Reflections

Retirement: often lauded as a time to enjoy what we have worked for all our lives, taking trips, cultivating hobbies, and being with friends and family. Many use their freedom for kicking back and pampering, while others take advantage of the extra time to engage in transformational contemplative work. It can be a time of great joy and pleasure, but it’s not always smooth sailing; it can also be a time of great loss, whether of career, health, or loved ones, and often concurr

Our retreat participants are diverse: we serve Christians and SBNRs, young and old, wealthy and financially constrained. You might put yourself in one of these categories, or volunteer your own. But one thing we all have in common is our seeking of contemplative Wisdom and our wish to inject the world with love, as well as the need for  practice opportunities to deepen our journey along this path. Going on retreat allows contemplatives to learn and sink into practice in a saf

I arrived at the Wisdom School on Lake Cowichan both exhausted and depleted. While I am an advocate for self-care, I have found it very difficult to practice sincerely in this all-consuming stage of motherhood that I am currently immersed. I had not attended a retreat since my first child was born almost five years ago, despite the fact that retreat was the bedrock of my spiritual practice. Retreat was where I found sustenance, insight, and communion with God – quite simply

You might not recognise her name, but without her, The Contemplative Society wouldn’t exist. You might not have access to audio teachings, Wisdom Schools, or a community of contemplatives to reach out to for support. When hearing the name “Cynthia Bourgeault,” you might respond, “Cynthia who?” Or worse, you wouldn’t hear the name at all. But rather than entertaining those dark thoughts, we get to celebrate! And the person who deserves our praise and gratitude was Margaret Hai

“ WHUR WE COME FROM… “ ~ Br. Raphael Robin “Teachers of contemplative Christianity, who acknowledged the limitations of human knowledge and the inconstant nature of human sentiment, instead encouraged a commitment to practice. A scripturally grounded commitment to practice and service – rather than a reliance on unsteady belief and feeling – is the fulcrum of contemplative Christianity.” ~ Paula Pryce, The Monk’s Cell From time to time in the unfolding life of a lineage, it b

“Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ~ Exodus 3:5 “ Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamagate …” (“ Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone utterly beyond …”) We used to chant this ancient Hindu chant in our small contemplative circle in Snowmass, Colorado back in the early 1990s, during the “Advaita” phase of our work. I hadn’t thought of it for years, but it suddenly popped back into my mind this morning as the following exchange with a student sudde

Dear Members and Friends, This time of year often propels us into a vast amount of “doing” in an attempt to recreate an atmosphere that might reflect the transcendent mystery celebrated at Christmas. I have recently been reminded that the only doing which can open us to the Hope and Light of this season is the doing of waking, noticing, and trusting the present moment in all its fullness, mystery, and wonder. There is no need to attain anything, all is given and is available

For almost thirty years the standing joke has been, “What enneagram type is Cynthia?” Leading teachers in all the various schools have typed me variously (frequently categorically ) as a Four, Five, or Six. While I can see certain points of congruence (after all, my mom was a Four, my dad a Six, and most of my partners Fives, so I know these types well), none of them really resonated – and more important, none of them really captured my interest. They failed to paint for me a

In the last week of September, The Contemplative Society welcomed Mirabai Starr to Vancouver Island for a retreat entitled “One Heart: Weaving a Tapestry of Inter-spiritual Community” at Cowichan Lake Research Station, a first collaboration between our organization and this renowned author, translator of the Mystics, and speaker. While she is perhaps best known for her memoir  Caravan of No Despair , in which she chronicles her many tales of love, loss, and transformation, w

Arthur Russell’s “The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea” This piece by Cynthia Bourgeault is the seventh in a series beginning with “ A Surprising Ecumenism “, her response to “ Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A Surprising Ecumenism “, an article published by  La Civiltà Cattolica . The second is “ Abortion, Pro-Life, and the Secular State: A Modest Proposal “,   the third is “ When Does Life Begin? “,  the fourth is “ The

This piece by Cynthia Bourgeault is the sixth in a series beginning with “ A Surprising Ecumenism “, her response to “ Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A Surprising Ecumenism “, an article published by  La Civiltà Cattolica . The second is “ Abortion, Pro-Life, and the Secular State: A Modest Proposal “,   the third is “ When Does Life Begin? “,  the fourth is “ The Developmental Soul “, and the fifth is “ Teilhard, the Personal, and the Develop

This piece by Cynthia Bourgeault is the fifth in a series beginning with “ A Surprising Ecumenism “, her response to “ Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A Surprising Ecumenism “, an article published by  La Civiltà Cattolica . The second is “ Abortion, Pro-Life, and the Secular State: A Modest Proposal “,   the third is “ When Does Life Begin? “, and the fourth is “ The Developmental Soul “. But what about Psalm 139? The biggest challenge in wrap

This piece by Cynthia Bourgeault is the fourth in a series beginning with “ A Surprising Ecumenism “, her response to “ Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A Surprising Ecumenism “, an article published by  La Civiltà Cattolica . The second is “ Abortion, Pro-Life, and the Secular State: A Modest Proposal “   and the third is “ When Does Life Begin? “ Essence According to Gurdjieff, the mysterious “X-factor” that enters in the moment of conception

This piece by Cynthia Bourgeault is the third in a series beginning with “ A Surprising Ecumenism “, her response to “ Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A Surprising Ecumenism “, an article published by  La Civiltà Cattolica . The second is “ Abortion, Pro-Life, and the Secular State: A Modest Proposal “. In this third installment of what now looks to be shaping up as five-part series, I hope to bring a Wisdom perspective to that profound liminal

On July 22nd, the Feast Day of St. Mary Magdalene, I drove with a friend out to Metchosin – by my  request, in silence, so as to be quiet and grounded for the day. I was well prepared to lead the Quiet Day with Eileen; well prepared, and a bit nervous. I have organized and attended many retreats and Quiet Days with The Contemplative Society, but this was my first time as a “post holder”.

This piece by Cynthia Bourgeault is the second in a series beginning with “A Surprising Ecumenism“, her response to “Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A Surprising Ecumenism“, an article published by La Civiltà Cattolica.

This is the first post in a series by Cynthia Bourgeault. The second post, “Abortion, Pro-Life, and the Secular State: A Modest Proposal” was posted July 26, 2017 and the third, “When Does Life Begin?”, on August 23, 2017.

Nancy Van Kirk (cellist, artist, and soon-to-be Scot) offers this report on our recent retreat with the Rev. Matthew Wright, student of Cynthia Bourgeault’s and a big hit with all who experience his teaching! Matthew’s retreat was on the topic of the Gospel of Thomas, and Nancy, a recently-joined member of The Contemplative Society, reflects on her experience of Wisdom School and how we came around to opening to the Eye of the Heart. 

Painting by Brian Kershisnik Cynthia Bourgeault has been leading a Lenten e-course from Spirituality & Practice titled, “Becoming Truly Human: Gurdjieff’s Obligolnian Strivings”. As Easter approaches, we offer a brief excerpt of Cynthia’s commentary from that course in the midst of Holy Week. To purchase the entire e-course (available on-demand soon), please visit Spirituality & Practice . The fifth Obligolnian Striving: “the striving always to assist the most rapid perfecti

I watched them disappear this morning into the snowstorm, making their way home through the Maine winter after an extraordinary weekend of prayer, tears and laughter, teaching, stories, and conversation. My tiny, plucky “conscious circle”…how it tugged at my heart to see them go.