Perennial Wisdom

Perennial Leader Project
  • 4.9 (34)
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Perennial Wisdom is a podcast for seekers and curious minds. Each episode seeks to uncover universal truths and enduring ideas from philosophical and spiritual traditions. Learn more at perennial.substack.com.

  1. JAN 31

    Ep. 260: Monastic Wisdom for the Rhythms of Life | Perennial Wisdom

    📮 Want tools for the art of living? Sign up here: https://perennial.substack.com/subscribe You’ve likely experienced the optimistic reset: a fresh note, a new week, and a well-crafted routine. It includes things like reading, prayer, or exercise. Then life happens. A late night. A tough conversation. A sick day. A looming deadline. One miss becomes two, and suddenly the whole “system” feels like a verdict: “I’m inconsistent.” A “Rule of Life” is designed to protect you from this cycle of success and failure. Think of it less as “rules” and more as a trellis: a simple framework of practices and boundaries that supports what you most want to grow. It’s not an ideal schedule for an ideal self. It’s a pattern sturdy enough for your real life—especially the messy weeks. [...] ---   🖇️ Stay Connected:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perennialmeditations/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PerennialMeditations---  🦉 Additional Resources:  Perennial Meditations archive: https://perennial.substack.com/archiveListen to more podcasts: https://www.perennialleader.com/podcasts

    8 min

  2. JAN 24

    Ep. 259: How to Quit - A Philosophical Guide | Perennial Wisdom

    📮 Want tools for the art of living? Sign up here: https://perennial.substack.com/subscribe Today’s essay is about something most of us rarely talk about. Quitting. From the time we’re young, we’re taught to admire perseverance. “Finish what you start.”“Never give up.”“Stay the course.”“Push through.”And often, that advice is wise. But not always. Sometimes the bravest, clearest, most honest act is not to continue—but to quit. Not from laziness. Not from fear. But from truth. From discernment. From a deeper loyalty to what matters more than pride or the story we once told about ourselves. Ancient philosophy and spiritual traditions understood something modern culture often forgets: Quitting is not always failure. Sometimes, it is loyalty to a higher calling. ---   🖇️ Stay Connected:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perennialmeditations/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PerennialMeditations---  🦉 Additional Resources:  Perennial Meditations archive: https://perennial.substack.com/archiveListen to more podcasts: https://www.perennialleader.com/podcasts

    10 min

  3. JAN 1

    Ep. 258: Stop Fixing Yourself. Try This Instead. | Perennial Wisdom

    📮 Want tools for the art of living? Sign up here: https://perennial.substack.com/subscribe Many of us treat our inner life like a home renovation project. If I could just fix my overthinking, my consistency issues, my need for approval, and my procrastination, I could finally become “the person I’m supposed to be.” Yet often, the more we try to fix ourselves, the more tense and self-doubting we become—it’s like we are managing a difficult employee in our heads. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: much of self-improvement is just self-rejection in nicer clothes. Stay with me...  Carl Rogers—one of the most respected psychologists of the 20th century—offers a different perspective: real change doesn’t come from forcing yourself into a new personality. It comes from accepting what’s true, without flinching. This is not a call for complacency.  It’s a call for a more realistic kind of transformation—one based on honesty rather than self-conflict. ---   🖇️ Stay Connected:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perennialmeditations/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PerennialMeditations---  🦉 Additional Resources:  Perennial Meditations archive: https://perennial.substack.com/archiveListen to more podcasts: https://www.perennialleader.com/podcasts

    11 min

  4. 12/23/2025

    Ep. 257: A Meditation on the "Present" of Christmas | Perennial Wisdom

    📮 Want tools for the art of living? Sign up here: https://perennial.substack.com/subscribe Christmas invites us to reflect on gifts, but the most meaningful one is the hardest to give. It isn’t bought or wrapped; it has nothing to do with ribbons or receipts. The true “present” of Christmas is presence itself—the quiet courage to be here, fully, without rushing past your own life.  Before we offer anything to others, Christmas calls us to accept this moment as a gift. But that’s not usually how the season feels.  The roads are jammed, inboxes fill with sales and invitations, and there’s always one more thing to buy, one more event to attend. Outwardly, everything speeds up. Inwardly, many of us feel scattered and thin. Precisely here, in the busyness and noise, the Christmas season can become a school for the inner life. ---   🖇️ Stay Connected:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perennialmeditations/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PerennialMeditations---  🦉 Additional Resources:  Perennial Meditations archive: https://perennial.substack.com/archiveListen to more podcasts: https://www.perennialleader.com/podcasts

    12 min

  5. 12/20/2025

    Ep. 256: Sinner and Saint - The Paradox of Human Development | Perennial Wisdom

    📮 Want tools for the art of living? Sign up here: https://perennial.substack.com/subscribe Before we begin, it may help to name the kind of territory we’re entering—because this essay (or episode) is all about paradoxes and polarities. A paradox is two things that seem to oppose each other but are both true. Similarly, a polarity is a pair of truths that don’t cancel each other out—they balance each other. You experience this every day. You can want independence and connection at the same time. You can feel confident in one moment and insecure in the next. You can love someone deeply and still feel frustrated by them. Wisdom traditions say this is not a mistake. This is what being human feels like. The Zen tradition captures the sentiment beautifully in a single line: “You are perfect just as you are… and you could use a little improvement.”At first, it sounds impossible.  But it points to something essential: You are whole—and you’re still becoming.You are worthy—and you’re unfinished.You have goodness in you—and you have a shadow too.Paradox isn’t a problem to solve.  It’s a tension to live in. ---   🖇️ Stay Connected:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perennialmeditations/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PerennialMeditations---  🦉 Additional Resources:  Perennial Meditations archive: https://perennial.substack.com/archiveListen to more podcasts: https://www.perennialleader.com/podcasts

    21 min

  6. 12/09/2025

    Ep. 255: The Saint's Guide to Happiness | Perennial Wisdom

    📮 Want tools for the art of living? Sign up here: https://perennial.substack.com/subscribe In this episode of Perennial Wisdom, we explore the profound and surprising vision of happiness taught by the 13th-century theologian and philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas. Long before modern self-help, Aquinas argued that most of our suffering comes not from pain itself, but from aiming our deepest desires at things too small to satisfy them. Through three core ideas, we examine why: No finite thing can be our final happinessThe human heart longs for something infiniteVirtue is not moralism, but the reordering of desireThroughout our journey, we draw on insights from Aquinas’ Treatise on Happiness and the modern philosopher Josef Pieper, revealing a vision of happiness rooted not in stimulation or control, but in truth and contemplation. ---   🖇️ Stay Connected:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perennialmeditations/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PerennialMeditations---  🦉 Additional Resources:  Perennial Meditations archive: https://perennial.substack.com/archiveListen to more podcasts: https://www.perennialleader.com/podcasts

    11 min

  7. 11/22/2025

    Ep. 254: How to Be Bored - An Ancient Guide to Being Where You Are | Perennial Wisdom

    📮 Want tools for the art of living? Sign up here: https://perennial.substack.com/subscribe In this episode of Perennial Wisdom, we explore the art of boredom: a journey through ancient philosophy, psychology, and modern thinkers like David Foster Wallace. From the desert monks who believed stillness revealed the soul, to Pascal’s warning that our fear of silence shapes our entire lives, to modern research showing boredom can unlock creativity.  We talk about why boredom is so uncomfortable, how it shows us what we really want, and why we often use distractions to avoid facing ourselves. If you’ve struggled to slow down, sit still, or be with your own thoughts, this episode offers an ancient guide to being where you are. ---   🖇️ Stay Connected:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perennialmeditations/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PerennialMeditations---  🦉 Additional Resources:  Perennial Meditations archive: https://perennial.substack.com/archiveListen to more podcasts: https://www.perennialleader.com/podcasts

    13 min

  8. 11/15/2025

    Ep. 253: The Art of Thinking - From Socrates to St. Augustine | Perennial Wisdom

    📮 Want tools for the art of living? Sign up here: https://perennial.substack.com/subscribe In this episode of Perennial Wisdom, we trace a journey from the streets of ancient Athens to the inner life of a restless bishop. Socrates challenges us with the idea of the unexamined life, while Augustine encourages us to look inward and seek truth within the depths of our own souls. Along the way, we examine how ancient rhetoric, self-persuasion, and spiritual reflection can help us break free from groupthink and reclaim our inner freedom. This episode offers a quiet, contemplative space for anyone overwhelmed by others' opinions and eager to reconnect with their own thoughts. ---   🖇️ Stay Connected:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perennialmeditations/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PerennialMeditations---  🦉 Additional Resources:  Explore the Perennial Meditations archive: https://perennial.substack.com/archiveListen to more podcasts: https://www.perennialleader.com/podcasts

    12 min
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4.9
out of 5
34 Ratings

About

Perennial Wisdom is a podcast for seekers and curious minds. Each episode seeks to uncover universal truths and enduring ideas from philosophical and spiritual traditions. Learn more at perennial.substack.com.

Information

  • Creator
    Perennial Leader Project
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    260
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © J.W. Bertolotti
  • Show Website
    Perennial Wisdom