This clip is from Part 4 of the Spiritual Journey Series; you can view the full video as it is framed in the context of the online course.
“[However,] in the parable of the sower Jesus seems to be referring to his own preaching. Some of the seed, he says, falls on the footpath, that is, on the hard path, the path that goes through the field but that has no give, no flexibility, and is almost as hard as concrete . . . there is no chance of this seed bearing fruit because it can’t get through the concrete. The concrete represents the mythic membership level of consciousness and the worldviews in which people live with unquestioning presuppositions and preconceived ideas: the world of racism, sexism, prejudice, and every kind of bias.”
~ Thomas Keating, Reawakenings
The work of diversity for the global Contemplative Outreach community:
The human and organizational work of diversity essentially recognizes that biases and discrimination exist everywhere and that addressing these is an important part of the evolution of human consciousness and relationships. These biases and discrimination differ by culture and historical timing.When Contemplative Outreach as a community commits to diversity principles, it commits to an intentional examination of mythic membership consciousness, bringing what is unconscious to the light of conscious awareness. The work of diversity can include 1) creating equity and access for all, 2) fostering inclusion such that all people feel a sense of welcoming and belonging, and 3) ensuring that our community reflects the diversity and sacredness of all cultures, ethnicities, races, faith traditions, sexual orientations, gender identities, socio-economic levels, etc.Diversity principles are a particular way of practicing utmost charity and radical hospitality and are part of the CO community’s commitment to honor and embody our theological principles and guidelines for service.
