The Wise Studies Podcast

In this episode I am speaking with Graham Burns. Graham is a yoga teacher and lecturer. He received his masters and PhD at SOAS the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University where he is now a senior teaching fellow. We discuss:

• Introduction to the Upanishads
• Vedanta
• 3 schools of thought in Vedanta; Advaita, Dvaita, Vishishtadvaita
• Dualism vs non-dualism
• Comparing Vedanta with Samkhya & Yoga
• Common themes in the Upanishads

Graham's website is http://www.samanayoga.com/

Angela Voss, PhD, SFHEA is Programme Director for the MA in Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. 

In this podcast we discuss:

• Her interest in the Renaissance philosopher Marsilio Ficino
• The relationship between art, religion and science
• Who were the neoplatonists?
• Neoplatonic ritual
• The neoplatonic goal
• The prominence of its practice
• The influence of neoplatonic ideas on contemporary esoteric, spiritual and scientific thought

She has studied and taught Western esotericism for over twenty years, and is also a musician and an astrologer. Her interest began with the Renaissance philosopher Marsilio Ficino, who was deeply indebted to both Plato and Hermes in his desire to renew the spirit of the Christian religion (see Marsilio Ficino, 2006), and she completed a doctorate on his astrological music therapy in 1992.  She is now in the Education Faculty at Canterbury Christ Church, and is working within a transformative learning context, finding ways to bridge esoteric wisdom and reflexive scholarship. She has written extensively on Ficino, the symbolic imagination, music, astrology and divination, and she regards her vocation as a ‘walker between the worlds’, of spiritual experience and academic discourse.  Some of her publications can be found at https://canterbury.academia.edu/AngelaVoss  Her latest publication is Re-enchanting the Academy, co-edited with Simon Wilson.

In this episode I am speaking with Reverend Dr. Nicholas Buxton. Nicholas is the Director of St Antony’s Priory, in Durham, and founder of ‘Just Meditation’ and the Newcastle Meditation Centre. He has a PhD in Buddhist philosophy from the University of Cambridge and is an experienced meditation teacher and retreat leader. Publications include The Wilderness Within: Meditation and Modern Life (Canterbury Press, 2014), and Tantalus and the Pelican: Exploring Monastic Spirituality Today (Continuum, 2009).

Topics discussed are:

• Christian contemplatives throughout history
• What is the focus of Christian contemplative practice compared to other meditative traditions?
• Who were the Desert Fathers?
• Is there a place for austerity in modern life?
• How Nicholas understands Jesus, the man, and the story of Christ?
• Is there a distinction between religious and spiritual?
• Do you see religious practice on a spectrum moving from an exoteric to a deeper esoteric dimension?
• Is your mission to promote the contemplative side of Christianity today?
• What is the difference between a meditation technique and prayer?
• What does the Christian tradition uniquely offer to spiritual practice?
• How do you structure life on a typical retreat at St Antony's Priory? 

Links to Nicholas' projects
Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/StAntonysPriory/
St. Antony's Priory
Just meditation https://justmeditation.org/