Nonduality, in its many guises, can be seen as the pinnacle of the spiritual path. This experience, however brief, can usher one into the profound depths of the mystery of consciousness. This lecture will present a brief overview of the history and philosophy of nonduality, outlining the differen...

Current research on mystical experience in neuroscience, genetics, and evolutionary cognitive science has proven that mystical experience has a real and verifiable basis in our biology. Until recently, academic religion scholars tended to side with older schools of science that dismissed mystical...

The brain is the central organ for adapting to experiences whether or not we call them “stressful”. With adaptation, the brain changes its architecture and alters systemic function via regulation of neuroendocrine, autonomic, immune, and metabolic systems. Those systems, in turn, alter brain s...

Neuroplasticity occurs in a direct equation to the relaxation of our grasping towards known thought forms, beliefs, and experiences. When we can open the mind to the unknown and the unpredictable, fear by degrees falls away, which allows the structures of the brain to form greater connectivity an...

We are all vulnerable to craving. Whether it’s a compulsion to constantly check social media, overeat, smoke, excessively drink, or any other behavior, we may find ourselves uncontrollably repeating. Why are bad habits so hard to overcome? Can we learn how our minds work, and even tap into this v...

Mystical experiences transcend the subject-object dichotomy of ordinary experiences to reveal a fundamental level of nondual awareness as the ground of thinking. Neuroscience provides an objective window to understand the character of nondual experiences and how they transform mind/body function...

Why and how some individuals are more resilient and others more vulnerable, is a question that has perplexed me and other scientists who study trauma and the clinicians who work with the survivors. Coincident with my acknowledgment that there were variations in responses to stressful and traumati...

Given the modern divide between mind and body widening since the Renaissance, the last two decades have seen a revolutionary shift in modern neuroscience towards a new paradigm of mind-brain-body integration. This 180 degree about face is historic not just because it reverses the five century old...