Each year some teachers who are friends of the WCCM spend an extended time at Bonnevaux. They may come to retreat, to write and share the life of the resident community. For a week they offer a more informal conversation with the members and guests present which may also become an online session. The culmination of their residency is a retreat or seminar which they lead as an in-person event sometimes also broadcast online live.
In his lifelong, intensive service of truth, Alan Wallace combines the study of physics and the philosophy of science with monastic training, scholarship and personal contemplative practice. His research through the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies and the Centre for Contemplative Research restores the dimension of ‘subjective’ personal experience to authentic knowledge and directly challenges materialism as the prevailing false prejudice of our time. His books, such as Mind in the Balance and Stilling the Mind, and his frequent talks and retreats have led many to find new horizons in the quest for consciousness.
He questions the popular polarisation of Buddhism as a rejection God and of Christianity as a dependency on God created in the human image. In frequent dialogue with others from the contemplative and mystical traditions he has found a point of convergence without confusion that liberates modern seekers from their conditioning without making them break with their roots.
Alan’s theme will identify essential elements of universal wisdom and unified consciousness in straightforward and practical ways. From this he will speculate on the changing shape of religion and spiritual consciousness and how this gives promise and hope for a less self-destructive and self-centred world.
All our events taking place at Bonnevaux offer an opportunity to discover the rich cultural and historical French and European heritage of the 12th-century Abbaye de Bonnevaux, as well as to explore the varied and natural beauty of the land which we cultivate as a model of ecological responsibility.
ARRIVAL : Tuesday 13 September, check-in : 14:00 – 17:00
DEPARTURE : Sunday 18 September, 14:00
CONTRIBUTION : 775 euros for the retreat and full room and board
Registration Opens Soon
The prices reflect the need to achieve self sufficiency. Therefore if you’re able to give a little more we would be very grateful. If you need a concession please let us know. We do not turn anybody away for lack of resource.
Cancellation
MEMBERSHIP FEE ** – 10€
Membership fee is paid once per year, valid strictly from Jan – Dec.
** by French law you must be a ‘member‘ of the charity (association ABP) Abbaye de Bonnevaux – Centre Pour la Paix in order to participate at an on-the-ground event at Bonnevaux – 86370 Marçay, France.
Membership is non-binding. It simply means that you are invited to attend the annual general meeting if you wish and that you may receive information about our events during the year.
The Abbey of Bonnevaux is the spiritual home of the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM) which includes a Conference and Retreat Centre dedicated to peace. The on-the-ground activities of the Abbey are organized under the responsibility of l’Association Abbaye de Bonnevaux – Centre pour le Paix (ABP). The Association, which is governed by the French law of 1st July 1901, is registered in Poitiers under the reference RNA: W863007299.
Address : Bonnevaux, 86370 Marçay, France.
Phone number : 06 33 43 71 71 / 06 61 96 57 74.
José Pype (President of the Association); Giovanni Felicioni (Associate Director and Programme Manager)
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