Sacred Nature with Karen Armstrong

listening to Karen Armstrong is great - she is a kind and enlightened person with a wonderful way of relating to our being on this beautiful earth-

Not far off 20 years ago when I was living in Oxford I walked into Blackstone's, a famous bookshop there, to Devin for a book or two. I was reading ancient history for my masters & was specifically at the time looking for books on ancient mythology & found this small book called called "A short history of myth" by Karen Armstrong. I took it home and read it and it changed my life. Not in the way you might expect though & don't think it helped me much with my masters, but it did help me. Please let me explain. You know how some people are recovering alcoholics etc ?. Well at the time I was a recovering Catholic. Karen Armstrong gave me a new way to see & understand the world. She is truly a giant among us. I'm ever great full to her.

Once again, I thank Brian for such great content. I teared up a few times listening to Karen speak. These are the style of talks that need to be taught in our schools and infused in our politics. But sadly, like Karen said, greed and ego seem to occupy a more prominent role in our world. One thing is for sure, we are all very lucky to have gotten the privilege to be conscious beings on such a beautiful planet.

Brian taught me everything i know about black holes and string theory from decades back. He is not just brilliant, but is the best teacher of ‘complicated’ facts… I have segued into Quantum ‘reality’ and am not getting to understand ‘how life works’ on a completely different angle. I have reached identical religious beliefs as Karen, from my Mt. Carmel Nuns in grammar school, and Christian Brother in High school. Praying was as difficult for me, as it was for her..until I spent a lifetime of analyzing it, and hae come to all the same conclusions. its a “Quantum Life” not a “mystical spiritual life.” Those are hard facts for many, and i understand that, so i keep my opinions to myself; but, I’m much happier with the truth…than trying to live with ‘doubts.’ Thank you Brian for a wonderful, delicately controlled interview. you have always been my favorite physicist. Dr. Kaku is second, but I love him too. you both have a ‘wonderful smiling energy’ about you. Only trying to provide useful information, not to preach or convert..

These two people I have so much respect for. What a truly wonderful conversation - one that needs to be heard the world over.

i consider this the best 1 hour I spent today. With everything that is going around us in our world today, I cannot help but wonder if we humans are on the way to be wiped out of this planet unless drastic measures are adopted to change the way we live. However, I am hopeful that things will improve before a catastrophic extinction process is set in motion by nature, not to preclude a chance encounter of our planet with a massive asteroid.

Positively delightful and dare I say "consciousness expanding." Thank you both.

My Dad was a very religious man. He also loved the science’s. He could quote the Bible from cover to cover as well as Darwin, Galileo and all the great Philosophers. A friend of his once questioned him why he cared what Darwin thought, that he viewed it as blasphemy. Dad looked at him with a compassionate smile and said “some people can’t see the forest for the trees” I was 14 and it had a huge impact on my life. For the next 56 years I always tried to look at the whole picture or as Dad would say “The big picture” Thank you Brian for making available to us another piece of the whole picture. My Dad would have been a great fan as am I.

Endless thanks to you Brian and Karen… Brian, the topics you choose to present are just the gist of Science. Like always…

Karen Armstrong and Brian Greene have been huge influences on the way I now understand God, life, the universe, existence. Seeing them together was a transcendent experience. Thank you for this. What a treat.

This is what I understand from psychedelics. We are connected to all things and the divine is within us all, as well as every leaf and blade of grass. Thanks Brian and Karen for this wonderful and enlightening conversation!

Such an elevated conversation. Thank you for bringing this to all of us around the world.

Great talk. Thank you all.

God, religion and mythology is not needed to come to terms with human existence, life, death. In the realm of the cosmos where humans and all life and matter resides, our particles transform and reassemble.

how precious!!! thank you! 🙏

A timely reminder of what is really important. Thank you, and also thank you for the reminder of Wordsworth's works, especially Tintern Alley.

WSF is the best content available on any platform. Why a WSF release doesn't get 1 million views in the first 24 hours both befuddles and worries me. It's always a delight when a new segment pops up. I'm just sorry I missed it live.

The way Sir Brian Greene manages this platform while being a genius and impactful physicist is remarkable

Excellent. Patience /tolerance is the only way out. Only last again I started reading her book 'The Case For God".

I heard an interview with Karen Armstrong on CBC Radio 1 up here in Canada a few weeks back discussing her book Sacred Nature. I thoroughly enjoyed it and borrowed the book from the library. It is fancinating read and glad I found this interview here on the World Science Festival.