Source: Action Foresight
4-part interview of Tim Mansfield by Jose Ramos.
[powerpress]
Part 1
Jose Ramos:
“The following is the 1st segment of an interview I did with Tim Mansfield in Dec. 2009. I had wanted to interview Tim Mansfield for a number of reasons. First, he is by far one of the most outstanding minds and spirits I have come across in my life. He has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of religious history, and combines this with strong foundations in integral / integrative studies in psychology and philosophy, and he embodies a unique fusion between the ancient (as a Gnostic Johannite priest), the modern (as a PhD in Computer Science) and the post-modern (as you will hear in this audio). Tim has been a very positive influence in my life and a great friend. He has been incredibly supportive during some of my challenging times, and a joy to be with overall.
In this 1st segment of the interview, he describes his own religious and cultural background, and begins to explain some of the key reference points and context around his journey from Anglicanism to atheism and onto postmodern spirituality. The shift from premodernity to modernity is related across economic and cultural lines, in particular looking at some of the patterns among religious aesthetics and sensibility. I should also mention that this interview was conducted right after the parliament of the worlds religions held in Melbourne in 2009. I come to this with my own interest in global spiritual movements of social change, and a Westerners adulation of the Gandhian spiritual and political path.” (http://actionforesight.net/media/2011/08/23/tim-mansfield-journey-beyond-modernity-part-1/)
Part 2
“In this next part of my interview with Father Tim Mansfield, he talks more in depth about the consequences of a rationalist stance, and the post modern curiosity that arises from this rationalism, as a variety of discourses, worldviews and perspectives can be adopted as stances. This allows an emerging flexibility and movement between perspectives in relating through personal and social experience. This section concludes with reflections on the movement toward ‘embodiment’ (the nature of holding a stance or perspective that has an experiential ground), and Tim’s post post-modern shift.” (http://actionforesight.net/media/2011/08/29/tim-mansfield-journey-beyond-modernity-part-2/)
Part 3
“In this third (of four) part of my interview with Rev. Tim Mansfield, he goes into detail re: where the rubber meets the road for him in spirituality – via practice and enactment in the world. He goes on to explain what it means to engage in a post-modern exploration of spirituality at the Parliament of the World Religions. Going into the history and context of the Parliament, he discusses his experience of his ecumenist engagement in radical spiritual diversity. He goes on to discuss what the key priorities are for religion at the Parliament: care for earth, hunger and poverty, peace between people, and respect for indigenous people. He argues the real challenge in a spiritual path is to be inspired and consistent with the ethical framework set out by ones tradition, as well as to be spiritually sustained by it.” (http://actionforesight.net/media/2011/09/03/tim-mansfield-journey-beyond-modernity-part-3/)
Part4
“‘This is the last part of this series. Tim Mansfield talks about the movement toward a 21st century integrative philosophy and spirituality, in particular the shift from pre-modernity to modernity and post-modernity through the threads of ecumenist and religious traditions. I’ve loaded the entire conversation with a better quality audio file. Skip to the last quarter if you have already heard the first three parts, or just listen from the beginning.” (‘This is the last part of this series. Tim Mansfield talks about the movement toward a 21st century integrative philosophy and spirituality, in particular the shift from pre-modernity to modernity and post-modernity through the threads of ecumenist and religious traditions. I’ve loaded the entire conversation with a better quality audio file. Skip to the last quarter if you have already heard the first three parts, or just listen from the beginning.”(http://actionforesight.net/media/2012/02/12/tim-mansfield-journey-beyond-modernity-part-4/))