Rowan Williams has written another hugely significant book, one ripe with meaning for now. In this talk, I unpack its themes of non-dualism and Trinitarian life, eros and kenosis, politics and justice, seeing truthfully and destroying the world. 0:39 Addressing the Anthropocene 1:28 The need for an epiphany 2:52 What is our key problem? 4:32 Nondual non-identity 7:12 Trinitarian life 9:05 The erotic life of the divine 13:30 True kenosis and ecstasy 17:42 The truth of ourselves 20:49 Watchfulness...
Aug 15, 2021•42 min
The standard big history of human evolution, exemplified in Yuval Noah Harari's bestseller Sapiens, sees religion and spirituality as a byproduct of survival, at best a necessary fiction. But new science is telling a different story. Research done by Robin Dunbar, Agustin Fuentes, Robert Bellah and others is showing how engaging with invisible worlds and supernatural vitalities is an ancient and central aspect of Homo culture, which took off with the emergence of Homo sapiens. Considering matter...
Jun 26, 2021•35 min
I've notice a tendency to downplay the divine element in accounts of William Blake, and to reduce his understanding of the imagination to a human artefact, from its true status as a supernatural capacity that he knew. In this talk I consider 5 ways in which this can be resisted: - Blake's insistence that "there is no natural religion". - Blake's affirmation that “God becomes as we are that we may become as he is”. - His understanding that, “The desire of man is infinite”, and without it, we cons...
Jun 18, 2021•19 min
Covid has brought the reality of death into the centre of our lives, but what can we learn about death in response? This episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, with Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon, is prompted by a sense that part of the anxiety arising from the pandemic is living in a culture that has forgotten how to know death in life. Rupert outlines some recent work on the role of death in plant life, and how that is not only of biological interest but can be spiritually resourcing. Th...
Jun 16, 2021•35 min
An extended conversation that begins with thoughts on Owen Barfield, participation and the meaning crisis, Schopenhauer and Jung, moving through the state of modern physics, to the nature of evolution, the nature of mind at large, the role of dissociation and projections, and freedom. For more on Bernardo's work see - https://www.bernardokastrup.com For more on Mark's work see - https://www.markvernon.com Running order: 3:18 Introducing Owen Barfield and representations 8:22 The modern mistaken ...
Jun 08, 2021•2 hr 6 min
Anthony Ashley Cooper (1671-1713) may be the greatest English philosopher you have never heard of. In the 18th century, he was said to be the most famous philosopher in Europe. His ideas suffered in England, as those of his empiricist tutor, John Locke, took hold. But they inspired figures from William Blake to Adam Smith, and are, in my view, much needed now. For more on St Giles House - https://www.stgileshouse.com
Jun 07, 2021•9 min
A short discussion of psychodynamic psychotherapy, talking about the experience of suffering, the ego, the past and present, and the future change as people move through three zones - which might be described as hell, purgatory and paradise. For more see - www.markvernon.com.
May 25, 2021•13 min
Why do matters as seemingly unconnected as children’s stories and shamanic encounters feature talking animals? This episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, with Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon, is prompted the book, Roland In Moonlight by David Bentley Hart. It relates long conversations between the Eastern Orthodox philosopher and his pet dog, generating fascinating thoughts on all sorts of liminal experiences, from telepathy to panpsychism. How might a re-enchanted world appear to us in th...
Apr 23, 2021•32 min
Modern Christianity, at least as expressed by the church, has become very confused about the afterlife. So can our experience of life now, illuminated by wisdom traditions and modern science, offer a way into this perennial question? I've written more fully about these things in my book, A Secret History of Christianity. See here - https://www.markvernon.com/consciousness ...
Apr 18, 2021•18 min
Death always brings subterranean assumptions and stresses to the surface, and the pass of Prince Philip is no exception. The moment carries the weight of millennia, which is why it’s hard to navigate, though it can be better understood as part of the evolution of human consciousness, as Owen Barfield and others understood it. The key test is the vision held about the future humanity. I talk in particular about the two images in the episode artwork.
Apr 10, 2021•12 min
Could bliss be transmitted by a Happy Helmet? Are the fantasies of the super-wealthy secretly shaping our lives? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon discuss a new novel, Double Blind, by Edward St Aubyn. It is a story of ideas, including issues previously explored in these dialogues, from the nature of consciousness and the revelations of psychedelics, to the missing heritability problem and the replication crisis. St Aubyn has richly addressed our...
Apr 09, 2021•29 min
Some reflections on the fascinating conversation between Jordan Peterson and Jonathan Pageau: - Maybe it's not how to be a Christian but to realise how you already are - Why symbology, developmental maps and archetypes become as many rabbit holes - That the beginning and ground matters as much as the end and theosis - CS Lewis and what he never quite got from his friend, Owen Barfield - The way hierarchies collapse into the unity of all things - How Dante and Meister Eckhart in the western Chris...
Mar 03, 2021•24 min
Iain McGilchrist and Rowan Williams were in dialogue on Friday 19th February 2021, a beautiful exchange that was sadly not recorded. Here I offer some thoughts on it, particularly in the light of reflections offered by Matt Segall. It concerns transcendence and immanence, being and becoming, eternity and processes in space and time - or to put it another way, the similarities and differences between the ontologies of Plato and AN Whitehead. Matt's reflections are online here - https://youtu.be/z...
Feb 26, 2021•19 min
The discussion of alternative worldviews, from various forms of materialism to types of idealism, has exploded in recent years, and the notion of panpsychism is in the middle of the debate. In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon explore the different types of panpsychism being proposed, from more conservative forms that are linked to materialism, to older types that have been advocated by figures from AN Whitehead to Aristotle. They ask about the plac...
Feb 19, 2021•39 min
A friendly chat about the movie Soul, with me Pippa Evans and Jonathan Rowson. Does Pixar's latest movie have a message we should 'get', or is the most important thing to get about the movie that there is really nothing to get? In what way might it place our plans for our lives in perspective? Does it make it any clearer what 'the soul' is? We are colleagues at Perspectiva, a group seeking perspectives on systems, souls and society. https://systems-souls-society.com/ For more on Pippa http://ww...
Jan 29, 2021•33 min
We naturally talk about seeking the light at the end of the tunnel, or hoping to be enlightened. But are such phrases that reference light more than metaphors? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon explore how light is both physical and spiritual, and note the remarkable harmony between scientific and mythical ways of exploring light. They ask about the links between light and intelligence, as discussed by figures from Plato to Dante, as well as how ...
Jan 15, 2021•31 min
Artificial intelligence is rarely out of the news. But what is it? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon take a lead from the breakthrough by Google in the prediction of protein folding, which Rupert has studied for decades. Whether this success reveals any deeper understanding of nature leads to a discussion of different types of intelligence, such as emotional and spiritual. They consider what is lost when AI dominates the imagination, and obscures...
Jan 08, 2021•30 min
Pixar’s animation genius brings us, Soul, a film about the quest for meaning and music. I think it wittily subverts many common nostrums about happiness and fulfilment, purpose and pleasure, by fearlessly tackling the metaphysical as well as the mundane. A written version of this talk can be found at www.markvernon.com.
Dec 28, 2020•13 min
I heard Rhonda Byrne talking with Rupert Spira and wondered what on earth they might have in common. The Law of Attraction is simply an error in nondualism, identifying with thoughts rather than awareness. But The Greatest Secret offers a very different philosophy to The Secret. In my view, Byrne confuses them to some degree in her new book, though that can in itself be illuminating. There is a written version of this talk, which develops this teasing out the differences, at www.markvernon.com....
Dec 28, 2020•19 min
Owen Barfield agreed with the other Inklings, like JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, that the life of Jesus marked a pivot point in history. But he had a particularly powerful way of capturing the truth… Reading from History in English Words by Owen Barfield. For more on his understanding of Christianity, the evolution of consciousness, and genius worldview, see www.markvernon.com.
Dec 28, 2020•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1
