From merchant banker to monk

Laurence Freeman OSB, Spiritual Teacher of the World Community of Christian Meditation is in Auckland April 17th to 21st.

From merchant banker to monk and a life of meditation – that was the path taken by Laurence Freeman after he graduated from Oxford with a Master’s degree in English Literature.

He tried his hand at journalism, at working at the United Nations and at merchant banking.

But, as one who had been educated by the Benedictines, he found his true calling as a Benedictine monk.

Along the way he embraced meditation and went on to become the founder and spiritual teacher of the London-based World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM).

He is also founder and director of the John Main Centre for Christian Meditation and Inter-religious Dialogue at Georgetown University.

Internationally, Laurence Freeman is regarded as one of the leaders in the burgeoning contemplative interfaith dialogue movement. A good friend of the Dalai Lama, these two spiritual leaders have jointly led The Way of Peace dialogue; in Bodh Gaya, India in December, 1998, Florence, Italy in May, 1999 and Belfast, Northern Ireland in October, 2000.

Writing in Interreligious Dialogue Laurence Freeman says

“If religions – with all their rich diversity and contradictions and all their cultural roots – can listen to each other, to learn from their differences and to share what they have in common, then there is ground for hope that political, military and economic power-holders in our different nations, states and trading blocks will learn to do the same. Indeed, if religions cannot do this, what hope is there that politicians, multinationals and soldiers will ever do it? The stakes for dialogue are much higher than ever before in history.”

Fr Laurence is in Auckland over the period April 17th to 24th. While here he will:
- Conduct a four-day silent retreat for more than 100 meditators
- Attend a Day of Interfaith Dialogue that is being organised by the Auckland Interfaith Council
- This meeting will be attended by leaders from the Zen Buddhist, Christian, Sikh, Jewish and Muslim communities
- Make himself available to be interviewed by select media

Day of Interfaith Dialogue Sunday 22 April

The day of dialogue will include a keynote address by Fr Laurence and responses by members of the Auckland Interfaith Council. There will also be a shared meditation.

Fr Laurence and other spiritual leaders in the interfaith communities believe that world will not see peace among nations until there is peace among religions.

Among the speakers will be Ahmed Zaoui who will be representing the Muslim community.

Meditation in the Christian Tradition

These days Fr Laurence devotes most of his time travelling the world serving a network 27 Christian meditation centres comprising 2000 weekly meditation groups in over 65 countries.

There is a popular misconception that meditation is Eastern and the domain of Buddhism and Hinduism. This is far from true.

Meditation is firmly grounded in the Christian tradition and predates the break between Eastern and Western Christians and the Reformation.

Laurence Freeman’s teacher and mentor, John Main OSB (1926 to 1982), rediscovered this tradition from sources as varied as the Desert Fathers & Mothers of the 4th and 5th centuries, and the 14th century English spiritual classic Cloud of Unknowing.

New Zealand, and many other parts of the world, is experiencing rapid growth in this form of prayer. Many meditation groups are ecumenical and people are attracted by the simplicity of faithfully reciting the mantra.

Teaching meditation to children

The New Zealand Christian Meditation Community has started teaching meditation to primary age children. Children are attracted to meditation because it is so simple. Their lives tend to be structured and fast paced with an emphasis on competition and reward. Kids tend to embrace meditation as it brings peace to their busy lives and is non-judgemental; i.e. there is no external body judging their performance.

Meditation in hospices and prisons

Worldwide the Christian Meditation Community has promoted the use of meditation in hospices and prisons. Among the many books written by Laurence Freeman is A Short Span of Days which examines the benefits of meditation for the terminally ill.

ENDS

For more information on the Christian meditation movement visit www.wccm.org

© Scoop Media