Dr. Kunal Mooley

Caltech, USA

Abstract:
Various lines of observational evidence (e.g. reincarnation, out-of-body and near-death experiences, extra-sensory perception and spiritual experiences), as well as philosophical arguments (e.g. the hard problem of consciousness and quantum mechanical interpretations), indicate that the mind and consciousness go beyond the physical body. While this conclusion is in accordance with the Indian Knowledge System (IKS; with some parallels with other traditions worldwide), the enduring mind-brain problem has inhibited the wide acceptance, within mainstream science, of mind and consciousness beyond the brain. I will present a unique research program leveraging the metaphysical tools and meditative practices described in the IKS, as well as sophisticated experimental, computational and theoretical approaches offered by modern science and philosophy, to develop a more comprehensive understanding of matter, mind and consciousness and reality.

Bio:
Kunal Mooley is a Research Scientist at Caltech. He studies cataclysmic events, such as supernovae (deaths of stars) and neutron star mergers (gravitational wave sources), in the cosmos using a wide suite of telescopes such as the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), Very Long Baseline Array, Chandra and Keck. Kunal is currently co-leading JAGWAR, a worldwide collaboration to study astrophysics and cosmology using gravitational wave sources. Recently, he has initiated research on the perception of space and time, mind, consciousness and the nature of reality. Kunal obtained his Ph.D. in Astrophysics in 2015 from Caltech, where he implemented a new radio observing mode on the VLA, thus revolutionizing widefield radio surveys and discovering new populations astrophysical transients. Kunal later moved to the University of Oxford as a Hintze Fellow to study relativistic jets in accreting black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs. In 2018, he took on the Jansky Postdoctoral Fellowship jointly between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and Caltech, where he developed precision astrometric techniques to study the motion of astrophysical jets, and co-founded the Institute for Mind, Intelligence and Consciousness Studies. Kunal spends most of his time studying our dynamic Universe as well as the nature of mind and consciousness. Outside of research, he finds great interest in all kinds of sports and performing arts.