Niki is an expert on the ascetic John Cassian and the French philosopher Michel Foucault. In this episode Niki and I discuss her newest book, Sites of the Ascetic Self. Niki is most interested in daily practices of discipline that can help and enable individuals to open to certain forms of self-transformation including transformation of our bodies, our emotions and our relation to other people. She discusses how her history places her into relationship with her current areas of study. We are shaped as subjects in this world, therefore one of Niki’s core questions is: how can we become self-shaping and self-forming? Looking at the kinds of daily practices we each live and how those practices influence and inform our reality. We explore the value of recognizing the various interpretations and agencies that are present in every moment. We define the terms such as ethics, ascetic, and others. We discuss        the modern understanding of mental health and the progressive pathologizing  of one’s relationship with the voices, urges, and powers formed within one’s “head” or self. She is interested in the construction of one’s character as a way of life. 
Niki Clements works at the disciplinary intersection between the history of Christian practice, philosophy of religion, and religious ethics. She specializes in Christian asceticism and mysticism in late antiquity, highlighting its resources for thinking through contemporary ethical formation and conceptions of the self. She is currently completing the first comprehensive treatment of the ethical thought of John Cassian (c.360-c.435), a late antique Catholic architect of Latin monasticism doctrinally marginalized for his optimistic views on human agency. Engaging Michel Foucault's late work on ethics-which sees Cassian as a crucial inaugurator of modern disciplinary subjectivity-she critiques the conceptual limitations that Foucault's philosophical categories impose on his reading of Cassian, late antique Christianity, and the study of religion. She also pursues a transdisciplinary approach with cognitive neuroscience to argue that ethical formation integrates consciousness, embodiment, and affectivity. She is the volume editor for Mental Religion: The Brain, Cognition, and Culture, as part of the forthcoming Macmillan Interdisciplinary Handbooks.

http://rice.academia.edu/NikiClements

Specialization: 
History of Catholic thought and practice, Christianity in late antiquity, asceticism and mysticism, religious ethics, philosophy of religion, theories and methods in the study of religion, religion, and science

Academic History: 
Ph.D., Brown University, Religion and Critical Thought, 2014
M.T.S., Harvard Divinity School, 2007
B.A., Sarah Lawrence College, 2003

Music provided by:
www.modernnationsmusic.com
 
Learn more about this project at:
www.thesacredspeaks.com

Episode 3: Self-formation and daily practices. A conversation with Niki Clements

𝄟⃝♪. 𖦤 ﮩـﮩﮩ٨ـ🫀🧠 ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ ✍🏼
..𓂃..𝓜𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓟𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓮, 𝓜𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓹𝓲𝓮𝓬𝓮..𓂃..

𝓢𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓻𝓮𝓷'𝓽 𝓮𝓶𝓹𝓽𝔂, 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂'𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓪𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓭. 𝓔𝓺𝓾𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 𝓼𝓸, 𝓲𝓼 𝓸𝓷𝓮'𝓼 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓬.
𝓘𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓽.
𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓫𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮;
𝓲𝓷 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮, 𝓲𝓷 𝓪𝓫𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮.
𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓵𝓸𝔀 𝓸𝓯 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓭𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓱𝓾𝓶𝓲𝓵𝓲𝓽𝔂, 
𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓲𝓷 𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓮𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰.
𝓕𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓲𝓷-𝓫𝓮𝓽𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰,
𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓵𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓲𝓷 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰.
𝓣𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱 - 𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓸𝓷, 
𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓻𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 - 𝓽𝓸 𝓵𝓮𝓽 𝓰𝓸.
𝓜𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓬 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓲𝓫𝓵𝓮, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝔀𝓮 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵 𝓲𝓽. 
𝓘𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻, 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓻; 
𝓸𝓯 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓲𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓻 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼.

𝓜𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓟𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓮, 𝓜𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓹𝓲𝓮𝓬𝓮. 

🌸𝓒𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓶𝓸𝓴𝓾 ..𓂃🖋



..𓂃..𝓘 𝓪𝓼𝓴𝓮𝓭 𝓶𝔂 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓭𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮..𓂃..

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓴 𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓼,
𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓪 𝓼𝓸𝓯𝓽 𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓭𝔂 𝓿𝓸𝓲𝓬𝓮
𝓣𝓸 𝓭𝓮𝓵𝓿𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓮𝓹𝓽𝓱𝓼,
𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓲𝓬𝓮
𝓣𝓸 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓭𝓸𝔀,
𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓷 𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓮
𝓘𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓲𝓻𝓻𝓸𝓻 𝓸𝓯 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼,
𝔀𝓮 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓮 𝓯𝓪𝓬𝓮.
𝓗𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓯𝓵𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓵𝓮,
𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽
𝓦𝓮 𝔀𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽,
𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓯𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽
𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓹 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻𝓷 𝓱𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓼 𝓪 𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓶 𝔂𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓲𝓿𝓮,
𝓘𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓸𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓫𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓽'𝓼 𝓪𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮.

𝓣𝓸 𝓭𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓲𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓽𝓸𝓶𝔂,
𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴
𝓦𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓪𝓰𝓮 𝓪𝓼 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓪𝓻𝓶𝓸𝓾𝓻,
𝓲𝓽 𝓲𝓰𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓼 𝓪 𝓼𝓶𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓼𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓴
𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓯 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓼,
𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭
𝓐 𝔀𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓫𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰,
𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓾𝓷𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓭
𝓘𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓺𝓾𝓲𝓮𝓽 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓵'𝓼 𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓼𝓹𝓪𝓬𝓮,
𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓶𝓪𝓼𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓭𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓮
𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽'𝓼 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓮 𝓳𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓮𝔂, 𝓿𝓮𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽,
𝓢𝓮𝓮𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔀𝓷, 𝓪 𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽.
𝓘𝓷 𝓭𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓶𝓼 𝔀𝓮 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓮, 𝓲𝓷 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝔀𝓮 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 ....

𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓬𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓪𝓵𝓴, 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓬𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽.

🌸𝓒𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓶𝓸𝓴𝓾 ..𓂃🖋 



𝓘 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓹𝓸𝓮𝓽𝓻𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓬 ....

Join depth psychotherapist and Jungian scholar, John Price, in an exploration of extraordinary stories and phenomena that lurk beneath the surface of normal and everyday life. Listen in as John interviews experts, dilettantes, sinners, and saints to explore their professional and personal perspective on the underlying purpose of the mysteries which lurk within the seemingly mundane nature of day-to-day life. 

John received his Master’s degree in clinical psychology and his Doctorate degree in Jungian psychology. He is in private practice and is also on the faculty of The Jung Center and The University of St. Thomas, both located in Houston, Texas. He lectures and teaches classes in subjects ranging from Parenting and Consciousness to Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll. 

This podcast seeks to accept a challenge laid out by Carl Jung:  to explore the universal human feelings of emotional incompleteness, spiritual curiosity and one’s related search for wholeness and meaning. Interviews commence with the belief that, by engaging in this exploration, we can learn more about the psyche, consciousness, spirituality, philosophy and the profound, though often hidden, meaning of the day-to-day lives we lead (or which will lead us, if we aren’t watchful).

Come along as John follows people into bars, universities, places of worship, financial districts and the home. He finds each context equally able to provide a setting for this worthy search and also that, through this process, we have an opportunity to come to know each other and ourselves much more deeply.

Episode 3: Self-formation and daily practices. A conversation with Niki Clements

The Sacred Speaks: Hosted by John Price