Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was a Jesuit priest, a mystic, and a well known paleontologist. He devoted his life to bridging the scientific and spiritual dimensions of human existence. In this recording, Cynthia presents Teilhard’s vision in a way that provides us with direction and hope for engaging with today’s local and global concerns.
First Cynthia discusses Teilhard’s way of seeing, which draws together the evolutionary and contemplative perspectives. She then guides us through the key concepts of Teilhard’s vision: cosmogenesis, complexification-consciousness, convergence, and Christ Omega. We come to understand evolution not as being random and chaotic but as having an inherent purposeful trajectory. The overall movement of creation is toward more and more complex structures that can manifest higher and higher levels of consciousness until culminating at a Christ Omega point—that is, unity through differentiation and the personal.
While Teilhard’s language and ideas can be daunting, Cynthia’s teaching makes them understandable and relevant. From his concepts, she identifies three resources for anchoring deep hope and faith today:
- Trusting the cosmic trajectory
- Trusting evolution’s progression toward a higher form of collectivity
- Trusting the Spirit is present
Cynthia leaves us with three pragmatic challenges: moving beyond individual self-realization, facing our fear of convergence, and overcoming our fear of embodiment. By the end of this recording, Cynthia has honored Teilhard’s effort to reconcile the secular and the sacred and in the process has recognized Teilhard as a visionary for our time.
Recorded LIVE at Holy Isle in Scotland, UK, 2017. Released in 2018.