Essential Questions with Jacob Needleman, Ph.D.

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For millennia, humans have pondered their place in the grand cosmic order of things. If we had the opportunity to speak to our younger self, what would we say? What wisdom could we give to that younger self about the meaning and purpose of life? What does our experience tell us about why we are here and who we are? This conversation explores these questions and why they may be important to our lives. Jacob Needleman says there are two parts of ourselves. One part is connected to our environment, earning a living, having a family, and creating things. There is also another part of ourselves. It is “a part of human nature that is open, connected to something higher. It’s a separate part of our self which is connected to the universe.” He also says that science alone cannot deliver us from the challenges of modernity. The “sound” of truth is not recognizable by the intellect; it can only be heard in the heart through deep listening. (hosted by Justine Willis Toms)

Bio

Jacob Needleman, Ph.D. is a professor of philosophy at San Francisco State University and former director of the Center of the Study of New Religions at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He has also served as a research associate at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.

His books include:

• Why Can't We Be Good? (Tarcher 2003)
• The Heart of Philosophy (Tarcher 2003)
• Time and the Soul: Where Has All the Meaningful Time Gone -- and Can We Get It Back? (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2003)
• Lost Christianity (Tarcher 2003)
• Money and the Meaning of Life (Doubleday 1994)
• The Wisdom of Love: Toward a Shared Inner Life (Morning Light Press 2005)
• What Is God? (Tarcher 2010)
• Necessary Wisdom (Fearless Books 2013)
• An Unknown World: Notes on the Meaning of the Earth (Tarcher 2012)

To learn more about the work of Jacob Needleman, Ph.D. go to www.jacobneedleman.com.

Topics Explored in This Dialogue

• Why it is important to recognize the sound and taste of truth beyond the “idea” of truth
• Why do some people ask such questions as “why am I here” and others do not
• What is the higher nature of our being that is constantly searching for our place in the cosmic order of things
• Why science and its predictability are so compelling
• How truth is not accessed just by the mental mind or the personality or even science
• Why we must understand the context of ancient mystical traditions in order to glean their wisdom
• How Gurdjieff could see that science would not take humankind to higher consciousness
• What it takes to truly listen deeply to one another

Host: Justine Willis Toms   Interview Date: 6/2/2016   Program Number: 3581

Music Playlist

From Album: A Wish
Artist: Hamza El Din
1999 Sound True Music #STA M110D

Opening Essay: Track 01 Greetings
Music Break 1: Track 01 Greetings (reprise)
Music Break 2: Track 04 Griffin 2
Music Break 3: Track 06 Samai Husaini