Video Content
Education Aid
This short talk explains the concept behind the whole Education Aid proposal. This is not a small project. Our job is to reach out to Education Minsters worldwide, official Ambassadors to UNESCO, other international educational bodies and senior professionals involved in education worldwide, and to persuade them all to back and support Education Aid as a major new global project.
Mount Haemus Lecture
The aim of this Mt Haemus research is to examine developments in 20th century transpersonal psychology, including Jung, Maslow, Wilber and Grof and to assess their potential for contributing to the development of transpersonal history, which in turn can be used to re-examine Druid history.
Periodic Table
This talk covers the ideas behind the new classification, research and analysis tool for categorising and harmonising our perceptions of religious and philosophical traditions alike; an associated website page at www.educationaid.net has also been set up to showcase this work and its future developments.
The Centre for Peace Policy Research
Dr Thomas Daffern talks about the work and vision of the The Centre for Peace Policy Research which is a project of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy launched in 2009. This work consolidates and extends the sustained interested shown by IIPSGP in formulating, articulating and advocating a rational peace policy for the UK, Europe and globally.
The Essence of Druidry
The Essence of Druidry
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Britain and Ireland
The purpose of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Britain and Island (hereafter abbreviated as its acronym, TRCBI) is to create a forum for the examination of historic wrongs that different communities within Britain and Ireland feel were committed during the period of history in Ireland known as the time of troubles, particularly concerning the split between Catholics and protestants and their paramilitary wings.
Transpersonal History
This short talk is an excerpt from the comprehensive course taught by Dr Thomas Daffern in 2010-2011 on Transpersonal History - which explains that the ideas behind transpersonal history have a very wide source, and go back a very long way.
Transpersonal History and Integral Theory
This short talk is an excerpt from the comprehensive course taught by Dr Thomas Daffern in 2010-2011 on Transpersonal History - and this excerpt covers the relationship between transpersonal history as a field and Integral theory, as developed by Aurobindo, Haridas Chaudhuri and above all by Ken Wilber.
Transpersonal History and Intellectual History
This short talk is an excerpt from the comprehensive course taught by Dr Thomas Daffern in 2010-2011 on Transpersonal History - and this excerpt covers the relationship between transpersonal history as a field and Intellectual History as developed by A.O. Lovejoy, Sir Isaiah Berlin and John Plamenatz and many others.
TRCME Trailer
Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the Middle East Film (excerpt) - this is a film about the TRCME which is an independent, interfaith, academic and philosophical initiative for peacemaking in the Middle East
Audio Content
A Course of Lectures on Druid Studies (Series Two)
This series of second talks by Dr Thomas Clough Daffern are meant as both an overall introduction to Druid studies on the part of beginners, and also as suitable for advanced level thinkers who have been exploring Pagan and Druid philosophies for many years. They are suitable for those who wish explore in more depth the spiritual traditions and teachings which underpin Druidry and how they can be applied in the current complex world situation.
An Introduction to Biblical Studies
This short course by Thomas Daffern features an introduction to Biblical Studies as an academic discipline, suitable for anybody thinking of going to university or who is already there as an undergraduate and have not come across the details of Biblical Studies before.
Being and Knowledge
This work, which represents the author's most important philosophical contribution, has taken over 15 years to complete and represents a summing up and synthesis of a lifetime of thought, study and reflation on the twin aspects of the comic mystery that are Being and Knowledge.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
This text is one of the most mysterious and the longest of all the Upanishads. Its name translates as "Esoteric Teachings Shared in the Forest". This ancient Vedic scripture arose as an oral teaching with its earliest passages going back the conversations and discourses of Rishis in about 800 BC or even earlier, in Northern India.
Celebrating Saints, Sages and Scholars: A Commentary of Remembrance
These short talks commemorate the work of Saints and sages celebrated on particular days of the calendar, taken from the Universal Calendar of Saints and Sages, compiled over 20 years study by the author.
Commentary on the 1st Book of Enoch
This commentary is on the First Book of Enoch, which were written down during the second temple period of Judaism from about 400BC to 70AD, but probably dates back much earlier to oral traditions, going back to the time even before the first temple was built in around 1000 BC and consist of detailed revelations given to the Prophet Enoch from his travels to the heavenly kingdoms.
Commentary on the 2nd Book of Enoch
This ancient text is a unique manuscript written down in Alexandria round about the time of Jesus Christ and Philo, or thereabouts. This is the most detailed commentary and reading of the text ever attempted in the English language.
Commentary on the 3rd Book of Enoch
This ancient text is a unique manuscript written down about 500 AD and includes much that later comes into the Kabbalistic teachings of later thought. It represents the "other side" of Judaism, parallel to the writing down of the Talmud, happening at about the same time. This is the most detailed commentary and reading of the text ever attempted in the English language.
Commentary on the Gospel of John
Although scholarship is divided on the details, the majority of the evidence points to this Gospel as having been written by John, brother of James, close friend and disciple of Jesus, the son of Zebedee and Salome, who hailed from Galilee, writing towards the end of his life (d. 100AD) when he was in exile in Ephesus.
Commentary on the Gospel of Luke
Luke was a young Gentile disciple and friend of both Peter and Paul, almost certainly by profession a medical doctor, who originally lived in the Hellenistic city of Antioch in Ancient Syria, although some scholars and theologians think Luke was actually a Hellenistic Jew.
Commentary on the Gospel of Mark
Mark was a young student of Jesus Christ who was apparently with him in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night Jesus was arrested. His mother organised the last supper in the upper room in Jerusalem. Later Mark became a student and close friend of St Peter and accompanied him to Rome.
Commentary on the Gospel of Mary Magdelane
This Gospel was found in Coptic in Berlin Papyrus and also some Greek fragments. It tells of a post resurrection discussion between Jesus and the Disciples in which Mary Magdalene steps forth as a profound esoteric teacher initiated into deeper levels of gnosis than the other disciplines had realised at first.
Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew
Matthew is probably the same as Levi and worked as a tax-booth collector on the road in Capernaum which ran North of the Sea of Galilee, from Damascus and stations East, all the way to the Mediterranean cost in Phoenicia. He was a Hebrew speaking Jew and it is thought the Gospel was first written in Hebrew.
Commentary on the Gospel of Thomas
Recovered to history by a chance find in 1945 at Nag Hammadi in Egypt, the Gospel of Thomas has been recognised as an authentic document stemming from the same Q document that the Synoptic Gospels used. But Thomas gives an extra slant to the stories and teachings contained in the other Gospels.
Commentary on the Ketuvin
This commentary is on the final third of the Jewish Bible, which is known collectively as the Tanakh. The final third is known as the Ketuvim and consists of the “Writings”. These include Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, and other important scriptures. The Commentary discusses the meanings and significance of the text in relation to transpersonal history using the analysis of the language behind the texts, set in their complex historical contexts.
Commentary on the Quran
This in-depth commentary on the foundational scripture of the Islamic faith has been produced by Dr Thomas C. Daffern both as an overall introduction to Islamic studies on the part of beginners, and also as suitable for advanced level thinkers who have been exploring Islam and comparative religions for many years.
Druid Studies
This series of talks by Dr Thomas Clough Daffern are meant as both an overall introduction to Druid studies on the part of beginners, and also as suitable for advanced level thinkers who have been exploring Pagan and Druid philosophies for many years. They are suitable for those who wish explore in more depth the spiritual traditions and teachings which underpin Druidry and how they can be applied in the current complex world situation.
Karl Marx - Das Kapital
A detailed commentary on the substantive sections of Das Kapital from a transpersonal historical perspective, explaining how and why Marx chose to write in this way and what it seems he was actually proposing in the way of philosophical content, both consciously and unconsciously.
Lectures on Living Saints and Sages
This series of talks from 2012 gives an overview of contemporary spiritual leaders, intellectuals, philosophers, saints and sages from all known spiritual, intellectual and scientific orientations. It is accompanied by the Calendar of Living Saints and Sages. The talks are designed to support and encourage leading global thinkers to work together on a planetary mission for peace and interfaith understanding and to end the scourge of war.
Les Penseurs Philosophiques Francais et Europeens et les Chemins a la Paix
Une série de conférences et de séminaires sur les thèmes suivants. Chaque semaine se concentre sur l'idée de «chemin vers la paix», il est proposé dans l'esprit que la paix est une tâche complexe, multidimensionnelle et donc multidisciplinaire à suivre.
Plato's Timaeus - Reading and Commentary
The Timaeus is the most important dialogue of the Platonic corpus in relation to the creation and purpose of the universe. It is the pagan equivalent to the Book Of Genesis in the Bible. It recounts a discussion between Socrates and Timaeus a famous Pythagorean sage who gives his account of how the universe came into being, how mankind was created, and how and why the various Gods continue to supervise our moral and intellectual development.
St Paul's Letter to Philemon
The Epistle to Philemon is one of the books of the Christian New Testament. This reading and commentary explore the many complex depths of this short but important letter drawing on the methodology of transpersonal history and making the letter come alive in new ways for both Christians and non-Christians alike.
St Paul's Letter to The Ephesians
The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. According to its text, the letter was written by Paul the Apostle, an attribution that Christians traditionally accepted. This reading and commentary explores the many complex depths of this letter drawing on the methodology of transpersonal history and making the letter come alive in new ways for both Christians and non-Christians alike.
St Paul's Letter to The Galatians
The Epistle to the Galatians is the ninth book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul the Apostle to a number of Early Christian communities in Galatia. Scholars have suggested that this is either the Roman province of Galatia in southern Anatolia, or a large region defined by Galatians, an ethnic group of Celtic people in central Anatolia.
St Paul's Letter to the Philipians
The Epistle to the Philippians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Dr Daffern uses the methodology of transpersonal history to tease out the innermost spiritual and historical layering behind the letter, addressed to fellow Christians in the city of Philippi, in Thrace.
The Acts of St Thomas
The Acts of St Thomas
The Ascension of Isaiah
The Ascension of Isaiah is a Judeo-Christian text. An increasing number of scholars in recent years have argued that the work is a unity by a single author that may have utilized multiple sources. This text and Commentary are read by Thomas Daffern based on the latest scholarship available.
The Dhammapada
This text is the key to all later Buddhist teachings. It has an authority in the Buddhist canon which is equivalent to the New Testament in Christianity. It dates from the life time of the Buddha and consists of teachings he himself gave which were then remembered and later written down, at last by 300 BC.
The Hermetics Texts - Reading and Commentary
The Corpus Hermeticum is a collection of ancient Greco-Egyptian texts collected from around the time of Christ and the few centuries following, when Greco-Egyptian culture was at its apogee; they are a series of dialogues between different Egyptian sages and students, discussing the nature of the cosmos, the relationship between man and the Gods, the reason for sin, suffering and death, the immortality of the soul, the nature of love and sexuality and much else besides.
The Infancy of Christ by St. Thomas
The Infancy of Christ by St. ThomasThis strange text, which few people nowadays read, might shed some interesting light on the actual psychology of Jesus: a precocious, strange and not always cuddly young man, who from early on was conscious of his supernatural destiny.
The Life of Adam and Eve
The Life of Adam and Eve, is a Jewish apocryphal group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to their deaths. It provides more detail about the Fall of Man, including Eve's version of the story.
The Lives of the Prophets
The Lives of the Prophets is an ancient apocryphal account of the lives of the prophets of the Old Testament. A major theme is martyrdom of the prophets: six prophets are said to have been martyred. The book also explores their respective burial places and may have been used as a pilgrims’ Guidebook.
Transpersonal History
This course presents a unique overview of the new field of Transpersonal History, which combines the insights of transpersonal psychology with that of scientific and academic historiography. The course presents a thorough overview of the potential insights that transpersonal history can shed on areas of traditional historical scholarship, like shining a light on them from an integral, holistic perspective.