Waterholes depicted by Australian Indigenous artists are often shown as a series of concentric circles, lines radiating out, radiating in – connecting the water in the centre to the life around. The image of the waterhole reflects something of how Benedictus seeks to be – a place of refreshment and replenishment, an open sanctuary in the midst of our city. Everyone, from whatever background or tradition, is welcome to come sit awhile in the garden, join us for meditation or participate in gatherings that offer a chance to rest, reflect and be returned to daily life replenished.
Deep Simplicity: The Freeing Wisdom of Meister Eckhart. Four online sessions with Rev. Mark S. Burrows, PhD.
Here is a truth that we can scarcely
imagine: where God is there is the soul,
and where the soul is, there is God.
Think about it. When you do, you’ll stop
looking for God here or there, now or then,
and pay attention to where you are and
who you are in your soul. Only then
will you finally see that the soul and
God are one. The rest will be easy.
The poem ‘Stop Looking’ invites us to imagine interrupting our assumptions so that we might begin to ‘start seeing’—anew. This is the path of discovering that ‘simplicity’ is the mystery at the heart of reality, and that this reality changes … everything. Or could, if we ‘stop looking’ and ‘start seeing’. Each of these sessions will invite us into that ‘deep simplicity’ by exploring a theme central to Meister Eckhart’s radical wisdom.
Mark Burrows is a writer and retreat leader, poet and scholar based in the US. We are privileged to have him lead us in this series. For more about Mark, see www.soul-in-sight.org
Session One, Sunday 4 August 10.00-11.30am: Breaking-Through to the God Beyond (Gelassenheit)
Session Two, Sunday 11 August 10.00-11.30am: Living Without a Why (Ohne Warum)
Session Three, Sunday August 18 10.00-11.30am: The Spark of Beauty Abiding (Funklein)
Session Four, Sunday August 25 10.00-11.30am: Silence, Unknowing and Presence (Schweigen)
Whole Series Cost: $120 ($80 Concession). Sessions will be recorded and the link available to those who have subscribed.
For details see the attached flyer
For Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/CQEHQ
Retreat in Daily Life – August 2024 (online and in-person)
Retreat in Daily Life this year will be held from 1 August to 1 September. As in previous years, the main part of the retreat is meeting with a spiritual director/companion weekly over the time of the retreat and trying to clear some spaces for prayer and reflection. The retreat will also include some lectures and reflections on Meister Eckhart by Mark Burrows on four Sunday mornings from 10 until 11.30am (see event below). Those doing the retreat will meet on 1 August 7pm to 8.30pm, for an introduction and allocation of spiritual directors, then at the end on 1 September 10-11.30am.
Cost is $250, which includes the lectures and paying an honorarium to our spiritual directors. This retreat is for you if you would like to go deeper in your relationship with God, if you would like to explore who you are, and what is meaningful for you. This retreat is for you if you lead a busy life or if you can’t get away for a retreat. It can be a life changing experience grounded in the every day.
For more information please see the flyer or contact Susanna at susannapain63@gmail.com
For bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/CQEIU
Embodied Listening Retreat with Susanna Pain – Alice Springs 2024
SOLD OUT
Come, rest, meditate, play, and reflect in the expansiveness of the magnificent central desert, beside ancient red rocks, under giant river red gums, in the sand, and around open fires. We will be silent, listen, move, make art, sing and tell stories that connect us with ourselves, each other and the spirit of the land herself.
When: 8 – 13 September 2024, Sunday after lunch until Friday mid-morning
Where: Campfire in the Heart, Alice Springs
For information, please see the flyer
Creative Arts Retreat
This retreat offers contemplative space for you to explore your particular creative pursuits and also to gain windows into new avenues for making art.
Savour silence, song, art, music, dance, poetry – whatever draws you – in the context of a retreat where a rhythm of shared meditation, input, and personal time for art making will form the rhythm.
The space will be held by singer songwriter John Coleman, and poet John Foulcher with a small team.
We gather on Friday afternoon at (5pm) and finish after lunch on Monday so we will have ample time to open to the creative spirit within us and between us.
When: Friday 1 November 5.00pm – Monday 4 November after lunch
Where: St Clements Retreat and Conference Centre, Galong, NSW Ensuite Room: $600 Shared Bathroom: $520
Please note on booking a deposit of $300 is required, with the remaining monies due one month prior to the Retreat. If cost is an issue, please speak to us, as we have some capacity for scholarships.
Bookings via TryBooking here
Notorious Nietzsche and Religion (with Nikolai Blaskow)
Nikolai Blaskow, Benedictus’s very own Nietzsche scholar, is offering a series of lectures which seek to:
- introduce Nietzsche in a fresh way to those readers familiar with his writings, those new to them but wanting to know more, and to scholars curious about a different way of reading him
- dispel the misconceptions which perpetuate the myth
- provide through his theology of suspicion, exciting ways of approaching religion and life into an AI dominated 21st and 22nd century
Lecture 1: The God Killer (held on November 2023)
Lecture 2: The Christ Denier (held on 11 April 2024)
Lecture 3: The Life Affirmer (date TBC)
Lecture 1, “The God Killer” materials can be found here. For audio click here
Lecture 2, ‘The Christ Denier’. Lecture can be found here. For audio click here