Inner Life, Talks and Thoughts

William Blake is famous for his phrase "cleansing the doors of perception". But he has much, much more to offer the renewed interest in psychedelics underway in our times.He responds to the need for a social and spiritual setting, widely recognised by those investigating psychedelics now, so that personal experiences can be not only beneficial for individuals but transformative in cultural.Here, I discuss facets of his insight that suggest seven elements in which the psychedelic experience overlaps with cultural need.1. Learning that imagination is truth-bearing2. Realising that inner freedom is crucial3. Perceiving that consciousness is basic4. Recognising that healing is collective5. Experiencing death as a portal6. Understanding that vision matters more than morality7. Awakening to the malleability of time.

"More! More! is the cry of a mistaken soul, less than All cannot satisfy Man," wrote William Blake. How we might participate in the All, without consuming more and more, can serve as a summary of Blake's vision and vocation. All he did was, in a way, an increasingly extended, expansive reflection on how to live in the presence of infinity.The mistakes we make, when confusing this eternity with mere accumulation, offer an analysis of the modern predicament. Blake realised that there is no point telling people to want less, or even to moderate their desires. Rather, we need to learn how to discern our desires so they lead towards that which they really seek: the all.It's an education of attention, an awakening of the divine. He provides powerful pointers in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, a series of provocations not to live modestly but, rather, transformatively. Perceiving the infinite tracks a path of liberty and vision, love and fearlessness, which I explore in this discussion of the proverbs that he tells us he heard in the energetic, exuberant fires of hell.

The reality TV star, Tyler Henry, became famous with his celebrity readings. His new Netflix series, Life After Death, is a chance to consider what he does in a different light.My sense is he is one of the relatively rare highly gifted clairvoyants, who have impressed investigators like William James.I'm also struck by how his way of working resonates with psychotherapeutic phenomena like countertransference, as well as the testimony of Dante in the Divine Comedy.Tyler Henry challenges worldviews. But if not simply dismissed, and also approached in a less starry more discerning light, he offers a chance to understand more of life, its relationship to death, and what our times may be rediscovering.

The land commons are the shared material resources that nobody in particular might own, and everyone might have, though they are routinely taken from us. Land and forests, water and minerals.The spiritual commons are the being of life itself that nobody owns and everyone has. And arguably, they are being taken from us even more carelessly and callously....For more on Idler Drinks see - https://www.idler.co.ukFor more on Nick Hayes see - https://www.foghornhayes.comFor more on Mark Vernon see - https://www.markvernon.com

A conversation on wrestling with Christianity - or perhaps more accurately, the Christianities that swirl around the figure of Jesus - at the Medicine Path podcast, #87, with Brian James.For more on Brian - http://medicinepathpodcast.com, http://brianjames.caFor more on Owen Barfield and his take on Christianity - https://www.markvernon.com/consciousness

Modern Stoicism is more diverse than I knew, I learnt when I spoke with Simon Drew, Kai Whiting and Sharon Lebell. In particular, the divine element in ancient Stoicism, which was central, has not been discarded by everyone involved in the recent Stoic revival.In this conversation, we talk about Stoicism, the Logos, the cosmos, Christianity, and the spiritual path of Dante’s Divine Comedy. I hope it's enjoyable.For more on The Walled Garden - https://thewalledgarden.com

Politics and religion is a question of our times. The role of the church and Christianity is contested in both Russia and the liberal West.William Blake was aware of the failure of politics in his time, recognising it wasn't ultimately a failure of leadership or practical solutions but of vision.What politics is for? What role do religious institutions play in it? What has been lost in the Babylon materialism of today?Blake applied his deepest perceptions and devised a dynamic fourfold schema that can guide us through the blindness and failure of our times. It is radical and pressing.

The scientific study of religion has produced numerous accounts for the evolutionary origins of a sense of the numinous in Homo sapiens. Robin Dunbar, Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at Oxford, is in the vanguard of plausible theories, not least as explored in his new book, How Religion Evolved and Why It Endures.In this interview, for the Church Times podcast, we explore his ideas and their ramifications:- how the religiosity of Homo sapiens exceeds others Homo species- how mystical experience is the "motor" of religious forms- the role of religion in the emergence of complex societies - why cults exist and the links between religion and violence- how religious diversity offers a shared sacred story for humanity.An audio version of the conversation is online at https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2022/22-april/audio-video/podcast/robin-dunbar-in-conversation-with-mark-vernon.My essay on trance states and the origins of religions is published by Aeon, at https://aeon.co/essays/how-trance-states-forged-human-society-through-transcendence

Iain McGilchrist and Mark Vernon discuss the impact of overweening bureaucracy and technologies of control on modern society. They explore the legacy of the Covid pandemic, the story modern humanity tells about itself, and fundamental matters like the reality of evil and the meaning of death. The conversation encourages a deeper awareness of nature, the sacred, and life in order to respond more imaginatively to our times.

Each week, on Thursdays, we meet for Idler Drinks online, at which I give a short talk.We're not meeting over Easter, so this is an extra, reflecting on the Isenheim Altarpiece and the extraordinarily moving experience of Marian Partington, to ask how pain might be born when so much of it surrounds us.A written version of the reflection is online here - https://www.idler.co.uk/article/mark-vernons-thought-of-the-week/.