by Laurie Powell, Collective-Evolution

When pharmaceutical companies create a new drug, they are always looking for compounds that treat specific profitable disorders, especially if they have the potential for blockbuster status. Patent life is 20 years after the drug has been identified as viable in clinical trials – this means that no one else can make or sell the medication during that time.¹

For this reason, pharmaceutical companies prep the marketplace for years prior for a successful launch with maximum impact and profit.

By the time a drug launches, doctors are ready to write prescriptions for that drug, and patients are primed to ask their doctors for it. Because it’s a name brand drug, the price is high, and pharma will want to keep that price point by protecting and extending their patent exclusivity as long as possible.

Pharma protects their patents in a number of ways. One option is to negotiate with generic drug manufacturers, asking them not to release their own versions for a set amount of time and money. Another way is to extend a patent by finding a new indication for it, thereby buying it another lifecycle as a brand name drug that sells at full premium price. In order to find this new indication, pharmaceutical companies have to get creative.

by Elina St-Onge, Collective-Evolution

Who is more aligned with their path of spiritual evolution?

• A person sitting in a lotus position, taking deep breaths and in perfect composure?

• Or a person curled up in a ball, crying hysterically?

If we base our answer on everything we have learned from “new age” philosophies and most spiritual teachings out there, I think it’s fair to say that the person meditating wins. He/she appears peaceful, at ease, and detached. Now I’m not about to “shock” you and say that the opposite is true. But I would argue that this image is just that: an image.

This is why:

by Mark DeNicola, Collective-Evolution

Most people view having a stable career as one of the most necessary ingredients to a happy life, yet so many of us that are fortunate enough to have that stability still find ourselves wanting more.

Is the problem solely that happiness requires more than just job security? Or do we live in a world where traditional full-time work actually contributes to our dissatisfaction?

If given the choice, I doubt that many of us would choose to work 40 hours a week. And those that would choose it are likely to have one thing in common: what they do for work directly engages at least one of their core passions.

But we live in a world where the majority of us need to work to survive. We accrue debt through post-secondary school and then when buying a house, and find ourselves working whatever is available until we one day (hopefully) land something in line with what we studied to do.

Given that the inherent value in a university or college degree seems to be steadily diminishing — all while the cost of attaining it is increasing — it appears as though the career landscape is becoming murkier and murkier.

by Alexa Erickson, Collective-Evolution

Many of the most influential people our world has seen have exposed truths, wisdoms, and controversial viewpoints that have earned them both respect and fear from the masses. Osho Rajneesh was one of those people.

An Indian mystic, guru, and spiritual teacher, he had millions of followers worldwide, along with thousands of detractors. Confident and outspoken, he shed light on topics often considered taboo by mainstream society.

Born in 1931, Osho grew up questioning the existing religious, cultural, and social norms of society, eventually having a mystical experience that led him to what he calls his enlightenment at the age of 21. He came to prominence as a spiritual guru not just in India, but also internationally. His teachings focus on the necessity for meditation, awareness, love, celebration, courage, creativity, and humor, all of which he believed to be suppressed by traditional belief systems, religious tradition, and socialization. His teachings have greatly impacted the Western New Age movement.

Osho died in 1990, but his work continues to be published by over 200 publishers worldwide and in over 60 languages. With that said, here are 15 incredible quotes by the influential guru:

by Arjun Walia, Collective-Evolution

DNA is fascinating, and we stand to learn so much about who we are, where we came from, and what we are capable of (biologically speaking) from its study. Our capabilities in particular have yet to be studied in-depth by the mainstream scientific community. Yet the study of phenomena like the placebo effect, distant healing, telepathy, and the physical impacts of human intention, not to mention the Mind-Body connection, has yielded statistically significant results which have been available in ‘reputable peer reviewed journals’ for decades.

How does this relate to DNA? Well, there are many codes in our DNA that scientists have yet to crack. Parts of our DNA, for example have no known biological function, or at least we have yet to discover them. Maybe they have spiritual applications, or are connected to the non-physical realm in some way. These seemingly useless DNA are referred to as ‘Junk DNA,’ or ‘non-coding DNA.’ But we are learning more about them each day, as Scientific American reports, so the label isn’t entirely accurate.