John Butler - Finding Stillness in a Chaotic World (N322)

00:00
00:00

Drawing on his life as an organic farmer and over six decades of meditation, contemplative John Butler gently guides us on a journey towards inner stillness. Born in the 1930’s, John reflects on the slow emergence of a spirituality shaped by years of deep connection to the natural world, mantra meditation, and an unexpected mystical experience of Jesus. He also reflects on his sadness at struggling to connect with a Church suspicious of the journey he’s been on. After the interview Nomad hosts Tim Nash and Nick Thorley reflect on their own experiences of stillness and meditation and the role it has played in the emergence of their spirituality.  Interview starts at 16m 47s  Books, quotes, links → The creation of Nomad's thoughtful, wonderfully ad-free content is entirely funded by our equally thoughtful, wonderful listeners. Supporting us gives access to Nomad's online communities through the Beloved Listener Lounge, Enneagram Lounge and Nomad Book Club - as well as bonus content like Nomad Contemplations, Nomad Devotionals and Nomad Revisited. If you'd like to join our lovely supporters head to our Patreon Page to donate and you may even be rewarded with a pen or Beloved Listener mug! If you're hoping to connect with others who are more local, you can also take a look at our Listener Map or join our Nomad Gathering Facebook page. Additionally, we share listener's stories on our blog, all with the hope of facilitating understanding, connection and supportive relationships.

Released on 10 Jun 2024

Share this page...
SettingsRequest history8.3.17PHP Version1.09sRequest Duration4MBMemory UsageGET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}
status
200 OK
full_url
https://premier.amperative.site/podcasts/nomad-podcast/episodes/john-butler-finding-stillness-in-a-c...
action_name
podcasts.episodes.show
controller_action
App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show
Theme
Open Button Position
Hide Empty Tabs
Autoshow
Reset to defaults
status
200 OK
full_url
https://premier.amperative.site/podcasts/nomad-podcast/episodes/john-butler-finding-stillness-in-a-c...
action_name
podcasts.episodes.show
controller_action
App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show
uri
GET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}
scope_bindings
true
controller
App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show
file
app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:22-38
middleware
web
duration
1.09s
peak_memory
6MB
response
text/html; charset=UTF-8
request_format
html
request_query
[]
request_request
[]
request_headers
0 of 0
array:15 [ "host" => array:1 [ 0 => "premier.amperative.site" ] "connection" => array:1 [ 0 => "keep-alive" ] "pragma" => array:1 [ 0 => "no-cache" ] "cache-control" => array:1 [ 0 => "no-cache" ] "sec-ch-ua" => array:1 [ 0 => ""Chromium";v="130", "HeadlessChrome";v="130", "Not?A_Brand";v="99"" ] "sec-ch-ua-mobile" => array:1 [ 0 => "?0" ] "sec-ch-ua-platform" => array:1 [ 0 => ""Windows"" ] "upgrade-insecure-requests" => array:1 [ 0 => "1" ] "user-agent" => array:1 [ 0 => "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)" ] "accept" => array:1 [ 0 => "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.7" ] "sec-fetch-site" => array:1 [ 0 => "none" ] "sec-fetch-mode" => array:1 [ 0 => "navigate" ] "sec-fetch-user" => array:1 [ 0 => "?1" ] "sec-fetch-dest" => array:1 [ 0 => "document" ] "accept-encoding" => array:1 [ 0 => "gzip, deflate, br, zstd" ] ]
request_cookies
[]
response_headers
0 of 0
array:3 [ "content-type" => array:1 [ 0 => "text/html; charset=UTF-8" ] "cache-control" => array:1 [ 0 => "no-cache, private" ] "date" => array:1 [ 0 => "Wed, 04 Jun 2025 02:35:30 GMT" ] ]
session_attributes
0 of 0
array:1 [ "_token" => "W76eciZRPVDb9Vz7kz9OpHOAe9vNfzN7lMQpKtXf" ]
    • Booting (51.85ms)time
    • Application (1.04s)time
    • Routing (4.01ms)
    • Preparing Response (987ms)
    • 1 x Application (95.25%)
      1.04s
      1 x Preparing Response (90.42%)
      987ms
      1 x Booting (4.75%)
      51.85ms
      1 x Routing (0.37%)
      4.01ms
      62 templates were rendered
      • 1x templates.podcast-episodes.showshow.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x livewire.section-podcast-playersection-podcast-player.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.sections.header-playerheader-player.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.sections.header-topheader-top.blade.php#?blade
      • 35x components.iconicon.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.player.tracktrack.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.modals.modal-confirmationmodal-confirmation.blade.php#?blade
      • 3x components.modals.generic-1generic-1.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.sharethissharethis.blade.php#?blade
      • 3x components.cards.episodeepisode.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.modals.model-show-signupmodel-show-signup.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.recommendations.index-bespokeindex-bespoke.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.promotional-blockspromotional-blocks.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.sections.footerfooter.blade.php#?blade
      • 2x components.form.inputinput.blade.php#?blade
      • 2x components.form.input-groupinput-group.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.layouts.mastermaster.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.faviconfavicon.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.social-metasocial-meta.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.modals.searchsearch.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.toast-controllertoast-controller.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.modals.model-show-thank-youmodel-show-thank-you.blade.php#?blade
      uri
      GET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}
      middleware
      web
      scope_bindings
      true
      controller
      App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show
      as
      podcasts.episodes.show
      file
      app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:22-38
      24 statements were executed (13 duplicates)Show only duplicates55.78ms
      • RedirectMiddleware.php#49premier870μsselect * from `redirects` where `is_regex` = 1 and `redirects`.`deleted_at` is null
        Bindings
        • 0: 1
        Backtrace
        • app/Http/Middleware/RedirectMiddleware.php:49
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:209
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:127
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:807
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:786
      • RedirectMiddleware.php#79premier500μsselect * from `redirects` where `is_regex` = 0 and `match` = '/podcasts/nomad-podcast/episodes/john-butler-finding-stillness-in-a-chaotic-world-n322' and `is_active` = 1 and `redirects`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 0
        • 1: /podcasts/nomad-podcast/episodes/john-butler-finding-stillness-in-a-chaotic-world-n322
        • 2: 1
        Backtrace
        • app/Http/Middleware/RedirectMiddleware.php:79
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:209
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:127
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:807
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:786
      • DatabaseSessionHandler.php#97premier540μsselect * from `sessions` where `id` = 'mVRzUT6pQDAetlP2Tb2iTNGKbLrcrjcL3A1tHfAy' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: mVRzUT6pQDAetlP2Tb2iTNGKbLrcrjcL3A1tHfAy
        Backtrace
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/DatabaseSessionHandler.php:97
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:117
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:105
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:89
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Middleware/StartSession.php:147
      • DatabaseSessionHandler.php#281premier2.58msdelete from `sessions` where `last_activity` <= 1748997330
        Bindings
        • 0: 1748997330
        Backtrace
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/DatabaseSessionHandler.php:281
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Middleware/StartSession.php:178
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Middleware/StartSession.php:119
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Middleware/StartSession.php:64
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:209
      • ContentFamilyTrait.php#42premier650μsselect * from `podcasts` where `slug` = 'nomad-podcast' and `is_active` = 1 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: nomad-podcast
        • 1: 1
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Traits/ContentFamilyTrait.php:42
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ImplicitRouteBinding.php:61
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:961
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Features/SupportPageComponents/SupportPageComponents.php:214
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Middleware/SubstituteBindings.php:42
      • ContentFamilyTrait.php#59premier25.23msselect * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_episodes`.`podcast_id` = 58 and `podcast_episodes`.`podcast_id` is not null and `slug` = 'john-butler-finding-stillness-in-a-chaotic-world-n322' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` desc limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 58
        • 1: john-butler-finding-stillness-in-a-chaotic-world-n322
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Traits/ContentFamilyTrait.php:59
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ImplicitRouteBinding.php:56
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:961
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Features/SupportPageComponents/SupportPageComponents.php:214
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Middleware/SubstituteBindings.php:42
      • PromotionalBlockCacheMiddleware.php#24premier820μsselect * from `promotional_blocks` where (`display_from` is null or `display_from` < '2025-06-04 03:35:30') and (`display_to` is null or `display_to` > '2025-06-04 03:35:30')
        Bindings
        • 0: 2025-06-04 03:35:30
        • 1: 2025-06-04 03:35:30
        Backtrace
        • app/Http/Middleware/PromotionalBlockCacheMiddleware.php:24
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/Repository.php:427
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cache/CacheManager.php:453
        • app/Http/Middleware/PromotionalBlockCacheMiddleware.php:23
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:209
      • PodcastEpisodesController.php#24premier610μsselect exists(select * from `brands` where `brands`.`id` is null and `brands`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`
        Backtrace
        • app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:24
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Controller.php:54
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ControllerDispatcher.php:44
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php:266
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php:212
      • PodcastEpisode.php#193premier680μsselect exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\\Models\\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 20040 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`
        Bindings
        • 0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode
        • 1: 20040
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:74
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:29
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:43
      • PodcastEpisode.php#100premier500μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 58 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 58
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:100
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:74
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:29
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
      • Podcast.php#215premier570μsselect exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 58 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\\Models\\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`
        Bindings
        • 0: 58
        • 1: App\Models\Podcast
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Podcast.php:215
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:74
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:29
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
      • SectionPodcastPlayer.php#78premier440μsselect * from `listenable_progress_items` where `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_type` = 'App\\Models\\PodcastEpisode' and `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_id` = 20040 and `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_id` is not null and `user_id` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode
        • 1: 20040
        Backtrace
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:78
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:29
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:43
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:95
      • SectionPodcastPlayer.php#138premier7.86msselect * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_id` = 58 and `published_at` < '2024-06-10 08:37:00' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` desc limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 58
        • 1: 2024-06-10 08:37:00
        Backtrace
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:138
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:31
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:43
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:95
      • SectionPodcastPlayer.php#148premier7.36msselect * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_id` = 58 and `published_at` > '2024-06-10 08:37:00' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` asc limit 3
        Bindings
        • 0: 58
        • 1: 2024-06-10 08:37:00
        Backtrace
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:148
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:32
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:43
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:95
      • PodcastEpisode.php#193premier580μsselect exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\\Models\\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 20040 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`
        Bindings
        • 0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode
        • 1: 20040
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193
        • view::livewire.section-podcast-player:4
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Mechanisms/ExtendBlade/ExtendedCompilerEngine.php:38
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:75
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Mechanisms/ExtendBlade/ExtendedCompilerEngine.php:16
      • Podcast.php#215premier530μsselect exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 58 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\\Models\\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`
        Bindings
        • 0: 58
        • 1: App\Models\Podcast
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Podcast.php:215
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193
        • view::livewire.section-podcast-player:4
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Mechanisms/ExtendBlade/ExtendedCompilerEngine.php:38
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:75
      • Setting.php#20premier810μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: web_donation_link
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Setting.php:20
        • app/Helpers/Settings.php:6
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Mechanisms/ExtendBlade/ExtendedCompilerEngine.php:38
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:75
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Mechanisms/ExtendBlade/ExtendedCompilerEngine.php:16
      • Setting.php#20premier550μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: web_donation_link
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Setting.php:20
        • app/Helpers/Settings.php:6
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Mechanisms/ExtendBlade/ExtendedCompilerEngine.php:38
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:75
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Mechanisms/ExtendBlade/ExtendedCompilerEngine.php:16
      • PodcastEpisode.php#193premier830μsselect exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\\Models\\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 20040 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`
        Bindings
        • 0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode
        • 1: 20040
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:102
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:43
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:95
      • Podcast.php#215premier500μsselect exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 58 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\\Models\\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`
        Bindings
        • 0: 58
        • 1: App\Models\Podcast
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Podcast.php:215
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:193
        • app/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:102
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:43
      • PodcastEpisode.php#100premier710μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 58 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 58
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:100
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:127
        • view::livewire.section-podcast-player:194
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Mechanisms/ExtendBlade/ExtendedCompilerEngine.php:38
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:75
      • PodcastEpisode.php#100premier710μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 58 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 58
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:100
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:127
        • view::livewire.section-podcast-player:194
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Mechanisms/ExtendBlade/ExtendedCompilerEngine.php:38
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:75
      • PodcastEpisode.php#100premier640μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 58 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 58
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:100
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:127
        • view::livewire.section-podcast-player:194
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Mechanisms/ExtendBlade/ExtendedCompilerEngine.php:38
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/CompilerEngine.php:75
      • Setting.php#20premier710μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: web_donation_link
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Setting.php:20
        • app/Helpers/Settings.php:6
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:124
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/Mechanisms/ExtendBlade/ExtendedCompilerEngine.php:22
      App\Models\Podcast
      5Podcast.php#?
      App\Models\PodcastEpisode
      5PodcastEpisode.php#?
      App\Models\Setting
      3Setting.php#?
      section-podcast-player #5ImDEv075zpR5G4x3Qez
      array:4 [ "data" => array:8 [ "podcast" => App\Models\Podcast {#2308 #connection: "mysql...
          _token
          W76eciZRPVDb9Vz7kz9OpHOAe9vNfzN7lMQpKtXf
          ClearShow all
          Date ↕MethodURLData
          #12025-06-04 03:35:31GET/podcasts/nomad-podcast/episodes/john-butler-finding-stillness-in-a-chaotic-world-n3226224131