The Philosophy of Prayer

Distinguished theologian George Pattison talks about the meaning of prayer in the modern world and how it brings us to awareness of our essential nothingness

‘Our starting point always has to be that we are not makers of our own being, but we are before we start doing anything for ourselves.’

Irreducible: Consciousness, Life, Computers and Human Nature

Richard Gault reviews a new book by one of the leading lights of the science of consciousness

Radical Hospitality: In Memory of Rosemary Haughton

Phoebe Ryrko remembers her grandmother, an inspiring theologian and activist who saw the divine in everyday life and human relationships

‘Our ordinary, lived experience is the place where we meet God, and the means by which we can become transformed’

Love Will Not Be Idle: Mysticism and Activism

Jane Clark reports on a conference put on by the Mystical Theology Network in March this year, and talks to its organiser, Dr Louise Nelstrop

Bringing Light to the World: the Vision of Ibn ‘Arabi

Dr Eric Winkel talks with Jane Clark and Richard Gault about what the wisdom of the great philosopher/mystic can offer us in these troubled time

‘At some point we have to get out of the head and out of the intellect and ask: Can we look with our hearts?’

The Cosmos in Stone: the Ascent of the Soul

Artist–Geometer Tom Bree explores the symbolism embodied in the design of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and Wells Cathedral in Southern England

‘The heavenly bodies present the soul with an image of its own inner workings. To look out into the universe becomes analogous to looking inwards.’

Introducing… Bernardo Kastrup and Swami Sarvapriyananda

Charlotte Maberly appreciates a wide-ranging video conversation about Eastern and Western concepts of the self and mind

The Matter with Things

Dr Iain McGilchrist discusses his most recent book which brings together neuroscience, psychology and philosophy into a unified vision

‘Our relationship with the All is the one thing that matters at the end of the day. And the purpose of all our other knowing and experience is to be able to understand this.’

Reflections on the Significance of 6 May

Richard Gault explores the transcultural meanings of the date chosen for the coronation of King Charles III

Faces of the Infinite

Stefan Sperl talks about Neoplatonism and the poetic traditions of the Near East and Europe

‘Diversity is an inevitable consequence of the complete transcendence of the One. There is never only one answer to anything, and nothing has only one meaning.’

Rabindranath Tagore: Participating in the Divine Playfulness

Hina Khalid explores the theological aesthetics of the great Bengali poet

‘At the heart of Tagore’s cosmology is the notion that the world is joyously sung into being. This creative sonic effusion is continually resounding through the cosmos in ever-new forms.’

Spirituality and Self Development

Dr Renee Hattar talks about an innovative course in Jordan which explores universal spiritual values with young leaders

‘The message from all religions is to have a humane value system and to spread peace on Earth. There is no such thing as a violent religion. It is true that we have violent interpretations, but that is not the same thing’

Book Review: “Metaphysical Animals” by Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman

Keith Hammond reviews a book about four remarkable women who brought meaning back into philosophy

Bring Back Metaphysics

Scientist and writer Colin Tudge makes a plea for us to return to what he calls ‘The Art of the Unknowable’

‘Metaphysics contributes a shortlist of crucial ideas to our attempts to understand the universe, and these cannot be supplied simply by science or by conventional philosophy.’

Book Review: “The Matter with Things” by Iain McGilchrist

Richard Gault reviews the magnum opus of an extraordinary thinker who lays out a detailed argument for the unity of the world

Reflections: Of the Passage through Eternal Death and Awakening to Eternal Life

Mark Vernon reflects upon the vision of William Blake and what we can learn from it in the wake of the Covid pandemic

With Tushar Gandhi In Mumbai

Robert Hirschfield | meets Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of the Mahatma, in Mumbai

Tribute to Thich Nhat Hanh

Roland Ashby | remembers the Vietnamese Zen master, who died on 22 January at the age of 95

Review: Dante’s Divine Comedy: a Guide for the Spiritual Journey

Barbara Vellacott | reviews a new book by Mark Vernon which guides us through Dante’s epic poem canto by canto

Thank God for Desmond Tutu

Christopher Ryan | pays a poetic tribute to the South African archbishop and human rights activist who died on 26th December

Exploring the Power of Love in ‘Attar’s Conference of the Birds

Kenneth Avery explores the famous story of Shaykh San‘an 

“What is important today is the view that friendship and love cut across religious or denominational horizons and connect believers and unbelievers alike.”

Reflections: Beside Still Waters

James Harpur | contemplates St Columba, Covid and the Rainmaker, and asks: how can we make our living conditions less hostile?

Introducing… Joanna Macy on ‘Climate Crisis as Spiritual Path’

Jane Clark | presents a short video by the pioneering eco-philosopher and activist

Review: The Ark in the Flood of Time

Richard Gault | reviews three epic tales from a master storyteller

The Heritage of Afghanistan

Robert Darr reflects on his long relationship with the people and culture of this ancient land, and shares his insights into its present situation

“No matter how powerful you are, there is nothing you can do to counteract the effect of  beauty… the Taliban ultimately can’t succeed because the Afghan people are too strongly rooted in their music and poetry.”

Review: Silicon

Richard Gault | reviews the autobiography of Federico Faggin, the man who invented the silicon chip, who is now putting forward a new theory of consciousness

Father Bede Griffiths

Adrian Rance-McGregor reviews the life of a pioneering 20th century mystic, and the message of one of his most insightful books, ‘A New Vision of Reality’

“Bede discovered new scientific paradigms that created a situation in which a universal and integrated vision of the world could incorporate modern scientific thinking.”

Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi / Warren Kenton

Joanna Lapage-Browne | pays tribute to a visionary thinker whose lifework was to revive the tradition of Kabbalah for the contemporary world

Maintaining a Radical Edge

Dharmacharini Suryagupta, Chair of the London Buddhist Centre, talks about the transformative power of Buddhism in the contemporary world

“Compassion has wisdom at the heart of it – not only the understanding that we are not separate beings, but also the knowledge that we are tapped into a huge reservoir of love.”

The Idea of the World

Richard Gault | reviews Bernardo Kastrup’s recent book, which aims to re-instate consciousness as the fundamental principle of reality

Reflections: Staying – A Lesson from Lockdown

Andrew Watson | finds guidance in the wisdom of the Desert Fathers (and Mothers) during the Covid-19 pandemic

Towards a Deeper Spirituality

The Reverend Peter Dewey looks back on a lifetime working with interfaith projects

“One of the characteristics of this deeper form of spiritual understanding is that it will include the full diversity of people working together and being together.”

Infinite Potential: The Life & Ideas of David Bohm

Director Paul Howard talks about his new film about a remarkable physicist with a radically holistic vision

“Bohm’s theories are rooted in the idea of wholeness. Everything that we see in our everyday world of space and time is in fact interconnected and not separate at a deeper level of reality.”

Keith Critchlow: A Life Well Lived

Richard Twinch pays tribute to the teacher and sacred geometer who died on April 8th 2020

“Geometry is at the root of the whole of manifestation. Everything that we can turn our attention to is based on geometry, that is, the ‘order of space’.”

Dante, Erotic Love and the Path to God

Mark Vernon | On the 700-year anniversary of The Divine Comedy, Mark Vernon explores a pivotal moment of transformation in the Purgatorio in which Dante gets a glimpse of the vastness of Divine Love

Dom Sylvester Houédard: tantric poetries

Charles Verey | A review of an exhibition of work done  in the 1960s and 70s by the remarkable monk/poet, whose lifework was to develop a universal form of spirituality.

Wholeness, Timelessness and Unfolding Meaning

An interview from the archives with physicist and philosopher David Bohm

“We have a tacit thought that everything that exists, exists in time and space. But this may not cohere with what we are finding now in physics and many other areas.”

A Secret History of Christianity

Johnathan Sunley | Mark Vernon’s new book draws upon the ideas of Owen Barfield, ‘the last Inkling’, to give us a deeper perspective not only on Christianity but also on the way that human consciousness and spirituality has evolved. In the contemporary world, he argues, “we must be mystics”.

Consciousness and the Computer

Richard Gault | Jeremy Naydler’s book In the Shadow of the Machine: The Prehistory of the Computer and the Evolution of Consciousness is an erudite and insightful exploration of digital technology and its philosophical/spiritual meaning.

The Wisdom of Time and Transformation

Dr Alison Roberts explains the ancient alchemical knowledge of Egypt

“I think of alchemy as a medicine for the soul. It’s a journey which helps us understand who we truly are, spiritually, in our deepest essence.”

Underland: A Deep Time Journey

Barbara Vellacott | Robert Macfarlane’s latest book takes us to extraordinary places deep under the earth, bringing together the physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions of the journey into darkness.

Meditation & Neurological Conditions

Consultant Neuropsychologist Niels Detert  explains how meditation can alleviate the suffering of people with long-term illnesses

“Human nature is both aware and compassionate, and it is there to be discovered by anyone, whether they think of themselves as engaging in a ‘spiritual’ activity or not.”

St Cuthbert of Farne

Kathy Tiernan | talks to Jane Clark about her latest book on the great Northumbrian saint and why she feels that St Cuthbert still has relevance for us in the 21st century.

Sacred Number and Its ‘Incarnation’ through Geometry

Tom Bree | The practice of geometry uses the visible forms of this world to point towards something beyond sight, bringing our rational and intuitive faculties into harmony.

Civilisations: A Personal View

Johnathan Sunley | A review of the BBC’s 2018 series. This presented a cornucopia of artistic achievement from all over the world, but in the end it failed to see “the one in the play of the many”.

 

Calligraphy – A Sacred Tradition

Distinguished calligrapher Ann Hechle talks about her lifelong quest to understand the underlying unity of the world

“As I grapple with putting letters, words and drawings together, I am using strategies that belong to a much bigger and grander world, which are part of universal law.”

A Thought at Christmas…

What is the universal significance of this festival celebrated at a pivotal moment of the year?

“What would it be to experience time, once more as the moving image of eternity, the continual incarnation of the divine…?”

Bewildered by Love and Longing

Michael Sells and Simone Fattal talk about a new translation of Ibn ‘Arabi’s famous cycle of love poems Translation of Desires

“For Ibn ‘Arabi longing or desire is a cosmic force. It goes beyond all boundaries, and it is the closest taste of the infinite that people can have in their own experience.”

The Zoroastrian Flame

Khojeste Mistree talks about one of the world’s oldest surviving religions and what we can learn from it in the present day

“One of the principles of the Zoroastrian way of life is to promote harmony in this world, and we believe that harmony begins by being happy within ourselves.”

A New Architectural Language for Islam

The inclusive vision of Glenn Murcutt’s Australian Islamic Centre

“The building sets out to be physically and psychologically inclusive. It speaks eloquently of both its current Australian context and ancient Islamic culture.”