Contemplate This! Interview with Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault

This second episode is an interview with Cynthia Bourgeault. Cynthia is an ordained Episcopalian priest, and beloved teacher of contemplative forms of Christian practice, Founder of the Wisdom Way of Knowing, teacher in the Wisdom School, and now a core teacher at the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albequerque NM. She has been a prolific author of 9 books, notably Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening and her most recent, The Heart of Centering Prayer: Nondual Christianity in Theory and Practice. She is considered by many, myself included, to be one of the central teachers in the renewal of Christian contemplative prayer in general and Centering Prayer in particular. I think it’s safe to say that her work is so interesting because it is so deeply rooted in her knowledge and study of the tradition, while also being highly original, even idiosyncratic at times. She brings a very unique blend of experiences – her time with Quakers and Benedictines, her study of Gurdjieff, and then her eventual familiarity with the growth of Centering Prayer in the last 4 decades – to offer some original and thought-provoking insights into contemplative practice.