Moonbeaming

When Science Meets Spirituality with Neuroscientist Mona Sobhani, PhD


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What happens when intuition leads you all the way to the edge of science?

In this episode, Sarah closes out the Intuition Series with a powerful conversation that lives at the intersection of neuroscience and the unexplainable. She sits down with cognitive neuroscientist and author Mona Sobhani, PhD, to explore what unfolds when a traditionally trained skeptic begins to question the very foundations of a materialist worldview.

After a series of personal experiences she couldn’t easily dismiss — coffee ground readings that came true, psychic encounters, and precognitive dreams — Mona did what scientists are trained to do: she investigated. What began as curiosity turned into years of research into psychic phenomena, reincarnation studies, quantum physics, altered states of consciousness, and competing models of reality.

Together, Sarah and Mona explore the possibility that science and spirituality were never meant to be separate — and that the “unexplainable” may simply be what we haven’t yet learned how to measure.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

  • Mona’s journey from skeptical neuroscientist to open-minded investigator of spiritual phenomena
  • The existential turning points that cracked open deeper questions about fate, free will, and meaning
  • Scientific research on psychic phenomena
  • Quantum physics, non-locality, and the observer effect
  • How time, space, and determinism may not work the way we think
  • Altered states, meditation, sound, light, and brainwave entrainment
  • Precognitive dreams and intuitive information arising in non-ordinary states
  • Competing models of reality: materialism, panpsychism, idealism, dualism
  • The “trickster” element of consciousness and the limits of measurement
  • What it would take for science and spirituality to truly collaborate
  • Meet Mona

    Mona Sobhani, Ph.D., is a cognitive neuroscientist, author, and entrepreneur. A former research scientist at the University of Southern California, she holds a doctorate in neuroscience from the University of Southern California and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University with the MacArthur Foundation Law and Neuroscience Project. She is the author of the Ommie 2022 Best Spiritual Book Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientist’s Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe (Park City Press). In the Cosmos, Coffee, & Science Substack, she writes about science & spirituality, the psychedelic renaissance, altered states of consciousness, and the transpersonal. She is co-founder of Exploring Consciousness, a community of curious scientists who are seeking to understand consciousness, spirituality, and the nature of our reality. She also served as a scholar for the Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, VOX, and other media outlets.

    You can learn more about Mona at https://www.monasobhaniphd.com/ 

    You can purchase Mona's book Proof of Spiritual Phenomena at https://www.wildwisdomcollective.com/products/proof-of-spiritual-phenomena-by-mona-sobhani-paperback-256-pages-english

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    When Science Meets The Supernatural

    What happens when your scientific training tells you the universe is random and meaningless — but your lived experience says otherwise?

    If you’ve ever felt torn between skepticism and spirituality, between logic and intuition, you’re not alone. Many of us were taught that to be intelligent means to dismiss the mystical. So when something unexplainable happens, it can feel disorienting — even destabilizing.

    In this episode of Moon Beaming, I sit down with cognitive neuroscientist and author Mona Sobhani, PhD, to explore what unfolds when a rigorously trained skeptic begins questioning the very assumptions she was taught to defend.

    After personal experiences she couldn’t ignore — psychic readings that proved accurate, existential crisis, and precognitive dreams — Mona followed her curiosity into research on consciousness, quantum physics, and spiritual phenomena. This conversation offers clarity not by choosing sides, but by widening the lens.

    If you’re drawn to conversations at the edge of science and mysticism, make sure you’re subscribed to the Moonbeaming newsletter for deeper reflections, tools, and upcoming events.

    In this episode, we explore:

    • Mona’s journey from skeptic to investigator of spiritual phenomena
    • Scientific research on psychic experiences
    • Quantum physics, non-locality, and the observer effect
    • The brain as receiver vs. creator of consciousness
    • Altered states and mystical experience
    • Competing models of reality — materialism, panpsychism, and beyond
    • Reality may be far stranger — and far more alive — than we’ve been taught to believe.

       

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      MoonbeamingBy Sarah Faith Gottesdiener

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