
Living Mirrors with Dr. James Cooke
Join neuroscientist Dr. James Cooke as he explores consciousness, science and spirituality with scientists, philosophers, spiritual practitioners and key figures in the psychedelic renaissance.
Latest episodes

Jan 17, 2025 • 1h 1min
Erik Ireland on awakening and the hero’s journey | Living Mirrors #140
Erik Ireland is a mindfulness teacher who runs a youtube channel and podcast called listen to sleep, where he provides guided meditations and bedtime stories for mindfulness and awakening. He also works with people to help them find direction through the framework of the hero's journey at awakenyourmyth.com. Two years ago, he experienced an awakening and recorded a video called mountain awakening describing it. With his permission I’m going to include a section here before our conversation. erikireland.com awakenyourmyth.com https://www.youtube.com/ListenToSleep listentosleep.com

Jan 10, 2025 • 1h 28min
James Cooke discusses The Dawn of Mind on the Trip Report podcast with Zach Haigney
Zach Haigney, host of The Trip Report, interviews Dr. James Cooke, an expert on consciousness and psychedelics, about his new book. They dive into the intertwined realms of philosophy and science, revealing how consciousness connects all living beings through biopsychism. Dr. Cooke shares insights on mindfulness and the power of discomfort in meditation, plus the role of trauma release in healing. They also explore the intersection of meditation, psychedelics, and personal growth, highlighting the fascinating evolution of consciousness studies.

Jan 7, 2025 • 11min
AMA: Cosmic creativity, Aubrey Plaza’s Stroke & Different Functions of the Self
Ask questions for the next AMA via patreon or the channel membership community (click the "join" button above): Aubrey Plaza stroke clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13N4b2M06tE&ab_channel=TheHowardSternShow

Jan 2, 2025 • 46min
Omid Safi on Radical Love and Sufism | Living Mirrors #139
Omid Safi is a professor at Duke university and is an expert in Sufism and Islamic mysticism. He has authored and edited many books, including Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism, and Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition. He also has a podcast called Sufi Heart, which is part of the Be Here Now network. In this conversation we discuss radical love and justice, with a focus on the mystical experience of God’s love. As wild as it may sound to modern secular ears, I think it makes sense to say that reality really is made of God’s love, or rather the love that is God. In my work I unpack this vision of reality using terms like the radical unbounded openness of the nonconceptual totality of reality, but it’s the same thing. Most importantly, it can be discovered directly through experience.

Dec 27, 2024 • 20sec
The Dawn of Mind audiobook now available!
https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Dawn-of-Mind-Audiobook/B0DPXXBSYR https://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Mind-Matter-Became-Conscious/dp/B0DPXZ5XRY/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= https://open.spotify.com/show/2Ym3ZTgeNIIijRW5WztNeh?si=19548ad7d78446f4

Dec 20, 2024 • 58min
Prof. Dan Siegel on Science, Spirituality, & Intraconnection | Living Mirrors #138
On the 14th of January 2025 I’ll be in conversation with Dan at LA’s flagship Barnes & Noble at The Grove at Farmers Market to promote my new book, The Dawn of Mind, tickets are still available, so come along if you’re nearby. https://stores.barnesandnoble.com/event/9780062180541-0 Dan Siegel is a renowned psychiatrist and internationally acclaimed author. He is the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute, an educational center devoted to promoting insight, compassion, and empathy in individuals, families, institutions, and communities. He is also the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA and is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. Dan is the author of five New York Times bestsellers and over fifteen other books which have been translated into over forty languages. Today, we speak about his most recent book Intraconnected.

Dec 11, 2024 • 1h 2min
Shamil Chandaria and James Cooke on The Dawn of Mind, Consciousness & Awakening | LivingMirrors #137
Shamil Chandaria, a computational neuroscientist with esteemed fellowships at Oxford and Cambridge, joins Dr. Cooke to dive into the exploration of consciousness in his new book, The Dawn of Mind. They tackle the synergy between science and spirituality, challenging conventional views of self and knowledge. The discussion highlights transformative journeys, the intricacies of perception, and how our beliefs shape reality and well-being. They also reflect on their writing process and the impact of integrating philosophical insights with modern science.

Dec 4, 2024 • 1h 26min
The Dawn of Mind Official Book Launch Livestream!
Order from: https://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Mind-Matter-Became-Conscious/dp/1633889920 https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dawn-of-mind-james-cooke-phd/1144870806 https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Dawn-Mind/James-Cooke/9781633889927?id=9222386801726 https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-dawn-of-mind-how-matter-became-conscious-and-alive-james-cooke/21114038?ean=9781633889927

Nov 27, 2024 • 1h 3min
Richard Doyle on The Dawn of Mind & the transformation of collective ego | Living Mirrors #136
The Dawn of Mind: How Matter Became Conscious and Alive Pre-order from: This week on the podcast previous guest Richard Doyle is returning for a second time, this time to discuss my upcoming book, the Dawn of Mind, which will be released in the US and Canada on December 3rd. Rich is an author and Professor of English and of Information Sciences and Technology at Pennsylvania State University. He's known for coining the term "ecodelic" and for his many books that explore the science of life and non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Nov 20, 2024 • 56min
Kaira Jewel Lingo on Engaged Buddhism & monastic life at Plum Village | Living Mirrors #135
Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Dharma teacher whose work focuses on the interaction of meditation and social justice. She spent fifteen years living as a nun in a Buddhist monastery in the Plum Village tradition, under the guidance of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. In 2007 she became a Zen teacher after receiving Lamp Transmission from Thich Nhat Hanh, and is also a teacher in the Vipassana Insight lineage through Spirit Rock Meditation Center in the US. She is the author of We Were Made for These Times: Skilfully Moving through Change, Loss and Disruption, the co-author of Healing Our Way Home: Black Buddhist Teachings on Ancestors, Joy, and Liberation, which was co-written with Valerie Brown and Marisela Gomez and she is also the editor of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children. Today we discussed her many years of monastic life but unfortunately ran out of time before getting on to her work in engaged Buddhism and social justice, so hopefully we’ll be able to explore that together on a future occasion.