Celtic Spirituality – A Beginner’s Guide

Reflections on Celtic Spirituality. I love ‘The Antiques Roadshow’ where all manner of ordinary household items from the ‘there and then’ of years gone by are paraded in the ‘here and now’ of today, explained and valued. There are often huge surprises for people, making me wish I had kept more things handed down from my Grandparents. For younger people

Let gratitude permeate

Come, settle, breathe, ground in the present, Feel breath’s rhythm, immersed in surroundings, Tune into sounds, a symphony enveloping, Cultivate awareness, embracing the moment, Acceptance and kindness, companions on this journey. Acknowledge commitment, a seed of personal growth, Vitality and motivation, dedicated to inner life’s nurture, Happiness, the blossom of this tender care, Inherent goodness and faith, sparks that ignite

Mirroring

Mirroring Contemplative knowing intuits things in their wholeness, with all levels of connection and meaning, and perhaps how they fit in the full scheme of things. Thus, the contemplative response to the moment is always appreciation and inherent re-spect (“to look at a second time”) because I am now a part of what I am trying to see. Our first practical and

Centering Prayer

“Prayer is not a request for God’s favours…Genuine prayer is based on recognising the Origin of all that exists, and opening ourselves to it.” ~Cynthia Bourgeault CENTERING PRAYER: THE VERY BASICS Most faith traditions have some form of meditation or contemplation. Virtually all methods of meditation have a goal of expanding, or deepening, the consciousness of the practitioner. The details

Integral Spirituality

Integral Spirituality is a perspective of spirituality that honors the truths of modernity and postmodernity—including the revolutions in science and culture—while incorporating the essential insights of the great traditions. Integral means comprehensive, balanced, inclusive, and essential for completeness. Integrity means to integrate all parts of our nature; to cultivate body, mind, and spirit in self culture, and nature. Gandhi said,

Learning Model

(15 minute read) The Contemplative Interbeing (CI) Learning Model is fundamentally based around three dimensions, which broadly encompass the types of knowledge and competencies it seeks to foster in students: (1) Contemplation, (2) Compassion, and (3) Engagement. Furthermore, these three dimensions can be approached in three domains: (1) Personal, (2) Social, and (3) Interbeing. This framework is evidence-based and parallels

Freedom

A miscellany of freedom. Today, most of us try to find personal and individual freedom even as we remain inside of structural boxes and a system of consumption that we are then unable or unwilling to critique. Our mortgages, luxuries, and privileged lifestyles control our whole future. Whoever is paying our bills and giving us security and status determines what

Meditation & Contemplation

Contemplative Interbeing offers workshops and retreats to fits your group’s specific needs. For those willing to learn the practice of Christian meditation, Centering Prayer, please contact us to schedule a workshop or retreat. At the bottom of this page are four videos to help introduce meditation and contemplation. You can read more about the brains role in meditation and contemplation

RAIN: A Practice of Radical Compassion

The acronym RAIN is an easy-to-remember tool for bringing mindfulness and compassion to emotional difficulty. Recognize what is going on; Allow the experience to be there, just as it is; Investigate with interest and care; Nurture with self-compassion. You can take your time and explore RAIN as a stand-alone meditation or move through the steps whenever challenging feelings arise. R—Recognize

Describing Interspirituality

This post includes several descriptions of “interspirituality.” Interspirituality, at its core, names an experience of the Ultimate Mystery, therefore we can only attempt to describe it, which is in contrast to attempting to define it. You’re invited to read through the different descriptions and connect with any or all of the descriptions that connect with your inner life, open heart,

Aspects of Interbeing

The insight of inter-being will help remove discrimination, fear, and the dualistic way of thinking. We inter-are — even suffering and happiness inter-are — and that is why the insight of inter-being is the foundation of any kind of action that can bring peace and brotherhood, and help remove violence and despair. That insight is present in every great spiritual

Contemplative Interbeing for Nonviolent Activists

Interbeing is a state of deep connectedness, a recognition that we are connected to all other beings, connected to the depths of our Beingness, and the ground of Being. When our state of consciousness is separate from the state of Interbeing, we tend toward some form of violence to solve our sense of lack; lack of dignity, lack of power,

A Brief Look at Spiritual Transformation

When children are born they experience complete connection, oneness, with everything around them. The child and mother have a symbiotic relationship which means the child does not perceive itself as different from the mother; the mother and child are one. Over time a child begins to develop a sense of self. The child’s experience is “oh no, I am me

Jesus

(A reflection on Chapter 1, Jesus and the Disinherited, by Howard Thurman) As we reflect deeply on the teachings of Jesus, we are struck by how powerfully relevant and liberating his words are for us as an oppressed people. For too long, we have felt the heavy weight of injustice and marginalization in this society that claims lofty ideals yet