The Buddhist Christian Vedanta

Network

Newsletter September 2009

The Network is for those who are interested in exploring these traditions in

relation to their spiritual practice

The Buddhist Christian Vedanta Network,

16 Servite House, 27 Bramley Road, London, N14 4HQ

Tel: 020 8440 4454 Email: ewest@buddhist-christian.org

Website: www.buddhist-christian.org

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News From Elizabeth

Dear Friends,

My apologies that this newsletter is late, but I did not manage to get it done before leaving

for a week on Holy Isle for a Buddhist Christian Dialogue at the invitation of Lama Yeshe. We

had a wonderful week which is reported by Sr Rosemary SLG after this. It was the most

relaxing and deep interfaith experience I have ever had. We were practitioners together and

the differences of traditions seemed quite incidental compared with the unity and friendship

we felt, especially in the depth of the silence.

While I was there Choden invited me to lead the Christmas Retreat with him on Holy Isle,

which I shall be doing. For details see the end of this newsletter. I shall mainly be leading the

sharing and reflection sessions and these will be shaped by those who attend. So if anyone is

not sure what to do this Christmas here is a suggestion. I can assure you that the hospitality

and the vegetarian food will be wonderful. The place is exceedingly beautiful and the journey

there will be an adventure, especially in winter with unpredictable weather. Though they

check the day before and let everyone know the possibility of crossing to the Island, hence

the suggestion about travel insurance.

This newsletter is a bit longer than usual as I have included an article of a slightly different

type. John Hetherington reflects on the state of the world today, and offers some challenging

ideas about the way we could be going in the future. In contrast to this we have Deanna’s

article about the impact of insight meditation of her personal life and practice. Some may find

the Buddhist Christian commitment by Ross Thompson helpful. It is very heartening that

more people are sending articles for the newsletter and I very much hope this trend will

continue so please consider sending something.

Recently I received the very good news that I have got a place on a two month retreat led by

Alan Wallace at his new retreat and research centre in Phuket, Thailand. The retreat starts in

April next year. This will be a wonderful opportunity to deepen my meditation practice. We

will be doing mainly Shamatha and Loving Kindness meditation, for eight to ten hours a day

with instruction and one to one guidance on a weekly basis..

We are having a reflection day for members of the Network at St Mary’s Edgware on 30th

October I hope some will be able to attend. It is possible to stay there for one or two nights.

See details at the end of this newsletter.

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‘Beautiful in the beginning, beautiful in the middle, beautiful in the end’

Contemplative gathering on Holy Isle at the invitation of Lama Yeshe Losal

Rinpoche.

9 – 15 September 2009 by Sr Rosemary SJG

The beginning

So much beauty! Sunshine ringing the Island with light; arriving to stupas and bright prayer

flags, and big welcoming smiles; and the encouragement simply to be here and to be happy.

On the first evening we began introducing ourselves and on the first morning, sitting on mats

in the Peace Hall, found speech overcome by a compelling silence. Silence, like the sunshine,

permeated our whole visit, whatever we were doing.

The middle

We walked with Lama Yeshe to the flat red rocks and gathered round him, each finding a flat

stone to sit on. We listened intently as he told us the story of his escape from Tibet, forty

years ago at the age of fifteen: the physical hardships, fear of the Chinese, hard weather, the

trauma of leaving the primitive and isolated life of Tibet and then meeting, all at once, the

heat of India and everything – moving houses (trains), the sea, the modern world …. How can

anyone endure such terrors? Now he is not frightened of anything. As we sat like that on the

shore, watching the sea and the bright clear light, I wondered if it was something like this

when Jesus taught the people by the Sea of Galilee.

On Sunday morning the Eucharist was celebrated outside on a big round table, the wood

weathered and very broken, but beautiful and apt as an altar for the so fractured Christian

Church. We sang some Taizé chants and in the evening were singing and celebrating again,

this time in the Peace Hall for the Chenrezig puja and Tsok: we invoked and intended the

power of compassion; we shared food and were glad.

All sorts of stories and journeys were being woven in as we talked, walked, and practiced

together, too many to recount. One afternoon I was walking a few yards behind a pair deep

in thoughtful conversation and could see that each was also fingering a rosary, one a wooden

one for Buddhist prayers, the other a knotted one for saying the Jesus Prayer. That

symbolized for me a wonderful convergence of experience and practice, without confusion

and not necessarily conscious. Another precious moment was hearing the stories of St Francis

spell-bindingly told, making him present; and experiencing together simple but effective

exercises which are being used to enable the practice of mindfulness as a healing tool in the

non-religious context of the NHS. On 11 September, mindful of 9/11, we practiced Tonglen,

believing that the darkest of tales may be told in such a way as to serve transformation and

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peace. And that was confirmed when Lama Yeshe told us, frankly and with a light touch,

about his 49 days of ‘dark retreat’, an ordeal which strengthened his determination and

fearlessness earlier this year.

The end

‘Five days and several life-times later’ we sat together in the Peace Hall for the last time

and Lama Yeshe put into words for us what had been implicit throughout our time

together: firm commitment to mutual respect and being non-judgemental; and

compassion for all. He invited each of us to renew in some form our determination and

faith as the basis of unshakeable peace. ‘Peace in the world begins with peace in the

heart.’

The Holy Isle Group: In front Diana Tinson and Lama Yeshe Losal

Middle row: Sarah Lionheart, Mother Mary, Br Nicholas Alan SSF, Sarah Trevelyon

Back row: Prof Mark Williams, Sr Rosemary SLG, Fr Bruno Healy, Lama Zangmo

Missing: Ani Lhamo, Ani Chonyi Lhamo, Cynthia Bourgeault, Chokyi Lhamo

Elizabeth West,

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The 2009 John Main Seminar: ‘When God Disappears‘

by Stefan Reynolds

The John Main Seminar is often an inter-religious treat. Past speakers have included Bede

Griffiths, William Johnston, Huston Smith and the Dalai Lama. This year it was led by Robert

Kennedy who is a Jesuit and a Zen Master, one of only three in the world who combine those

two trainings. The seminar was held at St Marks in Islington, London, which houses the Inter-

national Centre of WCCM (the World Community for Christian Meditation).

Unpacking the theme of ‘when God disappears’, Robert Kennedy spoke about a movement

within Biblical revelation from a transcendent God over and above creation towards God as

the life force within all things. God `disappears` as an external object in the Bible. ’The Law’

comes to be written in the human heart. This process of immanence culminates in the com-

plete non-duality of human and Divine in the person of Jesus. A non-duality which we are all

called to realise. Kennedy called this process; ‘the Creator wanes, the Creation waxes’. This

is all part of the spirit of Zen which does not speak of God but of an awakening, a wakeful-

ness, and a focussing of energy that leads to transformation.

Mother Mary and Lama Yeshe Losal

We saw how much the Orthodox Hesycast tradition and Tibetan Buddhism have in common

oOo

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Like any good Zen master his economy with words meant there was time for much interaction

and questions. The rigour of Zen practice made some feel that there was more of an emphasis

on personal effort in Zen while more on ‘grace’ and ‘gift’ in Christianity. Kennedy pointed out

that in Zen there is no ’trying to make anything happen’ but only recognising what is, and in

Christianity the work of prayer has always been to prepare for grace. He said that the charism

of the Jesuits was often this work of ‘preparatio evangelico’. The Ignatian Exercises, he said,

were always there to help people to receive God in their own experience.

Robert Kennedy sees his own particular teaching ministry as `bringing Zen gifts to Christians`.

The most obvious gift, he says, is a clear emphasis on meditation rather than theory, some-

thing that fitted so much with the teaching of John Main whom this annual seminar com-

memorates. Like with all WCCM events talks are interspersed with times for the practice of

silence. As John Main rediscovered a neglected tradition of Christian meditation so even in

Zen, Robert Kennedy said, it is possible to forget that one has to walk the path. There is a Zen

saying: “Wonder of wonders, the Zen priest is actually sitting!”

Appreciating the gifts of other religions shows that contemplation is a way of peace. The Semi-

nar ended with an Inter-faith liturgy with readings from the world religions. As Robert Ken-

nedy put it; `The mystical paths of the world religions lead us to a God who is not another

larger ego, but is the ‘I Am’ at the heart of all creation`. In the silence we realise that the God

who ‘disappears’ is only the God of our limited ego-bound ideas and imagination. This,

Kennedy pointed out, is the meaning of the sometimes shocking nature of Zen: `If you meet

the Buddha on the road kill him!` Even Jesus said that `It is necessary that I go that the spirit of

truth may come`.

And what is the spirit of truth? Well, we have to find that out for ourselves.

The Four Great Bodhisattva Vows

Creations are numberless

I vow to free them

Delusions are inexhaustible

I vow to put an end to them

Dharmas are boundless

I vow to perceive them

The enlightened way is unsurpassable

I vow to embody

These were chanted during the retreat and the Seminar

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CHRISTIAN INSIGHT MEDITATION – Following in the Footsteps of John of

the Cross: Some contour points along the way of a personal journey.

By Deanna Skittrall

I first came across Christian Insight Meditation in the autumn of 2007. A small advert in ‘The

Tablet’ caught my eye describing it as a ‘Silence and Awareness Retreat’ and based on the

teachings of St John of the Cross and ‘vipassana’ (insight)meditation. It explained that it

came out of Christian Carmelite and Theravada Buddhist traditions. I knew immediately that

this was for me. I had spent some years ‘in the desert’ and during that time had come to

recognise that the form of prayer/meditation I had been practising for some twenty years

was no longer appropriate.

To give a better understanding of why Christian Insight Meditation has had such a profound

effect on my spiritual practice and path in life it is worth giving a brief overview of my journey

up to that point.

I was born into a Roman Catholic family but sent to an Anglican school in the hope that there

would be less emphasis on religion and more on academic performance with the Anglicans! I

left school an agnostic but determined to find out what this life was really about. I chose to

study both Religion and Sociology for my first degree basically to find out what they had to

say about the meaning of life. Included in the various modules I studied I chose a module in

Buddhism and Hinduism as well as a module in New Testament Greek in order to read the

Gospels in their original. I found much of what the Buddhists had to say both attractive and

logical. I appreciated that the Buddha was concerned with the suffering of beings and that he

openly voiced the fact that he did not know about the existence of a God but was more

concerned to find a way to alleviate suffering. I thoroughly enjoyed this time of study finding

all my subjects fascinating but the Religious Studies were the ground for further exploration

and questioning.

On leaving university I determined to find work where I could continue my quest for

understanding. So it was that I trained as a Secondary School teacher in Religious Studies and

chose to teach in Catholic Schools where Religious Studies was given equal standing with

other subjects and where I could teach young people to ask questions and explore what life

was about. It meant teaching Advanced level Philosophy of Religion and so exploring the

classical arguments for the existence of God and the nature of God. I was very happy with

that and fascinated.

This was a time in life when I had begun to grow up in my prayer life. For example I now saw

how I had modelled my image of God on my relationship with my parents. That was

liberating! I became very interested in Ignatian prayer and followed the 29th

Annotation with

my Spiritual Director. I should mention that about this time I decided to embrace Roman

Catholicism and became a regular attender at Mass.

As I matured in my teaching career and moved schools so did my understanding of my Self

and my relationship with Christ develop too.

In 1985 I had been introduced to Christian Meditation as taught by John Main and Laurence

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Freeman. This was apophatic prayer with no images but using a mantra – ‘maranatha’ being

a recommended word to use. I found it strange and missed the experience of using my

imagination. With hindsight I can see that I was not ready for this kind of prayer.

Some years later I was attracted to a Masters degree in Christian Spirituality at Heythrop

College, part of London University. It was not a career move but a fascination with the

subject matter. I studied part time for two years and became immersed in the spiritual lives

and works of people such as Julian of Norwich and St Seraphim of Sarov. I remember sitting

up late on weekend nights in my flat overlooking London and reading and reflecting and

writing. It was a powerful experience and sometimes, after studying and reflecting on Julian,

I would find myself suddenly enveloped by a sense of incredible well being and would have to

let go of my essay and studies and just be. Those times felt full of insights into life.

For my dissertation I decided to look at contemplative prayer and chose to look more closely

at Christian Meditation as part of this study. So it was that I read all of John Main and

Laurence Freeman and travelled to Worth Abbey to meet Fr Laurence and interview him.

Needless to say I was impressed with what I had come to understand and set out to practice

this tradition using a mantra. This time it felt absolutely right.

I continued to practise with a mantra for the next twenty years and when I later left London

and went to live and work in Norwich I became involved with the Christian Meditation

Community and hosted a meditation group at my home for many years. I became interested

in the Benedictine monk and priest Bede Griffiths and his writings on bringing Christianity and

Hinduism together. I visited his ashram at Shantivanam in India on a Christian Meditation

peace pilgrimage.

All this served to motivate and lend support to my meditation practice. When serious illness

meant that I left teaching and retrained as a psychotherapist I noticed that when I tried to

practice another kind of meditation in one of the mindfulness sessions on the psychotherapy

training course I could not quieten or stop the mantra of ‘maranatha’ from sounding in my

heart. The seed was firmly planted. I had also long recognised that the fruits of meditation

were plentiful and profound. When I meditated in the morning I was more focussed during

the day, more present and more energised. I had more patience and tolerance and could

keep a broader perspective. Meditating in the evening meant I felt more recollected and

more peaceful. I slept better.

However, I was also aware that I was changing in my Self and in how I viewed and

experienced life. It was as though parts of life were losing their savour. I could only describe

it as what had previously been enjoyable and nurturing had somehow become empty and

meaningless. I knew I was not depressed. My work and training as a psychotherapist told me

this. Yet something in me had changed radically. I began to feel more and more unsettled. I

had by now for some ten years been visiting an enclosed Carmelite Sister, a spiritual friend as

she would describe it. I began to read some of the Carmelite Literature. One day I was

reading an article on St John of the Cross and recognised that I was probably going through

what he calls the ‘Dark Night of the Senses’. I have since learnt that this is what the

Buddhists call ‘Disillusionment with Samsara’. It was a relief to understand, although I knew

the dangers of spiritual pride that can lurk when one tries to see where one is on the path

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and then is tempted to link this to seeing how one is ‘progressing’ on the path!

Prayer time was now a time of awful struggle. I had to force myself to sit and give the time

for meditation. This continued for a long time and I do not know where this would have led

had life not taken a most unexpected turn and I found myself leaving Norwich and going to

live in Scotland. Suddenly all my contact with friends and family and my meditation

community was severely limited. Dundee is a very long way from Norwich. I had six months

to end with clients and supervisees and close down my house.

In Dundee I found it hard to keep a sense of who I was and the path I had thought I was

following. All the comfort and support of familiar relationships and work contacts were

stripped away. I struggled as my prayer life continued to be a source of distress. Even so I

knew that this was all part of the journey. Deep down my faith was there but it felt remote

and I could derive no comfort even from knowing it was there. I made feeble attempts to be

in touch with the Christian Meditation community in Scotland and then let it go. I knew that

the practice was not appropriate for me at that period in my life. I didn’t want to pretend.

Thus it was that I felt cast adrift and spiritually very alone.

So it was that about a year later I saw that small advert in ‘The Tablet’ and recognised that

this was what I had been waiting for.

The retreat was held at the Diocesan retreat centre in Dundee. The leaders were from the

States. Mary Jo Meadow, a retired university Professor of Religious Studies, a clinical

psychologist, a secular Carmelite and a practitioner of meditation for more than 30 years and

Fr Daniel Chowning, a Carmelite priest and friar and Director for the Washington Province of

Discalced Carmelites.

I found out later that together with Fr Kevin Culligan OCD they had looked at the fact that in

the work of St John of the Cross he talks about ‘purification’ and ‘emptying out’ on the

journey to God but does not explain how this can best be facilitated. They had come to

recognise that practising meditation in the Theravada tradition of ‘vipassana’ or insight

meditation was an excellent method for being receptive to the purification and self-

knowledge that St John of the Cross taught as being necessary for spiritual growth.

The retreat participants were a mix of lay and religious people with a good number of

Carmelite Sisters who had been on previous Christian Insight Meditation retreats and were

obviously convinced of the helpfulness of such a retreat. At supper on the first evening I had

met a number of Catholics and Anglicans as well as a Buddhist. Retreatants seemed to be at

all levels of practice.

After supper on the first evening we went into silence and remained so until the last evening.

As the days went by the quality of this silence became deeper and deeper and there was little

interaction between retreatants. We each had our own room and the retreat was a mixture

of sitting and walking meditation, twice daily group instruction in meditation, an hour’s talk

each evening which integrated the teachings of St John of the Cross with the meditation

practice, optional attendance at a daily celebration of the Eucharist and, if one chose,

individual interviews with Mary Jo or Daniel for consultation, instruction and guidance. Mary

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Jo gave full meditation instructions, so the retreat worked well for beginners as well as

advanced practitioners. It soon became apparent that this was a retreat that offered the

opportunity to reach depths that I had not encountered before on other retreats.

I could say a great deal here about the mechanics of the retreat and also about the learning

that has come about as a result of taking this form of meditation as my personal daily

practice. However there is not space to do so and Mary Jo, Fr Kevin and Fr Daniel have

together written an enormously helpful and insightful book, ‘Christian Insight Meditation:

Following in the Footsteps of John of the Cross’.

Instead I will concentrate on giving a brief description of my own experiences at that first

retreat.

I soon realised that this was a kind of awareness meditation. Previously I had been using a

concentrative form of meditation which meant focusing on the mantra and letting go of

everything and having faith that the Holy Spirit was praying within me as I did so. The

discipline of using concentrative meditation had served me well, I now realised, as it had

taught me to settle my mind and not get too caught up with thoughts and feelings. Of course

I still did get caught up but it was not a huge struggle as I had learned to recognise when I was

thinking and to accept it without getting into self recrimination and feelings of failure and so

on but to let it go – withdraw energy from it so that it simply dissolved.

I did have to contend with the arising of my mantra but used this as an exercise in accepting

and letting this go too. Soon I found I was entering more and more deeply into my inner

world and gaining insight into my Self through noticing my thought patterns and what lay

beneath them – emotions such as anxiety, fear, anger, irritation, sadness. Memories began

to surface that had been repressed and I learned to go with them – not think about them but

notice the emotions that accompanied the memories and to observe, recognise and accept

them. In so doing they would dissolve away and I began to see how this was a process of

emptying out and of healing. I did not try to force anything. Thoughts and feelings arose

seemingly of their own accord. I went along with whatever arose. I began to notice a kind of

loosening in my body. It was as though I had held onto hurts and emotions and stored them

in knots in various parts of my anatomy. As I meditated I became aware of pains and aches

which I would focus on without thinking about them. Incredibly I observed that once

recognised and accepted they would begin to dissolve and this process of dissolving was

sometimes accompanied by actual sensations of heat and warmth. As the retreat progressed

the pain I was experiencing in my neck and shoulders as a result, I thought, of so much sitting

in meditation, began to disappear and I could sit and meditate and feel more relaxed. I

recognised afterwards that I have been storing tension in my neck and shoulders for many

years and that all that tension was gradually being taken away through the process of healing

I was undergoing.

At times it was painful, boring, difficult, demanding but in all of it I felt an overwhelming

sense of gratitude at having discovered a way forward that really helped. I was becoming

unstuck. I went to see Mary Jo several times and found her wisdom and experience

invaluable in shedding light on what I was experiencing.

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As well as the process of emptying out and healing I also began to have profound flashes of

insight and understandings. Ideas and concepts which I had previously understood at an

intellectual level now became more real and more significant. The most profound of these

insights came one dark evening when I was practising walking meditation in the gardens

which enclosed the retreat centre. We had just had a talk on impermanence. Mary Jo had

mentioned how all relationships end in parting. A hard fact to face, but true. She had gone

on to expand on this. As I walked, the full realisation of what this meant hit home. I literally

felt rocked and it seemed like the world rocked too and a huge shadow seemed to come

across the sky even though it was a cold, dark winter’s Dundee evening. A whole series of

understandings came in quick succession as I recognised that every single person I knew or

had ever known would die in a relatively short space of time and that in a hundred years time

there would not be a single living person whom I knew. That the towns and cities I was

familiar with would undoubtedly have changed too. I saw that I would die too. That life was

short and that if I had things that I wanted to experience or priorities in terms of what I

wanted to do with this life I had been given, then I needed to get on with it. As these

revelations unfolded I had gone from walking meditation back to the meditation room for the

final meditation of the day. It was comforting to be surrounded by the others. I had come to

feel a great affection for those persons who meditated on either side of me although I had

never spoken with them. The insights continued and the reality of my own mortality filled

me with terror at one point. It was hard to observe the terror and accept it as well. As I

made my way to bed, trying to focus on my steps and my movements involved in preparation

for bed and sleep I knew that I had received a precious but challenging gift of insight.

By the end of the nine days I was ready to go home. I remember driving the short distance to

the cottage and finding it hard to navigate the roads. I had reached such a still point of

silence and awareness in my Self that it was difficult to cope with the speeding traffic. As I

settled back into life those first few days I felt full of amazement at how I was able to speak

with others from a place of absolute acceptance of what they had to say. I could hear them

clearly and there was no noise of my own thoughts or feelings around what they had to say. I

wasn’t judging or evaluating their words or them, instead there was a sense of unconditional

acceptance, of clarity and of simplicity.

I did not forget my insights from that first retreat, I could not. The consequences have been

that I decided to return to Norfolk and to buy a house close to the Carmelite Monastery

where I had been used to attend Mass and to see my Spiritual friend, one of the Carmelite

Sisters there. I wanted to be closer to my family and loved ones who live in Norfolk and the

surrounding areas. Above all I wanted to devote myself more whole heartedly to the spiritual

life and path. I had realised that there is nothing I can take with me into death except my

own spiritual and personal development and sense of what is real and genuine.

I must state at this point that I know I have a long way to go on my journey of growth and

spiritual development. I hope I have not given the impression of finding answers. Instead it

seems to me that a new set of questions has been revealed and it feels like I am starting off

once again but this time using a different vehicle for this leg of the journey, that of Christian

Insight Meditation.

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Post Script: The following year, 2008, I organised myself to attend another Silence and

Awareness retreat in Minneapolis, USA with Mary Jo and this time with Fr Kevin

Culligan. Once more I felt profoundly affected by the experience. As Mary Jo had no

plans to lead another retreat in the UK at that time I volunteered to organise such a

retreat and so it has come about that Mary Jo and Fr Kevin are coming to Holy Isle next

May 2010.

Mary Jo Meadow and Fr Kevin Culligan are coming to the United Kingdom in May 2010.

Mary Jo will be giving two days of talks on Christian Insight Meditation on Friday 7th

and

Saturday 8th

May at the Christian Meditation Centre in Norwich where the director is

the Rev. Nicholas Vasey.

Mary Jo and Fr Kevin are then leading a Silence and Awareness Retreat giving

instruction in Christian Insight Meditation and talks on St John of the Cross from Friday

14th

May to Sunday 23rd

May 2010. The venue will be beautiful Holy Isle off the Isle of

Arran and off the west coast of Scotland and was once the home of the sixth century

Celtic hermit St Molaise. The island was bought by the Tibetan Buddhists in 1992 and

they now run an interfaith retreat centre at the northern end of the island.

If you are interested in attending either of the above and to receive further details then

please contact me by email: deannas@btopenworld.com or write to 47A Hargham

Road, Old Buckenham, Norfolk, NR17 1SN

oOo

A Buddhist Christian Commitment

by Ross Thompson, June 2009

In my teens I tried to be simply a Buddhist, and in twenty and more years as an Anglican

priest I tried to be simply a Christian. I failed. On a course at the World Peace Centre on

Holy Island, Arran, in 2007, I found that far from being rivals for my soul, Buddhism and

Christianity were for me interdependent. It has been my Buddhism that has enabled me

to remain Christian.

So I have written a book. In the process of writing it wrestling with my need to be

Buddhist and Christian, I became much more positive about the possibility of being both

in a very definite way that is very respectful of both traditions. I decided to call the book

Buddhist Christianity, a passionate Openness. It will be published by O Books in the

summer of 2010. I notice that by the time you read this a book by Paul Knitter will have

just been published by Oneworld. Its title expresses the very idea I have come to:

Without Buddha I could not be a Christian.

Of course, it is possible to be a Buddhist Christian, or a Christian Buddhist, in the context

13

of a universal kind of belief that sits fairly light to both traditions, and there is nothing at all

wrong with that. But as I explain in the book, ‘my own biography has led me to take especially

seriously the aspects of each faith that seem incompatible with the other – no God and no

soul in Buddhism, for example, and the need for grace and the historical atonement on the

cross in Christianity. Hence my Buddhist Christianity can be no bland blend of the tamer

aspects of both faiths, but must result from a wrestling of the seeming incompatibles, allowing

each faith to shake the other to its very foundations.’

It was not my initial intention to develop a Buddhist Christian form of commitment. But the

book cried out to conclude with the commitment I quote below. This takes up the threefold

renunciation (of ‘the world, the flesh and the devil’) and the Trinitarian creed which a

Christian declares (or has made on her behalf) at baptism. The Trinity affirmed, however, is

not a transcendent Trinity existing beyond the cosmos, but what I call an ‘inscendent Trinity’

in which Buddhist and Christian understandings are brought together. This threefold pattern is

woven together with the Buddhist triple refuge and the three marks of being, the Eightfold

Path (correlated with the fruits of the Spirit described in Galatians 5.22-3) and the Four Noble

Truths.

What results is not just a speculative statement of belief, I hope, but a commitment of life to

both Jesus Christ and the Buddha. It is not intended as the creed of a new faith. But some

Buddhists and Christians may find it sheds new light on their own commitment. And those

who can commit themselves wholly to neither faith may find it helps them to understand

better those who can, and perhaps take one step closer to a commitment of their own. Make

of it what you will – comments are welcome on rkathomson@aol.com.

The Renunciation

I renounce the web of delusions and ideologies that lure and entangle us in society.

I renounce all grasping and desire to possess people and things for myself alone.

I renounce the proud belief in myself as a self-sufficient being, and all envy, violence and

injustice against others and the earth.

The Refuge

For rescue I turn to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.

For rescue I turn to Christ, his teaching, his living, dying and rising, and his Church.

The Resolve

I affirm in the infinite Openness beyond all that we can know or imagine, the Emptiness

that is emptied out in everything;

I delight without judgement or discrimination in the way things are just the way they are;

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daily I restore myself in the innocent Freshness from which they spring.

Despite this abundance we have become full of dissatisfaction and unhappiness.

This is caused by our grasping, our delusion and our proud egocentricity, as in a world

which is always new, we crave a fixity which can never be realised, and would mean

spiritual death if it ever were.

I affirm the Body of Wisdom: the ordered beauty of the Cosmos revealed in the sciences

and arts; the Bride in whom the Source of all delights; the Child to which it is a tender

Father; who is fully poured out in the fully human Gautama Buddha, whose life and

teaching have shown us the path of liberation;

and fully poured out in the fully human Jesus Christ, whose teaching, life, death and

resurrection have overcome all that prevents liberation.

Liberation is therefore possible. We can live without delusion, craving and

violence here and now, and the way to do so is known. Therefore we are

accountable for how we choose to live.

If we hold to generous views, faithful intentions, judicious speech, loving

actions, humble lifestyle, great-hearted effort, good mindfulness, peaceful

meditation and joyful worship, liberation will come.

I affirm the Spirit, the sudden wind and fire, which overcomes our fears and fixity and

moves life on;

the Compassion that fills all with yearning for a new world of justice and liberation;

the Way of Reconciliation that gathers people into the community of those

committed to its coming.

I commit myself to seeking liberation with all diligence, for myself and for all beings.

oOo

Spiritual Awakening – A Global Vision By John Hetherington

Introduction

What is your expectation for the future – is it optimistic or pessimistic? Consider that

question personally and globally, as you read on. Ask yourself how you react to the questions

raised here. Do they excite or scare you? In writing this, I am distilling much recent reading

and thinking about these questions, both in the sciences and in the new forms of human

spirituality. I think we all recognise now that the coming century and those beyond could be

15

deeply challenging and risk human survival on this planet.

In this review I thus assess how old ways of thinking about ourselves need to be challenged

on every front if humanity is to emerge into a creative future on earth, at last feeling at home

in the Universe. TS Eliot reminds us that the human species is always journeying, searching

and striving:

“We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of our exploring will be to arrive where

we started and know the place for the first time.”

On the way we, at times, pause on that journey and turn away from open exploration,

fossilising past insights and ways of living together in our various societies. But, in due time

there comes a growing recognition that we need to break free and move on with our human

journey. The tectonic plates of our ideas move and nothing is quite the same. Now is another

such time of awakening.

Our old ways of looking at life and shaping human society are self-evidently no longer

workable. So what do we need to do to initiate a peaceful global awakening that will

potentially draw humanity past its turbulent adolescence and on to its maturity? How do we

become the harmonious global society we long for – living peacefully as nation states within

wider unions – engaging in creative dialogue across the world’s religions, until together we

develop a sustainable future for humanity and the earth? How do we take forward past

sources of human wisdom into the 3rd

millennium AD, in a sense knowing them again for the

first time?

Making the necessary changes will require progressives and other open minded people to

challenge the previous deep seated beliefs which still dominate most religions, cultures,

economies and legal systems. It will need fresh thinking within Christianity and the other

faiths, as well as from those taking a secular perspective. It will require an almost impossible

‘awakening’ (locally, collectively and globally), to achieve such change. This is necessary

whether people approach it via the literalism of much religious belief, or the hard secularism

that has put out the fire!

“And new philosophy calls all in doubt, the element of fire is quite put out;

The sun is lost, and th’earth, and no man’s wit can direct him, where to look for it.”

Difficult though it will be, we will need to work to identify ways to build a new global socio-

economic and political consensus, linked with a reshaped global spirituality, which could

reignite humanity’s ‘fire’. Such a consensus will require radical reflection on the ways we

have been living unsustainably, cut off from the spiritual heart that underpins reality.

Spiritual awareness will need to underpin global governance.

The problem of inherited religion and culture

16

The Problem of inherited religion and culture

Human beings are not free. We all inherit from our upbringing a deeply embedded mindset

that reinforces cultural and religious values which still, today, derive from the early days of

civilisation. (This is true even for secularists who rightly criticise religious beliefs as

predominantly inconsistent with science and human decency.) These mindsets have emerged

in, or in response to, empire-like “civilisations”- which first developed around 4000 years ago,

with farming and differentiation of labour. They have become embedded in religious /

cultural writings that have been read as God given – and thus been heightened to the status

of infallible scripture – with the passage of time. The same texts can support war and

oppression (to preserve the tribe or empire) in close juxtaposition with soaring poetry and

praise to God or the Gods. They have justified separation of classes and roles, defined gender

in terms of male authority, and the separation of their peoples from peoples with other

religious-cultural writings and laws. They have claimed in most cases to be bearers of the only

true way.

In the west, the Judeo-Christian and Islamic Religions developed, or built on, the concept of a

Sky God. This God (wholly other) was seen as far separate from humanity – which was seen

as fallen and sinful – requiring God given community sanctions to keep them in line (for

example in the Old Testament summaries of Jewish Law). Christianity too, in its turn, began

to teach that the substitutionary death of God’s Christ was necessary to appease that Father

God of wrath and so buy human salvation, reaching its climax in Calvinism. This was a far cry

from the simple teaching of Jesus that we can still glimpse in the early books of the New

Testament.

The societies in which these ideas developed were, and in most cases still are, societies

where religion and the state are intertwined. At their worst (medieval Christianity) they

launched crusades and called for holy war (jihad) – framing later collective memory on the

basis of centuries of mistrust. At their best, as in early Islam, they recognised human

universality under God in the concept of “ummah”. This history still deeply influences global

relationships today.

Other empires had different theologies, with pantheons of Gods, but divinised rulers – as in

the pre Constantinian Roman Empire – which remains, with Greek learning, (rediscovered in

Europe via Islamic scholars) the dominant source of western thought. Throughout, these

societies were equally coercive, as society remained stratified and slavery taken for granted.

Only since the Renaissance has western society begun to openly challenge this religious and

cultural conditioning, as the principles of open inquiry and verification in the sciences has

spread to allow critical appraisal of religion and culture itself.

In the east, the Hindu and Buddhist religions dominated with a very different perspective. At

17

the cultural level Hinduism was pantheistic with multiple religious expressions of worship of

individual ‘manifestations’. Buddhism can be seen as agnostic about God as external reality –

preferring to focus on practice – through ancient Vedanta techniques of mediation providing

ways to handle the suffering inherent in life. At the heart of these ancient spiritualities is a

profound insight that,

“Who thinks the Self may kill, who thinks the Self itself be killed, has missed the mark of

truth. Self is not born, nor does it ever die; it does not come to life, not having been, nor,

having been does it thereafter cease. Eternal, ancient, ever present Self, though bodies are

cut down, lives on intact.”

The Cross fertilisation of religious ideas is now growing rapidly as east and west share

common insight to a growing extent – though with little impact in the more fundamentalist

expressions of each religion. For example, there is increasing emphasis on meditation

practice in Christianity with numerous local groups across the UK making links between the

Christian mystical and contemplative tradition and eastern practices. More recent writers,

such as Eckhart Tolle, are increasingly recognised as key western leaders in the movement to

“awaken” individuals to the “presence” found in times of stillness:

“When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose

touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world.”

The hard reality is that all the major world faiths struggle between such elevated thought and

a crude defensive barbarity, which supports slaughter in the name of God or the Gods – and

divides on tribal / sectarian lines within and across the faiths.

The exception is the Baha’i religion, which is the only faith to have developed within the

framework of post enlightenment thought. It embeds these values in its approach to science,

human and religious unity, lack of prejudice, equality of men and women, the centrality of

education, avoidance of extremes of wealth, international institutions, global justice and the

goal of world peace.

However, with a small number of exceptions, our religious global heritage is more often the

problem than the source of a solution. The problem is our inherited belief systems, not the

higher level understanding of religion founders and ‘masters’. The reaction to modernity

from most faiths has been, on the one hand, an intellectual recognition of the western

enlightenment and thus a reinterpretation, or, on the other, an increasingly strident return to

fundamentalism.

Fundamentalists and conservatives cling to scriptural warrant to slow or stop progress. They

are capable of leading us into an era of new religiously underpinned wars. It is the

conservatives who seek to contain children’s education and shape pliable minds into ways of

believing and behaving that make no sense to enlightened thinkers, whether secular or

18

spiritual seekers.

I fear that without a step change in our approach to religion, politics and economics, we risk

pushing humanity back to a global dark age, surviving only in small numbers on a despoiled

planet. It is, of course, not just religion that is at fault, but also materialist and capitalist

culture – which has driven economic growth past the limits of sustainability. We are all

caught up in that and ought now to be fully aware of the risks. There are countless millions in

poverty, and there is a growing insight that we are at a key turning point for humankind and

“life in all its fullness”, as countless other diverse species and habitats are lost.

So here I get to the nub of my argument. At root these problems, and their holding back of

global unity, stem from what we believe. So, to effect change we need to frame the

challenge at the level of belief – and its spin offs in the different global cultures.

The need for a new paradigm – a new humanity, a new society, a new spirituality, a new

politics, a new economy, a new world!

The project we need to unite to build is nothing less than a new humanity. We need to

recognise our global situation and manage change to minimise harm to the people caught up

most in impacts from climate change and the disturbance that will follow to global economies

in the decades ahead and beyond. We will best do this if we have a fresh look at what many

are coming to see as a new “revelation of God”. The historic faiths were built around a series

of “revelations” by human beings for whom “God”, “Life” the “All” was experienced as a deep

reality by the faith founders. (This experience is not unique to the religion founders but is a

common human experience, whether we are “believers” or secular people – it expresses in

simple awe and in the mystical and creative processes of the creative arts and writing.)

The religions developed from the founders, and later ‘teachers’, ways of framing religious

practice. They also developed myths and laws applicable to their circumstances. Codified as

scripture, these are still the dominant source of rules and guidance for most of humanity. The

difficulty is they no longer work for today’s global society and economy. The way forward is

not to, “throw out the baby with the bathwater” but to transcend the time bound framing of

“scripture” and develop a new universal one – which owns the positive insights and

overarches them with a new paradigm and new insight.

Our societies are becoming polarised and divided because of literalist religion. Populist

politics, too, is being forced to accommodate the views of literalist religion. As a result the

project for global “unity in diversity” is being slowed. Even where liberal and progressives in

the faiths are putting forward open alternatives, the pressure to hold to the founding

fundamentals, when they are clearly damaging and plain wrong in the light of 21st

Century

understandings, is accommodated by leaders who regard unity as paramount. Radical voices

19

for change are thus contained. It is important, therefore, that much effort goes in to

exciting conservative and fundamentalist believers with the knowledge that the

evolutionary “great story” offers as a way of bringing science and religion together.

In my view, it will take a profound effort to involve the world’s current religious

institutions in the project to build a common vision for a new society, which could take

us forward together globally through this new millennium. It will involve radical and

progressive leaders and spiritual teachers to put forward clearly the fruits of science,

working alongside an open spirituality (within and beyond the historic faiths), to roll

back the fundamentalist tide. Science, secular voices, and open spiritualities are

increasingly becoming partners in this post-modern world – as we better understand

the nature of reality and the Universe we inhabit.

Our understanding of human minds and their relationship to the spiritual field of the

Universe needs to expand. New holistic ways of managing disease is already being

more and more recognised. Referring back to Einstein’s experience of “contemplating”

his theory, Brian Swimme, director of the Centre for the Story of the Universe, at the

University of Oregon comments:

“..the consciousness that learns it is at the origin point of the Universe is itself an

origin of the Universe. .. We are all of us arising together at the centre of the

cosmos.”

We need to move forward together on this major challenge to awaken ourselves and

all we meet to this amazing reality. The story of evolution, under attack from some

fundamentalists, has been called the “Great Story” and frames a new collective

understanding of our place as human beings Michael Dowd sums up his hopes this

way:

“Over the coming decades I foresee that religious believers of every tradition will

embrace a far larger, more reality based view of God than was possible even a

century ago. This will be a vision of the Holy One that will draw the vast majority,

regardless of religion or philosophical worldview, into a place of respect, adoration,

love and care for the larger body of which we are part. Scripture will have become

more all encompassing and universally inspiring because altogether new writings will

qualify as scripture. Our spirituality will no longer be restricted to ancient texts, we

will come to know and be led by God’s word in every fact, every detail, every truth of

cosmic history and of that undeniable wholeness in which we all live and move and

have our being.”

At the same time we will need to manage massive economic readjustment as we seek

to manage the impacts of global warming. So as we look out at the vastness of space

20

we need to look too to our stewardship of our amazing, gifted, planetary home. We and it

are One!

The “Spiritual but not Religious” movement, other new spiritual voices, and many

thinkers in the biological and physical sciences are helping shape this “post religious”

agenda on websites, through books and conferences. Some are working within the faiths

as voices of reason and progressive thought. Others are now involved in the many varied

forms of the new spirituality. I have written on this previously in a “Free to Believe”

booklet “Reshaping Christianity” which maps the development of this ‘territory’ in open

spiritual exploration.

The shape of the new society will be very different – it will require a clear understanding

of the links between the scientific understandings in biology, chemistry and physics as

well as an open approach to the intelligence at the core of the “All” – of which we are

part. The hope is this will become increasingly the universal paradigm for human

societies.

The new spirituality will be influenced by many strands of insight now appearing within

the historic faiths (already at the heart of some e.g. Buddhism). As explained elsewhere,

radical spiritual explorations, rather than traditional faith teachings, broadly identify a set

of common perspectives on the nature of reality, human life and the way to experience

God. These perspectives are being explored in significant ways. Gordon Lynch (Professor

of the Sociology of Religion at Birkbeck University, London) has also written about The

New Spirituality, which he summarises as:

the guiding intelligence behind evolutionary process and the energy of the

universe itself

Pantheism / Panentheism – replacing a transcendent, patriarchal view of God

Mysticism and the divine feminine – using symbol and liturgy, encounter with

nature and celebration of the feminine in God

The sacralisation of nature – affirmation of the material and nature / life as

participation in divinity

The sacralisation of the self – as a manifestation of the divine (with human self-

consciousness derived from the supra-consciousness of the “All”).

Understandings of Religion – as culturally and historically bound and thus

metaphorical – enabling a growing spirit of ‘ecumenism’ (and interfaith

encounter).

Neale Donald Walsch maps out several key changes that will shape the future growth of

an open contemporary spirituality. He boiled these down to a series of “revelations” at

the conclusion of his 2003 book (summarised below):

God has never stopped communicating

Every human being is special – you are all messengers

21

No path to God is more direct than any other path – there is no “one true

religion”

God needs nothing

God is not a singular super being, in or outside the universe – God cannot be hurt

or damaged and has no need to seek revenge or impose punishment

All things are only One thing – all things are part of the One

There is no such thing as right and wrong – there is only what works and does not

work

You are not your body. Who you are is limitless and without end.

You cannot “die” and you will never be damned.

What I think is going on in all this, is that the new spiritualities are re-discovering what

was always at the heart of the Christian faith and other faiths too. In mystical

experience or spiritual encounter we can come to know the One, the All, ‘In whom we

live and move and have our being”.

I am increasingly of the view that the cultural roots of progressive spirituality show

underlying coherence, by reflecting adaptation to modernism, liberalism and welcome

insights in quantum physics and cosmic ‘unfolding’. They will, I trust, be able over the

decades ahead to shape an accommodation with open and progressive elements in the

global faiths, necessary to underpin the hoped for changes in global religion and society.

So, to move to a workable future global politics and economy fundamental change is

necessary too, as we make the necessary transition to a global “commonwealth” of

peoples and nations able to manage the necessary moves to equality and mutuality and

handle the potentially profound impacts of our 20th

Century period of excess and greed.

We will need to transition to appropriate global institutions – based on our common

spiritual understanding. The difficult years /decades will arise within this century as the

process of change and reaction gains momentum. However, I am hopeful that what may

seem like a dream can become reality – as people of faith learn to cherish their holy

texts as history but, for the Judeo-Christian tradition, transcend them as being the

muddled insight of a projected distant and authoritarian God – modelled on the

authoritarian rule of tribal leaders, emperors and other leaders.

We cannot predict what will be needed, but some of the challenges arising in the credit

crunch are pointers. There will need to be a period of transition to build relationships

based on “enough” and a flattening of the gross disparities modern capitalism has

22

generated. There needs to be a full global accounting understood and applied – to ensure

transition from excess consumption in the presently affluent nations, and a transfer of

wealth to support sustainable growth in the countries damaged by western greed. We

have plundered million year old planetary resources in oil, coal and gas. New ways to tap

renewable sources on a large scale for equitable distribution will be needed to recover

from this.

This will need to be supported by new forms of governance that involve citizens in

decision making and a new look at the way representation can happen in a wired world.

Travel will need to be restricted and balanced by excellent communications infrastructure

and in time a “telepresence” in business and home. I could continue to speculate – into a

period of future fiction – as it may all play out. There are grounds for hope for both a new

politics and a new economics.

And finally, a New World! There are many visions of our future world – including that of

fundamentalist Christianity (and its counterpart in jihadist Islam), where the world ends

in a bang and a wrapping up of the universe as punishment for human sin, with only the

elect pardoned. That is not the God I know or would want to know. The God I know is

‘present’ in all life, as the source of love, the foundation of all that is. My life is rooted in

that ‘presence’ - those moments of deepest experience, knowing and creativity. What we

are called to do is enjoy and develop our present experience of God – the All – eternally

evolving and growing in and through us.

Thus, I trust that all who read this will share my confidence that,

“All Shall Be Well; and All Shall Be Well; and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well.”

“For God showed a little thing, the size of a hazel nut, lying in the palm of my hand, it

seemed to me, and it was round as a ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my

understanding and thought, 'What may this be?' And it was answered generally thus, 'It

is all that is made'' I marvelled how it might last, for I thought it would have fallen

suddenly to nought for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding, 'It lasts and

ever shall, because God loves it, and so have all things their being by the love of God'. In

this little thing I saw three qualities. The first is that God made it. The second that God

loves it. The third that God keeps it.”

Together we can apply Julian’s confidence - for we will, together, save this world for yet

further lives, fully lived as part of an ever evolving humanity, at last at home in the stars,

sharing God’s All.

John Hetherington - July 2009

(Copyright – only to be reproduced with express permission

Email: john.hetherington@btinternet.com)

23

Taoism, Tai Chi, meditation and Bruce Frantzis

By Mari Shackell

"The Tao of Letting Go" is a new book by Bruce Frantzis. This American author is a

Tai Chi teacher known and respected on both sides of the Atlantic. He is also a man

with an interesting past who has spent more than 40 years as a martial artist, chi

master, Taoist priest and energetic healer. He spent a decade in China as well as

time in India and Japan and is the first Westerner to hold authentic lineages in Chi

Gung, Ba Gua, Tai Chi and Taoist meditation. He has a number of books, CDs and

DVDs to his name but says this latest book "is a culmination of all the knowledge of

chi I have acquired ...".

Books which systematically spell out the "how to" of Taoist meditation are hard to

find and this one, while not in my opinion a stand-alone manual, comes as close as

any I have discovered. Bruce Frantzis makes a real effort here to pass on to the non-

specialist reader his own understandings and the practice techniques. These are

strongly grounded in Tai Chi for both body and mind, but whereas the focus in most

of his other books is more on the physical aspects of Tai Chi as a strengthening and

healing practice, here he explains the Inner Dissolving method of Taoist meditation,

"effective for creating internal freedom". Central to the teachings are an explana-

tion of the workings of chi, the energetic life force present in all living beings, called

prana in the Indian yogic tradition. "Let go, chi flows" says Bruce.

The Taoist teachings which Bruce expounds here go back to Lao Tse, whom he

quotes: "When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." The school of Tai

Chi which this comes from is called Wu style and this Taoist meditation is called the

Water Method. Like water it is gentle, moderate, naturalistic and yin, in contrast to

the Fire branch which is yang and much more forceful. Bruce learnt his art and prac-

tice in China, in Beijing, from the late Taoist Lineage Master Liu Hung Chieh who

only agreed to teach him, so he said, because he had seen Bruce coming to meet

him in a dream and recognized him when he arrived as a sincere and committed

disciple.

This book reads easily and in harmony the water image carries the reader along with

it, but this is not to say that what it aims to teach is trivial or quickly mastered. In my

small acquaintance of training in this huge and profound subject I have found Tai

Chi, Chi Gung, Nei Gung and all the associated practices subtle, refined and chal-

lenging, all the more so because of their gentleness and apparent simplicity. I do

24

not recommend this book to anyone who is looking for quick fixes because for me it raises

many questions and also points to the need for further instruction from a real life teacher. But

as a very fresh and modern take on a very ancient art I would say it is well worth the read.

And it could just lead on into a whole new dimension of investigation.

Bruce Frantzis' website: http://www.energyarts.com/

Book "Tao of Letting Go"

http://www.energyarts.com/Books-andamp-Audio-Visual/Meditation/TAO-of-Letting-Go-

Book-Special-Offer.html

Directory of local instructors: http://www.energyarts.com/Directory/Browse-by-Location.html

oOo

“The Jesus Sutras”

Rediscovering the lost Religion of Taoist Christianity,

by Martin Palmer. Review from Sr Mary Laurence

This book describes the Christian faith in its meeting with the traditions of the east in China in

the early centuries. Martin Palmer fell in love with China in his teens and maintained close

links, until in 1998 he and his team located a run down 8th century monastery, a pagoda, in

the remote district of Da Qin. It was an exciting discovery of the Tao of Jesus. He also tells of

the countless remains of churches, monasteries and artefacts that have been excavated along

the Silk Road, evidence of the hundreds of communities that developed between the 7th and

11th centuries, belonging to Buddhist, Zoroastrians, Christians, Taoists, shamans and Bon

worshippers.

Many various scrolls - a hoard which had been hidden in a cave at Dunhuang - comprise the

Jesus Sutras, the sacred literature of China at that time. They bring together the three world

cultures of Judaic Christianity, Taoism and Buddhism, and they show, as Palmer says, "how

ideas, inspiration and faith can flow across cultural boundaries and still remain faithful to the

core teachings of each religion while providing fresh perspectives on the meaning of life and

our place in the universe." These teachings present a rather different, gentler Christianity,

without western theological baggage, from our own narrow tradition.

....And the Honoured One said, You gravitate naturally to these teachings, and through

them you will come to live in Peace and Happiness. Animals practise true faith and live by

25

these laws so they are already there in that realm. And so you will come to be in a place where

nothing else exists or is needed..And everyone said Yes! to this, and Amen!

Then he spoke to the assembled crowd and said: This Sutra is profound and unimaginable. All

the gods and gurus agree on this, and acknowledge this Way that is the essence of connection

and return. (from the 3rd Chapter of the Great Liturgical Sutras)

Evening Gatha

Let me respectfully remind you

Life and death are of supreme importance

Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost.

Each of us should strive to awaken

Awaken

Take heed

This night your days are diminished by one.

Do not Squander your life.

Zen chant used at the John Main Seminar 2009.

oOo

Events

October 10th

A day of Reflection “Awareness a Way of Freedom”

with Elizabeth West at Chilworth Priory, Chilworth, Nr Guildford Registration will begin at 9.30 with optional Eucharist at 10 followed by Coffee at 10.30 for an

11.00 start. There will be talks, sharing and time for reflection and discussion. The talks will in-

clude periods of practice linked to the theme of the talks.

To Book and for full details contact Lynda Brincklow by email on lyndab1@btinternet.com

Friday 30th October 10.30 am—4.30pm BCVN Reflection Day

at St Mary’s, Edgware Abbey. An informal day of sharing and reflection on one of the articles from this newsletter. Bring food

to share

To Book: email: ewest@buddhist-christian.org or call 020 8440 4454 . If you would like

to stay a night or two at St Mary’s then please email info@edgwareabbey.org.uk or call

020 8958 7868.

If you need directions please let me know when applying. Elizabeth

26

Christmas Retreat on Holy Isle Dec 19th– 27th

Course Leader: Choden & Elizabeth West

Instead of partaking in the over indulgence associated with this time of the year, come and join us

on beautiful Holy Isle and reconnect with peace and compassion within. We will offer basic instruc-

tions in meditation and the practice of Chenrezig (the bodhisattva of compassion) and we will set up

a simple meditation schedule. People will be free to participate in as much or as little of the teach-

ings and schedule as they choose. They will also have time to relax and enjoy the island and each

other's company. The food will be a vegetarian fare - lavish and deliciously wholesome!

The cost: Single room £45, Twin room £65, dormitory £25 per night

plus a suggested donation of £10 per day for the retreat instructions and guidance.

Retreat Schedule

7.30 - 8.15am Silent Sitting Meditation

8.15am Breakfast

9.15 - 10.30am Meditation Instruction & Guided Meditation

10.30am Break

11 - 11.40am Silent Sitting Meditation

11.45am Break

12.15 - 1pm Qigong (Chi Gung)

1pm Lunch & Free Time

4 - 4.45pm Reflection & Sharing

5.15 - 6pm Silent Sitting Meditation

6pm Evening Soup

7 - 8pmInstructions & Practice of Chenrezig (practice of universal compassion)

Important Travel Information

On Saturday, 19 December you will need to take the 12.30pm Ardrossan Ferry for a 2pm ferry cross-

ing to Holy Isle. With regard to departure on Sunday, 27 December there will be a 10am ferry to

Lamlash connecting up with the 11.05am Brodick ferry that arrives at Ardrossan at 12pm. Please

bear in mind that at this time of year there is the possibility of the retreat being delayed or even

cancelled due to strong winds preventing ferry travel, though for the last three years this has not

been a problem. Therefore, you should consider getting travel insurance on any flights or fixed res-

ervation train tickets.

Full Information: Visit the website www.Holy Isle.org for full travel arrangements

To Book: Tel: 01770 601100 or Email: reception@holyisle.org

27

Events with Sr Ishpriya March 2010

Ishpriya is a spiritual teacher and guide. Although English by birth,

she has lived in India among Hindu holy men and women for many

years. Along with Vandana she founded three Christians ashrams for

dialogue with Hindus and for meditation and spiritual practice, draw-

ing on the wisdom of east and west. In the Christian Ashram move-

ment she was closely associated with other founders such as Bede

Griffiths. As well as an in depth experiential knowledge of eastern

spiritual traditions, Ishpriya has a doctorate in western psychology.

She has taught and led retreats world-wide. As a member of the Soci-

ety of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic religious order, she has a gift for integrating our Chris-

tian heritage with the wisdom of the east.

Thursday 11th

March – Sunday 14th

March 2010. Satsang with Sr Ishpriya

A long weekend with Ishpriya for Satsang Members and those interested. There will be

talks from Ishpriya, with times for silence, sharing and discussion.

Venue: Douai Abbey, Upper Woolhampton, Reading, RG7 5TQ

Cost: Single ensuite rooms £180 Shared rooms £134.50 Single rooms in Youth Cottages

134.50 (There are 6 of these) Plus Donation for Ishpriya

For full details, and booking form contact: Elizabeth West on 020 8440 4454

or email: ewest@buddhist-christian.org

Bookings for this event should reach Elizabeth two weeks before the event, earlier rec-

ommended as it is filling up.

Friday 19th

– Sunday 21st

March 2010

A Seminar with Sr Ishpriya - “Are You Ready to Take a Quantum Leap? - Spiritual maturity

in a Global Era”

There will be talks with time for reflection and sharing and times of silent prayer.

Venue: Emmaus House, Clifton Hill, Bristol, BS 8 1BN.

For full details and cost: go to Emmaus House website www.emmaushouse.org.uk

To Book: Phone 0117 9079950 or email: administration@emmaushouse.org.uk

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Silence and Awareness Retreat

Christian Insight Meditation: Following in the Footsteps of John of the Cross

Friday 14th

May – Sunday 23rd

May 2010

Venue: Holy Isle off Arran, Scotland

Beautiful Holy Isle off the Isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland. Home to the Sixth

century hermit and Celtic Saint Molaise. The Interfaith Retreat House is part of the Centre

for World Peace run by the Tibetan Buddhists.

Retreat Leaders

Mary Jo Meadow SOCD: a retired professor of psychology and religious studies from Min-

neapolis. She is a secular Carmelite. She has studied with meditation teachers Joseph Gold-

stein and Sayadaw U Pandita and has been teaching insight meditation since 1987. She is

an international speaker and retreat giver.

Fr Kevin Culligan OCD is a Carmelite friar and priest. He received his PhD in the psychology

of religion at Boston University in 1979. He is a leading scholar of spirituality and a founding

member of the Institute of Carmelite Studies. He is an international speaker and retreat

giver.

Christian Insight Meditation

Since 1999 Mary Jo Meadow and Fr Kevin Culligan together with Fr Daniel Chowning have

developed through writings and intensive retreats the practice of Christian Insight Medita-

tion incorporating the wisdom of Buddhist vipassana practice into Christian Spirituality as

taught by St John of the Cross. They have written a book together: Christian Insight Medi-

tation: Following in the Footsteps of John of the Cross.

Bookings and Costs

Retreat cost : £540.00 This includes own room, full vegetarian board and goes toward

travel and accommodation costs for retreat leaders.

Places may be available for those wishing to come for the first weekend of the retreat only

but weekend retreatants may have to share a room with others: £160.00

For more information or to book email: deannas@btopenworld.com