Contemplative Wisdom School with Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault

The Wisdom School is now full, and the waiting list is full.

Dates*: October 14-19, 2012; March 10-15, 2013 (*Please note that these two weeks are part of the same Wisdom School)

Cost: $1,200* for both weeks (see below for more details)

Place: Valle Crucis Conference Center

Wisdom Schools have two purposes. The first is to make available to Christians the breadth and depth of their own Christian heritage, paying particular attention to new resources and insights that come to us from the Near East and our own Western mystical tradition. In a growing network of North American Wisdom Schools, we have delved deeply into Thomas Merton, Jacob Boehme, The Gospel of Thomas and Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Meditations on the Tarot, and The Cloud of Unknowing. We have also explored modern classics such as Jacques Lusseryran’s And There was Light and Jim Marion’s Putting on the Mind of Christ. A core textbook has been The Roots of Christian Mysticism by Olivier Clement.

Our goal has been to recover the true catholicity of the Christian tradition by returning to our own wellsprings. The wider tradition is unanimous, however, in its assertion that the deeper Christianity cannot be known by the mind alone; it requires a transformation of the entire being. That is our second—and in fact, primary—purpose. From time immemorial there have been wisdom schools to raise human consciousness and transform society, and we work with the core practices that sustain the transformation of consciousness: meditation, contemplative prayer, lectio divina, the language of sacred gesture, and the daily practices of mindfulness, inner observation and surrender.

For Frequently Asked Questions concerning the Wisdom School check out this link hereWisdom School FAQ

Requirements in order to be considered for the Wisdom School:
1) an established Centering Prayer practice
2) an ability to participate in both seminars

Required Texts:
Bourgeault, Cynthia, The Wisdom Way of Knowing
Bourgeault, Cynthia, The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity
Bauman, Lynn, ed. The Gospel of Thomas – (Week 1)
LeLoup, Jean-Yves, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene – (Week 2)
Progoff, Ira, ed., The Cloud of Unknowing – (Week 2)
Marion, Jim, Putting on the Mind of Christ

Recommended Texts:
Bourgeault, Cynthia, Encountering the Wisdom Jesus (CD series)
Clement, Olivier, The Roots of Christian Mysticism

If you have questions about the program, contact either:
Robbin Whittington, 828-274-2681, robbin@thecsr.org; or
Jeanine Siler Jones, 828-712-6632, jsilerjones@bellsouth.net.

For more information, contact Robbin Whittington.

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It is time for the second payment for those who have been accepted to this Wisdom School. You can either mail a check or pay via Paypal by clicking on the PayPal button (select your housing option from the drop-down menu and then click “buy now.” If you are paying by check, please make check payable to “CSR” and mail to: CSR • 9 Swan Street • Asheville NC 28803. Payment amount for the second and third payment based on housing option.

• Double Occupancy: $450 due by Feb. 25; final payment of $450 due by Aug. 1, 2012
• Single Occupancy: $525 due by Feb. 25; final payment of $525 due by Aug. 1, 2012
• Hermitage (Double Occupancy): $575 due by Feb. 25; final payment of $575 due by Aug. 1, 2012
• Hermitage (Single Occupancy): $825 due by Feb. 25; final payment of $825 due by Aug. 1, 2012

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Hermit priest, writer, and internationally known retreat leader, Cynthia Bourgeault divides her time between solitude on Eagle Island, Maine, and a much more extraverted schedule of retreat and conference leader, teacher of prayer, writer and Episcopal priest. She serves as Principal Teacher for the Contemplative Society and an adjunct faculty member at the Vancouver School of Theology. Of particular note for the AET conference, she spent seven years in the Gurdjieff work in Canada (1987-94).

She is the author of seven books: Chanting the Psalms, Mystical Hope, The Wisdom Way of Knowing, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, Love is Stronger Than Death, The Wisdom Jesus, and The Meaning of Mary Magdalene: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity. She is also responsible for many articles and CDs on the Christian Spiritual Life. She is a past Fellow of the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural research at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, and an oblate of New Camaldoli Monastery in Big Sur, California. Cynthia is passionately committed to the recovery of the Christian contemplative path and has worked closely with Fr. Thomas Keating as a teacher of Centering Prayer, Fr. Bruno Barnhart, and other Christian contemplative masters. She is also committed to working with leaders of other religious traditions.

The Wisdom School is now full, and the waiting list is full.

Cost for both weeks: $1,200 (double occupancy), includes three meals a day for both weeks and double occupancy for 10 nights (Sun.–Thurs. both weeks)

Single occupancy: add $15/night: $1,350 for both weeks

Accomodations (staff will be matching people with available rooms):

The Inn: This three-story Inn has 20 bedrooms, 17 with bathrooms in the room and the other 3 with bathrooms nearby. On the first floor of the Inn, we can accommodate anyone who requires special arrangements with wheelchair access and/or medical needs.

The Farmhouse: This beautifully renovated old farmhouse has 5 bedrooms on two different levels, with 2-1/2  baths. It can accommodate a group of 5–10 people who want to stay together.

The Mission House: This two-story house is across from the Apple Barn where we will be having our group meetings. It is down the hill from the dining hall, which is located in the center of the Conference Center campus.  It has 9 bedrooms, with 3 bathrooms and 3 of the rooms have vanities in the room. This house offers accommodations for 9–18 people.

The Hermitages: single or double. There are four beautiful 400-square-foot Hermitages that are located several miles away from the Conference Center campus. Each one includes a bedroom with a queen-size bed, a comfortably furnished living room, and a porch with rocking chairs. One is wheel-chair accessible. While you could walk down to the meeting places (about 45 minutes down, an hour or so up), most folks choose to drive. For these, we will charge$100/person per night for a double and $150/night for a single. Double-occupancy: $1,450 for both weeks; Single occupancy: $1,950 for both weeks.

We will offer these on a first come/first served basis and will assign housing when we receive your non-refundable deposit of $300. Many of the rooms are large, and we will make every effort to create spaces for each person on retreat to experience silence and space.

For questions about housing, contact Jeanine Siler Jones,
828-712-6632, jsilerjones@bellsouth.net