Sea of Faith Christchurch Group

In February 2018, a meeting was called, but few attended. As a result, the group is not currently meeting. Sad!

Our meeting on 15 May will discuss Naomi Klein’s new book: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate.

By Elizabet Sahtouris. © 2000
Elizabet Sahtouris is a Greek-American scientist, author and lecturer whose field is evolutionary biology.
Reviewed by Ian Crumpton

“We used to believe that we were put here to do whatever we wanted to with our planet – that we were in charge. Now we see that we are natural creatures which evolved within a great Earthlife system. Whatever we do that is not good for life, the rest of the system will try to undo or balance in any way it can. That is why we must learn Gaia’s dance and follow its rhythms and harmonies in our own lives.” Continue Reading »

Dear Mr. Ratzinger,
I cannot and will not address you differently. Jesus himself said to his disciples “Do not let yourselves be called father, since you have only one father and he is in heaven.” How then can it be Christian to have a “Pater Patrum,” a father of all fathers, a pope, who presumes because of his office, to represent God on earth? Continue Reading »

Our meetings got off to a wonderful start this year with the visit of the Ven. Bhante Kovida, a Buddhist monk. He began by leading us in a breath meditation, followed by a Mahasati meditation, a particular form of mindfulness meditation developed by a Thai Buddhist. This lead smoothly into a very down-to-earth, understandable yet profound explanation of the Buddhist path of overcoming suffering. He described Buddhism as “spiritual psychotherapy”, which fits very well, I think. After answering questions, he closed the meeting with a compassion meditation.

His website, www.bhantikovida.com, has a brief biography and several books in PDF format for free download. These combine accounts of his travels with the way he has applied Buddhist teaching and practice in his day-to-day living.