This week on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Loch Kelly shares a conversation with Father Thomas Keating around the many lenses of science and spirituality that seek to uncover our true nature.
Father Thomas Keating was one of the principal architects and teachers of the Christian contemplative prayer movement. This conversation was on spiritual practice was the last public recording of Keating before his passing on October 25, 2018. Learn more about the legacy and teachings of Father Thomas Keating at contemplativeoutreach.org.
Show Notes
God Comes Through All Things(Opening) – Loch and Fr. Thomas look at the increasingly blurry line between science and spirituality. They look at the ways that science is now approaching concepts of creation and identity.
“Just as we sit here, our impermanence is present and the only reason it is present is because the source of our being is with us – giving us our being at every moment. This supposes a recognition that creation is not a one time act, it is ongoing all the time. It shows how fast science is expanding some of the ideas of the great contemplative teachings, like Buddhism.” – Father Thomas Keating
The “Homemade” Self (12:15) – No matter what tradition it comes from, the goal of any spiritual practice is to step out of our separate sense of self and towards a unified sense of being. Fr. Thomas and Loch explore the question of who we really are, if we are not the “homemade” self that is composed of our fears, desires and habituations.
“Listening is so important, it seems to me, in all the scriptures and traditions. In Jesus’s life, God recommended we listen twice – once at his baptism and once at the mount of transfiguration. He said to those present that this is my beloved son, listen to him; he didn’t say talk to him or anything else, listen” – Father Thomas Keating
Further explore the question of identity with Loch Kelly on Ep. 29 of the BHNN Guest Podcast
Beyond Rational Consciousness (28:15) – How do we better understand the nature of consciousness of ourselves? We explore methods for stepping out of the smaller sense of self and examine the expansion of consciousness as understood by science.
“Awakening is the next natural potential stage of human development. Awakening from a rational way, though based way of knowing, to transrational, which doesn’t mean it is regressive or putting intellectual thinking down .” – Loch Kelly
A Glimpse of Natural Awareness (40:00) – We close with a glimpse practice that allows for surrender into a universe that is aware of itself, by itself.
“Surrender is to have everything taken away. This is the great gift of dying. Without doing anything but accepting it, everything goes it is taken away. That is why it has to happen to everybody, it is the peak of human existence.” – Father Thomas Keating
