665. Mario Beauregard

Dr. Mario Beauregard, PhD., is a neuroscientist currently affiliated with the Department of Psychology, University of Arizona. He has received a bachelor degree in psychology and a doctorate degree in neuroscience from the University of Montreal. He also underwent postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Texas Medical School (Houston) and the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University.

Dr. Beauregard is the author of more than 100 publications in neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry. He was the first neuroscientist to use functional neuroimaging to investigate the neural underpinnings of voluntary control in relation to emotion. Because of his research into the neuroscience of consciousness, he was selected (2000) by the World Media Net to be one of the “One Hundred Pioneers of the 21st Century.” In addition, his groundbreaking research on the neurobiology of spiritual experiences (including near-death experiences) has received international media coverage. In 2008, he was invited to participate in a symposium held at the United Nations. In 2013, he participated in a dialogue with the Dalai Lama in regard to the new science of mind.

Dr. Beauregard has appeared over several radio programs in the U.S.A., Canada, and Europe, Asia, and Australia. His research has been featured on TV (Discovery Channel) and in many newspapers and magazines, including Nature, Science, The New Scientist, Scientific American Mind, and The Economist. He has received a number of distinctions, including the Joel F. Lubar Award (International Society for Neuronal Regulation, USA) and the Spectrum Award (The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, USA).

Being also an author, Dr. Beauregard has published The Spiritual Brain (Harper Collins, 2007) and Brain Wars (Harper Collins, 2012). In these books, he demonstrates that mind and consciousness are much more than the activity of nerve cells in our brains. He also shows that spirituality is a central feature of human beings that cannot be reduced to physical processes.

Beauregard actively contributes to the articulation of the new postmaterialist scientific paradigm. Co-author of the Manifesto for a Postmaterialist Science, which has been signed by several hundreds of scientists, he is also one of the founders of The Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences (AAPS).

Movie: Expanding Reality

Books:

Expanding Reality: The Emergence of Postmaterialist Science

The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul

Brain Wars: The Scientific Battle Over the Existence of the Mind and the Proof that Will Change the Way We Live Our Lives

Expanding Science

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Transcript of this interview

Interview recorded October 1, 2022

YouTube Video Chapters:

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

00:03:27 - Introduction to Dr. Beauregard and his work

00:06:30 - Mystical Experience and Life Mission

00:10:06 - A Life-Changing Experience

00:13:19 - Miraculous Recovery and Spiritual Awakening

00:17:02 - Psychic Experiences and Family Connections

00:20:05 - Prearranged Events and Purification of Sickness

00:24:03 - The Impact of the Scientific Materialist Worldview

00:27:59 - The Manifesto for a Post-Materialist Science

00:32:00 - Playing the Game, Being a Black Sheep

00:35:07 - The Journey from Job Loss to Collaboration

00:38:25 - The Transition Period and the Waning of Materialism

00:41:49 - The Illusion of Self and the Denial of Psi Phenomena

00:44:59 - The Changing Attitude Towards New Ideas

00:48:07 - The Importance of Open-Mindedness and Spiritual Practice

00:51:52 - The Influence of Mind and Non-Local Interactions

00:55:41 - Altered States of Awareness and Neuroplasticity

00:58:57 - Materialism, Reductionism, Scientism, and Determinism