Archive, Conversation with
Conversation with Ulises Rodríguez
Last summer I was interviewed by Ulises Rodríguez for his interesting, content-rich podcast La Encrucijada, which aims to be a place where philosophy, science and theology can meet. Our encounter, broadcast recently, touched on the following principal topics and questions:
What’s the difference between a bishop and a monk?
Silicon Valley’s secular monks.
Thomas Merton, Hindu and Christian monks.
What has the monastic tradition taught us about being human?
Is contemplation in competition with rational enquiry?
What is contemplation?
Is prayer a form of knowledge?
Does the monk lead a life of leisure or of work?
What has art to do with monasticism?
Why is there ugliness in Christianity?
Can we find God in the ordinary and mundane?
How to distinguish desire and longing?
Chastity: repression vs satisfaction.
How to begin looking for God?
You can listen to our conversation, conducted in English after a short introduction in Spanish, here.
Detail from an 18th-century chasuble at the Charterhouse of Miraflores.