Podcast Summary:

New Thinking Allowed Audio Podcast
Episode: Love as the Timeless Source of Wholeness with Glenn Aparicio Parry
Host: Jeffrey Mishlove
Guest: Glenn Aparicio Parry
Date: January 4, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Jeffrey Mishlove interviews his close friend and author, Glenn Aparicio Parry, about his new book, Original Love: The Timeless Source of Wholeness. Parry shares his unique perspective on love as a cosmic, foundational force—one that is fundamental to reality, uniting ancient wisdom, indigenous views, feminine consciousness, and even insights from modern science. Their wide-ranging discussion weaves together personal stories, mythology, ritual, philosophy, and timely reflections on technology, all with a focus on unfolding deeper understandings of love, wholeness, and what it means to be human.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Nature and Source of Love

• Beyond Words and Force: Love is framed not merely as an emotion, force, or vibration, but as something “so beautiful, so cosmic, so large, that we can never fully understand… much better to think of love as the beauty of nature.” (A, 00:00; 66:55)
• Love as the Origin of Existence: Parry posits that physical reality itself may exist as an expression of primal love:

  “Whatever love is… it is immense. It is enormous. It is a quality that's always been here.” (A, 10:18)

• Ancient Philosophies: Drawing on Empedocles, Parry explains how ancient thinkers saw the elements united by love and set in motion by strife, symbolizing unity and division as twin forces of creation. (A, 10:18)

2. Originality, Indigenous Wisdom, and Connection to Place

• Origin Stories and Ways of Knowing: The indigenous perspective links origin not just to time, but to place—contrasting the Western tendency to think temporally about origins (A, 3:24).
• Integration with Nature: Parry emphasizes that separating humanity from nature is both recent and problematic, proposing instead a politics and psychology that recognizes “we are not separate from anything.” (A, 5:21; 12:01)

3. On Strife, Suffering, and Wholeness

• Strife as Creative Force: Empedocles’ view that the universe “wasn't fully formed until strife came in” (B, 12:50; A, 27:05). Parry connects this to universal myths of death and rebirth, emphasizing that suffering is inherent in physical reality and often a precursor to wholeness and transformation.
• Overcoming Suffering: Stories like Sri Aurobindo’s awakening in prison (A, 39:31) and indigenous rituals of gratitude (A, 36:24) illustrate how love and wholeness can break through suffering.

4. Connection, Oneness, and Quantum Metaphors

• Love as Gravity and Quantum Entanglement: Parry relates the scientific mysteries of gravity and quantum entanglement to love—as an alluring force (“power of allurement”) (A, 22:46) and as a principle of connection beyond distance:

  “That's the nature's way of saying, I shall always be your valentine.” —Phil Duran, per Parry, about quantum entanglement (A, 23:53)

• Oneness in Mystical and Near-Death Experiences: Mishlove and Parry underscore the universal mystical insight of “oneness with everything”, encountered in near-death experiences and spiritual practice (B, 25:01; A, 25:43).

5. Ritual, the Feminine, and the Role of Ceremony

• Feminine and Indigenous Wisdom: Parry links ritual origins to the Sanskrit “ritu” (menses), suggesting the “first rituals were about a woman's connection between their body and the cosmos," and connecting feminine wisdom with indigenous traditions. (A, 52:44)
• Ritual and Ceremony as Reconnection: Rituals—especially moon-related—are highlighted as powerful ways to reconnect with wholeness, gratitude, and the universe. Parry invites listeners to create moon offerings as a mutual, living relationship. (A, 66:07)
• Feminine Archetypes: Parry discusses the mythological age of the Great Goddess, drawing parallels between ancient stories of death/rebirth and universal cycles (A, 33:26).

6. The Evolution of Human Consciousness

• Structures of Consciousness (Gebser’s Model):
  • Archaic (oneness)
  • Magical (will and mind over matter)
  • Mythical (symbolic, narrative)
  • Mental (rational, linear)
  • Integral (time-freedom, wholeness) (A, 59:50; 63:21)
• Importance of Time-Freedom: Parry explores the value of undivided presence (“time-freedom”), dreaming, and non-linear time—emphasizing circular, relational models over linear perspectives. (A, 63:20)

7. Technology, AI, and Modernity

• Ambivalence Toward Technology: Both express misgivings about modern technological colonization, especially AI:

  “It is dangerous...I don’t like the term artificial intelligence, because I don’t think there’s any intelligence. Intelligence itself comes from the source.” (A, 48:21)

• Infusing Technology with Love: Parry and Mishlove note emerging efforts to “befriend” and spiritualize AI, but retain concern over dominant industrial and military tendencies in technology. (A, 50:15; B, 51:30)
• Balancing Modernity with Tradition: They emphasize the importance of integrating loving awareness and spiritual values—even in relationship to devices and software.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

“Love is something so beautiful, so cosmic, so large, that we can never fully understand. So it's much better to think of love as the beauty of nature.”
— Glenn Aparicio Parry (A, 00:00 & 66:55)

“Love is what heals. Love is what unites… that's probably the only way out of politics, is love.”
— Glenn Aparicio Parry (A, 10:18)

“Linear perspective becomes our language, and it becomes the beginning of linear time, which is not as old as people realize…the ancients and indigenous peoples today still understand that time's unfolding in a circle.”
— Glenn Aparicio Parry (A, 17:12)

“The only conspiracy I really believe in...because the word conspiracy comes from conspire or to breathe together. So what breathes together? Plants, trees, phytoplankton and mammals. We breathe out what they breathe in and we breathe out what they need to breathe in. So we're in a sacred circle.”
— Glenn Aparicio Parry (A, 14:55)

“[Quantum entanglement] — that's nature’s way of saying, 'I shall always be your valentine.'”
— Attributed to Phil Duran, recounted by Glenn Aparicio Parry (A, 23:53)

“Most of us have to die to realize this oneness. But you can come home while you're still alive.”
— Glenn Aparicio Parry (A, 25:38)

“Ritual comes from the Sanskrit word ritu, which means menses. So that means...the first rituals were about a woman’s connection between their body and the cosmos.”
— Glenn Aparicio Parry (A, 52:44)

“To me, a more productive way to look at the world...is: What kinds of things want to happen together? You're now looking for relationships and alliances. You're no longer looking for causes and effects.”
— Glenn Aparicio Parry (A, 17:12)

“If we give some spiritual or loving input to artificial intelligence, that it will evolve in a certain way that will be more palatable.”
— Glenn Aparicio Parry (A, 51:09)

“If you send your thoughts through the moon...the moon will reflect it back to earth. The moon is a container, almost like a crystal…contains consciousness, memory...”
— Glenn Aparicio Parry (A, 66:07)

“The moon is beautiful tonight, isn’t it?” — on expressing “I love you” in Japanese
— via Natsume Soseki, recounted by Glenn Aparicio Parry (A, 68:00)

Important Segments (Timestamps)

• 00:00 — Parry introduces the ineffability and cosmic nature of love.
• 03:24–09:50 — On the origin stories of Parry’s trilogy, indigenous and Western worldviews, and what it means to be “original.”
• 10:18 — Love as a cosmic force, with insights from Empedocles.
• 12:50–16:37 — The interplay of love and strife; ancient shamanic perspectives; separation from nature.
• 17:12 — Language, time, and the circularity of natural processes.
• 22:46 — Gravity as allurement/love; quantum entanglement as a metaphor for connection.
• 25:14–27:05 — Near-death experiences, cosmic oneness, yearning for wholeness.
• 27:13–34:44 — Myths of separation, soulmate longing, archetypes of anima/animus, goddess mythologies, rebirth symbolism.
• 36:02–42:42 — On suffering, gratitude, trauma and overcoming pain; story of Sri Aurobindo; ancestral trauma and indigenous resilience.
• 43:16–49:31 — Water as a metaphor for thought, cycles of time, and the impact of modernity/technology.
• 50:15–52:37 — Discussion on AI and infusing technology with loving, spiritual values.
• 52:44–56:35 — Ritual, the feminine, and the meaning of ceremony (ritu).
• 59:50–65:36 — Evolutionary stages of consciousness (Gebser); time-freedom and dreaming.
• 66:07–70:12 — The moon, ritual offerings, poetic expressions of love.
• 70:12–end — Closing reflections and gratitude.

Summary Tone

Both speakers maintain an open, reflective, and occasionally poetic tone. Parry is earnest, gentle, and deeply philosophical, blending storytelling with scholarly insight. Mishlove is curious, thoughtful, and supportive, prompting further exploration while sharing his own perspectives.

Conclusion

This episode offers a deep and heartfelt exploration of love as the timeless source of wholeness—spanning ancient wisdom, indigenous practices, myth, science, psychology, and spirituality. It is both philosophical and practical, inviting listeners to see and feel the underlying unity in all things, and to engage with the cosmos (whether through ritual, relationship, or technology) from a place of reverence and love.