Bernardo Kastrup - With Reality in Mind, A Five Week Exploration

“The breadth of Bernardo's insight and understanding into the nature of reality and all kinds of related subjects is utterly breathtaking. Thank you Bernardo and Amir for a wonderful, inspiring, transformative four weeks.” ★★★★★  - Karen
 

Bernardo Kastrup is undoubtedly the world's most articulate, rigorous and increasingly well-known defender of metaphysical idealism - the notion that all reality is consciousness. This is a chance to spend five weeks immersed in his beautiful mind and understand the evidence for this incredible philosophy, and its far-reaching implications. 

We're pleased to have nondual teacher Rupert Spira joining as a guest on week two. 

You will be sent video recordings of the basic material, then we will gather live on zoom for five Tuesdays in a row, to share questions and insights, with Bernardo catering the content to our evolving curiosity and understanding. 

The topics we cover are subject to change based on the group and the questions that form, but a typical outline includes:

Week One: Introduction to the Group and Course Orientation

We gather for the first week without Bernardo to meet the other course members, review our existing understanding of the material, formulate our questions and cater the rest of the course to the predominate interests of those gathered. 

Week Two: Ego, Self, Non-Duality & Enlightenment with Guest Rupert Spira

Many are quick to point out the similarities between Bernardo's worldview and ancient nondual perspectives such as the Advaita Vedanta. In week two we are joined by acclaimed nondual teacher Rupert Spira to discuss the similarities and differences between such spiritual traditions and western metaphysical idealism, as well as how one might come to an experiential realisation of the theories discussed.  

Week Three: Refuting Materialism & The Compelling Case for Idealism

We will cover the philosophical, logical and scientific evidence that refutes materialism as a good explanation for what we know about reality. Materialism is the belief that nothing exists except matter, its movements and modifications. In this world view, consciousness is sometimes thought of as an emergent property of specific arrangements of inert matter. We will cover the many reasons why this artificially creates the ‘Hard Problem of Consciousness and the reasons why idealism is a far more parsimonious explanation. 

We will cover the rational and empirical evidence for idealism, drawing on neuroscience, physics, philosophy and basic common sense. We will delve into Bernardo's unique way of expressing the idea that all life forms are like whirlpools of individualised consciousness inside one vast oceanic universal consciousness. 

Week Four: Implications and Ramifications of Idealism

As it becomes easier to consider Idealism as a reasonable way of understanding reality, it becomes exciting to ponder the implications and ramifications of this worldview. 

• What does this mean for our personal relationships, our dreams and our place in the natural world?
• How might we now understand death, trauma, health, sickness and suffering?
• What are the implications of psychedelic, out-of-body, mystical and near-death experiences?

Week Five: The Meaning of Life

We consider how apart from being logically coherent and consistent with science, this philosophy can impart deep meaning and joy to how we live our day to day lives. 
We discuss the link with the philosophies of Carl Jung, Schopenhauer and other wester idealists. 
 

"Bernardo has this very rare ability of combining philosophy, science and spirituality in a holistic perspective, and communicating his vision is a clear and inspiring way that also laypersons understand. Very much looking forward to the next edition of this course!" 
★★★★★ 
Frank Dierick

Dates and Times

You will be sent recordings to watch in your own time before the live events. 
We gather on zoom over five Tuesday evenings in a row, at 7pm UK time, starting March 1st 2022
Sessions run for at least 2 hours, sometimes significantly longer. Recordings of each session are set to all participants. 

Tues 1st March 7pm UK time
Tues 8th March, 7pm UK time
Tues 15th March, 7pm Uk time
Tues 22nd March, 7pm UK time
Tues 29th March, 7pm UK time

If money is a barrier to attendance, please get in touch. No one is turned away for lack of funds. 

★★★★★ “Phenomenal talk. Bernardo is truly a great philosopher.. truly inspiring and life-changing. So thank you to Bernardo, the Psychadelic Society for organising, and to everybody else in attendance, who consistently asked profound questions!” - Andre

About Bernardo Kastrup
 

Bernardo Kastrup / Photo: Pedro Henrique Casarin

Bernardo Kastrup's work has been leading the modern renaissance of the philosophical position, ‘metaphysical idealism’ that reality is essentially mental, an appearance in ‘mind.’  Bernardo 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) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the 'Casimir Effect' of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured on Scientific American, the Institute of Art and Ideas, the Blog of the American Philosophical Association and Big Think, among others. Bernardo's most recent book is The Idea of the World: A multi-disciplinary argument for the mental nature of reality. For more information, freely downloadable papers, videos, etc., please visit www.bernardokastrup.com.

About Rupert Spira

From an early age, Rupert Spira was deeply interested in the nature of reality and the source of lasting peace and happiness. After spending twenty years immersed in the teachings of classical Advaita Vedanta, he met his teacher, Francis Lucille, who introduced him to the Direct Path approach whereby one may recognise the source of peace and happiness in oneself. Rupert has written several books and holds regular meetings and retreats online, as well as in Europe and the United States. He is also a noted potter, trained in the British Studio Pottery school, with work in public and private collections. www.rupertspira.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/rupertspira/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/RupertSpira_
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rupertspira_/ 
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxXWjjtATq3OM545gMh9PUg

FEEDBACK FROM PREVIOUS COURSES 

★★★★★  “Bernardo is a true pioneer and a brilliant thinker (and experiencer). One of my favorite aspects of Bernardo's personality is his humility and his unpretentiousness. Very enjoyable and enriching. Should follow up in 3 mos min.” - Tomas

★★★★★ “Listening to Bernardo makes my whole Being fizz with excitement. Excellent content, thank you so much for hosting this. And Amir is the ideal facilitator - curious, playful, respectful, attentive, and organised.” - Liam

★★★★★  “This was a fascinating 4 weeks on the nature of consciousness. Highly recommended.” Frank I

★★★★★  “It was a wonderful experience. I have learnt a lot through out this course, Bernardo is such a very articulate philosopher and Amir is such a very good coordinator. I am so grateful for having had this experience.” - Nour

★★★★★  "Great course! Very insightful and original. Impressive how Bernardo is able take a holistic/multidisciplinary perspective and is able to translate difficult philosophical and scientific concepts into everyday language. A course definitely worthwhile repeating!" - Frank 

REFUNDS POLICY: Please note, we do not arrange refunds or exchanges. When possible we encourage reselling on Ticketswap.

ACCESS:  We do our best to include everyone in our events, regardless of health circumstances. If you have access requirements please email the event organiser directly to discuss. Many facilitators are able to offer reduced ticket prices for those truly unable to afford the ticket price. If this applies to you, do please get in touch with the event organiser.

For PSYCHEDELIC KNOWLEDGE AND RESOURCES please check out the Psychedelic Society website. 

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