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Outreach of The World Community for Christian Meditation

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A Contemplative Christianity for our Time

October 29, 2020 by katecoombs Leave a Comment

A new online course with Rev Dr Sarah Bachelard

This online course is based on five talks with the overarching title “A Contemplative Christianity for Our Time”, given by Sarah Bachelard at the John Main Seminar in 2019. The talks take on the most urgent issues facing not just the future of the Church and Christianity, but also that of the world itself. Sarah’s contribution to the seminar was described by Laurence Freeman OSB as “a breakthrough in the understanding of modern Christianity”.         

Sarah reviews the history of the Christian contemplative tradition, paying particular attention to its revival over the past sixty years. She examines its current place and function in the life of the church. This proves to be a starting point for an even wider and more radical analysis of the role of Christianity in our increasingly secular times – in a world which, in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s words, has come of age. What kind of claim – if any – does the Christian narrative have in such a world, where it seems to have lost not just meaningful authority, but any purchase at all? This is the central question to which Sarah’s talks constantly return her listeners, encouraging us to take nothing for granted, to be ready to surrender our perhaps long-cherished ideas and models of reality which might, however, be no longer valid or effective in the world. Helping us to see through the strategies of both a nostalgic conservatism and a potentially infantilising liberalism, this redefining of contemplative Christianity makes it inspiringly clear that our practice of Christian meditation might just be the great gift of hope that the world now so desperately needs.

To enrol on this course click here. You can take the course at your own pace and in your own time. We wish you all the best and trust that the course will help to deepen your faith and practice.

Filed Under: Courses, Meditatio, Religion Tagged With: frontpage EVENT

The John Main Seminar 2020

June 18, 2020 by katecoombs Leave a Comment

The John Main Seminar 2020 organized by the Community in Mexico will be held online, from 19 (2 pm, Mexico) to 22 October (4 pm, Mexico). This change in plan is just one of the innumerable changes Covid 19 has forced on the world. But the theme of this year’s Seminar is acutely relevant to the crisis we are passing through, something never before confronted by humanity: where and how can we find the wisdom to survive and flourish? ‘One Heart, One Hope – Indigenous wisdom, and the future of humanity‘ will offer ancestral as well as new answers to this question.

The keynote speaker will be Alex Zatyrka SJ, doctor in theology from the University of Innsbruck. He has spent many years with indigenous peoples in Mexico and Bolivia and has learnt their languages. Drawing from their wisdom and together with panelists representing indigenous peoples from three continents, he will help us explore these themes.

Please note that simultaneous translation to Spanish will be provided.


VISIT THE WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER HERE

Filed Under: Announcements, Meditatio, News, Religion Tagged With: EVENT

Seminar on Interfaith Approaches to Palliative Care in Malaysia

July 11, 2018 by Leonardo Correa Leave a Comment

The WCCM Malaysia held a Meditatio Seminar on 9th June entitled Compassionate Presence: Interfaith Approaches to Palliative Care, in Petaling Jaya, with 140 participants, many from the healthcare profession from across the country. A few were from Singapore, India and one from England. It was a unique, uplifting, luminous event. Input sessions were interwoven with music, poetry, song and dance reflecting the rich diversity of Malaysian culture. The talks were by a range of healthcare professionals from the government and private sectors who were both inspiring and inspired by the event.

See more images:

 

Filed Under: Health, Meditatio, News, Religion, Seminar Tagged With: healing, health, interfaith, meditatio, meditation, palliative care, seminar, wccm EVENT HEALTHCARE

Interfaith Meditation for Peace at Manchester Cathedral

July 7, 2018 by Leonardo Correa Leave a Comment

By David McKenna

LISTEN TO THE TALK BY LAURENCE FREEMAN:

Fr. Laurence opened the day with a talk that would warm and open the hearts of many, not just to him as a man with an all-inclusive heart but to the all-inclusive heart of our WCCM community.  All attending were deeply engaged by his presentation of the contemplative approach to reconciliation, peace and healing, in the aftermath of the experience of terrorism experienced in the City of Manchester on May 22, 2017.    

Making reference to the unity of the people of Manchester, Fr. Laurence celebrated their strength of spirit as he showed how the contemplative way could be a common path toward interfaith understanding and appreciation. This involves more than merely responding with tolerance as we encounter the diversity of expression, worship, beliefs and approaches to God and the Divine. Rather, the contemplative dimension calls us to learn from one another about the actual richness and expansiveness of each of our traditions and of God, thereby transforming consciousness. He described how contemplation encourages us to continually re-affirm the positiveness of human nature and the world, rather than to hold onto destructive negativity, as we are tempted to do in the aftermath of tragedy and crisis.  

The stillness in the Cathedral grew evermore as Fr. Laurence continued to unfold the way of contemplative practice, identifying the common characteristics among worlds differing traditions, specifically the need for a sacred space, entry into stillness and silence, being in the present moment, and the practice of a mantra or a sacred word. Just as quietly, naturally so, the 160 individuals in the Cathedral entered into meditation, creating a common silence together.  After a short period of sharing over refreshments, Joanne Caine, WCCM Regional Coordinator for North Manchester and Lancashire, introduced a period of ecumenical prayers and words of wisdom, after which Rabbi Warren Elf offered his summary of the commitment of the Faith Network for Manchester to interfaith understanding.    

Nidhi Minocha lead everyone through a tricyclic Hindu body prayer sequence. Other representatives, associated with the Faith Network for Manchester, contributed unique readings from Buddhism, Islam and Humanist.  Maria Ellis, associated with “Peace Talks Oldham”, delivered her own beautiful, personal writings and reflections on the “Uncertainty Principle,” which many encounter on the path of contemplative experience.     

Rabbi Elf then shared a beautifully sung prayer for world peace, with another prayer re-focusing on continuation of the work of interfaith understanding.  Pat Higgins, WCCM Regional Coordinator for South Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside, closed the period with a reading “Everything is One,” from John Main’s “Door into Silence. Following lunch, Caroline Uchima of the World Peace Prayer Society introduced the “International Flag Ceremony for Peace”. Each person participated in the ceremony, taking their turn in collecting and waving an international flag as a prayer for peace to prevail in that particular nation was uttered by all.     

The bearing of international flags culminated with Fr. Laurence brandishing the larger Earth Flag, as all verbalised “May peace prevail on Earth.” The group then followed Fr. Laurence in a meditative walk around the cathedral to the second playing of “What a Wonderful World.” In the ambience of stillness and silence now permeating the Cathedral, we were settled into our second period of meditation after which Fr. Laurence offered his closing talk.

Making reference to “What A Wonderful World,” he spoke of our need to reaffirm and hold onto the positivity of life, of the world. Despite the magnitude of the crisis and tragedy around us, there is bountiful beauty and wonder in the world to focus on and to enjoy. And as we learn to more deeply understand and appreciate one another, we are able to play a greater role, faithfully and inter-faithfully, in contributing to and creating the wonder of the world.  

Richard Broughton closed the entire day, as eloquently as he introduced it, with deep thanks to those who had dedicated their time and energy to make the day a meaningful experience for so many. Thanks especially to Fr. Laurence, Pat Higgins, and Joanne Caine, it was a profound day of unity, Oneness, much befitting our community’s interfaith outreach.  

 

Filed Under: Meditatio, News, Religion, Social Justice Tagged With: day event, interfaith, laurence freeman, manchester, peace, talk, UK EVENT INTERFAITH

Meditatio Seminar in Malaysia: Compassionate Presence 2018

April 16, 2018 by Leonardo Correa Leave a Comment

Compassionate Presence 2018

Filed Under: Health, Meditatio, News, Religion, Seminar Tagged With: frontpage, healing, interfaith, palliative care, seminar EVENT HEALTHCARE

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