The Human Experience · Episode
Episode 191 – Marjorie Woollacott – Infinite Awareness – Consciousness Beyond Biology
A conversation with Marjorie Woollacott
WE ARE BACK. What if everything neuroscience taught us about consciousness is wrong? In this mind-expanding conversation, Dr. Marjorie Woollacott—a neuroscientist turned mystic—explains why the brain may not…
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Episode field notes
Show notes
WE ARE BACK.
What if everything neuroscience taught us about consciousness is wrong?
In this mind-expanding conversation, Dr. Marjorie Woollacott—a neuroscientist turned mystic—explains why the brain may not be the source of consciousness, but simply a receiver.
We talk meditation, NDEs, reincarnation, and what it means to be awareness itself.
Xavier Katana of the Human Experience Podcast interviews Dr. Marjorie Woolcott, a neuroscientist and author of ‘Infinite Awareness.’ Dr. Woolcott discusses her journey from a skeptical materialist neuroscientist to embracing a broader understanding of consciousness after a meditation retreat. They explore the idea that consciousness is fundamental and not solely a product of the brain, drawing on concepts from quantum physics and personal experiences of near-death and out-of-body phenomena. The conversation also touches on non-locality, the limitations of traditional neuroscience, the spiritual significance of experiences, and the cultural resistance to these ideas within academia. They conclude with reflections on the interconnected nature of consciousness and Dr. Woolcott’s contributions to the field through her various roles and publications.
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Transcript
The transcript for this archival conversation has not yet been published. The complete audio remains available above.
Ideas worth returning to
Quotes
Five substantial excerpts from the published transcript, lightly edited for clarity without changing their meaning.
“I was trained as a materialist neuroscientist and believed consciousness was solely the product of neurons in the brain. Then, at about thirty, an awakening during a meditation retreat shifted my awareness. I saw that I was much more than the activity of neurons in my brain and body, and that changed the direction of my research.”
Dr. Marjorie Woollacott“The problem is that researchers are looking for something that generates consciousness. My view, shared by physicists such as Max Planck, is that consciousness is fundamental and the material world is derivative of consciousness. If consciousness is fundamental, searching for a separate physical source will not find it.”
Dr. Marjorie Woollacott“We do not yet understand the mechanism that connects consciousness with the embodied brain. I think of it as a transduction problem: how does a person move between an expansive state of awareness and the ordinary experience of looking outward through the five senses? We have observations, but we do not yet understand how that transition works.”
Dr. Marjorie Woollacott“When we are dealing with the loss of a loved one, illness, or tragedy, we have to pause and have compassion for ourselves and the people around us. We are all doing the best we can from our present level of awareness, and remembering our interconnectedness can help us become more loving and fulfilled.”
Dr. Marjorie Woollacott“For me, the answer to why we are here begins with recognizing that I am consciousness and want to know myself. We do that with all these other points of consciousness, interacting and learning who we really are through a creative process. We are participating in an experiment in the expansion of creative consciousness.”
Dr. Marjorie Woollacott
About the guest
Marjorie Woollacott
WE ARE BACK.
What if everything neuroscience taught us about consciousness is wrong?
In this mind-expanding conversation, Dr. Marjorie Woollacott—a neuroscientist turned mystic—explains why the brain may not be the source of consciousness, but simply a receiver.
We talk meditation, NDEs, reincarnation, and what it means to be awareness itself.
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