not always easy, especially for those of a giving nature. But to refuse gifts is also to refuse to allow others to give gifts. How would you feel if that happened to you? |
| December 2, 2025 | Think about the things you feel that you cannot live without, and then remember that someone, somewhere, is living without them right now (and, if you are a minimalist, might be dying without them) |
| December 1, 2025 | Never assume that what you see on a person’s face is what lies in their heart. A frown is not always intended for you, a smile is not always indicative of friendliness or happiness. |
| November 30, 2025 | It is never too late to learn some new skill. It might not be as easy as it would have been when you were younger (although maybe it will be!), but even if so, you might end up valuing it even more as a result of the challenge. |
| November 29, 2025 | How do your behaviors change when you are alone? What about your expressions and body language? We don’t always realize how social pressure affects us. |
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degree from Hollis University and has accumulated a diverse work experience, spanning multiple disciplines: education, technology, business and law, predominately in support and administrative roles. She currently works for the College of New Jersey in its Office of Disability Support Services. Lynn Ann has been an administrative assistant to ICRL’s President since 2011, and has extensive familiarity with the organization’s structure and activities, along with a deep commitment to its mission.
Vasileios Basios is a physicist, conducting interdisciplinary research on the foundations of complexity science and nonlinear systems, self-organization and complex matter. During his formative years, he was tutored by Ilya Prigogine, at ULB where he received his PhD, and by Emilios Bouratinos on meditation and philosophy. He is currently interested in the complex interface between action and information. Other interests include the history of ideas in science and their role in the transformation of science beyond the prevailing naïve, materialistic, mechanistic-reductionist world-view. With others from PEAR, he initiated the Mind-Matter-Mapping Project and has since published several essays for ICRL. He is also a member of the Board of the Scientific and Medical Network and the Steering Team of the Galileo Commission. Vasileios is inspired by the prospect of introducing self-reflection into the practice and understanding of science, and the emergence of a Self-Reflexive Science of Consciousness.
Ian Cook is a Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he directs the UCLA Depression Research and Clinic Program at the Semel Institute and was the inaugural holder of the Joanne and George Miller and Family Endowed Chair in Depression Research at the Brain Research Institute. He has been a part of the PEAR/ICRL family since 1980, when he was among the first undergraduate students to conduct research at the PEAR lab. He graduated from the Yale School of Medicine and pursued his residency training and research fellowship at UCLA. His research has focused on understanding the relationships among the mind, the brain, and the body, and in translating developments in technology into more effective treatments for disorders of mood and cognition.
Bob (Brahmatirtha) was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1949, completed his B.S. in Chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1971, and received his M.S. in Geology from Rutgers University in 1975. After a twenty-year career serving as a geologist and vice-president of a large regional environmental company, he currently works as an environmental consultant to state governments. He has been a member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute since the inception in 1976, giving a presentation at their First International Conference on Life Comes from Life in 1977, and working on a multitude of projects with R.L. Thompson (Sadaputa) from 1995 through 2008. He is also a certified court mediator. He now serves as the Director of the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies.
Carolyn is a writer and dancer, two avenues that support her central purpose as a healer. Through her numerous books she teaches that every moment brings unbidden opportunities from the universe, that every day of is filled with beauty and surprise. Ecstatic experience is the goal of her work, the personal to the cosmic. 

The largest dataset collected at PEAR used Random Event Generators, or REGs. These devices were essentially electronic coin flippers that produced a series of 1’s and 0’s; operators were instructed to influence the machines to produce more 1’s than 0’s or vice versa.