Navigating Consciousness with Rupert Sheldrake – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of the "Rethinking Education" podcast, I join Dr. James Mannion to explore the state of modern education and its implications for science and spirituality. We discuss the dominance of the passive voice in science education, the impact of a moral vacuum, and the need for a more holistic, hands-on approach to learning. Drawing from my experiences, I argue for reimagining education to embrace interdisciplinary connections, practical engagement with nature, and a broader understanding of consciousness beyond the brain. Join us as we challenge the status quo and explore new ways of fostering curiosity and creativity in the classroom.

Watch on YouTube
https://youtu.be/lX3AyZy7oS4

Most people have had the experience of waking soon before an alarm clock goes off and some can even wake before a specified time without an alarm. The usual assumption is that this depends on an exquisitely sensitive time sense, but Rupert argues that it may be explained better in terms of presentiment, or ‘feeling the future’, or even in terms of an ‘extended present’. 

We already know that our sense of the present is not a mathematical instant, but has width, and perhaps it widens over ranges of seconds to include portions of the near future, Presentiment is now a well-established phenomenon in laboratory experiments, carried out at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Cornell University and elsewhere, and may be widely distributed among people and non-human animals. 

It could play an important part in everyday life, and become especially significant in fast-moving sports like downhill skiing, tennis and ping pong. Some people may make use of this ability in day trading where they make decisions on movements of the markets over very short time periods, sometimes only a few seconds. 

Rupert discusses how this ability could potentially be trained, enabling airline pilots and racing drivers to be better prepared for potential accidents, and helping some people to get rich quick – as some day traders already have – by using intuitive abilities that cannot be duplicated by computers. 


References
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An Experiment with Time
by John William Dunne
https://archive.org/details/AnExperimentWithTimeEbook
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Listen to the Animals: Why did so many animals escape December's tsunami?
https://www.sheldrake.org/tsunami
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Predicting the unpredictable; evidence of pre-seismic anticipatory behaviour in the common toad
https://www.sheldrake.org/toads
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Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home
https://www.sheldrake.org/dogs
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Unconscious Perception of Future Emotions: An Experiment in Presentiment
by Dean Radin, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 163-180, 1997
https://www.sheldrake.org/RadinPresentiment

Many people used to think that belief in God would disappear with the advance of science. But that has not happened, and some prominent atheists are now trying to reinvent religion. What is going on? Is the universe ultimately conscious or unconscious? And if consciousness pervades all nature, how does it work?

Recorded in August of 2014, at Hollyhock on Cortes Island, Canada.
https://hollyhock.ca/

The third in a series of questions. Please try them out with your materialist friends!

Do you think that dark matter is conserved? 
Is there always the same amount of dark matter? 
Can you accept that there may be a continuous creation of dark energy as the universe expands?

Recorded on November 5th, 2021

A dialogue from Beyond The Brain 2021 – Further Reaches of Consciousness Research, with host  David Lorimer, organzied by the Department of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia, the Scientific and Medical Network, the Institute of Noetic Sciences, and the Alef Trust.

Graham Hancock is the NY Times best-selling author of a series of controversial books, notably Fingerprints of the Gods (1995), Heaven’s Mirror (1998), Underworld (2002), Magicians of the Gods (2015) and America Before (2019), investigating the possibility of a lost advanced civilization of the Ice Age. He is also known for his work on the role of altered states of consciousness in the origins of art and religion — an interest explored in his 2005 book Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Man.
https://grahamhancock.com/

Beyond the Brain is the world’s premier conference series exploring new research on whether and how consciousness and mind extend beyond the physical brain and body. This year’s event covers the limitations of scientific materialism, parapsychological research, implications of NDEs, savant syndrome, indigenous gateways to the soul and the nature of universal love. There will also be an experiential session on each day.
https://scientificandmedical.net

Watch on YouTube
https://youtu.be/BeaWkX_ASkI

Have you ever felt that you are being looked at from behind and turned to see someone watching you? Or that you've been watching someone and they turn and look directly at you? I believe this experience has a directional quality to it and I would like to hear from those who have felt this directional sense.

Please email your experiences with this phenomena to sheldrake@sheldrake.org

Recorded in London on June 21st, 2021

On June 21, 1981, Rupert published his first book “A New Science of Life” in which he proposed the hypothesis of morphic resonance, the idea that memory is inherent in nature. This talk was given on the fortieth anniversary, to the Institute of Noetic Science and the British Scientific and Medical Network.

https://www.sheldrake.org/books-by-rupert-sheldrake/a-new-science-of-life-morphic-resonance

The second in a series of questions. Please try them out with your materialist friends!

Do you think you are a complex machine? 
Have you been programmed to believe in Materialism?

Recorded May 25, 2021
Rupert and Buddhist teacher Geshe Tenzin Namdak discuss how science and contemplative traditions can inform us about  the nature of reality, the interconnectedness of all phenomena and the relation between consciousness and the material world. Geshe Tenzin Namdak first worked as an environmental researcher having graduated in hydrology from Van Hall Larenstein University, The Netherlands. He started studying Buddhism at Maitreya Institute in 1993 and took ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama before engaging in his formal studies in Buddhist philosophy and psychology at Sera Jey Monastic University, South India, in 1997. He completed the entire twenty-year Geshe program at Sera Jey in 2017 and the traditional one year Vajrayana study program at Gyume Tantric College in January 2019, the first Westerner to do so. Because of his deep interest and background in science and as a member of Sera Jey’s Education Department he spoke on and organized various dialogues and conferences on contemporary science and ancient contemplative wisdom of the mind and its philosophy. Currently, he is the resident teacher at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, and teaches worldwide.

About Science & Wisdom LIVE:
Science & Wisdom LIVE is a project of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre.

Each dialogue explores the middle ground between science and contemplative wisdom, focusing on themes such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.

Find Out More: www.sciwizlive.com

Copyright: Jamyang London Buddhist Centre, 2021.