Inner Life, Talks and Thoughts

The discussion of alternative worldviews, from various forms of materialism to types of idealism, has exploded in recent years, and the notion of panpsychism is in the middle of the debate.  In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon explore the different types of panpsychism being proposed, from more conservative forms that are linked to materialism, to ol...

A friendly chat about the movie Soul, with me Pippa Evans and Jonathan Rowson. Does Pixar's latest movie have a message we should 'get', or is the most important thing to get about the movie that there is really nothing to get? In what way might it place our plans for our lives in perspective? Does it make it any clearer what 'the soul' is? We are colleagues at Perspectiva...

We naturally talk about seeking the light at the end of the tunnel, or hoping to be enlightened. But are such phrases that reference light more than metaphors?  In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon explore how light is both physical and spiritual, and note the remarkable harmony between scientific and mythical ways of exploring light.  They ask about...

Artificial intelligence is rarely out of the news. But what is it?  In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon take a lead from the breakthrough by Google in the prediction of protein folding, which Rupert has studied for decades.  Whether this success reveals any deeper understanding of nature leads to a discussion of different types of intelligence, such...

I heard Rhonda Byrne talking with Rupert Spira and wondered what on earth they might have in common. The Law of Attraction is simply an error in nondualism, identifying with thoughts rather than awareness. But The Greatest Secret offers a very different philosophy to The Secret. In my view, Byrne confuses them to some degree in her new book, though that can in itself be illuminating. There is a wr...

Pixar’s animation genius brings us, Soul, a film about the quest for meaning and music. I think it wittily subverts many common nostrums about happiness and fulfilment, purpose and pleasure, by fearlessly tackling the metaphysical as well as the mundane. A written version of this talk can be found at www.markvernon.com.

Owen Barfield agreed with the other Inklings, like JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, that the life of Jesus marked a pivot point in history. But he had a particularly powerful way of capturing the truth… Reading from History in English Words by Owen Barfield. For more on his understanding of Christianity, the evolution of consciousness, and genius worldview, see www.markvernon.com.