Community Blog

Meditators' Blog 18/4/2012

OLD IDEAS by Leonard Cohen - by Jim Green

Leonard Cohen is fast becoming the unofficial patron saint of our meditation community. The credentials are impeccable: a Jewish, sometime Zen Buddhist monk with a strange and intimate take on the Saviour – remember this from 1967?

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Meditators' Blog 8/4/2012

The Transformation of Suffering by Christopher Mendonca

It would seem that suffering is part of the natural order of the universe. At all levels in nature we see the struggle for survival, growth and decay, the emergence of new life and a return to the earth of what is biodegradable. Lacking the machinations of a mind, the order of creation just below humans does not cry out in anguish at its loss and destruction.

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Meditators' Blog 21/3/2011

Temptation: Transcending our weaknesses by Christopher Mendonca

The experience of Matthew (a first person account)

The colour of money can be very alluring
especially if one is a tax collector.
I found it hard not to manipulate my accounts

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Meditators' Blog 27/2/2012

I am the way the Truth and the life by Stefan Reynolds

Dear Christian Meditation Community,

I would be very interested to find out what Fr. Laurence says about Jesus' statement " I am the way the Truth and the life".  For me it has meant firstly that Jesus' example ie living in the light of God is the way.  It has also meant that he is the way for this age.... Buddha and Krishna were for other ages and other cultures.

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Meditators' Blog 2/2/2012

DESERT HERMITS IN HIGH RISE APARTMENTS by Paul Harris

In the New and Old Testaments the desert has always had a special meaning and role for those on the spiritual path. It has always been a place where spiritual seekers retreated to find solitude, silence, stillness and closeness to God. The angels ministered to Jesus in the desert, St Paul spent time in the desert, and in the 3rd and 4th century men and women flocked to the deserts of Egypt to become hermits and live in monastic communities.

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Meditators' Blog 3/1/2012

BEYOND OBEDIENCE from a letter to a Novice preparing for final Oblation - by Jim Green

A few more thoughts on Obedience. I'm not sure that they will amount to a coherent apologia, but we have to leave something for faith and hope to do, don't we?

First of all, I think the distinction between Power and Authority is absolutely key. We are all wielders of power, from Stalin and Gaddafi to somebody who is 'accidentally' more powerful in an intimate relationship than his/her partner. By the same token we are all victims of, or - at best - affected by, power.

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Meditators' Blog 15/12/2011

Christmas – the experience of inner joy by Christopher Mendonca

The purpose of religious narratives in the Scriptures is not so much to be historical as to provide us with starting points for our own spiritual journey. It is with this in mind that we might not only read the scriptures to gain insights for ourselves, but rather allow ourselves to be read by them.

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Meditators' Blog 28/11/2011

MISTAKEN FOR GOD by Jim Green

A wise man once said to me, after I’d shared some ongoing agony about my romantic relationship, that, “…hmm, it’s possible you’ve mistaken your girlfriend for God”.

This stopped me in my tracks. I’ve often returned to the mystery of that utterance, with much heart-scratching and head-searching, over the years since it was made. Read more »

Meditators' Blog 9/11/2011

ON STARTING A GROUP  by Paul Harris

Twenty two years ago (1989), on a park bench in London, I mentioned to Laurence Freeman that I was thinking of starting my first meditation group in Ottawa, Canada.

He surprised me with a question: “Who do you think is going to profit most from starting your new group?”

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Meditators' Blog 27/10/2011

Marriage and Monastic Oblation: Twelve Steps of Humility  by Stefan Reynolds

“Are you still reading that book?” My fiancé asked me after she had seen ‘The Rule of St. Benedict’ travel with me on various journeys. I had to try to explain to her that it was one of those books which one never finishes. I became an Oblate in 1996.

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