I just came back home from leading a retreat in the beautiful city of Verona, Italy. As always — following Matthew’s teaching — my retreats include one portion of intellectual learning, questioning, and debate (left brain engagement) and one portion of art as meditation, creativity, silence, prayer (right brain engagement).
As in previous retreats, two things impressed me the most about the experience, and do not cease to amaze me: the “Aha!” moments of enlightenment, when the mind puts together different bits of information and reaches a new synthesis, and the instances of melting of psychic defenses, which happen invariably in connection with the body.
Even though I love the “Aha!” moments, I believe that they can remain merely mental and thus ineffective in the long run, unless they are accompanied by a relaxation of the body and the release of psychic energies.
Let me give one example. At one point during the retreat, participants were invited to walk and observe closely the sixteen Stations of the Cosmic Christ, which — following Matthew’s suggestion — consist of artworks representing the seven “I am” statements in the Gospel of John (such as “I am the light of the world”) plus several cosmic moments in the life of Jesus (such as his nativity surrounded by angels).
Each participant was then asked to choose one of the Stations and listen to the voice of the Cosmic Christ adressing them individually. Everybody came up easily with one sentence — a proof that the depths of our soul contain already the divine voice.
But that was not enough. Through the next meditation, I invited people to perceive where in their body there was tension blocking the flow of energy. Then I asked them to whisper to themselves the sentence coming from the Cosmic Christ, from the Wisdom within.
And… voilà! Bodily tension melted away, shoulders felt relieved of burdens, hearts felt alive again!
Only when the body is involved, is there change, because only when the body is involved is there prayer. I submit to you that when the mind alone is involved there is no prayer at all. Words are depotentiated and become harmful when they are not filtered through the heart and through the body.
Our retreat continued, that very night, with a ritual inside the chapel of the monastery hosting us. We began the ritual by walking around into the space — a powerful symbol of our psyche and its spaciousness — each of us whispering repeatedly our mantras, the ones we individually received from the Cosmic Christ. In this way, we created waves of powerful Wisdom intertwining with each other in the space.
At some point in the ritual we began dancing freely in the same space. One participant later said: “We reclaimed for Cosmic Wisdom a space that many of us felt oppressive because of dogmatism”. Another participant said: “We weaved through symbols and our bodies those truths that cannot be expressed by words”.
We did not speak words during this ritual, except for a Wisdom reading from the book of Proverbs which was recited as an art performance, not to communicate notions or dogmas.
See Matthew Fox and Bishop Marc Andrus, Stations of the Cosmic Christ
See also Fox, Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet
And Fox, Whee! We, Wee All the Way Home: A Guide to Sensual Prophetic Spirituality
And Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
And Fox, Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
And Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
Banner Image: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” by artist Paola Pisani, Courtyard of the Cosmic Christ at the Monastery of the Common Good in Verona, Italy. Photo by Gianluigi Gugliermetto, with permission.
Queries for Contemplation
What is your experience with creating rituals with others?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Stations of the Cosmic Christ
By Matthew Fox and Bishop Marc Andrus.
This is a book of meditations on the Cosmic Christ, accompanying the images of 16 wonderful clay tablets by Javier Ullrrich Lemus and M.C. Richards. Together, these images and meditations go far beyond the traditional Stations of the Cross to inspire a spirit awakening and understanding of the cosmic Christ Consciousness, Buddha consciousness, and consciousness of the image of God in all beings, so needed in our times.
“A divinely inspired book that must be read by every human being devoted to spiritual and global survival. It is cosmically brilliant.” — Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit
Creativity: Where the Divine and Human Meet
Because creativity is the key to both our genius and beauty as a species but also to our capacity for evil, we need to teach creativity and to teach ways of steering this God-like power in directions that promote love of life (biophilia) and not love of death (necrophilia). Pushing well beyond the bounds of conventional Christian doctrine, Fox’s focus on creativity attempts nothing less than to shape a new ethic.
“Matt Fox is a pilgrim who seeks a path into the church of tomorrow. Countless numbers will be happy to follow his lead.” –Bishop John Shelby Spong, author, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Living in Sin
Whee! We, Wee All the Way Home: A Guide to Sensual Prophetic Spirituality
Years ahead of its time when first published in 1976, this book is still bold and relevant today. Perfect for anyone who thinks mysticism needs to get out of the head and into the body. Matthew Fox begins the Preface to this book by stating, “This is a practical book about waking up and returning to a biblical, justice-oriented spirituality. Such a spirituality is a way of passion that leads to compassion. Such a way is necessarily one of coming to our senses in every meaning of that phrase.” One of Matthew Fox’s earliest books, this title explores the importance of ecstasy in the spiritual life. Fox considers the distinction between “natural” ecstasies (including nature, sex, friendship, music, art) and “tactical” ecstasies (like meditation, fasting, chanting); he goes on to consider that a truly authentic mysticism must be sensuous in its orientation, so to cultivate the maximum amount of ecstasy for the maximum amount of people.
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox lays out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way.
“Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story
Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
How do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? Fox defines prayer as a radical response to life that includes our “Yes” to life (mysticism) and our “No” to forces that combat life (prophecy). How do we define adult prayer? And how—if at all—do prayer and mysticism relate to the struggle for social and ecological justice? One of Matthew Fox’s earliest books, originally published under the title On Becoming a Musical, Mystical Bear: Spirituality American Style, Prayer introduces a mystical/prophetic spirituality and a mature conception of how to pray. Called a “classic” when it first appeared, it lays out the difference between the creation spirituality tradition and the fall/redemption tradition that has so dominated Western theology since Augustine. A practical and theoretical book, it lays the groundwork for Fox’s later works.
“One of the finest books I have read on contemporary spirituality.” – Rabbi Sholom A. Singer
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
In what may be considered the most comprehensive outline of the Christian paradigm shift of our Age, Matthew Fox eloquently foreshadows the manner in which the spirit of Christ resurrects in terms of the return to an earth-based mysticism, the expression of creativity, mystical sexuality, the respect due the young, the rebirth of effective forms of worship—all of these mirroring the ongoing blessings of Mother Earth and the recovery of Eros, the feminine aspect of the Divine.
“The eighth wonder of the world…convincing proof that our Western religious tradition does indeed have the depth of imagination to reinvent its faith.” — Brian Swimme, author of The Universe Story and Journey of the Universe.
“This book is a classic.” Thomas Berry, author of The Great Work and The Dream of the Earth.
8 thoughts on “Prayer and the Body – part 4”
Escape from reality paralyzes warrior action.
Thank you GG. Reminds me of a beautiful proverb from the Asaro tribe in Papau New Guinea: “knowledge is only a rumor until it is in the muscle”. I first heard a variation of this proverb in the TV show The OA, where she says “knowledge is just a rumor until it lives in the body”.
My main rituals with others is our spiritual reflections and brief ending centering/contemplative prayers at two nursing homes twice a month. They seem be grateful for our biweekly spiritual gatherings. They have become part of my personal spiritual communities, besides a few contemplative ones on the internet, including the present DM one with Matthew Fox.
I belonged to a sacred dance group for thirty years that whenever possible involved people in churches, a monastery, and a prison in circle dance. This was my primary spiritual expression. A very powerful experience was one time when I led a religious women’s group in a day of dancing together culminating in a dance Eucharist. I learned afterwards that some members who had previously objected to having a new woman priest, after spending a day dancing with her, accepted her without reservation.
Thank you for your lovely description of your retreat; it sounds like a powerful experience in a beautiful setting.
I have experienced many retreats and gatherings grounded in spiritual energy. I am currently attending yoga classes which center in breath and meditation and letting go of stagnant energy and centering in love and spirit, no dogma. The experience is beautiful and powerful.
Thank you to everyone who has replied. I appreciate reading your posts.
Blessings to all. 🧡
This past June I attended a retreat with John Philip and Ali Newell on the island of Iona. One of the rituals in which we engaged was, together, creating a simple mandala with sections representing earth (a stone), air (a feather), fire (a burnt log), and water (seawater in a bowl). We were each asked to search on the beach for stones which chose us and place them in the four sections of the mandala; after which we added seaweed and shells. Our stones represented things we wanted to release and things we wanted to bring into the world, one for ourself and one for our world. After gathering together around the now-created mandala, we stood around it–some of us sharing our yearnings. Many of us left our stones there on the beach as a representation of impermanence. It was a lovely ritual.
I don’t create rituals but participate in the weekly healing service at my local Episcopal Church, as often as I can. The laying on of hands and anointing is powerful, and at time I can feel the flow of the Spirit to and through me. We are generally a fairly small group and intimately involved with one another by the sharing of suffering.
Hello Gianluigi and Matthew, I have worked in the field of Human Resources in Canada for nearly 25 years and have been a certified labyrinth facilitator since 2000. I am currently writing a book that explores how the labyrinth can be introduced into the workplace as a practical resource for mindfulness, team building, and leadership development. As part of my research, I am seeking insights and references on the role of spirituality in the workplace, particularly in relation to meditative practices. I would be especially interested in any perspectives or materials that speak to how practices such as walking the labyrinth can foster well-being, deepen leadership capacity, and support a more mindful and connected workplace culture.