Cynthia Bourgeault

Cynthia Bourgeault is an Episcopal priest, writer, and internationally known retreat leader. She is the original creator of the Wisdom School and has been organizing and teaching schools since 1999. Founding director of the British Columbia-based Contemplative Society and the Aspen Wisdom School, she has now returned home to the East Coast to divide her time between Wisdom teaching, writing, and solitude at her small hermitage on Eagle Island in Maine. To find out what Cynthia's up to, you can view her master teaching calendar.

“Gate, Gate, Paragate…”

Cynthia Bourgeault | January 28, 2018

“Gate, Gate, Paragate…” “Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone utterly beyond…” We used to chant this ancient Hindu Chant in our small contemplative circle in Snowmass, Colorado, back in the early […]

“What Enneagram Type is Cynthia?”

Cynthia Bourgeault | November 20, 2017

For almost thirty years the standing joke has been “What enneagram type is Cynthia?” Leading teachers in all the various schools have typed me variously (frequently categorically) as a Four, […]

Healing the Elephant in the Womb (Part 7)

Cynthia Bourgeault | September 17, 2017

As we come down the home stretch in this extended Wisdom inquiry into the abortion issue, I’ve tried to draw together here some of the most important implications and “business […]

Fullness of Life: A brief poetic interlude before the final run-up on a conclusion (Part 6)

Cynthia Bourgeault | September 8, 2017

The clear, simple truth: Nothing can fall out of God. Where would it go? God is not “somebody” (not me)—“somewhere else” (not here.) God is the ALL, the now, the […]

Teilhard, the Personal, and The Developmental Soul (Part 5)

Cynthia Bourgeault | September 3, 2017

But what about Psalm 139? The biggest challenge in wrapping one’s head around this Wisdom notion of a developmental soul — at least for traditionally reared religious folks — is […]

The Developmental Soul (Part 4)

Cynthia Bourgeault | August 27, 2017

ESSENCE According to Gurdjieff, the mysterious “x-factor” that enters in the moment of conception is not yet soul but essence. Think of it as the hand of cards you’re dealt […]

When Does “Life” Begin? (Part 3)

Cynthia Bourgeault | August 21, 2017

In this third installment of what now looks to be shaping up as five-part series, I hope to bring a Wisdom perspective to that profound liminal sphere encompassing conception, birth, […]

Non-identification and Enlightened Action

Cynthia Bourgeault | August 19, 2017

Dear Wisdom Friends, I received the following in my inbox this past week from Jerry Toporovsky. Jerry is a senior teacher of the Gurdjieff Work and was the leader of […]

Abortion, Pro-Life, and the Secular State: A Modest Proposal (Part 2)

Cynthia Bourgeault | July 25, 2017

In my previous blog (concurrently posted on both the Contemplative Society and Northeast Wisdom websites), I invited members of our Wisdom community to begin to engage a conversation on the […]

“A Surprising Ecumenism…” (Part 1)

Cynthia Bourgeault | July 17, 2017

Both my spirits and my hopes have been raised by the recent appearance of an important and already game-changing new article in the most recent edition of La Civilta Cattolica. […]