Podcasts about Enlightened

How do you actually achieve things while you're in your feminine energy? How do you especially do this in a situation, like a job or workplace that is typically dominated by men? Annette, our Well-F**ked All Star articulates it so well. She works as a CEO in high-level positions and she's found how the more she's connected to her feminine—and her sensual, wet and orgasmic, no-panties wearing self—she's more successful and achieves more than ever.In this episode: Leading from the heart and feminineNew corporate dress code: miniskirts and no underwearFeminine energy evoking masculine leadership and protection Before Anami Land: one orgasm. After Anami Land: “50 or 100 orgasms in a play session. I can choose cervical, G-spot, clitoral, or breast orgasm. I've even had neck-gasms!”“My breasts are bigger; my waist is smaller. My hair is shinier.”Doing intimacy work solo when your partner refuses the call Self-prescribing specific orgasms for different emotional statesThe secret to blissful, sexier-than-ever mid-life and menopause? Being well-f**ked. “I'm 49. I'm coming into the land of perimenopause and menopause, and the whole world will tell you that this is a time where I should be drying up and nothing should be happening for me, but it is the opposite. I feel more youthful and gorgeous than I ever have in my life.” The Well-F**ked Woman Salon opens next week June 25th! In this 10-week online salon for all things female sexual mastery. We cover:How to boost your libido, clear your blocks and become a sexually insatiable womanFeminine energy and flow: from lubrication, libido and ejaculation to leading with your feminine The full orgasmapedia of vaginal orgasms: how to have G-Spot, cervical and squirting orgasms.Enlightened blow jobs, deep throating, and manual techniques to make you a champion cock whispererSelf-pleasuring 101Breast massage to tone and lift the breastsTaoist techniques to convert sexual energy into creative energyHow to use your sexual energy to heal yourself and your bodyAnd much more!Still unsure if you're ready to dive in? Take the quiz to find out just “How underf**ked are you?" No matter what stage you're at, there's always another level to go.www.kimanami.com/wet

Are you enlightened? Enlightenment means to see, to shine on, to brighten, or illuminate. Ephesians 1 tells us that the eyes of our hearts can be enlightened to know the hope that God has called us to! We can be enlightened to know God, to understand that He calls us to a life of hope! I think of my son when he was little, crying in his crib, feeling alone in the dark of his little bedroom. He would call out for us. The moment that we walked in the room and we turned on the light, he would settle into peace. And we'd say, “Here we are. Here we are.” This is the hope that we're called to. Do you hear God saying to you, “I'm here”? Let Him enlighten your heart today. Always remember there is hope with God. "I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance." Ephesians 1:18 radio.hopewithgod.com

In this episode of The Missing Secret Podcast, John and Kelly discuss the concept that you don't really get more enlightened until you become 50. John says that there is something magical about turning 50. Before you turn 50, your attitude is generally what don't I know? I pretty much know everything. But when you turned 50, you understand life at a deeper and deeper level. And you also decide to do life on your terms rather than everybody else's terms. John talks about the things he learned in his 50s that he didn't know when he was in his 30s and 40s. As an example. How to work smarter not harder. By understanding how the human mind works. No clue about this in his 30s or 40s. He also didn't understand how to play into one's own strengths and understanding in detail one's own strengths. That became apparent in his 50s. John also learned the power of growing intellectually every week with a system that made that personal growth strategic. He wasn't doing that in his 30s and 40s. Also he learned how to deep think two times a week his 50s. Clueless about that in his 30s and 40s. Then when John got into his 60s he started appreciate how people are different than he was. And that it's okay. People are the product of their genetics coupled with what has come into their consciousness to this point in their life. John also learn the power of having a powerful and emotional mission statement. During this discussion Kelly and John also discuss the limiting factor in one's success regarding having false beliefs. John and Kelly both believed erroneously that they controlled their daily actions. Then they got enlightened to the fact that 95% of a person's daily actions are unconscious. And that was significant because they understood that one's success in life comes down to their daily actions. Once they got that, everything changed. Then in the podcast, John and Kelly talk about the immense power of improving one's self-image. By digging deep into it. Buy John's book, THE MISSING SECRET of the Legendary Book Think and Grow Rich : And a 12-minute-a-day technique to apply it here.About the Hosts:John MitchellJohn's story is pretty amazing. After spending 20 years as an entrepreneur, John was 50 years old but wasn't as successful as he thought he should be. To rectify that, he decided to find the “top book in the world” on SUCCESS and apply that book literally Word for Word to his life. That Book is Think & Grow Rich. The book says there's a SECRET for success, but the author only gives you half the secret. John figured out the full secret and a 12 minute a day technique to apply it.When John applied his 12 minute a day technique to his life, he saw his yearly income go to over $5 million a year, after 20 years of $200k - 300k per year. The 25 times increase happened because John LEVERAGED himself by applying science to his life.His daily technique works because it focuses you ONLY on what moves the needle, triples your discipline, and consistently generates new business ideas every week. This happens because of 3 key aspects of the leveraging process.John's technique was profiled on the cover of Time Magazine. He teaches it at the University of Texas' McCombs School of Business, which is one the TOP 5 business schools in the country. He is also the “mental coach” for the head athletic coaches at the University of Texas as well.Reach out to John at john@thinkitbeit.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-mitchell-76483654/Kelly HatfieldKelly Hatfield is an entrepreneur at heart. She believes wholeheartedly in the power of the ripple effect and has...

Send us some fan mail! (but we can't reply :( )Kiara joins us on this week's episode to talk about her spanko journey, love and loss, and the threat of a bathbrush! :-oPatreon Good Girls & Boys & Everyone in between! - Adalia's Daddy- Alanah- Andy- Anne- Annie- Autumn- Avi- Axel- Bacon- BerkeleyGirl- Carolyn- CatNamedEaster - Carrie- Charley- Chloe- Cool Pseudonym- DD Lifestyle- Dells- Diane- DME- Elsa- Em- Eva- Icse- Jack A- Jared- John- Jonathon- js4n6- Katie- Justin- Lauren- Lena- Mako- Mama Cat- Margot- Mary- Melissa- Michael- Mija- Noah- Scott- Sir Galahad- Stephen- SylviaPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/sipsandsmacksTumblr: @adaliak@rexismycopilotEmail:sipsandsmacks@gmail.comInstagram:@sipsandsmacksWebsite:https://www.sipsandsmacks.comIntro and outro music is "Badly Behaved" and licensed through Premium Beat

(Group Learning Program) - The Eight Fold Path - Moral Conduct (Part 2 of 3)The Eight Fold Path is "The Path to Enlightenment" and can be organized into three (3) distinct sections. This class is Part 2 of a three (3) part series to describe The Path to Enlightenment in detail so that you can learn and practice The Teachings that will guide you to the Enlightened mind.In this Podcast, David will share Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood which comprise the section of The Eight Fold Path described as "Moral Conduct".——-Daily Wisdom - Walking The Path with The BuddhaDedicated to the education of Gotama Buddha's Teachings to attain Enlightenment.https://www.BuddhaDailyWisdom.com(See our website for online learning, courses, and retreats.)Group Learning Program - LIVE Interactive Online Classes, Book, Audiobook, Videos, Podcast and Personal Guidancehttps://mailchi.mp/f958c59262eb/buddhadailywisdomThe Words of The Buddha - Pali Canon in English Study Grouphttps://mailchi.mp/6bb4fdf2b6e0/palicanonstudyprogramFREE Book - Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenmenthttps://www.buddhadailywisdom.com/freebuddhabooksFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DailyWisdom999YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DailyWisdom999Podcast: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/buddhadailywisdom/Support our efforts to share The Teachings of Gotama Buddha with you and worldwide for all people using this link.https://www.buddhadailywisdom.com/supportbuddha#buddhism #learnbuddhism #enlightenment #dhamma #dharma #buddha #meditation #meditationretreat #meditationcourse

Roya: https://www.youtube.com/@royadarlinghealingAdamus: https://www.youtube.com/@AdamusSaintGermainRyo: https://www.youtube.com/@health.thyselfBashar: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiBkFbbWRJgyS7g5LDJcfEdttU1qEnw-V➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖YouTube English: https://www.youtube.com/Vegains YouTube DE: https://www.youtube.com/VegainsDE German Rap: https://www.youtube.com/@VegainsrapInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/vegainstrength Instagram DE: https://www.instagram.com/vegains/My DE Amazon: https://amazon.de/shop/vegainsde Listen to my podcast: https://anchor.fm/ferdibeckGerman podcast: https://anchor.fm/ferdibeckdeWebsite: https://www.vegansavage.com

How are you going to be enlightened today?!: Tuesday, June 17, 2025Subscribe to get my message delivered daily: https://www.michaelallosso.com/goodmorning.html——————May your morning begin shattering expectations right out of the gate. I hope my message brings a smile to your face. May you gain knowledge, become inspired, or collect a trivial fact that you might use in a contest someday.-------For the past 30 years, I've changed my phone message EVERY SINGLE DAY! It's a daily activity, as automatic as brushing my teeth.​ I actually do 2 unique messages daily: one on my cell phone and one on my landline. The time has come to share them. (Perhaps the time has come to get rid of my landline?

(Group Learning Program) - The Eight Fold Path - Wisdom (Part 1 of 3)The Eight Fold Path is "The Path to Enlightenment" and can be organized into three (3) distinct sections. This class is Part 1 of a three (3) part series to describe The Path to Enlightenment in detail so that you can learn and practice The Teachings that will guide you to the Enlightened mind. In this Podcast, David will share Right View and Right Intention which comprise the section of The Eight Fold Path described as "Wisdom".——-Daily Wisdom - Walking The Path with The BuddhaDedicated to the education of Gotama Buddha's Teachings to attain Enlightenment.https://www.BuddhaDailyWisdom.com(See our website for online learning, courses, and retreats.)Group Learning Program - LIVE Interactive Online Classes, Book, Audiobook, Videos, Podcast and Personal Guidancehttps://mailchi.mp/f958c59262eb/buddhadailywisdomThe Words of The Buddha - Pali Canon in English Study Grouphttps://mailchi.mp/6bb4fdf2b6e0/palicanonstudyprogramFREE Book - Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenmenthttps://www.buddhadailywisdom.com/freebuddhabooksFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DailyWisdom999YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DailyWisdom999Podcast: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/buddhadailywisdom/Support our efforts to share The Teachings of Gotama Buddha with you and worldwide for all people using this link.https://www.buddhadailywisdom.com/supportbuddha#buddhism #learnbuddhism #enlightenment #dhamma #dharma #buddha #meditation #meditationretreat #meditationcourse

When you hear “control freak,” what comes to mind? Probably someone who micromanages, hoards tasks, and drives everyone nuts. But what if the real issue isn't being controlling—it's trying to control everything?In this episode, we reclaim the term and explore what it means to become an Enlightened Control Freak—someone who's focused, self-aware, and ruthlessly clear about what's theirs to own.You'll learn a simple 1-2-3 framework to help you:Name what you wantSeparate goals from desiresControl the controllableIf you're tired of being overwhelmed by things outside your control, this episode will show you a better path—one that leads to clarity, peace, and progress.Challenge: This week, make two lists—your goals and your desires—and ask: What can I control?About Clay Scroggins:  Clay Scroggins is a sought-after ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠speaker and leadership coach⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠known for his practical and engaging approach to leadership. He is the author of three books, most notably ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How to Lead When You're Not In Charge⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. With a passion for helping leaders thrive in any environment, Clay brings valuable insights and real-world experience to this podcast and his ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠weekly email⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more at ClayScroggins.comAbout Adam Tarnow: Adam Tarnow is a recovering CPA and now a partner at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PeopleWorks International⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where he heads the Leadership Development Practice. He is the co-author of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Edge: How to Stand Out by Showing You're All In⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and shares his insights on leadership through his Substack, Beyond the Obvious. Learn more at AdamTarnow.com

Marcia Colver lives in Bridger, Montana. When she is not hanging out in the mountains of Montana fishing or helping with the animals, she can be found bouncing all over the country, empowering people, and spreading joy and love through the sharing of her magical voice.Marcia is certified as a Reiki Master, a massage therapist educated in eastern and western medicine, reflexologist, NeuroMuscular Therapist, and hypnotist. She is further trained as an astrologer, a vibrational medicine practitioner, shamanism, and is a High Priestess. She combines all this training with her psychic abilities to give her clients the most valuable experience possible.Her purpose is to bring to humanity the true power and grace of the sacred feminine through healing with love as a high priestess dedicated to all feminine energies. The many ways of forging a path to healing are understanding and clearing alternate soul lives, generational trauma, and limiting beliefs. She assists the client in helping find these traumas or limitations and transmute the energy around and through them to help them step into their power.https://marciacolver.com Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/goldylocks-productions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Your Enlightened Mind1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lecture by Swami Tyagananda, given on May 25, 2025, at the Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, Boston, MA

Yes- we're talking about the Aubrey Marcus podcast about Radical Monogamy as an entry point to a much larger conversation... the pitfalls of the language patterns of the "spirituality" subset of the personal development and coaching industry.P.S. the first 30ish minutes of this episode we're catching up with our listeners after a little bit of a break, skip ahead if you want to get to the meat of the conversation.In this episode:Kimberly and Mark's take on the internet dog pile on Aubrey MarcusWhat we've been up to since our last episodes, plus an update on our coaching certifications and upcoming Enlifted Summer SchoolWe discuss the language patterns of spiritual communities... is it helping or hurting?Understanding the mechanics of words, story, and how that is shaping your mindset.If you want us to make a list of spiritual "galactivated" words and phrases, DM Mark @enliftedcoaches on Instagram Get more from Enlifted:Apply Now for Summer School: June 2025 Enlifted Level 1 Coaches CertificaitonWebsite: enlifted.me + BRAND NEW FREE TRAININGKimberly's Instagram: @kimberly.kestingEnlifted Coaches on Instagram: @enliftedcoachesEnlifted Coaches on YouTube

In this episode, Sat Mindo provides an in-depth exploration of the various stages of deep rest and restful states that can be experienced via meditation and spiritual practices. He emphasizes the enormous benefits of resting from the mind's ceaseless chatter, the dynamic energy changes, and the constant effort of the ego or "knower." Sat Mindo Damalis is an enlightened spiritual teacher and author of “Enlightened Authentic Self”. Mindo has helped over 1000 people to raise their Levels of Consciousness and has helped them to discover their Highest True Potential, Freedom and Power!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.divinemarga.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.galacticacademy.org⁠

Goldylocks Productions presents Enlightened Heights with Marcia ColverMarcia Colver lives in Bridger, Montana. When she is not hanging out in the mountains of Montana fishing or helping with the animals, she can be found bouncing all over the country, empowering people, and spreading joy and love through the sharing of her magical voice.Marcia is certified as a Reiki Master, a massage therapist educated in eastern and western medicine, reflexologist, NeuroMuscular Therapist, and hypnotist. She is further trained as an astrologer, a vibrational medicine practitioner, shamanism, and is a High Priestess. She combines all this training with her psychic abilities to give her clients the most valuable experience possible.Her purpose is to bring to humanity the true power and grace of the sacred feminine through healing with love as a high priestess dedicated to all feminine energies. The many ways of forging a path to healing are understanding and clearing alternate soul lives, generational trauma, and limiting beliefs. She assists the client in helping find these traumas or limitations and transmute the energy around and through them to help them step into their power.https://marciacolver.com Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/goldylocks-productions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zev Howley here joins us to talk about his film The Enlightened State of Tara which screens on July 28th as part of the in-cinema section of the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival.

Letting go gets easier when you stop trying to control the outcome and start listening to what your body is really telling you. In this video, we go deep into attachment, inner child healing, and the energy shift that changes everything. If you're ready to join the 21-Day Confidence Love Challenge and step into your most magnetic and confident self, join here: ➡️ https://www.confidencelovechallenge.com/

Pastor Alan R. Knapp discusses the topic of "A Sermon on the Edge of the Eschaton: Having Been Enlightened..." in his series entitled "Hebrews 2020: We See Jesus" This is Increment 384 and it focuses on the following verses: 2 Corinthians 4:1-9; Hebrews 10:32-35

Ancient Technology Research InstituteTwo Meanings of “Research”Two Meanings of “Dharma”Support the show

In this episode we contemplated a quote from Dr. David Hawkins, "Identification solely with the content of con- sciousness accounts for the experience of self as limited. In contrast, to identify with conscious- ness itself is to know that one's actual Self is unlimited. When such circumscribed self- identifications have been surmounted so that the sense of self is identified as consciousness itself, we become 'Enlightened.'", and "Thought of Awakening" 135.

(Group Learning Program) - The Five Hindrances to Enlightenment & The Seven Factors of EnlightenmentThe Path to Enlightenment is a progression towards an improved mind and life where the mind resides peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy - permanently. The mind will no longer experience any discontent feeling such as sadness, anger, frustration, irritation, annoyance, guilt, shame, fears, boredom, loneliness, shyness, jealousy, resentment, anxiety, stress, etc.All discontent feelings are eliminated from the mind 100% on The Path to Enlightenment.However, there are obstacles or "hindrances" that can inhibit a Practitioner from fully realizing the goal of the Enlightened mind.In this Podcast, David will explore The Seven Factors of Enlightenment as solutions to The Five Hindrances to Enlightenment to ensure your continuous and forward progression on The Path to Enlightenment.——-Daily Wisdom - Walking The Path with The BuddhaDedicated to the education of Gotama Buddha's Teachings to attain Enlightenment.https://www.BuddhaDailyWisdom.com(See our website for online learning, courses, and retreats.)Group Learning Program - LIVE Interactive Online Classes, Book, Audiobook, Videos, Podcast and Personal Guidancehttps://bit.ly/GroupLearningProgram|The Words of The Buddha - Pali Canon in English Study Grouphttps://bit.ly/PaliCanonStudyGroupFREE Book - Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenmenthttps://www.buddhadailywisdom.com/freebuddhabooksFacebook: https://bit.ly/DailyWisdom-FacebookYouTube: https://bit.ly/DailyWisdom-YoutubePodcast: https://bit.ly/DailyWisdom-PodcastSupport our efforts to share The Teachings of Gotama Buddha with you and worldwide for all people using this link.https://www.buddhadailywisdom.com/supportbuddha#buddhism #learnbuddhism #buddhismclass #buddhismcourse #enlightenment #awakening #dhamma #dharma #buddha #meditation #meditationretreat #meditationcourse #meditationclass

In this keynote message from TGC25, Alistair Begg unpacks Ephesians 3:1–13, showing how Paul's suffering and calling reveal the mystery of Christ—that the church is God's new, unified, multicultural people. Begg contrasts the world's longing for peace with God's eternal plan to unite all things in Christ, making the church a powerful display of his wisdom. Begg urges listeners to reject isolation and individualism and instead embrace the beauty of the gospel, the church's purpose, and the hope of glory through Christ.

This episode is also posted on the IPH YouTube podcast.IHP content is for people who are interested in topics, stories, & guidance for personal development, self-help, spirituality journey, the 5D mystic path, & enlightenment the human way. It's for people who choose the human love narrative, not the human suffering narrative. Don't tune in if you don't love life & humanity because this won't be for you. Don't tune in if you still believe in evil or the devil. Topic not ideal for ego-sensitive or emotionally sensitive people. Please don't tune in. Thank you! All IHP content resonates with people who want to achieve enlightenment the human way & are emotionally accountable. IHP podcast host Maria Florio shares voices, stories & perspectives from her 5D mystic enlightenment functional adult life to give examples of what it's like to know emotional self-regulation skills, experience secure attachment, have functional adult conversations & experiences & 5D relationships.Inspiring Human Potential Inner Growth 5D Self-Empowered Enlightened Expanding Consciousness Voices, Stories & Perspectives5D Mystic Enlightenment Functional Adult Relationships New Stories To Heal Trauma Together & Bring Forth Your Humanity5D collective are functional adults who unconditionally love with flaws & imperfections that want to bring forth the authentic self, the inner child adult, & use functional adult direct open-hearted communication.You find your authentic self with self-awareness of your inner & outer mental, emotional & physical well-being as you choose to expand consciousness through integration of the brain, learning to love yourself and other(s) unconditionally - family, community, society, & world.To be you means you're able to actively feel alive, energized & ready for life's adventures (thanks to engaging your mammalian social engagement system - the ventral vagal state). You're ready to bring forth the future with the 5D collective (mystics & educators, etc.) & support humanity to move into another day of life & beyond.With a twin flame there is no saga or obsession; just unconditional love with a deep knowing of one's bond, oversoul connection, lifetimes together.Bringing Together Human, Spiritual, & Spirituality Elements to Explore Human Evolution & ConsciousnessBringing together the human elements (existentialism, psychology, sociology, neuroscience, somatics informed, trauma informed, interpersonal neurobiology informed, etc.), spiritual elements (ascension, the four clairs, astrology, metastrology, metaphysics, 3D, 4D, 5D - dimensions, spiritual awakening, tarot, Akashic records, etc.), & spirituality elements to explore human evolution & consciousness.When we can unconditionally love with flaws & imperfections in all our relationships, we always grow & expand consciousness. We get to experience authentic & genuine aspects that go beyond what words can describe.All our relationships support our expansion of consciousness.We are fragments of each other.Relationships that are unconditionally loving with flaws & imperfections hold the opportunity to support learning how to express & be your true self & tap into your infinite higher human consciousness potential in this lifetime, not the next one.I am life.I am love.I am expanding consciousness.I am infinite higher human potential.I am you.Love, Maria ♾️

B"H What does enlightenment look like in Judaism? It's not about escaping the physical, it's about elevating it. Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai teaches us that true holiness is found in the everyday: in honoring Shabbat, in carrying myrtle, in seeing the sacred within the simple. #judaism #spirituality #shabbat #baryochai #lagbaomer #jewishwisdom To watch Torah Thoughts in video format, click HERE Subscribe to the Torah Thoughts BLOG for exclusive written content! Please like, share and subscribe wherever you find this!

In this episode of The Missing Secret Podcast, John and Kelly discuss the concept of getting more enlightened over time. It's not a linear process. In this episode John goes into eight moments in his life where something happened and he got materially more enlightened. The first time was when he read the book psycho cybernetics at 19. Then it 27 he discovered what his special talent was. The ability to make the complex simple. Then at 30 he saw the power of being an entrepreneur. Then when he was 48 he read the book younger next year. Changed his perspective on exercising and taking care of himself. Then at 50, figuring out the full secret of think and grow Rich. And how 95% of a person's daily thoughts and actions are unconscious.Then it is late 50s discovering the six components of doing his best – from observing specifically what took his income to $5 million a year. Then when John was in is 60s getting enlightened by Darren Hardy that only 2% of people are driven. Where more success is a necessity, not be merely a preference. Then in the last couple years John got enlightened to the disc profile. That other people are not like him. John and Kelly talk about how your life gets easier and you get more successful when you get more enlightened. Then in the podcast John and Kelly talk about where they might get more enlightened in the future.Buy John's book, THE MISSING SECRET of the Legendary Book Think and Grow Rich : And a 12-minute-a-day technique to apply it here.About the Hosts:John MitchellJohn's story is pretty amazing. After spending 20 years as an entrepreneur, John was 50 years old but wasn't as successful as he thought he should be. To rectify that, he decided to find the “top book in the world” on SUCCESS and apply that book literally Word for Word to his life. That Book is Think & Grow Rich. The book says there's a SECRET for success, but the author only gives you half the secret. John figured out the full secret and a 12 minute a day technique to apply it.When John applied his 12 minute a day technique to his life, he saw his yearly income go to over $5 million a year, after 20 years of $200k - 300k per year. The 25 times increase happened because John LEVERAGED himself by applying science to his life.His daily technique works because it focuses you ONLY on what moves the needle, triples your discipline, and consistently generates new business ideas every week. This happens because of 3 key aspects of the leveraging process.John's technique was profiled on the cover of Time Magazine. He teaches it at the University of Texas' McCombs School of Business, which is one the TOP 5 business schools in the country. He is also the “mental coach” for the head athletic coaches at the University of Texas as well.Reach out to John at john@thinkitbeit.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-mitchell-76483654/Kelly HatfieldKelly Hatfield is an entrepreneur at heart. She believes wholeheartedly in the power of the ripple effect and has built several successful companies aimed at helping others make a greater impact in their businesses and lives.She has been in the recruiting, HR, and leadership development space for over 25 years and loves serving others. Kelly, along with her amazing business partners and teams, has built four successful businesses aimed at matching exceptional talent with top organizations and developing their leadership. Her work coaching and consulting with companies to develop their leadership teams, design recruiting and retention strategies, AND her work as host of Absolute Advantage podcast (where she talks with successful entrepreneurs, executives, and thought...

(Group Learning Program) - Frequently Asked Questions and How to Determine If You Are EnlightenedIn this LIVE Stream and Interactive Learning Session, David will share some of the most frequently asked questions by Students of Gotama Buddha's Teachings providing detailed answers to help you deepen your understanding and practice of these Teachings. He will also share with you how to determine you have attained Enlightenment.——-Daily Wisdom - Walking The Path with The BuddhaDedicated to the education of Gotama Buddha's Teachings to attain Enlightenment.https://www.BuddhaDailyWisdom.com(See our website for online learning, courses, and retreats.)Group Learning Program - LIVE Interactive Online Classes, Book, Audiobook, Videos, Podcast and Personal Guidancehttps://bit.ly/GroupLearningProgram|The Words of The Buddha - Pali Canon in English Study Grouphttps://bit.ly/PaliCanonStudyGroupFREE Book - Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenmenthttps://www.buddhadailywisdom.com/freebuddhabooksFacebook: https://bit.ly/DailyWisdom-FacebookYouTube: https://bit.ly/DailyWisdom-YoutubePodcast: https://bit.ly/DailyWisdom-PodcastSupport our efforts to share The Teachings of Gotama Buddha with you and worldwide for all people using this link.https://www.buddhadailywisdom.com/supportbuddha#buddhism #learnbuddhism #buddhismclass #buddhismcourse #enlightenment #awakening #dhamma #dharma #buddha #meditation #meditationretreat #meditationcourse #meditationclass

Episode 131: Judi Neal & Her Books, (1) Edgewalkers: People and Organizations That Take Risks, Build Bridges, and Break New Ground; and (2) Creating Enlightened Organizations: Four Gateways to Spirit at WorkABOUT JUDIJudi Neal is an author, scholar, and consultant. Her focus is workplace spirituality and on personal and organizational transformation. After receiving her Ph.D. from Yale University, she served as an internal consultant to Honeywell. Judi taught management at the University of New Haven and then became the director of the Tyson Center for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace at the University of Arkansas. Author of ten books on workplace spirituality and transformation, she is the President of Edgewalkers International and Executive Director of the Global Consciousness Institute.CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHTS• The value of spirituality.• Spirituality's two primary directions -- vertical connection and horizontal connection.• The 5 Archetypes of Change• Walking and building bridges between worlds.• The power of trauma and disruption to trigger one's edgewalking.• "I can't be tamed."• What turns an organization into a dinosaur.• How leaders can own their edgewalkerness.• Rigor Mortis of life.• What music and accounting have in common.• The trauma of being a whistleblower.• Spiritual DNA• The power of music in Judi moving beyond her painful shyness and agoraphobia.• "It's like they spoke me into more fullness of who I am."• We need models in courage and curiosity.The MAIN QUESTION underlying my conversation with Judi is, How are you walking the edge between what it is that you have and what it is you want? What are the worlds you walk between and can bridge for others?FIND JUDIEdgewalkers Website: www.edgewalkers.orgGlobal Consciousness Institute Website: https://www.gci.earth/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judi-neal-99a1027/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judinealLinkedIn – Full Podcast Article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/episode-131-judi-neal-her-books-1-edgewalkers-2-jaramillo-mba-msop-ftmje/?trackingId=yhwrSKZtRc61grVzoAPRrA%3D%3DCHAPTERS - FINALIZE00:00 - The Book Leads Podcast – Eric Hamilton00:54 - Introduction & Bio03:43 - Who are you today? Can you provide more information about your work?06:27 - How Judi defines spirituality.12:16 - The meaning of "Edgewalker."17:16 - Where does someone's ability to edgewalk come from?29:37 - How did your path into your career look like, and what did it look like up until now?38:22 - How Judi's ideas on spirituality and edgewalking developed.49:09 - How does the work you're doing today reconcile to who you were as a child?51:50 - How Judi shifted beyond her painful shyness and agoraphobia?58:57 - What do you consider your super power?01:07:05 - What does leadership mean to you?01:07:58 - Judi breaks down Edgewalkers: People and Organizations That Take Risks, Build Bridges, and Break New Ground. 01:15:09 - Judi breaks down Creating Enlightened Organizations: Four Gateways to Spirit at Work01:19:08 - What's changed in you in the process of writing this book? (The 5 Archetypes of Change)01:25:52 - What's next for your writing?01:30:07 - What book has inspired you?01:31:56 - What are you up to these days? (A way for guests to share and market their projects and work.)This series has become my Masterclass In Humanity. I'd love for you to join me and see what you take away from these conversations. Learn more about The Book Leads and listen to past episodes:Watch on YouTubeListen on SpotifyListen on Apple PodcastsRead About The Book Leads – Blog PostFor more great content, subscribe to my newsletter Last Week's Leadership Lessons, if you haven't already!

Enlightened Self-Interest isn't selfish — it's smart.Jim Rohn reveals how putting yourself first by becoming more valuable to others is the real path to wealth.But insight without action is wasted.

Listen To Full Sermon: "Sunday of the Man Born Blind | 2025" @ St. Abba Sarapamone Coptic Orthodox Church - Clarksville, TN ~ April 6, 2025https://on.soundcloud.com/84nN42xyEJNc4zvt7

Goldylocks Productions presents Enlightened Heights with Marcia ColverMarcia Colver lives in Bridger, Montana. When she is not hanging out in the mountains of Montana fishing or helping with the animals, she can be found bouncing all over the country, empowering people, and spreading joy and love through the sharing of her magical voice.Marcia is certified as a Reiki Master, a massage therapist educated in eastern and western medicine, reflexologist, NeuroMuscular Therapist, and hypnotist. She is further trained as an astrologer, a vibrational medicine practitioner, shamanism, and is a High Priestess. She combines all this training with her psychic abilities to give her clients the most valuable experience possible.Her purpose is to bring to humanity the true power and grace of the sacred feminine through healing with love as a high priestess dedicated to all feminine energies. The many ways of forging a path to healing are understanding and clearing alternate soul lives, generational trauma, and limiting beliefs. She assists the client in helping find these traumas or limitations and transmute the energy around and through them to help them step into their power.https://marciacolver.com Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/goldylocks-productions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Goldylocks Productions presents Enlightened Heights with Marcia ColverMarcia Colver lives in Bridger, Montana. When she is not hanging out in the mountains of Montana fishing or helping with the animals, she can be found bouncing all over the country, empowering people, and spreading joy and love through the sharing of her magical voice.Marcia is certified as a Reiki Master, a massage therapist educated in eastern and western medicine, reflexologist, NeuroMuscular Therapist, and hypnotist. She is further trained as an astrologer, a vibrational medicine practitioner, shamanism, and is a High Priestess. She combines all this training with her psychic abilities to give her clients the most valuable experience possible.Her purpose is to bring to humanity the true power and grace of the sacred feminine through healing with love as a high priestess dedicated to all feminine energies. The many ways of forging a path to healing are understanding and clearing alternate soul lives, generational trauma, and limiting beliefs. She assists the client in helping find these traumas or limitations and transmute the energy around and through them to help them step into their power.https://marciacolver.com Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/goldylocks-productions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Goldylocks Productions presents Enlightened Heights with Marcia ColverMarcia Colver lives in Bridger, Montana. When she is not hanging out in the mountains of Montana fishing or helping with the animals, she can be found bouncing all over the country, empowering people, and spreading joy and love through the sharing of her magical voice.Marcia is certified as a Reiki Master, a massage therapist educated in eastern and western medicine, reflexologist, NeuroMuscular Therapist, and hypnotist. She is further trained as an astrologer, a vibrational medicine practitioner, shamanism, and is a High Priestess. She combines all this training with her psychic abilities to give her clients the most valuable experience possible.Her purpose is to bring to humanity the true power and grace of the sacred feminine through healing with love as a high priestess dedicated to all feminine energies. The many ways of forging a path to healing are understanding and clearing alternate soul lives, generational trauma, and limiting beliefs. She assists the client in helping find these traumas or limitations and transmute the energy around and through them to help them step into their power.https://marciacolver.com Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/goldylocks-productions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Goldylocks Productions presents Enlightened Heights with Marcia ColverMarcia Colver lives in Bridger, Montana. When she is not hanging out in the mountains of Montana fishing or helping with the animals, she can be found bouncing all over the country, empowering people, and spreading joy and love through the sharing of her magical voice.Marcia is certified as a Reiki Master, a massage therapist educated in eastern and western medicine, reflexologist, NeuroMuscular Therapist, and hypnotist. She is further trained as an astrologer, a vibrational medicine practitioner, shamanism, and is a High Priestess. She combines all this training with her psychic abilities to give her clients the most valuable experience possible.Her purpose is to bring to humanity the true power and grace of the sacred feminine through healing with love as a high priestess dedicated to all feminine energies. The many ways of forging a path to healing are understanding and clearing alternate soul lives, generational trauma, and limiting beliefs. She assists the client in helping find these traumas or limitations and transmute the energy around and through them to help them step into their power.https://marciacolver.com Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/goldylocks-productions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

God desires that we know Him in a way that enlightens the eyes of our hearts, transforming how we see Him, ourselves, others, history, and our eternal hope. The prayer in Ephesians 1 centers on God’s calling, His glorious inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of His power toward those who believe. While God wants us to walk in this deep understanding, many remain unaware or disconnected from it. Why is there so much emphasis on prayer in this very important and short epistle? Acts 19 Break from pagan prayer to new covenant Christianity prayer 15-16 God-inspired prayers written in the Church Epistles reveal what God deems important to include in our petitions and intercessory prayers. 17 The prayer is addressed to God our Father. Ephesians 1:2, 3, and 17; 3:14 and 15; Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:1; John 14:13; 16:23 If we see what God wants us to see, our perspective of Him, humanity, history, and the hope will change. God wants us to know Him and His desires for His human family. 18 “Enlightened” is the difference between hearing the truth and having it come alive inside you, where it changes how you see and live. The prayer is not about knowing our calling, inheritance, and power, but His. Genesis 1:26-28 God's original plan has not changed. This is what He wants. Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3 In Jesus, we see what God wanted and still wants all humans to be. His inheritance – Inheritance: 1:11, 13, 14; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Hebrews 9:15; Romans 8:16-17; Deuteronomy 32:9; Jeremiah 7:23; Ezekiel 36:28; Revelation 21:23 Ephesians 1:19-23 We have the evidence of God's power because He raised Jesus from the dead and ascended him to His right hand. That mighty power will do the same for us. Ephesians 1:13-14The post Ephesians 2: Eyes Opened first appeared on Living Hope.

Astrology, Kabbalah, Mythology & Storytelling that Empowers Your Life Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's episode we preview Backlash and finish our wrestlers vs gorilla list! Also, HITF Champ Miggy responds to Enoch the Enlightened after he called us names! Stay tuned!Follow @hitfpod on Instagram and TikTokSUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel for more awesome content!

Today, Aaron Abke joins us for an expansive discussion about the roots of suffering, the ego, the Law of One, Christ Consciousness, and what it means to surrender to God. We'll explore the teachings of Jesus, spiritual distortions in religion, emotional integration, and practical steps to embody love in our lives. Aaron offers powerful perspectives on how suffering can be a path to awakening and the role of polarity in spiritual growth. OUR GUESTAaron Abke is a paradigm-shifting spiritual teacher that delivers a fresh, new perspective on Self-Realization through his teachings on the Law of One, Non-Duality, The True Teachings of Jesus, and Spiritual Intelligence. Aaron aims to provide humanity with the tools, knowledge, and practices needed to aid our collective ascension to Enlightenment, or "4th Density Consciousness". His passion and purpose is to awaken this planet to the awareness of our oneness and collective destiny as an Enlightened civilization.AARON ABKE

From Cocaine Cowboy to Mindfulness Mentor: Transforming Lives Host John Duffin sits down with Bob Martin, a former high-profile defense attorney turned educator and mindfulness expert. Bob discusses his journey from being labeled the 'Cocaine Cowboy' during his time defending notorious criminals to finding redemption through mindfulness and meditation. The conversation covers the importance of finding your authentic voice, the transformative power of meditation, and practical approaches to overcoming emotional and moral conflicts. Bob also shares insights into how he uses his decades of experience in law and education to guide others towards a happier, more fulfilling life.Martin shares his own gritty journey, touching on his transformative experiences, including his time as a 'cocaine cowboy' lawyer in Miami and his eventual shift to mindful living after meeting a Daoist master. He highlights the fundamental principles of meditation and mindfulness, emphasizing the cultivation of positive attributes like loving-kindness and empathy. Through personal anecdotes and practical examples, Martin illustrates the power of mindfulness in overcoming negative narratives and achieving a balanced, fulfilling life. The episode also explores effective teaching methods for mindfulness, combining technological tools with personalized coaching to ensure sustained practice and profound transformation.When you want to learn more about Bob Martin, check out the links below. bob@awiseandhappylife.comhttps://www.awiseandhappylife.com/home/LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-martin-995b30127/When you are ready to share your story with me, on PodMatch, click the link to get "Your Message Received!"https://www.joinpodmatch.com/duffin_jd00:57 Meet Bob Martin: Mindfulness Leader01:49 Finding Your Authentic Voice07:06 The Role of a Defense Attorney12:51 A Life-Changing Encounter14:16 The Power of Mindfulness and Meditation22:30 Applying Mindfulness in Everyday Life32:03 The Power of Digital Meditation32:26 Understanding Meditation: It's Not About Quieting the Mind33:06 The Wandering Mind: Evolution and Modern Stress35:53 The Practice of Meditation: Returning and Beginning Again36:38 Building Mental Strength and Metacognition42:11 The Role of a Meditation Coach43:07 Combining App and Teacher for Effective Meditation46:02 Addressing Obstacles in Meditation Practice47:30 Emotional Awareness and Grounding Techniques54:38 The Importance of Listening and Authenticity58:39 Conclusion and Contact Information

Kevin Brooks, former CEO of Cookies Management and Connected Cannabis, identified plant health as a key vulnerability in the cannabis supply chain based on his experience leading vertically integrated cannabis operations in California. This insight led him to establish Conception Nurseries, a Sacramento-based company that provides commercial-scale tissue culture services to the cannabis industry. In addition to maintaining a large catalog of cultivar clones, Conception offers remediation, cold storage, and exclusive production services. Brooks brings prior leadership experience and successful exits from the regulated tech sector to his role at Conception.

[This episode originally aired on May 9, 2023]  Buddha nature, or “enlightened genes,” isn't something outside of us that we need to construct or to import  • it is a force of awakening that is within us, and it is quite simple and quite natural  •  it is like the strong determination of children to learn and to develop; it's almost a kind of discontent looking to awaken  •  traditional texts point to this inherent nature as the root cause of awakening  •  the second cause of awakening is the pivotal point where that cause from within meets a cause from without—when you meet a teacher or a spiritual friend, someone who recognizes this quality within you and mirrors it back to you  •  that meeting point is extremely important  •  the third cause is the confidence that ensues from that meeting point, the confidence and trust in your own nature  •  the fourth cause is discriminating awareness or wisdom-insight; it is the insight that cuts through the fog and the distractions that cover over our inherent nature  •  this wisdom cuts through false identities and fixations, disassembling the solid walls of ego that alienate us from our true nature.

In this episode of The Missing Secret Podcast, John and Kelly talk about as we get older, we tend to become more enlightened. John gives two examples. A few years ago he noticed that the only time he ever really lost his temper was at technology. And he would get angry out loud. Then he stepped back from that and realized – what good does that do. It only made him more stressed. So he decided to change that. And he put that enlightenment in his daily visualization. Well immediately, that stopped. Because he trained his subconscious mind to not get angry out loud.Another example John had is this. It's in driving. Not long ago John became aware of the disc profile. And how there's four different distinct personality types. Which one you are is a function of do you do things fast or do you do them slow. And whether you're people oriented or task oriented. John is a D. He does things fast and is task oriented. As an example, his wife Ginger is a C. She basically a perfectionist. Does things slow and is task oriented. As all this relates to driving, John noticed that in the past he would get frustrated at people that were going slow. Especially if he was on a 2 Lane Rd. and he couldn't pass them. Then from becoming more enlightened he's like okay that person that's going slow is just a different personality type than he is. They have a right to go slow just like John feels like he has a right to go fast. And he learned with regards to patients to see who has control and when he doesn't have control, just lean into patience. He then put that in his visualization. And immediately he became a much more patient driver.Kelly then mentions a great Mel Robbins podcast on communication. The essence of the podcast is what you say is who you are. You compress your personality into what you say. And during the podcast they talk about some great communication tips. As an example, if someone ever insult you, make them repeat it. Go, what did you say? Would you repeat that? You are delaying their gratification. Flipping it back on them. You take the fun out of the insult for them.Another tip is if you ever have to give bad news. You want to say what you need to say immediately. Jump right in. Whatever you're trying to craft the exact right words when you're giving someone bad news, it's agonizing for the other person. Don't inch by inch it. Get right into the bad news. And tell them you're being straight with them because you know they can handle the truth. Another tip is to have a standard way of answering how are you. And maybe pause before you answer. This conveys to the other person that you really are giving them a thoughtful answer. And of course using the think it be it methodology, you can easily incorporate these communication tips into your visualization so they show up automatically without thinking.About the Hosts:John MitchellJohn's story is pretty amazing. After spending 20 years as an entrepreneur, John was 50 years old but wasn't as successful as he thought he should be. To rectify that, he decided to find the “top book in the world” on SUCCESS and apply that book literally Word for Word to his life. That Book is Think & Grow Rich. The book says there's a SECRET for success, but the author only gives you half the secret. John figured out the full secret and a 12 minute a day technique to apply it.When John applied his 12 minute a day technique to his life, he saw his yearly income go to over $5 million a year, after 20 years of $200k - 300k per year. The 25 times increase happened because John LEVERAGED himself by applying science to his life.His daily technique works because it focuses you ONLY on what moves the needle, triples your discipline, and consistently generates new business ideas every week. This happens because of 3 key aspects of the leveraging process.John's technique was profiled on the cover of Time Magazine. He...

Colour has an important place in Buddhism, for example as a way to express different aspects of the Enlightened mind in the Five Jinas. This symbolism can open the imagination to new depths of understanding. As an artist and former art teacher, Ahimsaka has studied colour extensively and helps us explore the deeper significance of colour in Buddhist practice. Excerpt from the talk entitled Tantric Path - The Symbolism of Colour given at Cambridge Buddhist Centre, 2017. *** Help us keep FBA Podcasts free for everyone! Donate now: https://freebuddhistaudio.com/donate Subscribe to our Dharmabytes podcast: Bite-sized clips - Buddhist inspiration three times a week. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dharmabytes-from-free-buddhist-audio/id416832097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UHPDj01UH6ptj8FObwBfB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FreeBuddhistAudio1967  

An intense transition period is underway as the 3rd Mars-Pluto opposition occurs on April 26 at 3 deg 48, which creates a Fixed Grand Cross with Black Moon Lilith and the Sun in Taurus. Heightened polarization, violence, and extreme positions are prominent, yet it is up to us to tap into our multidimensional powers to choose a higher expression that supports empowerment, creative breakthroughs, and connecting with an emerging truth. The discomfort reveals a timeline collapse, and that breaking patterns are right on time. The Taurus New Moon at 7 deg 47 brings in a focus on grounding, peace and internal harmony on April 27. Venus makes final conjunctions to the NN and Saturn in Pisces, strengthening her self-love as she then re-enters Aries on April 30. A wild end to the month! More to share in this week's podcast episode.The Nodes of Fate move through Pisces and Virgo from January 2025 to July 2026, bringing energy and focus to where you are ready to embrace more intuition, compassion, soul gifts, and healing. Let's dive into what this means for you personally as we explore the energies of Pisces and Virgo in your natal chart by expression, house placement, and previous cycles of growth. More details here:https://www.mollymccord.online/offers/2SSJcvRu

[This episode originally aired on May 2, 2023]  Today we are exploring four traditional methods or practices we can use to awaken our enlightened genes  •  the first method is cultivating loving kindness, or maitri, which is a key theme in the mahayana; it is connected with the wish that all beings be happy, and that includes you  •  the second method is cultivating compassion, or karuna  •  while loving kindness looks into the nature of happiness, compassion looks into the nature and causes of suffering  •  the third method is cultivating sympathetic joy — a joy based on appreciating others' happiness and accomplishments  •  the fourth method is cultivating equanimity — cultivating an even mind, a grounded mind, a magnanimous mind; we deal with each experience equally with no bias  •  these four methods — kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity — are gentle, but they are powerful methods for awakening our enlightened genes.

So what, exactly, was “The Enlightenment”? According to the Princeton historian David A. Bell, it was an intellectual movement roughly spanning the early 18th century through to the French Revolution. In his Spring 2025 Liberties Quarterly piece “The Enlightenment, Then and Now”, Bell charts the Enlightenment as a complex intellectual movement centered in Paris but with hubs across Europe and America. He highlights key figures like Montesquieu, Voltaire, Kant, and Franklin, discussing their contributions to concepts of religious tolerance, free speech, and rationality. In our conversation, Bell addresses criticisms of the Enlightenment, including its complicated relationship with colonialism and slavery, while arguing that its principles of freedom and reason remain relevant today. 5 Key Takeaways* The Enlightenment emerged in the early 18th century (around 1720s) and was characterized by intellectual inquiry, skepticism toward religion, and a growing sense among thinkers that they were living in an "enlightened century."* While Paris was the central hub, the Enlightenment had multiple centers including Scotland, Germany, and America, with thinkers like Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant, Hume, and Franklin contributing to its development.* The Enlightenment introduced the concept of "society" as a sphere of human existence separate from religion and politics, forming the basis of modern social sciences.* The movement had a complex relationship with colonialism and slavery - many Enlightenment thinkers criticized slavery, but some of their ideas about human progress were later used to justify imperialism.* According to Bell, rather than trying to "return to the Enlightenment," modern society should selectively adopt and adapt its valuable principles of free speech, religious tolerance, and education to create our "own Enlightenment."David Avrom Bell is a historian of early modern and modern Europe at Princeton University. His most recent book, published in 2020 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, is Men on Horseback: The Power of Charisma in the Age of Revolution. Described in the Journal of Modern History as an "instant classic," it is available in paperback from Picador, in French translation from Fayard, and in Italian translation from Viella. A study of how new forms of political charisma arose in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the book shows that charismatic authoritarianism is as modern a political form as liberal democracy, and shares many of the same origins. Based on exhaustive research in original sources, the book includes case studies of the careers of George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Toussaint Louverture and Simon Bolivar. The book's Introduction can be read here. An online conversation about the book with Annette Gordon-Reed, hosted by the Cullman Center of the New York Public Library, can be viewed here. Links to material about the book, including reviews in The New York Review of Books, The Guardian, Harper's, The New Republic, The Nation, Le Monde, The Los Angeles Review of Books and other venues can be found here. Bell is also the author of six previous books. He has published academic articles in both English and French and contributes regularly to general interest publications on a variety of subjects, ranging from modern warfare, to contemporary French politics, to the impact of digital technology on learning and scholarship, and of course French history. A list of his publications from 2023 and 2024 can be found here. His Substack newsletter can be found here. His writings have been translated into French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Hebrew, Swedish, Polish, Russian, German, Croatian, Italian, Turkish and Japanese. At the History Department at Princeton University, he holds the Sidney and Ruth Lapidus Chair in the Era of North Atlantic Revolutions, and offers courses on early modern Europe, on military history, and on the early modern French empire. Previously, he spent fourteen years at Johns Hopkins University, including three as Dean of Faculty in its School of Arts and Sciences. From 2020 to 2024 he served as Director of the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies at Princeton. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a corresponding fellow of the British Academy. Bell's new project is a history of the Enlightenment. A preliminary article from the project was published in early 2022 by Modern Intellectual History. Another is now out in French History.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. FULL TRANSCRIPTAndrew Keen: Hello everybody, in these supposedly dark times, the E word comes up a lot, the Enlightenment. Are we at the end of the Enlightenment or the beginning? Was there even an Enlightenment? My guest today, David Bell, a professor of history, very distinguished professor of history at Princeton University, has an interesting piece in the spring issue of It is One of our, our favorite quarterlies here on Keen on America, Bell's piece is The Enlightenment Then and Now, and David is joining us from the home of the Enlightenment, perhaps Paris in France, where he's on sabbatical hard life. David being an academic these days, isn't it?David Bell: Very difficult. I'm having to suffer the Parisian bread and croissant. It's terrible.Andrew Keen: Yeah. Well, I won't keep you too long. Is Paris then, or France? Is it the home of the Enlightenment? I know there are many Enlightenments, the French, the Scottish, maybe even the English, perhaps even the American.David Bell: It's certainly one of the homes of the Enlightenment, and it's probably the closest that the Enlightened had to a center, absolutely. But as you say, there were Edinburgh, Glasgow, plenty of places in Germany, Philadelphia, all those places have good claims to being centers of the enlightenment as well.Andrew Keen: All the same David, is it like one of those sports games in California where everyone gets a medal?David Bell: Well, they're different metals, right, but I think certainly Paris is where everybody went. I mean, if you look at the figures from the German Enlightenment, from the Scottish Enlightenment from the American Enlightenment they all tended to congregate in Paris and the Parisians didn't tend to go anywhere else unless they were forced to. So that gives you a pretty good sense of where the most important center was.Andrew Keen: So David, before we get to specifics, map out for us, because everyone is perhaps as familiar or comfortable with the history of the Enlightenment, and certainly as you are. When did it happen? What years? And who are the leaders of this thing called the Enlightenment?David Bell: Well, that's a big question. And I'm afraid, of course, that if you ask 10 historians, you'll get 10 different answers.Andrew Keen: Well, I'm only asking you, so I only want one answer.David Bell: So I would say that the Enlightenment really gets going around the first couple of decades of the 18th century. And that's when people really start to think that they are actually living in what they start to call an Enlightenment century. There are a lot of reasons for this. They are seeing what we now call the scientific revolution. They're looking at the progress that has been made with that. They are experiencing the changes in the religious sphere, including the end of religious wars, coming with a great deal of skepticism about religion. They are living in a relative period of peace where they're able to speculate much more broadly and daringly than before. But it's really in those first couple of decades that they start thinking of themselves as living in an enlightened century. They start defining themselves as something that would later be called the enlightenment. So I would say that it's, really, really there between maybe the end of the 17th century and 1720s that it really gets started.Andrew Keen: So let's have some names, David, of philosophers, I guess. I mean, if those are the right words. I know that there was a term in French. There is a term called philosoph. Were they the founders, the leaders of the Enlightenment?David Bell: Well, there is a... Again, I don't want to descend into academic quibbling here, but there were lots of leaders. Let me give an example, though. So the year 1721 is a remarkable year. So in the year, 1721, two amazing events happened within a couple of months of each other. So in May, Montesquieu, one of the great philosophers by any definition, publishes his novel called Persian Letters. And this is an incredible novel. Still, I think one of greatest novels ever written, and it's very daring. It is the account, it is supposedly a an account written by two Persian travelers to Europe who are writing back to people in Isfahan about what they're seeing. And it is very critical of French society. It is very of religion. It is, as I said, very daring philosophically. It is a product in part of the increasing contact between Europe and the rest of the world that is also very central to the Enlightenment. So that novel comes out. So it's immediately, you know, the police try to suppress it. But they don't have much success because it's incredibly popular and Montesquieu doesn't suffer any particular problems because...Andrew Keen: And the French police have never been the most efficient police force in the world, have they?David Bell: Oh, they could be, but not in this case. And then two months later, after Montesquieu published this novel, there's a German philosopher much less well-known than Montesqiu, than Christian Bolz, who is a professor at the Universität Haller in Prussia, and he gives an oration in Latin, a very typical university oration for the time, about Chinese philosophy, in which he says that the Chinese have sort of proved to the world, particularly through the writings of Confucius and others, that you can have a virtuous society without religion. Obviously very controversial. Statement for the time it actually gets him fired from his job, he has to leave the Kingdom of Prussia within 48 hours on penalty of death, starts an enormous controversy. But here are two events, both of which involving non-European people, involving the way in which Europeans are starting to look out at the rest of the world and starting to imagine Europe as just one part of a larger humanity, and at the same time they are starting to speculate very daringly about whether you can have. You know, what it means to have a society, do you need to have religion in order to have morality in society? Do you need the proper, what kind of government do you need to to have virtuous conduct and a proper society? So all of these things get, you know, really crystallize, I think, around these two incidents as much as anything. So if I had to pick a single date for when the enlightenment starts, I'd probably pick that 1721.Andrew Keen: And when was, David, I thought you were going to tell me about the earthquake in Lisbon, when was that earthquake?David Bell: That earthquake comes quite a bit later. That comes, and now historians should be better with dates than I am. It's in the 1750s, I think it's the late 1750's. Again, this historian is proving he's getting a very bad grade for forgetting the exact date, but it's in 1750. So that's a different kind of event, which sparks off a great deal of commentary, because it's a terrible earthquake. It destroys most of the city of Lisbon, it destroys other cities throughout Portugal, and it leads a lot of the philosophy to philosophers at the time to be speculating very daringly again on whether there is any kind of real purpose to the universe and whether there's any kind divine purpose. Why would such a terrible thing happen? Why would God do such a thing to his followers? And certainly VoltaireAndrew Keen: Yeah, Votav, of course, comes to mind of questioning.David Bell: And Condit, Voltaire's novel Condit gives a very good description of the earthquake in Lisbon and uses that as a centerpiece. Voltair also read other things about the earthquake, a poem about Lisbon earthquake. But in Condit he gives a lasting, very scathing portrait of the Catholic Church in general and then of what happens in Portugal. And so the Lisbon Earthquake is certainly another one of the events, but it happens considerably later. Really in the middle of the end of life.Andrew Keen: So, David, you believe in this idea of the Enlightenment. I take your point that there are more than one Enlightenment in more than one center, but in broad historical terms, the 18th century could be defined at least in Western and Northern Europe as the period of the Enlightenment, would that be a fair generalization?David Bell: I think it's perfectly fair generalization. Of course, there are historians who say that it never happened. There's a conservative British historian, J.C.D. Clark, who published a book last summer, saying that the Enlightenment is a kind of myth, that there was a lot of intellectual activity in Europe, obviously, but that the idea that it formed a coherent Enlightenment was really invented in the 20th century by a bunch of progressive reformers who wanted to claim a kind of venerable and august pedigree for their own reform, liberal reform plans. I think that's an exaggeration. People in the 18th century defined very clearly what was going on, both people who were in favor of it and people who are against it. And while you can, if you look very closely at it, of course it gets a bit fuzzy. Of course it's gets, there's no single, you can't define a single enlightenment project or a single enlightened ideology. But then, I think people would be hard pressed to define any intellectual movement. You know, in perfect, incoherent terms. So the enlightenment is, you know by compared with almost any other intellectual movement certainly existed.Andrew Keen: In terms of a philosophy of the Enlightenment, the German thinker, Immanuel Kant, seems to be often, and when you describe him as the conscience or the brain or a mixture of the conscience and brain of the enlightenment, why is Kant and Kantian thinking so important in the development of the Enlightenment.David Bell: Well, that's a really interesting question. And one reason is because most of the Enlightenment was not very rigorously philosophical. A lot of the major figures of the enlightenment before Kant tended to be writing for a general public. And they often were writing with a very specific agenda. We look at Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau. Now you look at Adam Smith in Scotland. We look David Hume or Adam Ferguson. You look at Benjamin Franklin in the United States. These people wrote in all sorts of different genres. They wrote in, they wrote all sorts of different kinds of books. They have many different purposes and very few of them did a lot of what we would call rigorous academic philosophy. And Kant was different. Kant was very much an academic philosopher. Kant was nothing if not rigorous. He came at the end of the enlightenment by most people's measure. He wrote these very, very difficult, very rigorous, very brilliant works, such as The Creek of Pure Reason. And so, it's certainly been the case that people who wanted to describe the Enlightenment as a philosophy have tended to look to Kant. So for example, there's a great German philosopher and intellectual historian of the early 20th century named Ernst Kassirer, who had to leave Germany because of the Nazis. And he wrote a great book called The Philosophy of the Enlightened. And that leads directly to Immanuel Kant. And of course, Casir himself was a Kantian, identified with Kant. And so he wanted to make Kant, in a sense, the telos, the end point, the culmination, the fulfillment of the Enlightenment. But so I think that's why Kant has such a particularly important position. You're defining it both ways.Andrew Keen: I've always struggled to understand what Kant was trying to say. I'm certainly not alone there. Might it be fair to say that he was trying to transform the universe and certainly traditional Christian notions into the Enlightenment, so the entire universe, the world, God, whatever that means, that they were all somehow according to Kant enlightened.David Bell: Well, I think that I'm certainly no expert on Immanuel Kant. And I would say that he is trying to, I mean, his major philosophical works are trying to put together a system of philosophical thinking which will justify why people have to act morally, why people act rationally, without the need for Christian revelation to bolster them. That's a very, very crude and reductionist way of putting it, but that's essentially at the heart of it. At the same time, Kant was very much aware of his own place in history. So Kant didn't simply write these very difficult, thick, dense philosophical works. He also wrote things that were more like journalism or like tablets. He wrote a famous essay called What is Enlightenment? And in that, he said that the 18th century was the period in which humankind was simply beginning to. Reach a period of enlightenment. And he said, he starts the essay by saying, this is the period when humankind is being released from its self-imposed tutelage. And we are still, and he said we do not yet live in the midst of a completely enlightened century, but we are getting there. We are living in a century that is enlightening.Andrew Keen: So the seeds, the seeds of Hegel and maybe even Marx are incant in that German thinking, that historical thinking.David Bell: In some ways, in some ways of course Hegel very much reacts against Kant and so and then Marx reacts against Hegel. So it's not exactly.Andrew Keen: Well, that's the dialectic, isn't it, David?David Bell: A simple easy path from one to the other, no, but Hegel is unimaginable without Kant of course and Marx is unimagineable without Hegel.Andrew Keen: You note that Kant represents a shift in some ways into the university and the walls of the universities were going up, and that some of the other figures associated with the the Enlightenment and Scottish Enlightenment, human and Smith and the French Enlightenment Voltaire and the others, they were more generalist writers. Should we be nostalgic for the pre-university period in the Enlightenment, or? Did things start getting serious once the heavyweights, the academic heavyweighs like Emmanuel Kant got into this thing?David Bell: I think it depends on where we're talking about. I mean, Adam Smith was a professor at Glasgow in Edinburgh, so Smith, the Scottish Enlightenment was definitely at least partly in the universities. The German Enlightenment took place very heavily in universities. Christian Vodafoy I just mentioned was the most important German philosopher of the 18th century before Kant, and he had positions in university. Even the French university system, for a while, what's interesting about the French University system, particularly the Sorbonne, which was the theology faculty, It was that. Throughout the first half of the 18th century, there were very vigorous, very interesting philosophical debates going on there, in which the people there, particularly even Jesuits there, were very open to a lot of the ideas we now call enlightenment. They were reading John Locke, they were reading Mel Pench, they were read Dekalb. What happened though in the French universities was that as more daring stuff was getting published elsewhere. Church, the Catholic Church, started to say, all right, these philosophers, these philosophies, these are our enemies, these are people we have to get at. And so at that point, anybody who was in the university, who was still in dialog with these people was basically purged. And the universities became much less interesting after that. But to come back to your question, I do think that I am very nostalgic for that period. I think that the Enlightenment was an extraordinary period, because if you look between. In the 17th century, not all, but a great deal of the most interesting intellectual work is happening in the so-called Republic of Letters. It's happening in Latin language. It is happening on a very small circle of RUD, of scholars. By the 19th century following Kant and Hegel and then the birth of the research university in Germany, which is copied everywhere, philosophy and the most advanced thinking goes back into the university. And the 18th century, particularly in France, I will say, is a time when the most advanced thought is being written for a general public. It is being in the form of novels, of dialogs, of stories, of reference works, and it is very, very accessible. The most profound thought of the West has never been as accessible overall as in the 18 century.Andrew Keen: Again, excuse this question, it might seem a bit naive, but there's a lot of pre-Enlightenment work, books, thinking that we read now that's very accessible from Erasmus and Thomas More to Machiavelli. Why weren't characters like, or are characters like Erasmuus, More's Utopia, Machiavell's prints and discourses, why aren't they considered part of the Enlightenment? What's the difference between? Enlightened thinkers or the supposedly enlightened thinkers of the 18th century and thinkers and writers of the 16th and 17th centuries.David Bell: That's a good question, you know, I think you have to, you, you know, again, one has to draw a line somewhere. That's not a very good answer, of course. All these people that you just mentioned are, in one way or another, predecessors to the Enlightenment. And of course, there were lots of people. I don't mean to say that nobody wrote in an accessible way before 1700. Obviously, lots of the people you mentioned did. Although a lot of them originally wrote in Latin, Erasmus, also Thomas More. But I think what makes the Enlightened different is that you have, again, you have a sense. These people have have a sense that they are themselves engaged in a collective project, that it is a collective project of enlightenment, of enlightening the world. They believe that they live in a century of progress. And there are certain principles. They don't agree on everything by any means. The philosophy of enlightenment is like nothing more than ripping each other to shreds, like any decent group of intellectuals. But that said, they generally did believe That people needed to have freedom of speech. They believed that you needed to have toleration of different religions. They believed in education and the need for a broadly educated public that could be as broad as possible. They generally believed in keeping religion out of the public sphere as much as possible, so all those principles came together into a program that we can consider at least a kind of... You know, not that everybody read it at every moment by any means, but there is an identifiable enlightenment program there, and in this case an identifiable enlightenment mindset. One other thing, I think, which is crucial to the Enlightenment, is that it was the attention they started to pay to something that we now take almost entirely for granted, which is the idea of society. The word society is so entirely ubiquitous, we assume it's always been there, and in one sense it has, because the word societas is a Latin word. But until... The 18th century, the word society generally had a much narrower meaning. It referred to, you know, particular institution most often, like when we talk about the society of, you know, the American philosophical society or something like that. And the idea that there exists something called society, which is the general sphere of human existence that is separate from religion and is separate from the political sphere, that's actually something which only really emerged at the end of the 1600s. And it became really the focus of you know, much, if not most, of enlightenment thinking. When you look at someone like Montesquieu and you look something, somebody like Rousseau or Voltaire or Adam Smith, probably above all, they were concerned with understanding how society works, not how government works only, but how society, what social interactions are like beginning of what we would now call social science. So that's yet another thing that distinguishes the enlightened from people like Machiavelli, often people like Thomas More, and people like bonuses.Andrew Keen: You noted earlier that the idea of progress is somehow baked in, in part, and certainly when it comes to Kant, certainly the French Enlightenment, although, of course, Rousseau challenged that. I'm not sure whether Rousseaut, as always, is both in and out of the Enlightenment and he seems to be in and out of everything. How did the Enlightement, though, make sense of itself in the context of antiquity, as it was, of Terms, it was the Renaissance that supposedly discovered or rediscovered antiquity. How did many of the leading Enlightenment thinkers, writers, how did they think of their own society in the context of not just antiquity, but even the idea of a European or Western society?David Bell: Well, there was a great book, one of the great histories of the Enlightenment was written about more than 50 years ago by the Yale professor named Peter Gay, and the first part of that book was called The Modern Paganism. So it was about the, you know, it was very much about the relationship between the Enlightenment and the ancient Greek synonyms. And certainly the writers of the enlightenment felt a great deal of kinship with the ancient Greek synonymous. They felt a common bond, particularly in the posing. Christianity and opposing what they believed the Christian Church had wrought on Europe in suppressing freedom and suppressing free thought and suppassing free inquiry. And so they felt that they were both recovering but also going beyond antiquity at the same time. And of course they were all, I mean everybody at the time, every single major figure of the Enlightenment, their education consisted in large part of what we would now call classics, right? I mean, there was an educational reformer in France in the 1760s who said, you know, our educational system is great if the purpose is to train Roman centurions, if it's to train modern people who are not doing both so well. And it's true. I mean they would spend, certainly, you know in Germany, in much of Europe, in the Netherlands, even in France, I mean people were trained not simply to read Latin, but to write in Latin. In Germany, university courses took part in the Latin language. So there's an enormous, you know, so they're certainly very, very conversant with the Greek and Roman classics, and they identify with them to a very great extent. Someone like Rousseau, I mean, and many others, and what's his first reading? How did he learn to read by reading Plutarch? In translation, but he learns to read reading Plutach. He sees from the beginning by this enormous admiration for the ancients that we get from Bhutan.Andrew Keen: Was Socrates relevant here? Was the Enlightenment somehow replacing Aristotle with Socrates and making him and his spirit of Enlightenment, of asking questions rather than answering questions, the symbol of a new way of thinking?David Bell: I would say to a certain extent, so I mean, much of the Enlightenment criticizes scholasticism, medieval scholastic, very, very sharply, and medieval scholasticism is founded philosophically very heavily upon Aristotle, so to that extent. And the spirit of skepticism that Socrates embodied, the idea of taking nothing for granted and asking questions about everything, including questions of oneself, yes, absolutely. That said, while the great figures of the Red Plato, you know, Socrates was generally I mean, it was not all that present as they come. But certainly have people with people with red play-doh in the entire virus.Andrew Keen: You mentioned Benjamin Franklin earlier, David. Most of the Enlightenment, of course, seems to be centered in France and Scotland, Germany, England. But America, many Europeans went to America then as a, what some people would call a settler colonial society, or certainly an offshoot of the European world. Was the settling of America and the American Revolution Was it the quintessential Enlightenment project?David Bell: Another very good question, and again, it depends a bit on who you talk to. I just mentioned this book by Peter Gay, and the last part of his book is called The Science of Freedom, and it's all about the American Revolution. So certainly a lot of interpreters of the Enlightenment have said that, yes, the American revolution represents in a sense the best possible outcome of the American Revolution, it was the best, possible outcome of the enlightened. Certainly there you look at the founding fathers of the United States and there's a great deal that they took from me like Certainly, they took a great great number of political ideas from Obviously Madison was very much inspired and drafting the edifice of the Constitution by Montesquieu to see himself Was happy to admit in addition most of the founding Fathers of the united states were you know had kind of you know We still had we were still definitely Christians, but we're also but we were also very much influenced by deism were very much against the idea of making the United States a kind of confessional country where Christianity was dominant. They wanted to believe in the enlightenment principles of free speech, religious toleration and so on and so forth. So in all those senses and very much the gun was probably more inspired than Franklin was somebody who was very conversant with the European Enlightenment. He spent a large part of his life in London. Where he was in contact with figures of the Enlightenment. He also, during the American Revolution, of course, he was mostly in France, where he is vetted by some of the surviving fellows and were very much in contact for them as well. So yes, I would say the American revolution is certainly... And then the American revolutionary scene, of course by the Europeans, very much as a kind of offshoot of the enlightenment. So one of the great books of the late Enlightenment is by Condor Say, which he wrote while he was hiding actually in the future evolution of the chariot. It's called a historical sketch of the progress of the human spirit, or the human mind, and you know he writes about the American Revolution as being, basically owing its existence to being like...Andrew Keen: Franklin is of course an example of your pre-academic enlightenment, a generalist, inventor, scientist, entrepreneur, political thinker. What about the role of science and indeed economics in the Enlightenment? David, we're going to talk of course about the Marxist interpretation, perhaps the Marxist interpretation which sees The Enlightenment is just a euphemism, perhaps, for exploitative capitalism. How central was the growth and development of the market, of economics, and innovation, and capitalism in your reading of The Enlightened?David Bell: Well, in my reading, it was very important, but not in the way that the Marxists used to say. So Friedrich Engels once said that the Enlightenment was basically the idealized kingdom of the bourgeoisie, and there was whole strain of Marxist thinking that followed the assumption that, and then Karl Marx himself argued that the documents like the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which obviously were inspired by the Enlightment, were simply kind of the near, or kind of. Way that the bourgeoisie was able to advance itself ideologically, and I don't think that holds much water, which is very little indication that any particular economic class motivated the Enlightenment or was using the Enlightment in any way. That said, I think it's very difficult to imagine the Enlightement without the social and economic changes that come in with the 18th century. To begin with globalization. If you read the great works of the Enlightenment, it's remarkable just how open they are to talking about humanity in general. So one of Voltaire's largest works, one of his most important works, is something called Essay on Customs and the Spirit of Nations, which is actually History of the World, where he talks learnedly not simply about Europe, but about the Americas, about China, about Africa, about India. Montesquieu writes Persian letters. Christian Volpe writes about Chinese philosophy. You know, Rousseau writes about... You know, the earliest days of humankind talks about Africa. All the great figures of the Enlightenment are writing about the rest of the world, and this is a period in which contacts between Europe and the rest the world are exploding along with international trade. So by the end of the 18th century, there are 4,000 to 5,000 ships a year crossing the Atlantic. It's an enormous number. And that's one context in which the enlightenment takes place. Another is what we call the consumer revolution. So in the 18th century, certainly in the major cities of Western Europe, people of a wide range of social classes, including even artisans, sort of somewhat wealthy artisians, shopkeepers, are suddenly able to buy a much larger range of products than they were before. They're able to choose how to basically furnish their own lives, if you will, how they're gonna dress, what they're going to eat, what they gonna put on the walls of their apartments and so on and so forth. And so they become accustomed to exercising a great deal more personal choice than their ancestors have done. And the Enlightenment really develops in tandem with this. Most of the great works of the Enlightment, they're not really written to, they're treatises, they're like Kant, they're written to persuade you to think in a single way. Really written to make you ask questions yourself, to force you to ponder things. They're written in the form of puzzles and riddles. Voltaire had a great line there, he wrote that the best kind of books are the books that readers write half of themselves as they read, and that's sort of the quintessence of the Enlightenment as far as I'm concerned.Andrew Keen: Yeah, Voltaire might have been comfortable on YouTube or Facebook. David, you mentioned all those ships going from Europe across the Atlantic. Of course, many of those ships were filled with African slaves. You mentioned this in your piece. I mean, this is no secret, of course. You also mentioned a couple of times Montesquieu's Persian letters. To what extent is... The enlightenment then perhaps the birth of Western power, of Western colonialism, of going to Africa, seizing people, selling them in North America, the French, the English, Dutch colonization of the rest of the world. Of course, later more sophisticated Marxist thinkers from the Frankfurt School, you mentioned these in your essay, Odorno and Horkheimer in particular, See the Enlightenment as... A project, if you like, of Western domination. I remember reading many years ago when I was in graduate school, Edward Said, his analysis of books like The Persian Letters, which is a form of cultural Western power. How much of this is simply bound up in the profound, perhaps, injustice of the Western achievement? And of course, some of the justice as well. We haven't talked about Jefferson, but perhaps in Jefferson's life and his thinking and his enlightened principles and his... Life as a slave owner, these contradictions are most self-evident.David Bell: Well, there are certainly contradictions, and there's certainly... I think what's remarkable, if you think about it, is that if you read through works of the Enlightenment, you would be hard-pressed to find a justification for slavery. You do find a lot of critiques of slavery, and I think that's something very important to keep in mind. Obviously, the chattel slavery of Africans in the Americas began well before the Enlightment, it began in 1500. The Enlightenment doesn't have the credit for being the first movement to oppose slavery. That really goes back to various religious groups, especially the Fakers. But that said, you have in France, you had in Britain, in America even, you'd have a lot of figures associated with the Enlightenment who were pretty sure of becoming very forceful opponents of slavery very early. Now, when it comes to imperialism, that's a tricky issue. What I think you'd find in these light bulbs, you'd different sorts of tendencies and different sorts of writings. So there are certainly a lot of writers of the Enlightenment who are deeply opposed to European authorities. One of the most popular works of the late Enlightenment was a collective work edited by the man named the Abbe Rinal, which is called The History of the Two Indies. And that is a book which is deeply, deeply critical of European imperialism. At the same time, at the same of the enlightenment, a lot the works of history written during the Enlightment. Tended, such as Voltaire's essay on customs, which I just mentioned, tend to give a kind of very linear version of history. They suggest that all societies follow the same path, from sort of primitive savagery, hunter-gatherers, through early agriculture, feudal stages, and on into sort of modern commercial society and civilization. And so they're basically saying, okay, we, the Europeans, are the most advanced. People like the Africans and the Native Americans are the least advanced, and so perhaps we're justified in going and quote, bringing our civilization to them, what later generations would call the civilizing missions, or possibly just, you know, going over and exploiting them because we are stronger and we are more, and again, we are the best. And then there's another thing that the Enlightenment did. The Enlightenment tended to destroy an older Christian view of humankind, which in some ways militated against modern racism. Christians believed, of course, that everyone was the same from Adam and Eve, which meant that there was an essential similarity in the world. And the Enlightenment challenged this by challenging the biblical kind of creation. The Enlightenment challenges this. Voltaire, for instance, believed that there had actually been several different human species that had different origins, and that can very easily become a justification for racism. Buffon, one of the most Figures of the French Enlightenment, one of the early naturalists, was crucial for trying to show that in fact nature is not static, that nature is always changing, that species are changing, including human beings. And so again, that allowed people to think in terms of human beings at different stages of evolution, and perhaps this would be a justification for privileging the more advanced humans over the less advanced. In the 18th century itself, most of these things remain potential, rather than really being acted upon. But in the 19th century, figures of writers who would draw upon these things certainly went much further, and these became justifications for slavery, imperialism, and other things. So again, the Enlightenment is the source of a great deal of stuff here, and you can't simply put it into one box or more.Andrew Keen: You mentioned earlier, David, that Concorda wrote one of the later classics of the... Condorcet? Sorry, Condorcets, excuse my French. Condorcès wrote one the later Classics of the Enlightenment when he was hiding from the French Revolution. In your mind, was the revolution itself the natural conclusion, climax? Perhaps anti-climax of the Enlightenment. Certainly, it seems as if a lot of the critiques of the French Revolution, particularly the more conservative ones, Burke comes to mind, suggested that perhaps the principles of in the Enlightment inevitably led to the guillotine, or is that an unfair way of thinking of it?David Bell: Well, there are a lot of people who have thought like that. Edmund Burke already, writing in 1790, in his reflections on the revolution in France, he said that everything which was great in the old regime is being dissolved and, quoting, dissolved by this new conquering empire of light and reason. And then he said about the French that in the groves of their academy at the end of every vista, you see nothing but the gallows. Nothing but the Gallows. So there, in 1780, he already seemed to be predicting the reign of terror and blaming it. A certain extent from the Enlightenment. That said, I think, you know, again, the French Revolution is incredibly complicated event. I mean, you certainly have, you know, an explosion of what we could call Enlightenment thinking all over the place. In France, it happened in France. What happened there was that you had a, you know, the collapse of an extraordinarily inefficient government and a very, you know, in a very antiquated, paralyzed system of government kind of collapsed, created a kind of political vacuum. Into that vacuum stepped a lot of figures who were definitely readers of the Enlightenment. Oh so um but again the Enlightment had I said I don't think you can call the Enlightement a single thing so to say that the Enlightiment inspired the French Revolution rather than the There you go.Andrew Keen: Although your essay on liberties is the Enlightenment then and now you probably didn't write is always these lazy editors who come up with inaccurate and inaccurate titles. So for you, there is no such thing as the Enlighten.David Bell: No, there is. There is. But still, it's a complex thing. It contains multitudes.Andrew Keen: So it's the Enlightenment rather than the United States.David Bell: Conflicting tendencies, it has contradictions within it. There's enough unity to refer to it as a singular noun, but it doesn't mean that it all went in one single direction.Andrew Keen: But in historical terms, did the failure of the French Revolution, its descent into Robespierre and then Bonaparte, did it mark the end in historical terms a kind of bookend of history? You began in 1720 by 1820. Was the age of the Enlightenment pretty much over?David Bell: I would say yes. I think that, again, one of the things about the French Revolution is that people who are reading these books and they're reading these ideas and they are discussing things really start to act on them in a very different way from what it did before the French revolution. You have a lot of absolute monarchs who are trying to bring certain enlightenment principles to bear in their form of government, but they're not. But it's difficult to talk about a full-fledged attempt to enact a kind of enlightenment program. Certainly a lot of the people in the French Revolution saw themselves as doing that. But as they did it, they ran into reality, I would say. I mean, now Tocqueville, when he writes his old regime in the revolution, talks about how the French philosophes were full of these abstract ideas that were divorced from reality. And while that's an exaggeration, there was a certain truth to them. And as soon as you start having the age of revolutions, as soon you start people having to devise systems of government that will actually last, and as you have people, democratic representative systems that will last, and as they start revising these systems under the pressure of actual events, then you're not simply talking about an intellectual movement anymore, you're talking about something very different. And so I would say that, well, obviously the ideas of the Enlightenment continue to inspire people, the books continue to be read, debated. They lead on to figures like Kant, and as we talked about earlier, Kant leads to Hegel, Hegel leads to Marx in a certain sense. Nonetheless, by the time you're getting into the 19th century, what you have, you know, has connections to the Enlightenment, but can we really still call it the Enlightment? I would sayAndrew Keen: And Tocqueville, of course, found democracy in America. Is democracy itself? I know it's a big question. But is it? Bound up in the Enlightenment. You've written extensively, David, both for liberties and elsewhere on liberalism. Is the promise of democracy, democratic systems, the one born in the American Revolution, promised in the French Revolution, not realized? Are they products of the Enlightment, or is the 19th century and the democratic systems that in the 19th century, is that just a separate historical track?David Bell: Again, I would say there are certain things in the Enlightenment that do lead in that direction. Certainly, I think most figures in the enlightenment in one general sense or another accepted the idea of a kind of general notion of popular sovereignty. It didn't mean that they always felt that this was going to be something that could necessarily be acted upon or implemented in their own day. And they didn't necessarily associate generalized popular sovereignty with what we would now call democracy with people being able to actually govern themselves. Would be certain figures, certainly Diderot and some of his essays, what we saw very much in the social contract, you know, were sketching out, you knows, models for possible democratic system. Condorcet, who actually lived into the French Revolution, wrote one of the most draft constitutions for France, that's one of most democratic documents ever proposed. But of course there were lots of figures in the Enlightenment, Voltaire, and others who actually believed much more in absolute monarchy, who believed that you just, you know, you should have. Freedom of speech and freedom of discussion, out of which the best ideas would emerge, but then you had to give those ideas to the prince who imposed them by poor sicknesses.Andrew Keen: And of course, Rousseau himself, his social contract, some historians have seen that as the foundations of totalitarian, modern totalitarianism. Finally, David, your wonderful essay in Liberties in the spring quarterly 2025 is The Enlightenment, Then and Now. What about now? You work at Princeton, your president has very bravely stood up to the new presidential regime in the United States, in defense of academic intellectual freedom. Does the word and the movement, does it have any relevance in the 2020s, particularly in an age of neo-authoritarianism around the world?David Bell: I think it does. I think we have to be careful about it. I always get a little nervous when people say, well, we should simply go back to the Enlightenment, because the Enlightenments is history. We don't go back the 18th century. I think what we need to do is to recover certain principles, certain ideals from the 18 century, the ones that matter to us, the ones we think are right, and make our own Enlightenment better. I don't think we need be governed by the 18 century. Thomas Paine once said that no generation should necessarily rule over every generation to come, and I think that's probably right. Unfortunately in the United States, we have a constitution which is now essentially unamendable, so we're doomed to live by a constitution largely from the 18th century. But are there many things in the Enlightenment that we should look back to, absolutely?Andrew Keen: Well, David, I am going to free you for your own French Enlightenment. You can go and have some croissant now in your local cafe in Paris. Thank you so much for a very, I excuse the pun, enlightening conversation on the Enlightenment then and now, Essential Essay in Liberties. I'd love to get you back on the show. Talk more history. Thank you. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Having spent the last three decades traveling around over 70 countries, bouncing between -26F and 129F temperatures depending on the shoot, being clawed, chased, shot at, diseased, lost, injured, incarcerated, and getting his finger stitched back on...twice, award-winning photographer, TV host, and conservationist Jason Edwards knows what it takes to get the perfect shot. Jason's imagery has appeared in hundreds of publications including National Geographic Magazine, BBC Wildlife, Australian Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Conde Nast Traveler, and The New Yorker.His new book, "Icebergs to Iguanas" features a collection of his National Geographic photographs and behind-the-scenes tales. Enlightened with his personal observations extracted from his field journals.

[This episode originally aired on April 25, 2023]  In this episode we will be looking at the obstacles we might encounter in trying to awaken our enlightened genes, as well as situations that support their awakening  • Trungpa Rinpoche called the first obstacle intrinsic slavery: we become slaves to our schemes, to our work, to our possessions  •  the second obstacle is being unaware: having a limited kind of awareness which does not look beyond the superficial level of things  •  the third obstacle says that enlightened genes won't awaken in the midst of evil actions or harmful behavior  •  the fourth obstacle is sleepiness, which is similar to a lack of awareness, but it also has a quality of being dull and drowsy  •  there are two conditions that are conducive to awakening enlightened genes  •  the first is waking up at the right time, which points to creating outer conditions that sustain our practice and cultivate our awakening  •  the second is taking an interest in dharma practice  •  the idea of enlightened genes is that they're there, but they don't always show themselves until the conditions are right, until obstacles are removed. 

On this episode of the WHOOP Podcast, WHOOP Founder and CEO Will Ahmed is joined by award-winning writer and director, Mike White, and his trainer Hallvar “Hoho” Sigmundstad, who helped him stay fit throughout the production of White's hit show The White Lotus. Mike White is an American writer, director, actor and producer known for his award-winning show The White Lotus. Prior to The White Lotus, White wrote and produced Enlightened (2011) and Year of The Dog (2007). Some of his early works include Nacho Libre (2006), School of Rock (2003), Chuck and Buck (2000), Orange County (2002), The Good Girl (2002) and having written 2 episodes of Freaks and Geeks (1999). Mike White has also appeared on the 14th season of The Amazing Race, which he did with his father, Mel. Mike White was also a contestant on Survivor: David and Goliath where he made it to Day 39 and finished in second place. On this episode of the WHOOP Podcast, Will and Mike discuss how Mike came to create White Lotus (1:04), developing and casting the characters each season (3:32), building tension within the narrative (5:02), balancing being a writer and a director (8:24), and maintaining Mike's health during production (12:44). Mike introduces his trainer Hallvar “Hoho” Sigmundstad and his important role in keeping Mike healthy on set (18:14). Hoho explains the top training tactics and methods to combat intense production hours to help Mike maintain his fitness levels (19:20). Will, Mike, and Hoho discuss Mike's WHOOP stats (21:56), Mike's ability to manage stress on set (25:51), and how Mike created a WHOOP community within the cast and crew (28:58). Mike walks Will through a day in the life of the set of White Lotus season 3 (34:51), assign each White Lotus character with their own WHOOP metric (40:31), and how Mike developed the narrative of White Lotus Season 3 (48:09).Don't miss the Season 3 finale of The White Lotus this Sunday (4/6) on HBO and streaming on Max. The White LotusInstagramHallvar Sigmundstad InstagramSupport the showFollow WHOOPwww.whoop.comTrial WHOOP for FreeInstagramTikTokXFacebookLinkedIn Follow Will AhmedInstagramXLinkedIn Follow Kristen Holmes Instagram LinkedIn Follow Emily Capodilupo LinkedIn