Sharon Hewitt Rawlette is a philosopher and writer who studies extraordinary experiences and what they have to tell us about consciousness and the deeper nature of the world we live in. She has a Ph.D. in philosophy from New York University and taught for two years at Brandeis University before leaving academia in 2010 for a career as an independent writer and researcher. Her foray into the realm of extraordinary experience began with synchronicities, and her first non-academic book was The Source and Significance of Coincidences, published in 2019. In 2020, she published a memoir about her personal spiritual journey—The Supreme Victory of the Heart—and then in November 2021, she was named a runner-up in the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies essay contest for her essay “Beyond Death,” on the best evidence for the survival of human consciousness after death. She has also contributed to a forthcoming collaborative volume on “deep weird” and a French collective work on the role of the Trickster in paranormal phenomena.

Another book, (forward by Thomas Nagel): The Feeling of Value: Moral Realism Grounded in Phenomenal Consciousness

Website: sharonrawlette.com

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Summary and Transcript of this interview

Interview recorded May 14, 2022

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump

00:04:40 - A Difficult Transition out of Religion

00:09:18 - A Serendipitous Encounter in Brittany

00:13:37 - Stories of Synchronicity

00:17:06 - A Mysterious Phone Call

00:21:00 - The Invisible Network of Consciousness

00:25:28 - The Intelligence and Gravity Connection

00:29:47 - The Evolution of Inhabitants of a Planet

00:34:06 - The Emergence of Consciousness and the Illusion of a Continuous Physical World

00:38:26 - The Mechanics of Observation and Consciousness

00:42:24 - The Paradoxes of the Universe

00:46:48 - Welcoming Anomalies and Going Beyond the Party Line

00:50:51 - The Impact of Specialization on Progress and Perspective

00:55:26 - The Intrinsic Value of Consciousness

01:00:17 - Ethical Boundaries and Unity of Consciousness

01:04:25 - Consciousness and the Holographic Nature of the Universe

01:08:27 - The Universe as a Playpen

01:12:33 - The Importance of Looking in the Mirror to Prevent Accidents

01:15:57 - Guardian Angels and Divine Interventions

01:20:11 - Higher Levels of Consciousness and Celestial Beings

01:24:13 - Imaginative capacities and renewal

01:28:35 - Overcoming Fear and Promoting Flourishing Consciousness

01:32:45 - The Power of Making Unpopular Decisions

01:36:42 - Between Consciousness and the Body

01:40:51 - Memories of Previous Lives and Afterlife Communications

01:45:10 - The Soul's Entry into the Body

01:49:03 - Memories of Past Lives and Reincarnation

01:53:13 - The Value of Positive Consciousness and the Cycle of Life

01:57:17 - The Ethics of Abortion and the Soul

02:01:41 - The Possibility of Life after Death

02:05:20 - Organizing Content on batgap.com