Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Welcome to a special installment of the Lectern Q&A! This month’s theme is Love as a Virtue and Existential Stance. This session dives into the nature of love—not just as a feeling, but as a participatory, person-making virtue that binds us to reality and each other. Joining John and Ethan is Ellie, who brings both a deeply reflective presence and insightful contributions to this exploration.
Lectern Q&As are a monthly gathering where John and Ethan take questions from The Lectern’s members, threading through important themes that are most pertinent and perplexing to the collective. Pre-submitted questions form the bulk of the discussion with a Live Q&A segment toward the end.
👉 To participate live, submit questions, and gain access to previous Q&As, join the Alpha Tier (or above) on The Lectern:
lectern.teachable.com/p/lectern-lounge
The next Lectern Q&A will take place on the 27th of April at 10am EST. Sign up at The Lectern to pre-submit your questions and join the Live Q&A!
The next Silk Road Seminar will take place on the 28th of April at 1.30pm EST. Sign up at The Lectern to join the Live Q&A!
Connect with a community dedicated to self-discovery and purpose, and gain deeper insights by joining our Patreon.
patreon.com/johnvervaeke
The Vervaeke Foundation is committed to advancing the scientific pursuit of wisdom and creating a significant impact on the world.
vervaekefoundation.org
Join Awaken to Meaning to explore practices that enhance your virtues and foster deeper connections with reality and relationships.
awakentomeaning.com/join-practice
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Opening Reflections on Love
02:45 Love as an Existential Stance
05:00 Love, Participatory Knowing, and Binding Identity
08:45 Eros, Philia, and Agape: The Three Movements of Love
13:00 The Person-Making Nature of Love
17:00 Love as a Doorway to the Sacred
20:30 The Transformation of Self Through Love
23:45 Somatic and Embodied Knowing of Love
28:00 Trauma, Attachment, and the Challenge of Loving Well
32:10 Secure Attachment and Love as Practice
37:40 Circling, Dialectic, and Learning to Love Wisely
40:15 The Role of Worldview in Love and Meaning
46:50 A GI, the Sacred, and What We Truly Love About Humanity
54:20 The Ecology of Religions and Participatory Pluralism
59:30 Final Reflections from John, Ethan, and Ellie
Ideas, People, and Works Mentioned
Søren Kierkegaard
John Bowlby, Attachment Theory
Sue Johnson, Hold Me Tight, Attachment Theory in Practice
Eric Fromm, The Art of Loving
Thomas Kuhn, Paradigms and Worldview
Albert Camus, The Stranger
Martin Buber, I and Thou
Taoism and the concept of the Dao as Mother
Mahayana Buddhism, Bodhisattva path
Sufism and Divine Love
Socratic Knowledge and Dialogos
Circling & Dialectic into Dialogos
Lauren Barrett, Emotionally Focused Therapy
Halcyon Guild
Pluralism in religion and spiritual practice
Follow John Vervaeke
johnvervaeke.com
twitter.com/vervaeke_john
youtube.com/@johnvervaeke
patreon.com/johnvervaeke
Thank you for watching!
Welcome to a special installment of the Lectern Q&A! This month’s theme is Love as a Virtue and Existential Stance. This session dives into the nature of love—not just as a feeling, but as a participatory, person-making virtue that binds us to reality and each other. Joining John and Ethan is Ellie, who brings both a deeply reflective presence and insightful contributions to this exploration.
Lectern Q&As are a monthly gathering where John and Ethan take questions from The Lectern’s members, threading through important themes that are most pertinent and perplexing to the collective. Pre-submitted questions form the bulk of the discussion with a Live Q&A segment toward the end.
👉 To participate live, submit questions, and gain access to previous Q&As, join the Alpha Tier (or above) on The Lectern:
lectern.teachable.com/p/lectern-lounge
The next Lectern Q&A will take place on the 27th of April at 10am EST. Sign up at The Lectern to pre-submit your questions and join the Live Q&A!
The next Silk Road Seminar will take place on the 28th of April at 1.30pm EST. Sign up at The Lectern to join the Live Q&A!
Connect with a community dedicated to self-discovery and purpose, and gain deeper insights by joining our Patreon.
patreon.com/johnvervaeke
The Vervaeke Foundation is committed to advancing the scientific pursuit of wisdom and creating a significant impact on the world.
vervaekefoundation.org
Join Awaken to Meaning to explore practices that enhance your virtues and foster deeper connections with reality and relationships.
awakentomeaning.com/join-practice
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Opening Reflections on Love
02:45 Love as an Existential Stance
05:00 Love, Participatory Knowing, and Binding Identity
08:45 Eros, Philia, and Agape: The Three Movements of Love
13:00 The Person-Making Nature of Love
17:00 Love as a Doorway to the Sacred
20:30 The Transformation of Self Through Love
23:45 Somatic and Embodied Knowing of Love
28:00 Trauma, Attachment, and the Challenge of Loving Well
32:10 Secure Attachment and Love as Practice
37:40 Circling, Dialectic, and Learning to Love Wisely
40:15 The Role of Worldview in Love and Meaning
46:50 A GI, the Sacred, and What We Truly Love About Humanity
54:20 The Ecology of Religions and Participatory Pluralism
59:30 Final Reflections from John, Ethan, and Ellie
Ideas, People, and Works Mentioned
Søren Kierkegaard
John Bowlby, Attachment Theory
Sue Johnson, Hold Me Tight, Attachment Theory in Practice
Eric Fromm, The Art of Loving
Thomas Kuhn, Paradigms and Worldview
Albert Camus, The Stranger
Martin Buber, I and Thou
Taoism and the concept of the Dao as Mother
Mahayana Buddhism, Bodhisattva path
Sufism and Divine Love
Socratic Knowledge and Dialogos
Circling & Dialectic into Dialogos
Lauren Barrett, Emotionally Focused Therapy
Halcyon Guild
Pluralism in religion and spiritual practice
Follow John Vervaeke
johnvervaeke.com
twitter.com/vervaeke_john
youtube.com/@johnvervaeke
patreon.com/johnvervaeke
Thank you for watching!
