Living Mirrors with Dr. James Cooke

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.

Evan Thompson is a philosopher and professor at the University of British Columbia. He specialises in the philosophy of mind and cognitive science, as well as in cross-cultural philosophy, with a particular interest in Chinese and Indian philosophy and the dialogue between Buddhism and the Western philosophical tradition.  He’s the author of several books including Mind and Life, Why I’m not a Buddhist, The Embodied Mind, co-authored with Francisco Varela and Eleanor Rosch, and Waking, Dreaming, Being.  Today we discuss the idea that all life is conscious, known as biopsychism, and the issues it raises form a philosophical perspective.