This recording is a part of a wider series of conversations from September to October of 1980 where Howard Thurman met with a variety of young men and women who were discerning their calling to ministry. Thurman poses the intent of this group as an opportunity to "open up for one's self the moving, vital, creative push of God, while God is still disguised in the movement of God's self." This recording opens with one student's reflection on the inner life, which is followed by a discussion on dualism, in relation to the inner life, from Thurman. Thurman explores the tension between the outer life and the inner life, religion and superstition, and the practical and the theoretical. Speaking to these examples of dualism, Thurman notes that dualism as "a padding, a shield, to keep us from the naked exposure to the spirit of God."

Part of the Collection, NA

Tags: A Chorus Line, authority, cleric, coffee, confidence, darkness, dualism, evolution, fluid area of purpose, inner guidance, inner life, inward journey, Jesus, Kentucky, Martin Luther King Jr., Nature of God, nerve center of consent, New Haven, New Jersey, non-dual, Passaic, praxis, psalmist, reflection, Shekhinah, symbolism, teachers, temptation, test, textile strike, turning, ultimate truth, validation

Description by Dustin Mailman

Recorded in NA

Citation: Thurman, Howard, “Conversations with Howard Thurman, September 1980, Parts 5 and 6, Side A,” The Howard Thurman Digital Archive, accessed July 9, 2024, https://thurman.pitts.emory.edu/items/show/300.