Seasons of the Soul
David Denny
October 17, 2024
Eido Roshi and Tessa Bielecki at Naropa dialogue

Eido Roshi and Tessa Bielecki add levity to Naropa Institute’s Buddhist-Christian dialogue by singing a parody of “Do You Love Me?” from Fiddler on the Roof.

Tessa Bielecki, our Desert Foundation Executive Co-Director, is delighted to offer reflections on Buddhist-Christian dialogue and on “Seasons of the Soul” at Naropa University October 25-27. She will serve as “World Wisdom Teacher-in-Residence” at Naropa. She will spend time with students and share what she has learned from the soul seasons she has weathered. On Friday, October 25 she and Naropa founding faculty member Dr. Judith Simmer-Brown will share their experiences of Naropa’s historic Buddhist-Christian Dialogues. Tessa was the youngest and only woman participant in the 1981 dialogue.

I remember those days and dialogues well.  I recall how nervous the young Tessa was. It’s wonderful to hear her reflect on how the dialogues changed her life.

Join Us in Boulder

On Saturday and Sunday, October 26-27, Tessa will draw on her experience of almost sixty years as a Christian contemplative. She will offer teachings she treasures from the mystical streams she embodies: the counter-cultural witness of the desert, the earthy rhythms of the monastic tradition, and the intimacy and “holy ordinary” of Carmelite and Celtic spirituality.

She will also explore the challenges of creating the “lively human atmosphere” conducive to everyday contemplative experience. This includes “crisis contemplation” and joy as “resistance.” These events are open to the public.

In-Person or Livestream

We hope you can be in Boulder for this experience. You can find more information and register here. Good news: These events will also be livestreamed, so even if you’re in Nebraska, Nova Scotia, or New Zealand, you can still attend. Find out more here.

More Tessa

Want to hear more from Tessa? Are you a podcast listener? If not, here’s a chance to try it: Tessa conversed with The New Monastics podcast a while back about “Life,Life, Life, Carmelite New Monasticism, Tolkien, and Interreligious Dialogue.”

October is harvest time, and it’s wonderful that Tessa is harvesting the wisdom she has gleaned in her first eighty years of life. Hope you can join us.

Tessa posts regularly at tessabielecki.com.

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