Turning to the Mystics with James Finley

On this introductory episode, Kirsten Oates introduces us to James Finley, our guide for this podcast. Together they explore the journey of Jim's life and how turning to the mystics and leaning into their experiences …

In this episode, Kirsten Oates and James Finley are in dialogue about the form and practice of Turning to the Mystics. In this spirit James Finley begins by outlining the 3 contemplative archetypes that serve as …

In this episode, Kirsten Oates and James Finley are in conversation about Jim’s approach to studying the mystics, how one might integrate their teachings into our daily lives, and most notably a background and sense of …

This is the first episode of eight that focuses on the mystic, Thomas Merton. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a seminal passage from Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation, …

This is the second episode of eight that focuses on the mystic, Thomas Merton. In the spirit of Lectio Divina, James Finley highlights a prayer from …

This is the third episode of eight that focuses on the mystic, Thomas Merton. In the spirit of Lectio Divina, James Finley reflects …

In this special episode of Turning to the Mystics, James Finley is joined by Kirsten Oates to pause and reflect on this timely moment we are all in with the world facing the pandemic, COVID-19. James grounds …

This is the fourth episode of eight that focuses on the mystic, Thomas Merton. In the spirit of Lectio Divina, James Finley re-visits Thomas …

In this special episode of Turning to the Mystics, James Finley is joined by Kirsten Oates to pause and reflect on this timely moment we are all in with the world facing the pandemic, COVID-19. James grounds his …

This is the fifth episode of eight that focuses on the mystic, Thomas Merton. In the spirit of Lectio Divina, James Finley looks at a contemplative prayer from Thomas Merton’s Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. In this …

In this bonus episode of Turning to The Mystics, Jim and Kirsten are focusing on Holy Week and discussing what this ritual can offer us as we …

This is the sixth episode of eight that focuses on the mystic, Thomas Merton. In the spirit of Lectio Divina, James Finley draws from Thoms Merton’s The Seven Story Mountain and James Finley’s own Merton’s Palace of …

In this bonus episode of Turning to The Mystics, as we enter Eastertide, Jim and Kirsten are focusing on an Easter message that will help us reflect on the truth of life and resurrection so that we might ground …

This is the seventh episode of eight that focuses on the mystic, Thomas Merton. In the spirit of Lectio Divina, James Finley draws from Thomas Merton’s The Inner Experience teaching from some of Thomas Merton's 11 …

This is the eighth and final episode in this series that focuses on the mystic, Thomas Merton. In this episode, Jim revisits our explorations of Thomas Merton by singling out themes or aspects of his teachings, and how …

On this episode, Jim and Kirsten answer questions about Thomas Merton that were submitted by the listeners during the airing of the 1st season. The transcript for this episode can be found here.

To learn more about …

On this episode, Jim and Kirsten answer questions about spiritual practices that were submitted by the listeners during the airing of the 1st season. The transcript for this episode can be found here.

To learn more …

This is a mini-episode to round out our series on Thomas Merton. A common request we received during the airing of Turning to Thomas Merton was for further reading and additional resources. Jim and Kirsten put together …

On this bonus episode, Jim and Kirsten are offering a reflection on what it means to turn to the mystics during this time of increasing awareness of …

Welcome to Season 2 of Turning to the Mystics. In this episode, Kirsten Oates and James Finley turning to Teresa of Avila and discovering how one might integrate her teachings into our daily lives. By the end of this …

This is the first session that focuses on the mystic, Teresa of Avila. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from Teresa's The Interior Castle, and reflects on the …

This is the second session that focuses on the mystic, Teresa of Avila. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from the second mansion of Teresa's The Interior Castle, …

In this episode, Jim and Kirsten have a dialogue around the first mansion of Teresa of Avila's The Interior Castle and discuss the path it provides …

On this episode, Jim and Kirsten have a dialogue around the second mansion of Teresa of Avila's The Interior Castle and discuss the path it provides for spiritual transformation. In this episode, Kirsten references a …

This is the third session that focuses on the mystic, Teresa of Avila. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from the fourth mansion of Teresa's The Interior Castle, …

In this episode, Jim and Kirsten have a dialogue around the fourth mansion of Teresa of Avila's The Interior Castle and discuss the path it provides for spiritual transformation. In this episode, Kirsten references a …

This is the fourth session that focuses on the mystic, Teresa of Avila. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from the fifth mansion of Teresa’s The Interior Castle, …

In this episode, Jim and Kirsten have a dialogue around the fifth mansion of Teresa of Avila's The Interior Castle and discuss the path it provides for spiritual transformation. In this episode, Kirsten references a …

Before we venture into the 6th and 7th mansions, we wanted to pause and air this bonus episode in which Jim, Kirsten, and special guest Mirabai Starr explore the life story of Teresa of Avila, and what it means for us …

This is the fifth session that focuses on the mystic, Teresa of Avila. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from the sixth mansion of Teresa’s The Interior Castle, …

This is the sixth session that focuses on the mystic, Teresa of Avila. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from the seventh mansion of Teresa’s The Interior Castle, …

Today on the show we have our friend Richard Rohr on the show. In it, we talk about how he discovered Teresa of Avila, the impact she made on his …

In this episode, Jim and Kirsten have their first dialogue around the sixth and seventh mansions of Teresa of Avila's The Interior Castle and discuss the path it provides for spiritual transformation. In this episode, …

In this episode, Jim and Kirsten have their second dialogue around the sixth and seventh mansions of Teresa of Avila's The Interior Castle and discuss the path it provides for spiritual transformation. In this episode, …

In this episode, Jim and Kirsten answer questions that were submitted by the listeners during the airing of the 2nd season.

Resources:

• Turning to the …

In this episode, Jim and Kirsten answer questions that were submitted by the listeners during the airing of the 2nd season.

Resources:

• Turning to the …

In this bonus episode of Turning to the Mystics, Jim Finley and Kirsten Oates offer a 10-minute grounding meditation to help nourish us in times of strife and stress, as many are feeling today and all these long …

In this bonus episode, Jim Finley offers an Advent meditation on the gift of God in and as our lives. In this teaching, Jim provides an image of this gift, the invitation to awaken to its presence, habituate it through …

Season 3 of Turning to the Mystics will continue with our next mystic, St. John of the Cross. We will begin our journey together on March 8th, 2021.

Many have emailed and asked which book we will be working out of. You …

Welcome to Season 3 of Turning to the Mystics. In this episode, Kirsten Oates and James Finley are turning to 16th-century Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross and discovering how one might integrate his poetry and …

This is the first session that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from St. John's The Ascent of Mount Carmel, and …

This is the first session that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from St. John's The Ascent of Mount Carmel, and …

This is the second session that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from St. John's The Ascent of Mount Carmel, and …

This morning Jim Finley gave a homily called "Are We Forsaken?" for a Good Friday service with the Center for Action and Contemplation's staff, board, and extended community and we wanted to share it with you. We hope …

This is the second dialogue that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 2, which covered The …

This is the third session that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from St. John's The Ascent of Mount Carmel, and …

This is the fourth session that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross, and the conclusion on The Ascent of Mount Carmel. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage …

This is the third dialogue that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 4, which covered The …

This is the fifth session that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross. With this episode, Jim turns to his work on The Dark Night. In this episode, Jim explores the question, "How does a person in today’s world …

This is the fourth dialogue that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 5, which covered The Dark Night. Next week, we'll release a bonus talk on the Dark Night …

In this bonus episode, Jim concludes the section on The Dark Night by reflecting on it using two key passages from the text.

Resources:

• Turning to the …

This is the sixth session that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross. With this episode, Jim turns back to Thomas Merton's book, The Inner Experience, to summarize his own understanding of The Dark Night and …

This is the fifth dialogue that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 6, which covered Thomas Merton's The Inner Experience as a means of introducing us to the …

This is the seventh session that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross. With this episode, Jim turns to St. John of the Cross's work on The Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame of Love, moving us from The Dark …

This is the sixth dialogue that focuses on the mystic, St. John of the Cross. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 7, which covered The …

In this episode, Jim and Kirsten answer questions that were submitted by the listeners during the airing of the 3rd season.

Resources:

• Turning to the …

On this bonus episode of Turning to the Mystics, Jim and Kirsten are joined by long-time friend Mirabai Starr to reflect on listener questions about …

Welcome to Season 4 of Turning to the Mystics. In this episode, Kirsten Oates and James Finley are turning to Carthusian monk Guigo II to discover the roots of contemplative practice with Guigo's work on The Ladder of …

This is the first session that focuses on the mystic, Guigo II. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from Guigo's The Ladder of Monks, and reflects on the qualitative …

This is the first dialogue that focuses on the mystic, Guigo II. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 1, which covered The Ladder of Monks

This is the second session that focuses on the mystic, Guigo II. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from Guigo's The Ladder of Monks, and reflects on the …

This is the second dialogue that focuses on the mystic, Guigo II. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 2, which covered The Ladder of …

This is the third session that focuses on the mystic, Guigo II. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from Guigo's The Ladder of Monks, and reflects on the qualitative …

This is the third dialogue that focuses on the mystic, Guigo II. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 3, which covered The Ladder of Monks

On this special episode, Jim coaches Kirsten in implementing the Lectio practice that he has been teaching from Guigo II's work on The Ladder of Monks

On this bonus episode, Jim gives a talk on childlike acceptance as a reflection for this Advent season. This was recorded with a live virtual audience.

We'll return with our last episode of Season 4 on Monday with …

In this episode, Jim and Kirsten answer questions that were submitted by the listeners during the airing of the 4th season around Guigo II, The …

Welcome to Season 5 of Turning to the Mystics. In this episode, Kirsten Oates and James Finley are turning to the anonymous mystical text, The Cloud of Unknowing. Throughout this season, we will work with the text and …

This is the first session that focuses on the mystical text, The Cloud of Unknowing. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from The Cloud of Unknowing, and reflects on …

This is the first dialogue that focuses on the mystical text, The Cloud of Unknowing. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 1 where Jim talks about the first of four phases in The Cloud of Unknowing, the …

This is the second session that focuses on the mystical text, The Cloud of Unknowing. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from The Cloud of Unknowing, and reflects …

This is the second dialogue that focuses on the mystical text, The Cloud of Unknowing. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 2 where Jim talks about the second of four phases in The Cloud of Unknowing, the …

This is the third session that focuses on the mystical text, The Cloud of Unknowing. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from The Cloud of Unknowing, and reflects on …

This is the third dialogue that focuses on the mystical text, The Cloud of Unknowing. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 3 where Jim talks about the third of four phases in The Cloud of Unknowing, the …

This is the fourth session that focuses on the mystical text, The Cloud of Unknowing. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with a passage from The Cloud of Unknowing, and reflects …

This is the fourth and final dialogue that focuses on the mystical text, The Cloud of Unknowing. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 3 where Jim talks about the fourth and final phase in The Cloud of …

On this special episode, Jim coaches Kirsten in implementing the Centering Prayer practice that he has been teaching about from within The Cloud of …

In this episode, Jim and Kirsten answer questions that were submitted by the listeners during the airing of the 5th season around The Cloud of Unknowing.

Due to the length of this episode, we are providing key markers …

Welcome to Season 6 of Turning to the Mystics. This season we are turning to 14th-century English mystic Julian of Norwich for spiritual guidance. In …

This is the first session that focuses on the mystic, Julian of Norwich. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins …

This is the first dialogue that focuses on the mystic, Julian of Norwich. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 1 where Jim talks about …

This is the second session that focuses on the mystic, Julian of Norwich. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins …

This is the second dialogue that focuses on the mystic, Julian of Norwich. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 2 where Jim continues his …

This is the third session that focuses on the mystic, Julian of Norwich. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins …

This is the third dialogue that focuses on the mystic, Julian of Norwich. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 3 where Jim gave a talk …

In this episode, Jim and Kirsten answer questions submitted by the listeners during the airing of the 6th season around Julian of Norwich.

Resources:

Season 7 of Turning to the Mystics will continue with our next mystic, Meister Eckhart. We will begin our journey together on April 3rd, 2023.

On this special bonus episode of Turning to the Mystics, we are celebrating the launch of Jim's new memoir, The Healing Path. In this episode, Jim reads the complete introduction to the book and has a conversation with …

Welcome to Season 7 of Turning to the Mystics. This season we are turning to 15th-century German mystic Meister Eckhart for spiritual guidance. In this episode, James Finley and Kirsten Oates cover the person and life …

This is the first session that focuses on the mystic, Meister Eckhart. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with passages from a few of Meister Eckhart's sermons, reflects on the …

This is the first dialogue that focuses on the mystic, Meister Eckhart. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 1.

Resources:

• The transcript …

This is the second session that focuses on the mystic, Meister Eckhart. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with passages from a few of Meister Eckhart's sermons, reflects on the …

This is the second dialogue that focuses on the mystic Meister Eckhart. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 2 and the theme around the …

This is the third session that focuses on the mystic Meister Eckhart. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with passages from a few of Meister Eckhart's sermons, reflects on the …

This is the third dialogue that focuses on the mystic Meister Eckhart. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 3 and the theme around …

This is the fourth session that focuses on the mystic Meister Eckhart. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with passages from a few of Meister Eckhart's sermons, reflects on the …

This is the fourth dialogue that focuses on the mystic Meister Eckhart. In this episode, Jim and Kirsten discuss Session 4, the last session of the season, and Eckhart's theme around surrendering to the ground.

Resources:

In this special episode, Jim and Kirsten review the season by walking the listener through Eckhart's path in a coaching session. To help you participate, we have provided diagrams in the Resource section below.

Resources:

On this special bonus episode, James Finley and Kirsten Oates interview Rev. Matthew Fox about the life and influence of Meister Eckhart.

Resources:

• …

Turning to the Mystics has reached its 100th episode! Thanks to all of you for listening and staying engaged with the show, both in practice and in …

Welcome to the listener questions series from our sessions on Meister Eckhart. Due to the volume of questions this season, we have decided to make …

Welcome to the listener questions series from our sessions on Meister Eckhart. Due to the volume of questions this season, we have decided to make …

As we close out season 7's mystic, Meister Eckhart, Jim and Kirsten respond to a request by many listeners desiring further resources in engaging and …

Welcome to Season 8 of Turning to the Mystics. This season we are turning to the 13th-century German mystic Mechthild of Magdeburg, a Beguine, for spiritual guidance. In this episode, James Finley and Kirsten Oates …

This is the first session that focuses on the Beguine mystic, Mechthild of Magdeburg. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with passages from Mechthild of Magdeburg's book The …

This is the first dialogue session that focuses on the Beguine mystic, Mechthild of Magdeburg. James Finley and Kirsten Oates talk about the first session which focused on passages from Mechthild of Magdeburg's book The …

This is the second session that focuses on the Beguine mystic, Mechthild of Magdeburg. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with passages from Mechthild of Magdeburg's book The …

This is the second dialogue session that focuses on the Beguine mystic, Mechthild of Magdeburg. James Finley and Kirsten Oates talk about the second session which focused on passages from Mechthild of Magdeburg's book …

This is the third session that focuses on the Beguine mystic, Mechthild of Magdeburg. In the tenor of the ancient practice of Lectio Divina, James Finley begins with passages from Mechthild of Magdeburg's book The …

This is the third dialogue session that focuses on the Beguine mystic, Mechthild of Magdeburg. James Finley and Kirsten Oates talk about the third session which focused on passages from Mechthild of Magdeburg's book The …

In this special episode, Jim and Kirsten review the season and offer a way for us to turn to Mechthild for guidance on our own spiritual path. To help you participate, we have provided the worksheet in the Resource …

On this special bonus episode, James Finley and Kirsten Oates interview Dr. Bernard McGinn about Christian mysticism and how Cristian mystics guide …

Welcome to the listener questions series from our sessions on Mechthild of Magdeburg. Due to the volume of questions this season, we have decided to …

Welcome to the listener questions series from our sessions on Mechthild of Magdeburg. Due to the volume of questions this season, we have decided to …