Offered by Andrew Breitenberg and translated by Marcella Huepe. Read the Spanish version here.
In February of this year, Spanish speaking students from South America gathered to work together at a stunning hacienda north of Bogotá, Colombia under the theme of El Abrazo Secreto—The Secret Embrace, and to study the poems of Thomas Keating and Cynthia’s teaching on them.
Each day included familiar elements like practical work, Movements, contemplative exercise and observations, but the leading emphasis was on Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina using Keating’s eight poems. Movements were held three times a day for different groups and practical work activities included harvesting, planting and sowing seeds in the large working gardens, as well as cleaning efforts and assisting in the kitchen.
The kitchen was my own “work” place for the week. On my very first day I was introduced to an actual coal-fired stove (installed sometime in the 1850s!) and without fanfare was thrust in front of a huge vat of boiling oil over a raging fire and told to start throwing plantain chunks in it — all this under the mirthful eyes of the chief cook who instructed me so rapidly that my grade school Spanish didn’t stand a chance. And well, you can imagine it from there. This type of physical work with my hands, working with raw, living materials, and with no clearly understood instructions to hang my hat on (being fired at me non-stop, nonetheless!) all made excellent conditions for my inner work. We made cheese from scratch and diced a thousand onions and rolled fresh pasta and tasted everything at every stage… The fundamental service of feeding others offered one of the great joys of the experience for many of us.
This third iteration of the Spanish Wisdom School was the first to introduce some elements of the Gurdjieff system, and people took to it immediately, jumping right in to work with Contemplative-Being Exercises and Movements. The preparation that long work with Centering Prayer gave these students for approaching, exploring and benefiting from “the Work” was felt by all. Work with Movements stood out to me most of all. The group seemed intuitively to feel the connection between their own sacred practice and the inner embodiment of the wisdom we were studying each day.
Beyond this, the heart of the South American community was not only richly open, but struck me as something needed in their North American neighbors. If we Northerners experience and rigorously cultivate the “thinking center”, the South stewards the Feeling center with both powerful energy and gentle warmth. If the Americas are the body, North and South must foster and strengthen our reciprocal maintenance of one another for the benefit of the Whole.
It must be admitted that my working Spanish operates at about a 30% listening comprehension, but a wonderful thing happened one morning during the contemplative Exercise. The one leading the sit was speaking the exercise straight from her Being, and for that 30 minutes, I understood every word of Spanish as if it were my own native language. Of course, many others have experienced this translating work of the Spirit. But if I was looking for confirmation of where to put my own energy in the next years of this Work, and whether to encourage others to do so also—well, there it was. That, and the fact that I didn’t burn those plantains.
Andrew Breitenberg, 25 March 2025, Paris
Feast of the Annunciation
For more information about the Spanish speaking Wisdom Community:
–Read a blog on dedicated Wisdom in Spanish leader Cornelia Serna.
–Watch Cynthia Bourgeault’s recent teaching at the 2025 Spanish Wisdom School.
–Visit uncaminosabio.org to learn more about the community offerings.