The Wisdom Tradition | a philosophy podcast

In today's episode we begin a new chapter in our ongoing series on philosophy. It is titled "Plato's Vision of the Philosophic Empire" and is comprised of five parts, this present episode being the first of these five subsections. (Note: the series is now expanded to six parts).The focus of this initial section of the chapter is to establish a historical context to the period in which Plato lived. Here, we will be delving into the economic, political, and sociological dynamics of ancient Greece and its neighboring empires across Eurasia and consider the dynamics that lead to the rise and fall of each.Overall, this chapter on Plato forms the 9th of 13 overall chapters that together form a book called "Philosophy: Its Origin, Purpose, and Destiny". The full table of contents for this book, with links to each section, can be found on my website, www.alexsachon.comThe written version of this article can be read for free at my Substack: thewisdomtradition.substack.comThank you, - AlexSend us a text

Today's episode brings us to the exciting conclusion of our six-part series on esoteric philosophy, the psychology of meditation, and the use of mandalas in esoteric practices. In the first two episodes of this chapter, we investigated the psychology behind meditation, mandalas, and the mystical experience. In the two episodes that followed, we analyzed Mahayana Buddhism as a case study of these topics. Then, in the fifth and previous article of this series, we turned our attention to another case study: that of Pythagorean Tetractys. Now, in this episode, we synthesize everything we’ve covered so far in order to lay out a grand concept of human civilization as a collective mandala of the human soul. I hope you enjoy. Stay tuned for the next chapter in my ongoing book project titled "Philosophy: Its Origins, Purpose, and Destiny" - it's on Plato's vision of the Philosophic Empire. - Alex Sachonwebsite: www.alexsachon.comsubstack: www.thewisdomtradition.substack.comstore: www.thewisdomtradition.bigcartel.comyoutube: linkSend us a text

In today's episode, we are continuing our series on the philosophy of meditation and its use of mandalas by investigating, as a case study, a mandala sacred to the Pythagoreans: the Tetractys. As we will be covering, in the simple ten dot pyramidal design of the Tetractys is concealed many of the most important teachings of esoteric philosophy. I hope you'll tune in to find out more.See my website for links to all the sections in this chapter and to all the other chapters in my ongoing book "Philosophy: Its Origins, Purpose, and Destiny".website: www.alexsachon.comwritten articles: thewisdomtradition.substack.comestore: thewisdomtradition.bigcartel.comThank you,Alex SachonSend us a text

Hey folks,In today's episode we continue our series on the philosophy and psychology of meditation. In this episode (part 4 of a 6 part series), we focus on the meaning behind two important mandalas from Esoteric Buddhism: The Diamond and Matrix Mandalas, or as they are sometimes called "The Mandala of the Two Realms". The aim of this episode is to offer an introduction and overview of how these two mandalas fit into the larger esoteric practices and worldview of the Mahayana sect.Please see the written version of this article for visuals of the mandalas being discussed. You can find it at my Substack: thewisdomtradition.substack.com. See also my website: www.alexsachon.com.Thank you for listening. Also, keep an eye out for the final two episodes of this chapter, which should follow over the next couple weeks.- Alex SachonSend us a text

Hey everyone, in today's episode we are continuing with our series on Mandala Design and the philosophy of meditation. This episode is part 3 in a 6-part overall series.Here we go deeper into the philosophy of meditation, prayer, and faith by discussing how these elements are conceived and practiced in Mahayana Buddhism. Of particular note is how these disciplines integrate with the Buddhist concept of the afterlife state.Thank you for tuning in, I hope you enjoy.- Alex www.alexsachon.comFor the written article, see my Substack: thewisdomtradition.substack.comAlso, a video version of this episode is available on my YouTube. See my site for a link.Send us a text

Hi everyone, welcome back to The Wisdom Tradition podcast. In today's episode, we will be picking up where we left off in Part 1 of our series on "Mandala Design and the Philosophy of Meditation". The particular theme of this episode is on "the occult science of visualization". Visualization exercises utilizing mandalas were an important part of the meditation disciplines utilized by the ancient Mystery Schools. In this episode we will be exploring various angles on how these exercises work and what psychological principles they leverage.For the written article, please see my Substack. Link here.  Thank you, - Alexwww.alexsachon.comSend us a text

Note: the written version of this episode can be found on my Substack. https://thewisdomtradition.substack.com/-----------------------Hey everyone, with today's episode I'm excited to be introducing the newest chapter in my ongoing book project titled "Philosophy: Its Origin, Purpose, and Destiny". This chapter builds off material covered in our previous articles/episodes in order to discuss the psychology and philosophy of meditation. This discussion of meditation is centered around the use of "mandalas", which were implemented by the ancient Esoteric Schools as meditational guides for their initiates and disciples. The material in today's episode sets the foundation for this discussion of mandalas, which will unfold across five subsequent articles/epsiodes in this series. I hope you'll stay tuned for them all. Thank you and God Bless.- Alex Sachonwww.alexsachon.comSend us a text

Today I'm excited to be presenting the concluding episode of our ongoing series on Pythagorean Philosophy. As with each of the earlier episodes in this series, today's show is based around a written article that you can read (for free) on my Substack/blog. The main topic of this episode is on the Golden Ratio (i.e. the Golden Section or Divine Proportion). Over the next 90+ minutes, I explain what the Golden Ratio is, how it's measured, and why, in Esoteric Philosophy, it is considered significant and sacred. As part of our discussion, we'll be going into the work of Scott Olsen (author of the excellent book "The Golden Section: Nature's Greatest Secret") to show how the Golden Ratio is cleverly referenced - in a vague and concealed manner - in works written over 2000 years ago by the great Athenian philosopher Plato. In these writings, Plato points us toward the esoteric significance of Phi and hints at why it was regarded with such high regard by the Mystery Schools, who forbade him and others from discussing it in an open and straightforward manner. I hope you'll stay tuned for this discussion. Please also check out the written article, linked above.Thank you, - Alex Sachonwww.alexsachon.comSend us a text

Hey everyone,Thank you for tuning back in. After a brief pause, I'm excited to be continuing our series on Pythagorean Philosophy. Originally, I had planned this series to be four parts, but I have extended this now to five, meaning there is one additional episode coming after this one.In this current episode (part 4), we are going to be delving further into the Pythagorean principles of the Triad and Pentad in order to explore how the thinking of modern "Systems Science" interfaces with these ancient ideas. As we will see,  Systems Science's triad of "supersystems, systems, and subsystems" interfaces nicely with the Pythagorean sect's doctrine of numerical philosophy. I hope you'll stay tuned to find out how it all fits together. Here's a link to the original article this presentation is based off of: LINKA video version of this episode is on YouTube. Here's a link to my YT page. My website: www.alexsachon.comThank you, - AlexSend us a text

Hey everyone,Today I have a special episode: an analysis of a classic Manly Hall lecture titled "The Feminine Factor in World Religion". Here we will be investigating the topic of the Divine Feminine, which we've already tackled in some detail in our previous series on Mahayana Buddhism and Pythagorean Philosophy. In this lecture, Manly Hall simplifies the core ideas of these doctrines, making them accessible to anyone.Throughout this lecture, Hall offers an inspiring vision for how human society can be regenerated by re-embracing something we once had but lost: an understanding of and reverence for God the Mother - i.e. "the Mother Goddess".At the end of this lecture, Manly Hall hints at somewhat of a prophecy for our time and place, one that foresees a coming restoration of Divine Feminine in human life. This is an episode that's not to be missed.Thank you,- Alex Sachonwww.alexsachon.comVideo link: https://youtu.be/De5Dm41u1vUSend us a text