The science of consciousness continues to be a hot topic in academic circles – its precise nature holding huge implications for the future of the sciences and culture more generally. With so many ongoing advances in neuroscience, questions of mind and consciousness have become critically important for scientists, philosophers and psychologists.

Are we “nothing but a pack of neurons” that will in due course reveal their secrets in the laboratory? Or do our conscious minds and self-awareness stem from some dimension beyond material investigation?

How, too, are we to account for parapsychological phenomena in which consciousness seems to defy space and time boundaries? This anthology includes contributions from Peter Fenwick, Willis Harman, Stanislav Grof, Charles Tart, Kenneth Ring, Brian Josephson, Mark Woodhouse, Marilyn Schlitz, David Fontana, John Beloff, Erlendur Haraldsson, Michael Grosso, Andrew Powell, Roger Woolger, Ravi Ravindra and Anne Baring, with an introduction by David Lorimer.

These radical contributions to the debate selected from the first three Beyond the Brain conferences show that it is time for a fundamental rethink of our theories and methods of investigating the phenomena of the human mind.

“The important and tireless work the Scientific and Medical Network is doing to shift the boundaries defined by scientific materialism to find common ground between the material and non-material worlds is a keystone to a better understanding of the world and cosmos in which we all live.” ~ Beyond the Brain attendee

David Lorimer, MA, PGCE, FRSA is a writer, lecturer, poet, editor and spiritual activist who is a Founder of Character Education Scotland, Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network and former President of Wrekin Trust and the Swedenborg Society. He has also been editor of Paradigm Explorer since 1986 and completed his 100th issue in 2019. He was the instigator of the Beyond the Brain conference series in 1995 and has co-ordinated the Mystics and Scientists conferences every year since the late 1980s.

Originally a merchant banker then a teacher of philosophy and modern languages at Winchester College, he is the author and editor of over a dozen books, including Survival? Death as Transition (1984, 2017) Resonant Mind (originally Whole in One) (1990/2017), The Spirit of Science (1998), Thinking Beyond the Brain (2001), The Protein Crunch (with Jason Drew) and A New Renaissance (edited with Oliver Robinson). He has edited three books about the Bulgarian sage Beinsa Douno (Peter Deunov): Prophet for our Times (1991, 2015), The Circle of Sacred Dance, and Gems of Love, which is a translation of his prayers and formulas into English. His book on the ideas and work of the Prince of Wales – Radical Prince (2003) - has been translated into Dutch, Spanish and French. His most recent books are his essays, A Quest for Wisdom and his collection of poetry, Better Light a Candle.

David is also Chair of the Galileo Commission which seeks the expand the evidence base of science of consciousness beyond a materialistic world view.

In 2020 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award as a Visionary Leader by the Visioneers International Network and the 2021 Aboca Human Ecology Prize. He is a Creative Member of the Club of Budapest. His website is www.davidlorimer.co.uk.