The Soul, the Natural World, and What Is (MP3)

Richard Rohr uses his familiarity with the teachings of Bill Plotkin to set wilderness experience within the context of Scripture, teachings by Thomas Aquinas, and the insights of St. Francis of Assisi.

Could it be true that the deepest patterns of truth “… are there for the mind to see in the things that God has made” (Romans 1:20)? The Cosmic Christ and creation itself are giving us very similar messages, if only we can be taught how to see!

Richard shows the crucial importance for each of us to encounter our deepest self, our soul: that which was there before anything else and is our “blueprint in God, what you were born for.” Richard explains that we don’t have to figure it out, to do it right; we just have to wake up each day and listen.

Our primary task is to encounter our soul, awaken it, and trust it. Before a soul encounter, our ego is an agent for itself; after a soul encounter, the ego is a servant of the soul. Daily contact with nature is the best way to re-connect with soul.

This program contains two parts: a 50-minute talk followed by 30 minutes of engaging questions from the audience, with Richard’s responses, including a brief description of Bill Plotkin’s “soulcentric” 8-stage wheel of soul discovery. This presentation will encourage you to see the importance of recovering your deep, soul-connection with created nature, to which we all radically belong.

Length: Approximately 80 minutes

This is a downloadable MP3 audio file.