By Melanie P. Moore, et al.
Each month, we publish a listing of upcoming contemplative and spiritual opportunities recommended by folks here at The Abbey. Many of us have floundered around in the past looking for community and deep engagement with other pilgrims on the spiritual path. Here we share a curated list of what we are finding, in hopes you might find some of it helpful on your journey. We’ve included a Comments section with each listing detailing what we as participants have liked. If you know of something coming up in November or December and would like to have it listed here, please email the information as shown below to editor@theabbey.us by October 18 to be included in the post at the beginning of November. Please note that all times are listed in Central Time.
October
The Measure of our Humanity: Actualizing Compassionate Action in These Tangled Times: FREEDOM with Jack Kornfield (from Upaya Zen Center)
Dates and Times: Sunday, Oct. 25, Noon – 1:30 p.m.
Registration: Open
Cost: Free, donations welcome
Frequency: Monthly
Duration: 1.5 hours
Format: Online
Recording Available: Yes
Description: Since 2020, when the pandemic first unfolded, Upaya has been exploring the necessity of rehumanization, solidarity, and speaking truth to power. Each year, we have deepened this investigation of socially and environmentally engaged Buddhism with remarkable teachers, contemplatives, artists, and activists. This past year’s Awareness in Action series has been part of that ongoing commitment.
In 2026, we turn toward a question that has perhaps been implicit throughout this entire journey: What is the measure of our humanity?
At its very heart, this question is about laying down a path toward a sane and compassionate future. It is about confirming what defines our moral worth, what we stand for, and how we move forward in our tangled world. As we have learned throughout the past 2025 series—from Father Boyle’s unwavering belief that everyone is unshakably good, to Sharon Salzberg’s teaching that love is an ability we develop—our true character is revealed in how we interact with and care for others, the very heart of what Thich Nhat Hanh has called “interbeing.”
The series will explore how we embody values like inclusion, belonging, compassion, respect, dignity, justice, and courage—not as abstract ideals, but as lived practice in these complex times.
Comments: Each program in this series is led by a different person, and some of the leaders in this series are teachers we have followed. We follow this series each year (the theme changes annually) and we like that you can attend any individual session or the whole series. The programs are donation-based.
November
Celtic Wisdom with John Philip Newell (from the Findhorn Foundation)
Dates and Times: Tuesdays, November 3, 2026 – March 16, 2027, Alternating month format – Three Tuesdays in November, January and March – no sessions in December or February); 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Registration: Open
Cost: £135.00 – Supported, £180.00 – Sustaining, £225.00 – Regenerative
Frequency: Weekly in alternating months
Duration: 1.5 hours
Format: Online
Recording Available: Yes – After each set of three talks (November, January, March) the three videos will be available for three days at the end of each of those months.
Description: Drawing on the themes of Sacred Earth Sacred Soul, each gathering explores a different aspect of the Celtic spiritual tradition, weaving together teaching, contemplative practice and live conversation.
24 hours prior and one hour prior to each session you will receive a zoom link to join.
Please note if you’re unable to join on the day there will be no immediate access to view the talk. We encourage you to add the time and date of each session to your calendar so you can plan accordingly.
After each set of three talks (November, January, March) the three videos will be available for three days at the end of each of those months. This creates an opportunity for you to watch any of the sessions you might have missed. Once the three days have passed, the videos will no longer be available.
We encourage you to book before the first session begins, however registration will remain open once the series commences. If you register after the series commences 3 November, you can view earlier sessions during the timeframes outlined above.
Comments: This looks like a unique offering, although it is a commitment (financially and time-wise). That said, spending dedicated time with John Philip Newell is always rewarding. The mix of teaching, pracitice, and conversation is appealing for a variety of participants. Note that the window for access to the recordings is limited–just the three days immediately following a presentation.
Love, Conflict, and an Unfolding Universe (from the World Institute for Science, Religion, and Culture)
Dates and Times: Monday – Wednesday, November 9 – 11
Registration: Open
Cost: $175 Online; $325 In-person, meals included
Frequency: One-time event
Duration: 3 days
Format: Online and In-person at Villanova University, Villanova, PA
Recording Available: Yes
Description: Evolution is our story. Movement toward greater consciousness is our direction. And yet we find ourselves in a world wrought with conflict, war, separation, violence, and ecological wounding — the list goes on.
How did we arrive here? Are we doomed to fail as a species? Or is something deeper at work beneath the fractures of our age?
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin lived through two world wars. He witnessed devastation on a scale modernity had never known — and yet, beneath the surface of things, he perceived an energetic depth of love drawing the universe toward greater unity and consciousness. What is this cosmic love? Why is it essential to our moment? And how might it become, once again, the leading edge of our evolutionary becoming?
In November 2026, we will gather to ask these questions together — and to mark a decade of visionary work imagining love as the energy of transformation. This milestone arrives at a pivotal turning point, as that work continues under a new name: the World Institute for Science, Religion and Culture (WISR).
Join us in person at Villanova University, or online from anywhere in the world, to deepen this shared journey.
More details on speaker lineup and schedule are coming soon—for now, plan to join us!
Comments: Led by Ilia Delio, this organization,the World Institute for Science, Religion, and Culture, is the next iteration of the Center for Christogenesis. This event will celebrate the work done under the previous name and look toward the vision of the organization going forward. This group continues to wrestle with spiritual questions around the evolution of religion, science, and technology. In our current moment, these questions feel existential to many of us. We’re eager to hear what the presenters have to say—we have found their approach to be hopeful, particularly with respect to many of the technological advances that are not very well understood just yet.
Conscience and Gurdjieff’s Fourth Obligolnian Striving – a presentation by Cynthia Bourgeault (from Church of Conscious Harmony)
Dates and Times: Friday, Nov. 20, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., resuming Saturday, 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Registration: Open
Cost: $50
Frequency: One-time event
Duration: 2 hours on Friday, 4 hours on Saturday
Format: Online and in person (Austin, TX)
Recording Available: Unsure
Description: Jesus and G.I. Gurdjieff recognized that duty is our deepest sense of meaning. They saw and taught that human beings were meant to alchemize something energetically finer for this world and worlds beyond, co-creating nourishment within the field of God’s yearning to manifest. Central to this is the cultivation of an originary seeing of conscience that allows one to finally draw one’s cues from this larger field of exchange and begin to generate the ability to do, to lighten the sorrow of our Common Father and to truly learn to be of service.
Join master teacher and metaphysician, Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault for this special event as she transmits an understanding that this luminous seeing is not an attainment meant for a few self-selected people on the spiritual journey, but a universal invitation to become more powerfully and sincerely human, finally fulfilling our species’ purpose of supplying this precious planet with the nourishment that it so desperately needs.
Comments: This is a wonderful opportunity to see Cynthia Bourgeault in person. The Church of Conscious Harmony is a local Austin contemplative resource and they are hosting the event. The online option is available as well. The topic is definitely esoteric but Bourgeault does a great job of making it accessible to all–she can teach anything!
December
Convergences of Science and Faith (from Contemplative Network, the Scientific and Medical Network)
Dates and Times: Friday and Saturday, Dec. 11 – 12
Registration: Open
Cost: 85 euro (close to $100)
Frequency: One-time event
Duration: 2 days
Format: Online (or in person in Rome, Italy)
Recording Available: Yes
Description: This December, in Rome, Italy or online, the Contemplative Network and the Scientific and Medical Network are bringing together 16 distinguished scientists and contemplative clergy of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions for this hybrid conference, held 11–12 December 2026. It will be held at the Palazzo Cardinal Cesi in Rome, one block from St. Peter’s Square, as well as offered online. The 13 December 2026 is available for separately ticketed in-person art tours.
Speakers include Peter Cardinal Turkson, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences; cosmologist Dr. Bernard Carr, former doctoral student of Stephen Hawking; Dr. Jennifer Wiseman, senior scientist on the Hubble Space Telescope; and Dr. Federico Faggin, inventor of the microprocessor, alongside Christian mystics, Jewish Kabbalists, and Islamic Sufi contemplative prayer leaders.
The program follows the chapter titles of the textbook Faith and Science: A Journey into God’s Mystical Love.
Comments: This conference was featured in a Contemplative Outreach monthly newsletter and is jointly hosted by Contemplative Network and The Science Medical Network. It is a hybrid event hosted in Italy. It features some familiar Christian speakers such as James Finley and Fr. Laurence Freeman, but includes speakers from other faith traditions and scientific backgrounds. It looks to be an interesting opportunity to explore the intersection of faith and science and to hear some fresh voices. It includes opportunities for Q&A and dialogue for many session as well as panel discussions.
Ongoing
The Divine Exchange with Cynthia Bourgeault (from the Center for Action and Contemplation)
Dates and Times: Self paced
Registration: Open
Cost: $497, $374, or $249 – sliding scale
Frequency: Self-paced
Duration: 15 units
Format: Online
Recording Available: Yes
Description: This is a self-paced online course exploring the heart of God through the concept of Divine Exchange — Cynthia Bourgeault’s framework based in the Christian wisdom traditions. Learn how kenosis and surrender can lead to a participatory exchange between the finite and the infinite.
The Divine Exchange explores the idea of exchange as the dynamic medium for everything finite and infinite. In this Christian contemplative online course Cynthia unpacks the metaphysics of Christian wisdom taught in traditional Wisdom Schools — ancient and modern contemplative learning communities focused on transformation. Students in The Divine Exchange can take their inner work even further through practices like centering prayer, chanting, and Tonglen breathing.
Comments: We, of course, love presentations from Cynthia Bourgeault. It’s nice that this is flexible and self-paced so that people can participate when it fits into their individual schedules. We’re not sure about the “live calls” mentioned in the link, given the self-paced format, but the calls will be announced on the CAC Connect platform used for the course.
You’re Not the Only One (from Eremos)
Dates and Times: Weekly on Mondays, 7 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Registration: Open
Cost: Free
Frequency: Weekly
Duration: 1 hour
Format: Zoom
Recording Available: No
Description: Join us weekly (or as often as you desire) to share how you’re feeling right now about life, what’s unfolding in the world, or whatever you need to speak into the circle.
No fixing, no ranting, no trying to make it better.
Just listening attentively to each other in support and always closing our time together with what gives us hope or what we’re grateful for.
Comments: We’ve met this leader (as a participant) in past programs and have found her to be very thoughtful in her sharing. This looks like an enriching ongoing group.
Meditation Resources for those New to Meditation (from Tara Brach)
Dates and Times: Self-directed, flexible
Registration: N/A – this is a collection of resources
Cost: Free
Frequency: Self-directed
Duration: Varies
Format: Online
Recording Available: Yes
Description: You are embarking on a journey that can deeply transform and enrich your life. The most important thing to remember is to approach practice with a friendly, curious, non-judgmental attitude.
There’s no one style of meditation that is “best” or fits all people. We’ve offered you some basic practices below that you can explore to see which serve you well. You might end up with two or three that you use regularly as you establish a practice. Over the weeks and months you’ll internalize the instructions and probably practice more and more regularly without the guided meditation. But at times, you’ll find they will help in gathering your attention.
Resources for those new to meditation or if you’d like a refresher:
Beginner’s Meditation Kit – a introductory mini-course
Mindfulness Daily – a free 40-day online course to help to establish a mindfulness meditation practice
How to Meditate FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
How to Meditate (PDF)
Comments: This is a wonderful introduction to (or refresher for) establishing a meditation practice. A well-known and respected meditation teacher, Tara Brach’s teachings blend Western psychology and Eastern spiritual practices, mindful attention to our inner life, and a full, compassionate engagement with our world. The result is a distinctive voice in Western Buddhism, one that offers a wise and caring approach to freeing ourselves and society from suffering. To learn more about her training, background, and leadership, click here.
Contemplative Chant
Dates and Times: Wednesdays at 4 p.m.
Registration: Open
Cost: Free
Frequency: Ongoing
Duration: 30 minutes
Format: Online
Recording Available: No
Description: 30 minutes of contemplative chant from Wisdom Waypoints, with chants led by Susan Latimer and Elizabeth Combs. Chanting is a wonderful practice for bringing both the Moving Center (body, breath, tone) and the Emotional Center (open heart) online. It is a spiritual practice that opens our hearts, nourishes our nervous systems, prepares us for prayer and meditation as a bridge into stillness, and connects us to our innate joy, courage, steadfastness, peace, beauty, truth and goodness. In times of great uncertainty and change, we find chant to be one of the things that most grounds us. These sessions draw chants from Wisdom Schools, various spiritual and religious traditions, sacred texts, old hymns and poetry. Because of the limitations of synching sound on Zoom, all participants are muted except for the one leading. This allows everyone to chant along in their own space. (Great if you are shy about sharing your voice! Fun if you like to try harmonies!)
Comments: Some of us join this contemplative chant weekly and enjoy it very much. We find it a wonderful contemplative practice. Wisdom Waypoints is the wisdom community started by Cynthia Bourgeault, one of our favorite wisdom teachers. Note that this is a small and warm group of regular participants. Therefore, it can be more difficult to participate anonymously.
The Abbey Tuesday Morning Meditation
Dates and Times: Tuesdays at 8 a.m. (Meditation at 8 a.m., optional discussion at 8:30 a.m.)
Registration: Open
Cost: Free
Frequency: Weekly
Duration: Ongoing
Format: Zoom
Recording Available: No
Description: A 15-minute sit, followed by a brief reading and optional discussion.
Comments: Of course we love this meditation group! It’s The Abbey, our own contemplative community. We are currently reading a variety of poetry, with one poem each week. The format of the group is that we enter (the Zoom meeting) in silence with an image on the screen for Visio Divina before a 15-minute meditation sit that begins at 8:05 a.m. followed by an optional discussion.
The Abbey Spiritual Book Discussion Group
Dates and Times: Tuesdays, 5 p.m.
Registration: Not required
Cost: Free
Frequency: Weekly
Duration: 1 hour
Format: Zoom
Recording Available: No
Description: This group reads books to deepen our spiritual lives and to build community among participants. Newcomers are welcome to join the group anytime. Register on The Abbey website and we will send you a Zoom link.
Comments: The group just finished reading , Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience, by Sharon Salzberg. There will be a interlude period for the next few weeks until a new book is selected. Book suggestions are welcome. We enjoy this group and the lively discussion both in small-group breakout rooms and with the whole group.
The Gathering at The Abbey
Dates and Times: Second and fourth Sundays of the month; 10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Central Time (optional discussion from 10:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.)
Registration: Sign up with link sent via email (sign up for emails at The Abbey)
Cost: Free
Frequency: Twice monthly
Duration: 30 minutes – 1 hour
Format: Zoom
Recording Available: No
Description: The Gathering is a Sunday morning time of contemplation and reflection in community.
Comments: A rotating group of leaders and spiritual directors lead each session. Readings include poetry and inspirational texts from different spiritual traditions. All are welcome.
Word of the Week (from Contemplative Outreach)
Dates and Times: Emails sent on Sundays, meets each Tuesday at 8 a.m. and Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Registration: Sign up for weekly emails here.
Cost: Free annual subscription (with recommended donation of $95/yr)
Frequency: Weekly, per above
Duration: One hour
Format: Zoom – link is sent weekly in the email on Sunday
Recording Available: No
Description: A beautiful email is sent on Sundays with the reading of Lectio Divina that will be done. There is a sit and then the Lectio Divina.
Comments: We like this because it’s a chance to revisit the reading for the week—and they always include beautiful artwork (it’s Lectio and Visio Divina!). We like the sense of community. It’s a pretty stable group and there’s a chance to share. We also like the balance of it—they are very mindful of the time, it’s just an hour. There’s a rhythm of it that we like. We read the emails each week and appreciate having the email in advance to sit with it a little before the group reading. There are also opportunities to interact online with the group during the week. We will note that it can be difficult to find the link for the Zoom in the weekly email; it is also spelled out here—the third bullet has link to the zoom with poorly brown highlighted “Click on this link,” but it also provides the zoom code and passcode in the email.
Wisdom Waypoints Daily Centering Prayer/Meditation
Dates and Times: Monday – Friday 9:30 a.m.; Monday/Wednesday/Sunday 6 p.m.; Saturday 10:30 a.m.
Registration: No registration required, join via website
Cost: Free
Frequency: Daily, per above
Duration: 30 minutes
Format: Zoom
Recording Available: No
Description: A collective wisdom pause for “Silence and Stillness.” Wisdom members lead each sit with a brief reading, chant, and meditation/stillness.
Comments: We like this because it is a way to maintain our personal practice alongside others with the degree of anonymity (or not) with which we are each comfortable. Wisdom Waypoints is a part of Cynthia Bourgeault’s network of teaching and practice resources.
The Welcoming Prayer – Videos (from Contemplative Outreach)
Dates and Times: Always available
Registration: N/A
Cost: Free
Frequency: N/A
Duration: Varies, from 5 minutes to 1 hour, most are about 30 minutes
Format: YouTube
Recording Available: Yes
Description: A collection of videos on the Welcoming Prayer (34 videos). There was a series of 8 videos which are part of a larger curriculum for a self-guided online course on this practice, “Embracing Living: The Welcoming Prayer,” which is offered by Contemplative Outreach in conjunction with Spirituality & Practice).
Comments: We regularly enjoy offerings from Contemplative Outreach and are always eager to learn more about The Welcoming Prayer. Some of the 34 videos linked here are from early in the Pandemic (when we were all trying to figure out how to be in community when we couldn’t meet in person), and some videos are more recent.
Mindful Mondays (from the Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing)
Dates and Times: Monday afternoons, Noon – 1 p.m.
Registration: Open
Cost: Free
Frequency: Weekly
Duration: 1 hour
Format: Online
Recording Available: Yes, for 1 week after each session
Description: Join the Earl. E Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing for an informal hour of gentle movement and guided meditation. Our experienced facilitators will guide you through a series of mindful movement and meditations that will leave you feeling rejuvenated. No prior experience or special clothing is necessary.
We rotate through various modalities of gentle, mindful movement. Please check the Mindful Monday’s registration webpage to learn the specific mindful movement planned for each week’s session. Prior to each session, as best you can, you may wish to secure a space that will accommodate mindful movement and where you won’t be easily interrupted for the duration of the hour-long session
Comments: This is a new offering to us. We saw a forest meditation video produced by this group, found their website, and thought this would be interesting to explore.
The Tears of Things: Integrating the Prophetic Path (from The Center for Action and Contemplation)
Dates and Times: Self-paced
Registration: Open
Cost: $100 (or $80 or $60, based on financial circumstances)
Frequency: Self-paced with 9 prophetic themes)
Duration: Varies
Format: Online
Recording Available: Yes
Description: A self-guided online course based on Richard Rohr’s new book, “The Tears of Things.” Explore the wisdom of prophets from ancient times to modern day, and discover how we can transform our anger into compassion in our modern “age of outrage.”
“The Tears of Things: Integrating the Prophetic Path” will lead you on a journey from righteous anger at injustice, through grief for the world’s suffering, and—for those committed to the path—finally to grace-filled love for everyone and everything.
Students will explore themes from “The Tears of Things,” like radical grace, collective evil, and the alchemy of tears. Discover deeper meaning in the Hebrew prophets and find inspiration from today’s truth-tellers like Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, Etty Hillesum, Howard Thurman, Joanna Macy, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Oscar Romero.
This self-guided course offers a flexible online learning experience to explore prophetic themes from the sacred space of your home. You can enroll anytime and access all course materials through CAC Connect, our new online learning platform. Engage with the material in a space that’s safe for questions and deepen your understanding alongside fellow seekers.
Comments: We’ve previously enjoyed many offerings from the CAC and Richard Rohr. This offering is an online, self-paced program based on his new book, but we are not sure if he is speaking in it. There doesn’t appear to be a live portion of this course and we are not sure if there is online interaction (though they usually do offer that).