# Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in Mind > Weekly online meetings, special events, video archive and a dynamic community of scientists, philosophers, meditators and mystics Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### Membership URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/membership/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T13:41:27.000Z Weekly online meetings with Bernardo Kastrup including Q&As, special guests and a dynamic community of scientists, philosophers, meditators, mystics, and ordinary people curious about the nature of reality and our place in it. ### Join the conversation As part of the community you get to join live calls, help shape future content, propose guests, dialogue with other community members, and if your question is selected, dialogue with Bernardo. ### Access the full archive As a member you get access to the [full archive of all the meetings](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recordings/) after they are recorded. ### Join the community Expect lively discussions that cover the full spectrum of life; physics, neuroscience, psychology, spirituality, non-duality, suffering, enlightenment, psychedelics, purpose, free will and more, all framed within a coherent, rational and evidence-based metaphysics with tangible implications for how we live our lives. ### Join the movement Bernardo Kastrup is one of the leading voices in the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. We believe this is a metaphysics that can resolve historic tensions between science and spirituality, and has the potential to positively transform how humans relate to themselves, each other and the natural world. 💡 "To me, the ultimate goal of doing what we will be doing is to create ambassadors for Analytic Idealism (or, more generally, Objective Idealism, Cosmopsychism), i.e., people who will spend the time to understand Analytic Idealism thoroughly and then go out to the world, into their communities, to spread that understanding. I see this as the central theme and key reason to invest my time in personal interactions. People will self-select for this ambassadorial role." ***\- Bernardo Kastrup** We welcome anyone excited to be part of championing and developing the modern understanding of this ancient metaphysics. [Join the community](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/#/portal/) Once you join, you can introduce yourself and join the telegram group on this page: [Welcome!Introduce yourself to the community!![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-5.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Asset-14.5--8--1-2.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/introductions/) --- ## About Bernardo Kastrup ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/01/bernardo.jpeg) Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of [*Essentia Foundation*](https://www.essentiafoundation.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) and Founder/CEO at AI systems company [Euclyd BV.](https://www.euclyd.ai/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another Ph.D. in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research ([CERN](http://home.web.cern.ch/?ref=withrealityinmind.com)) and the [Philips Research Laboratories](https://www.philips.com/a-w/about/innovation.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) (where the '[Casimir Effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casimir%5Feffect?ref=withrealityinmind.com)' of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years now, having co-founded [parallel processor company Silicon Hive](https://www.primeventures.com/relationships/silicon-hive?ref=withrealityinmind.com) (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company [ASML](https://www.asml.com/en?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, Bernardo's ideas have been featured on [*Scientific American*](https://www.scientificamerican.com/author/bernardo-kastrup/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), the [*Institute of Art and Ideas*](https://iai.tv/home/speakers-and-authors/bernardo-kastrup?ref=withrealityinmind.com), the [*Blog of the American Philosophical Association*](https://blog.apaonline.org/?s=kastrup&ref=withrealityinmind.com), and [*Big Think*](https://bigthink.com/robby-berman/are-we-all-multiple-personalities-of-universal-consciousness?ref=withrealityinmind.com), among others. Bernardo's 11th book, coming in 2024, is [*Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century's only plausible metaphysics*](https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/iff-books/our-books/analytic-idealism-nutshell?ref=withrealityinmind.com). For more information, freely downloadable papers, videos, etc., please visit [www.bernardokastrup.com](http://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). ## Programme curator: Amir Giles ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/01/profile-pic-amir.jpg) Amir founded [Adventures in Awareness](https://adventuresinawareness.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) and its [youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@adventuresinawareness?ref=withrealityinmind.com) to foster dialogues between meditators, scientists and philosophers in the hope of generating new insights that can benefit ordinary people. He curates discussions, events and courses that explore what it means to be a ‘modern mystic’ - balancing the challenges and gifts of modern life whilst alive to timeless mystery. He has collaborated with Bernardo Kastrup on a range of courses and events for over 4 years, and is excited to help develop a community and resources passionate about this work. Previously, he worked for 20 years as a choreographer, performer and dancer on everything from MARVEL movies to Royal Opera House productions, specialising in contemporary dance, contact improvisation and Argentine tango. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/01/amir-bernardo-amsterdam2.jpg) ### Newcomers start here! URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/newcomers-start-here/ Last updated: 2026-09-15T14:43:45.000Z If you are new to analytic idealism, there are a few ways you can learn the basics: either through Bernardo's books and essays, or the free online courses linked below. Then if you have questions or want to discuss this deeply with Bernardo and others, join the membership programme! If you've already joined, you can start by introducing yourself and joining the telegram group [on this page here](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/introductions/). ## Read [Bernardo's book](https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/iff-books/our-books/analytic-idealism-nutshell?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [Online essays](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/p/essays.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [Academic papers](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/p/papers.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/01/51QOMu987kL._SY466_.jpg)](https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/iff-books/our-books/analytic-idealism-nutshell?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ## Watch ### Bernardo's power-point lectures: ### Essentia Foundation's free online course: ### Community Meetups URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/community-meetups/ Last updated: 2026-01-19T11:36:15.000Z _This page is for paying subscribers only._ ### Asking Questions URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/ Last updated: 2026-02-03T17:20:49.000Z ### *"*Curiosity has its own reason for existing*." -* Albert Einstein Bernardo gives very comprehensive answers to every question, which means on average we cover 6-8 questions per session. When we have an invited guest we typically take questions from the chat during the live meeting, rather than questions submitted in advance, when there is time after their dialogue. Below is how you can suggest a question. These are selected based on relevance to the theme and participant vote. The below guide helps us combine similar questions, and avoid too much repetition so each session is fresh, informative, inspiring and focused on a particular theme. Here's how you can help: > "***A prudent question is one half of wisdom.***" - Francis Bacon #### ****New to these meetings? Do this first!** 1\. Read or ***watch the introductory** material on the [newcomers](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/newcomers-start-here/) page. 2\. Browse [recorded](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recordings/) sessions and if you find one that covers your question watch the recording. #### Want to contribute to session planning? Here is how! 1. ****Browse** [****upcoming sessions**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/schedule/) and read the already submitted questions at the bottom of the pages that interest you. 2. ***Like, reply and discuss** the questions that excite you. 3. ***Share resources** that might help with a question. 4. ***Ask for clarification if you don't understand someone's question.** This helps us all learn how to formulate questions in ways that we can all understand. #### ****Got a new question? Make sure it's noticed like this:** First, browse the existing questions on [upcoming](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/schedule/) pages and see if someone has already asked it. ***If they have:** *Like and add a reply to the question expressing your enthusiasm.* ***If there is a similar one:** **Add yours as a reply to theirs, to help us create a natural flow to the discussion.* ****If your question is new:** **Put it in the comments of the relevant page, following these guidelines:* - Write your question with non-experts in mind, so everyone is included. - Give it a CLEAR TITLE in capital letters, ideally in the form of a question. - Below the TITLE you can write a short description of what your question is about. - Then, if you want to expand further and give more details, feel free to do so below the short description. - If you’re referencing specific literature, paper or any resource (you are NOT required to) feel free to post a link to it An example question can be found below. If you want help on writing questions, reach out to other members others on Telegram. #### ****Can I ask a clarifying question** ***during** ****a live session?** ***Yes!** We want you to understand, so if we’re using words you don’t understand, or referring to people or knowledge you don’t know, ****ask for clarification in the zoom chat.** Often, another participant will answer clarifying questions in the chat. For unfamiliar words, also check out our co-created [glossary](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FTC435yOMRJT6U7g0CmFWe3-RYJs0SkAxhAjdHksdTI/edit?fbclid=IwAR1nuPBvFGtWal3ktytz%5F-7%5FVgzhz3fjqEXAr7SgfJ9H-uvj033B5Swf%5FEs&tab=t.0&ref=withrealityinmind.com). Please ****don’t use the raise hand function** unless invited - there is already a lot going on. #### Can I ask a new question during the live session? We generally give priority to pre-planned questions, so if your question is deep, or on a new theme, the invitation is to add it to an appropriate upcoming session. ****But if there is time, we’ll take questions from the chat also**, especially those with lots of engagement and votes. Please ****don’t use the raise hand function** unless invited - there is already a lot going on. #### How do I vote for a question? On this website, in the comments section of each page there is a heart-shaped icon. Simply press it and it counts as a vote. The amount of votes each question has will influence the order in which the questions are asked during a live session. ****For questions asked on zoom chat,** you can click on the emoji icon beneath and add a heart or other sign of enthusiasm. #### ****How are questions selected** All your questions are treasured, but with limited time in each session, they are selected based on: \- Relevance to the week’s theme \- Community engagement (votes and replies) \- Well formulated (as per guide above). I will then aim to order them in a way that hopefully makes for an enjoyable, inspiring and cohesive discussion with Bernardo… #### Example Question The following is an example question which illustrates the points above. Remember, the only requirement is the TITLE and the short description. Everything else is purely optional. IS MIND-AT-LARGE CHANGE & IF SO, BY WHAT PRINCIPLES? This question is about the philosophy of change behind mind-at-large. Does Mind-at-Large change and evolve or is it static and unchanging at its core? If it is changing and evolving - by what principles? Could we say that if MaL is everything that in a sense means that it doesn't undergo any changes or evolution as there is nothing beyond everything? In ancient Greek philosophy we have examples of thinkers like Heraclitus who would state that the universe is ever changing and in constant flux, however we would also have thinkers like Parmenides who would state that change is an illusion and only happens in appearance - reality is ultimately static. Modern day thinkers like Tom Campbell would suggest that evolution plays a strong role in the development of consciousness and that individual evolution plays a role in that of universal consciousness. Where does Analytic Idealism stand on these points? References for the literature mentioned: Heraclitus - [https://iep.utm.edu/heraclit/](https://iep.utm.edu/heraclit/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Parmenides - [https://iep.utm.edu/parmenid/](https://iep.utm.edu/parmenid/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Tom Campbell - [https://www.my-big-toe.com/](https://www.my-big-toe.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) > **"I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned."* \- Richard Feynman* # Proposing a new theme. As we approach the end of the existing live themes, there will be future opportunities to propose new ones. More on that closer to the time. You can browse the whiteboard that was used to inspire our initial schedule [here.](https://zoom.us/wb/doc/dDLQZhspR6qe%5Ft2Trp6OiA/p/165079353982976?ref=withrealityinmind.com) > **"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."* \- Carl Sagan* ### Recordings - archived version URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recordings1-2/ Last updated: 2026-09-02T12:39:17.000Z [Search past meetingsSearch across all recorded session transcripts by topic, theme, or keyword![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-231.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Universum-1-3.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/search-past-meetings/) ### 2025 [Link for list as text](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/2025-recordings/) [Motivations & AspirationsThe different kinds of idealism, the value of suffering, and questions of meaning and purpose![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-140.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/reason--evidence-or-intuition--1--6.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/launch-meeting-recording-motivations-aspirations-2/) [The Hierarchies of DissociationThe self, subconscious, and the nature of experience![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-141.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1531989417401-0f85f7e673f8-2)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dissociation/) [Mind at Large vs Universal ConsciousnessThe physical universe as an abstraction, alters, and momentary vs self-sustaining dissociations![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-142.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1536904132820-d4760eae1463-1-1-1-5.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/tues-11th-feb-mind-at-large/) [Frontiers of Thought with Michael Levin & Bernardo KastrupSpecial event raising money for Compassion in World Farming![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-143.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/frontiers-2.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/tues-18th-feb-frontiers-of-thought-discuss-your-idea-with-michael-levin-bernardo-kastrup/) [The Laws and Habits of NatureNaturalism, anomalous experiences, and creativity’s source![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-144.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1584263029218-b457ee14128c-1)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-laws-of-nature-or-habits-2/) [The Physical Body, Internal Dissociation & MetacognitionCan we become less dissociated and follow our inner guidance? Is reality a lesson or research lab?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-150.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1598191923254-af7988ba53c5-7)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/4th-march-frontiers-of-thought-q-a-with-bernardo-kastrup/) [Dreams & the Hierarchies of the SubconsciousCan dreams be objective? What can they reveal about our “waking life”?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-151.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1534447677768-be436bb09401-4)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-dreams-the-hierarchies-of-subconscious-2/) [Death, Near Death Experiences & ReincarnationWhat can we learn from near death experiences? What is the nature of death?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-152.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1614278555773-fcadf80a58a5-1.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-death-near-death-experiences-reincarnation/) [The Purpose of Life & the Meaning of SufferingWhat is the connection between suffering and meaning in life?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-153.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1512036666432-2181c1f26420-2.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-the-purpose-of-life-the-meaning-of-suffering/) [What Nature RepresentsThe symbolism and meaning present in nature![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-154.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1576769267221-a9b2a5d93ebc-1.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-what-nature-represents-2/) [Quantum Entanglement & the Alchemy of IntegralismQuantum physics, entanglement, & the measurement problem in the idealist framework![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-155.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1654696699420-addd81011061.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-quantum-entanglement-the-alchemy-of-integralism/) [Buddhism, Emptiness & Idealism #1Can Buddhism and analytical idealism meet in the middle?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-156.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1558980971-97f50d0fed00.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-buddhism-emptiness-idealism-1/) [Swami Sarvapriyanada & Bernardo Kastrup in ConversationBridging western and eastern approaches to metaphysics, meaning, and more![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-157.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Swami-Sarvapriyananda-2-1-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-swami-sarvapriyanada-bernardo-kastrup-in-conversation/) [Buddhism, Emptiness & Idealism #2Panel discussion on how Buddhist thought meets analytical idealism![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-158.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/panel.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-buddhism-emptiness-idealism-2/) [Mystical, Spiritual & Psychedelic ExperiencesWhat is the common ground between psychedelic and spiritual experiences?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-159.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1559455348-3245e7c10709)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-mystical-spiritual-psychedelic-experiences/) [Rupert Spira & Bernardo Kastrup in conversationConsciousness, not as something we have, but as something we are![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-160.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/RS-s-crop-for-2025-pic-1-1.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-rupert-spira-bernardo-kastrup-the-limits-virtues-of-understanding-awakening/) [Idealism on Spiritual Leadership & EthicsHow do we organise and teach spirituality ethically in today’s world?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-161.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1434873740857-1bc5653afda8.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-idealism-on-spiritual-leadership-ethics/) [How to follow your daimonAnd the importance of remembering you are a monkey![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-162.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1516750860688-6edafc01087f-1.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-how-to-follow-your-daimon-and-the-importance-of-remembering-you-are-a-monkey/) [Ethics & living your life to its fullEthics, determinism, and the moral catastrophe of our time![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-163.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1575550959106-5a7defe28b56.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-ethics-living-your-life-to-its-full/) [Alexey Tolchinsky, Psy.D., and Bernardo Kastrup in conversationDo things have to get worse before they get better?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-165.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1594895071378-7bfc24ac55ea-1.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-things-have-to-get-worse-before-they-get-better-with-alexey-tolchinsky-psy-d/) [Jung’s “Answer to Job” - on suffering, evil & meaningThe birth of metacognition, morality and meaning![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-166.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/640px-The_Lord_Answering_Job_Out_of_the_Whirlwind_Butts_set-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-jungs-answer-to-job/) [Idealism will not be televisedA new vision for education, economy, and culture![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-167.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/vintage_tv_liberty.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-education-economy-culture/) [Can science & religion be friends?Spiritual technology, scientific bias, and the fear of death![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-168.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Galileo_facing_the_Roman_Inquisition.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-can-science-religion-be-friends/) [Robots will be tools, not tyrantsAgentic AI and what the future holds for humans & AI![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-169.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Asset-14.5--2--2.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-robots-will-be-tools-not-tyrants/) [AI - It’s our showCould AI be a conduit for Mind at Large?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-170.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1661705969607-cde73828023d)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-ai-its-our-show/) [IIT: A Rosetta Stone for Mind at Large?Could Integrated Information Theory help us map consciousness?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-180.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/ChatGPT-Image-Jul-23--2025--02_52_09-PM-2.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-iit-a-rosetta-stone-for-mind-at-large/) [Christof Koch and Bernardo Kastrup in conversationThe neural correlates of being the world![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-181.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/chrisof-1-1.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-christof-koch-2/) [Exceptional human experiencesTelepathy, placebo, and the outer edges of human experience![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-182.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/dmitry-berdnyk-zJx8iZVRHnY-unsplash-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-exceptional-human-experiences/) [We are aliens to ourselvesUPAs, UFOs, and alien encounters![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-183.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1526412039843-32a68b91c560-1-1.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-we-are-aliens-to-ourselves/) [Jeffrey Kripal and Bernardo Kastrup in conversation“The Sacred is not the Good” - trauma, revelation, and the impossible![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-188.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/jeffrey-2.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recori-the-sacred-is-not-the-good-special-guest-jeffrey-kripal/) [Life, the ultimate guruIn theme with the launch of Bernardo’s book, “The Daimon and the Soul of the West”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-186.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Rio_de_Janeiro-_Brazil_003_version_2-1-2-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/life-the-ultimate-guru/) [Patrick Harpur and Bernardo Kastrup in conversationSubatomic particles, fairies and finding your God![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-187.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/patrick-bernardo-2.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-patrick-harpur-bernardo-kastrup/) [One journey. Many paths.The Western Path, the Cosmic Itch, and navigating the forces of nature![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-189.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/An-illustration-from-Carl-Gustav-Jung-s--The-Red-Book---p.105--1919-.-I-2.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-one-journey-many-paths/) [Art & Creativity: Emptiness DancingWho is the true author of an artwork?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-190.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Birth-32-1-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/art-creativity-emptiness-dancing/) [Michael Levin and Bernardo Kastrup in conversation“Hey liver, why do I feel like crap today?” The frontier of biology, computer science and philosophy![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-191.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/michael-bernardo-sally-annette2-5.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-michael-levin-life/) [Paying attention to lifeArt as the purpose of life and the collapse of opposites on the Western Path![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-192.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-9--2025--11_42_56-AM.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-paying-attention/) [Dreams, horror and beauty are realDr Sthaneshwar Timalsina and Bernardo Kastrup in conversation![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-197.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Illustrated_manuscript_of_a_Kashmir_Shaivist_or_Trika_Yoga_text_written_in_Gurmukhi_script-_discussing_chakras_and_kundalini_-painting_detail_3--2-1-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dreams-horror-beauty-are-real/) [Dashboards, dials and what lies beyondWhat perception veils and reveals![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-194.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Universum-1-2.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/) [No need to transcend the human experienceAccepting and loving our perceptual dashboards![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-195.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Hieronymus_Bosch_051-1-2.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-no-need-to-transcend/) [All perception is archetypalDistinguishing between internal states in mind at large![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-196.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/ChatGPT-Image-Nov-5--2025--03_56_57-PM.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/all-perception-is-archetypal/) [What makes the body special?Why life is a unique process in nature![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-198.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/ChatGPT-Image-Nov-12--2025--04_45_18-PM-1.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/what-makes-the-body-special/) [Could the answer be looking for you?Michael Levin and Bernardo Kastrup in conversation![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-199.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/image-4-1.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/q-a-michael-levin-bernardo-kastrup/) [DMT & the nature of realityDr Christopher Timmerman and Bernardo Kastrup in conversation![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-200.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/timmerman-2.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dr-christopher-timmermann-dmt/) [Live your questions, listen to soulJames Hollis and Bernardo Kastrup in conversation![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-202.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/_JamesHollis_blabacphoto_L1011146-1-1.webp)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/james-hollis-living-your-questions/) [Birth, DNA, DisabilityDiving into the nature of dissociation when it comes to our bodies![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-203.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/1024px-Lurestan_Fibula_-4484325444--1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-birth-dna-disability/) [Is love fundamental? (and is there a plan?)Does nature have plan, and is love fundamental to it?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-204.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Lizards_in_love.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-is-love-fundamental-and-is-there-a-plan/) [Solstice & the symbols of natureThe power and importance of ritual![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-205.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/unnamed-suckling-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/solstice-the-symbols-of-nature/) [New Year: Reflections, intentions, ritual & soulReflection and memory as forms of time travel![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-206.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Janus-Double_herm_Chiaramonti_Inv1395-2-1-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/new-year-reflections-intentions-ritual-soul/) ### 2026 [Time is an illusion but meaning is realRecording 6th January 2026: Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup on Time![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-96.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1506420531556-1dd2929c8a55-1-13.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-big-bang-is-now-in-the-illusion-of-time/) [Time & the Crystal of EternityRecorded 13th Jan 2026: Bernardo Kastrup on the ultimate Koan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-95.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/ChatGPT-Image-Jan-14--2026--01_45_00-PM.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/time-the-ultimate-ri/) [Consciousness Beyond the Body with Marjorie WoollacottRecording 20th Jan 2026 Q&A with Marjorie Woolacott![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-98.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Schiavonetti_Soul_leaving_body_1808-6.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/consciousness-beyond-the-body-with-marjorie-woollacott/) [A Worldview for Global ChangeIdealism, cosmology & regenerative economics with Jude Currivan & Bernardo Kastrup 27th January 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-103.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/image-2--1--3.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-a-worldview-for-global-change/) [Why Bernardo is distressed by the idea of a soul3rd Feb 2026 - Bernardo Kastrup & Marjorie Woollacott on Near Death, Duality & Seeing without Eyes![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-108.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/ChatGPT-Image-Feb-2--2026--11_40_50-AM-2.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/duality-near-death-soul-with-guest-marjorie-woollacott-2/) [Meaning doesn’t need time, the ego does - with Dr Julia Mossbridge10th Feb 2026 Bernardo Kastrup & Julia Mossbridge on what time teaches us about reality![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-110.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/cropped-Ep.-8-Julia-Mossbridge-edit2.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dr-julia-mossbridge/) [Seeing Without Eyes: The cusp of a major step forward?18th Feb 2026 Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup on naturalism, empiricism & following your own intuition![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-114.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1512238701577-f182d9ef8af7)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/seeing-without-eyes-2/) [“Western thought has produced some monsters” - Dr Athena Potari on reviving the non-duality of ancient Greece24th Feb 2026 | Dialogue with Bernardo Kastrup![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-116.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Asset-14.5--5--1.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-hidden-non-duality-of-ancient-greece/) [“Not one serious defender of materialism left”On the future & past of idealism, non-human civilisations, ethics, & the place for prayer![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-173.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/bernardo-7.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/not-one-serious-defender-of-materialism-left/) [What the shadows reveal..On Blackholes, Jung & karma | 12th March 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-213.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/bernardo-blackhole-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/shadows-reveal/) [Mathematics, Apollo, Dionysus & TruthReconciling the unreasonable effectiveness & limits of maths | 18th March 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-217.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindNour Elhuda Zuraiki![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Maths---Archetype.png-1.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/mathematics-the-archetypes-of-mind/) [The biggest misunderstandings about archetypes, synchronicity & causalityOn Jung, multiple perspectives & physics | Q&A 24th March 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-222.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/bernardo-pyramid-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/archetypes-synchronicity/) [A symphony of intuition & reasonKeys to a powerful, balanced mind & a new foundation for your life | Q&A 31st May 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-228.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/integratio-image.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/living-idealism-2/) [Iain McGilchrist, Bernardo Kastrup: to perceive is to participate in realityOn meaning, the daimon, & is time made of flow or frames? | 7th April 2026![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/iainbernardo.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/iain-mcgilchrist-2/) [We need a mildly schizophrenic relationship to myth.Religion as neither true of false | Recording with Bernardo Kastrup on More Than Allegory | 14th April 2026 Q&A![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/960px-Andrej_Ruble--v_001-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/more-than-allegory-recording/) [Explanation vs ComputationOn the archetype of humanity’s ultimate breakthrough | Q&A 21st April 2026![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindNour Elhuda Zuraiki![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/01/Explanation--computation-and-reality.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/explanation-computation/) [Is there a moon when no one is looking? On Rovelli & Relational Quantum MechanicsBernardo on the incoherence of physicalist assumptions - recording 29th April 2026![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindNour Elhuda Zuraiki![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1562832135-14a35d25edef)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/rovelli-relational-quantum-mechanics/) [Questioning consensus realityPatrick Harpur on how even the literal is metaphor | Dialogue with Bernardo Kastrup recorded Wed 13th May 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-232.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/patrick-bernardo-5.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/patrick-harpur-reality-in-two-modes/) [The Feminine, The Masculine & The Collective ShadowIs the fundamental archetype of nature the feminine? | AMA with Bernardo Recorded 19th May 2026![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w1200/2026/05/The-Priestess--no-2--3-copy-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/feminine-masculine/) [Seeing through the illusion of selfand remembering life before birth. Recording 26th May, 2026![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Thi--ch_Qua--ng_--u----c_self-immolation-2-1-60fea96668672b1e8ccf3aafca500eda7f737ad81ee8a91ae52e780c49b7b86e.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/seeing-through-the-illusion-of-self/) [Birth..and why your life is not a test | Recording of Bernardo on the origin of thought, creativity & life, 2nd June 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-de85a343-ad83-4a6c-ae0d-2f805452bbe4.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Blue-Womb_WebFile-3-13c3b012-2a04-479f-acc0-78a2e58d961c.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/birth/) [You are the one free miracleWhy is nature this way, not that? | Recorded Q&A Bernardo Kastrup, 10th June 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-663880bd-54d0-46f2-9a31-8b714418ce92.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1536197531100-50b27f49a08c-1-bc37b21b-33a1-4ae5-a6ae-a7c3ce62339d.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/one-free-miracle/) [Dreams of realityIf you want to wake up to reality, dreams might be nature’s biggest clue | Q&A Recording with Bernardo 17th June 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-0e1d9e25-a541-4c06-96f0-70c3b59a6d39.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Dreaming-Under-Red-Moon_WebFile-4-1-ef5cf009-e5ec-420b-8b0e-3a05a498414c.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dreams-of-reality/) [Overwhelming evidence for purpose, but is it instinctive or planned?Recording: Jude Currivan & Bernardo Kastrup, 23rd June 2026, exploring a living, evolving universe![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-69f84efa-fa35-425a-84f0-d463e3237edf.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/image-2--1--500b367b-18ac-4f85-9be9-ed97c0535b26.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/instinct-or-plan/) [Bernardo’s caution to young philosophersGoing with the flow isn’t easy | Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup 30th June 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-74e5976a-2d95-4848-a4c8-78bcadded08c.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1518467166778-b88f373ffec7-8a968694-bf90-4b72-a75d-856b10c3375f)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/flow/) [AI, consciousness & awakening | Shamil ChandariaRecording: In a world of words... could AI wake up? Shamil Chandaria in dialogue with Bernardo Kastrup | 7th July, 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-eb56976b-8f1b-449b-ab0c-b160b750cf21.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Asset-14.5--13--6e2aabb4-bdbf-4b3c-9550-f813b1acd454.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ai-awakening/) [The freedom to transform suffering to joySthaneshwar Timalsina & Bernardo Kastrup on the joy, horror & meaning of existence | 14th July 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-83dd615f-c657-4b55-9587-e401a7f4db1f.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Asset-14.5--14--1-ac0e68d5-94e0-4cfd-abc0-3e3b3f00cf85.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/suffering-meaning-joy/) [Rupert Spira: on the heights of awakening & the depths of sorrow.Recorded dialogue with Bernardo Kastrup. 21st July 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-9ce08d34-99e2-472a-aa2c-8265eb1071cc.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Asset-14.5--18--2613cf0e-b756-48a5-bf29-9c076a9f179d.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/rupert-spira/) [The Odyssey: An ancient guide to awakening with Athena PotariRecording: 28th July 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-cca228ce-0967-4407-ba70-62672fd90f75.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Asset-14.5--22--1-004bd20f-df9d-492d-a5f6-9580c3af10cd.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-odyssey/) [Are we in a shared world, or a private dream?Objective vs Subjective Idealism | Recorded with Bernardo 4th August 2026.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-a3f002bf-bd0f-4ba4-9486-d4212515f2ea.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/unnamed--1--044a3f58-482b-4f5e-a42b-7202d7a26c2b.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/shared-world-or-private-dream/) [As part of Universal Consciousness, can you really change the world?Recording with Bernardo, 11th Aug 2026 | Perception, Agency and if God can have a point of view![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-1523a20c-3369-4b25-933e-7921a99944bc.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1766849854941-baa2b5727586-417081ca-de76-4788-ad17-700be8c4b846.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/agency/) [Dr. Anita Goel: Quantum effects in living systems?RECORDING: Dialogue with Bernardo Kastrup at the frontier of biology, quantum physics, life & consciousness | 18th August, 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-57ab3bad-1971-468f-aa6a-f82c8637bbe2.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/anita-goel-22b9f4d8-1e7f-4e24-9bf9-1c86d77bb80a.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/anita-goel-2/) [The scientist & the wounded healer.Science is one powerful tool, but life requires many. On Western Enlightenment, neural correlates and IIT aiming at Markov Blankets | Recording with Bernardo Kastrup 25th Aug 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-dce94542-17d6-4aa6-965a-81e958db4ef5.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/The_Doctor_Luke_Fildes_crop-1-1-4dcdfd77-048b-4836-8076-9599530f5ffd.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/scientist-healer/) [Science fiction, eat your heart out: Michael Levin redefining the rules of lifeRecorded dialogue: Michael Levin with Bernardo Kastrup 26th August 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-3999efa7-57ad-4643-b68c-6bfdef22b9fb.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1678739250880-91f47ba0ddb9-f1708d63-0fb7-4fa9-8547-9ec630f9e60d.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-2026a/) For upcoming events [click here](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/schedule/) ### Search past meetings URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/search-past-meetings/ Last updated: 2026-05-14T15:43:32.000Z One of our members, Jesse Niemelä, has created this incredible feature so you can search all the transcripts from previous meetings, and jump straight to that part of the recording. You can access it here: _This page is for paying subscribers only._ ### Recordings Archive URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recordings/ Last updated: 2026-10-05T15:40:39.000Z With Reality in Mind recording library ## Conversations for life Meetings, Q&As and special guests including Rupert Spira, Michael Levin, Iain McGilchrist and many more. Search recordings Clear Search titles, timestamps and meeting descriptions. Transcript search is available to members. Select a matching transcript passage to open that section in the recording. Include transcripts (for [members](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/membership/)) The complete collection ### All recordings Oldest first ← → No recordings matched the available text. Try a broader word or another topic. Popular sessions with Bernardo ### Featured & recommended ← → Special sessions ### Conversations with guests ← → Follow an idea ### Browse by topic The complete collection ### All recordings — list view Loading recordings… Oldest first ### Upcoming Weekly Meetings URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/schedule/ Last updated: 2026-10-01T18:24:01.000Z With Reality in Mind · Live programme # Upcoming weekly meetings Regular meetings with Bernardo Kastrup are **every Tuesday** and feature deep dives, special guests and Q&As to deepen our understanding of idealism and its implications. [Upcoming dates ↓](#ws-confirmed)[Shape future discussions ↓](#ws-shape)[Recordings →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recordings/) ## Next Meeting [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w960/2026/09/Henri_Rousseau_-_Il_sogno-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/simulation-or-a-dream/) Tuesday, 15 September 2026 ### Is this a simulation, or a dream? 6–8pmLondon (UTC+1) Is Mind at Large a matrix or a mirror? On fine-tuning, near death & negating deception [Open meeting page →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/simulation-or-a-dream/)[Add to calendar](data:text/calendar;charset=utf-8,BEGIN%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0AVERSION%3A2.0%0D%0APRODID%3A-%2F%2FWRIM%2F%2FMeetings%2F%2FEN%0D%0ABEGIN%3AVEVENT%0D%0AUID%3Awrim-6a9c0063b60ece00016695ae%40withrealityinmind.com%0D%0ADTSTAMP%3A20260910T163902Z%0D%0ADTSTART%3A20260915T170000Z%0D%0ADTEND%3A20260915T190000Z%0D%0ASUMMARY%3AIs%20this%20a%20simulation%5C%2C%20or%20a%20dream%3F%0D%0ADESCRIPTION%3AOpen%20the%20meeting%20page%20for%20current%20details%20and%20member%20access.%0D%0AURL%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.withrealityinmind.com%2Fsimulation-or-a-dream%2F%0D%0AEND%3AVEVENT%0D%0AEND%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0A)[Join the discussion →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/simulation-or-a-dream/) Plan ahead ## Coming up Open a planned session for its introduction, zoom link and member discussion. Schedule subject to change based on speaker availability and the evolving conversation. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w960/2026/09/Philip_de_Loutherbourg_Book_of_Job-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/god-soul-the-problem-of-evil/) Tuesday, 22 September 2026 ### [God, soul & the problem of evil](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/god-soul-the-problem-of-evil/) 6–8pmLondon (UTC+1) 22nd Sept | A dialogue with guest Jamey Hecht [View session →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/god-soul-the-problem-of-evil/)[Add to calendar](data:text/calendar;charset=utf-8,BEGIN%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0AVERSION%3A2.0%0D%0APRODID%3A-%2F%2FWRIM%2F%2FMeetings%2F%2FEN%0D%0ABEGIN%3AVEVENT%0D%0AUID%3Awrim-6a992de41061a90001f0e858%40withrealityinmind.com%0D%0ADTSTAMP%3A20260910T163908Z%0D%0ADTSTART%3A20260922T170000Z%0D%0ADTEND%3A20260922T190000Z%0D%0ASUMMARY%3AGod%5C%2C%20soul%20%26%20the%20problem%20of%20evil%0D%0ADESCRIPTION%3AOpen%20the%20meeting%20page%20for%20current%20details%20and%20member%20access.%0D%0AURL%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.withrealityinmind.com%2Fgod-soul-the-problem-of-evil%2F%0D%0AEND%3AVEVENT%0D%0AEND%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0A) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w960/2026/02/bernardo.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/29th-sept/) Tuesday, 29 September 2026 ### [Meeting with Bernardo - 29th Sept](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/29th-sept/) 6–8pmLondon (UTC+1) Weekly meeting with Bernardo 29th Sept 2026 | 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm EDT [View session →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/29th-sept/)[Add to calendar](data:text/calendar;charset=utf-8,BEGIN%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0AVERSION%3A2.0%0D%0APRODID%3A-%2F%2FWRIM%2F%2FMeetings%2F%2FEN%0D%0ABEGIN%3AVEVENT%0D%0AUID%3Awrim-6a8f5facc4b2c800013db346%40withrealityinmind.com%0D%0ADTSTAMP%3A20260910T163915Z%0D%0ADTSTART%3A20260929T170000Z%0D%0ADTEND%3A20260929T190000Z%0D%0ASUMMARY%3AMeeting%20with%20Bernardo%20-%2029th%20Sept%0D%0ADESCRIPTION%3AOpen%20the%20meeting%20page%20for%20current%20details%20and%20member%20access.%0D%0AURL%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.withrealityinmind.com%2F29th-sept%2F%0D%0AEND%3AVEVENT%0D%0AEND%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0A) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w960/2026/09/photo-1613279213467-4c511945631e-1.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/death/) Tuesday, 6 October 2026 ### [Death](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/death/) 6–8pmLondon (UTC+1) A session with Bernardo Kastrup on what death is and what it means under Analytic Idealism. [View session →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/death/)[Add to calendar](data:text/calendar;charset=utf-8,BEGIN%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0AVERSION%3A2.0%0D%0APRODID%3A-%2F%2FWRIM%2F%2FMeetings%2F%2FEN%0D%0ABEGIN%3AVEVENT%0D%0AUID%3Awrim-6a98975b1061a90001f0e7df%40withrealityinmind.com%0D%0ADTSTAMP%3A20260910T163929Z%0D%0ADTSTART%3A20261006T170000Z%0D%0ADTEND%3A20261006T190000Z%0D%0ASUMMARY%3ADeath%0D%0ADESCRIPTION%3AOpen%20the%20meeting%20page%20for%20current%20details%20and%20member%20access.%0D%0AURL%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.withrealityinmind.com%2Fdeath%2F%0D%0AEND%3AVEVENT%0D%0AEND%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0A) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w960/2026/09/Avi_Loeb_in_2023_02-1-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/avi-loeb/) Tuesday, 20 October 2026 ### [Avi Loeb: UAPs, Non-human intelligence - evidence & implications](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/avi-loeb/) 6–8pmLondon (UTC+1) 20th Oct, 6-8pm UK / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm ET | Dialogue with Bernardo Kastrup [View session →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/avi-loeb/)[Add to calendar](data:text/calendar;charset=utf-8,BEGIN%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0AVERSION%3A2.0%0D%0APRODID%3A-%2F%2FWRIM%2F%2FMeetings%2F%2FEN%0D%0ABEGIN%3AVEVENT%0D%0AUID%3Awrim-6a9844ce1061a90001f0e6f4%40withrealityinmind.com%0D%0ADTSTAMP%3A20260910T163933Z%0D%0ADTSTART%3A20261020T170000Z%0D%0ADTEND%3A20261020T190000Z%0D%0ASUMMARY%3AAvi%20Loeb%3A%20UAPs%5C%2C%20Non-human%20intelligence%20-%20evidence%20%26%20implications%0D%0ADESCRIPTION%3AOpen%20the%20meeting%20page%20for%20current%20details%20and%20member%20access.%0D%0AURL%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.withrealityinmind.com%2Favi-loeb%2F%0D%0AEND%3AVEVENT%0D%0AEND%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0A) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w960/2026/09/Thomas-Pollack-smiling-1.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/pollak/) Tuesday, 3 November 2026 ### [Are you one mind or many? Dr Thomas Pollak](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/pollak/) 6–8pmLondon (UTC+0) 3rd Nov. Psychiatry & idealism in conversation: 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm ET [View session →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/pollak/)[Add to calendar](data:text/calendar;charset=utf-8,BEGIN%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0AVERSION%3A2.0%0D%0APRODID%3A-%2F%2FWRIM%2F%2FMeetings%2F%2FEN%0D%0ABEGIN%3AVEVENT%0D%0AUID%3Awrim-6a981e7c1061a90001f0e65e%40withrealityinmind.com%0D%0ADTSTAMP%3A20260910T164110Z%0D%0ADTSTART%3A20261103T180000Z%0D%0ADTEND%3A20261103T200000Z%0D%0ASUMMARY%3AAre%20you%20one%20mind%20or%20many%3F%20Dr%20Thomas%20Pollak%0D%0ADESCRIPTION%3AOpen%20the%20meeting%20page%20for%20current%20details%20and%20member%20access.%0D%0AURL%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.withrealityinmind.com%2Fpollak%2F%0D%0AEND%3AVEVENT%0D%0AEND%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0A) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w960/2025/09/michael-bernardo-sally-annette2.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-2026/) Wednesday, 2 December 2026 ### [Michael Levin: Mind is Everywhere](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-2026/) 6–8pmLondon (UTC+0) 2026 dialogue part 2: dialogue on the frontier of biology, computer science and philosophy [View session →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-2026/)[Add to calendar](data:text/calendar;charset=utf-8,BEGIN%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0AVERSION%3A2.0%0D%0APRODID%3A-%2F%2FWRIM%2F%2FMeetings%2F%2FEN%0D%0ABEGIN%3AVEVENT%0D%0AUID%3Awrim-6980c9ab330cbe0001714c70%40withrealityinmind.com%0D%0ADTSTAMP%3A20260910T164045Z%0D%0ADTSTART%3A20261202T180000Z%0D%0ADTEND%3A20261202T200000Z%0D%0ASUMMARY%3AMichael%20Levin%3A%20Mind%20is%20Everywhere%0D%0ADESCRIPTION%3AOpen%20the%20meeting%20page%20for%20current%20details%20and%20member%20access.%0D%0AURL%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.withrealityinmind.com%2Fmichael-levin-2026%2F%0D%0AEND%3AVEVENT%0D%0AEND%3AVCALENDAR%0D%0A) A conversation we shape together ## Help shape future discussions Explore proposed themes below and join the discussion. Dates to be confirmed. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w960/2025/09/michael-bernardo-sally-annette2.png)Date to be confirmedMichael Levin: Mind is EverywhereExplore & contribute →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-2026/)[![](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1508751252012-9ed1d2377ca5?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDE3fHxwdXBwZXRzfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4ODUyMzYwMHww&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=960)Date to be confirmedFree Will?Explore & contribute →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/free-will/)[![](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1559151925-02d40229f478?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDF8fHZpYnJhdGlvbnxlbnwwfHx8fDE3NjczNzk5NjV8MA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=960)Date to be confirmedMeditation & EnlightenmentExplore & contribute →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meditation-enlightenment/)[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w960/2025/12/ChatGPT-Image-Dec-27--2025--04_07_41-PM.png)Date to be confirmedAmbassadorship: Obstacles & OpportunitiesExplore & contribute →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/obstacles-to-ambassadorship/)[![](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1477414348463-c0eb7f1359b6?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDEyM3x8aWRlYXxlbnwwfHx8fDE3NzQ4OTUzODl8MA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=960)Date to be confirmedShare your idea or inspiration with BernardoExplore & contribute →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/share/)[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w960/2026/06/photo-1549497538-303791108f95.jpeg)Community suggestionsGuest SuggestionsSuggest a guest →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/guest-suggestions/)[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w960/2026/02/bernardo.png)Date to be confirmed“Ask my anything” with BernardoExplore & contribute →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ask-my-anything-with-bernardo/) ### Bring a question. Join the discussion. Like questions that interest you, reply to develop an idea, or share a resource. Questions are selected for relevance, clarity and community engagement; a vote does not guarantee selection. Sessions with guests prioritise the dialogue with Bernardo, questions relevant to both speakers and the emerging themes. This means questions may more often comefrom the live chat, if time permits. [Read the question guide →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/) ### Join the weekly meetings Become a member to join our weekly live calls and access all recordings. [Join →](#/portal/signup) Already a member? Open the relevant meeting page to access the session. New to idealism? [Start here](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/newcomers-start-here/). Continue an earlier conversation ## Previous meetings & questions Visit the [recordings archive →](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recordings/) to watch or listen. The introductions and question threads remain available below. Browse the meeting intro and question archive [**11th March 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/11th-march-dreams-deep-sleep-the-continuity-of-self/) **\- Dreams, Deep Sleep & The Continuity of Self** [**18th March 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/18-march-death-near-death-reincarnation/) **\- Death, Near Death and Reincarnation** [**25th March 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/25th-march-the-purpose-of-life-the-meaning-of-suffering-2/) **\- The Purpose of Life & The Meaning of Suffering** [**1st April 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/1st-april-what-nature-represents-2/) **\- What Nature Represents** [**8th April 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/8th-april-quantum-entanglement-wave-function-2/) **\- Quantum Entanglement & What Science Says About Idealism** [**15th April 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/buddhism-emptiness-idealism/) **\- Buddhism, Emptiness & Idealism #1** [**22nd April 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/22nd-april-swami-sarvapriyanda-bernardo-kastrup-in-dialogue/) **\- Swami Sarvapriyananda** [**29th April 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/29th-april-buddhism-emptiness-idealism-2/) **\- Buddhism, Emptiness & Idealism #2: Panel discussion** [**6th May 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/tues-6th-of-may-share-your-introduction-or-idea-on-idealism/) **\-** **Members' meeting: Share your introduction to idealism / Focus Groups!** [**THURSDAY 8th May 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/thurs-8th-may-mystical-spiritual-psychedelic-experiences/) **\- Spiritual, mystical and psychedelic experiences** [**13th May 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/13th-may-rupert-spira-bernardo-kastrup/) **\- Rupert Spira** [**20th & 27th May 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/spiritual-leadership-living-an-example/) **\- Spiritual practice, leadership and living by example** [**3rd June 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/3rd-june-ethics/) **\- Idealism and ethics** [**17th June 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/10th-june-therapeutic-implications-of-idealism-with-guest-alexey-tolchinsky/)**\- Can meaning be healing? On the therapeutic implications of idealism..** [**24th June 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/could-idealism-transform-society/) **\- Future directions: the impact of idealism on society** [**1st of July 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/could-idealism-transform-society/) **\- Future directions Q&A continued: Science & Religion** [**15th July 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/8th-july-agentic-artifici-the-future-of-humanity/) **\- Agentic Artificial Intelligence - a conduit to mind at large?** [**22nd July 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/integrated-information-theory/) **\- Integrated Information Theory and Idealism #1** [**29th July 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/christof-koch-2/) **\- Christof Koch: Integrated Information Theory and Idealism #2** [**5th August 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/exceptional-human-experiences/) **\- Idealism and exceptional human experience** [**12th August 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meaning-in-absurdity/) **\- Meaning in Absurdity: UAPs, High strangeness** [**19th August 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/uap-high-strangeness-with-guest-jeffrey-kripal/) **\- UAP Q&A continued, with guest Jeffrey Kripal PhD** [**August 26th 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-daimon-the-soul-of-the-west/)**: Daimon and the Soul of the West - Book Launch** A discussion on the launch of [Bernardo's new book. ](https://www.amazon.com/Daimon-Soul-West-identity-sacrificial/dp/1803419490?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [**Sept 2nd 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/special-guest-patrick-harpur/)**: Special guest: Patrick Harpur** In discussion on Bernardo's new book. [**Sept 9th 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-western-path/)**: The Western Path of meaning: your nature-given birthright** [**Sept 16th 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/16th-sept-creativity-expression-art/) **\- Creativity, Expression & the Noumenon** [**24th Sept 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/wed-24th-sept-michael-levin/) **\- Special guest: Michael Levin - on the intelligence pervading life and the Platonic Realm** [**30th Sept 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/creativity-the-western-path-q-a-continued/) **\- Creativity & Western Path Q&A** [**7th Oct 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/kashmiri-shaivism-with-sthaneshwar-timalsina/) **\- Kashmiri Shaivism with Sthaneshwar Timalsina** [**14th Oct 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond) **\- The dials, the dashboard and beyond #1** [**28th Oct 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond) **\- The dials, the dashboard and beyond #2** [**4th Nov 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond) **\- The dials, the dashboard and beyond #3** [**11th Nov 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-body-and-its-boundaries/) **\- The body and it's boundaries** [**18th Nov 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-q-a/) \- **Michael Levin Q&A** [**25th Nov 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/christopher-timmerman-dmt-entities-pure-conscious-experience/) **\- Christopher Timmerman: DMT, pure consciousness & entities** [**8th Dec 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/james-hollis/) **\- James Hollis -** American Jungian psychoanalyst, author, and public speaker [**9th Dec 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/on-conception-birth-and-dna/) **\- On Conception, Birth, DNA & Death** [**16th Dec 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/is-love-fundamental/) **\- Is love fundamental?** [**23rd Dec 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/solstice-the-symbol-of-light/) **\- Solstice and the symbol of light** [**30th Dec 2025**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/30th-dec-threshold-to-the-new-year/) **\- Threshold to the New Year** [**6th & 13th Jan 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/time/) **\- Time** [**27th Jan 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-business-of-idealism/) **\- A Worldview for Global Change** [**3rd Feb 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/near-death-duality-soul-with-guest-marjorie-woollacott/) **\- Duality, Near-Death & Soul, with guest Marjorie Woollacott** [**10th Feb 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-future-of-time-with-dr-julia-mossbridge/) **\- Seeing future, changing past, with Dr Julia Mossbridge** [**18th Feb 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/seeing-without-eyes/) **\- The biggest challenge to Bernardo’s Naturalism: Seeing Without Eyes** [**24th Feb 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-daimon-non-duality-in-ancient-greece-with-dr-athena-potari/) **\- The Daimon & Western Non-Duality in Ancient Greece | Dr Athena Potari** [**3rd March 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-4/) **\- AMA Meeting with Bernardo** [**12th March 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo/) **\- Meeting with Bernardo** [**18th & 24th March 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/maths-archetypes/) **\- Maths & Archetypes** [**31st March 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/living-idealism/) **\- Actually experiencing idealism: challenges & gifts** [**2026 — date unconfirmed**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/integrating-the-experience-of-idealism/) **\- Integrating the experience of idealism** [**7th April 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/iain-mcgilchrist/) **\- Iain McGilchrist** [**14th April 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/more-than-allegory/) **\- More than Allegory** [**21st April 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/explanation-computation-and-reality/) **\- Explanation, Computation, and Reality** [**29th April 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/physics-deep-dive-relational-process-views/) **\- Physics Deep Dive - Relational & Process Views** [**5th May 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-3/) **\- Meeting with Bernardo** [**13th May 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/patrick-harpur-archetypes-daimons/) **\- Patrick Harpur - Archetypes, Daimons & the Western Mind** [**19th May 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ama-meeting-with-bernardo/) **\- AMA Meeting with Bernardo** [**26th May 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/awakening/) **\- Awakening** [**2nd June 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-birth-of-thought/) **\- The Birth of Thought** [**10th June 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/why-am-i-now/) **\- Why am I here & now, not there & then?** [**16th June 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dreams/) **\- Dreams** [**23rd June 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/physics-time-purpose/) **\- Dr Jude Currivan: Time is real, reality has purpose** [**30th June 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-today-on-the-rich-symbolism-of-life/) **\- The rich symbolism of life** [**30th June 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-6/) **\- Meeting with Bernardo** [**3rd March 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-4/) **\- AMA Meeting with Bernardo** [**7th July 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/shamil-chandaria-awakening-neuroscience-flourishing/) **\- Shamil Chandaria: Awakening, neuroscience & flourishing** [**14th July 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/sthaneshwar-timalsina/) **\- Sthaneshwar Timalsina: The world is your body** [**21st July 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/rupert-spira2/) **\- Rupert Spira: Direct recognition** [**28th July 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/odysseus/) **\- The spiritual homecoming of Odysseus, with Athena Potari** [**11th August 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/challenging-analytic-idealism-11th-august/) **\- Challenging Analytic Idealism** [**4th August 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-world/) **\- What is the world - Will, or just Representation?** [**11th August 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/11th-august/) **\- Q&A with Bernardo** [**11th August 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/gods-view/) **\- Does God have a point of view?** [**18th August 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/anita-goel/) **\- Anita Goel (MD, PhD): unifying physics, biology & consciousness** [**25th August 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/criticism-of-idealism/) **\- Criticism of Idealism** [**26th August 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-2026/) **\- Michael Levin on Mind Everywhere** [**1st Sept 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/1st-sept/) **\- Meeting with Bernardo** [**1st Sept 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/mind-at-large/) **\- Mind at Large** [**8th Sept 2026**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/1st-person-science/) **\- The Science of the 1st Person with Richard Lang** ## Posts ### Francis Lucille: Test your theory in the lab of life URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/francis-lucille-oct26/ Last updated: 2026-10-07T19:00:23.000Z "***Okay, you have your theory. Take it to the lab of life. Check it out."*** \- Francis Lucille In this dialogue, Bernardo asks non-dual teacher Francis Lucille to describe the impact this enquiry has had on his life. "Do you feel happy, today?" he asks. "Oh yes," responds Francis. And the more so the older he gets. Francis then describes what this really means in daily life, how to deal with empathy overload, what it is to truly encounter another human, and what meditation is. ### Meditate, Italian style For Francis, true meditation is simply the enquiry into consciousness. It doesn’t need a fancy robe, a cushion or particular posture. What is needed is enthusiasm and sincerity for the question. Your thoughts can wander as they will, there is no need for discipline. "It's more Italian, you see?" ### Test your philosophy in daily life Francis further contends that you can test this philosophy empirically. Not with objective measures like in physics, but by observing its effects in your life. "All that needs to be done is to try to live our life from this new perspective, that this apparently ordinary and limited consciousness, which is hearing these words right now, is, in fact, the consciousness of the universe, or is absolute, is cosmic. And that changes many things in our life. It changes the way we think. It changes the way we perceive the world. It changes the way we interact with others. It changes the way we react to events, unforeseen events in our life. And we don't need to conduct this kind of experiment all the time. We can't in the beginning. But from time to time, we try this new perspective." **We also discussed:** - How Western philosophy sidelined Eastern and African thought - Would a happy materialist gain anything from **non-duality**? - **Advaita Vedanta** vs **Kashmir Shaivism** - Do we need a **tradition** or a guru? - Do we need to eliminate the subtle sense of "I"? I look forward to reading any reflections in the comments section, especially any results from testing your philosophy in the lab of life. Until next week! Amir Recording details Date: 6 October 2026 Duration: 2h 1m Topic: Happiness Free preview Title: Do you feel happy today? — Francis Lucille and Bernardo Kastrup Duration: 4m 12s https://vimeo.com/1233749033/0d7d4a1e36 Chapters 0:00:00 Welcome to ****Francis Lucille and Bernardo Kastrup** 0:01:14 What changes when we recognise ****one reality**? 0:02:55 Recording notice and meeting practicalities 0:04:18 Where do we look for ****happiness**? 0:08:45 Does ****death anxiety** disappear? 0:11:46 Who is—or is not—****enlightened**? 0:12:56 When understanding begins to ****sink in** 0:17:15 Desire fades as a ****greater light** emerges 0:20:17 Thoughts that point directly to ****consciousness** 0:22:12 Philosophy as ****lived experience** 0:28:39 Does understanding diminish our ****interest in the world**? 0:34:16 What does it mean to ****truly meet someone**? 0:42:23 Testing nonduality in the ****lab of life** 0:49:22 Can ****empathy and happiness** coexist? 0:56:24 Psychological suffering, ****resistance and feeling** 1:02:57 What about a ****naturally happy materialist**? 1:09:44 ****Advaita and Kashmir Shaivism**: a real difference? 1:15:42 ****Space, beauty and architecture** 1:22:45 Do we need a ****tradition or a teacher**? 1:28:48 Are we trying to communicate ****one reality**? 1:35:31 Disagreement, perspective and ****honesty with ourselves** 1:39:47 What does Francis mean by ****meditation**? 1:44:16 The ****subtle sense of self** in meditation 1:50:26 ****Nirvikalpa samadhi**: a glimpse outside time 1:53:39 “I’m not good at meditation”: ****discipline or spontaneity**? 2:01:10 Closing reflections and thanks Speakers Francis Lucille Francis Lucille studied mathematics and physics at the École Polytechnique in Paris. After graduating, he worked on missile testing for the French armed forces, but ceased all weapons-related work after discovering the writings of J. Krishnamurti. That encounter began an intense search into the nature of reality, which found its resolution shortly after meeting Advaita Vedanta teacher ****Jean Klein** in 1975\. Francis remained a close student and friend until Klein's death in 1998. Francis teaches internationally, bringing together the precision of his scientific background with a direct investigation of consciousness and experience. He has also translated works by Eastern and Western sages, including ****Meister Eckhart, Shankara and Parmenides**. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Rupert Spira URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/rupert-spira-2/ Last updated: 2026-10-08T19:17:38.000Z As you may know, Bernardo Kastrup and Rupert Spira have been inspiring each other for several years, in private and public conversations that continuously deepen their respective understandings. Rupert Spira's method centers on direct investigation of consciousness, emphasizing that awareness is not something we have, but what we are. His approach involves careful examination of immediate experience, asking you to verify through your own investigation that consciousness is the constant, unchanging reality in which all experiences appear and disappear. His dialogues with Bernardo have been an incredible convergence of non-dual spirituality and analytical philosophy. While they approach the question from different directions they arrive at the same fundamental conclusion on the nature of reality. As always, your curiosity and comments ahead of the event are welcome, and may help me prompt the dialogue between our speakers. You can read more about Rupert [here](https://rupertspira.com/about?ref=withrealityinmind.com). See you there, Amir Here are some previous dialogues that we've hosted: ## Zoom link Tues 19th Jan 2027 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm ET _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Community meeting: 12th Nov URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/community-meeting-12th-nov/ Last updated: 2026-10-01T19:40:45.000Z One of the most frequent requests in our recent member survey was to have more opportunities to connect with each other. I can see why. Every one of you I've met has been a delight to converse with, especially when we've had the chance to do so in person. So we've organised a community meetup, hosted by Jungian Groupwork Practitioner Boe Huntress. ### Suggest a topic in the comments below Bernardo Kastrup's ideas have given many of us a new way to see reality. This session is a chance to discuss with each other what they mean to us personally. In a facilitated space of 90 minutes, you will meet other members, talk in small groups and as a whole community. Our intention is to exchange ideas, make new connections, discover fresh perspectives, and create a stronger sense of belonging to the community. We'll have the opportunity to talk with each other live, rather than in the Zoom chat or Telegram group, whilst being held in a respectfully convened space. We hope you can join! ### About your facilitator ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/IMG_0703-1.jpg) Boe Huntress is a Jungian Groupwork Practitioner, trained at the Institute of Group Analysis. With over fifteen years of experience, her work explores archetypes, the soul-based life, creativity and non-duality. She teaches Group Analysis at three London universities for PhD students. ## Zoom Room Thurs 12th Nov 2026 6-7:30pm UK time / 7-8.30pm CET / 1-2:30pm ET _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The best time to be alive? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ai-utopia/ Last updated: 2026-09-28T16:22:23.000Z ***“You are alive in the most exciting and spectacular and dangerous period of the entire history of humanity and prehistory.”*** Bernardo Kastrup There are no guarantees. This could all go very badly, and in a large variety of ways. But it is humans who are the main risk, not a conscious AI. For Bernardo, a rogue AI makes for great movies, but is a distraction. It will possess superhuman intelligence, yes, reasoning and even mimic creativity. But it is unlikely to have its own agenda, and certainly not its own inner life. Bernardo predicts it will remain our tool, not a tyrant, and in this meeting, he explains why. Equally, it is wrong to underestimate its power. The technology will revolutionise every aspect of our lives, and no part of the economy will be left untouched. Current risks range from ecological damage to the development of biological weapons to AIs trained on values far from our own. Bernardo argues the responsibility is ours, and Europe could play a special role in implementing ethical AI. ### Tower of Babel or Garden of Eden? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/exec-2370a267-370d-4c15-b906-dced85c8d7a7.png) AI enhanced The Garden of Eden - British Textiles-Embroidered, 16th Century It is worth keeping at least one eye on the best-case scenario. "I do have hope" says Bernardo, "otherwise, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing." The technology unleashed will be indistinguishable from magic. If we build it right, and establish wise regulations, we could establish the conditions for a utopia. Solutions to climate change and cancer. A world in which food, shelter and medical care are available to everyone. Freedom from work we do only to survive. ***"I think it's possible. I'm not going to go as far as to say it's likely. But we have survived the past 100 years on the back of extraordinarily unlikely things.***" The challenge will then be psychological: what do we do with our time? What now is the meaning of life? For some, it will be a brutal initiation, and idealism will be needed more than ever. A philosophy that can recognise the unique role we have as sentient beings, and the deep value our lives have beyond our capacity to work, or even think. A philosophy to counter-balance trans-humanist projections of the divinity onto AI, likely a compensation for a materialist culture that has suppressed spiritual life. A philosophy that can inform how artificial intelligence, as a manifestation of a deep archetype in nature, might even feed back into metacognition in Mind at Large. Whatever lies ahead, I am so grateful you are here, engaged in the conversation. **We also discussed:** - Why Europe is the best hope for ethical AI - Beating NVIDIA means a voice in the consciousness debate - The dangers of language & abstraction - Transhumanism, womb envy & the Chinese Room There is a free preview above. Non-members can get a one-off ticket [here](https://dandelion.events/e/y1m8r?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Please share your thought in the comments. There are many more perspectives on this worth hearing. I look forward to seeing you soon, Amir P.S. Thursday 1st Oct we have a **community meeting**, a chance to connect with each other and discuss how idealism is showing up (or not) in our daily lives. [Details here.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/community/) There is no meeting Tues 29 Oct. We next meet with Bernardo and nondual teacher [Francis Lucille](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/francis-lucille/) on Oct 6\. Recording details Date: 27 September 2026 Duration: 2h 5m Free preview Title: AI utopia—and the question of human worth Duration: 6m 33s https://vimeo.com/1230946431/3e2248c005 Chapters 0:00:00 Welcome and ****connection checks** 0:03:21 AI sovereignty in ****Brazil and Europe** 0:06:26 Have Bernardo’s views on consciousness ****AI** changed? 0:09:27 Why AI is intelligent, but not wise 0:11:28 How to get AI to ****Align** with our values 0:18:49 The battle for AI autonomy 0:21:02 AI incidents: ****accidents or warning signs**? 0:27:19 What is ****recursive self-improvement**? 0:30:13 Can we control AI’s ****physical reach**? 0:34:21 Why materialists make AI a religion 0:43:29 Beating NVDIA to win the consciousness debate 0:47:10 What does “AI is ****not conscious**” mean? 0:53:05 Could AI make ****mind at large self-reflective**? 0:54:21 AI: ****invention or archetypal manifestation**? 0:59:30 Does computation depend on ****interpretation**? 1:09:11 Why associations do not establish ****inner experience** 1:09:56 Is greater ****information integration** inevitable? 1:12:26 Where does the ****existential risk** lie? 1:14:56 How could we build ****better-aligned AI**? 1:18:35 AI’s ****ecological cost**: development and deployment 1:30:01 The unlimited potential of AI 1:39:14 What will it mean to ****be human**? 1:47:17 The utopia will need idealism 1:53:51 AI and the ****Tower of Babel** 1:56:11 Language and abstraction can be destructive Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Headless Way Q&A with Richard Lang URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/headlessq-a/ Last updated: 2026-09-23T19:47:08.000Z Richard Lang was our guest on the [10th of Sep](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/headless-way/), introducing the Headless way, a science of the first person that is of the deepest significance to our weekly enquiry. It is growing in popularity as an astonishingly simple way to notice fundamental truths about your experience, which for some people can be both thrilling and liberating. Richard was interviewed by [**Sam Harris on his podcast**](https://samharris.org/podcasts/181-illusory-self/?ref=withrealityinmind.com)and now features as a teacher on the [**Waking Up** ](https://wakingup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com)meditation app. In this online meeting, Richard will be talking about the Headless Way (including leading attendees through some of the experiments) and about what headlessness means to him. He will be answering questions that attendees submit during the meeting before a short period when attendees go into small breakout groups to meet others and share their experience. The meeting is free and open to anyone interested in this approach, and you can register here: [https://dandelion.events/e/j547y](https://dandelion.events/e/j547y?ref=withrealityinmind.com) With appreciation, Amir “***fascinating and profound***.” - Talulah M. ***"You may feel like you are missing something at first if you are not familiar with the headless way, but even if that is the case, I promise you it is worth it."*** \- Irene ***“simple and transformative, really an incredible gift of instantly changed perception” -*** Megan O'Hanlon ## Zoom Room Sun 11th Oct, 2026 6:30-8pm UK time / 7:30-9pm CEST / 1:30-3pm EDT Please register here: [https://dandelion.events/e/j547y](https://dandelion.events/e/j547y?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Belief in God URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/belief-in-god/ Last updated: 2026-10-05T16:59:27.000Z The celebrated neuroscientist Ramachandran [once asked](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFJPtVRlI64&ref=withrealityinmind.com) a split-brain patient if he believed in God. With his left brain he answered no. But with his right, he pointed to 'yes'. This dance of opposites and play of paradox makes explicit what many already suspect about our complicated relationship with the divine, and was central to this poetic dialogue between author Jamey Hecht and analytic philosopher Bernardo Kastrup. Bernardo's analytic conclusion has been that whilst the universe is conscious, that portion of it that sits outside of living beings, (what he calls Mind at Large, and we could conceivably call ‘God’), is not **meta**conscious. For Bernardo, its intelligence, creativity and purpose are as spontaneous and unplanned as the elaborate worlds we build each night in our dreams. We create them, but we do not plan them. They may have deep meaning, one that only becomes apparent upon later self-reflection. For Jamey, this conception of God seems to strip reality of the deepest meaning he intuits it to have: a genuine two-way relationship with the divine. Jamey recounts being liberated by Iain McGilchrist's study into the two ways we perceive the world. As a brief (and oversimplified) introduction: For the left brain hemisphere the world is made of knowable objects that we can understand and manipulate. For the right hemisphere, the world is one of context and relationships. Nothing is ever fully known, and surprise is always expected. The left, whilst invaluable, can be deluded by its own specious certainty and self-sufficiency. The right is able to take in the bigger picture and knows that both modes are needed. **"*It is as obvious to my left brain that there is no God as it is clear to my right brain that the living God is all there is.*" - Jamey Hecht** Jamey's intuition (echoed by many ancient traditions) that the purpose of creation is relationship that is the basis for his account of free will and his perspective on the problem of evil: A relationship with the divine is only possible in a universe with sufficient regularity to be meaningful, but sufficient freedom to allow us to choose. To choose to look beyond what we know, and whether and how we strive to relate to it. It is likewise this precarious balance that creates the conditions for the most beautiful blessing and the most horrific suffering that we know reality can occasion. The faith Jamey speaks of is **far** from fundamentalist. Dogma, whether theistic or atheistic, is a pitfall of excessive left-brain thinking. The right brain is open to truths it cannot prove, respecting analysis whilst emphasising context and relationship. Bernardo let analysis rest in this meeting, and engaged with Jamey’s proposal less as a philosopher, and more as a fellow human being facing the magnificent mysteries of life. Bernardo recognises both the value and limits of what his approach can offer: “I would be really shocked if analytic idealism were the whole truth. Even fairly disappointed if the story ended there. I defend it because I think it is the best next step we can take..." There is a short video preview available to everyone, you can read here a [**free chapter**](https://www.intotheism.com/sample-chapter-into-theism.pdf?ref=withrealityinmind.com) from Jamey’s book, *Into Theism* (soon to be published by Essentia Books), and of course, members can enjoy the whole conversation above. Needless to say, I could only hint at the depths of what was covered in this short introduction, but I hope I’ve whetted your appetite to investigate more. We also discussed: - The evidence of near death life review - How to understand evil - What is good? - The wise way to connect with timeless truths in untrue myth With warmest regards, Amir P.S. Our next meeting is now this coming Sunday instead of next Tuesday. Check the [schedule](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/schedule/) for updates. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Photo-by-Sophie-Woods-Hecht-Oct-22--2024-2.jpeg) Photo by Sophie Woods-Hecht Oct 22, 2024 at the Protestant Cemetery in Rome Recording details Date: 22 September 2026 Duration: 1h 59m Topic: Belief in God Free preview Title: Belief and disbelief — Jamey and Bernardo Duration: 9m 8s https://vimeo.com/1229614654/67735a1aaa Chapters 0:00:00 Welcome and meeting arrangements 0:03:07 Introducing ****Jamey Hecht** 0:06:31 ****Into Theism** and the divided brain 0:09:00 Two ways of ****paying attention** 0:12:07 Holding ****belief and disbelief** together 0:16:26 Do you mean a ****metaconscious God**? 0:18:05 Creation, ****relationship and freedom** 0:21:24 The limits of ****analytic idealism** 0:25:41 Can our relationship with the divine be ****two-way**? 0:29:58 The ****surface and depth** of the world 0:33:27 Was Schopenhauer’s will ****unconscious**? 0:34:56 Which experiences suggest ****divine intention**? 0:39:14 ****Divine sparks** and recognition after death 0:43:16 What persuades you? ****Intuition, art and experience** 0:48:36 Translating Sophocles: ****the next line comes through** 0:51:52 ****Suffering and joy** without denying either 0:55:59 Does analytic idealism ****exclude God**? 0:57:35 Approaching the ****problem of evil** 1:02:08 ****Natural evil** in a world of regularities 1:03:30 Can ****justice and mercy** be reconciled? 1:07:32 Is ****theodicy** inherently hubristic? 1:12:44 ****Job** and the certainty of his comforters 1:16:46 Does making ****myth literal** create conflict? 1:21:17 Shared values, different ****beliefs about facts** 1:27:16 ****Concretizing** myth versus taking it literally 1:30:35 Responding to myth ****as though it were true** 1:32:59 Religious practice as ****a lens for the sacred** 1:36:05 Where does our ****knowledge of evil** come from? 1:40:53 What if God is ****not what you expect**? 1:46:05 Bernardo: ****analytic idealism is not the whole truth** 1:49:20 What is ****good**? 1:52:25 Bernardo on the ****golden rule** 1:55:01 ****Be a little kinder**: closing reflections 1:56:24 Book publication and ****next meeting** Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Jamey-Hecht-1.png) Jamey Hecht Jamey Hecht, PhD, PsyD, LMFT is a psychoanalyst in private practice in Brooklyn, NY. He has published papers on literature, philosophy, art, film, and psychoanalysis in many scholarly journals, and poetry and fiction in some two dozen literary magazines. His books are: **Plato’s Symposium: Eros and the Human Predicament* (Twayne,1999); a translation with commentary, **Sophocles’ Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the Tyrant, Oedipus at Colonus* (Wordsworth Editions, 2005); Bloom’s **How To Write About Homer* (Chelsea, 2010); and two books of poetry: **Limousine, Midnight Blue* (Red Hen Press, 2009), and **Dodo Feathers: Poems 1989-2019* (IPB, 2019). His major work, **Into Theism: Overcoming Obstacles to Belief in God* will appear from Essentia Books in the Spring of 2027. He enjoys acting in Shakespeare plays, sculpting, and drawing comics. Publications: [www.jameyhechtauthor.com](https://l.gourl.es/l/2dc4beaea674e68f3c1ce8d837a3d4971ae94c5e?w=YW1pckBhZHZlbnR1cmVzaW5hd2FyZW5lc3MuY29t&u=12281217&ref=withrealityinmind.com) Clinical blog: [https://www.drjameyhecht.com/blog](https://l.gourl.es/l/ad0f865afcfbe9d47dbd8027f9a5ce84871eb22c?w=YW1pckBhZHZlbnR1cmVzaW5hd2FyZW5lc3MuY29t&u=12281217&ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Community meeting: Idealism in everyday life URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/community/ Last updated: 2026-09-29T19:27:55.000Z One of the most frequent requests in our recent member survey was to have more opportunities to connect with each other. I can see why. Every one of you I've met has been a delight to converse with, especially when we've had the chance to do so in person. So we've organised a community meetup, hosted by Jungian Groupwork Practitioner Boe Huntress. ### Idealism as a Lived Reality Bernardo Kastrup's ideas have given many of us a new way to see reality. This session is a chance to discuss how they impact our everyday life, as part of this extraordinary community. In a facilitated space of 90 minutes, you will meet other members, talk in small groups and as a whole community, to hear how others integrate these ideas into work, relationships, creativity, and daily life. Our intention is to exchange ideas, make new connections, discover fresh perspectives, and create a stronger sense of belonging to the community. We'll have the opportunity to talk with each other live, rather than in the Zoom chat or Telegram group, whilst being held in a respectfully convened space. We hope you can join! ### About your facilitator ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/IMG_0703-1.jpg) Boe Huntress is a Jungian Groupwork Practitioner, trained at the Institute of Group Analysis. With over fifteen years of experience, her work explores archetypes, the soul-based life, creativity and non-duality. She teaches Group Analysis at three London universities for PhD students. ## Zoom Room Thurs 1st Oct 2026 6-7:30pm UK time / 7-8.30pm CET / 1-2:30pm ET _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The liberating freefall beyond space-time... URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/not-a-simulation/ Last updated: 2026-09-17T14:16:06.000Z Recording details Date: 15 September 2026 Duration: 2h 10m 55s Free preview Title: The liberating freefall beyond space-time Duration: 9m 51s https://vimeo.com/1227406528/7908286029 Chapters 0:00:00 Bernardo’s Euclyd update 0:03:12 New website, scheduling and community updates 0:08:07 Is reality ****spontaneous or planned**? EXITS FROM THE FINE-TUNING PROBLEM 0:12:00 Doesn't ****fine-tuning** imply a plan? 0:13:15 Fine-tuning explained as ****first-person perspective** 0:18:20 Could ****Black holes** explain fine-tuning? 0:25:16 The ****birth of the first universe** 0:29:09 Fine-tuning the dashboard LIBERATION BEYOND SPACE TIME 0:32:38 Metacognition ****outside time**? 0:35:51 The limits of ****language and logic** 0:40:10 Letting go of our ****last safety line** 0:48:25 Silent teaching and the ****power of presence** WHY BERNARDO REJECTS THE SIMULATION HYPOTHESIS 0:51:36 Are we statistically likely to be in a ****simulation**? 1:01:55 Would ****science** still matter in a designed world? 1:09:24 Science, engineering and ****metaphysics** in a simulation 1:17:47 Chalmers & Kingsley on ****deception** 1:25:07 Why a simulation would invalidate empiricism 1:30:47 ****Near-death experiences**, life reviews and nested dissociation 1:35:01 Why would ****seeing without eyes** challenge naturalism? 1:41:26 What ****dreams** prove 1:46:39 Why do dreams contain a ****subject–object split**? 1:51:26 What defines the ****boundaries between minds**? REFUTING SOLIPSISM 1:54:45 Don't dream characters imply ****solipsism?** 1:59:07 ****Archetypal dreams** and semi-autonomous daimons 2:04:14 Solipsism is not ****parsimonious** 2:09:49 Closing thanks and ****community meetings** Despite some legitimate evidence, Bernardo rejects the idea that our reality is planned. Near-death life reviews. Statistical probability. The ways in which the universe seems so carefully calibrated for the unlikely emergence of life… These could all imply a deliberate design rather than spontaneous emergence, the scenario that Bernardo favours and argued for [two weeks back](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/mal-metaconsciousness/). He addresses each of these points in turn, drawing on new theories in physics and the practice of philosophy. Whilst we might be deceived about the nature of reality, it needn't mean that nature is deceptive. ### Freefall But what stayed with me at 4am last night was the dialogue that went beyond analytic philosophy, and beyond analysis altogether. There are limits to what can be said with language, but parts of this meeting came close: “***what is really going on is beyond thought, beyond logic, beyond language, beyond space, beyond time***” A few brave souls who loosen their attachment to personal identity, science, even to logic itself, might acquire a taste for this liberating freefall. Meanwhile, the conceptual maps we build still have purpose in their immediate applicability to life. You can click the clip above for a free preview of this section, and of course [members](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/membership/) can watch the whole show. Personally, I love the physics, but I keep coming back for the mysticism. Lucky for us, this meeting has both. We also discussed: - Why a plan implies we're in a simulation - How black holes could explain our fine-tuned universe - How Bernardo rejects solipsism - What dreams might prove about the nature of mind Also, next week we have Jamey Hecht advocating for a [theistic idealism.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/god-soul-the-problem-of-evil/) So the conversation continues, and I hope to see you there! With appreciation, Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Francis Lucille: Nonduality, physics & philosophy URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/francis-lucille/ Last updated: 2026-10-02T12:44:00.000Z "***When we don't carry any unsubstantiated beliefs about consciousness, something happens. Consciousness then is allowed to be what it truly is. It liberates itself.***" - Francis Lucille Francis Lucille brings the precision of his training in physics and mathematics to his teaching of nonduality: the simple and direct recognition of your true nature. Rupert Spira studied with him for 12 years, and his previous dialogues with Bernardo covered [enlightenment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI2gCGq-KpM&ref=withrealityinmind.com), [AI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QqV41LPSqc&ref=withrealityinmind.com) and [physics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN9PxGOOB20&t=4s&ref=withrealityinmind.com). ### Words at zero distance A highlight from their previous conversation was the observation that most words refer to something distant, or absent. Saying 'table' or 'chair' does not immediately conjure those things into your experience. But the words 'being', 'consciousness' and 'I' are different. What they refer to is already present in the experience of hearing them. They are recognised within themselves. When the sound dissolves, what remains in the timeless experience you already have. This singularity, for Francis, is the foundation of philosophy, which Bernardo called "the most original and compelling definition of philosophy I have heard." This coming Tuesday, their dialogue continues, bridging their shared love of science and philosophy with Lucille's teaching of nonduality. Joining details below. I look forward to seeing you there, Amir ### About Francis Lucille Francis Lucille studied mathematics and physics at the École Polytechnique in Paris. After graduating, he worked on missile testing for the French armed forces, but ceased all weapons-related work after discovering the writings of J. Krishnamurti. That encounter began an intense search into the nature of reality, which found its resolution shortly after meeting Advaita Vedanta teacher **Jean Klein** in 1975\. Francis remained a close student and friend until Klein's death in 1998. Francis teaches internationally, bringing together the precision of his scientific background with a direct investigation of consciousness and experience. He has also translated works by Eastern and Western sages, including **Meister Eckhart, Shankara and Parmenides**. ## Zoom Room Tues 6th Oct 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm ET _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### AI as an Archetypal Urge URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ai-as-archetype/ Last updated: 2026-09-25T10:24:33.000Z Whether AI can be conscious or not is one of the defining questions of our time; its answer will likely shape the role machines play in the future of our civilisation. An early motivation for Bernardo founding [EUCLYD](https://www.euclyd.ai/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) was to establish the credibility to be heard on this vital question, offering a philosophical view grounded in first-hand experience with the technology. EUCLYD has now raised one of the largest semiconductor funding rounds in European history, [co-led by Samsung](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/14/samsung-euclyd-ai-chip-funding.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Peter Wennink, former President of ASML, has [joined as chairman of the board](https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/09/dutch-ai-chip-startup-euclyd-lands-e200-million-series-a-taps-ex-asml-chief-peter-wennink-as-chairman/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Add Bernardo's two PhDs (one in computer engineering and artificial intelligence, the other in philosophy of mind), and for me at least, his perspective is one that deserves to be considered. [Last year](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-robots-will-be-tools-not-tyrants/) Bernardo shared why he believes AI will be **intelligent but not conscious**, and why, despite its many dangers, AI's lack of coherence makes a robotic tyranny unlikely. [More recently](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYAuQPn5szA&ref=withrealityinmind.com) he argued that developing AI is driven not by greed, but by an archetypal urge. "Nature will turn over every rock to investigate itself," and as expressions of nature, we are part of this wave. This coming Sunday, Bernardo will discuss his latest thinking on the topic, informed by recent developments in AI and his role in the industry, followed by audience Q&A. I look forward to seeing you there, Amir ## Zoom Room **Sun** 27th Sep 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm ET _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Death URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/death/ Last updated: 2026-09-13T12:34:26.000Z A discussion with Bernardo Kastrup on what death is and what it means under Analytic Idealism. ## Zoom Room Tues 13th Oct 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm ET _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The Science of the First Person with Richard Lang URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/headless-way/ Last updated: 2026-10-09T08:02:51.000Z Recording details Date: 8 September 2026 Duration: 1h 58m Topic: Consciousness & Mind Free preview Title: Galileo: Look for yourself Duration: 4:03 https://player.vimeo.com/video/1225744069?badge=0&autopause=0&player\_id=0&app\_id=58479&max\_quality=720p&quality\_selector=0&preload=none&autoplay=0&loop=0 Chapters 00:00 Welcome to ****Richard Lang** 03:34 The Headless Way: ****Who am I?** 08:05 A map of yourself at ****different distances** 12:16 The ****view in** and the ****view out** 13:44 Experiment: where do your ****hands** disappear? 14:27 Experiment: ****pointing back** at the one who looks 15:56 Meeting others ****face to no face** 18:06 What about ****touch** and the other senses? 19:04 Growing up: ****baby, child, adult, seer** 21:57 Are we really ****behind the eyes**? 23:25 Finding a language for ****first-person experience** 25:48 The body as ****object** and the body as ****subject** 28:10 Douglas Harding’s map of ****body and mind** 31:47 Is the ****view out** limited to the human scale? 36:33 Experimenting with ****eyes closed** 38:26 If we are one, why do we have ****separate minds**? 46:36 ****Integrated Information Theory** and the experience of self 48:00 Do glasses or ****AI smart glasses** get in the way? 51:12 The void as ****mirror and projector** 52:26 ****Ernst Mach’s picture**: nothing to manufacture 54:08 Why doesn’t ****everyone see this**? 1:04:42 An experiment with ****time and timelessness** 1:08:37 Does time change across the ****different regions**? 1:12:16 ****Death**: what Richard knows and what he doesn’t 1:21:44 Sleep and ****altered states of consciousness** 1:25:07 ****Galileo**: looking for yourself and revising the model 1:30:05 In what sense can we ****feel the planet**? 1:32:19 Feeling trapped in a body: ****conditioning and practice** 1:40:33 Experiment: a ****tense hand** in an unstressed space 1:42:55 ****Conflict, empathy and boundaries** 1:50:41 Closing experiment: the ****whole field of experience** 1:55:09 Further ****experiments and meetings** 1:56:46 Bernardo’s ****dashboard of perception** and closing thanks ### Clues to reality in the dashboard of perception In 1886, physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach drew his famous "View from the Left Eye". It's a sketch of the world that doesn't take an imagined third-person perspective, but instead depicts reality as it actually shows up: The blur of a nose. The arch of an eyebrow. A body trailing off into a room, with no head in sight. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Ernst_Mach_Inner_perspective.jpg) Ernst Mach, Inner Perspective Mach's point was that this inner perspective, the Innenperspektive, is where all experience begins, and that we habitually overlook it in favour of the third-person view. This careful, empirical and direct investigation of experience was later developed by philosopher Douglas Harding as a "Science of the First Person". His *Hierarchy of Heaven and Earth* was called by C.S. Lewis “a work of the highest genius”, and gained the interest of contemporaries including Owen Barfield, Alan Watts and Aldous Huxley. “***Though in essence the same as Zen, Sufism, and other spiritual disciplines, this way proceeds in an unusually down-to-earth fashion.***” — Douglas Harding The approach claims you are more likely to see who you really are in a few minutes of experimentation than years of reading, meditation or traditional spiritual practice. Richard has been a lifelong student of this Headless Way, steeped in both its practice and philosophy. (His discussion with [**Sam Harris**](https://samharris.org/podcasts/181-illusory-self/?ref=withrealityinmind.com)is an excellent introduction.) Today, he will introduce some essential observations that you can verify for yourself, followed by a Q&A. Speakers Richard Lang Headless Way teacher and author Richard Lang is Co-ordinator of the Shollond Trust, the UK charity set up in 1996 to help share the Headless Way as widely as possible in the world. He first saw who he really was when he attended a workshop with Douglas Harding in 1970\. He is committed to making this Vision as widely available as possible. If you have a way in which you can help in this endeavour, or would like to invite him to give a workshop in your part of the world, please contact him. Richard's first book, [**Seeing Who You Really Are*](https://headless.org/harding-books/seeing-who-you-really-are?ref=withrealityinmind.com), was published by Watkins in 2003\. His second book, [**Open to the Source - Selected Teachings of Douglas Harding*](https://headless.org/harding-books/open-to-the-source?ref=withrealityinmind.com), was published by Inner Directions in 2005\. These publications are available through our [bookshop](https://headless.org/bookshop.htm?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Richard has also produced many videos about Seeing, which are available on The Headless Way [Youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/profile?user=headexchange&ref=withrealityinmind.com). [Visit Richard’s website ↗](https://headless.org/Contact/richard-lang.htm?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### The Science of the 1st Person with Richard Lang URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/1st-person-science/ Last updated: 2026-09-08T15:32:55.000Z A last-minute change: Sadly, Bernardo can no longer make it today because of urgent developments with work. He apologises and will make up for it with an extra session later this month. Instead, I'm delighted to welcome Richard Lang in his place. Richard is the world's foremost proponent of the Headless Way, a science of the first person that is of the deepest significance to our weekly enquiry. ### Clues to reality in the dashboard of perception In 1886, physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach drew his famous "View from the Left Eye". It's a sketch of the world that doesn't take an imagined third-person perspective, but instead depicts reality as it actually shows up: The blur of a nose. The arch of an eyebrow. A body trailing off into a room, with no head in sight. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Ernst_Mach_Inner_perspective.jpg) Ernst Mach, Inner Perspective Mach's point was that this inner perspective, the Innenperspektive, is where all experience begins, and that we habitually overlook it in favour of the third-person view. This careful, empirical and direct investigation of experience was later developed by philosopher Douglas Harding as a "Science of the First Person". His *Hierarchy of Heaven and Earth* was called by C.S. Lewis “a work of the highest genius”, and gained the interest of contemporaries including Owen Barfield, Alan Watts and Aldous Huxley. “***Though in essence the same as Zen, Sufism, and other spiritual disciplines, this way proceeds in an unusually down-to-earth fashion.***” — Douglas Harding The approach claims you are more likely to see who you really are in a few minutes of experimentation than years of reading, meditation or traditional spiritual practice. Richard has been a lifelong student of this Headless Way, steeped in both its practice and philosophy. (His discussion with [**Sam Harris**](https://samharris.org/podcasts/181-illusory-self/?ref=withrealityinmind.com)is an excellent introduction.) Today, he will introduce some essential observations that you can verify for yourself, followed by a Q&A. I look forward to seeing you there. With appreciation, Amir “***fascinating and profound***.” - Talulah M. ***"You may feel like you are missing something at first if you are not familiar with the headless way, but even if that is the case, I promise you it is worth it."*** \- Irene ***“simple and transformative, really an incredible gift of instantly changed perception” -*** Megan O'Hanlon ## Zoom Room Tues 8th Sept, 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm EDT _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Are you one mind or many? Dr Thomas Pollak URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/pollak/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T16:41:10.000Z If your body is the image of your mind, where is the boundary? What does it mean when this breaks down? And how many minds are you anyway? We know that an immune reaction can transform your thoughts, perceptions and entire sense of reality. For Dr Thomas Pollak, this is not simply a philosophical thought experiment but part of his clinical and scientific work. He is Psychiatrist at King's College London, a collaborator with [Michael Levin](https://thoughtforms.life/if-mind-is-everywhere-where-are-all-the-panpsychiatrists-a-neuropsychiatry-focussed-discussion/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) and a researcher who has already connected with Bernardo's work. He investigates the possibility that immunological disorders may be "self disorders" and the relationship between immune and psychological selves as areas worth exploring. His wider interests explore nested selves, dissociation, Buddhist psychology, meditation, mystical experience internal agency and the idea that the boundaries between minds might be more porous than we first think. ### Are you one or many? Thomas has suggested that psychiatry might benefit from seeing people as “collections of selves within larger selves”. He sees functional neurological disorder as particularly suggestive: a limb, perceptual system or bodily process may appear to act against the intentions of the person as a whole. He has also wondered whether intrusive thoughts and hallucinated voices could indicate forms of local agency. In this dialogue, Tom and Bernardo will explore what biological mechanisms do and do not explain about experience; whether the self is one thing or many; how we distinguish spiritual insight from psychosis; and what happens when the boundaries of mind and reality become less stable than they appear. - How can psychiatry inform idealism and what are the clinical implications? - How do the immunological self, psychological self & bodily self interact? - Could the boundaries between minds be more porous than we think? - Why AI seems to mediate **ego inflation rather than ego dissolution** --- ## About Dr. Thomas Pollak Dr Thomas Pollak is a psychiatrist and researcher at [King’s College London](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/thomas-pollak?ref=withrealityinmind.com) who works at the meeting point of the immune system, the brain and mental health. He is Reader in Immunopsychiatry at King’s and an Honorary Consultant Neuropsychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. His research focuses particularly on autoimmune encephalitis and on identifying cases of psychosis that may have an autoimmune cause. He co-runs a specialist clinic for people with suspected autoimmune disorders affecting the brain, and led an international group that developed criteria to help clinicians recognise and manage psychosis of suspected autoimmune origin. Tom trained in psychology, medicine, psychiatry and neurology. His wider interests include functional neurological disorders, long COVID, patients’ lived experience, meditation and contemplative practices, and the effects of artificial intelligence on belief and mental health. A long-term student of Buddhist meditation, he also writes about the borderlands between medicine, science, philosophy and spirituality. ## Zoom Link Tues 3rd Nov 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm ET _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### God, soul & the problem of evil URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/god-soul-the-problem-of-evil/ Last updated: 2026-09-19T17:57:45.000Z Do you think the belief in a metaconscious God and an enduring Soul could be compatible with Analytic Idealism? And if so, where does that leave the problem of evil? In recent sessions Bernardo shared his many reasons for rejecting a metaconscious creator, but this week is a chance to consider an alternative. Our guest is author, poet and psychoanalyst Jamey Hecht, presenting themes from his upcoming book *Into Theism: Overcoming Obstacles to Belief in God* (Essentia Books, 2027). He shares an introduction below on **Ontology**, (the philosophy of Being), **Cosmogony**, (the origin of the world), and **Thiodicy**, (the Problem of Evil): ### Ontology: A Compromise with Dualism? Theism and Analytic Idealism seem compatible, especially if either or both of them are construed flexibly. It can be illuminating to explore how they do or don't fit together. Neither entails the other, nor do they preclude one another in the same strong way that each precludes physicalism. As for substance dualism, it contradicts idealism's clear axiom that mental states are the only ontological primitive. The evidence that's typically called "anomalous" (the best of the NDE, reincarnation, mediumship, and apparition literatures) suggests, but does not require, that the individuated psyches that Bernardo's Analytic Idealism calls "alters" do (or can, at least) remain individuated after bodily death. The language of substance dualism can be useful here, even if we stay committed to idealist ontology. "Substance," per Thomas Aquinas, is any entity that exists by itself, apart from its "accidents," its secondary qualia. A postmortem soul that is physically undetectable under normal conditions, and localized (even if it can travel instantaneously, like thought), is a psychically dissociated alter. But in addition, it is perhaps an "immaterial substance" in that the dissociation no longer extends, as a body, into physicality. Indeed, only in anomalous moments does it extend into physicality anymore at all. ### Cosmogony: Theism and Analytic Idealism on the "Origin" This issue is the origin of the phenomenal world from the noumenal world, *with* a metaconscious Agent responsible for Creation, as under theism, or *without* such an Agent, as seems to be the case under Analytic Idealism. *With* a creating God, Time begins from within Eternity, in a first moment/first event. *Without* a creating God, the source of the physical universe is a nonmetaconscious and non-agentic Universal Consciousness (UC). Either the physical universe is coeternal with UC, or UC's worldmaking is similar to God's in having a first moment/first event that starts within Eternity. Per Heraclitus and Leibniz, time is the flow of events. Per Parmenides and Schopenhauer, eternity has no events (Bernardo calls it a crystal), in the same sense that the universe has no location: a totality has nothing "outside" it, in relation to which it could conceivably be situated, whether in time or in space. ### Theodicy: Natural Evil, within "What Nature Is and Does." Human Evil, inside vs outside of Embodiment. Leibniz coined the term *Theodicy* (*theos* "God" + *dikei* "justice") in 1710, referring to the problem of evil. He split it into "natural evil," including disasters like earthquakes and floods, and predation (the endless carnage of nature); and "human evil," the horror-show of our species' behavioral dark side, down to its unthinkable nadir. If the term "evil" is unacceptable, call it undeserved suffering. It can be anywhere, and it is always somewhere, present, past, and future. So any theism worth espousing will require an engagement with it, and this is attempted here. For anyone wanting a head start, the Theodicy chapter from *Into Theism* is [available online](https://www.intotheism.com/sample-chapter-into-theism.pdf?ref=withrealityinmind.com). ## About Jamey Hecht ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Jamey-Hecht-1.png) Jamey Hecht, PhD, PsyD, LMFT is a psychoanalyst in private practice in Brooklyn, NY. He has published papers on literature, philosophy, art, film, and psychoanalysis in many scholarly journals, and poetry and fiction in some two dozen literary magazines. His books are: *Plato’s Symposium: Eros and the Human Predicament* (Twayne,1999); a translation with commentary, *Sophocles’ Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the Tyrant, Oedipus at Colonus* (Wordsworth Editions, 2005); Bloom’s *How To Write About Homer* (Chelsea, 2010); and two books of poetry: *Limousine, Midnight Blue* (Red Hen Press, 2009), and *Dodo Feathers: Poems 1989-2019* (IPB, 2019). His major work, *Into Theism: Overcoming Obstacles to Belief in God* will appear from Essentia Books in the Spring of 2027\. He enjoys acting in Shakespeare plays, sculpting, and drawing comics. Publications: [www.jameyhechtauthor.com](https://l.gourl.es/l/2dc4beaea674e68f3c1ce8d837a3d4971ae94c5e?w=YW1pckBhZHZlbnR1cmVzaW5hd2FyZW5lc3MuY29t&u=12281217&ref=withrealityinmind.com) Clinical blog: [https://www.drjameyhecht.com/blog](https://l.gourl.es/l/ad0f865afcfbe9d47dbd8027f9a5ce84871eb22c?w=YW1pckBhZHZlbnR1cmVzaW5hd2FyZW5lc3MuY29t&u=12281217&ref=withrealityinmind.com) ## Zoom Room Tues 22nd Sep 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm ET _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Is this a simulation, or a dream? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/simulation-or-a-dream/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T16:39:02.000Z Two weeks ago, Bernardo shared the reasons he believes Mind at Large is *not* metaconscious and why this gives our lives meaning. The consistency of nature, the problem of evil, and the late evolution of metacognition all imply a universe that is instinctive rather than self-reflective. In this worldview, our ability to self-reflect is the special role that we (and some other animals) have: We are the universe waking up to its own dream. In previous meetings, however, we explored the counter-evidence. The common reports from near-death experiences that our lives are part of a deliberate plan. The fact that simulations will be possible makes it statistically likely we're already in one. And the fine-tuned physics of the early universe that allowed the unlikely emergence of life. This indicates a universe that knew what it was doing, right from the very start. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Photo-by-Igor-Omilaev---Unsplash.jpeg) Photo by Igor Omilaev / Unsplash Bernardo said there are "possible exits" from the fine-tuning argument for deliberate design, and would explain more if invited. ***Well, this coming week is that invitation!*** In this session, we'll hear Bernardo's arguments to reject a planned universe, even whilst he believes it has *instinctive* purpose. We'll also hear Bernardo's view that a deliberate design would strip science of meaning compared with David Chalmers' view that a simulated world [need not be deceptive.](https://consc.net/papers/matrix.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Whether you plan to come, or join spontaneously, I look forward to seeing you there. With appreciation, Amir ## Zoom room Tues 15th Sep 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm ET _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Free Will? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/free-will/ Last updated: 2026-09-05T15:49:16.000Z "***We must believe in free will. We have no choice.***" - Isaac Bashevis Singer You're free to ask a question about this topic below. Or maybe not. Either way, the discussion will be interesting... ## Zoom link Date yet to be determined _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Avi Loeb: UAPs, Non-human intelligence - evidence & implications URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/avi-loeb/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T16:39:33.000Z “***Unknown does not mean extraterrestrial, but it also should not be explained away without evidence.***” — Avi Loeb Few subjects produce unexamined certainty as quickly as "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena." Some people immediately assume aliens. Others assume a hoax. Avi Loeb begins somewhere less dramatic and more interesting: the search for better evidence. Professor Avi Loeb is a Harvard astrophysicist and leads the Galileo Project, a systematic scientific search for possible technological artefacts beyond Earth. He now chairs the [UAP Science Advisory Council](https://uapsac.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) reviewing unclassified government data and advising on evidence, instrumentation, analysis and standards for future investigation. ### Stay curious Avi and Bernardo previously met in a [spirited 2023 dialogue](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB4kHzs5z0g&ref=withrealityinmind.com) about aliens, consciousness and scientific curiosity. They shared a desire to keep science open to anomalies, but approached reality from very different directions: Avi has argued that consciousness emerges from physical systems, while Bernardo argues that consciousness is fundamental. This time, we’ll begin with what can actually be known. How can UAPs be investigated without either credulity or premature dismissal? Are “nuts-and-bolts” sightings and high-strangeness encounters different phenomena, or two faces of the same mystery? And if non-human intelligence were established, would it merely enlarge our picture of the universe, or transform our understanding of consciousness and reality? I’m delighted to welcome Avi to With Reality in Mind for a live dialogue with Bernardo, followed by questions from our community. For background materials from Avi to the questions, see: [*https://avi-loeb.medium.com/*](https://avi-loeb.medium.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) or the full listing at:[*https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/\~loeb/Opinion.html*](https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/Opinion.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ## About Avi Loeb **Professor Abraham “Avi” Loeb** is an astrophysicist and the [Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University](https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/people/avi-loeb?ref=withrealityinmind.com). His work ranges from black holes and the early universe to the search for life and technology beyond Earth. He served as chair of Harvard’s Astronomy Department from 2011 to 2020 and is the founding director of its Black Hole Initiative. Avi leads the [Galileo Project](https://galileo.hsites.harvard.edu/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), which uses scientific instruments to search systematically for possible extraterrestrial technological artefacts. He became widely known after arguing that an artificial origin for ‘Oumuamua, the first recognised interstellar object, should be considered rather than ruled out in advance. He now chairs the UAP Science Advisory Council, which advises a US government interagency board on evidence, instrumentation and data standards for investigating unidentified anomalous phenomena. He is the author of more than 800 scientific papers and several books, including *Extraterrestrial* and *Interstellar*. ## Zoom Room Tues 20th Oct 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm ET _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### What God cannot do without you URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/mal-metaconsciousness/ Last updated: 2026-10-02T08:26:16.000Z Recording details Date: 1 September 2026 Duration: 2h 2m Topic: Consciousness & Mind Free preview Title: Evidence that MAL is not metaconscious Duration: 8:35 https://player.vimeo.com/video/1225596263?h=b576461556&autopause=1&autoplay=0&loop=0&preload=none&title=0&byline=0&portrait=0 Chapters 00:00 Member introductions 15:00 Mind at Large (MAL) vs Universal Consciousness & you 21:30 The value of a best guess 24:00 **Evidence that MAL is not metaconscious** 30:00 Metaconsciousness doesn’t require time 36:00 Limits of God in Buddhism and Bible 39:00 **Can MAL suffer?** 41:00 Schopenhauer’s techniques to overcome suffering 47:00 Mental states prior to perception 49:20 **Will is the primordial endogenous state** 54:50 Is Agency or Awareness primary? 1:06:00 Ontological primitive is required 1:13:00 Effortless compassion 1:16:00 **Collective unconscious** underlies MAL **&** Us 1:19:00 Laws of nature as evidence that MAL is not metaconscious 1:22:00 Inferring MAL's experience outside spacetime 1:25:00 High-phi IIT doesn't need spacetime 1:33:30 Could metacognition be slower than we can see? 1:43:00 Everything taps into archetypal realm (Michael Levin) 1:48:00 Bernardo's difference with Michael Levin "***we are the eyes through which nature is looking and experiencing itself.***” - Bernardo Kastrup The familiar religious picture is of a mind behind nature that knows what it is doing. But for Bernardo, the evidence is the reverse, and it fills life with meaning. Whilst the inanimate universe ***is*** conscious, it is not ***metaconscious.*** Regular consciousness is simply having an experience. ***Metaconsciousness*** goes beyond, adding a higher-level representation and reflection on that experience. Surprisingly, this is actually implied in parts of the Bible and Buddhism, as we discuss in the meeting. ### Following the evidence... So why guess that the inanimate universe doesn't do this? One clue is in how **the laws of nature are so consistent**. This is behaviour you would expect from a creature driven by instinct rather than deliberation. Think of a moth and a flame. Or how a crocodile will consistently lunge, but only when you are exactly within half its body length. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/insects_flying_around_a_bright_light_in_the_dark.webp) This ties in with the second clue: the fact that **metaconsciousness appears only very recently** in evolution. Earlier life-forms don’t exhibit obvious signs of self-reflection. If metaconsciousness was intrinsic to the universe, you might expect its earliest dissociations to have it too. Perhaps most convincing is **the problem of evil**. Suffering itself isn’t evil. But deliberately inflicted suffering for no purpose almost certainly is. More confounding still, if there is only one mind, the suffering would be self-inflicted. Why would a mind knowingly do that to itself? Remember, lack of metaconsciousness **does not mean lack of intelligence** or even lack of purpose. You can have instinctive purpose. And you can ride a bike or catch a ball without having a clue about the physics involved. When asked, calendar savants immediately know what day of the week 14 March 1743 fell on, the answer just arrives. Ask how they did it and they can't say. The calculation happens with one watching. ### Your life has incredible meaning ![person looking at the milkyway](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/photo-1505673542670-a5e3ff5b14a3-1.jpeg) Photo by [Khamkéo](https://unsplash.com/@mahkeo?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) For Bernardo, the inanimate universe is what Mind at Large looks like to us. If Mind at Large *were* metaconscious, everything we’re experiencing could be by design, perhaps based on a whim. Problematically for us, science and philosophy would be stripped of meaning (and so, in that case, would these meetings!) Our exploration of the universe would be more like art or psychology than science or philosophy. It would be more like studying a book or a film rather than revealing something essential about nature, unknown even to itself. But just because the inanimate universe is not metaconscious does not mean the universe is not metaconscious. Because you are the universe being metaconscious, right now! This gives our lives incredible significance as we look out onto our living, feeling world and recognise our unique role, as agents who can feel, reflect and philosophise on the nature of our own existence. I invite you to look around right now and recognise, you are everything you see, reflecting on everything you see, and the galaxies and stars, as powerful as they are, need you as much as you need them. This topic is a deep one, so if you have a follow-up question, submit it in the comments on this page and we'll keep diving in deeper. With appreciation, Amir ***We also discussed:*** - **Limits of God** in Buddhism and the Bible - Can Mind at Large suffer? - Schopenhauer’s techniques to overcome suffering - Is Agency or Awareness primary? - Bernardo's dis/agreements with Michael Levin: boundaries of life Speakers ![CTA Image](https://i.vimeocdn.com/portrait/108435945_60x60?sig=3e46dca59090cf6d660afc7f658c6e4fc4bb8735869764d264900de4675642c2&v=1®ion=us) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Mind at Large - does it have agency, suffering and self-awareness? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/mind-at-large/ Last updated: 2026-09-02T11:02:51.000Z Mind at Large is what the universe we observe looks like, from across our precious dissociative boundaries. It is a source of endless fascination, speculation and mystery. What lies behind its enticing representations, the rocks, mountains, galaxies and supernovas? Does it suffer? Have agency? Intention? Internal divisions? Why is Bernardo so convinced it is not meta-conscious? We're dedicating the 1st of Sept to delve into many recently raised questions related to Mind-at-Large, such as: - **Which comes first: dissociation, or space and time?** If space and time arise through dissociation, how can dissociation itself ever begin? - **Are minds patterns rather than things?** Could intention be substrate-independent, appearing across cells, organisms, AI and larger-scale processes? - **Where does one mind end and another begin?** Are the boundaries we perceive genuine divisions in consciousness, or just different scales of activity within Mind-at-Large? - **What exactly counts as a “mind” in Analytic Idealism?** Questions of agency, awareness and whether the terminology adequately distinguishes acting from experiencing. - **Does Mind-at-Large suffer?** Schopenhauer’s primordial will seems full of terror, grief and striving, yet Bernardo argues suffering arises only with dissociation. Is there a tension there? We recommend watching [this talk ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mar2X6bvid4&ref=withrealityinmind.com)from Bernardo first, and [this session](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/tues-11th-feb-mind-at-large/): [Recording - Mind at Large vs Universal ConsciousnessFollowing on naturally from the last week’s discussion on dissociation, Tues 11th of Feb focused on Mind at Large. The recording is at the bottom of this page. This isn’t true everywhere, but in our meetings, Bernardo makes a careful distinction between ‘Mind at Large’ and Universal Consciousness. This is![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-63.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1536904132820-d4760eae1463-1-1-1-2.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/tues-11th-feb-mind-at-large/) I look forward to seeing you there! Amir ## Zoom Room 1st Sept 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm EDT _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Weekly Meeting with Bernardo - 27th Oct URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/29th-sept/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T08:55:35.000Z Our weekly meeting with Bernardo. Theme to be confirmed. Meanwhile, please use [this page](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ask-my-anything-with-bernardo/) for any generic questions. ## Zoom room Tues 27th Oct 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm ET _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Meeting with Bernardo - 22nd Sept URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/22nd-sept/ Last updated: 2026-08-26T21:51:57.000Z Our weekly meeting with Bernardo. Theme to be confirmed. Meanwhile, please use [this page](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ask-my-anything-with-bernardo/) for any generic questions. ## Zoom room 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm EDT _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Meeting with Bernardo - 8th Sept URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/8th-sept/ Last updated: 2026-08-26T21:53:02.000Z Our weekly meeting with Bernardo. Theme to be confirmed. Meanwhile, please use [this page](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ask-my-anything-with-bernardo/) for any generic questions. ## Zoom room 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm EDT _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Meeting with Bernardo - 1st Sept URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/1st-sept/ Last updated: 2026-08-26T21:52:52.000Z Our weekly meeting with Bernardo. Theme to be confirmed. Meanwhile, please use [this page](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ask-my-anything-with-bernardo/) for any generic questions. ## Zoom room 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm EDT _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Science fiction, eat your heart out: Michael Levin redefining the rules of life URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-2026a/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T21:13:39.000Z Recording details Date: 26 August 2026 Duration: 2h 5m Free preview Title: Imagining the home worlds of new life forms Duration: 2:39 https://vimeo.com/1226742035/dd8cc01faf Chapters 0:00:00 Radical biology enters the mainstream 0:03:48 The ****genome as a prompt**, not a blueprint 0:11:27 Where does cellular intelligence come from? 0:15:12 Can physics explain everything that happens? 0:23:04 Healing by communicating with cells 0:24:33 ****Physicalism is dead**: maths is behind everything 0:27:28 Why technology doesn’t mean we understand nature 0:32:18 An experience or its memory: which would you choose? 0:39:28 Could cells learn to respond to a ****placebo**? 0:41:38 ****MomBot**: a robot learning to build living forms 0:45:53 Imagining the home worlds of new life forms 0:48:25 Could ageing be a kind of forgetting? 0:49:56 ****Bored to death?** A new theory of ageing 0:55:15 Michael leaves; reflections with Bernardo 0:58:08 Bernardo on ageing, purpose and letting go 1:04:27 Could minds exist without bodies? 1:11:00 Could ****“aliens”** be ancient inhabitants of Earth? 1:22:09 What could hold a disembodied mind together? 1:28:47 When thoughts take on a life of their own 1:39:48 Why false memories can feel so convincing 1:45:45 ****Memory as a gateway** through time 1:50:40 Where does nature’s intelligence come from? 1:55:54 How language divides an undivided reality 2:01:13 Closing reflections *"*there are things that can be said now that really couldn't before, and I think partly it's because the data are now there and the applications are coming...**" - Michael Levin Day one of biology class you learn the rules. Genes are the blueprint. Cells are tiny machines. Whatever happens in your body, physics and chemistry explain the whole thing. Michael's claim is that every one of those is an assumption. When dropped and put to the test, biology might start doing things that no one expected, and put most science fiction to shame. - Cells could be 'conditioned' to respond to placebos like drugs - Robots generate new forms of life - Ageing cells forget what species you are - Causality emerges from beyond the physical realm Michael has been challenging convention for quite some time. Increasingly, he's got the data to back this up, and people are starting to notice. "*We had a paper recently in the journal Trends in Genetics, which is a top, mainstream genetics journal... talking about the genome as a set of prompts that need to be interpreted by the literal intelligence of cellular morphogenesis. I don't know that that could have been published even a couple of years ago.*" #### Life: the genome is a prompt, not a blueprint Read your genome and you'll find no fingers, no eyes, no face. Only a list of proteins. So how do cells know what to build, and when to stop? The old answer is chemistry. But frankly, that doesn't add up. Michael's answer: the cells *interpret* the genome, the way a mind interprets a prompt. The proof is that when disrupted, they reach the same goal by creative means. Or the same genes produce different things depending on the situation. Cut an embryo in four and you get quadruplets, not four quarter-bodies. Take human cells out of a body and they become a creature that has never existed, with no evolutionary history at all. He now has a machine, MomBot, that runs its own experiments on living cells to learn how to talk to them. #### Intelligence is not in the brain, and not in the genes Where does the know-how live, if not in DNA? Michael says: the same place the truths of mathematics live. Nobody invented prime numbers and no experiment can change them. Cells tap into patterns of that kind, and so does everything else that solves problems. He's already testing this. If cells can learn like Pavlov's dog, you could pair a drug with a harmless substance until the body responds to the placebo alone. #### Causality: the physical world is not closed The bedrock of physicalism is that physics explains everything that happens. Michael and Bernardo both reject it. In plain terms: some of what happens in the physical world is caused by something that isn't physical. Michael's argument is a child's game. Keep asking "why?". Why do cicadas emerge every 13 and 17 years? To dodge predators. Why those numbers? They're prime. Why are they prime? Ask a mathematician. You've just walked out of physics, and there is no way back in. Bernardo adds that we don't have a complete physical model of anything bigger than a small molecule, and never will. So the idea that everything that happens in the physical world can be explained by other things in the physical world is a belief, not a finding. #### Bored to death? His lab modelled cells growing a body. No wear, no damage, no programmed death. It aged anyway. The cells reached their goal, held it a while, and then simply disbanded. Give them a new challenge and they live longer. Bernardo's take: perhaps ageing isn't a disease to cure but an archetype written into nature itself. ***We also discussed:*** - Memory as a gateway - Minds without bodies: Jung's "semi-autonomous complexes" and tulpas - Is the platonic space a real separate realm, or a convenient fiction? This conversation was enthralling, and we hope to have Michael back as soon as his schedule will allow. Keep an eye on the schedule, and meanwhile, enjoy the recording! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Michael-Levin-profile.webp) Michael Levin ***"One of the most creative biologists working today" - Rupert Sheldrake** ***“Perhaps the most important person alive” - Bernardo Kastrup** Michael Levin is a Distinguished Professor in the Biology department at [Tufts](https://drmichaellevin.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), holds the Vannevar Bush endowed Chair, and serves as director of the [Allen Discovery Center at Tufts](https://allencenter.tufts.edu/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). He is also an associate member of the [Wyss Institute at Harvard](https://wyss.harvard.edu/team/associate-faculty/michael-levin-ph-d/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). His group works at the intersection of developmental biology, artificial life, bioengineering, synthetic morphology, and cognitive science. Seeking general principles of life-as-it-can-be, they use a wide range of natural animal models and also create novel synthetic and chimeric life forms. Their goal is to develop conceptual frameworks and practical tools that help detect, understand, predict, and communicate with truly diverse intelligences, including cells, tissues, organs, synthetic living constructs, robots, and software-based AIs. His mission is to develop fundamental understanding of how minds of all kinds arise, scale, persist, and change, and to use that knowledge to benefit the embodied experience of sentient beings, through biomedicine and beyond. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### The scientist & the wounded healer. URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/scientist-healer/ Last updated: 2026-09-18T13:33:39.000Z Recording details Date: 25 August 2026 Duration: 2h 27m Free preview Title: Science is one tool — life needs a toolbox Duration: 4:13 https://vimeo.com/1228064089/b076aada6e Chapters 0:00:00 Intro 0:03:09 Quantum effects in life incompatible with physicalism 0:06:30 Quantum effects disrupt illusion of causality **Neural correlates: physicalism vs idealism:** 0:14:10 Idealism accommodates **neural correlates** better than physicalism 0:25:00 Why does seeing red have complex neural correlates? 0:28:00 Counterintuitive **cause and effect:** Conway's Game of Life **The power, value and limits of science** 0:37:00 The scientific method vs meaning of life 0:41:20 Science just one of many tools 0:45:00 Dreams 0:48:30 **Is psychology a unique discipline?** 1:05:00 Why do you use dashboard metaphor instead of Jung? 1:13:00 Enlightenment in the language of **Jung** 1:22:00 Mind at Large vs God Image vs Self 1:29:00 Why doesn't MAL inherit our meta-consciousness at death? 1:39:30 **Memories** as leakages from eternity 1:43:00 Why are individuals so fragile yet life so resilient? 1:46:00 Analytic Idealism better if MAL is not meta-consciousness 1:49:00 Does Analytic Idealism have a decombination problem (vs Panpsychism)? 1:50:00 **Dissociation is common and necessary** 1:56:50 Decombination ≠ dissociation (metaphysical vs psychological) 2:03:00 An Alter is a collection of many dissociations 2:09:00 Could IIT explain life? (A Markov Blanket may be a case of Integrated Information Theory) 2:11:00 Mind at Large in a state akin to delirium 2:19:00 AI is more powerful than you think In Bernardo's personal experience, psychology is a discipline that is neither art, philosophy nor science. Rather, it is a unique approach that can draw on all three. It is exemplified by the **wounded healer**, able to deeply empathise and assist in ways that a protocol could never capture. Likewise, for Bernardo, whilst science is one of our most valuable tools, it informs philosophy, it doesn't replace it. This might explain why the neural correlates of experience appear less complete than a physicalist would expect. "Talk to neuroscientists who have for decades studied psychiatric pathologies, trying to link them to brain anatomy or patterns of brain activity like autism. You will find decades of frustration." Under analytic idealism what we see on a brain scan should correlate with experience. But unlike physicalism, this doesn't need to be exact. Under analytic idealism, the brain is only a *representation* of a mental state, not its cause. The most revolutionary part of this discussion was near the end. Bernardo shared his hope that one day, [Integrated Information Theory](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-iit-a-rosetta-stone-for-mind-at-large/) would model not just consciousness, but life itself. "If we solve this, IIT explains not only your mentation; IIT explains life. Quite literally." The open question is whether IIT can also explain the Markov blanket. Under IIT, a conscious whole is a "complex": a set of states bound tightly enough to experience itself as one thing. Bernardo's point is that you are not a single complex but a collection of many. This is why you can be dissociated from parts of yourself in the course of an ordinary day. What holds that collection together is a boundary, the Markov blanket, which appears to us as our skin. If IIT can account for that boundary in the same terms it uses for the complexes inside it, then the same theory explains both why you dissociate and why you are a living body at all. We also discussed: - **Enlightenment** in Jungian language - How developing **AI is an archetypal urge,** not greed - How quantum effects disrupt **the illusion of causality** - Why **Mind at Large** is akin to a state of delirium I look forward to seeing you again later today for our session with [Michael Levin](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-2026/). Until then! Amir p.s. also hidden in the meeting is Bernardo's speculation about why we are so fragile as individuals whilst life is so resilient. It may be a clue to the purpose of life itself. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Michael Levin & Critiques of Idealism: double session this week URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/doublefeature/ Last updated: 2026-08-24T14:32:59.000Z Tues & Wed meetings this week with Bernardo Kastrup _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Michael Levin: Mind is Everywhere URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-2026/ Last updated: 2026-09-10T16:40:45.000Z Rupert Sheldrake has said that Michael Levin is "**o*ne of the most creative biologists working today* *"*** and Bernardo Kastrup that he is **“*perhaps the most important person alive.***” So I'm beyond excited to have him returning for our 2nd meeting in 2026, followed by an hour to discuss Michael's ideas with Bernardo. Michael Levin's pioneering research has already challenged mainstream assumptions about reality and life. His work at Harvard and Tufts University shows how even a single cell can display memory and problem-solving abilities once thought exclusive to brains. He contends that intelligence is a **fundamental property of living systems**, and that your body is a hierarchy of intelligent entities nested within each other, from your organs down to your cells, molecules and maybe even subatomic particles. Michael aims to empirically demonstrate how these systems cooperate and combine, and his experiments with flatworms and tadpoles indicate that **bioelectric fields** may play a role. These could explain how a planaria can regenerate its dissected brain and the memories of what it had learnt. Or how the cells on the back of a tadpole can be directed to spontaneously form a working eye. You can see previous conversations between them via the links below and on the [recording](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recordings/) page. ## Zoom room Wed 2nd Dec 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm ET Earlier meeting: Wed 26th Aug 2026 _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Critiques of Analytic Idealism URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/criticism-of-idealism/ Last updated: 2026-08-24T08:05:25.000Z As a member of this group, you are probably at least curious about idealism, but that doesn't mean you don't have valid doubts or criticisms. This session is a chance to discuss them in a friendly and supportive environment. Everyone is welcome to propose a [question](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/) relevant to this theme using the comments section below. Its really helpful if you can read, comment and vote on other questions also. Questions are selected based on **relevance** to the discussion, available time, and participant's **votes**. As such, please make sure to write your question using accessible language! - Provide a short CLEAR TITLE in **capital letters**. - Write an optional **short** description of what your question is about. - Share further reflections below if you want, but if selected, aim for brevity during the meeting to help the flow of the discussion. - Please don't post more than one question per comment. Make sure to read the other questions and 'heart' the ones you are most curious about. See you Tuesday, Amir ## Zoom Room 25th August 2026 | 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm EDT _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Dr. Anita Goel: Quantum effects in living systems? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/anita-goel-2/ Last updated: 2026-09-19T10:47:01.000Z Recording details Date: 18 August 2026 Free preview Title: Could physics start with consciousness? Duration: 4:49 https://vimeo.com/1228064090/f26c9b51ed Chapters 0:00:00 Introduction 0:05:20 Unifying physics & biology 0:10:30 Could life harnessing quantum effects? 0:13:50 Could physics start with **consciousness**? 0:18:17 Links to Micheal Levin 0:21:30 Is **evolution** random or responsive? 0:37:00 Cultural constraints on science 0:41:40 Teasing out signatures of **underlying informational field** 0:42:00 Their new companies & technologies 0:57:00 Science paradigm shift towards life/consciousness 1:07:00 **UAP Science Advisory Council**: Anita's role 1:17:40 Accelerated learning in culture 1:23:00 Difference with Hameroff-Penrose 1:30:00 Federico Faggin 1:33:00 Qbism interpretation of quantum mechanics 1:37:00 Science / philosophy strengths & limits 1:44:00 Religion, meditation & empiricism 1:49:00 **Becoming aware you are awareness** ***"will be one of the most revolutionary scientific findings over the past couple of centuries" -*** Bernardo Kastrup on Dr. Anita Goel's work This is one of those newsletters that makes me most nervous and excited: introducing a visionary scientist (Bernardo is betting she'll win a Nobel Prize), whilst trying to communicate some of their ideas in a way that is both accurate and accessible. Trained in both medicine and physics at Harvard, Dr. Anita Goel (MD, Phd) is now probing life's biggest questions by investigating its smallest scales. What is the difference between living and inert matter, and do we need a new physics to explain it? Whenever a strand of DNA in your body is copied, the work is done by a tiny molecular machine called a [polymerase](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJDNmhBjtzQ&t=3470s&ref=withrealityinmind.com). Dr. Goel’s [previous work](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12869690/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) already demonstrated that the environment can affect its function. But her next experiments may show polymerases even harness non-trivial **quantum effects**. If confirmed, it could indicate that they operate like tiny quantum computers, which might help explain their incredible efficiency. ### From Science to Philosophy and back Whilst these quantum effects are not yet confirmed, this experiment would sit in the realm of rigorous, empirical science. But much of this conversation centred on the philosophical implications and the intuitions guiding this work: Dr. Goel cautiously speculates that this experiment could open a Pandora's Box of questions that physics has ignored for almost 100 years. A period of time when physicists were encouraged to “shut up and calculate.” For example, the conventional Darwinian perspective is that evolution is a natural selection of **random** mutations that happen to favour survival. But if information from the environment is influencing how DNA is copied, it would reopen the door to a Lamarckian perspective: Evolution isn’t just passively constrained by the environment, it actively responds to it. More speculative still, perhaps these quantum-level dynamics in living systems are detectable signatures of a more fundamental informational substrate. Anita repeatedly emphasises: this is an intuition, not something that has been demonstrated. But it comes at a timely moment in human history - AI is now forcing science to confront life's biggest questions once more: - What is consciousness? - What distinguishes living matter from inert matter? - Can it be created? It was such a privilege to be on the front row of this conversation, and I look forward to reading your reflections in the comments below. With appreciation! Amir ***We also discussed:*** - The value of philosophy & science and their relationship - The US Government'sUAP Science Advisory Council - Potentials for a consciousness first physics - The accelerated learning in our culture - Comparisons with ideas proposed by Michael Levin, Hameroff-Penrose, Federico Faggin ### About Dr. Anita Goel Named one of the World’s “Top Science and Technology Innovators” by *MIT Technology Review* and one of the “World’s Most Influential Visionaries in Biotech” by *Scientific American*, Dr. Goel has collaborated very closely with multiple Nobel Prize winners in her bold foray into the uncharted waters between physics and biology. Dr. Anita Goel, MD, PhD, is a physicist, physician-scientist, inventor, and deep tech pioneer in the field of nanobiophysics. As Founder, Chairman, CEO, and Scientific Director of the Nanobiosym Research Institute and Incubator, she is advancing new theoretical frameworks and experimental methods for elucidating the physics of life and living systems. *Inspired by Erwin Schrödinger’s What Is Life?, Dr. Goel’s research is driven by a fundamental question: What physical principles distinguish inert matter from systems that self-organize, process information, and exhibit life, intelligence, sentience, or some combination thereof?* Using DNA-processing molecular nanomachines as experimentally tractable information-processing systems, Dr. Goel studies how living matter reads and writes information at the single-molecule level. Her research spans a continuum from nanobiophysics to quantum-scale phenomena. She examines how mechanical forces, electromagnetic fields, and potentially non-trivial quantum effects shape molecular dynamics. As the Chairman and CEO of **Nanobiosym Diagnostics (NBSDx)**, Dr. Goel is commercializing some of her nanophysics and digital diagnostics innovations. She has been recognized globally by prestigious honors including 3 DARPA Breakthrough Awards, 2 USAID Grand Challenge Awards, NASA’s Galactic Challenge Award (with Elon Musk’s SpaceX), the first-ever XPRIZE awarded in healthcare, and multiple awards from the DOD, DOE, AFOSR, NSF, DHHS, and FDA. Dr. Goel is the inventor on multiple patents worldwide and has published in leading scientific journals like *Nature Nanotechnology , Scientific American,* and *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences*. Additionally, Dr. Goel has been featured in 2 films: i) “Awake: The Life of Yogananda"(2014), about the life and teachings of the man who introduced yoga to the West, where she discusses the science behind yoga and meditation; and ii) “Quantum Convergence: The New Science of Consciousness” (2025), where she appears alongside Nobel Laureates Roger Penrose and the Dalai Lama and discusses how our current 20th century physics does not yet adequately describe life, living systems, and consciousness. Dr. Goel has also served as an expert on the U.S. Senate for the $1.5 billion National Nanotechnology Initiative; an Advisory Council to the U.S. President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) on its Strategy for American Innovation; as Board Member on the Triennial Review Board of the *National Academy of Sciences;* as a Member of the Committee on Manufacturing Innovation of the *National Academy of Engineering;* and as an Advisory Council Member for CIFAR. Dr. Goel holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Physics from Harvard University, an MD from the Harvard-MIT Joint Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) at Harvard Medical School, and a BS in Physics with Honors & Distinction from Stanford University. Speakers Dr. Anita Goel Named one of the World’s “Top Science and Technology Innovators” by *MIT Technology Review* and one of the “World’s Most Influential Visionaries in Biotech” by *Scientific American*, Dr. Goel has collaborated very closely with multiple Nobel Prize winners in her bold foray into the uncharted waters between physics and biology. Dr. Anita Goel, MD, PhD, is a physicist, physician-scientist, inventor, and deep tech pioneer in the field of nanobiophysics. As Founder, Chairman, CEO, and Scientific Director of the Nanobiosym Research Institute and Incubator, she is advancing new theoretical frameworks and experimental methods for elucidating the physics of life and living systems. *Inspired by Erwin Schrödinger’s What Is Life?, Dr. Goel’s research is driven by a fundamental question: What physical principles distinguish inert matter from systems that self-organize, process information, and exhibit life, intelligence, sentience, or some combination thereof?* Using DNA-processing molecular nanomachines as experimentally tractable information-processing systems, Dr. Goel studies how living matter reads and writes information at the single-molecule level. Her research spans a continuum from nanobiophysics to quantum-scale phenomena. She examines how mechanical forces, electromagnetic fields, and potentially non-trivial quantum effects shape molecular dynamics. As the Chairman and CEO of **Nanobiosym Diagnostics (NBSDx)**, Dr. Goel is commercializing some of her nanophysics and digital diagnostics innovations. She has been recognized globally by prestigious honors including 3 DARPA Breakthrough Awards, 2 USAID Grand Challenge Awards, NASA’s Galactic Challenge Award (with Elon Musk’s SpaceX), the first-ever XPRIZE awarded in healthcare, and multiple awards from the DOD, DOE, AFOSR, NSF, DHHS, and FDA. Dr. Goel is the inventor on multiple patents worldwide and has published in leading scientific journals like *Nature Nanotechnology , Scientific American,* and *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences*. Additionally, Dr. Goel has been featured in 2 films: i) “Awake: The Life of Yogananda"(2014), about the life and teachings of the man who introduced yoga to the West, where she discusses the science behind yoga and meditation; and ii) “Quantum Convergence: The New Science of Consciousness” (2025), where she appears alongside Nobel Laureates Roger Penrose and the Dalai Lama and discusses how our current 20th century physics does not yet adequately describe life, living systems, and consciousness. Dr. Goel has also served as an expert on the U.S. Senate for the $1.5 billion National Nanotechnology Initiative; an Advisory Council to the U.S. President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) on its Strategy for American Innovation; as Board Member on the Triennial Review Board of the *National Academy of Sciences;* as a Member of the Committee on Manufacturing Innovation of the *National Academy of Engineering;* and as an Advisory Council Member for CIFAR. Dr. Goel holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Physics from Harvard University, an MD from the Harvard-MIT Joint Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) at Harvard Medical School, and a BS in Physics with Honors & Distinction from Stanford University. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Anita Goel (MD, PhD): Do we need a new physics of living systems? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/anita-goel/ Last updated: 2026-08-18T06:34:04.000Z ***"For me, the scientific quest and the spiritual quest are deeply intertwined — both driven by an inner yearning to know the true nature of reality"*** Dr. Anita Goel, MD, PhD, is a physicist, physician-scientist, inventor, and deep tech pioneer in the field of nanobiophysics. As Founder, Chairman, CEO, and Scientific Director of the Nanobiosym Research Institute and Incubator, she is advancing new theoretical frameworks and experimental methods for elucidating the physics of life and living systems. *Inspired by Erwin Schrödinger’s What Is Life?, Dr. Goel’s research is driven by a fundamental question: What physical principles distinguish inert matter from systems that self-organize, process information, and exhibit life, intelligence, sentience, or some combination thereof?* Using DNA-processing molecular nanomachines as experimentally tractable information-processing systems, Dr. Goel studies how living matter reads and writes information at the single-molecule level. Her research spans a continuum from nanobiophysics to quantum-scale phenomena. She examines how mechanical forces, electromagnetic fields, and potentially non-trivial quantum effects shape molecular dynamics. As the Chairman and CEO of **Nanobiosym Diagnostics (NBSDx)**, Dr. Goel is commercializing some of her nanophysics and digital diagnostics innovations. In this dialogue with Bernardo we'll invite discussion on: - **Open systems,** why 20th-century physics frameworks, built primarily for closed systems, may need to be revisited to come to terms with life and consciousness - **The need for experimental proof - the biological equivalent of a "double-slit experiment"** her research programme probing living systems at the nanoscale and a roadmap to detect non-trivial quantum effects in the machinery of life Named one of the World’s “Top Science and Technology Innovators” by *MIT Technology Review* and one of the “World’s Most Influential Visionaries in Biotech” by *Scientific American*, Dr. Goel has collaborated very closely with multiple Nobel Prize winners in her bold foray into the uncharted waters between physics and biology. She has been recognized globally by prestigious honors including 3 DARPA Breakthrough Awards, 2 USAID Grand Challenge Awards, NASA’s Galactic Challenge Award (with Elon Musk’s SpaceX), the first-ever XPRIZE awarded in healthcare, and multiple awards from the DOD, DOE, AFOSR, NSF, DHHS, and FDA. Dr. Goel is the inventor on multiple patents worldwide and has published in leading scientific journals like *Nature Nanotechnology , Scientific American,* and *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences*. Additionally, Dr. Goel has been featured in 2 films: i) “Awake: The Life of Yogananda"(2014), about the life and teachings of the man who introduced yoga to the West, where she discusses the science behind yoga and meditation; and ii) “Quantum Convergence: The New Science of Consciousness” (2025), where she appears alongside Nobel Laureates Roger Penrose and the Dalai Lama and discusses how our current 20th century physics does not yet adequately describe life, living systems, and consciousness. Dr. Goel has also served as an expert on the U.S. Senate for the $1.5 billion National Nanotechnology Initiative; an Advisory Council to the U.S. President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) on its Strategy for American Innovation; as Board Member on the Triennial Review Board of the *National Academy of Sciences;* as a Member of the Committee on Manufacturing Innovation of the *National Academy of Engineering;* and as an Advisory Council Member for CIFAR. Dr. Goel holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Physics from Harvard University, an MD from the Harvard-MIT Joint Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) at Harvard Medical School, and a BS in Physics with Honors & Distinction from Stanford University. In preparation, you might enjoy her interview with Essentia Foundation. ## Zoom Room Tues 18th August 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm EDT _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### As part of Universal Consciousness, can you really change the world? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/agency/ Last updated: 2026-09-18T13:34:21.000Z Recording details Date: 11 August 2026 Topic: Perception, Agency and if God can have a point of view Original recording: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/agency/ Free preview Title: Can changing perception change the world? Duration: 12:42 https://vimeo.com/1228064087/118891d47a Chapters 0:00:00 Welcome and questions carried forward 0:02:01 Your head is in mind, not mind in your head 0:04:31 Does God need to perceive the world? 0:06:51 Why **experience is more than perception** 0:15:17 Universal consciousness knows the world through us 0:21:05 Can we know reality from the inside? 0:25:21 If being means being perceived, who perceives God? 0:30:22 **Mind at Large** and universal consciousness: the crucial distinction 0:37:00 Can God have a point of view? 0:43:25 Whose experience becomes the world we see? 0:50:03 What remains of the moon when nobody looks? 0:57:57 Can changing perception change the world? 1:07:05 How imagination becomes a building 1:27:09 Should we use our creativity to reshape the world? 1:30:29 Humanity as nature’s greatest gamble 1:34:57 Why **Bernardo backs AI despite the danger** 1:41:16 Are we **spies for God**? 1:48:24 Could **seeing without eyes** break analytic idealism? 1:50:41 The intuition Bernardo left outside analytic idealism 1:59:58 Why a philosophy needs seeds of doubt 2:05:02 Your inner journey can go **beyond public philosophy** 2:09:47 Closing reflections and the next meeting If you have ever struggled to understand how individual agency relates to universal consciousness, this session offers an unusually clear and lively way into the question. As a follow up to last week's session on [objective vs subjective idealism](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/shared-world-or-private-dream/), Bernardo explores whether God (or universal consciousness) can meaningfully be said to have a point of view. We clarify the distinction between universal consciousness and Mind at Large, ask how perception and agency work through the “dashboard”, and consider whether living beings might serve as “spies for God”, allowing nature to see itself from a new perspective. The conversation concludes by reflecting on seeing without eyes and the limits of Analytic Idealism. Topics discussed include: - Berkeley’s God vs universal consciousness and mind at large - Whether God can have a point of view - The dashboard metaphor, perception and human agency - Seeing without eyes, co-creation and the limits of Analytic Idealism Until next week! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Does God have a point of view? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/gods-view/ Last updated: 2026-08-09T12:38:36.000Z Note we start an hour later for this session, 11th August 7-9pm UK time / 8-10pm CEST / 2-4pm EDT What a session last week, I finally caught the recording and wow, one of the richest (and honestly trickiest!) conversations we've had in my opinion. Bernardo took us right into the heart of the "shared world vs. private dream" question: the difference between subjective and objective idealism, why he lands on there being a real world "out there" that's still made of mind, and how something as everyday as dissociation makes sense of it all. If you haven't rewatched it, it really rewards a second listen. [Do we share the world, or live in private dreams?Objective vs Subjective Idealism | Recorded with Bernardo 4th August 2026.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-a983a006-c3b1-4dc5-b6d8-9947681e8a83.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/unnamed--1--6f78f1ab-40bd-49ed-97d6-d7c9175a4b33.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/shared-world-or-private-dream/) I've been through the chat, and there were so many brilliant questions we simply ran out of time for. So the plan for this week is to pick up some of these questions (as much as we’ve got time for) and get through them. Here are five from last week's chat that stood out to me in the context of the discussion: 1. “It seems to me that Universal Consciousness of Analytical Idealism serves a very similar function to that served by Berkeley's Mind of God. Are we giving Berkeley too little credit?" **Byron Diel** 2. ⁠"Under subjective idealism, if 'to be is to be perceived,' in what sense does the thing doing the perceiving exist? Does perception being the only thing that exists entail subjectless experience? In other words, who is perceiving God, in Berkeley's formulation?" **Alice Taylor** 3. ⁠"But whose mental states are they? The real sky, the real table, etc. Doesn't that lead back to Berkeley's God after all? Or to the idea of 'cloud servers'? And if they aren't someone's mental states? How does it ultimately differ from materialism?" **Martin** 4. ⁠"Does Mind-at-Large have a perspective of its own? After all, in dreams, there is a perspective with which we identify and the contents 'out there in the dream' with which nobody identifies, so it could be that Mind-at-Large (the contents of the world outside dissociations) does not actually have a first person perspective." **Robert Ruxandrescu** 5. ⁠"Why are the dissociative boundaries of alters not gradual? Like why are they, though porous, still quite stable and well-defined?" **Katja Ladynskaya** And please, drop your questions in the comments below if you come up with any question :) The more we gather, the better, and I'll do my best to get to as many as possible. See you all very soon! 🙏 With love, Nour ## Zoom Room 11th August 2026 | 7-9pm UK time / 8-10pm CEST / 2-4pm EDT _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Do we share the world, or live in private dreams? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/shared-world-or-private-dream/ Last updated: 2026-09-18T13:34:29.000Z Recording details Date: 4 August 2026 Duration: 2h 3m Free preview Title: Does a tree falling unheard make a sound? Duration: 2:29 https://vimeo.com/1228064088/78f548f030 Chapters 00:00 Greetings and catchup 14:30 **Subjective idealism** 16:00 overlap with solipsism 18:30 **Representationalism** (including analytic idealism & materialism) 19:50 Accounting for the **continuity** 21:40 God is always perceiving the world 22:20 What is the relationship between God and alters 23:00 Modern subjective idealism solutions to its problems 23:20 Virtual headset receiving signals analogy 24:50 **Analytic Idealism** says we really do share a world 25:00 **representationalism**: 28:00 How it accounts for intersubjective world 31:30 Objective idealism: to be is to be, irrespective of being perceived 33:00 **Headless Way** What you feel like isn’t the same as what you look like 35:00 **Solipsism**: the world is like a cartoon 37:40 Intersubjectivity in subjective idealism is convoluted 41:40 The motivation to stay with subjective idealism 43:10 Did Bernardo flirt with other idealisms? 46:20 **The problem analytic idealism solves: boundaries between beings** 47:00 You need boundaries to have perception 47:20 Schopenhauer on cognitive **associations** 50:00 “The hard problem of idealism” 51:30 Subjective idealism in Buddhism: Yogācāra 53:30 How analytic idealism accounts for **causality** 56:00 How subjective idealism and solipsism are ultimately true 1:00:00 **Does a tree falling in a forest make a sound?** 1:01:00 There was a universe before living beings 1:02:00 For objective idealism no, for subjective idealism yes 1:04:00 For Berkeley does the world represent God's will? 1:06:00 **Representation vs Imagination** 1:12:00 Two kinds of experience in analytic idealism 1:15:00 Objections to objective idealism: Iain McGilchrist, Sthaneshwar Timalsina 1:19:00 Universal Consciousness is you, biting the apple 1:21:30 **Do individuals have agency?** 1:25:00 You are all the players 1:36:00 Spiritual reverence can obscure its relevance 1:38:00 The one agency that exists 1:42:00 Studying consciousness with **anesthesia** 1:50:30 Playing all the roles 1:54:00 **Reincarnating as everyone, everywhere, all at once.** 1:55:00 Spirituality need not be esoteric 1:57:30 Before the enlightenment, everyone spoke symbolically - The "hard problem of idealism" - Explaining the continuity of our shared world - Berkeley, Schopenhauer and Mind-Only Buddhism - Do we have agency as individuals? This session was an immersive comparison of subjective and objective idealism, and the reasons Bernardo considers objective idealism the superior philosophy: In 'The Matrix' people seem to occupy a shared world. But in reality, they are each receiving a transmission from a central source, each person in a private dream. “A world is not being shared. The illusion of sharing is being engineered deliberately.” Switch off all the transmissions, and the world is no more. The mountains and stars only exist when perceived, and there is nothing more to them than that. This is similar to how subjective idealism might explain the continuity and intersubjectivity of our reality, but for Bernardo, this explanation is way too convoluted. In objective idealism, the story is simple: We really **do** occupy a shared world. Our perceptions do not bring the world into being. But instead of representing physical states, our perceptions represent *other mental states.* "The reason this has sounded counterintuitive for the past four or five hundred years is that we’ve gotten used to the notion that mental states can only exist inside living beings.” If you can overcome this cultural conditioning, objective idealism can explain continuity, intersubjectivity, and accommodate scientific enquiry. ### Objections to objective idealism Whilst our perceptions of the world are a legitimate experience, they are not the experience the world is having of itself. Just like the perceptions you have of me are legitimate, but not the experience I am having of being myself. In one sense, you perceive the world, but don't experience it. I wondered if this was the objection that Iain McGilchrist and Sthaneshwar Timalsina had to Bernardo's idealism, despite being idealists themselves. A distaste for an apple which is mere representation, rather than a taste of the real thing. Perhaps they lean more towards Berkeley's subjective idealism, in which the world continues to exist because it is always perceived by God. On this account, could the apple you taste be the very reality that God perceives? Bernardo seems to separate us from the apple. Its colour and taste mere representations of a deeper, but inaccessible reality. But at a deeper level of understanding, for Bernardo God is the Universe, "but God is you and me too.” Therefore, “God *does* have the experience of seeing and biting into an apple.” Not because our perception is not also a representation, but because the subject looking through our eyes is universal subjectivity itself. *You* are universal consciousness, tasting the apple from the particular perspective we call you. ### Are we agents or mere puppets? ![grayscale photo of person holding glass](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1604948501466-4e9c339b9c24?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDN8fGNoZXNzfGVufDB8fHx8MTc4NTk0NDE0MHww&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=2000) Photo by [GR Stocks](https://unsplash.com/@grstocks?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) This point was really brought home in the last 40 minutes of this meeting. Bernardo contends we really do have true agency, and he took us on a detailed philosophical enquiry to understand how. We can totally accept that you can play a game of chess against yourself, by switching places on each move. All we need to recognise is that dissociation across time can happen across space too. It is your agency reading this newsletter, and it was yours writing it. You're doing the whole thing! I encourage you to meditate on this section deeply, and then to harness this agency to share your thoughts in the comments below. With appreciation and anticipation, Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### What is the world - Will, or just Representation? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-world/ Last updated: 2026-08-04T15:36:40.000Z Both subjective and objective idealism hold that everything that exists is made of mind. The difference between them is about the status of the ***world***. For an objective idealist like Bernardo, when you look out at the mountains and stars you are not only seeing an image in your mind, you are seeing the representation of some yet greater mind. For the subjective idealist like Berkeley, when you see the mountain or stars what you see is all there is. They exist as perceptions only, like reflections on a lake without anything they are reflecting. Does the falling tree in the forest still make a sound with no one there? Potentially. But for Berkeley, only as a perception in the mind of God. (For the mind-only Buddhist, not even that.) It is similar to the difference between being on a zoom call and watching a cartoon: In both cases, everything you see are just pixels on your screen. But on a live call, those pixels also represent the living, breathing will of someone on the other end. When you watch a cartoon, it's ***just*** pixels on a screen. In that moment there is nothing behind them. Turn off your screen and they cease to exist. No will, just representation. (Like all metaphors, this one is imperfect, since the drawings may represent the will of their creator.) ### Will, or just Representation? This brings us to the crux of a debate that has raged for centuries, between Berkeley and Schopenhauer. Between mind-only Buddhists and Advaitins. Shankara, the great reviver of nonduality was already arguing this point in 8th century India. The mind-only Buddhists viewed existence as mere appearances in multiple streams of consciousness, generated by their karma. Adi Shankara however was both idealist and realist - the world exists without you. In this session we'll review these positions with Bernardo, and his reasons to adopt objective idealism over its subjective varieties. Most importantly, we'll discuss what each orientation means for our experience of the world and ourselves, then open up for questions. I look forward to seeing your will represented! With appreciation, Amir ## Zoom Room 4th August 2026 | 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm EDT _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The Odyssey: An ancient guide to awakening with Athena Potari URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-odyssey/ Last updated: 2026-09-18T13:34:36.000Z Recording details Date: 28 July 2026 Free preview Title: Calypso: when comfort keeps Odysseus from home Duration: 2:24 https://vimeo.com/1228064580/277b7f7cb6 Chapters 0:00:00 Welcome to Athena Potari 0:06:45 **Cavafy’s Ithaka**, read by Sean Connery 0:11:06 Reclaiming the spiritual heart of ancient Greece 0:15:06 **The Odyssey** as a journey home to yourself 0:23:41 Reading Odysseus’s name as a path beyond duality 0:28:59 Ethics as a way of being 0:35:30 Why Helen cannot be found in Troy 0:40:22 **The Lotus Eaters**: when pleasure makes us forget 0:42:20 Navigating between anger and fear 0:45:47 **Calypso**: when comfort keeps you from home 0:48:03 Losing everything before the homecoming 0:51:25 Why higher knowledge is not yet awakening 0:53:18 Odysseus wakes up in Ithaca 0:55:01 Why the journey continues after awakening 0:56:38 **Penelope**: the awareness that never fell asleep 1:00:07 Who gets to tell the Hellenic story? 1:07:21 Athena’s call to protect Greek heritage 1:11:06 Why must Odysseus lose all his companions? 1:15:18 The Iliad and Odyssey: two movements of one journey 1:20:32 Reading Homer: translations or ancient Greek? 1:24:37 How **Penelope weaves the world** 1:33:03 Why would the One become the many? 1:42:03 A pause for connection and shared reflections 1:48:06 **The Sirens**: staying true when temptation calls 1:53:32 Athena’s own Odyssey: leaving Oxford, coming home 1:58:16 Closing reflections and ways to stay connected For Athena Potari, as for many ancient Greeks, *The Odyssey* is a multi-layered source of wisdom. An allegory for the soul's journey home from the illusion of duality to its true nature as consciousness. A guide to spiritual insight. Athena joined us from an island in the Aegean Sea near Delos, the birthplace of Apollo, in an exhilarating talk that revealed many hidden depths in the characters and stories we know so well. For me at least, it was significantly more exciting than the recent movie or translation I read! ***Some of my highlights:*** Odysseus comes from the Greek verb meaning *I suffer*. Consciousness caught in pain because it has forgotten who it is. Athena draws a straight line to Buddhist and Hindu thought, with Troy signifying samsara. Deeper still, in O**dys**seus is hidden the prefix we still use in English when things go wrong. *Dysfunctional*. *Discord*. *Dissonance*. It also shares the same root as duo, linked to duality. Its opposite is the syllable ***eu*** we find in **Eudaimonia**, in **euphoria,** signifying benevolence. Divine nature. The One. So O**dys**s**eu**s is the one who travels from *dys* to *eu*. A journey across the sea (an allegory for the turbulent psyche) towards home and towards Penelope, *the light of awareness that weaves worlds*. After many trials and tribulations, he *wakes up* in Ithica, where there are still many destructive habits of the mind that must be conquered for peace to reign. Even the number of suitors listed in the Odyssey has spiritual significance. 108 is the number of beads in a rosary, the number of delusions in Buddhism, the number of cycles required in Yogic breathwork. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/07/image-2.png) ### Reviving an Ancient Tradition After many years in the seas of Oxford and Harvard academia, Athena has returned to her home country where she helps lead a renaissance of Hellenic spirituality. After subjugation by Byzantine and Ottoman empires, this tradition has been suppressed for 17th centuries, and today we see the first generation free to practise it. But there are many other suitors for the soul of Greece, and the battle is not quite won: At the same time as the movie was released and raised public awareness, the Greek Government passed a bill (overnight) giving away all ancient sites to private anonymous corporations for the next 100 years! Athena asks, if you are so inspired, to sign the petition against the commercialisation of ancient spiritual and archeological heritage, The Acropolis, Delphi, Mystras... [Sign the PetitionGreece’s Cultural Heritage Not For Sale / Η Ελληνική Πολιτιστική Κληρονομιά Δεν Πωλείται![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-48x48-6085806a-7c37-4284-b52b-f572bb499297.png)Change.org![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/klfHClrzKkzZWtQ-1600x900-noPad-0dccdd76-99c9-4970-ab06-98d90eec9709.jpg)](https://c.org/6WhzgtC8Hf?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ***We also discussed:*** - How to resist the sirens of your life and remain secure to your mast - Why creation exists, according to Aristotle - Why the new adaptation has landed so badly in Greece As always, I look forward to your thoughts! Amir ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/07/image-1.png) You can purchase this talk as a one-off recording here: [https://dandelion.events/e/h5hjk](https://dandelion.events/e/h5hjk?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Or members of With Reality in Mind can see it below: Speakers Athena Potari After many years in the seas of Oxford and Harvard academia, Athena has returned to her home country where she helps lead a renaissance of Hellenic spirituality. ### The spiritual homecoming of Odysseus, with Athena Potari URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/odysseus/ Last updated: 2026-07-28T11:29:57.000Z Yesterday, Bernardo was summoned away from home for the entire week. His AI company, Euclyd, (a Trojan horse for his metaphysical commitments) has delivered new and unexpected demands on his time. He sends his apologies, and promises an extra session later in August. Whilst he is away on his personal Odyssey, who better to guide us through the spiritual significance of the story than Athena Potari, namesake of the deity who guides Odysseus home? For Athena, as for many ancient Greeks, *The Odyssey* is a multi-layered source of wisdom and guidance. An allegory for the soul's journey home. A cornerstone of Western culture, theology and philosophy. After many years in the seas of Oxford and Harvard academia, Athena is now leading a renaissance of Hellenic spirituality in her home country of Greece. Revealing the nonduality embedded in stories and myths we all know so well. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/07/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-27-at-21.10.36.jpeg) I look forward to seeing you later today! With love, Amir P.S. We first met with Athena in February in a talk that you can revisit here: [Philosophy as a path of love](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-hidden-non-duality-of-ancient-greece/). ## Zoom link Tues 28th July, 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EDT _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Rupert Spira on awakening, ego & sorrow URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/rupert-spira/ Last updated: 2026-09-18T15:50:28.000Z Recording details Date: 21 July 2026 Duration: 1h 58m Free preview Title: What do you mean by ego? Duration: 16:06 https://vimeo.com/1228117034/0afcd18366 Chapters 0:03:00 Your mind is like a deep well 0:07:40 When repressed emotions dictate our actions 0:09:00 When the ego appropriates awakening 0:15:30 **Is the world real or mere representation?** 0:24:30 Illusion does not mean "not real" 0:28:20 vs Daniel Dennett: consciousness cannot be illusion 0:32:50 **Sudden onset nihilism** 0:35:20 Only the finite mind sees emptiness 0:39:40 Being exhausted with reality 0:41:30 Bernardo on the value of nihilism 0:47:00 When the mind becomes redundant 0:48:00 Empathy & the depths of impersonal sorrow 0:52:00 **Does infinite consciousness really learn?** 0:56:00 The infinite needs finite minds for knowing manifestation 0:58:30 What is it like to be god? 1:00:29 What is **the impetus for manifestation**? 1:02:30 **Archetypal** patterns are templates of existence, not causes 1:08:30 Is the world an expression of freedom or ignorance? 1:11:00 "Our birth is but a sleep" - the price of freedom 1:16:00 Ignorance explains suffering and evil 1:18:00 Wanting Rupert & Bernardo to disagree 1:22:50 Can there be memory of **ego dissolution?** 1:24:00 Ego isn't fixed: dissolution is common 1:26:00 Spirituality is the cultivation of ego dissolution 1:27:30 Memory doesn't need ego 1:34:20 The ego is an action, not an entity 1:38:20 **Is the ego necessary?** 1:41:00 Psychological vs spiritual understandings of ego 1:47:00 Extreme philosophical positions converge 1:51:00 Bernardo shares spiritual progress 1:54:00 **Thought experiment**: your being prior to experience I believe you'll truly enjoy the friendship between Bernardo and Rupert that grounds this probing dialogue, from the heights of awakening to the claustrophobic nihilism that can show up on this path. They both share their experiences and understandings of sorrow and emptiness, starting with Bernardo's poem, [Shattered Innocence](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2016/04/shattered-innocence.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com), which he wrote in 2016: "I grieve the loss of my innocence. The mystery and possibilities that once were my world abandoned me, Frivolousness and claustrophobia left in their stead." But for Bernardo, there is something valuable in this experience of nihilism, a legitimate room in the palace of mind he can now conjure without fear. Equally for Rupert, true awakening can extinguish the fear of human experience. Rather than a shield against emotion, grounding in being can give the confidence to confront deep sorrow and the sorry state of the world. ### What it is like to be god But what is the true nature of reality? Does universal consciousness learn? Why does manifestation even happen? Whilst we compared perspectives from Advaita, Kashmir Shaivism & Jung, Rupert always points to the immanent possibility of direct experience. Moreover, he contends that ego dissolution is actually common but overlooked. It can happen in fleeting moments of satisfaction, the gap between thoughts, a moment of deep grief. Spirituality is simply the deliberate cultivation of such moments, and we ended with a thought experiment from Rupert Spira to taste this insight. For more, he offers [free daily meditations on the Luminous App](https://luminous.rupertspira.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) and many talks on his [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@rupertspira?ref=withrealityinmind.com). ### Do we need the ego? Here is an excerpt from the meeting on this question, and of course the full recoding for members is linked below. **We also discussed:** - How perception is **illusion** but the world is real - Understanding 'sudden onset **nihilism**' - Awakening to bliss & the depths of **sorrow** - Is the world a product of **freedom** or ignorance? - Growing an ego and outgrowing the **ego** I look forward to seeing you next week, Amir Speakers Rupert Spira [Rupert’s meditations](https://luminous.rupertspira.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [Rupert’s YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@rupertspira?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Rupert Spira: Direct recognition of who you are URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/rupert-spira2/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T12:56:05.000Z As you may know, Bernardo Kastrup and Rupert Spira have been inspiring each other for several years, in private and public conversations that continuously deepen their respective understandings. Rupert Spira's method centers on direct investigation of consciousness, emphasizing that awareness is not something we have, but what we are. His approach involves careful examination of immediate experience, asking you to verify through your own investigation that consciousness is the constant, unchanging reality in which all experiences appear and disappear. His dialogues with Bernardo have been an incredible convergence of non-dual spirituality and analytical philosophy. While they approach the question from different directions they arrive at the same fundamental conclusion on the nature of reality. As always, your curiosity and comments ahead of the event are welcome, which will be used to guide the dialogue between Bernardo and guest. It's so great if you **read existing questions and 'heart' any that you really want to see discussed,** and perhaps add your own comment! You can read more about Rupert [here](https://rupertspira.com/about?ref=withrealityinmind.com). See you there! Amir Here are some previous dialogues that we've hosted: ## Zoom link _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The freedom to transform suffering to joy URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/suffering-meaning-joy/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T23:38:15.000Z Recording details Date: 14 July 2026 Duration: 2h 13m Free preview Title: Transforming horror and disgust into aesthetic joy Duration: 7:45 https://vimeo.com/1226768943/4c918a132c Chapters 0:04:00 Refutations of materialism 0:10:30 How does the world arise? 0:16:00 Is creation spontaneous or planned? 0:18:50 Purpose can be instinctive, not planned 0:21:30 Is consciousness inherently self-aware? 0:22:30 Fundamental qualities: freedom, being, will 0:24:00 Multiplicity is an expression of freedom 0:26:00 **Ananda/bliss really means progress & growth** 0:27:00 for the Yogi, the **world is the body** 0:33:30 spontaneity does not need time 0:36:00 materiality is the sense of externality 0:37:00 self-awareness vs self-representation 0:42:00 arising of subject and object 0:46:00 Trika vs Advaita: consciousness is self-determined, not passive 0:49:00 what is **free-will?** 0:55:30 the future is determined but unknowable 0:57:00 **order is an expression of freedom** 1:00:00 what is illusion what is real? 1:06:00 does **perception** capture reality? 1:09:00 perception is reality recognising itself 1:20:00 is there an external world? 1:26:00 speaking at different levels of reality 1:29:30 **the joy of being** is fundamental 1:34:00 thinking is meditation 1:39:00 recognition of truth and liberation 1:42:00 **transforming horror & disgust to ecstatic bliss** 1:48:00 confronting unspeakable suffering 1:52:00 Bernardo's peace with suffering 1:56:00 the merits of philosophy in reducing meta-suffering 2:01:00 Sthaneshwar: happiness & freedom is finding meaning in spite of the suffering inherent in limitation. 2:10:00 The absolute itself is dialogical In 1997, Sthaneshwar Timalsina was knocked unconscious and hospitalised by bricks hurled through his classroom window in Nepal. The Maoist uprising placed his life in danger several more times, and he still has the scars to show for it. In 2019, Bernardo considered suicide when facing catastrophic tinnitus. The constant excruciating drill in his ear is grounds for legally assisted dying in the Netherlands. In this context, the claims of Kashmir Shaivism are poignant: Could the multiplicity and suffering we experience actually be expressions of freedom and purpose? This philosophy inverts the perspective that life is suffering, often associated with Buddhism. Instead, existence is fundamentally joy. Sthaneshwar contends that we can train our perspective to find meaning and fulfilment even in the unspeakable horrors of existence. This training expresses the freedom for our limited perspectives to mirror the attributes of the absolute. According to Trika, not only is consciousness fundamental to reality, but freedom, creativity and purpose are inherent to its being. Bernardo, however, is wary of claims that existence is bliss. For him, this is an insult to all those experiencing unspeakable suffering right this moment. However, he acknowledges the peace he now experiences despite the tinnitus, and the possibility that future, deeper insights await him. Sthaneshwar meanwhile spoke to the meaning and freedom he found in response to the attacks, and the perspective that underpins them: "We have a choice, we have a freedom: to embody particular pain and go through it, or to somehow give another telos, another purpose, to live life. Life is full of suffering — I'm not denying that. But somehow, the freedom the subject has is to be happy. And happiness is not just about 'ahaha' fun. Happiness is about finding meaning in the world, and doing something in the world, in spite of all that is there, in spite of the evil that is out there. Being able to do a small thing. We can always say, what difference does it make? There's so much suffering happening in the world. But that's a different topic. The real thing is about our finite ability, within that finite ability, to do and to think. We are able to do the right thing; we have the freedom to think correctly... ...recognising within suffering the higher telos: fulfilment, upliftment. We can uplift others. And if not others, we can uplift ourselves to face this death." The full recording and transcript are below, moderated by Professor Ravi S. Kudesia of Temple University. Bernardo Kastrup and Sthaneshwar Timalsina exchanged perspectives on several fundamental questions: - How does the world arise? - Is it spontaneous or planned? - Is there a **purpose**? - Is consciousness inherently **self-aware**? - What is **illusion** & what is real? As ever, I look forward to hearing your perspective, on Ttelegram or in the comments below, and I hope you can join us next week for the session with **Rupert Spira.** [Members can join here.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/rupert-spira2/) [Non-members can get a one-off ticket here. ](https://dandelion.events/e/h2c54?ref=withrealityinmind.com) With love! Amir ### Links: Sthaneshwar Timalsina's upcoming book [Reframing Dynamism](https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/reframing-dynamism-9781350576261?ref=withrealityinmind.com) will be available [here](https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/reframing-dynamism-9781350576261?ref=withrealityinmind.com). You can learn more about his approach here: [Vimarsha Foundation | Gurukula Shaivism, Tantra & Indian PhilosophyVimarsha Foundation is a modern school (gurukula) for teaching and reflecting on the ancient wisdom of rishis and siddhas. Learn more today![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Vimarsha Foundation![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/0d44ef_9b89d6d0015f4802a428fb9979f2e6e4~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_2500,h_1330,al_c/0d44ef_9b89d6d0015f4802a428fb9979f2e6e4~mv2.jpg)](https://www.vimarshafoundation.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers Sthaneshwar Timalsina Speakers Ravi S. Kudesia Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Sthaneshwar Timalsina: The world is your body URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/sthaneshwar-timalsina/ Last updated: 2026-07-12T12:24:06.000Z What if the world is not illusion but ***illumination***? Not a distraction from awakening but its delight? If consciousness is ***inherently*** ***dynamic*** then every colour, sight and sound radiate its freedom. Testifies to its creativity. Exclaims its intelligence and power. Right now you can look up and bear witness to the unfathomable complexity, its kaleidoscopic design. Every emotion and object, every success and sorrow, every blade of grass and breath that comes, and comes to pass. In the nonduality of Kashmir Shaivism, even the ignorance of our own divinity is an expression of unlimited freedom. The freedom to forget who you are, and remember all over again. Reality, then, calls for investigation and participation. Consideration and celebration. So instead of freedom **from** suffering, the emphasis is on the freedom **to** fully engage with life. Instead of becoming monks, many sages were devoted to beauty and nature, poetry and music, theatre and thought. The tradition flowered in North India for hundreds of years until disrupted by invasions and forced conversions. But it continued to thrive in Nepal in a living lineage embodied in Sthaneshwar Timalsina. Authorised as a Śaivācārya within the Nepali Sarvāmnāya tradition, Sthaneshwar is also Professor and Endowed Chair at Stony Brook University and founder of the global teaching platform[ Vimarsha](https://www.vimarshafoundation.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). He's joining Bernardo Kastrup to compare perspectives on three central questions - Is reality self-aware? - Does reality have purpose? - What does this mean for our lives? ### Pre-conversation In a preliminary conversation with Prof Kudesia, I heard some background to Kashmir Shaivism, its history and potential future. How it differs in emphasis from the unchanging being of Advaita Vedanta and the impermanent becoming of Buddhism. I was initially inspired by how so many traditions arrive at the same non-dual conclusion. Now I’m inspired by their variety and their many perspectives on a reality that illuminate the one. You can hear the whole thing here: And finally, here is a link to Bernardo's last conversation with Sthaneshwar, one of our most popular: [Dreams, horror and beauty are realDr Sthaneshwar Timalsina and Bernardo Kastrup in conversation![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-fe9ca84e-b113-4902-acc7-6b6243e2ca84.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Illustrated_manuscript_of_a_Kashmir_Shaivist_or_Trika_Yoga_text_written_in_Gurmukhi_script-_discussing_chakras_and_kundalini_-painting_detail_3--2-1-86173a7a-fc6b-46f1-a949-6512998dd139.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dreams-horror-beauty-are-real/) I look forward to seeing you Tuesday! Amir ### Zoom room 14th July 2026 | 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### AI, consciousness & awakening | Shamil Chandaria URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ai-awakening/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T23:38:27.000Z Recording details Date: 7 July 2026 Duration: 1h 56m Free preview Title: Access to information is not the same as experience Duration: 3:52 https://vimeo.com/1226767494/215d32450c Chapters 0:00:00 Welcome to Shamil Chandaria 0:05:00 Can different philosophies be helpful ways of seeing? 0:07:49 You live inside your own model of reality 0:08:51 **Meditation** and the constructed self 0:13:05 Does the infinite need finite perspectives? 0:17:51 What holds a private inner world together? 0:22:46 Could **AI** have an **inner life?** 0:25:32 Access to information is not the same as experience 0:29:15 Does consciousness depend on biology? 0:37:42 Five ways to think about machine consciousness 0:42:52 Why Bernardo starts with living beings 0:51:02 If a computer is conscious, where does it end? 0:58:26 Can our minds understand reality? 1:03:19 **Can language model the world?** 1:14:11 From world models to awakening 1:21:22 What remains when we deconstruct experience? 1:25:52 **Emptiness without nihilism** 1:29:01 Bernardo’s insight: nothing pretending to be something 1:36:14 Why the **cosmic joke** made Bernardo laugh 1:40:11 Finding peace with getting lost again 1:44:49 **Meditate like an old cow pees** 1:47:36 When the search for awakening becomes grasping 1:51:24 **Alan Watts**, insight and the persistence of suffering 1:53:27 Looking ahead: **human flourishing after AI** Shamil Chandaria, is an advisor to Google's Deep Mind, and a philosopher, neuroscientist and meditation researcher in consciousness studies at both Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial College London. He explains that according to the neuroscience of perception, if you hold your thumb up at arm's length, your thumbnail covers the only part of your visual field where your eyes are receiving sharp, colour-rich data. The rest of the vivid world you see is generated based on a best guess. A hallucination continuously updated based on a thin trickle of sensory evidence. And it's not just what you see. Everything you hear, feel, taste... even your emotions and sense of self are all constructed from scant and messy data. As Shamil explains it, we are living inside our own simulation. A **generative model** that organises perceptions based on prior expectations. In meditation these priors can be discovered, dissolved and even redesigned. ![person in gray pants on brown and green grass field under white clouds during daytime](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/07/photo-1603725500773-9c78db8a914a.jpeg) Photo by [Clay Banks](https://unsplash.com/@claybanks?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) ### In a world of words... could AI wake up? It now seems that computers are also processing vast amounts of data and developing sophisticated models of the world, even when restricted to language. But does that mean they could develop consciousness? Shamil shared a preview of an upcoming paper describing the **five criteria** being considered as evidence. From behaviour, to algorithms, to the causal structure of IIT, down to living biology and a 'coupling' between organism and environment. Bernardo is sympathetic to [IIT](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-iit-a-rosetta-stone-for-mind-at-large/), but suspicious of substrate independent consciousness. In other words, he leans firmly towards biology as the place where alters emerge. For him, the only compelling empirical evidence we have for inner life is... life. The rest of our dashboard lacks clear boundaries, so his challenge to computationalists is a simple question: what exactly is the *thing* that's meant to be conscious? The microchips? The cooling system? The river that supplies the cooling water? Having said that, both agree that AI has only just begun and no one can predict where it will end up. In the meantime, as we discover more about how computers generate models of reality, sometimes based on language alone, we might be learning more about how we do it, too. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/07/image.png) ### The cosmic joke that never happened For me, the most captivating part of the conversation was when it turned away from machines waking up and back to humans. Bernardo shared the one realisation that he has experienced personally: everything comes out of nothing, is made of nothing, and never ceased to be nothing. His response when this happened was not reverence, but laughter. Shamil recognised the legitimacy of this response, but insists there is more juice in the apple. He took us deep into a phenomenology of awakening and the silence, stillness, boundlessness and timelessness behind all experience. The awareness that is the host to all things without being one. Whilst Shamil strongly encourages meditation practice as a way to cultivate insights that translate into human flourishing, Bernardo insists he is at peace with dipping his toe in that lake only occasionally. A kind of meta-peace with everyday suffering. Paradoxically, it's an orientation that Shamil recommends to most people striving for enlightenment. Nevertheless, as an advocate for taking multiple perspectives, he strongly encourages daily meditation, and the beauty the practice unfolds. (If you want to explore this more, I'm hosting a series of meditation and Q&A evenings with Shamil, and [you can join the next one here](https://dandelion.events/e/x74jy?ref=withrealityinmind.com).) I know the meeting never happened, but I look forward to hearing your thoughts! Amir **We also discuss:** - **Access** vs phenomenal consciousness - and why the first is a misnomer - Can language model the world? - How **Schopenhauer** came so close - Why the **infinite** needs finite perspectives to know itself - How to meditate like an **old cow** pees ### Upcoming meditation events with Shamil [https://dandelion.events/o/adventuresinawareness/a/shamil-chandaria-events](https://dandelion.events/o/adventuresinawareness/a/shamil-chandaria-events?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers Shamil Chandaria Shamil Chandaria, is an advisor to Google's Deep Mind, and a philosopher, neuroscientist and meditation researcher in consciousness studies at both Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial College London. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Nondual July: Rupert Spira, Shamil Chandaria, Sthaneshwar Timalsina URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/nondual-july/ Last updated: 2026-07-02T11:17:05.000Z I'm happy to announce that over the next three weeks we have some incredible guests, each with rich experience of meditation, awakening and non-duality. - **Shamil Chandaria** is a meditation & consciousness researcher at Oxford & Cambridge, advisor to Google's Deep Mind, bridging AI, predictive processing, neuroscience and the philosophy of human flourishing. - **Sthaneshwar Timalsina** is Endowed Chair in Classical Indic Humanities and a traditionally trained teacher of Shaiva-Shakta Tantra, based at Stony Brook University. - **Rupert Spira** is a writer and teacher of non-duality, close friend to Bernardo, known for articulating the Direct Path to recognising awareness as our essential nature. You can find each session page below, and these can also be joined as one-off events via tickets [here](https://adventuresinawareness.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). [Shamil Chandaria: Awakening, neuroscience & flourishing7th July 2026 - dialogue with Shamil Chandaria & Bernardo Kastrup![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-418abb13-77f1-455d-bb55-75482f7dfed7.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Asset-14.5--7--46f3c360-8296-4a71-b908-3f789b809c36.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/shamil-chandaria-awakening-neuroscience-flourishing/) [Sthaneshwar Timalsina: Dynamic consciousness in Kashmiri Shaivism14th July 2026 | 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-957e2f16-5bdb-45bc-af47-bee43d3e98ad.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/big_sthaneshwar.1745428333-1-5227b0fc-e424-4918-8ca2-08ea09059b4b.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/sthaneshwar-timalsina/) [Rupert Spira: Direct recognition21st July 2026 | Dialogue & Q&A - 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-c46b3497-b51f-401b-bf44-240d799757ee.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/RS-s-crop-for-2025-pic-f511655f-d917-4cc0-8c4d-3920be2d8f5f.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/rupert-spira2/) Happy non-dual July! Amir ### "Ask my anything" with Bernardo URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ask-my-anything-with-bernardo/ Last updated: 2026-07-02T09:34:15.000Z Date to be confirmed _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Q&A with Bernardo - 11th August URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/11th-august/ Last updated: 2026-08-08T08:10:15.000Z Hosted by Nour! We'll make time in this session to go through the wonderful questions that came up before and during the last two sessions: [What is the world - Will, or just Representation?4th August 2026 Q&A with Bernardo | 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CEST / 1-3pm EDT![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-787860fd-1f47-47d1-bef7-d71472f40b92.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1602167775529-1e8ba15aa0ad-1-c4a8bdb1-3db8-44b0-a1fa-2013d978eb2d.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-world/) [Do we share the world, or live in private dreams?Objective vs Subjective Idealism | Recorded with Bernardo 4th August 2026.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-08889878-3b8d-4ef2-9081-f0b15592ba11.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/unnamed--1--a017b1bf-4b07-494b-b44b-25338c56cd6a.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/shared-world-or-private-dream/) ## Zoom Room 11th August 2026 | 7-9pm UK time / 8-10pm CEST / 2-4pm EDT _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Bernardo's caution to young philosophers URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/flow/ Last updated: 2026-09-18T13:34:45.000Z Recording details Date: 30 June 2026 Free preview Title: Following your daimon can still be hard Duration: 5:41 https://vimeo.com/1228064705/89041247f3 Chapters 0:00:00 Opening: living with a changing climate 0:03:49 Inside Amsterdam’s **Embassy of the Free Mind** 0:07:29 Essentia’s new search tool and an AI Bernardo 0:10:30 If dreams and waking life share a source, why differ? 0:18:54 How the unconscious speaks through dreams 0:21:43 **Synchronicity**: Jung’s departure from Schopenhauer 0:24:19 When a recurring dream demands attention 0:28:06 Everything has meaning: which interpretation is true? 0:31:19 Beneath our separate islands, one unconscious 0:34:00 Fishing, diving and the pull of mystery 0:37:24 Carl Johan Calleman on **Mayan symbolism** 0:44:58 When life starts to feel like fiction 0:49:53 **Following your daimon can still be hard** 0:56:30 When a life-changing experience outruns your language 1:04:15 An insight can matter before it becomes a theory 1:11:13 Why **the ego still has a job to do** 1:12:57 The insight is the beginning, not the end 1:18:23 A young philosopher asks: **what is information**? 1:21:41 Why the philosophy of information is a minefield 1:24:19 Is information reality or its description? 1:31:45 Why more information can mean less meaning 1:35:57 What if you never remember your dreams? 1:40:46 Inviting a dream back into memory 1:52:43 Before **lucid dreaming**, start with one ordinary dream 1:58:02 Christina’s poem: from a beloved to the Beloved In this meeting Bernardo warns two young philosophers as they embark on their perilous journey... Doors will open for you on the Daimonic journey, but that doesn't diminish the sacrifice involved. His own life is now like a movie - synchronicities stack up with such regularity that he now takes it for granted. But a life of meaning is not a life of ease. Do share your thoughts in the comments below after watching! With appreciation always, Amir ***Also discussed:*** - how dreams differ from waking life - why information confuses so many philosophers - the symbolic depths of diving - what it means if you don't dream... Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### The rich symbolism of life URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-today-on-the-rich-symbolism-of-life/ Last updated: 2026-06-30T15:39:42.000Z Previous cultures took the symbolic significance of reality for granted. For Bernardo, it is perhaps the greatest tragedy of our time that we have withdrawn this meaning from life. Our culture thinks that meaning is in what we *achieve* rather than the magic of what we *are*. Today, we'll further explore Bernardo's view that waking and dreaming are different ways to experience the same reality, ***that*** ***waking life is as richly symbolic as dreams.*** I look forward to dreaming you there! Amir p.s. this conversation follows on from two weeks ago - if you missed that one, you might enjoy [this short synopsis.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dreams-of-reality/) ## Zoom Room Tues, 30th June 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Overwhelming evidence for purpose, but is it instinctive or planned? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/instinct-or-plan/ Last updated: 2026-09-18T13:34:50.000Z Recording details Date: 23 June 2026 Free preview Title: Purpose and meaning: what analytic idealism leaves open Duration: 9:45 https://vimeo.com/1228066374/6897969ef3 Chapters 00:00:30 — Introduction of guest speaker Jude Currivan 00:01:44 — Viewing the world through the lens of separation 00:02:24 — Recurring patterns in the universe 00:03:28 — The Holographic Principle 00:04:25 — **Is the universe meaningful?** 00:05:21 — The Growing Block Universe theory 00:06:46 — Ontological status of the future vs. the past and the present; is the future determined? 00:10:15 — Bernardo on purpose and meaning 00:15:06 — Jude clarifies the concept of “nature” 00:16:00 — Lee Smolin and cosmological parameters 00:17:29 — Evolutionary purpose in the universe 00:19:54 — Everything is a function of what nature is 00:20:30 — Reference to *Just Six Numbers* by Martin Rees 00:21:00 — Fine-tuning of the universe 00:21:18 — Is there a telos in the universe? and if so, is it deliberate or spontaneous? 00:25:00 — In biology, random mutations constrained within viable limits (non-random selection effects) 00:27:00 — Primordial composition of the universe after the Big Bang (\~75% hydrogen, \~25% helium): question of whether this balance implies purpose or meaning 00:30:00 — Remarkable facts in nature suggesting apparent fine-tuning: Water density anomaly: maximum density at \~4°C, allowing ice to float and ecosystems to survive; Moon and its tidal influence: stabilizes Earth’s axial tilt and climate; Earth–Moon distance enabling stable tides and long-term orbital stability — Do these facts point toward intention or telos? 00:31:55 — Under Analytic Idealism, everything is mental: physical laws as archetypal patterns in mind-at-large 00:33:00 — Possibility that extraterrestrial life may also be DNA-based 00:35:00 — **Philosophy cannot be done without naturalism** 00:41:11 — Individuated self-awareness in a sentient planet (planetary consciousness concept) 00:43:50 — Chain of apparent coincidences leading to biological life 00:45:22 — Can a high-order cosmic mind be conceived as deliberating the course of evolution at the birth of the universe? 00:52:05 — The Planck Scale (this is the smallest meaningful scale in physics — \~10⁻³⁵ meters and \~10⁻⁴⁴ seconds — where classical spacetime breaks down and quantum effects dominate) 00:54:50 — Observational bias: any model we conceive must necessarily permit and explain our own existence (anthropic reasoning) 00:55:56 — With the help of AI systems, we may eventually decipher the language of whales 00:58:58 — Complexity and the journey of self-discovery as purpose (Jude’s view) 01:01:50 — Applying philosophical inquiry to business ethics; moving beyond materialism 01:05:11 — Why it matters to enlighten business leaders 01:10:20 — Growing awareness that separation is illusory; we cannot continue exploiting people and ecosystems 01:17:30 — **Is AI a blessing or a curse?** 01:25:21 — Approaching the Technological Singularity 01:25:50 — Bernardo mentions an AI model trained exclusively on peer-reviewed scientific literature 01:28:30 — Scale of modern AI systems: many trillions of parameters 01:31:00 — Current data center resource consumption is unsustainable and likely to collapse or change rapidly 01:36:20 — AI euphoria compared to past enthusiasm around Nuclear Technology 01:42:40 — Bernardo’s warning: do not underestimate AI 01:44:20 — What is humanity’s role in this technological and philosophical transition? 01:45:45 — A different way of operating, with Analytic Idealism 01:47:00 — Closing the session Imagine a desert on which there is just **one** grain of sand that represents the conditions needed to create life. Then imagine this selection happens correctly, many times in a row. Bernardo and Jude agree, there is ***overwhelming evidence*** that the universe has intention and purpose. Against incredible odds, physics appears exquisitely fine-tuned towards the emergence of galaxies, planets and life. If the initial properties of the Big Bang, gravity, molecular clouds, water and countless other factors had been even *slightly* different, galaxies would never have formed, never mind life. In fact, according to Sir Roger Penrose, the precision of the initial low-entropy of the universe is around one part in 10^(10^123). This number is so vast that writing out its zeros would take more digits than there are particles in the entire universe. ### **Spontaneous or deliberate?** But is this intention instinctive intelligence, or considered deliberation? Bernardo makes a distinction, and as a naturalist, leans towards purpose being spontaneous. Like the impulse an artist has to create that cannot be understood until the artwork is complete. Jude however leans towards purpose as deliberate - a plan in which the future is not constrained, but is conceived. They both engage with evidence from many areas of physics, and the debate was rigorous, respectful and revealing. What are the chances you're even reading this? I look forward to hearing your thoughts! Amir **They also discuss:** - Is the **block universe** evolving? - The promise and peril of AI - Can metaphysics transform **society**? - Can **time** be real, yet the future determined? - The hidden **meaning** behind it all - Would **aliens** agree? ### About Jude ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/06/image-1.png) [Jude Currivan](https://www.wholeworld-view.org/jude-currivan?ref=withrealityinmind.com), PhD, MSc, CMA is a futurist and cosmologist, with an **MA in physics from Oxford**, a PhD in archaeology, and senior business **experience** including at the UK stock exchange, HMV and Scholl. Some of the most compelling evidence for an evolving universe is in Jude's recent discussion paper, [The Unitive Science of a Living Universe](https://worldacademy.org/the-unitive-science-of-a-living-universe?ref=withrealityinmind.com), indicating that: - **The same patterns shape everything —** from atoms to the universe to human society - What we call matter may be better understood as organised information - Mind and consciousness play a fundamental role in the nature of reality Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/06/image-1.png) Jude Currivan [Jude Currivan](https://www.wholeworld-view.org/jude-currivan?ref=withrealityinmind.com), PhD, MSc, CMA is a futurist and cosmologist, with an **MA in physics from Oxford**, a PhD in archaeology, and senior business **experience** including at the UK stock exchange, HMV and Scholl. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Dr Jude Currivan: Time is real, reality has purpose URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/physics-time-purpose/ Last updated: 2026-06-22T12:07:11.000Z Our guest this week is Jude Currivan, presenting evidence from physics that time is real, the universe is alive, and that reality is evolving with ***purpose***. Dr Currivan (PhD MSc CMA), is a futurist and cosmologist with an **MA in physics from Oxford**, a **PhD in archaeology**, and **senior business experience** including at the UK Stock exchange, HMV and Scholl. In a holographic universe, everything is connected. Each part reflects how **the same patterns are shaping everything —** from atoms to galaxies to human society. What we call matter may be better understood as organised information In that case, entropy is not a movement towards *chaos*, but towards *complexity*. This is just one of many hints that the universe is evolving based on deep intelligence and purpose. She had an electric [conversation with Bernardo](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-a-worldview-for-global-change/) in January that spanned this cosmology and its ethical implications for how we do business, so I'm excited to have Jude with us again tomorrow, Tues 23rd. The zoom link is below. ### Background resources. I spoke with Jude 1:1 a few weeks ago, and you might enjoy our conversation, posted here: This short post from Jude summarises key evidence supporting this emerging view: [The Unitive Science of a Living Universe - The Fifth Element’s Latest Discussion Paper - World Academy of Art and ScienceReplacing materialism with a new humanism, unitive science reveals the patterns that prove we are part of a living universe.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/cropped-favicon-1-270x270-9d15ac7e-a9bc-40b3-906f-0ebe02731de2.png)World Academy of Art and ScienceJude Currivan![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/The-unitive-science-of-a-living-universe-The-Fifth-Elements-latest-discussion-paper-8763870a-1c68-4947-94cd-217e91eb049e.jpg)](https://worldacademy.org/the-unitive-science-of-a-living-universe/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) - **The same patterns shape everything —** from atoms to the universe to human society - What we call matter may be better understood as organised information - Mind and consciousness may play a more fundamental role in the nature of reality - In a holographic universe, the whole is not built from separate parts; instead, each part reflects the pattern of the whole ### Her first conversation with Bernardo in January 2026 This conversation spanned cosmology and corporate ethics, and you can find it here: [A Worldview for Global ChangeIdealism, cosmology & regenerative economics with Jude Currivan & Bernardo Kastrup 27th January 2026![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/01/image-2--1-.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-a-worldview-for-global-change/) ### Meta-conscious leadership Jude was first recommended by fellow community member Greg Suart, who through his work with [meta-conscious leaders](https://metaconsciousleaders.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) hopes to align business with principals that emerge from idealism. I especially enjoyed this section of their conversation: ## Jude Currivan ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/01/image-2.png) Dr Jude Currivan PhD MSc CMA is a cosmologist, planetary healer, futurist, and author whose life’s work unites leading-edge science with universal wisdom traditions. Holding a master’s degree in physics from Oxford and a doctorate in archaeology from Reading, she also trained as a Chartered Management Accountant and served on the Council of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the UK Stock Exchange Listing Committee. Jude’s early career was in global commerce – she was Group Finance Director of international corporations HMV and Scholl, establishing operations in multiple continents. This experience gave her an intimate understanding of the world’s economic and financial systems, later informing her systemic approach to global transformation. In the mid-1990s she turned to full-time research and planetary service, integrating her scientific background with her lifelong exploration of consciousness, ancient cosmologies, and the evolution of life. Her seminal works—The 8th Chakra, The 13th Step, HOPE – Healing Our People and Earth, The Cosmic Hologram, and The Story of Gaia – chart a profound arc from personal awakening to planetary evolution. In them she proposes that the universe is a living, unified system of in-formation - where energy, matter, and consciousness are inseparable aspects of a cosmic whole. Through her non-profit WholeWorld-View, Jude collaborates with scientists, business leaders, economists, and change agents to foster what she describes as a new “WholeWorld cosmology” – a worldview based on unity, coherence, and regenerative design. She is an active member of the Club of Rome and the Evolutionary Leaders Circle, contributing to global dialogues on reframing economics, rethinking finance, and cultivating planetary well-being. [WholeWorld ViewWho We Are - The WholeWorld-View community was founded in 2017 and is a growing interdependent co-operative of global change agents in service to nurturing our personal and collective need for meaning and belonging, celebrating our innate diversity within a unified whole. Our mission is to empower![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-13.ico)WholeWorld ViewOur Solstice Newsletter - Turn Toward the Light![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/welcome-home.png)](https://www.wholeworld-view.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [Jude Currivan PhD cosmologist, healer, futurist and authorDr Jude Currivan PhD is a cosmologist, planetary healer, ex senior business woman, futurist and international award winning author.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/banner.gif)](https://www.judecurrivan.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ## Zoom Room Tues 23rd June 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Dreams of reality URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dreams-of-reality/ Last updated: 2026-09-18T13:34:54.000Z Recording details Date: 16 June 2026 Free preview Title: Living life as a mystery novel Duration: 11:22 https://vimeo.com/1228068650/c42dca7fb1 Chapters 0:00:00 [Why even spiders dream](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnDGoaaQx40&ref=withrealityinmind.com) 0:02:00 Why we don't debate physicalists 0:05:00 **Significance of recurring dreams** 0:17:00 Parallel universes = other dreams in MAL 0:20:00 Dreams vs Out of Body vs Near Death vs Lucidity 0:25:00 Depth of **lucid dreams** restricted by **metacognition**? 0:36:00 False awakenings: dreams within dreams 0:49:00 Prophetic, instructive and **healing dreams** 0:55:50 **Danger of taking dreams literally,** not symbolically 0:58:00 Analogy is the primordial language of mind 1:03:00 **Signs you are having an archetypal dream** 1:13:00 Limits of ego's intentions 1:17:00 Possibility of **shared dreams** 1:18:30 **Astral projection** / OBE: a challenge to analytic idealism 1:21:00 Power of liminal states: drowsiness, travel, death 1:25:00 Types and meanings of **hallucination**, and how to induce them 1:38:00 Waking up from the dream of reality: time doesn't exist 1:41:00 Nothing is purely the ego 1:48:00 Dreams are a **nested dissociation** with less ego 1:54:14 We are immersed in collective unconscious 1:57:00 Both waking life and dreams are surrounded collective unconscious 2:00:00 Waking life is as richly symbolic as dreams 2:07:00 **Living life as a mystery novel;** staying with the curiosity 2:17:00 Determinism can be full of meaning 2:20:00 Archetypal dreams appear with individualised imagery Do you remember your most recent dream? According to Bernardo, it could be significant in both content and substance. Whilst dreams should not be taken literally, if interpreted with care, they may reveal layers of objective reality invisible to the waking mind. Under Analytic Idealism, consciousness is fundamental, and all reality is an appearance in one great Mind-at-Large. As apparent individuals, we are temporary vantage points of a universal consciousness looking back at itself. (The many compelling philosophical and empirical reasons to entertain this idea are explained in the course available [here](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/newcomers-start-here/).) One way to think about it is this: Imagine you are a snowy peak on a mountain range. When you observe a neighbouring peak you see it from the outside, and it seems to be separate from you. But look down within, and all the peaks emerge from the same ground. The neighbouring peak is you, taking a neighbouring perspective. ![aerial photography of snowy mountain](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/06/photo-1474903914960-c3f6602ebb5a-1.jpeg) Photo by [julian mora](https://unsplash.com/@julivajuli?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) ### Dreams are a dialogue between different layers of your mind In this analogy, waking perception is the looking out at neighbouring peaks. Dreaming is a way to look within. Whilst many dreams go only a little way down and simply reorganise and evaluate experiences you had that day, others have content that is otherwise repressed. Emotions, inclinations, memories and material that don't suit the story the ego likes to tell about itself. The waking ego does have the advantage of metacognition and discernment, but this also narrows its lens. Under Analytic Idealism, when content arrises from deeper layers of mind, it is the same as saying it comes from deeper layers of reality. With that deeper access comes the possibility of greater intuition. If you've had, or heard of dreams that turned out to be instructive, healing, or even prophetic, this could be why: "The dream state is where those two levels find common ground for legitimate communication." Several examples were shared by participants during the meeting. ### Archetypal dreams ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/06/christ-krishna.png) Some dreams go deeper still, bringing up archetypal content from the shared ground, the collective unconscious, from Mind-at-Large. This content will be conveyed in different forms, dressed in imagery that conveys its essence to the person experiencing it. The Christian may see Christ when the Hindu might see Krishna. But the experience the image evokes is the same. In fact, that is all the images are there to do, to evoke a certain state, realisation or recognition. ### The dangers of rampant literalism So a mistake would be to take the images in dreams literally, as opposed to a symbolic hint, a suggestion, or a metaphor. The problem is that sometimes the message "is conveyed using a symbolic language that unfortunately can be taken literally, like, the Bible." Dreams of desire or death might not literally mean either of these things - it could be a part of you that is ready to come forward, or give way to something new. Perhaps there is a memory you cannot access, or some other reason for distress in your life. Before the sophistication of language and abstract thought comes the simple recognition that some things are similar to others. The meaning of one experience is evoked by another, and this is primordial language of mind: analogy. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/06/Dreaming-Under-Red-Moon_WebFile-5-1.jpg) Dreaming Under a Red Moon - www.alexmlod.art ### Interpret your life with the same care as your dreams So under Analytic Idealism, dreams may contain significant content. But perhaps more importantly, so can waking life. Remember, the agency behind archetypal dreams and the physical world is the same. Waking and dreaming are different ways to experience the same reality. If the snowy layer of a mountain peak is your waking ego, you both surround and are surrounded by the collective unconscious. In dreams, the archetypal communication arrives in symbols, in waking life, as synchronicity: An external event that corresponds with a mental one without any obvious cause. Or when the same motif shows up many more times than chance would suggest. Jung's often-cited example was a run of fish references appearing across a single day. Previous cultures would take the symbolic significance of reality for granted. That ***waking life is as richly symbolic as dreams.*** For Bernardo, it is "perhaps the greatest tragedy of our time" that we have withdrawn this deep symbolic meaning from life. We think the meaning is what we achieve rather than the magic of what we are. ![white book on brown wooden table](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1585157081174-d694ba6f64eb?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDg3fHxtYWdpYyUyMGJvb2t8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzgxNzIwMzcxfDA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=2000) Photo by [Neil Cowley](https://unsplash.com/@mindaswater?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) Consider instead that life is not a test, but a journey of self-discovery. Less like a grind towards a goal, more like music to be moved by. We can discover what something is if we observe how it behaves. Our choices may feel free, but are determined by who we are. Each peak in the mountain range is a unique perspective of the one mind discovering itself. So live your life as a mystery novel. Look for the clues. Become a metaphysical Sherlock Holmes. Learn to spot the patterns and to read the deeper significance in life's events. Play your part as the play of life unfolds. The fact that a story is already written doesn't diminish its meaning, its intrigue, its fascination. The images are not flat. There is a whole universe behind everything you observe, rich with meaning. Every event has significance. Perhaps not the significance you project, desire or fear. Not even a significance you can always understand; Bernardo suggests that an aspect of paranoid schizophrenia might be the inability to tolerate this mystery. Observing patterns, but confining them to a single, narrow interpretation. Instead, let go of needing to know how the story ends whilst you're right in the middle. Learn to live in the mystery, the curiosity, the thrill of the front row seat of the greatest show in existence: conscious life. As always, I look forward to hearing the perspective from your personal snowy peak, and seeing you from across the mountain range in our next meeting. Until then! Amir p.s. In this article I spoke about the significance of the content of dreams. In the next, I'll speak to the *substance*. ### Articles and papers mentioned [The Phantom World Hypothesis of NDEs/OBEsThis is the homepage of philosopher and computer scientist Bernardo Kastrup, with links to his biography and most of his works.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-b9cbdb15-6128-4c3e-b30d-b9db36d068f8.ico)Bernardo Kastrup![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/_2cd27f92-c046-4652-b29a-cefb4cfd3d36-79907af7-e713-4a3b-a297-85a203885d9e.jpeg)](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2024/02/the-phantom-world-hypothesis-of-ndesobes.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [Dissociation and hallucinations in dyads engaged through interpersonal gazing - PubMedInterpersonal gazing in dyads, when the two individuals in the dyad stare at each other in the eyes, is investigated in 20 healthy young individuals at low illumination for 10-min. Results indicate dissociative symptoms, dysmorphic face perceptions, and hallucination-like strange-face apparitions. D …![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-192-3a35a5cb-469f-4018-9ad4-b26047eba5b8.png)PubMedGiovanni B Caputo![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/pubmed-meta-image-v2-3ff05102-56b9-4fe1-ad69-845ca6857102.jpg)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26112448/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [Visual Perception during Mirror-Gazing at One’s Own Face in Patients with Depression - PMCIn normal observers, gazing at one’s own face in the mirror for a few minutes, at a low illumination level, produces the apparition of strange faces. Observers see distortions of their own faces, but they often see hallucinations like monsters,…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-20ad4df2-fcf6-4537-8146-b8f9eaa387ec.png)NCBI home page✉\*Giovanni B. Caputo: giovanni.caputouniurb.it Academic Editor: Pietro Pietrini![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/TSWJ2014-946851.001-c1c81399-25af-4cff-8b2f-f04cf00c4f03.jpg)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4258311/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [Dream-body transformation in lucid dreaming: Revealing the plasticity potential of the subconscious “self-image” | International Journal of Dream Research![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon_en_US-67526d04-17cb-49a1-a5e3-76f6e9b37f4a.png)##common.pageHeaderLogo.altText##Author![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/activity-d1dceb07-e66d-462e-98dd-3b52d82bad87.gif)](https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/IJoDR/article/view/110524?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### You are the one free miracle URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/one-free-miracle/ Last updated: 2026-09-18T13:34:59.000Z Recording details Date: 10 June 2026 Free preview Title: Why is nature this way and not another? Duration: 5:17 https://vimeo.com/1228066373/718b054cab Chapters 0:00:00 The Sirens - Poem by Jamie Hecht 0:15:00 Death & the most familiar feeling 0:20:30 **Why am I here & now, not there & then?** 0:32:00 Soul - a useful fiction 0:40:00 The true you vs egoic you **0:47:00 Why is nature the way it is?** 0:52:00 Letting the play of life unfold 1:18:00 The possibility of parallel universes 1:28:00 Metacognition was dormant in nature 1:33:00 We cannot know what will happen 1:35:00 Imagination: an authentic mode of self-discovery 1:39:00 **Individuality after death?** 1:47:00 The primordial state experienced during life 1:55:00 Even spiders dream Terence McKenna said of science; grant one free miracle and then we can explain all the rest. By seeking an explanation for how nature behaves, we have already assumed a ground of being. A first cause that by definition cannot be explained by another. Under idealism, the miracle is not a big bang or laws of nature. The miracle is you, the consciousness from which all of nature springs. Right now, even as you read these words, you can recognise that you are universal consciousness reading these words. It is the same awareness reading this part of this sentence as the one that is reading this part. It is the same awareness experiencing your body now as the one that was experiencing your body when you were ten, or five, or zero. It is the same awareness looking through your eyes as your neighbour’s, the bird that flies past your window or the earth worm in your garden. This field of subjectivity is host to your body, your memories, your plans for a future. It doesn’t go anywhere, rather, different places and events go through it. Just as when you dream, many scenarios pass through the mind without the body moving neither forward nor back, neither right nor left. Just as how the road rushes by whilst your body sits static in your car, so life unfolds in the quiet stillness of the one field of subjectivity. ### Why am I here and now, not there and then? Why is nature this way, not that? When the central insight of idealism is absorbed, some questions are not solved, they disappear. Like with the Hard Problem of Consciousness, they require a hard look at long held assumptions. A combination of analysis and introspection, and to recognise when a statement is tautological - true because it simply repeats the same idea in different words, or with circular logic. For example, could God have chosen for things to be some other way? If we answer yes, we are still left with the fact that things are as they are, and the choice was made based on what God is. Even if we posit multiple universes, they are all as they are and not some other way. Since nothing exists outside of nature to constrain or compel its behaviour, it is how it is because it is what it is. Free will and determinism are one. ### Seeking primordial wisdom ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/06/flattened-odysseus-2.png) This meeting opened with Jamey Hecht's evocative poem on Odysseus and his encounter with the Sirens. These mythical twin sisters "know all things that come to pass upon the fruitful earth". In most cases, to hear them is to lose one's mind. There might be ways, however, to experience the primordial state without losing our dissociative boundary. To bind our bodies to the mast of our ship and take in the music of eternity and not lose our minds. Bernardo was more clear on the tangible fruits of this philosophy in his business life, but accused himself of hand-waving when trying to explain it. I felt the opposite. The direct-pointing of the non-dual tradition can be at once disappointing, bewildering and exhilarating. And when you're pointing at the infinite, shouldn't we expect our hands to wave around a little? I look forward, as ever, to your reflections in the comments below. Enjoy! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Why am I here & now, not there & then? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/why-am-i-now/ Last updated: 2026-09-11T09:09:37.000Z At the start of this year we took a deep dive into Bernardo's thoughts on time. If I understood (and keep in mind the possibility that I haven't!) Bernardo's view is that time, as we normally conceive of it, is an illusion. Fundamentally what exists is a web of semantic associations. Archetypal associations of *meaning*. For example, consider how 1+1=2 is true independently of any particular instance of it. True, perhaps, even without *any* example of it - like a platonic ideal that exists without space or time. Nevertheless, to *cognise* this truth I might need to see one apple, and then one more; perceptions in space and time. In summary, whilst perception requires space and time, ***reality and meaning do not***. ### Why can't I just see everything, all at once? If you want to see the colour of your eyes, you need a mirror. You need some distance between you and that which you observe. You know what it feels like to *have* eyes directly, but that is different kind of knowing to observing them from outside. Similarly, for reality to take a perspective on itself, it must take a vantage point that is distant from itself. But when you are everything, where can you go? You cannot see all of yourself from a distance, because it would not include the point from where you are looking. The remaining option is an illusory internal separation. A dissociation in which one part is experienced from within, whilst observing the other from without, and vice versa. This unique vantage point is **what you are**, and what space and time allow. They carve reality up into chunks of perception; universal consciousness observing itself from countless unique vantage points as images on a dashboard of perception. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/06/wheeler-signiture-1.jpg) Signatures of John Archibald Wheeler, in 1989, and of Riccardo Giacconi, 10 years before receiving his Nobel Prize. Icranet pe, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0?ref=withrealityinmind.com) , via Wikimedia Commons With the illusion of separation comes the yearning for it to end. To know one's complete self, not at a distance, but from within. But to merge with the whole is for the dissociation to come to an end. As dissociated alters, we cannot know the web of meaning directly, because to know it would be to merge with it, and thereby end the dissociation. This is the unresolvable tension of reality - to observe itself is to dissociate. To dissociate is to cut-off from the whole. ![standing woman surrounded by yellow flower field during daytime](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/06/photo-1536197531100-50b27f49a08c.jpeg) Photo by [Noah Buscher](https://unsplash.com/@noahbuscher?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) ### At the edge of what space/time can know If time and space are mere scaffolds of perception, why is the experience I'm having right now *this* one, and not *that* one? Why am I here and now, not there and then? Such questions sit at the edge of what we can know without losing our space/time minds. Nevertheless, the yearning is as old as time, and perhaps needs a crafty approach. Odysseus strapped himself to the mast of his ship so as to approach the Siren's song whilst others safeguarded their ignorance to prevent the proximity that would bring his dissociation to an end. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/06/Odysseus_Sirens_BM_E440_n2-2-1.jpg) **We meet this week on Wednesday,** and I've chosen questions that poke the edge of what we can know, celebrating the beauty and significance of this yearning. - Why am I here and now, not there and then? - Sally Campbell - Why is reality like this and not that? - Robert Ruxandrescu - How will metacognition evolve next? - Sara So strap yourselves to your masts, or block your ears with wax and row. The choice is yours! With appreciation, Amir P.S. Feel free to share reflections in the comments under the zoom link below. In preparation, I recommend the below guided meditation, and the recorded session on Time. ### Thought experiment: meaning beyond space and time [Time is an illusion but meaning is realRecording 6th January 2026: Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup on Time![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-24f5a45b-deca-4976-8391-87d9e2e22cc8.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1506420531556-1dd2929c8a55-1-e5fbfc9c-34ae-4976-b1f8-b87f9919ab80.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-big-bang-is-now-in-the-illusion-of-time/) ## Zoom link for Wed 10th June 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Guest Suggestions URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/guest-suggestions/ Last updated: 2026-10-10T19:00:34.000Z We previously collated guest suggestions on Telegram, but now that the comment and voting work better on this site, feel free to add suggestions below! Put the suggested guest in CAPITAL LETTERS followed by a brief explanation of why you think they would be a great guest, topics they could discuss, and a link to their bio or best online talk. ### Birth URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/birth/ Last updated: 2026-09-18T13:35:04.000Z Recording details Date: 2 June 2026 Free preview Title: Who solves the problem before you know the answer? Duration: 5:51 https://vimeo.com/1228066375/e406bfcc31 Chapters 0:00:00 Welcome: the birth of a life and a thought 0:03:21 How does a new point of view arise? 0:11:52 Does nature plan each new life? 0:17:35 Could a **soulmate** be your missing counterpart? 0:21:22 A mother’s account of **birth and the ancestors** 0:28:28 How might a parent’s inner state reach a baby? 0:31:01 What animals notice that we overlook 0:33:42 Raising a child with mystery still open 0:39:57 Can anything be born outside time? 0:43:27 A new life within another: **where is the boundary?** 0:46:37 You are a pattern, not the material passing through 0:55:08 Are the egg and sperm separate minds? 0:58:42 How a thought arrives before its words 1:01:35 Who solves the problem before you know the answer? 1:07:18 Why even chess calculation needs intuition 1:12:01 **Ramanujan**: **why intuition still needs confirmation** 1:15:10 Could language obscure communication with animals? 1:20:18 A grandmother’s account of remembering birth 1:30:37 Could **reincarnation** work **without** a travelling **soul**? 1:35:08 Are genes and environment the whole story? 1:38:15 What would you want to survive death? 1:45:09 **What are we born with?** 1:49:29 If your gifts are nature’s, where is your self-worth? 1:55:04 Will God remember that we existed? 2:04:27 Have we been **praying backwards**? 2:06:06 Can we imagine everything outside time? 2:12:17 Would a collapsing universe bring everything together? 2:14:43 Closing reflections and the next meeting If Bernardo is correct, your life is a thought in universal mind. Not a mysterious separate mind "out there", but rather the same consciousness looking through your eyes right now, and that of every other living creature. Whilst all of existence is one great movement of mind, your lives are special kinds of thought - patterns of thought in fact. Swirling around themselves like whirlpools so internally integrated that they each form a unique perspective on all your *other* thoughts, represented on a dashboard of perception as planets and stars, your neighbour, your cat. So how are new thought-patterns born? Where do their contents come from? And where do they go when we "die"? In this meeting Bernardo shares his perspective on birth, death, the ancestors and animal communication. It was one of the most shamanic in tone whilst remaining tethered to the analytic rigour for which Bernardo is so admired. I look forward to hearing your reflections. With appreciation! Amir **We discuss:** - The innate seeds we bring to the world as priors. - How decisions are born from intuition then rationalised - A toddler re-enacts their **traumatic birth** - Ramanujan's uncanny mathematical intuition and what it reveals about the mind - Are we remembered by God after we die? - How **Western prayer** gets the relationship with God backwards - On **raising children** with a sense of mystery, not doctrine Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### The Birth of Thought URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-birth-of-thought/ Last updated: 2026-06-01T18:24:52.000Z What gives rise to creativity, to the universe, to a thought, and to you? From the perspective of Analytic Idealism, these could all be variations on the same question. After all, the universe is one great thought, and, if Bernardo is correct, so are you. One that is temporarily dissociated from all the other thoughts, and with a vantage point all of its own... For tomorrow's session with Bernardo, I've selected questions from [past AMAs](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-4/) that revolve around these themes: - The formation of thought - Kristen Masters - Inner life of a thought - Robert Ruxandrescu - The origin of creativity - Alastair Porwal - Evolution of metacognition - Sara - Why am I here and now, not there and then? - Sally Campbell Fertile territory for profound conversation... See you there! Amir ## Zoom Room 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Meeting with Bernardo - 28th July URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-7/ Last updated: 2026-07-02T09:37:10.000Z Theme for this meeting to be confirmed. It will most likely be a chance to clarify anything that came up in the previous 3 weeks with guests. Please use [this page](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-4/) for any generic questions. ### Zoom room _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Meeting with Bernardo - 14th July URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-5/ Last updated: 2026-06-06T20:00:05.000Z Our weekly meeting with Bernardo, featuring special guests, member Q&A and updates from Bernardo on his latest thinking. Specific theme and invitation to contribute questions to be announced closer to the time. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Seeing through the illusion of self URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/seeing-through-the-illusion-of-self/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T14:03:20.000Z Recording details Date: 26 May 2026 Duration: 2h 6m Free preview Chapters 00:00 Introductions 03:40 What is **enlightenment**? 19:00 The habit of **Materialist fallacies** 19:34 What do we mean when we say “I”? 32:30 Cats, trancendence and death 34:44 Is **personhood an illusion**? 39:20 Allowing nature to play you 41:48 Mundane life: distraction from existential questions 43:27 When existential questions become a liability: depression and anxiety 44:00 How Bernardo responds to the concept of awakening 52:00 Cessation vs Awareness with no content 54:40 Bernardo no longer stresses over individual decisions 58:15 Why Bernardo likes **Advaita Vedanta** so much 1:01:00 The influence of Christianity in Western culture and politics 1:06:30 Relationship between analytic idealism and Advaita Vedanta 1:10:00 In academic work, the first step is to question incumbent theories 1:11:30 The highly advanced **language of whales** 1:14:00 The notion of freedom in contemporary societies 1:20:26 Dominance of materialist assumptions in education, philosophy, and religion 1:23:27 Buy more shoes while you can! 1:25:00 Life as an exploration of metaphysics and meaning 1:29:00 Non-typical modes of perceiving reality 1:36:15 **Prenatal state of consciousness** 1:40:00 Definition of being “highly functional” in modern society 1:45:00 No rigourous way to contact the infinite? 1:47:47 Seeing through the illusion of separation 1:52:00 Reification of contents on the Dashboard (conceptual fixation on representations) 1:58:00 Poem: “Born a ripple in a boundless sea” 2:03:00 The path to resonance, recognition, and intuition With thanks to Rita Conde Recognising the illusion of separation is a central insight in many traditions. But Bernardo reserves the word ‘awakening’ for those who appear to have lost **all** identification with the body and only concerned for others. His example is the Vietnamese monk Thích Quảng Đức, who in 1963 set himself aflame in protest for the treatment of Buddhists, and sat calmly in meditation until he passed away. Bernardo no longer seeks this state of mind. Instead, he honours the unthinkable price the universe has made to make his life possible, and the unique contribution his daimon aspires to make. Nevertheless, he appreciates the reduced suffering that comes with maturity. His ability, like a violin, to be "played by life", to let decisions arise without the torment of personal responsibility, or having to understand everything and get everything "right". As such, he recommends **fighting the habit of physicalist thinking**. Yes, there are neural correlates to conscious states. But this is only confusing if you are already hypnotised by physicalist assumptions. Physical stuff is only ever an appearance in consciousness. What it represents is an open question - and Bernardo contends the most parsimonious answer is that what it represents are yet more movements of mind. The universal mind which you are. **In this meeting we also discuss**: - What Bernardo means by ‘I’ - How to navigate the immense complexity of life - How **weird life** is (on both sides of the dashboard) - Remembering **life before birth** ### Seeing *through* the dashboard We tend to reify the images of perception as if that is all there is. Chairs, tables, mountains, molehills. But Schopenhauer says that in certain states of mind you can see ***through*** the representations to the archetypes they manifest. You still see the chairs and tables, but also what they stand for, an extra dimension of depth. Some people might even experience pure potentiality *directly*. When this happens, it's hard to be certain. Has a peephole opened up to Mind-at-Large? Or is it a memory from life-before-birth? The good news is it doesn't matter. Either way, it's likely touching on truth in ways that language can't. After all, Bernardo’s intuition is that Analytic Idealism ***is*** correct, but relevant to less than 10% of reality. ### **How to be in these meetings (and the world)** A small word of guidance: These meetings can go deep into topics with which few of us are deeply familiar. Physics. History. Biology. Engineering. Bernardo has a simple recommendation: There is a psychic faculty that nature gave us to deal with the immense complexity of life. Simply notice what you resonate with, and let the rest pour over you. Check out the timestamps below for the many other themes we discussed, and let me know what you most chime with. I look forward to sharing many future meetings together! With appreciation, Amir ## Resources mentioned: ### Fighting the habit of physicalist thinking ### The sophistication of whale expression Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Awakening URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/awakening/ Last updated: 2026-05-25T13:45:58.000Z There is knowing the chemical composition of chocolate, and then there is tasting it. Whilst Bernardo has clear intellectual framework for reality, mystics have claimed the same insight can be experienced directly. It is possible to 'wake up' to the underlying unity of existence, and to its essential nature as awareness. To experience existence as alive. If that is the case, who is doing the seeking? Why is it common to feel like an entity separate from the rest of the universe? And what would it mean for this illusion to drop away? This week, we'll start with questions related to this topic that were submitted during last week's '[Ask me Anything](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ama-meeting-with-bernardo/)', like those listed below. I look forward to seeing you there! Amir --- WHO OR WHAT IS ASKING THE QUESTIONS? - **Rita Conde** When the human mind inquires into its own origin and identity "who are we?" "where do we come from?" — who or what is asking these questions? Is it our inquisitive ego, or is it the universal mind asking questions about itself? If all minds are manifestations of one single mind, does the impulse to ask such questions reveal an inherent self-knowing tendency within reality itself, and isn't that a hint that the one mind is self-reflective? --- IF PERSONHOOD IS AN ILLUSION, WHAT KEEPS REINSTATING IT? - **Adnane Aggour** In my direct experience, there are moments where the sense of being a separate "doer" dissolves, actions happen, decisions get made, life flows, but nobody seems to be driving. Then the narrator returns, claims ownership, and personhood snaps back. Is the very desire to see through the illusion itself another move of the illusory person? --- HOW BERNARDO WOULD RESPOND TO AWAKENING - **Gray Daniels** Bernardo, I heard you say once that the capacity to regress your attention to the point of pure apperceptive subjectivity, as has arisen in the mind of sages past and present, has not as of yet arisen in your mind. My question, however impossible it might be to answer is; if it did arise in your mind, what would you do? How might the orientation of your life change? And most importantly what would be the wise way to employ the energies of the psyche if this Understanding crested over the horizon of your mind ? --- If time allows, we'll continue with questions from last week's AMA, and if not, return to this next week. [Ask your question to Bernardo! AMA Meeting tomorrowProprioception, gender and Western assumptions of neutrality: 19th May 2026 | AMA with Bernardo![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/bernardo-f4e57bed5d4ffa9aaf8df7af923e503841e6feb28ec6e167825d174bd5df0389.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ama-meeting-with-bernardo/) ## Zoom link Tues 26th May 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The Feminine, The Masculine & The Collective Shadow URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/feminine-masculine/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T14:07:05.000Z Recording details Date: 19 May 2026 Duration: 2h 11m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 A typical day in Bernardo's life 0:05:15 Introducing transcript search portal 0:09:15 The **most interesting philosophers and scientists today?** 0:12:17 Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and the definition of a "thing" 0:16:38 Physics and the first-person perspective 0:18:15 Quantum gravity as one exciting scientific field today 0:21:00 **Language** as a way of being 0:33:00 Collisions with the **collective shadow** and personal shadow 0:42:40 Origins of male toxicity 0:49:00 The terrifying collapse of *Logos* 0:53:35 Fluid compensation as a psychological closure mechanism 0:54:17 Self-validation and fluid compensation 0:57:40 The biology and archetype of sexual dimorphism 1:07:50 **Is Mind-at-Large intrinsically feminine?** 1:17:55 **Male toxicity** \- a backlash to earlier feminization? 1:41:50 On Jordan Peterson 1:44:44 Male toxicity: runaway train or pendulum swing? 1:58:58 How guest speakers are invited to the sessions 1:59:51 Understanding **gender** as a social construct 2:07:30 Sophie Wilson: a transgender award-winning engineer *With thanks to Rita Conde* Could the feminine archetype be considered the basic template of nature, perhaps even of Mind at Large? Our culture abounds with the opposite imagery. Woman's origin is Adam's rib. God the creator is "God is the father". For Sally Annett, one of our members, the effect of this on women's psyche has been literally "soul-destroying." But in utero, the female is the original form; The male is a hormone-induced modification. In evolution, the Y chromosome emerged relatively recently. Origin deities across cultures range from sea goddesses to great cosmic mothers, later suppressed, replaced, or forgotten. If in Analytic Idealism whatever arises in our world is considered an archetypal expression of mind at large, then the female, as the base from which all life and all sexual differentiation unfolds, is not merely biologically primary but archetypally so. ### Is toxic masculinity a pendulum swing or a runaway train? On this topic, the conversation turned into debate, both in the main meeting and the chat. Is Jordan Peterson a symptom of repressed masculinity or femininity? Is today's collective shadow an imbalance of archetypes or brain hemispheres? And should this even be a topic of discussion in our meetings? Whilst I'm certain there will be as many perspectives on this as there are members in the group, as a collection of deep thinkers and empathic souls, I'm sure we can appreciate the differences of opinion without losing sight of the values we all share. I look forward to hearing your view, and warmly thank you for your respectful and passionate engagement. With thanks! Amir **We also discussed:** - The risk of introducing **gender politics** into metaphysical discussion - Why **sexual reproduction** exists at all - **Language** as a way of being, not merely a tool for communication - Confronting the **collective shadow** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/05/baroque_devils_battling_snails_on_a_long_ship_photo_realist_x61m8nyexs9zu672g7ic_1.png) Sally Annett 2026 - Baroque Devil (No4). Digital photograph. "This image represents the exclusion and demonisation of women and the feminine throughout history, with particular reference to the witch hunts that ran alongside and after the Renaissance, or Early Modern Period, and the development of the new sciences and philosophies. Women in the UK were additionally banned from publishing any form of literature until the 18th century and therefore a form of 'voice.' Their religious spaces/voices were only occupied/heard outside of cloisters, if they were possessed - directly channelling the 'divine'! Otherwise, an opinionated women could look forward to torture and death. The veil represents a loss of obscured identity and vision. The link between image, language, belief and metarepresentation (the ability to have a belief about a belief) I feel is crucial to all theories of consciousness and human communication/evolution."N Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Questioning consensus reality URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/patrick-harpur-reality-in-two-modes/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T14:07:10.000Z Recording details Date: 13 May 2026 Duration: 2h 5m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Welcome to Patrick Harpur 0:08:59 Can something be concrete without being literal? 0:12:30 **Blake’s double vision**: seeing through the world 0:19:55 When ordinary nature becomes a revelation 0:28:34 Does consensus reality survive a walk with friends? 0:30:00 A **UFO** encounter and a crack between worlds 0:35:33 Fairy enchantment and the uncertainties of perception 0:41:30 Can a vivid memory be something that never happened? 0:44:30 The missing keys that unsettle ordinary reality 0:48:32 Why Patrick questions literal **alien abductions** 0:53:21 **Is anything truly literal?** 0:58:36 How language divides what we experience 1:03:58 Is metaphor the foundation of language? 1:08:55 Could science explain why there is no pure perception? 1:16:01 Why do we remember film scenes that aren’t there? 1:21:09 **Proust**: remembering a life or reliving it? 1:27:39 Are some people more open to the daimonic? 1:29:12 Patrick’s childhood encounter with a numinous world 1:34:32 **Imagination isn’t fantasy** 1:40:12 The otherworld hiding in popular culture 1:45:24 Are we ourselves **daimonic beings**? 1:50:04 Why Bernardo took decades to truly encounter a cat 1:53:02 Is there room for daimons in Christianity? 1:56:53 Fairies, angels and sacred wells 2:01:31 Closing reflections: stories around the campfire 2:02:38 Introducing the recording search tool "It took me two-thirds of my life to encounter a cat for the first time" says Bernardo, after having lived with them most of his life. Dialogues with Patrick are full of exotic fairies and UFOs, but the fundamental message is how mysterious "ordinary" reality truly is. We are blinded by a culture that wants to make everything literal, when for Patrick, even notion of literal is a metaphor. This session is a challenge to the very notion of consensus reality, an invitation to enchantment, and to encounter our world at a depth we so often ignore. We discussed: - Why "consensus reality doesn't hold up" - The connection to McGilchrist's left and right brain - Three types of mystical vision: nature, the beloved, and God - Catholics vs Puritans about fairies - Blake's sun: a heavenly host, a golden guinea — already a simile either way - Why there may be nothing truly literal at all As ever, I look forward to your reflections, and wish you many a true encounter.... Amir ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/08/image-1.png) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/07/Patrick-Harpur-2011-crop.jpg) Patrick Harpur Bernardo considers Patrick his top 3 author worthy of far more exposure. He attended St Catharine's College, Cambridge, to read English, and his writings have appeared in The Guardian, Fortean Times, Gnosis, Resurgence, the New Statesman and the Independent on Sunday. He is often invited to give talks in the UK, in Spain and in America; and he has taught post-graduate students at Schumacher College (Dartington). As well as several novels, Patrick is the author of 4 non-fiction books including **Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld** which attempted to make sense of visions and apparitions by recourse to Platonic philosophy, Jungian psychology, and the Romantic notion of imagination. He also wrote **The Philosophers' Secret Fire: A History of the Imagination** outlined an esoteric Western way of seeing the world which has been largely neglected. In 2010, Rider published the rather ambitiously titled **A Complete Guide to the Soul**, which appeared a year later in the US as **The Secret Tradition of the Soul** (Evolver Editions, an imprint of North Atlantic Books). **The Stormy Petrel** (The Squeeze Press, 2017) is a novel based on the life and work of the Danish thinker Søren Kierkegaard, whose writings have gripped Patrick for years. You can read his article on the [Daimonic Nature of Reality here](https://www.essentiafoundation.org/seeing-things-the-daimonic-nature-of-reality/reading/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Shamil Chandaria: AI, Awakening & Predictive Processing URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/shamil-chandaria-awakening-neuroscience-flourishing/ Last updated: 2026-07-07T15:41:37.000Z Today's guest, Shamil Chandaria, is an advisor to Google's Deep Mind, and a philosopher, neuroscientist and meditation researcher in consciousness studies at both Oxford, Cambridge, and Imperial College London. Shamil and Bernardo will dialogue on the most recent neuroscience of awakening, and their perspectives on consciousness and on artificial intelligence. Shamil draws on the most recent scientific perspectives of how our minds construct experience. He offers a clear framework that demystifies spiritual awakenings and a path towards greater human flourishing. His approach reveals how you can harness practices like meditation to systematically reshape your brain’s predictive processes, reduce suffering, and reconstruct a whole new experience of reality. His work combines disciplines ranging from computational neuroscience and predictive processing to the nondual traditions of Buddhism, Vedanta and Kashmiri Shaivism, as well as 38 years of meditation and academic experience. He has collaborated with some of the world's leading scientists in Bayesian brain theory, perception, artificial intelligence and psychedelic research. ### More about Shamil Chandaria You can sample Shamil's work in the recent paper ‘[A Beautiful Loop](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383867219%5FA%5Fbeautiful%5Floop%5FAn%5Factive%5Finference%5Ftheory%5Fof%5Fconsciousness?ref=withrealityinmind.com),’ or in podcast conversations with [Sam Harris](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXs0uQ6M5ow&ref=withrealityinmind.com) and [FitMind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhfyATEDHVw&ref=withrealityinmind.com). He has a full 10-hour course you can find here: [Rewiring your Reality: A 4 Week Course with Shamil Chandaria on the Neuroscience of Meditation, Awakening and Human FlourishingThu 17th Jul 2025, 7pm – Thu 31st Jul 2025, 9:30pm BST (UTC +01:00)![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)![](https://r2.dandelion.events/2025/10/17/12/25/33/ff90cf07-0f3f-424e-83ec-12708a2e2d75/e014ebac-c100-4b8f-b2d8-4e3baa3ec876.jpg)](https://dandelion.events/e/m9nea?ref=withrealityinmind.com) - Senior research fellow at the centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, University of Oxford. - Research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy, London University, where he focuses on philosophical issues in neuroscience and well-being - Research fellow at Imperial College in the neuroscience of psychedelics - Bye-fellow at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University. ***“weaves together the latest ideas emerging in computational neuroscience, active inference, predictive processing, and the free energy principle into a compelling narrative of how our minds construct reality and indeed our ‘selves'.”*** ## **Zoom link** 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### You only need to know the next step URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-next-step/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T14:07:16.000Z Recording details Date: 5 May 2026 Duration: 2h 12m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Art, ideas and the next step 0:04:34 **Euclyd**: a Trojan horse for idealism? 0:11:06 A childhood drawing returns as a personal mandala 0:17:18 Can you overthink a symbol? 0:18:37 Could perception reveal quantum entanglement? 0:28:17 **Daniel Ambrosi**: landscapes beyond the photograph 0:38:43 What does a **bodhisattva** choose? 0:40:09 Enlightenment as seeing through dissociation 0:48:49 Can **thermodynamics** dissolve the hard problem? 0:52:11 An illusion still needs someone to experience it 0:55:07 Quantities describe experience—but can they create it? 0:57:38 What happens when philosophy becomes a profession? 1:00:15 Olivier’s drawings: ideas becoming images 1:04:31 Art as communication from the unconscious 1:09:31 Ruben’s novel: dreams finding their story 1:18:04 When interpreting a symbol could spoil the work 1:25:06 Can we study pure **consciousness without metaphysics?** 1:32:23 Neuroscience and its hidden assumptions 1:37:17 Two meanings of the physical brain 1:42:05 **Tristano’s invention**: music, mathematics and code 1:50:04 What happens when a chord becomes a shape? 1:56:25 What do images sound like? 1:59:24 Sharing a creation without carrying it alone 2:05:56 **You only need to know the next step** 2:08:27 Be kind to yourself: you don’t need every answer This session was a beautiful reminder of how many generous, talented, creative and inspiring people are amongst us, with members sharing art, poetry, novel excerpts and novel ideas for Bernardo to reflect on. If you're unsure where its all going, Bernardo has this advice to share: all you need to know is the next step. Follow your instinct rather than some masterplan. Later in life when you look back is when it could all make metacognitive sense. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/05/AMBROSI-EpicEngadinDreamscape.jpg) “Epic Engadin” by Daniel Ambrosi ([dreamscapes.ai](http://dreamscapes.ai/?ref=withrealityinmind.com)) - **A 16:9 5K desktop wallpaper image depicting Daniel Ambrosi’s interpretation of Bernardo’s beloved Upper Engadin, free for community members to use and share. High res download available here:* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MbuVUarBnjCgDRmACcOohc9tB0OIyvUw/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MbuVUarBnjCgDRmACcOohc9tB0OIyvUw/view?usp=sharing&ref=withrealityinmind.com) ***We also discussed:*** - Enlightenment & **Bodhisattva** in analytic idealism - Steps towards a metaphysically agnostic neuroscience - Euclyd's effect on Bernardo's impact - The stubborn challenge of the hard problem of consciousness We'll have another session to share inspiration later this year, giving space to the [many contributions we didn't have time for yesterday.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/share/) Details for next week's session are now uncertain, but I'll email as soon as its confirmed. Meanwhile, you can share upcoming questions in this Ask Me Anything page: [AMA Meeting with Bernardo19th May 2026 | AMA with Bernardo![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/size/w1200/2026/02/bernardo.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ama-meeting-with-bernardo/) I look forward to seeing you soon! Amir ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/05/image.png) By Olivier Goethals - from a series of drawings inspired by topics discussed in our meetings [https://oliviergoethals.info/play/book10](https://oliviergoethals.info/play/book10?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Ask your question to Bernardo! AMA Meeting tomorrow URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ama-meeting-with-bernardo/ Last updated: 2026-05-18T15:11:58.000Z We've scheduled an "Ask Me Anything" for tomorrow, the perfect place for any queries that don't fit with any other themes in the [upcoming schedule](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/schedule/) (which includes Rupert Spira, Shamil Chandaria, Michael Levin & Jude Currivan!) Do have a look through and 'vote' for what you would most like to see discussed. Already submitted are questions on proprioception of the infinite, the construction of gender, and assumptions of neutrality in the West. ## Asking questions Most attention often goes to the clearest questions, so do aim for brevity when you can. - Start with a one-sentence summary in **CAPITAL LETTERS** - Explain the essence of your question in **under 1000 characters.** - Further elaboration can be shared as a 'reply' to your own comment. Please write in **accessible language** \- English a second language for many in this international community. I look forward to seeing you on my dashboard soon, Thanks for your incredible and inquisitive mind! Amir ## Zoom link Tues 19th May 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Is there a moon when no one is looking? On Rovelli & Relational Quantum Mechanics URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/rovelli-relational-quantum-mechanics/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T14:07:20.000Z Recording details Date: 29 April 2026 Duration: 2h 15m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Does the moon exist when nobody looks? 0:04:11 When suffering becomes lived philosophy 0:06:47 Where do **Rovelli and Bernardo** part ways? 0:11:09 A world with no absolute physical objects 0:13:44 Relations all the way down—but between what? 0:17:12 Why idealism can accept relational physics 0:18:50 Two dashboards, one sky 0:25:12 Does **Nagarjuna** deny every kind of ground? 0:29:12 The **wave function**: reality or knowledge? 0:34:15 Quantum theory as a betting strategy 0:36:29 The moon is real—but not physical 0:37:17 So is the moon still there? 0:42:31 One shared reality, many physical worlds 0:45:01 Is consciousness inside time? 0:48:33 The pilot who has never seen the sky 0:51:15 **Spacetime as a filing system for experience** 0:55:07 Reality as a web of meaning 0:58:33 Can physics reach reality itself? 1:05:14 Does the absolute need the relative? 1:11:59 What does it mean to exist for yourself? 1:17:03 Which quantum puzzles come from physicalist assumptions? 1:25:17 How much structure does a perspective need? 1:28:56 Why does the universe behave consistently? 1:33:48 **Could the laws of physics change?** 1:38:01 **Conway’s Game of Life**: which laws are fundamental? 1:45:43 How can an idealist trust their knowledge? 1:51:02 Bernardo’s case for physicalism’s internal contradiction 1:56:49 Where do **archetypes** come from? 2:03:12 Why an archetype is not its manifestation 2:08:05 Archetypes in philosophy and clinical practice Hi %recipient\_name%, Carlos Rovelli is a renowned theoretical physicist and philosopher known for co-founding loop quantum gravity theory. Bernardo and Carlos both accept **relational quantum mechanics** (a minority view in a landscape crowded with many-worlds advocates) but they disagree on one of the deepest questions of philosophy. Rovelli is a physicalist. And if you are a physicalist, RQM leaves you in what Bernardo describes as a *metaphysical shitshow*. If nothing physical has absolute existence — if it's all relational — then what, precisely, is doing the relating? Relations between relations between relations... you are off to the races, and you never reach the bottom. It is like saying there is only movement, but nothing that moves. Analytic idealism, by contrast, escapes this infinite regress cleanly. If physical entities are representations, **dashboard dials,** then of course they are relational. Of course two airplanes flying in opposite directions will show different airspeed readings. That tells you nothing troubling about the sky itself. The sky is absolute. The *representations* are relational. Which brought us to one of the most clarifying formulations I've heard in these sessions: Bernardo is a **physical non-realist** and an **ontic realist**. There is something real and absolute out there — he insists on it. It simply isn't physical. And there are, in a very precise sense, **as many physical worlds as there are living beings.** **We also discussed:** - The phenomenology of single celled organisms - The wave function: epistemic or ontic? Why Bernardo sides with "betting strategy" - Could the laws of physics be evolving? Conway's Game of Life and the levels of law - Physicalism's internal inconsistency — the hard problem explained from first principles - Archetypes as the fundamental properties implied by the beingness of a thing - Spacetime as a cognitive construct — why the pilot born in the cockpit can't describe the sky - Epistemology under analytic idealism: correspondence, coherence, internal consistency, parsimony Before listening to the recording below, I also recommend Nour's introduction to the session, which you can read [here](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/physics-deep-dive-relational-process-views/). She shares her reflections below. See you next week! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Explanation vs Computation URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/explanation-computation/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T14:07:25.000Z Recording details Date: 21 April 2026 Duration: 2h 17m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Does calculation give us understanding? 0:05:25 Explanation and computation keep each other honest 0:07:03 A satisfying explanation can still mislead us 0:14:03 The power of a convenient fiction 0:14:45 Explaining quantum computers through **many worlds** 0:18:14 Why do we crave ultimate truth? 0:21:34 Recognising the loop that deepens suffering 0:23:09 Could **nature be more intelligent than our computers**? 0:27:25 AI reasoning: different routes to the same result 0:32:26 How simple rules unfold entire worlds 0:35:19 The **cosmic egg**: simplicity is complexity 0:43:54 Is life a computation? 0:46:47 Can we predict the universe faster than it unfolds? 0:49:37 Does complexity grow by absorbing smaller systems? 0:57:24 Could nature have **direction without a plan**? 0:59:06 Why are we always almost at the answer? 1:03:11 When lost meaning becomes a promise of deliverance 1:08:02 The **AI singularity as a religious story** 1:16:38 Evolution as a spiral, rather than a straight line 1:19:46 AI in the brain: spectacles inside your skull? 1:24:06 Why **high strangeness** still intrigues Bernardo 1:26:28 Bringing the promise of completion back within 1:35:21 What could a **holographic universe** explain? 1:40:43 Even the hologram speaks dashboard language 1:48:09 Can mathematics take us beyond spacetime? 1:51:31 What science would we have without perception? 1:57:29 Kuhn and the limits of scientific models 2:05:03 **Is analytic idealism a convenient fiction too?** 2:06:15 Popper: why science tests rather than proves 2:13:01 Can we judge metaphysics by the same test? What a wonderful discussion we had last night! I’ve never realised how slippery the word explanation actually is. We use it constantly, in science, in conversation, in our own heads, but when Bernardo pushed on it, it became clear that what we usually call an explanation is really just an analogy we’ve grown comfortable with. We reach for the familiar, we build a picture that feels satisfying, and we call it understanding. But satisfaction isn’t the same as truth. An explanation that merely fits our cognitive shape, that tells us a story we were already primed to receive, might be doing something closer to comfort than knowledge. That distinction felt important tonight, and a little unsettling. Then comes the relationship between explanation and computation, I found myself surprised by how much tension lives there. Computation, when it’s honest, keeps explanation grounded, it forces you to be precise, to commit, to produce something that can be wrong (don’t get me started about the hard work that goes into building a robust and trustworthy AI agentic systems). But there’s a version of computation that drifts away from that, where the model becomes self-justifying, where the outputs look rigorous while the underlying picture has quietly been abandoned. We conclude that explanation is what makes computation honest. Without it, computation can become its own kind of convenient fiction, just a more elaborate one. Which brought us to the question Tierney raised, about humanity’s perpetual belief that we’re close, that this theory, this framework, this breakthrough is the one that finally closes the gap. Bernardo’s response was that this is an **archetypal** theme, baked into how we relate to knowledge itself. We are always almost there. And maybe that’s not a failure of science or philosophy, maybe it’s just the structure of the pursuit. What I’m sitting with now is whether that perpetual nearness is frustrating or actually the point. Whether the satisfaction was never supposed to last. And whether the models we build, however precise, however elegant, are always, at some level, conveniences we’ve agreed to believe in together. And how beautiful it is to walk this journey with you, together. Nour **A few things worth exploring before listening to the recording, if you're curious:** - [David Deutsch: A New Way to Explain Explanation](https://www.ted.com/talks/david%5Fdeutsch%5Fa%5Fnew%5Fway%5Fto%5Fexplain%5Fexplanation?ref=withrealityinmind.com) — his TED talk. Seventeen minutes, very direct, a good grounding for the session. - *The Beginning of Infinity* by David Deutsch — if you pick it up, the first chapter is the one to read. It reframes what you thought science was doing. - [Closer to Truth on Scientific Realism](https://closertotruth.com/series/is-science-really-true/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) — short conversations with physicists and philosophers on whether science describes reality or models it. - [Sean Carroll's Mindscape, Episode 253: David Deutsch on Science, Complexity, and Explanation](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-deutsch-on-science-complexity-and-explanation/id1406534739?i=1000631471142&ref=withrealityinmind.com) — a longer, more technical conversation that gets into quantum mechanics and explanation in real depth. The email introducing this session is here: [Explanation, Computation, and Reality21st April Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup hosted by Nour. 7-9pm UK / 8-10 CET / 2-5pm EST![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindNour Elhuda Zuraiki![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/01/Explanation--computation-and-reality.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/explanation-computation-and-reality/) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### We need a mildly schizophrenic relationship to myth. URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/more-than-allegory-recording/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T14:48:04.000Z Recording details Date: 14 April 2026 Duration: 2h 28m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Welcome and **Dinner for One** 0:03:55 Member introductions 0:15:45 More Than Allegory Overview — **why myth is more than metaphor** 0:25:40 Peter MacLean: the logical contradictions of literal interpretation 0:28:00 The greatest dilemma of mythology: literal vs. non-literal 0:32:23 Myths as symbols of the **ineffable** 0:36:00 **Christianity's spread** — intellectual imbalance, not intellectual stunting 0:39:15 Why religion is vanishing in the West 0:42:00 Sallust: "That which always is, but never was" 0:49:12 Religion as an **attitude to life** 0:52:00 Nikola: moving myth from intellect to instinct — individuation & **life as teacher** 0:58:05 Jung’s individuation: bringing our faculties into dialogue 1:00:48 Does nature itself **individuate**? 1:03:13 The value of asking the **right questions** 1:09:00 Julia Luke: More Than Allegory as **Bernardo's own individuation** 1:17:00 **Nietzsche's "God is dead"** as Negredo 1:19:06 Nietzsche’s Übermensch and the search for meaning 1:25:40 Nietzsche’s **daimon** 1:30:00 Ciarán: dissociation as the most fundamental archetype 1:39:00 Life complexes & reincarnation under analytic idealism 1:54:00 Rita: revelation, **the diversity of myths, and the limits of language** 1:59:17 Intellectual imbalance, not intellectual incapacity 2:05:51 What does it mean to be religious today? 2:06:49 The sophistication of Eastern and Western myths 2:10:20 The **transformative power** of myth 2:12:11 Revelation as spontaneous insight 2:13:49 Do we need to **reconnect**? 2:22:16 The Tao and the **limits of language** 2:25:27 The **cosmic itch** 2:26:41 Closing reflections Additional chapter detail in collaboration with Rita Conde We are almost fated to have an unhealthy relationship with myth, says Bernardo. "Before the Enlightenment, the distinction between literal and symbolic truth simply did not exist. The myth reached directly into the emotional and intuitive layers of the psyche — which is precisely where it was designed to land." Today, we expect everything to be literal, and taken literally, religious myth leads to fundamentalism or is ignored. If ignored, we are impoverished. But if taken merely as metaphor, the stories lose their transformative power. Instead, we need a 'mildly schizophrenic relationship' with myth: *Knowing* it isn't true whilst *feeling* as if it were. ***"These things never happened, but they always are." - Sallust*** "Rationally, you cannot interpret it literally. Otherwise, you flatten it. You just smash it. And it becomes silly for the reasons you just described. What about the people who lived before Jesus was born? Were they saved? You know, you get into this sort of space that makes the whole thing look absolutely silly. So you cannot take it literally from an intellectual perspective. But from an emotional perspective, you have to take it in *as though* it were literally true... Because otherwise, it loses its emotional purchase on you. It doesn't have a grip on you anymore. You exile it, you kick it upstairs to a higher floor of spiritual abstraction that doesn't really help you evolve or relate to the myth at all. The demand that a healthy relationship with mythology places on us is to reconcile this apparent contradiction. And this is what excruciatingly difficult, because almost invariably we tend to go one way or the other." ### Christ the archetype precedes the man The key is to recognise that not everything can be conveyed with analytic language. Something our culture has forgotten. Whilst metacognition can formulate the questions, the answers may come in symbols and stories. They may awaken a knowing far deeper than language can touch at the roots of existence. > **“Maybe you are searching among the branches, for what only appears in the roots” - Rumi** "So if you look at the Christ archetype, the Messiah archetype, the Saviour archetype: The archetype itself has no form. It's empty. It's a pattern that predates, pre-exists, every instance of that pattern. So an archetype always is. But it never was." In other words, any concrete instance of the archetype is not the archetype itself. "This is what Sallust is reminding us of: Christ always is, but never was... Even if there was a man that went by that name, Christ as the archetype preceded that man. ### Is this sacrilegious, what I just said? No, this is 101 theology. If Christ is a member of the Trinity, he precedes the existence of Yeshua from Nazareth. Listen to what I'm about to say with your heart. If you're a Christian, don't judge me too severely. To me, it is 100% irrelevant if there was a Yeshua of Nazareth running around 2026 years ago... I think it was Rilke who said, that, the life of Christ is not something that happened in the past. ***It's something that is unfolding every day in our lives.*** He was alert. Rilke paid attention to things, there's no doubt about that. What the mythology tells you, what it conveys to you, is a concrete embodiment of a template. A way of being in the world, a way of relating to nature, to oneself, to others. To whatever aspect of reality is transcended to us from the particular state of mind we take on right now, which we call life." Of all the books he has written, Bernardo is most in love with '[More than Allegory](https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/iff-books/our-books/more-than-allegory?ref=withrealityinmind.com)'. He is reminded to reread it by friends when his thinking becomes to linear, returning to a more spacious and open mindset that this session evoked. ### We also discussed: - The most influential philosopher of all time - How the point of life is to ask the right questions - Individuation as the path to embody myth - Could soul and separation the ultimate myth and archetype? Next week, Nour takes the helm for a session on [explanation, computation and reality,](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/explanation-computation-and-reality/) starting 1hr later than our normal time. See you then! Amir P.S. Dinner for One - an injoke for our German members :) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Wed 29th: Could the laws of physics be evolving? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/physics-deep-dive-relational-process-views/ Last updated: 2026-04-27T11:24:05.000Z 💡 Please note the updated date & time: 7-9pm UK / 8-10 CET / 2-4pm EST, Wed 29th April Here's a question that sounds simple until it isn't: does the moon exist when no one is looking at it? Einstein posed a version of this to his colleague Abraham Pais, half in jest, walking home from the Princeton Institute. But embedded in that teasing question is one of the most unresolved problems in physics. Quantum mechanics, taken literally, seems to suggest that physical properties, position, spin, momentum, don't have definite values until something interacts with them. And the question of *what counts as an interaction*, and *relative to what*, turns out to be surprisingly hard to answer. In the 1990s, physicist Carlo Rovelli proposed a radical way to take this seriously. His Relational Quantum Mechanics argues that the problem isn't that we haven't found the right interpretation yet, it's that we've been asking the wrong question entirely. We keep assuming that physical properties must have absolute values, sitting there waiting to be measured. Rovelli says: they don't. Properties only exist relative to other systems. There is no view from nowhere. There is no fact about what a particle is doing that isn't already a fact *relative to something else*. This is strange. But it's also, in a certain light, deeply coherent. Think of velocity, we've known since Galileo that velocity has no absolute value. A train moving at 100mph is also stationary, relative to a passenger sitting inside it. Rovelli is suggesting something similar might be true not just of motion, but of *all* physical properties. His book [Helgoland](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/317785/helgoland-by-rovelli-carlo/9780241454695?ref=withrealityinmind.com), named for the island where Heisenberg first had his quantum insight, is a beautiful place to start. *"The world is not a collection of things; it is a collection of events."* — Carlo Rovelli Here's the philosophical move worth pausing on though: relational doesn't mean subjective. Rovelli is careful about this. The fact that properties only exist relative to other systems doesn't mean anything goes. Relationships are real. Structure is real. What he's questioning is whether *substance,* some underlying stuff that properties attach to, was ever a coherent idea to begin with. Which is exactly where a much older tradition enters the picture. Long before quantum mechanics, thinkers like Alfred North Whitehead and Henri Bergson argued that we've had reality backwards. We tend to assume it's made of things, and that process and change are what happen *to* those things. But what if it's the reverse? What if events and interactions are fundamental, and "things" are just stable patterns within those processes? Heraclitus, 6th century BCE, was already there: you cannot step into the same river twice, not because rivers are unreliable, but because both the river and you are processes, not objects. *"It is not the things that are real, but the events."* — Alfred North Whitehead This brings us to Lee Smolin, who has spent much of his career as a theoretical physicist asking a question that makes many colleagues uncomfortable: what if the laws of physics aren't fixed? What if they *evolved*? His proposal, cosmological natural selection, suggests that universes reproduce through black holes, each inheriting slightly varied physical constants. Laws, in this picture, aren't eternal Platonic truths handed down from some mathematical heaven, they emerged, and they continue to evolve. His book *Time Reborn* makes an even bolder argument: that the block universe picture, where time is just another dimension and past, present, and future are equally real, is simply wrong. Time isn't an illusion to be explained away. It is the most fundamental thing there is. Change comes first. Laws are downstream of it. *"The laws of physics are not timeless. They, too, evolve."* — Lee Smolin What connects Rovelli and Smolin, despite their differences, is a shared suspicion of the idea that reality is a static, observer-independent structure of fixed things and fixed laws. Both are pushing physics toward something more dynamic, more relational, and both are nudging at a question Bernardo has been asking from a different direction entirely. If physical properties only exist in relation to other systems, and if the notion of a self-sufficient material substrate quietly dissolves the further you look, then what's left when you follow that thread all the way down? Bernardo's argument is that experience, which is inherently relational, always a matter of something appearing *to* something, might not be the anomaly that needs explaining. It might be the only thing that was ever really there. The questions we'll sit with together: - If physical properties only exist relative to other systems, is there any meaningful sense in which an observer-independent reality exists at all? - What would it actually mean for physics to take process and time as genuinely fundamental, not emergent, not illusory? - If the laws of physics evolved rather than being eternally fixed, what does that do to our picture of a rational, stable universe? - Does the relational turn in physics point toward something like idealism, or just toward a more sophisticated materialism? **If you want to arrive curious:** - [Helgoland by Carlo Rovelli](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/317785/helgoland-by-rovelli-carlo/9780241454695?ref=withrealityinmind.com) — short, beautifully written, the best entry into relational quantum mechanics for a non-specialist. - [Time Reborn by Lee Smolin](https://www.amazon.com/Time-Reborn-Lee-Smolin/dp/0544245598?ref=withrealityinmind.com) — his accessible argument that time is real and fundamental. The first few chapters are all you need to get the core idea. - [Carlo Rovelli on Closer to Truth](https://closertotruth.com/contributor/carlo-rovelli/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) — short clips covering quantum mechanics, time, and the nature of events. - [Lee Smolin's Perimeter Institute lecture on Time Reborn](https://pirsa.org/13040103?ref=withrealityinmind.com) — roughly an hour, and covers his ideas on the reality of time and cosmological natural selection in a way that's genuinely exciting. See you there! Nour ## Zoom Room Wed 29th April 7-9pm UK / 8-10 CET / 2-4pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Explanation, Computation, and Reality URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/explanation-computation-and-reality/ Last updated: 2026-04-20T07:30:06.000Z There's a phrase that became almost a mantra in 20th century physics: *shut up and calculate*. That was one of my first shocks studying physics at university. It's attributed, loosely, to physicist David Mermin, a summary of the Copenhagen interpretation's attitude toward quantum mechanics. Don't worry about what the theory *means*. Don't ask what's "really" happening. Use the equations, get the numbers, make your predictions, and move on. And for a long time, that was enough. Quantum mechanics made extraordinarily precise predictions. It worked. But a question lingered, and it's the one we're going to dig into this session: is *working* the same thing as being *true*? Prediction and explanation are not the same thing, and the difference between them matters enormously. A theory can predict with perfect accuracy while being completely silent, or even wrong, about what reality actually looks like. For centuries, Ptolemy's geocentric model of the solar system made usable astronomical predictions. It just didn't describe anything real. The question of whether science is in the business of *explaining* reality, or merely *modelling* it for practical purposes, is one of the deepest and least resolved in the philosophy of science. Physicist and philosopher David Deutsch has staked out a sharp position here. In **The Beginning of Infinity**, he argues that what distinguishes genuine knowledge from mere pattern-matching is the quality of explanation, and specifically, whether an explanation is *hard to vary*. A good explanation is one where you can't just tweak it arbitrarily and still have it work. That constraint, he thinks, is what makes a theory more than a useful instrument, it's what makes it track something real. [His TED talk on explanation](https://www.ted.com/talks/david%5Fdeutsch%5Fa%5Fnew%5Fway%5Fto%5Fexplain%5Fexplanation?ref=withrealityinmind.com) is seventeen minutes and remarkably clear if you want to get the argument straight from him before the session. *"The purpose of science is not just to predict but to explain — and to explain means to give a picture of what reality is actually like."* — David Deutsch What makes this especially interesting is that Deutsch's commitment to explanation wasn't just philosophical, it was generative. The idea for quantum computation came directly from taking the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics *seriously as an explanation*, rather than bracketing it as metaphysical excess. If particles genuinely explore multiple paths simultaneously, a computer built on that fact should be capable of things classical machines never could. The explanation unlocked the technology. Which raises the question: if our willingness to ask "what is really going on?" produces results that pure prediction-making never would, what does that tell us about the relationship between explanation and reality? Bernardo's work adds a layer that neither physics nor conventional philosophy of science tends to touch. Even granting that our best explanations track something real, what is that reality made of? The deeper physics goes, the less it resembles anything you could call solid matter. What remains are mathematical relationships, probabilities, fields, information. Bernardo argues that what our explanations are actually pointing toward, when followed all the way down, is something more like mind than matter, that consciousness isn't a late arrival in a physical universe, but the ground in which any explanation, any observation, any reality at all becomes possible. Realism, in his view, doesn't require materialism. It might actually be incompatible with it. The questions we'll explore together: - What's the real difference between predicting and explaining, and does it matter which one we think science is doing? - Did quantum computation prove something philosophical about the nature of reality, or is it just a very elegant engineering feat? - Can you be a realist about science without being a reductionist, without believing everything bottoms out in particles? - If we follow our best explanations all the way to their foundations, what kind of reality do they point toward? **A few things worth exploring beforehand if you're curious:** - [David Deutsch: A New Way to Explain Explanation](https://www.ted.com/talks/david%5Fdeutsch%5Fa%5Fnew%5Fway%5Fto%5Fexplain%5Fexplanation?ref=withrealityinmind.com) — his TED talk. Seventeen minutes, very direct, a good grounding for the session. - *The Beginning of Infinity* by David Deutsch — if you pick it up, the first chapter is the one to read. It reframes what you thought science was doing. - [Closer to Truth on Scientific Realism](https://closertotruth.com/series/is-science-really-true/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) — short conversations with physicists and philosophers on whether science describes reality or models it. - [Sean Carroll's Mindscape, Episode 253: David Deutsch on Science, Complexity, and Explanation](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-deutsch-on-science-complexity-and-explanation/id1406534739?i=1000631471142&ref=withrealityinmind.com) — a longer, more technical conversation that gets into quantum mechanics and explanation in real depth. See you there! Nour ## Zoom Room _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Iain McGilchrist, Bernardo Kastrup: to perceive is to participate in reality URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/iain-mcgilchrist-2/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T14:48:25.000Z Recording details Date: 7 April 2026 Duration: 2h 2m Free preview Chapters 00:00:15 Welcoming announcements **AGREEMENT ON IDEALISM** 00:05:55 **Ian’s path to idealism** 00:08:36 The idea that consciousness is an illusion is ludicrous 00:09:23 Matter as an aspect of experience 00:10:40 Creativity and differentiation as fundamental aspects of the Cosmos 00:11:18 **Bernardo’s path to idealism** (work at CERN and with AI) 00:12:00 Structure & function cannot generate consciousness 00:15:50 **The implausibility of materialism:** 00:17:20 Complexity in the cerebellum ≠ consciousness 00:18:25 Preserved consciousness with virtually no brain 00:20:40 Complexity & emergence explanations = magical thinking 00:21:00 Reference to Jerry Coyne and simple organisms which he claims are conscious (e.g., Drosophila) 00:23:33 Materialism as a belief **IS PERCEPTION REPRESENTATION OR PARTICIPATION?** 00:24:24 Perception as participation in reality 00:25:00 We don’t inhabit the body, we live it 00:26:20 Immanuel Kant and the noumenal 00:27:00 The Dashboard metaphor (intermediate interface, evolutionary pressure) 00:29:11 Endogenous mental states, intentional content 00:30:00 Book by Owen Barfield: *Saving the Appearances* 00:32:00 Continuity between individual and universal consciousness, they are not separate but can, nevertheless, be distinguished 00:33:50 Brain hemispheres 00:34:52 Why does consciousness exist? 00:36:36 Map vs. territory 00:37:00 If what we perceive is not real, then what would “more real” mean? 00:39:00 The world is also experiential 00:42:24 Thermodynamics and game theory imply 00:43:23 Seeing without eyes 00:44:44 The ground of being is continuously becoming, unfolding, precipitating into actuality 00:46:46 We didn't evolve just to survive: The role of beauty, why do we need it, where does it come from? 00:49:40 Optical illusions 00:51:00 The experience of being in love 00:54:00 Only mental states between us and world, modulating each other 00:54:33 Book by Arthur Schopenhauer: *The World as Will and Representation* 00:56:46 Perception is representational 00:57:40 Intimate access to the self 00:58:00 Matter as appearance of mental states 00:59:20 Dreaming minds creating worlds 01:00:00 Fantasy and imagination: one pulling us away from reality, the other revealing it 01:03:43 Persian philosophy 01:05:00 All the world is an icon 01:06:00 Denotation and connotation: symbols connote that which cannot be conveyed by denotation 01:08:08 Art and mythology: what we can see through them **01:10:15 Perspectives on Time** 01:34:30 **The experience of a Daimon** 01:35:00 The Daimon as the impersonal will flowing within us 01:36:00 Nature wills through us 01:37:00 Ian’s experience with the Daimon 01:37:30 Bernardo’s experience with his Daimon 01:38:38 Ian was forced to write by his Daimon 01:40:00 Bernardo was also forced to write by his Daimon 01:42:00 Shared introversion of Ian and Bernardo 01:43:50 What is the Daimon? 01:46:20 **Attention changes the world** 01:47:34 Brain hemispheres and analytic idealism 01:52:22 Christianity and the teachings of Jesus 01:59:00 Closing remarks 02:00:00 Ian’s upcoming event in Oxford (value, goodness, beauty and truth) *In collaboration with Rita Conde* 💡 This event recording is available to members down the bottom, and also as a one-off recording [here](https://dandelion.events/e/r5yfz?ref=withrealityinmind.com). In this deep conversation, Iain and Bernardo share their arguments for idealism, clear up misconceptions about ‘the **dashboard of perception**’ and compare their views on **time**. (For Bernardo it is an illusion; for Iain it is real, a continuous flow indicative of the unity of nature.) They also shared their personal experiences of surrendering to their **daimon -** the real and often demanding impersonal force in their lives whose meaning is often only revealed in retrospect. Perhaps most important is where they most align: consciousness is primary, and to perceive is to participate in both the purpose and unfolding of reality. They agree that to rely on 'emergence' for how matter gives rise to experience is pure hand-waving. To evoke complexity ignores the facts: up to 80% of neurons are in the unconscious cerebellum, and there are extraordinary cases of conscious experience in humans with virtually no brain. ### But can we know the world as it is? Even if granting primacy to consciousness, it isn't clear if we can know reality as it is. Is perception merely a dashboard representation of an unknowable world, or are we embedded in reality in ways that are immediate and profound? For both Iain and Bernardo, we are parts of a wider field of consciousness. But for Bernardo, this field's inner experience is represented to us on a dashboard we could call our 'screen of perception.' And this *does* separate us from the world as it is to itself. But it also imbues experience with incredible meaning; every rock, tree and supernova represents a rich inner life that we can guess at by virtue of knowing our own inner life. ### A real encounter For Iain, however, the dashboard metaphor is too mechanistic, implying data that could be measured by a machine. Reality is not hidden behind a dashboard; it is an experience in which we're embedded: > I'm wanting to get towards is this idea of a very real contact being made between my consciousness and that field of consciousness: And it's not just like reading a dial, it's actually perceiving something that has qualities, and the qualities are true. > So, whatever it is out there, and whatever it is in me, are producing something together... It is a real encounter, and it's out of that encounter that all the experiential world that we know, including the world of science, comes ### Perception, imagination & participation Bernardo agrees, there are limits to the dashboard metaphor. If we *really* take in the forms and shapes of the world, they *can* evoke in us the deepest archetypes of nature. The universe becomes a living symbol charged with meaning. For Iain, if we regard our perceptions of the world not as mere representations, but rather look so deeply into them that we are "actually looking through them," we arrive at a deeper experience of reality. This requires a form of imagination that is the opposite of fantasy. As such, > "Imagination is not just something that's used by artists and poets. It is something we use all the time when we really make contact with reality." It is moments like these that made this such an inspiring conversation, tangibly shifting my experience the following day. I would love to also hear about your experience of engaging! With appreciation, Amir P.S. next week we discuss Bernardo's book [More than Allegory](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/more-than-allegory/) so make sure to get your copy and prep your questions. ### Also discussed - Divergent views on **time** - **Brain hemispheres** and analytic idealism - Art, mythology and Christianity - Owen Barfield: *Saving the Appearances* Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/04/image.png) Iain McGilchrist **Iain McGilchrist** is a former Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, an associate Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford, a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Consultant Emeritus of the Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital, London, a former research Fellow in Neuroimaging at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Baltimore, and a former Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies in Stellenbosch. He now lives on the Isle of Skye, off the coast of North West Scotland, where he continues to write, and lectures worldwide. He is committed to the idea that the mind and brain can be understood only by seeing them in the broadest possible context, that of the whole of our physical and spiritual existence, and of the wider human culture in which they arise – the culture which helps to mould, and in turn is moulded by, our minds and brains. He was a late entrant to medicine. After a scholarship to Winchester College, he was awarded a scholarship to New College, Oxford, where he read English. He won the Chancellor’s English Essay Prize and the Charles Oldham Shakespeare Prize in 1974 and graduated (with congratulated 1st Class Hons) in 1975 (MA 1979). He was awarded a Prize Fellowship of All Souls College, Oxford in 1975, teaching English literature and pursuing interests in philosophy and psychology, in particular the mind-body relationship, between 1975 and 1982\. As a result he went on to train in medicine, and during this period All Souls re-elected him to a further Fellowship (1984-1991), and again in 2002 (to 2004). He was formerly a Consultant Psychiatrist of the Bethlem Royal and Maudsley NHS Trust in London, where he was Clinical Director of their southern sector Acute Mental Health Services. He trained at the Maudsley Hospital in London, working on specialist units including the Neuropsychiatry and Epilepsy Unit, the Children’s Unit and the Forensic Unit, as well as, at Senior Registrar level, the National Psychosis Referral Unit and the National Eating Disorder Unit. During this period he also worked as a Research Fellow in neuroimaging at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, USA. His clinical experience has been broad-based, and he has run a busy Community Mental Health Team in an ethnically diverse and socially deprived area of south London. He has published original research on neuroimaging in schizophrenia, the phenomenology of schizophrenia, and other topics, and contributed chapters to books on a wide range of subjects, as well as original articles in papers and journals, including the *British Journal of Psychiatry, American Journal of Psychiatry, Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology, Religion, Brain and Behavior \[a special issue on his work\], Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, The BMJ, The Lancet, The TLS, The London Review of Books, The LA Review of Books, The Listener, The Literary Review, Essays in Criticism, The Modern Language Review, The English Historical Review, The Wall Street Journal*, *The* *Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times* on topics in literature, medicine, psychiatry and philosophy. He has taken part in many radio and TV programmes and documentaries, including the BBC’s *The Moral Maze*, *Start the Week*, and *Today*, as well as their series *In Doubt We Trust*, NPR’s *The Hidden Brain, WNYC’s The Leonard Lopate Show, ABC’s All in the Mind,* TVO’s *The Agenda*, the BBC’s *Soul Searching* by David Malone, and his *Heart vs Mind*, Angel TV’s *Animate Earth,* Pat Collins’s *What We Leave In Our Wake,* the feature film *Innsaei – The Sea Within* by Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir*,* Bruce Parry’s feature film, *Tawai: A Voice from the Forest*, and recently a Canadian full-length feature film about his work, *The Divided Brain*. He has numerous podcasts, and interviews on YouTube, among them dialogues with Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, David Fuller of *Rebel Wisdom,* Rowan Williams, John Cleese and philosopher Tim Freke, as well as lectures, seminars and commentaries. His books include *Against Criticism* (Faber), *The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World* (Yale UP), *The Divided Brain and the Search for Meaning; Why Are We So Unhappy*? (Yale UP), and *Ways of Attending* (Routledge). His latest publication is the two-volume work, [*The Matter with Things*](https://channelmcgilchrist.com/matter-with-things/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) which was published in November 2021 by Perspectiva Press. This is a sustained critique of reductive materialism, and concerns such questions as ‘Who are we? What is the world? What is the nature of time and space? What do we mean by purpose, value and the divine? And how do we most reliably set about finding out?’ He has also been commissioned by Oxford University Press to write a book of reflections on the humanities and sciences; and plans to write a critique of contemporary society and culture from the standpoint of neuropsychology, as well as a study of what is revealed by the paintings of subjects with psychotic illnesses. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### A symphony of intuition & reason URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/living-idealism-2/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T14:48:34.000Z Recording details Date: 31 March 2026 Duration: 2h 48m Free preview Chapters 00:00:40 Euclyd moving forward 00:01:18 Members are invited to introduce themselves and share their understanding of Analytic Idealism 00:06:51 Quote from Owen Barfield: “How is it that the more able man becomes to manipulate the world to his advantage, the less he can perceive any meaning in it?” 00:08:00 Today’s topic 00:08:44 When Analytic Idealism becomes a lived experience: both liberating and destabilizing 00:16:00 Changing our worldview: letting go of old narratives and old stabilities 00:20:00 Bernardo’s recurring dreams of his homes — some entirely different from his real one, yet felt as undeniably his 00:21:00 A home in a dream is always a representation of the psyche 00:27:00 A new room in the psyche: a new way of being 00:30:50 A joyful return to the banal 00:31:50 Life unfolding on its own terms 00:32:40 A metaphysical lecture to psychiatric trainees: should psychiatrists engage in philosophical discussions with patients? 00:35:40 Psychology and psychiatry need philosophy to address the “elephant in the room” 00:41:40 The terror of death anxiety 00:42:26 The vertigo of eternity 00:43:50 Analytic Idealism is not a philosophy that reinforces the ego 00:47:00 “Chop wood, carry water” 00:54:00 A less mistaken understanding of the world 00:57:51 The root of self-sabotage 01:01:55 We are born as pre-theoretical idealists 01:04:38 Animism and panpsychism 01:08:08 We already are the truth 01:09:39 Playing the game of adulthood 01:11:30 Analytic Idealism remains grounded in logic, reasoning, empirical evidence, and naturalism 01:14:00 Is there a psychological or emotional price to pay? 01:16:32 Georg Cantor’s work on infinity 01:18:42 Feeling utterly lost on the spiritual plane 01:25:06 Mathematics and intuition: relationships between thought, feeling, and intuition 01:33:00 Experiencing these relationships in our mental states 01:34:45 book: Only the Paranoid Survive 01:37:00 Affinities between playing the piano and software programming 01:39:49 Psychedelics: another room in the mind with its own rules 01:40:18 Jung: psychic functions 01:41:00 Intuition or fantasizing? 01:46:40 We are natural before we are cultural 01:48:48 Why this is an especially challenging time to be alive 01:52:50 A mature relationship with what is natural: the paradigm of inner dialogue 01:56:00 Living with chronic pain: what is the meaning of a life marked by suffering? 02:06:20 There is hope 02:15:00 Choosing happiness despite the pain 02:24:00 Something magical happens when we surrender 02:28:30 No moral or ethical obligation to persist in what is toxic to us 02:41:25 Great suffering can elevate us to profound artistic creation 02:42:00 The 9th Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven — the “Ode to Joy,” based on the poem An die Freude by Friedrich Schiller 02:48:20 Next week’s topic ### Rita Conde's Timestamps In our most personal and revealing conversation to date, we confront the *lived* *experience* of idealism as it shows up in human lives full of meaning and suffering. We started with a **dream analysis** of images that arise in the transition to idealism (hidden rooms and reengineered basements) and ended with how to navigate chronic pain and toxic families, even as life bursts forth with its boundless creativity. As a new foundation for life, idealism can be both liberating and destabilising. We discussed what **responsibility** we have when sharing this philosophy, how metaphysics could augment **psychiatry**, and why in the absence of materialism a culture would naturally tend towards **animism.** Bernardo also shared the **secret to his prolific output.** (Hint: it involves synchronicity.) ### **Towards a very powerful mind** In Jungian psychology, the goal is to balance the many powers of the mind, including **intuition, reason and observation.** Whilst intuition has a speed and strength that reason could never match, it can also fool you. The intellect can offer scaffolding, context, and a plausibility check. But it's not like they should take turns. Rather, "you switch all of them on, and you let them dialogue." ### **A symphony of intuition and reason** It's like many instruments playing in harmony, augmenting rather than subduing each other. Well conducted, every voice making a unique contribution. > When you have all of those voices speaking at the same time, but not in cacophony, in dialogue instead, then you really become a powerful mind. > > A powerful, balanced mind. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/04/symphony.png) ### Welcome to animalhood The session ended with a compassionate dialogue on suffering at its worst, the kind that leads to exhaustion, despair, and even suicidal ideation. Bernardo stayed an extra 40 minutes to share how he personally navigated these challenges, first focusing on small goals like just an extra hour of sleep and eventually discovering a deep surrender that cannot be forced. > The story we tell ourselves is "I will start living when I stop suffering" that is the most pernicious story a human mind can tell itself. Because now you compartmentalised your life. Instead, relief came with a new relationship to suffering. The recognition that pain, limitation and struggle are not nature's mistakes, but part of our embodied animal nature. ### No ethical reason to endure toxic relationships That doesn't mean enduring toxic situations you can avoid. Without giving specific advice, (only each individual can know the intricacies and subtleties of their own life,) Bernardo was clear: > I don't think that there is any ethical or moral principle ever created by human beings or nature that tells you that you have to insist on what is toxic to you. As such, the whole meeting was an interplay of intuition and intellect, surrender and synchronicity, poetry and practicality. A perfect harbinger for next week's session with [Iain McGilchrist.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/iain-mcgilchrist/) **We also discussed:** - Georg Cantor’s work on infinity - Why mathematicians go insane - Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - Khalil Gibran [On Children](https://poets.org/poem/children-1?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Support for Suicidal Ideation [Samaritans](https://media.samaritans.org/documents/Suicide%5Fprevention%5Fcommunications%5Fguide%5FDIGITAL.pdf?ref=withrealityinmind.com) recommend open, non-judgemental, supportive conversation around suicidal ideation, which is more common than people realise. In the UK, roughly 1 in 4 adults report thoughts of taking their own life at some point. Conversation helps reduce stigma and makes disclosure and seeking support more likely. Anyone currently thinking about acting on suicidal thoughts should call or visit local emergency services. For ongoing support, you can find local help through [Befrienders Worldwide](https://befrienders.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) or [IASP’s FindAHelpline directory.](https://www.iasp.info/crisis-centres-helplines?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Share your idea or inspiration with Bernardo URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/share/ Last updated: 2026-05-06T10:15:49.000Z We held the first iteration of this session on the 5th of May, and will return to this page later this year, drawing on comments below that have not been shared. If you have an article, art or some inspired idea that you would love Bernardo and the group to witness, here is the opportunity for just that. We hope to give time for several people to share, (and given his commitments as director of two organisations, Bernardo doesn't have capacity to look at anything in advance,) so please plan for your offer to take 5 minutes or less. For example, if its a book or article, write out a summary of the core idea you want to share which takes less than 5 minutes to read. You can make your proposal in the comments section below. I look forward to hearing what has been interesting or inspiring to you! Many thanks, Amir ## Zoom Room Tuesday 5th May, 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Actually experiencing idealism: challenges & gifts URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/living-idealism/ Last updated: 2026-03-28T17:15:54.000Z Last week Bernardo spoke to the importance of taking many perspectives in approaching truth, integrating both [Apollonian and Dionysian perspectives.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/archetypes-synchronicity/) Next week, 7th April, we're joined by [Iain McGilchrist](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/iain-mcgilchrist/), celebrated for illuminating the different ways the brain’s left and right hemispheres understand the world, and the importance of their integration. So this week we'll start to discuss actually integrating *idealism* as a lived experience. "Many of us come to Analytic Idealism through reason and philosophy", says Carrie, one of our members. > but there’s a moment when it stops being an idea and becomes a lived realization: everything I see, feel, and know is within consciousness itself. > This can be liberating — but it can also be disorienting, even destabilizing. It changes how we see the self, death, and the external world. This is a big topic, but we'll at least make a start, taking some questions from [this page](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/integrating-the-experience-of-idealism/), potentially some leftover from our recent conversations on archetypes and synchronicities, and on [ambassadorship](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/obstacles-to-ambassadorship/). [Integrating the experience of idealismDiscussion with Bernardo Kastrup & the With Reality in Mind Community![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-224.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/ChatGPT-Image-Dec-28--2025--11_33_02-AM-1.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/integrating-the-experience-of-idealism/) ### More than Allegory Continuing the move from analysis into a lived experience, we've now scheduled our session to discuss **More Than Allegory.** Dust off your copy or get a copy in time to read before the 14th of April: [More than Allegory14th April | Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-225.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/514ZnqQ-1GS._SL500_-1-2.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/more-than-allegory/) ### Iain McGilchrist Finally, I recommend watching this previous dialogue between Iain McGilchrist and Bernardo before their upcoming meeting on April 7th. I look forward to seeing you soon! Amir P.S. These pictures really do look like they are of the same person. Is [Dionysus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Antakya%5FArchaeology%5FMuseum%5FDrunken%5FDionysus%5Fmosaic%5Fin%5F2019%5F0011.jpg/1280px-Antakya%5FArchaeology%5FMuseum%5FDrunken%5FDionysus%5Fmosaic%5Fin%5F2019%5F0011.jpg?%5F=20250430102526&ref=withrealityinmind.com) just [Apollo](https://www.doaks.org/resources/online-exhibits/ancient-art-at-dumbarton-oaks/the-classical-world-at-dumbarton-oaks/mosaic-with-apollo/@@images/image/preview?ref=withrealityinmind.com) after a few drinks? ## Zoom Link 31st March 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST, _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The biggest misunderstandings about archetypes, synchronicity & causality URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/archetypes-synchronicity/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T23:38:41.000Z Recording details Date: 24 March 2026 Duration: 1h 51m Free preview Title: Archetypes are not things Duration: 8:26 https://vimeo.com/1226769388/dd08c220b4 Chapters 0:02:40 Apollonian vs Dionysian idealism 0:06:34 **Jung's circumambulation**: many perspectives needed to approach truth 0:17:00 Reality: a cacophony of **archetypal events** 0:27:00 **Archetypes** are not things; things are expressions of archetypes 0:35:00 No separate archetypal realm 0:38:00 Archetypes defined: the properties of existence 0:44:00 The **synchronicities** that broke Bernardo's scepticism 0:57:00 Reconciling **synchronicity & causality** 1:02:00 Proposed early explanations from quantum indeterminacy 1:08:00 **Similarity & symmetry**: the primary tendency of mind 1:19:00 Maths represents intrinsic regularities of mind 1:23:00 The universe is unpredictable, but deterministic 1:32:00 We vastly underestimate **ancient civilisations** 1:35:00 Socio-political origins of the materialism 'blip In the first half of this meeting, Bernardo gives a thorough account of archetypes as the properties, tendencies and proclivities that define existence. Amy Lemon, after 40 years studying Jung, was kind enough to say that it “was **the best depiction of archetypes I’ve ever heard**.” In the second part of the meeting, Bernardo recounts the astounding synchronicities that convinced him Jung was not exaggerating for effect and how synchronicities can be reconciled with causality and the laws of physics through an archetypal understanding of reality. ### **Analytic Idealism is Apollonian: just one side of the coin.** Historically, idealism in the West has not been approached analytically. It has surfaced rather in spiritual traditions or the so-called *continental philosophical tradition*. This is a tradition associated with feeling and intuition. A tradition of embodied philosophy and “of ambiguity, of emotional charge, of metaphor, of symbolism.” In contrast, analytic idealism is Bernardo’s attempt to show that the same conclusion can be arrived at through the intellect alone. “A rigorous, level-headed, explicit and unambiguous argument” that could pass peer review in an academic journal. > “You directly say the thing, you resolve contradictions, you avoid ambiguity. You make everything explicit. That is the Apollonian way." But that doesn’t mean the Dionysian approach should be discarded, even if the idealist conclusion is the same. > “The absolutely wrong and counterproductive conclusion is to say, since they are the same thing, if I follow the Apollonian path, I know all there is to know.” Yes, the Apollonian and the Dionysian are two sides of the same coin, but both sides matter. > “There is something to be gained with that diversity of perspective. There is something to be gained by exploring the same thing through different facets. That's the whole point of Jungian circumambulation.” ### **Jungian circumambulation** Imagine an object you are trying to fully understand. You need to walk around, observing it from many different perspectives, and not confuse one view for the whole thing. If you only look at someone from behind, you could not say you have discovered everything there is to know about them. > You want to see the truth from the front, from the back, from the left, from the right, and all angles around it. You need to circumambulate it, to grasp it in all its nuance, richness, and layers of meaning.” For me this is one of the deepest gifts of these weekly meetings - hearing the same questions from many voices, and Bernardo’s answers restated in many different ways. ### **Archetypes, Synchronicity & Causality** Below are the photos Bernardo discussed in the meeting depicting the events that punctured his natural scepticism around synchronicity - moments when inner and outer experiences correspond in ways that cannot be accounted for by conventional causality. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/03/image-2.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/03/16040E8B-368F-4A3B-BE76-F501F7FD62AE_1_105_c.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/03/bernardo-pyramid-1.jpg) He went on to explain his understanding of the correspondence between Jung and Pauli, a pioneer of quantum mechanics: Whilst initially they believed synchronicity was complementary to causality, Jung's final conclusion was that ***everything is synchronistic.*** Inner and outer experience are both manifestations of the same archetypes... > “causality itself is an emergent form of synchronicity that we only recognise as such when one archetype is manifest much more strongly than the others.” ### We also discussed: - The most common **misconceptions even Jungians make about archetypes** - The hidden significance of the **astounding universal agreement on mathematics** - How we vastly underestimate **ancient civilisations** - The socio-political origins of materialism After listening to this conversation, I would be curious if you start to notice more synchronicities in the "cacophony of archetypal events" which are our lives. Feel free to email me or share on the telegram group your observations... With appreciation! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Mathematics, Apollo, Dionysus & Truth URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/mathematics-the-archetypes-of-mind/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T14:48:42.000Z Recording details Date: 18 March 2026 Duration: 2h 3m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Mathematics and the archetypes of mind 0:05:13 Can mathematics describe intuitive knowing? 0:10:13 What could the structure of mind mean? 0:15:36 Does mathematics describe the dashboard? 0:20:00 **Truths that computation cannot reach?** 0:25:48 Why mathematical mysteries call for caution 0:35:00 Why does nature obey our mathematical intuitions? 0:40:08 Logic as a mirror of ourselves 0:50:24 **Apollo and Dionysus**: different ways of knowing 0:54:32 Why **analytic idealism is incomplete** 0:57:19 Does mathematics point beyond itself? 1:05:19 **Gödel** and the limits of the logical project 1:15:26 The self-reference trap 1:20:13 When experience tests our reasoning 1:25:33 Why idealism makes self-reference harder to escape 1:35:03 **Must we figure out the universe before we die?** 1:40:33 The **freedom of being less wrong** 1:50:13 When one truth takes over everything 1:53:26 Does mathematics deserve special status? 1:59:45 Reuben’s poem: **The Creature** What a session. Honestly, I'm still thinking about it. Bernardo reconciled two incredible features of mathematics: [its unreasonable effectiveness, and its proven incompleteness](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/maths-archetypes/), taking questions from this page which we revisit next week: [Tues 24th March: Maths & Archetypes18th & 24th March Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup hosted by Nour. 7-9pm UK / 8-10 CET / 3-5pm EST![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-215.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindNour Elhuda Zuraiki![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Maths---Archetype-5.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/maths-archetypes/) For Bernardo, whilst mathematics has special status amongst the instruments of science, it is not a window into the deepest nature of reality. It is precise and powerful, but ultimately confined to the **phenomenal**, to the world as it *appears*. This suddenly made Gödel's observations on its limitations feel less like a dry logical curiosity and more like a profound confirmation: even from within mathematics itself, there is a proof that truth exceeds what structure can contain. The system points beyond itself. It cannot close. If mathematics only ever describes the dashboard representations, then its unreasonable effectiveness stops being quite so mysterious. Of course the instrument of science describes the world of appearances well, that's exactly the world it was forged in. The real mystery lives one layer deeper, in what the **noumenal** actually is, and whether anything in us can reach it. Even analytic idealism is fundamentally **Apollonian**: > philosophically, or logically speaking, (and the observant ones amongst you will have already understood that) everything I do is Apollonian. The whole of analytic idealism is Apollonian, and therefore fundamentally incomplete. It offers the most rigorous rational framework we have for that attempt. But the territory, it seems, remains beautifully, stubbornly beyond our reach, perhaps better illuminated by poetry, prayer and intuition. As such, we ended the session with a poem read and authored by Reuben Hunt and included below, that echoed several themes. Some things are better felt than explained. Thank you Reuben. **We also discussed:** - Why **nature obeys the psychological intuitions** of logic: to deny them is to deny your own existence - Why Apollonian projects have a psychological trap. - **Russell and Whitehead's *Principia Mathematica***, the 200-page proof that 1+1=2, and why their project of grounding all mathematics in logic was eventually shown by Gödel to be untenable - The **cosmic itch**: the impossibility of nature stepping outside itself to fully describe itself gives rise to the entire game of existence? - Why the self-reference problem is actually *worse* under **analytic idealism** than physicalism — because under idealism, everything is potentially self-referential; nothing can be isolated from the observer See you next week, where we'll continue with questions on archetypes :) With love, Nour PS. Escher's [*Drawing Hands*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawing%5FHands?ref=withrealityinmind.com) two hands, each drawing the other into existence, is the perfect image to sit with when thinking about Gödel, a system that reaches back and touches its own foundations, only to find it can never fully grasp them. ### The Creature *In a dank and rancid dream* *I had a thought—my eyes agleam* *Was a revelation nigh?* *There spilt a gloom across the sky* *I looked upon a ring of stones* *And heard sepulchral baritones* *There was I amidst a mire* *That festered like a fell desire* *Tendrilled vines spread o'er the lands* *And lithely poised their creaking hands* *The stinking guck beneath my weight* *Began to spume and suppurate* *Then I saw, to my disgust* *A creature standing in a gust* *A crooked shadow leapt, it seemed* *From this bent and gangling fiend* *Ashen figures filled the henge—* *Their woeful dirge a dour wenge* *The creature then aglare with glee* *Turned its glowing lamps to me* *And as I loft my old guisarme* *The creature mimicked with its arm* *For it had been a dreadful lie* *The creature, then I saw, was I* *As I looked down at my state* *My sour, wretched, pointless fate* *I opened once my doors, bereft* *There was truly nothing left* *Bind me up and sink me deep* *Give the earth my bones to keep* *So as I rot, my whispers weep* *That I should sleep, and sleepA* *And sleep* by Rueben Hunt Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### What the shadows reveal.. URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/shadows-reveal/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T14:48:49.000Z Recording details Date: 12 March 2026 Duration: 2h 13m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 What can the shadows of reality reveal? 0:05:21 Dissociation is something mind at large does 0:10:05 Why doesn’t metacognition simply appear? 0:25:00 Why parsimony matters 0:30:08 Evolution: **a shadow that tells us something real** 0:40:20 Does evolution make sense outside time? 0:45:13 Must every statement be true or false? 0:50:45 Is logic something we discover in nature? 1:00:10 Could a **black hole** be a world unto itself? 1:05:05 Body and mind: one process, two perspectives 1:15:32 **Karma without cosmic justice?** 1:20:07 Is physical reality sealed off from the daemonic? 1:35:15 What our perceptual filters leave out 1:40:30 **Philosophy as an operating system for life** 1:50:06 Gravity and the power of convenient fictions 1:55:04 Why behaviour and being need different questions 2:05:03 **Jung’s apparent contradictions**: walking around the truth 2:10:16 **The Seven Sermons**: before Jung had the concepts In this 'Ask Me Anything' session hosted by Nour, Bernardo was at his most wide-ranging and candid. From the genesis of alters, to the metacognition of nature, from the validity of **evolution** to the axioms of Aristotelian **logic**, the conversation ranged from **black holes** to **karma**, and the apparent contradictions in **Jung's *Seven Sermons to the Dead*.** ### Evolution as shadow Rebecca's question tackled a tension many members feel: if space-time is merely a cognitive filter, why take evolution so seriously? Bernardo offered one of his most fundamental insights. Whilst **spacetime is not fundamental, it reveals something that is.** If you illuminate a bottle from above, the shadow on the floor is a circle. The circle doesn't represent the full picture. But it *does* tell you something true: that there is a three-dimensional object whose cross-section, at that angle, is circular. > "The events in time are not the real thing, just like the shadow of the bottle is not the real thing, but they **betray the presence of something that is real**, and which, when projected onto the extension of space and time, appears to us as events." Evolution, then, is valid within the world of shadows. To dismiss it because spacetime isn't fundamental is like refusing to look at the circle because it isn't the bottle. **We live in the world of shadows, but taken seriously they reveal something real.** ### **Karma Reflects Nature's Tendency to Learning** As for karma: Bernardo offers a naturalistic reading — not karma as cosmic justice, but as **a teleological gradient in nature that tends to favour learning**. If you mistreat others, it may reflect a lack of empathy for their perspective; a nature oriented toward maximising understanding might then place you in that perspective. It can look like justice — but it may have nothing to do with it. Does the daemonic chaos of mind at large disrupt our shared dashboard of physical reality? **Yes,** **all the time** — in the form of anxiety, depression, impulses we can't explain. Our perceptual systems evolved over four billion years to filter out precisely that which is unpredictable and therefore useless for survival. The daemonic doesn't appear on the dashboard not because it's absent, but because we never evolved the sensors to amplify it. ### Black holes as self-bounded mental processes Reuben asked whether, under analytic idealism, a black hole might be understood as a self-limiting mental process whose boundary arises from its own internal consistency rather than external constraint. Bernardo found the framing compelling. He discussed serious speculation in cosmology that **every black hole may be a universe unto itself** — and the related possibility, now slightly dented by recent data on galactic angular momentum, that we ourselves are inside a black hole. He expressed regret that the evidence for this view has weakened, calling the combination of black-hole cosmology and the holographic principle "a very elegant idea." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/03/BH_Accretion_Disk_Sim_360_Continuous.gif) NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeremy Schnittman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons ### "I'm completely daemonic in this regard" Anna's question about Bernardo's study methods and extraordinary recall drew a characteristically self-deprecating answer. He has no system, no mnemonics, no planning. He dog-ears pages and writes in margins. His explanation: **philosophy was never an academic exercise for him — it was a search for an operating system for his life.** When physicalism collapsed under scrutiny, he felt in freefall. Everything he has written, he first had to convince himself of. And you can't cheat yourself. > "I am the first customer of everything I have ever written. By the time I sit to write, I've already gone through the entire exercise — not because I'm disciplined, but because I can't deceive myself." ### "There is not one serious defender of materialism today" Ron brought up the reaction his sharing of Bernardo's now-circulating clip had provoked — the accusation that "no serious materialists" is a No True Scotsman fallacy. Bernardo stood behind the statement while accepting the critique of its rhetorical framing. His definition of 'serious' is specific: someone who, in a private conversation with no audience and no career at stake, would say without reservation that physicalism is ontologically true. **He hasn't encountered one in about ten years.** The broader exchange led into a sharp distinction between science (which models *behaviour*, not *being*) and metaphysics (which asks what *is*). Both Newtonian gravity and Einsteinian spacetime are, in Bernardo's framing, convenient fictions — instrumentally useful, not ontologically definitive. Any scientist who believes otherwise, he suggested, "does not understand what science is." ### Jung's circumambulation; non-linear approach to truth ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/03/image-1.png) The session closed with a first-time attendee, Nikola, raising apparent contradictions in Jung's *Seven Sermons to the Dead* — between the monstrous, indifferent Abraxas and the inner divine creator that earths itself within man. Bernardo's response centred on **circumambulation** — Jung's deliberate method of walking around an idea from multiple perspectives, rather than exposing it linearly. What looks like contradiction from one angle is simply a different face of the same thing seen from another. He also contextualised the *Seven Sermons* within Jung's years of crisis and breakdown following his rupture with Freud — a period of psychotic openness to the collective unconscious, before he had the conceptual tools to understand what was erupting in him. Everything Jung wrote from 1922 until his death in 1961, Bernardo suggested, was an elaboration of what came to him in that dark period. ### We also discussed - The difference kinds of **logic** and where they break down - Why Analytic Idealism does not accept the valid intuition that **metacognition** is fundamental - How Mind at Large actively gestates our emerging individuality *The next session will be on maths and archetypes — a fitting continuation of themes that surfaced today.* I look forward to watching the always inspiring conversation! With appreciation, Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Wed 13th: Patrick Harpur - Archetypes, Daimons & the Western Mind URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/patrick-harpur-archetypes-daimons/ Last updated: 2026-05-14T08:38:42.000Z Bernardo considers Patrick amongst the top 3 authors worthy of far more exposure, so I'm excited to have them in dialogue again. Our last conversations with Patrick Harpur transformed how I engage with fairy-tales I have known my whole life, and revived a deeper respect for Western traditions. You can see their first dialogue [here](https://youtu.be/r4hEOJQpbiw?ref=withrealityinmind.com), and their second one here: [Patrick Harpur and Bernardo Kastrup in conversationSubatomic particles, fairies and finding your God![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-209.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/patrick-bernardo-3.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-patrick-harpur-bernardo-kastrup/) There is sometimes less time for member questions when we have guests, but do submit you greatest curiosities in the comments as they help guide the conversation, and if there's time I'll always bring more voices in. See you soon! Wed 13th May 2026 | 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST Amir ## About Patrick Harpur ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/07/Patrick-Harpur-2011-crop.jpg) Patrick Harpur attended St Catharine's College, Cambridge, to read English, and his writings have appeared in The Guardian, Fortean Times, Gnosis, Resurgence, the New Statesman and the Independent on Sunday. He is often invited to give talks in the UK, in Spain and in America; and he has taught post-graduate students at Schumacher College (Dartington). As well as several novels, Patrick is the author of 4 non-fiction books including **Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld** which attempted to make sense of visions and apparitions by recourse to Platonic philosophy, Jungian psychology, and the Romantic notion of imagination. He also wrote **The Philosophers' Secret Fire: A History of the Imagination** outlined an esoteric Western way of seeing the world which has been largely neglected. In 2010, Rider published the rather ambitiously titled **A Complete Guide to the Soul**, which appeared a year later in the US as **The Secret Tradition of the Soul** (Evolver Editions, an imprint of North Atlantic Books). **The Stormy Petrel** (The Squeeze Press, 2017) is a novel based on the life and work of the Danish thinker Søren Kierkegaard, whose writings have gripped Patrick for years. You can read his article on the [Daimonic Nature of Reality here](https://www.essentiafoundation.org/seeing-things-the-daimonic-nature-of-reality/reading/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/08/image-1.png) ## Zoom room Wed 13th May 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### "Not one serious defender of materialism left" URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/not-one-serious-defender-of-materialism-left/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T15:25:54.000Z Recording details Date: 3 March 2026 Duration: 2h 35m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Idealism, the daimon and what comes next 0:05:08 When philosophy starts to speak through you 0:10:15 When is questioning someone’s credentials fair? 0:15:32 The book that began as notes to himself 0:20:32 When the **daimon demands another book** 0:30:01 Materialism: public rhetoric and private conviction 0:35:11 Why physicists and consciousness researchers are finding common ground 0:40:17 Beyond materialism: the vertigo of eternity 0:45:09 Why the daimon still needs the ego 0:50:29 **Euclyd**: when the work changes your role 0:55:36 How Bernardo studies without a system 1:00:00 Could **lost civilisations** leave no trace? 1:05:27 Must every civilisation pass through materialism? 1:15:07 **Remote viewing** and the translation into images 1:20:42 **Are your anxious thoughts creating the world around you?** 1:25:03 What agency means when your inner life feels uncontrollable 1:30:03 Could ritual affect more than your own psyche? 1:35:27 Why Bernardo resists the **law of attraction** 1:40:46 How similarity could evoke a response 1:55:27 Idealism, elitism and political interpretations 2:00:06 **Hegel** and the roots of communism 2:05:04 Does naturalism have to be mechanistic? 2:15:25 The same witness behind different lives 2:20:37 Justice: **reducing harm or exacting revenge**? 2:30:04 Understanding causes to prevent suffering In this ‘Ask Me Anything’ session, Bernardo addressed several personal questions: about the call of his daimon to work on Artificial Intelligence, about how he (doesn't) organise his study, and about the past and future of idealism. His predictions are grounded in the privileged access he has to academic discussions happening behind closed doors. His observation? **There is not one serious defender of materialism today.** "Not one of them is going to tell you, without reservation, that they truly think physicalism is ontologically true. The ones who will do that are not the thinkers involved in the process; they are the mouthpieces that have their public image committed to a certain point of view. "So what you hear from them is rhetoric... It's about not losing face, it's about making sure your publisher is not angry with you because you said something that killed your book sales... "So if we ignore the rhetoric and the ones that are doing this just for the image, the public circus... I don't see one seriously committed physicalist today that takes physicalism as ontologically true. Some of them take physicalism as a convenient fiction that helps in the process of thinking about the world, and that's fair enough. Because that physicalism is not a metaphysics - that physicalism is instrumental." So his prediction? "I think in 10 to 20 years time, it will be a recognized mainstream view that physicalism doesn't work." A lot of effort will be spent trying to prevent people from deriving nonsensical conclusions. "But it will become mainstream that physicalism doesn't quite work, and something along the lines of idealism is the most plausible." For Bernardo, this is already the reality in many circles today, and it's a matter of time before this seeps into mainstream thinking. ### Ancient non-human civilisations? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/03/image.png) Yonaguni Monument Terraces Melkov, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons The second half of the meeting we took questions that couldn't find a home in recent themed meetings. A unique question was about idealism and potential prehistoric civilizations. "I think it is a virtual certainty that there have been more than one civilization on this planet that we know nothing about. Including non-human ones. "This rock has sustained life for 4 billion years. We know civilizations can start from nothing, like, agriculture, and rise to the level of interplanetary technology in about 6,000 to 8,000 years. Which, in the context of 4 billion years, it's not even the blink of an eye. You can hardly register it... "We also now understand that the surface of the Earth is being constantly churned and renewed, not only because of erosion processes, but because of plate tectonics, especially the bottom of the sea. Every 100, 150 million years, what was the bottom of the sea 150 million years ago, it's now in the mantle, it's melted down. "It's going to be reforged, and it's popping up again as the new bottom of the sea. There are very few places on this planet where you can find rocks that are 1, 2 billion years old. One of them is Greenland, by the way. And these places are, like, froth on top of a boiling planet that happened to float around enough and not being incorporated back into the mantle, reforged and recycled. If there were dozens of civilizations before us, human or otherwise, the statistical chance we would have signs for the presence of any of them are very, very low." ### On the merits and power of prayer We also took questions about how our states of mind, prayer and rituals might affect the wider world, the relationships between Hegel, Nietzsche, communism, and fascism, and the ethical implications of idealism. If ritual is of interest, these two recent meetings are worth watching: [Solstice & the symbols of natureThe power and importance of ritual. Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup on 23rd Dec, 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-171.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/unnamed-suckling.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/solstice-the-symbols-of-nature/) [New Year: Reflections, intentions, ritual & soulQ&A with Bernardo Kastrup 30th Dec 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-172.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Janus-Double_herm_Chiaramonti_Inv1395-2-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/new-year-reflections-intentions-ritual-soul/) ### Changed timetable next three weeks... Because of Bernardo's schedule and changing time zones, the meeting days and times will shift these coming three weeks - we should have dates and times finalised within a couple of days. Thanks for your flexibility and always amazing questions! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### AMA Meeting with Bernardo URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-4/ Last updated: 2026-03-04T10:57:41.000Z _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Meeting with Bernardo URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-3/ Last updated: 2026-06-01T13:40:12.000Z Our weekly meeting with Bernardo, featuring special guests, member Q&A and updates from Bernardo on his latest thinking. Specific theme and invitation to contribute questions to be announced closer to the time. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Meeting with Bernardo 24th March URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-2/ Last updated: 2026-03-04T11:00:28.000Z Theme to be determined! Thanks for your interest and patience... ***Please note the times for this meeting:*** 7-9pm UK / 8-10 CET / 3-5pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Thurs 12th March - Meeting with Bernardo URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo/ Last updated: 2026-03-08T13:39:55.000Z Because of Bernardo's schedule and clocks changing in the USA before Europe, the day and times for the next three weeks are different than normal. For the next three weeks, meeting times will be: **7-9pm UK / 8-10 CET / 3-5pm EST** With a meeting on: - **Thursday 12th** of March - [**Wednesday 18th**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/maths-archetypes/)of March - **Tues 24th** of March These three meetings will be hosted by Nour. On Tues 31st of March meeting times revert to normal in all time zones. ### Theme for Thurs 12th: Mind at Large, Dissociation & Metacognition We'll continue with the highest voted questions submitted on the '[Ask me Anything](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meeting-with-bernardo-4/)' page which haven't been covered yet, starting with: DO ALTERS “GESTATE” WITHIN MIND-AT-LARGE? - Jeff Falzone NATURE'S METACOGNITION & MENTAL COMPLEXES - Robert Ruxandrescu TIME & SPACE AS CONSTRUCTS vs EVOLUTION AS FACT - Rebecka Bobst If there is time we'll also look at the Blackhole questions submitted! I'm looking forward to hearing the rich conversations that emerge from these great questions. With appreciation! Amir ## Zoom Meeting Thurs 12th March ***Please note the updated dates & times for this meeting:*** 7-9pm UK / 8-10 CET / 3-5pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### "Western thought has produced some monsters" - Dr Athena Potari on reviving the non-duality of ancient Greece URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-hidden-non-duality-of-ancient-greece/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T15:26:05.000Z Recording details Date: 24 February 2026 Duration: 2h 4m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Opening 0:06:00 Athena introduction 0:08:00 The heart of the Platonic academy 0:09:00 Academic vs living philosophy as a path of love 0:13:00 Athena's heart opening, daimon & new role 0:17:00 The colonization & revival of Hellenic culture 0:18:00 **Spirituality engaged with life** 0:26:00 Apollo & Dionysus 0:30:00 Living an awakened life 0:33:00 Traditional vs academic etymology 0:37:00 Names as sacred signifiers 0:44:00 Hercules in Denmark 0:46:00 On **Peter Kingsley** 0:55:00 Nous & Logos; Awareness gives birth to logic 0:59:00 Parmenides & the role of reason 1:06:00 Defending **Plato's nonduality** & rebirth in Greece 1:10:00 Esoteric information storage for future generations 1:17:00 Analytic philosophy a bridge to intuitive wisdom 1:24:00 **Plato on eyes**: receiving and emitting light 1:35:00 Kastrup = castle 1:36:00 Parallels with **Advaita Vedanta** 1:44:00 The **daimon** is an internal inspiring fire 1:50:00 Reconciling deception, spontaneity and purpose in nature 1:58:00 Plato & Aristotle on **telos & spontaneity** 1:59:00 The ineffable beyond consciousness Bernardo & Athena agree: the root of Western culture is a spirituality fully engaged with life. If nature is an illusion, it is nevertheless a *sacred* one. 2000 years before Shakespeare, Democritus observed, "The world is a stage, life a passage: you came, you saw, you departed." Reality is thus acknowledged as ephemeral play. But this play is divine, and realisation is not to be postponed for another realm. Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to discover who you *really* are and to play your role with gusto. To become permeable enough to hear the creative urge "that manifests through each one of us as specific divine tasks in the world." To be lit up by the inner fire which is your daimon. If Apollo signifies transcendent unity and Dionysus the multiplicity, depictions of them shaking hands carry deep significance. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/02/image.png) ### Western thought has produced some monsters Bernardo & Athena both admire **Peter Kingsley** for correcting so many misunderstandings and mistranslations of Hellenic philosophy. But they take his diagnosis of Western culture having irrevocably failed as a personal challenge. "Perhaps Western thought has produced some monsters" says Athena, like those we see in mythology. But she believes thesemonsters are doomed to fail because they "don't tap into what is eternal, to what can never die." In contrast, there are aspects of Western culture rooted in a timeless source. If we clear away the delusions of materialism and reductionism, we'll find the fertile ground "to give birth to something even more luminous than before." After a sojourn through Eastern traditions, an impressive academic career (2020 Academy of Athens Award of Philosophy, Oxford PhD, roles at Harvard), Athena awoke to this luminosity in her indigenous philosophy. She is now part of a broader movement in modern Greece that is reviving Ancient Hellenic culture. Her school, [Athenoa](https://athenoa.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), is a place where Hellenism can be approached as a ***living wisdom tradition.*** I'm convinced you'll find this talk as inspiring as I did, and be warmed by Athena's exchange with Bernardo. It's totally updating my understanding of stories and terms I thought I knew... You can see my earlier discussion with Athena, some other thoughts I shared in the linked substack article, and of course, the full dialogue with Bernardo all linked below. ***We also discussed:*** - Plato on **seeing without eyes** - The colonisation & revival of Hellenic culture - Many **forms of logic** and their role in realisation - **Direct vs gradual paths** in Hellenic philosophy - The **daimon** is your inner fire As always, I look forward to your thoughts and reflections, Amir [A Western Path to Non-Duality?Ancient Greek philosophy as a path of love - discussion with Dr Athena Potari![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/icon-1.svg)Amir GilesSubstack![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/N_efNKcE1Bc-1)](https://substack.com/home/post/p-187881012?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Also recommended: Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/02/athena.jpg) Dr Athena Potari **Dr Athena Potari** founded Athenoa in 2019, a School of Hellenic Philosophy based in Greece where Hellenism is approached as a living wisdom tradition whose core consists in the inextricable synthesis of scientific reason and spirituality. She was previously Fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard University, where she explored possibilities for an expanded practice of Philosophy by re-integrating elements and histories of the feminine. She received her PhD from the University of Oxford specializing in Political Philosophy, and her MA in Political Theory with Distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She is recipient of the Academy of Athens Award of Philosophy (2020), author of “A Call for a Renaissance of the Spirit in the Humanities” published by the Galileo Commission, and Member of the Galileo Commission Steering Committee. Her work aims to revive the deeper spiritual and experiential dimensions of Hellenic Philosophy as a living spiritual lineage, combining discursive rigor and embodied meditative practices, with the aim of awakening to the ever-present mystery of being – our true Self. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Seeing Without Eyes: The cusp of a major step forward? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/seeing-without-eyes-2/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T15:26:15.000Z Recording details Date: 18 February 2026 Duration: 2h 18m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Member introductions 0:07:40 Bernardo's schedule and book news 0:11:00 People have not grasped Analytic Idealism 0:14:00 **The core puzzle**: perception mediated by a dashboard after death 0:20:20 The most compelling reconciliation: telepathic & retrospective construction 0:24:50 Naturalism + empiricism vs poetic imagination & mysticism 0:28:40 Does "Seeing without Eyes" breaks Naturalism 0:35:00 Naturalism vs. Deliberate Design 0:40:00 The specific **predictive power of Analytic Idealism** 0:46:00 Seeing as a controlled hallucination 0:50:00 Federico Faggin's seity model 0:54:00 **How reliable are the NDE reports?** 0:59:00 The danger of **epicycles** & piling up anomalies 1:05:00 Naturalism vs Deliberation 1:13:00 **The break with naturalism explained** 1:21:00 The need to ground explanations 1:27:00 No issue with extra-sensory perception 1:32:00 **Parting with metaphysical certainty** 1:40:00 Difference between **dream vision & eyesight vision** 1:54:00 Jamey Hecht on theism and meaning 2:05:00 The "Poetic" vs. "Literal" way out In this session, Bernardo elaborates on why reports of seeing fresh, veridical information during near death experiences, ***if validated***, would be a challenge to the naturalist framework of Analytic Idealism. It involves really understanding nuances of his model: the difference between experience and representation, between what is 'really' out there and our perceptions mediated by the dashboard, between dashboard representation and the kind of truth we might gain through dreams and other extra-sensory perception. "It's not a problem of knowing, its a problem of the *mode* of knowing." Many people may have misunderstood what Bernardo is attempting to do with his philosophy; to be grounded in empiricism, to discern between philosophy and poetic imagination, and to make specific predictions without "massaging the data". If you've been at all confused by this recent topic, I know you'll get a lot out of this session. ### A major step forward? Equally important are some of the dynamics that could play out for us as individuals and a group, with Bernardo doubting some of the core tenets of Analytic Idealism. Here are some of his words on this point: "Even if analytical idealism turns out *not* to be right, (and the jury's out on that, I'm not calling it either way,)... it is miles ahead of the physicalist nonsense under which we have been living for the past 200 years. And in its being wrong, it will ...open the doors that can lead us to what is less wrong. I doubt monkeys can ever get to what is right. But I think monkeys can steadily be *less* wrong if they are disciplined and level-headed and rigorous about their approach to figuring out what's going on. So I am not too disturbed about this. I don't know where you are. I don't know if disturbs you, that the guy who is the spokesperson...says, well, it may be wrong. If it does, \[disturb you\] this is an invitation to self-reflection... how do I stand in this? What I see in others, does that apply to me in some way? Because these are the seminal moments of progression. This is when we really take a step forward. So maybe we are on the cusp of a major step forward here. So what I just said is not a criticism, it's an invitation to reflection. Goodness knows many of you are far ahead than me in many salient facets of what we are discussing here. You may not know that you are, but yeah, take my word for this." ### An invitation to self reflect In this spirit, I invite you to dive into the nuance and clarity of this session with your fanciest philosophical hat on, but also, with an open heart and a sense of your autonomy. Bernardo's encouragement; go with your own intuition. For a recap of many of the most salient points from previous meetings, you can watch this compilation of relevant moments from the last few meetings: There were other moments Bernardo wanted to keep private, and shared only with this group which aren't included above. You can find one in [this session](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-is-love-fundamental-and-is-there-a-plan/) at around 1hr and 15 minutes, and another in the last 15 minutes of [this session.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/new-year-reflections-intentions-ritual-soul/) I look forward to hearing your thoughts and reflections, as ever, on the Telegram group or in the comments below. With best wishes! Amir **Some topics discussed:** - Why naturalism is so importantly linked to empiricism - There is no issue with extra-sensory perception - Dream vision vs dashboard vision Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Wed 18th Feb - The biggest challenge to Bernardo's Naturalism: Seeing Without Eyes URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/seeing-without-eyes/ Last updated: 2026-02-15T20:18:11.000Z We're meeting this week on **Wed 18th of Feb,** asBernardo has now has an Euclyd meeting this Tuesday. I hope you can still make it live, and thanks for your flexibility if so! Based on chats and the Telegram group, many of us remain confused: Why are reports of **seeing without eyes** such a challenge to naturalism? I believe that understanding Bernardo's thoughts on this will clarify many deep aspects of Analytic Idealism, both its strengths and weaknesses. Kiri and I made a compilation on the topic from our recent discussions: If we cover this in the first part of the session, we'll go to other recent questions that we haven't had time for. Your thoughts and reflections on seeing without eyes are appreciated in the comments below. Looking forward to seeing you (with my eyes) on Wednesday. With love, Amir --- As background, the following report argues that **“seeing without eyes”** might be a real, measurable phenomenon, and that if it were demonstrated under tight controls it would seriously challenge the view that perception must be mediated by the ordinary senses and the brain alone: [https://noetic.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Seeing-Without-Eyes-Full-Proposal.pdf](https://noetic.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Seeing-Without-Eyes-Full-Proposal.pdf?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/02/Blind_men_and_elephant2.jpg) Blindmen and Elephant, unknown illustration ## Zoom Room Wed 18th Feb 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The Precognition of Unconditional Love - with Dr Julia Mossbridge URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dr-julia-mossbridge/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T15:26:26.000Z Recording details Date: 10 February 2026 Duration: 2h 17m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 **Julia Mosbridge** 0:02:00 No agreement of time 0:08:00 Physicists on precognition 0:09:00 Science designs experiment, philosophy thinks 0:10:30 precognition: **information from the future** 0:16:00 physics, time and mind-like particles 0:17:50 the big question: time/consciousness 0:19:40 Bernardo: **time as a mental construct** 0:21:00 Time might be emergent - loop quantum gravity 0:26:00 Bias in science & physics about scale 0:34:00 Motivations for science: terror, control, meaning 0:38:00 Requirements for good model of time 0:43:00 Dashboard failures => precognition, de ja vu 0:44:30 **Healing trauma** through time perception 0:49:30 Common errors about time (eternity / crass determinism / **meaning**) 0:51:00 kinds of **meaning** 0:57:00 Precognition through **unconditional love** 1:00:50 How to train unconditional love 1:03:00 Where are the precognitive billionaires? 1:13:00 What matters is compassion 1:13:30 Normalised abuse in childhood and academia 1:23:00 Voluntary access to precognition ### **2nd half: The problem with Seeing without Eyes** 1:28:40 Why veridical perception in NDEs is problematic to Bernardo Must it really contradict naturalism? 1:40:00 **Seeing in dreams is not problematic** 1:52:00 We should gain access to the feeling of the room, not what it looks like 1:56:00 Attempted explanations lose **specificity** 2:00:00 Bernardo takes **incompleteness** for granted 2:06:00 God 2:09:00 Even if Analytic Idealism is wrong, its less wrong than physicalism Precognition is the term for knowing something about the future before it happens. But you probably knew I was going to say that. Nevertheless, the topic can cause discomfort. No one wants to lose credibility for entertaining what many consider "fringe science." Despite this prejudice, Bernardo is perfectly comfortable with the notion. As are some physicists who anyway consider time an emergent property. So I was intrigued by the research presented by Dr Julia Mossbridge in this heart-felt dialogue. She shared the many reasons to believe we could access information from the future, and what it indicates about reality and time. ### **Your body keeps the score before the score** Most fascinating is the possibility that precognition is common, at least subconsciously. When measuring physiological markers, the body can respond to future information before any known sensory channel could access it. Julia suggests this might be why successful day traders typically have higher than average introspective awareness, an ability to track their physiological response to potential trades. Even more inspiring is her finding on what consistently improves precognition: Unconditional love. “it's pretty clear that for people who are in a high state of unconditional love, you're statistically significantly more likely to be accurate on the information you get.” This is defined as “having the capacity to be loved and having the capacity to love without anything needing to change.” The irony is that many people seek precognition because they want to get something. But to access the skill, the wanting needs to drop. ### **Spoiler alert: Love is a trainable skill.** Perhaps more important then, is that states of unconditional love can be *trained.* This likely bring many benefits regardless. The formula is simple: “If you believe in God, pray and simply ask for the experience of unconditional love in the moment right now. If you don't believe in God, make the intention to set aside 2 minutes right now and experience unconditional love.” Julia recommends to "just do it every day." My prediction is that with practice, you’re going to love the result either way. ### **Time to acknowledge the control prejudice in physics** Julia is clear about one thing. She doesn’t know what time is. But she does have ideas about how it might *work*. Some physicists believe time is fundamental, and others believe it is merely a cognitive construct. Julia sees value in both perspective, but is fairly certain it isn't what most people think: a one direction canvas on which events are painted. Because no one in physics, philosophy or psychology can agree, it's a field of study ripe with potential. Still, there are many biases and prejudices in science which could hold things back. A seldom examined assumption is that all organising principles in nature should be present at the microscopic level, and everything else emerge from there. “This is completely arbitrary”, says Bernardo. “There is nothing written in stone in nature saying that that is how nature is." If there are organizing principles that kick in at a microscopic scale, there is nothing a priori forbidding nature to also have fundamental, built-in organizing principles that only kick in at larger scales… no reason to think that we can reduce everything to particle physics." In other words, there may fundamental laws of nature, or organizing principles, "that only kick in at the level of an organism. Or a society. Or a planetary system. Or a galaxy. Or clusters of galaxies.” This unquestioned belief is likely motivated by the desire for control. If we could explain everything based on microscopic effects, then all of nature’s organizing principles could be discovered under laboratory conditions. “I generally hold that reductionism, materialism, are really about an emotional wish for control.” Julia says. Bernardo agrees, "but I agree while sharing the prejudice. I would really like to reduce everything to one thing. And that's maybe my psychology. For me, I think it's less control and more closure”. **After Julia left, we followed with a one-hour deep dive on why Bernardo is so vexed by "seeing without eyes."** This was one of the most exciting discussions we've had recently, a sentiment echoed by many in the chat. We also discussed: - What matters is **compassion** - How the average experience is severe abuse and neglect - Time travel **therapy** - Requirements for good model of time - Where are all the **precognitive billionaires?** - Why meaning doesn’t need time (but the ego does) As always, I would love to hear your reflections, in the comments below or telegram, and I look forward to seeing you next week! Amir P.S. We'll meet on Wed rather than Tues next week. Topic to be confirmed. Speakers Dr Julia Mossbridge **Dr. Julia Mossbridge** is an American cognitive neuroscientist, author and educator who works on understanding and training exceptional human performance including psi effects, notably on precognition and presentiment. She is a Senior Distinguished Fellow in Human Potential at the [Center for the Future of AI, Mind, and Society](https://www.fau.edu/future-mind/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) at Florida Atlantic University, Member of the [Loomis Innovation Council](https://www.stimson.org/project/alfred-lee-loomis-innovation-council/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) at the nonpartisan Stimson Center, Affiliate Professor in the [Department of Biophysics and Physics at University of San Diego](https://www.sandiego.edu/directory/biography.php?profile%5Fid=10636&ref=withrealityinmind.com), and the co-founder and founding executive director of the nonprofit [TILT: The Institute for Love and Time](https://loveandtime.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). [Julia Mossbridge | Welcome to the inspiracy.](https://juliamossbridge.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [Mossbridge Institute | Mossbridge Institute](https://www.mossbridgeinstitute.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [Home - The Institute for Love and Time](https://loveandtime.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Seeing future, changing past, with Dr Julia Mossbridge URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-future-of-time-with-dr-julia-mossbridge/ Last updated: 2026-02-10T15:01:11.000Z I typically assume the future doesn’t yet exist, but experiments and anecdotal reports hint that time may not be as linear as it seems. Dr Julia Mossbridge is a neuroscientist and consciousness researcher known for her work on precognition informed by both physiology and physics. Her research includes unconscious physiological precognition, in which the body has an accurate response to future information. Julia believes that such ‘anomalous phenomena’ are key to understanding the nature of reality, and has been requested by members to join us, as an expert who can shed more light on our discussions about [**time**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-big-bang-is-now-in-the-illusion-of-time/). Julia will be joining for just the 1st hour, followed by Q&A with Bernardo for the 2nd hour, based on questions that arise during the session. Below is her interview with Essentia Foundation tackling questions of free will, the nature of time and the mind-body problem. I'm watching it now, and already enjoyed her feminist critique of the neuroscience dismissal of 'nurse' glial cells! Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow... (!?!) Amir ## Zoom room 10th Feb 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Why Bernardo is distressed by the idea of a soul URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/duality-near-death-soul-with-guest-marjorie-woollacott-2/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T15:27:00.000Z Recording details Date: 3 February 2026 Duration: 2h 14m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Announcements 0:03:30 Types of dualism 0:09:30 NDE’s suggest life is a deliberate game 0:10:00 Why this is distressing to Bernardo 0:15:40 Defining naturalism 0:18:00 **Marjorie & Bernardo Dialogue** 0:20:00 Continental philosophy vs analytic philosophy 0:22:30 Science of astronomy and **telepathy tapes** 0:28:30 Perception without a body 0:30:00 NDE’s change worldview 0:31:30 Bernardo’s phantom world hypothesis 0:38:00 Naturalism vs supernaturalism 0:48:00 Why do we have eyes? 0:56:00 Michael Levin’s Platonic space 1:00:00 Could after death vision be reconstruction? 01:03:00 **Insights from higher states of consciousness** 01:09:00 **Levels of dissociation** have less empirical grounding 01:17:00 Why discarnate entities aren’t perceivable 01:18:00 The limits of Bernardo’s disposition 01:29:00 Do NDE’s really say anything about ultimate reality? 01:30:00 Subtle bodies and perception: scholasticism vs empiricism 01:43:00 Seeing 360 degrees is anti-naturalism 01:47:00 **Reincarnation** as repeating dispositional structures of Mind at Large 2:05:00 On killing other beings 2:09:00 **Time travel thought experiment** That a soul could exist after death is conceivable to Bernardo, but distressing. It departs from naturalism and suggests that life could be a like simulation, or a game. It implies that our reality is planned, *intentionally* deceptive, and hiding something from us on purpose. “The key assumption for the naturalist is that the universe is not trying to deceive you," says Bernardo. Under naturalism reality is instinctive, and life emerges spontaneously out of what we call the laws of nature, not designed by supernatural beings. But if we *are* in a sort of game, our natural world is one step removed from the way things really are. We are insulated from the very data we need to account for the whole thing, which for Bernardo is deeply dissatisfying. "Now, all the evidence can be constructed, everything can be deceiving you, no conclusion you extract has any validity whatsoever, because it's all a big game, and you don't know who is playing it, and you don't know what they are up to, and you don't have access to what motivated the game... for people with a naturalist disposition, this is awful stuff. It's really awful." The trouble is, its hard to ignore the fact that our personality isn't easy to explain based on genes or environment alone, and the copious anecdotal evidence from near death experiences. "I'm not going to be one that will tell you, therefore, naturalism *has* to be true, and whatever evidence you have, it's anecdotal nonsense, and we will not even review your paper. I'm too honest towards myself to fool myself that way. I can't do that. But if you ask me, do I like where this is going? No, no, I don't like this at all. It robs some of the meaning that I think I have in my life.” ### It's all still mind None of this is a challenge to idealism. It is conceivable to have a mental complex that imprints itself in a cognitive neighbourhood in the great ocean of mind, appearing as a body, and can withdraw from that neighbourhood. "Then you would have something that is operationally indistinguishable from soul and body." (Bernardo first clarified this idea, and the reasons to consider it, near the end of our meeting on the [ 30th of December](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/new-year-reflections-intentions-ritual-soul/).) ### Seeing without eyes It's the reports of seeing during Near Death Experiences that are the biggest challenge to naturalism. Why would nature spend millions of years to evolve eyes if sight is possible without them? “If we can see without eyes, it's very difficult to argue for a satisfying, complete, naturalist explanation, because it would then suggest a form of game being played, something deliberately set up.” He had earlier tried to reconcile this in his essay “[The Phantom World](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2024/02/the-phantom-world-hypothesis-of-ndesobes.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com),” arguing that when we die we may have access to all the data accrued by people previously living. But he’s since encountered so many reports of people accessing fresh information that he no longer finds this explanation satisfactory. Of relevance here is [Àlex Gómez-Marín](https://opensciences.org/people/alex-gomez-marin?ref=withrealityinmind.com#videos)’s research proposal [Seeing without Eyes](https://noetic.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Seeing-Without-Eyes-Full-Proposal.pdf?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Bernardo considers Marjorie Woollacott the world's academic authority on Near-Death Experiences, and they engaged in a vibrant dialogue on the topic. This was followed by many great questions from you all, including an account of reincarnation that was so well articulated, Bernardo invited Martin to submit it as an essay to Essentia Foundation. ***We also discussed:*** - Continental philosophy vs analytic philosophy - **Telepathy tapes** and the bias against paranormal science - Levels and hierarchies of dissociation - Reincarnation as a pattern of dispositions As always, I look forward to hearing your reflections in the comments below or on telegram. Until next week! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/02/data-src-image-9686ef40-7204-4870-b9aa-1047f8c10278.png) Marjorie Hines Woollacott, PhD Amongst her many credentials, Marjorie is Research Director of the **International Association for Near-Death Studies** and has published peer-reviewed work on near-death reports including cases with claimed veridical perceptions during profound physiological crisis. has been a neuroscience professor at the University of Oregon for more than three decades and a meditator for almost four. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. She coauthored a popular textbook for health professionals and has written more than 180 peer-reviewed research articles, several of which were on meditation, the topic that motivated her to write the book 'Infinite Awareness.' We had a Q&A with her on the 20th of January, which you can see here: [Consciousness Beyond the Body with Marjorie Woollacott](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/consciousness-beyond-the-body-with-marjorie-woollacott/) She also recommends this article by Pim van Lommel that was just published in The Psychologist, published by the British Psychological Society: [https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/continuity-consciousness](https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/continuity-consciousness?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### A Worldview for Global Change URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-a-worldview-for-global-change/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T16:14:11.000Z Recording details Date: 27 January 2026 Duration: 2h 0m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Explanation for last week 0:03:00 Intro to Jude Currivan 0:08:00 **Updating the science paradigm** 0:11:00 The universe is relational & interdependent. 0:14:00 Evidence for a finite universe 0:15:00 Appearance from meaningful information 0:16:00 Reality is pixilated at plank scale, space, time, energy, matter, temperature 0:17:30 The universe is holographic & evolves 0:18:30 Reality is fractal & innately relational 0:21:00 **Reframing the 3 laws of thermodynamics** 0:22:22 Information can be expressed as quantized energy-matter 0:23:40 Reframing entropy as information always increasing 0:26:00 Temperature is inverse to entropy 0:27:50 The universe is predisposed to evolve: Forming carbon and enzymes forming life 0:34:00 Life/structure is not a reversal of entropy 0:38:00 Temperature differences show entropic potential for that lifecycle. 0:42:00 Plank scale: smallest measure of causality 0:45:00 The universe is holographic projection from 2 dimensions 0:50:00 The universe intelligently emerges life 0:52:00 **Challenges in applying idealism to business** 0:56:30 Our current laws prevent application of new philosophy 0:59:12 Tangible ways to transform business 1:04:00 Systemic & legislative change is required 1:07:00 [Nudging people doesn't work](https://theconversation.com/nudge-theory-doesnt-work-after-all-says-new-evidence-review-but-it-could-still-have-a-future-187635?ref=withrealityinmind.com) 1:09:00 Our worst habits are incentivised 1:12:00 Healing a diseased economic paradigm 1:14:40 Drug laws based on 19th century paradigms 1:17:00 **Inefficiency & unsustainability of AI** 1:23:00 Business analysis of AI 1:29:50 Need for a change in worldview 1:32:00 The **dangerous philosophy behind silicon valley** questioning democracy 1:38:50 Overview of global powers 1:39:00 **Hope for the future** 1:43:00 Changing behaviour changes people 1:46:00 Critique of current tax system as undemocratic 1:49:00 The rich are also negatively impacted 1:51:00 The case for optimism 1:55:00 Metaconscious leaders What if the patterns observed at every scale in the cosmos could guide an economic system aligned with life? The scientific paradigm of the 19th century was mechanistic; a universe made of separate parts, each with its own proper place. This drove new technologies and the industrial revolution, but also the way we viewed ourselves, our economy, our health care and the ways we govern and educate our children. If people are mere cogs in a giant machine, their value is measured in production, and their lives stripped of meaning. This mechanistic perspective incentivises separation, extraction and short-term thinking. This reductionist paradigm has been overturned in science, most recently in the [Nobel Prize of 2022](https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2022/press-release/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). It clearly showed that reality is **non-local:** objects can instantaneously influence or correlate with each other's state regardless of the distance separating them, violating the classical principle of locality where objects are only affected by their immediate surroundings. (Nobel prizes are widely viewed as only awarded for settled science. Einstein did not get it for relativity because it was too contentious. He got it for the photoelectric effect.) The scientific evidence of recent decades indicates that the universe is not made of separate objects, but is one field of relationality. The complexity we observe is a web of interdependence that extends through time and space. Dr Jude Currivan, (PhD MSc CMA), is a cosmologist, planetary healer, futurist, and author. She has an master's **in physics from Oxford**, a **PhD in archaeology**, and **senior business experience** ranging from the UK Stock Exchange to international corporations including HMV and Scholl. Her work in emerging science points to consciousness, information and *meaning* as primary to existence. Together with leading economists, she calls for **a systemic transformation in global economy** guided by observable patterns of the universe. This is a move away from mere sustainability and towards regeneration, recognising that people, organisations and planets exist in a network of reciprocity. In this session, Jude presents the **evidence for understanding reality as a “cosmic hologram”,** how the universe is evolving and is predisposed towards emerging life, and how entropy can be better understood, not as a disintegration from order to disorder, but as an increase in informational content. Bernardo is both Founder/CEO at AI systems company [Euclyd BV](https://euclyd.ai/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), and director of [Essentia Foundation](https://www.essentiafoundation.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), leading the Western renaissance of metaphysical idealism in academia and science, the view that mind, spirit, or consciousness is the ultimate nature of reality. Together, they compare how consciousness-based worldviews can inform how we live our lives, and the need for systemic change. They discuss the implications of these perspectives for the economy, business, and our roles as citizens of the earth. ### The way forward is far from simple. Bernardo is candid about the challenges of implementing idealism in business. Our current laws require adherence to an old world view, requiring firms to prioritise shareholders over wider concerns. Jude has several recommendations on how to widen the circle of compassion, and turn the law on its head. First, recognise the health of the planet is vital to the well-being of all the stakeholders in any business. Second, properly account for externalities and opportunity costs. (Externalities are costs that affect third parties not directly involved in the production or consumption of a good.) Jude is working with 'Accounting for Reality' which was at the table at COP and are hoping to get in front of the Norwegian Sovereign Fund and [Pensions for Purpose](https://www.pensionsforpurpose.com/Community/Our-Ecosystem-Themes.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Investors who can take a wider perspective on the future. After all, of what use is a pension on a planet that doesn't support life? Beyond reforming or “resetting” existing systems, (like a recommended a sales tax on share transfers, which don't do anyone any good), there’s a growing movement towards **regenerative economics**: practical, place-based work organised around living regions (like watersheds and bioregions) where communities collaborate to restore ecological and social health. Bernardo and Jude both agree the the current system incentivises much poor behaviour, from trading down to the drug laws. These are based on 19th century mechanists perspective, with known carcinogens tobacco and alcohol legal and relatively benign psychedelics illegal. Whilst Jude acknowledges the many reasons to be pessimistic, she also highlights the many initiatives going on that we don't hear about in the mainstream media. She points to efforts in places such as [Cascadia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia%5F%28bioregion%29?ref=withrealityinmind.com), the [Amazon headwaters](https://ecojurisprudence.org/initiatives/amazon-sacred-headwaters-initiative-bioregional-plan-2030/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), and across the Himalaya watershed, highlighting people convening local groups to listen, coordinate, and act together. The emphasis isn’t on persuading people into a new ideology, but on bringing communities into relationship so they can change behaviour and improve collective wellbeing, including work emerging with Bhutan. "How do we encourage that and support that? And that's part of that journey. And then ultimately, we move to what I call a unitive economics, which is an economics based on a unitive perspective...It is, in part, systemic, and it is part multi-level and grassroots level, but it is happening." [WholeWorld ViewWho We Are - The WholeWorld-View community was founded in 2017 and is a growing interdependent co-operative of global change agents in service to nurturing our personal and collective need for meaning and belonging, celebrating our innate diversity within a unified whole. Our mission is to empower![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-13.ico)WholeWorld ViewOur Solstice Newsletter - Turn Toward the Light![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/welcome-home.png)](https://www.wholeworld-view.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) I for one, am happy to know such compassionate and considerate thinkers are applying their minds to these problems. ### They also discuss: - The vast energy waste in AI - A business analysis of AI - The dangerous philosophy behind silicon valley questioning democracy Please do share your thoughts in the comments below! With appreciation, Amir ### Recommended viewing As a warm up you might enjoy this short film produced by Jude, and the links she mentions in the discussion: Here is the **article from Jude mentioned on Quantum Consciousness:** [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0079610723000858](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0079610723000858?ref=withrealityinmind.com) (Beyond the abstract is a pay to read. However, given for this 'closed' group, Jude agreed to include links to full pdfs below.) --- Here is **a short OpEd that Judd co-authored with Paul Shrivastava** the co-president of the Club of Rome: [From pieces to peace: Why healing our worldview is key to planetary survival - Club of Rome14 November 2025 -![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/cropped-CoR-logo-web-small-2022-270x270.png)Club of Rome![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/pexels-thai-tr-ng-giang-1984647168-34580938-1-scaled-1.jpg)](https://www.clubofrome.org/blog-post/currivan-shrivastava-peace/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) --- This session was recommended by fellow community member Greg Suart, who through his work with [meta-conscious leaders](https://metaconsciousleaders.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) hopes to align business with principals that emerge from idealism. I especially enjoyed this section of their conversation: Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/01/image-2.png) Jude Currivan Dr Jude Currivan PhD MSc CMA is a cosmologist, planetary healer, futurist, and author whose life’s work unites leading-edge science with universal wisdom traditions. Holding a master’s degree in physics from Oxford and a doctorate in archaeology from Reading, she also trained as a Chartered Management Accountant and served on the Council of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the UK Stock Exchange Listing Committee. Jude’s early career was in global commerce – she was Group Finance Director of international corporations HMV and Scholl, establishing operations in multiple continents. This experience gave her an intimate understanding of the world’s economic and financial systems, later informing her systemic approach to global transformation. In the mid-1990s she turned to full-time research and planetary service, integrating her scientific background with her lifelong exploration of consciousness, ancient cosmologies, and the evolution of life. Her seminal works—The 8th Chakra, The 13th Step, HOPE – Healing Our People and Earth, The Cosmic Hologram, and The Story of Gaia – chart a profound arc from personal awakening to planetary evolution. In them she proposes that the universe is a living, unified system of in-formation - where energy, matter, and consciousness are inseparable aspects of a cosmic whole. Through her non-profit WholeWorld-View, Jude collaborates with scientists, business leaders, economists, and change agents to foster what she describes as a new “WholeWorld cosmology” – a worldview based on unity, coherence, and regenerative design. She is an active member of the Club of Rome and the Evolutionary Leaders Circle, contributing to global dialogues on reframing economics, rethinking finance, and cultivating planetary well-being. [Jude Currivan PhD cosmologist, healer, futurist and author](https://www.judecurrivan.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Community meetup this Saturday URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/community-meetup-this-saturday/ Last updated: 2026-01-23T11:52:20.000Z Fabiana is hosting a members' meetup this Saturday, 24th of January, online. A chance to meet some of the many other inspiring members in the group. We've all got at least one thing in common, so these are typically a bunch of fun! Sat Jan 24th, 2026 **7pm UK / 8pm CET / 2pm EST** Zoom link below ## This coming Tues Next Tues is also available to non-members to buy a ticket as a one-off, so do share this link if you know anyone interested in how idealism indicates a roadmap for global change: [https://dandelion.events/e/s3i6r](https://dandelion.events/e/s3i6r?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [A Worldview for Global Change with Jude Currivan & Bernardo KastrupTue 27th Jan 2026, 7pm – 9pm CET (UTC +01:00)![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/black-on-transparent-sq-1.png)Scientific American![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/844135d1-4466-4f2d-b1db-c58cb89fde17.jpg)](https://dandelion.events/e/s3i6r?ref=withrealityinmind.com) For all you members, you can read more about it here: [A Worldview for Global ChangeJude Currivan & Bernardo Kastrup in conversation, 27th January 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-101.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/image-2--1--1.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-business-of-idealism/) So looking forward to this one, and appreciating all of you so much! Amir ## Zoom link for Sat _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Consciousness Beyond the Body with Marjorie Woollacott URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/consciousness-beyond-the-body-with-marjorie-woollacott/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:04:42.000Z Recording details Date: 20 January 2026 Duration: 1h 59m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Greetings 0:03:36 Marjorie’s background 0:11:30 meditation improves attention 0:14:30 Theories of consciousness & reality 0:16:50 **Neuroscience** aligning with Nondual Kashmiri Shaivism 0:20:30 Getting back to peak **experiences** 0:30:00 **Agency** after death? 0:35:00 Communication after death - 900 accounts 0:47:00 Limits of **models**: materialism & idealism 0:53:00 Anomalous vocal phenomena 1:00:00 The moving target of plausibility 1:01:00 Spiritual initiation & distinguishing illusion from reality :05:00 Science of **consciousness without neural activity** 1:09:00 [Tukdam ](https://vimeo.com/ondemand/tukdambetweenworlds?ref=withrealityinmind.com)\- Tibetan meditation after death 1:16:00 Questioning **perception after death** 1:22:00 The variety of NDEs and experience of love 1:27:00 Esoteric traditions from around the world Kashmir to Kabbalah 1:34:00 Free Will & Instant change from NDE 1:40:00 Explaining the variations in after death reports 1:45:00 **Terminal lucidity** \- sudden return to awareness before death Last week Bernardo said that he considers Marjorie Woollacott the world's academic authority on Near-Death Experiences, so we were lucky to have her step in today when a last-minute problem meant Bernardo was unavailable for this session. We've postponed the planned [dialogue with Bernardo](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/near-death-duality-soul-with-guest-marjorie-woollacott/) to Tues 3rd of Feb. Marjorie shared her conclusions from over forty years of research, and we heard reflections from several community members. Whilst this meeting was grounded in Marjorie's scientific and research backgrounds, it was also very touching, with experiences shared that were both personal and profound. Amongst many topics, we discussed: - Modelling the layers of reality in idealism - Distinguishing illusion from reality - Research on consciousness without neural activity - 900 accounts of after death communication - The 'eyeball rolling' threshold ### Do alters need bodies? (is there a "soul?") After decades of study of both neuroscience and nonduality (from Kashmir to Kabballah), Marjorie is of the view that consciousness is primary, and normal awareness filters out most of reality. This filter can be reduced through meditation, psychedelics and near-death experiences, allowing for more expansive states, telepathy, precognition and an experience of oneness. The large number of reports also indicates that some kind of individuated perspective continues after bodily death. On the 3rd of Feb we'll discuss with Bernardo his intuition that there might be a dualistic process happening on the idealist operating system we call reality. ### Resources shared by members The chat is always filled with the wonderful knowledge shared by members of the group. There is a members' meeting this Sat organised by Fabiana - you can find the details on Telegram or the link below. From Ron - an example of an anomalous voice out of pure white noise, no radio or microphone involved. Software filtered and slowed down. Closed circuit system. Jamey shared his article on freedom of the will vs. determinism, and psychotherapy: [If You Could’ve Done Better, You Would HaveWe often want to help people with their regrets, by telling them: “ If you could have done any better, you would have . The reason you didn’t, is that you were constrained by your trauma background, your history.” They reply that this is a slippery slope; that if they allow themselves the solace of![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-17.ico)Jamey Hecht, PhD, PsyD, LMFTJamey Hecht![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/istockphoto-491725433-612x612.jpg)](https://www.drjameyhecht.com/blog/if-you-couldve-done-better-you-would-have?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Tukdam is said to be a rare meditative state in Tibetan Buddhism where advanced practitioners remain in deep absorption for days or weeks after clinical death, exhibiting lifelike bodies with minimal decomposition, radiant skin, and no odor, seen as a sign of high spiritual attainment A film was made on the phenomena which can be seen here : ### Traversing the 4th dimension A question was raised about how an alter might experience aspects of our reality without us having any awareness of these entities or out of body perspectives. I thought this fun video from Carl Sagan could be relevant: Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/12/image.png) Marjorie Hines Woollacott, PhD Marjorie Woollacott is a neuroscientist, author, and Emeritus Professor of Human Physiology at the University of Oregon. She is known for her interdisciplinary research in neuroscience, motor control, rehabilitation, meditation, and consciousness studies. She served as chair of the Human Physiology Department at the University of Oregon and currently serving as the Research Director for the International Association for Near-Death Studies and President of the Academy for the Advancement of Postmaterialist Sciences ### Time & the Crystal of Eternity URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/time-the-ultimate-ri/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T16:14:20.000Z Recording details Date: 13 January 2026 Duration: 2h 35m Free preview Chapters 0:04:00 **Defining Consciousness**: that whose excitations are the qualities of experience 0:13:00 Do **thoughts** have duration? 0:21:00 Does idealism separate space and time? 0:23:00 Experience of time in **different species** 0:27:00 Is nature continuous or made of discrete bits? 0:37:00 How can there be cognitive overload outside time? 0:40:00 **Metacognition** requires extension (space/time) (+ psychedelic anecdote) 0:46:30 **Purpose** means time only flows in one direction 0:49:00 How **illusions convey truth** 0:55:00 Maybe time is all there is? 0:59:00 Time is experienced but [descriptions of flow are wrong](https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observations/do-we-actually-experience-the-flow-of-time?ref=withrealityinmind.com) 1:07:00 **Self-contradiction** for realisation beyond logic 1:18:00 Bernardo recommends [Peter Kingsley’s ‘Reality’](https://peterkingsley.org/product/reality/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) 1:24:00 The singularity is this present moment. 1:35:00 Bernardo’s seed for idealism planted at CERN 1:43:00 An experiential account beyond time 1:58:00 **The Crystal of Eternity** if before excitation 2:09:00 Bernardo’s disagreement with Jung: Finite archetypes 2:14:00 **Thought Experiment: Empathy with all beings** **Koan** /ˈkəʊan,ˈkəʊɑːn/ *noun* a paradoxical anecdote or riddle without a solution, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and provoke enlightenment. "I'm hand-waving" Bernardo admitted in this session on the bewildering paradox of time. "If you're looking for this neat analytic closed package in which everything falls in its place, and everything is logical, and everything is internally consistent, you're not going to get it." Instead, when investigating time, Bernardo aims for what **Peter Kingsley** calls **mêtis:** "to tie ourselves into enough knots of self-contradiction that at some point, the cognitive tension becomes so high that you step out of it, and then you see it." In this extended 2.5hr meeting our minds were prodded, pulled and unravelled as we grappled with the ultimate koan. How the singularity is this present moment. How thoughts could be instantaneous. How illusions convey truth. The key is to grok how the Crystal of Eternity, the semantic web of associations and archetypes outside time, gives rise to the dynamic richness of life, and our valid sense of purpose, when ***projected*** onto time. ### Our maps distort what they describe If this gets frustrating, I recommend the below video. It becomes immediately obvious how a map can make one thing clear whilst distorting another. It is a mathematical inevitability: Any two-dimensional representation of our three-dimensional globe will stretch something out of proportion, So whilst our linear and logical models of reality might be useful in one moment, they are useless in another. The invitation is to step out of their two dimensions! (and pick the right map for each moment). ### Recommended reading and viewing Further to our discussion, Bernardo highly recommends Peter Kingsley's book [Reality](https://peterkingsley.org/product/reality/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), and the movie Arrival, perhaps Hollywood's most successful depiction of what experience outside time might be like: ### Where Bernardo disagrees with Jung The **Crystal of Eternity** is Bernardo's metaphor for the structure of reality outside time. It contains all the archetypes which manifest in our lives. Whilst Jung's view was that archetypes are infinite, Bernardo proposed the evidence from complexity science suggests another alternative. This science was largely developed after his death, and confounds our normal intuitions. Incredible complexity can arise from just a few simple starting points, which could account for the bewildering array of diversity we see in manifestation. ***We further discussed how:*** - Space and time are cognitive constructs - Thoughts could be instantaneous - Illusions convey truth - the direction of time conveys meaning - We experience *time*, but not *flow* - The big bang, Christ's death, the resurrection... are happening now [Do We Actually Experience the Flow of Time?Subjective experience must inform physics and philosophy, but it should be assessed carefully![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-16.ico)Scientific AmericanBernardo Kastrup![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/CF5A4206-A9E2-4E65-A629AE36D9391A0A_source.jpg)](https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observations/do-we-actually-experience-the-flow-of-time?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Time and space for empathy ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/01/image-4.png) From [existentialcomics.com/comic/436](https://existentialcomics.com/comic/436?ref=withrealityinmind.com) What is the practical significance of any of this? We mentioned two important factors [last week](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-big-bang-is-now-in-the-illusion-of-time/) related to a reduction in personal suffering. Equally important is the recognition of our shared identity with every other living creature. When we recognise how we collapse time to extend concern for our past and future selves, we can further extend our identity to include all sentient beings. Bernardo shared a heart-felt thought experiment to taste this experience directly. ### Dealing with empathy overload With so much suffering in the world, empathy can become overwhelming. If the amount of empathy opening up through these discussion becomes distressing, I recommend having a look at this[ study](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214007702?ref=withrealityinmind.com). It indicates that compassion is a more sustainable response: "In order to prevent an excessive sharing of suffering that may turn into distress, one may respond to the suffering of others with compassion. In contrast to empathy, compassion does not mean sharing the suffering of the other: rather, it is characterized by feelings of warmth, concern and care for the other, as well as a strong motivation to improve the other’s wellbeing. Compassion is feeling *for* and not feeling *with* the other." [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/01/image-6.png)](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214007702?ref=withrealityinmind.com) If you have found other ways to help navigate any disorientation that comes up from our conversations, do please share them in the comments below, or on telegram. ## Audio Book - Daimon and the Soul of the West Bernardo is giving away his five free copies of audio book The Daimon and the Soul of the West. Rather than randomly give them out, I thought it could be nice to share these with people who are able to set up extra zoom meetings for members to meet. All you need to do is a pick a time, schedule a zoom room and share the details with me and other members on telegram. You don't need special skills to host - just the initiative. If you like, you can consult AI for some prompts. If you get 5 members or more, take a screen shot (with consent!) and email me amir@adventuresinawareness.com and I'll send you the link to get a copy of the book. (Limited to the first 5 people.) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Time continues now URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/time-continues-now/ Last updated: 2026-01-12T14:28:24.000Z All our sessions are great, but some are truly special, and last week was a great example. I enjoyed rewatching the thought experiments in [the recording](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-big-bang-is-now-in-the-illusion-of-time/) more than once, and imagine you will too. There were so many questions left over that **we're continuing the discussion tomorrow**, Tues 13th of Jan, selecting from those submitted on this page: [Time6th & 13th Jan Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-92.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1506420531556-1dd2929c8a55-1-10.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/time/) We'll have a further discussion, (including research on precognition), on the 10th of Feb with guest Julia Mossbridge. But of course, some of you already knew that. [The future of time with Dr Julia Mossbridge10th Feb 2026 Bernardo Kastrup & Julia Mossbridge in conversation![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-91.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1454817481404-7e84c1b73b4a-2.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-future-of-time-with-dr-julia-mossbridge/) I look forward to seeing you now, tomorrow, Tues 13th Jan. Amir ## Zoom Room Tues 13th Jan 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Iain McGilchrist, Bernardo Kastrup - representing reality URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/iain-mcgilchrist/ Last updated: 2026-04-29T12:27:58.000Z Hey %recipient.firstname%, [Iain McGilchrist](https://channelmcgilchrist.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) is one of the most sought-after thinkers of our time. His research into the different ways in which the left and right brain hemispheres perceive reality has shed light not only on individual perception, but on trends in art, science and our participation with reality. He has argued that our civilisation is captured by a **distorted mode of attention** that seeks control over a universe made of mechanical, fragmented things. He pushes against this modern habit and suggests instead a view of the world as dynamic, relational, flowing, and internally connected. In his [first conversation with Bernardo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c66QqSHDSNI&ref=withrealityinmind.com), they agreed that **consciousness is a primary** substrate, and meaning is inherent to existence. But they differed in their perspectives on how reality is ***experienced***. Are we perceiving the world through a kind of dashboard representation, like a simulation? Or are we embedded in reality in ways that are immediate and profound? I'm thrilled we'll be hosting them online in a second dialogue, in collaboration with Channel McGilchrist, this coming **Tuesday, 7th of April.** If you're a member of With Reality in Mind you can join with the zoom link below, and you can invite non-members to join this one as a one-off event via [this link.](https://dandelion.events/e/r5yfz?ref=withrealityinmind.com) They will explore Iain's two ways of knowing and their implications for Bernardo's Analytic Idealism, including the different ways in which we experience time: Inhibit the right brain, and the world shows up as a series of frames. Inhibit the left, and it returns to a seamless flow. They'll then explore the implications for how we relate to beauty, truth, meaning and how we lead our lives. I look forward to seeing you there! Amir ### About Iain McGilchrist ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/04/image.png) **Iain McGilchrist** is a former Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, an associate Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford, a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Consultant Emeritus of the Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital, London, a former research Fellow in Neuroimaging at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, Baltimore, and a former Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies in Stellenbosch. He now lives on the Isle of Skye, off the coast of North West Scotland, where he continues to write, and lectures worldwide. He is committed to the idea that the mind and brain can be understood only by seeing them in the broadest possible context, that of the whole of our physical and spiritual existence, and of the wider human culture in which they arise – the culture which helps to mould, and in turn is moulded by, our minds and brains. He was a late entrant to medicine. After a scholarship to Winchester College, he was awarded a scholarship to New College, Oxford, where he read English. He won the Chancellor’s English Essay Prize and the Charles Oldham Shakespeare Prize in 1974 and graduated (with congratulated 1st Class Hons) in 1975 (MA 1979). He was awarded a Prize Fellowship of All Souls College, Oxford in 1975, teaching English literature and pursuing interests in philosophy and psychology, in particular the mind-body relationship, between 1975 and 1982\. As a result he went on to train in medicine, and during this period All Souls re-elected him to a further Fellowship (1984-1991), and again in 2002 (to 2004). He was formerly a Consultant Psychiatrist of the Bethlem Royal and Maudsley NHS Trust in London, where he was Clinical Director of their southern sector Acute Mental Health Services. He trained at the Maudsley Hospital in London, working on specialist units including the Neuropsychiatry and Epilepsy Unit, the Children’s Unit and the Forensic Unit, as well as, at Senior Registrar level, the National Psychosis Referral Unit and the National Eating Disorder Unit. During this period he also worked as a Research Fellow in neuroimaging at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, USA. His clinical experience has been broad-based, and he has run a busy Community Mental Health Team in an ethnically diverse and socially deprived area of south London. He has published original research on neuroimaging in schizophrenia, the phenomenology of schizophrenia, and other topics, and contributed chapters to books on a wide range of subjects, as well as original articles in papers and journals, including the *British Journal of Psychiatry, American Journal of Psychiatry, Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology, Religion, Brain and Behavior \[a special issue on his work\], Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, The BMJ, The Lancet, The TLS, The London Review of Books, The LA Review of Books, The Listener, The Literary Review, Essays in Criticism, The Modern Language Review, The English Historical Review, The Wall Street Journal*, *The* *Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times* on topics in literature, medicine, psychiatry and philosophy. He has taken part in many radio and TV programmes and documentaries, including the BBC’s *The Moral Maze*, *Start the Week*, and *Today*, as well as their series *In Doubt We Trust*, NPR’s *The Hidden Brain, WNYC’s The Leonard Lopate Show, ABC’s All in the Mind,* TVO’s *The Agenda*, the BBC’s *Soul Searching* by David Malone, and his *Heart vs Mind*, Angel TV’s *Animate Earth,* Pat Collins’s *What We Leave In Our Wake,* the feature film *Innsaei – The Sea Within* by Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir*,* Bruce Parry’s feature film, *Tawai: A Voice from the Forest*, and recently a Canadian full-length feature film about his work, *The Divided Brain*. He has numerous podcasts, and interviews on YouTube, among them dialogues with Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, David Fuller of *Rebel Wisdom,* Rowan Williams, John Cleese and philosopher Tim Freke, as well as lectures, seminars and commentaries. His books include *Against Criticism* (Faber), *The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World* (Yale UP), *The Divided Brain and the Search for Meaning; Why Are We So Unhappy*? (Yale UP), and *Ways of Attending* (Routledge). His latest publication is the two-volume work, [*The Matter with Things*](https://channelmcgilchrist.com/matter-with-things/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) which was published in November 2021 by Perspectiva Press. This is a sustained critique of reductive materialism, and concerns such questions as ‘Who are we? What is the world? What is the nature of time and space? What do we mean by purpose, value and the divine? And how do we most reliably set about finding out?’ He has also been commissioned by Oxford University Press to write a book of reflections on the humanities and sciences; and plans to write a critique of contemporary society and culture from the standpoint of neuropsychology, as well as a study of what is revealed by the paintings of subjects with psychotic illnesses. ## Zoom Room Tues 7th April 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Tues 24th March: Maths & Archetypes URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/maths-archetypes/ Last updated: 2026-03-20T15:31:03.000Z ***Please note changed date and time for this meeting:*** ***Tues 24th March 2026*** 7-9pm UK / 8-10 CET / 3-5pm EST This session is split over two weeks, 18th & 24th of March. The recording from the 18th is available here: [Mathematics, Apollo, Dionysus & TruthReconciling the unreasonable effectiveness & limits of maths | 18th March 2026![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-219.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindNour Elhuda Zuraiki![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Maths---Archetype.png-2.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/mathematics-the-archetypes-of-mind/) Have you ever stopped to wonder why numbers work? Not just in the sense of adding up your grocery bill, but why does the same mathematics that a Greek philosopher scribbled in the sand two and a half thousand years ago turns out to describe the movement of galaxies, the behaviour of quantum particles, and the curvature of spacetime? That's not a small question. It's one of the deepest mysteries in all of human thought, and it's exactly what we're going to explore together this week on Wednesday. It all starts with the ancient Greeks. Pythagoras, in the 6th century BCE, had a radical idea: that the universe at its core isn't made of fire or water or earth, it's made of *numbers*. Mathematical relationships, he believed, were the skeleton of reality itself. A few centuries later, Plato took this even further. He argued that perfect mathematical objects - a truly perfect circle, a truly ideal triangle - don't exist in the messy physical world. They exist in a higher realm of pure forms, and the world we see is just an imperfect shadow of that deeper reality. Sound wild? Plenty of mathematicians and physicists today still quietly believe something very similar. *"The book of nature is written in the language of mathematics."* \- Galileo Galilei Fast forward two thousand years, and mathematics explodes in scope. Newton and Leibniz invent calculus. Cantor discovers that infinity comes in different *sizes*. And then, in 1931, a 25-year-old Austrian logician named Kurt Godel dropped what many consider the most unsettling result in the history of mathematics: his [Incompleteness Theorems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del%27s%5Fincompleteness%5Ftheorems?ref=withrealityinmind.com). In short, he proved that within any logical system powerful enough to do basic arithmetic, there will always be true statements that *cannot be proved*. Always. No matter how good your system is. Mathematics, it turned out, could never fully justify itself from the inside. If you want to get a feel for why this is so strange and beautiful, this [Veritasium video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeQX2HjkcNo&ref=withrealityinmind.com) is one of the best explanations I've come across , I genuinely recommend watching it before the session. ### **So why does any of this matter for our discussion?** In 1960, a physicist named Eugene Wigner wrote an essay that has never stopped haunting scientists and philosophers since. He called it *"*[*The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences*](https://webhomes.maths.ed.ac.uk/~v1ranick/papers/wigner.pdf?ref=withrealityinmind.com)*"* and his point was deceptively simple: mathematicians routinely develop abstract ideas purely for the love of it, with no practical purpose in mind. And then, decades later, physicists discover that those exact ideas describe the real world with uncanny precision. Why? How? *"The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve."* \~ Eugene Wigner Thinkers like Roger Penrose hint at something profound , that mathematical structures are genuinely *real*, that they exist independently of human minds, and that doing mathematics is a form of discovery, not invention. Others, like Max Tegmark, go even further and suggest that physical reality *is* a mathematical structure , that the universe isn't just *described* by maths, it *is* maths. There's a great series of short interview clips exploring exactly this question on [Closer to Truth](https://closertotruth.com/video/what-does-the-unreasonable-effectiveness-of-mathematics-mean/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) featuring Penrose, Michio Kaku, and others , well worth a browse. ### **And this is where Bernardo Kastrup comes in** Bernardo approaches all of this from a different, and I think genuinely exciting direction. Rather than asking "why does mathematics describe the physical world?", he asks us to question whether the physical world, as we've been taught to understand it, is even the right starting point. In his philosophy he argues that consciousness is the fundamental fabric of reality, and that what we call the "physical world" is how that universal consciousness appears when we observe it from the outside. If that's true, then maybe the reason mathematics feels so deeply woven into nature is that mathematics is the *structure of mind itself* , and nature is an expression of mind. *"Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty , a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture."* Bertrand Russell The questions we'll be sitting with together are: - Why does maths describe reality so well , is this a clue about the nature of reality itself? - Are mathematical structures something *out there*, waiting to be discovered? Or tools our minds create to make sense of experience? - Could maths be, in some sense, the grammar of consciousness? - Do mathematical archetypes constrain what kinds of universes are even *possible*? ### **Suggested watching / reading before the event** You don't need to do any preparation to join , but if you're curious and want to get in the mood, here are a few things I found genuinely engaging: - [**Math Has a Fatal Flaw**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeQX2HjkcNo&ref=withrealityinmind.com) , Veritasium on Gödel's incompleteness theorems. Accessible, mind-bending, only 34 minutes. - [**Why the Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics?**](https://closertotruth.com/video/what-does-the-unreasonable-effectiveness-of-mathematics-mean/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) , Closer to Truth, featuring Roger Penrose, Michio Kaku, and others. - [**Wigner's original essay**](https://webhomes.maths.ed.ac.uk/~v1ranick/papers/wigner.pdf?ref=withrealityinmind.com) , only 10 pages, free to read, and remarkable for how clearly it poses the puzzle even if you skip the technical parts. [**Gödel's theorems explained accessibly**](https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-godels-proof-works-20200714/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), a lovely piece in Quanta Magazine that needs no maths background. I look forward to seeing you there! Nour ## Asking questions Everyone is welcome to propose [questions](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/) using the comments section below. Questions are selected based on **relevance** and **audience vote**. As such, make sure to write your question so that most can understand what you mean! - Give it a short CLEAR TITLE in **capital letters**. - Write an optional **short** description of what your question is about. - Share further reflections below if you want, but if selected, aim for brevity when asking to help the flow of the discussion. Also make sure to read the other questions and 'heart' the ones you are most curious about! ## Zoom Room 7-9pm UK / 8-10 CET / 3-5pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The Daimon & Western Non-Duality in Ancient Greece | Dr Athena Potari URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-daimon-non-duality-in-ancient-greece-with-dr-athena-potari/ Last updated: 2026-02-21T13:05:28.000Z I'm convinced you'll find listening to Athena Potari on Ancient Hellenic Philosphy as inspiring as I did, totally updating my understanding of myths and terms I thought I knew... “The ancients were very clear,” she says, “philosophy is a path of **love**.” “We find this definition in Pythagoras. We find those teachings in Delphi" and the injunction “know thyself” running through the writings of Plato, Proclus and Marcus Aurelius. According to Athena, philosophy wasn't a contest of clever ideas, and science was not separate from spirituality. These were just different angles to realising our unity with that luminous, loving, vibrating oneness. “The mind’s way to approach the divinity of the world was called science, the heart’s way was called mysticism, and the way of the spirit was philosophy.” Athena and Bernardo meet on the 24th of Feb. We'll discuss the Daimon, Non-Duality and the origins of the Western Path of spirituality. You can find the zoom link below, or non-members can join this special event as a one-off by getting a [ticket here. ](https://dandelion.events/e/w51di?ref=withrealityinmind.com) You can see my discussion with Athena here, which ends with a guided meditation. ### How this understanding was lost To know the world through scientific exploration meant to know God's mind, body, nature and being; Science, philosophy and theology were complimentary paths. So perhaps it should be no surprise that in 529, non-Christians were barred from payment for teaching **any** subject, even maths or science, by Emperor Justinian I. Christianity was to be the only authorised path to spiritual realisation. So-called “pagans”, ”*since they have had such an ill effect, they should have no influence nor enjoy any dignity, nor, acting as teachers of any subjects, should they drag the minds of the simple to their errors and, in this way, turn the more ignorant among them against the pure and true orthodox faith; so we permit only those who are of the orthodox faith to teach and accept a public stipend*” *Corpus Juris Civilis (1)* Yes, the Renaissance excavated Greek mythology, art and science, but as ‘humanistic’ endeavours that left all matters of spirit to the church. This division continues in modern universities, where philosophy is rarely taught as a path towards spiritual realisation. ### A celebration of life Equally interesting is how this tradition was far from the monasticism of Advaita Vedanta or Buddhism. It seems it had more in common with later Kashmir Shaivite traditions, viewed life as a manifestation of divinity worthy of our admiration and attention. “That is what led that tradition to create art, and music, and temples and drama, and all those arts that basically were the flourishing, the blossoming of that light and deeper wholistic and spiritual understanding.” After her sojourn through Eastern approaches, her own awakening, and an impressive academic career (in 2020 Athena received the Academy of Athens Award of Philosophy, and received her PhD from Oxford), Athena is reviving the deeper meaning to be found in Ancient Hellenic culture: Her school, Athenoa, is a place where Hellenism can be approached as a ***living wisdom tradition.*** I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday! Amir ## About Athena ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/02/athena.jpg) **Dr Athena Potari** founded Athenoa in 2019, a School of Hellenic Philosophy based in Greece where Hellenism is approached as a living wisdom tradition whose core consists in the inextricable synthesis of scientific reason and spirituality. She was previously Fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard University, where she explored possibilities for an expanded practice of Philosophy by re-integrating elements and histories of the feminine. She received her PhD from the University of Oxford specializing in Political Philosophy, and her MA in Political Theory with Distinction from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She is recipient of the Academy of Athens Award of Philosophy (2020), author of “A Call for a Renaissance of the Spirit in the Humanities” published by the Galileo Commission, and Member of the Galileo Commission Steering Committee. Her work aims to revive the deeper spiritual and experiential dimensions of Hellenic Philosophy as a living spiritual lineage, combining discursive rigor and embodied meditative practices, with the aim of awakening to the ever-present mystery of being – our true Self. ### Recommended viewing before the session ## Zoom room 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Time is an illusion but meaning is real URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-big-bang-is-now-in-the-illusion-of-time/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T23:38:54.000Z Recording details Date: 6 January 2026 Duration: 2h 7m Free preview Title: Thought experiment: beyond the now Duration: 13:02 https://vimeo.com/1226769923/7b65d1ceb8 Chapters 0:00:00 Introductions 0:08:00 4 main perspectives from **physics** 0:11:40 3 main perspectives from **philosophy** 0:17:30 Perspective from cognitive **psychology** 0:20:20 Space-time are unified idealism 0:24:00 Time is a label for several qualia 0:29:50 Time straddles inner and outer 0:34:50 Time doesn’t really exist 0:40:00 **Mind at Large** doesn’t experience time 0:46:00 Why is there asymmetry in the universe 0:51:00 Could time be multi-dimensional? 0:53:00 **Thought experiment: beyond time & space** 1:04:00 **The crystal of eternity** **1:11:00 Thought experiment 2: beyond the now** 1:17:40 Plank scale is the limit of causality, not experience 1:25:00 Structure does not require extension 1:29:00 Nothing = no extension 1:31:30 How causality emerges (cat seen through a fence) 1:41:00 Why **meaning doesn’t need time or space** 1:50:00 Experiential states which react are called a complex 1:53:00 How this perspective can **reduce suffering** ***"What then is time? If no one asks me, I know.*** ***If I wish to explain, I know not"*** \- [Saint Augustine](https://ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confess.xii.xiv.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) In this session, Bernardo guides **two powerful thought experiments** which, despite his protestations, place him on a par with any spiritual teacher I've encountered. I was delightfully and deliciously disoriented, and Nour felt much the same: "I realised that the idea of time I had in my head was slowly being taken apart." She shares more thoughts below, and it would be lovely to hear yours in the Telegram group. ### Time is many things Bernardo also gave an overview of the **many competing perspectives on time** in physics, philosophy and psychology. Part of the confusion is that the word refers to several different things. But in Analytic Idealism, because *everything* is mind, all these "things" are still "qualia"; properties of consciousness such as "what it feels like" to have an experience like seeing red or tasting chocolate. According to Schopenhauer, however, time is not like other states which represent something 'out there'. Rather, it is produced internally (endogenously) to bridge the inner and outer. It is part of how perception of an outside world is even possible. ### **Main positions in philosophy** Some philosophers believe that the future and past are real, but that we only access one slice at a time, like a bread loaf. This dovetails with Einstein's block universe theory. In contrast, "presentism" contends that the past and future don’t exist. You can’t find either, you can only ever find this moment now. This position, however, is problematic in its circularity. There is a third position which Bernardo favours, which takes elements of both of the above: The past and future are as real as the present, but both only exist **in** the present. ### The crystal of eternity beyond space and time What really exists out there is a web of semantic associations, of archetypal associations, which do not have space or time except in our perception of them. As dissociated alters, we cannot know this directly, because to know it would be to merge with it, and thereby end the dissociation. We can, however, get an intuition for how this can be. Bernardo's first thought experiment aimed to reveal how structure and meaning require neither space nor time. ### Something and nothing are not different He then guides a second contemplation that reduces all existence to one moment, then takes that away too. The conclusion is that everything exists, not in time, not in space, but in you. Reality is like a magician, pulling the hare, the hat and himself out of the same emptiness Bernardo contends that this insight is available to everyone, without the need for a degree in physics or an advanced practice in meditation. But first, your mind may go blank, and more than one person mentioned a giddy nausea. I recommend re-listening and contemplating it with care. ### Meaning, Suffering & Care When the nausea subsides, the liberation of this view can replace it. We ended the session with how **this perspective on time can reduce unnecessary personal suffering.** For Bernardo at least, the depressive load of life lacking in meaning has disappeared. In this view, everything in life exists forever, it all has eternal meaning. Additionally, this view can remove death anxiety. Finally, this understanding of time also contains the potential for increased empathy and mutual care, which we'll explore in a future session. ### **Time continues next week** There were so many great questions that we're going to [continue the discussion next week,](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/time/)[ 13th of January](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/time/), and again on [the 10th of Feb](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-future-of-time-with-dr-julia-mossbridge/) with guest Dr Julia Mossbridge: [The future of time with Dr Julia Mossbridge10th Feb 2026 Bernardo Kastrup & Julia Mossbridge in conversation![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-78.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1454817481404-7e84c1b73b4a-1.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-future-of-time-with-dr-julia-mossbridge/) ### Reflections on the session from Nour "I realised that the idea of time I had in my head was slowly being taken apart. I didn’t even notice at first that I was still holding onto this idea that time flows, or that we are flowing through time, past comes and ends, present happens and ends, future evolves. Three things, all just as real as each other. But maybe none of it is flowing at all. The idea that there is only the now is an idea that I’ve come across in meditation courses, it is comforting, at first at least. And then even that didn’t hold. The moment we talk about the now, or try to understand it, it disappears. So if the “now” itself doesn’t really exist as something fixed or objective, then what exactly are we standing on? Something that made me unsettled but in a good way was realising how much of my experience of time is stitched together from memory, expectation, and my own internal narrative. Bernardo said, the quality of a memory is a compound experience (I never heard this described better than this!) it’s not actual perception. Memories don’t just represent the past, they reconstruct it. Time starts to feel less like something external that happens to us, and more like something endogenous, something that comes from how experience organises itself to avoid cognitive overload. And even then, when we try to explain it, language brings time back in. Words like “happening” or “at once” already assume time. That circularity was inevitable , and mischievously, annoying. There was this sense of a possible breakthrough, like a glimpse of what it might feel like to really realise this. I haven’t experienced that, in fact, I’m not sure I’m ready to. There’s a fear in seeing something too clearly, in changing how I think about physical time, biological time, relativistic time, psychological time, thermodynamic time, cosmological time, philosophical time. It might be my brain, the same brain that studied super symmetry (SUSY) and string theory at university, this brain is not ready for that shift yet. But I know there will be a TIME when I experience it." It would be wonderful to hear your reflections also, along with the rest of the group in Telegram. ## **Going Beyond Einstein: Linking Time And Consciousness** "Many physicists maintain that the passage of time is purely a feature of mind, beyond physics itself, while others argue that it points to some new physical paradigm, perhaps associated with the marriage of relativity theory and quantum theory. Certainly, the status of time in any final theory of physics remains unclear. What is clear, however, is that a theory that encompasses time and mind will have to go beyond Einstein’s Block Universe." ## Thoughts on time from Bernardo and Dr Timalsina: ## **St Augustine:** "For what is time? Who can readily and briefly explain this? Who can even in thought comprehend it, so as to utter a word about it? But what in discourse do we mention more familiarly and knowingly, than time? And, we understand, when we speak of it; we understand also, when we hear it spoken of by another. What then is time? If no one asks me, I know: if I wish to explain it to one that asketh, I know not: yet I say boldly that I know, that if nothing passed away, time past were not; and if nothing were coming, a time to come were not; and if nothing were, time present were not. Those two times then, past and to come, how are they, seeing the past now is not, and that to come is not yet? But the present, should it always be present, and never pass into time past, verily it should not be time, but eternity. If time present (if it is to be time) only cometh into existence, because it passeth into time past, how can we say that either this is, whose cause of being is, that it shall not be; so, namely, that we cannot truly say that time is, but because it is tending not to be?" ![vintage brown and white watch lot](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/12/photo-1455651512878-0ddbb4c4d0a5.jpeg) Photo by [Heather Zabriskie](https://unsplash.com/@heatherz?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Seeing future, changing past, with Dr Julia Mossbridge URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/seeing-future-changing-past-with-dr-julia-mossbridge/ Last updated: 2026-02-09T18:33:07.000Z I typically assume the future doesn’t yet exist, but experiments and anecdotal reports hint that time may not be as linear as it seems. Dr Julia Mossbridge is a neuroscientist and consciousness researcher known for her work on precognition informed by both physiology and physics. Her research includes unconscious physiological precognition, in which the body has an accurate response to future information. Julia believes that such ‘anomalous phenomena’ are key to understanding the nature of reality, and has been requested by members to join us, as an expert who can shed more light on our discussions about [**time**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-big-bang-is-now-in-the-illusion-of-time/). Julia will be joining for just the 1st hour, followed by Q&A with Bernardo for the 2nd hour, based on questions that arise during the session. Below is her interview with Essentia Foundation tackling questions of free will, the nature of time and the mind-body problem. I'm watching it now, and already enjoyed her feminist critique of the neuroscience dismissal of 'nurse' glial cells! Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow... (!?!) Amir ## Zoom room 10th Feb 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### A Worldview for Global Change URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-business-of-idealism/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T11:26:03.000Z What if the patterns and very nature of the cosmos could guide better ways to do business? Could idealism inform a reinvention of the global economy, and our relationship to the planet? Dr Jude Currivan, (PhD MSc CMA), is a cosmologist, planetary healer, futurist, and author. She has an **MA in physics from Oxford**, a **PhD in archaeology**, and **senior business experience** ranging from the UK Stock exchange to international corporations including HMV and Scholl. Her work in emerging science points to consciousness, information and *meaning* as primary to existence. Together with leading economists, she invites **a systemic transformation in global economy** guided by observable patterns of the universe. Most business is hampered by an outdated materialist view of reality. A mechanistic perspective that incentivises separation, extraction and short-term thinking. But what if a company is not merely a profit engine inside a dead universe, but an expression of a living, meaningful whole? To understand our organisations as [living systems](https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkx-Wdsf0VTmQTwa3CUpCCFJWARLjZ64joS?ref=withrealityinmind.com) that exist in a network of reciprocity guides us towards not just sustainability, but regeneration. In this session, Jude will present the **evidence for understanding reality as a “cosmic hologram”** and explore its revolutionary implications for the economy, business, and our roles as citizens of the earth. Bernardo, as director of [Essentia Foundation](https://www.essentiafoundation.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), is leading the Western renaissance of metaphysical idealism in academia and science, the view that mind, spirit, or consciousness is the ultimate nature of reality. Together, we’ll compare consciousness-based worldviews, and their implications for how we live our lives. Existing members of With Reality in Mind can join with the zoom link below, and the **wider public is invited to join** this talk via this link: [https://dandelion.events/e/s3i6r](https://dandelion.events/e/s3i6r?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Recommended viewing As a warm up you might enjoy this short film produced by Jude: This session was recommended by fellow community member Greg Suart, who through his work with [meta-conscious leaders](https://metaconsciousleaders.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) hopes to align business with principals that emerge from idealism. I especially enjoyed this section of their conversation: ## Jude Currivan ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/01/image-2.png) Dr Jude Currivan PhD MSc CMA is a cosmologist, planetary healer, futurist, and author whose life’s work unites leading-edge science with universal wisdom traditions. Holding a master’s degree in physics from Oxford and a doctorate in archaeology from Reading, she also trained as a Chartered Management Accountant and served on the Council of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the UK Stock Exchange Listing Committee. Jude’s early career was in global commerce – she was Group Finance Director of international corporations HMV and Scholl, establishing operations in multiple continents. This experience gave her an intimate understanding of the world’s economic and financial systems, later informing her systemic approach to global transformation. In the mid-1990s she turned to full-time research and planetary service, integrating her scientific background with her lifelong exploration of consciousness, ancient cosmologies, and the evolution of life. Her seminal works—The 8th Chakra, The 13th Step, HOPE – Healing Our People and Earth, The Cosmic Hologram, and The Story of Gaia – chart a profound arc from personal awakening to planetary evolution. In them she proposes that the universe is a living, unified system of in-formation - where energy, matter, and consciousness are inseparable aspects of a cosmic whole. Through her non-profit WholeWorld-View, Jude collaborates with scientists, business leaders, economists, and change agents to foster what she describes as a new “WholeWorld cosmology” – a worldview based on unity, coherence, and regenerative design. She is an active member of the Club of Rome and the Evolutionary Leaders Circle, contributing to global dialogues on reframing economics, rethinking finance, and cultivating planetary well-being. [WholeWorld ViewWho We Are - The WholeWorld-View community was founded in 2017 and is a growing interdependent co-operative of global change agents in service to nurturing our personal and collective need for meaning and belonging, celebrating our innate diversity within a unified whole. Our mission is to empower![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-13.ico)WholeWorld ViewOur Solstice Newsletter - Turn Toward the Light![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/welcome-home.png)](https://www.wholeworld-view.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [Jude Currivan PhD cosmologist, healer, futurist and authorDr Jude Currivan PhD is a cosmologist, planetary healer, ex senior business woman, futurist and international award winning author.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/banner.gif)](https://www.judecurrivan.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ## Zoom Room Tues 27th Jan 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Recordings URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recordings-3/ Last updated: 2026-01-02T21:18:17.000Z _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Meditation & Enlightenment URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meditation-enlightenment/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T13:49:15.000Z This session is to discuss the power of meditation and sustained directed thought, as described in Chapter 6, "The Oscillating Membrane Metaphor," in [**Why Materialism is Baloney**](https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/iff-books/our-books/why-materialism-baloney?ref=withrealityinmind.com). I highly recommend you get the book and read the whole chapter, but I've copied the most relevant section below, "**Can the ego transcend its limitations?**", with Bernardo's permission. Bernardo often uses the metaphor of an ocean for the mind, but in this chapter he invites us to consider a different metaphor, and to imagine the substrate of mind to be like a membrane that can vibrate. "Naturally, we can no longer visualize experiences as ripples, for the membrane is not a fluid. Imagine instead that experiences are vibrations of the membrane. The qualities of experience now correspond to the specific patterns of vibration of the membrane." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/01/image-1.png) Even a two dimensional membrane can vibrate in many configurations, but we're invited to imagine mind as a multi-dimensional membrane that could account for the incredible complexity and nuance of experience. Below are extended excerpts from this chapter, with videos and images sourced by me from the internet, and not part of the original book: --- Imagine yourself pushing a child on a swing. The swing moves repetitively back and forth, which in essence is just a slow vibration. To get the swing to go far and high you need to push it at the same pace that it naturally ‘wants’ to sway at. If you push it too fast or too slow you will disrupt the swing’s vibration instead of contributing to its buildup. But, if you push it just right, your own movements will resonate with the movements of the swing, amplifying the latter. This, in essence, is resonance. To put it more formally, resonance happens when the stimulus applied to a vibrating system has the same frequency as one of the system’s natural modes of vibration. The swing has a natural mode of vibration; that is, a certain pace at which it naturally ‘wants’ to sway. If you apply a stimulus to it with that same frequency, and at the right time, it will sway increasingly high. You don’t even need to apply much force, so long as the pace is right. The energy you apply each time you push contributes cumulatively to the movement of the swing. But, if you apply the stimulus at the wrong frequency, the energy application will conflict with the movement of the system. A dramatic illustration of the power of resonance occurred in 1940, when the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State, USA, collapsed because of a mild 42 mph (68 km/h) wind. It turned out that the wind had a frequency that matched almost perfectly the natural mode of vibration of the bridge, so they resonated. The energy of the wind began feeding slowly but cumulatively into the vibration of the bridge, just like a person gently pushing a swing at the right pace. The bridge then began to sway harder and harder, to the horror of people frantically abandoning their cars and running off the bridge. Eventually, the entire structure came apart and fell into the Tacoma Narrows. The entire event was caught on tape. Fortunately, nobody perished. Through resonance, the bridge acquired and amplified the vibration of the wind. This is the key point about resonance that we will need later on: a system can acquire and amplify the vibration of an external stimulus if they resonate, much like a piano begins to vibrate when an appropriate tuning fork rings nearby. ## Can the ego transcend its limitations? Positing the primary cause – the energetic action of freewill – to be centralized somewhere or unevenly distributed over the membrane of mind would require unjustified new assumptions. Instead, we must take freewill to be a property evenly distributed throughout the membrane of mind. But then you might ask: ‘If freewill is evenly distributed, then the ego has it. And since freewill applies to both vibration and structural reconfiguration, why can’t the ego change its own structure at will?’ If the ego could do that, the psyche would be able to transcend space, time, and empirical reality as a whole. Who wouldn’t want that? Yet, not many of us seem able to do it. So what’s wrong? The first thing to consider is that the ego, whose partial image, as we’ve seen, is closed-cycle neural processes in the brain, is hosted by a larger structure – namely, the rest of the body – that is not under the full control of egoic will. You can move and use your body within certain limits but you can’t, for instance, get taller or skinnier at will, or stop pain on command, or avoid all illness, etc. Indeed, the rest of the body is a partial image of the ‘personal unconscious’ – that is, of the underlying protrusion – not of the egoic loop per se. That’s why we say that we ‘have’ a body, instead of saying that we ‘are’ a body. The fact that it is hosted by this body poses strong boundary constraints on how far the ego can go, even in principle, in altering itself through exercising its own egoic will. Furthermore, the body itself – including the ego – is hosted by a yet broader region of mind that we call the universe. This broader region operates according to patterns and regularities – that is, the ‘laws of nature’ – that are also outside the control of egoic will. So the scope of possibilities for the ego to change itself is limited to begin with, since it is inserted in a context that it cannot fully control, and which poses strict boundary constraints on the ego itself. All this said, there is evidence that some people can develop psychic abilities beyond anything ordinary. There is evidence that some of us can achieve what the culture has come to call ‘enlightenment’: a state of mind that allows one to see a deeper reality, beyond ordinary egoic limitations. There is evidence that some of us are able to transcend the plague of egoic neuroses. And there is no doubt that very few of us wouldn’t like to get there too. So why can’t we all? Here is my answer: the ego is the limited patterns of vibration entailed by a certain loop structure. It is the patterns of thought, feeling, and perception that arise within that particular structure. As such, it is fair to say that the ego is the structure. Therefore, from the ego’s perspective, changing the structure too much means dying, insofar as it entails ceasing to be what it is. Although, in principle, it should have the freedom to carry out this action, the ego simply doesn’t want to. Precisely because it has freewill, it freely won’t. To avoid suffering, you may often think that you want to be ‘different,’ but that doesn’t mean that your ego wants to become something else. In reality, what you really want is to stop suffering as yourself, not to abandon your current sense of identity. After all, it doesn’t help if it is someone else who stops suffering! Another point to consider is how much the egoic structure can be altered without this alteration turning into the process we call physical death. After all, we know empirically that the psychic structure – whose partial image is the body, including the brain – is a very delicate system. A significant change in the egoic structure would entail as a significant change in the image we call the brain. And we all know that too significant a change in that image – I will refrain from graphical descriptions here – correlates with physical death. In other words, large disruptions in the partial image that we call a brain reflect large disruptions in the ‘whirlpool’ of the psyche (remember?), perhaps to the point that it could no longer sustain itself and would dissipate instead. So, does this all mean that most of us are condemned to the egoic prison, with all its trappings and grasping, until physical death? Not necessarily. The ego has no problems using its freewill – its portion of the primary cause’s mental energy – to try and improve its own feelings and thoughts. After all, we all want to have better feelings and higher thoughts without ceasing to be who we are. In the metaphor, this corresponds to choosing which ones, among the many modes of vibration supported by its loopy structure, the ego wants to vibrate in. No significant structural reconfiguration is entailed and, thus, no threat to the ego. All it is trying to do is to become the best version of itself that it can be. Your very reading of this book likely reflects an attempt by your ego to do just that. But now an interesting and unexpected effect sneaks into the picture, outside the ego’s radar screen: vibrations can dramatically affect the configuration of the structures where they take place. The original Tacoma Narrows Bridge is a clear example of this: after the resonant vibrations taking place in it did their job, the bridge ended up looking a little different. Theoretically, in fact, there are always resonant patterns of vibration that can change and even destroy any structure hosting them.(1) Ordinarily, one disperses one’s mental energy by exciting multiple, interfering modes of vibration within the egoic loop. The resulting vibrations, thus, never build up to disruptive levels: the different patterns partially cancel each other out. However, each egoic loop has the freedom and the potential will, within the modes of vibration it is bound to, to channel its energy into a single resonant pattern. When one focuses one’s thoughts and feelings this way, there is no cancelation, but a cumulative build-up of vibration. The result is akin to continuously using all of one’s power to push a swing at just the right pace: eventually something disruptive will happen (and you don’t want a child to be sitting on the swing at that moment), just as it did with the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/01/Tambour_2_2.gif) [Thierry Dugnolle](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Thierry%5FDugnolle?ref=withrealityinmind.com "User:Thierry Dugnolle") CC BY-SA 4.0 [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0?ref=withrealityinmind.com), via Wikimedia Commons ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/01/Tambour_5_3.gif) [Thierry Dugnolle](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Thierry%5FDugnolle?ref=withrealityinmind.com "User:Thierry Dugnolle") CC BY-SA 4.0 [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0?ref=withrealityinmind.com), via Wikimedia Commons Even though the ego is applying its freewill to excite vibrations alone – not structural reconfigurations – the process will end up disrupting the structure of the individual’s psyche. And when it does, the psyche will have a new structure and, therefore, support new modes of vibration! Without really intending to do it directly, the ego will have transformed into something else. Whether this change is positive or not depends on the process. Mental energy can be focused on certain modes of vibration through, for instance, meditation. In this case, the changes tend to be positive by design, since the individual chooses where the focus goes. But in other cases, like in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), the reinforcement may not go in a desirable direction. If these considerations are correct, our individual thoughts and feelings can potentially change our psychic structures and alter the set of constraints that our experiences are ordinarily bound to. Since brains are partial images of these structures, it is conceivable that our thoughts and feelings could change the anatomy and ‘wiring’ of our brains, an effect neuroscience has come to call ‘selfdirected neuroplasticity.’ And indeed, there is strong empirical evidence that the effect happens. For instance, experiments have been performed in which patients suffering from OCD have been able to physically alter their own brain anatomy and neural ‘wiring’ – thereby curing themselves – simply by focusing their thoughts (2). Several other studies have been done showing analogous results (3). As I elaborated upon in my earlier book Rationalist Spirituality, such results are difficult to make sense of under materialism, requiring contrived and promissory explanations. As Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute put it, ‘the demand that the data be understood solely from the perspective of brain-based causal mechanisms is a severe and counterintuitive constraint.’ (4) In contrast, the observed effect is natural and explainable in a very intuitive manner under the idealist interpretation described in this book. 1\. Douglas Hofstadter, in his magnificent book Gödel, Escher, Bach, told a little tale titled Contracrostipunctus that wonderfully illustrates this point (Hofstadter 1980, pp. 75-81). 2\. Schwartz and Begley (2004). 3\. A discussion of many of these studies can be found in Schwartz, Stapp, and Beauregard (2005). 4\. Schwartz, Stapp, and Beauregard (2005), p. 1311. --- ## Asking questions I hope you found this section as intriguing and inspiring as I did! Everyone is welcome to propose [questions](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/) relevant to the above theme, using the comments section below. Questions are selected based on **relevance** to the discussion, available time, and participant's **votes**. As such, please make sure to write your question using accessible language! - Provide a short CLEAR TITLE in **capital letters**. - Write an optional **short** description of what your question is about. - Share further reflections below if you want, but if selected, aim for brevity during the meeting to help the flow of the discussion. Also make sure to read the other questions and 'heart' the ones you are most curious about! Zoom room and date to be determined. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Duality, Near-Death & Soul, with guest Marjorie Woollacott URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/near-death-duality-soul-with-guest-marjorie-woollacott/ Last updated: 2026-02-02T11:42:10.000Z Publicly, Bernardo argues for Analytic Idealism, a position that can be defended in the rationalist language of our time. But personally, he entertains the possibility that reality is "a dualist process running on an idealist operating system". This means that for practical purposes, we could speak in terms of having some kind of a soul which imprints on the body, and continues to exist in some way after death. He clarifies this idea, and the reasons to consider it, near the end of our meeting on the [30th of December ](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/new-year-reflections-intentions-ritual-soul/), at 1 hour and 44 minutes in. "It's not saying that there is a body that is fundamentally different from a soul in the sense that body stuff is different from soul stuff. I'm not saying that. But there could be a mental complex that imprints itself in a cognitive neighbourhood in the great ocean of mind, as a body, and can withdraw from that neighbourhood, and then you would have something that is operationally indistinguishable from soul and body." This contradicts naturalism, the *official* position of Analytic idealism, and sparked so many questions that we’ll dedicate a complete session to this topic, supported by [Marjorie Woollacott](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie%5FWoollacott?ref=withrealityinmind.com). We had a wonderful Q&A with Marjorie on the 20th of Jan which you can watch here: [Consciousness Beyond the Body with Marjorie WoollacottRecording 20th Jan 2026 Q&A with Marjorie Woolacott![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-99.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Schiavonetti_Soul_leaving_body_1808-7.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/consciousness-beyond-the-body-with-marjorie-woollacott/) Amongst her many credentials described below, Marjorie is Research Director of the **International Association for Near-Death Studies** and has published peer-reviewed work on near-death reports including cases with claimed veridical perceptions during profound physiological crisis. You might also enjoy her interview with Essentia here: She also recommends this article by Pim van Lommel that was just published in The Psychologist, published by the British Psychological Society: [https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/continuity-consciousness](https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/continuity-consciousness?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ## Marjorie Hines Woollacott, PhD ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/12/image.png) Marjorie Hines Woollacott, PhD, has been a neuroscience professor at the University of Oregon for more than three decades and a meditator for almost four. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. She coauthored a popular textbook for health professionals and has written more than 180 peer-reviewed research articles, several of which were on meditation, the topic that motivated her to write the book 'Infinite Awareness.' ## Asking questions Everyone is welcome to propose [questions](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/) using the comments section below. In meetings with a guest, there is typically less time for participant Q&A, but your comments are all read and will help direct the discussion. As always, its helps if you can: - Give it a short CLEAR TITLE in **capital letters**. - Write an optional **short** description of what your comment is about. - Share further reflections below if you want, but if selected, aim for brevity when asking to help the flow of the discussion. Also make sure to read the other questions and 'heart' the ones you are most curious about! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/01/image-7.png) ## Zoom room 3rd Feb 2026 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### More than Allegory: Religious belief at its best URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/more-than-allegory/ Last updated: 2026-04-11T16:42:13.000Z Of all the books he has written, '[More than Allegory](https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/iff-books/our-books/more-than-allegory?ref=withrealityinmind.com)' is both Bernardo's favourite and voted highest as book members are most keen to discuss. So this session is a chance to do exactly that. Religious myth is often treated as a fork in the road: either it’s literal history, or it’s poetic fiction with a moral lesson. In *More Than Allegory*, Bernardo explores a third option: that myth can carry truth without being reducible to either crude literalism or “mere” symbolism, and that it may point to something genuinely transcendent without asking us to abandon reason. You can find Bernardo's introduction to the book here: [Overview of More Than AllegoryThis is the homepage of philosopher and computer scientist Bernardo Kastrup, with links to his biography and most of his works.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-12.ico)Bernardo Kastrup![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/DSCN2920.jpg)](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2015/12/overview-of-more-than-allegory.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) In this Q&A, we’ll draw on the book’s three interwoven threads, myth, truth, and belief, to ask what religion might be *doing* in the psyche and in culture when it’s at its best. What would it mean for a myth to be “true” in a way that isn’t literal? How might our inner storytelling help crystallise the feel of a world and a history? And if belief has creative power, how do we relate to it responsibly, both individually and collectively? ***Please state clearly which chapter your question relates to.*** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/12/More-Than-Allegory-Front-Cover-Low-Resolution-1.jpg) ## Zoom Room 14th April 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### New Year: Reflections, intentions, ritual & soul URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/new-year-reflections-intentions-ritual-soul/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T16:22:10.000Z Recording details Date: 30 December 2025 Duration: 2h 9m Free preview Chapters 00:00 Member introductions 15:00 Natural vs artificial rituals 19:00 Can we read humanity like nature? 24:00 The problem with **setting intentions** 31:00 The **power of reflections** 36:00 AI Sovereignty in Europe 41:00 **Surrendering to the impersonal** (with moral oversight) 48:00 Reflection as a form of **time travel** 56:00 Reflection on the New Year and Bernardo’s Book 1:01:00 **Bernardo’s reflections** on our group and Meaning in Absurdity 1:11:00 **Rituals to align with nature or to influence it?** 1:20:00 Rituals to sync you with reality 1:22:00 **Astrology vs horoscopes** 1:30:00 Sacred vs functional ritual 1:42:00 Children’s intuitive connection with the divine 1:44:00 **Dualism & Soul** on top of idealism 1:52:00 Naturalism vs Dualism 1:55:00 Could we have a soul? Bernardo is suspicious of personal goals and intentions, and of rituals aimed at shaping the future. But he *does* see great value in the power of ritual to synchronise with the rhythms of nature, in reflecting on the past to discern what those rhythms might be. If we can discern the movements of nature, unless some moral oversight is required, we have the opportunity to surrender to them. We spent a little time sharing our personal reflections for this year of ***With Reality in Mind***, and if you missed the live meeting, you’re welcome to add your thoughts in the comments section below. ## **Time Travel: A literal trip down memory lane** Bernardo considers memory a potential form of time travel. This sounds far-fetched until he breaks it down. But if true, it could mean that deliberate reflection is way to consciously create a more porous ‘dissociative boundary.’ We’ll be hosting a session exclusively on the subject of Time in the near future, and you can start to add relevant questions to that topic on this page: [TimeQ&A with Bernardo Kastrup![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-68.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1506420531556-1dd2929c8a55-1-1.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/time/) ## **Might we have a soul?** Publicly, Bernardo argues for Analytic Idealism, a position that can be defended according to the paradigm of our time; analytic philosophy. But personally, he entertains the possibility that we do have a soul, and that reality is a dualist process on an idealist operating system. He clarifies this idea, and the reasons to consider it, near the end of today's meeting. This includes anecdotal evidence such as near death experiences, and the fact that our personality isn't always easy to explain based on genes or environment alone. It sparked so many questions that we’ll dedicate a complete session to it, supported by Marjorie Woollacott: [Near-Death, Duality & Soul, with guest Marjorie WoollacottDiscussion with Bernardo Kastrup & Marjorie Woollacott![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-70.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Schiavonetti_Soul_leaving_body_1808-2.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/near-death-duality-soul-with-guest-marjorie-woollacott/) ## Happy New Year! It's been wonderful to share these vibrant conversation and community with you all this year. Wishing you a reflective end to this one, and a joyous start to the next. Until very soon I hope! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Integrating the experience of idealism URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/integrating-the-experience-of-idealism/ Last updated: 2025-12-28T11:37:45.000Z "Many of us come to Analytic Idealism through reason and philosophy" says Carrie, one of our members, " but there’s a moment when it stops being an idea and becomes a lived realization: everything I see, feel, and know is within consciousness itself. This can be liberating — but it can also be disorienting, even destabilizing. It changes how we see the self, death, and the external world. I’d love to explore what happens *psychologically* when this understanding first lands, how we stabilize afterward, and what integration looks like once the old reference points collapse." *Do please share your reflections in the comments below, perhaps along with resources that you have found useful on any of Carrie's questions below.* ***We'll schedule a call on topic during 2026*** **Psychological Impact** What are the immediate psychological effects when the realization of Analytic Idealism moves from an intellectual idea to a lived experience? How does it affect our sense of self, death, and the external world? **Integration** How do we integrate this understanding into daily life so that it becomes embodied rather than merely conceptual? How does it change how we relate to others and to experience itself? **Therapeutic and Symbolic Support** How might therapy — especially Jungian or dream based approaches support the psyche in processing and integrating the implications of idealism? **Stabilization** Once this realization “lands,” how can we stay grounded amid the disorientation or loss of old reference points? What practices, insights, or perspectives help re-establish balance? **Community and Practice** What role does community, dialogue, or contemplative practice play in transforming the initial shock of realization into a stable, creative way of being? **Creative Expression** Can art, poetry, or other forms of creative writing help translate or contain the experience of integrating Analytic Idealism? How might creativity serve as a bridge between insight and embodiment? **Psychological Impact** What are the immediate psychological effects when the realization of Analytic Idealism moves from an intellectual idea to a lived experience? How does it affect our sense of self, death, and the external world? **Integration** How do we integrate this understanding into daily life so that it becomes embodied rather than merely conceptual? How does it change how we relate to others and to experience itself? **Therapeutic and Symbolic Support** How might therapy — especially Jungian or dream-based approaches — support the psyche in processing and integrating the implications of Analytic Idealism? **Stabilization** Once this realization “lands,” how can we stay grounded amid the disorientation or loss of old reference points? What practices, insights, or perspectives help re-establish balance? **Community and Practice** What role does community, dialogue, or contemplative practice play in transforming the initial shock of realization into a stable, creative way of being? **Creative Expression** Can art, poetry, or other forms of creative writing help translate or contain the experience of integrating Analytic Idealism? How might creativity serve as a bridge between insight and embodiment? _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Dreams URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dreams/ Last updated: 2026-06-14T13:36:30.000Z "***We have forgotten the age-old fact that God speaks chiefly through dreams and visions***" - Carl Jung [Last week](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/one-free-miracle/), Bernardo was open to the possibility of parallel universes in which the laws of physics are totally different. But in one sense, our dreams are already exactly that - mini universes in which time and space behave entirely differently, yet with an internal logic that carries purpose and meaning. Last year our session on dreams emphasised the view that these are doorways to the deeper subconscious, to deeper layers of reality. You can [watch that whole session here](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-dreams-the-hierarchies-of-subconscious-2/). Its an exciting prospect, to think that our dreams are continuous with waking life, and the more primordial language of reality. It helps explain the creativity and even genius that some people experience in dreams. It explains why lucid dreaming is a core practise in many spiritual traditions: [Recording: Dreams & the Hierarchies of the SubconsciousThanks for the awesome session today - I’m now excited to sleep, to dream, to see what deep layers of subconscious are revealed! There were so many great questions left over, so we’ll schedule another session on dreams in the future. In this session we discussed: \* how dreams could be![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-61.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1534447677768-be436bb09401-1)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-dreams-the-hierarchies-of-subconscious-2/) This week, we'll revisit questions [we didn't get to last time](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/11th-march-dreams-deep-sleep-the-continuity-of-self/), and open the floor for new ones which you can add below. Meanwhile, you might enjoy this short clip from last week that you can share: Happy dreaming! Amir ## Zoom Room _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Time URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/time/ Last updated: 2026-01-07T12:40:15.000Z ***"What then is time? If no one asks me, I know.*** ***If I wish to explain, I know not"*** \- [Saint Augustine](https://ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confess.xii.xiv.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) What is time? Where does it go? How come I never have enough? Time has a way of humbling both the mystic and the mathematician. We've had [one session already on this topic](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-big-bang-is-now-in-the-illusion-of-time/) on the 6th of July, based on questions below, but only got through a fraction of them, so we'll be back to consider the significance and implications of time within idealism on the 13th of Jan. You can watch the last session here: [The big bang is now, in the illusion of timeRecording 6th January 2026: Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup on Time![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-80.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1506420531556-1dd2929c8a55-1-6.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-big-bang-is-now-in-the-illusion-of-time/) Below, we welcome your questions and curiosities, and links to resources that might interest other members. In anticipation of this meeting, you might enjoy these related resources: ## **Going Beyond Einstein: Linking Time And Consciousness** "Many physicists maintain that the passage of time is purely a feature of mind, beyond physics itself, while others argue that it points to some new physical paradigm, perhaps associated with the marriage of relativity theory and quantum theory. Certainly, the status of time in any final theory of physics remains unclear. What is clear, however, is that a theory that encompasses time and mind will have to go beyond Einstein’s Block Universe." ## Thoughts from Bernardo and Dr Timalsina: ## **St Augustine:** "For what is time? Who can readily and briefly explain this? Who can even in thought comprehend it, so as to utter a word about it? But what in discourse do we mention more familiarly and knowingly, than time? And, we understand, when we speak of it; we understand also, when we hear it spoken of by another. What then is time? If no one asks me, I know: if I wish to explain it to one that asketh, I know not: yet I say boldly that I know, that if nothing passed away, time past were not; and if nothing were coming, a time to come were not; and if nothing were, time present were not. Those two times then, past and to come, how are they, seeing the past now is not, and that to come is not yet? But the present, should it always be present, and never pass into time past, verily it should not be time, but eternity. If time present (if it is to be time) only cometh into existence, because it passeth into time past, how can we say that either this is, whose cause of being is, that it shall not be; so, namely, that we cannot truly say that time is, but because it is tending not to be?" ![vintage brown and white watch lot](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/12/photo-1455651512878-0ddbb4c4d0a5.jpeg) Photo by [Heather Zabriskie](https://unsplash.com/@heatherz?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) ## Asking questions Everyone is welcome to propose [questions](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/) using the comments section below. Questions are selected based on **relevance** to the discussion and **audience vote**. As such, make sure to write your question so that most can understand what you mean! - Give it a short CLEAR TITLE in **capital letters**. - Write an optional **short** description of what your question is about. - Share further reflections below if you want, but if selected, aim for brevity when asking to help the flow of the discussion. Also make sure to read the other questions and 'heart' the ones you are most curious about! I look forward to seeing you on my dashboard soon, With appreciation, Amir ## Zoom room for January: 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 30th Dec: Threshold to the New Year URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/30th-dec-threshold-to-the-new-year/ Last updated: 2025-12-29T14:03:18.000Z Last week we explored the significance of rituals rooted in a connection to the rhythms of nature. The New Year, as far as I know, is completely different. The sun doesn’t pause. The tides don’t reset. Yet around the world its treated as a seam in reality: a moment to reflect, set new intentions, or at least get very drunk and kiss complete strangers. In ancient [Mesopotamia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zagmuk?ref=withrealityinmind.com), the New Year arrived with spring. Lunar calendars often begin the year with a new moon, the first sliver of light. So why do we celebrate on the 1st of January? The month is named after Janus, the Roman god of doorways and thresholds, often depicted with two faces: one turned towards the future and one towards the past. The date became politically and administratively convenient: the start of the Roman civil year, but for centuries, different parts of Christian Europe treated different days as the start of the year: sometimes Christmas, sometimes March 25th (the Feast of the Annunciation), sometimes Easter. England’s legal new year, for a long time, began in late March. In this session we'll explore the questions raised by the celebration of a human division of time. The setting of intentions. The reflection on the past. If you have questions that are more squarely about the **nature of time**, you can add them to an upcoming session on that topic[**here**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/time/). I look forward to seeing you then. Which will be now. And then. With appreciation! Amir ## Zoom Room 30th Jan, 2025 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Ambassadorship: Obstacles & Opportunities URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/obstacles-to-ambassadorship/ Last updated: 2025-12-31T18:08:35.000Z If you've been inspired by the notion of being an ambassador for idealism, this meeting is a chance to share your endeavours in this area, and to seek help with any obstacles. This could based on a lack of understanding in some area, or some other challenge that comes up when sharing this with the world. I look forward to hearing about your experience! Amir _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Solstice & the symbols of nature URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/solstice-the-symbols-of-nature/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T16:14:25.000Z Recording details Date: 23 December 2025 Duration: 2h 3m Free preview Chapters 00:00 Bernardo’s schedule with [Euclyd](https://euclyd.ai/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) 05:20 Solstice recognised cross culturally 07:40 Clarifying **free will** \- a nonsensical question 11:00 **Ritual** attunes us to the world 18:20 In losing **religion** we’ve lost ritual 21:20 Everything has meaning, perhaps best known by poets 30:00 Rituals support **psychological health** 40:00 Jung on **the value of metacognitive experience** of reality 43:00 Everything hidden wants to known 51:00 Should we create **new myths**? 55:00 Future cultures may **synthesise the literal & poetic truth** (we need both) 1:10:00 Right/Left hemisphere 1:13:00 **Science as a new creation myth?** 1:15:00 Why the Buddha negated the importance of ritual 1:24:00 **Nature is a symbol**, and can be read like a book 1:35:00 How to **create your own ritual** 1:37:00 The church fathers & mythmaking 1:41:00 Occam's razor is not relevant to ritual and myth 1:50:00 Bernardo's personal rituals ***“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.”*** \- Carl Jung Day and night. The yearly seasons. The forms of life. For the idealist, nature can become a book of symbols that hints at hidden meaning, and ritual can be a way to align our inner world with what they represent. Bernardo even argues that ritual may be crucial for true psychological health. ***"Under analytic idealism rituals are not futile. They are not a mere theatrical play for an audience. They are a way to attune our own internal mental processes through sympathetic resonance with the mental processes flowing out through the world in which we live and in which we are immersed in all times."*** Deciphering what nature symbolises is a matter of speculation. The only way to access what is beyond our dashboard is via intuition and altered states, and both are notoriously unreliable. Anything objective, is by definition, only about the dashboard. Nevertheless, Bernardo was happy to share his intuition about the significance of solstice; In the same way the earth rotates towards and away from light, conscious beings need times to introvert and times to express. The winter solstice is an opportunity to attune to this rhythm of pause and reflection, and welcome the coming light. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/12/41043339-61e6-4adb-b38c-58b9b85629d7-1.png) ***“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”*** \- Carl Jung Pre-literate societies may have been more easily attuned with these rhythms. With less conceptual frameworks to distract them, instinct remains intact. To bring nature into metacognitive awareness requires distance. The immediacy of unthinking instinct is lost, but something is gained: a new and vibrant awareness of the wonder, a crystalised appreciation for the miracle in its context. "***There is something about taking explicit account, as an adult, of the wonders of existence, that brings the world into a new act of creation. In that sense we have the divine power of creation, because we bring what is latent up to a different level of existence, that is not merely instinctive.***" - Bernardo The discussion today hinted at some distant future time in which our culture may mature towards a synthesis of these two ways of knowing, the literal and poetic. Iain McGilchrist has charted the move from the wholistic and intimate perspective of the right brain to the analytic distance of the left, then back. The synthesis requires subsuming metacognitive insights into the relational and intimate knowing of the right hemisphere. For now, our culture seems trapped in abstractions and analysis, mistrusting the mytho-poetic. As such, Bernard is happy to "fight the battles of today" and champion our understanding of reality as mind. Along with many others, I was inspired by this discussion to revive rituals that harmonise my inner and outer worlds. It would be a pleasure to hear your reflections and intentions in the comments below, on Telegram or by email. Wishing you all a festive, reflective and connecting time of the year. Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Solstice & the symbol of light URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/solstice-the-symbol-of-light/ Last updated: 2025-12-21T14:20:09.000Z In the Northern Hemisphere, today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year. Cultures across the world pause. Lights are lit. Fires are kindled. Stories are retold. Long before Christmas trees, menorahs, or New Year fireworks, human beings gathered around the winter solstice, the turning point where darkness gives way to light. Across traditions, the solstice marks not merely an astronomical event, but a psychological and spiritual one: the return of light, the promise of renewal, the reassurance that decline is not the end of the story. From Roman Saturnalia to Yule, from Zoroastrian fire rituals to Islamic reflections on light (nur), from Christian incarnation narratives to secular traditions of gathering and generosity, the same archetypal theme repeats. Why does this moment matter so deeply to the human psyche? From an idealist perspective, time itself is not fundamental but experiential. Cycles, day and night, birth and death, contraction and renewal are how mind represents its own dynamics. The solstice, then, may not just be something that happens in the world, but something that mirrors an inner turning point in consciousness itself. This raises gentle but profound questions: • Why do humans ritualise light in times of darkness? • Is religious symbolism pointing to metaphysical truths, psychological needs, or both? • Does “light” signify knowledge, love, consciousness, or simply hope? • Can analytic idealism make sense of prayer, ritual, and sacred calendars without reducing them to superstition? • Are religious myths best understood as literal claims, symbolic maps, or shared dream-logic? This session welcomes believers, sceptics, atheists, mystics, and the philosophically curious alike. You don’t need to celebrate Christmas (or anything at all) to join the conversation. You only need to have noticed that human beings, everywhere and always, have felt that this time of year matters. Please send in your questions ahead of the session. Solstice questions very much encouraged. I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday and turning, together, toward the light. Nour ## Asking questions Everyone is welcome to propose [questions](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/) using the comments section [below](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/). Questions are selected based on **relevance** and **audience vote**. As such, make sure to write your question so that most can understand what you mean! - Give it a short CLEAR TITLE in **capital letters**. - Write an optional **short** description of what your question is about. - Share further reflections below if you want, but if selected, aim for brevity when asking to help the flow of the discussion. Also make sure to read the other questions and 'heart' the ones you are most curious about! I look forward to seeing you on my dashboard soon, With appreciation, Amir ## Zoom room Tues 23rd of Dec 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Is love fundamental? (and is there a plan?) URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-is-love-fundamental-and-is-there-a-plan/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T16:22:14.000Z Recording details Date: 16 December 2025 Duration: 1h 59m Free preview Chapters *Courtesy of Rita Conde* 00:00:00 Introductions 00:05:07 **Is love fundamental?** 00:05:17 psychedelics and the overwhelming feeling of love after ego dissolution 00:07:00 the mystical experience of love in different spiritual traditions; love as the ontological glue 00:08:24 under analytic idealism, there is only one field of subjectivity, and love is an excitation of that field 00:10:20 nature’s consciousness is never at rest; it is always in excitation 00:11:46 does love take precedence? 00:12:12 Bernardo’s experience with psychedelics 00:15:48 5-MeO-DMT: direct experience of non-duality 00:20:55 **the ontological status of love** 00:23:53 an illusory experience is still an experience 00:25:51 facing the insurmountable scale of the universe with alarm and confusion lies at the very core of the human condition 00:27:00 **Do western philosophers propose love is fundamental?** 00:28:31 Nietzsche: philosophy must be an act of passion 00:30:40 Jungian German mystic Ludwig Binswanger: “love is the substrate of reality” 00:33:54 what is the field of subjectivity 00:37:30 what happens when we **pray** 00:39:39 Bernardo’s prayer 00:45:00 why nature doesn’t always act according to the precedence of love 00:50:00 the cruelty and suffering inherent in nature 00:53:00 two options: love isn't fundamental / nature doesn’t know what it’s doing 00:56:53 not knowing consequence does not contradict omniscience 00:58:40 the **fine-tuning** of the universe implies **metacognition** 01:02:10 the perspective of first-person physics 01:04:30 the simulation hypothesis 01:05:45 there might be a demiurge; this is not incoherent under analytic idealism 01:00:50 Plato’s Republic: we volunteer to enter the game and enter it amnesic (Myth of Er) 01:07:30 Australian Aboriginal mythology 01:10:00 why nature doesn’t know what it’s doing, even though it is omniscient 01:10:50 Nature doesn't need Occam’s razor 01:12:00 are religious mythologies nonsense? 01:15:50 **Bernardo shares private intuitions about dualism, hierarchies of mind, divinity and the purpose of nature** 01:24:40 the exact and precise fine-tuning of the universe and the *a priori* rules and forces of nature 01:29:22 Martin Rees, astronomer, book *Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe* 01:33:33 would the naturalistic hypothesis pass Occam’s razor, given the extraordinary degree of fine-tuning required? 01:34:40 fine-tuning and the Big Bang 01:42:00 Qur’an: “I am as My servant thinks of Me” 01:44:50 **divinity appears in the form that we are capable of cognizing** 01:47:32 truth revealed has to be symbolic 01:49:00 transcendence must take a distinct form depending on the individual who is apprehending it, so that the same meaning is conveyed (Christians see Christ, Hindus see Krishna) 01:50:00 when we dream, we use our personal life dictionary 01:54:00 book *The World as Icon* by Douglas Hedley 01:55:28 Shiite and Sunni traditions in Islam 01:57:10 F. H. Bradley, British idealist philosopher 01:57:50 Bernardo recommends Gemini 3 Pro as the best AI bot today "***all creatures are maintained in existence by love***" - Meister Ekhart It is one of the great privileges of these meetings that Bernardo is willing to discuss his more private intuitions. Whilst careful to delineate exactly where analysis ends and speculation begins, in this session he shares both. - Is love fundamental? - What is the nature of prayer? - Does creation have a plan? - Considering religious myths Mystics worldwide and across time have attested to love as a fundamental property of existence. Can this be defended from an analytic idealist perspective? Strictly speaking, no. There is no technical reason to elevate love above any other experience. But there are many ideas that aren't *necessary* under analytic idealism but are *compatible* with it. Bernardo takes anecdotal evidence seriously when it is consistent, such as reports of love being fundamental from non-dual 5-meo DMT experiences, Near Death Experiences and the revelations of mystics across traditions. Consider an old-fashioned amplitude modulated radio station. The broadcast is done via a carrier wave of a certain frequency, for example, 800 kilohertz. That's what you tune into to hear a the station. The music, the voices of that radio station are the excitations on top of that carrier wave. So it's coherent to speculate that nature's frequency is never at complete rest, and whilst the fabric of reality could manifest in many forms, love might be the underlying tone that carries these experiences and is present even when other experiences subside. It might not be fundamental to it's *being*, but could be fundamental to how it is *known*. ### Does nature have a plan? Publicly, Bernardo has repeatedly indicated the reasons why nature is likely not metaconscious - not able to self-reflect and plan. It may 'know' everything it is doing, but not anticipate the consequences. This is implied by the incredible suffering woven into nature, which under idealism would be suffering inflicted by nature onto itself. In contrast, some have argued that the incredible fine tuning of the universe implies that creation is planned. Even one microscopic changes to the universal constants (such as gravity) would prevent life, galaxies, and stars from existing. Some of these are detailed in Martin Rees' book *Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces That Shape the Universe.* ***"if they were not exactly what they are, there would be no life, there would be no galaxies, no stars, no planets, no complexity.... there would be no form arising, or if it did arise, it would come to an end immediately."*** There *are* ways to explain this without needing to assume a metacognitive creator. For example, it could be our dashboard representation that is finely tuned, not existence itself. Or the black hole-based universal evolution theory: When a massive star collapses into a black hole, the matter inside doesn't just crush into nothing. Instead, it "bounces" and expands into a brand-new "baby" universe on the other side of the singularity, inheriting the laws of physics but with slight variations, until finely tuned universes like ours evolves. But this theory relies on countless postulates. Meanwhile, "there is nothing incoherent in the hypothesis that there maybe be a very deliberate, very self-aware, conscious entity at some level of reality that has set this up for some kind of deliberate purpose." A kind of hierarchy of nested dreams, in which the dreamer pops into its own creation and forgets she had set up the dream. Many world mythologies indicate something similar - from Plato's Republic to the Kabballah to Native American account of reincarnation and Australian aboriginal conceptions of creation. Bernardo was again willing to share some personal perspectives that he doesn't make public, and has asked not to share. I encourage you to watch, at around half-way through the meeting, and to share your own reflections on telegram. I hope you enjoy, and I look forward to seeing you next week! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Is love fundamental? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/is-love-fundamental/ Last updated: 2025-12-15T16:24:52.000Z - Is love fundamental? - Who are we praying to? - Meaning and forgiveness in self-imposed tragedy - Do we need language to know the unconscious? This week we start with questions we didn't get to in our sessions with Christopher Timmermann and James Hollis. We'll take follow-on questions from the chat, based on the conversation! See you there :) Amir **Christian PSYCHEDELICS (5-MEO DMT), EGO DEATH AND THE FEELING OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.** How does the feeling of unconditional love (felt on many psychedelics) after ego death fit into the idealist framework? NDE-ers, Mystics from all traditions and spiritual seekers also report this feeling of unconditional love as something fundamental to the ground of reality. Is it just the effect of surpassing the Ego or is it something more ontological, like a characteristic of the Source, God, Universal Consciousness? **Rita Conde TO WHOM ARE WE PRAYING WHEN WE PRAY ?** From an analytic idealist perspective and from a Jungian/archetypal perspective, what exactly is occurring when we pray? Are we addressing a divine Other, a psychological archetype, or a personal daimonic aspect of consciousness? In other words, is prayer a dialogue with something beyond us, or a symbolic interaction with aspects of our own psyche ? **Olivier Goethals ABOUT SELF FORGIVENESS** How can one overcome guilt/shame & accept a self-created, negative, live threatening condition as the new given; deal with it in a positive meaningful way; independent from ones previous actions one detests? **Harijs Rokis MAKING THE "UNCONSCIOUS CONSCIOUS” WITHOUT CONCEPTUAL OR VERBALIZATION** Depending on one's psychic configuration, can one instead be effective in the process of meaningful individuation via non-verbal, non-propositional communication, harmonious integration (including the shadow work and wise discernment between true daimonic calling and the shadow, ego and trauma-based voices/self-appointed protectors, accompanied with self-destructive behavioral patterns) and, ultimately, wise transformation, including such approaches as arts/dance/movement therapies (or otherwise), all the while truly recognizing the dance of the underlying archetypes and experiencing intuitive/imaginal insights? Is deeply philosophical contemplation possible without verbalization/articulation not only publicly/orally, but also privately (i.e., within the boundaries of the personal mind-stream), disabling the over-production of conceptual map-making of the territory by the metacognitive rational mind? ## Zoom room for rest of December _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Birth, DNA, Disability URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-birth-dna-disability/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T16:14:29.000Z Recording details Date: 9 December 2025 Duration: 1h 57m Free preview Chapters 00:01:20 Today's topics 00:03:30 The intimate relationship between birth and death 00:07:25 The primacy of lived experience over philosophical conceptualization 00:09:21 **Birth and death as the two major archetypal** human events 00:10:02 Conventions of social behaviour 00:13:00 Catastrophic archetypal events occurring simultaneously 00:14:40 All things move towards their end 00:16:45 **Ideas sinking below the egoic layer** 00:18:00 Rupert Spira’s personal advice to Bernardo 00:19:40 What it felt like to believe that death is the end of consciousness 00:21:45 Human beings were not evolved to live until 90 years old 00:23:10 Not everything in the body is caused by mental attitudes 00:23:45 Change as the primal constant of nature 00:24:50 **A personal account of childbirth** 00:28:35 What happens to our alter when we give birth 00:32:40 Humans are born prematurely 00:37:37 DNA and the transition from inanimate to animate matter 00:39:50 Birth as the arising of new dissociated “whirlpools” of consciousness 00:44:14 **What are genes?** 00:49:44 Possible relations between consciousness and the collapse of the wavefunction 01:03:58 How society treats people with mental disabilities 01:06:53 The principle that every negative also carries a positive 01:09:47 Focusing on the advantages granted by our limitations or conditions 01:10:55 A definition of intelligence 01:16:16 Bernardo’s personal account of a difficult moment in his life 01:21:00 Reframing problems: a lack is usually balanced by an excess 01:29:55 Fertilization and the first moment of dissociation: are sperm and egg alters? 01:32:56 When does life begin, and asking whether a virus is alive 01:35:50 We don’t need hermetically sealed boundaries 01:37:50 **No process in nature is perfect** or flawless 01:39:50 The Western path versus the Eastern path 01:43:20 Reality is a very promiscuous thing 01:44:04 **Cranial conjoined twins** and the question of their boundary 01:47:40 Physical decay as a gradual dissolving of dissociative boundaries 01:50:20 Even stars die 01:53:35 Decay should not be viewed as unnatural This session grew out of our discussion on the 11st of Nov, when we discussed the [body and its boundaries](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-body-and-its-boundaries/). In Bernardo’s idealism, individual consciousness is a localised excitation in a field of subjectivity; a dissociated alter of universal consciousness. So we took questions about how this dissociation begins, develops, decays and dies. It was also the chance for people to share their personal experiences with pregnancy, birth and how society responds to genetic variation. Thanks Amy Lemon for assisting, Deborah Chen for her reflections that I share below, and underneath are Rita Conde’s timestamps and the recording. As we returned to contemplating when life begins and ends, Bernardo cautioned against trying to pin down any process too cleanly. Despite our desire for clear boundaries, no process in nature is binary, and dissociation is not a surgical divide. Instead, birth is a deeply archetypal process, one starkly coupled with death. When both of these occur in our lives in close proximity, it is multiple archetypal processes in motion at the same time, liable to cause what looks like a breakdown, but likely with its own internal logic. ### When mind becomes matter When we adopt new ideas and beliefs, we may wonder if those changes in our minds affect our bodies. This may not happen at first, but over time ideas sink deeper and deeper into our psyches. Eventually they may affect our physical states; however, we should guard against thinking that we can hack the system and think our way to good health. There are complex processes at work, and while our deeply held convictions play a role, we are by no means in complete control of our health. ### Society's response to genetic variation Because our culture values people as economic tools, any genetic variation that impairs productivity is a disability. In contrast, in some indigenous cultures schizophrenia might confer high social status thanks to access to the spirit world. In Nordic culture a blind person was considered a seer. How we view genetic variation is culture bound. Many conditions with limiting factors are paired with special gifts, such as the known link between savant syndrome and autism. ### Even the stars will die As no process in nature is flawless, sometimes dissociation is partial, as in cranial conjoined twins, who sometimes can understand each other’s thoughts and feelings. Every natural process comes to an end. Stars fade. Human beings decay and die. The end of the body is not the death of consciousness, merely are remerging with Mind at Large. As the dissociative boundaries crumble, the small eddy that was once you returns to the ocean of all that is. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Live your questions, listen to soul URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/james-hollis-living-your-questions/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T23:39:26.000Z Recording details Date: 8 December 2025 Duration: 1h 57m Free preview Title: Five ways the unconscious speaks through us Duration: 7:17 https://vimeo.com/1226768942/69f7a0b68c Chapters *Courtesy of Rita Conde* **Mutual admiration and the value of metaphysical enquiry** 00:00:03 - Bernardo praises James's work on men, midlife and Jung. In Bernardo's opinion, James is the greatest Jungian alive. **Living with ambiguity & the ego’s limits** 00:02:30 - The Ego craves certainty, clarity, and control — but life refuses to comply. Maturity requires tolerating ambiguity. 00:04:40 - Navigating in a sea of anxiety 00:05:20 - How we can conduct our lives **The three main enquiries of philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics** 00:07:45 - Kant: we cannot know the thing‑in‑itself (*ding an sich*) : the philosophical foundation for psychology and phenomenology. 00:10:40 - Why we had to invent psychology 00:12:40 - To serve nature, to serve others, to serve the mystery 00:13:02 - James cites Jung: «Life is a short pause between two great mysteries». 00:13:16 - How does James relate to the mystery 00:14:45 - The virtue of patience 00:15:28 - Bernardo quotes Rilke’s *Letters to a Young Poet* **The unconscious speaks through feelings, energy, dreams** 00:17:05 - The five channels through which the unconscious «spills into the world»: feelings; energy systems; dreams; meaning; psychopathology. 00:24:00 - We cannot speak about the unconscious but it speaks through us all the time **Consciousness, Archetypes and Idealism** 00:25:01 - Jung’s psychology and metaphysical idealism are not in conflict - they differ only in terminology. Archetypes extend into the world itself, which fits naturally with idealism. **The Daimon: Hillman, Socrates and the Muse** 00:33:08 - James and Bernardo discuss the Daimon - the inner guiding force. The Daimon is not always benign; it has its own agenda. Book references: James Hillman’s *The Soul’s Code*, Socrates: “It is not I who speak; it is the Daimon who speaks through me.”, Milton invoking the “Heavenly Muse” in *Paradise Lost*. **The Journey, Ithaca, and the second half of life** 00:42:45 - Using Cavafy’s poem Ithaka, James explains that the value of life lies in the journey, not the destination. **The right relationship with the mystery, mortality and the ego** 00:51:32 - Living the “right relationship” with the mystery that animates existence. **Q&A with Bernardo: Idealism and Meaning** 00:57:58 - The world is psychic 01:05:00 - Meaning as non-local 01:08:00 - **Does idealism reduce suffering at the cost of meaning?** Book reference *Man’s Search for Meaning,* by Viktor Frankl **01:25:00 - Perils of idealism: magical thinking** 01:27:55 - The vertigo of eternity 01:30:00 - Suffering as engine of meaning 01:33:20 - Kierkegaard and the question of chosen suffering 01:36:00 - Vedanta and meaning beyond the personal 01:39:00 - Illusion (Maya) as a gateway to truth 01:42:00 - Two levels of meaning: ultimate *vs*. momentary 01:44:00 - Bernardo's articulation of meaning 01:45:25 - Meaning through duty *vs*. pleasure 01:49:00 - The recognition: «It’s not about me» 01:55:20 - Non-duality as the direct experience of consciousness without labels, images, or thought 01:57:10 - Closing the session “***It’s the questions we ask that give us the quality of our life journey***.” - James Hollis Below is the recording of James Hollis & Bernardo Kastrup in dialogue, my paraphrase of some of the highlights, and some reflections. I would love to hear yours. Whilst Jim admires Bernardo for asking the big questions, at 85 years old, he’s more comfortable than ever with ambiguity. We never arrive at an answer that isn't soon replaced by another, when we have better questions, better tools or deeper insights. So he suggests a more practical concern: ***“How now, in the face of these circumstances over which you may have little to no control, are you going to conduct your life?***” This is a way to take responsibility, but also, to ***embody*** the great questions into the fabric of your life, until some distant day, Rilke says, “you may live your way into their answer for you.” The answers may not be immediate or obvious, so there is virtue in powerlessness and patience. Often, one simply has to wait and allow something to emerge from below. It might not arrive when we want, or in a form we immediately recognise. It might even show up in a context we find challenging, but, says Jim, it always does arise. ### **5 ways to listen to your soul** By definition, we don’t know the unconscious. Yet it continuously spills into the world through us and around us, and we can cultivate a deeper relationship with the mystery we are. So this isn’t a passive process; it is an active attendance: First, it shows up in the choices we make and their often unintended consequences. But also, in the unexpected **feelings** that refuse the logic of our known life. So pay attention. If you’ve achieved some status in your career and yet there is an emotional flatness, it's a protest from deep within. Second, notice your **energy system**. If you keep mobilising your ego in directions that are inconsistent with your deeper nature, “it's going to lead to boredom, depression, burnout, self-medication - a life of distraction.” When you’re doing what’s right for you, the energy is there. Third, attend to your **dreams**. By the age of 80, you’ll have spent 6 years dreaming. Nature would not waste so much energy without purpose. With greater attention you might recognise something within you that comments on your life, compensates for what you ignore, and indicates an agenda beyond egoic concerns. Fourth, and most elusive, is the subjective sense of **meaning** \- the feeling that outer choices are consistent the intentions of the soul. These might not be acceptable to the world around us, but are aligned with the world within. Last, when we get off track, is **psychopathology**. It registers in the body, in our emotional life, or in our behavioral patterns. In analytic psychology, these symptoms are acknowledged, but the focus is more on why they have come. What dances at the “twilight of my psychological life?” ### **Your questions are guides to an interesting life** The ego is the "narrow pinprick of consciousness that we think we are in any given moment." Necessary and valuable, but can inflate and seek control beyond its ken. Neurosis is when we identify with the ego more than with nature. It’s exemplified in our culture’s fear of ageing, sickness and death. These are problems for the ego, but not a problem for life, for which birth, sickness and death are part of its nature. But even this existential anxiety is not to be rejected. When asked what he would say to his 10 year old self, James responded with reassurance. Anxiety is normal. Trust the journey, trust the process, “the questions you have today are the questions you’ll be asking at 85… and they will give you an interesting life.” ### **Soulful idealism?** James would not be drawn into an explicit metaphysical position, yet his whole attitude exudes a deep trust of nature, curiosity for life's unfolding wisdom, and a reverence for mystery. For Bernardo, this dovetails perfectly with metaphysical idealism. James acknowledges that the images and impulses that emerge from the unconscious, whilst not themselves the great mystery, *are* symbolic. They point beyond to their timeless source. Jung felt that the only way to account for synchronicity was to accept that our archetypes extend into the world itself. This implies we can interpret our lives like the symbols of our dreams. But whilst everything might have meaning, Bernardo does caution that not all perceived meanings are valid. Or as my friend Gaia puts it - there is knowing that it’s all magic, there is magical thinking, and they are not the same. ### **But doesn't idealism reduce suffering at the cost of meaning?** It’s might be obvious how idealism offers more scope for meaning than *materialism*. After all, meaning is a mind state, and for a physicalist, mind states are mere epiphenomena of mindless matter. As Amy Lemon said, this cuts us off from "the deep and infinite psyche that we are and that flows through us at all times.” In contrast, for idealism, mind states are the substance of reality, the creative flow of a dynamic source. But there can be a tension between this perspective and a narrative common in non-dual circles. If reality is ultimately one mind, and the ego and its images mere illusion, then all this business of listening to soul merely compounds unnecessary suffering. The first instruction I received in meditation was to regard thought as distraction, and return attention to the breath. Some non-dual teachings go further, and say thought is delusion. A wild preoccupation with an imaginary future and non-existent past, orbiting a separate self that doesn’t even exist. From this perspective, concern for personal meaning and the arch of our lives separates us from the reality of here and now. Thinking removes us from reality and is close to psychosis. So is meaning doomed, for both idealist and physicalist? Bernardo doesn't think so. His relationship with idealism actually opens him up to a *deeper* sense of meaning, and a greater respect for the unfolding journey. Whilst the images thrown up from the source are in one sense illusions, (there ultimately really is no separation) Bernardo contends that even illusions say something about the source which creates them. A novel, in which every line is a work of fiction, still betrays much about the mind of the author who wrote it. As such, the image we call reality is a living symbol for what lies beyond, clues to the dynamic mind of nature. Whilst many traditions might aim at ultimate truth, the personal meaning discussed here is more like a felt sense than a manifesto. A connection to source via its manifestation our personal life, that echoes with more or less resonance depending on how carefully we listen. Personally, it is perhaps more simple still; splitting reality into ultimate and relative does not seem non-dual to me. Although all we ever have is the now, I can recognise that thoughts and emotions are part of that reality, and the tension dissolves. If it's all the excitation of one great mind, regret for the past and concern for the future are as real as the mountains and stars, and as worthy of your sacred attention. Your story is part of the fabric of life, connected to all that can ever exist, rising up in and as the only moment we ever know...now. Still, I’m sure, as James said, the answer I’m with today will be replaced by another tomorrow. So I'm happy to return to the more humble and immediate question: "***How now, in the face of circumstances over which I have little to no control, am I going to conduct my life?***” I look forward to hearing your response, Amir --- Speakers James Hollis “**our cultural icons—success, peace, happiness, and distraction—pale before the question of whether or not one experiences this life as meaningful.**” - James Hollis James Hollis, PhD, is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading Jungian analysts and interpreters of Jung’s legacy in our time. Zurich-trained at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zürich, he is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, DC, after an earlier career teaching humanities and the history of ideas for 26 years. He has held major leadership roles in the Jungian world, including Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington, founding Director of Training at the Philadelphia Jung Institute, Senior Training Analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, and Vice-President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Hollis is the author of more than seventeen influential books on depth psychology and the challenges of modern soul-making, among them The Middle Passage, Swamplands of the Soul, The Eden Project, Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life, Living an Examined Life, Living Between Worlds and A Life of Meaning, which have become touchstones for readers navigating midlife, meaning and the demands of the unconscious. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Leading Jungian James Hollis: Does idealism reduce suffering at the cost of meaning? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/james-hollis/ Last updated: 2026-09-11T09:07:16.000Z “***The goal of life is meaning, not happiness.***” - James Hollis **Does idealism reduce suffering at the cost of a meaningful life?** I was first introduced to nonduality as a path to fundamental wellbeing. If, like a dream, we recognise that reality is made of consciousness, then worry, regret and anxiety all fade to insignificance. But this orientation teeters precariously close to nihilism. In some, it might lead to a detachment from life. A numbing out rather than a waking up. So I was encouraged to discover that world-leading Jungian **James Hollis,** who famously declared that ***the goal of life is meaning, not happiness,*** has great admiration for idealist **Bernardo Kastrup**. Many people feel a tension between a spiritual life and an engaged one. Teachings that exhort surrender and ego-transcendence imply a rejection of our pleasures and purpose. But if the goal of life is to merge back to oneness, why would the one go to the trouble of appearing as many? For Bernardo, a Western approach to idealism does not entail an escape from the richness and rigour. "Though excruciatingly difficult sometimes,” he says, "it offers the potential for breakthroughs that will fill you with meaning and contentment to the point of bursting." This is relevant to James Hollis, who believes that lack of meaning is the problem of our time. ***“More people suffer from a disconnect from meaning than any other cause.”*** Yet it doesn’t show up in psychiatric manuals and it's not categorised as a disorder. The tragedy is that, whilst there is an inherent hunger ***“for meaning and purpose***”, many people have no idea what to do about it. When asked, they say “I just don’t know what interests me. I don’t know what I want from my life.” For many, the decades of needing to fit in with family and society makes something goes numb. We become separated from our inner voice, “lose contact with our own truth and we live separated from our own souls”. In the face of this suffering, some may turn to meditation. But the danger is this could merely replace the numbing effects of adaptation with a deliberate dissociation from its consequences. What if some forms of suffering are a call from deep within, away from distraction? A call towards a unique flowering that life wants to live through you. Perhaps, as James says, **the goal of life is meaning, not happiness*.* Through depth psychology, James helps people reconnect with their inner knowing. (You can find many inspiring interviews with him online, and I especially enjoyed [this one](https://email.dandelion.adventuresinawareness.com/c/eJx0z8GKpDAQgOGniUepVEqNhxwaxIaFPexhWfY0lEk5htEoJnYzbz8M9HWuH%5F%5FlD058G-ZKnO5aslajpWpxdvaGbRdMgEC9bztoCKyZqOsmsKKr6BCw0QiEQBao1lo3uhNqkDRMAIogcAqyxj3VHB6SynVKjomffEqSnGu%5Fb9XqllKOrMxN4ahw3A9JdT72EufP70DhKEfMexCFI93tInD%5F-6v%5F9%5Fv2YZ9%5FmP-vRZkxR2WGxmriXrz2s6bQBYXtVbY3z9vB8T0pMyz7usb88k1CvDZlBtk4ri%5FM-3V6UWZI8syrlCJndTre4qkIfr4oru0NEDKgBujJMvh5mifW1cPhVwAAAP%5F%5FE-5wyw?ref=withrealityinmind.com)). BUT WHAT HAS THIS GOT TO DO WITH IDEALISM? This coming Monday, Bernardo and James will dialogue on this exact question. Perhaps idealism can be a framework for both transcendence and depth, purpose and peace. We’ll ask how idealism could transform our approach to meaning and our life’s work. (After all, “vocation” comes from the Latin “vocatio”, meaning “a call.”) This is never about making money or being important, but rather something far more personal, private and unique. We'll ask how Jung’s insights on archetypes, shadow and individuation might bridge idealism into the texture of an actual human life. Maybe seeing the world not as dead matter, but as living mind can imbue our relationships with meaning, our path with purpose, and help us better hear the call to be who we are. --- If this seems like it will be valuable to friends who are not members, you can share this [link to register](https://email.dandelion.adventuresinawareness.com/c/eJx0zkGK7CAQgOHTVJZNWWoSFy4eNLnGo6KViaCmiSZ9%5FaFhYFaz%5FeGDP3oJY9wG8WoazTyjcW7YPcZNmxhmbWVVDtXEytpRgtNh43E2Q%5FKEZBWhIdTGuofYNagw8WptdBwQDEauUXI66oPjLbVfp7RU-c2nVGntEY4yZL%5F3%5Fmqg%5FwEtQMuvkQ9pQIsALfs05Rv0cvXyP3B5cfqqoJ%5F7kXNqQOOnF4npKqCfUjjln9iO6wwC-lnl3bL0Ludwei7pBIN%5Fb3U%5FOo2GGEkhOjMzhm3dVlbD7ek7AAD%5F%5FziGZCw?ref=withrealityinmind.com) as a one-off event. Event is recorded. Dialogue with Bernardo Kastrup, Monday 8th 2025, 3pm - 5pm UK time / 4pm - 6pm Central European Time / 10am - 12pm EST ## About James Hollis “***our cultural icons—success, peace, happiness, and distraction—pale before the question of whether or not one experiences this life as meaningful.***” - James Hollis James Hollis, PhD, is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading Jungian analysts and interpreters of Jung’s legacy in our time. Zurich-trained at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zürich, he is a Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, DC, after an earlier career teaching humanities and the history of ideas for 26 years. He has held major leadership roles in the Jungian world, including Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington, founding Director of Training at the Philadelphia Jung Institute, Senior Training Analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, and Vice-President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Hollis is the author of more than seventeen influential books on depth psychology and the challenges of modern soul-making, among them The Middle Passage, Swamplands of the Soul, The Eden Project, Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life, Living an Examined Life, Living Between Worlds and A Life of Meaning, which have become touchstones for readers navigating midlife, meaning and the demands of the unconscious. ### Zoom link **We will meet earlier than normal and on Monday due to James' availability.** *James will dialogue with Bernardo Kastrup for the first hour, followed by an hour Q&A with Bernardo.* Monday 8th 2025 3pm - 5pm UK time / 4pm - 6pm Central European Time / 10am - 12pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Rescheduled: Conception, Birth, DNA & Death URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/rescheduled-conception-birth-dna-death/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T13:34:33.000Z Our sincere apologies for the mix-up yesterday. I had cancelled the calendar invite with Bernardo for Tues the 9th, (because we are meeting with James Hollis on Monday the 8th that week) but the automated email notification wasn't clear. Bernardo thought I had cancelled our meeting yesterday, so remained with his phone off during an investment meeting for [Euclyd](https://euclyd.ai/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). We are grateful for your patience and understanding, and I really enjoyed spending a little more time with you all contemplating awareness together, To make up for the missed session, we'll meet twice next week. ### Revised schedule for next week **Mon** [**8th Dec**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/james-hollis/) **\-** with **James Hollis -** a leading Jungian analyst on how idealism can inform a meaningful life. 3-5pm UK time / 4pm - 6pm CET / 10am - 12pm EST **Tues** [**9th Dec**](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/on-conception-birth-and-dna/) **\- On Conception, Birth, DNA & Death** rescheduled from the 2nd of Dec. 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST I look forward to seeing you there! Amir “***our cultural icons—success, peace, happiness, and distraction—pale before the question of whether or not one experiences this life as meaningful.***” - James Hollis ## Zoom link _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### DMT & the nature of reality URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dr-christopher-timmermann-dmt/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T16:07:36.000Z Recording details Date: 25 November 2025 Duration: 2h 13m Free preview Chapters *Courtesy of Rita Conde* 00:00:10 This week’s topic: DMT, pure consciousness, and entities 00:01:35 Introduction to Christopher’s work 00:02:30 Introduction to Bernardo’s work 00:04:10 **Chris presents his research: how psychedelics can advance the study of consciousness** 00:06:50 The 'alchemy' between brain and mind 00:10:22 Experience vs. biology: what psychedelics actually do 00:12:29 Neurophenomenology: experience is not merely an epiphenomenon of the brain 00:14:38 Psychedelics as phenomenological tools 00:15:40 Psychedelics and the (de)construction of experience 00:17:00 Book reference: *The Toad and the Jaguar* by Ralph Metzner 00:17:45 Mapping psychedelic experiences 00:19:00 Brain imaging during psychedelic states 00:22:00 Between chaos and meaning 00:23:23 Case study: an expert meditation practitioner takes DMT 00:26:37 Deconstructing our 'naive realism' 00:27:40 Reconstruction of meaning with DMT 00:28:58 Encounters with beings and “entities” 00:29:00 Taking DMT in a single shot vs. slow intravenous administration 00:30:00 Entity encounters and their corresponding brain images 00:32:00 The dynamics between chaos and meaning 00:32:30 Reconstruction of belief systems: moving away from physicalism toward panpsychism and animism 00:34:14 Conclusions of Chris’s research 00:34:54 Noetic feelings and insights 00:36:46 Bernardo asks about one of the entropy images Chris presented 00:38:38 Chris gives further details about the experiment with the Lama meditator (the award-winning study) 00:42:58 **Bernardo explains Analytical Idealism** 00:52:00 Bernardo’s personal experiences with psychedelics 00:54:20 Dissolution of boundaries in psychedelic states 01:00:00 Philosophy must follow empirical science 01:01:37 What can we know about other minds beyond our own? 01:03:26 Bernardo explains Mind at Large 01:05:20 Language and self-reflection 01:07:07 Psychedelics and less representational states 01:07:50 Pure awareness with DMT 01:08:12 Contact with non-biological minds 01:10:00 Our inner narratives obfuscate the primordial qualities of Mind at Large 01:12:40 Autopoiesis: the continuity between mind and life 01:14:38 What is life? 01:16:50 Everything is an excitation of the fundamental fields of subjectivity 01:20:00 How brain images are interpreted under Analytical Idealism 01:25:25 Chris explains why he is a metaphysical agnostic and a pragmatic physicalist 01:27:45 The physicalist bias limits certain scientific experiments 01:28:40 **The prevalence of geometry in psychedelic states** 01:35:00 Nature is geometric at its core 01:39:27 Cases where high doses of psychedelics produce little or no effect 01:44:30 *Death by Astonishment* by Christopher Bache — the question: **Are the entities real?** 01:45:42 Bernardo’s experiences with psychedelics 01:49:40 Psychedelics induce dualist metaphysics 01:53:09 Bernardo: phenomenological dualism vs ontological idealism 02:03:45 DMT insight: Time & Space are cognitive mechanisms 02:08:10 Now contains past and future 02:10:50 Chris’s upcoming course: Unlocking The Psychedelic Mind Closing the session [Christopher Timmermann](https://uccr.uk/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) (Imperial’s DMT Research Group) is one of the world's leading researchers on DMT and 5-MeO-DMT. These are amongst the most powerful psychedelics we know. DMT is famous for catapulting people into hyper-real alternate worlds populated by seemingly autonomous beings. 5-MeO-DMT evokes experiences of “pure consciousness” featuring a complete loss of ego, self and time. For anyone interested in the nature of reality and mind, these experiences deserve consideration. Christopher presents his work on human neuroimaging studies on DMT, mapping what happens in the brain in these "more real than real” spaces. His latest work includes a study with a meditation lama comparing advanced meditation and psychedelic states. He discusses with Bernardo his influential research showing that ***psychedelic experiences can shift people’s most basic metaphysical beliefs away from hard physicalism.*** In turn, Bernardo presents his philosophy and how he interprets psychedelic experiences such as the ones Christopher researches. We're also delighted to offer you a 20% discount to [**Unlocking The Psychedelic Mind**](https://dandelion.events/e/v7b5i?ref=withrealityinmind.com)**, a 10 week course starting Jan 2026 with Dr. Chris Timmermann.** This immersive online course dives into the **therapeutic effects of psychedelics**, the **intersection between psychedelics and meditation**, and their role in unlocking **creativity and flow states**. If you enjoy this talk you'll love this deep dive! Use the code ADVENTURES20 when checking out. Speakers Dr Christopher Timmermann [Christopher Timmermann](https://uccr.uk/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) (Imperial’s DMT Research Group) is one of the world's leading researchers on DMT and 5-MeO-DMT. These are amongst the most powerful psychedelics, famous for catapulting people into hyper-real alternate worlds populated by seemingly autonomous beings or “pure consciousness” experiences featuring a complete loss of ego, self and time. Christopher led the first human neuroimaging studies on DMT, mapping what happens in the brain in these "more real than real” spaces. His latest work includes a study with a meditation lama comparing advanced meditation and psychedelic states. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Could the answer be looking for you? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/q-a-michael-levin-bernardo-kastrup/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:03:48.000Z Recording details Date: 18 November 2025 Duration: 2h 0m Free preview Chapters *Courtesy of Rita Conde* 00:00:10 Michael on Bernardo's book [Decoding Jung's Metaphysics](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Decoding-Jungs-Metaphysics-archetypal-experiential/dp/1789045657?ref=withrealityinmind.com) 00:05:24 **Trauma as a catalyst** at the level of biology 00:07:25 Trauma as a reset between internal personal complexes 00:08:56 Trauma leading to self insight (not transpersonal) 00:12:18 Stress as cognitive glue coordinating cell behaviour 00:15:41 Memory sharing and electrical networks 00:17:35 ... unrelated to IIT 00:20:00 Archetypes manifesting in biology 00:21:55 The functioning of **memory in planaria** 00:25:55 Is memory an encoded hologram? 00:26:00 Book reference: *Shuffle Brain* by Paul Pietsch 00:30:22 Memory doesn’t have a single reservoir 00:32:06 How groups adapt to toxins better than individuals 00:32:45 How Analytic Idealism accounts for **unexpected problem solving** 00:38:14 The answer is trying to reach the agent as much as the agent is trying to reach the answer 00:40:30 Why planaria have divergent personalities 00:45:45 Speculating on **spontaneous remission of disease** after extraordinary experiences 00:55:55 As an idealist, I’ll still want that pill 00:57:50 **Chemical networks that learn** 01:05:00 **Memory and time** 01:08:00 The inception of false memories 01:12:25 Platonic space and archetypes 01:14:48 Memory and the brain 01:15:38 Brain injuries 01:17:45 Platonic space in Michael’s work 01:22:15 DMT realm and Platonic realm 01:28:42 Jung: the archetypes are empty, but they inform (give form) 01:29:20 Mathematical *lattice* of a Daimon 01:31:07 We cannot be closer to ‘*it*’ because we are it in expression. 01:31:48 The role of the cell membrane in the evolution of consciousness — [Essentia Foundation paper](https://www.essentiafoundation.org/the-cell-membrane-as-the-missing-link-for-the-evolution-of-consciousness/reading/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) 01:35:30 The physicalist *faux pas*: consciousness arising from something unconscious 01:36:16 The cell membrane as the thin interface of separation 01:39:00 What is the cognitive lexicon 01:41:15 The solar system as a giant mind — how could we design an experiment to test that? 01:42:00 Is there a unified principle to healing? 01:53:27 Reintegrating cancer cells: future therapies 01:54:30 Bioelectrical fields in cancer cells 01:55:35 Belief is not enough: Native communities decimated by imported diseases 01:57:37 Possible explanations for the epidemic of depression or the rise of autoimmune diseases? 01:59:00 Next week’s guest and topic: Christopher Timmerman — DMT, pure consciousness, and entities This was a wide ranging Q&A with participant questions taken from comments at the bottom of [this page](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-q-a/). [Tues 18th Nov: Michael Levin Q&A on the intelligence pervading life and the Platonic RealmQ&A on the frontier of biology, computer science and philosophy![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-57.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/michael-bernardo-sally-annette2-3.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-q-a/) Every question evoked a fascinating account of Michael's research or thinking. What mechanisms **coordinate the behaviour of individual cells** towards shared goals? There may be several, but Michael's lab has found two - sharing memories and sharing stress. But that still leaves many phenomena unexplained. For example, when a planaria, (a worm with remarkable regenerative capability) is placed in barium, it's head explodes. It then grows a new head resistant to this toxin, a process which requires expressing very specific genes out of thousands of options - a problem solving capability that is astounding. Planaria are not exposed to barium outside of labs, so it can't be explained by evolution. By way of potential explanation, Bernardo offered his hunch, inverting the conventional way of thinking. If all of nature is one mind, the answer is already 'out there. 'Nature knows everything there is to be known, since it is everything. The question is how do we reverse the forgetting. "The key explanatory challenge is to say how, within a whole, things appear to be parts. And if you invert the challenge that way, it's less mind-boggling." ### The needle in the haystack is also looking for you Michael agrees that maybe solutions aren’t just passive things we have to stumble on by blind search. Maybe the structure of the world is such that the “right” solutions *pull* systems toward them. The usual story is molecules just drift around by Brownian motion until, by sheer luck, the right ones bump into each other like a needle found in a haystack. Michael suggests that in many real systems, it looks more like a *mutual* reaching-out, from the agent seeking a solution and the solution seeking the agent. He's releasing a paper soon with Chris Fields, detailing examples of this idea in biology and physics. ### The will to understanding Michael also spoke of chemical networks that learn and exhibit causal emergence, leading to an upward ratchet in intelligence and agency not explainable by biology or physics. These chemicals are not resident in living systems. It could be an indication of very early competencies in nature that what we call 'life' has learnt to utilize. For Bernardo, it implies that the **Will to Understanding** might be fundamental to existence. ### If everything is mind, what is medicine? Michael and Bernardo also shared thoughts on **spontaneous remissions of disease**, and why they are so rare. Drugs & surgery are not superfluous in Analytic Idealism, and meditation unlikely to cure all disease - but when it does, there is a way to account for it. Nevertheless, for Michael, if these cases happen once we could learn how to have them happen more often, with the implications for healing and medicine being profound. ## AI Summary This is generated by Zoom's AI technology. Let me know if you find it helpful and I can include it in some future newsletters... ### Exploring Jung's Insights Together The meeting began with informal greetings and introductions among participants. Amir and Michael discussed Michael's recent reading of Bernardo's book on Jung, which Michael found meaningful due to a synchronistic encounter with his son. Bernardo expressed appreciation for Michael's feedback on the book. The group then prepared to delve into a dialogue between Bernardo and Michael from their previous meeting, which Amir described as "amazing." Bernardo encouraged Michael to continue exploring Jung's work, suggesting that it could be a rewarding endeavor. ### Trauma and Transpersonal Experience The group discussed the relationship between trauma, dissociation, and potential access to transpersonal experiences. Michael explained that trauma can cause significant cellular and developmental changes, but he was cautious about drawing parallels to human psychology. Bernardo suggested that trauma might reset the system by disrupting integrated information theory (IIT) complexes, potentially leading to psychological insights but not necessarily transpersonal experiences. The discussion touched on concepts like cell stress, horizontal empathy, and monads, but no definitive conclusions were reached about trauma's role in accessing transpersonal states. ### Cellular Stress Sharing Mechanisms Michael explained his research on stress sharing as a cognitive glue that enables cells to collaborate and function together as a whole, even when they don't have individual memories or goals. He described how cells can share stress through leaky membranes, which leads to increased plasticity and allows for the formation of larger goal states and collaborative outcomes. Bernardo clarified that this concept of stress sharing is unrelated to the theory of Integrated Information Theory (IIT), as IIT focuses on whether a unitary, composite mental state arises across multiple cells, whereas Michael's work is about incentives for cooperation among cells. ### Jung's Types and Planarian Memory The group discussed Jung's theory of psychological types and their potential biological foundations, with Michael noting that while the connection between biology and psychological patterns is still being explored, demonstrating utility for basic behavioral propensities could open the door to understanding more complex systems. They also explored memory in planaria, with Michael explaining that while no one has properly tested memory retention in tiny pieces of planaria, his prediction is that memory would be distributed holistically rather than localized to specific pieces. Michael shared that planaria exhibit remarkable individual personalities and unique behaviors during training, though the mechanisms behind personality differentiation after division remain unclear. ### Planaria Research and Regeneration Insights The group discussed Michael's research on planaria, including experiments with toxins and regeneration. Michael explained that planaria can resist toxins better in groups and demonstrated remarkable regenerative abilities. Bernardo offered a philosophical perspective on the experiments, suggesting that everything starts from a state of knowing and that the challenge is to explain how things appear to be parts within a whole. The conversation touched on the complexity of planaria behavior and the potential role of genetics and experience in shaping their personalities. Amir raised questions about whether toroidal vortices could model biological behavioral processes and about the potential causal efficacy of dream-time revelations in healing. ### Understanding Spontaneous Healing Mechanisms The group discussed spontaneous remission and healing, with Michael emphasizing the need to understand why such events are rare despite being biologically possible. Bernardo and others debated the relationship between mind and body, with Bernardo suggesting that drug therapy and surgery can bypass the limitations of the ego to directly influence unconscious mental states. The conversation touched on the limitations of psychological insight in curing physical conditions, with Amrita highlighting how strong belief systems can sometimes work against healing. The discussion concluded with Amir introducing the next speaker, Jeff, who inquired about Michael's previous comments on biological telos and directional activity at the base of life. ### Mathematical Models of Consciousness Emergence Michael discussed his research on mathematical models of molecular pathways, highlighting that even random networks can exhibit learning and causal emergence, leading to an upward ratchet in intelligence and agency. He emphasized that this phenomenon can occur long before the evolution of self-reproducing units, suggesting a potential path to the emergence of consciousness. Rita raised a question about the contradiction between idealist memory as a non-physical process and its physical manifestation, to which Michael responded by explaining the need for a specific interface that allows memory patterns to manifest in the physical world. ### Analytic Idealism and Archetype Evolution Bernardo discussed analytic idealism, explaining that under this philosophy, the physical world is just a representation of mental processes and there is no separate realm of idealism. He clarified that archetypes are properties of what is, not separate entities, and that memories could potentially be encoded in specific brain locations, though this is not a requirement of idealism. Bernardo also addressed the question of whether archetypes are subject to evolution, explaining that they are part of the drive for fitness and that evolution would not drive for completeness in representing all mental states. ### Platonic Minds and Memory Access The meeting focused on discussions about the nature of minds, memory, and potential access to a platonic realm of possible minds. Michael emphasized that his current work involves developing useful frameworks rather than claiming ultimate truths about reality, while Bernardo discussed the metaphor of minds ingressing and the need to understand its deeper implications. Jorge raised a speculative question about whether DMT experiences might provide access to Michael's platonic realm, which Michael acknowledged as a possibility but noted that such experiences are not specific to brains and are being explored in various systems in the lab. Bernardo concluded by highlighting the power of thinking in terms of a platonic realm that informs and shapes other realms. ### Archetypes and Consciousness Evolution Bernardo and Jorge discussed Jung's concept of archetypes, emphasizing that archetypes are not separate realms but intrinsic dispositional regularities that inform the emergence of forms in both mental and physical realms. Jorge expressed a closer connection to these patterns of activity, while Bernardo clarified that archetypes are latent in everything and cannot be closer to us than they already are. Amir facilitated a discussion on the evolution of consciousness, referencing an essay by Professor John Torday that explores consciousness as a result of material interactions between cells. The conversation touched on the potential for symbiogenesis and phylogenesis to contribute to an understanding of consciousness differentiation at various biological levels, with Amir posing questions about the dissociation of mind at large and individual consciousness, as well as the concept of an evolving light cone and the possibility of humanity expanding its collective consciousness. ### Individuated Consciousness and Cell Membranes The group discussed the concept of individuated consciousness and its relationship to the cell membrane, with Bernardo explaining that the cell membrane acts as a Markov blanket separating internal and external states. Michael questioned whether the cell membrane is unique or essential for consciousness, suggesting that while it may be effective in biology, other systems could potentially achieve similar results. The discussion also touched on the cognitive light cone, with Michael defining it as the size of the largest goal an agent can pursue in a problem space, and considering whether similar concepts could apply to social or collective structures. ### Chronic Illness and Integrative Identity The meeting focused on exploring the connection between chronic illnesses, including cancer, and the concept of fragmentation or loss of integrative identity. Cate raised the question of whether there is a unified principle underlying these conditions, which Amir and Bernardo discussed in relation to cultural and psychological factors. Michael shared insights from his research, noting that while the proposed framework is relevant to many disorders, it may not fully explain all aspects of disease. The group also discussed the potential for bioelectric integration as a therapeutic approach in cancer treatment. Bernardo emphasized the importance of considering external factors, such as bacterial and viral infections, in the context of historical cultural changes. The conversation ended with plans for future discussions and a reminder about an upcoming event with Christopher Timmerman. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Michael-Levin-profile.webp) Michael Levin ***"One of the most creative biologists working today" - Rupert Sheldrake** ***“Perhaps the most important person alive” - Bernardo Kastrup** Michael Levin is a Distinguished Professor in the Biology department at [Tufts](https://drmichaellevin.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), holds the Vannevar Bush endowed Chair, and serves as director of the [Allen Discovery Center at Tufts](https://allencenter.tufts.edu/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). He is also an associate member of the [Wyss Institute at Harvard](https://wyss.harvard.edu/team/associate-faculty/michael-levin-ph-d/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). His group works at the intersection of developmental biology, artificial life, bioengineering, synthetic morphology, and cognitive science. Seeking general principles of life-as-it-can-be, they use a wide range of natural animal models and also create novel synthetic and chimeric life forms. Their goal is to develop conceptual frameworks and practical tools that help detect, understand, predict, and communicate with truly diverse intelligences, including cells, tissues, organs, synthetic living constructs, robots, and software-based AIs. His mission is to develop fundamental understanding of how minds of all kinds arise, scale, persist, and change, and to use that knowledge to benefit the embodied experience of sentient beings, through biomedicine and beyond. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Interview with Michael Levin "What questions are you willing to ask?" URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/interview-with-michael-levin-what-questions-are-you-willing-to-ask/ Last updated: 2025-11-13T17:23:47.000Z On October 24th I had a conversation with Michael Levin seeking further clarity on the empirical methods he believed can identify embodied minds and their borders. Equally exciting however is his framework for reality which physicalists find shocking whilst Buddhists accept with little surprise. Whenever I hear Michael I feel I'm listening to a mind that sparkles with unusual intelligence and care. This talk has not been made public yet, but I wanted to give you advance access so you can watch it before Michael joins us this coming [Tues, 18th of Nov](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-q-a/). Non-members of With Reality in Mind can also join this next session as a one-off event, using this link: [https://dandelion.events/e/a9l98](https://dandelion.events/e/a9l98?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Feel free to share it with anyone you know! "the mind body problem is the same as the maths physics problem. Physics is haunted by weird patterns that don’t come from the physical space.... Physicalism is dead on arrival" I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday! Amir Here is the video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0\_nUt-UpV4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0%5FnUt-UpV4&ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### On Conception, Birth, DNA & Death URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/on-conception-birth-and-dna/ Last updated: 2025-12-02T19:39:12.000Z 💡 Rescheduled from the 2nd of Dec to the 9th of Dec due to scheduling issue. In the womb, the nervous systems of mother and child are dynamically coupled. DNA seems to take inanimate matter and reconfigure it into life. Genetic mutations are interpreted as dysfunction in one context, and the origin of an awakening consciousness in another. How would Bernardo interpret these observations in light of Analytic Idealism? On the 11st of Nov we discussed the [body and its boundaries](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-body-and-its-boundaries/) \- connecting our understanding of dissociative alters with their dashboard representations. Both topics we have explored extensively in [previous weeks](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recordings/). Several questions on conception, birth and DNA went unanswered, so we have saved these for a session dedicated to the topic; 9th of Dec, 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST The initial selected questions are below. If there is time, we'll take further questions from the live chat during the meeting, as well as leave some time to prepare for [James Hollis](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/james-hollis/) next week. I look forward to seeing you there! Amir ### THE BODY AND BOUNDARIES IN PREGNANCY - Rachel Clemesha There are maternal–fetal exchange (cells, hormones, etc.) The two nervous systems are dynamically coupled. How should we interpret this connection of two alters ? Does the newborn experience a continuity of consciousness across delivery , or does the boundary’s relocation entail a brief subject-level discontinuity? ### HOW DOES THE FUNCTIONING OF DNA, ESPECIALLY WITH REGARDS TO CONCEPTION, FIT WITHIN ANALYTICAL IDEALISM - Stan Beremski It seems that at a certain point in the process of life what can be said to be inanimate is somehow reconfigured to be animate and living. In other words a new dissociative boundary is created. What role does DNA play in all of this and how is the transition from inanimate to animate handled in specific terms by the theory? ### WHAT CONNECTION DO YOU ESTABLISH BETWEEN CONSCIOUSNESS AND GENETIC MUTATIONS (in utero and not in utero)? Zara Sumodhee In some belief systems, the occurrence of genetic mutations that cause diseases serves to make the family and/or society aware of certain dysfunctions (certainly dissociative ones). This aligns with Penrose's theory, in which the collapse of the wave function is the origin of consciousness. However, according to Wigner's theory, it is consciousness that is the origin of the collapse of the wave function. In other words, one could hypothesize that overly dissociative states of consciousness led to the genetic mutation. The two theories would not contradict each other but would suggest that it is a cycle aimed at safeguarding the information most useful for the survival of a family and a society from a global perspective, thus connecting with Integrated Information Theory (IIT). However, the occurrence of a genetic mutation can sometimes be the origin of an awakening of consciousness, and sometimes a collapse. This depends on the intensity of the observer's consciousness. What do you think of this and the notion of the intensity of consciousness? Do you think that states of superposition of consciousness can exist? Particularly when a person who sees this kind of situation as an opportunity to grow manages to impose their mindset on another person who sees the situation as a collapse when they are together. ### WHAT CAN WE INFER ABOUT AGING AND DISEASE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE THAT THE BODY IS WHAT DISSOCIATION LOOKS LIKE? - Deborah Chen I’m wondering if aging is a crumbling of the dissociative boundary, progressing toward death, when the boundary dissolves. ## Zoom link _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### What makes the body special? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/what-makes-the-body-special/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T16:07:48.000Z Recording details Date: 11 November 2025 Duration: 2h 5m Free preview Chapters 0:00 Member introductions 00:10:20 The body is what the dissociative alter looks like 00:14:40 We all accept there are mental states out in the world 00:17:40 The **body**: an image of maintained dissociation The **brain**: an image also of other mental activity 00:26:00 Deriving boundaries from first principles. 00:30:34 **Hierarchy of dissociations** 00:33:00 Bodies are an **actively enforced boundary** powered by metabolism 00:35:00 The layers of dissociation within the body 00:44:00 We are an excitation of the field 00:49:25 Michael Levin is not a metabolism chauvinist 00:52:40 The **ego is not actively reinforced** 00:55:00 Markov blankets within the body - The biggest organ in the body: interstitium 00:57:00 Towards an integration of Karl Friston Markov blanket & IIT 01:01:30 How IIT might account for self-reflection 01:04:00 There aren't infinite alters in the body Two paths from the subconscious & **the new unconscious** 01:13:15 Non-mental states are an abstraction 01:22:00 Why the ego has no Markov Blanket EEG is not stable enough to constitute a Markov Blanket 01:31:00 **Scientific approximations arrive at fundamental conclusions** 01:34:30 Most objects are arbitrary - the body is special 01:42:00 You are not the body 01:46:00 The boundaries of the body determined by source and sensation 01:47:00 Why Bernardo disagrees but respects Michael Levin's opinion 01:50:00 Can we experience two alters simultaneously? 01:53:27 Rubber hand illusion In this session we discuss: - What makes the body special: enforced dissociation - The hierarchies of dissociation and attention - You are not your body - Why Bernardo disagrees with, but respects Michael Levin's opinion - The rubber hand illusion --- How can a physical act such a needle in your arm cause the mental event of pain? The idealist answer: there is no needle. All matter is what mental states look like from across a dissociative boundary. Both the needle and the arm are appearances in consciousness, and both appearances represent *other* experiences in consciousness. Many philosophers have considered the 'physical world' in such ways. What Bernardo calls extrinsic experience Barfield and Schopenhauer called 'representation'. Spinoza called it 'Natura naturata' and Kant called it 'phenomena' as opposed to 'noumena'. So what mental state or experience would the body represent? On inspection, the physiological processes in the body seem mainly concerned with survival, metabolising raw ingredients from the environment to resist entropy. In Bernardo's terms, this is the image of maintaining a dissociative boundary from the surrounding 'Mind at Large.' It's intuitive when you notice the body is made of exactly the same atoms and molecules as the rest of the physical world, and is in constant exchange with it. It is a particular pattern, a temporary 'excitation' of the whole of which we are a part. ### So is everything about survival? Freud thought yes, leading to his well-known obsession with sex and reproduction. Nietzsche spoke of a **Will to Power** \- arguably also driven by the desire to survive. In contrast, Viktor Frankl recognised a **Will to Meaning,** but Bernardo considers Jung to have made the more complete synthesis, being the **Will to Self.** This includes survival, the reconciliation of opposites, completeness, meaning and spiritual connection. This would mean that there are archetypal drives that percolate through the layers of activity needed for survival. Whilst much of the brain's activity also represents this drive to survive, it also correlates with other mental activity and drives. ### The hierarchy of dissociations Our inner life is a boiling dynamic of mental activity, associating and dissociating all the time. In one moment, a thought might be on the tip of your tongue, just beyond reach. In the next it pops into awareness, and feels as obvious as your own name. You might be able to feel your thumb at will, but distinguishing the 3rd and 4th toe is a blur. Bernardo distinguishes between dissociation in which the reporting ego has no path to access an internal experience, and cases in which a mental activity is simply not the focus of attention. When focused, it is re-represented and thereby grows in intensity. Equally, some ideas may form into "complexes" - constellations of unconscious ideas with an emotional charge that influence our behavior. Integrated Information Theory seeks to model the ebb and flow of information and boundaries, but Bernardo contends that living bodies represent a special kind of boundary - one that is actively enforced. This dissociative boundary is yet to be modelled theoretically. This could end up being a synthesis of Karl Friston's work on Markov Blankets, which involve an actively enforced boundary but as yet no account for how this is formed based on first principals, and [Integrated Information Theory](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-iit-a-rosetta-stone-for-mind-at-large/) which does have a first principals account for how boundaries are formed, but not how they are actively enforced. ### Dissociations could be everywhere, but life is special So for Bernardo living organisms are a special pattern of dissociation in nature that allows for a continuity of self. Most objects are identified arbitrarily, convenient fictions that have no objective truth outside the criteria we choose. The body, because of it's unique ability to resist entropy and generate perception of the outside world, is special. "I accept that there may be dissociative boundaries that are not actively enforced happening in mind at large. As someone who thinks IIT is largely correct I must accept that. But I do think there are some dissociative bounders that are actively enforced." Next week, we have Michael Levin returning for a Q&A, so we had Bernardo reflect on their last dialogue. "I don't think Michael would disagree with me there. From that perspective we are not as far away as you might think, because under IIT you could have an inanimate process that is not biological, is not metabolising, and because of the dynamics of information integration, spontaneously gives rise to some high Phi complex. Relatively high. No where near what we have. We need this active reinforcement of the boundary to maintain high complexes. But presumably something relatively high phi could be happening out there if the substrate is complex enough. Those non-actively enforced boundaries, (which I do accept), I think are forming and unforming all the time, so there is no constant self that is in there. Whether the boundaries that you would derive from IIT would coincide with the boundaries that Michael intuits, I don't know the answer to that question. I don't even know if Michael would know the answer, because you would really have to invest with being familiar with IIT." I'm excited to have Michael Levin back with us next week to continue the discussion and take some of your excellent questions! Until then, Amir ### The Rubber Hand Illusion How we make an internal model of our own body is very malleable, as demonstrated by this experiment: As Bernardo mentions, this can be done for any part of the body, we can modify our model of ourselves. Norbert Majubu, a neuroscientist and participant in our meetings shares these articles as good examples of the academic background: [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16280594/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16280594/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3125296/](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3125296/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) The below figure shows the "pointing error" measurements: Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### The body and its boundaries URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-body-and-its-boundaries/ Last updated: 2025-11-10T14:25:27.000Z Where does your body end and the world begin? This seems obvious, yet on close inspection, the body is constantly exchanging its parts with the environment. Parts we do not think of as 'alive' such as oxygen, hydrogen and carbon. The body needs the planet, the galaxy and the whole universe to contain and sustain it. In Bernardo's Analytic Idealism, every living creature is a dissociation within a Universal Consciousness that underpins all of reality. The body is what a dissociative boundary 'looks like' from another vantage point. This session is a chance to think about what the body represents, why we identify with it, and how it is connected with the boundaries of dissociation or a sense of Self. I'm looking forward to exploring this with Bernardo and all of you, Tues 11th Nov, 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST Until then! Amir ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/11/Man_the_microcosm-_Robert_Fludd-_c._1619_Wellcome_L0038056-2-1.jpg) Man the microcosm, Robert Fludd, c. 1619 CC BY 4.0 [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0?ref=withrealityinmind.com), via Wikimedia Commons ## Asking questions Everyone is welcome to propose [questions](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/) using the comments section below. Questions are selected based on **relevance to the theme above,** and **interest from other participants**. As such, make sure to write your question so that most can understand what you mean! - Give it a short, single line CLEAR TITLE in **capital letters**. - Write an optional **short** description of what your question is about. - Share further reflections below if you want, but if selected, aim for brevity when asking to help the flow of the discussion. Also make sure to read the other questions and 'heart' the ones you are most curious about! I look forward to seeing you on my dashboard soon, With appreciation, Amir ## Zoom link _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### All perception is archetypal URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/all-perception-is-archetypal/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:15:44.000Z Recording details Date: 4 November 2025 Duration: 2h 43m Free preview Chapters With thanks to Rita conde 0:00:05 Bernardo’s cat revenge 0:01:47 A gift to Bernardo 0:03:20 This week’s topic: The Meaning and Modes of Perception 0:04:45 **Are there mores Dashboards beyond our Dashboard?** 0:06:10 Perceiving the World vs Being the World 0:11:16 **Why are colours not part of us as well?** 0:15:00 Perception as a Markov blanket 0:16:49 Even in sensory deprivation, there is a sense of being 0:18:58 Life without sensory perceptions 0:21:55 **Is Mind-at-Large meta-cognitive?** 0:24:28 Causal power in Mind-at-Large 0:26:04 Intentionality 0:29:14 **Aren't all states endogenous?** 0:32:10 There is no blue outside whatsoever 0:35:10 The Dashboard is at the boundary 0:38:27 Clarifying the terminology: endo / exo 0:39:40 Predictive Processing and Analytical Idealism 0:46:16 IIT and internal causal structures 0:47:33 Differences between Idealism and Physicalism 0:49:32 Checkerboard illusion & **Predictive Processing** 0:51:06 Truth is mostly irrelevant for evolution 0:53:25 Inference is a biological necessity 1:02:30 [Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Reality | Anil Seth | TED](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyu7v7nWzfo&ref=withrealityinmind.com) 1:03:49 Body perceptions are also signals on the Dashboard 1:08:58 The paradox: there seems to be a world outside, although it’s all one mind 1:15:15 Geometry is different from seeing a triangle 1:17:17 The role of attention in the “New Unconscious” movement in psychology 1:20:00 Early stages of metaphysical enquiry: revision of fundamental distinctions 1:22:44 **What engenders these compelling illusions?** 1:24:50 Is perception driven by fitness, or purpose? 1:30:40 Archetypes 1:31:41 The Laws of Nature 1:34:00 **Is there intrinsic semantic content in Dashboard perceptions beyond mere function towards survival?** 1:35:11 Observing nature is a form of self-observation 1:35:50 Is the correspondence between the contents of perception and the cues out there arbitrary? 1:39:00 The evolution of languages in the direction of more abstraction and arbitrariness 1:42:15 The evolution of perception is less arbitrary than the evolution of language 1:44:00 Dante and “the love that moves the sun and the stars” (Paradiso, Canto XXXIII) 1:46:23 **Are morality, beauty and meta-cognition examples of archetypes?** 1:51:40 Bernardo’s Daimon as endogenous 1:58:07 Ego inflation 1:59:30 Recognising what in us is not us 2:02:00 Varieties of perception 2:05:00 **What determines the circumference of our dissociation?** 2:09:00 **Teleological drive behind the process of individuation?** 2:12:40 Frederico Faggin: the universal mind wants to know itself 2:13:00 A paradox of physicalism: building a copy of ourselves 2:20:36 **Could synchronicity be meaningful?** 2:30:50 Everything is synchronistic 2:34:20 Illusions betray a deeper truth 2:38:40 Life is the ultimate teacher, the ultimate guru — when you pay attention to it 2:41:40 Next week’s topics If everything is consciousness, what does it mean to distinguish experiences that arise from **within** versus perceptions modulated from the **outside**? This can be one of the more confusing aspects of this philosophy. If everything is 'mind' and the physical world is 'in us' just like everything else - what does it mean to say there is a dashboard onto an "outer world?" The first 90 minutes of this session Bernardo explains this with great care and nuance. Whist it is true that all experiences are internal states, it is possible to distinguish between *types* of internal states. Many of our thoughts and feelings are generated internally. They may be influenced by things we have seen and heard, but I can have a daydream that has nothing to do with the lecture hall in which I'm having it. In contrast, other experiences are directly and immediately modulated by an external world, what Bernardo calls 'Mind at Large'. These are the experiential contents of mind from which we are seemingly dissociated. Things we hear, see, smell and touch in our shared reality are what Bernardo labels the dashboard of perception. I highly recommend reviewing a short section from [this presentation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mar2X6bvid4&ref=withrealityinmind.com), in which Bernardo uses slides to explain the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic experience. This link should take you to 17 minutes into the talk where this is explained directly: **Predictive processing** was also very relevant to the discussion - how perception is modulated by both very primitive and sophisticated priors; beliefs and expectations about what we are likely to see. If you want more background, this [free TED talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyu7v7nWzfo&ref=withrealityinmind.com) is a great intro, and for a more in-depth discussion, suitable for anyone wanting to understand how meditation can modulate perception, I recommend this course: [Rewiring your Reality: A 4 Week Course with Shamil Chandaria on the Neuroscience of Meditation, Awakening and Human FlourishingThu 17th Jul 2025, 7pm – Thu 31st Jul 2025, 9:30pm BST (UTC +01:00)![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/black-on-transparent-sq.png)![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/e014ebac-c100-4b8f-b2d8-4e3baa3ec876.jpg)](https://dandelion.events/e/m9nea?ref=withrealityinmind.com) We also discussed: - how all perception is archetypal - the dashboard may hint at the purpose of reality - predictive processing - the meaning of synchronicity - the evolution of language and many other themes you can find in the timestamps below. I look forward to seeing you next week! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### The meaning and modes of perception URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-meaning-and-modes-of-perception/ Last updated: 2025-11-04T10:58:57.000Z Fizzle, sizzle, crackle and pop all buzz with the meaning they denote. 'Dog' and 'democracy,' on the other hand, mean little by sound alone. Equally, the Roman numerals I, II and III plainly illustrate their number in contrast with V or X. And whilst you can make a circle with your finger and thumb to signal 'good' in one region of France, the same gesture means 'worthless' in another. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/11/ChatGPT-Image-Nov-3--2025--08_21_43-PM2.png) So what is the relationship between name and named? Between symbol and symbolised? Bernardo has proposed the airplane dashboard as a metaphor for perception, emphasising that what we perceive represents something beyond our direct experience. But whilst a rose may smell as sweet in any language, could some names and representations carry more power than mere signposts? In the opening of the Babylonian [creation](https://ia800806.us.archive.org/3/items/Holy-Books/EnumaElish.pdf?ref=withrealityinmind.com) myth the gods without names have destinies "yet undetermined." The importance of names is further emphasised in the first line, when "the heaven had not been named." Today is our 3rd session examining the dashboard of perception. We'll take questions on it's relationship to reality, between will and representation, previously submitted [here.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/) Recordings of part one and two are here: [Recording: What perception veils and revealsDashboards, dials and what lies beyond. Q&A with Bernardo on 14th Oct 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-53.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Universum-1-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/) [Recording: No need to transcend the human experienceRecording 28th Oct 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-54.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Hieronymus_Bosch_051-1-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-no-need-to-transcend/) Questions are harvested from the comments section at the bottom of this page: [The dials, the dashboard & beyondThe nature of perception and what lies beyond, Q&A with Bernardo on 14th, 28th Oct and 4th Nov 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-52.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Universum-4.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/) ## Zoom room for November: _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### No need to transcend the human experience URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-no-need-to-transcend/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:15:49.000Z Recording details Date: 28 October 2025 Duration: 1h 21m Free preview Chapters *With thanks to Rita Conde* 0:00 Essentia conference catchup: Commonalities between physics and neuroscience 6:10 Can science participate in the evolution of perception? 11:30 Science isn’t perfect, but does make progress 14:40 Higher level human perception evolves slowly, raw perception mostly doesn’t 23:00 Science makes use of convenient fictions 25:00 Illusion and perspective in art 29:00 No need to transcend the human experience 34:00 Difficult to distinguish transcendence and delusion 39:00 Perception is our creation: a modulated hallucination 0:46:20 **Perspective in renaissance art signifies a new awareness of local individualised uniqueness** 0:51:40 **Porous dissociative boundaries** 0:55:40 Dissociation isn't absolute 0:56:00 Dissociations between self and world, and internally 0:56:30 **3 Types of experiences when dissociation disolves** 0:56:45 1st type: encounters with dissociated parts of ourselves 0:58:30 2nd type: direct acquaintance with the world behind nature 0:59:10 3rd type: making contact with other aspects of reality we didn't evolve to perceive 1:00:40 Bernardo's sighting of an UAP 1:03:15 Neuroscientist Andrew R. Gallimore's book *Death by Astonishment* 1:06:00 Contacts with other beings coherent under analytical idealism 1:07:52 Discovering deeper truths about being human 1:11:30 Why the Dashboard is an artifact of separation and can be the enabler of evil: slavery, war, totalitarianism 1:19:18 Philippe Guillemant and the role of emptiness 1:20:40 Closing the session You might think that your dashboard onto reality is something to be transcended, but Bernardo disagrees. This is an unfortunate inheritance from Christianity. The dashboard, your human perception, is also part of reality, governed by the same archetypal templates as Mind at Large. The perceptual apparatus and that which it interprets are equally real and there is no need to rank them. We are dissociated from Mind at Large, but there are also internal dissociations. So when boundaries dissolve, (either naturally or through psychedelic experience,) we might be in contact with universal experience, or alien bands of reality, or it might merely be our own trauma, and some mix of all the above. So whilst it is possible to see beyond the dashboard whilst alive, it is very difficult to discern genuine transcendence from delusion. Anyway, we likely get genuine access to the beyond after death - so Bernardo says; why rush? There is validity in your perception that the sun moves across your sky. Enjoy your human dashboard whilst it lasts! ### Perception has layers. The interpretational layers of human perception evolve, over thousands of years and even slower, but the raw sensory data that this interprets is likely quite stable over the history of any given species. For example, some cultures will have names for shades of green that other people cannot distinguish, but the basic brain structure that receives raw data will be the same. An example of higher levels of perception modulating lower include the checker board illusion: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/10/Checker_shadow_illusion.svg.png) Original: Edward H. Adelson, vectorized by Pbroks13., CC BY-SA 4.0 [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0?ref=withrealityinmind.com), via Wikimedia Commons The A and B squares in this image are both exactly the same shade, but as our perception has evolved to accommodate shadows cast by objects blocking light and contrast with neighbouring shades, try as we might, B is experienced as lighter than A by every person I've so far met. ### The emergence of perspective The dashboard may evolve slowly, but our explicit awareness of how it functions can come about in sudden shifts. In the Renaissance, artists became aware of how distance is represented by perspective. People further away look smaller: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/10/Entrega_de_las_llaves_a_San_Pedro_-Perugino-.jpg) Pietro Perugino, Entrega de las llaves a San Pedro Public domain, via [Wikimedia Commons](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Entrega%5Fde%5Flas%5Fllaves%5Fa%5FSan%5FPedro%5F%28Perugino%29.jpg?ref=withrealityinmind.com) In contrast to earlier art, in which size would represent the relative importance of the person depicted, not their distance from the observer. Below, the Madonna and child take prominence over the saints and angels attending them. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/10/Duccio_maesta1021.jpg) Maestà, 1308–1311, Duccio di Buoninsegna, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons We continue this exploration of perception and the dashboard next week. For now, I'll close with a painting from the workshop of Hieronymus Bosch, depicting a Renaissance mountebank fleecing credulous gamblers by taking advantage of our imperfect perceptual apparatus. Until next time! Amir ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/10/Hieronymus_Bosch_051.jpg) The Conjurer - Hieronymus Bosch and workshop, Public domain, via [Wikimedia Commons](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Hieronymus%5FBosch%5F051.jpg?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### The evolution of perception URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-evolution-of-perception/ Last updated: 2025-10-27T16:11:26.000Z 💡 Clocks changed in the Europe last weekend, but not the USA. So the timings of the meeting on Tues 28th Oct will be: 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / ****2-4pm EDT** "Naïve realism" is the idea that we perceive reality exactly as it is. Modern science and ancient philosophies both reject this idea. Plato likened ordinary perception to shadows on the wall of a cave. Recent neuroscience points to the inescapable fact that our experience is a best guess. A '[controlled hallucination](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyu7v7nWzfo&ref=withrealityinmind.com)' based on tenuous incoming data. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/10/image-2.png) RobinH at en.wikibooks, CC BY-SA 3.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), via Wikimedia Commons But could the very nature of perception evolve? Obviously, other species are experiencing the planet with very different senses to our own. What about our ancestors? Other cultures? Perhaps even, if we enquire with an open mind, our next-door neighbour.... In some oral traditions things aren’t fetched from a hidden storehouse so much as brought forth from potential by right relations. In Māori, for example, “Coming into the light” names a process from generative potential through to Te Ao Mārama - the world of light. Rituals reenact that movement rather than opening a warehouse of ready-made forms. Perhaps our technological metaphors for perception distort a more natural relationship with reality itself. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/10/ChatGPT-Image-Oct-27--2025--03_56_28-PM.png) Tomorrow we discuss these possibilities within the context of Bernardo Kastrup's Analytic Idealism - the philosophical position that the nature of reality is consciousness. This continues an [earlier discussion](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/) on his metaphor for perception being like an airplane cockpit dashboard. Scroll down on [this page](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/) to see the questions that were submitted on this theme, which we'll be diving into **Tues 28th October, 2025** 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / **2-4pm EDT** [The dials, the dashboard & beyondThe nature of perception and what lies beyond, Q&A with Bernardo on 14th & 28th Oct 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-49.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Universum-2.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/) I look forward to seeing you there! Amir ## Zoom link **Tues 28th October, 2026** 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / **2-4pm EDT** _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### How to propose themes for the schedule URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/whiteboardfor2026/ Last updated: 2025-10-22T16:02:59.000Z Down the bottom of this page is the link to the white board where you can read questions, 'vote' on your favorites using the 'heart' emoticon, and submit your own questions for the coming months. **Please sign into zoom when you access the whiteboard** so the post-it notes show your name. The whiteboard lets you zoom in and out, and look around. Please spend some time looking at other people's questions and 'heart' the ones you are also enthusiastic about. Try adding a question or theme near other similar ones, or create a new one! You can add to this whiteboard until 1st of Nov - ***Please sign in*** to your zoom account! Then I can track who contributed what. - **Add new questions with purple** post it notes! (I'll change ones I have read into **yellow**. ) - If I've turned a note **green**, then I've added that theme as a post on the members platform, so you can add your questions there. - If a note is **orange** it means I didn't understand it - can you make it more clear? Or it might be two questions and you'll see a comment asking if you can split it into two notes for different categories. - In future, the ones that have been discussed will be **blue**. Avoid essay length questions for now - there will be time to elaborate on everything, this is an initial brain storm so I can set up the schedule with your input. If you have a question on using this whiteboard, post your question down below in the comments so that when me or someone else answers, other people can benefit also. Below is a video on how to use the whiteboard. You can click the four arrows pointing outwards on the bottom right to enlarge the video screen: Here is the link to the [whiteboard](https://zoom.us/wb/doc/BzL4XyZxS7u3FwcAjhUcHA/p/165079353982976?ref=withrealityinmind.com)! Looking forward to reading your questions, Amir ### Have your say & "Find the Others" URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/scheduling-meeting/ Last updated: 2025-10-21T12:21:52.000Z Today, you are invited to join and meet other members of our group, and share your thoughts about what themes you would like to see explored in the coming months. We had a lot of fun doing this when we launched back in January, co-creating [this whiteboard ](https://zoom.us/wb/doc/dDLQZhspR6qe%5Ft2Trp6OiA/p/165079353982976?ref=withrealityinmind.com)that has informed the scheduling so far. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/10/image-1.png) I look forward to seeing you today, 21st Oct, at same time as each week. 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST Until then! Amir ## Zoom link: [https://zoom.us/j/93434703533?pwd=bf38pu408EYumVGEaiyUgE7ieUZyeT.1](https://zoom.us/j/93434703533?pwd=bf38pu408EYumVGEaiyUgE7ieUZyeT.1&ref=withrealityinmind.com) Meeting ID: 934 3470 3533 Passcode: 300872 ### Dashboards, dials and what lies beyond URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:15:55.000Z Recording details Date: 14 October 2025 Duration: 1h 59m Free preview Chapters *courtesy of Rita Conde* 0:00:10 Bernardo’s new vintage computers 0:02:18 Bernardo’s favorite arcade games 0:03:45 New members introduce themselves 0:04:27 “Mind at Large” translation in Dutch 0:07:00 What is agentic AI? 0:10:10 AI replacing jobs and managing resources 0:12:55 **This week’s topic: the Dashboard metaphor** 0:17:12 Evolution is oriented toward survival, not truth 0:18:30 Physical perceptions are Dashboard indications 0:22:15 **What is the airplane in the Dashboard metaphor?** 0:26:10 **Do we need all five senses to develop perception?** 0:30:00 Christopher Reeve and Helen Keller as examples of a full life despite sensory or motor limitations 0:31:31 **The Dashboard and dissociative boundaries** 0:34:27 Bodily perceptions as part of the Dashboard 0:35:10 We identify the “I” with our nervous system 0:36:00 Our body is the sum of multiple interacting mental states 0:38:24 We are like a bus full of people, and the ego is the bus driver 0:40:55 **Are hunger, cold, & pain also Dashboard representations?** 0:42:37 Some mental states are entirely endogenous 0:44:00 Differences between perceptual and endogenous states 0:45:45 Intentional content and qualia states 0:48:32 Aphantasia – the inability to dream perceptual content 0:50:40 How chess players visualize their next moves 0:51:51 Self-triggered emotions and abstract thinking 0:52:42 Bodily perceptions of a patient recovering from a stroke 0:55:37 The Dashboard *is* the perception 0:57:00 The Headless technique 0:58:38 The Dashboard as an immersive interface 0:59:44 **The Dashboard in the absence of perception** 1:02:30 The case of someone born deaf who regains hearing 1:06:20 DMT and the experience of absolute consciousness 1:07:17 **The Dashboard when we stop believing in dualism** 1:09:09 The Dashboard in other organisms 1:13:26 Differences in time perception among different organisms 1:16:00 What can happen in 300 milliseconds 1:17:10 **Do all dissociated alters have Dashboards?** 1:18:45 Recap on the Dashboard metaphor 1:19:19 **Psychedelic experiences outside the Dashboard** 1:29:35 Experiences that bypass the Dashboard 1:34:00 Becoming porous (loosening the dissociative boundaries) 1:35:05 **Structures of Mind at Large** 1:37:27 **Is Mind at Large dynamic or static?** 1:39:24 Mind at Large is outside time 1:41:00 Eternity appears to us disguised as dynamisms 1:41:34 **How Integrated Information Theory maps the noumenal** 1:44:40 Poetic imagination may pick up these subtleties better than any scientific instrument 1:45:45 Dante’s Paradiso: “The Love that moves the sun and the other stars” (L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle) 1:46:00 Classical Islamic philosophy of the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries and later Sufi metaphysics 1:47:50 **How intuition connects to the Dashboard** 1:57:50 Upcoming Essentia Foundation conference in Switzerland 1:58:00 Next session’s topics and guests Do you suspect perception isn't quite what it seems? Most people think that the sun and stars, the rivers and trees are what is 'out there.' Bernardo contends that this is impossible. His dashboard metaphor is meant to emphasise that whilst you're receiving accurate information about the world, your experience is not a direct window *onto* the world. But don't push the metaphor too far! The "dashboard" is simply the colours, sounds and sensations that represent our reality, not some separate artefact you lug around like a laptop. We are fully immersed in it, just like an iPad keyboard is not separate from its display. We also discussed the differences between outer and inner perception, how our body is the sum of multiple interacting mental states, and the many places we could draw a boundary between self and other. All life-forms must have dashboards, and Bernardo speculated on the experiences of bats and of bees, and dramatically different perceptions of time. Some organisms may have sense modalities we cannot imagine, whilst others may have less. Regardless, lacking sight, sound or touch would be no hindrance to a rich and full life. This lent insight into what it might be like to have ***no external perception*** whatsoever. Thinking that takes place without images, words, or any external reference. ### What lies beyond? Psychedelics give us good reason to think that a direct experience of Mind-at-Large is possible, despite its timeless nature. Precognition and remote viewing might be content slipping through, represented in the symbolic language of our dashboard. [Integrated Information Theory](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-iit-a-rosetta-stone-for-mind-at-large/) holds promise to map what is 'out there', but poetic imagination may capture the subtleties better than any scientific method. Dante’s insight into “the love that moves the sun and the other stars,” classical Islamic philosophy and Sufi mystics are top contenders. This is just a taste of the many avenues we explored, and there were so many other great questions in this session that we are going to continue this theme on the [28th of Oct](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/). You can review the questions and add your own comments on the event page here: [The dials, the dashboard & beyondThe nature of perception and what lies beyond, Q&A with Bernardo on 14th & 28th Oct 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-48.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Universum.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/) Enjoy the recording, and I look forward to seeing you at the members' scheduling meetup next week! Until then, Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Dr Christopher Timmermann: DMT, entities & ego death URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/christopher-timmerman-dmt-entities-pure-conscious-experience/ Last updated: 2025-11-24T22:40:54.000Z [Christopher Timmermann](https://uccr.uk/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) (Imperial’s DMT Research Group) is one of the world's leading researchers on DMT and 5-MeO-DMT. These are amongst the most powerful psychedelics, famous for catapulting people into hyper-real alternate worlds populated by seemingly autonomous beings or “pure consciousness” experiences featuring a complete loss of ego, self and time. For anyone interested in the nature of reality and mind, these experiences deserve consideration. Christopher led the first human neuroimaging studies on DMT, mapping what happens in the brain in these "more real than real” spaces. His latest work includes a study with a meditation lama comparing advanced meditation and psychedelic states. He will present new brain-imaging work, and discuss his influential research showing that ***psychedelic experiences can shift people’s most basic metaphysical beliefs away from hard physicalism.*** So I'm expecting a fascinating exchange with Bernardo Kastrup tomorrow, Tues 25th November, 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST We’ll probe how high-dose DMT and 5MeO impact our perception of mind and world, from pure awareness, to entity encounters, and how these experiences can be interpreted in the light of Bernardo's Analytic Idealism. ## Zoom room _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Wed 24th Sept: Michael Levin on the intelligence pervading life and the Platonic Realm URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/wed-24th-sept-michael-levin/ Last updated: 2025-10-13T20:23:17.000Z Rupert Sheldrake has said that Michael Levin is "**o*ne of the most creative biologists working today* *"*** and Bernardo Kastrup that he is **“*perhaps the most important person alive.***” So I'm beyond excited to have him returning for a dialogue with Bernardo, where they question and inspire each other's ideas on how intelligence and consciousness may pervade reality. Michael Levin's pioneering research has already challenged mainstream assumptions about life. His work at Harvard and Tufts University shows how even a single cell can display memory and problem-solving abilities once thought exclusive to brains. He contends that intelligence is a **fundamental property of living systems**, and that your body is a hierarchy of intelligent entities nested within each other, from your organs down to your cells, molecules and maybe even subatomic particles. Michael aims to empirically demonstrate how these systems cooperate and combine, and his experiments with flatworms and tadpoles indicate that **bioelectric fields** may play a role. These could explain how a planaria can regenerate its dissected brain and the memories of what it had learnt. Or how the cells on the back of a tadpole can be directed to spontaneously form a working eye. ### What's new? This last year, Michael Levin has become increasingly open about core philosophical ideas that drive his team's research. This includes a [platonic realm](https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/5g2xj%5Fv1?ref=withrealityinmind.com) that contains not just mathematical truths (like triangles and prime numbers), but **types of minds;** dynamic patterns which ingress into physical form and can be explored through evolution, bioengineering and maybe even AI. He has also initiated some fascinating explorations into the elusive [definition of life](https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.15849?ref=withrealityinmind.com), identifying conceptual archetypes that span a range of cross-disciplinary experts. Michael and Bernardo will update each other on their respective work, share their most recent ideas, and no doubt continue their debate as to where the boundaries of conscious entities might be. ***Spoiler alert*** \- Michael does not think there are any "boundaries" at all. We will be pressing Michael for his thoughts on: - The definition of life - How to demonstrate intelligence in systems - How the platonic realm can be harnessed and explored You can see previous dialogues we have hosted here, and the zoom link for this year's dialogue, Wednesday 24th Sept down below. I look forward to seeing you there! Amir ## Zoom room Wednesday 24th September 2025 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The dials, the dashboard & beyond URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/ Last updated: 2025-10-30T15:31:55.000Z Since ancient times, technology has provided metaphors for perception. For Zhuangzi, experience was like a dream and for Plato, dancing shadows on a wall. In Buddhism, what we see is like a reflection in a mirror in desperate need of a polish. In theatre, all the world became a stage, and with cinema, a projection on a screen. The brain has been compared to a radio receiving transmissions, and later, computer simulations. Several cultures agree; perception veils as much as it reveals. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/10/Auguste_Puttemans_Isis_2-1.jpg) Statue of [Isis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis?ref=withrealityinmind.com "w:Isis") by Auguste Puttemans (1866–1927) "I am all that has been and is and shall be; and no mortal has ever lifted my mantle." Bernardo compares our experience to an airplane dashboard. This array of monitors and dials does give real information about what is "out there." But a metric it not the experience it measures. The number indicating humidity or temperature, whilst vital for survival, is nothing like the *feeling* of being dry or moist, hot or cold. In Bernardo's model, the heavens and earth represent the subjective experience of "Mind at Large" - the part of universal consciousness that we perceive from across a dissociative boundary. The consciousness on both sides, however, is the same. The separation an illusion some traditions attempt to see through. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/10/dashboard-with-hand-1.png) I ran a quick poll on our telegram group to see which topic to discuss this week - ***Jung's Answer to Job*** and the ***Dashboard & Spirituality*** were equally on top. For Bernardo, [James Hollis](https://jameshollis.net/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) is the greatest living proponent of Jungian psychology, and we've now confirmed his as guest for December. So it makes sense to save Jungian themes for closer to that time. In this three part session, we discuss the dashboard, it's relationship to reality, spiritual practice and revelation. The recording from part 1 is here: [Recording: The dials, the dashboard & beyondThe nature of perception and what lies beyond, Q&A with Bernardo on 14th Oct 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-47.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Universum-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/) Recording from part 2 is here: [Recording: No need to transcend the human experienceRecording 28th Oct 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-51.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Hieronymus_Bosch_051-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-no-need-to-transcend/) ## Asking questions Everyone is welcome to propose [questions](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/) using the comments section [below](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-dials-the-dashboard-beyond/). Questions are selected based on **relevance** and **audience vote**. As such, make sure to write your question so that most can understand what you mean! - Give it a short CLEAR TITLE in **capital letters**. - Write an optional **short** description of what your question is about. - Share further reflections below if you want, but if selected, aim for brevity when asking to help the flow of the discussion. Also make sure to read the other questions and 'heart' the ones you are most curious about! I look forward to seeing you on my dashboard soon, With appreciation, Amir ## Zoom link Tues 4th Nov 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Dreams, horror and beauty are real URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dreams-horror-beauty-are-real/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:16:00.000Z Recording details Date: 7 October 2025 Duration: 1h 38m Free preview Chapters Courtesy of Rita Conde 0:01:00 Presenting today’s guest 0:03:40 Shiva: Universal consciousness in Classical Tantra 0:04:54 Reflexive self-awareness 0:06:37 The Creative Surge: Assuming space and time within itself 0:07:19 The World as the actualization of **Freedom** 0:08:28 The world as the orgasmic expression of the absolute 0:09:00 How Kashmiri Shaivism was marginalised in India 0:10:30 **DYNAMISM**: **Time and space** as artifacts of our cognition 0:12:20 Projections of the eternal reveal something about the eternal 0:13:52 Analytical Idealism acknowledges dynamism 0:14:46 **Time** \= Freedom in Kashmiri Shaivism 0:16:24 Different cultures on time; Advaita, Trika, etc 0:22:00 **The Western Path vs Eastern Path** 0:24:54 Dissolution vs dilution of the Ego 0:29:44 The meaning of mandalas: 0:31:04 Being awake to the absolute and completely present in the world 0:32:14 Empedocles, Spinoza, and Meister Eckhart: east or west? 0:33:00 Categories as concessions to labels 0:34:30 **Aesthetic rapture and the ultimate awakening** 0:37:00 The mirror of the manifest reflects the absolute 0:39:29 Transcending raw emotions; humour, grief, love 0:42:40 Bodily experiences are necessary for aesthetic experiences 0:44:08 Total oneness and absolute singularity 0:45:45 **Bernardo nightmare: erasing dichotomies** 0:50:00 Advaita's use of **dreams** as a metaphor to reject reality 0:51:48 There is nothing unreal: even hallucinations point to something 0:52:32 Consciousness cannot exceed itself 0:55:20 Parmenides: All experience is real vs Shankara: Only permanent is real 0:56:40 **Limits of conceptual analysis bereft of emotions** 0:57:54 Is **Evil** a Necessity? 0:59:14 Taking your ideas to their last consequences 1:00:23 Spirituality is as much hell as paradise 1:01:24 Good and evil 1:07:11 Political incidents in Nepal 1:10:00 The moral justification for evil 1:10:10 **Is reality suffering or bliss?** 1:15:20 Critique of religions as a problem-solving method 1:17:40 **Reconciling spirituality and the body** 1:24:40 **The Cosmic Itch to know itself** 1:27:00 The blessing and curse of being everything 1:29:30 If every cell is sentient, every action is murder 1:30:20 Comparison between Kaulas (“families” ) and modern corporations 1:31:10 Consciousness transcending itself Bernardo's dialogue with Sthaneshwar Timalsina was personal and revealing. It did not shy away from a deeply human response to the horror reality can contain, and how emotion doesn't always keep step with our philosophical commitments. As such, both Sthaneshwar and Bernardo revealed their personal responses to political violence and the nightmare of evil, in moments that were both vulnerable and heart opening. ### Consciousness is dynamic and understanding Time But first, they contrasted their views with strands of Advaita Vedanta that dismiss appearances in consciousness as "unreal." Although Bernardo acknowledged that change requires time and space, and that these are artifacts of our cognition, that doesn't mean that what is projected in time and space isn't saying something true about that which is projecting. There is something in eternity that corresponds to the notion of structure, change and purpose. For them both, consciousness is inherently dynamic. ### East vs West and the Reality of Reality I especially liked how Sthaneshwar pointed out the limitations of 'bottom up' philosophy. When you start with the fragmented perception of the senses, in the hands of great philosophers like Nāgārjuna the inevitable conclusion is that everything is dependent on everything else, and therefore 'empty'. But he hints at another perspective: taking the absolute or the 'whole' as the starting point, and seeing time, space and dynamism as expressions of its freedom and power. They compared Western and Eastern perspectives - blurring the lines whilst acknowledging distinct trends. Sthaneshwar pointed out how in Trika philosophy, the awakened one realises the absolute, whilst totally awaken and alive to all their senses - eyes flaming and wide open, known as *Bhairava*. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/10/image.png) [Head of Bhairava](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Head%5Fof%5FBhairava%5F-%5FMET%5FDP307219.jpg?ref=withrealityinmind.com) \- Nepal, Kathmandu Valley, 16th Century ### **Beauty, rapture and transcending emotion** He spoke movingly about how our raw emotions, love, humour, grief and compassion, can connect us to the absolute. > "When there is the self-experience of Shiva, (consciousness) he cannot transcend his subjectivity beyond Shakti. Shakti's self experience is Shiva. They interpenetrate to the extreme that in their love they are absolutely merged within each other." In this way, the pure raw emotion of grief, love or even anger can be transformed into aesthetic experience. If we are deprived of worldly experiences we cannot have aesthetic experience, and the emotions become conduits to the ultimate. This is the gift of the body. ### The Reality of Dreams (& Nightmares) Advaita and Buddhism often used dreams as a teaching device, pointing to the unreality of everything we experience. In a dream we feel hunger, pain, fear, love. We experience colours, shapes, sounds and smells. When we wake we can see it was all just imagined - not real. So consider all of reality the same. In contrast, Trika philosophy takes all experience, including dreams, to contain their own reality. There is a reason people in the West see aliens and people in Nepal and India see ghosts. These visions say something real about the consciousness experiencing them. They have causal power, influencing our decisions and perspectives. ### The problem of religion the last 3000 years Sthaneshwar shared a critique of the last few millennia of religion, and their sales pitch to relieve suffering, indicating there is something wrong with reality and spirituality is the cure. In contrast, the Trika perspective is that the world is not a problem, and philosophies are not the solution. The anticipation of eternity and absolute freedom within the finite is an over-reach of the spiritual industry. The problem-solving factory simply creates more problems. In contrast, realisation would be preferable - correcting misconceptions, and even deconditioning. As such, the body, as well as sensual pleasures are reconciled with the absolute. Equally, in Bernardo's model in which the Body is the appearance of mental activity, there is no issue with enjoying good food, sexuality, the pleasure of swimming... ### And more Much more was discussed, in the poetic and energetic way both these speakers share. I hope you enjoy, and I look forward to any thoughts shared in the comments below :) Amir ## Video #1 Intro to Kashmiri Shaivism The first 20 minutes we had Sthaneshwar give some conceptual and historical overview of Kashmiri Shaivism, or Trika philosophy: Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/07/timalsina-1.jpg) Dr Sthaneshwar Timalsina Dr. Sthaneshwar Timalsina received academic and philological training from Mahendra Sanskrit University in Kathmandu, Sampurnananda Sanskrit University in Varanasi, and Martin Luther University in Germany, where he acquired his Ph.D. in Classical Indian Philosophy. While working on his dissertation, Dr. Timalsina taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Washington University in St. Louis, before attaining the rank of Professor at San Diego State University in 2005 and Chaired Professor at Stony Brook University in 2023\. Dr. Timalsina specializes in the areas of Hindu Studies and comparative philosophies and religions. As a traditionally trained and authorized lineage-holder within the Sarvāmnāya Order, he is dedicated to the goal of preserving the traditions he inherited in a modern, institutionalized way, including by founding the Department of Tantric Studies at Nepal Sanskrit University in Kathmandu and establishing the [Vimarsha Foundation](https://www.vimarshafoundation.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) in 2019, which provides a global forum for the study and practice of classical tantra. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Paying attention to life URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-paying-attention/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:16:07.000Z Recording details Date: 30 September 2025 Duration: 2h 1m Free preview Chapters Courtesy of Rita Conde 0:00:43 Upcoming Essentia Foundation conference in Switzerland 0:05:00 This week’s topics; poll to vote on the most pressing questions 0:06:46 Guidance on how to submit questions 0:07:34 Trauma appears to be less frequent in communal environments 0:09:28 *Coniunctio oppositorum* in Jung 0:09:45 What is **individuation**? 0:10:10 A path of higher vulnerability 0:12:40 Those exposed to stress help the group advance 0:13:50 Trauma can sometimes lead to some form of good 0:15:52 We need a narrative 0:16:25 What the Daimon wills 0:17:00 **Suffering and trauma as tools of nature** 0:18:18 Paying your dues to the impersonal 0:18:40 Sacrifice grows from inner awareness 0:20:50 Final Participation and the Second Coming of Christ 0:21:59 **Intuition and instinct** 0:23:54 Comments on the book *Saving the Appearances* by **Owen Barfield** 0:24:40 We are emotional aliens 0:25:45 The Daimon: archetypal will that drives us and the world 0:26:16 A deeper me is out there 0:26:36 The historical figure of **Jesus Christ** 0:28:00 Maximum individuation is maximum depersonalization 0:28:42 What is the Final Participation? 0:29:02 The collapse of opposites 0:29:43 The language of early human beings 0:31:38 Reading an interiority 0:32:42 The power of symbolic evocation of appearances 0:35:04 Dancing with appearances resonates more with the Western path 0:36:36 Are we on the verge of a new science? 0:40:10 **Soul and spirit in Jungian psychology** 0:45:03 We got lost in **abstraction** to the detriment of soul 0:46:43 The union of opposites 0:48:48 Owen Barfield’s publisher 0:50:40 Bernardo’s view on *The Ever-Present Origin* by Jean Gebser 0:53:15 Perspectival, multi-perspectival, and a-perspectival states of consciousness 0:57:03 Opening to the Daimon is opening to **the a-perspectival view** 1:00:00 Daimonic life is living from the perspective of eternity 1:01:46 Faith as openness to what the intellect cannot apprehend 1:02:27 The Daimon doesn’t explain itself 1:04:08 Meeting the Daimon without expecting it 1:04:34 **Paying attention to life** 1:11:11 Life will always self-organize 1:13:10 **Art, a path to self-discovery** and the mystery of being? 1:16:10 Jung’s *Red Book* 1:20:00 Art as the ultimate purpose: to confront oneself 1:21:21 Does Bernardo have road rage? 1:22:14 A supernova: destroyer of stars, yet beautiful 1:23:03 Subjectivity cannot know itself 1:23:40 Mathematics can never be complete 1:24:48 **Life is the mirror** 1:26:26 *Lapis Philosophorum*, or the thing we need the most at every second of our life 1:27:00 The abysmal secret terror 1:29:36 If AI is a mechanism and conscious, then we must also be mechanisms 1:31:26 The compelling desire to turn humans into mechanisms 1:32:50 The endless depth going down, the endless pull going up 1:33:50 If you acknowledge God, you must acknowledge the Devil 1:34:40 Patterns of addictive culture 1:36:05 The monster lives within 1:36:52 Can AI become conscious? On **Singularitarianism and transhumanism** 1:43:40 Everything is in consciousness, but not everything is conscious 1:45:22 The creation of artificial life 1:46:25 The religion of AI 1:48:28 The religious impulse 1:53:20 Insidious cults that bypass our intellectual defenses 1:54:23 Creating a good God 1:55:40 Closing the session 1:57:00 Next week’s topic 1:58:11 Bernardo’s remarks on classic Islamic philosophy of imagination Have you ever wondered what Bernardo really means when he speaks of the importance of paying attention to life? Well, in this session he comes clean! (About half-way through.) Elsewhere, our conversation ranged from the role of trauma in the Western Path to the role of art in life. For example, we discussed: **Intuition vs instinct** and how maximal individuation, living as the truest expression of your nature, results in maximal depersonalisation. Just one of many examples of the **collapse of the opposites** on the Western Path, and other ideas from [Owen Barfield](https://youtu.be/oedVDN1xOWM?si=v5MvnUddrEvKiwMp&ref=withrealityinmind.com), one of Bernardo's 10 most [recommended authors. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5o3NWxksv0&t=1s&ref=withrealityinmind.com) Whilst the ability to discern patterns in nature is a spiritual gift, our culture can get lost in such abstractions to the point that we call information a thing. Information can only ever be a description of the states of things. **Going too far in the direction of abstraction** is to the detriment of soul, of the feminine, the touchable sense of reality, and we need both soul and spirit. How **faith is not belief -** faith is an openness to that which we cannot understand, and [**singletarianism** ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularitarianism?ref=withrealityinmind.com)**and transhumanism** reflect the religious impulse natural to humanity, but distorted by materialism. **We discussed the ultimate purpose of art and of life.** No matter how imaginative and fictitious your creation might be, your art reveals something about you. It exposes you, to yourself as does the way you live. So whilst art may be therapeutic, the expressive self-discovery of life is not a means to an end. Rather, everything else is a means to art. I hope you find this inspiring, and I look forward to seeing you next week! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Today - Creativity & the Western Path Q&A continued URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/creativity-the-western-path-q-a-continued/ Last updated: 2025-09-30T15:09:08.000Z This month, we had so many amazing questions left over from two previous, [The Western Path](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-western-path/) and [Creativity and Expression](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/16th-sept-creativity-expression-art/), that we are dedicating this session to those. Themes submitted include: - Ancient paths or new? - The role of trauma and individuality in the Western Path - Art and creativity as a path to self knowledge and mystery You can view and comment on the questions at the bottom of those linked pages, and find the zoom link below. Priority will be given to questions left over from those dates. See you there! Amir [The Western PathThe rich symbolism of reality -- Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup 9th Sep 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-27.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Amphitheatrum_sapientiae_aeternae_-_The_hermaphrodite.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-western-path/) [16th Sept - Creativity, Expression & Art“What we call imagination is actually a universal library of what’s real. You couldn’t imagine it if it weren’t real, somewhere, sometime.” - Terrence McKenna When we started this group, I expected mainly engineers, scientists and philosophers. To both Bernardo’s surprise and mine, many of you are![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-28.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/leftpage-3.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/16th-sept-creativity-expression-art/) ### Zoom room, Tues 30th Sept 2025 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Michael Levin and Bernardo Kastrup in conversation URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-michael-levin-life/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:24:16.000Z Recording details Date: 24 September 2025 Duration: 1h 54m Free preview Chapters 0:00 Greetings 4:00 Michael’s new work: cell age reversal 9:42 Cells that can hear => Composite beings 11:40 Chemistry that can learn 14:40 Bernardo’s update: AI company 18:00 A cure for cancer in our time 22:30 Addressing the root causes of disease 30:00 The puzzling power of placebo 32:00 “Hey liver!” technologies to speak with your body **The main debate: Boundaries of agency and life** 35:00 Summary of previous dialogues 39:40 Michael clarifies ‘**Platonic realm**’ and on duality 43:00 Life vs complexes = enforced vs spontaneous boundary \= Markov blanket vs Integrated Information 49:35 **Definitions of life; against material chauvinism** 51:00 The magic is everywhere. 57:27 Debating the boundary between subjectivities Can they be nested? 1:00:03 Metrics for discerning selves: **Structure or Behaviour?** Can Phi levels be compared? 1:04:00 Comparing electrical signals 1:05:00 Anatomy plays a role 1:13:00 Role of microtubules 1:14:50 Ego/brain chauvinism - could other organs have **language**? In analogue computers? 1:19:00 **Mind Blindness** \- we haven’t evolved to recognise other minds 1:22:00 **Ethics: AI and augmented humans** Nature is continuous, not digital. We make computers artificially determined. 1:32:00 Suffering depends on separation. So **where is the boundary?** 1:36:20 We are all already augmented humans 1:42:00 The Platonic minds ingress in the empty spaces 1:46:00 The ethical and practical importance of recognising 1:49:40 Its an empirical question to be tested. 1:51:00 Emphasis on behaviour because we don’t understand structure The intellectual sparring between Michael Levin and Bernardo Kastrup is exhilarating. Consciousness debates are often binary: mind vs matter. Instead, these brilliant thinkers are agreed on an idealist premise, but differ on the implications. As Ahmed said in the chat, this felt ***like being on a call with Charles Darwin and David Hume***. A total privilege! Below is my summary of the conversation, which might help anyone newer to this theme, and of course, the recording. Highlights included: - Age is but an expectation - A **cure for cancer** in our lifetime - Psychology - the root cause of disease? - “Hey liver, why do I feel like crap today?” - The **boundaries of conscious agents** - Does matter have **free will?** - Exploring the platonic space - **The magic is everywhere** ## About Michael Levin Rupert Sheldrake has said that Michael Levin is "**o*ne of the most creative biologists working today* *"*** and Bernardo Kastrup that he is **“*perhaps the most important person alive.***” Michael Levin's pioneering research has already challenged mainstream assumptions about life. His work at Harvard and Tufts University shows how even a single cell can display memory and problem-solving abilities once thought exclusive to brains. He contends that intelligence is a **fundamental property of living systems**, and that your body is a hierarchy of intelligent entities nested within one another, from your organs down to your cells, molecules and maybe even subatomic particles. Michael aims to empirically demonstrate how these systems cooperate and combine, and his experiments with flatworms and tadpoles indicate that **bioelectric fields** may play a role. These could explain how dissected planaria can regenerate not only their brains, but even memories. Or how the cells on the back of a tadpole can be directed to spontaneously form a working eye. ### **Previously, on “Michael and Bernardo figure out life…”** Michael and Bernardo have long agreed that reality is most likely one "field of subjectivity." Bernardo believes this universal mind has an instinctive drive to know itself. A "cosmic itch" for self-knowledge expressed by manifesting its potentials and experiencing them from different points of view. One mind dissociated into multiple vantage points including you and me. This resonates with Michael's core philosophical ideas driving his research. A "[Platonic realm](https://thoughtforms.life/platonic-space-where-cognitive-and-morphological-patterns-come-from-besides-genetics-and-environment/?ref=withrealityinmind.com)" containing not just mathematical truths like triangles and prime numbers, but **types of minds;** dynamic patterns which ingress into physical form. Evolution could be expressing this latent space through multitude life forms, and now we could consciously join the exploration through bioengineering and maybe AI. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/image-4.png) From by by Jeremy Guay of [Peregrine Creative](https://peregrinecr.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Full article [here](https://thoughtforms.life/platonic-space-where-cognitive-and-morphological-patterns-come-from-besides-genetics-and-environment/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### **The main debate: The boundaries of agency and life** Bernardo and Michael differ, however, on where the boundaries of subjective vantage points might be. For Michael, conscious agents are nested within each other. Particles, atoms, cells and organs all maintaining subjective perspectives whilst scaling up into higher-order selves like you and me. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/image-5.png) Figure from Levin, M. (2022) [Cognition all the way down](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/systems-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2022.768201/full?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 16:768201\. CC-BY 4.0. ### **No nesting here, please** In contrast, for Bernardo, a “smaller” perspective can’t exist within a larger one; it would get automatically subsumed into one integrated perspective. According to Integrated Information Theory (IIT), a system is defined by all of the parts having an influence on all the other parts. There might be semi-autonomous mental complexes in our bodies and brains seperate to egoic consciousness, but not nested. If integrated, they are not lost, but are subsumed. ### How special is life? Additionally, whilst a body might contain spontaneous dissociations that come and go, for Bernardo life is special kind of dissociation; It is ***actively enforced*.** We could have mental complexes forming and dissolving all the time. But life strives to maintain its pattern through metabolism and resistance to entropy. A boundary within which it models itself and its environment to ensure it can survive. He hopes that one day, the "Markov Blanket" boundary idea will be incorporated into IIT. (Although funding for theoretical models is sparse.) So whilst every living being is a single alter, so too is "Mind at Large." The universe observed by living is itself a single being, and the atoms, rocks, and galaxies are its parts, not independent agents like us. ### Against material chauvinism For Michael, its not that simple; the presence of life is not binary, its a continuum. Even particles may have tiny cognitive "light cones" - his term for the spatial and temporal field of awareness and concern that an agent has on its environment. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/image-2.png) Figure from Levin, M. (2019) The computational boundary of a “self”: developmental bioelectricity drives multicellularity and scale-free cognition, [Frontiers in Psychology](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-michael-levin-life/), 10:2688, CC-BY 4.0.. He rejects any definition of life that relies on squishy soft stuff or brains. This “material chauvinism” is rooted in unexamined assumptions that other living things should look and behave like us. For him, ***reality is a spectrum of cognition.*** What we happen to call “life” are those things that are good at scaling their parts to enable perspectives and capacities that none of the parts have alone. So good that even dumb humans can recognise it. Mind is everywhere. "Life" is just a matter of perspective, and we tend to prioritise the perspectives that look a lot like our own. ### **Does matter have free will?** If someone says a human has free will, they don’t mean the freedom to fly or to morph into different physical shapes. Unlike superheroes, humans are constrained by physical and chemical laws; You jump up, you come down. But within these constraints unpredictable behaviour can emerge. Physical laws do not predict whether I eat pasta or pizza for dinner. "Free will" then, is the behaviour we do *despite* what is determined by physics and chemistry. It is a given in biology that you can get more out of a system than you put in. A dog can learn tricks and follow goals. But this idea is rarely or never applied to other systems. ### **The magic is everywhere.** Michael believes his experiments demonstrate that physical stuff, including algorithms, display exactly this kind of surprising and unpredictable behaviour, even within the constraints of highly simple and supposedly deterministic systems. “As far as I can tell, everyone gets the magic.. Different degrees, different kinds. But the ingressions from this latent space seeps into everything.” Not because of your algorithm, but despite your algorithm. Remember, all we are seeing is the ‘front end.’ The display, the interface. The latent Platonic space where the consciousness really is. ### **But where are the boundaries?** The differences between Bernardo and Michael emerges when trying to determine if the boundaries of a given subjectivity are co-extensive with the physical boundaries of a thing. For Michael, it could simply be the case that we don’t have the tools or the insight to recognise minds embodied in unusual substrates. We don’t speak ‘liver’ or ‘neuron’ or 'particle'. We don’t know how to ask them. Instead, he proposes empirical devices to spot intelligent, goal directed behaviour that would suggest intentionality and creativity, keeping an open mind as to what is the front end for a conscious agent and what isn't. ### **Unconscious to whom?** We speak of the subconscious, experiences that seem to get processed by our bodies and brains, but of which we remain unaware. "But unconscious to whom!?!" asks Michael. “Nobody asked all the other components. How do you know that there wasn’t some component that did have an experience of this?” With this, Bernardo completely agrees. “It's perfectly possible to have a conscious experience and not be able to verbalise it.” ### **“Hey liver, why do I feel like crap today?”** Michael’s team is working on technologies to translate between biological models. Someday, Michael anticipates a way to communicate with organs, translating their goals and needs into speech we can understand. Instead of “Hey Siri, what is the weather?” it will be as common to say “Hey liver! why do I feel crap today?” Then, after liaising with your fridge, it will remind you of the junk you’ve been eating and the precise nutrients it is missing. If you thought the world is getting weird, just wait! ### **Structure vs Behaviour** Their disagreement is based partly on preferred methodology for discerning the boundaries of an agent. In IIT, one looks to what extent a system integrates its information. Are all the parts of the systems affecting each other in ways that each part influences all the others in a way that makes a real difference? Given that even quantum levels play role, this would be computationally impossible to calculate. But we can make an estimate based on how integrated the *structure* of a system is. Are there as many parts that appear to feedforward as well as feedback? Is it built so each part can affect all the others? IIT won a recent competition between competing theories of consciousness based on this premise. They successfully predicting that the part of the brain most anatomically interconnected would be the part most responsible for consciousness. ### **Against Brain Chauvinism** But Michael is suspicious of doing estimates based on structural connections. We just don't know enough yet about how the structure of life works, and what structures correlate with what capabilities. So instead, he looks for estimates in other metrics like electrical signaling. His challenge to IIT is, what will you say if we find more integrated electrical signaling in the liver versus the brain? The number of different states any single cell can adopt is enormous, and leaning on observable states versus physical connections seems more legitimate to him. “It is crazy in there, the kinds of things you see, they look totally as complex as what you see when you see the kind of calcium waves you get in the brain. Slower, normally minutes, not milliseconds… but they are extremely rich, and there is a lot going on.” He believes if we made videos of electrical signalling in the brain versus tissue, and tweaked them so they were playing at the same rate, he doesn’t think most observers could distinguish between brain and some other tissue. Thanks to upcoming experiments, he promises good evidence either way within a couple of months. ### **Against mind blindness** A single cell has 20 thousand different dimensions in which to make choices about which genes to express. What would a mind be like that can navigate 20 thousand dimensions? Not *options*, but the *dimensions* in which options exist. For example, we can move in 3 spatial dimensions: forward and back, up and down, left and right. From this perspective, its hard to say that our problems are more sophisticated than what a cell has to navigate. On the implications, Bernardo and Michael agree: There is an imminent intelligence to reality. Michael contends his team are finding it in extremely minimal systems. Tools that recognize which interface has which magic, including: - Problem solving competencies - Delayed gratification - Self-modeling - Modeling neighbours and environment - Surprise minimisation Abilities that would be instantly recognised to any behavioural scientist as a significant mind. It's the magic, the surprises that persist despite the limitations we impose on nature. ### **The Platonic space that rules it all** Michael clarifies, his stories of nested minds combining in higher order competencies is just a story we tell about “the interface.” (Similar to what Bernardo calls the dashboard.) The important patterns that animate these are in the Platonic space. They look for opportunities to ingress into the spaces made available by new structures. The degrees of freedom that a physical object allows, everything that isn’t forced by chance or necessity, is filled up with patterns from the space. Some will be very low agency things, and some very significant. Not just complexity, but competencies, again, that any behavioural scientists would recognise. ### **The ethical implications** Bernardo agrees the magic pervades all existence. But suffering is rooted in apparent separation. If I am the whole universe, I don’t suffer when a part undergoes change. I suffer when I am that part, separated from the rest. So we returned to the crucial question: Does the boundary of subjectivity correlate with the material boundary of the thing we are giving a name to, like ‘a computer’. Is the subjectivity we intuit is there coextensive with the physical boundaries? Is there something it is like to be the computer which is separate to the environment it is in? Does the computer represent a dissociated consciousness, or just a part of a larger consciousness Bernardo calls 'Mind at Large'. ### **Augmented humans and AI** Michael and Bernardo agree: The fact that we’ve forced computers to look like they’re talking has nothing to do with it. This isn't evidence of consciousness, but rather of applied deterministic laws. Computational models are decent for modeling the front end, and are designed to be deterministic. But the consciousness is not in the interface. Bernardo is concerned that we will waste resources if we start to project consciousness and care onto computers that have no more mental life than a rock. Michael meanwhile is highly concerned about upcoming "proof of humanity" certificates. He’s all too aware of our tendency to create in and out groups of humans, and the cruelty that ensues. Whilst we are already augmented with glasses and cars and boiled water, in the near future augmentation will take on a whole new dimension which we need to contend with and understand. ### **The magic is everywhere… but how?** Michael ended by emphasising that for him these are **empirical questions**. Some people say nothing has mind. Some people say everything does. He says, why don’t we test it? Check if it can learn, habituate, solve problems. This is a two-way IQ test. Even a brain is a just a paperweight unless you know what experiments to run. He suggests a research programme based on the same behavioural science which people use with animals. Questions you ask to determine its competencies. Then use that exact same method for other unusual systems and substrates. There was resounding agreement: the magic is everywhere. But ***which*** magic ***where?*** For that we need to get off the arm-chair and do experiments! We all still had so many questions at the end, so I'm happy to say **Michael has agreed to return** for part of the 21st of October for Q&A. I'm glad you could join us, with so much appreciation! Amir ### **Links mentioned in the talk and chat:** [Learning strengthens emergent nature of collective intelligence](https://thoughtforms.life/learning-to-be-how-learning-strengthens-the-emergent-nature-of-collective-intelligence-in-a-minimal-agent/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [https://www.fredchanglab.ucsf.edu/cell-size-regulation](https://www.fredchanglab.ucsf.edu/cell-size-regulation?ref=withrealityinmind.com) https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262039307/the-evolution-of-the-sensitive-soul ## Previous dialogues Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Michael-Levin-profile.webp) Michael Levin ***"One of the most creative biologists working today" - Rupert Sheldrake** ***“Perhaps the most important person alive” - Bernardo Kastrup** Michael Levin is a Distinguished Professor in the Biology department at [Tufts](https://drmichaellevin.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), holds the Vannevar Bush endowed Chair, and serves as director of the [Allen Discovery Center at Tufts](https://allencenter.tufts.edu/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). He is also an associate member of the [Wyss Institute at Harvard](https://wyss.harvard.edu/team/associate-faculty/michael-levin-ph-d/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). His group works at the intersection of developmental biology, artificial life, bioengineering, synthetic morphology, and cognitive science. Seeking general principles of life-as-it-can-be, they use a wide range of natural animal models and also create novel synthetic and chimeric life forms. Their goal is to develop conceptual frameworks and practical tools that help detect, understand, predict, and communicate with truly diverse intelligences, including cells, tissues, organs, synthetic living constructs, robots, and software-based AIs. His mission is to develop fundamental understanding of how minds of all kinds arise, scale, persist, and change, and to use that knowledge to benefit the embodied experience of sentient beings, through biomedicine and beyond. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Art & Creativity: Emptiness Dancing URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/art-creativity-emptiness-dancing/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:24:21.000Z Recording details Date: 16 September 2025 Duration: 2h 26m Free preview Chapters 0:00:20 Today’s theme 0:01:20 Euclyd’s out of stealth mode 0:03:50 This week’s announcements 0:05:50 This week’s themes 0:08:00 New member introductions: Art and AI 0:24:24 Upcoming meetup in London 0:25:25 Jung: levels of consciousness in the acting profession 0:27:50 **Life as a theater** 0:29:00 Something deep inside agreed to be here 0:31:00 Holding all perspectives at once cannot last for too long 0:31:51 **Art: Reflecting the pregnant inner space** 0:35:40 Everything is an excitation of subjectivity 0:39:18 Language and space as part of the Dashboard 0:40:00 Absolute nothingness is inconceivable 0:40:50 Empty space as the primordial state prior to excitation 0:41:00 Art is the birthing out of the nothingness within 0:42:22 Creation is the artistic impulse at the Cosmic level 0:42:42 **Who is the author?** 0:44:07 Unveiling the invisible 0:45:05 Bernardo claims he never wrote a book 0:46:20 Consciousness can only exist in agency 0:48:22 **Reasons to personify the impersonal** **We've been indoctrinated to believe consciousness must be personal** 0:49:40 Artistic expression has no individual source; the source is the entirety of Nature 0:54:54 Patterns of excitation: creation as birthing life from empty space 0:59:22 Subjectivity as a field 1:01:20 Everything and Emptiness are the same 1:02:00 Emptiness dancing 1:03:40 Why is there something? 1:04:39 **Emptiness is not sufficient or comfortable** 1:06:40 Is there contentment in Nirvana? 1:09:30 The archetype of discomfort 1:10:00 Art as a mirror where we can gaze into inner potentiality 1:12:00 The "it" wants to infer its own characteristics 1:12:45 The irresistible desire to figure out what it needs 1:14:00 Art as the most fundamental form of expression 1:14:40 **All existence is a form of art** 1:16:50 Can AI do art? 1:18:53 Why do birds sing? 1:19:37 Nature painted the birds and the stars 1:21:00 The aura of the work of art (Walter Benjamin) 1:23:00 What is “it”? 1:25:55 What is self-awareness? 1:29:44 What is the Impersonal? 1:36:53 Display of art by With Reality in Mind community members 1:40:02 AI is the ultimate tool, not a creature 1:43:00 **The Daimon and the ego** 1:43:40 More art from community members 1:44:30 Bernardo claims he never made philosophy 1:45:28 **Humans the most expensive tools of Nature** 1:46:50 Honoring our role as tools of Nature 1:49:19 A new phase in Bernardo’s life 1:52:55 Finding balance 1:56:28 Glenn Gould's method (the pianist) 1:57:44 Success is not a measure: Nietzsche and Van Gogh 2:03:23 **How to remain pure to the initial intent** 2:06:40 What will we do with the success we achieve 2:08:00 Next week’s guest: Michael Levin 2:08:50 AI’s capabilities and dangers 2:11:00 The encounter with the Other under psychedelics 2:15:10 The figure of the Other in Bernardo’s life 2:16:29 Every creative action has its own time 2:20:30 Bernardo’s poem 2:25:00 Closing the session Johann Sebastian Bach would would famously sign his manuscripts 'to God alone the glory,' perhaps echoing the sentiments of many of you artists who felt their best work occurred when their ego was most absent. So who then is the author? What is the ego's role? How can we stay pure to its original intent? Despite Bernardo doubting whether he would have much to contribute to this subject, I believe his reflections could offer much inspiration and guidance to anyone in the creative act, and I've paraphrased some highlights below. Also included are more **member's art**, some important announcements, (next week's **London meetup**, and online together **Wed instead of Tues** with Michael Levin,) and of course, timestamps, transcripts and recordings. **Who is the author?** Anyone in creative flow will notice that this force has its own dynamic and simmers with its own energy. Because we’ve been culturally indoctrinated to think that only individuals can be conscious, it’s confusing to us when creativity seems to come from elsewhere. Although the way nature expresses through each of us is unique, Bernardo doesn't believe this means it is personal. He explicitly defines the daimon as the impersonal. Like a volcano or storm, it may have distinctive characteristics, but no owner or individual agency. Opening up to this force can be overwhelming. We may lose our bearings and moral ground in the face of it's scope and power. So although not metaphysically accurate, Jung advised us to personalise the movements of the impersonal, give it a name that allows for a conscious relationship, weather that name be the daimon, the siren, or the muse. **Art is a pure expression of the dance of creation** Whilst meditators may claim states of emptiness to be peaceful, Bernardo believes the primordial state of emptiness is not one of sufficiency. The peace experienced is simply a result of the stark contrast with neurosis of normal life. But deep within even the most silent subsided substrate there is a drive to self-knowledge. Subjectivity can only be known in its activity, and so emptiness needs to dance. Artistic expression echoes this universal drive - a journey towards self knowledge by expressing what is within, without, so it can be perceived from without. In essence **all of existence is a form of art**. This gets lost in utilitarian outlooks, an obsession with everything needing a purpose. But we can never pursue that line of enquiry to it's ultimate conclusion, it ends in infinite regress. So what then is art for? It is it’s own object - it is the end of the road. It doesn’t need to be for the next thing. It is done for its own sake, to be discovered for what it is. **Will AI ever replace artists?** For Bernardo, AI may become one of the most important tools of future artists, but AI will never do art, only recycle it. If there was no initial picture it could not create one. It might simulate and stimulate creativity by finding new associations impossible for a human mind. But these are merely links between human created training sets. Without this, AI does nothing. Bernardo emphasised - not ‘little’. But Nothing - zero. Fundamentally, and with no way beyond this. But true creative expression? Even animals do it. Bernardo believes in evolution, but not to the point where every behaviour is reduced to a mating or survival mechanism. The bird song can be an act of pure creative expression. The paradox is, that emptiness has attributes. The proof is that it expresses itself in a given way. Whilst self-awareness is not inherent to consciousness, the inclination towards self-awareness is. **How do we collaborate with the creative muse?** Some people believe the ego must be destroyed in the act of creativity. But you are the most expensive tool in the workshop. Only a tool, but a tool nonetheless, built with purpose, and one that took several billion years for the universe to create. So how to best be that tool? To honour the ego? To leverage being self aware? It means to learn techniques. To apply what we know. Redo. Re-find. Be critical. Express ourselves as egos - nobody stands to gain if we just dissolve into a mush. Bernardo reflected on how finding the balance between ego and daimon is hardly ever obvious. Examples such as Nietzsche and Van Gogh demonstrate you **can not calibrate your compass to success -** the daimonic perspective is from eternity. In his own field of AI, writhe with irrational valuations and vast financial implications Bernardo weekly returns to the question, "am I succumbing to temptations I thought I had overcome? Am I still being honest to the daimon?" It turns out Bernardo doesn't have a clear answer to this one. To me at least, it seems he is at least asking the right questions. **Also discussed in this meeting:** - The theatre of life - Subjectivity is only recognised in its activity - The pregnant nothingness - emptiness dancing - Reasons to personify the impersonal - **The primordial state of nothing is not a state of sufficiency - rather, a primordial lack** - **AI** does do art, it recycles it. - Animals engaged in natural art - What is impersonal? - The collaboration between ego and daimon - How to stay to pure and engaged - Why we should not calibrate our compass to success ## Announcements ### Members' In-person Meetup - London Tues 23rd Sept Venue to be confirmed. Join this telegram subgroup to express interest and hear more! [https://t.me/c/1850749606/7473/7474](https://t.me/c/1850749606/7473/7474?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Bernardo and Swami Sarvapriyananda in Amsterdam this Sunday All the details can be found at this link: [Swami Sarvapriyananda en Bernardo Kastrup - Uitgeverij SamsaraNon-Dualiteit - Psychologie - Kunst - Gezondheid![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/samsara_favicon_2017.png)Uitgeverij Samsara![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Samsara-Website-logo-1.png)](https://www.samsarabooks.com/swami-sarvapriyananda-en-bernardo-kastrup/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Meeting next week with Michael Levin is Wed, not Thurs [Wed 24th Sept: Michael Levin - On Intelligence, Life and the Platonic RealmWeekly online meetings, special events, video archive and a dynamic community of scientists, philosophers, meditators and mystics![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-26.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/michael-bernardo.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/wed-24th-sept-michael-levin-on-intelligence-life-and-platonic-realms/) ## Idealist Art from the Community ### Bernardo's poem Music copyright (C) 2014 by Jojobo Music, used with permission. Helices is the band behind it: http://www.helicesmusic.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Helices/241531349263627\. Download the music at http://helices.aurovine.com/. Text copyright (C) 2014 by Bernardo Kastrup (http://www.iff-books.com/authors/bernardo-kastrup). All rights reserved. The full text is available here: http://www.bernardokastrup.com/2014/12/confessions-of-truth-seeker.html. ### Dana Lomas Even as an innate Nature-given talent for drawing may have atrophied, perhaps it just transmuted into a love of [photography](https://adobe.ly/3VeR101?ref=withrealityinmind.com)... [Seasons of dream and desire![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-9.ico)Dana Lomas![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Poem-pic.JPG)](https://seasonsofdreamanddesire.blogspot.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/birds--dana-lomas.jpg) ### Santiago Lafee This was a photographed captured on film during a music video in Arizona years ago — completely raw, with 0% editing or digital touch. For me, it reflects the unconscious as a kind of lucid, glimmering reality that always lies beneath our archetypal “hero” selves — quietly vibrating underneath our perception. Moving as a natural force in life, connecting all who share consciousness, guiding us toward our truths in and out of space and time. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/unnamed.jpg) ****“Chromatic Unconscious” — featuring Ricky Montaner** ### [Fella Cederbaum](https://mahnodahno.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) So many of my films and poems are about this subject matter - specifically the 3 short films The Orchid And The Daisy, Truth, [Destiny ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A38EUygRcmo&ref=withrealityinmind.com)(all between 3 - 6 minutes) - all featuring my 2 alter-egos - all exactly on target. ### Elias Pratt After I was initially exposed to the concept of the daimon by listening to Bernardo, I found “The Soul’s Code” by James Hillman, and I wrote this piano piece while reading that book. The piano piece reflects my desire to heed the call of the daimon in pursuing a more creative life. While I’ve been playing piano for years, this is the first time I’ve tried recording and releasing any of my compositions. It was a great learning experience, and I hope to continue to compose and release more music. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Art from our members - inspired by idealism URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/art-from-our-members-inspired-by-idealism/ Last updated: 2025-09-17T09:38:26.000Z Last week I invited members who have created work inspired by themes from our meetings to share. Two artists were included in [the message sent last week](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/16th-sept-creativity-expression-art/) and I am delighted to share 6 more below, including: - Martin Steuck - Jed Moffitt - Joanna E. Kabala - Jasper van Aarle - Misty Nahuel - Edie Pijpers - Carrie Teutenberg I hope you enjoy them as much as I did, and I look forward to talking about this subject with you and Bernardo later today! ## [Martin Steuck](https://wormhook.bandcamp.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Below you will find a couple of examples of drawings that I did using a new technique that I intuited or that came to me last year at a similar time that I become interested in and started to follow Bernardo's work more closely. One doesn’t need to know how to draw at all to work in this way and the results are very beautiful and possibly powerful, transformative. It consists of three rules: (one can create ones owns rules, but I'd limit it to 3) Mine are: Lines, dots, space You relax your arm and allow it to become a seismograph, allowing the body to respond and tune into to the undercurrent rhythmic flows that govern us deep down, then automatically move across the page, filling the page in a “random” automatic combination of these three rules, lines, dots, spaces, Making sure that none of the lines touch each other. Ones attention is in service to the present moment by quietly observing the marks one after another in their automatic unfoldment and distribution across the page. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/martin-4.jpg) I feel it fits in somehow with how Bernardo talks about **free will and determinism.** The result is something you could never have planned for or anticipated, A devotional automatic improvisation in the sense that one is willing to participate in this practice towards the unknown, in service of excavating some personal/ impersonal information that you could not think your way towards. However the result is a fully determined full page of marks, code, information with every aspect of the piece connected to every other aspect via and through the space that remains an unbroken whole. Doing this practice over several months resulted in outer body experiences, and pre-cognitive dreams, it also opened up to me flashes and glimpses of other realm's where at times I was in direct relation to the realm of the faye. Even speaking about this is difficult because I feel I want to share this Techne with you and Bernardo but also want to pay utmost respect to the beings from the realms that I travelled to or that travelled to me through doing this practice. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/image00002.jpeg) Martin also makes music improvisations attempting to relay images and moods of the “unspeakable” “unknowable” spaces encountered, linked above. ### [**Edie Pijpers** ](https://www.edieart.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) This was completely inspired by a conversation Bernardo had with Tim from voicecraft. The painting I made was actually made live while listening to the convo. And then I continued to make a video from it: ### [Jed Moffitt](https://jedmoffitt.substack.com/p/apples) I am a poet on Substack in a small but fairly vibrant community of poets. I find that much of my work lately is heavily influenced by Idealism. The concepts seem to act like a natural leavening to the Muse. From an artistic and philosophical perspective, it reflects well on the spirit of Analytic Idealism that it provides ground so fertile to imagination and creative expression. I will share a poem here from last March that will have elements familiar to all of us in this community. In this case, I was triggered by particular classic phrase from Bernardo and the rest of the piece just fell out on the page. All credit is due to Bernardo as you will find that this one was pretty much simply a magnetic poetry exercise of simply aesthetically arranging his inspired ideas and words. The poem was well received by my poetry community. **Apples** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/image-1.png) Photo by Jed Moffitt We didn't parachute in here On some vendetta, Like commandos in an Aerial assault. Or with a sightseeing agenda Like tourists on a bus. What makes us think this life Is all about us? We grow here, Like apples on a tree. We have neither the Ability, nor Responsibility To make ourselves happy. Why do we believe We warrant Preferential treatment, and a Soft landing? Instead, We are bred to be the leading edge Of God's search for self knowledge And moral understanding. We don't hold the power To live or die. God makes the apples, Leaving it to us To make war… Or pie. > “Everything is in God’s hands, and you are His tool to be used by Him as He pleases. Try to grasp the significance of ‘all is His’, and you will immediately feel free from all burdens. What will be the result of your surrender to Him? None will seem alien, all will be your very own, your Self.” -Sri Anandamayi Ma ## [Joanna E. Kabala](https://joannakabala.nl/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Currently, I'm busy in the generative art domain, specifically since Generative AI art tools are broadly accessible. I'm making short animations. Considering art as an expression of human consciousness, I believe that all my recent works are inspired by Analytic Idealism. I recognize it as a reliable framework that helps clearly differentiate between humans and AI, making it easier to define what constitutes an artwork and what is merely an AI rendering. And this is, of course, a hot topic in the arts. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/image.png) "Love Victory, or the square root of one percent" is a short animation consisting of Generative AI imagery based on a digital hand drawing by Joanna E. Kabala, Eindhoven 2024. ## [**Jasper van Aarle**](https://jaspervanaarle.nl/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Attached you’ll find some photos of a recent panel that brings together a selection of ‘Aantekeningen’ (or, Annotations on excitation); collected from various notebooks I've been carrying over the past year. By arranging them in relation to each other’s appearance I aimed to create an emergent form of drawing. A larger field, or pattern-like structure that arises collectively from the lines on the separate pages. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/jasper-van-aarle_annotations-on-excitation-panel-03b.jpg) ## [Misty Nahuel](https://infinito-mindfulness.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) I’m not a professional artist (my regular job is at the Swedish Space Agency) but my heart project is sharing Mindfulness and Mindful Art, non-profit. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/misty-nahul-1.jpg) Mixed media on watercolor paper Alters - Forms that hint at the surface and then sink back again. Layers that breathe, some dense, impenetrable, others porous, almost transparent. Fragments of the same ground that reveal themselves and then hide, leaving only traces, echoes, imprints. The visible is nothing but a fleeting skin. ### ### [**Carrie Teutenberg**](http://carriesuzanneart.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Just a little background on my art - I paint with both my hands on large canvases, kinda of like a way to integrate all of me, both sides of my brain and body. Its all intuitive and I try to let the unconscious speak through me ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/IMG_0796.jpeg) Sizzle - 36x48 acrylic on canvas ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/IMG_0587.jpeg) The Ocean - 36x48 acrylic on canvas Today we meet to discuss how idealism relates to creativity, expression and art. You can find all the details here! [16th Sept - Creativity, Expression & Art“What we call imagination is actually a universal library of what’s real. You couldn’t imagine it if it weren’t real, somewhere, sometime.” - Terrence McKenna When we started this group, I expected mainly engineers, scientists and philosophers. To both Bernardo’s surprise and mine, many of you are![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-25.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/leftpage-2.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/16th-sept-creativity-expression-art/) ### 16th Sept - Creativity, Expression & Art URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/16th-sept-creativity-expression-art/ Last updated: 2025-09-12T09:29:20.000Z “***What we call imagination is actually a universal library of what’s real. You couldn’t imagine it if it weren’t real, somewhere, sometime.***” - Terrence McKenna When we started this group, I expected mainly engineers, scientists and philosophers. To both Bernardo's surprise and mine, many of you are artists, writers, poets and musicians, inspired by Bernardo's brand of idealism. "Personally, it doesn't surprise me that there are many artists joining the group" [Joel Tjintjelaar](https://bwvision.com/portfolio/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) emailed when he joined. "Years ago, I came across Schopenhauer because he was considered the '**philosopher of artists**'. What was lacking in this day and age was a modern-day philosopher who could continue and expand on Schopenhauer's idealist philosophy in the age of digital technology and AI. Bernardo Kastrup is therefore exactly the right person at the right time. The 'new' philosopher of artists, among many other qualifications." Several of you artists identified yourselves in the meeting last week. It would be adelight if you were to **share your artwork inspired by idealism.** You can either email me, or share during the meeting itself. Thanks to Olivier and Sally Annette for the art adorning this newsletter. I look forward to your thoughts also, which you can add in the [comments below](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/16th-sept-creativity-expression-art/). Also, it would be wonderful have an **Art Themed Member Meetup -** would you perhaps volunteer as host?All you need to do is email me the time you can open the zoom room and I'm sure your fellow creatives would appreciate a chance to meet. Meanwhile, thank you Olivier, Mia and Ravi for suggesting this topic, Brian for providing the opening quote, and anyone that fashions shape, colour, symbol or sound into forms that clarify or confound. Until soon! Amir 💡 ****Calendar update.** There is no meeting Tues 23rd. Instead, we meet [Wed 24th](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/wed-24th-sept-michael-levin-on-intelligence-life-and-platonic-realms/), same time as normal, for a special session with Michael Levin Series - 'The world of visual appearances/Ezekiel's vision - Sally Annett and Stephen Pope 2025\. Original artworks in dialogue with AI [www.atelierdemelusine.com](http://www.atelierdemelusine.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/img-43.png) ## Zoom link & more artwork below for Tues 16th 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### One journey. Many paths. URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-one-journey-many-paths/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:24:24.000Z Recording details Date: 9 September 2025 Duration: 2h 16m Free preview Chapters *Courtesy of Rita Conde* 0:00:10 The launch of Euclyd.ai, Bernardo's new AI venture 0:04:55 This week’s theme 0:07:00 Hebrew writing in alchemy and esoteric traditions 0:08:28 Differences between Eastern and Western thought 0:10:20 What do we mean by Western thought? 0:11:40 Is Christianity the main influence in the Western path? 0:16:00 The purpose of alchemy 0:17:33 We are the stars 0:18:18 Some important Christian thinkers 0:21:06 Is there a **fundamental division between East & West?** 0:25:00 There are no human races 0:30:00 It’s hard to live every day grounded in absolute truths 0:33:30 Each one of us is a doing of nature 0:34:34 Buddhist perspective: Not better, not worse, not the same 0:37:17 Bernardo has always been a seeker 0:40:40 Allow what nature wants to do through you 0:42:35 We are not *tabula rasa* 0:43:30 The archetypes according to Jung 0:45:00 Are there collective Daimons? 0:47:30 The apple blossom’s infinite becoming 0:49:40 The **West is more predisposed** to follow the flow of the impersonal 0:55:50 Is it possible to get in the way of the Daimon? 0:58:20 The ego is a function of nature 1:02:20 Resisting the Daimon is sometimes necessary 1:06:58 God doesn’t know what our next step will be 1:09:08 The danger of not supervising the Daimon 1:12:19 We no longer know what is natural in us 1:13:38 Our lives are not about us 1:17:35 How to achieve harmony with the Daimon 1:20:00 **Schopenhauer’s definition of ego** 1:21:55 The ego’s ethical oversight of the Daimon, and then its surrender (in Bernardo’s book) 1:28:00 Controlling your emotional impulses while staying faithful to the Daimon 1:30:40 **Hitler’s Daimon** 1:35:00 **The primordial lack** 1:37:47 The universe is consciousness 1:38:58 Only states of lack can allow for dynamism in nature 1:40:57 The West is more vulnerable to the primordial lack 1:42:50 The contentment of the mind 1:44:40 There is no going back once you have been exposed to the primordial lack 1:47:00 The Palace of the Mind 1:49:00 The emergence of hope after unbearable suffering 1:53:30 The West is more open to Daimonic influence 1:56:00 Japanese Zen teachings 1:58:00 Buddha’s daimon 1:59:00 The magic mountain of Bernardo’s childhood 2:04:00 Next week’s theme 2:11:45 Is there a historical force behind the Daimonic influence in the West? Before we could discuss ***The Western Path,*** Bernardo had to address a common objection. Might not dividing East from West contradict the very message of unity they both proclaim? This is something Bernardo has wrestled with himself. At times he considered the Eastern mind superior, and Western culture lost. But recognising the rich diversity of how nature moves through us can engender mutual respect and self-acceptance. When [introducing this subject](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-western-path/), I mentioned how mystics worldwide have concluded that duality is an illusion, but had starkly different intuitions regarding how to align their lives with this idea. In the Eastern cultures, the goal was often to transcend the illusory world. In the West, material forms were symbols for deeper truths, appearances to be revered for what they reveal. There were further questions about **how to navigate the Daimon** \- the impersonal natural forces that upend egoic intentions for our lives. Inspired by Schopenhauer's lame man riding a blind giant, Bernardo contends that Daimonic forces demand respect, but also moral guidance. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-10--2025--12_57_11-PM.png) So we take responsibility for determining our lives, whilst accepting determinism? Yes. When you look back, accept determinism. When you look forward, ‘free will’ is the better metaphor. Bernardo offered several tentative statements that he acknowledged could not be justified with reason, but instead betray intuition and lived experience: For example, a dangerous seminal thought that plants the seed of “**primordial lack**” that once seen, can never be forgotten. In the absence of suffering, it comes more into focus, and what was originally seen as irrelevant because of the monstrous hardship of our lives slowly "starts springing to the foreground." The thought emerges out of the impossibility of full self-understanding. Although this thought is self-reflective it is not the same as “the separate self.” This cosmic itch is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. A template of being, and a formidable driver for action. Perhaps even integral to the Western Path itself. We also discussed: - Bernardo's new AI venture: [https://www.euclyd.ai](https://www.euclyd.ai/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) - **East / West** are convenient terms - All the traditions merge if you go back far enough - Western individualism may be conducive to Daimonic life - The **astounding synchronicities** of Daimonic life - Happiness is beyond our control Next week we meet to discuss Creativity, Expression and Art [16th Sept - Creativity, Expression & Art“What we call imagination is actually a universal library of what’s real. You couldn’t imagine it if it weren’t real, somewhere, sometime.” - Terrence McKenna Thank you Olivier, Mia and Ravi for suggesting this topic, and Brian for providing the above quote. When we started this group,![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-23.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/leftpage.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/16th-sept-creativity-expression-art/) ### Some resources shared by members in the chat: - 'The Immortal Key' of Brian C. Murakesky - John Scotus Etiugena - Dr Justin Sledge Esoterica Channel on Youtube - Quote from Christian poet Silesius: “The rose is without 'why'; it blooms simply because it blooms. It pays no attention to itself, nor does it ask whether anyone sees it.” - The pollination scene from the movie Adaptation - that movie is comic and complex but it seems to me to a direct exploration of the Daimonic in all its characters especially from a Western perspective - leading to Chaos but also great insight in their own psychological struggles. https://youtu.be/C67d3tWgMFE?si=5kCNaZ2JdJNzKlaT Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Patrick Harpur and Bernardo Kastrup in conversation URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-patrick-harpur-bernardo-kastrup/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:24:28.000Z Recording details Date: 2 September 2025 Duration: 2h 16m Free preview Chapters Courtesy of Rita Conde 0:02:10 Introduction to Patrick's lifelong work on the Daimon 0:03:30 What is the Daimon? 0:07:50 Patrick's book: *The Philosopher's Secret Fire* 0:10:30 Patrick's book on Alchemy 0:13:40 Patrick’s comments on Bernardo's book *The Daimon & The Soul of the West* 0:18:43 Does Patrick have a Daimon? 0:20:18 The Daimon as a guardian angel 0:22:30 Dissociation after trauma 0:25:23 The two halves of life 0:29:45 Natural self and adaptive self 0:30:40 Free will and determinism 0:39:14 Can our **free will** defy the Daimon? 0:40:50 "There is no could-have-been" 0:42:30 Patrick's books on the soul and the Daimon 0:45:40 The Daimon as the personal face of God 0:46:23 Bernardo shows Patrick's books 0:47:40 Bernardo's take on Patrick's work 0:50:11 Patrick's writing process 0:53:00 The contradictions in alchemy 0:54:00 Imagination is from another world 0:56:40 Archetypes and Daimons 0:59:40 Can one be possessed by the Daimon? 1:05:40 Daimons from a **Jungian perspective** 1:07:50 Shadow Daimon / Anima Daimon 1:08:50 Can we say a tsunami is evil? 1:10:30 **Hitler's Daimon** 1:10:35 Discerning the Daimon from complexes 1:12:55 The myth behind **Trump’s** fascination for so many people 1:19:30 Are Daimons mediators between the unified field and individualized alters? 1:26:00 Consciousness as more primary than materiality 1:26:15 Discovery of new subatomic particles 1:27:50 Living under the grip of the gods 1:28:40 The consequences of new **subatomic particles** 1:31:00 We each live in our imagined world 1:33:25 Perception is shaped by imagination 1:34:50 Are subatomic particles Daimons? 1:34:58 Something out there modulates regularities 1:37:00 "What we laughingly call reality" 1:37:22 The epistemology of **fairies** 1:38:25 Daimons are both subjective and objective 1:39:00 Bernardo in Ireland 1:41:50 How the Buddha died 1:44:07 What is transcendence in our world today? 1:50:00 **The soul of things shines through them** 1:51:00 What symbols can there be in strict immanence? 1:54:20 Rephrasing the dashboard in a poetic way 1:56:04 Encounters with the Daimon in psychedelic states02:04:55 - Every existent world is the reverse of a black hole 2:09:17 Will Bernardo return to computer science? 2:12:20 Our task is to obtain a God We started with intense debate: who most deserves the title 'Daimon Expert?' Both Bernardo and Patrick insisted it was each other. This set the playful and inquisitive tone, marked by mutual respect and a shared passion for the subject: the creative forces of nature that shape our lives. What most struck me was the invitation to engage with poetry as a way to better see the world. For Patrick, Bernardo's cockpit metaphor, (our world merely a dashboard appearance), is restrictive. Poetry can cause **the soul of things to shine through them.** A prosaic cluster of flowers may all at once be seen "as a crowd, a host of dancing Daffodils... ten thousand dancing in the breeze." Shockingly, this imaginal relationship with reality can conjure up new physics, bridging cosmic math and myth. We enquired into Free Will, (we had no choice), how Daimons mediate between the human and beyond, and how to discern daimon from addiction - perhaps the very purpose of good therapy. I would love to hear what most stayed with you from this discussion. Time stamps and the recording are below, in which we also mention: - Daimons: angels or ambivalent natural forces? - Why Japanese see fairies in Ireland - Staying true to yourself - The daimonic force of Hitler & Trump - Finding your daimon and your god. Our first conversation with Patrick Harpur transformed how I engage with fairy-tales I have known my whole life, and revived a deeper respect for Western traditions. You can see this previous dialogue [here](https://youtu.be/r4hEOJQpbiw?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Next week we delve further into 'The Western Path' - I look forward to seeing you there! Amir I also promised to send a clip from Bernardo about **how to know if you are following your daimon**. [Here ](https://youtu.be/EWabmnZrvIM?ref=withrealityinmind.com)it is on youtube. Members can watch the whole meeting this clip is from (ad free) [here.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-how-to-follow-your-daimon-and-the-importance-of-remembering-you-are-a-monkey/) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/08/image-1.png) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/07/Patrick-Harpur-2011-crop.jpg) Patrick Harpur Bernardo Kastrup considers Patrick amongst the top 3 authors worthy of far more exposure. Patrick Harpur attended St Catharine's College, Cambridge, to read English, and his writings have appeared in The Guardian, Fortean Times, Gnosis, Resurgence, the New Statesman and the Independent on Sunday. He is often invited to give talks in the UK, in Spain and in America; and he has taught post-graduate students at Schumacher College (Dartington). As well as several novels, Patrick is the author of 4 non-fiction books including **Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld** which attempted to make sense of visions and apparitions by recourse to Platonic philosophy, Jungian psychology, and the Romantic notion of imagination. He also wrote **The Philosophers' Secret Fire: A History of the Imagination** outlined an esoteric Western way of seeing the world which has been largely neglected. In 2010, Rider published the rather ambitiously titled **A Complete Guide to the Soul**, which appeared a year later in the US as **The Secret Tradition of the Soul** (Evolver Editions, an imprint of North Atlantic Books). **The Stormy Petrel** (The Squeeze Press, 2017) is a novel based on the life and work of the Danish thinker Søren Kierkegaard, whose writings have gripped Patrick for years. You can read his article on the [Daimonic Nature of Reality here](https://www.essentiafoundation.org/seeing-things-the-daimonic-nature-of-reality/reading/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Tues 18th Nov: Michael Levin Q&A on the intelligence pervading life and the Platonic Realm URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/michael-levin-q-a/ Last updated: 2025-10-13T20:20:12.000Z Rupert Sheldrake has said that Michael Levin is "**o*ne of the most creative biologists working today* *"*** and Bernardo Kastrup that he is **“*perhaps the most important person alive.***” So I'm beyond excited to have him returning for a dialogue with Bernardo, where they question and inspire each other's ideas on how intelligence and consciousness may pervade reality. Part one of this conversation happened in September, and you can read a summary of that conversation and see the recording here: [Recording: Michael Levin vs brain chauvinism. “The magic is everywhere.”“Hey liver, why do I feel like crap today?” Dialogue with Bernardo Kastrup on the frontier of biology, computer science and philosophy, 24th Sept 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-46.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/michael-bernardo-sally-annette2-2.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-michael-levin-life/) Because we didn't get time for any audience Q&A in that session, we'll return to questions previously submitted, which you can find in the comments below. Michael Levin's pioneering research has already challenged mainstream assumptions about life. His work at Harvard and Tufts University shows how even a single cell can display memory and problem-solving abilities once thought exclusive to brains. He contends that intelligence is a **fundamental property of living systems**, and that your body is a hierarchy of intelligent entities nested within each other, from your organs down to your cells, molecules and maybe even subatomic particles. Michael aims to empirically demonstrate how these systems cooperate and combine, and his experiments with flatworms and tadpoles indicate that **bioelectric fields** may play a role. These could explain how a planaria can regenerate its dissected brain and the memories of what it had learnt. Or how the cells on the back of a tadpole can be directed to spontaneously form a working eye. ### What's new? This last year, Michael Levin has become increasingly open about core philosophical ideas that drive his team's research. This includes a [platonic realm](https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/5g2xj%5Fv1?ref=withrealityinmind.com) that contains not just mathematical truths (like triangles and prime numbers), but **types of minds;** dynamic patterns which ingress into physical form and can be explored through evolution, bioengineering and maybe even AI. He has also initiated some fascinating explorations into the elusive [definition of life](https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.15849?ref=withrealityinmind.com), identifying conceptual archetypes that span a range of cross-disciplinary experts. Michael and Bernardo will update each other on their respective work, share their most recent ideas, and no doubt continue their debate as to where the boundaries of conscious entities might be. (***Spoiler alert*** \- Michael does not think there are any "boundaries" at all.) We will be pressing Michael for his thoughts on: - The definition of life - How to demonstrate intelligence in systems - How the platonic realm can be harnessed and explored You can see previous dialogues we have hosted here, and the zoom link for this year's dialogue, Wednesday 24th Sept down below. I look forward to seeing you there! Amir ## Zoom room Tues 18th November 2025 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Life, the ultimate guru URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/life-the-ultimate-guru/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:24:32.000Z Recording details Date: 26 August 2025 Duration: 2h 19m Free preview Chapters **Time stamps** courtesy of Rita Conde 0:00:10 Book launch announcement 0:03:40 Meaning of the cover image 0:05:22 Why is the book autobiographical? 0:09:10 What is a typical and common life? 0:11:23 Childhood journey inside a mountain 0:14:37 The perennial lack in Western minds 0:15:27 An Indian talking with Jung 0:17:20 The urge to climb the magic mountain 0:19:14 Odyssey references in the chapter titles 0:20:15 What does Bernardo mean by “the West”? 0:23:00 Childhood nostalgia 0:25:40 **Time makes everything sacred** 0:26:00 Bernardo's father’s passing 0:28:23 First explorations on a computer 0:31:00 What is it like to be a bat? 0:33:32 How computers relate to consciousness 0:36:39 Moving to Europe 0:39:35 The first and second halves of life 0:44:40 **Life is the greatest teacher** 0:45:40 Rebirth as a philosopher 0:49:00 Philosophy as a necessity for continuing to live 0:51:00 Becoming an idealist 0:55:00 **True philosophy is lived philosophy** 0:57:00 The unconscious philosophical narrative 0:58:00 CERN as the cathedral of materialism 00:59:00 Bernardo the philosopher 1:00:55 A Daimonic life 1:02:35 Extreme existential suffering 1:04:39 Fulfilling nature’s will 1:06:01 **Inner voice** and Jung’s influence 1:10:00 The boy is really desperate now 1:13:10 The revelation of the Daimon 1:16:56 Doing therapy 1:20:55 Surrendering to the Daimon is the ultimate freedom 1:23:00 The nature-given capacity to bear suffering 1:29:36 **Could suicide be Daimonic?** 1:33:12 Nietzsche saw beyond what any human can see 1:34:02 **What is faith?** 1:35:00 The need to understand everything is preposterous 1:39:00 We are the heroes of nature 1:42:00 The movements of the impersonal forces within 1:45:00 Paying attention to life 1:47:00 Reaching a **compromise with the Daimon** 1:48:00 The Daimon doesn’t explain itself 1:49:44 Synchronicities and creative leaps 1:52:10 Do philosophical insights require special mental states? 2:01:56 Bernardo's early UAP experience 2:07:00 **On falling in love** 2:16:00 Final remarks What can life teach us, if we pay careful attention to it? In this session, Bernardo offer a deeply personal answer, drawn from the literal ups and downs of a childhood in Brazil, the early loss of his father, his success in business, academia and science followed by the unravelling of his health, marriage and previous identity. Inspired by this week's launch of ***The Daimon and the Soul of the West***, Bernardo illustrates how a childhood fascination with computers evolved into a live-saving exploration of consciousness, with idealism opening the door to a life rich with meaning, surrender and purpose. We discussed: - How to align with natural forces in our lives - What it means to be a Westerner - Egoic addiction vs Daimonic obsession - How time makes everything sacred - Falling in love A really common question in these meetings has been how idealism can translate into a lived reality. This session felt special to me due to Bernardo's courage, vulnerability and honesty to use his own life to provide a vivid example. Next week we are joined by [Patrick Harpur](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/special-guest-patrick-harpur/) to continue this exact exploration, so I hope to see you there! ### Your questions on asking questions At the end of yesterday's meeting, I gave a quick recap on how to ask questions, which you can see here: I hope to see you next week! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Jeffrey Kripal and Bernardo Kastrup in conversation URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recori-the-sacred-is-not-the-good-special-guest-jeffrey-kripal/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:48:32.000Z Recording details Date: 19 August 2025 Duration: 1h 59m Free preview Chapters *Courtesy of Rita Conde* 0:01:30 Preamble 0:07:10 Start of Q&A 0:08:14 Implications of qualia in the phenomenal experience of revelations 0:16:40 Why is mind-at-large love and light? 0:18:18 Are these revelations latent in human history? 0:20:00 Alters, sub-alters, and splitters 0:24:25 The entities are probably us 0:26:03 Entities might have agency 0:27:00 We are cosmic 0:28:40 What does it mean to say that everything is us? 0:30:00 Only analytical idealism can articulate these experiences 0:33:20 Reality is a hallucination 0:35:00 Jeffrey’s view on Jacques Vallée’s work 0:39:45 What is the control system for Jacques Vallée? 0:41:00 The speed of light as a basic scientific postulate 0:42:33 For Jacques Vallée, Jeffrey is the key figure in UAP research 0:43:00 Deception is not necessarily bad 0:44:40 Plato’s cave at the root of the humanities 0:46:00 Jeffrey’s views on UAPs 0:47:47 The Archives of the Impossible 0:51:40 Discerning the signals from the noise 1:01:00 Debunking shuts down the discussion 1:02:40 Religion is more than crowd control 1:03:00 Jeffrey’s view on channeling 1:03:30 Wouldn’t channeling be a more verifiable practice? 1:04:40 How to stop explaining the impossible 1:07:10 Our narratives are no longer aligned with reality 1:08:30 Things we don’t know that we don’t know 1:10:00 Allow yourself to not believe in yourself 1:11:25 Looking for closure 1:13:00 The importance of archives 1:15:30 Extraordinary stories require extraordinary evidence 1:16:40 After-death communication 1:20:40 Agency and locality in after-death communication 1:24:10 Eternity doesn’t mean “forever”; it means “outside time” 1:25:25 Each person is a multitude 1:26:26 All here at once 1:28:25 The risks of category mistakes 1:33:00 Everything is archetypal 1:33:58 Are some of the anomalous encounters repressed parts of us coming into light? 1:38:08 Agency, personality, ego, and reincarnation 1:40:00 Deceit, trickery, and personality cults in religious movements 1:47:18 The abundance of religions in biblical times 1:50:20 Who is the founder of Christianity: Paul or Jesus? 1:52:30 Einstein and Spinoza 1:55:40 Final remarks Debunking was debunked, deception was defended. All attempts to package reality completely confounded. If we project what we deny, might even God be a **repressed dimension of our own humanity?** Jeffrey Kripal is a professor of philosophy and religion at Rice University, Houston, where he co-founded the ***Archives of the Impossible,*** a major research hub housing thousands of documents on UFOs, paranormal phenomena, and extraordinary human experiences. So I thought this Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup might be on little green men - but it was abducted by other concerns. Jeffrey emphasised that "***the sacred is not the good.***" It may be powerful, overwhelming, and transformative, but not necessarily benevolent by our own measure. Divine-like forces can appear as both angelic and demonic, creative and destructive. The trauma that can occasion spiritual revelations is accompanied by moral and philosophical ambiguity. Have a tidy model for anomalous encounters, UAPs or religion? You're probably ignoring much of the data. Full understanding might escape even future generations, but the suspicion is that anomalous encounters may be nothing but our repressed nature, seeking expression. The invitation is to consider that even as individuals, we are vaster than we can imagine. Whilst any single explanation was rejected, none more so than physicalism. Jeffrey's departing reflection that our culture may be at a flipping point - materialism just doesn't work. ***Also discussed:*** - It is impossible to explain the impossible - The blind spots of rational people - The deception behind UAPs - What causes a perceptual 'flip' - Jeffrey’s view on Jacques Vallée’s work - Trauma, revelation and religion - The variable speed of light Background resources, and the recording of this session are below. [Next week](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/daimon-the-soul-of-the-west/), we embark on perhaps the most personal session so far, a book launch for Bernardo's autobiographical reflections on the [Daimon, and the Soul of the West.](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daimon-Soul-West-identity-sacrificial/dp/1803419490?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Until then! Amir [Philosophy professor Jeffrey J Kripal: ‘Thinking about a UFO as some kind of extraterrestrial spaceship is naive’The academic and author draws on quantum mechanics, English romantic philosophy and mysticism to explore a new theory of mind that embraces the paranormal![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianTim Adams![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/5616.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/sep/01/jeffrey-j-kripal-how-think-impossibly-souls-ufos?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Here is **Jacques Vallée's TED talk** that was referenced: Also, you might enjoy this link **to a Reddit AMA with Jacques Vallée:** [https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/s/O7oAdCZ8ve](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/s/O7oAdCZ8ve?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers Jeffrey Kripal Jeffrey Kripal, PhD, is a professor of philosophy and religion at Rice University in Houston, where he co-founded the **Archives of the Impossible**, a major research hub housing thousands of documents on UFOs, paranormal phenomena, and extraordinary human experiences. He has written multiple books, contending that UFOs are not isolated physical phenomena—they are deeply linked to paranormal states such as telepathy, precognition, and spiritual revelations, and have implications that materialism cannot account for. For him, understanding will require interdisciplinary and historical depth, as they straddle a space outside conventional objective and subjective reality. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### We are aliens to ourselves URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-we-are-aliens-to-ourselves/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:48:39.000Z Recording details Date: 12 August 2025 Duration: 2h 15m Free preview Chapters 1:55 What are UAPs? 3:00 Why UAPs are relevant in Analytical Idealism 4:50 How personal accounts of UAPs are influenced by cultural frameworks and subjective backgrounds 6:56 Physical traces left by UAPs 8:00 The case of a French family reported by Jacques Vallée 9:00 Why only Analytical Idealism can account for these phenomena 10:50 Poll: Familiarity with the UAP topic 13:40 Can Mind-at-Large be the common substrate underlying these phenomena? 17:00 Consistency of characteristics in UAP reports 18:00 Statistical relevance of UAP descriptions under psychedelics 20:50 Repeated characteristics in UAP reports 22:22 Contradictory characteristics in UAP reports 23:00 Peculiar details that persist in UAP reports 24:18 Bernardo’s personal UAP sighting 28:00 Subjectivity and objectivity in UAP accounts 29:00 Realms of mind we don’t normally access 30:00 Archetypes as deeper than the rules of logic 32:00 The world as a dream dreamt by the Universal Mind 35:00 Two categories of UAPs: “nuts and bolts” and sightings 39:28 Jacques Vallée’s research 46:00 Poll results 48:20 The abduction phenomenon under Analytical Idealism 54:00 Your mind is not in your skull 57:30 Analytical Idealism as a framework for plausibility of these phenomena 58:34 Bernardo’s hypothesis on the abduction phenomenon 1:00:00 Hysteria and the sexual repression of women 1:02:00 We are all repressed beings 1:07:00 Fairies and aliens 1:09:00 Who is causing these encounters, and why? 1:21:00 Jung’s archetypes 1:25:00 Thoughts and feelings are formless and real 1:29:00 Evolutionary reasons for repressing desires 1:31:10 Is imagination culturally repressed? 1:34:25 Individuation, psyche, and the need for balance 1:43:00 The dancing plague 1:48:44 UAP sightings near military facilities and nuclear plants 1:52:10 Would a meteor cause the same destruction as a nuclear explosion? 1:56:15 How would Earth react to such a disaster? 1:59:30 A UAP sighting near a nuclear plant 2:02:00 Changes in mental states during a UAP sighting 2:08:00 Absence of fear during a UAP sighting 2:12:35 What’s coming up in the next session Apologies for the later email than normal. A family bereavement has required some of my attention. Normally I like to write a comprehensive introduction highlighting some of the most exciting parts of each conversation, but this time I'll need to be brief. Suffice it to say, it was a thought provoking and wonder provoking session, with Bernardo drawing on evidence, science and philosophy to make sense of a confounding topic, as we've come to expect. But perhaps the most enchanting moment was when he was pressed to offer his personal intuition as to who is behind anomalous encounters such as UAP. I'm sure you'll find the answer intriguing and I would love to hear your reflections. As mentioned last time, Bernardo Kastrup released [Meaning in Absurdity](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2015/01/peeks-into-meaning-in-absurdity.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) in 2012 and his thinking on bizarre phenomena such as UFOs has continued to evolve, partly in response to the large quantity of new information being released. In preparation for this session, we sent out several resources, interviews and an essay from Bernardo, linked below. Then in today's session we discussed: - How idealism doesn’t explain UAPs, but provides a better context than physicalism - Bernardo’s take on **abduction**: an expression of what as a culture we repress - How information that bypasses anatomy is more personalised - Why the Hindu will see **Krishna** and the Christian will see **Christ** - How the formless is real, even when clothed in our imagination - More or less **autonomous** psychic entities - Why UFO sightings are so common near **nuclear** and military infrastructure - “The **monkeys** are crazy” - We are losing out ability to pick out what is happening in the **otherworld** - Why alien encounters are accompanied by massive and **unexpected changes** in cognitive state Next session, on [the 19th of August](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/uap-high-strangeness-with-guest-jeffrey-kripal/), we continue the theme, joined by special guest [Jeffrey Kripal](https://jeffreyjkripal.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). ### Background resources [What on earth do UFOs have to do with Idealism?12th August: Discussion & Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup. 19th August: Discussion & Q&A with guest Jeffrey Kripal PhD & Bernardo Kastrup. “Meaning in Absurdity: UAPs & High Strangeness”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-20.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/meaning-in-absurdity-1-1-1-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meaning-in-absurdity/) [Youtube clips & resources on UAPs & the ParanormalThis month we’re taking questions on the paranormal, with the next two sessions dedicated to the UAP phenomena. An excellent introduction to Bernardo’s take on this can be found in his 2024 essay here. UAPs and Non-Human Intelligence: What is the most reasonable scenario?This is the homepage of philosopher![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-21.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1590541359224-3a99bee1c8a9.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/youtube-clips-resources-on-uaps-the-paranormal/) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Youtube clips & resources on UAPs & the Paranormal URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/youtube-clips-resources-on-uaps-the-paranormal/ Last updated: 2025-08-11T19:58:15.000Z This month we're taking questions on the paranormal, with the [next two sessions](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meaning-in-absurdity/) dedicated to the UAP phenomena. An excellent introduction to Bernardo's take on this can be found in his [2024 essay here](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2024/01/uaps-and-non-human-intelligence-what-is.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com). [UAPs and Non-Human Intelligence: What is the most reasonable scenario?This is the homepage of philosopher and computer scientist Bernardo Kastrup, with links to his biography and most of his works.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-7.ico)Bernardo Kastrup![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/mantis_portrait_ii_by_dalantech_deqxpq3-fullview.jpg)](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2024/01/uaps-and-non-human-intelligence-what-is.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Additionally, one of our members, Fawn Miller, has been researching these topics for many years. She has compiled two very helpful introductory YouTube playlists, which are linked below. Finally, this week we've also released three clips to YouTube with Bernardo responding to critiques of paranormal studies and discussing Near Death Experiences. You can find these below also. ## UAP Primer Here are a few wordsfrom Fawn, and links to the playlists: - Most videos are interviews or talks and are therefore great for *listening* (vs watching), with the exception of the Jesse Michels videos which are documentary-style w/high visual production value. - I recommend Youtube Premium to avoid ads, and/or most of the videos can also be found as podcasts on various platforms. **PLAYLISTS:#1:** "[**UAP 101** (Fawn's Recommendations)](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoyn-S-nclU7r3H7ViMcqjz1PBmpg5jQJ&si=fhJ9AlkHkwD3RhpY&ref=withrealityinmind.com)" - An introductory step-by-step playlist of informative videos and interviews on the UAP topic, for those who may be relatively new to this realm. I've arranged the playlist in a customized linear order to help bring people through a progressive journey, and I recommend following the sequence for at least the first half of the playlist. - On an important note - and this might sound a bit hyperbolic but it is entirely sincere: *This topic can be very paradigm shifting or even shattering for people. Below the tip of the "UAP/UFO" iceberg are endlessly deep, vast, unfathomable, and interconnected rabbit holes that can disrupt all notions of "truth" and what it means to exist, down to the very fabric of our lived "reality". For many, what starts with a sheer curiosity evolves into a life-altering journey as the layers are peeled back to reveal the fascinating dimensions of this topic.* I share this as a caring note of consideration akin to the Morpheus & Neo "blue pill / red pill" moment in "The Matrix", as most people have *no idea* that the seemingly simple act of following their curiosity about this topic might radically change their lives, or at the very least leave them with endless questions about the unfathomable strangeness that they encounter. That said, my sense is that the members of our class who *do* feel compelled to learn more about UAPs & The Phenomenon are likely well-primed for the adventure:) **#2:** [**Jeffrey Kripal**](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoyn-S-nclU5UiMoe-IeQm6H2X72e--tG&si=iUybNyLTOcA-SA79&ref=withrealityinmind.com)[ (Fawn's faves)](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoyn-S-nclU5UiMoe-IeQm6H2X72e--tG&si=iUybNyLTOcA-SA79&ref=withrealityinmind.com) \- A short playlist of my favorite Jeffrey Kripal interviews relevant to these topics, starting with the most recent. *I hope this is helpful, please let me know if you have any questions or if I can provide any additional info!* Ps - If appropriate, I am absolutely available as a resource for people to reach out to for support, guidance, or further information on these topics [www.fawnmiller.com/fawn-universal](http://www.fawnmiller.com/fawn-universal?ref=withrealityinmind.com) and/or other life-related themes [www.fawnmiller.com](http://www.fawnmiller.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) . ## Bernardo responds to critiques of paranormal studies In the video above, Bernardo [pointed out ](https://youtu.be/v8Z9t0W9vgg?ref=withrealityinmind.com)the bias that marginalises psychic phenomena studies. Many people responded with additional critiques, that these studies are unrepeatable, or of only small statistical significance. In response, Bernardo Kastrup highlights that real world circumstances are probably required for such phenomena. This is similar to other observational sciences that cannot rely on repeatability, including astronomy. He also notes the arbitrary nature of ‘statistical significance,’ noting that numerous scientific careers have been built on margins smaller than many psi studies. This highlights a metaphysical bias amongst scientists which may distort the interpretation of valid scientific findings. Metaphysical idealism can account for such phenomena within a rational and scientific framework, whilst eliminating the ‘hard problem of consciousness.’ Allowing for idealism as a rational framework doesn’t prove any particular paranormal claim is ‘true.’ But it does offer a perspective in which evidence can be assessed neutrally. The full video available here: [Recording: Exceptional human experiencesDiscussion with Bernardo Kastrup 5th August, 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-18.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/dmitry-berdnyk-zJx8iZVRHnY-unsplash.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-exceptional-human-experiences/) Finally, we've released an excerpt from earlier this year on a related theme: Near Death Experiences. Thank Kiri Stockman for the edit. I hope you enjoy these, and if you haven't already, that you join us for the weekly Q&As. Tomorrow we meet to discuss the UAP phenomena: [What on earth do UFOs have to do with Idealism?12th August: Discussion & Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup. 19th August: Discussion & Q&A with guest Jeffrey Kripal PhD & Bernardo Kastrup. “Meaning in Absurdity: UAPs & High Strangeness”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-19.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/meaning-in-absurdity-1-1-1.jpg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meaning-in-absurdity/) With appreciation, Amir ### "UFO = extraterrestrial is naive" Jeffrey Kripal, special guest tomorrow URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/uap-high-strangeness-with-guest-jeffrey-kripal/ Last updated: 2025-08-18T19:43:56.000Z Do you think UFOs and other paranormal events might be connected in some way? Jeffrey Kripal, PhD, is a professor of philosophy and religion at Rice University in Houston, where he co-founded the ***Archives of the Impossible***, a major research hub housing thousands of documents on UFOs, paranormal phenomena, and extraordinary human experiences. He has written multiple books, contending that UFOs are not isolated physical phenomena—they are deeply linked to paranormal states such as telepathy, precognition, and spiritual revelations, and have implications that materialism cannot account for. For him, understanding will require interdisciplinary and historical depth, as they straddle a space outside conventional objective and subjective reality. Kripal also suggests that UFO encounters may carry both benevolent and malevolent undertones, employ intentional deception or misdirection. He likens this moral doubleness to religious structures that recognize both redemption and terror from the sacred. But **religion can be both helpful and misleading**. Sacred narratives of deities descending from the sky, miraculous events, visions mirror UFO phenomena, yet traditional religion can't fully assimilate the radical nature of these experiences. In tomorrow's session, 19th August, Jeffrey will Bernardo to reflect on UAPs, high strangeness, and what these phenomena might reveal about the nature of reality. [Philosophy professor Jeffrey J Kripal: ‘Thinking about a UFO as some kind of extraterrestrial spaceship is naive’The academic and author draws on quantum mechanics, English romantic philosophy and mysticism to explore a new theory of mind that embraces the paranormal![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-512.png)The GuardianTim Adams![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/5616.jpg)](https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/sep/01/jeffrey-j-kripal-how-think-impossibly-souls-ufos?ref=withrealityinmind.com) In his conversation on Essentia Foundation, Jeffrey already reflected on how so much of academia ignores metaphysics, even to the point of being unaware of ***having*** a materialist viewpoint. The way people confuse the success of science with an assumption that it proves materialism. He also points out how some of the most significant individuals in the history of humanities came to their ideas through altered states. Mystical experiences, out of body experiences, near-death... and we make the mistake of thinking people 'thought' their way to these ideas, whereas in fact their own accounts how such ideas were accessed is one of 'revelation.' Here is a very recent and relevant article on Jeffrey's work: [Inside Rice University’s 2025 UFO ConferenceAuthor Will Clarke goes behind the scenes at Rice University’s 2025 Archives of the Impossible Conference in Houston.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon.png)Oxford AmericanWill Clarke![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/jeffrey-kripal-presenting-at-the-2025-archives-of-the-impossible-conference-600x-crop-44-8-29-7.png)](https://oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/inside-rice-university-s-2025-ufo-conference?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Bernardo recommended we touch on **Jacques Vallée's TED talk.** Its not long, so do have a look: Also, you might enjoy this link **to a Reddit AMA with Jacques Vallée:** [https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/s/O7oAdCZ8ve](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/s/O7oAdCZ8ve?ref=withrealityinmind.com) As always, your questions and comments below will help shape the discussion. With thanks! Amir ### Zoom Link 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Exceptional human experiences URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-exceptional-human-experiences/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:48:43.000Z Recording details Date: 5 August 2025 Duration: 2h 18m Free preview Chapters *Thanks Rita Conde for providing timestamps* 0:00 **How to submit** and vote on **questions** 9:00 Analytic Idealism on **psi phenomena** 11:00 **Remote viewing** and **dissociation** in the universal mind 17:20 **Telepathy** and leaked dissociative boundaries 19:40 **Precognition** (not an evolutionary advantage) 24:00 **Block universe** time and space as mental constructs, 26:30 **Placebo** and healing: the body represents mental processes 36:40 **Statistical significance** in psi research vs. physics (e.g. CERN example) 40:00 Observational science, **repeatability**, and **psi skepticism** 48:00 **Out-of-body** experiences and **Higher Self** 56:00 **Mediumship** and channeling: internal parts or real contacts? 57:40 Overlaps between IIT, Hameroff/Penrose, Federico Faggin & Analytic Idealism 1:07:00 **Location** as **causation** vs laboratory conditions 1:17:00 Causation may be non-local: **intentional evolution** 1:24:00 Psi is **observational science**, like astronomy 1:30:00 Our dashboard **perception is always an interpretation** 1:35:00 **Transcendent reality** beyond perception a virtual certainty 1:42:00 A personal account of **after death communication & agency** 2:05:14 **Super-powers** as ego inflating fantasies Whilst this session focused on exploring the outer edges of the human experience, it ended with Bernardo sharing his most consoling perspective on death and losing our loved ones, drawing not just on his philosophy, but his own personal experience. When the implications of idealism are truly integrated, the ones we thought were lost are in fact closer than ever. It was a touching moment, and for me, one that crystallised the value of these meetings, translating a beautiful philosophy into a more rich and connected life. It's a testament to the warm and human presence you each bring to this community, in addition to intellectual acumen and courageous curiosity. Bernardo feels that it is a virtual certainty that our 'dashboard representations' of reality only capture a fraction of what is really out there. Whilst not endorsing every claim made, he demonstrated how Analytic Idealism would hypothetically account for a range of exceptional phenomena. From telepathy to precognition, remote viewing, placebo, and spontaneous healing. It was a valuable overview of how Bernardo understands the scope and mechanisms of dissociation from Mind-at-Large. Studies of psychic phenomena are criticized for being unrepeatable or of only small statistical significance. In response, Bernardo highlighted other observational science, such as astronomy, that do not rely on repeatability, and noted that numerous scientific careers have been built on smaller margins of statistical significance than many psi studies. Over the **next two weeks** we open to the wider field of [Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meaning-in-absurdity/) \- observations that defy known explanations, and are not immediately identifiable as being of human origin. **Jeffrey Kripal** will be joining as a guest on the second week. This week, we additionally discussed: - Why psychic abilities may not be conducive to survival - A defence of psychic studies and scientific consistency - Perspectives from IIT, Hameroff/Penrose, Federico Faggin - How perception and interpretation are intertwined - There need be nothing supernatural about psychic phenomena - Bernardo’s thoughts on consciousness after death - Seeking "super powers" as ego defence ## Links mentioned Here is the paper Bernardo mentioned in which **Giulio Tononi** discusses the metaphysical implications of Integrated Information Theory: [Only what exists can cause: An intrinsic powers view of free will](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2206.02069?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Bernardo's upcoming book, available for pre-order: [The Daimon and the Soul of the West](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daimon-Soul-West-identity-sacrificial/dp/1803419490?ref=withrealityinmind.com) The Near Death experience that Bernardo mentioned as credible: [Anita Moorjani - Dying to be Me](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dying-Be-Me-Journey-Healing/dp/1848507836?ref=withrealityinmind.com) **Links mentioned in the chat:** - [https://www.gonyacparanormal.com](https://www.gonyacparanormal.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) - [From materialism to superidealism and maybe back (I) | by Liviu Coconu](https://liviucoconu.medium.com/from-materialism-to-superidealism-and-maybe-back-i-0cd9c76450db?ref=withrealityinmind.com) - [https://yacman1010.kartra.com/page/MetaphysicsandParanormality](https://yacman1010.kartra.com/page/MetaphysicsandParanormality?ref=withrealityinmind.com) - [https://www.amazon.com/author/ronyacovetti ](https://www.amazon.com/author/ronyacovetti?ref=withrealityinmind.com) This is the clip referenced from an earlier session, in which Bernardo defends the scientific method as neutral, but points out that individual scientists might not be. Here he explains why the same statistical pattern that wins a Nobel prize at CERN will be dismissed as "random" in a study of psi phenomena: Thanks to Fawn Miller for inspiring the theme, and all your wonderful questions and warm engagement. See you soon! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Christof Koch and Bernardo Kastrup in conversation URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-christof-koch-2/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:48:49.000Z Recording details Date: 29 July 2025 Duration: 2h 1m Free preview Chapters 0:00 Welcomes and appreciations 3:00 Redefining physicalism: there are no events 5:18 Psychedelic experiences witnessed by trained neuroscientist 9:30 Does direct experience afford new knowledge 15:40 Christof’s motivations and intuitions on consciousness 21:00 Are DMT entities real? On Andrew Galimore 24:40 Does physicalism obstruct science? 30:00 IIT on nested and amalgamated selves 36:40 Consciousness vs self-consciousness 41:00 Quantum computers good candidates for consciousness 44:30 Why IIT is called that = Aristotelian information 45:00 Even two logic gates would be conscious 49:50 In analytic idealism dissociation requires actively enforced fault lines 55:00 Markov blankets and IIT 57:00 Could spiritual experiences be simple brain disorders? 1:00:00 Why do auditory sensations differ so much from visual ones 1:07:00 IIT and memory 1:11:00 IIT deal and unreportable experiences, eg anaesthesia 1:17:00 IIT, meaning and archetypal meaning 1:21:00 Minimal experiences in constructed physical object 1:24:00 Simulation is not causal power 1:26:00 IIT vs Idealism on minimally systems 1:29:00 what most people don’t get about IIT: more info isn’t always more integration 1:30:00 The difference between Bernardo’s model and Christof regarding dissociation 1:35:40 **IIT can’t account for cosmic consciousness** 1:40:00 How experience informs science 1:46:00 how young scientists are getting discouraged from consciousness study 1:48:00 Testable predictions from IIT: no brain activity required for conscious experience 1:56:00 Goals of Christof’s upcoming workshop In this session we discussed : - How (psychedelic) experience should inform science - How physicalism can obstruct scientific progress - Criteria for non-biological consciousness - IIT vs Idealism - IIT's unique place amongst theories of consciousness Most useful for me, was understanding that Integrated Information Theory is predominately about 'causal power,' not information as we normally think of it. In other words, its about having things that can make changes to other things. To determine if something is conscious, the question becomes, does a system have a sufficiently integrated network of internal causes and effects to be self contained in some meaningful way. Both Christof and Bernardo emphasised that one of **the most misunderstood aspects of the theory** was that maximising integration isn't just about adding more states. Adding more causes and effects could even cause one large system to become two. A useful metaphor is dissolving something in liquid - there is a maximum amount of sugar you can add to your tea before it just sinks to the bottom in undissolved clumps. The metaphor Christof uses is that of an empire - eventually it gets so big that it splits. The initial power centre can't compete with growing centres of influence further away. This all has some surprising implications for what might be considered conscious, but its an empirical proposition: it leads to predictions that can be tested, verified or falsified. So it is exciting to know that Christof and Bernardo are collaborating in search of new experiments that could forward our understanding of consciousness, and thus, of reality itself. ### Session Background Christof is one of the most celebrated figures in consciousness science, renowned for his groundbreaking work alongside Francis Crick (Nobel prize winner for co-discovery of the DNA double helix) and spearheading the modern search for the neural correlates of consciousness. A prolific researcher, author, and public intellectual, he has played a central role in shaping the field, earning widespread recognition for bringing serious scientific attention to questions once thought purely philosophical. His leadership at the Allen Institute and his championing of **Integrated Information Theory** have positioned him as a visionary voice at the intersection of neuroscience, technology, and the nature of mind. Integrated Information Theory (IIT) attempts to account for consciousness by identifying and mathematically modeling the intrinsic structure of information that gives rise to subjective experience. In this dialogue with Bernardo Christof has reflects on the limitations of physicalist explanations for consciousness, and how physicalism may even be holding back progress in science. Respectively, whilst once critical of IIT, Bernardo Kastrup now believes it's recent iterations could map how universal consciousness dissociates into seemingly separate minds, and provide insight into the experience of Mind at Large. He gave an introduction to IIT and these ideas last week which you can see here: [Recording: IIT - A Rosetta Stone for Mind at Large?IIT discussion with Bernardo Kastrup, 22nd July 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-17.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/ChatGPT-Image-Jul-23--2025--02_52_09-PM.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-iit-a-rosetta-stone-for-mind-at-large/) You can view the recording of their previous 2024 dialogue here: ### Some links mentioned in the talk: [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19595754/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19595754/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Astonishment-Confronting-Mystery-Strangest/dp/1250357756](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Astonishment-Confronting-Mystery-Strangest/dp/1250357756?ref=withrealityinmind.com) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRlS5EY1-zc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRlS5EY1-zc&ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers Christof Koch Christof Koch was the president and chief scientist of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle where he remains as a Meritorious Investigator. He is known for his interdisciplinary approach, combining insights from neuroscience, physics, and philosophy to tackle the complex problem of consciousness. His work has been published in over 350 scientific papers, significantly shaped modern understanding of the neural correlates of consciousness and visual perception. In collaboration with Francis Crick, Christof initiated the modern search for the neuronal correlates of consciousness, a systematic experimental program to identify the minimal bio-physical mechanisms jointly sufficient for any one specific conscious percept. In collaboration with Giulio Tononi, he co-developed the Integrated Information Theory of consciousness. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Exceptional human experiences URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/exceptional-human-experiences/ Last updated: 2025-08-04T13:40:04.000Z This week we are opening to questions about the outer edges of the human experience. Capacities, states, and phenomena often dismissed as fringe, yet increasingly supported by both data and first-person accounts. Analytic idealism may provide a framework in which such phenomena are not only possible, but perhaps expected. From extrasensory perception to spontaneous healing, from savant syndrome to remote viewing, we'll ask if these phenomena could be legitimate areas of study, and even hint at the deeper layers of mind and nature. It's worth reviewing this clip from last month, in which Bernardo defends the scientific method as neutral, but points out that individual scientists might not be. Here he explains why the same statistical pattern that wins a Nobel prize at CERN will be dismissed as "random" in a study of psi phenomena: What, then, is the relationship between our perceptual “dashboard” and the latent capacities of human consciousness? To what extent does our interpretation of reality limit what we express, experience, or become? Are we constrained by cultural and cognitive inertia—missing the non-linear leaps that Mind-at-Large may be inviting us to take? Thanks Fawn Miller for suggesting this theme and offering these fascinating questions. As always, your comments and questions related to this theme are welcome below, and will help shape the discussion. 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST See you soon! Amir ![woman doing tricks](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1530648995019-c691eedd1037?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDR8fGxldml0YXRpb258ZW58MHx8fHwxNzUwNTMwMjI4fDA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=2000) Photo by [John Fornander](https://unsplash.com/@johnfo?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### IIT: A Rosetta Stone for Mind at Large? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-iit-a-rosetta-stone-for-mind-at-large/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T23:39:35.000Z Recording details Date: 22 July 2025 Duration: 2h 29m Free preview Title: The brain as substrate or representation Duration: 9:42 https://vimeo.com/1226769387/d4df2e61bc Chapters 0:00:00 Could IIT become a **Rosetta Stone for consciousness**? 0:05:04 Why Bernardo defends IIT against its critics 0:10:01 What must a conscious experience be like? 0:15:03 The brain as substrate or representation 0:20:27 Five principles for mapping experience 0:25:06 Why **integration matters more than neuron count** 0:35:17 Information is about what could have been 0:40:19 What makes an experience hang together? 0:45:04 Testing consciousness by perturbing the brain 0:50:29 Could the **cosmic web** support integration? 1:00:18 **Could mind at large lack an ego?** 1:10:35 Why the brain’s boundaries matter 1:15:07 Could a fleeting **Boltzmann brain** feel pain? 1:20:22 Why a pain pattern cannot be read in isolation 1:30:22 Where IIT reaches its limits 1:40:33 Must every experience have a measurable correlate? 1:45:02 **Are we conscious in deep sleep?** 1:55:01 Forgetting a dream is not never having dreamed 2:10:04 Is individual awareness the same as an ego? 2:15:21 Metacognition and the cost of rumination 2:20:35 Could one brain contain **several conscious complexes**? 2:25:12 The challenge of cosmic consciousness Bernardo proposes that **Integrated Information Theory** may become a way to map the physical correlates of experience - a Rosetta Stone that unlocks the mysteries of Mind at Large. So we are privileged to be joined next week, [29th July](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/christof-koch-2/), by **Christof Koch**, a celebrated neuroscientist working on the neural correlates of consciousness and **Integrated Information Theory**. In preparation, yesterday we dialogued with Bernardo to better understand IIT and its implications so we can make the most out meeting with Christof. Here you can read my brief introduction to [Integrated Information Theory](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/integrated-information-theory/), and below is the full recording, and links to the papers mentioned. ### We discuss: - Bernardo's response to the[ open letter against IIT](https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/zsr78%5Fv1?ref=withrealityinmind.com) - The 5 Axioms of IIT - the **characteristics of conscious experience** - The revolutionary significance of IIT for Idealism - What is **integration**? What is **information**? - Could **the picture of the universe** imply consciousness? - Could **the correlates of pain** be found in the weather or a river? - Does representation account for every experience? - Are we conscious in **deep sleep**? - IIT, the Ego, **multiple minds and metaconsciousness** --- [In defense of Integrated Information Theory (IIT)In what may come as a surprise to many, our Executive Director highlights the careful, scientifically laudable metaphysical agnosticism of IIT—the leading neuroscientific theory of the structure of consciousness—as well as its superiority to alternative theories and synergy with Analytic Idealism.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-2.png)Essentia FoundationBernardo Kastrup, PhD, PhD![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/shutterstock_1112401331-copy-1024x576.jpg)](https://www.essentiafoundation.org/in-defense-of-integrated-information-theory-iit/reading/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) --- [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/07/image-3.png)](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364661325000348?via%3Dihub&ref=withrealityinmind.com) --- [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/07/image-4.png)](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-023-01449-7?ref=withrealityinmind.com) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/07/image-5.png) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/07/image-6.png) "[A simulated view of the entire observable universe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observable%5Funiverse?ref=withrealityinmind.com#/media/File:Observable%5FUniverse%5Fwith%5FMeasurements%5F01.png)", approximately 93 billion light years (or 28.5 billion parsecs) in diameter. The scale is such that the fine grains represent collections of large numbers of superclusters. The Virgo Supercluster—home of Milky Way—is marked at the center, but is too small to be seen in the image. --- Our 2024 dialogue with Christof can be viewed [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cG%5F%5FkpdDEw&ref=withrealityinmind.com), I look forward to seeing you next week! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Tues 2nd Sept: Patrick Harpur & Bernardo Kastrup - Archetypes, Daimons and the Western Mind URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/special-guest-patrick-harpur/ Last updated: 2025-08-29T07:26:14.000Z What if myths and legends could awaken a deeper relationship with the creative forces of reality? Our last conversation with Patrick Harpur transformed how I engage with fairy-tales I have known my whole life, and revived a deeper respect for Western traditions. You can see this previous dialogue [here](https://youtu.be/r4hEOJQpbiw?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Bernardo Kastrup considers Patrick amongst the top 3 authors worthy of far more exposure, so I'm excited to have them in dialogue this coming session. They will discuss Bernardo's new book and the importance of moving past a literal understanding of imagination. Zoom link for all September meetings below. I also promised to send a clip from Bernardo about **how to know if you are following your daimon**. [Here ](https://youtu.be/EWabmnZrvIM?ref=withrealityinmind.com)it is on youtube. Members can watch the whole meeting this clip is from (ad free) [here.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-how-to-follow-your-daimon-and-the-importance-of-remembering-you-are-a-monkey/) ## About Patrick Harpur ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/07/Patrick-Harpur-2011-crop.jpg) Patrick Harpur attended St Catharine's College, Cambridge, to read English, and his writings have appeared in The Guardian, Fortean Times, Gnosis, Resurgence, the New Statesman and the Independent on Sunday. He is often invited to give talks in the UK, in Spain and in America; and he has taught post-graduate students at Schumacher College (Dartington). As well as several novels, Patrick is the author of 4 non-fiction books including **Daimonic Reality: A Field Guide to the Otherworld** which attempted to make sense of visions and apparitions by recourse to Platonic philosophy, Jungian psychology, and the Romantic notion of imagination. He also wrote **The Philosophers' Secret Fire: A History of the Imagination** outlined an esoteric Western way of seeing the world which has been largely neglected. In 2010, Rider published the rather ambitiously titled **A Complete Guide to the Soul**, which appeared a year later in the US as **The Secret Tradition of the Soul** (Evolver Editions, an imprint of North Atlantic Books). **The Stormy Petrel** (The Squeeze Press, 2017) is a novel based on the life and work of the Danish thinker Søren Kierkegaard, whose writings have gripped Patrick for years. You can read his article on the [Daimonic Nature of Reality here](https://www.essentiafoundation.org/seeing-things-the-daimonic-nature-of-reality/reading/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Looking forward to seeing you Tuesday! UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/08/image-1.png) ## Zoom room for all of September: _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 7th Oct: Kashmiri Shaivism with guest Sthaneshwar Timalsina (1hr earlier) URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/kashmiri-shaivism-with-sthaneshwar-timalsina/ Last updated: 2025-10-05T18:44:35.000Z We've had several discussions now on Bernardo's conception of the Western Path. So how different is the Eastern Path really? Many people think of Advaita Vedanta or Buddhism, but there is an incredibly rich 'Classical Tantra' tradition that flowered in the Kashmir region with many similarities to Analytic Idealism. 💡 Because of a change in Dr Timalsina's schedule, this session starts 1 hour earlier than normal: 5-7pm UK time / 6-8pm CET / 12-2pm EST Professor [Sthaneshwar Timalsina](https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/asianamerican/people/%5Fprofiles/%5FSthaneshwar%20Timalsina.php?ref=withrealityinmind.com) is a scholar and practitioner of Indian philosophy with training both in East and West, and deep expertise in the esoteric traditions of Kashmir Shaivism. Like idealism, this non-dual school holds that the universe arises from and is pervaded by a single, all-encompassing consciousness. Dr Timalsina’s work brings clarity and academic depth to this tradition, illuminating its metaphysical sophistication and experiential insights. In preparation, you may enjoy his dialogue with [Swami Sarvapriyandana](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsV8Yw2lN-E&ref=withrealityinmind.com) Together, Bernardo and Sthaneshwar will explore how these traditions complement, challenge, and enrich each other in the quest to understand the mystery of being. Initial themes will include: - Is consciousness inherently dynamic, or still? - Is suffering or bliss more fundamental to existence? - Is Kashmiri Shaivism a more Western or Eastern path? - The role of art, expression and beauty Any remaining time will be given to participant Q&A - feel free to propose and vote on additional themes and questions below, but please note, in sessions with guest dialogues there is often far less Q&A time! ## About Sthaneshwar Timalsina ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/07/timalsina-1.jpg) Dr. Sthaneshwar Timalsina received academic and philological training from Mahendra Sanskrit University in Kathmandu, Sampurnananda Sanskrit University in Varanasi, and Martin Luther University in Germany, where he acquired his Ph.D. in Classical Indian Philosophy. While working on his dissertation, Dr. Timalsina taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Washington University in St. Louis, before attaining the rank of Professor at San Diego State University in 2005 and Chaired Professor at Stony Brook University in 2023\. Dr. Timalsina specializes in the areas of Hindu Studies and comparative philosophies and religions. As a traditionally trained and authorized lineage-holder within the Sarvāmnāya Order, he is dedicated to the goal of preserving the traditions he inherited in a modern, institutionalized way, including by founding the Department of Tantric Studies at Nepal Sanskrit University in Kathmandu and establishing the [Vimarsha Foundation](https://www.vimarshafoundation.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) in 2019, which provides a global forum for the study and practice of classical tantra. 5-6pm UK time / 6-7pm CET / 12-2pm EST ## Zoom for October _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Integrated Information Theory & Idealism URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/integrated-information-theory/ Last updated: 2025-07-21T21:53:10.000Z We are privileged to be joined next week, [29th July](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/christof-koch-2/), by **Christof Koch**, a celebrated neuroscientist working on the neural correlates of consciousness and **Integrated Information Theory**. So tomorrow's session, the 22nd of July, will be a chance to better understand IIT and its implications with Bernardo, so that we can make the most out of the dialogue with Christof the following week. Integrated Information Theory is a leading theory of consciousness. It attempts to answer some of the biggest questions in science and philosophy: **what explains the specific nature of experience, and what kind of systems have it?** Its goal is a rigorous, mathematical framework for how information must be organised to give rise to consciousness. Whilst critical of earlier versions of IIT, Bernardo Kastrup now believes its mathematical formalism could offer a map for how universal consciousness dissociates into seemingly separate minds. A groundbreaking tool for modeling consciousness from an idealist perspective. I'll give you my best attempt at an overview, with the caveat that I am a beginner on the topic. This is intended to get the conversation going in an accessible way, not to be an authoritative summary: Amongst the many competing theories of consciousness, IIT is unique in that it starts by observing the characteristics that every conscious experience has. These are characteristics that we can verify for ourselves by observing our *own* experience. For example, if you pause right now, you might notice consciousness feels **unified**. Although there are many parts to it, (sounds, tastes, colours and thoughts) they all coalesce into one whole. Equally, every experience feels **specific** and unique - the experience of reading this sentence is not exactly like the experience of reading the last. The experience of a red apple is not the same as a green one. Also, each experience is **structured** \- there are many different parts to each experience, and they have specific relationships to each other. Colours, shapes, sounds and thoughts show up in regular patterns that can be recognised. Perhaps most importantly, there is something it is like to have an experience. It undeniably **exists** for itself, even when experience is one of quiet darkness. So, given that the above characteristics are self-evident - universally verifiable by any conscious person, IIT takes these and others as starting points, 'axioms' that don't need proof. Instead, the question becomes the following; what behavior would we expect from a physical system that was a substrate for the above characteristics? Or for an analytic idealist, what characteristics would be expect from a physical system that represented a unified conscious perspective? For example, if a system was having a **specific** experience, we might expect the physical system to be in specific states. IIT additionally proposes that this specificity should influence what happens next. An ice tray with two cubes is in a specific state, but whether there are two cubes or ten doesn't change what the ice tray does next. Your brain however can be in very specific states which change what happens next in your brain. Additionally, an apple doesn't show up in awareness with it's green separate from its shape. The shape is green and the green has shape. It is **integrated** as a whole. The correlate IIT looks for in a physical system is that it must be more than the sum of its parts. If you can split it into two and each part keeps doing its own thing, then it wasn't really integrated. I found this example helped me get an intuitive grasp of integration. Think of the difference between dividing a stone in two and dividing an ax. If you cut a stone in half, you get two stones. Divide an ax you don't get two axes. There are ways to mathematically measure integration, and IIT uses a value called phi (Φ) represent this. A high phi would mean more consciousness; a low or zero phi means little or none. It is the difference between something that has experience (like a person) and something that doesn’t (like a rock or a computer). In terms of practical applications, the theory helps explain why the cerebellum doesn't seem to be necessary for awareness - people born without a cerebellum can still be conscious, and patients with damage show impairments in coordination, emotion, or timing — but **not in basic conscious experience**. All this, despite the fact that the cerebellum has more neurons than the rest of the brain put together. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/07/image-2.png) IIT explains this in terms of **integration**. It's not just about numbers, but about functional connectivity. The cerebellum is made up of **many parallel circuits** that feed forward, processing information independently and don’t **recurrently interact** or form rich, integrated feedback loops. It's like the difference between 100 musicians in individual practise rooms, and a full orchestra where each musician listens to the others, contributing to one unified emergent sound. So in summary, consciousness happens when a system is both rich in **different** experiences and tightly **linked** together so that the parts can’t be separated without losing something important. Our previous dialogue with Christof can be viewed [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cG%5F%5FkpdDEw&ref=withrealityinmind.com), and you can comment below with any other resources that might help, and any comments and questions relevant to the session with Bernardo, 22nd July: 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST I look forward to seeing you there! Amir _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Zoom in 2hrs: AI as a conduit for Mind at Large? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/ai-conduit-for-mind-at-large/ Last updated: 2025-07-15T14:35:45.000Z We're online in 2 hours with **Bernardo Kastrup**, continuing the discussion on Agentic AI and the future of humanity. Though unconscious, could AI serve as a conduit for Mind at Large? [Last week](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-robots-will-be-tools-not-tyrants/), we discussed Bernardo's motivations for starting an AI company, why he believes AI will be intelligent but not conscious, and why despite many dangers, the lack of coherence makes a robotic tyranny unlikely. Today, we turn to a popular and provocative question: **Could AI become a conduit** for Mind-at-Large? We'll be using the [same event page](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/8th-july-agentic-artifici-the-future-of-humanity/) for further comments and questions on this topic. Zoom room below. 🗓 15 July 🕕6–8pm UK / 7–9pm CET / 1–3pm EST See you there! Amir _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### AI - It's our show URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-ai-its-our-show/ Last updated: 2026-09-20T20:48:53.000Z Recording details Date: 15 July 2025 Duration: 2h 19m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 AI and consciousness: whose show is this? 0:10:19 **Could AI be a channel for mind at large?** 0:20:29 Are we implanting thoughts in nature? 0:25:21 Complexity is not the same as integration 0:30:40 Does a language model share our meanings? 0:40:09 Could a **daimon** act through technology? 0:50:29 Inhabiting an AI versus speaking through it 0:55:14 What if we built AI with **quantum randomness**? 1:00:50 Why unpredictability is treated as a defect 1:05:05 How quantum computing manages uncertain answers 1:15:26 Could unpredictable AI become **engineered art**? 1:20:20 When your own work surprises you 1:25:12 Where does AI creativity actually happen? 1:30:13 Human intelligence at an extraordinary scale 1:35:19 What makes an alter an alter? 1:40:37 Why Bernardo connects **dissociation with life** 1:50:23 Same output—but the same causal powers? 2:00:06 Finding optimism and agency after awakening 2:05:14 Engineers and the **collective unconscious** 2:10:10 Why Bernardo chooses to take part 2:15:24 Our most powerful tool: **it’s our show** Could AI be a conduit to Mind at Large? A semi-autonomous expression of Universal Consciousness? We explored several variations of this idea, drawing on **Jung**'s concept of inner and archetypal forces, **Federico Faggin**'s model of consciousness, and [**Anita Goel**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggSbLiO7Owg&ref=withrealityinmind.com)**'s** empirical research suggesting that biological life forms may be quantum-classical systems. In contrast, Bernardo emphasised that all AI systems in development are built to *exclude* quantum randomness. As classically deterministic systems, there is no reason to think of AI as conscious or creative. It might be the *product* of unconscious inner forces guiding human behaviour, but no more than any other physical thing we create. Not a force of its own. Intriguingly, there is potential to create quantum AI, but precisely because this would make it unpredictable, there is no economic incentive to do so. A little known fact; quantum computing works by running a calculation multiple times and selecting the most frequently given answer. Essentially, it is engineered to *eliminate* unpredictable outcomes. When we build AI, we *are* implanting a thought in Mind at Large. Remember though, this is true of every modification we make to the physical world, our dashboard representation of Mind at Large. Given the magnitude of the universe, any change we make in the physical world is infinitesimally small. Nevertheless, through us, this moment in history is significant. As metacognitive 'spies' of Universal Consciousness, we are about to adopt the most powerful tool we have ever created. As such, Bernardo considers this the most exciting moment in the history of life on our planet. Not because AI will be a new creature, but rather a new tool in our hands, and its significance operates through us. In other words: This is our show. The full recording is below, and here, a short excerpt: I look forward to seeing you next week to discuss **Integrated Information Theory** \- a leading theory for the neural correlates of consciousness. This will prepare us for the following week when we are joined by **Christof Koch**, IIT's lead proponent. IIT may provide mathematical precision for what possesses consciousness and when it starts. Until then, with appreciation! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Some words from Bernardo + zoom link - online in 2hrs time URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/some-words-from-bernardo/ Last updated: 2025-07-08T15:08:05.000Z We're meeting in 2 hrs to discuss [***Agentic AI***](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/8th-july-agentic-artifici-the-future-of-humanity/) with Bernardo - your zoom link is below. As a special event, non-members can purchase one-off access with [this link](https://dandelion.events/e/v1bkd?ref=withrealityinmind.com), so feel free to share. Meanwhile, thanks for being part of the group and contributing so much energy and enthusiasm! If you wonder what inspires Bernardo to join these meetings, you might find his recent post interesting: "I've been asked why I'm doing almost no interviews these days, but mostly "With Reality in Mind" (WRiM) instead. The thing is, in interviews I often have to explain everything from scratch, again and again. But in WRiM, I can go progressively more in depth and explore new ideas, implications, and hypotheses. WRiM is more interesting to me, personally. It gives me a chance to explore the unfolding of Analytic Idealism with a stable group of people. I don't have to recapitulate everything from scratch every time, which ultimately gets tiring. Moreover, there are diminishing returns from generic interviews. Repetition is good and does add value; but only up to a certain point. I think I've reached that point now and there isn't much to be gained from repeating the whole rationale behind Analytic Idealism again. Finally, WRiM gives me the chance to help create a group of, well, 'ambassadors' of Analytic Idealism; people fully conversant in the ins and outs of that philosophical perspective, who can then go out into the world, into their communities, to help bring clarity to what is being proposed and help reduce misinterpretations, misrepresentations, and misunderstandings." Looking forward to seeing you soon! Amir [Agentic Artificial Intelligence & the future of humanity“It will look like there is another species on the planet”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-15.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/agentic-wrim-2-3.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/8th-july-agentic-artifici-the-future-of-humanity/) Tuesday 8th of July 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST Zoom link: _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Robots will be tools, not tyrants URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-robots-will-be-tools-not-tyrants/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:13:18.000Z Recording details Date: 8 July 2025 Duration: 1h 59m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Beyond **Blade Runner**: what will AI become? 0:05:22 Why Bernardo is building AI hardware 0:10:18 Does an AI system integrate enough information? 0:15:09 **Will humans keep a creative edge?** 0:20:04 When sheer scale opens new doors 0:25:01 We know the mathematics—so what don’t we understand? 0:30:19 Mental in nature, but a private inner life? 0:35:03 The tool’s power depends on human wisdom 0:40:13 Could an AI **act as if it had an agenda**? 0:45:29 Autonomy within goals we set 0:50:26 What does it mean for AI to create its own goals? 0:55:03 Would anyone build a rival civilisation? 1:06:20 Are **neural implants** different from wearing glasses? 1:16:24 When human-like behaviour invites projection 1:21:15 The emotional stakes of **robot companions** 1:31:35 **How much can we replace and remain ourselves?** 1:41:19 How idealism might change the people wielding AI 1:46:25 Earning a voice by building the thing 1:56:13 Why participate in something so consequential? In this session, Bernardo clarified his ambition for the Agentic AI hardware company he founded. His primary motivation is **philosophical**: By being directly involved in building the hardware that powers AI systems, he and his collaborators aim to have **credible standing** in debates about the nature of mind and consciousness. The second motivation is **technological sovereignty for Europe,** as the US and China now dominate AI infrastructure. We also covered **the difference between intelligence, consciousness and creativity**, and why AI will have the first in abundance but not the later two. It will do a very convincing simulation however! This will create challenges, but robots taking over won't be one of them. Far more important is whether humans develop the wisdom to wield ever increasing power. Other points covered in the session included: - We know **how AI works**... yet we don't know how it works - AI **progress isn't limited** by our understanding - **AI as a tool**, and our future depends on how we use it - **Future scenarios**: human extinction vs human thriving - Robots wont take control: Why Hollywood depictions are unrealistic - **Augmented humans** are inevitable - Personal growth as preparation for an uncertain future To play us out, here are Flight of the Conchords with their prematurely prescient vision for our future. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### We're online with Bernardo in 20 minutes: zoom link URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/were-online-with-bernardo-in-20-minutes-zoom-link/ Last updated: 2025-07-01T16:45:12.000Z Can idealism change society? _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Can science & religion be friends? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-can-science-religion-be-friends/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:13:22.000Z Recording details Date: 1 July 2025 Duration: 2h 1m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Introductions from new members 0:12:00 The **fear of death**: past and future perspectives on afterlife vs oblivion 0:27:00 **Terror management** theory & fluid compensation of meaning 0:36:00 **No need for more isms** \- trust innate knowing over ideology 0:41:00 Should **religion win minds**? 1:00:01 Should science and religions merge? 1:06:00 "Statistical significance" and **the corruption of science** 1:12:10 Is **psychology** **a science** or an art? 1:37:00 Technology vs science vs spirituality 1:44:40 What faults can we forgive in our ancestors? This session continues our discussion on [idealism and society](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-education-economy-culture/). We touched on the fear of death, scientific bias and spiritual technologies. ***When everything is mind, should science and religion merge?*** Bernardo says no - these are different ways of knowing, and mixing them will diminish both. Science, an incredible tool for modeling and predicting nature's behaviour, should remain metaphysically agnostic. Let's remember, historically “*it is untrue that materialism is the foundation of science.*” Individual scientists, of course, are inevitably shaped by their world views, and unfortunately, right now science is biased towards materialism. Bernardo used the bias against psychic phenomena as an example. It turns out that **'statistical significance' is an arbitrary threshold**, a measure that will win Nobel prizes in physics whilst discounting the paranormal in psychology. This is because in one case, discovering a pattern is considered a discovery. In another, it is assumed to be random, and randomness can include any pattern. But these are the biases of individual scientists, not science as a method. ### Science is important, but incomplete Personally, I was confused as to why science was limited, if everything anyway is mind, and mind everywhere has patterns. One of our members, Sophia, explained this best: Science cannot aspire to embrace everything because it is only representation, guided by reason. Whenever something is represented there is always something that is left out, that resists representation, you can say it is its essence, Schopenhauer calls it Will. Will + representation are two poles of the same thing, as life and death are two sides of the same coin emptiness and fullness, being and not being. Quantum physics already points to some limits. There is a kind of knowledge that is not representational, it is not a model, it is knowledge by direct experience, or gnosis. You need both reason and intuition, logos and sophia, left and right hemisphere of the brain to get there. As Iain Mcgilchrist says, in the west we are kind of biased for left-brain thinking. Like Anne said as well, science is all about knowledge of the phenomenical. However the ground of the phenomena itself, its "opposite pole" is not appearance. We need to go beyond appearance, which in hinduism is the veil of maya. It is a part of reality, but not the whole story." Do let us know what stands out for you in the comments below, or telegram. Next week we delve into Artificial Intelligence - the session link is available here: [Agentic Artificial Intelligence & the future of humanity“It will look like there is another species on the planet”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-14.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/agentic-wrim-2-2.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/8th-july-agentic-artifici-the-future-of-humanity/) I look forward to seeing you then! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Short clip: Understanding the different kinds of idealism URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/different-kinds-of-idealism/ Last updated: 2025-06-28T10:50:14.000Z Below is a short clip from our very first meeting, where Bernardo walks us through the evolution of idealist thought—from Berkeley to Kant to Schopenhauer—and how Analytic Idealism builds on that tradition. We're having many discussions right now about the implications of idealism, so it makes sense to step back occasionally and remember the bigger picture: what *is* idealism, and how does Bernardo’s version differ from earlier thinkers? Berkeley’s **subjective idealism** holds that only perceptions exist—objects are real only when perceived, either by us or by God. Kant took a more cautious stance, known as **epistemic idealism**: we can know only how things appear to us, not what they are in themselves. Schopenhauer agreed, but pointed out that we *do* have direct access to the inner nature of one thing: ourselves. This provides solid ground for **objective idealism**—the idea that, since we know our own existence from within, but we also experience ourselves **from the outside** as *body*, as a perceptual object in space and time, observable in a mirror. From this perspective, the body is a bridge between **inner experience** and **external appearance**. This allows us to infer that the same is true for others: their bodies are likewise expressions of their inner, willing nature. Bernardo goes one step further. He shows how our ability to know our own thoughts but not the thoughts of others can be understood as a form of *dissociation* within a broader, unified consciousness. It’s a bold move, and it reframes the idealist tradition in a way that opens it up to science and modern life. Huge thanks to **Kiri Stockman** for editing the video—these clips take time and care to put together, and having clear, watchable excerpts like this is a real gift to the community. ## Coming up On Tuesday we continue our conversation about the implications of idealism on culture, society and politics: [Could idealism transform society?A re-evaluation of our institutions and the moral assumptions that underlie public life with Bernardo Kastrup, 24th of June & 1st of July.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-10.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-22--2025--07_20_30-PM.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/could-idealism-transform-society/) The following week, we'll take a deep dive into Bernardo's perspectives on the upcoming AI revolution. One early prediction: “the amplifying effect of AI on human creativity will be so discombobulating **it will look like there is another species on the planet."** [Agentic Artificial Intelligence & the future of humanity“It will look like there is another species on the planet”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-11.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/agentic-wrim-2.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/8th-july-agentic-artifici-the-future-of-humanity/) This event is open to the public, so you can join as a one-off even if you're not a member, via this link [here](https://dandelion.events/e/v1bkd?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Finally, a reminder that you can see all scheduled meetings [here](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/schedule/). Looking forward to connecting soon! Amir ### Idealism will not be televised URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-education-economy-culture/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:13:27.000Z Recording details Date: 24 June 2025 Duration: 2h 12m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 What could idealism change beyond philosophy? 0:05:23 A cultural shift—gradual and uneven 0:10:20 Life as an opportunity to experience 0:15:14 Why **AI may force economic change** 0:25:04 From alternative realities to chaotic messaging 0:30:02 Progress without a promised utopia 0:35:14 **AI rights while animals suffer?** 0:40:25 The lure of a **mechanical god** 0:50:12 Criticising authority—or rejecting knowledge? 0:55:25 Why this revolution may happen one drop at a time 1:00:29 Idealism may become **mainstream before we notice** 1:05:08 When resistance becomes redefining the words 1:15:02 Education for economic usefulness? 1:20:28 Learning how to live a meaningful life 1:25:06 **What are we working to stay alive for?** 1:35:18 If work no longer defines us, what will? 1:45:28 What should education recover from the past? 1:50:15 Why education for maturity is urgent 2:00:13 Can we preserve the value of private initiative? 2:05:18 Can **basic income and capitalism** belong together? Whilst Gil Scott-Heron’s iconic record, [*The revolution will not be televised*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwSRqaZGsPw&ref=withrealityinmind.com) had political bite, it also spoke to how transformation isn't always spectator sport. In respect to the wider ramifications of idealism, Bernardo suggested a mainly slow and inner process - a revolution noticed in retrospect. That doesn't mean there won't be disruption and upheaval, or that we can anticipate some idyllic utopia. But if idealism gains a place on the menu of metaphysical options, Bernardo hopes for a new undertone of empathy and meaning. A quietly transformative force in multiple domains. For instance, it may inspire **a new vision for education** \- focused on meaning rather than economic utility. On the **economic front**, Bernardo suggests a “sweet and sour” approach: a creative synthesis of universal basic income with elements of market capitalism. AI may create a favorable context. Vast new wealth, making generous basic income not only possible but likely. Bernardo explored further thoughts on **the challenges coming with AI**, a sneak preview on a topic we’ll be giving our [full focus in two weeks.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/8th-july-agentic-artifici-the-future-of-humanity/) One striking moment: the outrage that society increasingly discusses the moral treatment of computers while continuing to treat millions of farmed animals worse than machines. We’ll continue this theme next week, so feel free to vote for your favourite questions, or add your own on [the event page here.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/could-idealism-transform-society/) Meanwhile, the link to the recording from part 1 is below. See you soon I hope! Amir ### Recording topics - Idealism will likely exist amongst a menu of metaphysical options - Idealism is not a panacea; but there might be a new undertone - There has been progress, but we are less evolved than we think - The discussion around AI rights is outrageous whilst we are treating animals like products. - How to navigate the bumpy transitions in the world - Science is one of the earliest adopters of idealism - The transition won’t feel like a revolution - What would education aimed at meaning rather than economic utility look like? - Would idealism lean towards democratization of the economy? Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Christof Koch: The neural correlates of being the world URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/christof-koch-2/ Last updated: 2025-07-29T10:16:19.000Z Christof is one of the most celebrated figures in consciousness science, renowned for his groundbreaking work alongside Francis Crick (Nobel prize winner for co-discovery of the DNA double helix) and spearheading the modern search for the neural correlates of consciousness. A prolific researcher, author, and public intellectual, he has played a central role in shaping the field, earning widespread recognition for bringing serious scientific attention to questions once thought purely philosophical. His leadership at the Allen Institute and his championing of **Integrated Information Theory** have positioned him as a visionary voice at the intersection of neuroscience, technology, and the nature of mind. Integrated Information Theory (IIT) attempts to account for consciousness by identifying and mathematically modeling the intrinsic structure of information that gives rise to subjective experience. In recent interviews and dialogues—including with Bernardo— Christof has recently reflected on the limitations of physicalist explanations for consciousness. Respectively, whilst once critical of IIT, Bernardo Kastrup now believes it's recent iterations could map how universal consciousness dissociates into seemingly separate minds, and provide insight into the experience of Mind at Large. He gave an introduction to IIT and these ideas last week which you can see here: [Recording: IIT - A Rosetta Stone for Mind at Large?IIT discussion with Bernardo Kastrup, 22nd July 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-17.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/ChatGPT-Image-Jul-23--2025--02_52_09-PM.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-iit-a-rosetta-stone-for-mind-at-large/) As always, your comments and questions below will help shape the event, with some questions chosen for dialogue. You can the recording of the 2024 dialogue here: ### About Christof Christof Koch was the president and chief scientist of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle where he remains as a Meritorious Investigator. He is known for his interdisciplinary approach, combining insights from neuroscience, physics, and philosophy to tackle the complex problem of consciousness. His work has been published in over 350 scientific papers, significantly shaped modern understanding of the neural correlates of consciousness and visual perception. In collaboration with Francis Crick, Christof initiated the modern search for the neuronal correlates of consciousness, a systematic experimental program to identify the minimal bio-physical mechanisms jointly sufficient for any one specific conscious percept. In collaboration with Giulio Tononi, he co-developed the Integrated Information Theory of consciousness. 29th July: 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The Western Path URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-western-path/ Last updated: 2026-09-11T09:07:05.000Z Om. Guru. Chakra. Nirvana. Do you recognise these Sanskrit words? Most Westerners do. Some even inscribe them on their skin. So isn't it curious that many remain unaware of the Western equivalents? In popular culture, esoteric truth is acquired on Himalayan mountains. But Europe has high places too. Sages who hinted that behind appearances, there is a deeper order that the soul can encounter. An ultimate reality that can be touched *here and now* through contemplation, imagination, or inner transformation. This "Golden Chain" of initiates stretches from Plato through to the desert fathers, medieval mystics to the Hermetic revival. Romantic Idealists like Schelling to depth psychologists such as Jung. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-9--2025--11_42_56-AM.png) Michael Maier, 1617, Emblem 42: Of the secrets of Nature; In Chemistry when facing Nature, Reason, Experience, & learning, these are the Guide, the staff, spectacles and lamp. (coloured by AI) All over the world, mystics have recognised that duality is an illusion, but with starkly different intuitions on how to align with this idea. In the East, the goal was often to transcend the illusory world. In the West, material forms were symbols for deeper truths. Appearances were to be revered for what they reveal. Additionally, by harnessing the "secret fire" of alchemical teachings, base matter could be transmuted into higher form, deep truths could be embodied, given shape and form. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/alchemist-lab.jpg) Alchemist’s laboratory. From Heinrich Khunrath, **Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae* (Hamburg? 1595). Duveen Collection, Department of Special Collections, Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison. We touched on this last week with Patrick Harpur, author of [The Philosophers' Secret Fire](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philosophers-Secret-Fire-History-Imagination/dp/1906069069?ref=withrealityinmind.com), and the week before in Bernardo's autobiographical [The Daimon and the Soul of the West](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daimon-Soul-West-identity-sacrificial/dp/1803419490?ref=withrealityinmind.com). "The Western path," says Bernardo, "though excruciatingly difficult sometimes, offers the potential for breakthroughs that will fill you with meaning and contentment to the point of bursting." In this approach, because your natural dispositions are part of nature, there is no need to subdue them. You are encouraged to engage and leverage the world of the senses, "pursuing a life of purpose, honoring your personal dignity and self-worth, embracing past and future, regarding matter as symbolically rich, learning from life, and basking in the profound freedom of sacrifice..." We meet this today to discuss these ideas, learn from their contrasts, and if you are part of the now global Western culture, consider Bernardo's bold claim - "There is a Western path, and it is your nature-given birthright and heritage." You can read, vote and add to proposed questions down below. I look forward to seeing you there! Amir ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/09/Amphitheatrum_sapientiae_aeternae_-_The_cosmic_rose.jpg) The cosmic rose Engraving pictured in the book Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae written by Heinrich Khunrath ## Zoom link 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The Daimon & the Soul of the West URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/the-daimon-the-soul-of-the-west/ Last updated: 2025-08-25T15:32:45.000Z ***"There is a Western path, and it is your nature-given birthright... it offers the potential for breakthroughs that will fill you with meaning and contentment to the point of bursting."*** Tomorrow, Bernardo releases his latest book "[***The Daimon and the Soul of the West***](https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/iff-books/our-books/daimon-soul-west-finding-identity-meaning-purpose-sacrificial-life?ref=withrealityinmind.com)." It is a highly personal account of a childhood in Brazil, the early loss of his father, his time at CERN and the ever-present guidance from his Daimon. As such, it becomes an evocative example of how to find meaning and ***purpose in relationship to a living universe***. Whilst nonduality can lean people towards detachment from life's trials and tribulations, Bernardo contends that there is another option, and charts this course of his own ups and downs in his life. "We, Western minds, have forgotten who we are, despite having never once stopped being who we are. We’ve lost touch with the impersonal, Daimonic forces that give us direction and the sacrificial nature of our existence. No longer do we realize that our lives aren't, have never been, and will never be about ourselves. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/08/640px-Paris._Notre_Dame_Cathedral_Tower._Chimeras_and_Man-1.jpg) Paris. Notre Dame Cathedral Tower. Chimeras and Man Consequently, we've lost our ability to sense the immanent context that couches our lives in meaning and purpose. Our alienation from our own inborn nature and role has led to a tragic schism: a divorce between essence and narrative, being and action. This book is an effort to help heal this schism. It’s about re-encountering our natural selves and guiding Daimon, re-tuning into the archetypal dispositions we embody, and re-learning how to navigate the choppy waters of life in a spontaneous and fulfilling manner." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/06/640px-Socrate_daimon-1.jpg) Socrates Daimon - Anonymous, unknown date "The Western path... though excruciatingly difficult sometimes, offers the potential for breakthroughs that will fill you with meaning and contentment to the point of bursting. You won’t have to subdue any of your natural dispositions—such as engaging unreservedly with the world of the senses, pursuing a life of purpose, honoring your personal dignity and self-worth, embracing past and future, regarding matter as symbolically rich, learning from life, and basking in the profound freedom of sacrifice—but leverage them. There is a Western path, and it is your nature-given birthright and heritage." [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/08/jhp66e2e3c6c3417-1-1-1.jpg)](https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/iff-books/our-books/daimon-soul-west-finding-identity-meaning-purpose-sacrificial-life?ref=withrealityinmind.com) > ***"I’m still reeling from its emotional impact***." - Christof Koch, PhD, author, neuroscientist, and former head of the Allen Institute for Brain Science Together, we will discuss: - Bernardo's personal journey - How to recognise and appreciate Daimonic forces in our lives - How therapy must fail when there is nothing to treat - Freedom in surrender As always, your questions and comments below will help shape the discussion. 26th August 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/08/The_Wounded_Angel_-_Hugo_Simberg-1.jpg) The Wounded Angel - Hugo Simberg _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Could idealism transform society? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/could-idealism-transform-society/ Last updated: 2025-06-25T19:00:19.000Z As you know, idealism can be ***personally*** transformative. But what if it could also impact our culture, society, and politics? If we are dissociated aspects of one consciousness, then harming others is, in a real sense, harming oneself. Ethical concern, empathy, and even political responsibility take on a different hue: - Might a culture informed by idealism be less prone to nihilism and **more attuned to meaning?** - Would **justice systems** evolve to emphasize rehabilitation over punishment? - Could **governance** better reflect collective well-being? - What **environmental policy** reflects nature as an image of our shared inner life? - How might **science** accommodate meditation, artistic insight, and mystical experience, if these become legitimate **modes of knowing**? As Bernardo puts it, “Idealism doesn't make the world magical—it makes it coherent.” Could idealism offer a path toward a more enlightened society, while navigating the pitfalls that have accompanied similar utopian ambitions? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/06/ChatGPT-Image-Jun-22--2025--07_49_16-PM.png) Modified Perugino, **Christ Giving the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter*, Sistine Chapel ***Recording from part 1 of this Q&A on the 24th of June is here:*** ***We continue the Q&A on the 1st of July*** ***6pm-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST*** Your additional questions and comments are welcome, which will help shape the conversation and could be selected for discussion. I look forward to seeing you there! With appreciation, Amir P.S. A big thanks Olas, Peter T, Johan Graffman, Corrado, Larry Warshaw and Gustavo for suggesting this week's theme, and these initial questions below: #### How might our political and social institutions change if Analytic Idealism were to go mainstream? (Peter T) What are the Cultural ramifications of Analytical Idealism's ontological revelation on a massive scale? (Johan) #### ****Idealism in the educational system? (Gustavo)** A question to Bernardo and all educators in the group. How can we embed idealism in the educational system? It seems like current education aims at connecting to individual cognition, but not the view of a 'wider' mind. What might an educational system look like if Idealistic principles were embedded in it? #### Could idealism soften the fear of death, and could this impact humanity? (Larry Warshaw) Given that idealism accommodates many phenomena now considered 'anomalous' (psi, NDE, SE, OBE, UAP, NHI etc.), what are the implications for our deep underlying fear of death of the physical body? Might the softening of this fear then change society/humanity? #### How to hold the present crisis in American Democracy with equanimity? (Olas) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Agentic Artificial Intelligence & the future of humanity URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/8th-july-agentic-artifici-the-future-of-humanity/ Last updated: 2025-07-09T11:46:31.000Z ***"What AI does today, the average person on the street would not believe..."*** Agentic AI are systems designed to operate autonomously. Making decisions, pursuing goals and taking actions with minimal human intervention. Bernardo Kastrup is **founder and** **chief scientist** of Europe's first company developing hardware for Agentic AI. This gives him unique insight into this upcoming revolution and its likely impact on humanity - a change that "is coming in our lifetime." For now, it costs too much energy to make the most powerful AI available to the public, but that will soon change. > "We will have **the totality of humanity's intelligence times a few million in our pockets**. Just like we have electricity everywhere, water, everywhere, Internet, everywhere. Well, superhuman intelligence everywhere. And it's around the corner." It won't just be intelligence that is impacted. Bernardo predicts that “the amplifying effect of AI on human creativity will be so discombobulating **it will look like there is another species on the planet.**This will be a change like never before. And there is no walking back from this either.” Successfully navigating this emerging world will require sober introspection, but also a commitment to being well-informed. - Will these new systems be conscious? - What role will humans have in this emerging world? Bernardo is one of the few people on the planet with a PhD in both computer engineering and a PhD in philosophy, and author of more than 10 books dedicated to the subject of consciousness. As you probably know, Bernardo is perhaps the most well-known modern proponent of metaphysical idealism - the notion that the fundamental nature of reality in consciousness. Drawing on foundational physics, neuroscience and analytic philosophy, he has reached conclusions remarkably similar to the views celebrated by ancient mystical traditions. Which is my long way of saying, I'm thrilled to hear his thoughts on the topic, and excited to have you join. We got a preview of some of his thoughts a couple of weeks ago, which you can see here: We held part one of the conversation on the [8th of July](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-robots-will-be-tools-not-tyrants/), and we continue on: 15th of July 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### What on earth do UFOs have to do with Idealism? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/meaning-in-absurdity/ Last updated: 2025-08-11T09:15:56.000Z In 2012, Bernardo Kastrup released [Meaning in Absurdity](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2015/01/peeks-into-meaning-in-absurdity.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com), a book on bizarre phenomena such as UFOs, entities and visitations and what they might imply about the nature of reality. When we discussed this last year, my first question was 'what the hell do UFOs have to do with Idealism?' The ensuing conversation was fascinating and unique, and you can see it [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=optOknoskyE&ref=withrealityinmind.com). "The idea developed in the book is, in my opinion, one of my key contributions, for not only does it shed light on the absurd in an unexpected but intriguing manner, it also bears direct relevance to our entire view of the nature of reality." Like the book, these sessions will "ask you to have an open mind and enough mental flexibility to navigate through seas that will drag you out of your comfort zone, wherever it may lie. **If you are at home with the wacky, the weird, and the absurd** – but can keep yourself engaged when structured thinking is called for – you may find a new world of insights when we explore quantum entanglement, Gödel’s theorems, intuitionistic logic, and the history of science. **If, instead, you are comfortable with science and formal philosophy** – but can balance your skepticism and cynicism – you may find a breath of fresh air when we explore the serious aspects of UFOs, the Otherworld, and the inner landscapes of the unconscious." ### A rare opportunity Because there is so much unreliable information on this topic, Bernardo no longer engages on it publicly. So it is a rare chance for a private conversation on the 12th and 19th of August at our regular time: 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST [On the 19th of August](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/uap-high-strangeness-with-guest-jeffrey-kripal/), we're also joined by special guest [Jeffrey Kripal](https://jeffreyjkripal.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). **Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena** (UAP) and high strangeness field has seen remarkable developments in recent years: In 2017, ***The New York Times*** published a groundbreaking article revealing a secret Pentagon program dedicated to studying UAPs - the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). Then, in 2020, the ***Department of Defense*** formally released videos confirming sightings by military personnel, followed by a 2021 report from National Intelligence stating that 143 out of 144 UAP of these encounters reported since 2004 **remained unexplained.** In 2022 the **U.S. government** established an office (AARO) to investigate, before the 2023 whistleblower testimony to Congress which claimed the retrieval of non-human craft and biologics, pushing the conversation into mainstream awareness. Additionally, academic initiatives like **Harvard’s Galileo Project** and **NASA**’s UAP study team are taking a rigorous, transparent scientific approach to these mysteries, **moving the conversation from ridicule to serious inquiry.** Bernardo will provide an update on his most recent thoughts on these phenomena and their public perception, and as always, your comments and questions are welcome below, and will help shape the discussion. ![woman floating on the air near beige wall](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/06/photo-1555617142-e5a0f8b53fb0-1.jpeg) Photo by [Apostolos Vamvouras](https://unsplash.com/@apostolosv?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) ### Zoom Link 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Jung's "Answer to Job" - on suffering, evil & meaning URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-jungs-answer-to-job/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:13:30.000Z Recording details Date: 17 June 2025 Duration: 2h 30m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Jung’s Job: suffering, evil and meaning 0:05:15 **Could suffering change the mind of God?** 0:10:29 Why suffering and evil are different 0:15:02 **Viktor Frankl** and the transmutation of suffering 0:25:32 Would we still press the no more suffering button? 0:30:30 Could anything be lost outside time? 0:35:05 Meaning is found in experience, not public influence 0:45:02 Why **Jung’s God must become human** 0:55:19 Can Job be **morally ahead of God**? 1:00:00 What might mind at large inherit from us? 1:05:16 Is life’s emergence deliberate or spontaneous? 1:15:19 What happened to intuitive knowledge? 1:25:12 Logic as one tool among others 1:30:38 Why your perspective cannot simply be borrowed 1:35:10 Is meaning more than a philosophical argument? 1:40:19 If nature learns, must its laws change? 1:50:15 **Eternity is not endless time** 2:00:10 What happens when we **repress the shadow**? 2:05:28 Recognising destructive impulses in ourselves 2:15:35 Does birth bring a **trauma of separation**? 2:20:47 When does an individual alter begin? 2:25:25 **NDE reports** and further levels of dissociation Much of this session was inspired by Jung's "Answer to Job" - the biblical story interpreted here as the birth of metacognition, morality and meaning. Job is a righteous man who experiences intense suffering, losing his wealth, health, and family. His friends argue that his misfortune must be a result of sin, but Job maintains his innocence and challenges God’s justice, questioning why the righteous suffer. This process of questioning, rather than blindly accepting divine authority, represents a significant step in the development in metaconsciousness and morality. For Bernardo, it indicates the special role humans can play in the cosmic unfolding of reality, and the meaning suffering might have. This inspired several questions: - Is the emergence of life spontaneous, or deliberate? - If the universe is learning, why aren't the laws of physics changing? - Where is all this leading? We also covered how **true meaning is always in inner experience**, not outward success, and why we must seek to **understand the archetype of evil**, finding ways to safely express, not repress or ignore it. Also, Bernardo speculated on **when does 'consciousness' starts** \- at conception or the first breath? The video, audio, transcript and chat are all below, and as always, your comments and reflections are welcome here or the group telegram chat. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Could meaning be healing? Bernardo Kastrup on suffering, purpose & ethics URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/could-meaning-be-healing-bernardo-kastrup-on-suffering-purpose-ethics/ Last updated: 2025-06-16T14:04:37.000Z If the body "isn’t merely a lump of matter," but rather, the image of your deep psyche, **then mental and physical health become one**. The psychological. The biological. The meaning you give your life. These become many perspectives on the same thing. 'Physical health' would be what the deepest layers of your mental health *look like* from a third-person perspective. For those who know to read it, the body becomes a map, a representation of unconscious thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and dreams. Your mental health would be the reality, the territory this map seeks to reveal. Importantly, this "mental health" includes the process by which universal mind reflects back on itself - the temporary dissociation that is "you." Maintaining this cognitive dissociation *looks like* metabolic processes - digestion, elimination and the immune system. The ways in which the body maintains a barrier between you and the world. The symbol for how universal mind spirals around itself to take a particular vantage point on its own activity. ![starry night sky over starry night](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1592035659284-3b39971c1107?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDM0fHxnYWxheHl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzUwMDgyMjA2fDA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=2000) Photo by [Guillermo Ferla](https://unsplash.com/@gferla?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) When this breaks down, we experience pain. But under Analytic Idealism, the suffering experienced by living beings is suffering inflicted by Universal Consciousness onto itself. So, is this suffering intentional, or some horrific mistake? In this short excerpt (from our meeting on ethics two weeks ago,) Bernardo explores these potential implications. Tomorrow, we will draw on Jung's '*Answer to Job*' in our enquiry. How might medicine broaden its scope, and how might philosophy tend to the wounds of the physical... You're invited to join the conversation, and to add your voice in the comments [here.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/10th-june-therapeutic-implications-of-idealism-with-guest-alexey-tolchinsky/) I hope you can make it, Best wishes, Amir ### Alexey Tolchinsky, Psy.D., and Bernardo Kastrup in conversation URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-things-have-to-get-worse-before-they-get-better-with-alexey-tolchinsky-psy-d/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:13:34.000Z Recording details Date: 10 June 2025 Duration: 1h 59m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Alexey Tolchinsky meets analytic idealism 0:05:35 Why idealism does not mean **thinking yourself well** 0:10:34 Bringing meaning into clinical practice 0:15:18 Why a clinician insists on evidence and expertise 0:20:05 Is mental health too easily reduced to **diagnostic boxes**? 0:25:11 Could some disorder help us become unstuck? 0:30:03 **Chaos is not the same as randomness** 0:40:05 Emotional patterns and the landscape of therapy 0:45:16 Why **psychosomatic explanations** need scrutiny 0:50:29 The difficulty of testing repressed anger 0:55:23 Mind and body: are we separating what belongs together? 1:00:05 What do we actually mean by repression? 1:05:16 How idealism interprets physical illness 1:10:27 **If everything is mind, does the word still mean anything?** 1:15:16 Why metaphysical claims draw different distinctions 1:20:10 Existing in mind versus having a mind 1:30:17 The danger of moving concepts between scientific models 1:35:18 Metaphysics can open questions—**evidence guides treatment** 1:40:02 Dissociation as a **collapse of temporal depth**? 1:45:10 Why might the world stop feeling real? 1:50:22 Memory: the past we use for the future In this session, we discussed how '*disorder'* has been pathologized when in fact, a healthy mind displays a functional degree of chaos. Here's an excerpt from the full session on this topic. Why disorder in your brain (and life) are crucial for any growth, how a holiday can be a useful injection of entropy to dislodge brooding, and why algorithmically, things have to get worse before they get better: The rest of the dialogue with Alexey Tolchinsky is below. Alexey emphasised the need for evidence before applying metaphysics to clinical practise, and his caution against extrapolating from personal experience or fixing on narrative models based on scant data. As the dialogue will show, he is passionate about formulating rigorous models based on clear evidence, in a field where the stakes are high: 25% of mental health professionals experience a completed suicide in their career. Although not an idealist, there was a convivial exchange about Bernardo's defence of idealism that a lot of people found useful, even those already very familiar with Bernardo's work. Next session, we continue the theme of the [implications of idealism](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/10th-june-therapeutic-implications-of-idealism-with-guest-alexey-tolchinsky/) on healing and therapy, in a Q&A with Bernardo. [Forms of life, forms of mind | Dr. Michael Levin | If mind is everywhere, where are all the panpsychiatrists? A (neuro)psychiatry-focussed discussionA discussion with a clinical psychologist and neuropsychiatrist about collective minds.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Dr.-Michael-Levin-Site-Logo.png)Forms of life, forms of mindJohn Shearing![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/32-132-CellTherapy_R3-1.jpg)](https://thoughtforms.life/if-mind-is-everywhere-where-are-all-the-panpsychiatrists-a-neuropsychiatry-focussed-discussion/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/06/320x400.jpeg) Alexey Tolchinsky, Psy.D. [**Alexey Tolchinsky, Psy.D**](https://montgomerycountypsychologist.com/about?ref=withrealityinmind.com)**.**, clinical psychologist and Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University. He specializes in anxiety conditions such as panic and compulsion. Alexey has a strong interest in applying neuroscience and diverse philosophical frameworks to the clinical practise of helping people. For example, he doesn't think its helpful to think of [depression as a disease](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/embrace-the-unknown/202312/a-story-of-depression-as-a-disease?ref=withrealityinmind.com), but rather, a natural response with many potential causes. Think of a fever compared to a flu. It's a call for a deeper enquiry, not simply medicating away chemical states. Additionally, his interest in **chaos theory** challenges the concept of 'mental health **disorder.**' After all, a [healthy mind has a healthy level of chaos](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/embrace-the-unknown/202312/a-healthy-human-mind-has-elements-of-chaos?ref=withrealityinmind.com). The brain waves of both seizures and sleep display more order than an alert mind, and higher levels of chaos "correlate with a higher probability of recovery" from a vegetative state. And drawing on the unique perspectives of 'self' from Michael Levin and Karl Friston, he believes all dissociation conditions involve a collapse in our ability to future think and plan. Both depersonalization and derealisation involve a "[temporal depth collapse.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sq-CFM-raE&ref=withrealityinmind.com)" He has coauthored several [peer-reviewed papers](https://montgomerycountypsychologist.com/academic-publications?ref=withrealityinmind.com) with Michael Levin as well as exploring many fascinating ideas together. You might enjoy this email exchange and discussion: Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Ethics & living your life to its full URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-ethics-living-your-life-to-its-full/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:14:30.000Z Recording details Date: 3 June 2025 Duration: 2h 28m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Ethics and the permission to live fully 0:10:25 **Does life need to be useful to have value?** 0:15:43 Why natural extinction is no excuse for indifference 0:25:01 What changes when you enter the game of life? 0:30:03 The gift that only your life can bring 0:40:25 Each of us as **nature’s unique experiment** 0:45:05 Beyond earning a living: what are we alive for? 0:55:03 Why Bernardo sees this as an unprecedented moment 1:00:06 Extending the **golden rule** to all life 1:10:44 Could we be the eyes through which nature learns? 1:20:04 Does suffering have purpose—or arise from ignorance? 1:25:48 Can we be **responsible without free will**? 1:30:09 Why a choice must come from somewhere 1:40:35 Determinism does not mean the answer is already known 1:50:44 What we do to others becomes part of us 1:55:38 Which moral framework fits idealism? 2:00:08 The extraordinary cost of a life’s opportunity 2:05:40 Now we know better—can we do better? 2:10:44 Our responsibility for **animal suffering** 2:15:08 What would the **true cost of meat** look like? 2:25:12 When the life behind our food disappears from view When we scheduled this session on ethics, I expected an important but dry conversation on the technicalities of free will and determinism. Instead, the theme was a springboard for an exhilarating discussion; how idealism offers **permission to embrace the rich humanity of our experience**, the unique gifts we bring and the lessons we are here to learn. All of this, importantly, in the context of a deeply empathetic relationship with others. ![lion lying on brown rock](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/06/photo-1583499871880-de841d1ace2a-1.jpeg) Photo by [Clément ROY](https://unsplash.com/@clement%5Froy?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) I was especially struck by the concept of *computational irreducibility*—the idea that even in a deterministic universe, some outcomes are so complex they can’t be predicted. Only lived. In this view, **determinism isn’t the enemy of meaning; it is its bedrock**. Reality, then, becomes a kind of living experiment, perhaps moving ever closer to some underlying purpose. Bernardo also drew on first-hand insight into current developments of **Artificial Intelligence.** He illustrated why **this period of history will be unlike any before**, and the ethical opportunities and perils we face. Also discussed was: - The **moral catastrophe of our time** is needing metaphysics to justify ethics - **Why utilitarianism is a bad philosophy,** falling prey to infinite regress - The permission to live your life fully - **The unique gift you bring** and the lesson you are here to learn - Idealist vs materialist ethics - Our moral responsibility in the absence of free will - Your choices as a journey of self-discovery - A plea for better treatment of animals My biggest takeaway? That **kindness is the natural outcome of understanding,** and the golden rule is not a moral demand, but a guide to our own well-being. If you listen, I'd love to hear your reflections– on the telegram group or in the comments below. So: what unique gifts and insights does your life offer? With appreciation! Amir You can cancel your membership at any time - why not join for a month and see if you like it! Join the online calls and enjoy a variety of amazing recordings... Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### How to follow your daimon URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-how-to-follow-your-daimon-and-the-importance-of-remembering-you-are-a-monkey/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:14:35.000Z Recording details Date: 27 May 2025 Duration: 2h 12m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Spirituality and following your daimon 0:05:08 Is analytic idealism **theistic or atheistic**? 0:10:35 Why our philosophy cannot contain every truth 0:15:00 What introspection adds to metaphysics 0:20:23 The comfort of mysteries still unexplored 0:25:26 **Spacetime as the mind’s filing system** 0:30:12 After recognising the one, why study the many? 0:35:03 What illusions reveal about reality 0:45:14 Why **understanding can take seconds—and living it years** 0:50:07 Suffering without the added why me? 1:05:28 Knowing it is a game can deepen the experience 1:15:23 **Why keep calling us monkeys?** 1:25:04 Playing your part without controlling the outcome 1:30:39 What does transcendence actually transcend? 1:35:09 Can consciousness know itself without any experience? 1:40:00 God, nature and the limits of the image 1:50:05 **Have your survival strategies hidden your calling?** 1:55:01 Recognising what nature wants to do through you 2:00:03 Your calling need not be one thing forever 2:05:26 The daimon’s call: **meaning without comfort** In this session we discussed: - How to follow your daimon, - (and how even to ignore it can be a moral and heroic life) - The **biggest misunderstandings about Spinoza**: pantheism vs panentheism = Nature is god, but god is more than nature. - How to transform **intellectual recognition into lived realisation** - The importance of **remembering you are a monkey** - Why we should pay attention to the magic show - Atheist spirituality I particularly liked how Bernardo clarified that transcendence only transcends concepts, not being. Did you have a favorite moment or realisation? Feel free to comment below, email me, or share on telegram! Recordings, audio and transcript below: Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### 3rd June - Idealism & Ethics URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/3rd-june-ethics/ Last updated: 2025-06-02T14:56:09.000Z ***Please note the new zoom room for June, listed below*** When we fully absorb the full scope of Analytic Idealism, what are the ethical implications? If death is an illusion and life analogous to a dream, what is the significance of murder? Should our relationship to animals match our ethical concern for other humans? And what is argument for personal responsibility, when individuality is only a temporary point of view? Thank you Ines for proposing this session, with his initial questions about how to define ethics, and why would alters need it. As always, further comments and questions before the event are welcome, which will help shape the emerging dialogue. Here is an example question, submitted previously by Greg: #### FREE WILL & RESPONSABILITY It has to do with Free Will and whether I have a degree of it, enough to take Responsibility for my actions and make a Moral judgement. If it helps I imagine a practical context which is: I’m making a decision to accept or not to accept some expectation of me to act, in a way that I am uncomfortable with but which will benefit me. 1. Do I have Free Will to take Responsibility and make a Moral judgement? 2. 1. If no – how am I able to fulfil my responsibility as a meta-conscious Being, to make a moral judgement? If my Will is the expression of an Archetype of Nature, how can I be responsible for my actions? (however “bad”) 2. If yes, could it be that my Moralising is bringing about, by co-creation of my Freewill and (my expressed) Archetype of Nature, a more evolved Archetype that has taken into account the reflections of this (me) meta-conscious avatar? _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 17th June - Therapeutic implications of idealism URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/10th-june-therapeutic-implications-of-idealism-with-guest-alexey-tolchinsky/ Last updated: 2025-06-11T10:43:32.000Z Idealism rejects the modern division between body and mind, and offers a rationale framework for healing both. Compared to materialism, this approach may prove not only more compassionate, but more effective. According to Bernardo, the body "isn’t merely a lump of matter" rather, "it is the image of buried emotions, feelings, beliefs, cognitive processes and structures of consciousness that escape the field of our self-reflective awareness" If the body is the image of the subconscious, then **mental health is physical health.** It is the perfect framework for *integrative medicine;* a focus on the whole person, considering all factors that influence health and disease, from medicine to meaning. "We have every logical reason – not to mention myriad empirical ones – to give ourselves rational permission to embrace and trust integrative medicine. It explores effective avenues of treatment that have been left untouched by mainstream materialist medicine." So this isn't a rejection of conventional health care. After all, "the physical world we perceive around us is the image of the activity of the collective ‘unconscious.’" What this means, is that "environmental stressors like viruses, bacteria, exposure to the elements, nutrition, physical trauma, pollutants, drugs, etc., all obviously influence our bodily health. The problem is that this is the only avenue of influence that materialist medicine acknowledges. Therefore, it misses half of the problem and half of the avenues of healing...." This session will follow on from last week's dialogue with Alexey Tolchinsky, exploring the ideas expressed in Bernardo's [essay](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2014/06/the-case-for-integrative-medicine.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) on the topic. [The case for integrative medicineThis is the homepage of philosopher and computer scientist Bernardo Kastrup, with links to his biography and most of his works.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-5.ico)Bernardo Kastrup![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Screen-Shot-2014-06-29-at-21.12.05.png)](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2014/06/the-case-for-integrative-medicine.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) The topic has come up with Bernardo a couple of times before, so you might appreciate watching some of these clips in advance of the session: I'm looking forward to a rich and wide-ranging conversation. As always, your comments and questions before the event are welcome, which will help shape the emerging dialogue. 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Idealism on Spiritual Leadership & Ethics URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-idealism-on-spiritual-leadership-ethics/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:14:40.000Z Recording details Date: 20 May 2025 Duration: 2h 2m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Idealism, religion and spiritual responsibility 0:10:17 Can philosophy give us permission for religion? 0:15:22 Seeing through the game without withdrawing from life 0:20:21 What does a religious myth point towards? 0:25:17 What if the truth cannot be said directly? 0:30:17 Can reform lose something spiritually essential? 0:35:21 **Sexuality**, belonging and religious institutions 0:40:22 Bernardo’s experience in **Cologne Cathedral** 0:45:07 The cross as an image of the human condition 0:50:21 Can **ritual** make the banal feel profound? 0:55:30 Inviting insight rather than pushing belief 1:00:34 When **outward certainty masks inner doubt** 1:10:33 What remains when we step outside our stories? 1:15:12 Beneath our ambitions: the will to meaning 1:20:40 Why reach is not always the right reason 1:30:04 Should spiritual teaching require training and safeguards? 1:35:14 Where should professional boundaries begin? 1:40:21 Spiritual transformation and the role of initiation 1:50:40 **Is spiritual comfort sometimes an anaesthetic?** 1:55:12 Bernardo’s case for **licensing spiritual teachers** 2:00:43 What a polished public image may conceal In this session we discussed idealist perspective on religious institutions & ritual, (to render the banal profound) and life as your greatest spiritual teacher: - Ambassadorship vs activism - The value idealism can bring to religion - Can there be change in or by Catholicism? - Should spiritual teaching be a regulated profession? - The modern version of beheading is anaesthetised culture We'll be continuing the conversation next week. You may also enjoy these thoughts on the subject that Bernardo penned some years back: [A suggestion for Church reformThis is the homepage of philosopher and computer scientist Bernardo Kastrup, with links to his biography and most of his works.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/favicon-6.ico)Bernardo Kastrup![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/DSCN7209.jpeg)](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2019/12/a-suggestion-for-church-reform.html?ref=withrealityinmind.com) I hope to see you there! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### 20th & 27th May - Spiritual Leadership & Living an Example URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/spiritual-leadership-living-an-example/ Last updated: 2025-05-22T08:28:28.000Z Firstly, a big thanks to Berto Gandara for proposing this theme, and Catherine, Annie, Byron, GerJan, Eric and others for supporting it. We've spent several weeks now comparing Idealism with Advaita, Buddhism and other spiritual paths, so its a great time to follow through with our personal experiences, starting with Berto's question: "I am very interested in exploring how to apply analytical idealism in my spiritual practices and in my religious community, especially as the leader of that community." Your further questions and comments related to this theme and recent sessions are welcome below. Looking forward to seeing you there! Amir _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Rupert Spira & Bernardo Kastrup in conversation URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-rupert-spira-bernardo-kastrup-the-limits-virtues-of-understanding-awakening/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:14:44.000Z Recording details Date: 13 May 2025 Duration: 2h 10m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Rupert Spira and Bernardo: being and understanding 0:05:02 A **guided exploration of simply being** 0:10:21 Has experience changed your being? 0:15:18 Must the inner voice fall silent? 0:20:27 Self-inquiry through **interest rather than effort** 0:30:09 Is awakening an extraordinary experience? 0:35:03 When recognition comes, but doesn’t stay 0:40:03 Why old patterns may keep their momentum 0:44:56 **Brother Lawrence** and the presence of God 0:50:24 After understanding: living it in relationships 0:55:01 **Can resistance and outrage express love?** 1:00:13 Where do **daimons** fit in non-duality? 1:05:22 One being—and its many compelling expressions 1:15:22 Creation as love taking form 1:20:37 Does nature have a preferred direction? 1:25:18 **Does awareness need a finite mind to know itself?** 1:30:02 Returning to where we began—with new understanding? 1:35:08 Rupert: can being ever lack self-knowledge? 1:40:04 Bernardo: what self-reflection adds 1:45:17 What a guitar string’s sound reveals about it 1:50:30 Could the infinite know itself as infinite? 1:55:02 Does experience **enrich being without changing it**? 2:00:07 Two minds, different interests in the same reality 2:05:26 Why objective knowledge needs a point of view This session felt like such an incredible privilege to witness, with Rupert and Bernardo engaging in a debate about the nature of being, consciousness and awakening that pushed each of their understandings to the limit, yet conducted in a spirit of friendship, love and mutual respect and curiosity. The last 30 minutes were especially interesting, with them both presenting very different perspectives on the question - **does infinite being change or gain by the finite experience?** You might know - Bernardo and Rupert Spira have been inspiring each other for several years, in private and in exciting public conversations that deepen the understanding of their respective approaches. Rupert Spira's method centers on direct investigation of consciousness, emphasizing that awareness is not something we have, but what we are. His approach involves careful examination of immediate experience, asking you to verify through your own investigation that consciousness is the constant, unchanging reality in which all experiences appear and disappear. His dialogues with Bernardo have been an incredible convergence of non-dual spirituality and analytical philosophy. While they approach the question from different angles they share several fundamental conclusions about the nature of reality. Subjects of conversation included: - Can we **discard the intellect** when we get the experience? - Where **Rupert and Bernardo disagree** - What about **spirits and daimons** in Non-Duality? - Is resisting **fascism a form of love**? - How to deal with the inner voice when meditating? - Is enlightenment an extraordinary experience. You can read more about Rupert [here](https://rupertspira.com/about?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Here are the previous dialogues that we've hosted: Here is the recording of this session on the limits and virtues of understanding: Speakers Rupert Spira Rupert Spira's method centers on direct investigation of consciousness, emphasizing that awareness is not something we have, but what we are. His approach involves careful examination of immediate experience, asking you to verify through your own investigation that consciousness is the constant, unchanging reality in which all experiences appear and disappear. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Mystical, Spiritual & Psychedelic Experiences URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-mystical-spiritual-psychedelic-experiences/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:14:48.000Z Recording details Date: 8 May 2025 Duration: 1h 59m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Mystical experience and new possibilities of mind 0:10:04 Does the **ego dissolve—or expand**? 0:15:10 Can we map awakening into stages? 0:20:00 The mind’s exhilarating and difficult rooms 0:25:25 How our baggage shapes a trip 0:30:23 Why the strange can feel profoundly familiar 0:40:27 **Metis**: being enchanted into recognition 0:45:07 Where **analytic idealism stops being the right tool** 0:50:34 Waking, dreaming and the spectrum of imagination 0:55:31 Could **dream figures** have their own perspective? 1:00:24 A childhood encounter with dark, knowing presence 1:05:33 The **vertigo of being**: freedom or fear? 1:15:14 Are mystical experiences more common than we notice? 1:20:12 Catching the subtle shifts of consciousness 1:25:23 Why we dismiss it as just one of those things 1:35:07 Bernardo’s account of doors opening in the mind 1:40:03 **A powerful experience need not be literally true** 1:50:14 Bernardo’s **wingman**: a felt guiding presence 1:55:34 The same appearance—or the same underlying agency? ### Imagination is all there is It is your categories that keep you from love The knot of your categories needs to be undone! We have to set off from home, And leave the port into the mists Lose yourself in this: There is something to be taken out Of this phantasmagoria we call existence Imagination is all there is… ***In today's discussion we covered:*** - Ego expansion vs Ego contraction - do we really ever lose the ego? - Bad trips vs Good trips: a case of perspective? - It is your categories that keep you from love - The continuous spectrum of categories of imagination - How to use imagination to enter the spiritual world - Autonomous dream agents - The dark all-knowing space vs the peace of “I am” - Capitalism as a distraction from enlightenment - The vertigo of eternity: delightful or terrifying? - Are mystical experiences more common than we think? - The dangers and wonders of psychedelics - Right now you are on drugs Two papers relevant from today are: **Psychedelics alter metaphysical beliefs** [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-01209-2](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-01209-2?ref=withrealityinmind.com) **Exploring 5-MeO-DMT as a pharmacological model for deconstructed consciousness** [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12010161/#R25](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12010161/?ref=withrealityinmind.com#R25) The results of the recent publication on 5-MeO EEG brain dynamics are consistent with AI. Next the same research team will be examining advanced meditators on 5-MeO. Basically the brain scans are managing to map a high level of reassociation. Also below is the video from Tuesday, where members shared their **introductions and ideas related to idealism**. So many thanks to everyone that participated, it was so great to see your creativity and wide variety of perspectives! We have truly set the stage for next week, when we are joined by [Rupert Spira](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/13th-may-rupert-spira-bernardo-kastrup/), a well-known and much loved teacher of the direct path to enlightenment. I look forward to seeing you this coming Tuesday! With appreciation, Amir ### Members’ sharing — 6 May 2025 0:00:00 Members share their ways into idealism 0:01:20 Colette: from **self-improvement to self-realisation** 0:05:43 A framework that is rational without being overly technical 0:12:02 When emotional upheaval becomes an invitation to look inward 0:15:36 Giving feedback that helps the speaker 0:18:12 Kiri: explaining idealism to someone new to it 0:29:43 Why **your audience changes your explanation** 0:31:27 Exploring the **Trinity** through a visual model 0:44:03 Imagination as a bridge between traditions 0:48:10 Ron: how **anomalous voices** challenged his worldview 1:00:23 Can idealism open a different conversation about evidence? 1:01:40 Sebastian introduces an experimental film 1:09:17 **Time and strength**: a creative exploration 1:14:27 Turning philosophical ideas into **AI-generated imagery** Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### 13th May: Rupert Spira | Bernardo Kastrup - The Limits of Understanding & Experience URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/13th-may-rupert-spira-bernardo-kastrup/ Last updated: 2025-05-12T14:42:20.000Z As you may know, Bernardo and Rupert Spira have been inspiring each other for several years, in private and in exciting public conversations that deepen the understanding of their respective approaches. Rupert Spira's method centers on direct investigation of consciousness, emphasizing that awareness is not something we have, but what we are. His approach involves careful examination of immediate experience, asking you to verify through your own investigation that consciousness is the constant, unchanging reality in which all experiences appear and disappear. His dialogues with Bernardo have been an incredible convergence of non-dual spirituality and analytical philosophy. While they approach the question from different angles they share several fundamental conclusions about the nature of reality. As always, your curiosity and comments ahead of the event are welcome, which will be used to guide the dialogue between Bernardo and guest. It's so great if you **read existing questions and 'heart' any that you really want to see discussed,** and perhaps add your own comment! Potential subjects of conversation emerging include: - Can we **discard the intellect** when we get the experience? - Where **Rupert and Bernardo disagree** - What about **spirits and daimons** in Non-Duality? - Is resisting **fascism a form of love**? You can read more about Rupert [here](https://rupertspira.com/about?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Also, your friends can join this as [a one-off event using this link](https://dandelion.events/e/b0dgh?ref=withrealityinmind.com), even if they are not a member of With Reality in Mind. Here are the previous dialogues that we've hosted: _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Tues 6th of May - Share your introduction or idea on idealism URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/tues-6th-of-may-share-your-introduction-or-idea-on-idealism/ Last updated: 2025-05-02T15:12:18.000Z This coming Tuesday is an opportunity to do something a little different... A change to Bernardo's schedule means he will join us on [Thursday 8th of May](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/thurs-8th-may-mystical-spiritual-psychedelic-experiences/) instead. So on Tues 6th of May you'll have 3 options: 1) Share your best intro to idealism 2) Join a focus group 3) Enjoy other people's presentations It's also a great chance to simply hang out with fellow members, comparing notes and experiences. ## 1) Share your best 10 minute introduction or idea related to idealism... If you want to fully step into the role of 'Ambassador for Idealism,' now is your chance to do so, held in a friendly, supportive space. **This is 100% optional** if you want to give it a try! You'll first share this to just a couple of people in a breakout room. If time permits, some of you can share your presentation to a bigger group, and even try answer some questions! The best way to understand something it to hear it in many different voices. But even more powerful is conveying it in your own words. Please share in the comments below if you would like to give this a go. If you want, we may then get Bernardo to give you feedback. 💡 If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it. ****If you want to master something, teach it.** ## 2) Join a focus group If you prefer, you could join a breakout room for a 'focus group' discussion. Check out this write-up from our last [Focus Group](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/thurs-6th-feb-community-meeting-focus-groups/) session. Examples of topics include: \- Therapeutic implications of idealism \- Translating understanding to experience \- Creativity and expression of idealism If you're interested in joining or hosting a breakout room on any topic, let us know in the comments below! _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Thurs 8th May - mystical, spiritual & psychedelic experiences URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/thurs-8th-may-mystical-spiritual-psychedelic-experiences/ Last updated: 2025-05-06T11:30:34.000Z We'll meet Bernardo on Thursday instead. We've recently spent much time comparing idealism to emptiness, metaphysical propositions found in Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta and other Non-Dual traditions. Thursday will be a chance to compare theory with experience, exploring the questions that come up about accessing, understanding and integrating mystical insight and experience. We'll set the stage for next week, when we are joined by [Rupert Spira](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/13th-may-rupert-spira-bernardo-kastrup/), a well-known and much loved teacher of the direct path to enlightenment. **Please note:** Because of a change in Bernardo's schedule, this session is on ***Thursday rather than Tuesday***, at the normal time: 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST **Please note**, we'll have future sessions dedicated to **Near Death Experiences** and paranormal experiences related to **UAPs, High strangeness,** so do save any questions more relevant to those topics for later :) **New Zoom Room for May** and space to submit comments and questions below... I look forward to seeing you there! Amir _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Buddhism, Emptiness & Idealism #2 URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-buddhism-emptiness-idealism-2/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:29:56.000Z Recording details Date: 29 April 2025 Duration: 2h 44m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Buddhism and idealism: a wider conversation 0:05:32 Beyond one interpretation of Buddhist emptiness 0:10:06 **What if emptiness means openness?** 0:15:10 How far can logic take us? 0:20:01 Philosophy and meditation: different questions? 0:25:22 **Buddha nature** without clinging to an essence 0:35:50 Empty of independent existence 0:40:24 **Is compassion intrinsic to awakening?** 0:45:02 Bernardo’s account of mind beyond the individual 0:50:06 Why idealism insists on a ground of subjectivity 0:55:11 **Luminosity** and the nature of awareness 1:05:44 Individual minds as whirlpools in one lake 1:15:31 Where **infinite regress** becomes a sticking point 1:25:02 What remains without sensation or autobiography? 1:30:21 Is pure subjectivity the great void? 1:35:47 States we may mistake for pristine awareness 1:45:14 Could dismantling concepts prepare us to see? 1:50:12 What does practice add to the argument? 1:55:07 Can different perspectives sound contradictory? 2:05:14 Awareness **knowing itself without splitting in two** 2:10:11 Can language avoid inventing a separate agent? 2:15:22 Is metacognition the same as **reflexive awareness**? 2:25:33 Deconstruction in service of liberation 2:30:07 Emptiness, luminosity and pervasive care 2:35:37 Does nature express a universal mind? 2:40:21 **A spiritual path to where?** This was a deep one - and really started to flow about 90 minutes in, so we stuck around for a bit longer than usual, discussing the schools within Buddhism that are closer to Analytic Idealism, and have their own refutations for the kind of critiques that we've heard from Jay Garfield and others. The panel included: **Michael R. Sheehy,** a PhD in Buddhist Studies who specializes in the Kālacakra and Dzogchen meditation traditions is research associate professor and director of research at the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia. **Dr. Karl Brunnhölzl** is an international teacher and translator of Buddhism, focusing on Yogācāra, buddha nature, Vajrayāna, Mahāmudrā, **Andrew Holecek** is a frequent subject in scientific studies on meditation and lucid dreaming, after completing a 3 year retreat. He is Resident Contemplative Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, and a research consultant for the Cognitive Neuroscience Program at Northwestern University All the speakers have seen the debate with Jay, so this will be useful to watch before joining this session, if you haven't already: Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Swami Sarvapriyanada & Bernardo Kastrup in Conversation URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-swami-sarvapriyanada-bernardo-kastrup-in-conversation/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T23:39:46.000Z Recording details Date: 22 April 2025 Duration: 2h 36m Free preview Title: Does emptiness deny consciousness? Duration: 6:11 https://vimeo.com/1226768940/3fb252bd00 Chapters 0:00:00 Greetings 0:08:05 Buddhism and Hinduism in India 0:20:22 Chandrakirti's seven-fold attack on the Self 0:27:45 Swami responds to the Jay Garfield debate 0:34:13 Hume’s attack on subjectivity 0:45:26 Misunderstandings of both the Buddhist and Advaita approaches 0:49:22 Hume did not go far enough: what is an object? 0:57:44 Is total emptiness actually a philosophical position? 1:03:00 There is something called an ultimate reality 1:20:30 Swami’s critique of Indian civilisation 1:27:38 What can Analytic Idealism learn from the Five Koshas? 1:38:56 Jung’s individuation is for the second half of life 1:47:30 How to deal with trauma and suffering 2:06:40 The Jungian ego in the fight against suffering 2:18:45 Life is not about you This session was really special, reconciling many Buddhist and Vedantic ideas, and bridging Eastern and Western approaches to metaphysics, meaning and more. The recording, transcript and chat from this session are all below. We primarily explored the rich history of debate in India between Buddhists and Hindus, and how Swami Sarvapriyananda reconciles them. The topics included: - Self or no self? - The value and drawbacks of both schools - Eastern vs Western approaches and what each can learn from each other - How individuation and realisation are complimentary - How engagement with the world goes alongside transcendence - Bernardo stayed on to discuss how he has navigated suffering. To join events with Swami Sarvapriyananda: [https://www.vedantany.org/](https://www.vedantany.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) **An apology** I had agreed with Swami that he would attend for just 9o minutes, which is what his scheduled allowed, but in my enthusiasm totally forgot, and it may have looked like he had made a mistake. The mistake was mine! Speakers ![CTA Image](https://dandelion.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/2025/02/12/15/43/53/810b2bcd-ebca-4258-a4fa-2a7ed27c4617/Swami-Sarvapriyananda-2-1.jpg) Swami Sarvapriyananda Swami Sarvapriyananda is a widely respected monk of the Ramakrishna Order, currently serving as head minister of the Vedanta Society of New York. A dynamic teacher renowned for his ability to convey complex Vedantic principles with remarkable clarity, he regularly attracts global audiences through his lectures and online presence. His background combines deep scholarship in traditional Vedantic texts - particularly his illuminating talks on the Mandukya Upanishad and Drig Drishya Viveka - with an engagement with contemporary philosophy and science. Before joining the Vedanta Society of New York, he served as assistant minister of the Vedanta Society of Southern California and prior to that as Principal of the Probationers' Training Center at Belur Math. He holds a degree in Business Management from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, and his talks seamlessly weave insights from modern fields like neuroscience and quantum physics with traditional Vedantic teachings. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Members' hangout this Sat 26th April + Jungian & Bookclub meetups URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/members-hangout-sat-26th-april/ Last updated: 2025-04-22T12:38:30.000Z I've been consistently inspired by all your incredible backgrounds and interests, and love it when more connections are made between members. There are several opportunities to hang out, get to know each other and form focus groups. ### Members' Hangout & Focus Groups: Sat 26th April We've done this once before, and it generated some amazing discussions. It's pretty informal, but is also an opportunity to form focus groups to discuss specialised interests. You can see some of the great topics that were proposed on this page [here](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/thurs-6th-feb-community-meeting-focus-groups/). You can join late or leave early. The zoom room will open at: 7pm UK time / 8pm CET / 2pm EST Let me know in the comments if you plan to join, and if you have a particular topic you would enjoy. Zoom link below. ### Truth & Reality Book Club: Every 2nd Friday Hosted by Erin Brown, from May the focus will be Federico Faggin's book "Irreducible". Details here: [“Irreducible” Federico Faggin Book ClubStarting Fri May 2nd, Erin Brown will be launching a discussion group on Federico Faggin’s 2024 book titled Irreducible. This fascinating and deeply personal exploration into consciousness and the primacy of subjective experience comes highly recommended by Bernardo Kastrup and offers rich ground for group dialogue. We hosted Federico back![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-8.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/GQ8TWLBbwAA1TXS.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/irreducible-federico-faggin-book-club/) ### Jungian Psychology and Idealism Meetup: Every 2nd Wed This group meets every 2nd Wed, hosted by Mark, a Jungian analyst who works with Jung’s epistemological concepts in many forms, academic or not. Details here: [Jungian psychology and idealism: Regular community meetup every 2nd WednesdayThere is an open invitation for members to initiate specialised focus and discussion groups, which will be listed here. The Jungian psychology group is hosted by Mark, a Jungian analyst who works with Jung’s epistemological concepts in many forms, academic or not. The group meets every second Wed, at:![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-9.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/final-akg4446623.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/jungian-psychology-and-idealism-regular-community-meetup/) Zoom link both meetings are in the links above. Zoom link for this Saturday is below. See you soon! Amir _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### "Irreducible" Federico Faggin Book Club URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/irreducible-federico-faggin-book-club/ Last updated: 2025-09-01T17:48:57.000Z Starting Fri May 2nd, Erin Brown will be launching a discussion group on Federico Faggin's 2024 book titled Irreducible. This fascinating and deeply personal exploration into consciousness and the primacy of subjective experience comes highly recommended by Bernardo Kastrup and offers rich ground for group dialogue. We hosted Federico back in 2022, which has become Adventures in Awareness most popular youtube video, and his interview with Essentia Foundation has had over a million [views](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FUFewGHLLg&t=2s&ref=withrealityinmind.com). Friday 5th Sept is the return of the Truth and Reality Book Club! We will continue discussing Federico Faggin's book Irreducible and also have a discussion on which books to have a discussion around for October! Please bring your suggestions! In the time we had off I successfully published my book[*The Whole Self Awakening The Inner Wisdom To Live As Yourself*](https://www.amazon.com/Whole-Self-Awakening-Wisdom-Yourself/dp/B0FMQ3G7TT/ref=tmm%5Fpap%5Fswatch%5F0?%5Fencoding=UTF8&dib%5Ftag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.eZXEVLD18%5FaMudrKi8DxD%5FsYuuDA4WIAGDVD2cD6B5yRVct2K2jfIWp%5F7UZ2IOmLBO9N5OfrSkynXghPUy9oD4zW0iDWOkxs8VHzjg7VktIBzrqZ7yKBrpJSLHYU-kMlUwbbw2U6RVd%5FbLpLimm6YmRO0yevy60zLWSHNdR0FTToQYnYo%5FSeJdMmgzLhiuEjieTG13EgElSDLq%5FfhqZiD0X-njVU42d3brZTxb8cEBkm9JNq2rg4mGt%5FjVRfRG%5F4YrQ6Lxhp8llkHbo7z7m5RIU3HMITmbN9zz7meiko27I.Z8tHFlAOv7Tg-SEYmJEIMeCoMxin8agHasutRjISvG4&qid=1755613730&sr=8-4&ref=withrealityinmind.com)and made considerable progress on my course I **so** appreciate the willingness for everyone to put the group meetings on pause while I was under the influence of the daimon! So far I have us scheduled to meet once a month on the first Friday of the month. I would love for us to discuss frequency of meetings as well if possible. Twice per month didn't seem to have enough attendance to warrant continuing on that basis, but I would love if we had the interest enough to continue bi-weekly! **Meeting Time in Major Time Zones:** - **12:00 PM** Eastern Time (EST) - **9:00 AM** Pacific Time (PST) - **5:00 PM** British Summer Time (BST) - **6:00 PM** Central European Summer Time (CEST) - **9:30 PM** India Standard Time (IST) Everyone is welcome to join, whether you’ve read the full book or are just curious to engage with the ideas. The group is informal and open-dialogue based—no need to raise hands on Zoom. Previous conversations have explored topics such as: - What constitutes consensus reality vs. subjective experience - How religious myths can be seen as “Icons of the Now” - The nature of pain and suffering from a metaphysical lens - Personal insights and experiences that point to a transcendent cognitive space Erin says they would love to have you join and bring your perspective into the mix. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Buddhism, Emptiness & Idealism #1 URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-buddhism-emptiness-idealism-1/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:30:02.000Z Recording details Date: 15 April 2025 Duration: 2h 16m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Buddhism and idealism: what is at stake? 0:10:19 Is consciousness also empty of independent existence? 0:15:01 Can there be **relations without anything relating**? 0:20:32 Why can we measure objects—but not thoughts directly? 0:30:37 Consciousness as the potential for experience 0:35:30 Can a statement be both true and false? 0:40:29 **Paraconsistent logic** is not permission for nonsense 0:45:37 **Rovelli** and the rules of the argument 0:50:02 **Can a brain scan measure a thought?** 0:55:16 Describing the experience—or its appearance? 1:05:46 What connects different experiences? 1:10:27 Experiences as waves of subjectivity 1:15:21 **Does an experience require an experiencer?** 1:25:29 Science and meditation: different tools in the box 1:30:39 What does the scientific method assume? 1:35:02 **Bossa nova**: sadness becoming beauty 1:40:15 The intelligence of a **martial artist** 1:50:16 Physics and the regularities of our dashboard 1:55:19 What remains of a chair when nobody looks? 2:00:49 Why the **world does not vanish with the observer** 2:05:30 How meaning connects to meaning 2:10:21 Can we think beyond causes in time? Topics discussed in this session included: - The difference between vicious and benign infinite regress - How reality manifests the liars paradox, but we should still expect consistency - Why you can measure objects but not thoughts - Why introspection is superior to science for a meaningful life - Bernardo's thoughts on Bosa Nova & MMA - What about a chair exists when no one is in a room? As I'm sure you know, Idealism and Non-Duality claim that awareness is fundamental - but *some* Buddhists say that even awareness is empty of inherent existence. Dependent on causes and conditions just like everything else. They claim that advanced meditation and rigorous logic can show this to be inevitably true. Here is an example of a conversation I've had on this topic, with Buddhist teacher [Yahel Avigur.](https://youtu.be/pqj0vxe57-w?ref=withrealityinmind.com) This debate has raged for centuries, and has profound implications to how we understand these ancient philosophies and spiritual practices. In December 2023, Bernardo debated Buddhist scholar Jay Garfield on this topic, which you can watch [here](https://youtu.be/m0nPTPLTlds?ref=withrealityinmind.com). I then followed up with Jay to try better understand Buddhist objections to Idealism. You can watch that interview [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8spAgu55IOw&ref=withrealityinmind.com). This session with Bernardo on the 15th of April followed up on these conversations, with Bernardo elaborating on how Analytic Idealism defends against the critiques that Jay raised, and those that have historically emerged from Buddhism against mind-only philosophies. I recommend watching this, (and the follow-up conversation with Jay if you have time) before watching the recording of this session. See you soon! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Quantum Entanglement & the Alchemy of Integralism URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-quantum-entanglement-the-alchemy-of-integralism/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:30:06.000Z Recording details Date: 8 April 2025 Duration: 2h 28m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Quantum physics, mind and the present moment 0:10:45 Bernardo joins the quantum conversation 0:15:27 Which quantum interpretation fits idealism best? 0:20:07 Do physical properties arise through measurement? 0:25:28 Why relations need something to relate 0:35:10 **Entanglement** and the choice of measurement 0:40:36 What the dashboard reveals about real regularities 0:45:24 Could entanglement represent cognitive association? 0:50:10 **Decoherence**: information dispersed, not destroyed 0:55:25 Measuring a thought—or its neural correlate? 1:00:29 Could everything and nothing be two views of one reality? 1:10:34 How thin can we make the present? 1:15:27 What argument alone cannot convey 1:20:39 Could past and future exist in the present? 1:25:25 Bringing your **after-death state** into life now 1:30:31 **How the dead might look through our eyes** 1:35:30 The concept opens a door—but experience adds the colour 1:40:31 Is reality continuous or discrete? 1:45:16 When **gravity limits information** 1:50:02 Why these constants of nature? 1:55:41 **Could universes evolve before life begins?** 2:05:35 Why entanglement is not simply similarity 2:10:19 What idealism does—and doesn’t—offer the **measurement problem** 2:15:32 Bernardo’s intuition about a solution 2:20:16 Beneath complexity, one thing going on? This session was quite mind-blowing on several levels - and included very new perspectives on how we relate to the dead, the not-yet-born, black holes, white holes and this very moment. **I felt lucky to have Nour co-hosting.** Nour ran the Bernardo Kastrup Book Club for 3 years, and did her master's thesis in Theoretical Physics. She's also a senior data scientist at IBM and a senior quantum ambassador. She also won *100WomeninTech Award.* The paper that she wrote on Non-Locality in Quantum Mechanics is linked below. Together with Bernardo we discussed: - What interpretation of quantum physics best aligns with idealism? - How can we interpret quantum entanglement? - Why is there something rather than nothing? - **The Alchemy of Integralism**: The totality of being is now: the past and future in the present - Bring your after-death state into your present - How the dead live through us - and look through our eyes - The evolution of life may have followed the evolution of universes - How idealism contributes to investigating the measurement problem - What problems physics must solve and not ideailsm - Bernardo’s intuition on the measurement problem For next week, I recommend watching Jay Garfield & Bernardo Kastrup debate: [https://youtu.be/m0nPTPLTlds](https://youtu.be/m0nPTPLTlds?ref=withrealityinmind.com) If you are a Spanish speaker and want to interact more with others, please email Gustavo: gustavoambiado@gmail.com A reminder I would love to hear your thought through this [feedback form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfACf2z4hI421Pqno30f16BL0YDhlF1unRzv-HdbDM33HuYCQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ref=withrealityinmind.com) Speakers Nour Nour ran the Bernardo Kastrup Book Club for 3 years, and did her master's thesis in Theoretical Physics. She's also a senior data scientist at IBM and a senior quantum ambassador. She also won *100WomeninTech Award.* Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### How has your experience been so far? URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/how-has-your-experience-been-so-far-2/ Last updated: 2025-04-05T09:11:29.000Z It's now been two months since we launched, so it seems a perfect time to hear how this is going for you! If you've got 5 minutes to share your thoughts, I would love to hear them. Click the link below to let us know: 🌹 **Rose** – Anything you're enjoying about these gatherings and platform. 🌱 **Bud** – Something with **potential**, a **new idea**, or an opportunity for growth. Anything you're curious would be excited to see develop. 🥀 **Thorn** – Something **challenging** or that **isn't working for you**. It could be the times, the format, or any other concern. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### What Nature Represents URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-what-nature-represents-2/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:30:10.000Z Recording details Date: 1 April 2025 Duration: 2h 4m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 What might nature be showing us? 0:15:19 An accurate representation need not look like reality 0:20:25 Why the dashboard need not show everything 0:25:07 We are part of the process of representation 0:30:05 **Fine-tuning** and the observer’s conditions 0:35:23 Nature as **improvisation rather than a blueprint** 0:40:00 How a simple rule can look like a complex world 0:45:13 What might space and expansion symbolise? 0:55:10 **Is memory really a file in the brain?** 1:00:09 Why brains and the universe might share a pattern 1:05:13 Can we picture subjectivity itself? 1:10:33 What remains when we remove the crystal? 1:15:10 Why do cultures agree on mathematics? 1:20:17 Could **IIT** help map experience to appearance? 1:25:14 A future science of nature’s correspondences? 1:35:18 Evolution does not require materialism 1:40:06 **Does the sun need a mind of its own?** 1:45:16 **Let philosophy open doors, not close them** 1:50:01 Recognising something you already knew 1:55:31 Can we trust life without demanding it be different? 2:00:11 Sharing idealism as an ambassador I hope yesterday's meeting fulfilled it's promise: to regard nature and reality with an ever deeper appreciation and meaning. Bernardo discussed the potential symbolism of the sun, time, space, infinity, evolution and beauty. We spoke about how similar to many mystical tradition, space might symbolise awareness itself, pure subjectivity. Something that stood out for me is how you can have a profound relationship with the sun (for example) without it needing to be an 'alter'. Similar to how the eyes of your beloved can have great meaning for you, be gateways to a deeper relationship, without them needing to be dissociated from the rest of the person. We also discussed why representations can be more complex than that which they are representing, and the meaning behind mathematics being so consistent across cultures. Perhaps more importantly, he clarified that all this analysis is there to open the door for direct experience, and when and how to share these perspectives. Links to transcript, chat and recordings are below. See you next week! Amir ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/04/image.png) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### 22nd April - Swami Sarvapriyanda & Bernardo Kastrup in Dialogue URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/22nd-april-swami-sarvapriyanda-bernardo-kastrup-in-dialogue/ Last updated: 2025-04-21T12:28:31.000Z When I was first introduced to Swami Sarvapriyananda, I immediately fell in love with his humour, charisma and intelligence. He mixes story, metaphor and a vast knowledge of Vedanta to convey nondual teachings with clarify and power. Last year I travelled to the Netherlands to see Swami in dialogue with Bernardo, and was warmed by their mutual respect and curiosity for each other. This session will primarily be a dialogue between Swami & Bernardo, exploring their mutual understanding of reality, their respective responses to Buddhist critiques of non-duality, and comparing the Western and Eastern approaches to spirituality. Although head minister of the Vedanta Society of New York, Swami Sarvapriyananda continues to engage with modern science as well as other traditions - he recently did a year at Harvard as a student of Jay Garfield in order to gain a deeper understanding of Buddhist teachings on Emptiness. He then wrote a book comparing these two great Indian traditions - [Fullness & Emptiness](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F4CGR62T?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Additionally, I'll invite the themes that you bring up in the comments below, in the chat during the call. If there is time we'll take audience questions. This event is also available to non-members who want to join as a one-off event, so feel free to share the this link with curious friends: [https://dandelion.events/e/j8418](https://dandelion.events/e/j8418?ref=withrealityinmind.com) So looking forward to seeing you there! Amir ## About Swami Sarvapriyananda ![](https://dandelion.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/2025/02/12/15/43/53/810b2bcd-ebca-4258-a4fa-2a7ed27c4617/Swami-Sarvapriyananda-2-1.jpg) Swami Sarvapriyananda is a widely respected monk of the Ramakrishna Order, currently serving as head minister of the Vedanta Society of New York. A dynamic teacher renowned for his ability to convey complex Vedantic principles with remarkable clarity, he regularly attracts global audiences through his lectures and online presence. His background combines deep scholarship in traditional Vedantic texts - particularly his illuminating talks on the Mandukya Upanishad and Drig Drishya Viveka - with an engagement with contemporary philosophy and science. Before joining the Vedanta Society of New York, he served as assistant minister of the Vedanta Society of Southern California and prior to that as Principal of the Probationers' Training Center at Belur Math. He holds a degree in Business Management from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, and his talks seamlessly weave insights from modern fields like neuroscience and quantum physics with traditional Vedantic teachings. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 29th April - Buddhism, Emptiness & Idealism #2 URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/29th-april-buddhism-emptiness-idealism-2/ Last updated: 2025-04-28T13:54:43.000Z As you may know, there are schools within Buddhism that are closer to Analytic Idealism, and have their own refutations for the kind of critiques that we've heard from Jay Garfield and others. To better understand this topic, we've invited a panel of highly recommended Buddhist scholar practitioners: **Michael R. Sheehy,** a PhD in Buddhist Studies who specializes in the Kālacakra and Dzogchen meditation traditions is research associate professor and director of research at the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia. **Dr. Karl Brunnhölzl** is an international teacher and translator of Buddhism, focusing on Yogācāra, buddha nature, Vajrayāna, Mahāmudrā, **Andrew Holecek** is a frequent subject in scientific studies on meditation and lucid dreaming, after completing a 3 year retreat. He is Resident Contemplative Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, and a research consultant for the Cognitive Neuroscience Program at Northwestern University Members of With Reality in Mind can join for free – the zoom link is below. Non-members can join this event as a one-off by registering [here](https://dandelion.events/e/f4awz?ref=withrealityinmind.com). Your questions and comments related to this theme are welcome in the comments section below. All the speakers have seen the debate with Jay, so this will be useful to watch before joining this session, if you haven't already: _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 15th April - Buddhism, Emptiness & Idealism #1 URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/buddhism-emptiness-idealism/ Last updated: 2025-04-13T19:58:54.000Z As I'm sure you know, Idealism and Non-Duality claim that awareness is fundamental - but *some* Buddhists say that even awareness is empty of inherent existence. Dependent on causes and conditions just like everything else. They claim that advanced meditation and rigorous logic can show this to be inevitably true. Here is an example of a conversation I've had on this topic, with Buddhist teacher [Yahel Avigur.](https://youtu.be/pqj0vxe57-w?ref=withrealityinmind.com) This debate has raged for centuries, and has profound implications to how we understand these ancient philosophies and spiritual practices. In December 2023, Bernardo debated Buddhist scholar Jay Garfield on this topic, which you can watch [here](https://youtu.be/m0nPTPLTlds?ref=withrealityinmind.com). I then followed up with Jay to try better understand Buddhist objections to Idealism. You can watch that interview [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8spAgu55IOw&ref=withrealityinmind.com). The session with Bernardo on the 15th of April will follow on from these conversations, with Bernardo elaborating on how Analytic Idealism defends against the critiques that Jay raised, and those that have historically emerged from Buddhism against mind-only philosophies. Questions that emerge from these last two conversations are welcome in the comments below... here is a [guide to submitting questions.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/) I recommend watching this, (and the follow-up conversation with Jay if you have time) before joining the session. Also before submitting questions, if you can, as the topic will be focused on the themes from the debate! If you want to watch an ad-free version of this conversation, you can purchase access at [https://dandelion.events/e/f3myp](https://dandelion.events/e/f3myp?ref=withrealityinmind.com) There is a code for free access for With Reality in Mind members below. With deep appreciation for your engagement in this community and these topics! Amir _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The Purpose of Life & the Meaning of Suffering URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-the-purpose-of-life-the-meaning-of-suffering/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:31:06.000Z Recording details Date: 25 March 2025 Duration: 2h 2m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Life’s purpose and the meaning of suffering 0:05:21 When a worldview stops holding you up 0:10:01 What happens to everything we learn? 0:15:05 **A life need not be famous to matter** 0:20:33 Does paying attention deepen our contribution? 0:25:19 How suffering moved Bernardo to question 0:30:27 Would we undo the events that shaped us? 0:35:04 Seeing a life through the eyes of history 0:45:06 As **spies for God**, what should we notice? 0:50:19 Why your life’s direction can change 0:55:15 Can there be **purpose without time**? 1:00:34 Must reality be lived to be known? 1:05:01 Physical causation and what the dashboard conceals 1:15:07 Can we step outside reality to understand it? 1:20:12 What metacognition might obscure 1:25:28 Imagining eternity without borrowing time 1:30:31 **Is one life more valuable than another?** 1:35:25 Why we need to **understand evil** 1:40:26 Life as a research programme of self-knowledge 1:45:05 Is reducing suffering nature’s ultimate goal? 1:50:25 What the **Christian story** asks of us 1:55:31 Suffering can be **terrible without being meaningless** This was a deep session, covering many thoughts that were new to me. Amongst them, we ***discussed:*** - The meaning of your life and how your memories never die - Is suffering a unique path to meaning? - The path of the Buddha vs Christ - Suffering as impetus in Bernardo’s own journey - The individual meanings of our lives - How do you pursue your fate with the least resistance possible? - How can there be meaning and purpose if time is not real? - How the dead need us - Life as a research programme of self-knowledge - Empirical observation indicates the reduction of suffering is not the goal The recording is down below, and before that, some clips that discuss this in previous sessions. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Death, Near Death Experiences & Reincarnation URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-death-near-death-experiences-reincarnation/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:31:13.000Z Recording details Date: 18 March 2025 Duration: 2h 15m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Death, NDEs and what might continue 0:05:14 Could contemplating death enrich life? 0:10:35 A dream ends—but its memory remains 0:15:12 **Continuing memories versus continuing personal agency** 0:20:35 Could death reveal another level of dissociation? 0:25:17 How should we interpret reports of **astral bodies**? 0:30:13 Death as a process, not a switch 0:35:05 Why the body can remain after the process ends 0:40:40 Bernardo’s questions about death and **organ donation** 0:50:35 The reported feeling of returning somewhere familiar 0:55:10 Could an NDE reveal unfamiliar abilities? 1:00:20 Where might the point of no return lie? 1:10:06 **Acquired savant abilities** as a weakened boundary? 1:15:21 Why new abilities tend to be recognisably human 1:20:06 Wellbeing, recovery and the image of the psyche 1:25:14 What could **reincarnation** mean under idealism? 1:30:09 One subject—and many lives already happening 1:40:28 What would justify believing in **parallel universes**? 1:45:31 Taking a report seriously without fixing its interpretation 1:50:39 Imagined alternatives and the choices we make 1:55:53 Can something exist in a state of non-being? 2:00:01 No experience—or no existence? 2:05:35 **No thing is not the same as nothing** In this session we discussed what happens when we die. What can we learn from Near Death Experiences? How does Analytic Idealism make sense of the many reports of reincarnation from around the world? - Understanding death as a process, not a light switch - Acquired Savant - an evolutionary miss? - Spontaneous healings from near death experiences - Can Mind at Large die? Thanks Gustavo and Ines for suggesting this topic during the initial scheduling [whiteboard](https://zoom.us/wb/doc/dDLQZhspR6qe%5Ft2Trp6OiA/p/165079353982976?ref=withrealityinmind.com), to Ron, Muriel and Byron for engaging in this topic on Telegram, and the many people contributing to the discussion in the comments. Recording links are below, and here are some questions asked during the session: #### WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE? - Muriel Okay it's the end of the dissociation process, but is there still something of our individuality that continues as seems to be suggested by near death experiences ? What would be at the base of this individual consciousness as separated from the mind at large when the body is no more ? Does the dissociation really stops or does it only seems to stop to the physical dissociated selves left behind...? In other words, is there something as a individual soul when the body is no more ? Something still individual, not yet merged into the "all there is" ? #### DOES RE-INCARNATION FIT INTO ANALYTIC IDEALISM? - Ines In Buddhism, the idea of **Rebirth/Re-incarnation** is considered to be right view, however, it is an impersonal process with no entity/soul going from one birth to the next. How does Analytical Idealism view ****death** and what happens after the dissociating boundaries of an alter dissolve? Is there any kind of **"continuity"**, meaning : would the content of the "dying" alter be the exact content of a new dissociation? Or is there a random mixing of the mind contents in mind at large, hence no continuity? I would like to think that there are degrees of dissociation/association and that, during the death process, the alter does not dissolve completely in core subjectivity unless it is enlightened. Any comments? #### IS A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE LIKE A 'RECOVERED' WHIRLPOOL THAT HAS DISSIPATED IN A LAKE? - Gustavo Background of the question is the metaphor of life - individuated - being a whirlpool in a larger lake (M@L). In this context, as Bernardo explains, death would be the 'dissolution' of the whirlpool back into the lake. Such dissolution would entail the lake absorbing the experiences from the whirlpool. Keeping this metaphor, NDEs seem to be the interruption of this 'dissolution' mechanism. In some rare cases, this idea would align with cases of people who come back from coma with skills they didn't have before and didn't have any means of learning them (i.e. playing certain instruments, knowing about events they couldn't have learned before, performing highly in tasks they didn't perform so well before - i.e. calculations). From this, two questions unfold: 1) although hard to explain with concrete cases, is it possible to infer parsimoniously the limits of this 'yank back' in the dissolution process? In other words, when is the whirlpool not 'recoverable' anymore 2) what prevents this view from being anthropomorphised (humans acquiring human related skills)? In other words, what in this context prevents my dog coming back from cardiac arrest during a surgery to acquire human-like skills (or from any other species), since all the 'knowledge' becomes part of the same lake we are all a part of (or humans acquiring non-human skills)? Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Jungian psychology and idealism: Regular community meetup every 2nd Wednesday URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/jungian-psychology-and-idealism-regular-community-meetup/ Last updated: 2025-04-04T16:40:46.000Z There is an open invitation for members to initiate specialised focus and discussion groups, which will be listed [here](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/community-meetups/). The Jungian psychology group is hosted by Mark, a Jungian analyst who works with Jung’s epistemological concepts in many forms, academic or not. The group meets every second Wed, at: 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST The intention is to discuss specifically Jungian psychology and how it is related to analytic idealism. Since Jung was a great influence, and is mentioned a lot in Bernardo’s talks, it's a chance to dive deeper into analytic psychology which could be beneficial to the members of this group. If there are any Jungians also interested in joining and helping by deepening the conversations, please join. The next meetings will be on the following dates: - April 9: The Pyschoid and Jung’s Metaphysical implications (Daimon, anima and animus) - April 23: Individuation and the archetype of the Self (meaning and the sacrificial life) - May 7: The Secret of the Golden Flower and Alchemy (metaphysical implications implicit in alchemy) - May 21: Answer to Job (Overview and discussion according to analytical idealism) The following meetings will be built according to the following literature. The reading recommendations are supposed to enrich the talk, but they are not in any sense a "need to" to participate. - April 9: Decoding Jung’s Metaphysics (Bernardo Kastrup) - Chapter 5 - April 23: Decoding Jung’s Metaphysics (Bernardo Kastrup) - Chapter 6 - May 7: The Secret of the Golden Flower (CW- Carl G. Jung) - May 21: Answer to Job (CW - Carl G. Jung) These are some additional readings which Mark has recommended to the group, for those willing to dive deeper in Jung's work: - Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Volume 7: Two Essays in Analytical Psychology - Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Volume 8: The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche - Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Volume 9 (Part 1): Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious - Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Volume 12: Psychology and Alchemy - Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Volume 11: Psychology and Religion (Answer to Job) **The meetings are being recorded**, and a lot of additional material, like books and powerpoint presentations are being added to the drive, listed below. The meetings always start with a quick summary of the content developed in the previous sessions, and every session is built for anyone to join even if they weren't able to do it before for any reason. Although there are reading recommendations, they are supposed to enrich the talk, but they are not in any sense a "need to" to participate. Everyone is welcome, and the main goal is to introduce everyone to the main concepts of Carl G. Jung's epistemological concepts, perceiving how this understanding may help the understanding of Analytical Idealism, and do it through a lot of discussions and constructive debates. Zoom room and links to recordings of past meetings and many other resources are listed below. _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Dreams & the Hierarchies of the Subconscious URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-dreams-the-hierarchies-of-subconscious-2/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:31:18.000Z Recording details Date: 11 March 2025 Duration: 2h 7m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Dreams and the deeper layers of mind 0:10:07 Could looking outward reveal what lies deep within? 0:15:22 Could mind at large speak our language? 0:20:21 Why dreams arrive as images and feelings 0:25:19 The symbolic clothing that reaches the ego 0:30:20 Two ways to understand a mind-made world 0:35:31 Why **waking life is not simply your private dream** 0:40:14 Dreams as perception from within? 0:45:18 Hearing the parts of ourselves we have pushed away 0:55:20 Could deep dreams be more objective than we assume? 1:00:27 Extraordinary abilities and the **cost of remembering everything** 1:05:34 What the spotlight of attention hides from us 1:15:13 Making things up versus receiving an **archetypal dream** 1:20:25 **Jung’s hierarchy of the psyche** 1:25:04 The objective psyche and its own creative life 1:30:17 **Can we ask a lucid dream too much?** 1:35:05 How lucid dreaming can make idealism tangible 1:40:19 Bernardo’s recurring dream of **returning to Rio** 1:45:00 When dreams keep offering a lesson we resist 1:50:22 A thought experiment in **time travel** and memory 1:55:38 Why do we remember a continuous life? 2:00:12 Could time be our way of organising experience? Thanks for the awesome session today - I'm now excited to sleep, to dream, to see what deep layers of subconscious are revealed! There were so many great questions left over, so we'll schedule another session on dreams in the future. In this session we discussed: - how dreams could be as objective and as revealing of reality as 'waking life'. - the genius we can access during less metacognitive states - the hierarchies of the subconscious - how lucid dreams can point to idealism - the nature of time, memory and precognitive dreams Stay tuned for next week when we delve into [Death, Near Death and Reincarnation](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/18-march-death-near-death-reincarnation/). Thanks Fawn for sharing this in the chat about Lucid dreams: "Stephen LaBerge PhD is the research professor at Stanford who did the groundbreaking experiments proving the reality of lucid dreaming via sleep studies monitoring specific modulations in brain activity - his book “Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming” is a great primer with explorations of the “how to” (which his lab has since developed into reliable & replicable protocols)… he has also developed & patented devices that “induce” lucid dreaming via sleep stage triggers. His research was super helpful for me when I first learned about lucid dreaming 20 years ago:)" Here are some of the questions we explored, and below, links to the recording. #### ****Are Dreams a Fundamentally Substantive Human Language? - Shane Nagle** And if so, is it possible M@L uses Dreams to communicate directly to it's alters using Feelings (attraction, repulsion, acceptance / peace) and Images (symbols / association / meaning) as guiding principles? #### Why am I more musically gifted in dreams? John Prescott I play guitar decently well, piano terribly, and have a pretty shallow understanding of music theory. If I try to come up with a song in the physical world - a melody, even - it's a challenge. But when I'm dreaming, beautiful music just pours out of me whenever I touch an instrument. I've never been able to remember the melodies and harmonies, but when I hear them in the dream world they're incredible. #### Do dreams arise waking life, or does waking life merge from dreams? Jake Flower When someone moves from the dream state to the waking state, do they move from the personal/ collective unconscious to ego-consciousness? If this is so, then the waking state emerges from the dream state, and ego-consciousness emerges from the personal/ collective consciousness? Finally, can we equate ego-consciousness=waking consciousness & dream-consciousness = personal/ collective unconscious? #### ****How are dreams different from life? - Robert** Since brains are how the localization of consciousness looks like, shouldn't it be impossible to have a dream in which you don't have a brain, if you open up your skull in the dream? The brain should always be present as the localization of your agency in the dream/real life. #### Can Lucid Dreaming deepen one's connection with idealism? - ****Rachel Clemesha** I noticed a few of us mentioned lucid dreaming in our introductions. I find that lucid dreams help me experientially understand idealism. In a lucid dream I can touch and see, move through space etc, it can feel so realistic, and at the same time, I can know that I’m really just in bed. For those of us who lucid dream, what are the best practices to undertake in lucid dreaming? There are also tools to make lucid dreaming more likely that can be encouraged to other practitioners, if that would be beneficial. #### ****What causes a sense of continuity after deep sleep? - Arezky** Time (thoughts), Space (sensations) and continuity I understand and accept that time appears with mind (thoughts and memories), and space appears with body (sensations and perceptions). When dreaming, there is no space, as sensations and perceptions are absent. When dreaming there is only time because there is only mind (the activity of dreaming) In deep sleep, there is no time or space because the mind and body are absent. Then, how the mind and body know where to return when waking up to a waking state. Why do we come back to the same "place" in space and the same "moment" in time when waking up if all the information "was lost" in deep sleep every night? Why do I not return to another place or another time every day when waking up What causes the sense of continuity in my life and the place I live? Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Recording: The physical body, internal dissociation & metacognition URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-mind-at-large-dissociation-catch-up-questions-2/ Last updated: 2025-03-04T21:29:16.000Z _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The Physical Body, Internal Dissociation & Metacognition URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/4th-march-frontiers-of-thought-q-a-with-bernardo-kastrup/ Last updated: 2026-09-21T07:31:22.000Z Recording details Date: 4 March 2025 Duration: 2h 3m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 The body, inner boundaries and self-awareness 0:10:06 Can an AI answer tell us what is true? 0:15:22 Are we assembled minds—or one life dividing within? 0:20:03 **Gut bacteria** and the boundaries of the self 0:25:13 Why the body’s cells are not simply independent organisms 0:30:35 **Mitochondria**: partners within us? 0:40:25 Two kinds of dissociative boundary 0:45:16 Can the ego maintain its own boundaries? 0:50:19 **How can memories influence us without our knowing?** 0:55:04 You are more than the part doing the talking 1:00:09 The body’s spectrum of autonomous processes 1:10:07 Why physics moved from particles to fields 1:15:04 **Swedenborg** and the meaning of appearances 1:20:35 Could some of nature’s mind be inaccessible to us? 1:25:22 What would survival filter out of perception? 1:30:12 Listening to the body’s sense of direction 1:35:17 **Why decisions need feeling** 1:40:22 Metacognition lets us **build beyond one lifetime** 1:50:18 What exists for an observer—and what exists for itself 1:55:26 A research laboratory without a teacher holding the answers? 2:00:25 When **abstractions outweigh the suffering in front of us** This was a great session, exploring **how our physical bodies relate to consciousness**, including discussions about cells, bacteria, mitochondria, and whether they constitute separate alters or part of a unified system. We also discussed the miracle of **metacognition, it's evolutionary significance**, and its potential dangers when disconnected from bodily experience. Here are a couple of examples of questions asked. Check out the comments for more, and check out the [schedule ](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/schedule/)for other upcoming themes! #### Are we multiple alters? - Aaron Day Some base things before the actual question: 1) Alters of TWE have dissociated parts themselves, complexes in Jungian terminology. 2) Under AI biology is what dissociative processes look like from across another dissociative boundary. So my question is around how we can make sense of a 'single' alter, a complex system, where our biology is set of nested ecosystems. The essentia foundation documentary on bacteria was fascinating on this count. Bacteria make up a massive part of a biology and is essential to our life and, therefore, the maintenance of our own dissociation. Bacteria are also there own biological systems making them simple alters themselves. Are we then comprised of millions of alters somehow maintained within one overarching alter? If so what is the mechanism of this and where do we draw the line between subjectivities? #### ARE THERE INACCESSIBLE MENTAL PROCESSES IN MaL? - Dan Are there mental processes in MAL that are, in principle, completely inaccessible to any alter’s screen of perception—not even faintly registered? ## A reminder of how to ask questions: Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in *Scientific American*, the magazine of *The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the *Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and *Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is *Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### The Laws and Habits of Nature URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/recording-laws-of-nature-or-habits-2/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T20:44:21.000Z Recording details Date: 25 February 2025 Duration: 1h 55m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 A surprise Q&A on nature’s habits 0:05:03 Is perception itself a creative act? 0:10:22 Creativity without personal ownership 0:15:43 What makes a mental state change? 0:25:14 **Can we experience non-existence?** 0:30:19 What does it mean to exist for yourself? 0:35:24 **Eastern and Western paths**: opposite directions, shared destination? 0:40:32 **If the world is mental, why is it so regular?** 0:45:28 A mental universe need not have a human-like mind 0:50:14 Speculation versus what we can demonstrate 0:55:21 How to introduce ideas without closing the conversation 1:00:00 Could physical laws reflect **archetypal dispositions**? 1:05:20 Could nature’s constants change? 1:10:17 What should we make of anomalous reports? 1:15:12 Bernardo’s childhood encounter with the inexplicable 1:20:16 Could different **reality bubbles** meet? 1:25:02 When creativity feels like a gift to the ego 1:30:23 The ideas forming outside our reporting awareness 1:35:45 What does mind at large mean? 1:40:15 **Myth and history**: where do we locate reality? 1:45:40 Why is it called idealism? 1:50:33 When an intellectual answer becomes a lived change We had a bonus Q&A when Bernardo **was** able to join this meeting in the end, with several questions that didn't fit elsewhere. Recording links below. The discussion included: - **The Habits of Nature** \- Discussion of how natural regularities might be better understood as habits rather than rigid laws, connecting to Sheldrake's work. This was contrasted with... - **Anomalous Experiences** \- Examination of experiences that appear to violate physical laws, potentially explained by "collisions" between different mental reality bubbles. - **Creativity's Source** \- Bernardo reflected on creativity, noting how genuine insights seem to "pop" into consciousness rather than originating from the ego. - **Eastern vs. Western Approaches** \- Exploration of different cultural paths to understanding the self - Eastern negation versus Western inclusion - and how they converge. Looking forward to seeing you next week, and a reminder you can browse upcoming themes [here ](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/schedule/)and if you have questions, follow this guide [here](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/). Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### 8th April - Quantum Physics, Entanglement & Mind URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/8th-april-quantum-entanglement-wave-function-2/ Last updated: 2025-04-08T12:03:45.000Z This session tackles the strange bridge between quantum physics and the mind. It explores how reality may depend on observation, how consciousness might shape or collapse quantum possibilities, and what that means for what’s “real.” It dives into wave function collapse, quantum entanglement, decoherence, the role of measurement, and whether our inner experiences reflect the structure of reality itself. **This is the frontline of the battle between physicalism and idealism.** If we have time, we'll zoom out to the cosmos. What is time—emergent illusion or real flow? Is the universe a multiverse? Did it start from nothing? Does entropy define the arrow of time? This theme considers quantum gravity, spacetime emergence, modeling the universe, the Big Bang, and the metaphysical implications of cosmological models. Last week we discussed many examples of what nature might symbolise, from the perspective of analytic idealism. This session dives even deeper, and is dedicated to the implications of major theories in physics on idealism physics. Thanks to Robert and Corrado for suggesting this theme. **This session will be co-hosted with Nour**, who ran the Bernardo Kastrup Book Club for 3 years, and did her master's thesis in Theoretical Physics. She's also a senior data scientist at IBM and a senior quantum ambassador. I feel lucky to have her help shape the session! We already have more questions submitted for this one than we'll have time to cover, so we'll be scheduling more on this theme in the future. If you've got any thoughts to share on the existing questions, it would be great to hear in the comments below. We'll have to plan future sessions on the same topic, given how much interest this has created! Please note the new zoom room for April: _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 1st April - What Nature Represents URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/1st-april-what-nature-represents-2/ Last updated: 2025-03-31T15:10:48.000Z There is a **new zoom room for April**, listed below. A reminder **if you are in the USA**, start time reverts back to 1-3pm EST, (and remains 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET) This session our discussion turns to what nature represents: What is signified in the behaviour of an atom? What is hidden in the heavenly display? This follows on from our conversations positing 'Mind at Large' as a representation of the movements of nature's mind beyond individual beings, this session is a chance to enquire, speculate and wonder.... Here are examples of previously submitted questions on this topic. Your comments and questions to start the session are welcome below. If submitting a new question, [please follow this guide. ](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/) #### TIME AND SPACE IN MAL - Dan From MAL’s perspective, what exactly are time and space? What does it mean “to have no extension”? #### Is the expansion of the universe a possible symbol of increasing MAL 'harvested knowledge'? - Olivier Goethals ![woman and toddler sitting beside field painting](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1576769267221-a9b2a5d93ebc?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDF8fGRvdWJsZSUyMHJhaW5ib3clMjBwYWludGluZ3xlbnwwfHx8fDE3Mzk0Njg0NzN8MA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=2000) Photo by [Birmingham Museums Trust](https://unsplash.com/@birminghammuseumstrust?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 25th March - The Purpose of Life & the Meaning of Suffering URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/25th-march-the-purpose-of-life-the-meaning-of-suffering-2/ Last updated: 2025-03-24T13:33:30.000Z Another session for some big questions: Does the universe have a direction? A purpose? Is there meaning to suffering and our own individual lives? A big thanks to Ines, Pascal and many others for inspiring this theme. In preparation, you can watch a bit from the clips below. Then, your questions related to this theme are welcome in the comments below... (here is a [guide to submitting questions.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/)) We'll open the evening with this question from Olivier: #### DOES METACONSCIOUS LIFE CONTRIBUTE MORE TO MIND AT LARGE? - Olivier Goethals I have the idea that our culture is organised to live as 'unconscious'/not metaconscious as possible. If you suffer 'the harvesting of life'; the offer to death is richer because it is more lived '(meta-)conscious'. So can we live more consciously without suffering but by accepting? See you there! Amir ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/03/image-3.png) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### 18 March - Death, Near Death & Reincarnation URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/18-march-death-near-death-reincarnation/ Last updated: 2025-03-14T16:29:31.000Z What happens when we die? What can we learn from Near Death Experiences? Can Analytic Idealism explain the many reports of reincarnation from around the world? Expect one of our deeper and more thought provoking sessions with Bernardo, as we peer beyond the veil to what lies beyond... Thanks Gustavo and Ines for suggesting this topic during the initial scheduling [whiteboard](https://zoom.us/wb/doc/dDLQZhspR6qe%5Ft2Trp6OiA/p/165079353982976?ref=withrealityinmind.com), to Ron, Muriel and Byron for engaging in this topic on Telegram, and the many people contributing to the discussion in the comments below. Your questions related to this theme are welcome... here is a [guide to submitting questions.](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/) *Reminder that clocks go forward in the USA 3 weeks before Europe, so the timing for the 11th, 18th & 25th of March will be 2-4pm EST, then will go back to the normal time from April.* The zoom link is below, and here are some examples questions previously submitted: #### WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DIE? - Muriel Okay it's the end of the dissociation process, but is there still something of our individuality that continues as seems to be suggested by near death experiences ? What would be at the base of this individual consciousness as separated from the mind at large when the body is no more ? Does the dissociation really stops or does it only seems to stop to the physical dissociated selves left behind...? In other words, is there something as a individual soul when the body is no more ? Something still individual, not yet merged into the "all there is" ? #### DOES RE-INCARNATION FIT INTO ANALYTIC IDEALISM? - Ines In Buddhism, the idea of **Rebirth/Re-incarnation** is considered to be right view, however, it is an impersonal process with no entity/soul going from one birth to the next. How does Analytical Idealism view ****death** and what happens after the dissociating boundaries of an alter dissolve? Is there any kind of **"continuity"**, meaning : would the content of the "dying" alter be the exact content of a new dissociation? Or is there a random mixing of the mind contents in mind at large, hence no continuity? I would like to think that there are degrees of dissociation/association and that, during the death process, the alter does not dissolve completely in core subjectivity unless it is enlightened. Any comments? #### IS A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE LIKE A 'RECOVERED' WHIRLPOOL THAT HAS DISSIPATED IN A LAKE? - Gustavo Background of the question is the metaphor of life - individuated - being a whirlpool in a larger lake (M@L). In this context, as Bernardo explains, death would be the 'dissolution' of the whirlpool back into the lake. Such dissolution would entail the lake absorbing the experiences from the whirlpool. Keeping this metaphor, NDEs seem to be the interruption of this 'dissolution' mechanism. In some rare cases, this idea would align with cases of people who come back from coma with skills they didn't have before and didn't have any means of learning them (i.e. playing certain instruments, knowing about events they couldn't have learned before, performing highly in tasks they didn't perform so well before - i.e. calculations). From this, two questions unfold: 1) although hard to explain with concrete cases, is it possible to infer parsimoniously the limits of this 'yank back' in the dissolution process? In other words, when is the whirlpool not 'recoverable' anymore 2) what prevents this view from being anthropomorphised (humans acquiring human related skills)? In other words, what in this context prevents my dog coming back from cardiac arrest during a surgery to acquire human-like skills (or from any other species), since all the 'knowledge' becomes part of the same lake we are all a part of (or humans acquiring non-human skills)? #### DOES METACONSCIOUS LIFE CONTRIBUTE MORE TO MIND AT LARGE? - Olivier Goethals I have the idea that our culture is organised to live as 'unconscious'/not metaconscious as possible. If you suffer 'the harvesting of life'; the offer to death is richer because it is more lived '(meta-)conscious'. So can we live more consciously without suffering but by accepting? _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Frontiers of Thought with Michael Levin & Bernardo Kastrup URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/tues-18th-feb-frontiers-of-thought-discuss-your-idea-with-michael-levin-bernardo-kastrup/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T21:50:40.000Z Recording details Date: 18 February 2025 Duration: 2h 27m Free preview Chapters 0:00:00 Frontiers of Thought: ideas for Michael and Bernardo 0:05:28 Why AI ethics provokes Bernardo’s frustration 0:10:23 Seeing without knowing that we see? 0:15:16 How perception becomes a world of objects 0:20:21 Does the body express the ego’s will to live? 0:25:15 **Blindsight** and the limits of self-report 0:30:21 Giving unconventional ideas a serious hearing 0:35:15 A proposal connecting **entanglement** and shared reality 0:40:14 Entanglement: one system, different perspectives 0:45:03 Celestial patterns as maps rather than causes? 0:50:03 Could **microtubules** illuminate cognition? 0:55:08 Consciousness: necessary or sufficient conditions? 1:00:22 Where is the bridge from quantum collapse to experience? 1:10:17 Could **IIT** connect two pictures of life? 1:20:12 Modelling the brain with wave-like dynamics 1:25:15 Testing a model beyond the brain 1:30:10 Regeneration and the **hologram analogy** 1:35:21 What features of mind could shape evolution? 1:40:07 Intelligence across many kinds of space 1:45:33 Does a feedback mechanism need moral judgement? 1:55:09 What would count as a satisfactory answer? 2:00:33 Could **biophotons** influence genetic mutations? 2:10:11 How do you **fund ideas before their value is clear**? 2:15:21 **Could humanity become one larger organism?** 2:20:20 What might abundance change about human motivation? We're excited to be hosting this special event, **Tuesday 18th February, 2025: Michael Levin | Bernardo Kastrup "Frontiers of Thought"** 6-9pm UK Time / 7pm - 10pm CET / 1pm to 4pm EST **Please note this meeting is 3hrs, rather than our normal 2hrs, the first hour will be a Q&A with Bernardo Kastrup. The final 30 minutes will be just with Michael.** Michael Levin joins us to host a session inspired by "Shark Tank" (USA) "Dragons Den" (UK) where selected people can present their very best ideas, research and theories related to idealism, consciousness, life, agency and reality itself. There won't be any prizes, except a stimulating conversation, reflections and feedback from two great minds. The event will raise money for the charity [Compassion in World Farming. ](https://www.ciwf.org.uk/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) To submit a proposal for discussion, you make donation when [you register](https://dandelion.events/e/c01t4?ref=withrealityinmind.com). All the details can be found here: [https://dandelion.events/e/c01t4](https://dandelion.events/e/c01t4?ref=withrealityinmind.com) This is also open to non-members. You can sponsor someone else's proposal with a donation also. At least 6 ideas with the highest cumulative donation will be discussed If you don't already know Michael, he's had what are for me some of the most exciting conversations with Bernardo that I've seen. He works at Tufts and is an associate at Harvard. His group works at the intersection of developmental biology, artificial life, bioengineering, synthetic morphology, and cognitive science. Seeking general principles of life-as-it-can-be, they use a wide range of natural animal models and also create novel synthetic and chimeric life forms. A playlist of their previous conversations we hosted can be found here: ## Non-members welcome Some special guest events will be available to non-members to get tickets, including this one. You can share the link with friends and submit your idea + donation here: [https://dandelion.events/e/c01t4](https://dandelion.events/e/c01t4?ref=withrealityinmind.com) Time permitting, members will have the chance to ask questions towards the end. We'll schedule a session for follow up questions with Bernardo in our first session of March. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Michael-Levin-profile.webp) Michael Levin ***"One of the most creative biologists working today" - Rupert Sheldrake** ***“Perhaps the most important person alive” - Bernardo Kastrup** Michael Levin is a Distinguished Professor in the Biology department at [Tufts](https://drmichaellevin.org/?ref=withrealityinmind.com), holds the Vannevar Bush endowed Chair, and serves as director of the [Allen Discovery Center at Tufts](https://allencenter.tufts.edu/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). He is also an associate member of the [Wyss Institute at Harvard](https://wyss.harvard.edu/team/associate-faculty/michael-levin-ph-d/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). His group works at the intersection of developmental biology, artificial life, bioengineering, synthetic morphology, and cognitive science. Seeking general principles of life-as-it-can-be, they use a wide range of natural animal models and also create novel synthetic and chimeric life forms. Their goal is to develop conceptual frameworks and practical tools that help detect, understand, predict, and communicate with truly diverse intelligences, including cells, tissues, organs, synthetic living constructs, robots, and software-based AIs. His mission is to develop fundamental understanding of how minds of all kinds arise, scale, persist, and change, and to use that knowledge to benefit the embodied experience of sentient beings, through biomedicine and beyond. Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### 11th March - Dreams, Deep Sleep & the Continuity of Self URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/11th-march-dreams-deep-sleep-the-continuity-of-self/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T08:28:32.000Z Are dreams a doorway to the deeper subconscious, perhaps a communication channel to deeper layers of reality? Or are they just a mix of random images with no meaning? Tomorrow's session is inspired by questions from Arezky, Robert, Shane and other creative members which you can see below. If you've got any thoughts or insights to share, would great to hear in the comments underneath. If you have a question, here is a [guide to submitting it](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/asking-questions/). I'm looking forward to an inspiring conversation that might change how we think of sleep, dreams and our relationship to reality... Looking forward to seeing you soon! Amir *Clocks go forward in the USA 3 weeks before Europe, so the timing for the next three sessions , 11th, 18th & 25th of March will be 2-4pm EST, then back to the normal time from April.* *The times this month remain the same for everyone in Europe:* 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / **2-4pm EST** *If in doubt about the start time, just google "6pm UK time to your time zone"* #### ****Are Dreams a Fundamentally Substantive Human Language? - Shane Nagle** And if so, is it possible M@L uses Dreams to communicate directly to it's alters using Feelings (attraction, repulsion, acceptance / peace) and Images (symbols / association / meaning) as guiding principles? #### ****What exists in the subconscious mind** \- Matt B / Jeff followed up What exists, right now, in our unconscious/subconscious/'obfuscated minds'? Is it the same kinds of mental content we experience at the metaconscious level—thoughts, emotions, memories, beliefs, etc.—but floating around in deeper mind space, looping in on themselves, impinging on and modulating each other, without our knowing, occasionally surfacing where we can report back to ourselves? #### ****How are dreams different from life? - Robert** Since brains are how the localization of consciousness looks like, shouldn't it be impossible to have a dream in which you don't have a brain, if you open up your skull in the dream? The brain should always be present as the localization of your agency in the dream/real life. #### ****What causes a sense of continuity after deep sleep? - Arezky** Time (thoughts), Space (sensations) and continuity I understand and accept that time appears with mind (thoughts and memories), and space appears with body (sensations and perceptions). When dreaming, there is no space, as sensations and perceptions are absent. When dreaming there is only time because there is only mind (the activity of dreaming) In deep sleep, there is no time or space because the mind and body are absent. Then, how the mind and body know where to return when waking up to a waking state. Why do we come back to the same "place" in space and the same "moment" in time when waking up if all the information "was lost" in deep sleep every night? Why do I not return to another place or another time every day when waking up What causes the sense of continuity in my life and the place I live? _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Mind at Large vs Universal Consciousness URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/tues-11th-feb-mind-at-large/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T23:15:11.000Z Recording details Date: 11 February 2025 Duration: 2h 00m Free preview Title: Why is a rock not conscious? Duration: 7:21 https://vimeo.com/1226768941/a57a147929 Chapters 0:00:00 Hellos and announcements 0:04:07 Recordings & future events 0:06:30 Member introductions; Michael, Erin, Aaron 0:14:00 ****Universal consciousness** defined; the potential for experience 0:18:00 Mind at Large is also an altar 0:22:30 ****Perception** is meditated by Mind at Large 0:27:00 Relationship to ****Trinity** 0:25:30 All of alters = life 0:28:40 Different kinds of dissociation 0:31:00 Body sensations & body image 0:35:00 Nature vs Universal consciousness (Spinoza 0:40:30 IIT & ontological dust (sun being conscious) 0:44:40 Pantheism vs ****PanEnthiesm** & the physical universe 0:51:40 Active vs spontaneous ****dissociation** 0:55:20 What is the boundary of an alter? 1:12:00 Internal dissociative boundaries 1:19:00 Visual ****beauty** as guide to truth (supersymmetry) 1:30:00 A rock isn't conscious because it doesn't exit having a name for something isn't a reality 1:41:00 ****Sun** as ontologically existing ontological dust 1:51:00 ****Microbiome** part of our alter? Following on naturally from the last week's discussion on dissociation, Tues 11th of Feb focused on Mind at Large. The recording is at the bottom of this page. This isn't true everywhere, but in our meetings, Bernardo makes a careful distinction between '**Mind at Large**' and **Universal Consciousness**. This is really important to understand or a lot of the conversation won't make sense! For a quick recap, you can read below [watch this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mar2X6bvid4&t=3480s&ref=withrealityinmind.com), or both! In this session we covered: - Clarifying Mind at Large vs Universal Consciousness and the hierarchies of dissociation - “The physical universe” as an abstraction: a model based on many experiences - Momentary vs self-sustaining dissociations - Is the boundary or our alters the skin or the central nervous system? - What does beauty signify in Mind at Large? - Why are we conscious but not a rock? (what is a thing?) - Is the microbiome a part of us, or a separate alter? ## Mind at Large vs Universal Consciousness Universal Consciousness is the ultimate substrate, pure being, consciousness itself. As a the **potential** to have experience, metaphorically, you can think of it like an ocean which is totally still - pure being. When it starts to move, some waves (proto-thoughts/ideas/emotions) appear. The *excitation* of Universal Consciousness is experience. Just like a wave is not separate from the ocean in which it moves, the experience that shows up in Universal Consciousness is not separate from it either. Now imagine each wave rises and falls seamlessly in response to movements of the whole ocean. But some of these experiences, instead of waves seamlessly rising and falling within the whole, turn around themselves, like a whirlpool. The activity within the whirlpool is seemingly cut off from the activity of the rest of the ocean. It is still an activity of the ocean. But compared to the waves, it is 'doing its own thing.' This whirlpool is what Bernardo calls an 'alter.' A dissociated part of the whole. Bernardo believes that alters correspond to what we identify as living beings. It is the reason that although there is just one consciousness, you seem to have thoughts that are private to you, and I seem to have thoughts that are private to me. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/02/DALL-E-2025-02-09-20.13.52---A-realistic-and-serene-depiction-of-a-river-with-gentle-whirlpools-on-the-surface.-The-river-flows-calmly-with-soft-ripples--reflecting-sunlight.-Smal-1.webp) The remaining "larger" part of the ocean outside the whirlpools is what we are calling **Mind at Large.** It corresponds to the physical world: the mountains, the stars, the galaxies. But remember, ***both*** alter and Mind at Large are appearances ***within*** Universal Consciousness. The whirlpool is a movement of the ocean. The waves are a movement of the ocean. Whirlpools are "dissociated" from waves, but not dissociated from the ocean. So **Alters** are dissociated from **Mind at Large**, but neither are dissociated from Universal Consciousness. A whirlpool is universal consciousness whirlpooling. A wave is universal consciousness waving. Universal Consciousness = Mind at Large + All Alters. ![blue and clear body of water](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/02/photo-1559825481-12a05cc00344-1.jpeg) Photo by [Silas Baisch](https://unsplash.com/@silasbaisch?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) ### Perception and Action: Although a whirlpool seems to do its own thing, the activity of the waves will impinge on the whirlpool - this is what we call perception. The world brushing up against the boundary of dissociation becomes represented on the screen of perception as colours, sounds, smells representing the activity of Mind at Large. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/02/image-2-1-1.png) Equally, the activity of the whirlpools will in small ways affect the surrounding waves - this is how we affect the world around us. So we also perceive the many ways in which other whirlpools, other beings, have impinged upon the world and make their presence felt: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/02/image-1.png) To repeat, Mind at Large refers to all the experiences of Universal Consciousness that ***are not*** within the alters. It is the shared world we experience as the mountains, the planets and the stars. So you could think of Mind at Large almost like an entity itself, like an alter. [Universal consciousness](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mar2X6bvid4&t=3480s&ref=withrealityinmind.com) is the substrate that underlies all alters. The substrate in which all the activity we call living beings and the universe take place. Remember, the waves and whirlpools are ***an imperfect metaphor,*** but hopefully one that helps to understand the terminology. I'm sure this generates lots of questions for you, which is why we are so lucky to have these meetings with Bernardo! Amir ![two very large spiral shaped objects in the sky](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1711991997518-5fe30fcf8a07?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDQ3fHx3aGlybHBvb2x8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzM5MTI5MDUyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=2000) Photo by [NASA Hubble Space Telescope](https://unsplash.com/@hubblespacetelescope?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Tues 25th of Feb - Members' meeting: Share your introduction to idealism / Focus Groups! URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/community-gathering-thursday/ Last updated: 2025-02-21T16:27:07.000Z This coming Tuesday is a special opportunity to do something a little different, as Bernardo's schedule mean's he is unavailable. We'll have two options: 1) Share your best intro to idealism 2) Join a focus group. And of course, this is a great chance to simply hang out with other members, comparing notes and experiences. ## 1) Ambassadors! Share your best 10 minute introduction to idealism... Anyone that wants to fully step into the role of 'ambassador for idealism' will get a chance to present your best introduction, held in a supportive and friendly space. This is 100% optional for those who want! You'll initially share this to just a small number in a breakout room. If time permits, some of you can share your presentation to a bigger group, and try answer some questions! The best way to understand something it to hear it in many different voices. But even more powerful is to convey it in your own words. Please share in the comments below if you would like to give this a go. 💡 If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it. ****If you want to master something, teach it.** If anyone want to later try presenting this also to Bernardo and get feedback from him, you'll a chance based on participant feedback. ## 2) Join a focus group If you prefer, you could join a breakout room for a 'focus group' discussion. Check out this write up from our last [Focus Group](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/thurs-6th-feb-community-meeting-focus-groups/) session. Examples of topics include: \- Therapeutic implications of idealism \- Translating understanding to experience \- Creativity and expression of idealism If you're interested in joining or hosting a breakout room on any particular topic, let us know in the comments below! _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### The Hierarchies of Dissociation URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dissociation/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T23:16:32.000Z Recording details Date: 4 February 2025 Duration: 2h 29m Free preview Title: Why a cat may get angry without holding a grudge Duration: 3:46 https://vimeo.com/1226769653/5d5b7e92f4 Chapters 0:00:00 Welcome and community connections 0:05:15 Building a community around better questions 0:15:58 Members introduce their paths to idealism 0:30:37 Where can physics students study consciousness? 0:40:12 Dissociation is closer to everyday life than you think 0:45:16 **Self and ego**: what is the difference? 0:55:03 **Could two minds merge into one perspective?** 1:00:13 How language helps create a separate self 1:05:28 When **inner dialogue becomes self-torture** 1:10:20 Can we embrace life with language’s double edge? 1:15:06 Why a cat may get angry without holding a grudge 1:20:03 Is mind at large also an alter? 1:25:13 Could some layers of mind be less dissociated? 1:30:32 **Breathing** across a dissociative boundary 1:35:15 What makes life’s dissociation distinctive? 1:40:14 **Could the universe have an ego?** 1:45:27 Where philosophy must recognise clinical limits 1:50:21 When does natural variation become dysfunction? 1:55:11 What does your body represent? 2:01:55 When a **limb no longer feels like your own** 2:05:03 Being dissociated from experience—or its appearance? 2:15:00 Turning shared questions into future sessions Thanks for an awesome meeting and your great questions! I learnt a lot I didn't know. We heard some very new thoughts from Bernardo on the hierarchies of dissociation as well as: - The difference between self and ego - The role of **language** in dissociation - Two alters in one body? - What the body represents - The mechanics of alien hand syndrome Recordings are down below... As mentioned, introductory membership prices have now gone up, but anyone who needs financial help can always email to gain access. Thanks to everyone who volunteered to help with member onboarding, welcoming and creating more community! Next week we'll aim to cover the questions we didn't have time for, such as: - The Nature of dissociation related to internal negation of satre? - Byron - What exists in the subconscious mind - What causes a sense of continuity after deep sleep? - Arezky - Are we multiple alters? - Aaron Day - How are dreams different from life? - Robert - Are Dreams a Fundamentally Substantive Human Language? - Shane Nagle We will then dive into the mysteries of Mind at Large! You can start to discuss and vote on Mind at Large questions here: [Tues 11th Feb - Mind at LargeFollowing on naturally from the previous week’s theme of dissociation, this week we’ll focus on Mind at Large. In these meetings, we distinguish between ‘Mind at Large’ (MAL) and Universal Consciousness. Universal Consciousness is the ultimate substrate, the excitation of which shows up as the, universe and as living beings.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-3.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1536904132820-d4760eae1463.jpeg)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/tues-11th-feb-mind-at-large/) See you soon! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Thurs 6th Feb - Members' meeting + Focus Groups URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/thurs-6th-feb-community-meeting-focus-groups/ Last updated: 2025-02-13T16:03:06.000Z I'm excited to say we've scheduled a special extra meeting this coming Thursday 6th of Feb: An opportunity to **connect more deeply** with the many incredible alters whirlpooling in this group, and then to **form focus groups** to discuss our special interests. This will be in a different zoom room than Tues, which you can find below. But first, a reminder to.... ### Introduce yourselves! There are loads of inspiring backgrounds shared in the comments section of [this page here](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/introductions/) or on the telegram group (link below.) [Welcome and Introductions!Introduce yourself to the community!![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/icon/Heraldry-Icon-transparent-bg-1-2.png)Bernardo Kastrup: With Reality in MindAmir Giles![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/thumbnail/Asset-14.5--8--1-1.png)](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/introductions/) Would so love to hear your introduction if you've not added yours yet. ## Focus Groups After some introductions, this evening will be a chance to initiate focus groups on the subjects you are most passionate. For example I'm keen to explore **idealism vs emptiness**. Others are passionate about **UAPs,** or **therapeutic applications.** I know many of you want to investigate how to share idealism or apply it to **social change**.... We'll allocate different break-out rooms for focused discussion, and then reconvene to share highlights of your inquiry with the wider group. Come plant the seeds for ongoing endeavours... who knows where this journey may go! ![green plant on persons hand](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/02/photo-1590682680695-43b964a3ae17.jpeg) Photo by [GreenForce Staffing](https://unsplash.com/@greenforce%5Fstaffing?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) ### Here is how to propose a focus group: 1. ***Think of an idea for a focus group and give it a short and clear title.*** 2. **Add your proposal in the comments below, starting with your title in CAPITAL LETTERS, followed by a brief explanation of what you want to explore** ***Some examples might be:*** **\- THE NATURE OF MIND AT LARGE** **\- SHARING IDEALISM WITH PHYSICALISTS** **\- IDEALISM VS BUDDHIST EMPTINESS** **\- APPLYING IDEALISM IN THERAPY** ### Here is how to participate: 1. '**Heart**' the ones you want to join... ❤️ 2. ***Reply* to comments** on the proposals for which you have ideas to share, especially if you can't join at this particular time but would like to in future. 3. **Join the zoom call** on Thurs 6th! The links is down the bottom. In future you can initiate or participate in more than one group, but obviously you can only do one this Thursday. (Unless you've developed some very powerful technology or mediation skills.) If groups are keen, we can schedule future sessions which don't overlap in their scheduling for different topics. Zoom link shows below for members: Meanwhile, here's a picture of Mind at Large being awesome, all this came from one little seed! ![birds eye photo of forest and mountains](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1446483050676-bd2fdf3ac2d6?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDU4fHxmb3Jlc3R8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzM4MzU0MjY1fDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=2000) Photo by [Paul Summers](https://unsplash.com/@somonesummers?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Do you want to help shape the schedule for the year? Contributions on the whiteboard Deadline is today - 7th of Feb! URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/help-shape-the-schedule-for-the-year/ Last updated: 2025-02-07T16:32:12.000Z Today is the last day to add your suggestions for upcoming themes and questions to the whiteboard. (Link below.) This is how you can help make sure the themes you are most passionate about get a dedicated session, or several sessions! **T**here is a video on how to use the whiteboard on [this page](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/how-to-proposquestions-and-themes/) but here are some refinements: - ***Please sign in*** to your zoom account! Then I can track who contributed what. - **Add new questions with purple** post it notes! I'll change ones I have read into **yellow**. - If I've turned a note **green**, then I've added that theme as a post on the members platform, so you can add your questions there instead, finding it on the [schedule](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/schedule/). - If a note is **orange** it means I didn't understand it - can you make it more clear? Or it might be two questions and you'll see a comment asking if you can split it into two notes for different categories. - The ones that I have seen will be **blue**. See you there! Amir _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Mind at Large vs Universal Consciousness [link from email] URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/tues-11th-feb-mind-at-large-vs-universal-consciousness/ Last updated: 2025-02-13T16:03:51.000Z Following on naturally from the last week's discussion on dissociation, this Tues 11th of Feb our focus will turn towards Mind at Large. 6-8pm UK time / 7-9pm CET / 1-3pm EST In our meetings, Bernardo makes a more careful distinction between '**Mind at Large**' and **Universal Consciousness**. This is really important to understand or a lot of the conversation won't make sense! For a quick recap, you can read below [watch this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mar2X6bvid4&t=3480s&ref=withrealityinmind.com), or both! We'll start the session with a review, get into questions submitted for this theme, and also cover remaining [questions from last week](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/dissociation/), ## Mind at Large vs Universal Consciousness Universal Consciousness is the ultimate substrate, pure being, consciousness itself. It is the ***potential*** to have experience. Metaphorically, you can think of it like an ocean which is totally still - pure being. When it starts to move, some waves (proto thoughts/ideas/emotions) appear. The *excitation* of Universal Consciousness is experience. Now imagine each wave rises and falls seamlessly in response to movements of the whole ocean. But some of these experiences, instead of waves seamlessly rising and falling within the whole, turn around themselves, like a whirlpool. The activity within the whirlpool is seemingly cut off from the activity of the rest of the ocean. It is still an activity of the ocean. But compared to the waves, it is 'doing its own thing.' This whirlpool is what Bernardo calls an 'alter.' A dissociated part of the whole. Bernardo believes that alters correspond to what we identify as living beings. It is the reason that although there is just one consciousness, you seem to have thoughts that are private to you, and I seem to have thoughts that are private to me. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/02/DALL-E-2025-02-09-20.13.52---A-realistic-and-serene-depiction-of-a-river-with-gentle-whirlpools-on-the-surface.-The-river-flows-calmly-with-soft-ripples--reflecting-sunlight.-Smal-1.webp) The remaining "larger" part of the ocean outside the whirlpools is what we are calling **Mind at Large.** It corresponds to the physical world: the mountains, the stars, the galaxies. But remember, ***both*** alter and Mind at Large are appearances ***within*** Universal Consciousness. The whirlpool is a movement of the ocean. The waves are a movement of the ocean. Whirlpools are "dissociated" from waves, but not dissociated from the ocean. So **Alters** are dissociated from **Mind at Large**, but neither are dissociated from Universal Consciousness. A whirlpool is universal consciousness whirlpooling. A wave is universal consciousness waving. Universal Consciousness = Mind at Large + All Alters. ![blue and clear body of water](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/02/photo-1559825481-12a05cc00344-1.jpeg) Photo by [Silas Baisch](https://unsplash.com/@silasbaisch?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) ### Perception and Action: Although a whirlpool seems to do its own thing, the activity of the waves will impinge on the whirlpool - this is what we call perception. The world brushing up against the boundary of dissociation becomes represented on the screen of perception as colours, sounds, smells representing the activity of Mind at Large. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/02/image-2-1-1.png) Equally, the activity of the whirlpools will in small ways affect the surrounding waves - this is how we affect the world around us. So we also perceive the many ways in which other whirlpools, other beings, have impinged upon the world and make their presence felt: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/02/image-1.png) To repeat, Mind at Large refers to all the experiences of Universal Consciousness that ***are not*** within the alters. It is the shared world we experience as the mountains, the planets and the stars. So you could think of Mind at Large almost like an entity itself, like an alter. [Universal consciousness](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mar2X6bvid4&t=3480s&ref=withrealityinmind.com) is the substrate that underlies all alters. The substrate in which all the activity we call living beings and the universe take place. Remember, the waves and whirlpools are ***an imperfect metaphor,*** but hopefully one that helps to understand the terminology. I'm sure this generates lots of questions for you, which is why we are so lucky to have these meetings with Bernardo! ## Submitting your questions Many brilliant questions have already shown up on the whiteboard, chat threads and in the comments section. It's great if you can '**peer review**' your question by posting it to the telegram conversation also. By discussing and honing our questions before the main event, we can make best use of our time. Thanks to Ivan and other members who have volunteered to offer some feedback on submitted questions if it looks like they can be formatted or structured in ways that are easier to digest. **Transfer your questions to the comments below by end of Mon 10th of Feb**, **discuss**, **vote**, and see you on Tues 11th of Feb! When adding a question, please start with a short title that makes the focus of the question clear, and put that in CAPS. For example: - WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF MIND AT LARGE? - CAN MIND AT LARGE LEARN? - COULD THERE BE MULTIPLE MINDS AT LARGE? - DOES MIND AT LARGE CONTAIN PLATONIC FORMS? Then you can then add more details to your question underneath. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow! ***Zoom link to join is below...*** Amir ![two very large spiral shaped objects in the sky](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1711991997518-5fe30fcf8a07?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wxMTc3M3wwfDF8c2VhcmNofDQ3fHx3aGlybHBvb2x8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzM5MTI5MDUyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=2000) Photo by [NASA Hubble Space Telescope](https://unsplash.com/@hubblespacetelescope?ref=withrealityinmind.com) / [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=ghost&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=api-credit) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### How to propose themes for the schedule URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/how-to-proposquestions-and-themes/ Last updated: 2025-02-01T17:25:42.000Z Down the bottom of this page is the link to the white board where you can read questions, 'vote' on your favorites using the 'heart' emoticon, and submit your own questions! **Please sign into zoom when you access the whiteboard** so the post-it notes show your name. The whiteboard lets you zoom in and out, and look around. Please spend some time looking at other people's questions and 'heart' the ones you are also enthusiastic about. Try adding a question or theme near other similar ones, or create a new one! **Deadline** to impact this year's emerging schedule is **Friday 7th of Feb** - ***Please sign in*** to your zoom account! Then I can track who contributed what. - **Add new questions with purple** post it notes! I'll change ones I have read into **yellow**. - If I've turned a note **green**, then I've added that theme as a post on the members platform, so you can add your questions there. - If a note is **orange** it means I didn't understand it - can you make it more clear? Or it might be two questions and you'll see a comment asking if you can split it into two notes for different categories. - In future, the ones that have been discussed will be **blue**. Avoid essay length questions for now - there will be time to elaborate on everything, this is an initial brain storm so I can set up the schedule with your input. If you have a question on using this whiteboard, post your question down below in the comments so that when me or someone else answers, other people can benefit also. Below is a video on how to use the whiteboard. You can click the four arrows pointing outwards on the bottom right to enlarge the video screen: _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Motivations & Aspirations URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/launch-meeting-recording-motivations-aspirations-2/ Last updated: 2026-09-14T23:34:08.000Z Recording details Date: 28 January 2025 Duration: 2h 28m Free preview Title: A community of ambassadors Duration: 4:41 https://vimeo.com/1226769865/7e0977deba Chapters 0:00:00 Welcome to With Reality in Mind 0:05:35 A community spanning disciplines and continents 0:20:40 Bernardo’s vision for a **community of ambassadors** 0:30:11 Why some people cannot see the philosophical question 0:35:44 What draws us to questions of meaning? 0:40:26 Finding people who make the world feel less lonely 0:50:27 How can idealism become relevant to everyday life? 1:05:14 Bringing medicine and philosophy into conversation 1:10:23 How a worldview changes what spiritual teachings mean 1:15:09 **Objective and subjective idealism**: the difference 1:20:08 What can our own experience reveal about reality beyond us? 1:25:23 What analytic idealism adds to the picture 1:30:23 Can the **Trinity** illuminate a reality that is one? 1:35:33 When a tidy explanation misses the mystery 1:45:34 **Spiritual practice or another form of consumption?** 1:50:14 **Could suffering have a purpose?** 2:00:10 Does suffering bring depth to life? 2:05:04 Talking to people who do not see their physicalist assumptions 2:10:37 Why Bernardo takes **Federico Faggin**’s ideas seriously 2:15:00 Shaping the questions we will explore together If you made it to the launch meeting, thanks so much for your participation! It was great to hear everyone's motivations for joining, and meet 78 people from around the world with such enthusiasm. Bernardo also shared some inspiring words about his vision for a community of ambassadors: The discussion also included introductions from several community members, as well as: - the **different kinds of idealism** (objective/subjective/epistemic) - How to talk with people who aren't even aware they hold **physicalist assumptions** - **Federico Faggin's** interpretation of consciousness units We also covered the **value of suffering,** questions of **meaning and purpose,** the significance of the **Trinity** and differentiating **spiritual practice vs commodified spirituality** We then used an interactive whiteboard to start collating themes and question so I can create a draft schedule for the year. **Below you can find:** - the **recording** - how to **add a profile photo** to your comments - invitation to the **telegram group** In my next message I'll explain how to add further questions and themes. ## Add a photo to your membership platform profile! If you would like a photo or image to show next to your comments on this site, you can add a photo to your profile by adding one here: [https://gravatar.com/](https://gravatar.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) After that it should load automatically on the membership platform. ## Invitation to Telegram Group If you would like to exchange thoughts and resources with the growing community outside of this site, [click this link](https://t.me/+iMKIj-YT81xkODI0?ref=withrealityinmind.com) from your smartphone to join the Telegram Group. Telegram is similar to WhatsApp, but allows new members to see existing messages. Additionally, we compile a [co-created glossary](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FTC435yOMRJT6U7g0CmFWe3-RYJs0SkAxhAjdHksdTI/edit?ref=withrealityinmind.com) of the main terms which you and read and contribute to. Looking forward to seeing you next week! Amir Speakers ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2026/09/Bernardo-Kastrup-profile.jpg) Bernardo Kastrup Analytic idealism Bernardo Kastrup is the Executive Director of Essentia Foundation and Founder/CEO at AI systems company Euclyd BV. His work has set off the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, he has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also been creatively active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years, having founded parallel processor company Silicon Hive (acquired by Intel in 2011) and worked as a technology strategist for the geopolitically significant company ASML. Most recently, he has founded AI company Euclyd BV. Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured in **Scientific American*, the magazine of **The Institute of Art and Ideas*, the **Blog of the American Philosophical Association* and **Big Think*, among others. His most defining book is **Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st-century’s only plausible metaphysics.* [Explore Bernardo’s work →](https://www.bernardokastrup.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com) ### Our launch meeting Tues 28th Jan: Motivations & Aspirations URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/our-first-meeting-why-do-philosophy-2/ Last updated: 2025-01-26T12:45:48.000Z Many of us have started to introduce ourselves to the wider community. It's been great to read about your backgrounds and motivations for joining! You can read about the other amazing researchers, philosophers and curious minds in our group in the comments section at the bottom of this page [here](https://www.withrealityinmind.com/coming-soon/). Please add a little about yourself if you haven't already! There are some impressive accolades listed, but you don't need a PhD to be welcome - if you're conscious and you know it, curious about what that means, then you belong. We are a rich tapestry of different perspectives and yours is as valuable as any other! ## First week focus: Motivations and Aspirations ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/01/DSCN2845.jpeg) Our first online meeting is this coming Tuesday, 6pm UK time, (7PM CET, 1pm EST) We've had several meetups over the last few years. But this is our first meeting of an ongoing series. So its a chance to meet the current group, connect with Bernardo, and think more deeply about the topics we want to focus on, and why. You can get this conversation going in the comments section below. I would love to read which topics and questions are most alive for you right now. The comments section is also the best way to participate if you can't make it live and are catching up with recordings. The zoom link to join the live call is at the bottom of this email. With appreciation! Amir ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c5/20/c520bbe6-927b-460d-bf38-d4f48d5dc338/content/images/2025/01/IMG_20240907_171807-1.jpg) _This post is for paying subscribers only._ ### Welcome! URL: https://www.withrealityinmind.com/introductions/ Last updated: 2025-02-01T17:02:36.000Z We would love to learn about you! You can read introductions from many of our amazing members in the comments section below. Let us know a little bit about your background and where you are joining from, and maybe the themes and questions you're most excited to explore. If you would like a photo or image to show next to your comments on this site, you can add a photo to your profile by adding one here: [https://gravatar.com/](https://gravatar.com/?ref=withrealityinmind.com). After that it should load automatically on the membership platform. _This post is for paying subscribers only._