Ram Dass redefines what it means to pray and observe one's Sabbath. "Every moment," he said, "can be holiness and happiness."

Ram Dass discusses ego death and the importance of universal love.

Ram Dass discusses equanimity and renunciation. A renunciant will "fast from the world" by living in the world but not "of" it. He'll be above what Ephesians 4:14 would call "being tossed to and fro with the wind."

Ram Dass describes his transition from Harvard hotshot to spiritual pioneer.

Jonathan Haidt claims that the New Atheists have solved a key problem humans face: how to establish cooperation without the kinship of organized groups. Such freethinking individuals have much to teach ideologues. Namely, that suspending belief in order to make full investigation of all options is the best method for learning anything of a secular or even a spiritual nature. The early LDS leaders were likewise reticent to teach truth dogmatically. Truths we “learn” by indoctrination can’t compete with the sort of process Christ Himself prized: the gradual discovery that is lived and not “learned.”

Joseph Smith described perfection as a "fullness of light and knowledge," not a state of punctilious obedience, piety, or holiness. We would do well to decriminalize doubt in the church in order to make space for noble doubts that beget inquiry, rationality, and healthy skepticism. The right kind of doubting lends itself well to further acquisition of light and knowledge. We have no need to fear the sort of doubt that foments faith. As J. Reuben Clark once explained, "investigation can’t harm truth. If we have the truth, comparisons will do no harm to us. Only those who do not have the truth can have their beliefs shaken by investigation.”

Commentary on Elder Gary Stevenson's talk "Love, Share, Invite."

LDS women are reconfiguring their relationship to priesthood authority. Whereas in the past women have taken doctrinal cues from male leaders, women are now moving ahead with their own theological investigations. They hope to work in concert with the men to bring out of obscurity doctrines surrounding women, priesthood, and Heavenly Mother. Dale G. Renlund’s talk “Your Divine Nature and Eternal Destiny” from April 2022 has been a setback, but our faith tradition has a long history of Mormon feminists and we look forward to future developments.

B.H. Roberts encouraged us to “cooperate in the works of the Spirit” to find “truer expression” in the restored gospel. This episode explores how we can each do our part to “cooperate” and communicate in this increasingly transparent world where the common voice has more opportunity now than ever to be widely heard.

Part 2 of our primer to Buddhism covers the history of Siddhartha Gautama and the teachings of the Buddhist holy book, the Dhammapada.