Arete House Podcasts - Inspired Thinkers Series

Being anchored in bodhicitta is the only true insurance. It is the only uncorrupted thing you can hold. It is at once the path and the telos, the reality of causation and the freedom of its cessation. It is at once emptiness and phenomena, morality and transcendence, compassion and wisdom. Parting from it ensures being [...] The post 019 The Yogic Way—Anchoring in Bodhicitta appeared first on Arete House.

In this episode we speak with Carl Asuruf about the discoveries he has made about techniques of embodiment and how they coalesce indivisibly with emotional, psychic and intellectual habits. We explore this particularly through the lens of Feldenkrais and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and discover that both are less about treating specific ailments and more about [...] The post 006 Contemporary Spiritual Life – Carl Asuruf on Embodiment, Awareness, Feldenkrais and Chinese Medicine appeared first on Arete House.

When imbalance is experienced, the common error is to attempt to create or construct balance. And these attempts of control are endless and fruitless. The art of balance is ruthlessly simple: hold nothing. The mind that abandons holding itself dissolves the cause of imbalance. It co-emerges into the emptiness of appearance and so everything is [...] The post 018 The Yogic Way—The Balance of Emptiness appeared first on Arete House.

To recognise the reality of emptiness, one has to find the thing to be relinquished. It cannot be found in any text, philosophy or teaching. It is the grip itself, the part of you that holds the mind and holds the body. Do not look for an ego, a self, an essence, a false consciousness. [...] The post 017 The Yogic Way—Relinquishing appeared first on Arete House.

In this episode we are joined by Matthew Sharpe - Associate Professor of Philosophy at Deakin University - in order to explore the tremendous richness of ancient western contemplative techniques and practices. In particular, we explore the views and practices of the Stoics and rescue the ancient meaning of the philosopher as he or she [...] The post 005 Contemporary Spiritual Life – Matthew Sharpe on Stoic Contemplation and Philosophy as a Way of Life appeared first on Arete House.

The loftiest goals are actualised on the wings of perseverance and patience. With those two attributes any goal – worldly or spiritual – can be attained. Patience is the sky and space around the jumbo jet, perseverance is the engine power. Without the sky there is no possibility of moving forward, without the power there [...] The post 016 The Yogic Way—Perseverance and Patience appeared first on Arete House.

Being true is a verb not a logical statement. Truth is living, porous, manifest. The search for truth is the search for refreshing water in a desert. A necessity which is nonetheless hard to find. Truth is distinct from inclination, instinct, habit, language. It is hard enough to encounter that few persist. Those that do [...] The post 015 The Yogic Way—Truth appeared first on Arete House.

Everyone knows about yoga, and many people participate in it. But as we mentioned in the earlier episodes, there seems to be a rather large abyss between the Indian tradition of yoga - which has its roots in the early Upanishads (perhaps even earlier) and flowered especially under the hand of Patanjali in the 8th [...] The post 004 Contemporary Spiritual Life – Peter Ujvari on Yoga in the 21st Century appeared first on Arete House.

This podcast explores a classic text The Art of Loving (1956) by  Eric Fromm a renowned psychoanalyist, social theorist and Marxist of the 20th century. Fromm regards love, not as something that simply happens, or that we fall into, but the crowning achievement of a mature individual, demanding of us the greatest of human qualities and [...] The post 1 Flickers of Insight—The Art of Loving appeared first on Arete House.

Simplicity is synonymous with clarity, elegance and precision. A tamed, concentrated mind always expresses itself in this way. Complexity is never ignored or covered up. It is seen clearly, directly, precisely. But nothing much is done with it – it is not grasped by the mind and turned into a complex conceptual-symbolic order. It is [...] The post 014 The Yogic Way—The Jewel of Simplicity appeared first on Arete House.

There is nothing quite so dangerous on the spiritual path as abiding in mere belief. Such a danger lurks in every tradition and on every path. Abiding in mere belief is always a choice. One does not know, so one chooses to cross the gap with mere belief - usually built out of the currents [...] The post 013 The Yogic Way—Mere Belief appeared first on Arete House.

This is a small clip from a longer podcast exploring Erich Fromm's masterpiece The Art of Loving (1956). This small segment explores a trinity of ideas not usually associated with each other — Activity, Love & Meditation — which are far more deeply integrated than most imagine. Please consider donating the cost of your coffee or lunch. [...] The post 1 Flickers of Insight—Activity, Love & Meditation appeared first on Arete House.

True compassion arises out of the mirror-wisdom, the seat of Truth. Those who act compassionately before such an attainment are indeed acting. They are mistaking their sentiments and affections for compassion, disguising their attachments and aversions as altruism. The world is filled with compassion actors, but is almost entirely bereft of the genuinely compassionate...... Please [...] The post 012 The Yogic Way—Compassion appeared first on Arete House.

Such a truth [that yogic life entails immense will] goes deeply against common opinion, which associates spiritual life with passivity, and meekness, and the surrender of ambition. It mistakes the silence of the heart and the serenity of samadhi for the dissolution of will. But in truth, the will becomes devastating, potent and intoxicatingly intense [...] The post 011 The Yogic Way—Will appeared first on Arete House.

The mind’s eye is used to gazing ahead. It looks horizontally, through the immanent tides of the day. It knows the conditions and tries to discover the causes. It sees the unfolding of time and intuits the final decay. Always, it looks ahead, like the driver of a car. What happens when the driver stops, [...] The post 010 The Yogic Way—Transcendence appeared first on Arete House.

Imagining or conceiving of subtle luminosity is radically distinct from perceiving it, from basking in its delightful actuality. The act of imagining or conceiving is the very thing in the way of perceiving it. For subtle luminosity dawns precisely in the same way as the sun rising – one does not need to do anything [...] The post 009 The Yogic Way—Subtle Luminosity appeared first on Arete House.

The world of causation is immutable. The successful and accomplished know only one truth, and it is thus. Paying heed to causation, they are precise and meticulous. Being precise and meticulous, they undertake good actions and accumulate a manifold of virtues and success. Because they understand the nature of the process, they always master the [...] The post 008 The Yogic Way—Cause and Causeless Co-emerge appeared first on Arete House.

The lost mind is untamed, unruly, uncontrollable –  these are effects of the cause. The cause is that the mind is lost. The mind that is lost apprehends objects, but not itself apprehending. This is like seeing an orange and forgetting that it is the eyes which look. Most of us look this way, we [...] The post 007 The Yogic Way—Finding the Mind appeared first on Arete House.

Avidyā (basic ignorance) is the ontological space of ordinary mind. It is not an absence of knowledge or a lack of intelligence. It is the background, ever-present, all-encompassing lived experience of reality. Its character is heaviness and dullness – a comforting shade which always blocks the radiant sun...... Please Donate—It takes less than 2 minutes [...] The post 006 The Yogic Way—Avidyā appeared first on Arete House.

The knot of the heart is the root cause of constraint. So long as it is there, freedom cannot be. The knot of the heart is made of an unwillingness to serve others. It is tied by the ropes of self concern. Where there is concern with the self, the knot tightens. Where there is [...] The post 005 The Yogic Way—The Knot of the Heart appeared first on Arete House.