After recently seeing the film Life of Pi, the scene of Pi in awe at the fluorescent ocean (image left), found its way into my breath meditation. The following poem, expresses my experience. Intense lazer pain in joint between fourth and fifth fingers within the hand. Sit up moving...
To Your Mother’s Eye, Behold
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My mother only had one eye, (even though she wasn’t a Crow’s supporter). I hated her… She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers to support the family. There was this one day during primary school where my mum came to say hello to me. I...
Awakening to What I have
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“When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes. … Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I...
The Circle Thingy – Operational Dimensions
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I presented this concept in a retreat last year. Someone came up later and asked could they have a copy of the Circle Thingy! So here’s the Circle Thingy These are called operational dimensions because they are the dimensions of our human experience at which different operations function; 1....
Understanding a Spiritual Crisis
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by Gord Riddell and Kathy Ryndak The process of spiritual awakening is most often an uncomfortable and painful event. While many people may have an interest in the spiritual realms and in the history of world religions and spirituality true spiritual awakening is usually precipitated by an event in an...
Ecological Marriage
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Land of the fair go takes refuge from the helpless
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Sydney Morning Herald October 19, 2012 by Waleed Aly, Illustration: Rocco Fazzari So this is what ”no advantage” looks like. We’ve barely got going sending asylum seekers to Nauru, and already there has been an attempted suicide. By hanging, according to the psychiatrist who reported it. The end result...
Nonviolent Resistance Works
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The facts are in: Nonviolent resistance works by John Dear S.J. On the Road to Peace National Catholic Reporter, October 16, 2012 ‘Nonviolence is fine as long as it works,’ Malcolm X once said. Recently, Columbia University Press published an extraordinary scholarly book that proves how nonviolence works far...
Seminars – Heart of Life, 2012
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Story Telling and Visual Images in Spiritual Direction June 25 – 29: An opportunity to work with an esteemed mentor presented itself to me in June when I joined Peter Malone msc to co-facilitate a week-long program of Professional & Personal Development for Spiritual Directors. The five-day intensive for practising...
What’s A Life For?
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Discernment Weekends for young men wanting to discern their direction in life and life-commitment choice. Information about the weekends can be found at http://www.whatsalifefor.com/ The last weekend was Friday 12 to Sunday 14 October, 2012 at “The Cliffs”, Shoreham, Victoria. Two men joined us for that discernment weekend and gained...
Chief Raoni cries
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Belo Monte Dam approved The chief Raoni cries when he learns that Brazilian president Dilma released the beginning of construction of the hydroelectric plant of Belo Monte, even after tens of thousands of letters and emails addressed to her and which were ignored as the more than 600,000 signatures....
Unknowing: A Way to God
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“Unknowing: A Way to God” 2012 Hartzer Park Retreat They asked Abba Macarius: how should we pray? The old man answered:A long speech is not necessary, but instead stretch out your hands and say, Lord, as you wish and as you know, have mercy.Yet if you feel a conflict...
2012 Retreats & Programs
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Personally companioned retreats: July 9th – 22nd, at “The Cliffs”, Shoreham, Victoria October 14th – 21st, at “The Cliffs”, Shoreham, Victoria November 4th – 18th, at “The Cliffs”, Shoreham, Victoria December 2nd – 9th, at “The Cliffs”, Shoreham, Victoria Guided Retreats offered at Retreat Venues: “Leaving self Behind” –...
What Martin Luther King Jr. can teach us about nonviolence
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On the Road to Peace John Dear SJ, National Catholic Reporter, January 17, 2012 To mark Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, I’ve been reflecting on the principles of nonviolence that he learned during the historic yearlong bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala. After Rosa Parks refusal to sit in...
Sunday 1 January, 2012
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Leaving self Behind: Day 1. Intro to the self Day 2. Leaving behind Day 3. Self/self, Ego Day 4. Shadow self ‘Where love reigns there is no will to power; and where the will to power is paramount, love is lacking. The one is but the shadow of the...
The Slow Movement
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Time to Usher Out the Fast and the Furious by Rob Moodie The Age – National Times. Opinion. January 2, 2010 THE more information we seek, the more unwanted information we receive. The quicker emails are answered, the quicker a response comes shooting back, leaving the inbox just as...
The Practice of Meditation
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During his days at the Ashram, St. Mary’s Towers, Douglas Park, Fr. Vyn Bailey msc guided many of us on the path of meditation practice. The following is some his teaching. From devotedness to God comes perfection of contemplation Perfection comes only gradually. Lifestyles change only by degrees. If...
Living Life Deliberately
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Mindfulness takes awareness into the whole of life. The goal of mindfulness is living life deliberately in the Presence of God, and not “sleepwalking” throughout life. God is always with us, but we can’t be aware of God’s Presence in this moment without mindfulness of this moment. Mindfulness makes...
Poems of John of the Cross
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Click here for PDF of my favourite poems of John of the Cross and some notes on the stanzas of The spiritual Canticle and chapter notes on The Ascent of Mount Carmel. The Poems are best read in a quiet place. Read slowly – phrase by phrase – until the...
Memorial slights prophetic, daring King
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A 30-foot sculpture of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is to be unveiled at a memorial to the civil rights leader on the National Mall in Washington. National Catholic Reporter, October 14, 2011 – Colman McCarthy I bet that the inscriptions sculpted in granite would not include the...