Author | Speaker | Teacher | Scientist

Science, Being, & Becoming:

The Spiritual Lives of Scientists

Science, Being, & Becoming shares interviews with some of the world’s foremost scientists who recount their own transpersonal, metaphysical, and mystical experiences and how those experiences transformed them and their scientific work.

This groundbreaking book makes it evident that the long-standing divide between science and spirituality has not served us well and in fact continues to have significant adverse consequences for us all.

In the opening Special Commentary, Ken Wilber shares his integral wisdom about the coevolutionary development of our spiritual and human natures. In the Foreword, Dr. Deepak Chopra sets the stage for the book with his discussion of science, scientists, materialism, and the spiritual.

The book describes a new path to embrace, one with the perspective of the unity of our existence and to embrace the path of consciousness development. The book's vision is that science will eventually fulfill its promise and become an instrument to help support the spiritual awakening of humanity and bring to fruition the vision a more harmonious life here on the earth.

The audiobook for Science, Being, & Becoming will be released by Tantor Media on June 20th on 60+ channels including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Praise for Science, Being, & Becoming

“Science, Being, & Becoming reminds us that some scientists, perhaps many, have had the same kinds of profound psychic, mystical, and spiritual experiences that people have reported throughout history. Books like this are dissolving old constraints, and in the process whole new realms of reality are poised to emerge.”

Dean Radin, PhD
Institute of Noetic Sciences


“The artificial barrier between the realm of science and the realm of spirit is long overdue for demolition. Paul Mills, who treads easily in both domains, makes a major contribution by shifting the focus from belief, assumption, and dogma to the more revealing, and scientifically fruitful, area of direct experience. This important book is a corrective to prevailing misconceptions; scientists and spiritual leaders should read it to one another.”

Philip Goldberg, author
American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West


“Scientific method, inspiration, consciousness -- all of them work together to bring scientists to the point of discovery and sharing their work with responsible and ethical methods. There are a lot of books about science and scientific inspiration, but this is the only one that delves into how mysticism and consciousness within the scientific community influence the gifts that community can bring to the world. Bravo to Dr. Mills, consummate scientist and mystic, for this mighty contribution!”

Julia Mossbridge, PhD
Co-Founder, The Institute for Love and Time


“Professor Mills brings us back home to the questions that drive our curiosity as human beings and our authentic endeavor to know and understand ourselves, one another, and this grand dance of integrally interdependent life in which we are partaking and co-creating. Paul inspires us to envision the boundless possibility of our collective being, this remarkable planet, and our capacity as an integrative whole. This book honors the masters of both science and spirit that have come before and that are with us at present. It also welcomes us into the lineage of life inquiry to enact their tools and methods to cultivate an all-encompassing manifestation of love and realization that infuses innumerable future generations to come.”

Tawni Tidwell, TMD, PhD
Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI


“Over the course of his distinguished career, Professor Paul Mills has inspired many scientists through his ability to navigate the competitive and rigorous landscape of academic science while at the same time nurturing a deeply spiritual life. One only has to spend a few moments with Paul to sense and benefit from his compassion and wisdom. In this much needed work, Paul provides an intimate and personal view into the spiritual lives of scientists. In the midst of these rapidly changing times, their stories of inspiration, dedication, and struggle can encourage and steady each of us along the path.”

Thomas Liu, PhD
Neuroscience and Director of the Center for Functional MRI, The University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA


“In this pioneering work, Dr. Mills takes us on a journey through the interconnected worlds of science and spirituality as seen through the previously unseen lives of scientists who have personal spiritual practices. As the reader realizes the elegant weaving of spiritual experience with the development of scientific thought through each scientist's story, the notion that these topics are separate and insignificant in the development of ideas is reconciled. Dr. Mills' work will surely increase the dialogue across previously disparate disciplines such as these and encourage the use of spirituality as a catalyst and tool for creative thought.”

Dr. Christine Tara Peterson
Research Scientist, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

“Science, Being, & Becoming dismantles the fallacy that scientific investigation and spiritual exploration are at odds, instead illuminating them as two sides of the same coin. I am moved by the insights and the courage of Professor Mills and those academics and scientists who have shared their experiences and revelations, which beautifully express that what we are on the inside - mind - and the ultimate reality of the universe on the outside - matter - are one.”

Rupert Spira, author
The Nature of Consciousness: Essays on the Unity of Mind and Matter


“This book is a rare and engaging account of the spiritual transformation of the scientific mind, writ large on the one hand but also very much from the inside as well, from the "horse's mouths" of the author and his interviewees and commentators as well. They point the way to a tremendously expanded and bright potential future for science as it begins to embrace spirituality and consciousness. As Deepak Chopra says in his introduction, ‘rationality is not the enemy of awakening.’ ”

Thomas Brophy, PhD
President, California Institute for Human Science, Encinitas, CA


“Dr. Paul Mills' collection of life stories of scientists passionate about spirituality is a gem. If scientists are weird, spiritual scientists are even more bizarre, and we get to understand this rare breed better. Science and spirituality are opposite, right? In this collection of stories, Paul shows us that it is not the case. Spirituality and science can and do co-exist harmoniously, and as surprising as it is, science, as a method, may be used to pursue spiritual goals.”

Arnaud Delorme, PhD
Swartz Center for Computational Neuroscience, The University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA; Institute of Noetic Sciences, Petaluma, CA


“Professor Mills is a shining example of a rigorous scientist and classic mystic, whose mind and heart are dedicated to the pursuit of both objective knowledge and subjective wisdom. This book tells the stories of scientists who walk the line between science and spirit, weaving them together into a beautiful tapestry that should validate the personal experiences of many more and bring us just a little bit closer to a glimpse of the ultimate and infinitely faceted nature of reality.”

Cassandra Vieten, PhD
Director of Research, Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA


“In the stories of people's lives recorded in this book, virtually all combinations and permutations of human spiritual experience and aspiration are represented. The reader will very likely find many aspects of themselves described in some way in Professor Mills' exploration of the spiritual lives of scientists. In my case, it was very helpful to see how others experienced transcendent phenomena and spiritual teachings of all kinds. The way some scientists quoted in this book understood certain teachings, for example the Advita Vedanta teachings from Paramahansa Yogananda, helped me understand that philosophy and teaching better and has enriched my own spiritual journey. Ultimately Professor Mills' book is a spiritual guide, a road map depicting many pathways to self-realization (and becoming anchored in the divine) which will inspire one's further spiritual exploration in directions one may not have thought of or encountered yet. This is a page turner. Experience the joy of seeing one's own experiences, shared in some way by others, become even more illuminating and meaningful in the moments of reading a given section and reflecting.”

Hollis H. King, DO, PhD
Center for Integrative Medicine, The University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA