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| 19 June 2008 | ‘Dying we Live’ - How Suffering and Death give Meaning to Life From the moment of birth we are moving towards our death. Yet this movement, this often painfully tragic journey of constant change and frequent loss, is the root of life, the very source of creation. The great paradox, therefore, is that at the deepest level of our being, at the very limits of our awareness, darkness and light, life and death, are no longer experienced as opposed to one another but seen as partners in a great unfolding drama. The meaning of this drama transcends our powers of thought but not, however, our capacity to feel, to understand and to love. This crowning ability, the ability to love, is what is most essential to us. It is, in fact, nothing less than the divine presence within us, a presence which reaches out - beyond life and death - to eternity, to where - as our deepest instincts tell us - ‘all shall be well, all manner of thing shall be well.’ Only when we discover this eternal dimension within our ‘living and dying’ do we experience that joy which, Paul Tillich tells us, ‘is deeper than suffering’ and ‘cannot be destroyed’ for it is ‘the truth on which life and death are built’. Our retreat will be devoted to this great theme, which we hope to examine with the aid of poetry, prose and, of course, our own personal deliberations. |
| 15 May 2008 | Clouds of Glory - Learning from the poetry of William Wordsworth We all recall, probably from our school-days, that Wordsworth was a ‘Nature Poet’. And, indeed, he was. But, Wordsworth’s celebration of nature, especially the landscape of his beloved Lake District, was something more. It was, in fact, a celebration of the Divine or, as he himself might have said, of the Sublime. Amid the broad lakes and rugged fells of Cumbria or gazing down on the enduring serenity of Tintern Abbey, Wordsworth was profoundly aware not only of his own sense of communion with the countryside around him but with those spiritual forces that shaped and animated it. Thus the poet and the landscape shared a common destiny and, for Wordsworth, awareness of this destiny gave substance and direction to life. Our task during this retreat will be to try and recapture something of Wordsworth’s life-giving vision. |
| 17 April 2008 | The Book of Revelation – 'Heaven and Earth shall pass away' How are we to read, let alone understand, a book like The Book of Revelation? Its language is dense and archaic, its symbolism wild and, to our minds, often quite alien. It is, certainly, a work rich in powerful imagery but the 'power' is ambiguous. Gilbert Desrosiers, in his Introduction to Revelation, writes: It is ironic to realize that the blessing found in Revelation 1.3 'Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy' has more than once become a curse for the whole Christian community Can this book today speak only to a Waco community teetering on the edge of suicidal insanity? Or can it unlock for us vistas of understanding that would otherwise remain hidden? What happens if we look at this strange book through the eyes of modern depth psychology? Can it teach us how to deal more skilfully with the ambiguities of life? Can it take us into unexplored realms of imagination where we might begin to appreciate 'the wisdom of insecurity'? Over the course of the day we shall be pondering these questions. More generally, we shall do what we can not only to draw back the veil a little from this 'secret book' but, if possible, allow it to resonate with our own experience. |
| 20 March 2008 | WORDS & MUSIC (With special reference to the works of Franz Schubert) In the beginning, we are told, was the WORD. However, this divine WORD was the creator of order and pattern - qualities that permeate the universe and which are symbolised in music – the MUSIC OF THE SPHERES. Ever since, these two creative forms – word and music – have been drawn to each other. So, in its most intense, most evocative mode, the word becomes poetry and embodies both. The early 20th Century composer, Richard Strauss, devoted an entire opera (Capriccio) to the question of which takes priority – the work of the composer or that of the librettist; who is supreme – the master of music or the master of words? In our retreat we shall not be struggling with such abstract dilemmas but simply giving ourselves up to words and music capable of raising our spirits while, at the same time, broadening, ennobling and deepening our vision of life. |
| 21 February 2008 | FINDING THE SELF Each of us is acutely aware that we are individuals - centres of unique consciousness, so why this ‘search for the Self’? Every great tradition assures us that what we presently are is not enough and cause of much suffering. The reason for our failure is expressed differently: for Buddhism it comes about because of ignorance, for Taoism and Zen it results from our having lost touch with the ‘natural way’, while for Confucianism we are at odds with ourselves because of our refusal to live by those values which alone make for a reasonable, sane and humane society. Our own tradition calls this failure ‘sin’ - ‘missing the mark’ – our attempt to live solely out of, and on behalf of, narrow egotistic awareness. The alternative is to live out of, and on behalf of, our true Self, ‘the image of God’ within us. In every tradition, this effort to realign our consciousness is seen as ‘the Great Work’, a work that demands study, meditation, prayer and a high degree of psychological awareness. Almost all this work is directed to inner things and takes place in ‘the Heart’. To be aware of the ‘Heart’ and acknowledge its centrality is the alpha and omega of all our attempts to realise the fullness of our humanity, it is the gateway to Selfhood and hence, ultimately, to a richer, more abundant life. |
| 17 January 2008 | THE MAGICIAN & THE FOOL - Meditations in the Tarot Making contact with our ‘inner resources’ is not easy, and never has been. That is why throughout the ages meditative systems have been devised to help us not only get into this work but guide us, safely, through the labyrinthine complexities of the psyche. One such system is the Tarot. In this retreat we shall be examining our own venture into spiritual realms with the help of two major figures from the Tarot - the ‘Fool’ and the ‘Magician’. Like Parsifal, the fool possesses two important prerequisites for such a journey - innocence and courage. However, genuine spiritual work depends on a strong and balanced ego represented here by the Magician. What is innocent has to become conscious, for this is our link with the Divine, but equally what is, to begin with, perhaps over self-conscious has to become open and receptive like the Fool. So, right at the outset of our journey, we are presented with images in need of reconciliation and this work of reconciliation is at the heart of the Tarot as it is at the heart of the spiritual life in general. |
