How do i know when I have awakened?: an interview with Dr. James Cooke

How do i know when I have awakened? This topic and many more about the experience of awakening is discussed in this fascinating interview with consciousness pioneer Dr. James Cooke.
James Cooke PhD started the Inner Space Institute with the aim of helping greater numbers of people to access spiritual growth, without any of the unscientific beliefs that are common in spiritual circles.
James trained as a neuroscientist after an awakening as a teenager that showed him the reality of spiritual states of consciousness. He holds three degrees from Oxford University (a PhD and Masters in Neuroscience & a BA in Experimental Psychology).
Join us and enjoy an exploration of awareness, consciousness and what it feels like to awaken. Dr. Cooke discusses his latest book "The Dawn of Mind" and answers the question, How do i know when I have awakened?
The Dawn of Mind amzn.to/3B7vrUw [Amazon]
www.innerspace...
email: [e-mail]
The Dance of the Lion and the Unicorn: amzn.to/4fMvKns [Amazon]
Mastering Thought: amzn.to/3WSiMvA [Amazon]
Awakening: amzn.to/4dwCG6z [Amazon]
Beyond the Paradox of Being Human: amzn.to/46T658I [Amazon]
Need help? uqt55rov9mx.typeform.com/to/e9rzieNu
Recommended Reading:
The Power of Now: amzn.to/4g33YDt [Amazon]
The Contemplative Heart: amzn.to/4dHvTHv [Amazon]
Homecoming: amzn.to/4drqyUj [Amazon]
Radical Acceptance: amzn.to/3MgYM0J [Amazon]
Nonviolent Communication: amzn.to/4czXbxQ [Amazon]
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: amzn.to/3X9sMlq [Amazon

[@professionalgambler74]

Amazing chat. Such a great episode.

[@benbrill3617]

The question is good, The answer is, when you are “awake”, self-aware, mindful, there will be no doubt, you’ll know. You’ll undergo a metamorphosis, If you’re asking the question “how do I know if I’m a butterfly” you’re not, continue your quest, it is the most important thing you’ll ever do, more important than spouses, children, parents, as JK use to say those relations are shallow if not meaningless without waking up.

[@AhmedF__1]

Regarding the double slit experiment and Benjamin Libit question, both concepts feel true and real to me but are completely contradictory. I feel like when I surrender and let go, the divine is in control and I’m just there for the ride. I’m guided and I have no influence on what is happening. I’m just a tiny part of the whole which operates regardless of me. On the flip side, I’ve consciously manifested and created things that could have only come from my intention. The specificity of the intention coming from me indicates that I had some sort of influence. (It tends to manifest when I also let go and the divine organises it into place) So, could it be that both concepts exist? Could it be that everything is decided for us and we have no control over but if we get to certain states by slowing our brainwave activity, it allows us to access “the field” to be able to have an influence on it? When we reach states where we are less matter and more energy, there is some sort of access to no time or space and there is where we can have the influence ? I would also assume that these states can be accessed when you have the awakening and become the awareness. Curious to your thoughts or am I way off 😅

[@DrMarkWaller]

Ahmed: As usual fantastic question! I would like to address this, but the Awakening is primary. Once you have awakened from thought identification, your perspective is different. This is why the thought watching exercise is soooo important. First of all, the "divine" is always in control. The "me" that we think we are is an artifact created by the default mode network. That me is not really in control of anything. So in that sense there is no us for which anything is decided. The sensation of this me having some influence called intention or manifestation seems to be on shaky ground since ,on close inspection, one discovers that the person having an experience is a concept conjured up in the head. So what is left? Experience itself and the knowing of it. And in a wierd, entangled, quantum way, the knowing of the expeirence creates the experience. In other words, awareness of experince is the experience that appears. So the reconciliation of the dual slit experiment and the Libet experiment is that experience spontaneously emerges from a plenum of pure potentiality that is experienced by and for Itself and in the process an experiencer emerges to differentiate on story from another. Then the entire thing is collapsed into an individual story that keeps the individual entity's head from exploding. A Dreamer dreams of himself on a journey. The Dreamer is the only thing thats real. But the self on the journey is not aware of that. To him, it is true life adventure. When the dream ends, the Dreamer only is left. The dream was not real, but it was a REAL dream.

[@AhmedF__1]

@@DrMarkWaller well my head got pretty close to exploding after reading your reply 😂 So, from my understanding, the awareness of the experience is what collapses the potential into a reality for that individual. Am I right in saying that the awareness is just that, awareness and can’t have any influence on the potential on that quantum level? Would I be correct interpreting what you’re saying as, conscious manifestation is not really my manifestation (even though that’s what it feels like). It’s the product of the ‘self’ which is not me. I’m just witnessing the self manifesting that reality? - I’m just here for the ride inside Ahmed’s vessel? I’m actively doing the thought watching exercise everyday and not attaching an outcome to it

[@DrMarkWaller]

First, my understanding is very crude, but essentially I agree with your conclusion. If Libet is correct, a conceptual self comes in 500 milliseconds after the fact to claim credit. Where I differ with you (I think) is about awareness. I'm inclined to see awareness as the container as well as the substance of experience which would include every THING. So the stuff that I am aware of is my awareness of stuff. Which means everything is made of the awareness of it. Dr. Cooke is saying that there is a more complicated answer than that, which I need to consider. This stuff would logically include the self we think we are. Which leave nothing. We are nothing - No Thing. In all the universe the true self, the sense of being, is the ony thing that has no location. In saying this, i am aware that my sense of all this is severly limited by my peronal limitations. So beware!

[@AhmedF__1]

​@@DrMarkWaller Ahh wow, got it. Your replies are so layered. Every time I re-read them, I see a deeper meaning and have a deeper understanding. The awareness is the container and substance of experience is an interesting take that I never considered. It would make a lot of sense; since there's that entanglement of the awareness and experience. I will have to sit and ponder these ideas and concepts. I would love to see Dr Cooke back on the podcast to see you all discuss some of these topics deeper. As always, thank you so much Dr Mark for your replies which always blow me away and push/expand my understanding around these topics. I understand that ultimately, the thought watching is the most important thing because at the end of the day, that is the only thing I can control and experiencing that separation is ultimately the goal. So thank you for introducing these concepts to me and I truly appreciate you and your work