Michael Murphy
Michael Murphy is co-founder of Integral Transformative Practice®, co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Esalen Institute and serves as Director of Esalen’s Center for Theory and Research (CTR). He has authored four novels: Golf in the Kingdom, The Kingdom of Shivas Irons, Jacob Atabet and An End to Ordinary History.
His nonfiction works, in addition to The Life We Are Given, include In the Zone, an anthology of extraordinary sports experience, co-authored with Rhea White, and The Future of the Body: Explorations Into the Further Evolution of Human Nature. Golf in the Kingdom, still a bestseller 50 years after it was published, has spawned the Shivas Irons Society, a nonprofit organization with members in the U.S. and in 20 countries as well.
Murphy was born in Salinas, California, graduated from Stanford University and lived at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India for one year. In 1980, he helped initiate Esalen’s Soviet-American Exchange Program, which was a premiere diplomacy vehicle for citizen-to-citizen relations.
During his long involvement in the human potential movement, Murphy and his work have been profiled in The New Yorker and featured in many magazines and journals worldwide.
Read more about Michael.
ITPI Newsletter Articles - Spring 2018
In this Spring issue, we feature the theme of creativity in its many forms. Suggest you set aside some time, take a few full body breaths and delight in reading the inventive ways our guest writers explore the topic.
The Emergence of Supernormal Capacities, Pt. 2
In Part 2 of this two-part audio recording from the 2013 Seekers and Sages Evening Program series, Michael discusses the emergence of supernormal capacities in the contemporary world of sports, the importance of attending to the stages of focused attention and sustaining our practice so that the subliminal mind goes to work for us.
The Emergence of Supernormal Capacities, Pt. 1
In Part I of this two-part audio recording from the 2013 Seekers and Sages Evening Program series, Michael Murphy outlines “the crucial marriage of vision and practice” and shares examples of supernormal capacities that can witnessed in our current times.
ITPI Newsletter Articles - Winter 2018
In this winter issue, we focus on "the budding limbs and organs of our supernature," as Michael Murphy describes our supernormal capacities in
The Future of the Body and other works. Enjoy what our writers have to say about our evolving nature.
ITPI Newsletter Articles - Winter 2015
In this issue, Michael Murphy honors George, their friendship and the impact he had on the lives of so many. Also read about the "Surprising Power of Joy," "Embodied Affirmations in ITP," and perspectives "On Vision" and "Integral Fitness." And Pam Kramer shares why Charlotte Hatch is a central figure of ITP and her being honored at ITPI's annual For the Love fundraising event.
Authoring Your Life: A Three-Part Discussion at ITPI's 2012 Conference
Explore what it means to be the author of your life and embody your human potential through this four-part talk with Michael Murphy and Jeff Kripal, presented at Esalen in 2012.
ITPI Newsletter Articles - Spring 2013
Explore ITP's roots in India along with a recounting of one group member's experience on a pilgrimage to this country; be inspired by ITP Houston's unexpected turnout for their open sessions; and learn more about why we change from Cassi Vieten, IONS CEO.
Siddhis and Spiritualism: The Upsurge of the Supernormal in 19th Century America
In this dynamic talk with Michael Murphy and Frank Poletti, an expert in the "Golden Age of the Paranormal," you'll gain insight into an extraordinary moment in American history when supernormal experiences were happening with great regularity. Learn how we can learn from history and depict the emergence of supernormal capacities at various stages of cultural history as harbingers of the world's advance.
The Subliminal Mind, Hypnotic Trance and Evolutionary Love
Adam Crabtree and Michael Murphy discuss the unexplored worlds within each of us and the great capacities that can be developed when we learn to recognize and pay attention to these worlds. Learn more about the history of psychical research, different types of trance, and ways of channeling your deep resources to draw out your fullest potential.
The Philosophical Origins of Evolutionary Panentheism in the 18th Century
In this inspiring talk with Michael Murphy and Frank Poletti, PhD, we take a journey to the birthplace of Evolutionary Panentheism in 18th century Germany and examine the cultural, scientific, political and philosophical conditions that led to German Idealism and the Second Axial Age.
From the Lab to the Playa: The Science of Human Potential
Michael Murphy and Cassandra Vieten, Executive Director of Research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and Co-Director of the Mind-Body Medicine Research Group at California Pacific Medical Center, discuss the leading edge of research validating ITP and other spiritual and integral practices.
Michael Murphy, Bobby Clampett and Barry Robbins in conversation on Golf in the Kingdom Book's Adaptation to Film
Michael Murphy, PGA Champions Tour Player Bobby Clampett, and ITPI Vice President Barry Robbins discuss the adaptation of Michael Murphy's book Golf in the Kingdom, onto the big screen.
The Field of Somatics and its Relationship with Personal and Social Transformation
Listen as Don Hanlon Johnson and Michael Murphy discuss the historical context, people and practices that came together to form the field of Somatics. In this audio recording, the conversation focuses on the relationship between body practices and personal and social transformation.
The Practice of Transcendental Gastronomy
Discover how food can act as a vehicle for experiencing the divine. In this conversation, recorded Oct. 26, 2011, Tomas Marconi and Michael Murphy discuss the broad aesthetics of preparing and eating food, food as metaphor and expression and how paying attention and being grounded in simple pleasures can act as a balance to the stimulation of the digital age and a cure for the "modern malady of boredom."
ITP and the Evolution of the Soul: A Two-Part Series with Michael Murphy
In this 2011 recording, Michael Murphy discusses the evolution of evolution itself and how various philosophies and traditions situate themselves in relation to the evolving universe. Gain a deeper understanding of the “fundamental assumption of ITP”—that our evolving souls, and deepest subjectivity, are one with the eternal soul, and through practice we can re-own our divine identity while sharing in the core adventure of the universe itself.