Rupert Sheldrake on His Legacy, Morphic Resonance, Scientific Reasons for Spirituality

Notes for the interview: What do you want your legacy to be? How would you like your time on earth to have left a mark? What are the most important messages and ideas you want people to take away from all of your work and writings? How do you practice, in your life, these ideas? Which ones have you successfully transferred to your children? What is morphic resonance. Please explain why it works. Connect us to not only the presence but also the ancestors… IAI Panpsychism mind everywhere Whole universe is unconscious, Consciousness emerges… can emerge from lower grades of consciousness What’s the sun’s consciousness Top-down consciousness big-bang— Emergence of many forms of consciousness Bottom-up consciousness—start with sub-atomic particles Both—emergence of higher levels of complexity—not saying it was not there before. What if the solar system, galaxy, gaia, the earth are conscious. Materialism—locked in 19th century world view. Animism— everything is alive-- whole universe is like an organism, not a machine Consciousness definition: awareness, perception—for materialists—consciousness is an epiphenomenon or an illusion. But illusion is a mode of consciousness. Problem is not with language. The problem is with world views. Morphogenic field theory—what it is, how it applies, what it applies to and what it doesn’t apply to, more recent research and support How would Your work apply to Bottom-up and top-down as I characterize it? How does your work apply to making change happen in the world—to politics, activism? Science and Spiritual Practices; 14 of them Atheism cuts people off from sources of well-being and connection New vs old Atheism Religion for atheists Atheist Church in England-- Gratitude—Positive Psychology has found that happy people tend to be grateful Meditation- Flowers—unconscious way into the realm of beauty. Groves, sacred spaces Rituals: of remembrance, re-enacting a primal event in the history of the group Singing, chanting Pilgrimage- Tourism as a kind of secularized pilgrimage Sports: being in the presence Learning from Animals Fasting Psychedelics and cannabis (cathedrals on cannabis) Prayer (asking for things and concerns for the world vs meditation, which is withdrawal) Holy days and festivals—a way of celebrating together