Retreats - Surrey, UK. Retreat society of Bamboo grove - Jungian psychology, finding spirituality in literature, music and art, buddhist and chrisitan dialogue


15 Nov 2007	JUNGIAN TYPOLOGY and Personal Development One of C G Jung’s most important discoveries was that while we human beings may look more or less alike deep down we are very different, so different that our individual ‘take’ on life can prove extremely challenging to our neighbours and colleagues. Jung’s researches have shown, in fact, that our society is made up of no less than sixteen distinct personality types. To know one’s own ‘type’ can be both extremely revealing and helpful. Similarly, to realize that not everyone sees things the way we do can come as a real eye-opener. No human being can, of course, be summed up simply in terms of such a typology and, in any case, our typologies change over the years and, indeed, not only change but develop. In fact, Jung regarded such development as a major aspect of man’s psycho-spiritual maturation. Each of us contains a living mandala within – our goal should be the conscious expansion or ‘building-up’ of this inner mandala so that our individual lives slowly reflect more and more of its fullness, balance and understanding.
18 October 2007	IN THE PRESENCE OF LILIES AND SPARROWS - Seeing God in Nature and Nature in God Man has always felt that there is a powerful affinity between nature and the divine. Poets, artists and musicians have celebrated ‘God’s Grandeur’ as reflected in the beauties and energies of the natural world. Similarly, many mystics have approached God through the world around them and it was surely no accident that the major contemplative orders, the Cistercians and Carthusians, were inspired to build their great monasteries in some of the most spectacular landscapes of Europe. In our retreat we shall be thinking about this celebration of nature and, at the same time, wondering how we might become more responsive to it so that we not only learn from the ‘wondrous being’ that is all around us but feel ever more keenly our solidarity, our essential kinship, with it.
20 Sep 2007	'BE PERFECT . . .' But can we? It seems that we humans, so different in many ways from the natural world around us, have always been intrigued, or bedevilled, by the notion of ‘perfection’. Is there such a thing? More particularly, is our humanity capable of it? What would it mean to be a ‘perfect human being’? Indeed, what would it mean to be a human being whose perfection mirrored that of God? This is an important question, for around it has gathered a great deal of confusion and misapprehension. Some of this misapprehension has, in turn, given rise to a host of unrealistic, indeed destructive longings and demands. But can we live without holding up before ourselves some great ideal, some noble aspiration or goal, powerful enough to motivate and guide us through the complexities of life? During our retreat we shall be reflecting, critically on this question, in the light of that ancient call that comes echoing down the centuries to us: ‘Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect’.
19 July 2007	William Blake - Poet, Painter and Seer For many people William Blake is the English poet par excellence. His poetry is certainly special and perhaps even unique given the breadth and depth of vision it portrays. Blake’s poetry and painting reflect the dazzling complexity of a man as much at home in the inner world of imagination as in the busy streets of his native London. Blake’s rich legacy provides many themes for our retreat, but we shall be looking at those that touch more especially on our own efforts to achieve a larger vision of the world around us. A vision that involves seeing our surroundings, with Blake, as part of a more resplendent vision – a vision in which earth and heaven are at one.
21 Jun 2007	Talking to our Self Men and women throughout the ages have recognised the importance of relating, and listening, to the promptings of their inner lives. Traditionally, in the west, this activity has been called prayer - discourse with God. Other traditions have envisioned it rather differently and today, for instance, many western people think of it in terms of ‘active imagination’. But, however we envision it, this is a universal activity that we cannot, any of us, afford to neglect. In the course of this retreat we shall be looking at some ways in which we might begin or learn to develop this ‘conversation with the Self’ and we shall be doing so in the light of examples taken from past masters of this essential art.
24 May 2007	Beethoven - a man who reached out to God : An exploration of the music and spirituality of Ludwig van Beethoven Beethoven was without doubt a supreme genius, both in musical and spiritual terms. ‘There is’, said the composer, ‘no loftier mission than to approach the Godhead more nearly than other mortals and by means of that contact to spread the rays of the Godhead through the human race’. High flown words, indeed; but words that are more than borne out by the music that came from the great master’s pen - music that speaks directly ‘from the heart to the heart’ of sublime things. In the course of our retreat we shall be celebrating, through words and music, a little of the wonderful spiritual legacy he has left us.
26 Apr 2007	Archetypes – How deep can they take us? Over the course of this retreat we shall be exploring the meaning and relevance of ‘archetypes’. There will be some reference, of course, to the hugely important work of C. G. Jung and its particular understanding of this theme. But we shall also be looking beyond, to more ancient perspectives that locate archetypes not, as Jung did, in the psyche but in God. Maybe, for some, this is all just a matter of how we choose to use certain words, but perhaps deeper issues are involved and our use of words may be far more important than we imagine.
29 Mar 2007	Returning to the Way - What can Lao Tzu teach us? Taoism (the art of 'living in the Way’) is one of the most beautiful and straightforward expositions of man’s relationship to reality. It expresses profound truths in homely images, drawn largely from the world around us. These images reveal our inter-relatedness with ‘the ten thousand things’, which, together with us, make up the manifest universe. Taoists tell us, however, that unlike most other ‘things’- such as mountains, birds and flowers - humankind has lost contact with its life-giving roots and, so, with the Way (tao). This uprootedness, in turn, means we lack the Power to live and flourish as we should. This is why our lives are unfocused, unbalanced and unhealthy. How can this problem be redressed, how can we re-establish our lives in the Way? That will be our theme for the day and the basis of our meditations and reflections.
21 Feb 2007	Round a Still Point – An Exploration of the Poetry and Spirituality of TS Eliot No modern poet or writer has thought more deeply about the spiritual significance of history and tradition, particularly in relation to man’s quest for meaning and wholeness. In this retreat we shall be looking meditatively at this aspect of Eliot’s work as reflected in some of his greatest poems – The Four Quartets, The Waste Land, etc. As always, our study will be interspersed with periods of silence and more formal meditation.
18 Jan 2007	Our Cosmic Family – The Holistic Vision of St Francis We hear every day of the importance of sound ecology. But genuine concern for the environment springs not from self-interest but an awareness of our solidarity with nature. No one was more keenly aware of this than Francis of Assisi and, largely because of this profound awareness, Francis has won universal love and respect. Nevertheless, do we really share his vision and commitment? During the course of the day, we shall be reflecting on St Francis in the light of this question.