Calendar
G. I. Gurdjieff Conference at Harvard University
Celebrating the centenary anniversary of his visit and Movements performance at Harvard, the conference will focus on the legacy and teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff, a charismatic philosopher, mystic, spiritual teacher, composer, and “dance teacher“ from the early twentieth century. Gurdjieff taught the “Fourth Way”, which was aimed to connect practices involving emotions, body and mind, as a way of reaching higher states of consciousness, and awakening from the state of “walking sleep”.
Thomas Keating: The Making of a Modern Mystic | A Dialogue with Cynthia Bourgeault and David Frenette
On the auspicious day of December 10, the 56th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s death, Cynthia and David Frenette will meet together on Zoom to discuss the book, the parallel lives and vision of Keating and Merton and the evolution of the Christian contemplative journey into unitive and nondual consciousness. This discussion celebrates the continuation of these teaching and practices in each of our lives and on behalf of the world.
The Desert in Our Own Times
We will be returning to the perennial wisdom of the Desert fathers and mothers in this quintessential desert setting, considering how they speak to the impasse of our own times.
God 'n Me: Thomas Keating's Lifelong Love Affair with God | A Teaching With Cynthia Bourgeault
In her first teaching from her soon-to-be published book, “Thomas Keating: The Making of a Modern Christian Mystic,” Cynthia will guide us through Thomas’s evolving concept of God, illuminating Keating’s remarkable spiritual development in the final stages of his spiritual journey. Cynthia will be sharing from her perspective as a disciple of Keating's teachings as well as her personal experiences and close study of his late works.
Becoming a Wisdom Elder: A Teaching on Conscious Aging with Cynthia Bourgeault
Join in this live event as Cynthia offers a new teaching on the deep spiritual possibilities coiled within the aging journey. Expanding on her 10 guidelines for conscious aging, Cynthia will explore how one becomes a wisdom elder.
Tuesday, August 13, 2-5 PM ET, online via Zoom
Holding Our Planet Retreat: A Wisdom School with Cynthia Bourgeault
This retreat aims to help participants bring “skillful means” to the current social and ecological situation imperiling the planet. These means include forbearance, strength, compassion, right timing, spiritual generativity, and personal mettle.
Spirituality and the Arts in the Benedictine Tradition with Cynthia Bourgeault
A Benedictine wisdom school for contemplatives who want to venture deeper into the arts and artists who want to venture deeper into contemplative prayer. The five-day teaching retreat will offer a rare, hands-on opportunity to explore the deep, mutually nurturing relationship between spirituality and the arts at the heart of the Benedictine Monastic tradition.
Seeing with the Eye of the Heart: An Exploration of Nondual Wisdom with Cynthia Bourgeault
Aspen Chapel is hosting a 2024 mini-retreat program, The Voice of the Feminine, both online and in-person. Cynthia will speak on nondual wisdom using her new book, The Corner of Fourth and Nondual.
Participating in God's Power: School of the Spirit with Cynthia Bourgeault and Paulette Meier
Cynthia Bourgeault and Paulette Meier will be teachers at the third and fourth residencies for this year long Quaker based School of the Spirit. First residency takes place over President's Day Weekend, February 15-19, 2024. Through 5 residencies and 4 virtual gatherings, over a 12-month period, with ongoing small groups and accountability groups, this program invites participants into a crucible of transformation.
Art of Meditation Global Summit 2024
A free, 8-day online event featuring over 55 world-renowned meditation teachers exploring the rich breadth and depth of meditation across various traditions and practices. Cynthia Bourgeault will present live on day 5, January 27, speaking on Centering Prayer and its role in spiritual deepening. Lifetime access of all videos, transcripts, audios, plus additional content is available for purchase.
Centering Prayer: The Next 40 Years
Join the 3rd Annual Centering Prayer Summit for a two day journey exploring depths of Centering Prayer and the future of contemplative community. Cynthia Bourgeault will hold the opening address on Centering Prayer: The Next Forty Years.
Gurdjieff’s Birthday Gathering at Claymont
Stay tuned for more information about the usual Gurdjieff birthday gathering in Claymont bracketing the traditional January 13 feast.
Ground Luminosity
How many of you would be interested in a small Ground Luminosity retreat at my new small retreat/house in Rockland, Maine during this classic “thin space” week in Advent?
A Simple Immediacy: Desert Wisdom for Advent - 2023
Teachings from the Desert Fathers and Mothers on classic Advent themes - offered by Spirituality and Practice.
The Web of Life: A Retreat for Contemplative Solidarity
How do contemplatives engage the world when forest fires, floods, and political uproar are happening in our own backyards? How do we stand in contemplative wisdom and be present in depth to the beauty and suffering inherent to the web of life on this blue-green planet?
Holding Our Planet at Garrison Institute
This teaching retreat is aimed at mature contemplatives of all spiritual pathways who are deeply concerned about the global crisis (cultural, ecological) imperiling our continued human existence on the planet and who wish to deepen their capacity to bring “skillful means” to the situation: forbearance, strength, compassion, right timing, spiritual generativity, and personal mettle.
Metamorphosis: Creating the Transformation We Need Now
Cynthia will be speaking at this daylong public forum hosted by Garrison Institute, gathering leaders and practitioners in the emergent field of contemplative-based social change.
Cynthia Bourgeault at The Faith Practice Biennale in Norway
Cynthia Bourgeault will be one of two presenting speakers at The Faith Practice Biennale in Oslo, Norway.
Mystical Hope Today with Cynthia Bourgeault in Denmark
Cynthia will be giving a retreat at the Refugium at Løgum Kloster in Denmark. The teaching will be based on Cynthia’s highly acclaimed lenten e-course on “Mystical Hope Today” (Spirituality & Practice, winter 2023), integrated with insights from the 2021 Løgum Kloster retreat on the imaginal world.
The Care and Nurturing of Second Body
This will be the usual fall gathering of the core group that has been working together at Claymont for the past three years. The theme will be “The Care and Nurture of Second Body,” and the work will have its usual Gurdjieffian flavor, featuring conscious labor, intentional suffering, movements, Gurdjieff exercises, plus a deeper dive into the Building Kesdjan body.
Mary Magdalene: Apostle to Our Own Times (Fall Session) – Online Course with Cynthia Bourgeault
An 8-week online course designed to challenge and expand your view of Mary Magdalene and her role in the Gospels. Learn what made Mary one of Jesus’ most important and beloved disciples and discover her legacy as an apostle to our times—revealing a path of conscious love that we too are invited to walk.
New Wine, New Skins - John Main Seminar and Meditation Retreat
This year’s annual John Main Seminar at the Bonnevaux Abbey in France will include a 3-day pre-seminar meditation retreat September 11-14, followed by the featured seminar from September 14-17. Event leaders include Cynthia Bourgeault, Andrew Harvey, Giovanni Felicioni, and Laurence Freeman. Hosted by the World Community for Christian Meditation.
Introductory Wisdom School: Fall Session – Online Course with Cynthia Bourgeault
Discover the Christian Wisdom path and its relevance for us today. Awaken to your yearning for a different kind of presence and to develop the skills, knowledge, and actions for self-transformation. Hosted by the Center for Action and Contemplation.
The Divine Exchange – Online Course with Cynthia Bourgeault
A 14-week online course exploring the heart of God through the idea of Divine Exchange, Cynthia Bourgeault’s framework for the Christian Wisdom tradition. Learn how kenosis, or self-emptying, can lead to a participatory exchange between the finite and the infinite.
The Alchemy of Love: The Interplay Between Personal and Divine Love
A live online community conversation between Cynthia Bourgeault and A. H. Almaas on divine and personal love.
ZOOM OPTION: An Encounter with Evil - A Wisdom School with Cynthia Bourgeault
NOTE: WHILE IN PERSON EVENT IS FULL, WAITLIST and ZOOM OPTION IS AVAILABLE. Cynthia Bourgeault will be leading this event, inquiring into the nature and presence of evil and how we might effectively deal with it, at both an individual and collective scale.
Mary Magdalene: Apostle to Our Own Times (Spring Session) – Online Course with Cynthia Bourgeault
An 8-week online course designed to challenge and expand your view of Mary Magdalene and her role in the Gospels. Learn what made Mary one of Jesus’ most important and beloved disciples and discover her legacy as an apostle to our times—revealing a path of conscious love that we too are invited to walk.
WCCM Academy: Contemplative Living
Cynthia will be in Bonnevaux France for a week-long residential program which begins the two year Contemplative Academy through World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM).
A Benedictine Wisdom School with Cynthia Bourgeault – Bonnevaux France
The retreat offers balanced movement from prayer to work, from intellectual stimulation to silence—and back again. Wisdom School has more talking than a meditation retreat, more silence and physical embodiment than a seminar.
Mystical Hope Today: An Online Lenten Deep Dive with Cynthia Bourgeault
While the course is anchored in the original Mystical Hope book, it is not simply a rehash of that book. It combines the best moments in the original book with the growth that has unfolded in Cynthia over the years with the circumstances in which we now find ourselves personally and planetarily. It is a whole new course, rooted in the old, but directed toward the present and future.
The Encounter with Evil – A Teaching Retreat with Cynthia Bourgeault
In this timely wisdom school, we will be inquiring into the nature and presence of evil as a discernible force, with a focus on these key questions: What is a useful, contemporary understanding of evil? How can we effectively deal with evil, at both an individual and collective scale?
Introductory Wisdom School: Spring Session – Online Course with Cynthia Bourgeault
Discover the Christian Wisdom path and its relevance for us today. Awaken to your yearning for a different kind of presence and to develop the skills, knowledge, and actions for self-transformation. Hosted by the Center for Action and Contemplation.