Conversations Beyond Science and Religion – Philip Comella

Conventional medical science treats the body — including the mind — as a machine.  If parts of the machine fail or become diseased, the standard approach is to treat the malady with chemicals, operate on damaged parts, or destroy unwanted cells with intense radiation.  At times, in the instance of acute trauma, stabilization of bodily […] The post Sacred Psychiatry appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

We are all familiar with the concept of tuning, particularly in regard to musical instruments. We know that to “stay in tune” means to play with the right pitch and to harmonize with other instruments. Even the untutored ear knows when a piano is out-of-tune: something sounds out-of-balance and disjointed. Sounds that only roughly track […] The post Life in a Finely Tuned Universe with Luke Barnes appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

With the recent attack on Israel by Hamas and the horrors of war spread throughout the media, it might help to remember that Islam and Judaism pray to the same God. Judaism traditionally teaches that one connects with God through following the commandments, or the mitzvot.  In his new book, Transcendental Judaism: Enlivening the Eternal Within to […] The post Transcendental Judaism appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

In our current mechanical worldview, we view the brain as a biochemical machine consisting of intricate particles known as neurons. As an engineer's design and technology limit the function of a machine, so the DNA molecule limits the function of the brain. Simply put, machines do not have visions, out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, spiritual awakenings, […] The post Breaking Through the Limits of the Brain with Joseph Selbie appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

In his groundbreaking 1993 book, The Self-Aware Universe: How Consciousness Creates the Material World, Amit Goswami used the findings of quantum theory to argue that consciousness creates what we perceive to be the material world.  This conclusion is in direct opposition to scientific materialism, which holds that consciousness — if it even exists — arises […] The post Amit Goswani and the Future of the Consciousness-First Movement appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

In his new book, Radical Loving: One God, One World, One People, Rabbi Wayne Dosick, PhD, combines inspiration with revelation, adds a few words of wisdom, and then splices in a series of enlightening tales exemplifying the point at hand.  He shines a light on the common ground to all religions, which are all rooted in one […] The post Radical Religion appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Throughout history, humans have always had extraordinary experiences we often called miracles—events that fill us with wonder and bafflement.  The problem is that under our current scientific worldview, miracles are not supposed to occur because they constitute a violation of the laws of nature.  But suppose that what we call miracles actually reveal the true […] The post The Reality of Miracles appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

As the case against materialism builds, the credentials of the opponents to this pessimistic view of the world continue to increase.  This show’s guest, Dr. Harald Walach, holds a double Ph.D in Clinical Psychology, and History and Theory of Science.  He is currently a professor with Poznan Medical University in Poznan, Poland, and author of […] The post Beyond a Materialist Worldview appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

The Source with a capital S is a neutral, “new age” term referring to the ground of Being. But it has a richer meaning than the Big Bang of modern cosmology or Darwin’s primordial swamp out of which life supposedly arose. This Source organizes life, gives it coherence, and injects it with meaning.   If all things came from the Source, … Read more about this episode...

Along with Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin is one of the two leading scientists in our modern era.  The topic of evolution dominates biology and has permeated our thinking far beyond Darwin’s original conception of the subject.  To believe in evolution is tantamount to being considered a civilized human being.  But a major problem presents itself:  how many people actually understand … Read more about this episode...

Perhaps no other-worldly phenomenon captures the mind more than near-death experiences.  We are all born with an innate hope that there is something beyond this physical world, and near-death experiences give us a glimpse that these hopes are real.  This show’s guest P.M.H. Atwater, L.H.D., had two near death experiences when young.  40 years and 18 books later, … Read more about this episode...

The notion that we live in a hardened, physical material world, separated from mind, is ingrained into our consciousness.  It is a such a common thought that as some have said, to accept the independence of the material world is a test of sanity.  But it turns out that the question is not that straightforward after all.  And importantly, in … Read more about this episode...

Is science really a religion?  Is religion a science? Modern science itself is based upon a set of unquestioned beliefs, such as the origins of matter, life, and consciousness.  We take the scientific theories about the origins of these phenomena as true, whether we understand the explanations or not.  Meanwhile, religious experiences, such as near-death experiences, have a lot in … Read more about this episode...

Crop circles are geometric, patterned formations mysteriously carved into farm fields.  In a way, they are farm-sized snowflakes.  They have been observed all around the world, but primarily in the United Kingdom.   To see a crop circle in person or in a color photograph speaks a thousand words.  The natural inclination is to conclude they are fakes; an open-minded inquiry … Read more about this episode...

Although today science and angels stand on opposite ends of the credibility spectrum, this was not always the case. In the 16th Century, Dr. John Dee, court advisor and astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I, was considered the foremost scientific genius of his age. He helped lay the foundation for modern science and made pioneering advances in navigation and optics. His … Read more about this episode...

Each of us is free to interpret the physical world however we want.  At some point, experience and reason show one interpretation to be better than another.  (This may be called the scientific method.)  Then, that interpretation gains adherents, builds support, and dominates.  But few play the long game, or wait for the disfavored interpretation to work itself through modern … Read more about this episode...

What if someone studied the paranormal not as fringe events or untrustworthy occurrences but instead as providing insight into the sacred?  What if someone dispensed with the notions of “real” and “unreal,” “natural” and “supernatural,” and instead viewed all human experiences as providing keys to understanding the world we inhabit? This is how this week’s guest, Professor Jeffrey Kripal of … Read more about this episode...

Over 200,000 books on Amazon have “dream” in the title.  And there is something about dreams that have always captivated the mind.  How many times do we read about athletes, artists, lovers, and the person on street talk about how their dreams have come true?  We “live the dream;” and at times, it all feels like a dream.  The dream … Read more about this episode...

Over 200,000 books on Amazon have “dream” in the title.  And there is something about dreams that have always captivated the mind.  How many times do we read about athletes, artists, lovers, and the person on street talk about how their dreams have come true?  We “live the dream;” and at times, it all feels like a dream.  The dream … Read more about this episode...

The standard interpretation of the meaning and purpose of life is that we are mortal creatures who have evolved from bacteria through the mindless, directionless process of Darwinian evolution.  According to Darwin’s leading modern-day advocate, Richard Dawkins, we are “survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.”  The standard interpretation carries the … Read more about this episode...

Visions have a better chance of coming true if they are in fact connected to the outer world; if the make-up of visions have something in common with the make-up of the physical world.  Almost 100 years scientists discovered, through theory and experiment, that the outer, physical world, consists not of things but of waves and energy packets.  These things … Read more about this episode...

The consequences of quantum theory, even after a century, have still not permeated our consciousness, or the very field that discovered it: physics.  Professor Richard Conn Henry, a guest on my show in 2014, observed in an article that he published in Nature Magazine, entitled, The Mental Universe, that the world we live in consists not of things, only … Read more about this episode...

The consequences of quantum theory, even after a century, have still not permeated our consciousness, or the very field that discovered it: physics.  Professor Richard Conn Henry, a guest on my show in 2014, observed in an article that he published in Nature Magazine, entitled, The Mental Universe, that the world we live in consists not of things, only … Read more about this episode...

The consequences of quantum theory, even after a century, have still not permeated our consciousness, or the very field that discovered it: physics.  Professor Richard Conn Henry, a guest on my show in 2014, observed in an article that he published in Nature Magazine, entitled, The Mental Universe, that the world we live in consists not of things, only … Read more about this episode...

The consequences of quantum theory, even after a century, have still not permeated our consciousness, or the very field that discovered it: physics.  Professor Richard Conn Henry, a guest on my show in 2014, observed in an article that he published in Nature Magazine, entitled, The Mental Universe, that the world we live in consists not of things, only … Read more about this episode...

The world needs a vision and for a vision we will need a Mind. As the physicist, Sir James Jeans, said almost a century ago, “today there is a wide measure of agreement, which on the physical side of science approaches almost to unanimity, that the stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look … Read more about this episode...

The world needs a vision and for a vision we will need a Mind. As the physicist, Sir James Jeans, said almost a century ago, “today there is a wide measure of agreement, which on the physical side of science approaches almost to unanimity, that the stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look … Read more about this episode...

The world needs a vision and for a vision we will need a Mind. As the physicist, Sir James Jeans, said almost a century ago, “today there is a wide measure of agreement, which on the physical side of science approaches almost to unanimity, that the stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look … Read more about this episode...

Negativity stand in the way of fulfilling the vision of the mind.  Ignore it and write your own story … Read more about this episode...

Too many people are perishing:  there are 10 wars in progress;3 billion live in poverty; 800 million are starving; 100 million are homeless.  With no unifying vision, the people tend to look out for themselves, not for others. … Read more about this episode...

“When there is no vision, the people perish”  (Proverbs 29:18). We need a unifying vision for humankind, badly. … Read more about this episode...

Holograms have always bedazzled the mind.  First invented in 1947, holograms are man-made mirages, formed by mirrors and lasers, that mimic the appearance of physical reality.  In the late 20th century, cosmologists began using the holographic model as a metaphor to explain the universe.  Under this view, the fundamental stuff of the cosmos is not matter but information; information … Read more about this episode...

Standing between us and flow is doubt; doubt is the thing that makes us stop and question our decisions; that makes us second-guess ourselves.  If we can manage doubt, we can truly ride our decisions with an open mind.  But the question is how to do this.  In her new book, Undoubtedly Awesome: Your Own Personal Roadmap From Doubt to … Read more about this episode...

In her new book, The E-Word: Ego, Enlightenment & Other Essentials, this week’s guest, Cate Montana, offers a modern and original take on enlightenment.  In whatever language we try to explain the quest and from whatever direction we approach the topic, the path to enlightenment remains the same: detach oneself from the physical world, the world of the many, … Read more about this episode...

Four dimensional psychology may be the wave of the future.  The fourth dimension becomes the soul, or the ground of being.  A dimension that evolves along with biological development.  To reach this point, we simply conclude that we are energy-beings evolving in a physical world.  Energy drives human development, which eventually reaches the point where the soul expresses its potential, … Read more about this episode...

Evolution is the leading theory of biology, if not of science.  The problem is that few people understand how evolution actually works.   According to the orthodox Darwinian model, evolution works through the natural selection of favorable, random mutations.  Those who have a hard time accepting the notion that mindless mutations can create the wonders of the living world often adopt … Read more about this episode...

One difference between science and religion is that science takes nothing on faith; science, we are taught, is the open-ended, self-critical pursuit of truth.  Meanwhile, religion relies upon revelation and faith to find truths that cannot be questioned because God delivered them.  Science questions; religion relies upon unquestionable answers.  But a few writers are now directing the turrets of critical … Read more about this episode...

By all accounts we are entering a time of breakthroughs and paradigm shifts.  And these changes are not just occurring in science, but in what it means to be a leader as well. This week’s guest, Lance Secretan, is a pioneer in establishing a deeper and more self-sustaining method of inspiring people and organizations. He teaches that our world … Read more about this episode...

In Greek mythology, Procrustes was a robber who forced travelers to lie down in a bed and then made them fit by stretching or shortening their limbs.  (Procrustes  eventually suffered the same fate at the hands of Theseus).  In Thomas Kuhn’s seminal work, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, the author writes that scientific revolutions become necessary when the facts … Read more about this episode...

Science has always looked for the harmonies in nature, as most poetically shown in Kepler’s “harmony of the spheres,” mathematical rules that still govern the movement of heavenly bodies. Music and harmony permeate our culture, forming an enriching and ever-evolving soundtrack to life.  The rock group The Who sings about “getting in tune with the straight and the narrow,” new … Read more about this episode...

One of the most peculiar features of our modern scientific worldview is that forces act across distances, at times faster than the speed of light.  This simple sentence violates two rock-solid underpinnings to the scientific worldview: first, the notion that nothing exists but particles in motion, and second, that nothing moves faster than the speed of light.  Take gravity: what … Read more about this episode...

It is now evident that if there will be an awakening — a true enlightenment — it will be a radical one.  The concept of “awakening” permeates the world’s religious and spiritual literature.  We awaken to a new day; a new dawn; a new self; shed material entrapments; and rise above it all.  In each instance, we are ridding ourselves … Read more about this episode...

God is a concept we place on the shelf like an old book and let it sit there.  The book contains what everyone else — priests, rabbis, scientists, parents, and the media — have told us about God.  But what do you think?  The new movie, IGod, co-produced by this week’s guest, Bob Friedman (along with his son Jonathon … Read more about this episode...

What we commonly call “religion” is in many ways simply the most popular interpretation of historical texts and words attributed to past spiritual leaders. Religious beliefs, such as the notion that Jesus Christ “died for our sins,” become part of an interpretive system for approaching phenomena that lie beyond the physical world. For better or worse, as the popular beliefs … Read more about this episode...

Law and science are both based upon evidence: you can only prove a case in law if you have credible and probative evidence to support your side of the story. In the same way, a scientific theory rises or falls based upon the degree of evidence — and repeatable tests — supporting it. Interestingly, the evidence continues to mount that … Read more about this episode...

Few people bring the authenticity to the notion of spiritual awakening as this week’s guest, Simran, award-winning publisher of 11:11 Magazine and host of the top-rated, syndicated 11:11 Talk Radio show.  Life is  synchronistic hologram, an unfolding of the self, an outpouring of inner meaning.  It begins, as Simran writes in her new book,Journey to Love – Discover … Read more about this episode...

According to Jared Diamond, “evolution is the most profound and powerful idea to have been conceived in the last two centuries.”  Almost all biologists no longer consider evolution “just a theory;” rather, it’s a fact.  The textbooks say that evolution is the selection and preservation of favorable mutations across generations.  Genes mix and match, and the more successful at surviving … Read more about this episode...

Quantum physics talks — at times esoterically — about the connection between consciousness and the outside world.  There are no particles “out there;” only probabilities; wave equations; and bits of nothing. Does the mind choose reality, or create reality?  In physics, we tend to consider this topic abstractly, distancing ourselves from the subject matter, which at times seems academic; after … Read more about this episode...

We are accustomed to encountering the concept of evolution in the biological sense, but it is growing increasingly evident that consciousness also evolves across generations.  If so, then at some point a generation will arise that, in the words of this week’s guest, Kingsley Dennis, will “be born as change” not “into change.”  This new generation will not face … Read more about this episode...

We are taught that one reaches spiritual truths through revelation, meditation, the contemplation of the divine, and soul-raising experiences.  Logic, on the other hand, involves rigorous, step-by-step thinking. Right brain vs. left brain.  Reason vs. emotion.  Logic is for science, not for spirituality.  But might there be a logical path to spirituality?  Is there a way to use reason to … Read more about this episode...

It seems that everyone, from Oprah Winfrey to Robert Murdoch to Sam Harris, is getting on the meditation bandwagon.  Amazon lists thousands of books on meditation, each one offering another method to connect with the Inner Self, or describing profound experiences and revelations produced through meditation.  But is meditation all that it cracks up to be?  Is it really the … Read more about this episode...