Contemplative Revolution

You can listen and watch the content from this retreat at wccmplus.org 

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Martin Laird OSA works regularly with the World Community for Christian Meditation. To learn more visit  wccm.org 

This audio is part of talks 1 and 2 of a series of  Meditatio Talks that were  held in 2015.   Podcast image from Jpeter2, from Pixabay

In this podcast, you'll listen to the first talk of the retreat The Tightrope of Moderation which was held during Bonnevaux 2020 Lent Retreat by Laurence Freeman & Giovanni Felicioni. The first talk's titled Getting Ready for the Mysteries.

You can watch all previous episodes by Kim here 

You can learn more and register for Contemplating Earth course by  Jim Green on wccm.org here

For more outreach initiatives on the topic of climate, please visit the Outreach Nature & Environment page on wccm.org

This is an audio extract from module 1 Now/Apocalypse as part of the online course 'Contemplating Earth' by Jim GreenThis course has a particular scope and intention. We want to focus on a fundamental aspect of the human response to this stark uncovering of our current endangered situation. Because the challenge now facing us is so total – so immediate and vast – there are many ways of trying to approach and understand it. The course will not ignore the different perspectives on this global existential threat: scientific, political, social, ecological, cultural and economic languages are all central in addressing the great danger of our times. 

This talk was part of a Meditatio talk held in London in  2017. 

If you're interested in listening to the full seminar, you can explore the course 'Hope for the Future'  on the wccm.org website 

Listen to Pascale Callec, the French National coordinator, she's been part of WCCM for 10 years. She works in public services management and facilitating the expression of the common good is her deepest motivation. She's committed to the ecological transition alongside her husband. This talk was part of the short talks from the online John Main Seminar 2021.

This talk was recorded during the pre-retreat of the 2018 John Main Seminar with the theme Experience and Meaning. This resource is free for all Supporting Members or can be purchased as an individual offering. More here: https://wccm.org/offerings/experience-and-meaning/

To  see all resources from past Advent retreats, please visit  the WCCM.org website here

In this podcast, Father Laurence Freeman speaks about meditation in the monastic tradition. The word tradition is a dynamic word: it means 'transmission', it's a process in which we are constantly receiving, adapting and passing on -the very nature of the Gospel, a transmission of a living word. Laurence then continues on talking of John Main as a contemporary figure within this ancient tradition. This talk is part of A Week of Study and Practice at San Anselmo, Rome, Italy, 2015.

Learn more about the next John Main Seminar on this page here on wccm.org

To access the full content from the retreat, please visit the online Course Health, Healing, Wholeness 

If you've enjoyed watching this video, you can become a Supporting Member and get access to the full course here: https://wccm.org/offerings/silence/

This is part of the Monte Oliveto 2018 retreat - Being alone together - which you can access on the wccm.org website here Soundtrack: Aourourou by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License.

Get access to the full Milestones course here on the wccm.org website 

In this podcast, Dr. Stefan Reynolds reflects on Etty Hillesum, Edith Stein and Simone Weil and how these three geniuses live the crisis of Europe. They were contemporaries, all Jewish and came to a similar practice of meditation and mindfulness as a response to a time of crisis. Stefan looks at their lives and the advice they give for challenging situations. All of them – in more dramatic ways than today – found that their opportunities were increasingly limited, and yet found meaning in the constraints they had to live under. It is a retreat for those looking for a wisdom and joy that can sustain us through times of change and uncertainty.

This episode is part of the series of monthly talks Wisdom Living & the Joy of Connection a journey through the roots of meditation in the Christian Tradition as experienced in the circumstances of modern life by younger people.  Learn more here  Soundtrack: Aourourou by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. 

This is the opening talk by James Alison of the retreat 'Basic Christianity: what does the “real thing” look like when all the kitsch has collapsed?' Online Seminar, 21-26 July 2020Coming soon: James is leading a new online retreat from Bonnevaux!5 - 9 May 2021: Basic Christianity: An Induction into the Life of Jesus the Forgiving VictimA 5-day retreat examining the central elements of the Christian faith, with James Alison. More info and registrations here.Soundtrack: Aourourou by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. 

This is the opening talk of the Monte Oliveto Retreat 2018 led by Laurence Freeman OSB and Giovanni Felicioni. This is also part of the course Being Alone Together which you can find in the Offerings section of the wccm.org website.  Soundtrack: Aourourou by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License. 

This is part of the Meditation as a Modern Spiritual Path course available on the wccm.org website.  Soundtrack: Aourourou by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License.  

This is part of the Monte Oliveto retreat which took place in 2015 led by Laurence Freeman OSB and Giovanni Felicioni.

This talk is part of the course the Eight Big Problems of Life available on wccm.orgIn this course,  Laurence will develop the schema of the “eight principal faults” and show how understanding them as patterned states of mind will help us to overcome them – making both meditations, relationships and daily life a great deal easier.  

Bernard is the Naomi Shenstone Donnelly Professor emeritus of the University of Chicago, where he taught for thirty-four years before retiring in 2003. Since his retirement, he has continued to teach, lecture and write. His major work is a history of western Christian mysticism under the general title The Presence of God, seven volumes of which have been published between 1991 and 2017.To continue your journey on Christian Mysticism, we recommend the course The Roots of Christian Mysticism: First Term The entire course is divided into 3 terms and each term consists of 8 Lessons.  Each lesson focuses on a mystic, and we learn about the times they lived in, their life witness and their spirituality.  Each lesson also has extracts from their writings and inspirations to help us in our spiritual practice.  There is also a bibliography, audio and visual recordings to allow you to explore further. This course is not just an intellectual exercise but a journey from the mind to the heart – a spiritual journey of discovery. So we invite you to meditate at the beginning of each lesson and to experience this contemplative dimension of faith.  

 Sarah Bachelard is a theologian, retreat leader and priest in Anglican Orders. She lives in Canberra in Australia where she has taught in the areas of theology, ethics and spirituality at Charles Sturt University. She is currently director of Benedictus Contemplative Church. She is a member of the WCCM and was a keynote speaker at the John Main Seminar in Montreal in 2007 and at the John Main Seminar 2019 in Vancouver, with the theme “A Contemplative Christianity for our Time”.

Professor Peter Gilbert was Professor of Social Work and Spirituality at Staffordshire University. He worked as the Project lead of National Spirituality and Mental Health Forum and Chair of the National Development Team for Inclusion. His latest book is called Spirituality and Mental Health which promotes an understanding of people’s belief systems and proves the increasing importance of spirituality in health and social care.This talk was part of the Meditation and Mental Health Seminar which took place in London in 2011. You can watch the full recordings of the seminar by visiting the WCCM website.   

You can read the full article hereAbout Herman Van RompuyHerman Van Rompuy is a Belgian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 2008 to 2009 and then as the first permanent President of the European Council from 2009 to 2014. More recently, in 2018, he was one of the speakers at the John Main Seminar 2018, in Belgium addressing the theme Politics and the management of division.

Servol is an organization of weak, frail, ordinary, imperfect yet hope-filled and committed people seeking to help weak, frail, ordinary, hope-drained people become agents of attitudinal and social change in a journey which leads to total human development.  Servol was born out of the challenges of the country’s Black Power Revolution of 1970 in which a number of persons and groups sought to challenge racial inequality and force social, economic and political change. Learn more here.

You can watch the animation video What is Christian Meditation? by Paul Demeyer here.

This is talk one of Sources of Wisdom,  an online retreat on essential teaching of meditation provided by The School of  Meditation.  The time of self-isolating and social distance that we are currently experiencing is a kind of extended Lent: a voluntary restriction which reminds us of the limited control we have in reality – at any time – over the circumstances of our daily lives. A willing and conscious entering into these limitations can, paradoxically, bring us to an unexpected experience of limitless freedom. This is also how a retreat will work. Another way of thinking of our new collective social reality is that we are undertaking an enormous global retreat. Some are following it more attentively than others; some are quite unaware that they are on this retreat, but more and more are quieting down and joining in. Given that most of our communication and exploration is – for the moment – online, what better time to take part in an online retreat? You can learn more about this retreat and register  here. 

Australian researcher and academic, professor Anne Graham worked as a professor of childhood studies, leading research at a centre for children and young people. Anne Graham is Professor of Childhood Studies and Founding Director of the Centre for Children and Young People at Southern Cross University. A primary school teacher and sociologist by background, Anne has worked in teacher education for 20 years

Born on a farm in Alberta, Canada, Jack Murta entered politics young. Driven by a large dose of ambition, he was also guided by his faith and easy connection with ordinary people. After a successful career in Ottawa, he became involved in caring for the homeless of Ottawa while also nurturing the spiritual aspect of the lives of many politicians. As a meditator now for nearly 20 years, he became WCCM Canadian National Coordinator.This talk was part of the Contemplative Path Through the Crisis Programme. You can learn more here.

Born in Canada, when she qualified as a medical doctor, Julia worked in North America, South Africa and other developing countries. She was struck by the embedded inequality in the developed world where she found people suffering conditions of life and neglect on par with those in the poorest parts of the word. This led her to work for the UN on HIV and child health issues. Encountering the Bhutan project of sustainable development that recognised the goal of happiness as the sensible common purpose of all social planning.View the full article on the Contemplative Through the Crisis Programme website here. 

This podcast Waiting is Being Fully Present was held by Father Laurence Freeman during the Bonnevaux Advent retreat in 2019. 

This is part of the Contemplative Through The Crisis programme held in April 2020. You can read more about Kim's reflection here.  

Liz Watson has been a member of WCCM for over 20 years and now focuses on teaching meditation in a variety of settings, leading retreats in the UK and beyond, and offering spiritual direction.These talks are part of a Contemplative Path Through the Crisis programme. You can learn more about it here. 

Andrew Harvey is a British author, religious scholar and teacher of mystic traditions, known primarily for his popular nonfiction books on spiritual or mystical themes. This talk is part of the Contemplative Path Through the Crisis Programme. You can read more HERE 

Originally from Hong Kong, FR. JOSEPH H. WONG, O.S.B. Cam, is a Benedictine monk of the Camaldolese Congregation. He holds BA in English literature from London University, MT from the same University, and STD from the Gregorian University in Rome. Fr. Wong is a member of the Pontifcal Academy of Teology and has taught systematic theology at the Salesian University in Rome. As a monk of the Monastery of Camaldoli in Italy, he periodically teaches theology and spirituality at two seminaries in China. He is interested in inculturating Christian faith into the Chinese context. He is the author or editor of several books and many articles, in Chinese, English and Italian.

"The heart is the very spiritual symbol, the place of prayer...is the store room which keeps things fresh and available, from which we can receive enrichment and nourishment." says Laurence in this talk. "When you pray go into your inner room, the heart." It's a dynamic symbol: as we enter into our heart, our inner room , the symbol of the heart reminds us that we're doing something dynamic. The prayer of the heart is rhythmic, regular, peaceful but essentially dynamic.  

Know more on The Contemplative Path Through the Crisis HEREWatch all talks from this series HERE 

In this talk Bede Griffiths invites to reflect on the message Father John Main has left us as a way to discover for ourselves the tradition of this wisdom, the knowledge of God through love. 

In this episode, we’ll get to hear from David Tacey, reader in literature and depth psychology at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Here’s David talk at the John Main Seminar 2015 in New Zealand. 

The John Main Seminar 2020 will focus on the theme 'One Heart, One Hope - Indigenous wisdom, and the future of humanity' It is organized by the Community in Mexico and will be held fully online, from 19 to 22 October 2020.  You can find more information and registrations here: http://www.johnmainseminar.org

Know more on The Contemplative Path Through the Crisis on http://acontemplativepath-wccm.org/ Watch all talks from this series on https://acontemplativepath-wccm.org/towards-a-new-renaissance-a-conversation-with-david-lorimer/David Lorimer was originally a merchant banker then a teacher of philosophy and modern languages at Winchester College and the author and editor of over a dozen books, including The Spirit of Science, Thinking beyond the Brain and A New Renaissance. He is Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network and former President of Wrekin Trust and the Swedenborg Society.SUPPORT OUR WORK:Any gift, no matter how small, will help us in our mission to share the gift of Christian meditation for the unity of all. https://io-wccm.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=69

Know more on The Contemplative Path Through the Crisis on http://acontemplativepath-wccm.org/ Watch all talks from this series on http://acontemplativepath-wccm.org/2020/05/07/a-contemplative-politician-on-corona-herman-van-rompuy-with-laurence-freeman/Herman Van Rumpoy  is a Belgian politician, who served as Prime Minister of Belgium from 2008 to 2009 and then as the first permanent President of the European Council from 2009 to 2014. More recently, in 2018, he was one of the speakers at the John Main Seminar 2018, in Belgium addressing the theme Politics and the management of division.SUPPORT OUR WORK:Any gift, no matter how small, will help us in our mission to share the gift of Christian meditation for the unity of all. https://io-wccm.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=69