It was originally intended as a ten-week course which should have begun last Monday, but sub-zero temperatures and slippery roads and pavements made it seem wise to postpone the start by a week.
This is the latest in a series of courses that has so far addressed "Mindfulness" (2010), "Mindfulness and Morality" (2011) and "Mindfulness and Wisdom" (2o12) - each of which is covered extensively on this blog. Ian Grayling and Kevin Commons (photo above) from Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group are facilitating this first session and will have their hands on the tiller throughout the course.
There are 15 people attending this evening (including our facilitators). This programme has been designed as a means of helping those attending to explore the process of looking within as a means of deepening their understanding of their own faith as well as looking at mysticism within a range of different traditions. More specifically, the programme seeks to enable people to:
- Recognise ways of knowing through personal experience that goes beyond rational understanding;
- Deepen (or initiate) their own meditation or contemplative practice;
- Be mindful of similarity and difference in contemplative practice from different faith perspectives;
- Consider the practice of "meditation" as a means of underpinning daily living.
This opening session provides a "faith-neutral" introduction. The remaining sessions will each look at meditation or contemplative prayer and mysticism through the life of a well known practitioner from a sample of different faiths. Each of these sessions will comprise an introduction from a named speaker and explanation of the particular practice of the chosen practitioner. The presenters will then lead a short period of meditation or contemplative prayer and the session will conclude with questions from the audience.
The programme, which employs a range of delivery techniques, including practical experience of a contemplative technique, aims to promote active and reflective learning in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust.
This evening, Ian and Kevin renew our acquaintance with authorities and commentators whose names and insights we've come to know through these courses: James W. Fowler and his definitions of stages of faith; Alister Hardy and his research on religious experience; Zohar and Marshall and their work on spiritual intelligence. We do some pairs work discussing how Hardy's findings relate to our own lives - an exercise in active listening.
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