I joined Sean Hagan’s retreat ‘The Spirit of Work: The Integrated Professional’ at Bonnevaux last year.
As an Orthodox Christian, following in the footsteps of Bishop Kallistos led me to the World Community of Contemplative Meditation.
I came more to soak up new perspectives on contemplative prayer and meditation than to focus on my professional work life, as the title, ‘The Spirit of Work: The Integrated Professional’ suggested.
Our leader, Sean Hagan, had a great wealth of professional experience behind him, but it was his openness and warmth and authentic care for everyone in our group that spoke the loudest. He approached our time together from a variety of creative angles, drawing from the Dalai Lama’s eye-opening book, Beyond Religion … setting aside a generosity of time to listen to each of our stories … and encouraging us to make use of the journals he handed out as a tool for our own well being.
Through examples from his own experience, opening up new ways of thinking from a variety of sources, and sharing with us the practice of silent meditation, Sean helped our group understand how to manage our anxious thoughts.
Jennifer, Oregon (USA)
Joined Sean Hagan's 2025 Retreat
We possess the capacity to disengage from persistently afflicted mental states, which is an interior way to freedom. Freedom to relate openly with others, without needing to control every situation, but instead to love ourselves and to love others.
Through this time together, I gained a whole new perspective on meditation.
I learned how to use our minds in the service of managing our anxious thoughts to create peace inside ourselves, which we can then offer to others and ultimately to this anxious world we live in. This was a fascinating new look at contemplative practice for me, as my focus has been more on the heart than the mind, simply being with God in stillness. I love growing in understanding, learning new ways to engage the mind and the heart in the practice of deep interior traditions.
It was sad to say goodbye to our newly formed group of contemplative friends, but Sean has made it a priority, in his busy life, to continue to gather us together in zoom meetings every couple of months. A nice way to continue the practice, and truly feel our connection to that sacred, timeless space and our global spiritual community in Bonnevaux, France.
Sean will be leading a retreat at Bonnevaux this summer titled Cultivating the Fruits of our Contemplative Practice
(21 – 24 May) to explore together how a contemplative practice can enable us to experience greater stability, strengthen our relationships and help us become more effective leaders.
