Schedule
2008 Seminars with Cynthia Bourgeault
9:00am – Noon
The Gallery, Aspen Chapel
December Weekend, Introduction to The Wilderness Journey
December 8-9, 2007
The Wilderness Journey
January 7-11, 2008 (Monday – Friday)
In our January session, we will be focusing on the theme of “the wilderness journey” as both a metaphor and a reality of our spiritual life, particularly as it applies to “end of life tasks.” We’ll be studying two fabulous books: MT ANALOGUE by Rene Daumal and OLD AGE by Helen Luke (which will already be familiar to many of you); and Belden Lane’s THE SOLACE OF FIERCE PLACES (and our old friends the desert fathers and mothers) will be hovering just in the background. We’ll be trying to knit together--not just in theory but in spiritual practice as well--threads that have been floating around in our group for a long time: kenosis and wilderness, wilderness and creativity, old age as kenosis, discovery as letting go. Stay tuned; the material should be fascinating and accessible.
Gospel of Thomas
January 15, 22 (Tuesday)
February 5 (Tuesday)
9am - 12 noon
Mini Intensive on Christophany, Section 3
January 24-25, 2008 (Thursday – Friday)
We will return to Panikkar’s CHRISTOPHANY and pay particular attention to the nine “mahavakya” (short spiritual lessons) in Part III. It will be dense, intense, ground-breaking, and hopefully good work on behalf of all humanity. Thomas Keating was tremendously enthusiastic about our work last spring, and he and I will be offering CHRISTOPHANY retreats individually and together during the 08 and 09 seasons. I was also able to establish a wonderful contact with Panikkar himself, who is also interested in what we are up to here. The material, once penetrated, is so foundational to Interspiritual consciousness in the 21st century that it’s an honor to be able to tackle it.
Peter Kingsley, The Wisdom of Dark Places
February 11-16, 2008 (Tuesday-Saturday)
Peter Kingsley’s work is not only ground-breakingly important but also of specific interest to many folks here in Aspen. His earlier book IN THE WISDOM OF DARK PLACES and most recent REALITY are nothing less than a radical rethinking of pre-Socratic Greek philosophy and the roots of Western Civilization. Peter sees the real roots of Western understanding not in philosophical discourse, ("the mind playing hide-and-go-seek with itself,” as he calls it), but in an integral model of healing and wholeness that I believe would pass muster among contemporary Wilberites. These early “philosophers,” Kingsley believes‹Parmenides, Empedocles, et.al.‹were actually shamanic Wisdom healers, whose path looks a whole lot like the radical kenosis we’ll be studying in our January seminar.
Kingsley is breathtakingly simple to read, but requires interpretation and discussion. He and I will be working together in Georgia in early November, and there are plans in the early stages to bring him to Aspen late next spring…
Meditations on the Tarot
Thursday mornings, dates to be announced
A study of the luminous and influential Christian masterpiece, Meditations on the Tarot, described by Fr. Thomas Keating as “the most significant contribution to date to the recovery of the Christian contemplative heritage.” Reading: Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey Into Christian Hermeticism.
Most books listed as required reading can be purchased at the Aspen Chapel Book Nook before the beginning of each class. For more information, please call 970-925-7184.
Meditation Masterclass with Cynthia Bourgeault
May 16-17, 2008
Norwich
Special Events
Music of the Mystics
Date to be announced, March 2008, 7:30PM
With the Aspen Chapel Choir and Guest Artists. See background information.
Cynthia’s Preaching Schedule
Sunday, 9:30am – 2007-08
Aspen Chapel Sanctuary
December 9, 2007 Introduction to Wisdom Teachings and the Wilderness Journey
January 6, 2008 with Rev. Dr. Gregg Anderson
January 13,2008 Following the Wilderness Journey Seminar
January 27, 2008 Living Collaboratively on the Planet
February 17, 2008 Readings from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene