John was brought up in the practices of the Church of England. The figure of Mary, mother of Jesus, is not given as much prominence in the Protestant churches. When he went to Russia he discovered it is very different there. Mary is very much to the fore. Like the Russian people, she knows about suffering. What sorrow has she not known? What tears has she not shed? Doesn't she grieve for her children? The Mother of us all. In this episode of the 'Inside Story' series exploring more deeply the 'windows of realisation' in John's most popular book 'Wonders of Spiritual Unfoldment' (Chapter 15), he tells us how he came to appreciate the difference between Western Protestant and Russian Orthodox traditions in the emphasis on Mother Mary and the Orthodox version of meditation - the Jesus Prayer. You can read more about John's time in Russia in his book 'Mystic Forbearance' (2 volumes) - https://spiritualunfoldment.co.uk/store/Mystic-Forbearance-in-Russia-two-volumes-p131875345. Join the discussion with your own copy of John's first and most popular book. You can buy 'Wonders of Spiritual Unfoldment' as a companion to the Inside Story series in Kindle and paperback versions here - https://spiritualunfoldment.co.uk/store/Wonders-of-Spiritual-Unfoldment-p130835556. Producer: Phil Shankland, InSight New Media Productions Ltd Location: Bakewell, UK and Montana, USA Date: March, 2023 Copyright: Spiritual Unfoldment Trust 2023 Photo credits: Bible Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash Meditation Photo by Ian Stauffer on Unsplash Communism Photo by Steve Harvey on Unsplash Grey church Photo by Yura Timoshenko on Unsplash Prayer Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash You can watch 80+ ad-free videos with John in the "Feet on the Ground' supporters section. Join here - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi0TFuqj6eND-mJRf8i2Tnw/join. Those wanting more detailed accounts of John's life experience - the formative influences, which have taught and made him what he is, will find it in his 8 published books, available through the website: https://spiritualunfoldment.co.uk/store/. Did you know you can now listen to John on Spotify and other audio platforms? Here is his most popular recording 'Common sense guide to meditation' (1m views) - https://ffm.to/commonsenseguidetomeditation. FREE 86pp PDF 'Introducing Spiritual Unfoldment' With tempting extracts describing his life-long spiritual journey - in the hope they will encourage readers to go further, buy his books and read the whole story for themselves, we invite you to join John Butler's email community and receive a free 86-page PDF 'Introducing Spiritual Unfoldment'. Go to http://spiritualunfoldment.co.uk and scroll to the bottom of any page. Those who wish to support the Work of the Spiritual Unfoldment Trust can donate here - https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BBAWMHB4JQMKY Find out more about the the Spiritual Unfoldment Trust: https://spiritualunfoldment.co.uk/charitable-trust/ Disclaimer: https://spiritualunfoldment.co.uk/disclaimer/