Living Mirrors with Dr. James Cooke

Dennis McKenna, an ethnopharmacologist and co-founder of the Heffter Research Institute, explores the intriguing role of psychedelics like psilocybin and DMT in nature. He shares his transformative experiences in South America and discusses the biochemical connections between these substances and ecological systems. The conversation delves into their impact on insect behavior, the implications for human consciousness, and the potential for psychedelics to deepen our understanding of nature. McKenna also emphasizes the urgent need for ecological awareness and the interconnectedness of all life.

Bill Richards, a key figure in psychedelic research and author of Sacred Knowledge, explores the profound connection between psychedelics and religious experiences. He discusses the evolution of psychedelic studies from the 60s to today, emphasizing the transformative potential of psilocybin. Bill shares personal narratives on mystical experiences, the importance of therapeutic environments, and how psychedelics can aid mental health, particularly in palliative care. He also highlights the symbolism of a red rose as a tool for insight and the role of architecture in spiritual experiences.

Gail Bradbrook is an environmental activist and co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, a global environmental movement that focuses on the use of nonviolent civil disobedience to create change in how governments are responding to the current climate and ecological crises. She has a background in science with a PhD in molecular biophysics and integrates both scientific and spiritual perspectives into her work on systems change. We discuss the work Extinction Rebellion is doing, the psychospiritual origins of the current dominant global culture and the role of psychedelics in waking people up to our relationship with nature.

Ericka Dyck is a Professor of the History of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. She is a leading expert on the wave of psychedelic research that occurs in the mid-twentieth century and the books she has written and edited include Psychedelic Psychiatry: LSD from clinic to campus, Psychedelic Prophets: The Letters of Aldous Huxley and Humphrey Osmond, and A Culture’s Catalyst: Historical Encounters with Peyote and the Native American Church in Canada. In today's conversation we explore the history of psychedelic research in the 20th century and what it can teach us about how we think about and treat mental health issues.

Robert Wright is a journalist, bestselling author and is currently a Visiting Professor of Science and Religion at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Meaningoflife.tv and the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Bloggingheads.tv. His books include The Moral Animal, The Evolution of God, for which he was a finalist for the Pulitzer prize, and Why Buddhism is True which is the topic that we focus on today.

This week’s episode is a conversation with an ex-police officer who recently underwent psilocybin therapy in the Netherlands.  We discuss how insights from his experiences led him to gain a new perspective on his history in the police force.

Shamash Alidina is an internationally renowned mindfulness teacher and is the author of many books including Mindfulness For Dummies and The Mindful Way Through Stress. In today’s conversation we talk about many different aspects of mindfulness, its benefits, advice for starting a practice, the nature of the mind, free will, self compassion, and much more. You can find his work at https://www.shamashalidina.com/

In this episode of the podcast I talk about the concepts of interdependence and separation and how they relate to life, the mind, the physical world, the natural world and the human community.

Bernardo Kastrup is a philosopher of mind with a background in computer science.  He has PhDs in both disciplines and has written 9 books including rationalist spirituality, why materialism is baloney, the idea of the world and recent studies of the works of Schopenhauer and Carl Jung.  Our chat was focused on his “consciousness-only” view of reality.

In this AMA I cover Christof Koch and Donald Hoffman’s views on consciousness, what happens to consciousness during sleep or anaesthesia, the possible evolution of consciousness, intelligence, self-awareness, shared DMT experiences and more.