Key teachings from this modern mystic on contemplative practice, the Wisdom tradition, and non-dual awareness.
"The passions divide the heart. They render it incapable of reflecting the cosmic heart.” Cynthia Bourgeault Attachment to matter gives birth to passion without an Image of itself because it is drawn from that which is contrary to its higher nature. The result is that...
Lectio Harmonia I offer the term ‘Lectio Harmonia’ to describe a contemplative practice of discovering resonance among Wisdom teachings. In Greek philosophy, Harmonia referred to the underlying order and unity of the cosmos—the patterns that connect apparently...
The paradox of spiritual discernment through sensation is at the heart of these teachings. What seems most material and worldly (our physical sensations) becomes a refined spiritual instrument. These passages reveal sensation as both ‘wound and healing’--both exposure...
The Christian hermeticism of Meditations on the Tarot. This Mt Everest of mystical Christianity had remained shrouded in mist and mystery whenever I approached. After I began this project of writing Impressions, however, I approached by searching for themes,...
“Contemplation happens when silence morphs into presence.” Thomas Keating The Nature of Silence as Presence "Silence is the sign of real contact with the spiritual world and this contact, in turn, always engenders the influx of forces. This is the foundation of all...
"The long arc of evolution bends toward human consciousness." Cynthia Bourgeault The Nature of Consciousness "Consciousness and Conscience are similar in their respective spheres, one being in the Intellectual Center, the other in the Emotional Center. Consciousness...
Braiding Three Strands of Troubling the Water: a Chant, a Miracle, and a Logion "♪ ♪ The wellsprings of life are bubbling up anew each moment. So when the angel is troubling the waters, it is no time to stand on the bank and recite past wonders. The wellsprings of...
The Hermetic Principle of Cooperation exists in the cooperation of flowering plants and bees, in the cooperation of different cells in an organism, and in cooperation in the human social organism. Cooperation: The Original Divine Design "The Lord God placed the man in...
The ‘both and’ paradox of nondualism: “The capacity to bear paradox without the need to immediately resolve it is an essential midwife in a situation. So much of spiritual practice really hovers around increasing our skill in doing that.” Cynthia Bourgeault The Limits...
"When Jesus said, in my father's house are many mansions, I think that the Great Chain of Being's maps allow us one way to imagine what he's talking about." Cynthia Bourgeault The Universal Teaching of Many Mansions "Virtually all the wisdom traditions of the world...
“The quality of your transformed work, your striving, your sincerity, your generous heart in being willing to offer yourself this way is indeed food for the angels.” Cynthia Bourgeault Divine Nature as Generosity "You're awake, but awake to what? You don't know....
“What may be called the ‘astral body’ is obtained by means of friction, by the struggle between yes and no in man.” Ouspensky The Nature of Divine Love "Divine love is not about sentimentality. It is fire. And when it touches you, it transforms you." Cynthia...