Letter from Cynthia Bourgeault: I am very grateful to Joseph Azize for his willingness to make five of the Gurdjieff exercises available to us within the cyber confines of our Wisdom School Community. These exercises are powerful tools of healing, cleansing, and clarity, and even when practiced individually or in small groups, they have the power to significantly shift our present planetary atmosphere. They are something you can actually DO: to steady yourself and ready yours

I write to fellow travelers, who, like me, are wending their way into the living heart of silence…to women and men of all ages from far and wide, who are drawn to an inner stability that is not subject to the tempest of these times…  to those opening their lives to a creative force awaiting expression just behind chaos and disturbance.  I offer a few stories (out of untold myriads that could be highlighted) about ways an abiding ocean of latent potential, born in silence, fol

“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”   “…Thou shalt not be tempested, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be distressed; …Thou shalt not be overcome.”     Julian of Norwich from Revelations of Divine Love.   A May 2025 online retreat with Heather Ruce is offered by TCS in this newsletter.   Silence, Presence, Creativity by Barbara Cecil     I write to fellow travelers, who, like me, are wending their way into the living hea

As spring approaches, Lent invites us to take a reflective journey. In these forty days before Easter, we’re encouraged to pause, shed layers, and renew ourselves. Beyond fasting, Lent is a time to think about our faith, compassion, and connection to others. In this newsletter, we are pleased to share a  new E-Course  to support your journey through Lent and Holy Week. This E-Course was developed from a retreat facilited by  Heather Ruce  titled  Holy Week Wisdom Teachings: A

Joyful blessings, fellow contemplatives. Offered in this newsletter: +  A new reflection by Paula Pryce . +  A TCS online retreat with Justin Coutts , held on February 22, 2025. + Links to access  TCS’s newest video  on: “Christian Contemplation”. +  A ‘Quiet Day’ , an in-person community retreat held on March 08, 2025. And more!   Home by Another Way: Trusting the Dark Journey of the Non-Sensorial  by Paula Pryce   If you are searching,you must not stop until you find.     

– Augsburger Wunderzeichenbuch, 16th c.  “If you are searching, you must not stop until you find. When you find, however, you will become troubled. Your confusion will give way to wonder. In wonder you will reign over all things. Your sovereignty will be your rest.” – The Gospel of Thomas, Logion 2 If you are searching, you must not stop until you find:   The Child slept in timothy and alfalfa, shining with earthy brilliance – more luminous even than the blazing star that had

New Year 2025 blessings, contemplative companions. A February 2025 online retreat with Justin Coutts is offered by TCS in this newsletter.   “The Gate of Heaven is Everywhere” ~ Thomas Merton by Barbara Cecil (Dedicated to the young people who are inheriting the world we have created.) I was touched by how Heather Ruce opened the daily Pause of meditation and Centering Prayer earlier this month. She spoke of a great wave surrounding us, permeating us, which is itself the flow

“The Gate of Heaven is Everywhere” ~ Thomas Merton   (Dedicated to the young people who are inheriting the world we have created.) I was touched by how Heather Ruce opened the daily Pause of meditation and Centering Prayer earlier this month.  She spoke of a great wave surrounding us, permeating us, which is itself the flow of God. The name God is shorthand (a nickname) for this unfathomable, ever-present, source of love.  More and more, as the disconnected world we have cons

Advent, with dragons by Paula Pryce "A most cruel and horrible dragon issued forth . . .  of various colours, with a beard and hair that seemed of gold, and teeth that seemed of iron, eyes sharp and brilliant as kindled flame." – The Legend of St. Margaret of Antioch Dragons curling, twisting, encroaching.  Many have said that this Advent feels different.  The soft hopefulness diminished, the growing light muted.  Instead a cavern of tangled serpents seems to be at our feet.

"A most cruel and horrible dragon issued forth . . .  of various colours, with a beard and hair that seemed of gold, and teeth that seemed of iron, eyes sharp and brilliant as kindled flame." – The Legend of St. Margaret of Antioch   Dragons curling, twisting, encroaching.  Many have said that this Advent feels different. The soft hopefulness diminished, the growing light muted. Instead a cavern of tangled serpents seems to be at our feet.  A roiling world with dragons all ar

Holdfast. As a kid, I used to love finding seaweed on the beach after a big storm. We would wield short strands of kelp like clubs in mock fights, twirl the long ones above our heads so they’d whistle in the wind, and pop the little air-and-slime-filled bladders. Once in a while we’d even find a root-like holdfast. Holdfasts. Such a lovely name; such an unglamorous appearance. By the time a holdfast shows up on the beach, it is dead: brittle and broken, a woody knot no longer

As a kid, I used to love finding seaweed on the beach after a big storm. We would wield short strands of kelp like clubs in mock fights, twirl the long ones above our heads so they’d whistle in the wind, and pop the little air-and-slime-filled bladders. Once in a while we’d even find a root-like holdfast. Holdfasts. Such a lovely name; such an unglamorous appearance. By the time a holdfast shows up on the beach, it is dead: brittle and broken, a woody knot no longer holding f

Autumn greetings, contemplatives. Here I am, as I am.  We came, physically, from across western Canada. We came, virtually, from Texas and North Carolina and Quebec and North Carolina and Ontario and Washington and Illinois and Maryland and New York and Ohio and Alberta. We showed up with rescue dogs and gardening tools; we showed up from kitchens and studies and the top of a windy Alberta park, wearing a warm toque. In this world, as it is.  We came with grief over deaths an

SUMMER SPECIAL: Use the coupon code, 38T6TM3P, to receive a 20% discount on all TCS store purchases from August 01st to September 02nd, 2024.   August 2024 Newsletter content August Greetings from The Contemplative Society!  We wanted to get this newsletter to you early in the month so that you still have time to register for our upcoming September 2024 retreat with Heather Ruce.   Please note that the registration deadline is August 31 and we are also organizing a rideshare

“There is a great difference between comprehending the knowledge of things and tasting the hidden life of them.” Quaker mystic Isaac Pennington Summer greetings from the Contemplative Society!  This newsletter features a personal invitation from Heather Ruce to join our upcoming Wisdom School in Sorrento BC from September 8-12, 2024.  Since the earlybird deadline for registration is fast approaching, we hope you will find this a timely reminder and inspiration to click on the

Welcome to June, the month of warmer temperatures and longer days! Summer in the Western Hemisphere is a season that most of us still like to celebrate despite the ever-present reality of wildfires aate warming.  In many ways, the time we are living in seems anything but ‘ordinary’. But for those who follow the Christian liturgical calendar this season is indeed known as  Ordinary Time . The word ‘ordinary’ in this context originated with the ‘ordinal numbers’ used to count t

Many blessings on this last day of May! In this newsletter we share several events being hosted in our contemplative community in the coming months. This includes a  Summer Centering Prayer Intensive  at Providence Renewal Centre, a  National Conference Retreat: From Anxiety to Peace  at UBC Vancouver, and a  Contemplative Retreat: Coming Home to Divine Light in Dark Times  at Sorrento Centre. Find out more below! Blessings, Tabitha Black-Lock The Contemplative Society Summer

– photo by George Meier Our hands imbibe like roots, So I place them on what is beautiful in this world. And I fold them in prayer, And they draw from the heavens light. – St. Francis of Assisi, as interpreted by David Ladinsky As the forest fires burned a few kilometres away last summer, as dams broke around the world, wars escalated and political rhetoric sharpened, I struggled to find a quiet heart. My practice — reading, scripture, meditation, prayer — was hard to maintai

As Lent nears its end and Easter approaches, we find ourselves amidst a journey of spiritual growth and reflection. During this time, we reflect on the significance of this transition, embracing the lessons learned during Lent and anticipating the joyous celebration of Easter. In this newsletter, we are excited to accounce a few upcoming events.  On April 20,  we will be hosting  The Faces of Mary: An Online Retreat  with Rev. Matthew Wright.  Matthew will lead us on a journe

– photo by Daria-Yakovleva “Do not neglect the Forty Days; it constitutes an imitation of Christ’s way of life.”  – Saint Ignatius of Antioch  The Church has begun the Great Fast of Lent, our Forty Days of preparation for the Mysteries of Holy Week, for our entering with Jesus into the journey of death and resurrection. Our participation includes an outer fast – putting less food into our bodies, if our health allows – to help us listen for the Divine. Within the human being