Sacred Wisdom, Sacred Texts

My friendship with Moses is a friendship rooted in the sense of connection I feel, not so much with his ideas, as with his experiences of life, beginning with his earliest experiences in the womb and as a little child. The Moses Episodes all focus on major themes and events in Moses' life, and his pre-history, as those are described in two of the five “books of Moses.” After one Episode that surve...

The character of the beast in the fable “Beauty and the Beast” turns out to be a complicated mix of brutality and tenderness that is brought out by “the beauty.” The portrayal of the divine character in Genesis is a totally different thing but has more similarities than some may want to consider… This Episode is a deeper dive into the first of the five “Books of Moses”: Genesis. I explore difficul...

I am convinced you and I begin long before we began. Our pre-history shapes much of who we are, and it is impossible to truly know a person apart from knowing some degree of what came before them. It is no different with my friend Moses… This Episode is largely a survey of the events in Genesis. Moses is never mentioned there, so why begin talking about my friend Moses by looking at a book where h...

What is real, what went wrong, and how do we fix it? In this Episode I continue trying to make sense of how John and the Buddha might answer those three questions. It involves me comparing the Buddha and the Gospel of John to aliens touching a truck on a desert road…that is not the normal starting point, I admit. Then again, what do they want to say about that truck? I managed to get myself down t...

This Episode includes me trying to make sense of John and the Buddha, and it features four aliens trying to make sense of a truck on a desert highway. How do these two things go together? And what does it have to tell us about “ultimate reality?” I have been looking forward to getting these two into the same room, after spending one on one time with them over 20 Episodes, or about 10 each,…and now...

Russian stacking dolls, an elaborate drop down menu, a plate of spaghetti noodles…the Buddha;s teaching can be bewilderingly complex! Well, reality is complex so we shouldn’t be surprised…but what if there was a single unifying thread? This Episode continues to explore the teaching of the Buddha from the "Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta" (dhumma-chak-ka-pawat-tana soot-a), or, the “Setting in Motion t...

These days when I go to the gym and work on various muscle groups, my motivation includes wanting to stay strong enough to wrestle with my grandkids! Developing Right Mindfulness is like working a muscle group…My Motivation? To live with compassion… This Episode continues to explore the teaching of the Buddha from the "Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta" (dhumma-chak-ka-pawat-tana soot-a), or, the “Setti...

Some people seem to do the most difficult things effortlessly. Me? I tend to try too hard, sort of like tuning a guitar string…until breaks. Of course, some of us don’t make enough effort…is there a “right effort?” The Buddha thought so... This Episode continues to explore the "Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta" (dhumma-chak-ka-pawat-tana soot-a), or, the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma” Sutta, I...

Investment advice, AI, gender and sexuality. The Buddha presented the Eightfold Path roughly 2,500 years ago, can it have anything relevant to say to all that? If I took the time to record this, my answer must be yes, right? This Episode continues to explore the "Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta" (dhumma-chak-ka-pawat-tana soot-a), or, the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma” Sutta, I am using the t...

In the movie Braveheart one of my favorite scenes comes right after William Wallace has stirred everyone up with a fiery speech and one of his friends and fellow rebels says, “fine speech…now what do we do?” “Be yourselves,” says Wallace. How would the Buddha answer “now what do we do?” This Episode continues to explore the "Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta" (dhumma-chak-ka-pawat-tana soot-a), or, the...

When the Buddha achieved enlightenment, and the wheel of his teaching started rolling, it is said that there was a seismic reaction in the entire cosmos, a spasm throughout the universe…and it is a strange universe… This Episode continues to explore the "Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta" (dhumma-chak-ka-pawat-tana soot-a), or, the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma” Sutta, I am using the translatio...

Everything is permanently impermanent, and impermanently permanent; existence is non-existent, and non-existence exists…the Buddha called his teaching “the middle way” and it is full of yes/no and both/and… This Episode continues to explore the "Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta" (dhumma-chak-ka-pawat-tana soot-a), or, the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma” Sutta, I am using the translation of the...

If humanity were a patient and you were called upon to treat it, where would you begin? Like a doctor, the Buddha has examined our symptoms, formed a diagnosis, given a prognosis, and he prescribed a cure… This Episode continues to explore the "Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta" (dhumma-chak-ka-pawat-tana soot-a), or, the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma” Sutta. I am using the translation of the s...

The "Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta" (dhumma-chak-ka-pawat-tana soot-a), or, the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma” Sutta, Buddhism is everywhere, and nowhere. I meet people all the time who say things like, “yeah, I’m really into Buddhism…” but who seem to have no idea what the Buddha actually taught. This Episode will get our toes in the water, or as he might have said it, “get the wheel rolli...

What is God like, and who is Jesus? What might John say about development within Christianity? the Trinity? Jesus in the creeds? This is a special Episode that looks at three primary Christian texts through the lens of John 1. Some Background for New Listeners... The Sacred Wisdom, Sacred Texts podcast is my way of presenting my own, very personal and individual approach to conversations with what...

I have personal questions for John: what is religion? Though John doesn’t mention this, what would he say about art and artists? And then there’s all the Jesus stuff. What does John really think… Implications…Everything has implications. Almost every explicit statement also implies more than it says directly. There are implications intended by a communicator but there are sometimes implications th...

You and I are the whole point! This is part 2 of exploring the pearl at the center of John’s Prologue, and the astounding reality that the divine life is meant to be shared…we…you and I, are invited to share the divine DNA. John 1:1-18 The Greek Text 1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. 2 οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. 3 πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ...

You and I are the whole point! The pearl at the center of John’s Prologue reveals an astounding reality, that the divine life, the divine DNA, is meant to be shared…with you and I. This is part 1 of unpacking that… John 1:1-18 The Greek Text 1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. 2 οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. 3 πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο...

Do you see what I see…or maybe, do we see what we see…or, heck, did I see what I saw…And what are we looking at anyway? For John, it's the heart of the divine…the divine in the cosmos/nature, present everywhere, and the divine in a particular time and place and person.  John 1:1-18 The Greek Text  1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. 2 οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν...

God and a wounded heart? I don’t presume to know how to speak of the emotions of God…but it seems like one of the threads of John’s narrative tapestry is a very sad love story, a love story that turns out to be as old as time itself. John 1:1-18 The Greek Text and Translation 1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. 2 οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. 3 πάντα δι' αὐτο...

Humility, and God? I used to think that went in one direction: that we humans need to have humility before an all powerful divine being. But what if there is something divine about humility, and something humble about divinity? The Greek Text (My translation is below) 1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. 2 οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. 3 πάντα δι' αὐτοῦ ἐγένετ...

Life. First we take it for granted. Then we make plans for it. . Later still we may well be forced to decide between the length or the quality of it. Here and there we might ask about the meaning of it. But at the end of the day, what is this thing we call life? John 1:1-18: Greek Text and My Translation: The Greek Text 1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. 2 οὗτ...

What is life, what does it mean? Yes, these can be questions typical of the age of adolescence. But for John the question “what is life” touches everything: you, me, the world, and the divine nature. Everything (Note: I tried to include the full Ring Structure here, but the formatting is more confusing than it is helpful! If you would like a document with the Ring Structure included, message me in...

What or who is God like, if there is a God? And can God be known in some way? How? In a world of influencers, self-help gurus, and fake news, I am turning to sacred texts to look for answers, beginning with the Gospel of John… John 1:1-18: Greek Text and My Translation: The Greek Text 1 Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. 2 οὗτος ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρὸς τὸν θεόν. 3 πάντα...

Beginnings, origins, starting points. Of the cosmos, or a person, or a podcast, or in a podcast about sacred texts, even the beginnings of sacred texts!   #sacred #interconnection #religion #spirituality #spiritualwisdom #kevincaldwell #soulcialism