Brendan Graham Dempsey » The Void, Nihilism, Christ, Diamond Approach, Metamodernism, Metaphysics

0:00 Brendan Graham Dempsey and Marshall Æon
1:34 Brendan’s history with Christianity (from evangelism to apostasy)
4:30 Dandyism, Oscar Wilde, Nietzsche, The Odyssey, Kierkegaard
6:36 Denys Turner at Yale Divinity School, Catholic mysticism, Plotinus
10:26 What is Metamodernism?
14:40 Metamodern metaphysics?
16:23 Jean-Luc Marion - God Without Being, Nietzsche, Nihilism
19:37 What is Metamodern spirituality?
20:51 Post-Metaphysical Spirituality (Bruce Alderman, Layman Pascal, Ken Wilber)
21:20 Subtle energy meditation • Maximal vs Minimal metaphysics
22:53 The value and dark side of meditation
23:24 Adyashanti: Meditation can be both undervalued and overvalued
26:41 Paul Ricoeur’s Second Naïveté
29:00 What is The Void?
30:49 Buddhism’s emphasis on Emptiness (Sunyata)
33:30 The Void as the fundamental nature of existence
33:44 Nietzsche’s critiques of Christianity
35:30 Fullness and Emptiness are not mutually exclusive
37:00 Journey of Ascent vs Descent
38:16 Christianity as a critique on Eastern spirituality
38:54 Buddhism as a critique on other Indian schools
39:34 Christ’s resurrection representing the redemption of the world (in contrast to Maya, the dream state)
41:36 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin - Christogenesis, the Omega Point
42:58 Nagarjuna
43:46 Becoming the Void
44:12 Complexity, Emergence
44:23 Brendan’s new book “Emergentism”
46:52 The value of Cessation of consciousness
49:30 Schopenhauer and Silenus
50:52 Many kinds of emptiness
51:48 Spiritual ideals vs possibilities • Is spirituality goal-oriented?
52:50 Subject/object non-duality • Plotinus, Pseudo-Dionysius, Eckhart, Shankara
55:45 Many kinds of non-duality
56:27 Moving towards a spiritual ideal vs becoming an instrument for reality to reveal its possibilities
1:01:02 What’s driving the desire to experience a mystical state? Fear of the Void?
1:06:38 Does fullness negate emptiness?
1:06:55 Christianity’s emphasis on the value of the individual consciousness or soul versus the East
1:08:11 The individualized logos of the soul
1:10:10 Defining fundamentalism
1:15:00 Is Brendan a Fullness fundamentalist?
1:19:35 A. H. Almaas and The Diamond Approach
1:20:00 Inquiry: the central practice of the Diamond Approach
1:21:43 Four turnings of the teaching of the Diamond Approach
1:21:50 Non-duality in the DA: the five boundless dimensions
1:23:23 Having a predilection or preference for particular mystical experiences
1:28:24 First turning of the Diamond Approach teaching: the individual consciousness, soul, Essential identity
1:33:32 Formation of the ego/personality, metabolization of ego structures, The Pearl Beyond Price (personal Essence)

[michaelroth]

Who can tell me the meaning of "La vita meshuggah"? Essentially, Enrique Iglesias' hit title which incorporates an Italian and Yiddish word. Talk about maintaining the melodic and harmonic integrity of language, eh?

As the son of a Yaley medical doctor, I decided to rebel from studying for a traditional career, so I decided to read and learn from as many academic pursuits as possible, to promote ongoing spiritual growth. As a BA in Music and working towards a masters degree, the importance of developing ongoing spiritual practices in as many different capacities as possible is quite high. I think it was Einstein who stated to "never stop questioning."

Once the questioning stops, that's when progress seems to cease(fire). When I attended The Fest For Beatles Fans back in August, I drew a little collage in which I wrote the following quote:

"The universoul concept of love can best be described in relation to the quantum value placed on the esoteric mysticism that an Anglo-Jewish record store manager placed upon four ill-clad teenagers in post-War Liverpool."

This quote illustrates a developing set of spiritual principles, which I plan to write about in a book.