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Hosted by carl mccolman
Hosted by carl mccolman
Hosted by carl mccolman
5 episodes with carl mccolman
3 episodes with carl mccolman
4 episodes with carl mccolman
2 episodes with carl mccolman
2 episodes with carl mccolman
2 episodes with carl mccolman
Carl McColman reflects on Joel 2:28-29. You can subscribe to The Contemplatio email here: bit.ly/TheContemplatio
Get your copy of Wake Up to Love, today!LOVE is appearing as a family vacation right now, and I will return with new episodes on January 6th! I Love you! Listen to the ROSARY, Here and pray the Love every day!Remember who you are when you're in that airport, or doing that last minute shopping trip.When you find yourself in line,find this Peace in that line.Find your smile in that line.Remember (t)His truth in that line,and It will relax your shoulders,It will relax your stomach,It will relax that belief that you're the one standing in that line.That line is happening in you.That store is happening in you,and then you are the Light of that store.Keep catching yourself, and letting yourself go.Catching yourself, and letting yourself go.Catching yourself believing in the world,catching yourself believing in others,catching yourself in fear,catching yourself in worry,catching yourself pretending to be what you're not.You are the Light of the world.You are Amazing Grace.How sweet, Your Sound.I love you,nik Nikki@curlynikki.comp.s. You are the Sun/Son. Everywhere, nowhere.--Our new book, 'Wake Up to Love' is HERE! Get your copy. Share a copy. Be the Love you wake up to!_______________Support GoOD Mornings on Patreon -https://www.patreon.com/c/goodmornings________________QUOTES"I have issued from a Great Powerand visit all who contemplate me;I have been discoveredby those who search diligently.Pay attention, those that meditateupon me, and listen well! All of you who are patiently waiting,take me to your Self.Don't dismiss me from your mindand don't let your inner voicesdespise me; don't forget me at anytime or place; be watchful..."-Alan Jacobs, 'Thunder' from The Gnostic Gospels"When we close our physical eyes we see darkness inside but as we cross this void of darkness following the meditation practice of the Saints, there is Light. Beyond the silence there is Sound."-James Bean via IG @santmat"Be within your body. Light the inner lamp that your within and without may sparkle with Radiance Divine. In Its brilliance let the shadow of your karmas fade. The NAAM help you steer through this ocean of life and death."-Kabir"I Am the Light of the world," declared Jesus (John 8:12), but he also said, 'you are the Light of the world. (Matthew 5:I4). A paradox? Or, perhaps, insight into the essential unity between Christ and creation that forms the foundation of the mystical life?The light that shines in us is the light of Christ shining through us. This is not something we have to make happen; it is something we must allow to happen. Not something we achieve, something we receive.Yet to bask in that Christ-light within, we need to open ourselves to receive it.The sunflower turns over the course of the day so that its blossom always faces the sun. Likewise, mystics continually recalibrate their lives to embrace the Divine light. Illumination may come from within, but its source is heavenly."-Carl McColman, The Little Book of Christian Mystics
Carl McColman reflects on Thomas Merton. You can subscribe to The Contemplatio email here: bit.ly/TheContemplatio
Christian Contemplative Spirituality--alternately called Christian Mysticism--has gone in and out of favor over the millennia, but has rich roots from the Hebrew Bible forward. With help from the work of Carl McColman, Dave Schmelzer will help orient you as you look to navigate this vital, essential stream.Mentioned on this podcast: Carl McColman's The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: An Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality
This week Carl McColman joins us to talk about Christian Mysticism and Contemplative Spirituality - this is a GOOD ONE, ENJOY! ✌
Carl McColman reflects on Matthew 17:1-9. You can subscribe to The Contemplatio email here: bit.ly/TheContemplatio
Today host Lisa Colon DeLay explores the treasures of deeper mysteries that are a grace. More from Carl McColman.
Remember who you are when you're in that airport, or doing that last minute shopping trip. When you find yourself in line, find this Peace in that line. Find your smile in that line. Remember (t)His truth in that line, and It will relax your shoulders, It will relax your stomach, It will relax that belief that you're the one standing in that line. That line is happening in you. That store is happening in you, and then you are the Light of that store. Keep catching yourself, and letting yourself go. Catching yourself, and letting yourself go. Catching yourself believing in the world, catching yourself believing in others, catching yourself in fear, catching yourself in worry, catching yourself pretending to be what you're not. You are the Light of the world. You are Amazing Grace. How sweet, Your Sound. I love you, nik Nikki@curlynikki.com ________________________________________ Today's Quotes: "I have issued from a Great Power and visit all who contemplate me; I have been discovered by those who search diligently. Pay attention, those that meditate upon me, and listen well! All of you who are patiently waiting, take me to your Self. Don't dismiss me from your mind and don't let your inner voices despise me; don't forget me at any time or place; be watchful..." -Alan Jacobs, 'Thunder' from The Gnostic Gospels "When we close our physical eyes we see darkness inside but as we cross this void of darkness following the meditation practice of the Saints, there is Light. Beyond the silence there is Sound." -James Bean via IG @santmat "Be within your body. Light the inner lamp that your within and without may sparkle with Radiance Divine. In Its brilliance let the shadow of your karmas fade. The NAAM help you steer through this ocean of life and death." -Kabir "I Am the Light of the world," declared Jesus (John 8:12), but he also said, 'you are the Light of the world. (Matthew 5:I4). A paradox? Or, perhaps, insight into the essential unity between Christ and creation that forms the foundation of the mystical life? The light that shines in us is the light of Christ shining through us. This is not something we have to make happen; it is something we must allow to happen. Not something we achieve, something we receive. Yet to bask in that Christ-light within, we need to open ourselves to receive it. The sunflower turns over the course of the day so that its blossom always faces the sun. Likewise, mystics continually recalibrate their lives to embrace the Divine light. Illumination may come from within, but its source is heavenly." -Carl McColman, The Little Book of Christian Mystics Support the show Beginning Aug 7, 2023 - 'GoOD Mornings with CurlyNikki' will host pre and post roll ads within the back catalogue.
In this episode Scott and Matt discuss the tension of the joy of the holidays and the hardships of life.Click HERE to order a Copy of Answering the Contemplative Call by Carl McColman.For more information on Celtic Way go to celticway.org
This episode of A People's Theology is sponsored by United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Receive a $1,000 scholarship when you apply and are admitted: unitedseminary.edu/apeoplestheology Use this link to register for Q Christian Fellowship Conference 2024 and use the discount code "APEOPLESTHEOLOGY" to receive 10% off your ticket. Watch full episodes of A People's Theology: https://www.youtube.com/@APeoplesTheology Mason chats with Carl McColman about his new book, The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: An Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality. They chat about what Christian mysticism is and how it can help people who are deconstructing their faith. Guest Bio/Info: Carl McColman is a contemplative writer, storyteller, podcaster, spiritual director, and author of the recently released book, The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: An Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality. Find Carl here: anamchara.com Facebook: facebook.com/CarlMcColman Instagram: instagram.com/carlmccolman Get connected to Mason: masonmennenga.com Buy merch of your favorite tweet of mine: masonmennenga.com/store Patreon: patreon.com/masonmennenga Twitter: @masonmennenga Facebook: facebook.com/mason.mennenga Instagram: masonmennenga Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this conversation we talk about who the mystics are, why there is resistance to the word mystic, and his newest book, “The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism.”
we are excited to welcome spiritual director, retreat leader, and internationally known speaker and teacher on mystical spirituality and contemplative living — CARL MCCOLMAN He is the author of many books,including The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism, Eternal Heart: The Mystical Path to a Joyful Life, and Unteachable Lessons: Why Wisdom Can't Be Taught and Why That's Okay.Carl McColman's approach to contemplation and mysticism is inclusive and expansive; he is dedicated to exploring the common ground between faith traditions, with a particular interest in the connecting points between Christian, Buddhist and Pagan wisdom.
Please join me in this beautiful discussion about Mysticism with Carl McColman, author of The New Big Book Of Christian Mysticism, Eternal Heart:The Mystical Path To A Joyful Life, Unteachable Lessons: Why Wisdom Can't Be Taught and Why Thats's Okay. Carl also has a podcast called Encountering Silence and his website is www.anamchara.com
Welcome to season 4 of the Spiritual Wanderlust podcast!I can't think of a better way to start the season than a conversation with contemplative teacher, Carl McColman.Carl has been in the Spiritual Wanderlust vibe for decades: he's a writer, retreat leader, podcaster and spiritual director. While Christian himself, he also finds himself drawn to all those juicy intersections between Buddhism, Pagan traditions, and Christianity. Join us for our conversation to learn:
Breathe. Relax. Smile. You're in the Presence of God. In fact, the only Presence is God. That silent sense of here-ness, now-ness,me-nessis Him-ness,but you're claiming It. Your mind is saying this is 'me',but It's Love,and It's everywhere. It's all that is,appearing as all that isn't, wordlessly assuring you-I Am (is) always giving you everything right Now,you just have a limited capacity to receive. But you're opening your Heart,your mind is still,and even when it's not,I'm still here,as this monastery without walls, Loving you. Love,Love Please help me keep the show ad free + Get Merch!▶▶https://www.patreon.com/goodmornings________________________________Today's Quotes:"Aditya Hridayam Punyam Sarv Shatru Bena Shanam"-Ramayana (via Ram Dass) "From whomsoever you receive Love, just know that it is from the Divine. If you get sunlight through the window, know that the light is coming from the sun. It is not the light of the window."-Sri Sri Ravi Shankar "Stop!Where are you running?Everything you seek is inside:God, happiness, soul.You might miss it all if you keep searching outside."-hidaya mandire (Sanskrit) the temple of the heart via Sacinandana Swami "When you let the light in it has a way of making everything new."-@wildflowerpagesMonasteries are silent so that the monks may -within. Contemplatives do not create silence, for silence is already given to us it is our birthright as children of a loving God. To enter mystical silence involves not doing something, but doing less- less attachment to the chatter within, the endless commentary spun by the thinking mind.Between and beneath all our thoughts, our daydreams, our interior imagination, rests vast, open, limitless silence. It's always there. We simply need to learn to notice the silence, and in noticing it, to touch it. To touch that silence is to enter the presence of God.-Carl Mccolman, The Little Book of Christian Mysticism 'The Only Presence Is God' -Joel goldsmith Rumi was once asked,"Isn't it strange that you talk so much about silence?"He answered, "The radiant one inside me has never said a word.'"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."-Isaiah 55:8-9 New International Version"Do not call to mind the former things; pay no attention to the things of old. 19 Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The beasts of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people...."-Isaiah 43:18"Prepare yourself. I'm about to take you to another level in your life."-@GodcaresbroSupport the show
Remember who you are when you're in that airport, or doing that last minute shopping trip. When you find yourself in line, find this Peace in that line. Find your smile in that line. Remember (t)His truth in that line, and It will relax your shoulders, It will relax your stomach, It will relax that belief that you're the one standing in that line. That line is happening in you. That store is happening in you,and then you are the Light of that store. Keep catching yourself, and letting yourself go. Catching yourself, and letting yourself go. Catching yourself believing in the world, catching yourself believing in others, catching yourself in fear, catching yourself in worry, catching yourself pretending to be what you're not.You are the Light of the world. You are Amazing Grace. How sweet, Your Sound. I love you, nik Nikki@curlynikki.com ▶▶LOVE CHARGING STATION, Live, Daily, Group Practice- 6:30am ET (and Forum!)https://forum.curlynikki.com/▶▶Join our new forum, GoOD Friends and enter the Mala Giveaway!Support the show:▶▶https://www.patreon.com/goodmornings________________________________________Today's Quotes:"I have issued from a Great Powerand visit all who contemplate me;I have been discoveredby those who search diligently.Pay attention, those that meditateupon me, and listen well! All of you who are patiently waiting,take me to your Self.Don't dismiss me from your mindand don't let your inner voicesdespise me; don't forget me at anytime or place; be watchful..."-Alan Jacobs, 'Thunder' from The Gnostic Gospels"When we close our physical eyes we see darkness inside but as we cross this void of darkness following the meditation practice of the Saints, there is Light. Beyond the silence there is Sound."-James Bean via IG @santmat"Be within your body. Light the inner lamp that your within and without may sparkle with Radiance Divine. In Its brilliance let the shadow of your karmas fade. The NAAM help you steer through this ocean of life and death."-Kabir"I Am the Light of the world," declared Jesus (John 8:12), but he also said, 'you are the Light of the world. (Matthew 5:I4). A paradox? Or, perhaps, insight into the essential unity between Christ and creation that forms the foundation of the mystical life?The light that shines in us is the light of Christ shining through us. This is not something we have to make happen; it is something we must allow to happen. Not something we achieve, something we receive.Yet to bask in that Christ-light within, we need to open ourselves to receive it.The sunflower turns over the course of the day so that its blossom always faces the sun. Likewise, mystics continually recalibrate their lives to embrace the Divine light. Illumination may come from within, but its source is heavenly."-Carl McColman, The Little Book of Christian MysticsSupport the show
On this very first episode of Opening Minds, Opening Hearts, we speak with author and spiritual leader, Carl Mcloman. Carl walks us through a deeper understanding of the relationships and distinctions between mystical traditions, Christian meditation, contemplation and Centering Prayer. He also helps us accept our humanness while building a healthy daily practice using silence, sacred words and the four guidelines of Centering Prayer as stated by Father Thomas Keating. Carl sees the elegance and simplicity of the method of centering prayer as a larger conversation that the Christian community is having about reclaiming this contemplative practice. To connect further with Carl McCloman:Visit his website: www.anamchara.comCheck out his course The Contemplative Study of Mystical Writings coming in January 2023 on Patreon.To provide financial support for Carl McCloman and to have access to his teachings visit his Patreon: www.patreon.com/carlmccolmanCarl McCloman is the author of many books including The Big Book of Christian Mysticism, Eternal Heart: The Mystical Path to a Joyful Life, and Unteachable Lessons: Why Wisdom Can't Be Taught and Why That's Okay. He is also one of the co-hosts of the Encountering Silence podcast. To connect further with us:Visit our website: www.contemplativeoutreach.orgFind us on Instagram: Contemplative Outreach Ltd (@contemplativeoutreachltd) • Instagram photos and videosLike us on Facebook: (1) Contemplative Outreach | West Milford NJ | FacebookCheck out our YouTube channel: (1) coutreach - YouTubeThis podcast is produced by Crys & Tiana LLC www.crysandtiana.comStream and Download the Opening Minds, Opening Hearts Podcast NOW for FREE on Apple Podcast, Google, Amazon and Spotify!
Tune in and listen to Carl McColman discuss Christian mysticism and describe how to encounter the Divine. Mr. McColman is a spiritual director, retreat leader, and internationally known speaker and teacher on mystical spirituality and contemplative living. He is the author of many books, including "The Big Book of Christian Mysticism." He is one of the co-hosts of the Encountering Silence podcast and runs the website: Anamchara.com. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mysticsandskeptics/support
Carl McColman is a contemplative writer, speaker, teacher, soul friend, and storyteller.He is the author of numerous books, including The Big Book of Christian Mysticism, Answering the Contemplative Call, An Invitation to Celtic Wisdom and Unteachable Lessons. His latest book, Eternal Heart, was published in June 2021.Carl studied at James Madison University (BA, English) and George Mason University (MA, Professional Writing and Editing). His formation in the spiritual life includes training with the Shalem Institute in Washington, DC; the Institute for Pastoral Studies in Atlanta; and the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia, where Carl is a Life-Professed Lay Cistercian: a layperson under formal spiritual guidance with the Trappist monks. He is a certified presenter of Centering Prayer Introductory Workshops. Carl co-hosts the Encountering Silence podcast with filmmaker Cassidy Hall and theologian Kevin Johnson. To learn more about Carl and his work, visit his website, www.anamchara.com.Resources:www.claudiumurgan.comwww.patreon.com/claudiumurganclaudiu@claudiumurgan.comSubscribe for more videos! youtube.com/channel/UC6RlLkzUK_LdyRSV7DE6obQ
In this episode, my guest is Carl McColman the author of Eternal Heart: The Mystical Path to a Joyful Life. Carl is a contemplative writer, speaker, and teacher. He is the author of numerous books, including The Big Book of Christian Mysticism, Answering the Contemplative Call, and Unteachable Lessons to name a few.In the conversation, Carl and I discuss: The meaning of mysticismExploring various traditionsThe spiritual pathThe wisdom of silence and much moreConnect with Carl McColman: anamchara.com/Follow In Search of Wisdom:Twitter: twitter.com/searchofwisdomInstagram: instagram.com/searchofwisdompodcastSign-up for The PATH our free newsletter (short reflections on wisdom).
In this episode hosts Jody Green, Larry Green, and Evan Chasteen speak with Carl McColman about his latest book, Eternal Heart: The Mystical Path to a Joyful Life. Purchase Carl's book: https://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Heart-Mystical-Path-Joyful-Life/dp/1506464610 Listen to Carl's Podcast, Encountering Silence: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/encountering-silence/id1310186933 Read Carl's Blog: https://anamchara.com/ ---- Reviews go a long way in helping us reach new people. Please leave a rating and review on your preferred podcast platform. This podcast is supported by generous donors. If you'd like to support the work of the ThinSpace podcast you can make a tax deductible donation at cloudwalk.org/donate. Learn more about Cloud Walk Ministries: https://www.cloudwalk.org/
In this episode hosts Jody Green, Larry Green, and Evan Chasteen speak with Carl McColman about his latest book, Eternal Heart: The Mystical Path to a Joyful Life. Purchase Carl's book: https://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Heart-Mystical-Path-Joyful-Life/dp/1506464610 Listen to Carl's Podcast, Encountering Silence: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/encountering-silence/id1310186933 Read Carl's Blog: https://anamchara.com/ ---- Reviews go a long way in helping us reach new people. Please leave a rating and review on your preferred podcast platform. This podcast is supported by generous donors. If you'd like to support the work of the ThinSpace podcast you can make a tax deductible donation at cloudwalk.org/donate. Learn more about Cloud Walk Ministries: https://www.cloudwalk.org/
In this week's episode, SDI's Director of Content & Communities, Steven Crandell, chats with contemplative author and mystic Carl McColman about their upcoming webinar series Christian Mystics and Spiritual Companionship – Wisdom Teaching for Those Who Hold Space. This 4-part series begins on September 9 and runs through September 30, 2021. For all the details and to sign up, visit our website at sdicompanions.org. --- Carl McColman is the author of books like The Big Book of Christian Mysticism, Answering the Contemplative Call and An Invitation to Celtic Wisdom. He also writes a blog on contemplation and mysticism at anamchara.com. In addition to his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, Carl leads retreats and maintains a busy spiritual direction practice. --- ON SEPTEMBER 30TH YOU'RE INVITED TO JOIN THE UPPER ROOM IN REFLCETING ON THE PAST 18 MONTHS OF INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE TRAUMA. THE THREE-DAY ONLINE EVENT, RESILIENCE | HEALING PRACTICES FOR MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT, WILL INCLUDE STORYTELLING, TIME FOR PERSONAL REFLECTION AND CONVERSATION, GUIDED SPIRITUAL PRACTICE, AND WORSHIP. TO REGISTER, VISIT UPPERROOM.ORG/RESILIENCE. DON'T MISS EARLY REGISTRATION, WHICH ENDS ON AUGUST 30TH.
Carl McColman is back to speak about wisdom and heart gifts in his new book Eternal Heart: The Mystical Path to a Joyful Life.
Carl McColman is a contemplative writer, speaker, and podcast host of Encountering Silence. His recent books include: The Big Book of Christian Mysticism, Unteachable Lessons, and his new book - Eternal Heart. In this episode, Carl and I chat about the nature of the eternal heart, the gifts of the spirit that draw us to the Divine, and the mobius strip shape of the spiritual path itself. Find Carl here: https://lnk.bio/carl https://campsite.bio/methodsofcontemplation --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/methods/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/methods/support
Recorded on June 29, 2021, in this online celebration of the wisdom of the heart, author Carl McColman is joined by friends and fellow “heart authors” Lerita Coleman Brown (When the Heart Speaks, Listen) & Colette Lafia (The Divine Heart). The program also features readings from the book, music by Caroline Herring, and a Q&A session.
The three Witches and a Druid sit around the Zoom table with hot beverages and discuss pagan resources for the pagan fresh to the path.Newbie ResourcesPodCastshttps://druidsincars.podbean.com/https://druidry.org/resources/druidcast-the-obod-podcastRune SoupFat Feminist WitchMyths and LegendsTriskeleCoffee and CauldronsBlogshttps://philipcarr-gomm.com/https://www.paganmusic.co.uk/blog/https://www.druidry.ca/blogCommunitieshttps://www.reddit.com/r/druidism/https://www.adf.org/https://druidry.org/Newshttps://wildhunt.org/https://www.patheos.com/paganBeliefnet.comBooksDruidcraft: The Magic of Wicca & Druidry by Phillip Carr-GommThe Druidry Handbook: Spiritual Practice Rooted in the Living Earth by John Michael GreerThe Mysteries of Druidry: Celtic Mysticism, Theory Practiceby Brendan Cathbad MyersThe Sacred BalanceBook by David SuzukiThe Complete Idiot's Guide to Paganism by Carl McColmanThe KybalionThe hidden life of treesTemple of witchcraftScott CunninghamThe magical almanac Get bonus content on PatreonSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/threewitchesandadruid. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Sister Julia Walsh talks with writer, speaker and storyteller Carl McColman about discovering his vocation as a spiritual director and spiritual teacher. They discuss how medieval mystics and saints and other spiritual teachers inspire him, and how the mystics teach us to tear down the walls that divide us. And they discuss the challenges of being human and being an activist and the importance of contemplation in navigating both.
We are very excited about the new "feast" of experiences and resources SDI has on offer for spiritual directors and spiritual companions. And we wanted to invite our community to partake of this feast. Thus, "The Invitation Sale" was born. 10 percent off everything in the SDI Store. For 5 days. Please consider this your invitation to join us at our feast. Iona. Rumi. A new enhanced issue of Presence. Christian Mystics. Books. SDI Courses, SDI membership. Renaissance 2021 video recordings. Yes, everything we have in our SDI Store. All 10 percent off. From now, until 12 noon Seattle time on Wednesday June 2. If you have been considering one of our offerings, now is an ideal time to sign up. Here are some of the possible ways to save: Rumi - A New 4-part webinar series on the great contemplative poet led by Sufi spiritual director Jamal Rahman. Register here. Iona - An SDI Journey - March 18- 26, 2022. Led by spiritual companion and mystic musician Simon de Voil. Watch video | Learn more. New Enhanced Issue of "Presence" - Our creative staff says the June issue is "amazing." As a special bonus for those in our community who aren't members yet, the online issue is free to everyone for this weekend only. Start exploring the issue now. Find your Niche as a Spiritual Director or Spiritual Companion - New Webinar taught by spiritual director and digital marketing professional Rev. Larry J. Morris III. Register now. Christian Mystics & Spiritual Companionship - 4-part SDI webinar series led by author Carl McColman. Learn more. Recordings of the 2021 Conference - Access for 120 days - Learn more. SDI Courses - In-depth, 12-session on-line courses. Learn at your own pace. Companionship Across Traditions and Feminist Perspectives. SDI Press - 10 percent off all our best-sellers. Explore now.
Carl McColman is a blogger, author, podcaster, and teacher, with a deep affinity for the Christian mystical tradition. This conversation explores the idea that the mystical path is open to all and that mystics offer practical, grounded wisdom for navigating the personal, social, and environmental challenges of our current moment. Carl's four-week online course on Christian Mysticism at the Earth and Spirit Center, beginning April 19, 2021: https://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/class/interfaith-spiritual-practice/ Carl's website: https://www.anamchara.com/ Earth & Spirit Center Website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org
Carl McColman speaks about the joy of Lent.
Carl McColman and Sarah Otto speaks about the joy of Lent with Andy Otto.
Integral Theory is a philosophical feast, and Zeitgeist's Contemplative in Residence, Carl McColman talks to Debonee to share an initial taste of how delicious it can be. Carl introduces newbies to the basics, and helps us understand the usefulness of this broad "theory of everything".
In episode # 81, Dr. Reese sits down with Carl McColman, the author of the Big Book of Christian Mysticism. They talk about his encounter with the Divine at 16 years old, his mentorship with the Trappist Monks, contemplative prayer and how the death of his daughter affected his faith. They dive deep into the christian tradition and talk about Jesus, Paul, Judas, the Last Supper and more. Also, during the conversion, many Christian Mystics will be revealed from all the eras. __________________________ Support Dr. Reese's Work by becoming a member on PATREON & receive bonus recordings, behind-the-scene updates, Q&A sessions & more HERE Check out Dr. Reese meditations, books & more podcast episodes HERE --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/drreese/message
Author and wisdom teacher, Carl McColman discusses why, "Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics" (Charles Peguy), spiritual speed dating, what is going on "in my heart, in my gut, in my bones", embodying the Divine, and what it means to get a "spiritual software upgrade".
"Being more generous means to be more trusting."
Christine Valters Paintner is the online abbess for Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery offering programs and resources on contemplative practice and creative expression. She is the author of thirteen books on monasticism and creativity, including her most recent Earth, Our Original Monastery and her second collection of poems forthcoming this fall, The Wisdom of Wild Grace. This is part one of a two part episode. To listen to part two, click here. Earth is the place where we learn our most fundamental prayers, hear the call of the wild arising at dawn to awaken us to a new day, participate in the primal liturgy of praise unfolding all around us, and experience the wisdom and guidance of the seasons. — Christine Valters Paintner, Earth: Our Original Monastery She leads writing retreats and pilgrimages in Ireland, Scotland, Austria, and Germany and online retreats at her website AbbeyoftheArts.com, living out her commitment as a Benedictine Oblate in Galway, Ireland, with her husband, John. Christine returns to Encountering Silence (click here to listen to her previous interview with us, from 2018) bringing her warm, wise and inclusive spirituality which encompasses deep contemplation with an inspiring commitment to creative expression. Everything in creation becomes a catalyst for my deepened self-understanding. The forest asks me to embrace my truth once again. The hummingbird invites me to sip holy nectar, the egret to stretch out my wings, the sparrows to remember my flock. Each pine cone contains an epiphany; each smooth stone offers a revelation. I watch and witness as the sun slowly makes her long arc across the sky and discover my own rising and falling. The moon will sing of quiet miracles, like those which reveal and conceal the world every day right before our eyes. — Christine Valters Paintner, Earth: Our Original Monastery Some of the Resources and Authors We Mention In This Episode: Christine Valters Paintner, Earth, Our Original Monastery: Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature Christine Valters Paintner, The Wisdom of Wild Grace: Poems Christine Valters Paintner, The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom; Christine Valters Paintner, The Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice; Christine Valters Paintner, The Wisdom of the Body: A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women; Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred. Christine Valters Paintner, Dreaming of Stones: Poems Christine Valters Paintner, Lectio Divina: The Sacred Art The Desert Mothers and Fathers, Early Christian Wisdom Sayings The Psalms David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous: Pereption and Language in a More-Than-Human World Sr. Corita Kent, Learning by Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation David Whyte, River Flow: New and Selected Poems Helen Waddell, tr., Beasts and Saints Francis and Clare, The Complete Works Julian of Norwich, The Showings of Julian of Norwich Episode 94: Wild Silence and the Cloister of the Earth: A Conversation with Christine Valters Paintner (Part One) Hosted by: Carl McColman With: Cassidy Hall, Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: March 30, 2020 Featured photo credit: Kilmacduagh Monastery photograph by Carl McColman, copyright 2002.
Christine Valters Paintner is the online abbess for Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery offering programs and resources on contemplative practice and creative expression. She is the author of thirteen books on monasticism and creativity, including her most recent Earth, Our Original Monastery and her second collection of poems forthcoming this fall, The Wisdom of Wild Grace. This is part one of a two part episode. To listen to part two, click here. Earth is the place where we learn our most fundamental prayers, hear the call of the wild arising at dawn to awaken us to a new day, participate in the primal liturgy of praise unfolding all around us, and experience the wisdom and guidance of the seasons. — Christine Valters Paintner, Earth: Our Original Monastery She leads writing retreats and pilgrimages in Ireland, Scotland, Austria, and Germany and online retreats at her website AbbeyoftheArts.com, living out her commitment as a Benedictine Oblate in Galway, Ireland, with her husband, John. Christine returns to Encountering Silence (click here to listen to her previous interview with us, from 2018) bringing her warm, wise and inclusive spirituality which encompasses deep contemplation with an inspiring commitment to creative expression. Everything in creation becomes a catalyst for my deepened self-understanding. The forest asks me to embrace my truth once again. The hummingbird invites me to sip holy nectar, the egret to stretch out my wings, the sparrows to remember my flock. Each pine cone contains an epiphany; each smooth stone offers a revelation. I watch and witness as the sun slowly makes her long arc across the sky and discover my own rising and falling. The moon will sing of quiet miracles, like those which reveal and conceal the world every day right before our eyes. — Christine Valters Paintner, Earth: Our Original Monastery Some of the Resources and Authors We Mention In This Episode: Christine Valters Paintner, Earth, Our Original Monastery: Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature Christine Valters Paintner, The Wisdom of Wild Grace: Poems Christine Valters Paintner, The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom; Christine Valters Paintner, The Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice; Christine Valters Paintner, The Wisdom of the Body: A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women; Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred. Christine Valters Paintner, Dreaming of Stones: Poems Christine Valters Paintner, Lectio Divina: The Sacred Art The Desert Mothers and Fathers, Early Christian Wisdom Sayings The Psalms David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous: Pereption and Language in a More-Than-Human World Sr. Corita Kent, Learning by Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation David Whyte, River Flow: New and Selected Poems Helen Waddell, tr., Beasts and Saints Francis and Clare, The Complete Works Julian of Norwich, The Showings of Julian of Norwich Episode 94: Wild Silence and the Cloister of the Earth: A Conversation with Christine Valters Paintner (Part One) Hosted by: Carl McColman With: Cassidy Hall, Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: March 30, 2020 Featured photo credit: Kilmacduagh Monastery photograph by Carl McColman, copyright 2002.
Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet, theologian, and conflict mediator, who brings interests in language, violence and religion to his work. He is the Poet Laureate and Theologian in Residence for the On Being project, and hosts the Poetry Unbound podcast. He was formerly the leader of the Corrymeela Community (Ireland's oldest peace and reconciliation community), and is the author of four books, including Readings from the Book of Exile, Sorry For Your Troubles, In the Shelter: Finding a Home In the World and Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community. In this episode not only does Pádraig share some thoughts of some of his favorite poets and other authors, but he also offers detailed advice for the beginning writer of poetry. This is part two of a two-part episode. To listen to part one, click here. It is mostly poets that I turn to for theology. — Pádraig Ó Tuama Pádraig Ó Tuama with Carl McColman in Northern Ireland, Summer 2010 Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Pádraig Ó Tuama, Readings from the Book of Exile Pádraig Ó Tuama, Sorry For Your Troubles Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home In the World Pádraig Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community Pádraig Ó Tuama, Hymns to Swear By (Album) Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious Marie Howe, Magdalene: Poems Jericho Brown, New Testament Patrick Kavanaugh, Collected Poems Seamus Heaney, 100 Poems Lorna Goodison, Selected Poems Scott MacDougall, More than Communion Ephrem of Syria, Hymns on Paradise Ignatius of Loyola, Personal Writings Augustine of Hippo, Confessions Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love Rumi, The Essential Rumi Hafiz, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy Emily Dickinson, The Complete Poems Sean Hewitt, Lantern Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems Mimi Khalvati, Afterwardness James Baldwin (with Richard Avedon), Nothing Personal Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline Terence McKenna, The Archaic Revival There's something about the space of loneliness and silence in writing something and wondering, 'Will this stand the test of time?' I know poets who won't show a poem to anyone before it's sat for a year, some editing, etc., but that they need it to distill, like whisky, that it needs to have that kind of a quality to it. — Pádraig Ó Tuama Episode 92: Silence, Poetry, and Conflict Resolution: A Conversation with Pádraig Ó Tuama (Part Two) Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Carl McColman, Kevin Johnson Guest: Pádraig Ó Tuama Date Recorded: February 17, 2020 Featured image photo by Yves Alarie on Unsplash.
Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet, theologian, and conflict mediator, who brings interests in language, violence and religion to his work. He is the Poet Laureate and Theologian in Residence for the On Being project, and hosts the Poetry Unbound podcast. He was formerly the leader of the Corrymeela Community (Ireland's oldest peace and reconciliation community), and is the author of four books, including Readings from the Book of Exile, Sorry For Your Troubles, In the Shelter: Finding a Home In the World and Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community. In this episode not only does Pádraig share some thoughts of some of his favorite poets and other authors, but he also offers detailed advice for the beginning writer of poetry. This is part two of a two-part episode. To listen to part one, click here. It is mostly poets that I turn to for theology. — Pádraig Ó Tuama Pádraig Ó Tuama with Carl McColman in Northern Ireland, Summer 2010 Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Pádraig Ó Tuama, Readings from the Book of Exile Pádraig Ó Tuama, Sorry For Your Troubles Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home In the World Pádraig Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community Pádraig Ó Tuama, Hymns to Swear By (Album) Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious Marie Howe, Magdalene: Poems Jericho Brown, New Testament Patrick Kavanaugh, Collected Poems Seamus Heaney, 100 Poems Lorna Goodison, Selected Poems Scott MacDougall, More than Communion Ephrem of Syria, Hymns on Paradise Ignatius of Loyola, Personal Writings Augustine of Hippo, Confessions Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love Rumi, The Essential Rumi Hafiz, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy Emily Dickinson, The Complete Poems Sean Hewitt, Lantern Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems Mimi Khalvati, Afterwardness James Baldwin (with Richard Avedon), Nothing Personal Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline Terence McKenna, The Archaic Revival There's something about the space of loneliness and silence in writing something and wondering, 'Will this stand the test of time?' I know poets who won't show a poem to anyone before it's sat for a year, some editing, etc., but that they need it to distill, like whisky, that it needs to have that kind of a quality to it. — Pádraig Ó Tuama Episode 92: Silence, Poetry, and Conflict Resolution: A Conversation with Pádraig Ó Tuama (Part Two) Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Carl McColman, Kevin Johnson Guest: Pádraig Ó Tuama Date Recorded: February 17, 2020 Featured image photo by Yves Alarie on Unsplash.
In part 2 of my conversation with Carl McColman we talk about technology’s effect on us, why we are afraid of silence, and what it can contribute to better conversations. On his podcast Encountering silence they always take a 30 second pause of silence in the middle of the episode. I’ve also done that in these two episodes as a way for us to practice pausing and entering in to silence as well. Guest Links * Encountering Silence Podcast - http://www.encounteringsilence.com * Carl McColman - http://carlmccolman.com/ * Unteachable Lessons by Carl McColman - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44087766-unteachable-lessons Show Notes * 101 “Silence” Books - https://encounteringsilence.com/another-way-to-explore-silence-with-this-reading-list-of-101-silence-books/ * Alphabet Versus the Goddess by Leonard Shlain - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/455992.TheAlphabetVersustheGoddess * Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14572.PeaceIsEveryStep * Shalem Institute - https://shalem.org/ * Kenneth Leech - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KennethLeech * Richard Rohr - https://cac.org/richard-rohr/richard-rohr-ofm/ * Jim Wallis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JimWallis * Toxic Silence - https://encounteringsilence.com/therese-taylor-stinson-silence-contemplation-and-justice-part-one/ * John O’Donohue - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JohnO%27Donohue * Pema Chodron - https://pemachodronfoundation.org/ * Silence Practice Apps - * Ten Percent Happier - https://www.tenpercent.com/ * Headspace - https://www.headspace.com * Centering Prayer - https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/centering-prayer-mobile-app * Inviting Children into Silence - https://www.teachchildrenmeditation.com/ Support the Podcast –https://www.patreon.com/wdtatpodcast Leave us a voicemail! https://www.speakpipe.com/wdtatpodcast Email your feedback to wdtatpodcast@gmail.com Follow us: Facebook –https://www.facebook.com/wdtatpodcast Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wdtatpodcast/ Twitter – https://twitter.com/wdtatpodcast Special Guest: Carl McColman.
In this episode I talk to Carl McColman about technology’s effect on us, why we are afraid of silence, and what it can contribute to better conversations. This will be a two part conversation that we will finish next week. On his podcast Encountering silence they always take a 30 second pause of silence in the middle of the episode. I’ve also done that in these two episodes as a way for us to practice pausing and entering in to silence as well. Guest Links * Encountering Silence Podcast - http://www.encounteringsilence.com * Carl McColman - http://carlmccolman.com/ * Unteachable Lessons by Carl McColman - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44087766-unteachable-lessons Show Notes * 101 “Silence” Books - https://encounteringsilence.com/another-way-to-explore-silence-with-this-reading-list-of-101-silence-books/ * Alphabet Versus the Goddess by Leonard Shlain - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/455992.TheAlphabetVersustheGoddess * Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14572.PeaceIsEveryStep * Shalem Institute - https://shalem.org/ * Kenneth Leech - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KennethLeech * Richard Rohr - https://cac.org/richard-rohr/richard-rohr-ofm/ * Jim Wallis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JimWallis * Toxic Silence - https://encounteringsilence.com/therese-taylor-stinson-silence-contemplation-and-justice-part-one/ * John O’Donohue - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JohnO%27Donohue * Pema Chodron - https://pemachodronfoundation.org/ * Silence Practice Apps - * * Ten Percent Happier - https://www.tenpercent.com/ * * Headspace - https://www.headspace.com * * Centering Prayer - https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/centering-prayer-mobile-app * * Inviting Children into Silence - https://www.teachchildrenmeditation.com/ Support the Podcast - https://www.patreon.com/wdtatpodcast Leave us a voicemail! https://www.speakpipe.com/wdtatpodcast Email your feedback to wdtatpodcast@gmail.com Follow us: * Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/wdtatpodcast * Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wdtatpodcast/ * Twitter - https://twitter.com/wdtatpodcast Special Guest: Carl McColman.
Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet, theologian, and conflict mediator, who brings interests in language, violence and religion to his work. He is the Poet Laureate and Theologian in Residence for the On Being project, and hosts the Poetry Unbound podcast. He was formerly the leader of the Corrymeela Community (Ireland's oldest peace and reconciliation community), and is the author of four books, including Readings from the Book of Exile, Sorry For Your Troubles, In the Shelter: Finding a Home In the World and Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community. This is part one of a two-part episode. Click here to listen to part two. I think that the deepest spiritual practices are the deepest physical practices, and that the deepest practices of silence are an embodied practice. — Pádraig Ó Tuama Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Pádraig Ó Tuama, Readings from the Book of Exile Pádraig Ó Tuama, Sorry For Your Troubles Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home In the World Pádraig Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community Jason Brian Santos, A Community Called Taizé: A Story of Prayer, Worship and Reconciliation J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Alison Funk, "The Prodigal's Mother Speaks to God" Pádraig Ó Tuama with Carl McColman in Northern Ireland, Summer 2010 Silence has its own power, and silence can be a way of avoiding. I suppose the hope within any kind of practice of prayer of any tradition, is that any silence that we are holding is also being beheld. There's something or someone or some way of that mystery we call God, that beholds us in the silence that we might be beholding for ourselves. — Pádraig Ó Tuama Episode 91: Silence, Poetry, and Conflict Resolution: A Conversation with Pádraig Ó Tuama (Part One) Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Carl McColman, Kevin Johnson Guest: Pádraig Ó Tuama Date Recorded: February 17, 2020 Featured image: photo by Adam Markon on Unsplash.
Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet, theologian, and conflict mediator, who brings interests in language, violence and religion to his work. He is the Poet Laureate and Theologian in Residence for the On Being project, and hosts the Poetry Unbound podcast. He was formerly the leader of the Corrymeela Community (Ireland's oldest peace and reconciliation community), and is the author of four books, including Readings from the Book of Exile, Sorry For Your Troubles, In the Shelter: Finding a Home In the World and Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community. This is part one of a two-part episode. Click here to listen to part two. I think that the deepest spiritual practices are the deepest physical practices, and that the deepest practices of silence are an embodied practice. — Pádraig Ó Tuama Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Pádraig Ó Tuama, Readings from the Book of Exile Pádraig Ó Tuama, Sorry For Your Troubles Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home In the World Pádraig Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community Jason Brian Santos, A Community Called Taizé: A Story of Prayer, Worship and Reconciliation J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Alison Funk, "The Prodigal's Mother Speaks to God" Pádraig Ó Tuama with Carl McColman in Northern Ireland, Summer 2010 Silence has its own power, and silence can be a way of avoiding. I suppose the hope within any kind of practice of prayer of any tradition, is that any silence that we are holding is also being beheld. There's something or someone or some way of that mystery we call God, that beholds us in the silence that we might be beholding for ourselves. — Pádraig Ó Tuama Episode 91: Silence, Poetry, and Conflict Resolution: A Conversation with Pádraig Ó Tuama (Part One) Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Carl McColman, Kevin Johnson Guest: Pádraig Ó Tuama Date Recorded: February 17, 2020 Featured image: photo by Adam Markon on Unsplash.
Hello, and welcome to Methods, an exploration in guided prayer and meditation. This episode is part of our Being-With series, a subtle nod to the philosopher Martin Heidegger and his term referencing the Mitsein aspect of being. That the very nature of humanity is to be in relationship to others. We are inauthentic when we fail to recognize how much and in what ways how we think of ourselves and how we habitually behave is influenced by our social surroundings. We are authentic when we pay attention to that influence and decide for ourselves whether to go along with it or not. Today we're talking with Carl McColman. Carl is a contemplative writer, speaker, teacher, soul friend, and storyteller. He is a co-host for the podcast Encountering Silence, of which I am a dedicated listener. He is also the author of numerous books, including The Big Book of Christian Mysticism, Answering the Contemplative Call, An Invitation to Celtic Wisdom and Unteachable Lessons. Link to purchase below: https://mccolman.net/?product=unteachable-lessons Find Carl here: https://carlmccolman.com/ Feel free to catch up with us on social media @methodspodcast, or if you'd like, you can support us on Patreon. linktr.ee/methodspodcast www.methodspodcast.com www.patreon.com/methods www.instagram.com/methodspodcast www.facebook.com/methodsthepodcast --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/methods/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/methods/support
Even in the middle of a noisy world we can be contemplative, accepting our own distractedness.
Author Carl McColman joins Debonee to take about his new book, "Unteachable Lessons". Carl shares an early transcendent experience, as well as warnings about the "trap of experience". He invites us into relationship with the power and presence of silence. Carl introduces us to his daughter Rhiannon, and explains her indelible impact on forming his own spiritual maturity. Carl's laughter is contagious, and his hard won wisdom is a gift - join the conversation about the things that are hard to talk about. "Carl McColman gives much wise direction and broad understanding of the field of contemplative theory and practice. Here is your teacher!" ~ Richard Rohr
This week we're keeping our conversation close to home, as we explore Unteachable Lessons: Why Wisdom Can't Be Taught and Why That's Okay — the new book from Encountering Silence co-host Carl McColman. How do you touch the face of God? You touch the face of God through the medium of silence. And the silence is always there, it's not something I have to create, it's not something we have to conjure, if anything it's something we simply have to allow. Again, by learning, little by little by little, by learning to attend to the spaces between the words. — Carl McColman Unteachable Lessons looks at some of the most important "lessons" of life — learning how to love, how to trust, how to pray, how to grieve — can never be learned from a book or a class or a workshop. It looks at how wisdom often operates on a level deeper than words. Of course, that means one of the best ways to access wisdom is through silence. In today's episode of the podcast, Cassidy and Kevin talk to Carl about how the book came to be written and what inspired Carl to explore this particular topic. Sometimes words get in the way... and sometimes going to a workshop gets in the way, or reading a lot of books gets in the way... we have to learn not through "learning," but through living. — Carl McColman Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Carl McColman, Unteachable Lessons Carl McColman, Befriending Silence Carl McColman, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism Carl McColman, Christian Mystics Carl McColman, Answering the Contemplative Call Lil Copan, Promises of Heaven Martin Laird, An Ocean of Light Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love Sam Keen, Fire in the Belly Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul Woody Allen, Without Feathers William Faulkner, Three Novels Tilden Edwards, Living in the Presence: Spiritual Exercises to Open Our Lives to the Awareness of God Gerald May, Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel Rene Girard, Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World Elias Marechal, Tears of An Innocent God: Conversations on Silence, Kindness and Prayer Mary Margaret Funk, Thoughts Matter Marvin C. Shaw, The Paradox of Intention Writing is a great antidote to pride. — Carl McColman Episode 72: Unteachable Lessons: Encountering Silence in Wisdom That Can't Be Taught Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Carl McColman, Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: September 3, 2019 Bonus content! Here's one of Carl's favorite kitty-cat videos... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr3H_-evGb0
This week we're keeping our conversation close to home, as we explore Unteachable Lessons: Why Wisdom Can't Be Taught and Why That's Okay — the new book from Encountering Silence co-host Carl McColman. How do you touch the face of God? You touch the face of God through the medium of silence. And the silence is always there, it's not something I have to create, it's not something we have to conjure, if anything it's something we simply have to allow. Again, by learning, little by little by little, by learning to attend to the spaces between the words. — Carl McColman Unteachable Lessons looks at some of the most important "lessons" of life — learning how to love, how to trust, how to pray, how to grieve — can never be learned from a book or a class or a workshop. It looks at how wisdom often operates on a level deeper than words. Of course, that means one of the best ways to access wisdom is through silence. In today's episode of the podcast, Cassidy and Kevin talk to Carl about how the book came to be written and what inspired Carl to explore this particular topic. Sometimes words get in the way... and sometimes going to a workshop gets in the way, or reading a lot of books gets in the way... we have to learn not through "learning," but through living. — Carl McColman Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Carl McColman, Unteachable Lessons Carl McColman, Befriending Silence Carl McColman, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism Carl McColman, Christian Mystics Carl McColman, Answering the Contemplative Call Lil Copan, Promises of Heaven Martin Laird, An Ocean of Light Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love Sam Keen, Fire in the Belly Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul Woody Allen, Without Feathers William Faulkner, Three Novels Tilden Edwards, Living in the Presence: Spiritual Exercises to Open Our Lives to the Awareness of God Gerald May, Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel Rene Girard, Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World Elias Marechal, Tears of An Innocent God: Conversations on Silence, Kindness and Prayer Mary Margaret Funk, Thoughts Matter Marvin C. Shaw, The Paradox of Intention Writing is a great antidote to pride. — Carl McColman Episode 72: Unteachable Lessons: Encountering Silence in Wisdom That Can't Be Taught Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Carl McColman, Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: September 3, 2019 Bonus content! Here's one of Carl's favorite kitty-cat videos... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr3H_-evGb0
We welcome Carl McColman back to the program to discuss his recent book, Unteachable Lessons: Why Wisdom Can't Be Taught (And Why That's Okay) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mike and Carl have a conversation about mysticism, religion, and esotericism.
Mike and Carl have a conversation about mysticism, religion, and esotericism.
Today's episode is part two of a two-part interview. Click here to listen to part one. "All words begin as silence," proclaims Andō on her Patreon page. Indeed, those five words provide an auspicious introduction to this enigmatic yet joyful contemplative Zen poet. As a lay monastic, Andō has spent many years living a monastic life in the forest. In her own words, “Spending five years living quietly in the forest, I learnt the Zen of forest, mountain and river, studied the poetry of the wind.” Above: Cassidy Hall, Andō. Below: Kevin Johnson, Carl McColman. She says “I'm passionate about the poetry of Zen, Ch’an and Daoist traditions, in particular, haiku, monoku, renku, free verse and fragments.” She is writing a haiku memoir and will publish her first two poetry collections this year. Active on social media and through her own Patreon page, she shares her poetry which is luminous with both silence and light. Originally from England, she now makes her home in Portugal, where she spoke to us via Skype. Our deeply contemplative conversation continues with more insight into Andō's singular spiritual journey, how illness impacted her life, her deep love for the Christian mystical classic The Cloud of Unknowing, and much more. "The truest poetry is where we're not the poet, we're the vehicle for the poetry." — Andō She is the creator of the Small Silences poetry course: "a contemplative poetry course for those seeking to make space for silence and poetry in their lives. Small silences are contemplative moments of awareness, attention, insight and clarity, recorded as brief poems." To learn more or to register for this course, click here: www.ando.life/smallsilencescourse01 To support Andō via Patreon, click here: www.patreon.com/silentiumstudio Andō suggested that we might list information about her Zen masters here, which we are happy to do: My first Zen Master, Daizan, under whom I trained as a meditation and mindfulness teacher, and was lay ordained into the Rinzai Zen tradition and lineage of Shinzan Miyamae Rōshi. Julian Daizan Skinner Rōshi's website is www.zenways.org. Julian Daizan Skinner is the author of Practical Zen: Meditation and Beyond and Practical Zen for Health, Wealth and Mindfulness. My second Zen Master, Sokuzan, under whom I was lay ordained into the Sōtō Zen tradition and lineage of Kobun Chino Rōshi and Shunryu Suzuki Rōshi. Sokuzan's website is www.sokukoji.org. Sokuzan is the author of A Meditation Primer. Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Paul Reps, Zen Flesh Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings Anonymous, The Cloud of Unknowing Julian of Norwich, The Showings of Julian of Norwich Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems Basho, The Complete Haiku Dogen, The Essential Dogen: Writings of the Great Zen Master Yang Wan-li, Heaven my Blanket: Earth my Pillow: Poems from Sung Dynasty China Episode 48: Andō: Silence in the Forest, Part 2 Hosted by: Carl McColman Guest: Andō With: Cassidy Hall, Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: December 17, 2018
Today's episode is part two of a two-part interview. Click here to listen to part one. "All words begin as silence," proclaims Andō on her Patreon page. Indeed, those five words provide an auspicious introduction to this enigmatic yet joyful contemplative Zen poet. As a lay monastic, Andō has spent many years living a monastic life in the forest. In her own words, “Spending five years living quietly in the forest, I learnt the Zen of forest, mountain and river, studied the poetry of the wind.” Above: Cassidy Hall, Andō. Below: Kevin Johnson, Carl McColman. She says “I'm passionate about the poetry of Zen, Ch’an and Daoist traditions, in particular, haiku, monoku, renku, free verse and fragments.” She is writing a haiku memoir and will publish her first two poetry collections this year. Active on social media and through her own Patreon page, she shares her poetry which is luminous with both silence and light. Originally from England, she now makes her home in Portugal, where she spoke to us via Skype. Our deeply contemplative conversation continues with more insight into Andō's singular spiritual journey, how illness impacted her life, her deep love for the Christian mystical classic The Cloud of Unknowing, and much more. "The truest poetry is where we're not the poet, we're the vehicle for the poetry." — Andō She is the creator of the Small Silences poetry course: "a contemplative poetry course for those seeking to make space for silence and poetry in their lives. Small silences are contemplative moments of awareness, attention, insight and clarity, recorded as brief poems." To learn more or to register for this course, click here: www.ando.life/smallsilencescourse01 To support Andō via Patreon, click here: www.patreon.com/silentiumstudio Andō suggested that we might list information about her Zen masters here, which we are happy to do: My first Zen Master, Daizan, under whom I trained as a meditation and mindfulness teacher, and was lay ordained into the Rinzai Zen tradition and lineage of Shinzan Miyamae Rōshi. Julian Daizan Skinner Rōshi's website is www.zenways.org. Julian Daizan Skinner is the author of Practical Zen: Meditation and Beyond and Practical Zen for Health, Wealth and Mindfulness. My second Zen Master, Sokuzan, under whom I was lay ordained into the Sōtō Zen tradition and lineage of Kobun Chino Rōshi and Shunryu Suzuki Rōshi. Sokuzan's website is www.sokukoji.org. Sokuzan is the author of A Meditation Primer. Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Paul Reps, Zen Flesh Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings Anonymous, The Cloud of Unknowing Julian of Norwich, The Showings of Julian of Norwich Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems Basho, The Complete Haiku Dogen, The Essential Dogen: Writings of the Great Zen Master Yang Wan-li, Heaven my Blanket: Earth my Pillow: Poems from Sung Dynasty China Episode 48: Andō: Silence in the Forest, Part 2 Hosted by: Carl McColman Guest: Andō With: Cassidy Hall, Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: December 17, 2018
"All words begin as silence," proclaims Andō on her Patreon page. Indeed, those five words provide an auspicious introduction to this enigmatic yet joyful contemplative Zen poet. As a lay monastic, Andō has spent many years living a monastic life in the forest. In her own words, “Spending five years living quietly in the forest, I learnt the Zen of forest, mountain and river, studied the poetry of the wind.” Above: Cassidy Hall, Andō. Below: Kevin Johnson, Carl McColman. She says “I'm passionate about the poetry of Zen, Ch’an and Daoist traditions, in particular, haiku, monoku, renku, free verse and fragments.” She is writing a haiku memoir and will publish her first two poetry collections this year. Active on social media and through her own Patreon page, she shares her poetry which is luminous with both silence and light. Originally from England, she now makes her home in Portugal, where she spoke to us via Skype. Our deeply contemplative conversation explores her relationship with Zen, with poetry, how a long illness became her greatest teacher, and how the forest brought her both healing and a deeper initiation into the mysteries of silence. She tells of studying with masters like Mooji and Ganga Mira, and how she discovered her vocation as a poet and spiritual companion, through silence. "The truest poetry is where we're not the poet, we're the vehicle for the poetry." — Andō She is the creator of the Small Silences poetry course: "a contemplative poetry course for those seeking to make space for silence and poetry in their lives. Small silences are contemplative moments of awareness, attention, insight and clarity, recorded as brief poems." To learn more or to register for this course, click here: www.silentiumstudio.com/smallsilencescourse01 To support Andō via Patreon, click here: www.patreon.com/silentiumstudio "Quit trying. Quit trying not to try. Quit quitting." — Zen saying This is part one of a two part interview. Part Two will be released the week of January 21, 2019. Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Paul Reps, Zen Flesh Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings James Finley, The Contemplative Heart Rumi, The Essential Rumi Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer Jane Hirshfield, Nine Gates Thomas Merton, The Intimate Merton: His Life From His Journals Ramana Maharshi, Be As You Are Bankei, Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693 Mooji, Vaster Than Sky, Greater Than Space: What You Are Before You Became H.W.L. Poonja, This: Poetry and Prose of Dancing Emptiness Elias Marechal, Tears of An Innocent God Paul Quenon, In Praise of the Useless Life: A Monk’s Memoir Episode 47: Andō: Silence in the Forest, Part 1 Hosted by: Carl McColman Guest: Andō With: Cassidy Hall, Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: December 17, 2018
"All words begin as silence," proclaims Andō on her Patreon page. Indeed, those five words provide an auspicious introduction to this enigmatic yet joyful contemplative Zen poet. As a lay monastic, Andō has spent many years living a monastic life in the forest. In her own words, “Spending five years living quietly in the forest, I learnt the Zen of forest, mountain and river, studied the poetry of the wind.” Above: Cassidy Hall, Andō. Below: Kevin Johnson, Carl McColman. She says “I'm passionate about the poetry of Zen, Ch’an and Daoist traditions, in particular, haiku, monoku, renku, free verse and fragments.” She is writing a haiku memoir and will publish her first two poetry collections this year. Active on social media and through her own Patreon page, she shares her poetry which is luminous with both silence and light. Originally from England, she now makes her home in Portugal, where she spoke to us via Skype. Our deeply contemplative conversation explores her relationship with Zen, with poetry, how a long illness became her greatest teacher, and how the forest brought her both healing and a deeper initiation into the mysteries of silence. She tells of studying with masters like Mooji and Ganga Mira, and how she discovered her vocation as a poet and spiritual companion, through silence. "The truest poetry is where we're not the poet, we're the vehicle for the poetry." — Andō She is the creator of the Small Silences poetry course: "a contemplative poetry course for those seeking to make space for silence and poetry in their lives. Small silences are contemplative moments of awareness, attention, insight and clarity, recorded as brief poems." To learn more or to register for this course, click here: www.silentiumstudio.com/smallsilencescourse01 To support Andō via Patreon, click here: www.patreon.com/silentiumstudio "Quit trying. Quit trying not to try. Quit quitting." — Zen saying This is part one of a two part interview. Part Two will be released the week of January 21, 2019. Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Paul Reps, Zen Flesh Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings James Finley, The Contemplative Heart Rumi, The Essential Rumi Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer Jane Hirshfield, Nine Gates Thomas Merton, The Intimate Merton: His Life From His Journals Ramana Maharshi, Be As You Are Bankei, Unborn: The Life and Teachings of Zen Master Bankei, 1622-1693 Mooji, Vaster Than Sky, Greater Than Space: What You Are Before You Became H.W.L. Poonja, This: Poetry and Prose of Dancing Emptiness Elias Marechal, Tears of An Innocent God Paul Quenon, In Praise of the Useless Life: A Monk’s Memoir Episode 47: Andō: Silence in the Forest, Part 1 Hosted by: Carl McColman Guest: Andō With: Cassidy Hall, Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: December 17, 2018
In Irish "contemplative prayer" means "on the knife’s edge of waiting"
In this episode we conclude our interview with poet and essayist Kathleen Norris. In part one of the interview, Kathleen and Cassidy explored topics such as poetry, creativity, silence (of course) and acedia — a spiritual malady that she wrote about movingly in her memoir Acedia and Me. This is part two of a two part interview. Click here to listen to part one. Katherine Norris on Skype with Kevin Johnson and Carl McColman. This week the conversation continues with reflection on the value of monastic spirituality, the question of whether religion can be a force for good in today's world, how even monks can experience an overload of regulation, how toxic silence and self-censorship is a problem particularly for many women, and how a good writer moves beyond simple expression to caring for the reader. Structuring a life around writing is as crazy as structuring a life around prayer. — Kathleen Norris By drawing connections between poetry and prayer, or between liturgy and poetry, Kathleen Norris explores how a contemplative heart beats at the center of creativity as well as spirituality. She goes on to discuss the difficulties inherent in recording an audiobook, gives some pointers about reading her work, and offers a few thoughts on the challenge of using poetry while preaching. At the end of the interview Carl and Kevin join Cassidy and Kathleen (via Skype), to ask a few final questions. She offers a particularly spiritual perspective on who her "silence heroes" are, and reflects on how one of the most important qualities for her as writer has been simple candor. Liturgy itself is a poem — the daily liturgy of the monastery plus the eucharist, the mass, it really functions like a poem during the day — you know you're going to be entering this realm again of the mystery and the poetry and all of that, and then you're going to go and do your chores and do whatever else you're doing, but there is a certain poetic quality to it, that is really refreshing, and I think that's one of the big appeals to me — it was the poetry that drew me in. — Kathleen Norris Katherine Norris and Cassidy Hall Some of the resources and authors mentioned in this episode: Kathleen Norris, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography Kathleen Norris, The Cloister Walk Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace Kathleen Norris, Acedia and Me Kathleen Norris, Acedia and Me Audiobook Kathleen Norris, The Virgin of Bennington Kathleen Norris, Falling Off (includes "Prayer to Eve") Tillie Olson, Silences Tillie Olson, Tell Me a Riddle and Other Stories John Sayles (dir.), Brother From Another Planet John Berryman, The Dream Songs Thomas Merton, Audio recordings on various topics Denise Levertov, The Stream and the Sapphire Robert Frost, The Poetry of Robert Frost Jane Flanders, Timepiece(includes "Planting Onions") Rumi, The Essential Rumi Emily Dickinson, Letters Episode 36: Silence, Poetry and Acedia: A Conversation with Kathleen Norris (Part Two) Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Kevin Johnson, Carl McColman Guest: Kathleen Norris Date Recorded: September 17, 2018
In this episode we conclude our interview with poet and essayist Kathleen Norris. In part one of the interview, Kathleen and Cassidy explored topics such as poetry, creativity, silence (of course) and acedia — a spiritual malady that she wrote about movingly in her memoir Acedia and Me. This is part two of a two part interview. Click here to listen to part one. Katherine Norris on Skype with Kevin Johnson and Carl McColman. This week the conversation continues with reflection on the value of monastic spirituality, the question of whether religion can be a force for good in today's world, how even monks can experience an overload of regulation, how toxic silence and self-censorship is a problem particularly for many women, and how a good writer moves beyond simple expression to caring for the reader. Structuring a life around writing is as crazy as structuring a life around prayer. — Kathleen Norris By drawing connections between poetry and prayer, or between liturgy and poetry, Kathleen Norris explores how a contemplative heart beats at the center of creativity as well as spirituality. She goes on to discuss the difficulties inherent in recording an audiobook, gives some pointers about reading her work, and offers a few thoughts on the challenge of using poetry while preaching. At the end of the interview Carl and Kevin join Cassidy and Kathleen (via Skype), to ask a few final questions. She offers a particularly spiritual perspective on who her "silence heroes" are, and reflects on how one of the most important qualities for her as writer has been simple candor. Liturgy itself is a poem — the daily liturgy of the monastery plus the eucharist, the mass, it really functions like a poem during the day — you know you're going to be entering this realm again of the mystery and the poetry and all of that, and then you're going to go and do your chores and do whatever else you're doing, but there is a certain poetic quality to it, that is really refreshing, and I think that's one of the big appeals to me — it was the poetry that drew me in. — Kathleen Norris Katherine Norris and Cassidy Hall Some of the resources and authors mentioned in this episode: Kathleen Norris, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography Kathleen Norris, The Cloister Walk Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace Kathleen Norris, Acedia and Me Kathleen Norris, Acedia and Me Audiobook Kathleen Norris, The Virgin of Bennington Kathleen Norris, Falling Off (includes "Prayer to Eve") Tillie Olson, Silences Tillie Olson, Tell Me a Riddle and Other Stories John Sayles (dir.), Brother From Another Planet John Berryman, The Dream Songs Thomas Merton, Audio recordings on various topics Denise Levertov, The Stream and the Sapphire Robert Frost, The Poetry of Robert Frost Jane Flanders, Timepiece(includes "Planting Onions") Rumi, The Essential Rumi Emily Dickinson, Letters Episode 36: Silence, Poetry and Acedia: A Conversation with Kathleen Norris (Part Two) Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Kevin Johnson, Carl McColman Guest: Kathleen Norris Date Recorded: September 17, 2018
Kathleen Norris and Cassidy Hall A self-described "evangelist for poetry," Kathleen Norris explores the spiritual life in both intimate and historical ways, through her award-winning poetry and luminous works of literary nonfiction, including Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, The Cloister Walk, and Acedia and Me. In addition to her distinguished literary career, she is a Presbyterian layperson and a Benedictine Oblate. "There's natural noise, like wind, that contributes to silence. It may be loud, in fact, but it's not mechanical noise, it's not human generated noise. It actually feels more like silence than not — like rain, or ocean waves, or wind in grass and trees. That has a silent quality to it." — Kathleen Norris This is part one of a two-part interview. Click here to listen to part two. Norris launches into her interview by recounting stories of introducing children to silence, moving on to muse about "the terror of the blank page" and how silence is not always a comfortable presence. She muses on how the structured life of a monastery has been a blessing to her both as a contemplative and as a writer; how her earliest encounters with silence were bound up with family dynamics; and how silence became her ally as a young poet in college. "Silence sometimes shows you what you're really suffering from... just to sit there and let the silence sink in, and often that's when you discover what it is you're really worried about, what you're really suffering from, what your real concerns are, because when you're busy in the world either with activity or a lot of verbal stuff going on, you're ignoring some of those deeper things, and sitting in silence for a while, it will start to surface." — Kathleen Norris Her conversation with Cassidy (Carl and Kevin join in later in the conversation, and will appear in part two of this interview) covers a wide range, from musing on the relationship between silence and the sounds of nature, to the ways in which silence can touch on situations like depression, vulnerability, and acedia. She muses on how noisy cities are (she spends some of her time in Honolulu) and reflects on how people in our culture have created a "coccoon of noise" that seems to arise out of an existential fear of silence. "Acedia basically means not being able to care, even to the extent that you no longer care that you can't care. It's this really weird mixture of restlessness, boredom, despair... I agree with the desert monks that it is a major human emotion, the same as anger or greed or envy; it's just been ignored." — Kathleen Norris Some of the resources and authors mentioned in this episode: Kathleen Norris, The Cloister Walk Kathleen Norris, Acedia and Me Kathleen Norris, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace Kathleen Norris, The Virgin of Bennington Kathleen Norris, Falling Off Thomas Merton, Collected Poems of Thomas Merton David Dwyer, Ariana Olisvos: Her Last Works and Days Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here Emily Dickinson, The Complete Poems George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language" found in Essays William Stafford, Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems The Psalms Jane Flanders, Timepiece Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems Denise Levertov, The Collected Poems Ann Porter, Living Things: Collected Poems Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias Mechthild of Magdeburg, The Flowing Light of the Godhead Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer The Desert Mothers, Spiritual Practices from the Women of the Wilderness Robert Wise, dir., The Sound of Music Gregory the Great, Dialogues Kathleen Norris on Skype with Carl McColman and Kevin Johnson.
Kathleen Norris and Cassidy Hall A self-described "evangelist for poetry," Kathleen Norris explores the spiritual life in both intimate and historical ways, through her award-winning poetry and luminous works of literary nonfiction, including Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, The Cloister Walk, and Acedia and Me. In addition to her distinguished literary career, she is a Presbyterian layperson and a Benedictine Oblate. "There's natural noise, like wind, that contributes to silence. It may be loud, in fact, but it's not mechanical noise, it's not human generated noise. It actually feels more like silence than not — like rain, or ocean waves, or wind in grass and trees. That has a silent quality to it." — Kathleen Norris This is part one of a two-part interview. Click here to listen to part two. Norris launches into her interview by recounting stories of introducing children to silence, moving on to muse about "the terror of the blank page" and how silence is not always a comfortable presence. She muses on how the structured life of a monastery has been a blessing to her both as a contemplative and as a writer; how her earliest encounters with silence were bound up with family dynamics; and how silence became her ally as a young poet in college. "Silence sometimes shows you what you're really suffering from... just to sit there and let the silence sink in, and often that's when you discover what it is you're really worried about, what you're really suffering from, what your real concerns are, because when you're busy in the world either with activity or a lot of verbal stuff going on, you're ignoring some of those deeper things, and sitting in silence for a while, it will start to surface." — Kathleen Norris Her conversation with Cassidy (Carl and Kevin join in later in the conversation, and will appear in part two of this interview) covers a wide range, from musing on the relationship between silence and the sounds of nature, to the ways in which silence can touch on situations like depression, vulnerability, and acedia. She muses on how noisy cities are (she spends some of her time in Honolulu) and reflects on how people in our culture have created a "coccoon of noise" that seems to arise out of an existential fear of silence. "Acedia basically means not being able to care, even to the extent that you no longer care that you can't care. It's this really weird mixture of restlessness, boredom, despair... I agree with the desert monks that it is a major human emotion, the same as anger or greed or envy; it's just been ignored." — Kathleen Norris Some of the resources and authors mentioned in this episode: Kathleen Norris, The Cloister Walk Kathleen Norris, Acedia and Me Kathleen Norris, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace Kathleen Norris, The Virgin of Bennington Kathleen Norris, Falling Off Thomas Merton, Collected Poems of Thomas Merton David Dwyer, Ariana Olisvos: Her Last Works and Days Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here Emily Dickinson, The Complete Poems George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language" found in Essays William Stafford, Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems The Psalms Jane Flanders, Timepiece Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems Denise Levertov, The Collected Poems Ann Porter, Living Things: Collected Poems Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias Mechthild of Magdeburg, The Flowing Light of the Godhead Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer The Desert Mothers, Spiritual Practices from the Women of the Wilderness Robert Wise, dir., The Sound of Music Gregory the Great, Dialogues Kathleen Norris on Skype with Carl McColman and Kevin Johnson. Listen to part 2 of this interview to hear their conversation. Episode 35: Silence, Poetry and Acedia: A Conversation with Kathleen Norris (Part One) Hosted by: Cassidy Hall Guest: Kathleen Norris Date Recorded: September 17, 2018
The word “mysticism” is only several hundred years old and comes from the same as the word “mute” and "mystery".
What role does silence play in mysticism? That’s the question that launches our conversation this week. Episode 16 is inspired by the recent release of The Little Book of Christian Mysticism, by Carl McColman. But rather than just focus on the new book, we decided to broaden the conversation in this week’s episode to a more general reflection on how silence and mysticism belong together — and influence each other. We launch our conversation by looking at the problems connected with merely trying to define the word “mysticism” (and related terms like “experience” and “spirituality”). From there we explore the connection between mysticism, mystery and silence. “The Christian of the future will be a mystic — which is to say, a Christian who’s comfortable with silence, who’s comfortable with mystery, who’s comfortable with paradox and ambiguity, but who moves into all of that for the sake of love: the love of the Divine, and the love of one another.” — Carl McColman Our conversation considers how mysticism is misunderstood by both the academic world the world of “pop” spirituality, how mysticism can make a difference even in the context of the institutional crisis in the church today, and how mysticism can be meaningful to the ordinary person today — leading to the radical (but ancient and orthodox) teaching of deification or divinization — what Saint Peter called being “partakers of the Divine nature.” In our conversation, we explore who are some of Carl’s favorite mystics, how the women mystics of the Middle Ages need to be acknowledged as courageous heroines of the faith, and which mystics ought to be declared doctors of the church. “Experience is the beginning of mysticism... People will say ‘I am drawn to mysticism because I want an experiential faith.’ I think that’s great! But let that be your starting point, and not your ending point. If the experience of God is the beginning of mysticism, then God’s encounter with you is the end of mysticism.” — Carl McColman Some of the resources and authors mentioned in this episode: Carl McColman, The Little Book of Christian Mysticism Maggie Ross, Writing the Icon of the Heart Pseudo-Dionysius, The Divine Names and the Mystical Theology Carl McColman, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism Carl McColman, Befriending Silence Carl McColman, Answering the Contemplative Call Jacques Derrida, A Derrida Reader John of the Cross, Collected Works Meister Eckhart, Selected Writings Anonymous, The Cloud of Unknowing Don Cupitt, Mysticism After Modernity Karl Rahner, Concern for the Church Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer Julian of Norwich, The Showings of Julian of Norwich Thérèse of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul Mother Teresa, Come Be My Light Teresa of Ávila, The Book of My Life C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves Thomas Merton, Dialogues with Silence Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel Evelyn Underhill, Practical Mysticism Caryll Houselander, Essential Writings John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Divine Milieu Dorothee Soelle, The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance Bernard of Clairvaux, Selected Works George Maloney, Inward Stillness Douglas Steere, ed., Quaker Spirituality Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine The Catechism of the Catholic Church Hildegard of Bingen, Selected Writings Marguerite Porete, A Mirror of Simple Souls Hadewijch, The Complete Works Catherine of Siena, The Dialogue Catherine of Genoa, Purgation and Purgatory; The Spiritual Dialogue
What role does silence play in mysticism? That’s the question that launches our conversation this week. Episode 16 is inspired by the recent release of The Little Book of Christian Mysticism, by Carl McColman. But rather than just focus on the new book, we decided to broaden the conversation in this week’s episode to a more general reflection on how silence and mysticism belong together — and influence each other. We launch our conversation by looking at the problems connected with merely trying to define the word “mysticism” (and related terms like “experience” and “spirituality”). From there we explore the connection between mysticism, mystery and silence. “The Christian of the future will be a mystic — which is to say, a Christian who’s comfortable with silence, who’s comfortable with mystery, who’s comfortable with paradox and ambiguity, but who moves into all of that for the sake of love: the love of the Divine, and the love of one another.” — Carl McColman Our conversation considers how mysticism is misunderstood by both the academic world the world of “pop” spirituality, how mysticism can make a difference even in the context of the institutional crisis in the church today, and how mysticism can be meaningful to the ordinary person today — leading to the radical (but ancient and orthodox) teaching of deification or divinization — what Saint Peter called being “partakers of the Divine nature.” In our conversation, we explore who are some of Carl’s favorite mystics, how the women mystics of the Middle Ages need to be acknowledged as courageous heroines of the faith, and which mystics ought to be declared doctors of the church. “Experience is the beginning of mysticism... People will say ‘I am drawn to mysticism because I want an experiential faith.’ I think that’s great! But let that be your starting point, and not your ending point. If the experience of God is the beginning of mysticism, then God’s encounter with you is the end of mysticism.” — Carl McColman Some of the resources and authors mentioned in this episode: Carl McColman, The Little Book of Christian Mysticism Maggie Ross, Writing the Icon of the Heart Pseudo-Dionysius, The Divine Names and the Mystical Theology Carl McColman, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism Carl McColman, Befriending Silence Carl McColman, Answering the Contemplative Call Jacques Derrida, A Derrida Reader John of the Cross, Collected Works Meister Eckhart, Selected Writings Anonymous, The Cloud of Unknowing Don Cupitt, Mysticism After Modernity Karl Rahner, Concern for the Church Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer Julian of Norwich, The Showings of Julian of Norwich Thérèse of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul Mother Teresa, Come Be My Light Teresa of Ávila, The Book of My Life C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves Thomas Merton, Dialogues with Silence Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel Evelyn Underhill, Practical Mysticism Caryll Houselander, Essential Writings John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Divine Milieu Dorothee Soelle, The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance Bernard of Clairvaux, Selected Works George Maloney, Inward Stillness Douglas Steere, ed., Quaker Spirituality Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine The Catechism of the Catholic Church Hildegard of Bingen, Selected Writings Marguerite Porete, A Mirror of Simple Souls Hadewijch, The Complete Works Catherine of Siena, The Dialogue Catherine of Genoa, Purgation and Purgatory; The Spiritual Dialogue Mechthilde of Magdeburg, The Flowing Light of the Godhead Gertrude the Great, Life and Revelations Jeanne Guyon, Selected Writings Grace Jantzen, Julian of Norwich John Ruusbroec, The Spiritual Espousals and Other Works Pope Benedict XVI, The Essential Writings and Speeches
Meet Brother Elias Marechal — Trappist monk, author, contemplative, storyteller, and a man of deep, resplendent silence. Silence is always there — from the time we're born it's there, because it's in the image of God. — Br. Elias Marechal, OCSO This episode — a conversation with Brother Elias — is our second Encountering Silence "Field Recording" in which one member of our team (in this case, Carl McColman) records a face-to-face interview with a person whose life is deeply engaged with silence. Brother Elias Marechal, OCSO, with Carl McColman Brother Elias is a monk of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia, at the edge of the Atlanta suburbs. Born in New Orleans, he is a lifelong spiritual seeker, who after a profound encounter with Divine Mystery while a freshman at Notre Dame, has devoted his life to meditation and to a spiritual practice both deeply rooted in Christian mysticism and yet profoundly embracing the wisdom of all the world's contemplative paths. He is the author of two books: Dancing Madly Backwards: A Journey Into God (Crossroad Publishing, 1982) and Tears of an Innocent God: Conversations on Silence, Kindness and Prayer (Paulist Press, 2015). Of the latter book, Thomas Keating says it is "valuable and full of wisdom drawn from the author's remarkable experience of East and West." And Cynthia Bourgeault notes, "If you've never experienced authentic Trappist sapiential writing before, you're in for a treat!" Tears of an Innocent God Carl McColman has known Brother Elias since 2005, so their conversation carries the warm feel of two old friends. They sat down together at the Monastery guesthouse in November of 2017 to have a wide-ranging conversation about silence, writing, and prayer. The image of God contains all of God's qualities and characteristics. The first one is silence. Second, kindness; the third, compassion; then listening with deep respect even to someone with an opposite view, and so forth. And the whole idea is that you're in this land of unlikeness and then you wake up in some way to the image of God. And you begin this journey, led by the Spirit, through the land of likeness in which, as you go along, all the various characteristics of God begin to unfold... in a simple, easy, and effortless way. — Br. Elias Marechal, OCSO In the podcast Br. Elias discusses his first encounter with infused contemplation — at the grotto of Notre Dame University, when he was a freshman — and later discovering the complementary practice of acquired contemplation. He also reflects on a near death experience he experienced as a child, about his lifelong quest for purity of heart, on his experience of twenty-five years as a Trappist monk, how silence is an essential element in restoring the image and likeness of God within us, and much more. He speaks about his early experience learning meditation and how the practice of meditation fostered his own relationship with silence — and how the Holy Spirit carries us through the unfolding of the image and likeness of God within us. He shares his understanding of the role that breath plays in prayer — particularly the Jesus Prayer — which allows us to let go "into the abyss of the kindness and compassion of God." There is silence in heaven, because to communicate with one another, one "transfers" thoughts to another, and the other transfers thoughts to you — and this includes God. It's very very interesting. So silence is all-pervading in the heavenly kingdom. — Br. Elias Marechal, OCSO Some of the resources and authors mentioned in this episode: Elias Marechal, Tears of an Innocent God Isaac of Stella, Sermons on the Christian Year Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks Meister Eckhart, Selected Writings Desert Mothers and Fathers, Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Martin Laird, Into the Silent Land Episode 15: The Silence of a Trappist: A Conversation with Br. Elias Marechal, OCSO Hosted by: Carl McColman
Meet Brother Elias Marechal — Trappist monk, author, contemplative, storyteller, and a man of deep, resplendent silence. Silence is always there — from the time we're born it's there, because it's in the image of God. — Br. Elias Marechal, OCSO This episode — a conversation with Brother Elias — is our second Encountering Silence "Field Recording" in which one member of our team (in this case, Carl McColman) records a face-to-face interview with a person whose life is deeply engaged with silence. Brother Elias Marechal, OCSO, with Carl McColman Brother Elias is a monk of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia, at the edge of the Atlanta suburbs. Born in New Orleans, he is a lifelong spiritual seeker, who after a profound encounter with Divine Mystery while a freshman at Notre Dame, has devoted his life to meditation and to a spiritual practice both deeply rooted in Christian mysticism and yet profoundly embracing the wisdom of all the world's contemplative paths. He is the author of two books: Dancing Madly Backwards: A Journey Into God (Crossroad Publishing, 1982) and Tears of an Innocent God: Conversations on Silence, Kindness and Prayer (Paulist Press, 2015). Of the latter book, Thomas Keating says it is "valuable and full of wisdom drawn from the author's remarkable experience of East and West." And Cynthia Bourgeault notes, "If you've never experienced authentic Trappist sapiential writing before, you're in for a treat!" Tears of an Innocent God Carl McColman has known Brother Elias since 2005, so their conversation carries the warm feel of two old friends. They sat down together at the Monastery guesthouse in November of 2017 to have a wide-ranging conversation about silence, writing, and prayer. The image of God contains all of God's qualities and characteristics. The first one is silence. Second, kindness; the third, compassion; then listening with deep respect even to someone with an opposite view, and so forth. And the whole idea is that you're in this land of unlikeness and then you wake up in some way to the image of God. And you begin this journey, led by the Spirit, through the land of likeness in which, as you go along, all the various characteristics of God begin to unfold... in a simple, easy, and effortless way. — Br. Elias Marechal, OCSO In the podcast Br. Elias discusses his first encounter with infused contemplation — at the grotto of Notre Dame University, when he was a freshman — and later discovering the complementary practice of acquired contemplation. He also reflects on a near death experience he experienced as a child, about his lifelong quest for purity of heart, on his experience of twenty-five years as a Trappist monk, how silence is an essential element in restoring the image and likeness of God within us, and much more. He speaks about his early experience learning meditation and how the practice of meditation fostered his own relationship with silence — and how the Holy Spirit carries us through the unfolding of the image and likeness of God within us. He shares his understanding of the role that breath plays in prayer — particularly the Jesus Prayer — which allows us to let go "into the abyss of the kindness and compassion of God." There is silence in heaven, because to communicate with one another, one "transfers" thoughts to another, and the other transfers thoughts to you — and this includes God. It's very very interesting. So silence is all-pervading in the heavenly kingdom. — Br. Elias Marechal, OCSO Some of the resources and authors mentioned in this episode: Elias Marechal, Tears of an Innocent God Isaac of Stella, Sermons on the Christian Year Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks Meister Eckhart, Selected Writings Desert Mothers and Fathers,
For this episode, we felt drawn to reflect on a couple of "liturgical paradoxes" coming up now and in April: that the Christian holy day of Ash Wednesday corresponds to Valentine's Day; and that Easter Sunday falls on All Fools' Day, April 1. Valentine's Day originated as a Christian memorial (for Saint Valentine), but in its secularized form it is a day for celebrating romantic love — complete with flowers, a nice dinner out, and of course, plenty of chocolate. But this flies in the face of the meaning and observance of Ash Wednesday — as the first day of the penitential season of Lent, Ash Wednesday is a solemn occasion for reflecting on our mortality ("remember that you are dust"), our sinfulness or woundedness, and — at least in some traditions — is a day for fasting — hardly conducive to indulging in sweets! Of course, even without the religious overlay, Valentine's Day can be paradoxical even on its own — as a day of sorrow for those who are lonely, or bereaved, or even navigating a relationship where love is absent. How do we hold these paradoxes together? Could silence be a key to finding a way to honor both the pleasures of love and the invitation to self-forgetfulness? "Paradox is paradoxical only to the linear, self-conscious mind," says Maggie Ross in her recently published book Silence: A User's Guide, Volume Two: Application. She goes on to consider an alternative to the limitations of the linear mind, which she calls "deep mind." "Deep mind is inclusive, what ancient writers refer to as the place of unity. Its ways of thinking are holistic, even holographic." “The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.” — attributed to Niels Bohr Put another way: perhaps paradox is itself a gift, a reminder that there's more to our minds (and our capacity to know and to understand) than the limitations imposed by language and linear thought. Perhaps when we try to make sense of how to hold a paradox like Valentine's Day falling on Ash Wednesday gently and authentically, we are invited into a place of deeper and higher knowing — and the portal to that place is not logic or language but simply silence. Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Jan Richardson, Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons Niels Bohr, Niels Bohr: His Life and Work Nicholas of Cusa, Selected Spiritual Writings Marvin C. Shaw, The Paradox of Intention Lao Tzu, Tao te Ching Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself" Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out Leonard Cohen, "Anthem" Pope Francis, The Hope of Lent T. S. Eliot, "Ash Wednesday" Carl McColman, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism Another poem we didn't mention in the podcast, but that deserves a shout out here, is Walter Brueggemann's "Marked by Ashes" (from his book Prayers for a Privileged People). Also check out Thomas Merton's thoughts on paradox in The Sign of Jonas... Like the prophet Jonas, whom God ordered to go to Nineveh, I found myself with an almost uncontrollable desire to go in the opposite direction. God pointed one way and all my "ideals" pointed in the other. It was when Jonas was traveling as fast as he could away from Nineveh, toward Tharsis, that he was thrown overboard, and swallowed by a whale who took him where God wanted him to go...But I feel that my own life is especially sealed with this great sign, which baptism and monastic profession and priestly ordination have burned into the roots of my being, because like Jonas himself I find myself traveling toward my destiny in the belly of a paradox. — Thomas Merton Episode 10: Silence & Paradox: Ash Wednesday & Valentine's Day Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Kevin Johnson and Carl McColman Date Recorded: February 9, 2018 Header Photo by Cathal Mac an Bheatha on Unsplash
Who are your "silence heroes" — persons, living or dead, famous or obscure, who inspired or mentored or otherwise encouraged your encounter, and/or ongoing relationship, with silence? This is the question that the three co-hosts of this podcast explore in this episode. Cassidy, Carl and Kevin talk about the spiritual leaders, mystics, poets, writers, and other key figures who have helped us to "meet" silence more fully in our lives. When you really meet silence, when you really encounter silence, it reminds you that you're good enough, as is — whatever you're doing, whoever you are, it reminds you that you're good enough, because it is a place of love, it is a place of self-encounter, it is a place of the encounter of the Divine, of God. — Cassidy Hall We talk about how our silence heroes inspire us — how they encourage us to love, to embrace nature, to write and enjoy poetry, to be sacred nonconformists, to preserve stillness, teach us how to talk about silence (or how to be silent with silence!), give us both theoretical and practical approaches to silence — all the while using their lyrical and poetic voices to encourage us to be, likewise, the "poets of our own lives" — lives in which silence "allows our own selves to actually come forward and speak." We are all poets of our own lives and silence allows our own selves to actually come forward and speak. — Kevin Johnson Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Thomas Merton, Day of a Stranger Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems Sara Maitland, A Book of Silence Martin Laird, Into the Silent Land Elias Marechal, Tears of an Innocent God Maggie Ross, Silence, Volume 1: Process Maggie Ross, Silence, Volume 2: Application Maggie Ross, Seasons of Death and Life: A Wilderness Memoir Rowan Williams, Silence and Honey Cakes Desert Fathers and Mothers, The Wisdom of the Desert (edited by Thomas Merton) Thomas Merton, Love and Living Walt Whitman, The Complete Poems Paul Tillich, The Courage to Be Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable Thomas Merton, The Literary Essays of Thomas Merton J. K. Rowling, The Harry Potter Collection At one point Carl mentions Martin Thornton when he's actually talking about Martin Laird, so in all fairness to his Freudian slip, here's a book worth reading from that author: Martin Thornton, Christian Proficiency Silence is the tomb of Christ — a place of infinite possibility. — A Monk of New Melleray Abbey Kevin Johnson is a university professor, writer, speaker, and retreat leader based in Connecticut. Cassidy Hall is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Carl McColman is an author, catechist, and retreat leader based in Atlanta. For language to be sane, it needs to be suffused with silence; and for silence to be accessible, it needs to be held in language... to be a human being who wishes to enter deeply into the cave of silence, our sherpa will be language. — Carl McColman Episode 6: Our Silence Heroes Hosted by: Kevin Johnson With: Cassidy Hall and Carl McColman Date Recorded: November 13, 2017
Who are your "silence heroes" — persons, living or dead, famous or obscure, who inspired or mentored or otherwise encouraged your encounter, and/or ongoing relationship, with silence? This is the question that the three co-hosts of this podcast explore in this episode. Cassidy, Carl and Kevin talk about the spiritual leaders, mystics, poets, writers, and other key figures who have helped us to "meet" silence more fully in our lives. When you really meet silence, when you really encounter silence, it reminds you that you're good enough, as is — whatever you're doing, whoever you are, it reminds you that you're good enough, because it is a place of love, it is a place of self-encounter, it is a place of the encounter of the Divine, of God. — Cassidy Hall We talk about how our silence heroes inspire us — how they encourage us to love, to embrace nature, to write and enjoy poetry, to be sacred nonconformists, to preserve stillness, teach us how to talk about silence (or how to be silent with silence!), give us both theoretical and practical approaches to silence — all the while using their lyrical and poetic voices to encourage us to be, likewise, the "poets of our own lives" — lives in which silence "allows our own selves to actually come forward and speak." We are all poets of our own lives and silence allows our own selves to actually come forward and speak. — Kevin Johnson Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Thomas Merton, Day of a Stranger Mary Oliver, Devotions: The Selected Poems Sara Maitland, A Book of Silence Martin Laird, Into the Silent Land Elias Marechal, Tears of an Innocent God Maggie Ross, Silence, Volume 1: Process Maggie Ross, Silence, Volume 2: Application Maggie Ross, Seasons of Death and Life: A Wilderness Memoir Rowan Williams, Silence and Honey Cakes Desert Fathers and Mothers, The Wisdom of the Desert (edited by Thomas Merton) Thomas Merton, Love and Living Walt Whitman, The Complete Poems Paul Tillich, The Courage to Be Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable Thomas Merton, The Literary Essays of Thomas Merton J. K. Rowling, The Harry Potter Collection At one point Carl mentions Martin Thornton when he's actually talking about Martin Laird, so in all fairness to his Freudian slip, here's a book worth reading from that author: Martin Thornton, Christian Proficiency Silence is the tomb of Christ — a place of infinite possibility. — A Monk of New Melleray Abbey Kevin Johnson is a university professor, writer, speaker, and retreat leader based in Connecticut. Cassidy Hall is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Carl McColman is an author, catechist, and retreat leader based in Atlanta. For language to be sane, it needs to be suffused with silence; and for silence to be accessible, it needs to be held in language... to be a human being who wishes to enter deeply into the cave of silence, our sherpa will be language. — Carl McColman Episode 6: Our Silence Heroes Hosted by: Kevin Johnson With: Cassidy Hall and Carl McColman Date Recorded: November 13, 2017
Continuing the conversation that began with Episodes 1 and 2, we now turn to the question of how our relationship to silence can evolve over time. We take a closer look at how encountering silence has nurtured our faith in God — and how monasteries, churches, museums, the wilderness, and even a documentary film has played a role in our lives as each of us has "pursued" silence (or, perhaps we should say, how silence has pursued us). We explore how silence has been a teacher to each of us, teaching us the ways of silence, teaching us to simply "let silence be" and approach it in a spirit of humility and openness. We discuss the limitations of academic scholarship (at least in terms of relating to silence), the challenge of moving beyond dualisting thinking when relating to silence, and how essential art and poetry have been to us when it comes to our evolving relationship with silence — and our shared recognition that there is a deep intimacy between silence and beauty. We also look at silence as the center around which aesthetics, theology, and liturgy all revolve — each points back to the silence, which in turn "hosts" each of these ways of human knowing and expression. Silence for me has always been wrapped up with the question of the Divine. — Kevin Johnson It's so interesting to engage with a material that is not a material. It's like clothing a bodiless body. you can't do it, but we're forever trying. That's why this keeps constantly pointing me back to God because it's another aspect of my life that certainty always fails me. It's in the unknowing that I know. It's in my extreme amount of doubt that my faith is. It's the tension pieces, the paradox pieces. — Cassidy Hall Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Patrick Shen (director), In Pursuit of Silence (Documentary Film) Tilden Edwards, Embracing the Call to Spiritual Depth Gerald G. May, Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology Martin Laird, Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Christian Practice of Contemplation Elias Marechal, Tears of An Innocent God: Conversations on Silence, Kindness and Prayer Alex Lu, Soundtrack for In Pursuit of Silence Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke, 1892-1910 Hans Urs Von Balthazar, The Glory of the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics Karl Rahner, Encounters with Silence Bernard McGinn, ed., The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer Christian Bobin, The Eighth Day: Selected Writings Carl quotes Acts 17:28: "In Him we live and move and have our being" — which comes from a sermon of Saint Paul, who in turn is quoting the pagan poet Epimenides. The words are printed on the page just as the space between the ink is the page. It's all the page. There is a real presence of silence in the most ear-splitting noise. — Carl McColman Kevin Johnson is a university professor, writer, speaker, and retreat leader based in Connecticut. Cassidy Hall is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Carl McColman is an author, catechist, and retreat leader based in Atlanta. Episode 4: Encountering Silence As Adults Hosted by: Carl McColman With: Cassidy Hall and Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: October 23, 2017
The Holiday Season can be joyful and/or stressful, which means this is a time when silence remains as important as ever. Join us for this special episode where Cassidy, Kevin and Carl talk about how we nurture a contemplative dimension to our holiday experience, without getting moralistic or legalistic about silence, but also retaining a sense of just how vital silence is to us at this time of the year. In this episode, we explore how silence is devalued in our culture (and why we need to resist that cultural prejudice), the relationship between silence and intentionality, how "letting go" is a portal into silence, the danger of "the materialism of information," how the spiritual concept of incarnation takes us outside of our comfort zone, how the body is our best friend for surviving the holidays, and much more. When we name silence, we lose it... As soon as we touch the word urgency to the lips of silence, we lose a sincere intimacy. So how do we maintain silence as urgent and important in our lives without making it legalistic, or precisely what it isn't? — Cassidy Hall Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Marvin C. Shaw, The Paradox of Intention Thomas Merton, Literary Essays Ernest Wood, A Zen Dictionary Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching Caryll Houselander, The Reed of God Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness Gerald May, Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel Meister Eckhart, The Complete Mystical Works The Zen Proverb ("Quit Trying; Quit Trying Not to Try; Quit Quitting") shows up in: Carl McColman, Answering the Contemplative Call And one more book that this episode makes us think of: David Bentley Hart, The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss You actually have to stop trying... if you attempt to be silent, if you make it an urgent goal, well then you never get there, silence never actually comes, there has to be kind of a letting go. — Kevin Johnson Kevin Johnson is a university professor, writer, speaker, and retreat leader based in Connecticut. Cassidy Hall is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Carl McColman is an author, catechist, and retreat leader based in Atlanta. Episode 3: Encountering Silence During the Holidays Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Kevin Johnson and Carl McColman Date Recorded: December 19, 2017 Note: our next episode will be released on or about January 3, 2018. In the meantime, we wish you a merry Christmas (or the joyful observance of the holiday of your tradition) and a very happy new year.
How do we encounter silence in our teen years? Alone, or with others? In the woods, or at a church? With a sense of ecstasy, or perhaps even a healthy dose of "adolescent angst"? In this episode we continue the conversation about "meeting" silence in the days of our youth, this week focusing on our adolescence. Like in the previous episode, such encounters carry a variety of meanings and invitations into deeper reflection, including: The relationship between silence, nature, solitude, and spirit (Spirit); How silence can emerge out of even a noisy time in one's life; How silence transcends religion and spirituality to be a universal gift; How silence can meet us even in unintended ways and settings; The surprising way silence comes to us in mystical ways — and how even the most exalted mystical "experience" seems to carry its own challenges or difficulties; Pondering the relationship between silence and questions. I was immediately filled with questions, and I was immediately filled with, 'Why? What did I just do? Why did I do it?' and looking back upon that, to me, that was God in that experience — the questions; because I've always been a curious person, because God was in that mystery and the silence and the loneliness of that moment. — Cassidy Hall Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine Carl McColman, The Aspiring Mystic: Practical Steps for Spiritual Seekers Some of the albums Carl loved as a teenager include: Elton John, Greatest Hits Emerson Lake & Palmer, Self-Titled Genesis, Foxtrot Renaissance, Ashes Are Burning Yes, Tales From Topographic Oceans And while we didn't mention them in this episode, our favorite monastic author and favorite documentary on silence always deserve a shout out: Thomas Merton, Dialogues with Silence Patrick Shen (director), In Pursuit of Silence It's beyond words, there's no way to describe this, but it really did make me feel that the world was a lot weirder than I thought it was, for the very first time, and I realized that my categories didn't make sense... — Kevin Johnson Photo by Cassidy Hall Kevin Johnson is a university professor, writer, speaker, and retreat leader based in Connecticut. Cassidy Hall is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Carl McColman is an author, catechist, and retreat leader based in Atlanta. Episode 2: Encountering Silence In Adolescence Hosted by: Kevin Johnson With: Cassidy Hall and Carl McColman Date Recorded: October 10, 2017
How do we encounter silence in our teen years? Alone, or with others? In the woods, or at a church? With a sense of ecstasy, or perhaps even a healthy dose of "adolescent angst"? In this episode we continue the conversation about "meeting" silence in the days of our youth, this week focusing on our adolescence. Like in the previous episode, such encounters carry a variety of meanings and invitations into deeper reflection, including: The relationship between silence, nature, solitude, and spirit (Spirit); How silence can emerge out of even a noisy time in one's life; How silence transcends religion and spirituality to be a universal gift; How silence can meet us even in unintended ways and settings; The surprising way silence comes to us in mystical ways — and how even the most exalted mystical "experience" seems to carry its own challenges or difficulties; Pondering the relationship between silence and questions. I was immediately filled with questions, and I was immediately filled with, 'Why? What did I just do? Why did I do it?' and looking back upon that, to me, that was God in that experience — the questions; because I've always been a curious person, because God was in that mystery and the silence and the loneliness of that moment. — Cassidy Hall Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: Augustine, The Confessions of Saint Augustine Carl McColman, The Aspiring Mystic: Practical Steps for Spiritual Seekers Some of the albums Carl loved as a teenager include: Elton John, Greatest Hits Emerson Lake & Palmer, Self-Titled Genesis, Foxtrot Renaissance, Ashes Are Burning Yes, Tales From Topographic Oceans And while we didn't mention them in this episode, our favorite monastic author and favorite documentary on silence always deserve a shout out: Thomas Merton, Dialogues with Silence Patrick Shen (director), In Pursuit of Silence It's beyond words, there's no way to describe this, but it really did make me feel that the world was a lot weirder than I thought it was, for the very first time, and I realized that my categories didn't make sense... — Kevin Johnson Photo by Cassidy Hall Kevin Johnson is a university professor, writer, speaker, and retreat leader based in Connecticut. Cassidy Hall is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Carl McColman is an author, catechist, and retreat leader based in Atlanta. Episode 2: Encountering Silence In Adolescence Hosted by: Kevin Johnson With: Cassidy Hall and Carl McColman Date Recorded: October 10, 2017
What do you remember about encountering silence in your childhood? In this episode we explore our first memories of "meeting" silence in childhood, moments in time where, whether in solitude or with others, whether near or far from home, whether shaped by emotional confusion or a sense of simply being present, something graced and mysterious intruded upon our awareness and brought us face to face, not only with the beauty of silence, but also with the mystery of our own deepest and truest selves. From a lakeside in Virginia, to a Connecticut playground, to a prairie in Iowa, each of our memories involves being out-of-doors. And each of us struggles to put into words what ultimately seems to remain elusive, beyond what language can contain. I all of a sudden felt extremely safe, completely at home, and there was a sense of I was much bigger than my body, that like somehow I was more than what I thought I was, and... I guess the word is 'presence,' a sense of that I just felt very — that there was something, there was more there than me. — Kevin Johnson As our conversation weaves in and around our shared, remembered moments of encounter, we talk about what it means to be present in our bodies, a sense of timelessness or eternity that sometimes seems to accompany the encounter with silence, and the dance of deep feeling, "not-knowing," and longing that shaped our most profound moments of silence — even at a very early age. Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: e. e. cummings, "A Poet's Advice to Students" in A Miscellany (Revised) The Desert Fathers and Mothers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Helen Lees, Silence in Schools C. S. Lewis, "Afterward' in The Pilgrim's Regress Gerald May, Addiction and Grace Gerald May, Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology Patrick Shen (director), In Pursuit of Silence documentary film Margery (aka "Carl's cat") Kevin Johnson is a university professor, writer, speaker, and retreat leader based in Connecticut. Cassidy Hall is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Carl McColman is an author, catechist, and retreat leader based in Atlanta. Episode 1: Encountering Silence in Childhood Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Carl McColman and Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: October 2, 2017
What do you remember about encountering silence in your childhood? In this episode we explore our first memories of "meeting" silence in childhood, moments in time where, whether in solitude or with others, whether near or far from home, whether shaped by emotional confusion or a sense of simply being present, something graced and mysterious intruded upon our awareness and brought us face to face, not only with the beauty of silence, but also with the mystery of our own deepest and truest selves. From a lakeside in Virginia, to a Connecticut playground, to a prairie in Iowa, each of our memories involves being out-of-doors. And each of us struggles to put into words what ultimately seems to remain elusive, beyond what language can contain. I all of a sudden felt extremely safe, completely at home, and there was a sense of I was much bigger than my body, that like somehow I was more than what I thought I was, and... I guess the word is 'presence,' a sense of that I just felt very — that there was something, there was more there than me. — Kevin Johnson As our conversation weaves in and around our shared, remembered moments of encounter, we talk about what it means to be present in our bodies, a sense of timelessness or eternity that sometimes seems to accompany the encounter with silence, and the dance of deep feeling, "not-knowing," and longing that shaped our most profound moments of silence — even at a very early age. Some of the resources and authors we mention in this episode: e. e. cummings, "A Poet's Advice to Students" in A Miscellany (Revised) The Desert Fathers and Mothers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Helen Lees, Silence in Schools C. S. Lewis, "Afterward' in The Pilgrim's Regress Gerald May, Addiction and Grace Gerald May, Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology Patrick Shen (director), In Pursuit of Silence documentary film Margery (aka "Carl's cat") Kevin Johnson is a university professor, writer, speaker, and retreat leader based in Connecticut. Cassidy Hall is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Carl McColman is an author, catechist, and retreat leader based in Atlanta. Episode 1: Encountering Silence in Childhood Hosted by: Cassidy Hall With: Carl McColman and Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: October 2, 2017
Meet Kevin Johnson, Cassidy Hall, and Carl McColman. We are the hosts and co-creators of Encountering Silence. This podcast emerged from our friendship, the friendship of three people with a shared interest in the many important ways silence makes a difference our lives — looking at silence in terms of spirituality, of health, of art and aesthetics, of psychology and wisdom. Silence matters, and yet it is a difficult topic to talk about, let alone to deeply and truly understand. We realize that "talking about silence" is paradoxical, and yet we think it's also vital, especially given how increasingly noisy our society is. We hope that this pilot episode represents the first few words in an ongoing conversation about what silence is, why silence matters, and how we can all learn to encounter silence more truly and deeply. Some of the resources we mention in this episode: Martin Buber, I and Thou Audre Lorde, Your Silence Will Not Protect You Jean-Luc Marion, God Without Being Thomas Merton, Selected Essays Maggie Ross, Silence: A User's Guide, Volume 2: Application Patrick Shen (director), In Pursuit of Silence documentary film Our dream for this podcast is to make connections — with people everywhere who love silence, who seek more silence in our lives, who wish to understand and appreciate more fully and be able to speak of the gift of silence in our lives more beautifully. We hope you will connect with us, not only by subscribing to the podcast through iTunes or Google Play, but also by connecting with us via our Facebook Page or Twitter. Thank you. Kevin Johnson is a university professor, writer, speaker, and retreat leader based on the Connecticut shoreline. Cassidy Hall is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Carl McColman is a contemplative author, speaker, retreat leader, and spiritual companion based in Atlanta. Carl, Cassidy, and Kevin (photo by Fran McColman) Episode 0: Pilot Episode Hosted by: Carl McColman With: Cassidy Hall and Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: September 25, 2017
Meet Kevin Johnson, Cassidy Hall, and Carl McColman. We are the hosts and co-creators of Encountering Silence. This podcast emerged from our friendship, the friendship of three people with a shared interest in the many important ways silence makes a difference our lives — looking at silence in terms of spirituality, of health, of art and aesthetics, of psychology and wisdom. Silence matters, and yet it is a difficult topic to talk about, let alone to deeply and truly understand. We realize that "talking about silence" is paradoxical, and yet we think it's also vital, especially given how increasingly noisy our society is. We hope that this pilot episode represents the first few words in an ongoing conversation about what silence is, why silence matters, and how we can all learn to encounter silence more truly and deeply. Some of the resources we mention in this episode: Martin Buber, I and Thou Audre Lorde, Your Silence Will Not Protect You Jean-Luc Marion, God Without Being Thomas Merton, Selected Essays Maggie Ross, Silence: A User's Guide, Volume 2: Application Patrick Shen (director), In Pursuit of Silence documentary film Our dream for this podcast is to make connections — with people everywhere who love silence, who seek more silence in our lives, who wish to understand and appreciate more fully and be able to speak of the gift of silence in our lives more beautifully. We hope you will connect with us, not only by subscribing to the podcast through iTunes or Google Play, but also by connecting with us via our Facebook Page or Twitter. Thank you. Kevin Johnson is a university professor, writer, speaker, and retreat leader based on the Connecticut shoreline. Cassidy Hall is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Carl McColman is a contemplative author, speaker, retreat leader, and spiritual companion based in Atlanta. Carl, Cassidy, and Kevin (photo by Fran McColman) Episode 0: Pilot Episode Hosted by: Carl McColman With: Cassidy Hall and Kevin Johnson Date Recorded: September 25, 2017
Coming Soon: A Podcast on All Things Silence. This little snippet of audio bliss comes from the very first day that the Encountering Silence team — Cassidy Hall, Kevin Johnson, and Carl McColman — actually recorded what would become our "pilot episode" (scheduled to be released next month, December 2017). Here we are still finding our way around our respective microphones, and discovering our collective "voice" as the hosts of our new podcast. This may not tell you a lot about the content of our podcast — for that, let's just say if it has something to do with silence, sooner or later we hope to explore it — but this will, we hope, give you a glimpse into our process — as co-explorers of silence, and perhaps even more important, as friends. What can we say about our podcast? We are drawn to the mystery and spirituality of silence. We believe silence is beautiful, is peaceful, is conducive (and indeed essential) to both mental and physical health, and has an important role to play in our individual and communal search for meaning, for identity, for relationship, and even for love. We are all Christians (2 Catholics and 1 Episcopalian), so we also believe that silence helps us to respond to God, and indeed that silence is a gift from God. But this podcast is not just a "Christian" or even "religious" podcast: we are all drawn to interfaith dialogue and interspirituality, to mysticism and contemplation, to art and poetry, to the silence of the forest and of the library, the silence of the cathedral and the desert, the silence of a winter night and a sleeping child. Silence touches our lives in so many ways, and yet we live in a culture that has seemed to banish silence from so many corners of our life. What does that mean? And how will the increasing noisiness of our world impact our lives: our sense of serenity, our ability to listen to one another, our sense of purpose and identity and self-worth? So many questions, so many areas for exploration and discovery. If any of this resonates with you, we hope that you will join us — let us be together, for we all are Encountering Silence.
‘What Richard Foster and Dallas Willard were to my generation – prime tour guides to the spiritual life – I hope and believe Carl McColman will be for the next generation. If you don’t know about him and his work, you should.' - Brian D. McLaren Have you ever had a dream that shook you to your core? Or been given a book at the exact time you needed it? I know I have and if either of those ring true for you, you will raise your pint glass and cheer with what your ears are hearing from my guest today, Carl McColman. Carl McColman is an author, blogger, speaker and Lay Cistercian. Carl also has a contagious laugh. I’m sure you’ll hear my own laughter deepen and extend with each one of Carl’s delightful guffaws. But back to Carl’s work...Carl has written numerous books including Christian Mystics: 108 Seers, Saints and Sages, Befriending Silence, Answering the Contemplative Call and The Big Book of Christian Mysticism. You can also find his writing on Patheos, in The Huffington Post, and Contemplative Journal. In our conversation here, Carl and I dive into the various meanings of the word ‘contemplative’, how a dream at the age of 18 inspired a friend to give him a copy of Evelyn Underhill’s classic book Mysticism, how his image of the Divine changed and deepened in the midst of loss, and the humbling and difficult work of loving our enemies. You can learn more about Carl at carlmccolman.net. Twitter: @CarlMcColman Facebook: @CarlMcColman
Sixth Container of Love: Mystics Carl McColman is Lay Cistercian affiliated with the Trappist Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia. He is the author of many books, including Answering the Contemplative Call, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism, and Befriending Silence. You've heard Carl on the show many times. Today, he joins us to dive into his newest book, Christian Mystics: 108 Seers, Saints, and Sages. We won't get to 108! But I hope to talk about a few heretics I love: Marguerite Porete, Jakob Boehme, and Teilhard de Chardin.
Weekly JourneywithJesus.net postings, read by Dan Clendenin. Essay by Debie Thomas: *This Place, Deep Water* for Sunday, 8 January 2017; book review by Debie Thomas: *The Big Book of Christian Mysticism: The Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality* by Carl McColman (2010); film review by Dan Clendenin: *Gorongosa Park: Rebirth of Paradise* (2015); poem selected by Dan Clendenin: *Epiphany Poem* by George Mackay Brown.
Big Question: How can I open to possibility? Carl McColman is a member of the Lay Cistercians of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit, a contemplative community in Georgia under the spiritual guidance of Trappist monks. What can Cistercian wisdom, the practice of Thomas Merton and Thomas Keating, offer us in our quest to “open to possibility?” Can humility, silence, compassion, and contemplation—the prayer of the heart—feed us amidst all the commotion in our crazy, busy lives?
We revisit our 2013 interview with Christian contemplative, Carl McColman. We talk about his spiritual journey, and his work writing about the mystical tradition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Carl McColman is with us to discuss the hidden dimension of the Divine Feminine within Christian mysticism along with a perfect example of this in the personage of Julian of Norwich, Medieval Mystic, who wrote about the motherhood of God following a mystical vision she experienced in the year 1373. We'll delve into why it's important mainstream Christians excavate this tradition of the Divine Feminine in their own history, both as a way of fostering positive relations between mainstream Christians and practioners of Goddess-centered paths, as well as in the interest of deconstructing the unhealthy patriarchy that continues to plague the mainstream church. In the second half of the show, Vrinda Puja, teacher on the Vedic influences on humanistic psychology, healing and social sciences and other Western disciplines, who has written on the need to bring Integral Yoga and Vedic principles into education, leadership and parenting so we might generate compassion for positive transformation in society discusses with me Goddesses Mothering Women, Goddess Mothern Women Wisdom Leaders and our Goddesses and Women Mothering Peace on Earth.
What is a mystic? Who is a mystic? Can we define mysticism? According to Carl McColman, perhaps not! Mysticism, you see, is a paradox. (But of course. Why are we surprised? Isn't the divine always hiding in paradox?) In his book, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism, Carl McColman helps us hear the call from the mystics to live a contemplative life, enter the mystery, and engage in “prayer beyond words.”
Carl McColman opens up the symbolism of Narnia and this "Voyage" to new depths of insight in "The Lion, the Mouse and the Dawn Treader", showing how the entire Christian life-journey is revealed. He writes to inspire Christians - meeting in groups, or families at home in the living room--that God wants us to be fearless, honorable, and faithful as Reepicheep, and that this is a quest that has no ending.
Carl McColman opens up the symbolism of Narnia and this "Voyage" to new depths of insight in "The Lion, the Mouse and the Dawn Treader", showing how the entire Christian life-journey is revealed. He writes to inspire Christians - meeting in groups, or families at home in the living room--that God wants us to be fearless, honorable, and faithful as Reepicheep, and that this is a quest that has no ending.
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