I FIRST ENCOUNTERED CHRIS BACHE through his remarkable book LSD and the Mind of the Universe, which meticulously documents his journey of 73 high-dose LSD sessions conducted underground with his wife (a therapist) over 20 years while teaching professionally as a religious studies professor at Youngstown State University, Ohio. 

Bache’s deep mapping of the terrain of the psyche, both transpersonal and mystical, as well as his experiences of collective trauma healing, resonated deeply and offered wisdom that cannot be gleaned theoretically.  One fascinating feature alluded to in that work was that Bache was required to keep his deepest work a secret. His psychedelic expeditions, following in the footsteps of pioneering psychologist Stanislav Grof, began just as 50 years of prohibition came into effect. Yet, despite the clandestine nature of these journeys, their effects began to manifest in the classroom through synchronicities and profound impacts on his students. Thus begins The Living Classroom, a meticulous academic and experiential exploration of what could broadly be described as a “quantum” and “transpersonal” approach to education.

Bache offers a profound reconception of education that weaves together elements of resonant fields, the implicate order, and unique stories that illuminate a hidden quantum interconnectedness that became apparent between student and teacher.


Psyche is Interconnected

Bache was teaching courses on world religions over many years when, at some point, he began to track how his deep transpersonal journeys were affecting the field of
relationship with his students. Over the years, he observed how his own deep psychic work began to resonate at a frequency that would sometimes dislodge students’ traumas and provoke awakenings through the medium of classroom material.  How was this possible? We can look to Bache’s own explanation, after years of deep consciousness work integrating elements of the psyche:

“Consciousness seems to be like light. When light is scattered and incoherent, its influence is low, but when it is focused into the coherent light of a laser, it becomes a
powerful force of nature. Similarly, consciousness can be scattered or focused. The more integrated our conscious awareness and the more intentional focus we bring to
our actions, the more influence our consciousness has on life around us.”

The sensibility here is that a classroom teacher who has developed their consciousness over 50 years with Tibetan masters will have a different effect than one who hasn’t—the consciousness of the teacher is operative and effective.

Equally, Bache draws on author-educator Parker Palmer, who poignantly articulates a principle I’ve long sensed to be true: 

“‘Deep speaks to deep, and when we have not sounded our own depths, we cannot sound the depths of our students’ lives.’ I believe that the inverse of this
principle also holds. When we have sounded our depths, we cannot help sounding the depths of our students. Deep does speak to deep—involuntarily, automatically, silently, energetically. When depth has awakened within us, it reaches into the room without need of our conscious direction. Whatever we do, whatever we say, everything dances on this deeper movement.”

In one stunning account, he describes having a dream that featured a student; the next day, that same student came to his office hours reporting a dream featuring him.
Through their dialogue, they discovered that the two dreams formed parts of a larger whole.

The revelation of The Living Classroom is a quantum reality that deeply challenges the underlying paradigm of teaching and education today, which is one of separation
and atomization. The growth in synchronicities in Bache’s classroom over the years began to occur not just between him and students but also among his students— prefacing his key insight that his classroom was generating a resonant field of consciousness. Ultimately, this understanding points to what Bache calls “the
wholeness of Mind,” a recognition that we are deeply connected in an implicate order in which “clarified states of consciousness are contagious…[and] our spiritual ecology simply does not allow private awakening.”


What is the Field?

The field, for Bache, is an emergent property available in the classroom, something he began to covertly and overtly cultivate—growing a deeper space of potentiated
intentionality that students stepped into. Out of this field, new creative insights and a kind of collective intelligence became possible.

Bache was careful to note that it is not the small field (or “course mind”) as such that produced these insights but the profound intelligence that permeates the universe:

“When skillfully choreographed and gracefully navigated, the course mind functions as a kind of amplifier, extending our reach into this intelligence beyond what would otherwise be possible. When an individual is lifted into ‘higher,’ ‘deeper,’ or ‘wider’ states of knowing through the action of a well-focused group field, it is as though the sensitivity of their consciousness has been increased by several orders of magnitude”.

Herein, Bache points to one of the most important aspects of fieldwork, which I draw upon extensively in the context of Dialogos and The Resonant Man field. A highly potentiated field, a high-quality field, has the capacity to elevate and deepen the consciousness of participants beyond where they would otherwise be able to reach alone.  In a beautiful way, Bache conceives of his educational field as a kind of whirlpool through which the world passes and then spirals out again into the whole.
He stresses again in the same chapter:

“I don’t think that the group mind is the ultimate source of this creativity but a powerful vehicle that allows us to tap more deeply into the intelligence and creativity of the universe itself. When a collective field of consciousness is
sufficiently strong, our personal store of knowledge can become an instrument played by a larger intelligence… poised between things already grasped and things not yet understood, a living intelligence housed not in any one mind but evoked by the power of the group to unfold its message, taking us the next step on our individual and collective journey”.

As we develop our new vocabulary for fields, musical metaphors often arise. In the early Dialogos work of Vervaeke, Hall, Mastropietro, and Sengstock, the notion of “jazz” offered a prime metaphor for what it means to participate in these emergent fields in an elegant and generative way. The musicality of a field has the capacity to harmonize our minds, allowing a greater flow of intelligence than is usually possible.

Flow, in this sense, taps into and integrates more of our cognitive-creative capacity as a whole. When the drummer is in flow, he accesses more of himself than usual, and the field of the jazz band affords him greater sustained access to that flow.


Realizing a Paradigm Shift Towards Unified Awareness

From Bohm to Erwin Schrödinger, Bache finds a resounding call in the sciences to recognize the fundamentality of interconnectedness. Schrödinger writes that “in all the world, there is no kind of framework within which we can find consciousness in the plural; this is simply something we construct because of the spatio-temporal plurality of individuals, but it is a false construction.” Bohm, a quantum physicist and great pioneer of dialogos in our time, concludes equally that “deep down, the consciousness of mankind is one. This is a virtual certainty because even in the [quantum] vacuum, matter is one.”

Quantum physicist Henry Stapp states, “The new physics presents prima facie evidence that our human thoughts are linked to nature by nonlocal connections: what a person chooses to do in one region seems immediately to affect what is true elsewhere in the universe.”

Drawing upon the quantum world, Bache develops the understanding that we are a “living universe.” As such, what we tap into in The Living Classroom is truly reflective of the nature of reality itself. The classroom is alive because the universe itself is alive.  The importance of this unified field reality is why major wisdom traditions in Christianity and Buddhism both hold the group field’s resonance as a key pillar, whether it be the sangha in Buddhism or the ecclesia in Christianity. In both cases,
there is a recognition that the path to “Buddha consciousness” or “Christ consciousness” is not possible by skipping over the horizontal dimension in which we
hold, land, and cultivate that consciousness between us.


Becoming an Instrument in Service

In a meaningful sense, the more Bache attends to this field and to his own journey, the more he becomes available to serve that unified field, that greater intelligence.  He begins to notice over the years that students arrive with a personal need in a subject area just shortly after he has been drawn to gain insight on that given topic.  From this, he begins to sense that some kind of “field of need” has developed between him and the students that is telepathically provoking his desire to study those particular topics. In this depth of cosmic entanglement, student and teacher both participate in a bridge of learning in the cosmic mind, where it’s never quite clear who is acting on whom first.

The more Bache underwent dissolutions into cosmic consciousness, the more apparent it was that his personal life and ambitions were giving way to participation in a much larger fabric:

“It is obvious and without need of argument that my mind and the minds of my students participate in a larger ocean of awareness. In these moments of grace,
it is clear that our minds collaborate to bring forward thoughts too large for us to think on our own. In these hours, the fragmentation that is my usual condition is healed, and an unspeakable delicacy emerges, whispers to me, teasing me beyond my borders, coaxing me to relax, to fear less, to trust more, receive more, share more. 
Thoughts beyond what I can usually manage tumble through me, sourced in horizons I cannot see, nourished by streams of my brothers’ and sisters’ knowing. When the walls fall away this completely, I realize clearly that no
thought, even our most ordinary thoughts, is one person’s creation alone. For better or for worse, we are all implicated in each other’s lives. How easy it then appears for the echoes of other minds to show up in our stream of consciousness. How spontaneous the give-and-take of secrets.” 

We are, Bache argues, in the midst of a paradigm shift toward a unified, interconnected universe. The habits of separation will reinforce separation, but the habits of connection will reinforce connection. In other words, “as we begin to recognize more clearly the threads that weave our lives into a larger mosaic of intentionality and opportunity, the intelligence of this mosaic will be able to express itself more robustly. Subtle feedback networks will become stronger. Latent pathways of communion will manifest more demonstrably.”


The Future of Education

Having just conducted interviews with many speakers at the Human Transformation in a Time of Metacrisis conference organized at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the clearest takeaway for me was that a radical transformation of education and a re-examination of its foundations are necessary and will become increasingly so as we journey through the metacrisis.
Bache offers a vision for the future of education in which working with atunement and fields is part of every classroom. Teachers balance their “outer” preparation of course material with an “inner” preparation. This represents a paradigm shift in education, beyond the fragmentary, atomistic model of the past.

“Working with these fields is a natural and logical extension of our role as educators. If you understand the model of consciousness that is emerging today, if you grasp the significance of the themes of connectivity, wholeness, superconductivity, resonance, and emergence in contemporary thought, then working with these fields becomes a natural extension of your love of teaching and your desire to do it well. It is simply the ‘next step’ in developing a more conscious pedagogy.”

Underneath all real teaching is a form of transmission, a kind of exchange in resonance beneath the intellectual material.  Bache is particularly inspired by the “World Café” practice and realizes the centrality of dialogue as a field technology. Accordingly, he develops methods of grading students on their fullness of participation in the dialogue, not solely on their papers.

Bache offers practical approaches to cultivating these fields of resonance within education, which I have begun to explore in other contexts. These guidelines are
powerful tools for people working with fields in transformative education, men’s work, coaching, mediation, peacebuilding, and any other field-supported work.


Preparing the Field

The teacher begins to engage with the field before the students arrive, recognizing that the field comes into formation the moment students choose to join the class. In this way, there is prior awareness of the field before its formation. Bache reflects that in this approach, he works as if his intentions can impact the field. He uses a process
of meditation, invocation, and intention-setting to support the clearing of any blocks in the learning of his students and himself.

As the convener of the field and its most continuous element, he plays an outsized role as the “seed catalyst,” calling it into being.  Alongside this, he practices a more general intention-setting, reconnecting with his foundational commitments in education and his preparedness to be of service. He takes as much time as necessary to clarify this intention, sometimes taking days or weeks before courses to ensure he has connected to his deepest commitment to the field.


‘Screening the Field’

He connects through intentionality with his future students, holding them in awareness. He asks that their time together be beneficial and that those who are ready for this work come forward, while those who are not are guided to the class that best serves them. When he receives the course roster, he repeats the exercise,
sometimes multiple times before the start of a course. Bache acknowledges that this “projected intention” bears a strong resemblance to prayer, though he prefers not to
use that language.

He also observes that this effort is premised on a belief that larger supportive forces are at play, which he can align with at the level of soul to advance this work. He sees a dimension of reality in which saints, bodhisattvas, and higher beings exist as real and calls upon their superior vision to support this work in serving the highest good of the students.

The depth of Bache’s journey led him to believe meaningfully in reincarnating souls and the consequent possibility that he and his students’ souls may have had past interactions and incarnations together that are still echoing through reality. As part of his preparatory work, he asks that any past transgressions or harms between him and students (in past lives) be healed to allow them to arrive at a clean slate together in the classroom.

Bache recognizes that there is a wide diversity and multiplicity of forms through which this field preparation may take, depending on the lineage of the educator. What is most important is not the specific tradition or dressing of this work, but the power of focused intention upon the field. Rituals and invocation may be helpful, but it is
heartfelt intention that leads. However, he notes, drawing on Rupert Sheldrake’s morphic resonance, that rituals and practices with a long and ancient lineage likely
hold more potency in this context.


Nourishing the Field

Just as Bache prepares the field before a course, he also seeks to attend to it during its unfolding—with the intention to “purify and elevate the field.” As he does prior, he connects in meditation with the field of the entire course—this time including more of the particularity of the students and what’s arising with them. By engaging in this fieldwork, the teacher has the capacity to “melt obstacles when they are still in their
early stages or gently lift the baseline of the room.”

Bache uses an ancient Buddhist practice of Tonglen to draw in any suffering living in students and then saturate the field with white light. Of course, there are a wide variety of practices that could be applied to nourish and clear a field.  Nourishing and attending to the class field is important because, as the course field develops over the years, it becomes more potent, bringing on a kind of accelerated learning. This can create intensity for the students who enter it, demanding extra attentional care.

Where subtle problems or fragmentations arise in the class field, Bache utilizes fieldwork in his private time to dial into the field and diagnose what is going on at
depths that may not be apparent on the surface. His belief in the field as holographic, meaning it lives holographically within him, supports the logic that what is occurring in the field is occurring in him.

Ultimately, the field is living, and the teacher needs to be constantly present to it to stay alive to its movements.

“Teaching is a daily exercise in vulnerability.”
— Parker Palmer

Where there are breakdowns, frustrations, or material that once worked well but no longer fits, the teacher of the living classroom adapts and moves with the evolution of
the classroom and its field. Insofar as that field is evolving, it will demand that the teacher periodically move out once more into their own unknown and space of learning.


Conclusion

In ‘The Living Classroom’ we find an essential map for educators and facilitators forging ahead into this new horizon of education. A space in which a multitude of
‘living classrooms’ are emerging, many of which fall beyond the walls of traditional educational institutions. To cultivate the heart-minds and souls that can guide us through the metacrisis we need to cultivate an education that is resonant, that goes beyond the ordinary, and is nothing less than metaphysical.


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Jacob Kishere is the co-founder of The Resonant Man and publishes regularly through Culturepilgrim & The Resonant Man.  The Living Classroom & LSD and The Mind of The Universe are available through Bache’s website: