Ep102: Cults, Science, & the Dalai Lama - Dr Jay Sanguinetti

In this interview I am joined by Dr Jay Sanguinetti, Research Professor at the University of Arizona, Assistant Director at the Center for Consciousness Studies, and co-director of the SEMA Lab with Shinzen Young.

In this episode, Jay recalls his upbringing in Mississippi, falling in love with science, and how his work synthesising MDMA as a promising undergraduate brought him o an ethical crisis .

Jay recounts a life changing encounter with the Dalai Lama that radically altered his research path and inspired him to personally take up the practice of meditation. 

Jay reveals how a profound meditation epiphany led to an existential crisis, and the role that psilocybin had in reintegrating his body and mind. 

Jay also discusses Olympic level meditators, the role of identity in self-transformation, and what it’s like to collaborate with noted meditation teacher Shinzen Young.


Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.


Topics Include:

00:00 – Intro
00:59 – Research resources and recent media interest
03:12 – Jay’s upbringing in Mississippi and falling in love with science
06:00 – Manufacturing MDMA and an facing an ethical crisis 
10:04 – How Jay’s upbringing affected his life and career 
13:11 – A profound encounter with the Dalai Lama
18:58 – Discussing the Dalai Lama’s spiritual power 
25:40 – Jay’s life-changing spiritual epiphany and ensuing existential crisis 
32:22 – Reintegrating the psyche with psychedelics 
36:26 – Lasting consequences of Jay’s epiphany 
42:14 – Olympic level meditators and becoming the Dalai Lama
51:04 – The malware of religion and science 
58:28 – The bias lensing mechanism 
01:01:21 – Identity and spiritual bypass 
01:13:25 – Jay imagines the future of contemplative neuroscience 
01:15:01 – Cults, conversion, and meditation progress
01:21:38 – Inner resources and reducing cognitive load 
01:27:15 – Jay on Shinzen Young 


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Ep103: Dopamine, Meditation, & Fibonacci - feat. Shinzen Young, Chelsey Fasano, & Dr Jay Sanguinetti

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Ep101: One Blade of Grass - Henry Shukman