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Psychology

Essays and videos offering insights into the self, relationships, cognition and neuroscience
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video

Earth science and climate

The only man permitted in Bhutan’s sacred mountains chronicles humanity’s impact

22 minutes

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video

Values and beliefs

A Zen Buddhist priest voices the deep matters he usually ponders in silence

5 minutes

Two sphinx-like statues foreground an intricate formal garden of geometric hedges and a square pond. In the background are cherry trees in bloom
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essay

Nature and landscape

The mystic art of gardening

In an era of 20th-century suburban sprawl, the great designer Russell Page infused soulful philosophy into his gardens

Caleb Smith

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video

Nature and landscape

Take a serene hike through an ancient forest, inspired by a Miyazaki masterpiece

6 minutes

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video

Spirituality

Trek alongside spiritual pilgrims on a treacherous journey across Pakistan

6 minutes

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essay

Philosophy of religion

Reckoning with compassion

After an abuse scandal destroyed my Buddhist community, I had to reconsider what it means to live an ethically attuned life

Jessica Locke

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video

Sports and games

The brutality and beauty of the West African martial art of ‘dambe’

15 minutes

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essay

Religion

Buddhist missionaries

Buddhist monks have mostly escaped the label of proselytisers, but they’ll still spread the word to those who seek them out

Brooke Schedneck

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video

Art

A mindbending trip that summons the forgotten women of surrealism

17 minutes

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video

Rituals and celebrations

In a Mongolian wind burial, a body falls on land before getting swept up to the heavens

6 minutes

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video

History of technology

A rare glimpse inside a samurai sword workshop, where ritual meets mastery

24 minutes

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essay

Consciousness and altered states

Pivotal mental states

Spiritual highs and mental breakdowns are both products of the same evolved brain system granting us the power to transform

Ari Brouwer

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essay

Spirituality

Where the rivers meet

Pilgrims have long sought in India’s holiest city an antidote to the modern West, but Varanasi is more dream than reality

Manini Sheker

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essay

Stories and literature

The divine Dante

At 700, Dante’s Divine Comedy is as modern as ever – a lesson in spiritual intelligence that makes us better at being alive

Mark Vernon

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video

Subcultures

In a remote town near Area 51, UFO believers and locals contemplate the beyond

12 minutes

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essay

Stories and literature

The four-fold imagination

William Blake saw angels and ghosts and the Hallelujah sunrise, even on the darkest day. We need to foster his state of mind

Mark Vernon

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video

Rituals and celebrations

How a village’s first totem pole ceremony in a century sparked a spiritual awakening

16 minutes

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idea

Meaning and the good life

Philosophy cannot resolve the question ‘How should we live?’

David Ellis

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video

Spirituality

A modern shepherd tending his flock looks for spiritual resonance in age-old work

10 minutes

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idea

Consciousness and altered states

How chasing solar eclipses opened me up to the awe of living

Kate Russo

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idea

Spirituality

What is the soul if not a better version of ourselves?

John Cottingham

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essay

Philosophy of religion

Perennial philosophy

Aldous Huxley argued that all religions in the world were underpinned by universal beliefs and experiences. Was he right?

Jules Evans

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essay

Sex and sexuality

Anti-climax

Coitus reservatus is an ancient technique promising bliss and longevity. Does orgasm data back up these tantric ideas?

Peter von Ziegesar

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video

Rituals and celebrations

Are mushrooms, shamans and ancient rituals at the root of the Santa Claus story?

7 minutes