Inner Life, Talks and Thoughts

I was delighted to catch up with Matt Segall. Our interests much overlap when it comes to figures like Plato and Owen Barfield. We reflected on the radical insights of such generative thinkers, who were keen to link thought to experience, thereby expanding perception. 

We asked why the cataphatic needs the apophatic in speculative and contemplative practices? Whether reality is ultimately personal? Was Barfield right about the evolution of language? What is the relationship between Plato and Whitehead? And more besides.

For more on Matt see - https://footnotes2plato.com/about-me/
For more on Mark see - https://www.markvernon.com/

For more on the Barfield conference we referenced - https://www.owenbarfieldsociety.org/events.html

Why is beauty so important to scientists, even those without religious convictions? And is that in some way connected to the failure of New Atheism, which began two decades ago this year? 
In this Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogue, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon consider how trials of spiritual practices suggest that the spiritual element makes a measurable difference, which in turn suggests ways to answers questions about beauty and the persistence of a sense that the universe is enchanted. 
Rupert’s two books on science and spiritual practices inform the conversation, as does research by Guy Hayward, Linda Woodhead, Simon Conway Morris, Micheal Levin and a team led by Fraser Watts. 
Why is providence such a powerful intuition? And might related matters have anything to do with the extraordinary power of Large Language Models?
For more on the research considered:
https://www.sheldrake.org/books-by-rupert-sheldrake/science-and-spiritual-practices
https://www.markvernon.com/the-logos-in-the-data-centre-new-essay-at-my-substack-a-golden-string
https://www.issr.org.uk/projects/the-science-of-religious-and-spiritual-exercises-sorse/
https://guyhayward.com/singing-is-neither-good-nor-bad-but-thinking-makes-it-so

What if apocalyptic biblical literature is not best interpreted through historical events, though they certainly have a bearing, nor through the symbolic, as if the imagery should be decoded? Instead, these texts are educations in imagination, reorientating readers to the vision of God.
Such an understanding of the apocalyptic, which means “unveiling”, was certainly the view of William Blake and is a way to read the Book of Daniel, according to Professor Stephen Cook. His new commentary on Daniel brings Blake and others into conversation with the Old Testament book, which doubly makes sense as Blake was certainly in conversation with Daniel.
This approach treats Daniel as a profound theological and visionary work of hope, rather than a rigid end-times code or literal prediction of future historical events.
Dr. Stephen L. Cook is the Catherine N. McBurney Professor of Old Testament Language and Literature at Virginia Theological Seminary. His commentary is part of the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Prophetic Books series.
Dr Mark Vernon is a writer and psychotherapist, who has written on Christianity and Owen Barfield, Dante as a spiritual journey, and most recently, on Blake as a guide for our times.
For more on Stephen - https://vts.edu/faculty/stephen-l-cook/
For more on Mark and his book "Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination" - https://www.markvernon.com/

An ancient intuition is that plants have souls and even participate in the life of God by virtue of being alive. But what sense can be made of that today? 
In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon consider the Neoplatonic understanding that all living creatures, and perhaps all self-organising things, have a soul as part of their existence. 
But what does this imply about plant perception, plant intelligence, and plant awareness? Why do plants so inspire artists, mystics, and scientists - as well as worldwide activities such as the cut flower industry? Rupert has spend decades both studying plants and profoundly enjoying their presence in his life. Mark feels the inspiration that plants offer the contemplative life. 
Considering the souls of plants is quite as generative of insights and questions as plants are themselves generative of beautiful forms of life.
For more on Rupert Sheldrake - www.rupertsheldrake.com
For more on Mark Vernon - www.markvernon.com

The Odyssey movie is brilliant. The combination of spectacle and seriousness that characterises Christopher Nolan’s film-making makes this one a must-see. I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

However, this telling is Nolan's telling. The opening title reads: “A time of apparent magic”, which is a clear signal. Throughout a psychological option is offered for the presence of gods, sorcery and monsters and, quite explicitly, a moral imperative provides coherence to the meandering story.

There are also, inevitably, elements from Homer’s original that are absent in the cinema epic and that gives me an entrée.

I discussion the significance of love, which matters because it is such a key part of the question of how, like them, we humans might live close to the gods.

I think about the significance of the blinding of Polyphemus, which is a dark awakening: human craftiness need no longer be tied to spiritual craft. 

I recall the striking appearance of the Cave of the Nymphs on Ithaca, and the Neoplatonic understanding of its significance.

And then there’s the violence, which so much exceeds a moral response, as if hospitality, politeness and decency were enough.

Christianity has a different response, and the brilliance of Homer’s tale is implicit in that emergence.

For more on A Secret History of Christianity - https://www.markvernon.com/books/a-secret-history-of-christianity