The subject of life after death brings with it mystery, enchantment --- and disbelief.  Although many of the world’s great religion speak of a life after death, another realm and dimension where the spirit passes upon bodily death, the topic has not fared well in modern scientific circles.   But standing against the doubts of modern science are an increasing number of first-person accounts of the afterlife from well-credentialed individuals .  Can they all be making up their stories?  Unlikely.  This week’s guest, Hilary Jamron (http://surrealistictrials.com/author.html), author of Surrealistic Trials: Surviving My Life After Death, died of a drug overdose at 18, and only partially came back to life.  Part of her soul remains in the other realm.  Don’t believe it?  Listen in as she talks with Philip Comella about her remarkable life after death.

In at least one way, the path to success in science is the same as that in the corporate world.  Einstein famously said that "you cannot solve a problem with the same level of consciousness that created it."  Corporate America, meanwhile, teaches that we must think "outside the box" to achieve superior performance.  Ironically, both disciplines, on opposite ends of the cultural spectrum, are saying pretty much the same thing: we need to do things differently, on a fundamental level, to succeed, whether the quest is unifying the forces of nature, or rising up the corporate ladder. In her new book, The Un-Game: Four-Play to Business as Unusual, this week's guest, Ingrid Martine, tells the story of a business that does everything against the rules, and in the process undoes much of what mainstream management accepts as true. The message here reaches beyond the business model to the world at large: to reach a higher plane of existence we have to undo  much of what we have learned, and begin playing a new game.  Listen in for an original discussion of how to play the un-game.

In the governing world model, the body is a machine made up of genes.  These genes, like parts to a car, control the performance and destiny of the body.  The so-called central dogma (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vghLxGAkft8) of genetics, authored by Francis Crick, one of the discoverers of the DNA molecule, holds that genes are fixed information-generating particles that tell proteins how to form into bodies.  The information only goes one way: outward toward bodies, not inward.  But the new field of epigenetics is proving the central dogma wrong.  Not only does the environment influence the way genes express themselves, but so do thoughts and beliefs.  In his book, The Genie in Your Genes (http://www.amazon.com/The-Genie-Your-Genes-Epigenetic/dp/1604150114#), this week’s guest, Dawson Church (http://www.genieinyourgenes.com/aboutauthor.html), lays out the case for how the human spirit is more powerful than our genes.  Listen in as Philip and Dawson discuss how epigenetics provides scientific evidence that we have greater control over our well-being that we ever imagined.

Behind the brain is the mind, witnessing the brain -- and the rest of the world -- in action.  Unfortunately, we usually let the brain take control, chasing fears, wrapping ourselves into stressful predicaments, and ruminating upon the negative. So what is the solution?  According to this week's guest, Joseph Emet (http://www.mindfulnessmeditationcentre.org/), author of Buddha's Book of Meditation: Mindfulness Practices for a Quieter Mind, Self-Awareness, and Healthy Living,  meditation can lead us back to mindfulness, the witness who observes the brain and the world in action.  From this vantage point, we are better able to put things into perspective, reduce stress, and improve the overall quality of life.  High thoughts, but a goal directly within reach, if we simply think quietly about it, to ourselves.

The ultimate dichotomy is science and religion; two ends of the spectrum; opposite ends of the playing field; two separate disciplines; two separate ways of looking at the world.  One says evidence, reasoning,  and repeatability of test results find truth; the other says revelation; personal experience; an inward connection with the divine.  Two separate ways of viewing the same world.  And here is the problem: only one world exists; are we running back-and-forth between observation decks or are there in fact two worlds?  Will these two viewpoints ever be united? On this show Philip talks with Roy Bourque, the author of The Merging of Two Worlds: The Convergence of Scientific and Religious Thought, about the how we are gradually breaking down the barriers between science and religion until we find, in the end, that there is one world after all.

Since the publication of his seminal book, The Self-Aware Universe in 1993, theoretical physicist and quantum activist, Amit Goswami, has been a pioneer in integrating the findings of quantum physics into our modern world.  In his latest book, Quantum Economics: Unleashing the Power of an Economics of Consciousness, Amit argues that modern economic theory must include the vital energies of our internal subtle and spiritual experiences. Economics must be based upon the preeminent role of consciousness, not matter, and we should work toward sustaining ourselves not through adding more material possessions or taking more materialistic cures, but by tapping our unlimited spiritual potential. A true quantum economics.

Probabilities rule our lives. We choose jobs, mates, investments, college majors, driving directions, and countless other things based on probabilities. But when it comes to choosing fundamental worldviews, we throw caution to the wind, and simply go along with whatever the leading figures of science tell us to believe in. Today, that worldview is materialistic science. When we look at probabilities, however, it turns out that materialism is wildly more improbable than a mind-centered worldview. Why then do we continue to follow the dictates of materialism? In this special episode, Philip talks about the incredibly improbable materialistic worldview and five reasons why, despite the odds, we continue to follow the ways of materialism (http://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Materialism-Visions-Science-Dreams/dp/193790721X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432908272&sr=1-1&keywords=the+collapse+of+materialism).

To the mystic, the world is an illusion, what Hinduism calls maya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya). A world made of nothing;a figment of the imagination. In the famous double-slit experiment, often considered the foundation of quantum theory, particles are shown to have properties of waves and waves of particles. The substance of the world, quantum theory teaches, is not those hard-and-fast things we picture in our mind, but nothing substantial.

In the words of Philip Comella’s guest this week, Professor Richard Conn Henry (http://physics-astronomy.jhu.edu/directory/richard-c-henry/) of The Johns Hopkins University, quantum theory shows that “the Universe is immaterial — mental and spiritual. Live, and enjoy.” This passage is from an article, entitled, the Mental Universe (http://henry.pha.jhu.edu/The.mental.universe.pdf), that Professor Henry published in Nature magazine. Listen in as Philip and Professor Henry discuss how quantum theory in fact supports spiritual findings that science somehow manages to ignore.

The early scientists, represented by Issac Newton, were mesmerized by the magic of reality. They studied the heavens and discovered a clockwork universe, one operating according to the laws of mathematics.  Bedazzled by this physical world, they then formulated theory after theory describing the movement of the clockwork-like world.  But then these scientists separated the world from themselves and viewed it as a foreign object; and the magic was lost.  But then some modern thinkers looked elsewhere and found the magic in the mind.  Today's guest, Tom Evans, host of the popular podcast, The Zone Show, has written a new book, New Magic for a New Era (http://www.amazon.com/New-Magic-Era-Live-Charmed-ebook/dp/B00TFXKUNA), that gives  a refreshed perspective on the magic of the world, which is also the magic of the mind.

The notion that there is one mind underlying reality is as old as thought itself.  The early Upanishads, written thousands of years ago, say that "Truly the self is mind.  Truly the world is mind.  Truly Brahman is Mind."  If we are connected to One Mind, that means our natural disposition is to be part of a whole.  When we break from this emotional and mental stance, we become out of alignment with who we are, leading to unhappiness, stress, and even bodily illness.  In her new book, The Transcendent Mind- The Missing Peace in Emotional Wellbeing, this week's guest, Sunita Pattani, writes about how when we rise above thinking of ourselves as an individual ego and begin realizing that we are part of interconnected web, we go to a place where emotional and physical healing comes more easily.  Listen in as Philip and Sunita explore the benefits of adopting a Transcendent Mind.