What is really known about consciousness? A conversation with Rupert Sheldrake & Mark Vernon
You may agree that the so-called hard problem of consciousness exposes the deep inadequacies of a materialist worldview. But the alternatives - various forms of panpsychism, panentheism and idealism - raise rich and fascinating questions, too. In this episode of The Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon explore the leading edge of consciousness research, with Rupert just back from The Science of Consciousness Conference 2025 in Barcelona. They discuss the impact of Indian researchers of consciousness and the proposals of microchip inventor, Federico Faggin. They consider trainings in extra-ocular vision and questions thrown up by the hit podcast series, The Telepathy Tapes. One thing is clear: when the materialist paradigm passes, the science of consciousness will have only just begun.For more on Rupert's work see - https://www.sheldrake.org/For more on Mark's work see - https://www.markvernon.com/
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Awake! William Blake and the Power of Imagination. A conversation with Jane Clark and Nikos Yiangou
In my book, I want to draw out two facets of William Blake, which I think get routinely sidelined now. My conversation with Jane Clark and Nikos Yiangou enabled us to explore these dimensions.One is that Blake was a very sharp thinker. He had a very accurate and clear critique of the ideas that were beginning to bed down in his time and have really shaped our times in the modern Christian West. A second is that he is a religious figure, which gets sidelined in two ways. He lived daily with perceptions of angels and other entities: the divine, the dead. I don't explain that away by pathologising Blake. He is also a clear Christian mystic, a very important voice in Western Christianity since the Reformation - connecting us back to a mystical core, which again is very often sidelined.For more about my book, Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination see - https://www.markvernon.com/books/awake-william-blake-and-the-power-of-the-imaginationFor more about Beshara Magazine see - https://besharamagazine.orgA transcript is online here - https://besharamagazine.org/podcast/mark-vernon-awake-william-blake-and-the-power-of-imagination/0:00 Introductions1:57 Blake as thinker and mystic5:20 The power of the imagination14:40 Blake and science21:12 The interconnection of music and poetry26:04 Innocence and wisdom32:29 Blake's Christianity39:57 Blake the philosopher
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An Implosion of Light. Talking mystical experiences with James Harpur and Mark Vernon
James Harpur’s new book, "Dazzling Darkness: The Lives and Afterlives of the Christian Mystics", begins with an account of a mystical experience that happened to him - “an implosion of light”, as he describes it. That led to his book, Dazzling Darkness, in pursuit of the path that leads to ultimate reality: God.Mark Vernon’s new book, "Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination", is the result of Mark’s engagement with his local mystic, William Blake, as well as practices based on encounters and texts including The Cloud of Unknowing.In this conversation they explore the nature of mystical experience, as well as the mystics that speak powerfully to them, from Saint Columba to William Blake, via Marguerite Porete and Teresa of Avila, Ramana Maharshi and Krishnamurti.For more on James’s book, Dazzling Darkness - https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/dazzling-darkness/For more on Mark’s book, Awake! - https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/awake/0:00 Two books on mysticism!01:55 James’s mystical experience07:00 Mark’s encounter through contemplative practice11:58 The Irish mystics that speak to James18:00 Living the porous life22:49 Mysticism after monasticism29:30 Church life and mystical life32:01 Seeking spiritual directors33:00 The voice of Krishnamurti40:32 The presence amidst the diversity42:30 What happens after the ecstasy?52:00 Sustaining the double vision
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The most insightful poet that ever lived. Iain McGilchrist & Mark Vernon on William Blake
Iain McGilchrist calls William Blake “the least cosy of poets and one of the most insightful that ever lived.” Blake is cited more often than most figures in Iain’s great book, "The Matter With Things".So what did Blake express that might much matter now? How did he understand key features of our humanity such as the imagination and inspiration, as well as the character of our day?In this conversation, prompted by the publication of "Awake!", Iain and Mark often land on wonderful quotes of Blake to unpack them. ”To the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” “As a man is, so he sees.” "If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite."They explore Blakean imagery such as the spiral shape of Jacob’s Ladder. Contemporary concerns are central too, from architecture to AI. Above all, they celebrate Blake as a figure who can guide our desires, aid us with the contraries of modern life, and sustain our faith that life is good, for all the ills that surround us.For more on Iain’s work - https://channelmcgilchrist.comFor more on Mark’s work - https://www.markvernon.comMark’s new book on William Blake is “Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination” - https://www.markvernon.com/books/awake-william-blake-and-the-power-of-the-imagination0:00 No-one has imagination!05:27 The narrowing of imagination08:36 Fantasy and uncoupling11:55 The misenchantment of the world13:08 Place, space and architecture16:26 Spiritually aware consumerism19:43 The glowing presence of infinity21:13 Cleansing the doors of perception24:38 Speaking from the outside in26:38 The failure of empathy and need for the sacred31:24 Primary connection not separation33:10 Blake’s orthodoxy34:37 Jacob’s Ladder as a spiral38:12 The good can hold the bad39:55 Data, memory and AI42:33 Memory that inspires45:44 The enlivening of ritual48:10 Blake on divine science53:37 The character of things and insights57:17 Distinctions without difference59:28 Illuminating Blake and Dante
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How to Live like William Blake!
A conversation from History with Chris Harding.In Mark Vernon's new book "Awake!", he argues that we’re missing something from our view of the great visionary artist William Blake.It’s that word - ‘visionary.’Mark argues that Blake’s extraordinary art reveals an expanded experience of the world that Blake lived with every day: angels, fairies, realms beyond our own. Blake wasn’t, in other words, making it all up…Mark says that we shouldn’t be afraid of the ‘supernatural Blake.’ We should embrace him - and even aspire to live a little as he did.00:00 Introduction to William Blake02:45 Blake's Life and Context04:32 Blake and India08:45 The Nature of Perception13:06 Childhood Experiences and Spirituality19:50 Blake's Relationship with Institutional Christianity24:43 The Role of Forgiveness in Jesus' Teachings26:05 Blake's Vision of the Human Form Divine28:00 The Sacrificial Nature of Spiritual Awakening29:28 Blake as a Social Critic 31:30 Blake and Science35:21 The Dangers of Abstraction 36:19 Blake and consumerism43:06 What does Blake offer us now?
Reflections from Mark Vernon on soulful matters including spirituality and psychotherapy, science and religion, consciousness and the divine. For more on see www.markvernon.com
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