<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<oembed>
  <version>1</version>
  <type>rich</type>
  <provider_name>Libsyn</provider_name>
  <provider_url>https://www.libsyn.com</provider_url>
  <height>90</height>
  <width>600</width>
  <title>Zen Neoplatonism and the Nature of Reality with John Vervaeke</title>
  <description>John Vervaeke returns to the podcast 5 years later to argue that the modern war between science and religion was always a mistake. A cognitive scientist at the University of Toronto, he makes the case that his own field needs religious studies: the first generation of the cognitive science of religion tried to explain religion away, smuggling in an unexamined naturalism and treating believers as defective. Vervaeke reframes religion not as a set of beliefs about a supernatural object but as a comprehensive orientation to meaning that the sciences themselves quietly presuppose.&amp;amp;nbsp; The conversation ranges across relevance realization, the mystery of meaning as a Heisenberg-like complementarity of truth and relevance, his identity as a &amp;quot;Zen Neoplatonist,&amp;quot; and the &amp;quot;semiotic symbiosis&amp;quot; by which traditions merge and correct one another. He closes on how someone in his position guards against becoming a guru, and on what, exactly, he means by God. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://substack.com/@tiagovf&amp;amp;nbsp; TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 1:28 Cognitive science as intellectual pilgrimage 14:38 Why cognitive science needs religious studies 27:30 Science, truth and relevance 36:50 Neoplatonism and the return to the sacred 51:18 Where Zen meets Neoplatonism 1:02:00 How religions and gods emerge 1:08:47 Criticism, reading and living between worlds 1:20:09 Religion beyond belief 1:35:12 The dangers of becoming a guru 1:47:28 Poetry and life mistakes 1:50:17 Underrated thinkers, self-deception and God &amp;amp;nbsp; READ&amp;amp;nbsp; Key insights and the full transcript here: https://tiagovf.com/posts/podcast-zen-neoplatonism-and-the-nature-of-reality-with-john-vervaeke FOLLOW https://www.instagram.com/tiagobooks/ MUSIC CREDIT Intro song by Lief Sjostrom, titled Peril, from the album 'Impossible Parade'&amp;amp;nbsp; Website: https://liefsjostrom.com/&amp;amp;nbsp; Album: https://liefsjostrom.bandcamp.com/album/impossible-parade </description>
  <author_name>Anagoge Podcast</author_name>
  <author_url>https://anagogepodcast.com/</author_url>
  <html>&lt;iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/42388110/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</html>
  <thumbnail_url>https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/204983770</thumbnail_url>
</oembed>
