Is God the Biosphere? - 4 - Rituals

The Hidden Power

The late Ken Robinson, in one of his TED talks, tells the story of a child who was drawing with wild strokes. The teacher asked - What are you drawing? And the child replied "God". The teacher said, "But nobody knows what God looks like." And the child said, "Well. They will in a minute." Badum Tshhhh.

Last week we explored what people are talking about when the talk about gods. But for most people, this is a secondary aspect of religion - the primary aspect being the rituals. So what are rituals, and why are they so powerful?

In this episode we look at some rituals, religious, secular, useful, destructive, and start to imagine what rituals might help us to place the biosphere at the pinnacle of our aspirations.

Talking Points:

Listener Email - A moral revolution is possible

Rituals. What are they?

Ablutions, Jewish weddings, Christian signs of peace

Conscious and unconscious rituals in daily life: focus and distraction

Positioning the biosphere and political will

Rituals of nurturing and kindness

Waste is an affront to nature, not wasting feels good

Gods - conscious and unconscious

Addiction and deification

Human power - like a bull in a china shop

Possible futures

Possible rituals - the 12 step recovery process as a route out of the addiction system

When things change, we'll be happier!

Habits as the b-side of ritual - and their power

Getting past the Doom Bar - learning to love stress

Links:

Peter Oborne - the Triumph of the Political Class (review/Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/sep/30/politics

Water and religion ( incl Ablutions) - BBC podcast "How Water Shaped Us" -

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5NURa5GgoD7PxTzJQNrjzG?si=0hgb5f6hQkuo4Oc_XbleqA

The 12 Step Program (Wikipedia) - main points:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-step_program

Dr Alia Crum on mindsets

Excellent paper on the subject:

https://mbl.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj9941/f/2014_mindful_stress_chpt_crumlyddy_handbook_of_mindfulness.pdf

And podcast on mindsets in general,( 1:04:50 - The three step process: 1 Acknowledge; 2 Welcome; 3 Utilise):

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ELdxrMTQum8E4ulpMSb2J?si=HGPXTCRiR9ykMy-UOdn2qw&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A79CkJF3UJTHFV8Dse3Oy0P

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Wikipedia summary):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People

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