It first highlights the deep hostility of mainstream neuroscience toward spiritual topics, citing the controversy surrounding the Dalai Lama’s lecture. Woollacott then recounts her own scientific journey—from dissecting a gopher as a child to studying neural activity in a sea slug—before detailing the “minor miracle” that changed her life: the unexpected, profound calming effect of a simple mantra given to her by her sister during a terrifying airplane flight.
This personal, undeniable subjective experience, which defied the materialist model she was trained in, compelled her to challenge the view that the mind is solely a function of the brain. The chapter concludes by establishing the book’s central mission: to openly explore the nature of consciousness and whether awareness can exist independently of neural activity.
As a neuroscientist, Marjorie Woollacott had no doubts that the brain was a purely physical entity controlled by chemicals and electrical pulses. When she experimented with meditation for the first time, however, her entire world changed.
Woollacott’s journey through years of meditation has made her question the reality she built her career upon and has forced her to ask what human consciousness really is. Infinite Awareness pairs Woollacott’s research as a neuroscientist with her self-revelations about the mind’s spiritual power. Between the scientific and spiritual worlds, she breaks open the definition of human consciousness to investigate the existence of a non-physical and infinitely powerful mind.
Dr. Marjorie Woollacott, PhD, is a Professor Emerita and former Chair of the Department of Human Physiology at the University of Oregon’s Institute of Neuroscience. She is an author and leading researcher in consciousness, meditation, and end-of-life experiences, having published over 200 scientific articles and nine books.
Infinite Awareness documents the profound paradigm shift experienced by Marjorie Woollacott, PhD. As a career neuroscientist, Woollacott initially held the firm conviction that the brain was a strictly material, electro-chemical organ. Her subsequent long-term engagement with meditation, however, compelled her to challenge this materialist reality. The book skillfully integrates her published scientific research with her personal exploration of spiritual phenomena, directly addressing the limitations of the current neuroscience model. Ultimately, Woollacott breaks the established definition of consciousness to investigate the existence of a non-physical and expansive mind that extends far beyond the physical brain.
