Contemplative Organizations & Podcasts

Contemplation is the act of resting in the presence of God. Opening ourselves to this experience usually involves some form of ongoing method or practice from the contemplative tradition like Lectio Divina or Centering Prayer.

Below are some organizations that help foster contemplative living and practice:

Contemplative Outreach (Butler, NJ)

Contemplative Outreach is a network of communities and individuals seeking the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit and to contribute to the renewal of the Christian contemplative tradition through the practice of Centering Prayer.

The fundamental purpose of Centering Prayer and of Contemplative Outreach is to further the knowledge and experience of God’s love in the consciousness of the human family. Contemplative Outreach provides basic instruction in Centering Prayer and additional programs to sustain the development in contemplation and the process of transformation.

Center For Action And Contemplation (Albequerque, NM)

The Center for Action and Contemplation seeks to empower individuals to live out their sacred soul tasks in service to the world through contemplative programs and resources:

• CONSPIRE Events: A seven-year series of conferences held in New Mexico and webcast worldwide.
• Online Education: Self-paced, online courses, including audio, video, and discussion.
• Living School: Two-year program (launched in 2013), combining onsite and online learning.
• Webcasts: Live teachings from core faculty and guests streamed online, around the world.
• CAC Bookstore: A comprehensive selection of faculty books and recordings.
• Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations: Free daily or weekly email reflections by Fr. Richard.

The Contemplative Society (Victoria, BC)

The Contemplative Society is an inclusive non-profit association that encourages a deepening of contemplative prayer based in the Christian Wisdom tradition while also welcoming and being supportive of other meditation traditions. They offer a consistent and balanced path for spiritual growth and transformation rooted in prayer, silence, mindful work, and in the 1500-year-old wisdom of the society’s Benedictine contemplative heritage.

The society supports the work of Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault in her role of Principal Teacher and Advisor for The Contemplative Society and her vocation as a hermit and writer. They do so by sponsoring retreats, Wisdom Schools, and workshops led by Cynthia and other distinguished teachers of the Christian contemplative path, and through the sales of instructional and inspiration materials, in both textual and audio format, supportive of the contemplative life. The Contemplative Society actively nurtures local teachers of the contemplative way and maintains an office to communicate with members and to provide a regular and balanced schedule of retreat, teaching, and workshop opportunities.

Center for Contemplative Mind in Society (Florence, MA)

The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society (CMind) transforms higher education by supporting and encouraging the use of contemplative/introspective practices and perspectives to create active learning and research environments that look deeply into experience and meaning for all in service of a more just and compassionate society.

The Garrison Institute (Garrison, NY)

The Garrison Institute is a not-for-profit, non-sectarian organization committed to harnessing the power of contemplative wisdom and practices—from many traditions, and in many contemporary contexts—to build a more compassionate and resilient future for all. 

Working collaboratively with practitioners in diverse fields, the Institute develops and hosts retreats and symposia, produces research and publications, and provides a hub for ongoing learning networks.

The Gravity Center (Omaha, NE)

Gravity, a Center for Contemplative Activism exists to nurture the integral connection between contemplation and action.

Gravity grounds social change in contemplative spirituality, to do good better, by facilitating contemplative retreats, spiritual direction, enneagram consultations, and pilgrimage.

Our aim is to support the development of consciousness by making contemplative practices accessible to individuals and communities who care about their spirituality and want to make the world a better place.

Selah Center (Edmonds, WA)

Selah is a dispersed group of people desiring to center on the contemplative way of Jesus. The Selah community is held together more by a common orientation of our hearts than a specific place to gather. Selah is not a church or an institution, and in fact, we have no central location. Although most of us currently reside in the Puget Sound region of Washington State, some of us have spread out to other cities across the US and are intentional about staying connected and fostering contemplative community wherever we find ourselves.

We offer an invitation and heart-felt commitment to the rhythms of pausing, listening, and responding to all that “IS” and the great “I AM”. We provide events, resources, and a growing dispersed community that supports and encourages contemplative living in the way of Jesus.

Contemplative U with Tom Bushlack (Online)

Tom Bushlack is an associate professor of theology and ethics at the Aquinas Institute of Theology (St. Louis, MO), an oblate of St. Benedict with St. John's Abbey (Collegeville, MN), a commissioned presenter of Centering Prayer through Contemplative Outreach, Ltd., and a trustee of the Trust for the Meditation Process.  His goal is to share the fruits of contemplation with others by creating spaces for spiritual practices to give way to practical wisdom and compassionate action, through a variety of creative media - from traditional publishing to online learning, plus blogging, podcasting, and guided meditations.

The Empty Bell (Northampton, MA)

The Empty Bell is a sanctuary for the study and practice of the Christian contemplative (non-dual) life.  Since 1993 we have co-hosted retreats with Jewish, Hindu, Sufi and Buddhist spiritual teachers, seeking the common ground of universal wisdom.  Our Trinitarian vision resonates with the Tibetan Buddhist Trikaya.  Spiritual practice in community leads to the awesome discovery that our everyday reality is transparent to what the Greeks called perichoresis—a dance of Love.  In every moment we can dance mindfully and graciously between the Godhead of Mystery, the incarnation of a sacred I-Thou relationship, and the Spirit work that births forth the Beloved Community.

Contemplative Podcasts

Contemplate This! with Thomas J. Bushlack

“Contemplate This!” features interviews with leaders and teachers of contemplative practices (mindfulness, meditation, contemplative prayer, etc.) in order to learn about their history, how they became involved in contemplation, what their daily practice looks like, how they teach and share the fruits of contemplation with others – and most importantly – how their practice has transformed them and inspired their work to transform others and the world around them.

Contemplify with Paul Swanson

The Contemplify podcast kindles the examined life through artful musings with scholars and creatives. Ring the bell. Rob the moment. Contemplify.

Buddha At The Gaspump with Rick Archer

Ordinary people everywhere are undergoing a shift to a more awakened state of consciousness, thus transforming their understanding of themselves and the world. For some, the shift has been abrupt and dramatic. For others, it has been a very gradual process of awakenings. Awakening is an ongoing process and as such we are not necessarily claiming to interview fully enlightened individuals. But rather, for the most part, ordinary people who are experiencing a shift in consciousness.

This show will attempt to dispel skepticism and misconceptions by week after week, allowing otherwise ordinary people to relate their experience of spiritual awakenings. The terminology is tricky, because there are no universally agreed upon definitions to describe this experience. Also, enlightenment is not something that an individual person “gets”. It’s not even something that the mind can grasp. It’s an awakening to that which contains the mind and all other things. So it’s not surprising that language is inadequate to convey it.

Sat Yoga Podcast with Shunyamurti

These extraordinary and inspiring spiritual talks offer a synthesis of the most subtle wisdom teachings of East and West. The knowledge of the ancient sages has been faithfully translated into contemporary terms that integrate the insights of science with the esoteric heart of the world’s philosophies, religions, mythologies, and shamanic traditions.

These teachings elucidate, with crystal clarity, the multitude of obstacles we face as seekers on the path to inner freedom and how to overcome them. They also inspire us to recognize, through the loving transmission of truth, beauty, and sacred power that shine through them, that all obstacles are illusions.

The concepts of Sat Yoga reveal a new cosmos emerging from the chaos we experience, both within and without. They name and expose the hidden strategies employed by the ego-mind to keep us ignorant of the transcendent blissful intelligence that is our real nature. Shunyamurti guides us out of the maze of egoic delusion into the liberation that is a return to the Source of cosmic consciousness.

Ram Dass Here & Now Podcast

Spiritual practices are designed to awaken us out of separateness into connection with all things, with Spirit, God, the One. Ram Dass provides us with a range of loving resources and methods that take us out of our separateness into our awareness or oneness. We strive to enter a balance where we are both separate and not separate, a paradoxical reflection of the spiritual path. The cornerstone of Ram Dass’ philosophy and teachings is designed to bring us back to the one behind many.

Heart Wisdom with Jack Kornfield

Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India and Burma. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. After graduating from Dartmouth College in Asian Studies in 1967 he joined the Peace Corps and worked on tropical medicine teams in the Mekong River valley. He met and studied as a monk under the Buddhist master Ven. Ajahn Chah, as well as the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma. Returning to the United States, Jack co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, with fellow meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein and the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. Over the years, Jack has taught in centers and universities worldwide, led International Buddhist Teacher meetings, and worked with many of the great teachers of our time. He holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is a father, husband and activist.

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