Donor Spotlight: Randall McCathren
When IONS Circle member Randall McCathren, Esq, first heard about the Institute, his reaction was: “Wow . . . finally an organization that combines my eclectic interests in both the spiritual and scientific aspects of consciousness and human evolution!” Randall’s interest in consciousness and existentialism goes back to his high school introduction to Camus, Sartre, Nietzsche, and Hesse. While he pursued first a physics and then an engineering degree at Yale, his undergraduate thesis entitled: “LSD Psychotherapy and the Palliative Effects of Hallucinogens,” attempted to synthesize the work of Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert (who became Ram Das) and such radical psychiatrists as Ivan Illich.
Diverted from a career in psychology by the Vietnam anti-war movement, Randall arrived in Berkeley for law school in 1971 to find a literal mecca of Eastern spiritual practices and ideas. The Maharishi gave him a mantra and he became a devoted Transcendental Meditation practitioner and explorer of Hindu temples, Sufi dance, Buddhist meditations, Kundalini Yoga, Erhard Seminar Training (EST), Scientology; Self Realization Fellowship, Zazen, and Centering Prayer. Randall sees that each of these practices offers the opportunity for greater self-awareness. “The methods of consciousness evolution are as diverse, personal, and unique as the consciousness of each human being. I also believe that the level of consciousness that Christ and other realized masters have achieved indicate two foundational truths: (1) humans have unity with God; (2) humans have unity with each other, meaning there is no separation between humans, regardless of culture, religion or consciousness.”
“The power of Noetics is in bringing scientific discipline to understand these human and metaphysical truths as they are revealed in both quantum mechanics and parapsychological phenomena,” says Randall. “The work of IONS is crucial in counteracting the reductionist and positivistic assumptions that are taken as incontrovertible truths in conventional empirical science and then become the basis for U.S. (and virtually all international) foreign and domestic government policies.”
Randall articulates the unfolding of an intellectual and spiritual journey that led him to find a home with IONS, a journey he expects is common among many in his generation:
- He rebelled from the anthropomorphic religious dogma and apparent moral hypocrisy of the churches he was raised in, as he rebelled from what he perceived as related societal hypocrisies revealed by the civil rights, feminist and anti-war movements;
- He became agnostic when first exposed to existentialism and the empiricist/scepticist philosophers;
- He continued to feel bound to reconcile (a) the discipline of the scientific world and his gut acceptance of the Western rational model of reality with (b) the transcendent pull of a spiritual reality and purpose beyond himself and the ego-dominated consciousness; and yet
- He came to believe that human beings are far more than a sack of chemicals and is thus committed to increasing his spiritual awareness and his ability to find meaning and Truth in a world of consumerism, militarism, and scientific reductionism.
Randall’s volunteer interests have been as diverse as his spiritual and transformative practices. “I’ve always been interested in issues of social justice and believe that I have a responsibility to give to others in my community and around the world,” he notes. He became involved in legal reform of the California child welfare system as a student at Berkeley Law School. After teaching in the Juvenile Justice area at Texas and Vanderbilt law schools, he directed a nonprofit dedicated to implementing foster care reform on a national basis. More recently, he has become involved with orphanages in Bolivia, South Africa and Vietnam working to support and expand their programs and leading pilgrimages from his church. Randall has served on a number of boards in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee including those for the Episcopal Cathedral, ACLU, Nashville Public Television, and Nashville Public Radio.
A successful entrepreneur and national authority on auto leasing and financing, Randall currently serves as president of a national consulting and investment firm, BLC Associates, specializing in business start-ups and innovative/green technologies in the retail auto finance and related auto industries. Randall is married and has three children.
