Spiritual Unfoldment With John Butler

Episod

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  Perfect Days 13.08.2026 29min

  John & Phil have a conversation about the film 'Perfect days' about a Tokyo toilet cleaner and find a lot to agree about - and surprisingly 'spiritual' themes. Topics: Ordinary Life as Sacred Practice – A Tokyo toilet cleaner’s repetitive routine becomes a quiet meditation on dignity, care, and simplicity. Presence Over Plot – The film resists conventional narrative, inviting attention to how life is lived rather than what happens. Mindfulness Tested by Disruption – Family visits and subtle losses wobble the calm, revealing the limits of composure when life intrudes. Beauty in Small Things – Sunlight through leaves, cleaning by hand, tending plants, shared smiles—fleeting moments as meaning. Honest Spirituality – Skepticism toward tidy spiritual answers; valuing sincerity, vulnerability, and “honest failure” over pretence.
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  Broughton Tapes #2 Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God? 06.08.2026 49min

  Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God? The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. This Lamb that came down into the world to die for man is not only what's called the incarnation of Jesus. It's every creature that similarly dies so that man may eat so that man's incompletion may be nourished. So not only every lamb but every grain of wheat, the porridge we had for breakfast, the egg, the avocado pear - every creature that is sacrificed for man is a mini Jesus.
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  Abiding in Truth 30.07.2026 31min

  To realise is to make real. Not through teaching but through personal experience. What is truth? That which doesn't change. And there we are safe.
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  What Are Thoughts? 23.07.2026 21min

  What are thoughts? Wobbly! The only thing you can trust is this Presence. I’ve almost forgotten what it is to think. Thoughts seem to me now a phenomenon long forgotten. I’m not a man. I don’t have a name. I don’t have a form. I’m this. I’m complete.
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  AI and Art 16.07.2026 31min

  John & Phil share their experiences with AI - for good or for ill - starting with a discussion on an AI generated video about Einstein which they both watched. John asks whether any words of man are reliable. "The tongue advertising its own ego. A work of the devil."
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  Towards Simplicity 09.07.2026 17min

  John and Nitya hosted this solstice weekend retreat at the Briery Centre in Ilkley on the theme 'Towards simplicity'. John introduces the theme and Nitya sings a beautiful kirtan chant as the solstice sun rises.
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  Pure And Simple 02.07.2026 33min

  "With words there is always a person, a me, an ego which spoils the purity of no words. The basic impurity that we have to deal with in our lives comes back to this ego - 'me'."
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  Beyond, One Comes To Rest 25.06.2026 44min

  Whether we look beyond clouds to the open sky above or into the deep earth beneath, beyond these few agitated years of life we come to rest. Meditation is just a way of looking at the sky within oneself - or finding rest beyond the restless mind.
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  The Meaning Of Life 18.06.2026 29min

  Anything you can do to turn towards what we may call Truth, or God, or purpose, or meaning of life, whether it be meditation or prayer helps when we encounter the doubts and questionings in the mind. Anything we have – meditation of prayer – acts as a handrail to take you through the confusion of the mind.
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  Supporting The Work 11.06.2026 4min

  John invites viewers to support the Spiritual Unfoldment Trust. Supporting the Work helps to make it available to a wider audience as well as facilitating the ongoing 'behind the scenes' work: recording and editing conversations, maintaining a library of over 500 videos, managing audio recordings and releases across platforms such as Spotify, and keeping the website and social channels like Instagram and Facebook up to date
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  Beyond Mind 04.06.2026 39min

  Most people are fascinated by their mind - they love their mind. I'm not particularly interested in it. I'd rather look out the window, keep my feet on the ground and use my common sense.
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  Change Within Changelessness 28.05.2026 24min

  Life goes on in space between the observer, or listener and what is seen or heard - the change 'out there' and the changeless - which doesn't change. All spiritual practice leads to discrimination between what comes to pass and what doesn't - the change in changelessness.
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  Blessed Are The Pure In Heart 21.05.2026 25min

  “When your own heart is full of love, you see love everywhere, you love everything. I don’t think it’s possible not to love if you have a pure heart. Jesus says, 'Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.''
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  What's Our Purpose? 14.05.2026 27min

  John is asked "What's our purpose?" He replies "To serve. To be a servant, even though unworthy, generally, first of what we love and then, of God. To do God's will or, as we pray, 'Thy will be done'. It's nothing to do with John Butler, but the surrendering of this to God. 'Into Thy hands, O Lord - not my will but Thine be done.' That's our purpose.
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  One Real Choice 07.05.2026 38min

  At any time in our life, we have only one real choice - towards God or away. Towards God always brings us to the present, here and now, where we find the Infinite Presence. Turned away, we face the consequence of absence.
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  Come Home Where You Belong 30.04.2026 32min

  In the Chakra Lounge, Bakewell, John chats with visitors from Germany, Scotland and most parts of England, who have meditated with him in All Saints church for a week. "We experience life with two aspects - one changes, the other doesn't - the transitory and eternal. We can follow either so, which do we choose? Be insatiable for love. The love that never says 'No'. It calls, 'Come to me, beloved. Come home where you belong'.
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  Dealing With Thoughts 23.04.2026 24min

  It's a fundamental aspect of the Work to practice attentiveness. Whatever we're doing, work with attention. Even leaning on a stick with attention is a wonderful thing. If enough attention is gathered to a single point, it becomes almost miraculous. Attention is a very good way of dealing with thoughts - when you listen to something with full attention there's no more left to give to thoughts.
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  Running Out Of Words 16.04.2026 29min

  "I don't seem to have the words in me. Just as the body dies out so do words. A much better teacher is Nature - just look up at the sky. Or listen to the 'tick-tock' of an old clock. A dog resting its head on your lap looking up at you in silence. Much better."" This is the last of the current 'Inside Story' series in which John explores more deeply the 'windows of realisation' in his most popular book 'Wonders of Spiritual Unfoldment' (Chapter 40).
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  The Trouble With Talking 09.04.2026 26min

  Talking is normal. It is seen as odd if you don’t talk. The trouble with talking is it separates us – we are inevitably talking about “my“ experience – yours and mine. In duality, this emphasises our separation. Talking imposes separation on the world that without us is not separate. Are the trees separate from the grass? Are the birds separate from the sky? When we stop talking, the world falls back to peace. In deeper communion, we find stillness.
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  Broughton News 02.04.2026 23min

  John reveals the latest news about his collaboration with Broughton Sanctuary.