Living Mirrors with Dr. James Cooke

​Jared Seide is the Executive Director of the Center for Council, a talking circle practice that we discuss today. He has designed, piloted and coordinated council-based programs in prisons, assisted living facilities, youth groups, schools, non-profits, faith-based organisations, and social service and law enforcement agencies. He has also led trainings and retreats focusing on reconciliation and community-building around the world, from Colombia to Rwanda. He is a member of the Zen Center of Los Angeles, a graduate of the Upaya Institute Chaplaincy Program and has been a Spirit Holder for the Bearing Witness Retreats of the Zen Peacemakers, a contemplative social action community. Today we discuss the practice of Council. https://www.centerforcouncil.org/ https://www.beyondusandthem.org/

Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes, a philosopher of mind and expert in Whitehead, Nietzsche, and panpsychism, shares profound insights on integrating metaphysics into psychedelic therapy. He navigates the intricate relationship between metaphysics and consciousness, emphasizing diverse philosophical perspectives. The conversation touches on personal transformations through psychedelics, critiques traditional mind-body separations, and advocates for a holistic understanding of cognition. Sjöstedt-Hughes also highlights the evolving academic interest in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

Timmy Davis and Tara Austin run the Psilocybin Access Rights campaign in the United Kingdom where they are seeking to get psilocybin rescheduled. Today we discuss the campaign and the rescheduling of psychedelics more broadly.

Bobby Azarian, a science journalist and cognitive neuroscientist, discusses the evolution of cosmic complexity and consciousness. They explore the hierarchical structure of the universe and how it becomes conscious. They also discuss the role of information in evolution, emergent order challenging the second law of thermodynamics, life's potential for infinite persistence, cooperation and hierarchy in evolution, and the inevitable increase in complexity. They touch on the naturalizing of the Western religious tradition, intelligence, consciousness, and pain, the evolution of consciousness, and the mind-altering effects of DMT. They conclude with a discussion on resources, cosmic purpose, and merging science with spirituality.

Anaesthesiologist and teacher of nonduality, Angelo Dilullo, shares his awakening journey and practical tools for realizing interconnectedness. They discuss consciousness and deep sleep, the role of anesthesia, compassion, grounding exercises, trauma-informed mindfulness, meditation, science, separation, and form vs formlessness.

Metaphysics, Is the mind naturally enlightened & is reality made of love? + thoughts on Terrence Deacon's work

Daniel Ingram is a physician, meditator and the author of the book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddhaas well as the bookThe Fire Kasina, co-authored with Shannon Stein. He is the co-founder of the Dharma Overground, an online community of meditation practitioners. He also founded The Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium, an organisation involved in promoting research into non-ordinary states of consciousness. He is well known in meditation circles for claiming to have achieved full enlightenment as a result of his meditation practice. Today we discuss meditation, enlightenment, visionary states, reality and how all this relates to science. https://theeprc.org/ https://ebenefactors.org/ https://firekasina.org/ https://www.mctb.org/ https://www.integrateddaniel.info/

Malin Vedøy Uthaug is a researcher specialising in altered states of consciousness with a particular focus on 5-MeO-DMT. Her PhD work in Psychopharmacology involved conducting observational studies of Ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT use outside of a lab setting. She moved to The Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London after her PhD where she continued her work on 5-MeO-DMT and expanded her research interests to also focus on Holotropic Breathwork. Today, she is co-leading a phase-1 clinical trial on the effects of 5-meO-DMT. She is also an editor for the 'Journal of Psychedelics Studies', and a board member for the podcast Psychedelics Today, as well as a co-founder of Norwegian Psychedelic Science. Outside of her research work she also competes as a freediver for her home country of Norway. Today we discuss the science and effects of 5-MeO-DMT. https://www.drmalinvedoyuthaug.com/

AMA: The mathematics of separation and unity

Staci Haines is a leader in the fields of somatics and trauma healing. She is the author of "The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing and Social Justice" and "Healing Sex: A Mind Body Approach to Healing Sexual Trauma". In 1999 she founded generationFIVE, a non-profit whose mission is to end the sexual abuse of children within five generations through a transformative justice approach. She is a senior teacher at Strozzi Institute, and a co-founder of generative somatics, an organization dedicated to building transformative capacity in social and climate justice movements. Today we discuss the intersection of embodied trauma healing and transformative social change. Content warning for discussion of child sexual abuse around the 1 hour mark.