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Can Enlightenment Rewire Your Brain? My Kensho Through a Neuroscientist’s Eyes
01 September 2026

Can Enlightenment Rewire Your Brain? My Kensho Through a Neuroscientist’s Eyes

A New Way of Being

About

In this clip from our longer conversation, I speak with neuroscientist Dr Andrew Newberg, author of How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain, about a powerful Kensho experience I had about a year ago.

I describe a two‑week period of bliss, emptiness of self, and a felt oneness with everything – followed by a lasting shift in how “Simon” shows up: far less identification with the personal story, and a difficulty travelling into past and future through the mind in the old way. My question to Andrew is simple:

What actually happened to my brain?

Andrew shares what decades of research into spiritual experiences reveal about:

    The difference between a moment of enlightenment and living from an enlightened perspectiveWhy powerful awakening experiences often create lasting changes in identity, beliefs, and behaviourThe five core elements commonly reported in enlightenment and Kensho experiencesHow states of oneness and non‑separation relate to the parietal lobe and our sense of selfThe role of the thalamus and wider brain networks in “rewiring” our perception of realityWhy unusual sensations in the body (including in the head) are often part of these shifts


THE SHIFT HAPPENS RETREAT WITH SIMON & ALEX (October 3rd in London): https://shift-happens-retreat.subscribepage.io/


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