Living Mirrors with Dr. James Cooke

Stephen Snyder is a dharma teacher in the Zen Buddhist traditions of Soto and Rinzai as well as in the Theravadan Buddhist tradition. He is the author of Demystifying Awakening, Buddha's Heart, Trust in Awakening, Liberating the Self, and is co-author of the book Practicing the Jhānas. You can find out about his teaching and retreats at awakeningdharma.org. Today we discuss the gradual and direct paths to awakening and beyond.

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This talk was filmed live at the Totnes Consciousness Cafe in April 2025.

David Loy is a Zen teacher, author, and scholar whose work bridges Buddhism, social justice, and ecology. He is a founding member of the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center, near Boulder, Colorado, and sits on the advisory boards of Buddhist Global Relief, the Clear View Project, Zen Peacemakers, and the Ernest Becker Foundation. He's the author of many books, including Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis, and ecodharma is the topic that we explore today. https://www.davidloy.org/

This week on the podcast I'm speaking again with Daniel Ingram. Daniel is a physician and meditator and is the author of the influential book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha. He is the co-founder of the Dharma Overground and of The Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium. Today we discuss awakening and the role of interpretations in the mind, as well as the dark night of the soul and other related topics. If you're interested in any of these topics, you can go to innerspaceinstitute.org to explore my guided practices there.

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Viivi Jokela is an awakening facilitator. She had a spontaneous awakening in 2022 which she subsequently integrated to reach abiding no-self realization. I find her descriptions of what she calls “the natural state”, and the process by which it can be realized, to be incredibly accurate, and so it's a real pleasure to bring you my conversation with her today. We speak mainly about what it's like to go through no-self realization, as well as other aspects of awakening. https://www.sensingradiance.com/

Judith Herman is a psychiatrist, researcher, teacher, author and a leading expert on the healing of traumatic stress. She is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and is the author of many books on PSTD, most recently Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice. A lifelong activist, she brings deep insight and understanding to the societal context in which trauma occurs, from the personal to the political, and these are the themes we discuss today.

Henry Shukman is a poet and Zen master. Henry is the Guiding Teacher of Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is part of the Sanbo Zen lineage. He is the author of One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart, a Zen Memoir, and, most recently, Original Love: The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening. Today we discuss Zen and our own paths of awakening.

Karl Friston is a theoretical neurobiologist and Professor of Neuroscience at University College London. He is also an honorary consultant at UCL's Queen Square Institute of Neurology and is a fellow of both the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society. He also happens to be the most cited neuroscientist in the world. Karl kindly read and gave a blurb for the book: “A remarkably current and forward-looking treatment. This book uses all my favourite words—in the right order—and some I have never encountered before. It offers a delightful narrative, grounded in state-of-the-art thinking about what it is to be an observer or, in the author's words, BEING IS BELIEVING.”  

Find the original conversation here: The Dawn of Mind: How Matter Became Conscious and Alive    

Erik Ireland is a mindfulness teacher who runs a youtube channel and podcast called listen to sleep, where he provides guided meditations and bedtime stories for mindfulness and awakening. He also works with people to help them find direction through the framework of the hero's journey at awakenyourmyth.com. Two years ago, he experienced an awakening and recorded a video called mountain awakening describing it. With his permission I'm going to include a section here before our conversation. erikireland.com awakenyourmyth.com https://www.youtube.com/ListenToSleep listentosleep.com

Find the original conversation here: https://www.thetripreport.com/p/37-dr-james-cooke-the-dawn-of-mind

Ask questions for the next AMA via patreon or the channel membership community (click the "join" button above): Aubrey Plaza stroke clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13N4b2M06tE&ab_channel=TheHowardSternShow

Omid Safi is a professor at Duke university and is an expert in Sufism and Islamic mysticism. He has authored and edited many books, including Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism, and Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition. He also has a podcast called Sufi Heart, which is part of the Be Here Now network. In this conversation we discuss radical love and justice, with a focus on the mystical experience of God's love. As wild as it may sound to modern secular ears, I think it makes sense to say that reality really is made of God's love, or rather the love that is God. In my work I unpack this vision of reality using terms like the radical unbounded openness of the nonconceptual totality of reality, but it's the same thing. Most importantly, it can be discovered directly through experience.

https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Dawn-of-Mind-Audiobook/B0DPXXBSYR https://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Mind-Matter-Became-Conscious/dp/B0DPXZ5XRY/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= https://open.spotify.com/show/2Ym3ZTgeNIIijRW5WztNeh?si=19548ad7d78446f4

On the 14th of January 2025 I'll be in conversation with Dan at LA's flagship Barnes & Noble at The Grove at Farmers Market to promote my new book, The Dawn of Mind, tickets are still available, so come along if you're nearby. https://stores.barnesandnoble.com/event/9780062180541-0 Dan Siegel is a renowned psychiatrist and internationally acclaimed author. He is the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute, an educational center devoted to promoting insight, compassion, and empathy in individuals, families, institutions, and communities. He is also the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA and is a  Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. Dan is the author of five New York Times bestsellers and over fifteen other books which have been translated into over forty languages. Today, we speak about his most recent book Intraconnected.

Order from:  USA & Canada UK This week on the podcast previous guest Shamil Chandaria is returning to discuss my new book The Dawn of Mind, which is out now. Shamil is a computational neuroscientist and expert in artificial intelligence. He has fellowships at both Oxford and Cambridge and well as at Imperial College London and The School of Advanced Study's Institute of Philosophy, which is part of the University of London.   

Order from: https://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Mind-Matter-Became-Conscious/dp/1633889920 https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dawn-of-mind-james-cooke-phd/1144870806 https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Dawn-Mind/James-Cooke/9781633889927?id=9222386801726 https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-dawn-of-mind-how-matter-became-conscious-and-alive-james-cooke/21114038?ean=9781633889927

The Dawn of Mind: How Matter Became Conscious and Alive Pre-order from: This week on the podcast previous guest Richard Doyle is returning for a second time, this time to discuss my upcoming book, the Dawn of Mind, which will be released in the US and Canada on December 3rd. Rich is an author and Professor of English and of Information Sciences and Technology at Pennsylvania State University.  He's known for coining the term "ecodelic" and for his many books that explore the science of life and non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Dharma teacher whose work focuses on the interaction of meditation and social justice. She spent fifteen years living as a nun in a Buddhist monastery in the Plum Village tradition, under the guidance of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.  In 2007 she became a Zen teacher after receiving Lamp Transmission from Thich Nhat Hanh, and is also a teacher in the Vipassana Insight lineage through Spirit Rock Meditation Center in the US. She is the author of We Were Made for These Times: Skilfully Moving through Change, Loss and Disruption, the co-author of Healing Our Way Home: Black Buddhist Teachings on Ancestors, Joy, and Liberation, which was co-written with  Valerie Brown and Marisela  Gomez and she is also the editor of Thich Nhat Hanh's book Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children. Today we discussed her many years of monastic life but unfortunately ran out of time before getting on to her work in engaged Buddhism and social justice, so hopefully we'll be able to explore that together on a future occasion.

Find the original conversation here: https://youtu.be/e1f6EH37TKA?si=AcxA9_HWQs3HQekr

My appearance on the Illumine Life's Idea Cast with Justin McSweeney. Link to the original version: https://youtu.be/RIRFmhH29X4?si=rfcBZ5SgFoe7MGlk

Graham Priest is a philosopher and logician and of distinguished professor of philosophy at the City University of New York (CUNY). He is the author of many books including Logic: A Very Short Introduction, from Oxford University Press, Everything and Nothing, co-authored with Marcus Gabriel and One: Being an Investigation into the Unity of Reality and of its Parts, including the Singular Object which is Nothingness.

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This week on the podcast previous guest Shamil Chandaria is returning to discuss his recent paper “A beautiful loop: An active inference theory of consciousness”, co-authored with Ruben Laukkonen. Shamil Chandaria is an expert in artificial intelligence and computational neuroscience. He was a founder of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London where he is a Research Fellow, as well as at The School of Advanced Study's Institute of Philosophy, which is part of the University of London. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing at Oxford University, and, most recently, he became a fellow of Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge university. https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/daf5n

My appearance on the Mastering Thought podcast with Mark Waller and Kristina Black

Ask questions for the next AMA via patreon or the YouTube channel membership community: https://www.patreon.com/DrJamesCooke https://www.youtube.com/DrJamesCooke

Wystan Bryant-Scott is a Buddhist meditation teacher who has spent roughly two and half years of his life practising in an intensive residential monastic setting. He has studied under teachers in multiple Buddhist traditions, including Theravada, Vajrayana, Zen, and Dzogchen, and is a certified teacher of previous podcast guest Shinzen Young's Unified Mindfulness system. Wystan is also on the Board of Advisors of the Qualia Research Institute. I've been continually impressed by the depth and clarity of Wystan's realisation so I'm glad to share my recent conversation with him with you today.  

James Cooke discusses awakening on the Conscious Perspective podcast with Gary Lee Haskins

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing: The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing: The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing: The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Access the full free course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources: Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Try membership free for two weeks here: Access the full free Essentials course here, along with grounding guidance and a guide on how to use these resources:  Disclaimer - Read Before Continuing The practices provided here are intended as guidance for navigating one's experience. They should not be understood as medical advice or as a treatment for specific mental or physical conditions. Dr. James Cooke is trained as a research scientist and as a mindfulness teacher, not as a clinician, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, or any other clinical speciality. It is highly recommended that you get support from a counselor or psychotherapist trained in a modality such as Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) as you navigate this terrain. Participants agree to take full personal responsibility for the effects of exploring their minds using these materials. It is not possible to predict the precise effects for any given individual, and so no guarantees are offered as to the nature of the resulting effects. You alone are responsible for keeping yourself safe. Ensure you have appropriate support as you engage in this work.

Ask questions for the next AMA via patreon or the channel membership community:      

My appearance on the Natural Awakening podcast with Wystan Bryant-Scott.

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Paul Hedderman is a nondual speaker and author of the books On Having Never Left, Escape to Everywhere, and Under A-Rest. Today we speak about nonduality and recovery from addiction.