Jeffry J. Kripal is a bit of an iconoclast when it comes to the study of religion.

He's more interested in anomalist phenomena -- the mystic, the psychic, the paranormal -- than he is in things like religious history or the philosophy of religion.

A professor and Associate Dean of Humanities at Rice University, Kripal began his publishing career in controversy. Some Hindu scholars took exception to his 1995 book, Kali's Child: in which he characterized Hindu saint Ramakrishna's mystical experiences as homoerotic.

The response to the book wasn't all negative. Michael Murphy, the cofounder of now iconic Esalen Institute, loved it. Thus began an immersion into the intellectual epicenter of that Big Sur epicenter of the human potential movement, and Kripal's 2007 book, Esalen: America's Religion of No Religion.

As Kripal relates in this podcast, his Esalen exploration marked the beginning of the second phase of his work, which he describes on his website as a "history and analysis of the relationship of mind and matter, particularly as this relationship is made manifest in 'paranormal' events and experiences, such as mystical experiences, parapsychological phenomena, near-death experiences, abduction events, ufological encounters, and psychedelic states."

Kripal's quest is to expand scholarly inquiry into the study of phenomena that can't be easily explained within the constraints of the scientific method.

"What's happened in our public culture is we have conflated science and materialism, which is just an interpretation of the science. It's a good interpretation, but it's an incomplete interpretation. And it rigorously blocks out all of this stuff I want to talk about, because this is the stuff that drives religion," he says.

Links:

• Kripal's personal site
• His Rice University site
• His Amazon page
• Sacred Inclusion Network
• Sacred Inclusion Network's Facebook Group
• Sacred Inclusion Network's YouTube Channel
• Like the podcast? Support us on Patreon! 

Author Paul Corson had two out-of-body experiences that have shaped his view of the world.

Now 86, he's now on a mission to share what he's leaned.

His principal vehicle is his new book, Regaining Paradise: Forming a New Worldview, Knowing God and Journeying into Eternity,  "a guided journey into self-knowledge, identity, empowerment, and sublime understanding that will open the mind's eye."

But this podcast isn't really a review of the book

Instead it's a conversation with two individuals who share a mystical way of being in the world.

The two discuss the nature of miracles, the relationship between spiritual substance and the material world, and Corson's born-again experience.

"The human experience... is a flat out veritable,  literal miracle. , Once you realize that you're a miracle, that you're never going to die, it's kind of changes things. You're not running to buy that new car because you have all this time in the world. You know that you're going to be living in eternity," Corson said.

Based in Memphis, Tennessee, Corson is a former pharmacist who established a protocol for the treatment of HIV/AIDs. He received the 2000 Philadelphia Hero Award for his contributions in support of AIDs survivors.

Links: 

• Paul's website
• Sacred Inclusion Network
• Sacred Inclusion Network's Facebook Group
• Sacred Inclusion Network's YouTube Channel
• Like the podcast? Support us on Patreon! 

Don't think of Sara Minkara as a blind person. Think of her as a person who is blind. 

Social activist, speaker, and a winner of multiple awards, the founder of the advocacy organization Empowerment for Integration (ETI) has never let used her absence of vision of an excuse or crutch. The slew of honors she's achieved are evidence of her accomplishments. Her awards and fellowships include the Clinton Global Initiative Outstanding Commitment Award, Forbes "30 Under 30" and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology IDEAS Global Challenge Award.

When Sara lost her sight at age seven, her mother had two options. "She has one option of wallowing in our misery and really feeling bad for herself and her kids...But she took the other path and the path of,believing in God's will and saying there is a purpose behind this. "She said 'I'm not going to listen to the outside world of what the world thinks about disability... I'm going to just focus on home and make sure our kids go to school and live a very much -- I'm not gonna say 'normal life' -- but a full life, an integrated life and mainstream life."

As she relates in this podcast, Minkara never set out to become a full-time advocate. "I was a math and econ major. I'm an introvert. So I had a plan of doing a PhD." But as a sophomore at Wesleyan College, she applied for a grant from the Clinton Foundation to run an inclusive summer camp in Tripoli, Lebanon, the home of her parents. "It turned out to be impactful not only for the kids, not only for the parents in the community, but for myself, she said.

In this podcast, Minkara describes the set of circumstances that caused her to found ETI, , how people stigmatize blind people, and how anyone can be an advocate for people with disabilities.

Links: 

• Empowerment through Integration
• ETI's Ambassadors of Inclusion program
• Sara Minkara's site
• Sacred Inclusion Network
• Sacred Inclusion Network's Facebook Group
• Sacred Inclusion Network's YouTube Channel
• Like the podcast? Support us on Patreon!