A Meditation on Human Nature with Machiavelli and The Buddha

I'll bet that you weren't expecting to see those two names joined together! Such are the promiscuous and varied sources from whom we here on Pneuma draw our inspiration. We look at once to the courtly Florentine political philosopher (by whom the murderous Medici were, for better or worse, advised), and to the ascetic Indian sage who, in the sixth century BC, attained enlightenment and enjoyed an apotheosis. In this episode, we'll examine one of the fundamental features of human nature: the insatiability of our appetite. We desire everything, but, in our lifetime, we're only able to obtain a small amount of that for which we hunger. This leads to discontentment, dissatisfaction, and suffering. We will explore the themes of appetite, desire (its origins and its overcoming), temperance, eastern and western philosophy, and much more. Visit my website, pneumameditations.com Visit my sister podcast and websitefinneranswake.comFinneran's Wake