Both Rupert Sheldrake and Bernardo Kastrup are outspoken critics of mechanical materialism. In previous episodes, I already had a conversation with Bernardo Kastrup about his philosophical idealism and how that might influence our view of religion. With Rupert I had an in-depth dialogue about the seven secular myths about religion. However, I was surprised to find out that there were no recordings of the two of them discussing one of their core interests together: consciousness and its relation to the formation of reality. So, I reached out to them and proposed to moderate a talk about the overlaps and divergences in their views. In a sense, this led to a logical follow-up to our previous conversations, since we moved our focus from ‘religion’ to ‘God.’ That is to say, we engagaged in a discussion on the divine essence of existence. Casting a new light on age-old philosophical debates, the conversation explored the inherent consciousness underlying all reality in its deepest depths and highest heights. Rupert and Bernardo reinforced as well as nuanced each other’s perspectives, with a thought-provoking dialogue about the nature of the cosmic mind as a result.

For a video version of this conversation: https://youtu.be/Wi1U7Cw4XV0?si=fyXxoTP0mDult2Bt

For the previous episode with Bernardo Kastrup: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/re-visioning-religion/episodes/An-idealist-perspective-on-God-and-religion-e1k4cs9/a-a84m765

And for Jonas' earlier conversation with Rupert: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/re-visioning-religion/episodes/Bonus-the-seven-secular-myths-about-religion-e28i54o

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For more on Bernardo and his work:

https://www.bernardokastrup.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeDZCa3VrRQvzBlVR-oVVmA

https://www.essentiafoundation.org/

https://www.youtube.com/@essentiafoundation

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For more on Rupert and his work:

https://www.sheldrake.org/

https://www.youtube.com/@RupertSheldrakePhD

https://www.facebook.com/RupertSheldrake