321. Rick Archer at the Science and Nonduality Conference, 2015

Rick ArcherScience and Spirituality: Potential Allies in Discovering Truth

My talk was accompanied by a multimedia presentation, which has been edited into this video. There were technical issues: the official camera wasn’t there, so a friend recorded this on her camcorder and the sound quality isn’t ideal. I ran out of time and had to cut some things that I added to this video, etc. But hopefully, you’ll enjoy the content. I put a lot of thought into this over several months.

Points include:

  • Introduction by Deepak Chopra.
  • We’re sense organs of the infinite; instruments of the Divine.
  • Some of my personal history.
  • If science and spirituality are both about understanding Reality, then they should be on the same team.
  • Science, and a scientific approach, can help restore experience, rather than belief, as the foundation of religion and spirituality.
  • If the ultimate reality is consciousness, then what instrument could be better suited to exploring it than the human nervous system?
  • If everything is consciousness, then the qualities we see displayed in the world must somehow reveal the qualities of consciousness.
  • If everything is consciousness, does it follow that everything is conscious? And to what degree?
  • Atman (the Self), smaller than the small, greater than the great, is hidden in the hearts of all living creatures.
  • A vast, universal perspective does not negate or diminish our personhood.
  • Practical implications.
  • How do we realize our true nature as infinite intelligence?
  • Concluding with a couple of songs, and a note on devotion. The song “There is a Light” is by Maryanne Eagleson, and the song Holy Now is by Peter Mayer.

Talk recorded 10/23/2015 at the Science and Nonduality Conference.

Transcript of this talk.

Other talks by or interviews of Rick on BatGap:

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

YouTube Video Chapters:

  • 00:00:00 – Talk at the Science and Non-Duality Conference
  • 00:02:06 – Reuniting with an old friend
  • 00:04:15 – The Divine Human Experience
  • 00:05:31 – The Journey to Enlightenment
  • 00:07:27 – Science and Spirituality: Exploring the Ultimate Reality
  • 00:08:35 – The Distortion of Spiritual Messages
  • 00:09:20 – Belief and Experience in Religion
  • 00:11:04 – Exploring the Unified Field with the Human Nervous System
  • 00:12:39 – The Shekinah: God’s Indwelling Presence in Everything
  • 00:14:00 – The True Nature of Consciousness
  • 00:15:48 – The Self-Interaction of the Absolute
  • 00:17:23 – The Omnipresence of Intelligence in the Body
  • 00:18:19 – The Fourth Element
  • 00:20:19 – Navigating the Asteroid Field
  • 00:22:13 – The Big Bang and Continuous Creation
  • 00:23:55 – Fear and the Concept of Consciousness
  • 00:25:31 – Devatas and Consciousness
  • 00:27:19 – The Consciousness of Everything
  • 00:27:54 – The Power of Repetition
  • 00:30:16 – The Mind: An Important Part of Our Life
  • 00:31:59 – The Infinite Nature of Consciousness
  • 00:33:39 – The Blinking Lights of Galaxies
  • 00:35:52 – The Vastness of the Universe
  • 00:37:51 – The Vastness of the Universe and Our Perspective
  • 00:39:34 – The Expression of Infinite Intelligence
  • 00:42:10 – Partial Knowledge and Harm
  • 00:43:41 – The Light that Shines in Our Hearts
  • 00:47:10 – Brahman and the Conquest of the Universe
  • 00:49:17 – The Beauty of Devotion
  • 00:51:23 – Everything is a Miracle & Everything is Holy
  • 00:55:17 – Applause