Dante's Divine Comedy

This episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues continues Rupert and Mark's exploration of Dante’s Divine Comedy, taking a lead from Mark’s book, Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey. Dante and Virgil have found the way out of hell and a new adventure begins on Mount Purgatory. They first encounter souls who are shocked by their deaths and bemused by the afterlife. Then, the transformative ascent up the various terraces of the mountain begins. On each, souls are reckoning with the part of themselves marked by pride and envy, anger and lust, as well as other feelings and desires that must be cleansed in order to open their perception to the divine life that draws them. Finally, Dante and Virgil reach the earthy Eden, where Dante experiences a surprising, even shocking, encounter with the love of his life, Beatrice.

Dante’s Divine Comedy famously opens with the poet wakening in a dark wood. His life has seemingly taken a wrong turn. But why must he embark first on a journey through hell, before ascending Mount Purgatory, only then entering paradise? What has the way into darkness to do with the way into light? He learns to say ‘yes’ to all of reality, and that the light includes the darkness, even as tragedy is integrated into the comedy of divine life.This event is part of a series looking at dualities with the Pari Centre. For more information - https://paricenter.com/event/dualities/2022-02-05/.For more on Mark's book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey - https://www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedy

John Vervaeke, Paul VanderKlay and Paul Anleitner asked what "God" means, with John challenging the Pauls to talk about God via Light, Love, Logos and Life, so as not to hide behind the "g" word.Drawing on Dante, I offer some thoughts...The original conversation is here - https://youtu.be/UGq34dLXrFIMore about Dante and my work - http://www.markvernon.com

The Dante exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum, for the 700th anniversary year of 2021, brought together some of the Divine Comedy’s greatest illustrators, living and dead, from Monika Beisner to William Blake and Sandro Botticelli. Here are my reflections on these studies in line and light depicting darkness and life.Modern works discussed include those by Monika Beisner, Dante and Beatrice in the Earthly Paradise (2001) and Dante and Beatrice and the Mystic Rose of Paradise (2001); Rachel Owen, The Fraudsters (2010-16); and Geoff MacEwan, The Earthly Paradise (2010). For more on my book, Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey, and other vlogs see www.markvernon.com

Audible have released the audiobook of Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey. I hope you enjoy the first chapter, Inferno 1.For more information go to Audible. And for more on the book as a whole see my website - https://www.markvernon.com.

This episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues is the second part of a conversation between Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon on the Inferno of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Deeper regions of hell are explored, in which individuals aren’t just confused about life but have become wedded to their confusions and the seeming power they bring. The deep ramifications of the worship of Mammon and worlds built on money is part of that addiction, as are the huge risks of spiritual seeking that arise directly from the tremendous goal of the spiritual quest, which is conscious participation in divine life. The conversation draws on Mark’s book, Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey. Future talks will consider the path Dante charts next, through Purgatory and Paradise!For other conversations between Rupert and Mark see https://www.sheldrake.org/audios/sheldrake-vernon-dialogues and https://www.markvernon.com/talks.

In this engaging conversation, Lorna Byrne, an acclaimed author and mystic known for her visions of angels, shares her remarkable journey from childhood experiences of divine presence to her bestselling work. She delves into the significance of suffering in spiritual growth and the importance of openness in perceiving the divine. Lorna invites listeners to connect with their guardian angels and discusses her vision for a sanctuary dedicated to teaching others to see. The dialogue also explores the intertwining of soul and consciousness, offering a hopeful future illuminated by unity and spiritual awakening.

The Divine Comedy by Dante is one of the great spiritual works of the Christian tradition. But how can it be read and what does it mean? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon discuss the first part of Dante’s cosmic pilgrimage. It takes Dante through the circles of hell, until he reaches the lowest point of reality, the region furthest from God. It becomes clear that descent into darkness is a key part of personal transformation because it helps the individual discern the dark side of experiences such as love, anger and fame, in order that the light they also bring might be discerned. This also explains why the Inferno can comfort as well as disturb: troubling experiences and spiritual emergencies can be as much a part of enlightenment as those that are delightful and satisfying. Rupert and Mark will talk about the Purgatorio and Paradiso in future discussions.

Dante was clear: he wrote so that others might follow him on otherworld journeys. So what might this mean?With the Scientific and Medical Network, an online conference, Sat 27th Nov, to explore this issue. Join individuals who have studied it and others who have so travelled.Full details here - https://scientificandmedical.net/events/dr-kayleen-asbo-lorna-byrne-dr-peter-fenwick-mariel-forde-clarke-david-lorimer-felicity-warner-dr-mark-vernon-dante-and-otherworld-journeys/

This lecture was given to the Temenos Academy on Tuesday 19th October 2021 - a particular delight as it was on its perennial philosophy course that the Divine Comedy first began to open up to me. See here for more details - https://www.temenosacademy.orgI make some remarks on the Inferno and Purgatorio first, about how spiritual intelligence recognises the significance of now and knowing yourself.However, as we live in an age that finds the Paradiso increasingly incomprehensible, most of the lecture looks at the 10 domains of paradise visited by Dante and what they represent for the development of his spiritual intelligence.In short, he sees how reality is characterised by abundance not scarcity, generosity not possessiveness, and comedy not tragedy - not because of any glib universalism, but because love, light and life can embrace hate, darkness and death.Dante enters:- The Moon in which he learns of qualities as guides, over quantities- Mercury in which he learns of harmonising with divine light- Venus in which he learns the essence of eros- The Sun in which he learns of the passion that unites difference- Mars in which he learns the true nature of sacrifice- Jupiter in which he learns how individuality links to all- Saturn in which he learns the necessity of seeing the eternal face- The Fixed Stars in which he learns of radiating with all beings- The Primum Mobile in which he learns of speaking with the divine voice- The Empyrean in which he learns of the nature of eternity.