Dear Friends of Abwoon,
Happy to be sharing retreat space again with good friend and colleague Br. Joe Kilikevice in Illinois, USA on 27 February, from 10 am – 1 pm Chicago time, so 4pm – 7pm here in the UK. This is sponsored for Lent by St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn, IL, with which Br. Joe has a relationship. For details, see here
Stay safe…all the best, Neil
Dear Friends of Abwoon,
I am privileged to offer this special day with my friend Brother Joe, with whom I co-led many of the early Aramaic Jesus retreats in the 1980s. Together we shared teaching, sharing, Dances of Universal Peace and art-as-meditation in many forms. This online retreat day will include chant, body prayer, sharing, contemplation and bread-baking as our art-as-meditation—a reminder that daily life is our own unique art and gift of the cosmos.
Love and blessings to you all,
Neil
Create Through Us the Bread of Life
An Interfaith Advent Day of Retreat, Saturday, December 12, 2020
on Zoom, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, USA Central Standard Time
The title of this retreat is a translation of the familiar words, “Give us this day our daily bread.” sourced from the ancient texts of the Bible written in the Aramaic language Jesus spoke. This translation makes clear the mandate to be the spiritual nourishment for one another that goes beyond simply feeding the hungry. The remainder of the Aramaic text implies a radical trust that more will be provided when we are generous. “We ask only for what is needed to feed the next mouth.” Daily bread becomes the Bread of Life that welcomes all as we reach out in loving kindness to those who seek spiritual sustenance from us.
This Advent day of retreat offers an opportunity to claim a day of peace during a time of pre-holiday stress. We reclaim the ritual of baking a loaf of bread and relearn the simple pleasure of being host and guest of one another. This becomes the ancient ritual of tasting, savoring and enjoying the nourishment of bread and friendship while observing the safety measures the covid pandemic requires. We remember that we are hosts and beloved guests who feast on the gifts of the earth and the spiritual nourishment that comes through us to each other.
Using Zoom, Neil will offer teachings and spiritual practices on the Aramaic words of Jesus from his home in Scotland. Br. Joseph will guide the process of baking delicious honey whole wheat bread as a spiritual practice from his kitchen at Shem Center in Illinois.
Small group zoom meetings, breaks and an hour for lunch offline will be part of the day. Participants are asked to make a commitment to the entire retreat day from 10:00am to 4:00pm. It will only be available live, not on recording later. Registration details follow below. The bread recipe is a simple one anyone can use with guidance.
A lists of ingredients and utensils will be sent with a confirmation of registration.
Sorry, we cannot accept registrations after December 7, 2020.
REGISTRATION send via e-mail Emory Mead, registrar emory.mead@yahoo.com
Name: _____________________________________
your e-mail address: _____________________________________
donation amount: __________________________
Your donation in any amount will be received with gratitude and used to help further our interfaith/inter-spiritual missions.
After registering, go to the PayPal home page, and select “Send Money, Pay on Line,” then “Send a Request” at the top of the page. Using the Shem Center e-mail address–shemcenter1993@gmail.com —enter the amount of your donation. It will go directly into the Shem Center PayPal account.
If you prefer, you may send a check to:
Shem Center for Interfaith Spirituality
708 N. Harvey Ave.
Oak Park, IL 60302 USA
I will offer a video practice to share for the two-week group, followed by an online discussion. For more information on how Desert Flowers works, see the page below. There is no charge for the group. Donations are welcome. –Neil
These are two selections from the meditation and teaching that I shared in the online Desert Flowers group (https://abwoon.org/desert-flowers/) on March 22, 2020.
The first is a short commentary on the Aramaic Prayer of Jesus for today (13 min):
Aramaic prayer text used by Neil in the video here.
The second is a longer healing meditation using Aramaic words of Jesus for the four elements (20 min):
To join the Desert Flowers group, please go to the following page on our site:
We are still in the middle of Christian Lent with Passover following a few weeks from now and Ramadan shortly thereafter. These are all traditionally times of going inside more, doing without, changing our behaviour to help benefit others: surrender and resurrection, freeing ourselves from inner and outer Pharaohs (self-constructed fantasies), then receiving a message from Reality that empowers our actions. It is also a time in our culture when selfless leadership distinguishes itself from the “selfie” variety, in all of our institutions. Let’s be part of the former.
Stay well, stay safe and let your actions match the integrity of your prayer and practice.
Yours in peace,
Neil Douglas-Klotz
Donations for this work gratefully accepted via PayPal to: donations@eial.org
Posted today in the Library section (mainstream articles), an article that had been previously unavailable in digital form, but much requested.
Body of Bliss, Body of Blessing:
The Elemental Purification Breaths of Hazrat Inayat Khan and Their Relation
to the New Physiology and Ecology
Published in: Toward the One: A Journal of Unity (produced by the Federation of the Sufi Message); Volume Eight, Spring 2007, pp 29-35. Eugene, OR, USA. A consideration of the breathing practice of Hazrat Inayat Khan in light of current somatics research, holistic health and ecological principles.
Access the article here
Now faster than ever….you can find them in the Library.
Neil