Richmond IONS - Page 7 of 14 - Central Virginia IONS Community Group

Richmond IONS Meeting August 2020, on ZOOM

Richmond IONS Meeting August 2020 (August 15) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting. It will feature a talk by Michael and Aaron Payne.

Where/When: Online only, through ZOOM, on Saturday, August 15, 2020, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. See the detailed ZOOM instructions in the email.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Our ZOOM calls are password protected. You need to be on our email list to get the password for each ZOOM event.

How to get on the mailing list: Just click on the Menu button at the top right of this page, and then on the Contact button. Then send us a message that you want to be added to our email list, and we’ll add you. We will send about 2 emails for each monthly event.

Also, if the meeting is coming up right away, the webmaster will send you the instructions directly.

Richmond IONS August 2020 Meeting

“Organic Intelligence – Being Life Ready in a Difficult World.”

Our August 15, 2020 program will feature a talk by Michael Payne and his son Aaron Payne, founders of Living Well Today, which focuses on the healing and health modalities of functional and naturopathic medicine and nutrition.

All of us of a certain age are keenly aware that the world has changed. Our days are no longer filled with baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolets, but rather with a strange mixture of Bytes, Atoms, Neurons and Genes. Some might say it is a technological BIG BANG.

The old adage, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” now seems a faint echo of a bygone age or a quaint anachronism as we search our iPhones for a long list of invisible ailments that we may or may not have.

Moreover, our alphabet seems to have been reduced to only six letters, “GOOGLE.” Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the push to singularity have created vast amounts of information, if not knowledge.

However, there are some important missing elements-spirit, wisdom, grace and communion, to name a few. These are cosmic values of Organic Intelligence that support a more fully actualized life.

Michael Payne’s Story

From 1975 to 1995 Michael Payne was a fixed-income trader for several Wall Street Firms. Life was great or at least he thought so. His wife once said, “It is a shame that you are not a narcissist, because you would make a good one.”

Not surprisingly, he recounts, his initiation into the second half of life was difficult. Broken vertebrae with a prognosis he would never walk again, broken relationships and a broken spirit lead to a 20-year transformation for the good.

After advice from a Jungian therapist directed him to live his archetype or true self, he found himself walking the road to Santiago, running a monastery and going back to school at MCV to learn about rehabilitation medical techniques. He did not realize the habits for monks did not come in seersucker.

Over the last 20 years, Michael and his son Aaron, along with the support of their families, have built a restorative, functional medicine and naturopathic based practice called Living Well Today.

They have worked and/or consulted with thousands of individuals with complicated issues ranging from autism to autoimmune disease. Children with autism were a gift and paved the way for thinking bigger powered by Organic Intelligence. Their talk is about how to be life ready in a difficult world, and how to engage Organic Intelligence for a more fully actualized life.

About Michael and Aaron Payne, Our Richmond IONS Meeting August 2020 Presenters

Michael has a Master’s Degree from VCU/MCV in Rehabilitation Therapy, plus a post-graduate certification in Functional Medicine and is a Certified Nutrition Specialist and a member of the International Peptide Society. Michael was a founding member of the Scientific Board of Xymogen.

Aaron is a Naturopathic Doctoral candidate with 15 years of clinical experience and has been involved in the development of the FDA-cleared Qubit 300 devices used in support of neuro recovery.

Living Well Today International has developed many programs to support neuro-immune communication, blending the principles of functional medicine, homo-toxicology and photo-dynamic therapy for advanced solutions to neurological conditions. For more information, please visit https://www.lwtinternational.com/

About Central VA IONS Community Group:

Central VA IONS Community Group is an unincorporated association and a local community group of The Institute of Noetic Sciences, an international association based in Petaluma, California (www.noetic.org).

Central VA IONS is not associated with any religion, religious organization, doctrine or set of beliefs or practices and is open to all. Central VA IONS is entirely dependent upon voluntary donations of its members and friends to support its programs, mailings and other costs.

A love offering is requested at each meeting from those attending who are not dues paying members. Central VA IONS meetings are held each month at locations announced in its program notices and are open to all. Our website is at richmondions.com.

About Our Richmond IONS Facebook Page:

Please also visit and “LIKE” our Richmond IONS Facebook page

Upcoming Richmond IONS Meetings:

Looking for our upcoming meetings? Please CLICK HERE.

To be included in our mailing list, please click the “Menu” button and then the “Contact” button at the top right of this page and send us a message.

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Richmond IONS Meeting July 2020, on ZOOM

Richmond IONS Meeting July 2020 (July 18) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting. It will feature a talk by Joanne DiMaggio.

Where/When: Online only, through ZOOM, on Saturday, July 18, 2020, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. See the detailed ZOOM instructions in the email to follow this notice.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Our ZOOM calls are password protected. You need to be on our email list to get the password for each ZOOM event.

It’s easy though: Just click on the Menu button at the top right of this page, and then on the Contact button. Then send us a message that you want to be added to our email list, and we’ll add you. We will send about 2 emails for each monthly event.

Richmond IONS July 2020 Meeting

“I Did It to Myself… Again!”

Our July 18, 2020 program will feature a talk by Joanne DiMaggio, Charlottesville author, spiritual counsellor and past-life regression therapist and researcher, on her latest book, I Did It to Myself… Again! New Life – Between – Lives Case Studies Show How Your Soul’s Contract Is Guiding Your Life (May 2020).

She will share in greater depth than ever before what she has learned through her past life regression research about how past lives and soul agreements can affect the current one.

What does it feel like to die? What does the afterlife look like? What is your soul’s mission? Why did you choose your parents? Who in your soul family decided to join you in this life and why?

Why did you choose the body you are in now? Are your most intimate friends, family members and colleagues or adversaries in the workplace animated by souls with whom you have had past-life connections or issues? What memory triggers were given to you to help you remember your prior lives?

How past lives can affect the current one

I Did It to Myself… Again! seeks to answer those and other questions about the afterlife. Data drawn from Joanne’s yearlong research project chronicles the journeys of twenty-five men and women who revisited the past life most impacting them today and then explored the afterlife to see what souls do between lives.

Most importantly, research subjects learned first-hand the roles they played in designing their current lives, what unfinished business or unresolved trauma from past lives they would work on in their current lives, and which karmic attributes they would bring into their current lives to assist them.

Her fascinating case studies bring home the consistent theme that many if not most of the greatest challenges we face in our lives are not only self-created, but also soul-directed and planned in advance by our souls as pivotal teaching, learning and growth experiences for our lifetimes.

We know from her previous presentation to our group in October 2017 that Joanne, in addition to being a thorough and insightful researcher, also is an exceptionally thought provoking and engaging speaker, and we are delighted to
have her back.

About Joanne DiMaggio, Our Richmond IONS Meeting July 2020 Presenter:

Joanne DiMaggio, MA, CHt, is an inspired teacher who has been pursuing past-life research and therapy for over 30 years. Joanne earned her Masters degree in Transpersonal Studies and her Spiritual Mentor certification through Atlantic University.

She trained at the Eastern Institute of Hypnotherapy, completed additional training in hypnosis at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL, and studied under Dr. Irene Hickmanpast.

She is also the author of Soul Writing: Conversing with Your Higher Self (2011), Your Soul Remembers: Accessing Your Past Lives Through Soul Writing (2013) and Karma Can Be a Real Pain – Past Life Clues to Current Life Maladies (2016).

For more information about Joanne, visit her website at www.joannedimaggio.com.

About Central VA IONS Community Group:

About Our Richmond IONS Facebook Page:

Please also visit and “LIKE” our Richmond IONS Facebook page

Upcoming Richmond IONS Meetings:

Looking for our upcoming meetings? Please CLICK HERE.

To be included in our mailing list, please click the “Menu” button and then the “Contact” button at the top right of this page and send us a message.

Please share your thoughts and any feedback by leaving a comment below:

Richmond IONS Meeting June 2020, on ZOOM

Richmond IONS Meeting June 2020 (June 20) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting. It will feature a talk by Susan Wysoki.

Where/When: Online only, through ZOOM, on Saturday, June 20, 2020, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. See the detailed ZOOM instructions in the email to follow this notice.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Our ZOOM calls are password protected. You need to be on our email list to get the password for each ZOOM event.

It’s easy though: Just click on the Menu button at the top right, and then on the Contact button. Then send us a message that you want to be added to our email list, and we’ll add you. We will send about 2 emails for each monthly event.

Richmond IONS June 2020 Meeting

“Winks from Heaven.”

Our June 20, 2020, meeting will feature a talk by Susan Wysoki, an author and Certified Transformation Life Coach, about her just published ebook, Winks from Heaven.

If you were told you only have a few months left on earth, what would you do? What enormous decisions and intimate details would fill up your weeks, days, minutes, and seconds? Now, imagine if those final months belong not to you, but to the person you love most in the world.

Susan’s life changed forever on the night of December 15, 2016, when her daughter Jessica was rushed to the Pediatric Emergency Room.

The doctors feared it was appendicitis, a scary and potentially life-threatening condition. Within 24 hours that diagnosis would change to something no one ever could have imagined… Stage 4 colon cancer. Jessica had just turned 17.

Jessica escaped her body after a 17-month battle, on the day after her high school graduation, but the “everyday angels” who crossed their path throughout the journey, and the messages from Jessica after her “death” have been extraordinary.

Helping others on their grief journey

Susan launched Good Grief Counseling to help others on their grief journey, particularly parents who have lost children.

She is a Certified Transformation Life Coach, focusing on the transformational aspect of grief, and how it can move us forward in relationships and connections with our children, our faith, and a life of renewed purpose.

Susan’s book, Winks from Heaven, is being incorporated into the Medical School Curriculum of the Medical College of Virginia to illustrate the touch points where science and spirituality meet. The book chronicles incredible and compelling messages of hope, the universe conspiring to bring people together with miraculous synchronicity.

At this moment, as we face an unprecedented time of existential crisis, the world craves emotional and spiritual connection more than ever. Winks from Heaven makes that connection through its message of hope and answers the unspoken question: “What matters the most?” Join us for this remarkable presentation.

About Susan Wysoki, Our Richmond IONS Meeting June 2020 Presenter:

Texas-born Susan Wysoki is first and foremost a mom. She is the proud mama of Jessica, who is, in spirit, the middle child and the “cheese” between her brothers, Jordan and Jonah. Susan is the daughter of a world-renowned psychic healer and a Holocaust survivor.

Her unique perspective on grief comes from her earliest experiences with reincarnation, memories of past lives, and the eternal nature of the soul.

Susan spent more than 25 years counseling Fortune 500 companies, CEO’s, and foreign governments. She was a script writer for Bernard Shaw and Judy Woodruff with CNN’s Washington Bureau, and she wrote weekly press briefings on Capitol Hill for the U.S. Speaker of the House.

She has held editorial positions with Vanity Fair and Vogue, just like The Devil Wears Prada, but without the book or blockbuster movie. Her writing has appeared in More, Glamour, Vanity Fair, Self, Pregnancy, Fitness, Southern Living, and Psychology Today.

Since Jessica’s transition, Susan has spoken to numerous grief groups and medical professionals from all over the world. As an outspoken advocate, she has educated researchers and clinicians about the risks of early onset colorectal cancer.

Her research on the environmental and epigenetic factors influencing Jessica’s cancer has been presented to NIH and the National Institute of Environmental Studies. It has also led her to demand accountability and safer products from food and consumer products manufacturers. For additional resources please visit www.winksfromheaven.net and www.goodgriefcounseling.net.

About Richmond IONS AKA Central VA IONS Community Group:

To find out more about Central VA IONS Community Group (Richmond IONS), please CLICK HERE.

About Our Richmond IONS Facebook Page:

Please also visit and “LIKE” our Richmond IONS Facebook page

Upcoming Richmond IONS Meetings:

Looking for our upcoming meetings? Please CLICK HERE.

To be included in our mailing list, please click the “Menu” button and then the “Contact” button at the top right of this page and send us a message.

Please share your thoughts and any feedback by leaving a comment below:

Richmond IONS Meeting May 2020, on ZOOM

Richmond IONS Meeting May 2020 (May 16) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting. It will feature a talk by Masha Levina.

Where/When: Online only, through ZOOM, on Saturday, May 16, 2020, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. See the detailed ZOOM instructions in the email to follow this Notice.

Richmond IONS Meeting May 2020 Program

“Riding the HoloWave.”

Our May 16, 2020 meeting will feature a talk by Masha Levina, a
Certified Clinical Nutritionist, intuitive shamanic healer, and creator and teacher of her own Self-Empowerment, Holistic Health and Wellness System call HoloWave.

At the beginning of her journey to understanding the principles of natural health and healing, Masha started from the scientifically based approach of clinical nutrition. As she began her practice, it became evident to her that personal health does not rely solely on physical factors such as food and exercise, but is deeply affected by emotions and beliefs, plus many other more subtle energetic
influences.

This recognition ignited her interest in studying energy-based healing arts and led her to an understanding of the primary role of consciousness in everything. In turn, this understanding awakened her ability to access the unified field of consciousness directly and facilitate desirable and tangible shifts in people’s energy fields on any level without the need for a specific technique, physical contact, or direct proximity.

As a result, Masha created her own system of holistic healing and transformation called HoloWave, which is based on consciousness technology leading to personal self-empowerment.

In her talk, Masha will go into more details about the process of awakening into your own gifts and powers, as well as accessing stored negative beliefs and emotions. She will explain how HoloWave can help you to:

• Shift subconscious beliefs that hold you back
• Unblock energy flow
• Expand your conscious awareness
• Access the healing power of your mind and body
• Encourage creative growth
• Improve overall health and wellness, even in the time of the coronavirus pandemic

Masha will conclude her presentation with Q & A and a group healing session.

About Masha Levina, Our Richmond IONS Meeting Presenter:

Masha Levina, a native of Kamchatka who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1990s, has studied and practiced many modalities of healing arts, including Clinical Nutrition, Nutrition Response TestingSM, TBM®, Tong Ren, Psych-K®, Matrix Endergetics®.

As she gained an understanding of the primary role of consciousness in everything, Masha started to integrate and blend different modalities, accessing and applying information directly through the unified field of consciousness, without touching people or performing any specific techniques, while producing tangible and desirable results.

In 2010 she created her own healing system: Multidimensional Transformation, which is now called HoloWave. Masha has a successful practice in Milford, PA, where she works with people in-person and remotely. She also holds group sessions and teaches seminars throughout the country and online. Masha’s website is HoloWave.world and her email is masha@allbettercentral.com.

About Richmond IONS AKA Central VA IONS Community Group:

To find out more about Central VA IONS Community Group (Richmond IONS), please CLICK HERE.

About Our Richmond IONS Facebook Page:

Please also visit and “LIKE” our Richmond IONS Facebook page

Upcoming Richmond IONS Meetings:

Looking for our upcoming meetings? Please CLICK HERE.

To be included in our mailing list, please click the “Menu” and then the “Contact” button at the top right of this page and send us a message.

Please share your thoughts and any feedback by leaving a comment below:

Richmond IONS Meeting April 2020

Richmond IONS Meeting April 2020 (April 18) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting. It will feature a talk by Dan O’Neal.

Where/When: Online only, through ZOOM at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/106042756, Saturday, April 18,2020,
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. See the more detailed ZOOM instructions at the bottom of this notice.

Richmond IONS Meeting April 2020 Program

“Scientific Sound Healing for the 21st Century.”

Our April 18, 2020 meeting will feature a talk by Dan O’Neal. Sound has been used for healing the mind, body, and spirit from the beginning of Man’s history. Like the Hindu god Shiva, it has the power to create or cause chaos, to heal or harm depending on its use.

In this ZOOM presentation we will focus on the HEALING use of sound and learn about the most recent and exact techniques of SCIENTIFIC SOUND HEALING THERAPY.

Through a combination of PowerPoint and video clips shared remotely from Dan’s computer at home, Dan will lead us through history with sound clips and commentary to modern techniques of entraining our brains to our own personal frequencies of balance.

We will learn about brain wave entrainment, what brain waves are, and about the different brain wave frequencies from deep sleep to mystical states. We will also learn about different techniques to alter our brain waves, especially by focusing on binaural beats.

Dan will briefly cover a little anatomy and physiology of our autonomic nervous system and how the brain controls all functions in our bodies. This presentation will be educational and useful no matter what you watch it on, but, regrettably, we cannot experience it in-person together with a high-quality sound system as originally intended.

Given the current world condition with each of us “sheltering in place” (who thinks of these phrases?), we will attempt to make this presentation as experiential as possible. However, a large part of that experience will depend on the quality of your personal sound system.

To enhance your experience, we recommend using the highest quality device (computer/TV/speakers) that you can. You also can call into the presentation on your phone by teleconference if you wish, but you may miss the visual aspect and higher quality of sound.

About Dan O’Neal, Our Richmond IONS Meeting April 2020 Presenter:

Dan O’Neal has been passionately drawn all his life to healing practices, spiritual and metaphysical thought, and especially music. Growing up in a loving family in Baltimore, he remembers an experience at about 1 1⁄2 years old of kissing each molecule of air good night as he fell asleep.

As a young altar boy, he was exposed to the heady power of frankincense to enhance spiritual experience. Disillusioned at 14, he fell away from traditional western religion and was attracted to eastern mysteries, flirting with Rosicrucians and Yogananda and eventually finding Unity and A Course in Miracles.

At age 5, he was given a children’s drum kit which his mother quickly replaced with bongos after a short period of time. He began playing
guitar at 15 to “pick up girls” and hasn’t’ stopped since, with many folk, rock, jazz, and classical influences.

Dan has been a musician and sound man for over 50 years, a massage therapist for 25 years, and more recently a scientific sound healer. He was introduced to the healing uses of essential oils and has been teaching about them and using them regularly for the last nine years.

He studied with Dr. Jeffrey Thompson in California two years ago and is continuing his study on biweekly Zoom training calls with Dr. Thompson to the present. Dan uses Dr. Thompson’s cutting-edge sound equipment and techniques to find custom healing frequencies for clients. Dan can be reached by email at danshands11@gmail.com.

Zoom Instructions:

Many of you, like myself, may have recently downloaded the ZOOM app to your smartphone or computer, but for those who have not, simply click on the link above or right below (at 10 a.m. on Saturday) and follow the instructions:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/10604275

As anyone who has used ZOOM before is aware, this meeting platform is interactive and provides for participation by all in attendance, which will mean the potential for questions and answers during the program.

About Richmond IONS AKA Central VA IONS Community Group:

To find out more about Central VA IONS Community Group (Richmond IONS), please CLICK HERE.

About Our Richmond IONS Facebook Page:

Please also visit and “LIKE” our Richmond IONS Facebook page

Upcoming Richmond IONS Meetings:

Looking for our upcoming meetings? Please CLICK HERE.

To be included in our mailing list, please click the “Contact” button at the top right of this page and send us a message.

Please share your thoughts and any feedback by leaving a comment below:

Richmond IONS in the time of the Coronavirus

Cancellation of March 21, 2020 Meeting

coronavirus

It is with deep regret that I must inform you that we are having to cancel our March 21, 2020 Ions Community Group Meeting.

We received an email from St. Mary’s Episcopal Church advising us that the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia has made a decision not to permit any gatherings at their member Churches for the next two weeks.

This includes Sunday Services and all other community type meetings such as ours. I should tell you as well that we on the Steering Committee had already been discussing whether or not to go forward with the upcoming meeting due to public health concerns. But the decision of the Diocese has taken it out of our hands.

We are living in interesting times. What lies ahead will in all likelihood be more challenging than what we are confronting right now, on multiple fronts.

I invite each and all to utilize the platforms of the comment section on our website and our Facebook page to post any ideas or suggestions you may have. You may also pass them on to me by email.

In the meantime, love one another, keep the faith, know always there is nothing to fear and that we will get through this.

Love, good health and best to all.

About Richmond IONS AKA Central VA IONS Community Group:

To find out more about Central VA IONS Community Group (Richmond IONS), please CLICK HERE.

About Our Richmond IONS Facebook Page:

Please also visit and “LIKE” our Richmond IONS Facebook page

Upcoming Richmond IONS Meetings:

Looking for our upcoming meetings? Please CLICK HERE.

To be included in our mailing list, please click the “Contact” button at the top right of this page and send us a message.

Please share your thoughts and any feedback by leaving a comment below:

Richmond IONS Meeting February 2020

Richmond IONS Meeting February 2020 (February 15) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting. It will feature a talk by Sandy Ward.

Where: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, New Parish Hall, 12291 River Road, Richmond, VA 23238

When: Saturday, February 15, 2020, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, followed by a potluck lunch at the conclusion of the program.

Richmond IONS Meeting February 2020 Program

“The Answer is Love.”

Our February 15, 2020 program will feature a talk by Sandy Ward, Richmond-based spiritual medium, evidential psychic and spiritual counselor.

Sandy will share with our group the miracles, including miraculous healings, that she has witnessed in people’s lives from spirit to the physical plane through her experience helping people with their grieving process and providing them the knowledge that their loved ones are still around them today.

She will recount what she has observed and mediated through increased understanding of love and forgiveness on both sides of the veil. She will offer suggestions and guidance on how to recognize the common traits in others to better appreciate connections of love.

Sandy also will discuss and provide answers to some of the more typical questions she has encountered in her practice:

Does love transcend to the other side?
How can love from departed loved ones from the other side help me today?
Is it possible to feel love from those on the other side even though they never expressed love on this side?
Is it possible to tune into the spirit of departed loved ones?
Do my departed loved ones hear me?
Is grief a sign of love?

Sandy’s program also will feature 30 minutes of platform readings. This includes spontaneous mediumship with spirits who may be present with their loved ones at the program. It will conclude with 30 minutes of questions and answers from our group.

This is Sandy’s second talk to our group, her first having been in March 2017. We are grateful to have her back for what promises to be an exceptionally engaging presentation.

About Sandy Ward, Our Richmond IONS Meeting February 2020 Presenter:

Sandy Ward is a Certified Spiritual Medium, evidential psychic and spiritual counselor. She has had her gift since the age of three and specializes in spiritual healings through contact with loved ones that have passed. She received her certification from the James Van Praagh School, where she was his apprentice for over three years.

Sandy gives presentations on her life story with Spirit and her pure understanding of the other side. She is sought out to use her gifts with evidential mediumship and psychic abilities on criminal cases, development circles both locally and abroad and coaching development of other mediums.

Sandy also donates her time and gifts to local spiritual events and local fundraisers in support of education. She can be reached on her website at www.newenergymedium.com or on Facebook at Sandy Ward New Energy Medium.

About Richmond IONS AKA Central VA IONS Community Group:

To find out more about Central VA IONS Community Group (Richmond IONS), please CLICK HERE.

About Our Richmond IONS Facebook Page:

Please also visit and “LIKE” our Richmond IONS Facebook page

Upcoming Richmond IONS Meetings:

Looking for our upcoming meetings? Please CLICK HERE.

To be included in our mailing list, please click the “Contact” button at the top right of this page and send us a message.

Please share your thoughts and any feedback by leaving a comment below:

Richmond IONS January Meeting 2020

Richmond IONS January 2020 Meeting Tom Hansen Richmond IONS January Meeting 2020 (January 18) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting. It will feature a talk by Tom Hansen

Where: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, New Parish Hall, 12291 River Road, Richmond, VA 23238

When: Saturday, January 18, 2020, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, followed by a potluck lunch at the conclusion of the program.

Richmond IONS January Meeting 2020 Program

“Artificial Intelligence vs. Human Life – a Metaphysical Conundrum.”

In celebration of our 24th Anniversary, our January 18, 2020 program will feature a talk by Tom Hansen, Ph.D., Charlottesville-based educator, author, singer/songwriter/musician and metaphysical philosopher.

Are we living in a simulation? A matrix? Is there really an AI “God” in control? How do we, the biological species, survive AI? Who are the Archons? What relevance do the Gnostic Gospels of 2,000 years ago have to AI today?

Tom Hansen will explore these and other questions with the IONS
gathering in his presentation. Some experts are warning us that AI is an existential threat to humanity.

Other experts are not so sure. We will discuss some of these possible AI future developments, and we’ll take a short look at the history of AI, some of which Tom began to work on in the 1960s.

What can we do spiritually in response to AI?

As it turns out, AI is, in a sense, prompting us to use our innate spiritual abilities to overcome (or go beyond) AI influence. Consequently, we will explore together what we can do spiritually in response to AI, since our spiritual power is beyond anything AI can produce.

Not long ago a funded post-doctoral AI research fellow at a major American university asked Tom to comment on his research project. Specifically, he wanted him to put his own consciousness into a computer so that he will have everlasting life. And here we thought that happened only in the movies.

So his project is an example of how AI and the human body are being combined. As a result, we need to seriously consider the possible outcomes of this trans-humanist era that is upon us now.

In addition, Tom also will explore the hypothesis that we are living in a simulation. At this very time, several indicators from varied disciplines are pointing toward the possibility that we are influenced by some sort of matrix or grid that is limiting our full experience of life and of our Selves.

Tom will present some of the evidence as it exists now. Then we will discuss how this Matrix idea may relate to AI. And how it might even relate to the Archons described in the Gnostic Gospels discovered in Egypt in 1945.

Tom comes from a mathematics/computer education background and also from a background as a writer of spiritual books and songs. Moreover, he is a lifetime seeker of metaphysical truths – still searching, of course. That makes him is uniquely qualified to present this challenging topic in a coherent and engaging way.

This is yet another not-to-be-missed program for all who can attend! See you there!

About Tom Hansen, Our Richmond IONS January 2020 Meeting Presenter:

Tom Hansen, Ph.D., is a retired mathematics education researcher, author of math books and teacher. He began his career in the Peace Corps in Liberia in 1964. Then, Tom was the founder of a non-profit that coordinated citizen exchanges between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. in the 1980s.

Furthermore, he was a Non-Governmental participant at the Earth Summit in 1992. In the meantime, Tom has sung and played guitar for decades. As a result, he as several CDs of his songs and has performed at numerous festivals, workshops and conferences.

As well, he is a member of the Positive Music Association. Specifically, his 2014 CD, “Book Concert,” consists of songs whose lyrics are all quotes from his Remembering Our Oneness book.

About Richmond IONS AKA Central VA IONS Community Group:

To find out more about Central VA IONS Community Group (Richmond IONS), please CLICK HERE.

About Our Richmond IONS Facebook Page:

Please also visit and “LIKE” our Richmond IONS Facebook page

Upcoming Richmond IONS Meetings:

Looking for our upcoming meetings? Please CLICK HERE.

To be included in our mailing list, please click the “Contact” button at the top right of this page and send us a message.

Please share your thoughts and any feedback by leaving a comment below:

Richmond IONS December Meeting 2019

Richmond IONS December Meeting 2019 (December 14) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting. It will feature a talk by Tom Coates and music by Dan O’Neal.

Where: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, New Parish Hall, 12291 River Road, Richmond, VA 23238

When: Saturday, December 14, 2019, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, followed by a potluck lunch at the conclusion of the program.

Richmond IONS December Meeting Program

“Another Day at the Amusement Park.”

Our December 14, 2019 program will feature a talk by Tom Coates, our group’s only still-active original member. He is one of our most popular guest speakers. Dan O’Neal will provide live music. This is a continuation of Tom’s Self-discovery series aimed at exploring the multidimensional facets of human identity and every human’s search for his or her authentic Self.

The Dalai Lama has often identified Mao Tse Tung (nka Mao Zedong) as his “greatest spiritual teacher.” This is despite or perhaps due to the fact that the Communist Chinese, at Chairman Mao’s direction, invaded and annexed his native Tibet in 1950. They eventually forced the Dalai Lama to flee to India in 1959 and spend the rest of his life as a refugee in exile.

In this year’s installment of his search for Self series, Tom will examine a variety of social, cultural, political, religious, spiritual and other currents and themes, in an effort to determine how they may influence and shape our ideas, our beliefs, our behaviors, our experiences, our lives, our world and our reality.

Tom also will explore how the personal/individual and sociocultural/collective metaphors we choose to describe, define, conceptualize and contextualize our lives will either have the effect of expanding and enhancing our experience, our lives and ultimately our spiritual growth and evolution, or have the opposite effect – of contracting and limiting our experience and our lives; and stories – some farfetched, some miraculous, some disturbing – illustrating these points will be shared.

An open-mic discussion

Tom will conclude the program with an open-mic discussion of our group, its meaning and significance to its members, the larger community and the world at large, We’ll explore some of the challenges and opportunities we face as a group.

The meeting will also include an experiential meditation exercise. It will create a space within which each of us can personally access and experience new and deeper layers of meaning about who we are and the purposes of our lives at levels which surpass and transcend our rational, intellectual understanding.

This promises to be another blockbuster program. It will be a fitting way to conclude our group’s twenty-fourth year and usher in its twenty-fifth. As always, Tom promises some secrets known only to a few will be revealed. Another not-to-be-missed program for all who can attend! See you there!

About Tom Coates, Our Richmond IONS December Meeting Presenter:

Tom Coates is a Richmond-based lawyer who has represented numerous spiritually oriented and public interest groups throughout his career. He was a co-founder of Richmond’s Ekoji Buddhist Sangha in 1985. And he has been a member and contributor of the Richmond IONS chapter since its formation in early 1996.

In his spare time he enjoys reading, creative writing, painting, woodworking, alpine skiing, biking, backpacking, sailing, time travel, metaphysics, and relaxing with his family at their ancient Outer Banks beach cottage or their Appalachian Mountains retreat. He still reports that his most significant unfulfilled ambition of this lifetime is to make
love to an extraterrestrial female, preferably of Pleiadean or Sirian origin.

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Richmond IONS November Meeting 2019

Richmond IONS November Meeting 2019 (November 16) and Central Virginia IONS Community Group Meeting, featuring a talk by Joanne Kong, Ph.D.

Where: St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, New Parish Hall, 12291 River Road, Richmond, VA 23238

When: Saturday, November 16, 2019, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, followed by a potluck lunch at the conclusion of the program.

Richmond IONS November Meeting Program

“Acts of Courageous Compassion That Can Heal Our World.”

Our November 16, 2019 program will feature a talk by Joanne Kong, Ph.D. She is a UR professor, concert pianist, author and TED Speaker.

Through the eloquence of spoken words, imagery and music performance, this presentation focuses upon embracing the greatest gift we can give to other beings – compassion.

Kong calls for the courage to transform our collective identity away from an egocentric view. This will reawaken the deep kinship we have with our fellow beings. It will also create a path to restore the sustainability of the natural world and our place within it.

Why the words “Courageous Compassion?” Because this choice asks us to open our eyes, hearts and minds. It challenges us to question an aspect of our lives that is accepted and deeply ingrained in our society.

This is a bold call to the world community and global leaders to openly acknowledge and bring to the forefront of our collective awareness the single most destructive activity that humankind engages in – the industrial exploitation of non-human animals. Yet as a society we accept this as the status quo, as an unchangeable reality.

Crisis Points in Human Evolution

Joanne’s talk will outline how human domination of non-human animals is connected at a deep level to the challenges that have become crisis points in human evolution.

These include climate change, environmental degradation, species and habitat loss, water and air pollution, and decimation of oceans. Furthermore, they include global disease, world hunger, and massive inefficiency in the ways we produce food.

The result: a damaging disconnect from the cruelty and violence committed against the most innocent and vulnerable of beings.

Addressing these devastating impacts should be front and center. Yet the general public, policy leaders, mainstream media, and even environmentalists largely ignore them.

This presentation will emphasize the immense power we have as individuals to create positive change at all levels. They’ll improve our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being – and create a future of greater sustainability, health and compassion.

About Joanne Kong, Our Richmond IONS November Meeting Presenter:

Dr. Joanne Kong has been praised throughout the world as one of the most compelling advocates for plant-sourced nutrition today. Her talks, “enlightening and provocative,” are much in demand around the world.

Her highly-praised TEDx talk, The Power of Plant-Based Eating, at around 600,000 views on YouTube, appears on numerous websites internationally.

Dr. Kong has published the book, If You’ve Ever Loved an Animal, Go Vegan. She is among the profiles in the new book, Legends of Change, about vegan women who are changing the world. She will also appear in the upcoming major documentary, Eating Our Way to Extinction.

Her vegan advocacy has been recognized around the world, with international talks in Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and a 3-week, 10-city tour of India to promote veganism.

In addition to her animal and environmental advocacy work, she is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning classical pianist and is on the music faculty at the University of Richmond.

About Richmond IONS AKA Central VA IONS Community Group:

To find out more about Central VA IONS Community Group (Richmond IONS), please CLICK HERE.

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