Blog Series

Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening Book Circle, Part IV
Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening Book Circle, Part IV
Matthew WrightNov 12, 202116 min read

[This reflection include a Spanish translation] Read this community commentary on Part IV of Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, in which Cynthia takes us into “the heart” of Centering Prayer—and into our own hearts.

The Walk to Bethlehem with Mary
The Walk to Bethlehem with Mary
Beth O’NeilDec 14, 20218 min read

We enter into Advent. A season that holds up a stark mirror for the dual-natured being I am, and the culture I am within. I continue to walk the edges, standing in awe at the beauty of creation whilst in…

Voices and Reflections from the UK Wisdom Community
Voices and Reflections from the UK Wisdom Community
Wisdom WaypointsDec 20, 20215 min read

The following reflections are shared by two participants at Cynthia Bourgeault’s visit to London UK in November 2021. Thank you to Claire Carruthers and Emma Lanham for offering us this […]

Wisdom Work Weekend at Claymont
Wisdom Work Weekend at Claymont
Andrew BreitenbergDec 21, 20216 min read

Hello all — as some of you know we just finished up what I may as well call a “wisdom work weekend” at Claymont—an on-the-ground gathering for people who have […]

Hold Fast the Hope
Hold Fast the Hope
Cynthia BourgeaultDec 22, 20211 min read

Hold fast the hope, friends. Despite everything being broadcast to us announcing a season of grim and impending planetary lockdown, I simply cannot bring myself to believe that this is […]

Rain down gently upon us: an Advent reflection by Cynthia Bourgeault
Rain down gently upon us: an Advent reflection by Cynthia Bourgeault
Cynthia BourgeaultDec 31, 20213 min read

I am working strongly with two items: the “Rorate Coeli,” that ancient Gregorian Advent chant, plus the Gurdjieff Movement 39. Together they circumscribe a space whose qualities are repentance, comfort, and simple, unwavering presence. There is a distinctly feminine quality…

Three Centered Awareness: Exploring Jean Gebser, Lesson XV
Three Centered Awareness: Exploring Jean Gebser, Lesson XV
Cynthia BourgeaultJan 7, 20227 min read

Cynthia Bourgeault continues her series of reflections upon Integral structures of consciousness and ideas brought forth in Jean Gebser’s book, Ever Present Origin (EPO). See below for related resources and […]

Balancing Centers, Integrating Structures, Lesson XVI
Balancing Centers, Integrating Structures, Lesson XVI
Cynthia BourgeaultJan 20, 20226 min read

Yet another connecting link between the Gebserian and Gurdjieffian systems lies in the fruitful interplay between Gurdjieff’s three centers and their respective counterparts in the Gebserian structures of consciousness.

Here and Now With The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: The Preface and Chapters One, Two, and Three
Here and Now With The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: The Preface and Chapters One, Two, and Three
Laura RuthFeb 7, 202210 min read

Laura Ruth provides her reflections on The Meaning of Mary Magdalene, as this inaugural Wisdom Practice Book Circle Foundational Series II gets underway.

Standing Tall: Imaginal Wisdom School in Arizona
Standing Tall: Imaginal Wisdom School in Arizona
Heather RuceMar 3, 20225 min read

When I look at the mountain sides covered in these majestic saguaro, I recognize that they stand as a large community revealing what it looks like to stand as they do with strength, stability, resilience, sturdiness, and dignity.

“Gospodi Pomiluj” – Lord Mercy Us
“Gospodi Pomiluj” – Lord Mercy Us
Heather RuceMar 20, 20227 min read

Awhile back one of my teachers Deborah Rose Longo lead J.G. Bennett’s version of the seated Gurdjieff Exercise “Lord Have Mercy.” This version of the exercise was called “Gospodi Pomiluj” which is “Lord Have Mercy” in Russian.

Two’s Company, Three’s a World: The Primordial Relational Field of Being
Two’s Company, Three’s a World: The Primordial Relational Field of Being
Bob SabathMar 29, 20226 min read

A couple of months ago, I had the privilege to lead 25 people through Cynthia’s latest book, The Corner of Fourth and Nondual – her contribution to Fortress Press’ My […]

My Sojourn with the Episcopal House of Bishops
My Sojourn with the Episcopal House of Bishops
Cynthia BourgeaultApr 5, 20225 min read

In this very heartening account, Cynthia Bourgeault shares her personal experience having presented her teaching on “radical kenosis” at the annual meeting of the Episcopal House of Bishops in March […]

Cynthia’s Eastertide Message and Invitation
Cynthia’s Eastertide Message and Invitation
Cynthia BourgeaultApr 18, 20225 min read

To all my beloveds, He is Risen! And has invited us now, in the spirit of St. Peter (“where I am going you cannot follow me now, but soon…”) to […]

JOHN 20 1-18 – An Easter Reflection by Brian Mitchell
JOHN 20 1-18 – An Easter Reflection by Brian Mitchell
Brian MitchellApr 19, 20225 min read

We invite you into this contemplation on the Easter scene, provided by long-time practitioner of the Christian Wisdom path, Brian Mitchell.  Cynthia describes Brian’s reflection as “….absolutely brilliant, the profound […]

Lo imaginal y el Reino – The Imaginal and the Kingdom
Lo imaginal y el Reino – The Imaginal and the Kingdom
Wisdom WaypointsMay 25, 202210 min read

Please enjoy this post offered in both Spanish and English, on the theme of ‘The Imaginal and the Kingdom’: “With a more awakened heart, we can perceive the more subtle energies of love, attention, prayer, and the deeper longing, within…

Reflexiones sobre el amor costoso – Reflections on Costly Love
Reflexiones sobre el amor costoso – Reflections on Costly Love
Wisdom WaypointsMay 25, 20229 min read

Please enjoy this post in both Spanish and English, offering ‘Reflections on Costly Love’: “….we are not just fallen creatures forced to suffer entropy and death for our sins; rather, we are active collaborators, invited to participate in the work…

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Enneagram and Christian Wisdom – by Jonathon Steele and Jeanine Siler-Jones
Wisdom WaypointsJun 30, 20224 min read

Long-time Wisdom community leaders and enneagram teachers Jonathan Steele and Jeanine Siler-Jones share about their unique upcoming offering at Valle Crucis in North Carolina.

Reflections on a Wisdom School
Reflections on a Wisdom School
Jonathan SteeleSep 7, 20225 min read

Twenty-nine brave souls gathered to explore Wisdom through the lens of the Enneagram. Locating our work within the framework of Gurdjieff’s five ‘Obligonian Strivings,’ we discovered that it is from the foundation of abundance, goodness and yearning, that we are…

It is Advent and I am making bread
It is Advent and I am making bread
Andrew BreitenbergDec 21, 20221 min read

It is Advent and I am making bread, ingredients already at hand, one free mind, one open heart, one body, sensing

The Wisdom Jesus Book Circles launching January 31, 2023
The Wisdom Jesus Book Circles launching January 31, 2023
Jeanine Siler JonesJan 24, 20235 min read

In preparation for this deep dive together, I invite us all into a slow reading of The Wisdom Jesus, Lectio Divina style.

The Wisdom Jesus Book Circles: Chapters Three, Four & Five
The Wisdom Jesus Book Circles: Chapters Three, Four & Five
Laura RuthFeb 21, 20239 min read

What did Jesus teach—”on the ground” as we say these days—and how? These chapters center on the living Jesus and his teachings.

The Wisdom Jesus Book Circles: Becoming Real—Chapters 6, 7, 12
The Wisdom Jesus Book Circles: Becoming Real—Chapters 6, 7, 12
Liz Keller WhitehurstMar 13, 202312 min read

This year marks my tenth anniversary with The Wisdom Jesus. It came to me when I’d just begun practicing Centering Prayer at a time of great need and personal crisis

Living from Good, Living Between Worlds
Living from Good, Living Between Worlds
Bill BrittenMar 20, 20238 min read

Please consider this writing as a communiqué from out on the Wisdom path—a report on where one of your fellow travelers is currently located, how I got here, and what the terrain looks like.

Farewell, beloved Snowmass…Adiós, Amado Snowmass
Farewell, beloved Snowmass…Adiós, Amado Snowmass
Cynthia BourgeaultMar 26, 202317 min read

If I have not yet publicly commented on the apparently now-imminent closing of St. Benedict’s Monastery, it is not because I have no feelings on the matter. Quite the contrary, it’s because my heart is so flooded with feelings that…

Holy Monday: A Journey Through Holy Week
Holy Monday: A Journey Through Holy Week
Cynthia BourgeaultApr 3, 20233 min read

Welcome, this Holy Monday to the first of six emails you will receive, one per day from today through Holy Saturday. Every day will offer an invitation to each of us for reflection, prayer and meditation individually yet together in…

Holy Tuesday: A Journey Through Holy Week
Holy Tuesday: A Journey Through Holy Week
Cynthia BourgeaultApr 4, 20233 min read

Passion Libretto Part I: The Farewell Discourse This is day two of a six day free Holy Week offering. On this Holy Tuesday, in the Passion Libretto Part I: The Farewell […]

The Wisdom Jesus Book Circles: Holy Week and the Great Easter Fast
The Wisdom Jesus Book Circles: Holy Week and the Great Easter Fast
Laura RuthApr 4, 202310 min read

How poignant to be leaning into [Cynthia’s] writing about Holy Week and the fifty days following Easter—as we enter Holy Week together. Ascension and Pentecost, yet to come.

Holy Wednesday: A Journey Through Holy Week
Holy Wednesday: A Journey Through Holy Week
Cynthia BourgeaultApr 5, 20233 min read

Passion Libretto Part II: Gethsemane This is day three of a six day free Holy Week offering. On this Holy Wednesday, in the Passion Libretto Part II: Gethsemane, Cynthia brings us to […]

Maundy Thursday: A Journey Through Holy Week
Maundy Thursday: A Journey Through Holy Week
Cynthia BourgeaultApr 6, 20233 min read

Passion Libretto Part III: The Prince of this World This is day four of a six day free Holy Week offering. On this Maundy Thursday and beginning of the Easter Triduum, […]

Holy Friday: A Journey Through Holy Week
Holy Friday: A Journey Through Holy Week
Cynthia BourgeaultApr 7, 20233 min read

Passion Libretto Part IV: On the Cross This is day five of a six day free Holy Week offering. Cynthia speaks of this Holy Friday, in the Passion Libretto Part IV: On the […]

Holy Saturday: A Journey Through Holy Week
Holy Saturday: A Journey Through Holy Week
Cynthia BourgeaultApr 8, 20235 min read

Passion Libretto Part V: Remembrance  This is the final day of this six day Holy Week offering. On this Holy and still Saturday, in the Passion Libretto Part V: Remembrance, Cynthia reminds […]

The Wisdom Jesus Book Circles: The Final Chapters
The Wisdom Jesus Book Circles: The Final Chapters
Tom AmsberryMay 15, 20238 min read

As our book circles flow into this final section of The Wisdom Jesus and conclude this month, we are urged by heart to incarnate the above words of Simeon, not out of duty but out of the deepening relationship that…

The First Pilot Spanish Wisdom School
The First Pilot Spanish Wisdom School
Wisdom WaypointsMay 24, 20234 min read

The first Spanish language Wisdom School was held, as a pilot, on the afternoon of February 3, and ending the morning of February 6, 2023. Its location was Cornelia Serna’s farm in Sotaquirá, Boyacá , Colombia. Cornelia is a longtime…

Four Songs, and a Poem: To the Core at the Center of the Last Chapter of Fourth and Nondual
Four Songs, and a Poem: To the Core at the Center of the Last Chapter of Fourth and Nondual
Laura RuthMay 26, 202314 min read

I When Cynthia Bourgeault wrote The Corner of Fourth and Nondual, she was given the boundaries each My Theology series author was to adhere to: forty typewritten pages to be […]

Highlights of Cynthia’s Fall and Winter Teaching Schedule
Highlights of Cynthia’s Fall and Winter Teaching Schedule
Cynthia BourgeaultJul 12, 20234 min read

I know that many of you are beginning to arrange your fall and winter schedules and are trying to figure out which on-the -ground CB retreats will work best with your particular interests and experience base. With that in mind,…

Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening Book Circle, Part I
Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening Book Circle, Part I
Heather RuceAug 18, 20238 min read

We are just about to begin our next Foundational Wisdom Practice Book Circle, Series I, in which people will gather to engage one of Cynthia’s principle books Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening. This Wisdom Practice Book Circle will be an opportunity…

Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening Book Circle, Part II
Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening Book Circle, Part II
Alan KremaSep 13, 20236 min read

This coming month we will be working with Part II in Cynthia Bourgeault’s Book Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, entitled: The Tradition of Centering Prayer, Chapters 6, 7 and 8.

Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening Book Circle, Part III
Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening Book Circle, Part III
Elizabeth CombsOct 14, 20237 min read

In this short section, Cynthia takes us through a brief history of the practice, exploring Centering Prayer as not only a devotional method but also a deep purification process for the unconscious psycho- spiritual detritus of a lifetime…

A Beginner’s Look at Centering Prayer
A Beginner’s Look at Centering Prayer
Emma MellonOct 17, 20234 min read

The directions were simple: when you have a thought, let it go. Cynthia Bourgeault calls Centering Prayer “a pathway of return”.

Living from Good: Hearing the Voices of Yeshua and Maurice Nicoll, Part 1
Living from Good: Hearing the Voices of Yeshua and Maurice Nicoll, Part 1
Bill BrittenOct 23, 202313 min read

This communiqué will be posted to Wisdom Waypoints in three parts. The format is to offer a selection of Maurice’s teachings on several major ideas, many quoted directly, interspersed with Logia from the Gospel of Thomas—hoping that you too can…

Day I: All Saints’ Eve / Halloween
Day I: All Saints’ Eve / Halloween
Heather RuceOct 31, 20239 min read

Collective Autumn Triduum Vigil: It is the first day of the Autumn Triduum, October 31st, All Saints’ Eve or Halloween. As we join with one another in vigil across this passage way from death to life, it is important to…

Day II: All Saints’ / All Hallow’s Day
Day II: All Saints’ / All Hallow’s Day
Heather RuceNov 1, 20235 min read

Collective Autumn Triduum Vigil: Today we find ourselves in the middle of the the Autumn Triduum. November 1st, All Saints’ Day or All Hallow’s Day, has traditionally been a day of honoring and celebrating the saints of the Christian tradition.

Living from Good: Hearing the Voices of Yeshua and Maurice Nicoll, Part 2
Living from Good: Hearing the Voices of Yeshua and Maurice Nicoll, Part 2
Bill BrittenNov 1, 202311 min read

Before moving forward, I’d like to pause and summarize what was covered previously. We have been talking about two sides of a human being. On the one side, which we call the outer person, are the familiar concepts of knowledge,…

Day III: All Soul’s Day
Day III: All Soul’s Day
Heather RuceNov 2, 20235 min read

Collective Autumn Triduum Vigil: Today we find ourselves in the middle of the the Autumn Triduum. November 1st, All Saints’ Day or All Hallow’s Day, has traditionally been a day of honoring and celebrating the saints of the Christian tradition.

Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening Book Circle, Part IV
Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening Book Circle, Part IV
Matthew WrightNov 16, 202317 min read

[This reflection includes a Spanish translation] Read this community commentary on Part IV of Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, in which Cynthia takes us into “the heart” of Centering Prayer—and into our own hearts.

Living from Good: Hearing the Voices of Yeshua and Maurice Nicoll, Part 3
Living from Good: Hearing the Voices of Yeshua and Maurice Nicoll, Part 3
Bill BrittenNov 17, 202311 min read

In this third part of the series, we’ll continue putting together the building blocks discussed previously: the horizontal realm of personality, knowledge, and the forces of life; the vertical inner realm of Being, Essence, and Good; and the relational field…

A Tree Party
A Tree Party
Marcella Kraybill-GreggoNov 20, 20232 min read

I am in awe of earth’s majesty, intense dazzling vibrations. It’s earth’s party, a TREE PARTY, in gratitude for yet another YEAR OF LIFE – the gifts, all the gifts, that this year of foliage have brought – such richness, abundance…

Benedictine Wisdom School with Cynthia in Norway
Benedictine Wisdom School with Cynthia in Norway
Tor Magne HandelandNov 25, 20234 min read

In the last week of October, right before the Winter set in, the first Nordic Benedictine Wisdom School was led by Cynthia Bourgeault at Lia Gård in Norway.

A Wisdom Frame Drum Journey Evolution
A Wisdom Frame Drum Journey Evolution
Laura CopelandDec 7, 20237 min read

As Wisdom students using our voices through chanting, we are sending into our atmosphere vital nutrients of hope, mercy, love and more. Frame drumming magnifies the resonance of our voices in addition to the beat, another powerful means of post-holding…