About this episode

Andrew Sweeny and Alexander Bard discuss enlightenment, mysticism, and civilization in the first part of a new series.

In this first conversation in a new series on enlightenment, mysticism, and civilization, Andrew Sweeny and Alexander Bard explore the relationship between enlightenment, ancient spirituality, and digital culture.The discussion moves through Peter Kingsley, Jung, Gurdjieff, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Göbekli Tepe, mountain civilizations versus river civilizations, shamanism, altered states, René Girard, mimetic contagion, social media, and the collapse of symbolic depth in modernity.Themes explored include:• Enlightenment as wholeness rather than salvation• The mystical origins of Western philosophy• Semi-nomadic and mountain cultures as sources of ecstatic spirituality• Göbekli Tepe and ritual consciousness before agriculture• Shamanism as transformation of perspective• Jung’s *Red Book* as initiatory descent• Girard, scapegoating, and digital mass psychology• Gurdjieff and the idea that modern humanity lives asleep• The return of mysticism during periods of civilizational collapseMore Sweeny vs Bard:https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuseeco8fLSmX1HUEmKV0WFecRg2Z1G6S&si=6e1Ry-WfechSySo6More Substack articles by Andrew Sweeny:https://substack.com/@andrewsweenyParallax is…

People in this episode

Host: Andrew Sweeny

Guest: Alexander Bard

Topics covered

• enlightenment
• mysticism
• civilization
• spirituality
• digital culture
• philosophy

Keywords

• enlightenment
• mysticism
• spirituality
• civilization
• digital culture
• Jung
• shamanism
• Göbekli Tepe

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Jung’s *Red Book*

Places: Göbekli Tepe

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