The Way of the Desert Mothers and Fathers: A journey into Peace and Compassion

Sat 15 Aug, 10am – 5pm, One-day online retreat

Event description

When the love of God is completely overwhelming, it binds the lover not just to God but to everyone else too.’ Thalassios the Libyan

This day retreat invites you to step aside from the haste and noise of the world, and into the stillness and silence of the desert tradition.

Through a flow of three talks, silent meditation practice, and conversation, we will explore the wisdom-teachings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers – the early Christian contemplatives who sought the healing of the heart in the wilderness. Central to their teaching and manuals of instruction was a threefold path of the spiritual life. Following this ancient framework, we hear what these ancient teachers say about:

• Praxis: the first stage of teachings and ‘exercises’ to develop disciplined attention and the skills to examine and unmask the multiple false versions of identity we construct, to understand the various energies of our being and bring about greater interior harmony, integration and stability.
• Theoria: the name for the second stage means ‘seeing’ – where we deal with the more subtle hindrances to progressing in the spiritual life, and begin to perceive the presence of God shining in all people and all creation.
• Gnosis: the stage of knowing, understanding. Not intellectual knowledge, but pure awareness, self-forgetful (self-transcending) immersion in the oneness of God’s love.

As Christianity became entangled with imperial power and spread as state religion, it turned its focus to an increasingly rationalistic defence of its theology and power.

The contemplative tradition inspired by the Desert Fathers and Mothers remained largely uninterested in controversial theological debate. It was a wisdom tradition, concerned primarily with transformation. It’s teaching and literature was dedicated to understanding the secrets of the inner life, to following the path of peacefulness and humility, to a purity of prayer that blossomed in a life of compassion and mercy.

This retreat is an invitation to explore an ancient wisdom-path that has much to offer our contemporary culture.

For these ancient Christian teachers, we don’t become fully human persons through individualism, but through communion. Not through accumulating, but through releasing. Not through seeking to possess, but through giving ourselves away, offering the love that is the deepest truth of who we are. Such a person does not merely pray for others, but has become living-intercession for all people and all beings – a living icon of the One who holds creation in a single embrace of compassion.

In preparation, all participants will receive a selection of short teachings (“sayings”) from the desert tradition a week before the retreat to reflect on.

Who is this for?

This retreat is an invitation to explore an ancient wisdom-path that has much to offer our contemporary culture. It has been carefully crafted to be inclusive and accessible, welcoming anyone seeking truth, peace, and spiritual renewal, regardless of their faith, beliefs or previous experience of meditation.

What to expect

In preparation, all participants will receive a selection of short teachings (“sayings”) from the desert tradition a week before the retreat to reflect on. This online event will involve a flow of short talks, silent meditation practice and times of conversation. A reading list will be provided after the event.

Practical information

• These sessions take place on Zoom. If you are joining from a mobile device, please make sure you have the app downloaded.
• If you can, it would be lovely if you could keep your camera on as we try to ensure that these sessions build community.
• We will start at 10:00 UK time so, if you can, please enter the waiting room a little early so that you’re settled and ready for when we begin.

Event leader

Chris Whittington is the Founder of The School of Contemplative Life. He was introduced to contemplative practice during several years of formation when he lived at the Benedictine monastery of Prinknash Abbey in England. Chris’ monastic teachers taught meditation as a universal wisdom found within all the great spiritual traditions, a pathway to peace and solidarity with people of all faiths and none. Following an introduction by the Abbot of the Prinknash community, Chris subsequently studied at the Dalai Lama’s monastery in Dharamshala, India.

Chris regularly delivers talks, workshops and retreats and has introduced the practice of meditation in the Christian tradition to thousands of people in the UK and abroad. He is known for his ability to communicate the subtleties of the practice and complex spiritual texts in simple, practical ways, resonant with the challenges of daily life.

Chris is the author of The Missing Peace published by Canterbury Press.

Book here