Dante's imagery, particularly in the Paradiso, offers powerful prompts to developing the sense of what it is to be intelligent. He wrote for modern times, he said. And now, as AI becomes more pervasive, he can help us understand how machine learning and human intuitions are very different capacities.This was part of a talk given at the Scientific and Medical Network - https://scientificandmedical.net/webinars/For more on Mark's work, particularly on Dante, see www.markvernon.com

Reason fails before the greatest spiritual truths. That much is not news. But part of the genius of Dante is his conjuring of images that reach beyond the impasses of paradox and seeming contradiction.I consider 8 such moments when Dante sees the unsayable and offers images of the ineffable.- how darkness leads to light- how appearances can be the opposite of the truth- how the immediate eclipses wider perspectives- how all faces are the divine face- how “I” and “we” coincide- how divine and creature are one- how consciousness expands- how relationship is unity, many is one, movement is the unchangable.For more on my book Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey see http://www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedy

What is the meaning of Easter? How might Holy Week be more than an occasion for its retelling? Can death and resurrection live today, as they once did, 2000 years ago?Dante’s journey, in the Divine Comedy, begins on Maundy Thursday, 1300. It continues through the inferno, on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, before he enters purgatory on Easter Sunday morning, at dawn. The climb up Mount Purgatory, then, takes until Easter Wednesday when, finally, Dante reaches paradise. Though that is really another beginning, as he becomes more capable of knowing the light of Christ in him, and so knowing that light in all that surrounds him.In other words, the Divine Comedy invites us to consider the story of Easter not as an historical event but as a pattern and path which makes sense of our lives, if we dare to live them deeply.Augustine once remarked that the joy of being Christian is being a Christ. Easter, then, is not primarily a remembrance of things that happened, but a recollection of who we are called to be. That is the meaning of Easter, needed if Christianity is to live in people’s lives now.

Dante would seem to be a key candidate for infernalism, the doctrine of endless punishment in hell for sinners who failed to turn to Christ.He’s said to be medieval and isn't that what they believed then? And doesn’t his Divine Comedy clearly, indisputably say as much?But Dante’s whole point is that nothing is as it seems to the unawakened eye.I think what Dante is doing is taking evil completely seriously and showing why eternal damnation not only isn't, but can’t be the final result. And yet, this can only be seen when the darkness itself is fearlessly, fully seen.

The Divine Comedy is all about guides - finding guides, following guides, conversing with guides. Virgil and Beatrice are the best known, but there are other modes of guidance that Dante seeks and explores.Angels, dreams and myths accompanying Dante, even in the darkest moments. He learns to be present to them and trust that whilst in one encounter they can bring fear or shame, in another they inspire wrestling and struggle, and then in another again bring divine light and insight.For more on Mark's book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey see - https://www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedyFor more on Mark see - https://www.markvernon.com

Dante coined the word "transhumanise" in the Divine Comedy, 700 years ago. "Trasumanar" is the transformation he will undergo in order to share in the life of paradise.Today, the word has associations that are strikingly related to Dante's; partly quite similar, though changed in subtle but crucial ways. Understanding those differences illuminates the dangers of transhumanism today and how it might limit, not expand, our humanity.I consider this constriction across half a dozen areas on the transhumanism agenda: telepathy, happiness, intelligence, stellar living, the superman, and death.Transhumanising is a religious promise. It becomes a modern threat when that transcendent perspective is eclipsed and lost.

A joy to speak again with Brian, this time on Dante's Divine Comedy.We talked about what happened to Dante, what happened to Mark that opened up the Divine Comedy, how the poem works as an initiation, what it reveals about Christianity, what happens to Virgil, the nature of paradise, amongst other things.For more on Brian see http://brianjames.caFor more on Mark see https://www.markvernon.com

Bernard Carr is a leading cosmologist who worked with Stephen Hawking and now investigates time, multidimensionality and consciousness, amongst other things. Bernardo Kastrup cites him as at the vanguard of the great task to integrate matter and mind.So I was delighted to get the chance to ask Bernard about images from Dante. We talked about relational cosmologies as advocated by Carlo Rovelli, who has talked about being  inspired by Dante, and whether alternative images from the Divine Comedy might illuminate his own approaches, as well as our understanding.

This episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues continues Rupert and Mark's exploration of Dante’s Divine Comedy, taking a lead from Mark’s book, Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey. Dante is now guided by Beatrice through the heavenly spheres and into the Empyrean. It is a journey into the abundance of infinity and eternity, which immediately struck Rupert as akin to a DMT trip. Mark and Rupert explore how that is an apt analogy with Dante enabling us to incorporate the visionary into everyday life and understand how deeper perceptions of being can inform different times and cultures. The conversation moves over the relationship between the one and the many, the universal message of Christianity, the ways in which love and intellect work in tandem, and how Dante can aid various quests for knowledge today.

Various human experiences are deepened and resolved as Dante travels through hell, purgatory and paradise. The Divine Comedy can be read as an examination of this transfiguring of perception.From the alienation of hell, through the transforming time of purgatory, to the ever-expanding awareness of paradise: Dante show us how time & love, seeking & suffering, telepathy & transhumanising can change to reveal divine life without limit.For more on Mark's book on the Divine Comedy - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book

This is a contribution to recent dialogues on idealism between Bernardo Kastrup, John Vervaeke, Matt Segall, Philip Goff and others, including myself.I draw particularly on:- Dante's account and analysis of his journey to the heart of consciousness in all its fullness - source and manifestation - in the Divine Comedy- how minds as we know them not only dissociate but also project and introject, and what meaning this might have for Bernardo's thesis- trinitarian understandings of oneness, and the dynamics of creation.I start with some concerns that I have with Bernardo's account of analytic idealism, much as I value all that he does. They focus on his sense of mind at large, or God, and his use of the phenomenon of dissociation.I'm struck that Dante's discovery of his true nature in God goes hand in hand with the increase of his individuality and personhood. Also, he not only experiences dissociation, or a sense of separateness, but projection and introjection - two further mechanisms that minds deploy, which I think are key.This takes me to trinitarian understandings of oneness, in its eternal and infinite form. In divine life, kenosis is ecstasis; giving is receiving; knowing and unknowing are a mutual unfolding; longing is satisfaction; expansion is the expression of what already is. If the meaning of our life is the discovery of our nature in theosis, that might add to the model.Beatrice conveys this movement to Dante, overcoming his separateness by discerning his projections, and offering them back to him as introjections of the truth of himself, others and God.Finally, I raise questions of suffering, the nature of life, and why we experience separateness at all, before the discussion concludes with the hadith beloved by Sufis, another idealist expression of genius:  “I was a Treasure unknown then I desired to be known so I created a creation to which I made Myself known; then they knew Me.” 

Paradise. Destiny for a chosen few? Dismissed today by many. Or might it be the end for us all?Dante tells us to follow closely in the richest, subtlest and most expansive part of the journey conveyed in the Divine Comedy. He shows us how to develop paradisal perception, the way to know this experience of reality now, and to become ready for it in the hereafter.Paradise is when the deepest truths become clear, the most intimate participation with life is known as divine.This is the third of three talks, originally hosted by the Fintry Trust.The talk draws on Mark's book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book

The mode of life called purgatorial is a medieval superstition, according to some, and the very purpose of mortal life, according to others. So what did Dante make of Purgatory and what has it to teach us now?In the Purgatorio, the essence of the spiritual path is shown in encounters and discussions. Purging itself, for example, is not about being rid of what we don't like, an activity that is another form of vanity. Rather it is about becoming clearer of that which hinders our sight of God and so limits the expansion of our being. Purgatorial living cleanses the doors of perception.This is the second of three talks, originally hosted by the Fintry Trust.The talk draws on Mark's book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book

The liberal world and western churches increasingly seem to suffer from the lack of a sophisticated understanding of erotic love - an approach not merely governed by morals but arising from insight into who we are and our deepest nature.Erotic love can be felt on nearly every page of the Divine Comedy, in perverted and desperate forms, as well as in free and joyous souls.He understood that eros has a goal as it draws us towards God, though that goal is readily thwarted as we traverse its energies. Rules minimally help because love must be combined with light and learnt about from within experience and reflection.Love fills the cosmos. It will not let us go. So how can a path be navigated from the passions that can trap us to the delight that is connection with all?For more on Mark's book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey, see here - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book

The notion of hell is delighted in by some and causes offence in others. So why did Dante write about this infernal domain on his journey through reality? What is its meaning? What might be learnt from it?The inferno illuminates how desires go awry, the nature of our being is misunderstood, perceptions narrow, and how societies, even civilisations, become lost.This is the first of three talks, originally hosted by the Fintry Trust. Why Purgatory and Why Paradise follow.The talk draws on Mark's book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book

This episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues continues Rupert and Mark's exploration of Dante’s Divine Comedy, taking a lead from Mark’s book, Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey. Dante and Virgil have found the way out of hell and a new adventure begins on Mount Purgatory. They first encounter souls who are shocked by their deaths and bemused by the afterlife. Then, the transformative ascent up the various terraces of the mountain begins. On each, souls are reckoning with the part of themselves marked by pride and envy, anger and lust, as well as other feelings and desires that must be cleansed in order to open their perception to the divine life that draws them. Finally, Dante and Virgil reach the earthy Eden, where Dante experiences a surprising, even shocking, encounter with the love of his life, Beatrice.

Dante’s Divine Comedy famously opens with the poet wakening in a dark wood. His life has seemingly taken a wrong turn. But why must he embark first on a journey through hell, before ascending Mount Purgatory, only then entering paradise? What has the way into darkness to do with the way into light? He learns to say ‘yes’ to all of reality, and that the light includes the darkness, even as tragedy is integrated into the comedy of divine life.This event is part of a series looking at dualities with the Pari Centre. For more information - https://paricenter.com/event/dualities/2022-02-05/.For more on Mark's book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey - https://www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedy

John Vervaeke, Paul VanderKlay and Paul Anleitner asked what "God" means, with John challenging the Pauls to talk about God via Light, Love, Logos and Life, so as not to hide behind the "g" word.Drawing on Dante, I offer some thoughts...The original conversation is here - https://youtu.be/UGq34dLXrFIMore about Dante and my work - http://www.markvernon.com

The Dante exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum, for the 700th anniversary year of 2021, brought together some of the Divine Comedy’s greatest illustrators, living and dead, from Monika Beisner to William Blake and Sandro Botticelli. Here are my reflections on these studies in line and light depicting darkness and life.Modern works discussed include those by Monika Beisner, Dante and Beatrice in the Earthly Paradise (2001) and Dante and Beatrice and the Mystic Rose of Paradise (2001); Rachel Owen, The Fraudsters (2010-16); and Geoff MacEwan, The Earthly Paradise (2010). For more on my book, Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey, and other vlogs see www.markvernon.com

Audible have released the audiobook of Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey. I hope you enjoy the first chapter, Inferno 1.For more information go to Audible. And for more on the book as a whole see my website - https://www.markvernon.com.

This episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues is the second part of a conversation between Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon on the Inferno of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Deeper regions of hell are explored, in which individuals aren’t just confused about life but have become wedded to their confusions and the seeming power they bring. The deep ramifications of the worship of Mammon and worlds built on money is part of that addiction, as are the huge risks of spiritual seeking that arise directly from the tremendous goal of the spiritual quest, which is conscious participation in divine life. The conversation draws on Mark’s book, Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey. Future talks will consider the path Dante charts next, through Purgatory and Paradise!For other conversations between Rupert and Mark see https://www.sheldrake.org/audios/sheldrake-vernon-dialogues and https://www.markvernon.com/talks.

Dante and Otherworld Journeys was an online conference organised with the Scientific and Medical Network - https://scientificandmedical.net/events/dr-kayleen-asbo-lorna-byrne-dr-peter-fenwick-mariel-forde-clarke-david-lorimer-felicity-warner-dr-mark-vernon-dante-and-otherworld-journeys/This is the conversation, with extra thoughts, that I had with Lorna Byrne - https://lornabyrne.comI was particularly glad to compare her experience with those of other angel seers, from Socrates to Dante and William Blake. We heard something of her story, and explored the nature of spiritual perception, as well as what she sees of our now and the future.

The Divine Comedy by Dante is one of the great spiritual works of the Christian tradition. But how can it be read and what does it mean? In this episode of the Sheldrake-Vernon Dialogues, Rupert Sheldrake and Mark Vernon discuss the first part of Dante’s cosmic pilgrimage. It takes Dante through the circles of hell, until he reaches the lowest point of reality, the region furthest from God. It becomes clear that descent into darkness is a key part of personal transformation because it helps the individual discern the dark side of experiences such as love, anger and fame, in order that the light they also bring might be discerned. This also explains why the Inferno can comfort as well as disturb: troubling experiences and spiritual emergencies can be as much a part of enlightenment as those that are delightful and satisfying. Rupert and Mark will talk about the Purgatorio and Paradiso in future discussions.

Dante was clear: he wrote so that others might follow him on otherworld journeys. So what might this mean?With the Scientific and Medical Network, an online conference, Sat 27th Nov, to explore this issue. Join individuals who have studied it and others who have so travelled.Full details here - https://scientificandmedical.net/events/dr-kayleen-asbo-lorna-byrne-dr-peter-fenwick-mariel-forde-clarke-david-lorimer-felicity-warner-dr-mark-vernon-dante-and-otherworld-journeys/

This lecture was given to the Temenos Academy on Tuesday 19th October 2021 - a particular delight as it was on its perennial philosophy course that the Divine Comedy first began to open up to me. See here for more details - https://www.temenosacademy.orgI make some remarks on the Inferno and Purgatorio first, about how spiritual intelligence recognises the significance of now and knowing yourself.However, as we live in an age that finds the Paradiso increasingly incomprehensible, most of the lecture looks at the 10 domains of paradise visited by Dante and what they represent for the development of his spiritual intelligence.In short, he sees how reality is characterised by abundance not scarcity, generosity not possessiveness, and comedy not tragedy - not because of any glib universalism, but because love, light and life can embrace hate, darkness and death.Dante enters:- The Moon in which he learns of qualities as guides, over quantities- Mercury in which he learns of harmonising with divine light- Venus in which he learns the essence of eros- The Sun in which he learns of the passion that unites difference- Mars in which he learns the true nature of sacrifice- Jupiter in which he learns how individuality links to all- Saturn in which he learns the necessity of seeing the eternal face- The Fixed Stars in which he learns of radiating with all beings- The Primum Mobile in which he learns of speaking with the divine voice- The Empyrean in which he learns of the nature of eternity.

Today, people feel Dante's Paradiso is irrelevant. It's not. It is the place of true perception and delightful knowledge, and the goal of the Divine Comedy. The question is how to follow Dante's lead and become aware of this domain of reality that is here, now as much as anywhere.In this illustrated talk, I track how Dante's perceptions expanded as, led by Beatrice, he transhumanised. I ask, too, who I might meet as guides on the way.My book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey is out now - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book

For further details about Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-bookFor further details about the Dante Society of London - https://dantesocietylondon.com/index.html2:34 Welcome3:23 Dante’s first 700 years6:08 Dante Society of London9:14 Invoking Dante today10:33 Introducing my new book18:08 Reading in Italian and English from the Inferno, with some thoughts27:12 Reading in Italian and English from the Purgatorio, with some thoughts34:44 Reading in Italian and English from the Paradiso, with some thoughts43:44 QnA - When did Mark first feel the pang of love for Dante?45:23 QnA - How is Dante regarded in Italy now?47:40 QnA - Comments by Owen A Barfield on Owen Barfield, Dante and CS Lewis50:28 QnA - In what ways is Dante a visionary?54:00 QnA - Can you compare Dante’s Satan with Milton’s?58:55 QnA - How does Dante inspire artists; how have artists responded?1:03:13 QnA - What does Mark make of the Clive James’ translation?

Mark Vernon talks about Dante and his new book, Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey (Angelico Press) at the Church Times podcast.This year marks 700 years since Dante’s death, and the Church Times of 10 September 2021 includes features by Robin Ward and Alexander Faludy, as well as several reviews of books published to mark the anniversary.In a Church Times review of Mark’s book, Jonathan Boardman describes it as a “detailed and immensely thoughtful commentary. . . His personal experience as a psychotherapist and student of philosophy, polished further with physics, theology, and ordination, opens . . . a very special reflective door into Dante’s thinking and expression: its dreamlike design is peppered constantly with personal experience and knowledge.”

To preorder Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey see - https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781621387480/dantes-divine-comedyTo join me and register for the online book launch on 14th September at 6pm BST see - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mark-vernon-on-dantes-divine-comedy-tickets-168394477415?keep_tld=1For more details about the book and an excerpt from the introduction see - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book

In this 700th anniversary year, the truth of the Divine Comedy is a key issue. Modern critics may explain its spiritual veracity by putting its impact down to social construction and performativity. But Dante knew about literature as much as he knew about divine life. He is emphatically clear that he has travelled to the high heavens and seeks to write so that we may follow him too.In this talk, I use Dante's own framework of the literal, allegorical, tropological and anagogic to explore how he doesn't just report his time in heaven, but presents us with an account that opens divine domains to this day.For more on my book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey (Angelico Press), see https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book

Categories like feminine and masculine can constrain as much as illuminate. But there is no denying that men and male entities play a major, often surprising part in Dante's journey through the Divine Comedy. This talk complements my look at Dante and the Divine Feminine, now considering Dante's encounters with figures such as Belacqua and Statius,  Bernard and Cacciaguida. Archetypal qualities such as the warrior, magician, lover and king assist. The talk ends with the figure of Beatrice, who might be said to integrate the feminine and masculine, and so be the guide Dante needs to understand the human-divine connection.For more about Mark's work on Dante, including his book, see - https://www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedy.

Categories like feminine and masculine can constrain as much as illuminate. But there is no denying that women and female entities play a major, often surprising part in Dante's journey through the Divine Comedy. Saints including Beatrice, Lucia and Mary, historic figures such as Piccarda, Francesca and Cunizza, and mythological entities like the sirens all figure.In this talk, I use Erich Neumann's exploration of feminine archetypes, The Great Mother, to deepen a sense of how the one God, freely manifesting in all beings and forms, is experienced by Dante in these women and creatures.For more about Mark's work on Dante, including his book, see - https://www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedy

The Divine Comedy aims to deepen and broaden our perception of reality, often by exploding preconceptions. Nowhere is this more true than in Dante's take on the Christian perception of the Trinity. For Dante, it is way more than a doctrine. It is a mode of seeing that reveals reality as dynamic and dancing to its depths.For further talks and details of Mark's book on Dante see - www.markvernon.com

For more on Dante do see - https://www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedyDetails of my book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey, are here - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-bookAlso, use this code, “dantemv”, to get £10 off my Divine Comedy course at The Idler via this link - https://www.idler.co.uk/product/dantes-divine-comedy-in-100-images-with-mark-vernon/?wpam_id=2

[This is an audio version of a talk with images, which is on my YouTube channel.]Making sense of why Dante had to travel through hell, what was going on in purgatory, and how that's all linked to the destination of heaven, comes with appreciating how, in the spiritual life, descent and ascent are profoundly linked.Dante explores the links between virtues and vices, moving beyond the literal, high places are risky places, desiring not more but it all, the cross and failures as digressions, the emptiness that opens to fullness, and how hell is the way human beings discover the reality of heaven.For more on Dante do see - https://www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedy.Details of my book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide for the Spiritual Journey, are here - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book

The word transhumanism was coined by Dante to capture his realisation of divine life in paradise.It has been colonised today by technologists dreaming of utopias.I explore 7 key differences to recover Dante’s vision from the Divine Comedy, in the 700th anniversary year of the great poet’s death, which is also to explore the richness of true transhumanizing.1. Purge what stops you wanting not what you don’t want.2. Understand that death is your friend not your enemy.3. Know your body as experiencing subjectivity not a flawed object.4. Resonate with virtue not reduce to bits and bytes.5. Know your intellect and love not just your cognitive abilities.6. Aim for the richness of diverse unity not the tyranny of singularity.7. Work to release true wealth not enable rich winners. To follow the Divine Comedy, canto by canto, try my podcast/YouTube series - https://www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedy My book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide For The Spiritual Journey (Angelico Press) is forthcoming - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book 

Dante’s journey is all about erotic love, through ugly possessiveness, and powerful passions, to the realisation that love is usually experienced as an ignorance about what we desire, to which he awakens.The Divine Comedy is, therefore, a crucial resource for understanding this energy that surges through us. The poem is rare in the western Christian tradition in embracing eros, not trying to cajole or chasten it.Love leads Dante to the truth that was there all along, and calls to us as well, speaking of the being, consciousness and bliss that is the ground of reality, known when perceived aright.To follow the Divine Comedy, canto by canto, try my podcast/YouTube series - https://www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedyMy book, Dante's Divine Comedy: A Guide For The Spiritual Journey (Angelico Press) is forthcoming - https://www.markvernon.com/books/dantes-divine-comedy-book

This is a recording of a talk I gave online as part of St Albans Cathedral's online adult education programme. The talk with images is online here - https://youtu.be/MiiG-isCCA0 For more on Dante, including details of my forthcoming book - https://www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedy

We will learn a lot about Dante’s language, love, politics and humanism in 2021, the 700th anniversary of his death. But perhaps not so much about the spiritual insights he felt charged by heaven to communicate in his Divine Comedy.My top 10 spiritual insights are:10. Comedy transcends, not excludes tragedy9. Morality gets you nowhere, insight leads everywhere8. Descent and ascent are the same path7. Life is not a hero’s journey but a lover’s journey6. Light is intelligent5. Intelligence is a kind of resonance4. Unity is diverse, not singular3. There is a Christianity beyond Christianity2. Freedom is about saying yes to life, not choice1. The greatest question to ask: who I am?For more on Dante, including details of my forthcoming book - https://www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedy