Many thanks to Krista and the On Being team for a tremendous series of interviews on the philosophy of Teilhard de Chardin. Teilhard's ideas are even more relevant today than when they were written and you are doing a great service to discuss them. I would recommend that you include additional resources on the works of Teilhard. Some of the best include:

The American Teilhard Association: http://www.teilharddechardin.org/

Works of Louis Savary (who along with Ursula King are the two best authors on the life and works of Teilhard).

The Galactic Milieu series by Julian May (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_Milieu_Series) which a science fiction series that describes a not-too-distant future which shows in the evolution of humanity based on Teilhardian concepts.

The Hymn of the Universe, which was quoted in the interview is available online:
http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=1621&C=1535

Thank you again for a wonderful podcast and interviews.

Greg Lynch

Another great show. Optimists such as myself believe that each person's essential nature is love, so any behavior that doesn't seem to come from love, comes from the illusion that we are not all connected and interdependent.
My understanding of the noosphere is that it is a super-consciousness of humans, that our mind is like a two way radio both receiving and transmitting thoughts subconsciously. Technology then, is only making the process more conscious and accelerated.

So many Atheists complain about religion due to its ancient roots, for its trying to carry the ancient (to them) too far forward. But here we have a Catholic priest of all people, describing a foundation for religion as if taking the future and bringing it backward to us here.
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I was introduced to the concept of a Universal Noosphere in the child's story "The Last Question" by Isaac Asimov. It was given to me by my father, likely unwittingly, as Dad didn't follow SF (but He Was a religious man). That story changed my personal theology quite a bit. Checking years later it was found that the Asimov story came out just after the publication of "The Phenomenon of Man" - and I am looking for more on this possible connection. The author Tom Wolfe also talks insistingly about a connection, between de Chardin and Marshall McLuhan. McLuhan wrote of his idea of "The Global Village" 6 years after 'Phenomenon'. The modern Catholic Theologian John F. Haught gave us a great lecture on unifying religion and science and de Chardin was featured prominently again. Always an interesting subject.
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Your show then comes to me as if a Christmas gift. Thank-You for this gift.

Thank you once again for thought-provoking interviews, giving a broader perspective to our daily lives.

Dear Krista, as always, such a delight and inspiration to listen to your program this morning; it all seemed so perfectly helpful at a time of great tragedy here in Connecticut and as Christmas comes. Christmas blessings to you and yours. Jane Kellogg, Hamden CT (Trinity Church on the Green, New Haven)

I first read Teilhard as a senior in college back in 1960, and continued to read him during my years in the seminary -- in Rome!

I've taught an advanced undergraduate course over the years on "The Classics of Spirituality," and have used "The Divine Milieu" as the final reading of the course.

I appreciate the program dedicated to Teilhard and welcome the continuing interest in his thinking. But I think that the heart of the matter was slighted in the presentations.

For Teilhard at the heart of his vision is Jesus Christ who is both the center and the goal of the Divine Milieu. This is why Teilhard's great friend and advocate Henri de Lubac holds that part of Teilhard's achievement was to recover the "cosmic Christology" of the Pauline Epistles.

So thank you for what you have done in the program; but it's like a glass only half full. You only offered some of the good wine.

Christmas wishes!

I wonder if, maybe, just maybe, his ideas (Tiehard's) are just the natural evolution of any optimistic thinking. Of course I have had exposure to these ideas but not enough to be so highly developed as my belief system is. It seems to me that its a natural process involving positive thinking. I guess I could be complimenting myself but that is okay -- as I love connecting up with some of the most powerful and energizing thoughts in our evolving minds.

What a wonderful surprise it was this morning to hear the discussion about Teilhard De Chadin ! ! I was driving up to Maine and the discussion enriched the trip for me
A quote in The Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston,was my introduction to this learned and engaging philosopher.I found his books and added them to to my library for constant reference and enlightenment.
Ever since then I use excerpts from his writings when I speak to groups Only once has a listener responded with a knowledge of Teilhard.I dare say that today there would would be no mention of this genius philosopher in The Pilot given the super conservative turn of the recent and current Church leadership.
" A passionate longing to grow,to be is what we need. There is no room for the pessimists, the weary , the immobilizes,the sad of heart. Life is change. Life is movement."
This is off the top of my head so may not be a perfect quote But, this is the essence of the quote that caught my attention many years ago.. .

It seems to me this man's knowledge of evolution is somewhat incomplete (and it also seems to me problematic to invoke the supernatural or a god when it comes to evolution and genetics). To state that evolution may be driven by consciousness is too speculative for me (as someone fairly well versed in evolution and someone who deals with the genetics of cancer on a daily basis). With that said, I do subscribe to the ideals of humanist philosophy - but I also realize 99.9+ percent of all organisms on this planet have gone extinct and that we will suffer the same fate. While it may be nice to think that in some way we are special and that there is a god that exists or cares for us, the reality is, imo, there is no evidence for such things. It seems to me we are only special because we choose to define ourselves in a special way or seek out characteristics that seem "special" to the human species. When you start out thinking we are special you will likely only find the evidence to support your premise. This is not scientific reasoning and should not be presented as such.

Thank you for your leading edge leadership. The Tielhard program was outstanding. Might I suggest a whole series devoted to the work of Thomas Berry, who was the President of the American Tielhard Association for 10 years. Interview subjects might include Sr. Joan Chittister, Mary EvelynTtucker, Sr. Miriam McGillis, (Genesis Farm) and physicist Brian Swimme. More possible interviewies can be found on http://www.crle.org/thomasberry.asp and the Greenbsorough, Vt. Thomas Berry Center.

Yes, wonderful show. De Chardin's philosophy was an integral part of my formative spiritual search as a teen and young man. While i had certainly thought about his evolution to a divine milieu i havent revisited his writing. I now have two teenage girls and wonder sometimes about the effect of their constant electronic networking on their social, psychological and spiritual development. An apprehension of the noosphere? Maybe that can be the story we choose, as in the life of pi.? I'll be revisiting teilhard's writing thanks to this good show. Thank you!

Thank you so much for introducing me to the work of Teilhard. His ideas on the intersection of science and theology, articulated through the lens of a "planetary mind" or a consciousness of nature, resonate deeply with me.

At the risk of sounding too Scrooge-like on this Christmas Eve, I, too, have a belief in a noosphere, although mine is spelled Noahsphere (as in the Noah of the Old Testament). As I define God in terms of Nature, I believe that our planet may very well be headed toward a modern Noah Day of Reckoning wherein Mother Nature purges the earth with cataclysmic weather events that could destroy billions and billions of people, perhaps in our generation. It hurts me profoundly to express this. But even Bill McKibben may acknowledge that we have already eclipsed a point of no return with regards to the levels of greenhouse gases. Our collective culture has made so many toxic, greedy, violent, hubristic choices, a global re-set button may need to be hit.

Unfortunately, as in the time of Noah, that would mean many innocent, good people would also perish. When I was a young boy in Sunday School, hearing the story of The Flood, I always thought it was so unfair that so many of Noah's neighbors (not to mention all of the animals that didn't make it on the ark) were punished with death for simply disagreeing with his rather apocolyptic prophecy. I still do. And yet now I find myself espousing a similar conjecture. Ultimately, however, I retain hope. I must. I have energy for nothing but. It is a hope that we still have time to turn this thing around before Nature shrugs us off. Like Candide, I find that hope in my garden where I can learn to cultivate nurturance.

With the Solstice/Soulstice/Soilstice of the past week, the Light is returning. May we all dwell in it and find peace as we heal this fragile, resilient, conscious earth. (And I must also remember that the tale of Scrooge is ultimately one of redemption! :)

thank you very much for the clarity of presentation of Teilhard's thought. Though I can most easily feel his idea, I often find it hard to understand/explain him, if you know what I mean. The interviews were so helpful to me, and so hopeful.

Thanks for yet another great discussion! We are experiencing, no we are feeling the growing consciousness or "shift" very profoundly here in Ecuador. Not so much the internet will lead us but the people who are so connected to the earth.

I will finally read the book my grandmother recommended to me 40 years ago. I had been hesitant to dive in previously because it seemed a little daunting but your discussions will provide some signposts. I guess coincidentally, Institute of Noetic Science sent me a link to a very recent discussion with Jean Houston where she relates the story about her friendship with Teilhard at 11:10. Here is the link (i hope it works): http://trans.noetic.org/site/R?i=x0sRU_jgQppcAHQ87xPd_Q

Presented for your consideration: the Global Consciousness Project www.teilhard.global-mind.org This long-term, international, field-research initiative was inspired, in part, by de Chardin's notion of the noosphere. It strikes me that Mr. Revkin's statement can be applied to the Project's findings: "It's not just a function of computing power; there's something else that's going on."

FABULOUS podcast on Teilhard--THE amazing future of spirituality in a green revolutionary world!

For those in the Toronto, Ontario, area who are interested in Teilhard, consider going to the new play "The de Chardin Project" which will be produced in Toronto February 7-17, 2013 at the Theatre Passe Muraille.. For more information on the play, see the following website: http://thequickeningtheatre.com/

TEILHARD is a great Catholic philosopher who neatly bridges the fictional gap between Christianity and Science, and forecasts the evolutionary course of consciousness.

Dear Krista,
I have enjoyed your show enormously and look forward to a new discovery or insight each week. Have you interviewed Dr. Herbert Benson, the basic researcher of the Relaxation Response? He documented the the human physiologic response to stress, describing it as the opposite of the "flight or fight" response initially thought to be voodoo medicine, at Harvard Medical school, his work and concepts have gone mainstream in Medicine? I would love to hear him expound upon this.

I listened to this story in the show archives and found it interesting given that I have been reading a lot of Ernesto Cardenal's poetry and he was heavily influenced by Teilard de Chardin. I disagree with something that your guest said about the moral dilemma that we face when choosing between 1) a change to alternative energies and 2) higher costs on the poor. These are two separate issues and two separate problems. The poor pay higher costs for everything already and this is not just an outcome of the capitalist system but one defining aspect of the capitalist system. Our insatiable desire to obtain more material wealth and goods is also a defining characteristic of capitalism and is what drives us to scour the Earth for energy sources to fuel our unsustainable system. We must reflect on our participation in this capitalist model to begin with and, returning to Teilhard de Chardin, realize that capitalism is a very primitive stage that should be and will be left behind as humans and the planet evolve.

I first encountered Teihard as a young novice in a religious congregation in the 1960s. Reading the forbidden was exciting.
Now decades later I serendipitously listened to this program about Teilhard while reading "The Idea Factory" the story of Bell Labs by Gertner. The confluence of the spiritual and scientific ideas is electric. Memory is a poor thing if it only works backwards.

Wonderful site. I hope (plan) to keep in touch.
Thank you.

Very good, this show was so informative. I learned a lot and will be digging deeper into this subject thanks, Krista.

Outstanding show Krista and team! I am a huge fan of Teilhard de Chardin. I strongly believe that his insights are even more relevant today during his lifetime. I have started a blog devoted to following his ideas at www.teilhard.com.