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Contemplative pedagogy is a way for instructors to: empower students to integrate their own experience into the theoretical material they are being taught in order to deepen their understanding; help students to develop sophisticated problem-solving skills; support students’ sense of connection to and compassion for others; and engender inquiries into students’ most profound questions. Contemplative practices are used in just about every discipline—from physics to economics to history—and are found in every type of institution. Each year more and more faculty, education reformers, and leaders of teaching and learning centers seek out best practices in contemplative teaching, and now can find them here, brought to you by two of the foremost leaders and innovators on the subject. This book presents background information and ideas for the practical application of contemplative practices across the academic curriculum from the physical sciences to the humanities and arts. Examples of contemplative techniques included in the book are mindfulness, meditation, yoga, deep listening, contemplative reading and writing, and pilgrimage, including site visits and field trips.
Sansovino successively dismantled and reconstituted the categories of art-making. Hardly capable of sustaining a program of reform, the experimental art of this period was succeeded by a new era of cultural codification in the second half of the sixteenth century. --
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone,” Blaise Pascal wrote in 1654. But then there’s Walt Whitman, in 1856: “Whoever you are, come forth! Or man or woman come forth! / You must not stay sleeping and dallying there in the house.” It is truly an ancient debate: Is it better to be active or contemplative? To do or to think? To make an impact, or to understand the world more deeply? Aristotle argued for contemplation as the highest state of human flourishing. But it was through action that his student Alexander the Great conquered the known world. Which should we aim at? Centuries later, this argument underlies a surprising number of the questions we face in contemporary life. Should students study the humanities, or train for a job? Should adults work for money or for meaning? And in tumultuous times, should any of us sit on the sidelines, pondering great books, or throw ourselves into protests and petition drives? With Action versus Contemplation, Jennifer Summit and Blakey Vermeule address the question in a refreshingly unexpected way: by refusing to take sides. Rather, they argue for a rethinking of the very opposition. The active and the contemplative can—and should—be vibrantly alive in each of us, fused rather than sundered. Writing in a personable, accessible style, Summit and Vermeule guide readers through the long history of this debate from Plato to Pixar, drawing compelling connections to the questions and problems of today. Rather than playing one against the other, they argue, we can discover how the two can nourish, invigorate, and give meaning to each other, as they have for the many writers, artists, and thinkers, past and present, whose examples give the book its rich, lively texture of interplay and reference. This is not a self-help book. It won’t give you instructions on how to live your life. Instead, it will do something better: it will remind you of the richness of a life that embraces action and contemplation, company and solitude, living in the moment and planning for the future. Which is better? Readers of this book will discover the answer: both.
Provides an original, up-to-date, and systematic account of Aristotle's views on contemplation's place in the human good.
An exquisite gem of a book, this deceptively simple technique of contemplation can be learned in a single day, and yet it will change your life forever. Taking us through there 3 levels of contemplation - pausing, pivoting and merging, Richard Rudd invites us to hone the art of contemplation in our everyday lives, to gain insight into any issue or problem, to heal deep-seated trauma and ultimately to find peace and clarity.
The human race is in crisis and very few of us – if any – are able to understand what is wrong with our lives and the world at large. How did this happen and how did humans become so ‘disconnected’ with humanity? Why are psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, fear, and suicide on the increase, and why are conventional Western therapies unable to stem the tide? To approach this we must first look inside ourselves – to explore our own purpose in life and extend that principle to the rest of humanity. Despite the advances of modern Western psychology and the development of therapies that do help many, one area that is largely unexplored is that of the ‘human spirit’ and spirituality since it is more convenient to consider the human mind as ‘machine’ that responds to external stimuli. In this powerful exploration into the human mind and its relationship with the human spirit, Malik Badri invites the reader to open the door to self-discovery, purpose and spirituality through the practice of contemplation, reflection and meditation – understanding the true meaning and experience of spirituality as well as one’s own place in Creation. Whilst central to worship in Islam, this will also be of great interest to, and help any reader wishing to explore the notion of spirituality whether as part of worship or simply as part of self development and inner healing.
What does a Christian life lived "by the Spirit" look like? Bringing together Protestant scholars and practitioners of spiritual formation, this volume offers a distinctly evangelical consideration of the benefits of contemplation. Drawing on historical examples from the church—including John Calvin, Richard Baxter, Jonathan Edwards, and John Wesley—this book considers how contemplative prayer can shape Christian living today.
Despite signs in recent decades of a crisis in the Church, a countercurrent of intense interest in prayer and a close relationship with God is clearly at work today. A deeper esteem for contemplation has accompanied this turning to prayer, and many people desire spiritual direction and guidance. Written by a recognized expert on contemplative prayer, this book concentrates on the interior hardships experienced by souls who give themselves to God wholeheartedly. More than a summary of the symptoms of interior trial, these poignant observations are the fruit of the author's many years in retreat work. Personal experience, not simply knowledge of the spiritual tradition, inform his concise, carefully crafted comments. Throughout the book, the writing invites the reader to ponder the subject of spiritual darkness, perplexity, and other struggles in the spiritual life always in the light of the loving God, who draws souls into greater surrender to himself.
Joy Unspeakable focuses on the aspects of the Black church that point beyond particular congregational gatherings toward a mystical and communal spirituality not within the exclusive domain of any denomination. This mystical aspect of the black church is deeply implicated in the well-being of African American people but is not the focus of their intentional reflection. Moreover, its traditions are deeply ensconced within the historical memory of the wider society and can be found in Coltrane's riffs, Malcolm's exhortations, the social activism of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the presidency of Barack Hussein Obama. The research in this book-through oral histories, church records, and written accounts--details not only ways in which contemplative experience is built into African American collective worship but also the legacy of African monasticism, a history of spiritual exemplars, and unique meditative worship practices. A groundbreaking work in its original edition, Joy Unspeakable now appears in a new, revised edition to address the effects of this contemplative tradition on activism and politics and to speak to a new generation of readers and scholars.
There are so many Christians who do not appreciate the magnificent dignity of their vocation to sanctity, to the knowledge, love and service of God. There are so many Christians who do not realize what possibilities God has placed in the life of Christian perfection — what possibilities for joy in the knowledge and love of Him. There are so many Christians who have practically no idea of the immense love of God for them, and of the power of that Love to do them good, to bring them happiness. Why do we think of the gift of contemplation, infused contemplation, mystical prayer, as something essentially strange and esoteric reserved for a small class of almost unnatural beings and prohibited to everyone else? It is perhaps because we have forgotten that contemplation is the work of the Holy Ghost acting on our souls through His gifts of Wisdom and Understanding with special intensity to increase and perfect our love for Him. These gifts are part of the normal equipment of Christian sanctity. They are given to all in Baptism, and if they are given it is presumably because God wants them to be developed. Their development will always remain the free gift of God and it is true that His wise Providence sees fit to develop them less in some saints than in others. But it is also true that God often measures His gifts by our desire to receive them, and by our cooperation with His grace, and the Holy Spirit will not waste any of His gifts on people who have little or no interest in them.