Navigating Consciousness with Rupert Sheldrake

Rupert speculates on the possibility that stars are conscious, given not only the complexity and dynamism of their electro-magnetic activity, but also that all traditional cultures have taken it for granted that the Sun is alive and intelligent. Recorded at the Electric Universe conference in 2018 on July 7th, Bath, UK.

Rupert’s technical paper on the consciousness of the sun was published on April 6, 2021 in the Journal of Consciousness Studies.
https://www.sheldrake.org/files/pdfs/papers/Is_the_Sun_Conscious.pdf

A question to Rupert from Ali-Reza Omidvar of the Oxford Psychedelic Society; March, 2022. https://oxpsysoc.org/

Don't you think there is a kind of a philosophical principle: that a community of people who have had more states of consciousness are a more qualified community to give judgments on reality? Not to say that their judgment is right and accurate, but just to say that, for example, the community of Hindu mystics and shamans. That community is better qualified, because they have experienced a wider variety of states of consciousness than the community of materialists, who may have not had those experiences.

Easter and Passover are closely linked festivals , and this year they overlap, with Passover beginning on Good Friday, April 14. Both are rooted in ancient traditions of blood sacrifice, which in turn has its evolutionary roots in the behaviour of predators; when they have killed one prey animal and have enough to eat, the others are safe for a while. The death of one protects the others. These archetypes run very deep in many religions and cultures. They are still with us today in secular societies, on an unprecedented scale: in the US alone, about 25 million vertebrate animals are sacrificed every year on the altar of science in biomedical research.  This is a good time to reflect on how much we owe to those who have died for our sakes, and the Easter archetype of death and rebirth.

A question to Rupert from the Oxford Psychedelic Society; March, 2022. Hosted by Ali-Reza Omidvar. https://oxpsysoc.org/

You mentioned Terence McKenna. He said about the current situation of our society, and about our point in history as a whole, that we are in a state of transition. He compared it to the process of birth, which you mentioned in your talk (Episode 35:Expanding Consciousness with Psychedelics). So if you as humanity are in the birth canal, how can we ease the pains and traumas that we see all over the world? And what can we do to not lose faith that there is something beyond?

This talk was given to the Oxford Psychedelic Society in March, 2022 and was hosted by Ali-Reza Omidvar. https://oxpsysoc.org/

Rupert and David Abram probe the meaning and manifestation of magic. Recorded at Hollyhock on Cortes Island, Canada, on August 6, 2015.

David Abram, PhD, is a cultural ecologist, founder of The Alliance for Wild Ethics and award winning author of Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology, and The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World. An accomplished storyteller and sleight-of-hand magician David has lived and traded magic with indigenous sorcerers in Indonesia, Nepal, and the Americas. 

This excerpt is from a panel discussion at IAI’s festival, HowTheLightGetsIn, entitled _Trash, trends and the transcendent_ recorded 21st February 2022. What really is the sublime and where can we find it in the 21st century?

Watch the full discussion on IAI TV: https://iai.tv/video/trash-trends-and-the-transcendent?_auid=2020

Dr Sheldrake explores the evolution of the sense of beauty in animals and humans, how beauty seems to be inherent in nature, arising in resonance with animal minds both great and small. Recorded Hollyhock on Cortes Island, British Columbia, August 2017.

A discussion between Rupert and Michael Brooks, consultant for the New Scientist and author of “13 Things That Don't Make Sense”. Chair: Vivienne Parry, science broadcaster and author of “The Truth About Hormones” at the Institute for Contemporary Arts, London on Jan 27 2009. 

Rupert and theologian Jonas Atlas take a deep dive into the seven secular myths about religion. The article by Atlas that sparked this conversation can be found here: 
https://bit.ly/3fRwnw4

Recorded July 20th, 2020.