David's guest this month is Paul Gilbert, FBPsS, PhD, OBE, Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Derby and honorary visiting Prof at the University of Queensland. Until his retirement from the NHS in 2016 he was Clinical Psychologist for over 40 years and a consultant for 30. He has researched evolutionary approaches to psychopathology with a special focus on mood, shame and self-criticism in various mental health difficulties. Given that many of these mental health difficulties are linked to difficulties in being compassionate towards others, being recipients of compassionate care, especially in childhood, and being compassionate and supportive to oneself, cultivating compassion and its psychophysiological mediators became a target development. A recent meta-analysis from studies from over 17 countries have shown compassion-focused therapy to be highly effective.

Paul was made a Fellow of the British Psychological Society in 1993, president of the BABCP 2002-2004, and was a member of the first British Government’s NICE guidelines for depression. He has written/edited 23 books and over 330 papers and book chapters. In 2006 he established the Compassionate Mind Foundation as an international charity with the mission statement To promote wellbeing through the scientific understanding and application of compassion.

Imaginal Inspirations is hosted by David Lorimer, Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network and Chair of the Galileo Commission, an academic movement dedicated to expanding the evidence base of a science of consciousness. Imaginal cells are responsible for the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly, which is the Greek symbol for the soul. These cells are dormant in the caterpillar but at a critical point of development they create the new form and structure which becomes the butterfly.

scientificandmedical.net

galileocommission.org

beyondthebrain.org

Works and links mentioned:

https://www.compassionatemind.co.uk/

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-compassionate-mind-prof-paul-gilbert/3366863?ean=9781849010986

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2skAMI8c-4

Anthony Stevens video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAqqNOH4mX4

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/archetype-a-natural-history-of-the-self-anthony-stevens/702618?ean=9780415052207

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-discovery-of-the-unconscious-the-history-and-evolution-of-dynamic-psychiatry-henri-f-ellenberger/3739261?ean=9780465016730

Production: Martin Redfern

Artwork: Amber Haas

Music: Life is a River, by Magnus Moone

David's guest this month is Jan Pilotti MD, who studied mathematics and theoretical physics and earned a B.Sc. at Stockholm’s University Sweden. As a young student he discovered a possibility of mathematically extending Einstein’s theory of relativity to include superluminal Lorentz transformations in a six-dimensional Minkowskian spacetime, with three space and three “timelike” dimensions. This was 1971 and long before string theory assumed more space dimensions. So, he didn’t get any support for the idea of more dimensions and left theoretical physics without finishing any Ph.D. dissertation.

Ironically a mystical experience at a summer camp with a communist group opened him up to the Soul of the Universe. He started to meditate and then studied at medical school. Soon he found Raymond Moody’s book Life after Life and thought that NDE perhaps was related to the extra spacetime dimensions. He has edited and written about NDEs and OBEs in a Swedish book of readings in 1982 and in 1987 in another Swedish book he started to present the idea of Conscious spacetime. He is also M.D. and has worked as a child- and adolescent psychiatrist, mainly with family and trauma therapy.

After retirement he returned to studying physics and consciousness. In English he has published Conscious Spacetime. An outline to experiential monism in The Mystery of Consciousness. Essays on spacetime, Evolution and Well-being. Ed. I. Fredriksson. McFarland 2014. And in a conference book on physics 2020 published a chapter How Minkowski Could Have Discovered Superluminal Lorentz Transformations and six Dimensional Spacetime. where, in mathematical detail, he shows how Einstein, Minkowski, Pauli and many others missed superluminal Lorentz transformations and six dimensions and a possible connection to both quantum theory and consciousness. He is currently an affiliated member of Institute for Foundational Studies

Imaginal Inspirations is hosted by David Lorimer, Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network and Chair of the Galileo Commission, an academic movement dedicated to expanding the evidence base of a science of consciousness. Imaginal cells are responsible for the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly, which is the Greek symbol for the soul. These cells are dormant in the caterpillar but at a critical point of development they create the new form and structure which becomes the butterfly.

scientificandmedical.net

galileocommission.org

beyondthebrain.org

Works and links mentioned:

https://www.drpilotti.info/eng/

https://www.academia.edu/114149181

https://www.academia.edu/109869489

https://www.minkowskiinstitute.com/mip/books/2019conf.html

https://galileocommission.org/jan-pilotti-conscious-experiences-everywhere-besides-in-the-brain/

Raymond Moody Life after Life https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/life-after-life-dr-raymond-moody/1465195?ean=9780712602730

The Soul of the Universe by Gustaf Stromberg https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31944716880

Production: Martin Redfern

Artwork: Amber Haas

Music: Life is a River, by Magnus Moone

Peter Russell is a leading thinker on consciousness and contemporary spirituality. He coined the term "global brain" with his 1980's bestseller of the same name in which he predicted the Internet and the impact it would have on humanity. He is the author of twelve other books, including Waking Up in Time, From Science to God, and most recently Letting Go of Nothing and Forgiving Humanity.

He studied theoretical physics, experimental psychology, and computer science at the University of Cambridge, and meditation and Eastern Philosophy in India. In the 1980s pioneered the introduction of personal growth programs to corporations.

His mission is to distill the essential wisdom on human consciousness found in the world’s various spiritual traditions, and to disseminate their teachings on self-liberation in contemporary and compelling ways.

Imaginal Inspirations is hosted by David Lorimer, Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network and Chair of the Galileo Commission, an academic movement dedicated to expanding the evidence base of a science of consciousness. Imaginal cells are responsible for the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly, which is the Greek symbol for the soul. These cells are dormant in the caterpillar but at a critical point of development they create the new form and structure which becomes the butterfly.

scientificandmedical.net

galileocommission.org

beyondthebrain.org

Works and links mentioned:

https://www.peterrussell.com/index.php

Books by Peter Russell

https://www.peterrussell.com/forgivinghumanity/index.php

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/letting-go-of-nothing-relax-your-mind-and-discover-the-wonder-of-your-true-nature-peter-russell/6005459?ean=9781608687657

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-global-brain-the-awakening-earth-in-a-new-century-peter-russell/4793001?ean=9780863156168

https://www.waterstones.com/book/from-science-to-god/peter-russell/9781577314943

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Systems-James-Grier-Miller/dp/0070420157

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/gaia-a-new-look-at-life-on-earth-james-lovelock/2091134?ean=9780198784883

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-upanishads-juan-mascaro/2467576?ean=9780140441635

Production: Martin Redfern

Artwork: Amber Haas

Music: Life is a River, by Magnus Moone