From the Archives: Richard Rohr on “The Awakening of Spirit: Part 1” (1987)
To celebrate the Center for Action and Contemplation’s (CAC) 35th Anniversary year, we will be releasing a series of archival recordings of Richard Rohr from the early days of our founding. This recording is part one from a series on the spiritual life given by Richard in 1987 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In part one of this talk, Father Richard discusses the spiritual life, prayer and the gift of tears, his 30-day retreat at Thomas Merton’s hermitage, and our great need to overcome the duality of the western mind. “But the reality basically that so many of our people are living in is still an illusion. That the separate self of itself can find value in itself apart from others, apart from living in the place where all things are one. And that’s the meaning of all religion, to rebind, to retie all things together. And until we’re rebound, we will never feel good about ourselves to use that American phrase. And we will never overcome negative self-image as we say, or feeling bad about ourselves because we are living illusion.”
The Center for Action and Contemplation, its core faculty, and Board of Directors invite you to accompany us on this journey of transformation as we do the challenging work of reclaiming our founder’s vision for action and contemplation in a time of global change and contemplative renewal.
Returning to the center will be an opportunity to reflect together with our community on our discoveries and growing pains as an institution on the path of praxis and prayer, action and contemplation. You will find the latest posts on our website and “In The News” from New Mexico, the CAC’s monthly newsletter.