Living Mirrors with Dr. James Cooke

Tony Nader is a neuroscientist and leader of the Transcendental Meditation movement, one of the most influential spiritual organisations in the world. Founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the movement has had many prominent members, from the The Beatles, the Beach Boys and Mick Jagger in the 60s to Filmmakers David Lynch and Martin Scorsese, and comedians Eric Andre and Jerry Seinfeld. Dr. Nader took over the leadership in 2008 after training as a doctor in his native Lebanon and gaining a PhD in neuroscience from MIT. He is the author of several books that aim to synthesise the ancient Vedic teachings of northern India with our modern scientific understanding of ourselves and the world around us. His books include Human Physiology: Expression of Veda and the Vedic Literature, Ramayana in Human Physiology and, most recently, One Unbounded Ocean of Consciousness in which he argues that consciousness is all that exists. He also hosts a podcast titled Consciousness is All There is. As many of you will know this is not a stance that I agree with but I believe it is important to explore these ideas given their popularity amongst people who have had unitive mystical experiences.

For the 100th episode of the podcast, I attempt to lay out the broad strokes of my worldview from start to finish. I address why there is something rather than nothing, my opinion on the nature of existence, the place of consciousness in the natural world, and the implications of our nature as living beings for how we can improve our situation socially.

David Nichols is a legendary psychopharmacologist and world-renowned expert in psychedelics. HIs research career began in 1969 and he was a professor at Purdue University until his retirement in 2012. Today we discuss the psychopharmacology of substances like LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and DMT.

AMA: Marxism, Ayahuasca & Anxiety around trying psychedelics

This week I share some thoughts on whether Google's LaMDA AI conscious.

Blake Lemoine is a software developer and AI researcher at Google who has been working on their artificial intelligence system called LaMDA. He was recently placed on administrative leave for stating his belief that the AI has become conscious and should be considered a person. Today we discuss LaMDA and whether we can say if it is conscious or not.

This week I share some thoughts on integrating nondual insight into everyday life.

My guest this week, once again, is Richard Doyle. Rich is the first guest to appear on the podcast twice, which should be an indication of how much we enjoyed speaking the first time. Rich is an author and Professor of English and of Information Sciences and Technology at Pennsylvania State University. He also goes by the alias Mobius. Today we had a loose unplanned discussion that centred around nonduality as well as personal and social transformation.

In this AMA I share thoughts on wonder and curiosity as well as guilt and shame.

Loch Kelly is a meditation teacher and author. He teaches a nondual approach to relieving suffering that he calls Effortless Mindfulness. This approach is based in the Mahamudra teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, and Loch has studied with two great teachers of this tradition, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and his son, Mingyur Rinpoche. He has also studied with the American meditation teacher Adyashanti, who first suggested that Loch teach others. Today we talk about Loch's approach to the direct path of awakening.