In this interview I am joined by Dr Jay Sanguinetti, Research Professor at the University of Arizona, Assistant Director at the Center for Consciousness Studies, and co-director of the SEMA Lab with Shinzen Young.

In this episode, Jay recalls his upbringing in Mississippi, falling in love with science, and how his work synthesising MDMA as a promising undergraduate brought him o an ethical crisis .

Jay recounts a life changing encounter with the Dalai Lama that radically altered his research path and inspired him to personally take up the practice of meditation.

Jay reveals how a profound meditation epiphany led to an existential crisis, and the role that psilocybin had in reintegrating his body and mind.

Jay also discusses Olympic level meditators, the role of identity in self-transformation, and what it’s like to collaborate with noted meditation teacher Shinzen Young.

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Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/ep102-dr-jay-sanguinetti-cults-science-the-dalai-lama/

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

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Topics Include:

00:00 - Intro

00:59 - Research resources and recent media interest

03:12 - Jay’s upbringing in Mississippi and falling in love with science

06:00 - Manufacturing MDMA and an facing an ethical crisis

10:04 - How Jay’s upbringing affected his life and career

13:11 - A profound encounter with the Dalai Lama

18:58 - Discussing the Dalai Lama’s spiritual power

25:40 - Jay’s life-changing spiritual epiphany and ensuing existential crisis

32:22 - Reintegrating the psyche with psychedelics

36:26 - Lasting consequences of Jay’s epiphany

42:14 - Olympic level meditators and becoming the Dalai Lama

51:04 - The malware of religion and science

58:28 - The bias lensing mechanism

01:01:21 - Identity and spiritual bypass

01:13:25 - Jay imagines the future of contemplative neuroscience

01:15:01 - Cults, conversion, and meditation progress

01:21:38 - Inner resources and reducing cognitive load

01:27:15 - Jay on Shinzen Young

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Previous episodes with Dr Sanguinetti:

- https://www.guruviking.com/ep86-bliss-enlightenment-fristonian-physics-feat-chelsey-fasano-shinzen-young-dr-jay-sanguinetti/

- https://www.guruviking.com/ep81-shinzen-young-chelsey-fasano-3-orgasm-epilepsy-mystical-experience/

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To find our more about Dr Sanguinetti, visit:

- https://www.jaysanguinetti.com/

Jay’s TEDx Talk

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGEjmwaIPZk

Jay at USC

- https://youtu.be/ljl7tapTCh4

Jay and Shinzen in the Guardian

- https://youtu.be/spukj-4sYS0

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For more interviews, videos, and more visit:

- www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James