Wonderful viewers,
welcome to
Science and Spirituality.
Today we continue
our discussion with
the thoughtful scientist
featured on
last week’s episode –
Dr. Mario Beauregard,
an associate
research professor
in the departments
of psychology
and neuroscience
at the University
of Montreal in Canada.
Dr. Beauregard is known
for the 2008 book
“The Spiritual Brain:
A Neuroscientist’s Case
for the Existence
of the Soul,” which
he co-authored with
journalist Denyse O’Leary.
Before joining the
University of Montreal
faculty,
Dr. Mario Beauregard
did postdoctoral research
at the University
of Texas, USA
and the Montreal
Neurological Institute of
McGill University, Canada.
Dr. Beauregard
has received
international recognition
for his pioneering work
on the neurobiology
of mystical experience,
and was selected
to be among the
“One Hundred Pioneers
of the 21st Century”
by World Media Net.
Dr. Beauregard says that
the current scientific view
of the world,
with the exception
of quantum mechanics,
is still very materialist
in nature and
in the neurosciences
the mind and consciousness
are seen
as merely the result
of electrical activity
and chemical reactions
in the brain.
However this perspective
cannot explain
many experiments which
have clearly shown
that thinking
and intentions not only
can change the brain,
but can also change
the condition of the body.
We know that
the brain is connected
to all the other
physiological systems
in the body,
like the immune system,
and the endocrine system.
So this means that when
you change something
at the mind level,
for instance a belief,
you will influence
not only the brain,
but all the other
physiological systems
connected, for instance,
the immune system.
And this has been shown
very convincingly
in a scientific discipline
that is called
psychoneuroimmunology,
which started
about 30 years ago.
And now there is also
some evidence showing
that we can also
change the expression
of some genes involved in
various types of behavior.
So we don’t know the
limit yet of this influence,
but it seems that
the body and the brain
are very plastic, very open
to this sort of psychic,
psychological influence.
There are cases
of remission of cancer
that are seen when
people use visualization,
mental imagery,
meditation, and various
relaxation techniques.
If you have a different
alternative paradigm
in which the mind really
exists, and (it) cannot be
reduced to the brain,
then it makes sense to
understand that perhaps
the informational processes
at the mind level,
for instance, a thought,
can influence brain activity.
We can explain that.
There are models
about this and
one possible explanation
is that it would be based
on quantum processes
related to quantum physics,
because if you take the
case of the ionic channels
in the nerve cells,
the neurons
where the messengers
are passing through,
these ionic channels
or small holes are
so small, so minute that
at that size of order, the
laws of quantum physics
do apply.
The fathers
of quantum mechanics
realized about 80 years ago
that the observers could
influence the behavior of
the microphysical system
that they were measuring.
The sub-atomic particles,
if you will.
They now recognize that
human consciousness
can influence
the physical world
at that level.
Metacognition
can be described as
“thinking about thinking”
or an awareness of
one’s cognition
and is seen as a way
to effect transformation
of the brain.
A number of
brain imaging studies
showing that
patients suffering
from clinical depression
or obsessive compulsive
disorder, when they start
meditating and doing
what we call metacognition,
which is to take a distance
from your own thoughts,
your own beliefs,
your own emotions,
then it’s possible
to change the functioning
of the brain.
You really can change
the way certain
brain structures function,
and brain networks
underlying all sorts of
negative emotional states.
Thomas Kuhn,
a famous epistemologist
and historian of science
from the United States,
is known
for his famous theory
on how science advances.
Rather than
it being the product of
accumulated knowledge,
he suggested that
progress is made when
paradigm shifts occur
because
the basic assumptions
within the ruling theories
of science change.
We really need
a major paradigm shift,
in neuroscience especially,
and also psychology
and psychiatry.
We’re going to collect
in the next decades
some empirical data
and evidence showing
that you cannot reduce
the mind and consciousness
to brain activity,
and eventually that will
lead to a new world view
for humanity.
I am now participating
in an international
research project that is
called project AWARE.
It’s conducted across
various hospital centers
around the world, mainly
in the United Kingdom,
United States
and Canada.
The goal of this project
is to demonstrate
that when there is a state
of clinical death, and
during cardiac arrest,
there is a possibility
of veridical perception
of elements.
For instance,
I am beginning
a research project here
in Montreal, where
we investigate people
suffering from major
defects at the aorta level,
cardiac level, and
so they need to undergo
standstill surgery
to repair this defect,
which is very serious,
their life is threatened.
And so they are
usually clinically dead
for about 20 minutes.
While they are
clinically dead,
what we do is we simply
display on a big monitor,
located at about 7 feet
above the ground,
and oriented
towards the ceiling,
we present a series of
emotionally laden pictures
that are changing
every 30 seconds, and
we do that
because we want to see
if among all the patients
we are going to investigate
in the next years
perhaps there will be
one or two patients
who will have an
out-of-body experience,
and will be able to identify
some of the pictures
presented on the monitor.
When Science and
Spirituality returns,
we’ll explore how
Dr. Mario Beauregard’s
spiritual experiences
inform his vision of a
new scientific perspective
of our world.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
I’ve had a state
of cosmic consciousness.
I became one
with everything.
I was living
in every human being.
I was living
in every animal.
I was at one with
the stars and everything
that existed in the Universe.
I was also connected
with the source underlying
all these levels
of manifestation.
That is very, very powerful.
After that, you cannot
go back to your old self.
You know that
you’re not necessarily
what you thought you were.
Of course, this will
change you forever.
Welcome back to
Science and Spirituality
where Dr. Mario
Beauregard has been
sharing with us his dream
for a new paradigm
for the neurosciences
which is non-materialist
in nature.
He now gives
another example of how
we can re-shape the brain
by changing our thinking.
We have done a study
also with people suffering
from arachnophobia,
spider phobia, and before
starting the therapy,
the patients were not
even able to look at
colored pictures of
spiders in a booklet.
At the end of therapy,
and we use
cognitive reframing,
which is you change
your belief systems
with regard to
the phobogenic stimulus,
the spiders for instance,
then at the end,
all of our patients were
able to hold in their hands
a giant tarantula.
And we scanned them twice,
before and after therapy,
and while
we scanned them,
we were showing them
film clips of spiders
in motion.
And at first they all
experienced a panic attack,
but at the end of
the therapy, which
lasted only four weeks,
there was no reaction
in the emotional portion
of the brain.
Throughout his life,
Dr. Beauregard says
he has been spiritually
connected with the Divine
and this has profoundly
shaped his work.
Since my childhood, I have
had a series of intense
spiritual experiences,
mystical experiences.
I’m more of a
mystical type of scientist.
I’ve had
very deep experiences
of cosmic consciousness.
In that kind of state,
your sense of identity,
your little ego, if you will,
totally vanishes,
and you become one
with everything that
exists in the Universe,
and you become one with
the source of everything
underlying the Universe.
And in that state, I realized
that I am one with
the source of everything
in the Universe.
You can call it God.
The soul, for me, is part
and parcel of that source.
This means that all
human beings are Divine.
There will be an evolution
that will keep going.
At a certain point,
more and more
human beings
will be aware of this.
It’s experiential.
It’s not
a matter of reasoning.
Philosophers have been
thinking about
these questions
for thousands of years,
but they never arrive
to a consensus
or satisfactory solution
to these problems.
It’s something that
I have experienced, and
it influences my world view
and the kind of work
I’m doing scientifically.
I do meditate, I do
contemplation every day.
And the results of
my experiments influence
the kind of spiritual work
I’m doing.
On the other hand,
the spiritual experiences
also influence the kind of
scientific work I’m doing.
So the influence
has come from both sides.
In Dr. Beauregard’s book,
The Spiritual Brain,
he writes the following
regarding the awakening
of humankind:
“The development of
this type of consciousness
is absolutely essential,
if humanity
is to successfully solve
the global crisis
that confronts us,
and wisely create a future
that benefits all humans
and all forms of life
on planet Earth.”
We asked him
to further elaborate
on this deep statement.
This spiritual experience
of oneness
is certainly the key that
will allow human species
to be able to overcome
the global crises that
we now face, to become
much more civilized,
much more peaceful.
This experience can
lead us to another level
of evolution in terms of
consciousness, definitely.
For Dr. Beauregard,
part of this realization
that we are all one means
that harming animals
and consuming meat
comes to an end.
Because animals
are living creatures
with consciousness,
I cannot imagine to have
to kill another living being
to feed me.
It’s something that
when you are rendered
at a certain stage
in your own
consciousness evolution,
you cannot do anymore.
I know a lot of people
who are quite spiritual
and they cannot eat meat.
It’s something normal
at a certain point.
We would like to
convey our appreciation
to Dr. Beauregard
for taking the time
from his busy schedule
to speak to with us about
his pioneering work
in the neurosciences.
We look forward to
more good news
from his research team
as they continue to explore
the many secrets
of our Universe
and human potential.
For more details on
Dr. Mario Beauregard,
please visit
Books by Dr. Beauregard
are available at
Amazon.com
Blessed viewers,
thank you for
your company today on
Science and Spirituality.
Coming up next is
Words of Wisdom,
after Noteworthy News.
May the consciousness
of all beings on this planet
elevate ever higher
with each passing day.