Wonderstruck® is a podcast about awe and wonder that includes the profoundly moving, the humbling, and the uncanny. Hosted by psychologist, yoga teacher, and seeker Elizabeth Rovere, it explores experiences that bring us to the very edges of what we can explain, and beyond.
Join us every month for conversations with scientists and shamans, philosophers and poets, mystics and experiencers. We ask what we can learn from those moments that often lack explanations. We ask deeper questions about consciousness, being, and reality. We look at mystery not as something to solve, but as a place where transformation can occur. And along the way, we glimpse a world wilder, stranger, and more Real than we ever imagined.
http://newsletter.wonderstruck.org
https://www.youtube.com/@wonderstruckpod
https://www.instagram.com/wonderstruckpod/
Presented by Creative Visions and Striking Wonder Productions™
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Wonderstruck® is a podcast about awe and wonder that includes the profoundly moving, the humbling, and the uncanny. Hosted by psychologist, yoga teacher, and seeker Elizabeth Rovere, it explores experiences that bring us to the very edges of what we can explain, and beyond.
Join us every month for conversations with scientists and shamans, philosophers and poets, mystics and experiencers. We ask what we can learn from those moments that often lack explanations. We ask deeper questions about consciousness, being, and reality. We look at mystery not as something to solve, but as a place where transformation can occur. And along the way, we glimpse a world wilder, stranger, and more Real than we ever imagined.
http://newsletter.wonderstruck.org
https://www.youtube.com/@wonderstruckpod
https://www.instagram.com/wonderstruckpod/
Presented by Creative Visions and Striking Wonder Productions™
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A lot of what Jeffrey Kripal writes about and explores doesn’t fit into our current worldview. A professor at Rice University, where he holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought, Jeff specializes in extreme religious experiences, a new comparativism in the study of religion, the paranormal, and the extraordinary dimensions of human existence. He helped create the groundbreaking GEM Program (Gnosticism, Esotericism, and Mysticism) and serves on the board of the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California.
From UFOs/UAPs to near-death experiences, psi phenomena, and mystical visitations, Jeff’s work challenges us to rethink reality itself. As he puts it, “The paranormal is trying to get our attention. Reality is not what we think it is.” His 13 books, including Authors of the Impossible, Mutants and Mystics, The Flip, How to Think Impossibly, and the upcoming three-volume set The Super Story, invite readers to explore the limits of current-day thought and the vast potential of the unknown.
In this conversation, we dive into grief, humor, and the transcendent. Jeff suggests that laughter can help us step outside our worldview, grief can open us to the impossible, and humanity’s tendency to dismiss the extraordinary may actually conceal profound truths. With meaningful observations like “Certainty is a big problem” and “Reality is transcending itself,” Jeff invites us to embrace the mysteries that defy explanation and to see the impossible as a gateway to deeper understanding.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro: Reality is not what we think
5:31 Psychoanalysis and spiritual experiences
13:17 John Mack's UFO research at Harvard
18:06 The impossible and expanding worldviews
24:04 Consciousness: brain vs. perception models
29:31 Grief, humor and paranormal experiences
36:44 UFOs as a "wedge issue" in science
43:17 Historical perspectives on UFO phenomena
50:46 Wonder, awe and the "impossible"
About Wonderstruck:
The Wonderstruck Podcast with Elizabeth Rovere is a deep yet lighthearted exploration of the mystical, metaphysical, transcendent, transformative, esoteric, and ecstatic aspects of human experience. It bridges science, spirituality, and philosophy through engaging conversations with scientists, scholars, experts, and experiencers.
In this season of the Wonderstruck Podcast, we delve into the profound mysteries of existence, exploring the depths of human consciousness, spirituality, and the interconnectedness of life. Through engaging conversations with professors, neuroscientists, comedians, healers, poets, psychotherapists, group therapists, philosophers, activists, and authors,we invite listeners to challenge conventional thinking and embrace a multidimensional understanding of reality.
Wonderstruck Links:
https://wonderstruck.org
https://www.instagram.com/wonderstruckpod/
https://www.youtube.com/@wonderstruckpod
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wonderstruck/id1671879661
https://open.spotify.com/show/6fS5boWGwYTShddG7SKlVw
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
