#196: John Butler - How to Stay Humble in Spiritual Pursuits and Learn to Love the Silence
This week, I speak with John Butler in what may be the most genuinely Slo Mo episode to date. Recorded in Bakewell Parish Church, a place filled with prayers of the hopeful going back over a thousand years, this conversation is an honest perspective and retrospective on the purpose of our existence, and nothing less.
John Butler has been practicing meditation for nearly 60 years. Now in his eighties - a self-proclaimed 'little boy with a grey beard' and humbled back into innocence, he shares his insights with the world on a YouTube channel that now has over 200,000 subscribers. He has also published 8 books, to describe his amazing life in search of spiritual perfection - details on his website.
"Who am I, but just one more of those who, since time began, have walked the hills and gazed upon the stars? When we, with heart outstretched, feel close to God, it's safer to be humble than to think we know. Experience, however, is given to be shared. While others receive otherwise, each part unique, though incomplete, contributes to the whole."
Listen as we discuss:
- Why John doesn't consider himself wise or a teacher, and thus avoids a slippery slope.
- How defining meditation has deterred us from its aims.
- Two things in the world that have no limit.
- Silence is a good practical approach to the infinite.
- How the journey inward often begins when life shakes us up.
- John's story from farmer to reluctant YouTube sensation.
- Everything in the world works under perfect law.
- Looking back on life as an old person.
- Why we feel ourselves divided.
- Why the word "happy" feels too small.
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Connect with John Butler on Instagram @spiritualunfoldment, YouTube @SpiritualUnfoldment, and his website, spiritualunfoldment.co.uk
My new book, That Little Voice in Your Head, is now available: mogawdat.com/littlevoice
Don't forget to subscribe to Slo Mo for new episodes every Sunday. Only with your help can we reach One Billion Happy #onebillionhappy.
0:00 Slo Mo Intro
1:28 Guest Intro
3:38 Episode
54:29 Outro