The following Bhaktivedanta Institute videos were produced by Richard Thompson during the late 1980s through 1990s while based in San Diego and Florida. Please click on the images below to play each video.
Another set of two videos accompanying the book Forbidden Archeology co-authored by Michael Cremo, is available through Gaia.com. Please click Part 1 and Part 2 to view.
Please see the "Cosmography: Cosmology Videos" section of this website for additional productions specific to the topic. The YouTube Sadaputa Digital Channel likewise offers further options for accessing audio and video productions.
Please click on video images to view.
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SIMULATED WORLDS (45 min) This video, produced in 1989, explores the experience of utilizing virtual reality computer programs. It discusses parallels between the subjective experience of a digitally simulated world, and the experience of the conditional self in the material world, according to Vedic philosophy. MIND AND BRAIN (30 min) Conciousness is shown to involve more than just extremely complex behavior, regardless of whether this behavior is carried out in a brain or in a computer. Philosophical arguments and empirical evidence are presented showing that the conscious self is distinct from the physical body. MODELS OF NATURAL SELECTION (30 min) This video, produced in 1989, shows the need for realistic models in the neo-Darwinian theory of evolution. It demonstrates that required intermediate forms fail to exist for certain key models, and it discloses the inadequacy of the theory in general. MYSTERIES OF THE SACRED UNIVERSE (42min) This video offers a summary of Thompson's book by same name. Mysteries of the Sacred Universe shows that the cosmology of the Bhagavata Purana presents a description of a sophisticated system offering multiple levels of meaning that encode at least four different astronomical, geographical, and spiritual world models. A closer of examination of the text reveals unexpected depths of knowledge in ancient cosmology. MYSTERIOUS ORBITS (23min) With stunning computer graphics, Mysterious Orbits illustrates how the islands and oceans described by the Bhagavata Purana's Bhu-mandala model offer mathematical correspondence to the inner and outer boundaries of the orbits of the planets, as seen from earth. Thompson argues that the level of fit between observational data and the Bhu-mandala model was only exceeded in the mid-19th century with the development of powerful telescopes.
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Thompson featured in two commercial productions
The first, Mysterious Origins of Man, aired twice on NBC in March and June 1996. It featured Charlton Heston as host. Please click here to view.
The History Channel produced the second as an episode in its Ancient Mysteries series during Season 4 (1997). Titled UFOs: The First Encounters, Leonard Nimoy (of the original Star Treck Dr. Spock fame) hosted. Please click here to view.