Inner Life, Talks and Thoughts

Why do people offer praise and gain from it? Does God require, even demand praise? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert and Mark discuss what can be wrongly implied by praise and what it might mean as an immensely rich practice. Mark confesses to having been put off the notion, as if adulation were demanded by a divine narcissist, which Rupert responds to by considering the etymology of praise, shared by words such as appreciation and interpretation. The discussion develops to consider how praise is a disclosing activity, arising from a spontaneous perception of wholeness, beauty and existence itself. They consider how praise is linked to attending, and the ways in which we reach out to see the world, even as the world reaches back to us, much as William Blake described when seeing "heaven in a wild flower". And they address the question of why and how God is associated with praise. Praise, it turns out, is highly praiseworthy.During the discussion the Boyle Lecture 2023 by Rowan Williams is mentioned, online here - https://youtu.be/5u9WGaWTgU8The book on Shakespeare by Valentin Gerlier is also referenced, details here - https://www.routledge.com/Shakespeare-and-the-Grace-of-Words-Language-Theology-Metaphysics/Gerlier/p/book/9781032121406For more dialogues between Rupert and Mark see - https://www.markvernon.com/talks and https://www.sheldrake.org/audios/sheldrake-vernon-dialogues

A review and discussion of Decoding Jung’s Metaphysics by Bernardo Kastrup, considering what’s conscious and unconscious, personal and collective, caused and evoked, and also asking about the tradition of German Idealism, within which Bernardo persuasively situates Jung.

There is a myth that science and religion are locked in conflicted.  And it's a battle that science must win.The physicist, Carlo Rovelli, is an eloquent purveyor of the myth and uses the Ancient Greek philosopher, Anaximander, to perpetuate the confrontation.However, Rovelli has a problem. His case rests on a set of assumptions that look increasingly untenable and untrue, and even undesirable.In fact, Anaximander can help us understand where modern science, for all its genius, goes wrong.

So you've bought into the great insights of Iain McGilchrist, as explored in The Master and His Emissary, and also, The Matter with Things.You understand that the key ability is “presencing the world”- comprehending, not merely calculating- experiencing, not merely modelling- attuning, not merely measuring- understanding, not merely manipulating- living and dying, not merely being on or off.But what now to do? How not to live? What’s needed is a conversion of awareness. So here I suggest 10 ways in which our experience might be transformed, not by fixing perception, but by paying attention to how we perceive and experience, and cultivating more expansive modes of awareness.1. be interested in darkness2. understand the imagination as concealing and revealing3. be embodied to be changed by sensing more4. love the minute particulars to know the universal5. monitor your experience of time6. look for the third awaiting to be seen or born7. be open to other intelligences, natural and supernatural8. reconsider the nature of suffering9. love the precipitousness of infinity, eternity10. know life is a comedy that survives, embraces tragedies.Drawing on great adepts such as Meister Eckhart and Nicholas of Cusa, and particularly on Dante and William Blake.0:00 intro02:17 be interested in darkness06:45 understand the imagination as concealing and revealing13:01 be embodied to be changed by sensing more17:05 love the minute particulars to know the universal19:17 monitor your experience of time22:30 look for the third awaiting to be seen or born25:45 be open to other intelligences, natural and supernatural32:37 reconsider the nature of suffering37:00 love the precipitousness of infinity, eternity43:46 know life is a comedy that survives, embraces tragedies48:45 summary in conclusion

Objectivity has come to be regarded as a prime ingredient of reliable knowledge. But what is objectivity, how has it arisen, and is the notion in need of reform? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert and Mark consider the recent work of the philosopher, Richard Gunton. With colleagues, Richard examines older understandings of objectivity in science and proposes an alternative which is truer to scientific work. In particular, the reductive idea that links objectivity with replication seems increasingly untenable, given the replication crisis in science. Instead, linking objectivity to representation provides a fruitful way forward. Rupert and Mark consider facets of the history of science, not least the difference between so-called primary and secondary qualities, as well as how science is actually carried out, with the role that imagination and aesthetics bring to innovation and insight. Might a new notion of objectivity be not only good for science but also become part of overcoming modern alienation from the world? Richard Gunton’s paper is co-authored with Marinus Stafleu and Michael Reiss and is entitled "A General Theory of Objectivity: Contributions from the Reformational Philosophy Tradition."For more dialogues between Rupert and Mark see:https://www.sheldrake.org/audios/sheldrake-vernon-dialogueshttps://www.markvernon.com/talks/talks-with-rupert-sheldrake

Prince Harry is caught in a media storm. But within the mix of sympathy and loathing lie transatlantic differences in psychological and psychotherapeutic traditions.What is sometimes called Self Psychology plays a bigger role in the US, focusing on the healing potential of empathy, idealisation and narrative. This shapes therapeutic and cultural styles. It seems as if Harry has, in part, turned to this tradition to find healing.In British and European traditions, a different approach tends to dominate. Called Object Relations, it is more inclined to challenge the individual and foster a capacity to see how they are situated in a network of relations that is sometimes supportive, sometimes not.I wonder whether something of these differences is playing out in the different receptions of Harry's story, and also in the psyche of one painfully public man.

To celebrate the release of his new book, Spiritual Intelligence in Seven Steps, the Pari Center invited Mark Vernon, to talk about his new work with Beth Macy.They discuss the notions of spiritual intelligence, the spiritual commons, the Axial revolutions, the presence of suffering, and whether we are in a new Axial Age now.For more on Spiritual Intelligence in Seven Steps see - https://www.markvernon.com/books/spiritual-intelligence-in-seven-stepsBeth Macy has been a manager, leader, consultant or participant in organizations experiencing difficult issues. David Bohm’s dialogue has been core to her research, writing, consulting and teaching for nearly three decades. Living in the USA (Texas) she is a contributor in the forthcoming Holoflux:Codex – Form/Movement/Vision inspired by David Bohm (Pari Publishing).For more on Mark Vernon see - www.markvernon.com

Spiritual Intelligence In Seven Steps is my new book, released December 2022.This is a short thought on step seven, which is about different types of time. Chronos, or clock time, dominates the world today. But there are other kinds, including kairos, which sees every moment as revelatory and is needed in times of change.For more on the book see - https://www.markvernon.com/books/spiritual-intelligence-in-seven-steps

Spiritual Intelligence In Seven Steps is my new book, released December 2022.This is a short thought on step four, which is about how beneath and through the ups and downs of everyday life, that vitality which can be called our soul, can be detected a wider being, which can be called spirit.For more on the book see - https://www.markvernon.com/books/spiritual-intelligence-in-seven-steps

Spiritual Intelligence In Seven Steps is my new book, released December 2022.This is a short thought on step three, which is concerned with how our sense of individuality, or oneness, can be known as a mirror of the unity of all things. This perception, in turn, facilities awareness of an abiding simplicity running through all complexity.For more on the book see - https://www.markvernon.com/books/spiritual-intelligence-in-seven-steps