Institute
The Esalen Institute
The Big Sur retreat that became the laboratory of the Human Potential Movement.
Institute · Founded 1,962 · Big Sur, California, USA · Active today
Founded by Michael Murphy, Richard Price
What it was
Founded in 1962 by Michael Murphy and Richard Price on a clifftop hot-springs property in Big Sur, California, the Esalen Institute became the crucible of the Human Potential Movement.
Through its seminars passed Gestalt therapy, encounter groups, bodywork, transpersonal psychology and Eastern meditation — a meeting point where humanistic psychology and the counterculture fused.
Its place in the lineage
Esalen is where the mind-power lineage entered modern psychology and therapy: humanistic and transpersonal teachers in this Atlas converged here in the 1960s and 70s.
Founders & leaders
The circle · 9 in the Atlas
Each star is a teacher; colour marks how they were tied to the order. Tap a star to open them.
