Finding Spiritual centredness
Craving something with spirituality and space in the city at the New Year, I went to see the film of the The Grande Chartreuse, the mother house of
the legendary Carthusian Order, based in the French Alps. The film
emphasised central monastic themes of Silence, Repetition and Rhythm.
The film is an austere, next to silent meditation on monastic life in a
very pure form. No music except the chants in the monastery, no
interviews, no commentaries, no extra material. Changing of time,
seasons, and the ever repeated elements of the day, of the prayer. A
film to become a monastery, rather than depict one. A film about
awareness, absolute presence, and the life of men who devoted their
lifetimes to god in the purest form. Contemplation. An object in time.
You start out feeling a bit like a spiritual tourist watching monks, but you soon get into a pattern - yes based on looking at others, but never the less very spiritual.
I was pleasantly surprised how so much of it felt quite familiar from the osmosis of Moot being at St Matthews in London. The pattern of the seasons, the place for contemplation, stillness and simplicity, there is even a benediction very similar to what Moot did in September at a conference - except they had a better monstrance - with the same chant that we sang. It was for me a profound moment - where a cinema for a brief 3 hours became a silent spiritual centre rather than a place of entertainment. As a mate called Mike said, the Director stretched the audience in the cinema to engage with silence far more than is usual, in a profoundly spiritual and asthetic way. I highly recommend going to this, but take an early viewing!!. If you live in London Its on at the Curzon Soho and Barbican now, and will be released round the country shortly. The words of wisdom of one of the blind monks near the end of his days will remain with me for a while.
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