Mona Sobhani - Proof of Spiritual Phenomena: A Neuroscientists Discovery of the Ineffable Mysteries of the Universe

Per aspera ad astra.

(Through hardship to the stars.)

In loving memory of my sweet and brilliant friend, Jeff Goad.

PROOF OF SPIRITUAL PHENOMENA

In Proof of Spiritual Phenomena, neuroscientist Mona Sobhani, Ph.D., takes the reader through her journey from being a skeptically oriented scientific materialist to realizing theres much more to the Universe. This entertaining and easy-to-read book weaves Sobhanis personal experiences with a diverse body of credible science to demonstrate the desperate need for a revised scientific meta-paradigm. It is this sort of courage and intellectual honesty that will be required for scienceand societyto truly evolve.

MARK GOBER, AUTHOR OFAN END TO UPSIDE DOWN THINKING AND HOST OF WHERE IS MY MIND? PODCAST

Thank the Universe for Mona Sobhani! Is it any coincidence that neuroscientists, after looking carefully at the brain to answer age-old questions, are starting to turn to spirituality? Nope. Its because they dont find what they are looking for in the materialist paradigm, but they know what theyre looking for is real. Sobhani leads the pack with her brilliant and vulnerable take on what it means for her and other scientists to turn the corner from materialism to post-materialist thoughtand why its necessary to explain human experience, including and especially human spiritual experience. By letting us into her journey, she shows us parts of ourselves that are learning a new way of knowing, and then she supports our growing knowledge with her hard-won wisdom.

JULIA MOSSBRIDGE, PH.D.,AFFILIATE PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO, COFOUNDER OF THE INSTITUTE FOR LOVE AND TIME (TILT), AND COAUTHOR OF TRANSCENDENT MIND

Mona Sobhani is a flipped scientist, a neuroscientist whose mechanical-materialist worldview was turned upside down and inside out by a series of honest life experiences that she refused to deny and instead insisted on thinking through. Her book is a page-turning journey filled with everything from coffee ground divinations, mediums, and intuitives; through past lives, secret government psychical research programs, and the new psychedelic research; to the latest scientific and philosophical visions of a conscious, intentional, and profoundly meaningful cosmos. Her message? The old order of knowledge is passing away. Let it go. The new world is taking shape in and as us. Let it be.

JEFFREY J. KRIPAL, PH.D.,AUTHOR OF THE FLIP: EPIPHANIES OF MIND AND THE FUTURE OF KNOWLEDGE

Like opening a set of nesting dolls, Sobhani takes us on her own journey through the layers of her own mindfrom the outermost layer grounded in the physical and empirical world, to the intellectual mind which struggles to make sense of everything, and eventually to the innermost, blissful self, where pure consciousness and just being resides. Its a delightful ride along where one can vicariously experience the authors struggle to reconcile science and spirituality, as she comes to rest in knowing that it is fine to accept some things as just a mystery!

LAURA BAKER, PH.D., PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR AT USC

Proof of Spiritual Phenomena is a daring, exciting exploration of the intersection of human consciousness and the intricacies of the physical Universe.

LARRY DOSSEY, M.D.,AUTHOR OF ONE MIND

With Proof of Spiritual Phenomena, you hold the key to unlocking a whole new level of experiencing and understanding, not only the world around you that you can see but also the one you cant see. Backed up with easy-to-understand science as well as mind-blowing evidence and interviews, Sobhani achieves what is, in my opinion, the first book to truly unlock the intersection point between science and soul-based spirituality. This book is so outstanding and life-changing, you will find yourself buying extra copies to give to everyone you love so that they, too, can experience the magic that is Proof of Spiritual Phenomena.

ROYCE CHRISTYN,ACTOR, HOST, AND AUTHOR OF SCRIPTING THE LIFE YOU WANT

Acknowledgments

Deep gratitude to the crew at Park City Press/Inner Traditions: Kelly Bowen, Lisa P. Allen, Manzanita Carpenter-Sanz, Sarah Galbraith, Jon Graham, John Hays, Ashley Kolesnik, Jeanie Levitan, Erica B. Robinson, and Patricia Rydle.

To my soul sisters (Chantalle Zakarian, Erica Taghavi, Niousha Nader, Stephanie Friedman, and Tina Farazian), who let me isolate myself because you always knew Id come back when I was readythank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for coming on the journey with me, helping dissect our psychic readings, and positing theories of the Universe. Thank you for reading drafts of this book, texting me with all your impressions, and being preternaturally supportive.

I must thank Royce Christyn and Solly Hemus for comfortably slipping into my life at the perfect time, and for all the two-hour-long (or more) Zoom calls with inexplicable tech issues! Thank you for the friendship, kind words, hope, coaching, opportunities, and priceless introduction to Inner Traditions. Thank you for knowing that I would write a book, even before I knew, and for encouraging me to do so. Many more coincidences to come!

Ultra-special thanks to Jeff Goad, mentor extraordinaire. In a cruel twist of fate, this thank you must now be transformed into an in loving memory paragraph. Jeff, thank you for lending your creativity to the initial idea of a podcast, cheerleading the entire way, and leveraging your personal connections to help make this a reality. This project and book definitely wouldnt have happened without you. I miss you and mourn that we cant celebrate the book launch together as planned. I hope its all true and that youre on the other side.

Thank you to my stellar and sweet colleagues who took time out of their very busy schedules to listen to me try to explain what I was doing and to ultimately throw around commiserations and musings on the nature of life and science. Even though this was a secret project, I also still managed to pick certain other peoples brains without their knowing exactly whysorry, but also, thank you! Special thanks to Dave Herman, Helder Araujo, Glenn Fox, Kingson Man, Katie Garrison, Laura Baker, Jonas Kaplan, Vilay Khandelwal, Shaina Oake, Henry Friedman, Matthew Petros, Chrystal Gill, Amna Vugdalic, Judy Tang, Elizabeth Pendley, Cullen Lethin, Rebecca Ebert, Brittain Bush, Sadaf Bathaee, Laura Garcia, and Brooks DiPaula.

Thank you to the many others who took time to speak with mea total strangerabout a deeply important common interest. Warm gratitude to Mark Boccuzzi, Julia Mossbridge, Mark Gober, John Alexander, Al Powers, Brittany Quagan, Charlie Hartwell, Maureen Pelton, Vincent Genna, Brandy Walker, Susan Fisher, John Webber, and those who remain unnamed.

I must give a heartfelt thank-you to all the psychics, intuitives, mystics, and psychic mediums from whom I received readings or interviews. Special thanks to Rachel Lee, Dawn Marlowe, Lynda Diane Nichols, and Rosemary the Celtic Woman.

The most glittering thank-you to my parents and brother for making me believe that I can accomplish anything my heart desires and for politely and lovingly listening to all my theories of the Universe.