Finally, there is a place beyond every tradition where I think every human being has the potential to meet. It's that place of unity and oneness to which all traditions are pointing that suggests there is something so deep in human nature that it can be awakened and addressed regardless of religion or no religion.   ~ Fr. Thomas Keating, Benedictine abbot

The word, Contemplative, highlights the core of the spiritual life: a return to that divine reality in which the transformation of the whole person finds its source and rest. Contemplation also implies a temporary liberation from daily concerns in order to devote oneself to study and practice. It is a kind of spiritual protest against the materialism and bustle of society in order to live in the world attentive to the presence of the holy.

Learning in a contemplative model implies the operation of a deeper level of consciousness and a greater receptivity of heart. Here, the normal activities of the human personality come to rest, in order to hear what has remained unheard and to see what has been hidden or veiled. The mystics call this kind of knowing "unknowing" insofar as it approaches reality from the spiritual core of the person and not from the mind alone. Far more than a meditative practice or a temporary respite from worldly concerns, contemplation revolutionizes conventional attitudes and roles in order to transform the foundation upon which life is lived and to illuminate the hidden teaching of love inscribed in our souls.

While contemplation and mysticism throughout much of history have been associated with formal religious institutions, they both proceed and exceed religion itself. An interfaith contemplative path passes beyond religious forms into deep states of consciousness that, while remaining part of the enduring wisdom of the world's religious traditions, also is the site of new spiritual traditions and forms of practice. It is the emergence of a new spirituality that expresses the timeless qualities of the monastic, contemplative experience outside of denominational institutions and structures based on an understanding of the profoundly dialogic and interreligious nature of truth.

Through the lens of this global spirituality, we hope to find the mystical point of oneness that unites in ourselves the divisions of the world. Open to the plurality of spiritual paths, this search for a common spirituality is not a reality every fully achieved, a finished theological project, or a final word. Rather it is the struggle to find the openness of heart in which life is embraced and sustained. Its theology emerges out of the desert experience, because it fosters a spirituality of humility receptive to the voice of the divine speaking in the wilderness of our hearts.