In Dreaming Reality, Miskovic and Lynn connect the latest findings from neuroscience―which studies the brain from the outside in, as a purely physical object―to the insights of the world’s mystical traditions, which chart elaborate cartographies of the mind from inside out through experiences of meditation, prayer, and ecstasy. We can tackle the biggest questions surrounding the nature of consciousness when we place objective scientific research alongside the phenomenology of “altered” states.
Dreaming Reality offers a rich synthesis of brains and minds, new and old, that challenges many cherished notions of how we experience our worlds and selves. Instead of privileging the experience of waking life, Miskovic and Lynn take this only as the starting point of a progressive disentanglement of consciousness. Delving into Buddhism, Vedanta, and Christian mysticism, they find that we have much to learn from dreams, hallucinations, visionary states, ego death, mind wandering, sensory deprivation, psychedelic experimentation, meditation, and minimal phenomenal experiences of consciousness.
This book club will be a hybrid of zoom and physically at the Frontier Tower, The Human Flourishing Floor, San Francisco, CA.
Vladimir Miskovic was formerly Assistant Professor of Psychology and Integrative Neuroscience at Binghamton University (SUNY) and research scientist at X: The Moonshot Factory, previously known as Google X. Since 2023, he has been exploring monastic life in the contemplative community at New Skete Monastery in Cambridge, New York.
Steven Jay Lynn was Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Binghamton University (SUNY), where he directed the Laboratory of Consciousness, Cognition, and Psychopathology. He was Founding Editor of the journal Psychology of Consciousness. His nearly two-dozen books have been translated into more than twenty languages.
Ideal for: Philosophically curious readers, psychologists, contemplatives, and seekers
If you are interested in the intersection of the exploration of consciousness, neuroscience and embodied mysticism, come participate in our group.
Limited to 9 people.
| Session | Reading Assignment | Date | Time | Session Leader | attendence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Session 1 | The Matter of the Mind - Chapter 1 | 8/27 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | Carson | Carson, Jochen, Arul, Genie, Dominic |
Sihui is traveling | | Session 2 | A Brain that Talks to Itself - Chapter 2 | 9/3 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | Arul | Carson, Jochen, Arul, Genie, Dominic, Bruno
RIdhi is sick; Sihui is traveling | | Session 3 | Looking Directly at the Mind - Chapter 3 | 9/17 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | Jochen | Jochen, Bruno, Genie, Arul, Carson | | Session 4 | The 500-Million Year Old Virtual Reality Simulator - Chapter 4 | 10/1 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | Genie | Jochen, Bruno, Genie, Arul | | Session 5 | (session cancelled) | None | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | | | | Session 6 | Adding Feelings to the Mix - Chapter 5 The Psychopathology of Every day Life - Chapter 6 | 11/5 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | Domnic | Jochen, Bruno, Genie, Arul, Carson | | Session 7 | The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of - Chapter 7
recommended book titles from the conversation Dream Yoga - Andrew Holecek Dream Yourself Awake - Alan Wallace Somatic Decent - Reginald Ray The Mind Illuminated - John Yates The Tibetan Yoga of Dreams and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal | 11/26 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | Bruno | | | Session 8 | Psychedelics, Sensory Isolation Tanks, and Dreamy Mental States - Chapter 8 | 12/10 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | | | | Session 9 | Dreaming Reality - Chapter 9 | 1/7 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | | | | Session 10 | The Imaginative Brain and the Origins of Myth - Chapter 10 | 1/21 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | | | | Session 11 | Who Is Watching the Show - Chapter 11 | 2/4 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | | | | Session 12 | The Emptiness of Being - Chapter 12 | 2/18 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | | | | Session 13 | Non-duality and Reality Beyond the Dream & Coda - Chapter 13 | 3/4 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm PST | | |
| Name | Confirmed | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arul Gupta | Yes | [email protected] | 16099371037 | |||
| Carson Kelly | Yes | [email protected] | 18313252817 | |||
| Dominic Zijlstra | Yes | [email protected] | 447491923240 | |||
| Genie Guo | Yes | [email protected] | 14159203980 | |||
| Jochen Raysz | Yes | [email protected] | 14157179676 | |||
| Bruno Del Alma | Yes | [email protected] | 16466916583 | |||
| Sihui Huang | Yes | [email protected] | 1469600-6286 | |||
| Ridhi Kantelal | Yes | [email protected] | 16465097054 |