Events open to the public 

Full schedule of events available to those who are registered. Any questions, please email Wendy Johnston.

Sunday, June 4:

(Arrivals throughout the day)

7:30 pm: welcome and orientation; chanting and meditation (town hall)

Monday, June 5

7:15 am: chanting and meditation (town hall)

9:15 morning teaching (town hall) CB: Teilhard for Troubled Times

10:30 break

11:00 practical work in teams

(Darlene leads cooking team, Oddfellows; Cynthia leads morning music group in site at St Mary’s Church. Emphasis on Taize vocals; some Brendan music. )

12:30 Lunch (Oddfellows Hall, followed by time off

            2pm: Centering Prayer with Guthrie Sayen , Town Hall

            3 pm: Contemplative Movement with Allen Borque, Town Hall

            (unscheduled time for small groups and special explorations, individual music lessons)

4:15: PUBLIC TALK by CB at Town Hall: “St Brendan the Navigator: Introducing our Local Celtic Hero”

5:30: chanting and meditation

6:00 Dinner on your own and night off

Tuesday, June 6

7:15 am: chanting and meditation (town hall)

9:15: morning teaching (town hall)

10:30: break

11 am: practical work (Darlene and Wendy work with Taize instrumentalists and vocalists at St. Mary’s Church; will need assistant chef to lead cooking team.

12:30 Lunch (Oddfellows Hall) followed by time off

(unscheduled time for small group and special explorations: music lessons, practical work, drama group, children’s group, recreation and excursions, Centering Prayer with Guthrie at 2, Contemplative Movement with Allen at 3)

4:15: afternoon teaching (town hall): GEOFF WARNER, founder of Owl Furniture:

“HEALTHY ERGONOMICS FOR DAILY LIVING “

5:30: Chanting and meditation

6: dinner (on your own)

7:30 TAIZé JAM at St. Mary’s Church

Wednesday, June 7

7:15 am morning chanting and meditation followed by

Free Day to Explore the Neighborhood: Excursions to Eagle Island, Isle au Haut; Old Quarry kayaking, sightseeing in Acadia National Park; Contemplative Movement continues at 3.

No scheduled evening event.

Thursday, June 8

7:15 am chanting and meditation (town hall)

9:15: morning teaching , Town Hall (Teilhard exploration continues)

10:30 break

11:00 practical work (Darlene in Kitchen; CB leads Troupe for Brendan Scene Study prep)

12:30 Lunch followed by time off (contemplative movement, Centering Prayer, and private lessons continue)

NOTE: Cynthia will be speaking on Global Enneagram Summit at 1 pm today!

 4:15 Afternoon Teaching: St Brendan Play, Scenes 1-4

5:30 chanting and meditation (town hall)

6:00 dinner break

7:30 public talk by CB: Teilhard and the Conscious Circle of Humanity (town hall)

 Friday, June 9

7:15 am: Chanting and meditation (town hall)

9:15 am morning teaching with CB (Teilhard exploration continues)

10:30 break

11:00 work in teams (CB leads Troupe for Brendan Scene study)

12:30 Lunch followed by time off (DARLENE works at Oddfellows Hall with Musicians to prepare for evening kirtan/zikr; centering prayer (2 pm) and Contemplative Movement (3 pm) continue at Town Hall

4:15: afternoon teaching: St Brendan play, scenes 5-7

5:30 chanting and meditation

6:00 dinner

7:30 pm: “For our one world: Evening of Sacred Chanting, Prayer, and Movement at Town Hall

Saturday June 10

 7:15 am: chanting and meditation

9:15 morning teaching (Teilhard track continues)

10:30 break

11:00 practical work in groups (Darlene with kitchen team; CB with Troupe as needed

12:30 Lunch followed by free time (CP and Contemplative Meditation continue)

4:15 afternoon teaching: Brendan voyage concludes

5:30 meditation and chanting except for kitchen and set-up team

6:00 “Gaudeamus” (beverages and munchies) at Oddfellows; dinner on your own (or make the party your meal)

Sunday, June 11

7:15 morning sitting” followed by departure at your own pace (most houses must be vacated by 10 am)

Join Cynthia on THURSDAY, June 8 at 1:00pm ET for her session: The Finger Pointing to the Moon: Is There Life Beyond Types?

The free online event will be taking place June 5-9. For more information, please see the event page on our site or go directly to the Enneagram site.

A free LIVE online community conversation with Cynthia Bourgeault facilitated by Vera de Chalambert, April 29 at 3pm EST.

For more information and to register, click here.

On Conscious.TV you can watch Renate McNay’s inteview with Cynthia or read the transcript. Enjoy!

The Aspen Chapel invites Northeast Wisdom-ers to join via live stream for Cynthia’s teachings this week in Aspen, both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, 9:30-11:30 MDT (11:30-1:30 EDT). To live stream, go to aspenchapel.org, then click on “watch” in the grey tabs at the top of the page. Details @Survivor’s Guide to the Galaxy:  Teilardian Wisdom and aspenchapel.org. All are welcome!

Our second annual Maine Wisdom Ingathering will take place June 4-11, 2017.  We have posted all the information you need along with 2 ways to register…by mail or online.  Click here for more information.

Christian Nonduality—Seriously?

Watch the new video trailer!

A webcast with Cynthia Bourgeault
LIVE: Thursday, January 5, 2017, 6:30-8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time

Click here for more info

For more information and to register, please click here to go to the Friends of Silence website.

Cynthia is very excited about this first-ever Quaker Wisdom School for Quakers and Wisdom seekers of all faiths. It will take place May 14-19, 2017 in Wallingford, PA.  Space is limited so please check out the details here.

Cynthia will lead you step by step into the heart of Teilhard de Chardin — both figuratively and literally.

Though email messages sent to you on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for five weeks, you will learn your way around the basic building blocks of “The Teilhardian Synthesis,” his great overarching vision. You’ll catch moving glimpses of his life and the spiritual resources he drew on to keep himself going through long years of struggle and exile. You’ll get to work with some of these resources directly through spiritual practices based directly on Teilhard’s writings. Above all, you’ll have access 24/7 to the online Practice Circle to post your reflections and questions and hear responses from Cynthia and your fellow students. You’ll also find a veritable treasure chest of additional resources to help you dig deeper if you’re so inclined.

For more information and to sign up, click here.

We listened to what you said you wanted: 1) more information about folks who on the Wisdom path, and 2) a way to ask questions and get answers directly from Cynthia. So have a look; here are the links.

Seedlings and Ask Cynthia

This will inaugurate the second round of Teilhard teachings. Click here to go to the Event page for details

Contemplative Journal is offering Cynthia Bourgeault’s popular class on discernment as an “On Demand” course: The Four Voices Method of Discernment. Here’s what they have to say about it:

“Our most popular class ever is getting an upgrade! With a newly made workbook to help you walk through the class and an entirely new class platform that is much more user-friendly and easy to navigate, you won’t want to miss this updated on demand offering.”

If you haven’t had the chance to take this wonderful course, now is your chance! Click here to get started!

Wisdom Christianity: Panikkar, Teilhard, and Thomas

Join us for a weekend of teaching, chanting, and silent meditation, while participating in the rhythms of a Benedictine monastery. Commitment to a regular contemplative practice is a prerequisite for this retreat. Click here for event details and registration form.

Just wanted to share a few photos with you.

Originally published in Castine Patriot, May 12, 2016 and Island Ad-Vantages, May 12, 2016 and The Weekly Packet, May 12, 2016

Click here to see the article about “Internationally acclaimed writer and retreat leader—and Stonington resident—Cynthia Bourgeault will host a pilot “Wisdom Ingathering” during the week of June 5-12.”

Join us during the first, long days of summer to gather for a vibrant weekend of contemplative practices guided by the four-quadrant Benedictine rhythm of ora et labora – praying and working, alone and together. See event link for details.

Cynthia Bourgeault will be gathering with students from all over the world in Stonington, Maine, June 5-12. The following evening events are open to the public; all are welcome!

Contemplative Practice and Wisdom Christianity: Series 2016: This series consists of workshops presenting the renewal of contemplative spiritual practices and the recovery of a way of faith rooted in inward and outward transformation. Dates are April 16, April 23 and April 30. 

These workshops are offered for people engaged or interested in contemplative spiritual practices and/or the renewal of the church. No prior experience or knowledge required. Click here for more information or to register.

With Cynthia’s recent prompting, Beth O’Brien announces that Contemplative Presence will be offering four Wisdom School gatherings in southern Wisconsin and eastern Iowa, beginning in June 2016. Each of these events will carry forth the Christian Wisdom lineage, bringing contemplatives together for deepening spiritual practice and Wisdom teachings. As a direct student of Cynthia for many years and the founder of Contemplative Presence, Beth trusts that these upcoming Wisdom Schools will serve as ‘widening circles of transmission’ within the Wisdom network–and extends a gentled invitation to all to Come and see . . .

• Placing Our Mind in Our Heart:  Introductory Wisdom School, PART A, June 22-25.
• Wisdom School:  Mary Magdalene as Unitive Wisdom, August 24-27.
• Seeing With the Eye of the Heart:  Introductory Wisdom School, PART B, Oct. 26-29.
• Placing Our Mind in Our Heart: Introductory Wisdom School, PART A, Nov. 26-29.

For more information on these and other contemplative offerings in the Madison, WI, area go to: www.ContemplativePresence.org. 

Details are available on the Event page. Registration is now full but please email Wendy to be placed on the wait list.

New Year Greetings!

In 2015 Cynthia launched “The Year of Teilhard,” encouraging our community to discover this extraordinary French mystic and begin familiarizing ourselves with his tremendous work. In 2016 the exploration of Teilhard’s theology continues as we approach the first of multiple Teilhard themed Wisdom Schools led by Cynthia, beginning with La Casa de Maria in Santa Barbara next month.

In addition to the upcoming wisdom schools, there is another exciting Teilhardian gathering on the horizon that we would like to bring to your attention:

The 2016 American Teilhard Association Annual meeting on May 14 at Union Theological Seminary in New York city, featuring a lunch followed by a talk by Ilia Delio, OSF titled “Teilhard de Chardin and World Religions: Ultra Catholic or Ultra Human?”  Cynthia and I have already purchased our tickets and would like to invite all those in our community who are able to attend to join us in participating in this momentous gathering.

For more information and to purchase tickets simply click on the following link: http://teilharddechardin.org/index.php/event.

Hope to see many of you there!

Gabrielle (Brie) Stoner

I thought some of you might like to see these recent pictures of Thomas Keating and me. He’s nearing 93, would you believe? Merry Christmas to all you contemplatives out there from Cynthia and Thomas.

Okay, dear friends, here’s something I would like to offer to our planet, the small bit I can contribute. I invite ALL of you who belong to my network of the heart in any way – family, friends, students, readers of my books – to pool our energy and sign up for my advent e-course. This hard earned wisdom, garnered once upon a time in the deserts of Egypt and yes, Syria, is sorely needed again to reclaim our world. If we can get 1000 folks working together gathered together around this material in the four weeks preparing for the Prince of Peace, I wager we can shift the energy field. Worth a try, anyway. Here’s the link. Do it TODAY.

We officially announced Northeast Wisdom’s inaugural fundraising campaign on Nov. 4 — wondering if using modern technology was a good idea. Cynthia’s letter was sent to friends and colleagues electronically, she posted a blog, and we configured the site to accept online payments. Within the hour we received a notification from PayPal that our first donation had been received. Thank you! There’s no question that there is something less personal online…but technology sure does make contributing easier and faster. If you missed it, here’s the contribution page.

We thank you again for helping Northeast Wisdom take this first big step.

Do you want to learn more about chanting/singing in different faith traditions? Are you curious to find out what a deeply wise Sufi scholar, a quietly warm Indian Hindu, and a funny-to-the-bone Jewish rabbi have to say about the power of singing and chanting in their spiritual practices? Want to hear about the latest scientific research exploring how the body and mind is affected by each of these practices?

ALTERED STATES 2015 is the place to be!! Dr. Amer Latif, Shital Kinkhabwala, Rebbe Moshe Waldoks, and Dr. Lesley Fishelman will be our guest presenters and teachers on the weekend of November 14-15. Thanks to a generous gift from the Diocese of Vermont, the cost of the weekend is very affordable. For more information, check out our events page.

The Reverend John Ander Runkle, RA, is the Executive Director of St. Mary’s Sewanee: The Ayres Center for Spiritual Development in Tennessee. He announced that St. Mary’s Sewanee recently launched a web page named “Teach Us to Pray” where Cynthia is mentioned. This new resource includes reflections on prayer and is intended to provide a form of encouragement to pray and come to know God better. Click here for the link if you’d like to check it out.

Kind of cool! Cynthia’s books were spotted sandwiched right next to those of Teilhard de Chardin in Andrew Breitenberg’s library. Andrew is a student at the Living School.

Hey, all, can I tempt a few more souls out there in the Wisdom network to sign up for a unique and wonderful teaching retreat coming up on September 17-20 at Hallelujah Farm?

This Wisdom workshop/retreat, called “Chanting in the Heart of Sophia,” is the labor of love of senior Wisdom student Laura Ruth and will reunite some of the “old gang” from our Bluestone Farm days as participants gather together under the leadership of Matthew Wright and Sister Helena Marie to explore the wonderful wisdom world of Gregorian Chant and Marian devotion. Click here for the details.

I will be on a pilgrimage (in Uzbekistan!) September 13-24, so I won’t be able to personally attend the retreat. But I want to encourage others in the network to do so, both for the beauty of the topic being explored and for the initiative of Laura, Matthew, and Sr. Helena Marie in putting this opportunity together. ~ Cynthia

We have started a wait list for the Contemplative Retreat with Cynthia Bourgeault at Glastonbury Abbey in Hingham, MA December 6-11, 2015. This advent contemplative retreat will feature silence, group meditation, participation in the monastic liturgy of the Abbey as well as teaching and readings from Thomas Merton, whose birthday into eternal life we will commemorate on December 10. The only requirement is an established meditation practice. For details, click here.

Check our Events page to learn more the course, but note that there is a pricing advantage for early enrollment.

As many of you know, Cynthia Bourgeault led a 4-day retreat in Auckland, New Zealand in May. The event was fully booked well in advance, so for those of you who could not attend or are just curious about what transpired there, Marty Schmidt has written a wonderful synopsis. Read Marty’s post, learn from his experience and see some photos from the event…you can almost feel as if you were there! Here’s the link to his “Social Conscience and Inner Awakening” blog. Enjoy.

Cynthia is recovering nicely from pacemaker surgery on May 19 and hopes to be fully back in the
saddle in short order. To find out about what happened, follow this link to her letter.

Owen McKenna, husband of our longtime Boston Wisdom student Jane, died on May 30 after a long journey with leukemia, in which Jane closely and beautifully accompanied and supported him. The funeral will be held Friday, June 5 in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Here’s a link to more details and his obituary.

There are still a few spots left for the retreat “Letting Go — Silence, Surrender, and Song” co-led by Cynthia Bourgeault and Paulette Meier. The Northeast Guild for Spiritual Formation presents a weekend devoted to the “core, sacred gesture” of self-emptying or kenosis through the practices of centering prayer and sacred chant in the Quaker tradition.

More information and registration click here.

Northeast Wisdom teachers and board members Cynthia Bourgeault and Matthew Wright shared a special moment at the recent Wisdom Leadership Training School in Valle Crucis, North Carolina (photo courtesy of Robbin Whittington).

Eleanor Winsor announces the first organizational meeting of a Practice Group in Richmond (2209 E. Grace St.) on May 5. This informal gathering is for Wisdom School participants or people who are interested in attending a Wisdom School. The group will Center together from 10am-2pm to discuss Part I of Teilhard de Chardin’s The Divine Milieu.  For more information contact: Nancy Delach or Eleanor Winsor

California Wisdom student Faye Cox visited Teilhard de Cardin’s gravesite in March and captured this
photograph.

For the first time ever, Cynthia teaches her personal method of spiritual discernment. Four Voices welcomes the specific wisdom of each part of our being–even when they’re diametrically opposed, in a way that brings them into harmonious solidarity. This is an online course offered May 11 – June 5, 2015; click here to register.

In January 2015 Cynthia Bourgeault issued the “Year of Teilhard” challenge, inviting Wisdom students worldwide to familiarize themselves with the writings of this great contemporary visionary in preparation for a number of Teilhard Wisdom Schools upcoming in 2016. Schools already “on the books” will be taking place in California, the Pacific Northwest, the Hudson Valley in New York, and North Carolina. Stay tuned to the Upcoming Events page as registration details become available. For a link to the basic Teilhard bibliography, go to the Resources page on this site, under Reading Lists.

Teilhard de Chardin’s star is now rising powerfully on the horizon, heralding the dawn of an entirely new kind of Christian theology. Misunderstood in his own times, silenced and exiled by his Jesuit superiors, he is finally coming into his own as the most extraordinary mystical genius of our century and the linchpin connecting scientific cosmology and Christian mystical experience on a dynamic new evolutionary ground. Let’s declare 2015 the year to take on the collective task of getting to know his work better. Here’s the reading list.