In this episode, Christopher and Riley discuss one of their favorite religious texts, an excerpt from the Mahabharata, called the Bhagavad Gita. This seminal Hindu work introduces the various forms of Yoga as an allegorical discourse between the warrior prince, Arjuna, and the reincarnated God, Krishna. Contrary to the Western understanding of Yoga, this has less to do with stretching muscles and more to do with stretching the soul. Christopher and Riley share some favorite commonplaces from their reading and offer their interpretations as a starting point for those wanting to explore the beauty and great value of “the Gita.”
For this episode of Latter-day Contemplation Riley welcomes back Phil McLemore to discuss the power habits and rituals. Habits can be positive or negative and ultimately become the structural backbone of our lives. As we learn to use them in productive ways we are led to lives of inner and outer transformation. However, habits have the potential to become an unconscious, soul and agency destroying cancer that compounds the problems of the “natural man”. Bringing conscious awareness to the individual and accumulated habits which form our routines can help us replace entropic, destructive processes with what Christ called “living water”. They offer specific ideas and guidance based on the book Atomic Habits and their own life experience which can help us break these unhealthy cycles and begin the process of rebirth into a new life. ...
In this episode, Riley and Christopher take on the topic of resurrection. Is resurrection something that happens after we do, or do we need to be resurrected before we die? What would it look like to be resurrected before we die and what does a resurrected life in Christ look like? Christopher and Riley answer these questions and related questions about spiritual death and life with New Testament and extracanonical scriptures from the Gnostics, touching on the ordinances of baptism and the Sacrament and offer suggestions for living a resurrected life in Christ in the present. ...
Shiloh and Riley talk on various themes of peace. What part does myth play in both forming our identities and in bringing about peace? Riley and Shiloh use this discussion of myth to dive deeper into an understanding of how the Garden of Eden story is an example of the human journey, as it defines and develops our human experiences that lead us back to experiencing peace through partaking of the love of God. The Savior taught that we must empty ourselves of our natural man through being "poor in spirit," and it is through that experience of "emptying" ourselves that we experience our interaction with Cherubim and a flaming sword as spoken of in the Garden myth. Shiloh and Riley also discuss contemplative ways to read scripture in how to bring daily peace, as Riley leads us through a meditative reading of John 14:27. They conclude with talking about how expectations can lead us into living false realities that rob us of our peace.A Contemplation Prayer on Peace:Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you... Peace I leave with you, my peace I give... Peace I leave with you, my peace...Peace I leave with you... Peace I leave with...Peace I leave...Peace. ...
