Contemplative Revolution

Two ground breaking Christian thinkers discuss the meaning of homosexuality for today. Why has a natural human orientation so often been cruelly punished and persecuted by church authorities? Why do churches still split over the issue? James and Sarah will explore these questions and suggest how this tragic history in a religion of love can be given a new direction today through intellectual honesty and contemplative wisdom. James is a Catholic priest, theologian and author. His principal work has been as interpreter of the thought of the French thinker René Girard (1923-2015). Author of several books, his most recent publication is a course of introduction to the Christian Faith for adults – Jesus the Forgiving Victim– using Girard’s thought throughout.James is also known as someone who has, firmly but gently, stood up for truthfulness in matters LGBTQI in the life of the Church. Sarah is a theologian, retreat leader and priest in Anglican Orders. She is a member of WCCM and an honorary research fellow at the Australian Catholic University. She also leads Benedictus, an ecumenical contemplative community. Sarah is the author of Experiencing God in a Time of Crisis and Resurrection and Moral Imagination.

This is the second talk in the Milestones series. In this episode Fr Laurence Freeman speaks about maturing into the contemplative consciousness.Laurence Freeman is a Benedictine monk and the spiritual successor to John Main. He is the Director of The World Community for Christian Meditation. Author, retreat leader and international speaker.This Talk was recorded at the Meditatio Centre, in London.Music Credits: Aourourou by Blue Dot Sessions

n this dialogue Dr Wallace explores the themes of enlightenment and salvation and responds to questions such as: Are salvation and enlightenment the same? Is grace at work in the individual journey? At what levels do (or can) different traditions achieve sameness? Is the origin of grace within or without yourself, and where is the demarcation? Does Christianity treat God as an emotional projection? Alan Wallace is a prominent voice in the emerging discussion between contemporary Buddhist thinkers and scientists who question the materialist presumptions of their 20th-century paradigms. He left his college studies in 1971 and moved to Dharamsala, India, to study Tibetan Buddhism, medicine and language. He was ordained by H.H. the Dalai Lama, and over fourteen years as a monk he studied with and translated for several of this generation’s greatest lamas. He is founder of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies. Music Credits: Aourourou by Blue Dot Sessions

In this episode we’ll hear Bernard McGinn speak about the nature of mysticism, its development and its importance for the contemporary world. Professor McGuinn recaptures the riches of the mystical tradition and invites us to enter into the practical character of it. Bernard McGinn is widely regarded as the preeminent scholar of mysticism in the Western Christian tradition.. This talk was part of a John Main Seminar held at the University of St Thomas, in Houston, Texas. Music Credits: Aourourou by Blue Dot Sessions

Fr. Laurence speaks about the need of teaching the richness of our contemplative tradition and the knowledge and wisdom behind the simple repetition of a sacred word. This talk was part of a John Main Seminar at Quest University in Squammish, Canada. Music Credits: Aourourou by Blue Dot Sessions

Underlying Rumi’s magnificent poetry is a coherent world-view and spiritual psychology. A living tradition of human transformation has continued in the spirit of his legacy. Through contemplative practice, ceremony, metaphysical reflection, artistic expression, and community service a process of psycho-spiritual maturity has been refined. We will explore the fundamentals of this tradition and consider how they might be applied in today’s world. Kabir Helminski is the Co-Director of the ThresholdSociety, a non-profit educational foundation that has developed programs that provide a structure for practice and study within Sufism and spiritual psychology. He has been working within the Mevlevi tradition of Sufism for about thirty years and has translated many volumes of Sufi literature, including many works of Rumi. http://www.meditatio.co.uk/ Music Credits: Aourourou by Blue Dot Sessions

There is no Christian zen but Christians can do zen and grow in wisdom. Zen is about personal liberation and growth. Zen is about the opening of the heart. Robert E. Kennedy, S.J. directs a number of communities practicing interfaith zen in the metro New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area. Roshi Kennedy is an American Jesuit priest and a Zen master. He is the founding teacher of Morning Star Zendo in New Jersey. His books include "Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit" and "Zen Gifts to Christians." Kennedy sits with his Zen students daily at the Morning Star Zendo in Jersey City, NJ Music Credits: Aourourou by Blue Dot Sessions

This Talk on Faith and Belonging was part of the John Main Seminar 2018: A Contemplative Response ​to the Crisis of Change 20-23 Sep, Bruges, Belgium.Teresa Forcades, a Spanish Benedictine nun, theologian, physician and political activist, is one of Europe’s leading radical thinkers. She came to prominence for her eloquent condemnation of abuses by some of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies. She founded a leading Catalonian anti-capitalist independence movement and is one of the leading voices in the world today against the injustices of capitalism and the patriarchy of modern society and of her own church.The next John Main Seminar 2020 will focus on the theme 'One Heart, One Hope - Indigenous wisdom, and the future of humanity' It is organized by the Community in Mexico and will be held fully online, from 19 to 22 October 2020.  You can find more information and registrations here: http://www.johnmainseminar.org

This is the first talk in the Milestones series. In this episode Fr Laurence Freeman speaks about the spiritual and psychological aspects of our life journey and how the practice of meditation leads to the recovery of the essential childlike state. John Main saw meditation as the recovery of our innocence. We recover the essential qualities we had as children, our innocence, through our mature relationship to our Source, our ontological parenthood in God as the ultimate ground of our being. Wisdom shows the stages of life we all pass through in uniquely personal ways. Meditation as a way of wisdom illuminates these stages of the journey of life and has its own milestones. In this series of talks Fr Laurence will show how the journey of meditation deepens the journey of life and gives us the courage and vision to live life as fully conscious travellers. Laurence Freeman is a Benedictine monk and the spiritual successor to John Main. He is the Director of The World Community for Christian Meditation. Author, retreat leader and international speaker, Fr Laurence sees the contemplative as the essential dimension of all spirituality. This Talk was recorded at the Meditatio Centre, in London. Music Credits: Aourourou by Blue Dot Sessions