In this episode I speak with Daniela Bevilacqua. We cover hindu asceticism, its history, its aims, its culture. We discuss how contemporary ascetics are interacting with a rapidly changing and modernising India. You can listen to her Wise Studies course, Hindu Asceticism and its Spiritual Disciplines here:  https://wisestudies.com/product/hindu-asceticism-and-its-spiritual-disciplines-with-daniela-bevilacqua/ Daniela Bevilacqua is a South-Asianist specialising in Hindu asceticism, which...

In this episode I speak with John Danvers about his 55+ years of Zen teaching and practice. We discuss the history of Zen, awakening experiences, the art of sitting and more. You can listen to his entire Wise Studies course An Introduction to Soto Zen at wisestudies.com John Danvers has over fifty-five years’ experience of Zen meditation. He has no affiliation to any particular school or tradition.  Whilst he has learned a great deal from historical teachers and from people he has met over...

In this episode I am speaking with Ann Conway-Jones about some of the developments in  early Christianity. What was the transition like between Jews and Gentiles who went from identifying with the customs and traditions of the time to becoming followers of Christ? What defined early Christian contemplative practice? Ann teaches biblical studies, early Jewish–Christian relations, and the development of mystical theology for The Queen’s Foundation; Woodbrooke Quaker Studies Centre; Birmingham...

In this episode I am speaking with Dr. Karen O’Brien-Kop. Karen is Lecturer in Asian Religions and Ethics at the University of Roehampton. She was formerly Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Religions and Philosophies at SOAS University of London. Her doctoral research at SOAS was on the intertextuality of Pātañjala yoga and Buddhist yoga in the classical era. She was a co-founder of the Sanskrit Reading Room and is a committee member of the SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies. You can hear...

In this episode I am speaking with Gavin Flood. Gavin is a Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion in the Theology and Religion Faculty and academic director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. Gavin read Religious Studies and Social Anthropology at Lancaster University and taught at the universities of Wales (Lampeter) and Stirling before coming to Oxford. He was elected to membership of the British Academy in 2014. His research interests are in medieval Hindu texts...

The Pali Canon with Sarah Shaw

In this episode I am speaking with Dr. Karen O'Brien-Kop. Karen is Lecturer in Asian Religions and Ethics at the University of Roehampton. She was formerly Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Religions and Philosophies at SOAS University of...

In this episode I am speaking with Ruth Westoby. Ruth is a doctoral researcher in yoga and an Ashtanga practitioner. As well as offering workshops and lectures at studios and conferences, Ruth teaches on some of the principal Yoga teacher training...

In this episode I am speaking with Professor Bee Scherer. Bee is a long-time practitioner of Buddhism and a global Buddhist lay teacher. Bee has studied Indic and Tibetan philology, published on karma, Nāgārjuna and early Mind-only Buddhist schools. In...

In this episode I speak with Gwilym Beckerlegge. Gwilym studied religions at the Universities of Oxford and Lancaster. He is the author of The Ramakrishna Mission: The Making of a Modern Hindu Movement (2000) and Swami Vivekananda’s Legacy of Service: A...

The Upanishads

Neoplatonism

Contemplative Christianity with Nicholas Buxton