27: Psychotherapist Mark Vernon on the Meaning Crisis and Rediscovering the Sacred

Mark Vernon is a former priest turned psychotherapist who has spent the last 30 years exploring one central question: how do we find meaning in a secular age?After a crisis of faith pulled him away from the Church’s inner sanctum in his youth, Mark turned to Plato and Jung in pursuit of a deeper understanding of purpose, connection, and the soul. Today, his writing bridges ancient philosophy, religion, and modern psychology, a powerful triad he also applies to his work as a therapist.In this episode, we discuss: ✦  The overwhelm of conflicting meanings and remembering the sacred✦  The spiritual thread connecting Dante, William Blake, and Jesus✦  How wonder helps us access the divine✦  Why psychotherapy is a path for ‘spiritual intelligence’Mark's work invites us into the depths of wonder and spirituality as a necessity for the soul.Chapters0:00 Intro: The modern crisis of meaning5:08 Psychotherapy and the vertical dimension of life11:25 The cloud of unknowing and mystical experiences18:19 Kairos time: Moments of spiritual significance23:01 William Blake on joy and eternity27:04 Death as a transcendent and transformative experience33:08 Early Christianity's deeper mysteries and meanings40:44 Humility as an expansive spiritual virtue50:56 Owen Barfield and the evolution of consciousness57:35 Ontological shocks and transformative experiences1:02:41 Outro: The importance of sacred experiencesFollow Mark:Website: https://www.markvernon.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/platospodcasts/?hl=en-gb X: https://x.com/platospodcasts YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PlatosPodcasts Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/awake/ Follow Wonderstruck:Website: https://wonderstruck.orgNewsletter:  https://newsletter.wonderstruck.org  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wonderstruckpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/wonderstruckpod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wonderstruckpodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/wonderstruckpodApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wonderstruck/id1671879661 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6fS5boWGwYTShddG7SKlVw Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.