Retreats and Workshops
“We all live with doubt, but most of us find it hard to admit our most serious doubts–especially to others, and even to ourselves. But talking with Meath Conlan, I discovered that it felt natural to talk not only about doubt but also belief, or the the search for it. In this process, Meath somehow is reassuring and questioning at the same time. Perhaps the best way to put it is that he knows how to reassure you while pushing you to ask rather than slide around the difficult questions.” – Andrew Nagorski (former) Editor-in-Chief, Newsweek, New York
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Meath Conlan is developing new retreat and workshop models all the time.
As these become available they will appear online (www.diversejourneys.com). Beyond the one-day or one-evening concept, there are weekend, 5-day and 7-day concepts that will be helpful to people with different expectations and spiritual needs. In the usually silent retreat model the mind may calm and open, enabling the cultivation of wisdom and compassion. Whether you’re already on the journey or beginning, a period of dedicated practice can give you a taste and deepening of spiritual insight. For instance, there will be teaching in Centering Prayer methods for newcomers, and ample practice opportunity for experienced practitioners. We shall rise early with a programme of sitting meditation and exercise sessions. Personal interviews (spiritual direction) is available. Newcomers are particularly welcome.
In a longer retreat model, a simple ‘monastic’ regime facilitates the mind facing the paradox – Who am I? – in creative questioning. People work in turns with each member of the group in exploring this fundamental problem. Insights are gathered from writings such as ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ as well as some of the Western mystics such as Tauler and Ruysbroeck. The intensive focus brings each into a self-presentation that is difficult to experience in other ways. The outcome may be a profound sense of the unity of self and possibly an insight into the ‘ground of being’. Whether or not such an insight happens, participants share a rich experience in new self-knowledge and understanding others. Open equally to beginners and established trainees.
Note: retreats with Meath Conlan are suitable both for beginners and for experienced practitioners.
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Workshops, Retreats and Spiritual Journeys
Over the years I have offered a variety of retreats, workshops and small-group journeys. These invite wide-ranging questions, ideas, concepts, experiential explorations, and group interaction. In this page you can see some of the workshops, retreats and journeys I offer. I am also open to working with you to develop something more particular to your group if it is not contained in the following. To book one of these offerings contact me:
Meath Conlan, PhD
67, 107 Goderich St
East Perth, WA 6004
Australia
+61 8 9221 6338 – home
+61 408 080 560 – mobile
Skype: meath.conlan
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SPIRITUALITY OF EVERYDAY LIFE: LIVING THE GREAT QUESTIONS
We humans are on a journey the end of which is not yet clear. Restless searching, longing, questioning is in our nature. To fall in love with the Great Questions of life is to be a spiritual person! Who we are, where and how we are inclined to live, and what we will become is indicated by the questions that touch and move us. Those questions we avoid are also part of the indices. If you feel touched by Great Questions of life, come join me on this workshop:
- The search for meaning: What is the purpose of my life?
- Meaningful human occupations: What ought I to do?
- A meaningful future: For what may I hope?
- Connectedness: Whom do I love? Why?
- Freedom and duty: What curtails my freedom?
- Finding my own way: Is there an escape from the myths of my family and culture?
- Self-integrity: What cause(s) claim(s) my self-surrender?
- Experiencing the sacred: Is it an everyday reality?
- Living spiritually: Surviving the secular-techno-politico-economic vision of reality?
- My credo? What gives my life meaning and purpose?
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ZEN AS A PATH OF SPIRITUALITY
This retreat explores Zen meditation’s path of spiritual awakening. The history of Zen in the Buddhist tradition will be introduced. The differences and similarities between Zen and the contemplative Christian traditions will be clarified. Explore the relevance of Zen meditation as a way of becoming an awake, compassionate human being.
The topics covered include:
- Who was the Buddha? What is Zen Buddhism?
- The truth of Zen as present in all world religions and life itself.
- Zen Meditation: using koans.
- Zen Meditation: Just sitting.
- Zen Master Dogen: The Zen way of life.
- Thomas Merton: The way of Christian Zen.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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FOLLOWING THE MYSTICS: THE ‘GOLDEN STRING’ OF EVERY-DAY SPIRITUALITY
This retreat encourages us in following the mystics through the everyday process in which we realize God is the very reality of ourselves, others and all things. Seeing God in all things and all things in God we experience the peace that surpasses understanding.
The mystics included in this retreat-journey include: Meister Eckhart, the anonymous mediaeval author of The Cloud of Unknowing, John of the Cross, Theresa of Avila, John Ruysbroeck, John Tauler, Mechthild of Magdeberg, Julian of Norwich. From more recent times we shall look at Thomas Merton, Bede Griffiths, Abishiktananda. Our broad view will be on the ways in which these mystics help us understand and pass through critical phases of our journey of spiritual awakening:
The topics covered include:
- Recognizing and passing through the obstacle, problem, or major issue we encounter as we enter upon the inner journey. Discovering that struggling with and passing through these obstacles propels us yet deeper, by a “Golden String” toward God.
- We note the methods and ways of praying and meditating that tend to accompany and enhance each phase of spiritual awakening.
- What do we really need to take with us, or surrender in following the “Golden String”? As we learn to let go of all that is less than God as the source of our security and identity we simply awaken to God, who, from the beginning, has never been apart from us.
- The retreat explores how the mystics help us prepare for the life of Love as we follow the “Golden String”.
- References will also be made to mystical traditions other than Christian, noting our common human capacity to awaken to the fullness of who we are as spiritual beings.
- Time will be given for group meditation, personal reflection and discussion of the themes presented.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING: LEARNING CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
The Cloud of Unknowing is one of the Mediaeval Classics in the Christian contemplative tradition. In this retreat we explore ‘The Cloud’s’ simple guidelines for the practice of contemplation: the actual practice of contemplative prayer and also the ‘Cloud’s’ insights into broader questions of becoming the one whom God is calling us to be. Time will be provided for group meditation, personal prayer and reflection and discussion of the themes presented.
Topics presented include
- What is the contemplative path?
- Basic Guidelines for practicing contemplative prayer.
- Passing through inner death and darkness on the way to divine illumination.
- Divinization through love-Knowing God “naked as he is in himself.”
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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THE WAY OF MEDITATION
A silent retreat with opportunity for extended periods for sitting and walking meditation. Beginners and more experienced meditators are welcome. Friday night gives us one hour of sitting and walking meditation, with five hours of sitting and walking mediation on Saturday, and two hours on Sunday morning. Everyone will be encouraged to pace themselves in accordance their own abilities and experience. Some may choose not to participate in all the group meditation sessions. Others may choose to sit on their own for additional periods of time. The conferences will draw from both Christian and Buddhist sources.
The topics covered include:
- Breathing, sitting still and other bodily aspects of meditation as paths of spiritual awakening.
- Thoughts, memories, and desires as the mental aspects of spiritual awakening.
- Compassion grounds us in the social, ecological aspects of spiritual awakening.
- The fruits of meditation in relationship to the demands of our busy lives.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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JOHN OF THE CROSS: THROUGH THE ‘DARK NIGHT’ INTO GOD
A retreat that explores the teachings of the 16th century Spanish mystic – Saint John of the Cross. How can John of the Cross help us pass through the purifying process of the ‘dark night’ of the soul in which we come to a profound experience of God’s presence in our lives? Following the Saint’s Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night, we will see how the ‘dark night’ transforms our powerlessness-in-prayer into contemplative intimacy with God. Time will be provided for group meditation, personal reflection and discussion of the themes presented.
The topics covered include:
- The life of Saint John of the Cross: An overview of his basic teachings.
- The night of the senses: The loss of consolation and felt sense of God’s presence.
- The night of the spirit: The darkness of naked faith in which we are transformed in God.
- The wordless contemplation of God that arises in the dark night.
- Divinization through love: Discovering that God’s life is our life.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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JESUS AND BUDDHA
This retreat explores the ways in which each of the Buddha’s essential Four Noble Truths are present in the teachings of Jesus. Time will be provided for group meditation, personal reflection and discussion of the themes presented.
Topics covered include:
- The first noble truth: Understanding the pervasive nature of suffering and discontent (dukkha) in our lives. How Jesus invites us to become aware of suffering so that we might seek healing. Who was the historical Buddha? Who is the living Buddha? Who was the historical Christ? Who is the living Christ?
- The second noble truth: Understanding that suffering arises from our desire to want life to be other than it is. By craving and aversion (and tuning out from neutral experiences), we perpetuate the very suffering we are trying to avoid…Jesus’ teachings on discerning, obeying and trusting in God’s will embodied in the unfolding circumstances and events of daily life.
- The third noble truth of nirvana: Awakening to a deep, abiding peace and happiness in the midst of life as it really is and not as we might fantasize … The Gospel in which we awaken to the peace that surpasses understanding.
- The fourth noble truth: consists of the eightfold path along which we learn to awaken to the abiding peace of nirvana in the midst of life as it is. We see how this path consists of a daily life of love and compassion for ourselves, others and all beings. Grounding this compassionate love in a commitment to daily meditation practice, we grow in the wisdom of finding happiness by helping others to be happy … Christ’s call to a lifelong conversion and spiritual awakening expressed in The Eight Beatitudes and a life of love for God, ourselves, others and all living things.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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RETURN TO THE CENTRE: A DAY WITH BEDE GRIFFITHS
This reflection day seeks to open the heart through gentle inquiry into the life and vision of the late Bede Griffiths. It will help you experience the spiritual insights of an amazing sage and mystic – an English Benedictine monk who lived at Saccidananda ashram, South India , for over 30 years. This is a day for personal well being, as well as to benefit others. We will enjoy a time of music, poetry, stories, and a video presentation on the life of Bede Griffiths.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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RIDING THE TIGER’S BACK: BEDE GRIFFITHS, SPIRITUALITY & THE ART OF MEDITATION
For the late Bede Griffiths (1906-1993) meditation was not an exercise in discursive reasoning. In practical terms he said it is, “to pass beyond the limits of rational consciousness and awake to the inner life of the Spirit, that is, to the indwelling presence of God.” Gifted with a huge capacity for making friends: ‘just being there’ for people in all sorts of situations, he centred his life on “the awareness of a transcendent reality, which embraces all humanity and the whole universe.” His whole life was a communication of this awareness of transcendent mystery to others. The aim of this weekend retreat is to walk with Bede Griffiths’ experience of spirituality, meditation and contemplation through his own writings, and the personal reminiscences of Meath Conlan, his friend of nearly twenty years.
Looking within the heart
- what are my questions?
- where do I begin my search?
- who am I?
- where have I been and where am I going?
Looking within the scriptures
- what is prayer for me?
- who is God for me?
- how do I hear God’s word?
Looking within the heart of community
- where and to whom do I really belong?
- how can I serve you?
- where do I go from here?
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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TELLING OUR STORY
Human beings love stories. At the heart of any culture, stories are presented through visual forms. Images give rise to stories, which are in the constant process of being re-told. Our retelling is part of the effort to make the story present, relevant, and meaningful. In the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to tell stories that are meaningful for them. The group will reflect on how these stories are important for an understanding of our present lived reality.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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CENTERING PRAYER: THE PRACTICE OF CONTEMPLATION
This is a full day seminar format that seeks to convey specific theory and practical training in the art of ‘Centering Prayer’ – a recovery of an ancient Christian form of contemplation. Contemplative Prayer is not a technique, although it makes use of methods as starting points to awaken spiritual attentiveness. Contemplative Prayer is a gift of the Holy Spirit. A basic tenet of the Christian Contemplative Tradition is that this gift cannot be earned, but God freely gives it. Centering Prayer is not that gift, or even a way to make Contemplative Prayer happen. Rather, it is a means of preparing to receive it by opening to God’s presence and action within. The following texts from the Gospel of John are a New Testament scriptural and theological inspiration for the practice of Centering Prayer.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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MID-LIFE DIRECTIONS: PERSONAL & SPIRITUAL GROWTH IN MID-LIFE
This is a full weekend (Fri p.m. – Sun afternoon) workshop – an adult education process for people at midlife (35/40+), offering a “rite of passage” into a new way of being in the world; with guidelines for a deeper, more intense reflection on your own personal story. You will appreciate the potential of your own unique personality and come to a more conscious realisation of the meaning, creativity and possibilities of your mid-life years. It is a call to awaken your un-lived personality dimensions, as well as a chance to plumb your interiority, with the chance to redesign daily life around new dreams and goals – as appropriate for the new demands and challenges of the middle years.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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LONG LIFE DIRECTIONS: PERSONAL & SPIRITUAL GROWTH IN LATER ADULT LIFE
This is a full weekend (Fri p.m. – Sun afternoon) work-shop format introducing adults (55/60+) to the many blessings, challenges and opportunities of a long life through participation in learning, processes, activities and strategies – directed to putting one more securely on the way of inwardness and individuation.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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THE TEN OXHERDING PICTURES: DEEPENING OUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
Two-day reflection on “The Ten Oxherding Pictures:” a set of ten calligraphic works from the Zen tradition that portray the different stages in the inner journey to the realization of the truth / the realization of the true self. Expressing the Zen path to self-realization, each of the ten pictures represents a stage along the way – not a linear, but circular way.
Whatever stage we are in, is part of the circle: manifesting our true self. Each stage has its own place and fullness in the full circle that is our true self.
The paradox of our human existence is that we are incomplete historical beings, moving toward completion in the fullness of time. God is there, at every step, and yet, the following (next) step must be taken.
It seems the human spirit is called to something greater than the mere material can fulfill. Our inner voice rouses. This seems to have propelled many great individuals who’ve contributed to human culture.
In our restlessness, we begin with the question: “Tell me, what can I do with my life? My mind is not at ease; I am anxious about my life. My mind is not at rest, please set it at rest.”
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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THE CROSS & THE LOTUS: INTRODUCTION TO INSIGHT MEDITATION
This is a 2-day and 5 or 7-day practical retreat format that uses the language and methods of Theravada Buddhist Insight Meditation together with the mystical teachings of St John of the Cross. Participants are led to their own rich arena of direct spiritual experience, where, through direct, non-judgmental awareness we see our own particular conditioned patterns of thought; we open to the possibilities for understanding ourselves and the world from a place emptied of self-centredness.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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WRITING YOUR LIFE: COMPOSING AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
To be human is to be a storyteller, myth-makers, and tellers of yarns. The stories we tell about ourselves discloses the meaning of our lives. What myth am I living? In what way am I the author of my own life? We pay attention to our personal story so as to find our own integrity and authenticity. In this workshop we:
- Explore my personal myths, scripts, stories that have, and continue to shape my life.
- My heroes, enemies, wounds, gifts, fears, and hopes – all invite stories to share.
- My formation – good, bad or indifferent, are shaped by the people, places and turning points of my life.
- Revisit my childhood dreamscapes and hopes as a way of re-embracing and realising my future.
- What has my life been about? Writing a personal autobiographical outline.
You’ll need an A-4 blank-page journal in which you can draw and write, coloured pencils, and a photograph album containing pictures from various times and places, and of significant characters in your life.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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REVISITING YOUR LIFE
The “seasons” of our lives, our life-cycles disclose unfolding new tasks, pleasures, joys, successes, goals and horizons. Our struggles are Life-Sized! They may be of divorce, illness, loss of career, when we achieve success, or when we gradually become dissatisfied, bored and depressed. At such times we review our past and seek the guidance for framing a new vision toward a brighter future. In this workshop we explore:
- Seasons of my life: Where am I?
- Achievements and experiences – can I travelogue these?
- Recognising what has become stale, thread-bare, boring for me?
- What catches my breathe? Intuiting new and exciting possibilities.
- Discernment: How to I decide what to keep and what to surrender?
- Repeating the same old patterns that leave me dissatisfied.
- To whom do I owe thanks and what for?
- The future: Is there one for me and what does it look like?
- Unfulfilled dreams, hopes, aspiration: are there any?
- My obituary: What legacy will I leave behind?
- Writing my personal Vision and Mission Statements.
Your preparatory task: assemble personally significant and memorable artifacts that might be useful to a biographer who is going to write the story of your life. Photos, Diaries, Newspaper clippings perhaps. Songs that touched you. Stories that helped form you Bring a blank-paged Journal and coloured pencils, sketch pens, etc.
To discuss organising a workshop or retreat in your area or at your venue, please contact: meath@diversejourneys.com
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JOURNEYS
Every year I take small groups of people who are interested in exploring interior and exterior landscapes, personal mythology and foreign culture, on an intensive adventure. This coming season, for two or more weeks from October through Feb-March I will be going to India on several journeys. During our time together we share stories about our life-journeys that have brought us to where we are right now. Through the mirror of ancient Buddhist and Hindu cultures in which we position ourselves we will revisit and explore our personal story. To visit the sub-continent is to immerse ourselves in a culture that is diverse, rich in tradition, and at all levels in city and countryside possessing a sense of the sacred. Whichever of my journeys you choose, it will be a one that you will remember for a lifetime.