Dr. John Vervaeke Cultivating Virtue in Educational Practice with Ethan Hsieh
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Dec 17, 2025 In this engaging conversation, Ethan Hsieh, an educator and creator of the TIAMAT framework, explores how virtue can be cultivated as an embodied practice in education. He discusses the three tiers of virtue—civic, purification, and illumination—and their importance in shaping selfhood and agency. The duo dives into the role of ritual and altered states in transformative learning, while emphasizing the significance of integrating experiences without idolizing faculties. Hsieh also highlights safeguards against cult dynamics, advocating for community-driven education.
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Three Layers Of Virtue
- Virtue unfolds in three layers: civic, purification, and illumination that progressively order agency, selfhood, and personhood.
- Ritualized practices target each layer by reshaping agency, refining selfhood, and opening personhood to ultimacy.
Tiers Mapped To States And Practice
- Tiamat's three tiers map to awakening (structures), anagogic relational practice, and alchemy of states including altered consciousness.
- Everyday altered states matter because subtle shifts in affect and attention are accessible without substances.
Approach The Sacred As How
- The sacred should be approached adverbially: focus on how and when it shows up rather than what or why it is.
- This orients practice toward relational presence and the agency to notice sacredness's absence and shift toward it.