2017
Origins Conference

On Wednesday, November 1, 2017, I flew from Los Angeles to London's Heathrow Airport, arriving Thursday afternoon. I traveled from Heathrow by the Underground into London on the Picadilly line to Picadilly Circus, changing there to the Bakerloo line, which I took north to the Baker Street station. From there I walked to my hotel. I was in London to speak at the Origins Conference, organized by Hugh Newman and Andrew Collins. After getting settled in my hotel, I took the Underground from Baker Street to Oxford Circus. I walked along very crowded Oxford Street to Soho Square. There I had dinner at Govinda's Restaurant, on the ground floor of the Radha-Krishna temple of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, of which I am a member. I had a vegetarian lasagna, salad, and cheesecake for desert. Then it was back to the hotel. On Friday morning, I had breakfast at the hotel (whole wheat toast with butter and jam, yogurt, an apple, hot chocolate). Then I went for a japa meditation walk in nearby Regents Park. Japa is the quiet chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra on beads. I do this every morning. Returning to the hotel, I met with Ryan Bissett, a biologist, member of the Hare Krishna movement, and member of the Science and Philosophy Initiative (www.s-pi.org). He was interested in my work, and I was also interested in his. Later we went to Govinda's Restaurant and had a late lunch and long meeting with Akhandadhi Dasa, a BBC broadcaster, member of the Hare Krishna movement, and president of the Science and Philosophy Initiative. Then I returned to my hotel, where I ran into author Hugh Newman, who was just arriving with his partner J.J. and author Jim Vieira, host of the History Channel series Search for the Lost Giants. Hugh and Jim are coauthors of the book Giants on Record. We all went out for dinner to a sushi place on Baker Street. The next day, Saturday, was the day of the Origins 



Conference, which was held in the Rudolf Steiner House.  I was the keynote speaker that evening. I spoke about my forbidden archeology work, presenting new developments along with some of the classic cases of archeological evidence for extreme human antiquity. After the conference, the organizers and speakers had dinner at an Indian restaurant called Mumtaz. The next day, Sunday, Andrew Collins led a tour of the British Museum. One of the highlights for me was the Sutton Hoo treasures, from the 7th century AD, which include a famous gold helmet and mask. The treasures were excavated from a mound on the estate of a British lady, who had visions about a funeral procession of an ancient king. She employed an archeologist to dig at the place that had been revealed to her. So there was a paranormal element to the discovery. On Sunday evening, Hugh Newman and J.J. drove me to their house near Stonehenge. Actually, the cottage-like house, with its thatched roof, had once been the residence of some of the caretakers at Stonehenge. On Monday, Hugh took me on a tour of Stonehenge. His friend, Simon Barton, a Stonehenge expert, served as our guide. That evening Hugh took me to dinner at a pub near Stonehenge, where I had a vegetarian version of a pub classic--sausage, mashed potatoes, gravy, and peas. On Tuesday it was back to Heathrow for my British Airways flight to LA.


Touring Stonehenge with Hugh Newman and Simon Barton

2018

South Africa lectures

On Monday April 9, 2018 I took an overnight flight from Los Angeles to Zurich, Switzerland. From there I took another overnight flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, arriving the morning of Wednesday, April 11. I was going to South Africa to give a talk at the Ubuntu Festival, organized by Michael Tellinger, who has done archeological research showing there was an advanced human presence in South Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago. Ubuntu is a Bantu word that refers to the universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity.

Several speakers and musicians who would be participating in the conference were arriving that morning at the airport. We were met by Emma, Michael Tellinger's fiance. Emma took me to the veranda of the airport hotel, where I hung out with other speakers and musicians, conversing until we had all arrived. Then we piled into a chartered small bus, about 20 of us, for the four hour ride to Mbombela, the town where the Ubuntu Festival was held, at a sports stadium. The festival featured music on a stage, vendor booths, and lectures in meeting rooms. My lecture was titled Human Antiquity, Origins, and Purpose. In the first part of the lecture, I presented archeological evidence for extreme human antiquity, as documented in my book Forbidden Archeology. This evidence, which shows humans like us existed millions of years ago, going back to the very beginnings of life on earth, is consistent with the accounts of extreme human antiquity found in the Puranas, the historical writings of ancient India. The evidence suggests the need for a new explanation of human origins, which I presented in the second part of my talk. Briefly, we are not machines made of matter. Originally we are beings of pure consciousness, from a higher level of reality. We did not evolve up from matter; instead we have devolved, or come down from the level of pure consciousness. Matter does not produce consciousness, but consciousness can become associated with matter. I presented some of the scientific evidence for this, from my book Human Devolution. In the third part of my talk, I proposed that the real purpose of human life is to restore consciousness to its original pure state, while satisfying our material needs in the most simple, efficient, and fair way possible.

It was good meeting some of the other researchers, such as Sam Osmanagic, head of the Bosnian pyramid project, and Robert Salas, a former United States Air Force officer, who, while serving as part of a launch crew for several nuclear missiles, experienced a UFO incident that temporarily disabled the missiles.

On Monday April 16 it was time for me to get on another chartered bus with a group of conference speakers and musicians for the ride back to Johannesburg and my return flight, by way of Zurich, to LA.

Seattle Visit

Speaking at the Phinney Center in Seattle

On August 24, 2018 I gave a talk about my book My Science, My Religion at the Phinney Community Center in Seattle, Washington. My Science, My Religion is a collection of 24 papers I have presented about my work at major international scientific conferences. In these papers I integrate my spirituality, rooted in the philosophy and cosmology of ancient India, with my research into the science of human origins and antiquity. Some people, who are convinced that science and religion must be kept completely separate, are surprised I have been able to do this. Most of the papers are related to archeological evidence for extreme human antiquity. Most scientists believe humans like us first appeared about 200,000 years ago. But the Puranas, the historical writings of ancient India, say that humans have existed for many millions of years, going back to the very beginnings of life on earth. The event began with some bhajan (singing of mantras to musical accompaniment). Beforehand, I met with some local supporters at Cafe Flora, a Seattle vegan restaurant. I always like coming to Seattle. I gave one of my very first public lectures on my work at the Seattle Metaphysical Library.

St Louis

On Tuesday September 11, 2018, I flew from Los Angeles to St. Louis. During my visit, I stayed at the center of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), of which I am a member. My main purpose in St. Louis was to give lectures at universities on my book Forbidden Archeology, which documents archeological evidence for extreme human antiquity. This evidence consists of scientific reports of discoveries of human bones, human artifacts, and human footprints older than allowed by the now dominant evolutionary conceptions. This evidence is consistent with the Puranas, the historical writings of ancient India, which contain accounts of humans existing in the distant past, many millions of years ago. I spoke at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, the Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, and the Washington University in St. Louis. I also spoke about Forbidden Archeology at the Hindu Temple of St. Louis.

During my stay, I gave some talks on the philosophy of Bhagavad-Gita at the ISKCON center in St. Louis. I lectured there on the occasion of Radhastami, a festival marking the appearance of Radha. According to the spiritual tradition to which I belong, God exists with both a male (Krishna) and female aspect (Radha). Radha is considered to be the personification of love for God. On Monday, September 17, I flew back to Los Angeles.
Krishna and Radha

2019

Consciousness in Science Conference

In January 2019 I went to the Consciousness in Science Conference in Gainesville, Florida. The conference was organized by the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies. The conference opened on the evening of January 18, with lectures by consciousness researchers Stuart Hameroff and Brenda Dunne in the auditorium of the Harn Museum at the University of  Florida. I spoke on January 20 about how my work on archeological evidence for extreme human antiquity relates to consciousness studies. If, as the archeological evidence documented in my book Forbidden Archeology suggests, humans like us have existed for many millions of years, going all the way back to the very beginnings of life on earth, this contradicts the currently dominant theory of human origins in the scientific world. We therefore need to consider alternative explanations for human origins. But before we ask the question 'what is the origin of human beings' we should first ask 'what is a human?' Today, many scientists will say that a human being, or any other living thing, is just a machine made of molecules. As far as consciousness is concerned, they say it is produced by molecules in the brain. I do not accept that. I accept the view expressed in the Puranas, the cosmological texts of ancient India, that the conscious self always exists; it has no beginning, no end. There are several kinds of scientific evidence consistent with the idea that the conscious self exists independently from matter. I have reviewed that evidence in my book Human Devolution. In my Gainesville talk, I explained how I have been able to communicate these ideas at mainstream scientific conferences and inscientific publications. Examples can be found in my book My Science, My Religion, which is a collection of 24 papers I have presented at mainstream academic and scientific conferences.

Later on January 20, I gave a talk about the exhibits being planned (by a committee of which I am a member) for the museum wing of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, currently under construction in Mayapur, West Bengal, India. The exhibits will present various aspects of the consciousness-based Vedic cosmology.

On the evening of January 20, I was invited to a dinner at the home of one of the Gainesville conference organizers. There I met Brenda Dunne, who was manager of the
Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) laboratory, set up in 1979 by Robert Jahn, dean of the engineering department of Princeton University. PEAR (dissolved in 2007) is most well known for a series of experiments on the effect of conscious intention on random number generators.  Dunne and Jahn found that subjects were able, by conscious intention, to influence the output of the random number generators to a statistically significant degree. This is evidence for psychokinesis (PK), i.e., that consciousness can operate on matter in ways not explained by our current understanding of physics. PEAR also did experiments in remote viewing. I told Dunne I had included her research in my book Human Devolution.
The conference was a good opportunity to meet like-minded researchers.


Ratha Yatra parade at Venables Valley - Sharanagati, British Columbia

Wales Consultation

On Thursday July 10, I flew from Los Angeles to London, arriving  Friday morning. I spent Friday night at Bhaktivedanta Manor, which was donated to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness by George Harrison in the 1970s. On Saturday morning I was taken by car to Buckland Hall, a retreat center in the hills of Wales. I attended a meeting of young scientists connected with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. In India, the Society is constructing the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) at Mayapur, West Bengal, which will include a museum wing, with exhibits related to Vedic ideas about the origin of life and the universe. The TOVP Exhibits committee, of which I am a member, had arranged the Buckland Hall meeting to receive scientific advice on exhibits.

Bern EAA, Princeton, New Jersey Lecture and New England Field Trip

On September 28, 2019, I gave a talk  (titled Human Origins and Antiquity: A Vedic Perspective) at a meeting organized by the International Consciousness Research Laboratories (ICRL) in Princeton, New Jersey. The ICRL, headed by Brenda Dunne, is a successor to the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) group, which had been set up at Princeton University by Robert Jahn, head of the engineering department at Princeton, and Brenda Dunne. The PEAR group did groundbreaking research showing that mind can influence matter in ways that cannot be explained by our current laws of physics. For example, they did extensive experiments with random number generators (RNGs). These devices generate a random series of zeroes and ones. If you let the devices run by themselves, they generate 50 percent zeroes, 50 percent ones. But Jahn and Dunne had students and other subjects sit in front of the devices, and will, mentally, that they produce more ones than zeroes, or more zeroes than ones. They found that they were able to do it. They were able to cause the output of the random number generators to deviate, to a statistically significant degree, from the expected 50 percent zeroes, 50 percent ones. After some years, the PEAR group was closed down by the university.  So Jahn and Dunne set up the ICRL to continue their research. After Jahn died, Dunne has carried on.


Speaking at ICRL in Princeton

In January of 2019, I met Brenda Dunne at a conference on consciousness studies organized by the Bhaktivedanta Institute of Higher Studies in Gainesville, Florida. I told her that I had included the work done by her and Robert Jahn in my book Human Devolution: A Vedic Alternative to Darwin's Theory. The basic idea of the book is that there is archeological evidence showing that humans like us existed many millions of years ago. This evidence contradicts the modern evolutionary ideas about human origins. This suggests the need for new explanations for human origins. I proposed that before we even ask, "How did humans come into existence?" we should first ask, "What is a human being?". Most modern scientists say we are just a combination of the material elements. But to me the evidence suggests that we are composed of three things: gross matter, a subtle material mind element, and nonmaterial conscious self, which can exist independently, apart from matter and mind. Matter does not produce consciousness, but consciousness can come into association with matter. In other words, as conscious selves, we do not evolve up from matter; we devolve, or come down, from the realm of pure consciousness. In Florida, Dunne invited me to speak for her group in Princeton. I happily agreed to do it, and the lecture was scheduled for September 28.

In early September, a couple of weeks before my Princeton lecture, I was in Bern, Switzerland, where I spoke at a meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), in a session organized by the EAA's president. Early in the twentieth century, Albert Einstein lived in Bern, where he was working in the customs department of the government. I visited the Einstein House in Bern, where Einstein was living when he wrote his famous papers establishing his theory of relativity. Later he accepted a scientific position in Germany, but when the Nazis rose to power, he emigrated to the United States, spending many years in Princeton, New Jersey, at the Institute for Advanced Studies. On the day of my Princeton lecture, one of the ICRL people drove me from my hotel to the lecture venue. In the car, I mentioned that my last event had been in Bern, where Einstein had lived, and now my next event was in Princeton, where Einstein had also lived. My driver said she could take me see the house where Einstein lived and the Institute where he worked. These places were right on the way to the lecture venue. So we stopped by those places.

At the lecture hall, I met Brenda Dunne. I gave my talk, beginning with archeological evidence for extreme human antiquity, and moving on to the scientific evidence showing that the conscious self exists apart from matter, and can act on matter in ways modern science cannot explain. In that connection, I spoke about the relevance of the work done by Robert Jahn and Brenda Dunne, which I found to be compatible with the Vedic ideas that inspire my work. The lecture was well attended, and there were lots of questions after the talk.


Investigating a megalithic rock in New England

After the Princeton lecture, I went on an archeological field trip in Connecticut. Over the past couple of years, my research assistant has been in touch with an alternative archeology researcher there, Geoffrey Whittam. He has extensive knowledge of mysterious dolmens, standing stones, stone walls, stone chambers, and stacked stones all over Connecticut and other places in New England. He regards them as evidence for a lost civilization, preceding the European settlers and native American tribes.  My research assistant, who attended the Princeton lecture, along with a film producer friend, suggested that the three us should take up Geoffrey's offer to show us some of his finds. So we spent a day with Geoffrey, driving all over the state of Connecticut, and hiking deep into forests, up and down hills, to view the standing stones, etc., at many different sites. Although skeptics will certainly have explanations for some of these objects, I am keeping an open mind about them. Certainly, I accept the idea that humans have existed in the Americas for much longer periods of time than those accepted by modern science (about 30,000 years). In my book Forbidden Archeology, I have documented archeological evidence showing that humans have existed for millions of years in the Americas. One of the questions I have about the New England objects, if they are accepted as the work of humans, is "how old are they?"

2021


Great Kiva Heritage Site in the Four Corners Region

From September 17 to September 24, I traveled to Montezuma County, in the southwest corner of Colorado, to meet with Dave Edwards, one of my correspondents, and filmmaker Robert Dakota. Dave had started writing to me late last year (2020). He told me about a site he had discovered on his property in rural Colorado. At this site, he had found large pieces of stone that he thought represented people and animals. He linked his site with the local Native American people, the Hopi, and thought the site had a spiritual facet to it, in that it contained portals to other dimensions of reality. He wanted me to come and see the site, so I agreed to do it, even though I did have some doubts about it. I figured I should give Dave a fair hearing and experience his discovery firsthand. After all, that's what I ask archeologists to do in connection with my work, give it a fair hearing and have a look at the evidence. I spent a few days, visiting the site and some local Native American archeological sites. One of the days was the fall equinox, and Dave held a ritual ceremony, based on Native American practices, at his site. Part of the ritual involved an attempt to experience the portal aspect of the site. I participated and experienced a strong sensation of immortality. Robert filmed some of my evaluations of the site, and an excerpt can be seen at this link:

https://youtu.be/5D6z9QRIrBI

On October 12th I flew into Boulder to do some interviews for the Ancient Civilization series of video programs produced by Gaia TV. I spent the following afternoon at the studio doing the interview, and the next day flew back to LA.


Picnic lunch with some of the EO IV presenters & attendees at the Red Rocks Trailhead

The next morning, October 14th, I left LA for Sedona, Arizona, to give a talk at the Earth Origins IV conference. Sedona, with its red rock canyons, mesas, and towering formations, is a magical place. My talk was titled Native Americans, Time, and Archeology. The Native American scholar Vine Deloria, Jr., quoted extensively from my book in his book Forbidden ArcheologyRed Earth, White Lies. Like him, many Native American people do not accept that humans evolved from apes or that the Native American people first entered the Americas less than 20,000 years ago. I have documented archeological evidence that supports these ideas, and because Vine Deloria, Jr., himself a Native American, had endorsed my work, I felt comfortable in presenting it to an audience that included Hopi and Zuni elders, who later bought some of my books. I returned to LA a day later than I planned because high winds delayed my flight from Flagstaff to Phoenix, causing me to miss my connecting flight to LA. So the airline put me up for a night in a Phoenix hotel, and rebooked me on a flight to LA the next morning.

2022

Living Truth Summit

On March 31, I traveled from Los Angeles to Mt. Shasta in northern California. The snow covered peak of this extinct volcano dominates the surrounding area. For the local Native American tribes, the mountain remains a place for sacred rituals. Some come to experience the natural beauty of the place. And others claim to have encountered ascended masters, extraterrestial beings, and refugees from lost civilizations such as Lemurians. Such beings are said to reside in a crystal city within Mt. Shasta.


Ami played music at the conference and showed me Mt. Shasta

At Mt. Shasta I was a speaker at a conference called the Living Truth Summit. My talk was titled “Excavating the Eternal: Psychic Archeology in India.”  Today archeology  is mostly a science of the dead, fixating on bones and stones. But some archeologists have shaken things up using psychic techniques to explore nonmaterial dimensions of the past. This use of psychic techniques has a long history. Hundreds of years ago in India, many saints, mystics, and yogis used information from dreams and visions to excavate and recover long lost sacred objects and sacred sites that open portals to the eternal. The talk was well attended and favorably received. The final part of the conference was a ceremony at Mount Shasta. It was held at a private park at the base of the mountain, called the Michael Mary Mandala. Several stone circles reminiscent of ancient stone circles in Europe have been erected on the site, including circles representing the seven chakras, or energy centers, of the human body. The ceremony was for the activation of a crystal within Mount Shasta. It was good spending time at the mountain. The atmosphere was Himalayan. I was reminded of the accounts in the Bhagavata Purana, also called the Shrimad Bhagavatam, of sages gathering in the Naimisharanya Forest to contemplate what they could do for the spiritual welfare of people in the darkness of this present age.


Site of the Tetrahedron at the Michael Mary Mandala

Science of Consciousness Conference


Later in April, I attended the Science of Consciousness conference, which was held at a resort near Tucson, Arizona. The conference is one of the main gatherings of scientists and researchers exploring the nature of consciousness. For scientists who believe consciousness is produced by matter within the brain, the key is to identify the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC). The brain is made of cells called neurons. If consciousness is produced by neurons, scientists should be able to find the exact set of neurons that produces consciousness.  But at the conference one of the leaders of this effort, Christof Koch, admitted that finding this goal has proved to be elusive. A leading philosopher of science, David Chalmers, spoke about his recently published book on virtual reality, which he said offers possibilities for scientifically plausible explanations of consciousness, animism, and creation. A surprising feature of the conference was the number of scientists at mainstream universities and other institutions conducting research into the use of psychedelics as treatment for physical and mental disorders. In a poster session, I made a presentation comparing the effects of psychedelics to the vision of the universal form described in the Bhagavad-gita.

Summer 2022


Using ox power to make hay at Krishna Valley

On June  29 I went to the Los Angeles airport to board a British Airways (BA) flight to Heathrow airport in London, connecting the next day to a flight to Prague. I was going to Prague to attend a meeting of the World Archaeological Congress. The BA flight out of LA was delayed several hours so I missed my connecting flight to Prague. BA booked me on standby for the next flight (the last one) the evening of June 30. I did not get a seat on that flight. I went to BA customer service. They said the next flight to Prague would be two days later. Normally, they would have given me a hotel room for the two nights. But they had run through their supply. I had to book my own hotel room. They said I could be reimbursed. Yeah, sure, I thought. So now it is pretty late. I try the hotel in the terminal. It’s full. I try on my phone to get a room in hotels near the airport. They are all 700 dollars or more a night. Finally I find a room in a hotel in Farnsborough, a little outside London, for 130 dollars a night. But a taxi out there is 120 dollars, and 2 days later the same amount to return to the airport. Eventually, I did get reimbursed for all of my expenses. In addition I received substantial compensation. To do all this, I had to make a claim online, submitting all receipts, etc. It was time consuming, but I wasn’t going to let this go. So I got to Prague the night before the conference opened. I presented a paper about my work with the museum and planetarium exhibits in a project in India called The Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. This presentation was an attempt to preserve and pass on to the future the cosmology of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition in India.

After the conference, I traveled by train from Prague to Budapest, in Hungary. I visited some friends, members of the Hare Krishna movement there. I visited the movement’s eco village (called Krishna Valley) in southern Hungary. It is off the grid, and is self sustaining, producing its own fruits, vegetables, grains, and milk products. Especially interesting was a project to have oxen turn a wheel that transmits mechanical power through transmission gears to power machines for cutting wood, grinding grain, etc. I gave a talk about my presentation in Prague at Krishna Valley. I gave a similar talk at the Budapest Hare Krishna center. I also met with faculty members of the Bhaktivedanta College in Budapest. After I returned to Los Angeles, I went to Seattle, where I lectured on meditation and the soul at Heart Center for Awakening yoga studio, and met with friends and supporters.

Vedic cosmology conference at Govardhan Eco Village


Govardhan Eco Village

On October 31, 2022, I flew from Los Angeles to Mumbai, India (via JFK airport in New York, and Doha in Qatar) to take part in a conference on Puranic and Siddhantic cosmology. The Puranas and the Siddhantas are the two main sources of knowledge about the Vedic cosmology of India. The Siddhantas present information needed to calculate the observable movements of celestial bodies. It is in many respects similar to modern astronomy. The Puranas present a wider cosmological vision, incorporating features not observable by ordinary human sense perception. I was invited to this conference because I am a member of a committee working on the development of exhibits for a museum in the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) in Mayapur, West Bengal. My exposition was about presenting the TOVP cosmology museum as a cultural heritage project, designed to preserve for future generations the Vedic cosmology, which promotes values that can be helpful in solving the environmental crisis.

The conference was held at the Govardhan Eco Village, about 3 hours by car north of Mumbai. Imagine an eco friendly resort and learning center superimposed on a sustainable agriculture project in the forested, hilly countryside of Maharastra—that’s Govardhan Eco Village, a project of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. I enjoyed my weeklong stay there, especially my tour through the replica of the Vrindavan region of India, revered as the place where Lord Krishna appeared.

On November 7, I traveled to the Mumbai airport to begin my return journey to LA (via New Delhi and New York).

2023

Visit to Mayapur

On January 30, 2023, I flew from Los Angeles to Kolkata, India. From Kolkata I traveled to Mayapur, West Bengal. The first time I visited Mayapur was in 1979. Mayapur, located on the bank of the Ganges in rural West Bengal, is the place where an avatar of God named Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared a little over 500 years ago. He taught love of God and spread the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, which he said would go to every town and village in the world. In the years 1965 to 1977, my guru, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, fulfilled this prediction. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s appearance day is calculated by the lunar calendar. It occurs on the full moon of the month of Phalguna, which this year corresponds to March 6, 2023. I arrived in Maypur several weeks before that to take part in meetings, give lectures, and go on some pilgrimages to sacred sites in the region surrounding Mayapur. Some of the meetings were connected with the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium museum project, the planning of which is being overseen by a committee of which I am a member. On the appearance day of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, we all fasted until moonrise. Then we enjoyed a vegetarian feast.


The Temple of the Vedic Planetarium

During the last days of my stay in India, I went to the town of Patna in the state of Bihar. I wanted to see if I could find a specific temple, which was of interest to me because of its connection with what I call transcendental archeology. There are cases in which a person will find a lost sacred object or place by a dream or vision. In this particular case, about five thousand years ago, according to traditional sources, there was a king named Jarasandha. He wore as an amulet a Shiva linga. The linga is a short stone pillar. Jarasandha lost the Shiva linga in the Ganges River near Patna. Several centuries later, Man Singh, a government officer, was traveling by boat on this stretch of the Ganges. His boat got stuck on a sandbar. In a dream, he was told that if he excavated the lost Shiva linga and built a temple for it, his boat would be freed and he could continue on his journey. He did as he was told. The temple and Shiva linga are still there in the countryside about an hour’s drive by car from Patna. It wasn’t easy finding the place, but finally I was able to see this example of transcendental archeology. From Patna I went back to Mayapur for a day, and then went to Kolkata and started on my flights back to LA

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The temple at Patna
The Shiva Linga at Patna

Two Conferences

Shortly after my return to LA, I gave two talks and participated in a panel discussion at the Biomed Expo, which was held in a hotel near the LA airport March 24-26. My Media Manager arranged to have the Temple Bhajan Band sing the Hare Krishna mantra during the opening ceremony of the conference. My first talk was on my book Forbidden Archeology, the second on Human Devolution.


Speaking at the Portal to Ascension Panel

On April 20, 2023, I traveled from LA to San Diego by Amtrak train. I was there for a conference which started on Friday, April 21. The venue was the Marina Village Conference Center on Mission Bay. The conference, organized by a group called Portal to Ascension, was called the Ascension Conference. During the three day conference, I took part in a panel discussion on ancient human civilizations, along with other alternative history researchers, such as Dr. Robert Schoch. The next day I gave my lecture, which was about the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium and how it will be an ascension portal to higher realms. Finally, I gave a workshop on Science Meets the Vedas, which included mantra meditation.

Katie Astor shared accounts of her archeological finds in the San Diego area

The Pacific NW and Vancouver

On June 24, 2023 I spoke at an event called Sage the Earth at the Vancouver center of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Sage the Earth suggests that the solution to our environmental crisis can be found  in the world’s traditional wisdom systems. I explained how the Vedic tradition envisions the world as a form of God. With this vision, we learn to treat nature, including all living beings, with respect and reverence. I spent a couple of peaceful days at a cabin in the mountain forests before returning to LA.

Encinitas Conference


On August 17, 2023 I traveled by Amtrak train from Los Angeles south to Solana Beach, a coastal town near Encinitas, where I would spend the next three days at a conference on consciousness studies. The conference, called Neuroscience Needs A Revolution to Understand Consciousness, was organized by the California Institute for Human Sciences and the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona. I was there as an observer for the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies. In my report, I noted there were many theories trying to explain how consciousness is generated from matter.
None of them has succeeded in becoming the dominant one. This leaves the door open for a consciousness-based Vedic alternative.

Zurich and Budapest

On September 25, 2023, I flew from Los Angeles to Zurich, Switzerland, arriving the next morning. I stayed in a guest room at the Zurich Hare Krishna temple. I was in Zurich at the invitation of the organizers of the conference Synthesis of Science, Spirituality, Art, and Culture for World Peace. I was the chief guest and keynote speaker. In my opening remarks I said such a synthesis is urgently needed. I pointed out that the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, formed in 1945, had this year set its Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight, midnight being worldwide catastrophe. This is the closest the world has been to the use of nuclear weapons in war since World War Two. Science has developed the ability to make nuclear weapons. But it cannot by itself decide moral questions such as the following. We can make nuclear weapons but should we? And if we do make them, should they ever be used? And if they are used, how should they be used? Such questions can be answered only by a science guided by authentic spirituality.

In my keynote address the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP), a project in India that I am personally involved in, was given as an example of a synthesis of science, spirituality, art, and culture for world peace. The TOVP was conceived of by my guru, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in the 1970s. He wanted the TOVP to demonstrate to the world that the Vedic cosmology was relevant to the modern world and its problems, such as the danger of nuclear war. One of the essential points is the unity of all people as parts of God. In other words, we are not our material bodies, which we call American, Russian, Chinese, etc. Instead, each of us is a soul within a material body, and on that level we are all part of the same spiritual family of God. This idea, presented in the TOVP by means of science, spirituality, art, and culture, removes a key cause of conflict—false identification with violent, divisive nationalism.

In Zurich I also gave a talk at the ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich). Also called the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, it regularly ranks among the ten top universities in the world. It specializes in the STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Sixty students attended my lunch-time talk, which was on descriptions of flying craft (vimanas) in the Vedic literature. After the talk, there was ample time for wide ranging questions on many aspects of Vedic cosmology. Later I spent an afternoon at a Zürich café, having talks with a few intellectuals. I also gave some talks at the Zürich Hare Krishna temple.

On October 3, 2023, I flew from Zürich to Budapest, Hungary. I was there to speak at a conference on Vedic cosmology organized by the Bhaktivedanta College, which is associated with the Hungarian Hare Krishna movement. My topic was the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium and how it helps people to understand and appreciate the Vedic cosmology, which is consciousness-based, unlike modern scientific cosmology, which is matter-based. While in Budapest, I gave a talk to the graduate students at Bhaktivedanta College about how the universe can be perceived as a form of God, as a first step in comprehending the original form of God in the spiritual world. I also gave a welcoming talk at a cultural event for first year students.

 On October 11, 2023, I flew back to Los Angeles.


Lecturing at Stairway to the Stars in Las Vegas

Las Vegas and Gainesville Conferences

On Thursday November 9, 2023, I flew from LA to Las Vegas for the Stairway to the Stars conference, which was held at the Luxor hotel and casino. The massive dark grey glass and steel pyramid structure of the Luxor is one of the most recognizable features of the Las Vegas Strip. A colossal  sphinx greets visitors as they enter the Luxor Resort. After I checked into my room, I went out to locate the conference venue. It took awhile to orient myself in the maze of walkways, shops, gambling areas, and restaurants, as crowded as a Cairo bazaar. For the next two days I spent time at my author table, meeting people, attending lectures, and giving my own. Here is the title and a synopsis of my presentation:

The Silurian Hypothesis and Forbidden Archeology

In recent years, astrophysicists have proposed that a technologically advanced civilization built by humanoid reptilians existed on earth hundreds of millions of years ago during the geological period called the Silurian. Such a civilization could explain periods of global warming in the distant past. This is called the Silurian Hypothesis, inspired by episodes of a BBC science fiction television series called Dr. Who that aired in the 1970s. The main character, Dr. Who, encounters humanoid reptilians, called the Silurians, who had been in suspended animation in deep caves since the Silurian but have been awakened by the activities of a scientific research station on the surface. The idea of humanoid reptilians living deep inside the earth is echoed in the Puranas, which tell of the Nagas, humanoid serpents who dwell in a subterranean realm. It’s interesting that modern scientists are considering the possibility of civilizations existing many millions of years ago. In this case, because scientists don’t think humans existed millions of years ago, they have substituted humanoid reptilians. However, as documented in my book Forbidden Archeology, there is archeological evidence showing that humans existed in these distant times. Evidence for a Silurian civilization could be difficult to detect. It might include things like traces of compounds that do not occur naturally rather than fossil bones and artifacts.

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The Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies headquarters in Gainesville

On Monday, November 13, I flew back to LA. On Wednesday I flew out to Gainesville, Florida for a conference on Vedic cosmology organized by the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies (BIHS). The conference was held in the headquarters of the BIHS, a stately mansion that was once the home of a president of the University of Florida. Here is the title of my talk and a synopsis:

Exoarcheology and Archeoastronomy: Possibilities for Vedic Cosmology Research

Two fields of research invite the attention of those interested in Vedic cosmology: exoarcheology and archeoastronomy. Archeoastronomy is the study of physical, cultural, and textual remains that provide evidence for astronomical knowledge possessed by people in the earth’s past. Connections between astronomical events and archaeological remains may also provide a means of dating these remains. Once relegated to “fringe science,” archeoastronomy has now become a small (but growing) recognized field of study in archeology. Exoarcheology is less well known. It is related to the wider field of exobiology, the study of life on celestial bodies beyond this earth planet. Because over the past couple of decades, astrophysicists have detected thousands of planets capable of supporting life, orbiting stars in other solar systems, the field of exobiology is becoming more prominent. NASA, for example, has an exobiology department. Professional archeologists are now discussing what they will do with artifacts found on the moons and planets of our solar system and beyond. The United Nations Outer Space Treaty defines ownership of any artifacts recovered from other planets. Of course, some of this is stuff we have sent there, but archeologists are seriously discussing what they will do if they find something that did not come from the space programs of our earth planet. Prominent scientists such as astronomer Avi Loeb are actively researching such things. The Bhaktivedanta Institute should study the possibilities. As we move into space, we are also moving in the direction of the worldview of people of past civilizations and cultures, such as the Vedic culture and its cosmology. Heading into the future, we may arrive in the past.

After the conference, I stayed for several more days to participate in working sessions with BIHS scientists who are providing content and guidance for exhibits on Vedic cosmology for the museum wing of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, now in the final stages of construction in India.

2024

Science of Consciousness Conference

From April 21 to April 26 2024, I was at The Science of Consciousness (TSC) conference, which was held at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort near Tucson, Arizona. TSC is a major international conference, attracting the top scientists and philosophers involved in consciousness studies. The 2024 meeting was its 30th. In attendance in 2024 was David Chalmers, who was present at the First TSC conference ub 1994. At that time, he set the agenda for consciousness studies by defining "the hard problem of consciousness" and declaring that science had not solved it. In another early meeting of the TSC, neuroscientist Christof Koch bet David Chalmers that science would solve the hard problem of how you get consciousness, i.e., subjective awareness, from matter within 20 years. In his talk in 2024 Koch admitted he lost the bet.

The 1994 TSC conference is sometimes said to be the first one on consciousness. David Chalmers pointed out that the first consciousness studies conference was not the 1994 TSC conference.  Rather it was the 1991 conference organized by the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Members of the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies had a significant presence at the 2024 TSC conference. They conducted a four hour workshop session, at which they presented an approach to consciousness studies that includes matter, mind, and consciousness.


Chatting with Jared Murphy while conference attendees peruse books

A Conference on Ancient America

On October 5, 2024, I was keynote speaker at the Ancient Artifact Preservation Society conference on Ancient America. The conference was held at a casino resort owned by a Native American Indian tribe in a remote area of northern Michigan's Upper Peninsula. My talk was titled The Most Ancient Americans and Their Artifacts. I began by quoting from a book by the late Vine Deloria, a Native American Indian scholar. The book was Red Earth, White Lies, in which Deloria disagrees with the mainstream scientific accounts of human evolution and the peopling of the Americas. He said the Native American tribes were present here long before the 20,000 years accepted by mainstream archeologists. Deloria made some favorable comments about my book Forbidden Archeology, in which I documented discoveries supporting his view. In my talk I reviewed some of these discoveries. The conference was a good place to meet fellow researchers, talk with people who purchased my books, and make contacts for media interviews about my work. I also had a chance to experience the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula's extensive forests and wild Lake Superior shore.



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