Science, Spirituality & the Practices That Transform Us, with Dr. Jessica Harland
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0_Lkku3QH-cWhat if gratitude isn't just good manners, but measurably changes your wellbeing? What if the medieval Christians were right about nature being alive, and we've spent the last 400 years getting it fundamentally wrong? And why are half a million people now walking ancient pilgrimage routes across Europe when rationalist materialism promised to free us from such "superstitions"?In this wide-ranging conversation at Hampstead Parish Church, I explore these questions with Dr. Jessica Harland, touching on everything from my early crisis of conscience in a vivisection lab to discovering LSD at Cambridge, from the Protestant Reformation's assault on pilgrimage to why your GP should probably be prescribing forest walks. We go into the scientific evidence behind spiritual practicesāyes, there are thousands of peer-reviewed studiesāand discuss why saying grace before meals, walking to holy places, and reconnecting with the living world aren't quaint relics of the past, but practices our secular age desperately needs to rediscover.Whether you consider yourself religious, spiritual-but-not-religious, or simply curious about why these ancient practices refuse to die, I hope you'll find something here that sparks your imaginationāand perhaps your own spiritual journey.Recorded at The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead, October 2025. If you're in London, I highly recommend coming by to experience choral evensong.https://www.choralevensong.org/uk/the-parish-church-of-st-john-at-hampstead-27.php
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Can Animals Predict Natural Disasters? London Society for Psychical Research
For more see Rupertās Substack article on this topicš https://rupertsheldrake.substack.com/p/animal-warnings-of-earthquakesRecorded on November 4, 2017 at the Society for Psychical Research in London.Ā When disasters strike, it is often animals who seem to know first. Long before seismographs were invented, people noticed that snakes, rats, dogs, and birds behaved strangely in the days leading up to earthquakes. Similar reports come before tsunamis, avalanches, air raids, and even medical crises like seizures. Are these simply heightened sensesāan ability to detect tremors, gases, or subtle vibrationsāor do they point to something deeper, an anticipatory awareness we do not yet understand?In this talk, I share some of the evidence Iāve gathered over the years: from ancient Greek accounts to modern field studies, from the Chinese earthquake networks under Mao to the toads of central Italy abandoning their mating grounds days before a quake. The pattern repeats across cultures and circumstances, yet mainstream science has largely dismissed it as superstition.Why is that? What are we overlooking when we ignore such a consistent body of observations? Could systematic study of animal behavior, especially with todayās global communications, provide early warnings and even save lives?I donāt claim to have the answers. But I invite you to explore these questions with me, and to consider what they reveal not only about animals, but about our shared sensitivity to the unseen.
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Consciousness and the Mysteries of Everyday Life ā How the Light Gets In Festival
What if the āweirdā feelings we shrug offābeing watched, knowing whoās calling, waking seconds before an alarmāarenāt glitches but signals? In this talk, given at the How The Light Gets In festival, September 21st, 2025, Rupert Sheldrake argues that these everyday hunches point to mind-to-world reach (projective vision), mind-to-mind links (telepathy), and mind-to-future sensitivity (presentiment). How do we decide what counts as evidence, who gets to ask taboo questions, and how science should treat common human experiences? Beyond anecdotes, Rupert shares simple experiments, huge natural-history datasets, and a working picture of mind as something that reaches, bonds, and anticipatesāoften strengthened with emotional closeness. He flags practical paths forward: citizen science, the Eyesense Training app to sharpen sensitivity, and real-world applications from caregiving to early-warning via animal behavior.Try the Eyesense Training appš https://eyesense.trainingSee Rupertās Substack for the LatestĀ articles and early access to videosš https://rupertsheldrake.substack.com
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Ancestors and Pilgrimages, with Bishop Marc Andrus at Hollyhock
A dialogue on praying for ancestors and on pilgrimage: Hollyhock, Cortes Island, BC; August, 2016.Ā See Rupertās Substack for the LatestĀ articles and early access to videosš https://rupertsheldrake.substack.com
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Detoxifying Christianity, with Bishop Marc Andrus at Grace Cathedral
For many people, Christianity is like a toxic brand. Why is this so and what can be done about it? A dialogue with Marc Andrus, the Bishop of California, at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; September, 2015.See Rupertās Substack for the LatestĀ articles and early access to videosš https://rupertsheldrake.substack.com
About Navigating Consciousness with Rupert Sheldrake
A wide ranging discussion of consciousness at the intersection of science and spirituality with Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, a biologist and author best known for his hypothesis of morphic resonance. At Cambridge University Rupert worked in developmental biology as a Fellow of Clare College. He was Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Hyderabad, India. From 2005 to 2010 he was Director of the Perrott-Warrick project for research on unexplained human and animal abilities, funded by Trinity College, Cambridge.
Listen to Navigating Consciousness with Rupert Sheldrake, Life-Study of Ephesians with Witness Lee and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app
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