The late Ken Robinson, in one of his TED talks, tells the story of a child who was drawing with wild strokes. The teacher asked - What are you drawing? And the child replied "God". The teacher said, "But nobody knows what God looks like." And the child said, "Well. They will in a minute." Badum Tshhhh.
Last week we explored what people are talking about when the talk about gods. But for most people, this is a secondary aspect of religion - the primary aspect being the rituals. So what are rituals, and why are they so powerful?
In this episode we look at some rituals, religious, secular, useful, destructive, and start to imagine what rituals might help us to place the biosphere at the pinnacle of our aspirations.
Talking Points:
Listener Email - A moral revolution is possible
Rituals. What are they?
Ablutions, Jewish weddings, Christian signs of peace
Conscious and unconscious rituals in daily life: focus and distraction
Positioning the biosphere and political will
Rituals of nurturing and kindness
Waste is an affront to nature, not wasting feels good
Gods - conscious and unconscious
Addiction and deification
Human power - like a bull in a china shop
Possible futures
Possible rituals - the 12 step recovery process as a route out of the addiction system
When things change, we'll be happier!
Habits as the b-side of ritual - and their power
Getting past the Doom Bar - learning to love stress
Links:
Peter Oborne - the Triumph of the Political Class (review/Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/sep/30/politics
Water and religion ( incl Ablutions) - BBC podcast "How Water Shaped Us" -
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5NURa5GgoD7PxTzJQNrjzG?si=0hgb5f6hQkuo4Oc_XbleqA
The 12 Step Program (Wikipedia) - main points:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-step_program
Dr Alia Crum on mindsets
Excellent paper on the subject:
https://mbl.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj9941/f/2014_mindful_stress_chpt_crumlyddy_handbook_of_mindfulness.pdf
And podcast on mindsets in general,( 1:04:50 - The three step process: 1 Acknowledge; 2 Welcome; 3 Utilise):
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ELdxrMTQum8E4ulpMSb2J?si=HGPXTCRiR9ykMy-UOdn2qw&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A79CkJF3UJTHFV8Dse3Oy0P
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Wikipedia summary):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People
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