Workshop with Andrew Holecek 4th Sep: https://dandelion.events/e/w0dr9
Full discussion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcUOXFASQm4
To join future events, newsletter and access ad-free event recordings go to:https://adventuresinawareness.com
Your contributions support future content, and are greatly appreciated:- https://adventuresinawareness.com/membership- One-off PayPal donations: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/adventuresin Follow the Adventure:- Subscribe to us on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adventuresinawareness- Twitter: https://x.com/AdvInAwareness- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-in-awareness/id1535917754 -
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0:00:00 Blindspots of highers states Jhanas | cessation 0:10:00 Enlightenment is expansion
0:14:00 Questioning awakening
0:15:00 the goal posts are always moving
0:18:00 How to stay open and focus0:26:00 abiding in the light
0:31:00 dealing with pain
0:39:00 suffering = pain + resistance
0:49:00 total equanimity in pain
0:50:00 plans for workshop on luminous awareness
0:55:00 idealism vs emptiness
1:07:00 one vs none
1:10:00 cessation vs idealismaduality vs nonduality
Jay Garfield vs Bernardo Kastrup
Workshop with Andrew Holecek 4th Sep: https://dandelion.events/e/w0dr9To join future events, newsletter and access ad-free event recordings go to:https://adventuresinawareness.comYour contributions support future content, and are greatly appreciated:- https://adventuresinawareness.com/membership- One-off PayPal donations: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/adventuresin Follow the Adventure:- Subscribe to us on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adventuresinawareness- Twitter: https://x.com/AdvInAwareness- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-in-awareness/id1535917754 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2jiebSpdVu9YbpLOtWlKYU - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adventuresinawarenessBanner art by https://www.instagram.com/jadewade/00:00 Intro6:40 Schools of Tibetan Buddhism10:00 Buddhism as a description of reality10:40 3 Turnings of the wheels in Buddhism14:00 Pixilated nature of reality = reduce suffering17:40 Andrew’s path into Tibetan Buddhism23:20 The value of understanding before realisation31:00 Three Year Retreat35:00 Lucid dreaming and sleeping38:40 Are the best teachers in the east? 46:00 Blindspots in the east48:00 What is the goal of life? Waking / Play55:00 Path of freedom vs Path of fullness56:00 Limitation of radical nonduality 58:00 Transcend and include59:00 You both need therapy1:01:00 Scandals and abuse in spirituality
A conversation with Dr Ruben Laukkonen—cognitive scientist, neuroscientist and meditator —exploring the cutting edge of contemplative science and the mysterious experience of consciousness coming to a complete stop - cessation. - https://rubenlaukkonen.com/To join future events, newsletter and access ad-free event recordings go to:https://adventuresinawareness.com/Ruben completed an award-winning PhD on the cognitive science of insight at The University of Queensland in 2019, followed by post-doctoral research at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam on the computational neuroscience of meditation. Ruben is now a Senior Lecturer at Southern Cross University where his lab uncovers empirically grounded and experientially authentic models of meditation, insight, psychedelics, and consciousness. Using a combination of methods including neuroimaging, machine learning, and phenomenology, his team is investigating some of the rarest states of consciousness available to human beings- https://adventuresinawareness.com/membership- One-off PayPal donations: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/adventuresin- https://adventuresinawareness.com- Subscribe to us on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adventuresinawareness- Twitter: https://x.com/AdvInAwareness- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-in-awareness/id1535917754- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2jiebSpdVu9YbpLOtWlKYU- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adventuresinawareness00:00:00 Introduction00:04:54 What Makes Meditative Cessation Unique?Defines how intentional cessation differs from sleep, anesthesia, or trauma.00:10:52 From Mindfulness to Advanced States: A New Wave of ResearchIntroduces a shift in meditation science toward rare and transformative states.00:21:08 EEG Findings: What Happens in the Brain During Cessation?Reveals broad changes in brain activity linked to deep meditative absorption.00:41:09 Computational Reset: - reduce grasping by resetting deep mental patterns.00:44:08 Have You Personally Experienced Cessation?00:45:55 How Science Informs Meditation (and Vice Versa)00:47:04 Predictive Processing and the Present Moment00:48:33 Understanding the Four Selves in Meditation00:49:39 Science vs. Philosophy: Are They Really Separate?00:51:00 Why All Maps Are Just Maps00:52:23 Meditation, Science, and the Mystery of Insight00:54:08 Did Science or Meditation Come First?00:55:46 Balancing a PhD with Deep Practice00:57:28 Is Awareness Just Another Dependent Arising?01:02:08 Did Ramana Maharshi Experience Cessation?01:04:02 Grasping at Awareness: A New Kind of Samsara01:06:44 Emptiness, Insight, and the Path that Keeps Unfolding01:08:17 Is the Goal of Buddhism Reducing Suffering or Knowing Reality?01:10:46 Wisdom and Compassion as Two Wings of the Path01:13:36 Could We Ever Measure Clinging in the Brain?01:17:02 Using Brain Flexibility to Detect Reduced Clinging01:18:50 Can Meditators Adapt to Reality Shifts Faster?01:21:45 Does Meditation Increase Mental Model Stability?01:22:04 Does Cessation Challenge Idealist Philosophy?01:24:46 Why I No Longer Start From Consciousness01:26:08 Consciousness: A Useful Concept or an Assumption?01:28:32 Cessation Undermines the Idealist View?01:30:12 Just Before Cessation01:32:00 Investigating the Nature of Awareness Itself01:34:00 Not Everyone Needs Cessation – And Why That Matters01:36:59 Reuben’s View: Emptiness Over Idealism01:38:38 On Being Misrepresented by “Metaconsciousness” Critics01:41:03 The Subtle Dualism of “Everything is Consciousness”01:44:14 Open Audience Q&A Begins01:45:05 What Meditation Practice Leads to Cessation?01:47:15 Why Integrity and Sincerity Matter More Than Method01:51:03 Upcoming Conference Appearances (Europe 2025)01:53:04 What Is Cessation Really? And What Is Emptiness?01:57:11 Emptiness as the Lack of Essence in All ThingsVideo editing by https://www.willbourchier.com/Banner art by https://www.instagram.com/jadewade/
Christof Koch was the president and chief scientist of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle known for his interdisciplinary approach, combining insights from neuroscience, physics, and philosophy to tackle the complex problem of consciousness, published in over 350 scientific papers, significantly shaped modern understanding of the neural correlates of consciousness and visual perception.In collaboration with Francis Crick, Cristof initiated the modern search for the neuronal correlates of consciousness. In collaboration with Giulio Tononi, he co-developed the Integrated Information Theory of consciousness.To join future discussions live, watch ad-free recordings and extended Q&As, find us at: https://www.adventuresinawareness.com/events/Your contributions support future content, and are greatly appreciated:https://adventuresinawareness.com/membershipOne-off PayPal donations: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/adventuresin 0:00 Intros0:08 Bernardo’s appreciation of Christof’s work: how neuroscience is critical to understanding mind12:40 Christo’s appreciation of Bernardo’s work:the mechanisms of the boundaries of consciousness 17:00 the metaphysics of Integrated Information Theory (IIT)21:00 IIT might be most direct modelling of true states of nature24:50 IIT and Free Will26:40 how IIT models the noumenon and AI consciousness 30:00 the cerebellum doesn’t contribute to consciousness32:50 IIT and meta-consciousness34:50 dreams are not meta-conscious38:40 IIT and scale and speed of the system (galaxies and atoms)42:30 IIT and defining the boundary of a system45:00 IIT, dissociation and the origin of life50:20 consciousness in the sun and mind meld55:30 Internal family systems therapy & the daimon58:30 clarifying definition of free will1:08:00 why IIT assumes consciousness 1:11:30 what is information in IIT (it’s not shannon information - its meaning, aristotelan ‘in form’)1:15:30 what is integration? (it means its not reducible. You can’t break it into parts without losing something)1:20:30 mind at large integrated? (no, because of speed of light and expansion)1:23:00 why is integration in space but not time? how do parts of the system know which system they are part of1:37:10 how IIT accounts for mind at large - the dance of dissociation and reintegration: actively enforced dissociation and non-actively dissociation. Mind at large is fragmented, and markov blankets are considered1:43:30 Mind at large is not conscious in the way we are1:50:00 everything is conscious vs everything is consciousness1:51:50 IIT disagrees with computational functionalism; that consciousness is just a function and any mechanism that can do that function must be conscious. IIT starts with consciousness instead of with function. 1:56:00 Christof’s psychedelic experience and change in perspective2:01:40 the similarity between the universe and the brain2:08:25 is death re-association? the parallels between chemistry and emotion2:13:30 is mind at large expanding like the universe? (questioning the big bang)2:17:50 do psychedelics increase or decrease connectivity 2:22:30 neural correlates of consciousness or meta-consciousness (implications of blindsight)2:28:50 IIT and the block universe2:38:30 Life and meaning can be mapped by Markov blankets, cancer, enlightenment, reincarnation 2:48:00 becoming another - thought experimentFollow the Adventure:- https://adventuresinawareness.com/- Subscribe to us on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adventuresinawareness- Twitter: https://x.com/AdvInAwareness- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-in-awareness/id1535917754- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adventuresinawarenessBanner art by https://www.instagram.com/jadewade/
Workshops this weekend, 28th/29th June 2025 with Dr James Cooke in London: https://dandelion.events/e/n8hokJames Cooke has three degrees in experimental psychology and neuroscience from Oxford University, including a PhD in neuroscience. He has conducted research into the brain basis of consciousness at such institutions as Oxford University; the University of California, Berkeley; University College London; Trinity College Dublin; and Riken Brain Sciences Institute in Tokyo. At the University of London, he achieved the theoretical breakthrough that forms the basis of his new book, The Dawn of Mind, first publishing his findings in the prestigious Journal of Consciousness Studies and later in Entropy. Outside of academia, he directs the Inner Space Institute, a platform for promoting understanding around science and spirituality.Previous talks with James:https://youtu.be/VRw4aJZWJiMhttps://youtu.be/HcmIcGxGHPEMore on James:https://www.innerspaceinstitute.org/To join future events, newsletter and access ad-free event recordings go to:https://adventuresinawareness.comYour contributions support future content, and are greatly appreciated:- https://adventuresinawareness.com/membership- One-off PayPal donations: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/adventuresin Follow the Adventure:- Subscribe to us on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adventuresinawareness- Twitter: https://x.com/AdvInAwareness- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-in-awareness/id1535917754 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2jiebSpdVu9YbpLOtWlKYU - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adventuresinawarenessBanner art by https://www.instagram.com/jadewade/
To join future events in this series, and access ad-free event recordings go to:https://adventuresinawareness.comTo join weekly meetings with Bernardo Kastrup: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/This event was recorded Dec 2024.Jay Garfield is a world specialist in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, leading classes everywhere from Harvard Divinity School all the way to the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in India. He was one of six scholars who participated in a conference with the 14th Dalai Lama on "Mapping the Mind: A Dialogue between Modern Science and Buddhist Science. Bernardo Kastrup is leading the the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism - the notion that all reality is consciousness, as well as having two PhDs and having worked in some of the world's most esteemed scientific institutions. Your contributions support future content, and are greatly appreciated:- https://adventuresinawareness.com/membership- One-off PayPal donations: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/adventuresin Follow the Adventure:- Subscribe to us on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adventuresinawareness- Twitter: https://x.com/AdvInAwareness- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-in-awareness/id1535917754 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2jiebSpdVu9YbpLOtWlKYU - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adventuresinawarenessBanner art by https://www.instagram.com/jadewade/
Matthew Immergut, Ph.D., was co-author of the highly successful meditation classic, 'The Mind Illuminated,' and works as an Associate Professor of Sociology at Purchase College, SUNY where he has developed a minor in Contemplative Studies, and teaches classes on meditation, happiness, social theory, and new religious movements.We discuss how the systematic approach presented in the book has supported countless meditators, while also addressing the complexities that emerged around his co-author Culadasa (John Yates). We'll discuss Matthew's perspective on navigating teacher-student relationships and the broader challenges of translating traditional Buddhist practices for contemporary audiences, and how teachings on emptiness aim at a fearless capacity to love.To join future events, newsletter and access ad-free event recordings go to:https://adventuresinawareness.comYour contributions support future content, and are greatly appreciated:- https://adventuresinawareness.com/membership- One-off PayPal donations: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/adventuresin Follow the Adventure:- Subscribe to us on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adventuresinawareness- Twitter: https://x.com/AdvInAwareness- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-in-awareness/id1535917754 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2jiebSpdVu9YbpLOtWlKYU - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adventuresinawarenessBanner art by https://www.instagram.com/jadewade/0:00 Intro4:30 Matthews background: wilderness survival and chassidic judaism 10:30 Goenka vipassana & addiction19:00 Departure from messianic Judaism23:30 Meeting John Yates (Culadaca)30:25 Publishing & crafting the Mind Illuminated42:00 The strengths of the book47:00 Whatever you do has the same obstacles 48:10 The downsides of the book: progress isn’t linear50:20 Striving, meditative ego and burnout 55:30 Just assume you are bypassing59:39 On the awakening and behaviour of Culadasa, John Yates1:17:00 waking up vs cleaning up1:22:30 Bypassing vs indulging1:26:30 Best practice going forward1:28:10 What Matthew would change about the book1:30:30 Seeing emptiness to induce a fearless capacity to love1:35:00 Cessation, awakening, immoral behaviour and emptiness of consciousness1:42:30 Morality as the starting point for enlightenment?1:45:30 Wisdom, Morality and Insight1:47:30 what to do when you need a break from meditation?1:51:30 the future of the Mind Illuminated?1:52:30 the power of meeting saints - perfection vs imperfection
Join Shamil's 4-week course at:https://adventuresinawareness.com
Dr Shamil Chandaria is a senior research fellow at the centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, University of Oxford. He is also a research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy, London University, where he focuses on philosophical issues in neuroscience and well-being; a research fellow at Imperial College in the neuroscience of psychedelics; and a bye-fellow at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University.
He has multi-disciplinary research interests spanning computational neuroscience, machine learning & artificial intelligence, and the philosophy and science of human well-being. He is currently working on computational theories of consciousness and meditation. Shamil has been a meditator for 38 years and has contemplative training in early Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shivaism.
Your contributions support future content, and are greatly appreciated:- https://adventuresinawareness.com/membership- One-off PayPal donations: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/adventuresin Follow the Adventure:- Subscribe to us on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@adventuresinawareness- Twitter: https://x.com/AdvInAwareness- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adventures-in-awareness/id1535917754 -
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0:00 Teaser
1:00 Introduction
2:30 Transcendental meditation
5:40 Science as the language of our time
7:20 the universe has multiple perspectives
11:35 coming to spirituality through suffering
15:40 the goals of the many kinds of meditation: abiding, deconstruction, reconstruction
22:40 everything that arises is a mental construction
31:40 adrenaline can be excitement or stress
42:40 what science can add to ancient wisdom
50:40 why to cherry pick from traditions
51:44 science is on a level playing field with tradition
1:01:40 the science of perception supports meditation
1:04:40 the science of perception has reversed
1:16:40 meditation techniques keep getting better, and science is helping
1:39:40 our experience is a dependent co-arising
1:47:40 Overview of Shamil’s course
1:59:40 Waking up to the game then reconstructing it
In celebration of Bernardo's upcoming book 'Idealism in a Nutshell,' we're releasing two lectures, originally filmed 22nd June 2020 as part of a four week course. This is Lecture 2, in which Bernardo outlines the case for Idealism. Lecture 1, Refuting Materialism, was released last week.
Our next discussion series with Bernardo starts 29th Oct. 2024 and features as guest the celebrated neuroscientist Christof Koch: https://dandelion.events/e/y54ag
For future iterations of the open Q&A and discussions visit https://adventuresinawareness.com/
Bernardo Kastrup's work has been leading the modern renaissance of the philosophical position, ‘metaphysical idealism’ that reality is essentially mental, an appearance in ‘mind.’ Bernardo has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another Ph.D. in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the 'Casimir Effect' of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured on Scientific American, the Institute of Art and Ideas, the Blog of the American Philosophical Association and Big Think, among others. Bernardo's most recent book is The Idea of the World: A multi-disciplinary argument for the mental nature of reality. For more information, freely downloadable papers, videos, etc., please visit www.bernardokastrup.com.
In celebration of Bernardo's upcoming book 'Idealism in a Nutshell,' we're releasing two lectures, originally filmed 22nd June 2020 as part of a four week course. This is Lecture 1, in which Bernardo refutes Materialism, discussing its origins, pitfalls, and misconceptions. Stay tuned for Lecture 2, in which Bernardo defends and dives deeper into Metaphysical Idealism.
Our next discussion series with Bernardo starts 29th Oct. 2024 and features as guest the celebrated neuroscientist Christof Koch: https://dandelion.events/e/y54ag
For future iterations of the open Q&A and discussions visit https://adventuresinawareness.com/
Bernardo Kastrup's work has been leading the modern renaissance of the philosophical position, ‘metaphysical idealism’ that reality is essentially mental, an appearance in ‘mind.’ Bernardo has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another Ph.D. in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the 'Casimir Effect' of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured on Scientific American, the Institute of Art and Ideas, the Blog of the American Philosophical Association and Big Think, among others. Bernardo's most recent book is The Idea of the World: A multi-disciplinary argument for the mental nature of reality. For more information, freely downloadable papers, videos, etc., please visit www.bernardokastrup.com.
Mark grew up in the UK as an atheist, but then spent a year as a monk in India after a powerful and unexpected spiritual awakening. He now teaches insight meditation inspired by the late Rob Burbea, with a focus on understanding the emptiness of all things and the ways in which changing our ways of looking can reduce suffering and enhance the beauty of life. He offers teachings freely, living frugally in a caravan in the UK, from donations from those who appreciate what he offers.
He'll be teaching a freely-given 6-week course on Loving Kindness Meditation online in October: https://dandelion.events/e/e92bd
In this episode, we discussed:
Mark's background and awakening
The phenomenology of the awakening
Having no sense of self
Going beyond non-dual awakening
Meeting the guru: Rob Burbea
Emptiness
Why you should care
+ A guided lovingkindness meditation!
To find out about joining future events check out: https://adventuresinawareness.com
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One-off PayPal donations
This was an excerpt from a 5-week discussion series with Bernardo Kastrup, Nov 2022, with guest Federico Faggin.
Federico Faggin is an Italian-American physicist, engineer, inventor and entrepreneur. He is best known for designing the first commercial microprocessor, the Intel 4004. In 2010, he received the 2009 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor the United States confers for achievements related to technological progress.
In 2011, Faggin founded the Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation to support the scientific study of consciousness at US universities and research institutes.
Bernardo considers him ‘probably the most well-rounded Idealist alive today.’
He has a new book just released available here.
We discussed:
Federico's journey to his model of reality
How science must completely change to incorporate consciousness
How quantum states make sense when viewed as descriptions of experience
How consciousness and life are nothing like computers
How meditation, spirituality and science relate
Access all 10 hours of recorded material here.
To join the next edition please visit our Events page.
If you would like to support future content, contributions are greatly appreciated at:
One-off PayPal donations
An excerpt from a 5-week course with Bernardo Kastrup & Rupert Spira.
We discussed:
Self Enquiry as a direct way to know reality
Experiential vs. philosophical approach to understanding reality & reducing suffering
Why the universe dissociates
How idealism increases empathy
What psychedelics imply about death
Language as a model
& much more!
To join the next course please visit our Events page.
If you would like to support future content, contributions are greatly appreciated at:
One-off PayPal donations
In both Buddhism and modern neuro-science, you may hear the notion that there is no “Self.” No central entity that is separate, makes decisions or is continuous through time. That however real the “Self” might seem, it is merely an illusion.
It is one of the most misunderstood, ignored and confronting propositions to come out of philosophy or science, so I spoke with Dr Daniel Ingram who says he experiences an embedded perception of there being no "Self" on an ongoing basis, following several years of careful meditation.
We chat about what it means, how it is noticed, what it feels like and why anyone should care! If this sound intriguing at all, have a listen...
You'll thank your Self for it 🙂
This episode is supported by The Psychedelic Society, as part of a series of conversations on meditation, consciousness & enlightenment.
For upcoming events check out https://psychedelicsociety.org.uk/events
https://www.adventuresinawareness.com
Listening is free, but your support is appreciated! If you would like to contribute to this initiative, donations are gratefully accepted. You can support via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adventuresinawareness
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Podcast #5: Daniel Ingram - Experiencing No-Self Part 3
Daniel is an emergency room physician, author of ‘Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha,’ founder of Dharma Overground and holds an M.D., M.S.P.H. in Epidemiology, and B.A. in English Literature all from UNC Chapel Hill.
In both Buddhism and modern neuro-science, you may hear the notion that there is no “Self.” No central entity that is separate, makes decisions or is continuous through time. That however real the “Self” might seem, it is merely an illusion.
It is one of the most misunderstood, ignored and confronting propositions to come out of philosophy or science, so I spoke with Dr Daniel Ingram who says he experiences an embedded perception of there being no "Self" on an ongoing basis, following several years of careful meditation.
We chat about what it means, how it is noticed, what it feels like and why anyone should care! If this sound intriguing at all, have a listen...
You'll thank your Self for it 🙂
This episode is sponsored by The Psychedelic Society, as part of a series of conversations on meditation, consciousness & enlightenment.
For upcoming events check out https://psychedelicsociety.org.uk/events
https://www.adventuresinawareness.com
Listening is free, but your support is appreciated! If you would like to contribute to this initiative, donations are gratefully accepted. You can support via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adventuresinawareness
or make one-off PayPal donations here: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/adventuresin
Podcast #5: Daniel Ingram - Experiencing No-Self Part 2
Daniel is an emergency room physician, author of ‘Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha,’ founder of Dharma Overground and holds an M.D., M.S.P.H. in Epidemiology, and B.A. in English Literature all from UNC Chapel Hill.
This episode is sponsored by The Psychedelic Society, as part of a series of conversations on meditation, consciousness & enlightenment. For upcoming events click here.
Listening is free, but your support is appreciated! If you would like to contribute to this initiative, donations are gratefully accepted. You can support via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adventuresina...
or make one-off PayPal donations here: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/adven...
Podcast #5: Daniel Ingram - Experiencing No-Self Part 1
Daniel discusses his personal experience of realising the truth of there not being a 'Self' Daniel is an emergency room physician, author of ‘Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha,’ founder of Dharma Overground and holds an M.D., M.S.P.H. in Epidemiology, and B.A. in English Literature all from UNC Chapel Hill.
This episode is sponsored by The Psychedelic Society, as we continue a series of conversations on meditation, consciousness & enlightenment. For upcoming events with Psychedelic Society check out https://psychedelicsociety.org.uk/events
https://www.adventuresinawareness.com
Listening is free, but your support is appreciated!
If you would like to contribute this initiative, donations are gratefully accepted. You can support via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adventuresina...
or make one off PayPal donations here: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/adven...
Podcast #4: Richard Lang - Headless Way Community & Culture
Headless Way is not only a unique form of self enquiry, but a community that has successfully maintained an open, non-hierarchical and non-dogmatic culture which many spiritual communities could take inspiration from. Richard Lang discusses what makes this approach unique amongst the many ways humans have sought to discover answers to life's most fundamental questions.
In collaboration with The Psychedelic Society, Amir Giles is hosting a series of conversations on Psychedelics, Meditation & Enlightenment. For upcoming events find us at https://psychedelicsociety.org.uk/events https://www.adventuresinawareness.com
Listening is free, but your support is appreciated!
If you would like to contribute this initiative, donations are gratefully accepted. You can support via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adventuresinawareness
or make one off PayPal donations here: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/adventuresin
Podcast #3: Dr James Cooke
Oxford trained Neuro-scientist, James Cooke shares his early life awakening experiences, his healing and embodiment journey through psychedelics, and his recently published theory on how consciousness and life are two co-emergent properties of the universe and what that means for living an enlightened life.
00:52 - Necker Cube
3:00 - Religious crisis to awakening to the present moment
8:20 - Tibetan Dzogchen
10:00 - Unintegrated enlightenment, and choosing academia over the monastery
14:00 - Experimental psychology at Oxford and choosing science over philosophy
17:00 - Science, nonduality and democratisation of psychedelics
19:00 - The collapse of all thought into the present moment
20:00 - Psychedelic experiences as genuine mystical experience
22:00 - James Cook’s understanding of Enlightenment
Consciousness as a co-emergent property with life - and to exist is to strive
29:00 - Different from idealism
30:00 - Enlightenment as being close to death, enlightenment not the goal
35.30 - Balancing enlightenment with life
41:40 - Many centres of experience
49:23 - Nondual states including being and striving
56:55 - The value of science as a gateway and grounding to the mystical
1:07:40 - Views on metaphysical idealism
1:16:30 - Islands don’t exist
1:21:00 - Distinction with pan-psychism
1:23:00 - Organisms made out of many organisms 1:30:00 - All life is conscious
1:34:00 - Psychedelics, mysticism, embodiment and healing
1:40:00 - The power of redemptive love and psychedelics as party of healthy human culture
1:49:50 - The distraction of visuals in psychedelics, and the healing power of different substances
In collaboration with The Psychedelic Society, Amir Giles is hosting a series of conversations on Psychedelics, Meditation & Enlightenment. For upcoming events find us here.
Listening is free, but your support is appreciated! If you would like to contribute this initiative, donations are gratefully accepted. You can support via Patreon or make one off PayPal donations here.
Podcast #2: Stephen Reid
Stephen Reid discusses his personal journey and mystical insights through the intersection between quantum field theory, complexity science, meditation and psychedelics. Stephen is a cultural change maker, co-operative technologist and founder of the Psychedelic Society. He completed a Masters in Complexity Science at the University of Bristol as well as a Masters in Physics specialising quantum field theory at the University Oxford University.
He was also the youngest ever board member of Greenpeace UK, and selected as the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Totnes. As well as quantum field theory and Complexity Science, Stephen has training in software development, meditation, plant medicine, and political activism.
Discussion points include:
0:40 Mystical Experiences and Quantum Field Theory at Oxford University
4:00 David Bohm - Physics may be infinite
7.30 Physics, metaphysics and mystical experience - the limits of understanding
9:30 Complexity sciences - self organisation & emergence as a bridge to psychedelics
8:30 Science as a platform and context for useful psychedelic experiences
14:00 From Bohm to Krishnamurti - from physics to meditation
15:30 Tao Te Ching as a resonance with complexity sciences
16:20 Zig Zag zen and vipassana
20:00 The value of skepticism around psychedelic trips
22:30 Meditation on Tao te Ching, Seeing that Frees, Reger Rey
24:30 The value of meditation as a support for psychedelic trips, a buffer against bad trips
26:50 The motivations to meditate and to take psychedelics: there is only enlightened action
Balancing insight & compassion
https://stephenreid.net
In collaboration with The Psychedelic Society, Amir Giles is hosting a series of conversations on Psychedelics, Meditation & Enlightenment. For upcoming events with Psychedelic Society click here.
Listening is free, but your support is appreciated! https://www.patreon.com/adventuresinawareness
Podcast #1: Dr Daniel Ingram
Daniel Ingram discusses to what extent psychedelics can either help or hinder in persistent shifts in consciousness and spiritual type awakenings, and is it possible to access the kind of perceptual shifts common on psychedelics in other contexts, and in day to day life?
Daniel is an emergency room physician, author of ‘Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha,’ founder of Dharma Overground and holds an M.D., M.S.P.H. in Epidemiology, and B.A. in English Literature all from UNC Chapel Hill.
TOPICS
1:13 Background to Daniel Ingram’s experience
4:31 On the lack of formal research on psychedelics and spiritual awakening
7:13 Formal approaches and maps leading to awakening
8:38 What do psychedelics do; gateways, mystical experiences, damaging and very occasionally permanent transformative awakenings.
13:33 Distinction between spiritual experience and permanent awakening. DMT, psilocyn, salvia, ketamine.
14:50 Psychedelic experiences don’t last long enough for new brain structures to form
MAPS AND STAGES OF AWAKENING
17.03 Maps and stages of awakening; Arising and passing away, Dark night, Equanimity, Formal awakening
21:45 The unitive experiences of equanimity
21:30 Psychedelics vs meditation retreats
22:20 Research comparing psychedelics and meditation
22:46 Formal awakening and stream entry vrs temporary experiences
PSYCHEDELICS AS PART OF THE PATH
27:30 Psychedelics as part of the path; the parameters of the debate
As a gateway and a motivator
Difficult to integrate & sometimes damaging
As a clarifier
33:30 Micro-dosing; potential for habituation
35:13 Opportunity costs and risks of meditation
39:26 Awakening in indigenous, shamanic and magical traditions
44:30 To trip or not? You have to do your research, know your options.
47:13 Fire Kasina & non substance psychedelic experiences
50:43 The risk, speed and cleanliness; meditation vrs psychedelics
53:30 Handling the weird - psychedelics as the meditation retreat audition
54:43 Is the hero's journey required for the end of suffering?
FUTURE RESEARCH AND DIRECTIONS
59:00 Other voices to follow
1:01:13 Taking your wider life into consideration; responsible spirituality
1:05:03 Prospects for future research: Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium - categorizing the experiences that people have, clearer diagnostics and practise recommendations.
Daniel Ingram’s website
Erowid
Manual of Psychedelic Support
