During this past weekend, I participated on the conference Envisionthe Future: Living from a Contemplative Heart, co-sponsored by the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialog (ICCD) and River’s Edge in Cleveland, Ohio.

When we ask the question, what is living from a contemplative heart, we immediately start thinking that you need to have a monastic life to stay calm instead of living in our busy world. Cynthia Bourgeault made extraordinary presentations during the event. I was really touched by the emphasis she had during the event on the importance of Centering Prayer, method of prayer originated from the heart of the monastic christian tradition to develop non- dual consciousness and  its similitude in effect of  the Jesus teachings (Phillipians 2,5-18, and Matthew 16). In addition, she mentioned how religious belief are not necessary to be awakened to your own deepest self .

I found a clip that contain some of the material Cynthia presented in our conference so you may have a taste on the relevance of Centering Prayer in our world as a powerful method beyond the dualistic perception.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2SRVr89GFU