Welcome....

2009: Beginning Again

Where and how do we find God, source and goal? Not only in church, temple or mosque, in Bible or sacred texts or in the events of our lives. But in our own inner depths. In fact the central and fundamental knowledge of God is in the heart, where finding one's self and seeking God are inseparable. Their union, the self-knowledge and the knowledge of God, is the deepest of therapies.

Yet when we begin this interior search we at first find confusion, even chaos, distraction and all the fugitive shadows of our psyche, including the ones we fear most because we know them to the most destructive of peace and order - fear itself, anger, lust, pride and the dark demon of despair. No wonder, if we are not prepared to meet these forces and if we have no means or training or support to deal with them, that we retreat. We run back to the surface, to the more comfortingly familiar but far less satisfying world of images and words.

It is a grace of sublime simplicity to learn how to face and pass through the initial turmoil. To learn, day by day, to be silent, still and simple. To go deeper, beyond the reach of fear. Meditation not only calms the storm but brings the vessel of our mind to its true harbour, the heart.

Laurence Freeman OSB

You may also be interested in Father Laurence's Christmas Message 2008 [PDF]

The Community is now directed by Laurence Freeman, a student of John Main and a Benedictine monk of the Olivetan Congregation. We have our International Centre and a Meditation Retreat centre in London. There are also many other Centres in other parts of the world that you are welcome to contact or visit.

The Community is a kind of 'monastery without walls', a family of national communities and emerging communities in over a hundred countries. The spiritual foundation is the local meditation group, which meets weekly in homes, parishes, offices, hospitals, prisons, schools and colleges - pretty well everywhere that people live and seek. The World Community is ecumenical and serves a universal 'catholic' unity in its dialogue both with Christian churches and other faiths. We encourage and try to support the daily practice of meditation knowing its power to change hearts and so to transform our world.

Each year we run the John Main Seminar and The Way of Peace. You can find previous Seminars and the upcoming ones on these pages. We also sponsor retreats, 'Schools' for the training of teachers of meditation and other programs. We contribute often to interfaith dialogue particularly, in recent years, with Buddhists and Muslims. A quarterly spiritual letter with global and local news is mailed by national communities and is also available online. Weekly readings can be sent directly to your email if you'd like to subscribe.

You can also link to many national community sites and sites with a particular focus such as children and meditation, how to start a meditation group, a site for the Eleventh Step in Recovery, and the spiritual search of young adults.

Information on retreats and other programmes, places to visit and stay, pilgrimages, connections to national coordinators and the location of meditation groups can also be found on this site. You can also find online audio talks for listening or downloading.

Medio Media is the publishing arm of The World Community. Our online bookstore is linked here offering a wide range of books, audiotapes, CD's and videos to support your practice of meditation.

We are always trying to improve the way this site can serve your spiritual journey and especially your regular practice of meditation. Feel free to share your comments or suggestions with us. Please.... come in and browse and feel welcome in our Community.

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05.25.08