Key teachings from this modern mystic on contemplative practice, the Wisdom tradition, and non-dual awareness.
Ora et Labora … no transformation without washed dishes! Ora et Labora: The Benedictine Foundation "It is humility alone, due to poverty, obedience and chastity—the three universal and eternal vows which renders us 'inspirable'. It cannot be helped…the spiritual world...
The more that you have a truly humble spirit in the old monastic sense, the more you become free. “It's the gentle laying down of self, the humble work, the not asking for visions, the not asking for illuminations, not even caring if anybody notices that you exist....
Those practicing lectio divina steep themselves in the words of a text, becoming one with them, lingering over them, taking them into the heart and mind deeply, repeatedly, slowly, meditatively, even memorizing the words. “Lectio Divina: That wonderful Christian,...
Intellectual presence decreases our alertness to present moment awareness. “The whole work is based on extending the diameter of the present moment through conscious awareness so that it spans the gap from your birth to your death. It is possible to become so...
In the Wisdom way of service, “there isn't a my will and thy will. There is only one will, which you join.” Cynthia Bourgeault. In Service of Love "It's not love in the service of enlightenment. It's enlightenment in the service of love." Cynthia Bourgeault, Claymont...
“Attention. That’s the most immediate form of what we call psychic energy. And will and love.” Cynthia Bourgeault “Will is one of the most powerful psychic forces in the world. And you can name a lot of them, almost all of what we're going to call the imaginal...
“One of the spiritual practices which spiritual teachers teach over and over and over again is attention. It's the ability to just say no to all interior self-preoccupation and commentary, which is pulling you out of the moment.” Cynthia Bourgeault The Sacred Nature...
Logion 8, the parable of the net full of small fishes, and hidden among these is one large, exceptional fish. A ‘B influence’ is the large, exceptional fish. “A influences are created by life. They arise within the life of mechanical humanity from the interests of...
Spiritual intuition results from the intimate and profound alliance of intelligence and spontaneous wisdom. “Time, all our times, are contained in something bigger—a space. The fullness of time becomes space, a vast, gentle wideness in which all possible outcomes, all...
“The head will never get the motions that the body gets naturally. Surrender, obedience, attention. You can’t do equanimity in your head!” Cynthia Bourgeault “Equanimity might sound like serenity. And so what's the difference? Serenity is the non-reactive heart....
"Whenever we remember ourselves in the mechanical sense by remembering our miseries and suffering, we are like Lot's wife." Maurice Nicoll ”No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God." (Luke IX, 62.) “The tendency in the...
“Attention in the heart, in the great tradition of Orthodox Hesychasm, praying from the heart.” Cynthia Bourgeault. “The unique characteristics of Centering Prayer, which can be felt as a distinct shift, a distinct, subtle, energetic transformation, I relate that...