Dr. Andrew Newberg is the director of research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health and a physician at Jefferson University Hospital. He is board certified in internal medicine and nuclear medicine.
Andrew has been asking questions about reality, truth, and God since he was very young, and he has long been fascinated by the human mind and its complex workings.
Andrew’s research now largely focuses on how brain function is associated with various mental states—in particular, religious and mystical experiences. His research has included brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and trance states, as well as surveys of people's spiritual experiences and attitudes. He has also evaluated the relationship between religious or spiritual phenomena and health, and the effect of meditation on memory. He believes that it is important to keep science rigorous and religion religious.
Andrew is the author of several books including How Enlightenment Changes your Brian and Neurotheology, How Science can enlighten us about Spirituality?
In this episode we discuss:
The definition of Neurotheology
What Dr. Newberg finds when looking at the brain scans of those with some sort of spiritual practice/faith?
Enlightenment vs. Awakening
The neurological mechanisms associated with the enlightenment experience—and how we might activate those circuits in our own brain?
How the average person have more “enlightening” experiences?
How science and spirituality can be more integrated.
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