This is John's second video essay, and it delivers a thorough critique of contemporary theories of meaning in life. With his student Arjun Arora assisting, John dismantles the standard psychological and folk categories — purpose, coherence, significance, and mattering — showing why they fall short of capturing the depth of what "meaning" actually is.

Arjun Arora is a cognitive science and physics scholar whose work bridges science, philosophy, and the search for meaning. As a student collaborator of Dr. John Vervaeke at the University of Toronto, Arora explores questions at the intersection of cognitive science, metaphysics, and existential psychology. His research focuses on the nature of meaning in life.

The Blind Spot

Meaning in Life: An Analytic Study

Charles Taylor

Michael Levin

—

00:00 Welcome to the Lectern

01:16 "What makes a life worth living, even when we are faced by frustrations, failures, and our faults?"

01:30 Meet Arjun Arora 03:00 Critiquing the standard model of meaning in life 04:30 Purpose and orientation 06:00 Coherence and its challenges 08:00 Significance and mattering 11:30 Meaning in life vs. meaning of life 14:30 Worldviews and meta meaning systems 17:00 The role of affordance and adaptivity 22:00 The normativity of meaning in life 47:00 The developmental dimension of meaning in life 52:00 Exploring the connection between wisdom and meaning 52:30 Modal confusion and existential modes 53:00 The having mode vs. the being mode 53:30 The cost of modal confusion 55:00 Existential resilience and meaning in life 58:00 The normative aspect of meaning 01:04:00 The role of trust and belonging in meaning 01:08:00 The problem with the current meaning in life construct 01:12:30 The need for a new metaphysics 01:43:00 The importance of phenomenology in meaning 01:45:00 Concluding thoughts and future directions

—

The Vervaeke Foundation is committed to advancing the scientific pursuit of wisdom and creating a significant impact on the world. Become a part of our mission.

Join Awaken to Meaning to explore practices that enhance your virtues and foster deeper connections with reality and relationships.

—

Ideas, People, and Works Mentioned in this Episode

Philosophical Silk Road

Intersection of Neo-Platonism and Judaism

Ibn Gabirol's philosophy of matter and form

Fountain of Life and the concept of God

Dialogical nature of reason

Jewish mysticism and its influence

Potentiality and actuality in Neo-Platonism

Receptivity and creativity in philosophy

Coupling of form and matter in existence

Desire and the divine essence

Logos as the "virtual engine"

Purpose of mankind and knowledge

Self-organization and complexity

The mystery of the divine and analogy of language

Ibn Gabirol (Avicebron)

Sarah Pessin – scholar, Theology of Desire

Zevi Slavin – host/interlocutor

Andalusian thinkers

Fountain of Life

Selected Poems of Ibn Gabirol

Theology of Desire

Books and literature on Ibn Gabirol generally

—

Follow John Vervaeke: Website | Twitter | YouTube | Patreon

—

Thank you for Listening!

Thank you for joining us for our monthly Silk Road Seminar!

Today's guest is @JonathanPageau Jonathan Pageau is a Canadian artist, writer, and public thinker exploring the patterns that unite art, symbolism, and meaning. As an icon carver and lecturer on symbolic thinking, Jonathan has become a prominent voice in the growing movement to recover traditional ways of seeing the world. His work brings together theology, myth, and modern culture to help audiences rediscover the sacred patterns underlying reality.

He is the host of The Symbolic World, a popular podcast and YouTube channel where he examines culture, art, and current events through the lens of symbolism and story. Jonathan's insights have made him a sought-after speaker at universities, conferences, and major podcasts, including appearances on Jordan Peterson's podcast and The Portal with Eric Weinstein.

Beyond his media work, Jonathan is a skilled icon carver in the Orthodox Christian tradition, producing liturgical and commissioned pieces that embody the very principles he teaches. He is also the editor of The Orthodox Arts Journal and co-founder of Symbolic World Press, which publishes works on theology, philosophy, and art that bridge ancient wisdom and contemporary experience.

Silk Road Seminars are a live event where John weaves together threads from his various theoretical conversations along with a distinguished guest. These hour-long conversations are live on Youtube followed by an exclusive Q&A, where you can ask questions directly to John and his guest. To be entered onto the guest list for these Q&As, you can sign up at the Gamma Tier (and above) on The Lectern at https://lectern.teachable.com/p/lectern-lounge Currently enrolled university students at all levels up to doctoral studies get free access to the Q&A. To gain access to Silk Road seminars, please email your proof of student identity to [email protected] to be added to the guest list and watch previous seminars as well!

If you would like to donate purely out of goodwill to support John's work, please consider joining our Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke.

The Vervaeke Foundation is committed to advancing the scientific pursuit of wisdom and creating a significant impact on the world. https://vervaekefoundation.org/

If you would like to learn and engage regularly in practices that are informed, developed and endorsed by John and his work, visit Awaken to Meaning's calendar to explore practices that enhance your virtues and foster deeper connections with reality and relationships. https://awakentomeaning.com/join-practice/

John Vervaeke:

https://johnvervaeke.com/

https://twitter.com/DrJohnVervaeke

https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke

https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke

Something is coming: https://lectern.johnvervaeke.com/p/whatnext

What if mastery isn't about perfection—but about transformation?

In this episode of The Lectern, John Vervaeke is joined by Ethan Hsieh to explore how the cultivation of virtuosity—typically associated with the arts—can become central to philosophical and existential growth. Ethan introduces his Tiamat process, a three-tier developmental framework integrating performance training, cognitive science, and dialogical practice.

Together, they explore what it means to live a deliberately developmental life, moving beyond therapy into embodied transformation. Ethan draws from his background in acting, pedagogy, and philosophy to offer a new model of self-cultivation rooted in agency, feedback, metacognition, and trust.

Ethan Hsieh is a facilitator, educator, and philosophical practitioner whose work bridges performance, cognition, and transformative pedagogy. As the creator of the Tiamat process, he integrates insights from embodied practice, developmental psychology, and dialogical philosophy to help individuals cultivate virtuosity as a way of life. Ethan is also a co-founder of Five to Midnight, a community of practice that fosters relational, developmental growth through shared inquiry.

Learn more: http://5tomidnight.org

-

00:00 – Opening and intentions

03:00 – Ethan's background in theater and philosophy

07:30 – What is Tiamat? Three-tiered developmental model

11:00 – Mapping metacognition through embodied practice

14:00 – Why "meta-maps" matter

17:00 – Habituation and interrupting automaticity

20:00 – Tiamat vs traditional therapy

24:00 – Participatory transformation and co-regulation

29:00 – Why agency must be distributed

1:00:00 – Where transformation lives: tier two dynamics

1:05:00 – Closing reflections

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Tiamat Process – Ethan's developmental model blending performance, cognition, and feedback

Meta Maps – Tools for mapping metacognition and lived experience

Postures of Presence – Ethan's term for enacted, relational awareness

Five to Midnight – Ethan's practice-based community: http://5tomidnight.org

Deliberately Developmental Civilization – Concept by Ken Wilber & Dustin Dene

Unified Theory of Knowledge (UTOK) – Metatheoretical cognitive framework: https://unifiedtheoryofknowledge.org

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Ideas, People, and Works Mentioned: Tiamat process Virtuosity and virtue Meta maps and metacognition Postures of presence Embodied transformation Relational ontology Distributed agency Participatory knowing Deliberately developmental civilization Complexification and growth Therapy vs. transformative practice Feedback and co-regulation Performance and philosophy Five to Midnight Unified Theory of Knowledge (UTOK) Ken Wilber Dustin Dene John Vervaeke

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Follow John Vervaeke: https://johnvervaeke.com https://twitter.com/DrJohnVervaeke https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke

Thank you for joining us for our monthly Silk Road Seminar! Today's guest is Elizabeth Oldfield.

Elizabeth Oldfield is an experienced leader, writer, consultant and podcast host with a passion for intelligent public engagement on issues of reconciliation, identity, and healing our common life. She is currently working with a range of organisations and individuals as a coach and consultant focused on building clarity, courage and connection.

Elizabeth appears regularly in the media, including BBC One, Sky News, the World Service, and writing in Prospect Magazine, UnHerd and The Financial Times. She also hosts The Sacred, a podcast, events and visual content brand which creates space for a wide range of guests to reflect on their deepest values. For ten years she was Director of Theos, the UK's leading religion and society think tank, where she was repeatedly accredited by Best Companies as a 3* (world class) manager, reflecting her commitment to building and leading flourishing, high performing teams. She spent the first part of her career working at the BBC in television and radio, contributing to programmes including Beyond Belief and the Moral Maze, as well as Radio 3 and 4 documentaries. She is motivated by the dearth of real wisdom in public life, by a desire to increase empathy across our deep differences and the way spirituality can help individuals and societies flourish. She has a masters in Theology and the Arts and lives in an intentional community in south London.

She has spoken with John previously on UnHerd and you can watch the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/SGCVcMFCd7o?si=pTU2cCbcgR1Nj2xF

Silk Road Seminars are a live event where John weaves together threads from his various theoretical conversations along with a distinguished guest. These hour-long conversations are live on Youtube followed by an exclusive Q&A, where you can ask questions directly to John and his guest. To be entered onto the guest list for these Q&As, you can sign up at the Gamma Tier (and above) on The Lectern at https://lectern.teachable.com/p/lectern-lounge

Currently enrolled university students at all levels up to doctoral studies get free access to the Q&A. To gain access to Silk Road seminars, please email your proof of student identity to [email protected] to be added to the guest list and watch previous seminars as well!

If you would like to donate purely out of goodwill to support John's work, please consider joining our Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke

The Vervaeke Foundation is committed to advancing the scientific pursuit of wisdom and creating a significant impact on the world. https://vervaekefoundation.org/

If you would like to learn and engage regularly in practices that are informed, developed and endorsed by John and his work, visit Awaken to Meaning's calendar to explore practices that enhance your virtues and foster deeper connections with reality and relationships. https://awakentomeaning.com/join-practice/

John Vervaeke:

https://johnvervaeke.com/

https://twitter.com/vervaeke_john

https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke

https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke

Watch the first episode of our new season of Lectern Dialogues! This season's guest is Zevi Slavin. Zevi Slavin is a philosopher, educator, and public scholar whose work explores the intersections of mysticism and philosophy across traditions. As the creator of Seekers of Unity, he is dedicated to reviving and reinterpreting the voices of philosophical mystics, with a focus on Jewish thought and its dialogue with Greek and Islamic philosophy. A leading voice in the study of Jewish Neoplatonism, Slavin highlights figures such as Solomon Ibn Gabirol, whose integration of poetry, metaphysics, and theology offers profound resources for contemporary seekers. Through his research and public teaching, he advocates for a unified vision of reality that transcends artificial divides between traditions, demonstrating how historical thinkers can inform modern life, meaning, and spirituality.

Seekers of Unity YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/c/SeekersofUnity

The Zohar – Foundational text of Kabbalah: https://sefaria.org/Zohar?lang=bi

Lurianic Kabbalah (Isaac Luria): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Luria

Sefer Yetzirah – Early Kabbalistic text: https://sefaria.org/Sefer_Yetzirah?lang=bi

Each quarter, John engages in thought-provoking extended conversations with a leading expert in psychology, philosophy, and spirituality. Each season offers a unique exploration, bringing together their diverse fields of knowledge to create fresh insights and understanding. These in-depth discussions, chaptered for your convenience, offer nuanced perspectives and integrative approaches to navigating our complex world. The first episode is free and publicly available. To follow the rest of the season as well as gain access to previous discussions, you can sign up at the Beta Tier (and above) on The Lectern at https://lectern.teachable.com/p/lectern-lounge

Shownotes

(00:00) Welcome to the Lectern

(01:00) Philosophical Silk Road and Andalusian Thinker

(01:30) Innovative Intersection of Neoplatonism and Judaism

(02:00) Books and Literature on Ibn Gabirol

(03:00) Ibn Gabirol's Philosophical and Poetic Contributions

(03:30) "I really like about this is his idea of God as an inexhaustible fount of intelligible realness."

(04:00) Dialogical Nature of Reason and Selected Poems

(05:00) Sarah Pessin's Work and Theology of Desire

(06:30) Jewish Influence and Mysticism in Ibn Gabirol's Work

(07:30) Philosophical Context and Relevance Today

(08:00) Zevi's Perspective on Philosopher-Mystics

(14:00) Discussion on Matter and Form

(22:30) Potentiality and Actuality in Neoplatonism

(35:30) Receptivity and Creativity in Philosophy

(41:00) Exploring the Receptivity of Matter and Jewish Mysticism

(41:00) The Coupling of Form and Matter in Existence

(43:00) Desire and the Divine Essence

(48:00) Logos and the Virtual Engine

(52:00) The Purpose of Mankind and Knowledge

(57:30) The Journey of Self-Organization and Complexity

(01:11:00) The Mystery of the Divine and the Analogy of Language

(01:22:00) The Legend of Ibn Gabirol's Death and Legacy

—

The Vervaeke Foundation is committed to advancing the scientific pursuit of wisdom and creating a significant impact on the world. Become a part of our mission.

Join Awaken to Meaning to explore practices that enhance your virtues and foster deeper connections with reality and relationships.

—

Ideas, People, and Works Mentioned in this Episode

Philosophical Silk Road

Intersection of Neo-Platonism and Judaism

Ibn Gabirol's philosophy of matter and form

Fountain of Life and the concept of God

Dialogical nature of reason

Jewish mysticism and its influence

Potentiality and actuality in Neo-Platonism

Receptivity and creativity in philosophy

Coupling of form and matter in existence

Desire and the divine essence

Logos as the "virtual engine"

Purpose of mankind and knowledge

Self-organization and complexity

The mystery of the divine and analogy of language

Ibn Gabirol (Avicebron)

Sarah Pessin – scholar, Theology of Desire

Zevi Slavin – host/interlocutor

Andalusian thinkers

Fountain of Life

Selected Poems of Ibn Gabirol

Theology of Desire

Books and literature on Ibn Gabirol generally

—

Follow John Vervaeke: Website | Twitter | YouTube | Patreon

—

Thank you for listening!

Thank you for joining us for this in-depth solo lecture from Dr. John Vervaeke, where he continues his exploration of cognition, meaning, and spirit from the perspective of relevance realization and predictive processing.

In this talk, John takes us on a journey through the architecture of the mind, explaining how voluntary necessity, scientific idealization, and porous participation form the basis of how we understand ourselves and the world. He unpacks the imaginal dimension of cognition, the deep entanglement of anticipation and rationality, and how the fellowship of the spirit provides an existential framework for collective meaning-making.

Drawing from philosophers like Spinoza, Merleau-Ponty, Charles Taylor, and William Desmond, and cognitive scientists like Carl Friston and Andy Clark, John interweaves modern theory with ancient insight to offer a profound vision of how reason, imagination, and love can coexist.

Shownotes: 00:00 – Introduction and Opening Remarks 01:17 – Welcoming Remarks 02:59 – The Role of Idealization in Science 04:23 – Predictive Processing and Meta Problems 05:59 – Anticipation and Relevance Realization 16:15 – Opponent Processing and Optimal Grip 20:13 – The Imaginal and Rationality 23:03 – Relevance Realization and Enlightenment Rationality 23:31 – The Dichotomies of Modernity 25:31 – Voluntary Necessity Explained 28:39 – The Role of Faith and Spirit 31:41 – The Levels of Human Existence 41:19 – The Power of Community and Shared Meaning 50:44 – Fellowship of the Spirit 1:12:00 – Closing Reflections on Community as Icon of Reality

Referenced Works and Concepts:

Books and Authors:

• "True Enough" – Catherine Elgin

• "Sources of the Self" and "A Secular Age" – Charles Taylor

• "Phenomenology of Perception" – Maurice Merleau-Ponty

• "Ethics" – Spinoza (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3800)

• "The Reasons of Love" – Harry Frankfurt

• "The Construction of Social Reality" – John Searle

• "Being and the Between" – William Desmond

Thinkers and Researchers:

• Carl Friston – Free Energy Principle

• Andy Clark – Predictive Mind

• Eric Hoel – Consciousness and Science

• Michael Levin – Bioelectric Cognition

• Dan Chiappe – Reasoning and Dialogue

• Mark Miller – Relevance Realization

• Anderson Deasy & John Geiger – Sensed Presence

Core Concepts:

• Predictive Processing

• Relevance Realization

• 4E Cognition (Embodied, Embedded, Enacted, Extended)

• Voluntary Necessity

• Imaginal Participation

• Opponent Processing

• Internal Family Systems (IFS)

• Narrative Selfhood

• Fellowship of the Spirit

Related Series and Resources: Awakening from the Meaning Crisis: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLND1JCRq8VujfYQ-00pT-6pTOm4q-rz1c

Philosophical Silk Road: https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke

Explore Further: The Vervaeke Foundation is committed to advancing the scientific pursuit of wisdom and creating a significant impact on the world. Learn more: https://vervaekefoundation.org/

To engage in regular practices informed and endorsed by John, visit Awaken to Meaning: https://awakentomeaning.com/join-practice/

Follow John Vervaeke: Website: https://johnvervaeke.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vervaeke_john YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke

Thank you for joining us LIVE for our monthly Silk Road Seminar! Today's guest is Rick Repetti. Silk Road Seminars are a live event where John weaves together threads from his various theoretical conversations along with a distinguished guest. These hour-long conversations are live on YouTube followed by an exclusive Q&A, where you can ask questions directly to John and his guest. To be entered onto the guest list for these Q&As, you can sign up at the Gamma Tier (and above) on The Lectern at https://lectern.teachable.com/p/lecte... Currently enrolled university students at all levels up to doctoral studies get free access to the Q&A. To gain access to Silk Road Seminars, please email your proof of student identity to [email protected] to be added to the guest list and watch previous seminars as well! If you would like to donate purely out of goodwill to support John's work, please consider joining our Patreon. 👉 / johnvervaeke The Vervaeke Foundation is committed to advancing the scientific pursuit of wisdom and creating a significant impact on the world. Learn more about our work below: https://vervaekefoundation.org/ If you would like to learn and engage regularly in practices that are informed, developed, and endorsed by John and his work, visit Awaken to Meaning's calendar to explore practices that enhance your virtues and foster deeper connections with reality and relationships: https://awakentomeaning.com/join-prac... Follow John Vervaeke: 🌐 Website: https://johnvervaeke.com/ 🐦 Twitter: / vervaeke_john 📺 YouTube: / @johnvervaeke 💡 Patreon: / johnvervaeke

How do we rebuild trust and meaning in a world where certainty and connection are breaking down?

In this episode of The Lectern, John welcomes Kieran McCammon and Jordan Hall to discuss the 'trust apocalypse' and its intersection with the meaning crisis. They delve into the vicious cycle between the loss of trust and the fragmentation of communities, exploring how these issues reverberate through society. Kieran introduces his work on the Trust Foundation, which aims to address these challenges by leveraging collective agency, distributed cognition, and extended distributed labor. John and Jordan bring their expertise to discuss the deeper topics related to trust, faith, and the sacred, and how these concepts tie into addressing contemporary societal issues. They also highlight how we are at a pivotal moment where new forms of technology and community organization could help counteract the prevailing distrust and meaning crisis.

Jordan Hall is a futurist, systems strategist, and cultural philosopher exploring the deep structures shaping human coordination, meaning-making, and collective intelligence. A former tech executive and early internet pioneer, Jordan now works at the intersection of theory and practice, developing frameworks for catalytic communities capable of responding to complex, civilizational-scale challenges. His work emphasizes the collapse of trust-based and certainty-driven systems, proposing instead a reorientation toward spirit-infused participation, sacred purpose, and voluntary necessity. A key contributor to the Trust Foundation, Jordan draws on cybernetics, epistemology, and meta-theory to guide the emergence of post-bureaucratic forms of social coherence and institutional renewal.

Keiron McCammon is a technology entrepreneur and systems thinker whose work addresses the intersection of social trust, digital infrastructure, and collective agency. A veteran of Silicon Valley's early Web 2.0 era, he helped build the foundations of the social internet before turning his focus to the unintended consequences of digital connectivity. As co-founder of the Trust Foundation, Keiron investigates the societal breakdown he terms the "trust apocalypse," analyzing how technological design, institutional failure, and civic fragmentation have eroded our collective sense of meaning and belonging. Drawing on frameworks from network theory, systems thinking, and military innovation, his work catalyzes action-oriented communities aimed at rebuilding trust across personal, institutional, and technological domains.

The Trust Foundation

Sunday Labs

The Philosophical Silk Road Project

(00:00) – Introduction and excitement for the conversation

(00:30) – Introducing Kieran McCammon and the trust apocalypse

(01:30) – Exploring the trust apocalypse and its implications

(04:00) – Kieran's background and the evolution of trust issues

(05:00) – The role of technology and the breakdown of trust

(06:30) – The Trust Foundation and catalytic communities

(11:00) – The deep connection between trust and meaning

(18:00) – Historical context and the collapse of certainty

(28:00) – The need for a shared sacred canopy

(30:50) – "A catalytic community can't exist without a calling—a sacred purpose that's bigger than any one of us."

(39:00) – Challenges of technology and cross-cultural pluralism

(47:30) – Exploring voluntary necessity

(49:00) – Certainty vs. trust

(50:30) – The breakdown of societal trust

(52:00) – The role of technology in trust erosion

(54:00) – The attention economy and trustworthy AI

(01:02:00) – The concept of abundance vs. scarcity

(01:10:00) – Cultivating wisdom and trust

(01:23:00) – The spiritual war and meaning crisis

(01:27:00) – Call to action: building catalytic communities

—

The Vervaeke Foundation is committed to advancing the scientific pursuit of wisdom and creating a significant impact on the world. Become a part of our mission.

Join Awaken to Meaning to explore practices that enhance your virtues and foster deeper connections with reality and relationships.

—

Ideas, People, and Works Mentioned in this Episode

Philosophical Silk Road Trust Apocalypse Meaning Crisis Collective agency Epistemology of trust Deep knowing by participation Certainty vs. trust Relevance realization Reflective equilibrium (between theory and practice Chris Lich Robert Putnam Clement of Alexandria Bishop Maximus Jonathan Pageau David Hume (implied via discussion on skepticism) G.W Leibniz and René Descartes (mentioned re: Enlightenment certainty) Team of Teams by Gen. Stanley McChrystal Bowling Alone by Robert Putnam The Upswing by Robert Putnam Tim Berners-Lee's open letter on the internet Aspen Institute report on Information Disorder

Follow John Vervaeke: Website | Twitter | YouTube | Patreon

Bishop Maximus is a theologian, scholar, and Orthodox bishop whose work bridges ancient Christian thought with contemporary philosophical inquiry. A leading voice in the revival of patristic epistemology, he focuses on the integration of faith and reason through figures such as Clement of Alexandria. His research explores how early Christian thinkers synthesized Greek philosophy with theological doctrine, offering compelling alternatives to modern skepticism. Bishop Maximus is a key contributor to the Philosophical Silk Road project, advocating for the transformative power of faith as both epistemological foundation and moral practice.

In this episode of The Lectern, John Vervaeke welcomes Bishop Maximus for a compelling lecture on Clement of Alexandria and the epistemological foundations of faith. Delivered originally for a theological colloquium, Bishop Maximus explores how Clement offers a robust response to modern skepticism by rooting knowledge in voluntary, moral, and transformative faith. The conversation examines Clement's relevance to contemporary issues in epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of science. Vervaeke and Maximus also reflect on how Clement's ideas converge with modern concepts such as relevance realization, voluntary necessity, and recursive intelligence.

This episode delves into topics such as the problem of induction, the relationship between belief and choice, and the limits of rational demonstration—offering a fresh lens on revelation, reason, and reality itself.

—

(01:00) – How Bishop Maximus inspired the Philosophical Silk Road project (04:00) – Clement of Alexandria and the fusion of Greek philosophy and Christian theology (08:30) – Faith as a foundation for knowledge: critique of Enlightenment skepticism (12:30) – Clement's response to Hume and the problem of induction (17:00) – Faith as preconception, intention, and intellectual assent (21:30) – Faith versus deterministic belief systems and heretical Gnostic views (25:00) – Voluntary belief as a moral and philosophical act (29:00) – The relationship between faith, will, and moral striving (32:30) – Faith as spiritual ascent and the precondition for rationality (36:30) – Clement's view of revelation and divine reality (41:00) – Levels of faith and recursive participation in reality (45:00) – The symbolic structure of knowledge and being (48:00) – Concluding Clement's view: faith makes the world intelligible and livable (53:00) – The necessity of large world "break-ins" and the case for prophecy (57:00) – Dialogue on voluntary necessity in reason, love, and normativity (01:00:30) – Faith as the practice of voluntary necessity (01:03:00) – Closing thoughts on recursion, symbols, and future discussions

—

The Vervaeke Foundation is committed to advancing the scientific pursuit of wisdom and creating a significant impact on the world. Become a part of our mission. https://vervaekefoundation.org/

Join Awaken to Meaning to explore practices that enhance your virtues and foster deeper connections with reality and relationships. https://awakentomeaning.com/

—

Ideas, People, and Works Mentioned in this Episode

Philosophical Silk Road

Religion that's not a religion

Epistemology and Faith as Epistemology

Foundation of knowledge in faith

Faith vs. Skepticism (especially Hume's skepticism)

Induction and the problem of induction

Voluntary necessity (Frankfurt)

Relevance realization

Recursive reality and symbolic recursion

Faith as transcendence and revelation

Neo-Platonism

Agent-arena recursive relationship

Realness as comparative judgment Aristotle Clement of Alexandria "Reason and Faith" by R.G. Collingwood Hebrews (book in the New Testament, quoted by Clement) "Contact with Reality" by Esther Lightcap Meek

—

Follow John Vervaeke

https://johnvervaeke.com/

https://twitter.com/vervaeke_john

https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke

https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke

—

Thank you for listening!

The Calling to Reorient the Self How can the sacred be recovered in a world fractured by autonomy and fragmentation?

In this deeply personal episode of Kainos on The Lectern, recorded during a session hosted by Alexander Beiner on Kainos, John Vervaeke shares reflections from his recent pilgrimage across Europe—what he calls the Philosophical Silk Road. Weaving through sacred conversations and historic locations, he explores profound ideas like theosis, theoria, and voluntary necessity, inviting listeners into a lived philosophy of sacred participation. From Istanbul to Rome to Amsterdam, each location becomes a catalyst for insight and inner transformation. Vervaeke challenges the Enlightenment's idolization of autonomy and points toward a new possibility: a spirituality of finite transcendence, rooted in embodied knowing and dialogical belonging.

This episode offers a raw and unfiltered account of mystical experience, intellectual shift, and spiritual disorientation—all in service of rediscovering what it means to be in contact with reality, in its fullest, most sacred form.

Find more of Alexander Beiner's work at https://beiner.substack.com/ and https://www.studiokainos.com/.

If you would like to donate purely out of goodwill to support John's work, please consider joining our Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke

The Vervaeke Foundation is committed to advancing the scientific pursuit of wisdom and creating a significant impact on the world. https://vervaekefoundation.org/

If you would like to learn and engage regularly in practices that are informed, developed and endorsed by John and his work, visit Awaken to Meaning's calendar to explore practices that enhance your virtues and foster deeper connections with reality and relationships. https://awakentomeaning.com/join-practice/

John Vervaeke:

https://johnvervaeke.com/

https://twitter.com/vervaeke_john

https://www.youtube.com/@johnvervaeke

https://www.patreon.com/johnvervaeke

Notes:

(00:00) The Philosophical Silk Road: Opening Reflections

(03:00) "You can go through not an argument, but a passage…and it causes you to fundamentally change how you're seeing and being in the world." – John Vervaeke (03:00)

(3:30) Reclaiming Theoria: Pilgrimage, Contemplation, and the Sacred

(06:00) Encountering Maximus the Confessor in Istanbul

(07:00) Sufism and Neoplatonism in Spain with Thomas Cheetham

(08:00) Athens, Plato, and Embodied Practice

(09:30) Rome, Bishop Maximus, and Descending into Mystery

(11:00) Amsterdam, Spinoza, and the Liminal Threshold

(12:00) Theosis as Transformation through Participation

(16:30) From Autonomy to Theo-Agency: Voluntary Necessity

(21:00) Dialogical Contact vs. Individual Expression

(28:00) Toward a Shared Sense of Sacredness: Pluralism and Depth

(32:00) Holding Finitude and Transcendence Together

(36:30) Final Thoughts: Who Am I Now?

• Maximus the Confessor

• Ibn Arabi

• Clement of Alexandria

• Gregory of Nyssa

• Jonathan Pageau

• Thomas Cheetham

• Charles Stang

• Bishop Maximus

• Jason Vervaeke

• Spinoza

• Plotinus

• Pierre Hadot

• William Desmond

• Samantha Harvey, Orbital

• Capobianco

• Julian Jaynes

• Drew A. Hyland

• Neoplatonism

• Theoria, Theophany, Kenosis, Henosis

• "Absolute Zero" Practice

• The Dialogical Self

• Agency and Communion

• Finite Transcendence

Attribution

This conversation was recorded during a session hosted by Alexander Beiner for Kainos. Learn more at https://beiner.substack.com/ and https://www.studiokainos.com/.