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Wisdom Schools & Retreats

"Wisdom Schools are a format for integral learning that's based in some of the deepest roots for transformation and change in the Christian tradition. Wisdom schools are about awakening the yearning for a different kind of presence in the world and then developing the skills and the knowledge base to apply that, to transform your own life and the life of people around you."

 

--Cynthia Bourgeault

Upcoming Retreats

  • And so we begin again: An Online Retreat to Enter the New Year
    And so we begin again: An Online Retreat to Enter the New Year
    Sat, Jan 04
    Online Retreat
    Jan 04, 2025, 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM PST
    Online Retreat
    Jan 04, 2025, 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM PST
    Online Retreat
    Morning Virtual Retreat: This year is coming to a close. Another year of both gift and challenge, joy and sorrow, old and new. The transition to a new year marks a moment that has been entered into as a time to pause, ponder and prepare, to nourish our spiritual intelligence and begin again. . .

Past Retreats

  • Wisdom School: Sacred Movements & Witnessing Presence
    Wisdom School: Sacred Movements & Witnessing Presence
    Thu, Oct 10
    Burlingame
    Oct 10, 2024, 5:30 PM – Oct 14, 2024, 12:00 PM
    Burlingame, 2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
    Oct 10, 2024, 5:30 PM – Oct 14, 2024, 12:00 PM
    Burlingame, 2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
    Sacred gestures and movements have been a part of every sacred tradition. They are considered a means by which ancient Wisdom is preserved and passed down to future generations.
  • Wisdom School: Three Centered Presence and Transformation of Consciousness
    Wisdom School: Three Centered Presence and Transformation of Consciousness
    Sun, Sep 08
    Sorrento
    Sep 08, 2024, 7:00 PM PDT – Sep 12, 2024, 12:00 PM PDT
    Sorrento, 1159 Passchendaele Rd, Sorrento, BC V0E 2W0, Canada
    Sep 08, 2024, 7:00 PM PDT – Sep 12, 2024, 12:00 PM PDT
    Sorrento, 1159 Passchendaele Rd, Sorrento, BC V0E 2W0, Canada
    From time immemorial Wisdom Schools have emerged in times of global crisis or on the cusp of great leaps in human consciousness in order to help shepherd our planet through the transition. While there is academic teaching that goes on here, that is not the primary business of a Wisdom school...
  • The Way of the Heart: A Silent Wisdom Retreat
    The Way of the Heart: A Silent Wisdom Retreat
    Fri, Aug 23
    Mercy Center Burlingame
    Aug 23, 2024, 12:00 PM PDT – Aug 28, 2024, 4:30 PM PDT
    Mercy Center Burlingame, 2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
    Aug 23, 2024, 12:00 PM PDT – Aug 28, 2024, 4:30 PM PDT
    Mercy Center Burlingame, 2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
    “The heart is the place of our origin in which the soul is, as it were, coming from the hands of God and waking up to itself.” – French Benedictine Henri Lassaux
  • A Sacred Pause Silent Wisdom Retreat: A curated retreat for contemplatives under 50
    A Sacred Pause Silent Wisdom Retreat: A curated retreat for contemplatives under 50
    Thu, Jul 11
    Mercy Center Burlingame
    Jul 11, 2024, 5:30 PM PDT – Jul 15, 2024, 1:00 PM PDT
    Mercy Center Burlingame, 2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
    Jul 11, 2024, 5:30 PM PDT – Jul 15, 2024, 1:00 PM PDT
    Mercy Center Burlingame, 2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
    In a society bombarded with the allure of external validation and perpetual striving, we often find ourselves caught in the relentless pursuit of relevance, accomplishment, and fleeting happiness. Yet, amidst this tumult, there exists a timeless wisdom that transcends the ephemeral promises of . . .
  • Wisdom School: Introduction to a Wisdom Way of Knowing
    Wisdom School: Introduction to a Wisdom Way of Knowing
    Sun, Mar 10
    Shelburne
    Mar 10, 2024, 6:30 PM PDT – Mar 15, 2024, 6:30 PM PDT
    Shelburne, 291 OLD, Bostwick Farm Rd, Shelburne, VT 05482, USA
    Mar 10, 2024, 6:30 PM PDT – Mar 15, 2024, 6:30 PM PDT
    Shelburne, 291 OLD, Bostwick Farm Rd, Shelburne, VT 05482, USA
    The Wisdom stream is at the contemplative headwaters of every religious tradition including Christianity. Wisdom takes many shapes and forms and is more concerned with the transformation of the human being than on a set of right beliefs. The Christian Wisdom lineage is about . . .
  • And so we begin again. . . 2024 Online Retreat
    And so we begin again. . . 2024 Online Retreat
    Sun, Dec 31
    Online Retreat
    Dec 31, 2023, 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM
    Online Retreat
    Dec 31, 2023, 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM
    Online Retreat
    “In out-of-the-way places of the heart, Where your thoughts never think to wander, This beginning has been quietly forming, Waiting until you were ready to emerge.” - John O' Donohue ​
  • The Web of Life: A Retreat for Contemplative Solidarity
    The Web of Life: A Retreat for Contemplative Solidarity
    Mon, Nov 20
    Loon Lake Lodge & Retreat Centre
    Nov 20, 2023, 6:30 PM PST – Nov 23, 2023, 12:00 PM PST
    Loon Lake Lodge & Retreat Centre, 14500 Silver Valley Road, Maple Ridge, BC V4R 2R3, Canada
    Nov 20, 2023, 6:30 PM PST – Nov 23, 2023, 12:00 PM PST
    Loon Lake Lodge & Retreat Centre, 14500 Silver Valley Road, Maple Ridge, BC V4R 2R3, Canada
    How do contemplatives engage the world when forest fires, floods, and political uproar are happening in our own backyards? How do we stand in contemplative wisdom and be present in depth to the beauty and suffering inherent to the web of life on this blue-green planet?
  • Wisdom School: Wisdom Rhythms & Conscious Relationships
    Wisdom School: Wisdom Rhythms & Conscious Relationships
    Fri, Aug 11
    Burlingame
    Aug 11, 2023, 7:00 PM PDT – Aug 16, 2023, 7:00 PM PDT
    Burlingame, 2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
    Aug 11, 2023, 7:00 PM PDT – Aug 16, 2023, 7:00 PM PDT
    Burlingame, 2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
    In any moment, regardless of how significant or insignificant it may seem, we can offer ourselves as instruments, vessels, means by which worlds beyond can enter into this world, which has often been termed by several traditions ‘mixtus orbis.’
  • Wisdom School: Movements as Prayer
    Wisdom School: Movements as Prayer
    Mon, Jul 31
    St. Francis Retreat House
    Jul 31, 2023, 6:00 PM PDT – Aug 04, 2023, 12:00 PM PDT
    St. Francis Retreat House, 3918 Chipman Rd, Easton, PA 18045, USA
    Jul 31, 2023, 6:00 PM PDT – Aug 04, 2023, 12:00 PM PDT
    St. Francis Retreat House, 3918 Chipman Rd, Easton, PA 18045, USA
    Together we will pray these Sacred movements with all three centers of knowing, noticing their devotional impact and the way in which they grow and enhance our work with our second body, our Kesdjan body.
  • Abide in the Mercy: A Silent Wisdom Retreat
    Abide in the Mercy: A Silent Wisdom Retreat
    Fri, May 26
    Burlingame
    May 26, 2023, 3:00 PM PDT – Jun 01, 2023, 12:00 PM PDT
    Burlingame, 2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
    May 26, 2023, 3:00 PM PDT – Jun 01, 2023, 12:00 PM PDT
    Burlingame, 2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
    " As the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love." (John 15:9) In many of Jesus' sayings we can find an invitation to a deeper contemplative way of being, so relevant for our Centering Prayer. 'Abide in my love', for example, can also be translated as 'abide in mercy'
  • Accompanying Jesus and Mary Magdalene
    Accompanying Jesus and Mary Magdalene
    Sun, Apr 09
    The Centre for Spiritual Renewal
    Apr 09, 2023, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM PDT
    The Centre for Spiritual Renewal , Langley BC
    Apr 09, 2023, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM PDT
    The Centre for Spiritual Renewal , Langley BC
    Holy Saturday marks Jesus’ journeys into the heart of the earth in which he not only encounters the most constricted, cut off and hurt states of human consciousness in the collective false self but allows love to reach them and weave them into the whole. Meanwhile Mary Magdalene, the Tower, keeps ..
  • Holy Week Silent Wisdom Retreat: Accompanying Jesus and Mary Magdalene through the Paschal Mystery
    Holy Week Silent Wisdom Retreat: Accompanying Jesus and Mary Magdalene through the Paschal Mystery
    Mon, Apr 03
    Bethlehem Centre
    Apr 03, 2023, 5:30 PM PDT – Apr 06, 2023, 12:00 PM PDT
    Bethlehem Centre, Nanaimo, Canada
    Apr 03, 2023, 5:30 PM PDT – Apr 06, 2023, 12:00 PM PDT
    Bethlehem Centre, Nanaimo, Canada
    Holy Week is more than a series of events surrounding the final days of Jesus’s earthly life that we are to commemorate. We can enter this sacred week from the inside as a way of mutual accompaniment in which we are concurrently embodying the postures of Jesus and Mary Magdalene through this timeles
  • Lenten Day Event in Victoria: Preparing to Accompany Jesus and Mary Magdalene through Holy Week
    Lenten Day Event in Victoria: Preparing to Accompany Jesus and Mary Magdalene through Holy Week
    Sat, Apr 01
    Multifaith Centre
    Apr 01, 2023, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM PDT
    Multifaith Centre, Victoria BC, Canada
    Apr 01, 2023, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM PDT
    Multifaith Centre, Victoria BC, Canada
    On this Lenten Day, we will prepare ourselves to enter Holy week from the inside by embodying the postures of Jesus and Mary Magdalene through this timeless passage. Let’s join together in community to learn and practice Wisdom, weaving in the transformative currents of surrender, three centered . .
  • Wisdom School: The Encounter with Evil ZOOM OPTION
    Wisdom School: The Encounter with Evil ZOOM OPTION
    Fri, Feb 17
    Burlingame
    Feb 17, 2023, 6:00 PM PST – Feb 22, 2023, 12:00 PM PST
    Burlingame, 2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
    Feb 17, 2023, 6:00 PM PST – Feb 22, 2023, 12:00 PM PST
    Burlingame, 2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010, USA
    “From time immemorial Wisdom Schools have emerged in times of global crisis or on the cusp of great leaps in human consciousness in order to help shepherd our planet through the transition." ― Wisdom Waypoints, Cynthia Bourgeault
  • And so we begin again...
    And so we begin again...
    Sun, Jan 01
    Online Retreat
    Jan 01, 2023, 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM PST
    Online Retreat
    Jan 01, 2023, 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM PST
    Online Retreat
    Online Morning Reflective Retreat: The year is almost over and a new year is just about to spring forth. This shift to a new year marks a threshold that has been entered into as a moment to pause, ponder and prepare, to learn something about ourselves and about what life is telling us as we begin..
  • Mercy Center Burlingame presents... Leaning Into Blessing: An Advent Online Retreat
    Mercy Center Burlingame presents... Leaning Into Blessing: An Advent Online Retreat
    Fri, Dec 02
    Leaning Into Blessing
    Dec 02, 2022, 4:00 PM PST – Dec 04, 2022, 12:00 PM PST
    Leaning Into Blessing
    Dec 02, 2022, 4:00 PM PST – Dec 04, 2022, 12:00 PM PST
    Leaning Into Blessing
    "The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before...So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Ponder. Wait. Behold. Wonder. There will be time enough for running. For rushing. For worrying. For pushing. For now, stay. Wait. Something is on the horizon."
  • Advent Gurdjieff Movements Class
    Advent Gurdjieff Movements Class
    Wed, Nov 30
    Online Gurdjieff Movements Class
    Nov 30, 2022, 3:00 PM PST – Dec 28, 2022, 4:15 PM PST
    Online Gurdjieff Movements Class
    Nov 30, 2022, 3:00 PM PST – Dec 28, 2022, 4:15 PM PST
    Online Gurdjieff Movements Class
    The Movements, which develop a certain quality of relaxed and alert attention, were given very precisely by Gurdjieff as a powerful tool for growth. They create exceptional conditions for transforming the body into a place where the forces of intelligence, feeling, and action can freely expand. . .
  • Fall Triduum ONLINE Wisdom Practice Retreat
    Fall Triduum ONLINE Wisdom Practice Retreat
    Mon, Oct 31
    Online Retreat
    Oct 31, 2022, 4:30 PM PDT – Nov 02, 2022, 6:00 PM PDT
    Online Retreat
    Oct 31, 2022, 4:30 PM PDT – Nov 02, 2022, 6:00 PM PDT
    Online Retreat
    ****The ZOOM Link will be sent out again 1 hour before the start time**** We often focus on spring’s Paschal Triduum, from dusk on Holy Thursday through dusk on Easter Sunday, as a chance to move inward and journey with Christ through our own passage of death to life. . .
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