Inner Life, Talks and Thoughts

Does art need to have a sacred dimension to be art at all? What are the sources of inspiration?

In this dialogue, which is the 102nd in the series, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon, explore how meaning and beauty, truth and connection might be manifested in the arts.

What is the role of reverence and empathy, place and intelligence? Conversely, what is lost when art loses a reference beyond the human and mechanical world? 

If art energizes the human spirit, encourages awareness, and revitalises symbols, how might it speak to us today of what it is be human and to live in a more than human world?

The conversation took place in The Garrison Chapel, Chelsea, and was organised by The King’s Foundation.

For more on Mark see https://www.markvernon.com
For more on Rupert see https://rupertsheldrake.com

Susanne Sklar and Mark Vernon explore William Blake's late, great poem, "Jerusalem the Emanation of the Giant Albion"

"Of the Sleep of Ulro! and of the passage through Eternal Death! and of the awakening to Eternal Life," Blake tells us the epic is about.

Albion features, as does the heroine Jersualem, as well as Jesus.

So how did Blake weave together these figures? How can the poem be read? What is its message and theology? What insights does it offer today?

Susanne's book is "Blake's 'Jerusalem' As Visionary Theatre: Entering the Divine Body".

Mark's book is "Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination."

www.markvernon.com

Many people report apparitions of their loved ones after death, and even of loved dogs and cats. But how do these after-death communications align with the Christian teaching of the resurrection of the body? 

In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon explore the evidence for the post-mortem appearances of humans and non-humans, and ask how it fits with the accounts of Jesus’s resurrection in the Bible. 

The appearance of Jesus to the disciples and others is often taken as evidence of a physical revival of Jesus after his crucifixion but a subtler, arguably more compelling interpretation is that after-death communications are relatively common - which is the experience the disciples had. Then, the resurrection of Jesus shows something about the nature of the spiritual body,  as Saint Paul calls the body that awaits us. 

But what to make of the empty tomb that had contained the body of Jesus and the variety of activities Jesus reportedly engaged in after his resurrection, and what this might mean for existence after death and the presence of other worlds that are also here and now?
Find 100 more conversations with myself and Rupert online.

For the 100th episode of The Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon considered the role of harmony, wholeness and hope in the modern world. The event was held in-person as well as streamed online.

The evening took as its inspiration the work of King Charles, who can be called a philosopher king. It follows the February 6 release on Amazon Prime of the documentary “Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision”. But what is this philosophy?

Rupert and Mark explore new ways that are old of looking at the world, aided by science, poetry, and perennial wisdom traditions. How is diversity transformed by awareness of unity? How might the unfolding of life aid transformation? Spirit, imagination and intelligence much matter.

The conversation was held in the Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead.

For more of Mark and Rupert's conversations see - https://www.markvernon.com/talks

Christianity doesn’t do well with erotic love. The unease stems, in part, from the fact that the word “eros” doesn’t appear in the New Testament. The lacuna means that points of reference for discussions about sex are typically inadequate and thin. Command stands in for clear thinking.

Then, there is Saint Paul’s remark: “marry if you must” (1 Cor 7:8-9). His ambivalence has resulted in sexual relationships being hidden in marriage, hoping that there, they do less harm than good. Lady Hillingdon’s remark comes to mind, to lie back and think of England - the wit glossing oceans of suffering.

That said, there are remarkable exceptions to the handwashing, of which, in the Christian West, the shining example is The Divine Comedy. Dante’s understanding of the way romantic love can initiate a path to God is fearless, instructive and, because intrepid, transformative. We need it now for, as William Blake observed, “Our wars are wars of life & wounds of love.”

For more on Mark and his book about Dante's Divine Comedy - www.markvernon.com