Tag: Pierre Pradervand blog

A society with fragmented attention

We live in a society where our attention is solicited to an extent never experienced before in human history. There are few public places where our attention is not constantly challenged by all kinds of messages, whether they are advertising (generally) but also of another nature. And all these solicitations are accompanied by various sounds,…

The heart and soul of my spirituality

I was raised in a traditional Christian family and even studied two years of theology before understanding that it was ABSOLUTELY NOT my cup of tea, a spirituality entirely in the head, nothing in the heart. For ten years I wandered in a spiritual no man’s land, then in 1969 I received a two-year scholarship…

Help, I’m drowning… in information

There are two major factors which, combined, make present day living extremely challenging for anyone who attempts to stay informed on major issues of our times. The first one is the weakening of authority in so many areas of life. For thousands of years, people’s lives were run by a very few authorities, religion, the…

My thoughts create my reality.

“At every single moment of our lives, we choose our thoughts, hence our vision of reality. It is in that sense that one can say that we truly do create our reality. So what if the most productive and helpful way was in seeing all through the eyes of Love? I bless myself in the…

Someone stole our attention. Oh, did they really?

We live in a world where our entire lives, almost everywhere, are totally invaded by advertising. It’s not yet in the underground caves explored by speleologists or on the sides of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa or Mount Everest (but who knows if it will not be there when I attempt to climb Mount Everest for…

A rare example of compassion

Recently I was invited to participate in an event on compassion on internet. One of the Jewish participants, a certain rabbi Ariel, shared possibly the most moving story on compassion I have ever heard in my existence. His son was a participant on a study-abroad trip to visit the notorious Nazi concentration camps in Poland…

A place of rest from ever accelerating change

For eons we lived in a world where change was so slow that a snails’ pace would by comparison seem like a racing car from the famous Le Mans car race. Stability was the name of the game, be it in government or institutions (e.g., the Christian church). Then, with the advent of the industrial…

What changes ahead?

The war in Ukraine is but one small sign of the numerous rumblings reminding us that huge changes are awaiting us all as this globe becomes – mentally – smaller and smaller. Many people with just a little foresight can see that these rumblings, unless attended to, will become major explosions. It is a major…

Loving Vladimir Putin

Recently, during my quiet time, I received what was clearly an order from “above”: “Love Putin!”. And since then, I spend a moment almost every day showering this man with love. For how can this important leader at the head of one of the most powerful countries in the world ever change with the wall of…

Listening to the Divine

Elsewhere on this site you will find a narrative of an amazing encounter in an airplane with the allness of infinite Love, and that has been the crowning experience of my existence. Many years ago, I prided myself on being an intellectual who wrote a 900 page dissertation with close to 1000 references for the…

How authority wanes

Until Gutenberg invented the printing press, it was difficult to challenge authority, hence the stability of the systems in place for centuries, even millennia. The printing press allowed an increase in the circulation of ideas in all fields, which accelerated even more with the modern media: radio, telephone, television, etc. But with the invention of…

Who is really pulling the strings?

by Pierre Pradervand More and more, I have the feeling that an extraordinary cosmic force is pulling the strings of my life. ALL the strings, down to the smallest details. Because either this simply unheard of “show” called the universe is directed by a force, a cosmic intelligence that is simply amazing, or I give…

An unshakable trust under all circumstances

Depending on our own vision of the world, of the universe, of history, it is quite possible for us to go through this very troubled period with deep trust. If we believe in a world dependent on the hazards of fate, or simply run by fate, then we should seriously worry. On the other hand,…

The Presence of the Divine

Recently I came across a brief text by Joel Goldsmith* which really shook me in my foundations! It also made me become aware of how we can use words to protect ourselves in many different ways. You might also wish to refer to the story on this site about my discussion on the nature of…

When contemplation and action meet

It is my deep conviction that any meaningful religious or spiritual approach must also really address the key issue of today – and that is a world that works for all. Disparities and inequalities in income and opportunities are become so huge, environmental degradation is advancing so rapidly, that unless we create a world that…

So, what could I myself do?

What a powerful message of hope that the Covid 19 lesson has brought even some of the most entrenched defenders of the System to start questioning its existence! After all, is it not incredible that a little beastie (virus) so minuscule that one needs a microscope to just see it has just brought the most…

Self-Completeness

Guest blog ~  Joel S. Goldsmith Once more, Joel Goldsmith – one of a tiny handful of non-dual thinkers of Christian origin (but who very much formulated his own original and powerful vision of this teaching) – stresses that we are nothing of ourselves, any more than a wave could exist separate from the ocean…

Expressing appreciation

There are many activities in our societies that seem of little significance or “unimportant,” but that is such a superficial view of things. It bears repeating that the humblest activity performed with love certainly uplifts the human race more than a high prestige or “important” job performed out of self-interest. Love is the key indispensable ingredient of true progress and the most powerful healing agent on the…

The joy of service

For one who has discovered the deep, nourishing satisfaction of life lived in a spirit of service, finding opportunities of service becomes one of the joys of life. And there are so, so many such opportunities. For those who may be wondering what kind of service they may render because they have not yet made…

The essence of true spirituality

For over 60 years I belonged to forms of organized religion. These still play a useful role for some individuals who need to have verbal formulations of truths and liturgical and cultural forms that reassure and comfort. However, we live in a world where increasingly everything is challenged and each one is called to define…

Thank you for coming, my immigrant sister and brother!

Thank you for coming

Click here for an audio version of this article read by Marie T. Russell It is most regrettable that most politicians, even at the highest level, ignore the very basics of demography! For instance, the average number of births per women needed to keep a stationary population is just above two in our countries. However,…

The very best New Year’s start

The very best New Year’s start

“I believe it is impossible to live a happy life if one nourishes resentment for some harm done to oneself, or guilt or repressed anger for an error of omission or commission we caused. On the other hand, we become incapable of resentment when we have understood that everyone is at every moment at their…

An Infinitely Friendly Universe

An Infinitely Friendly Universe

  In her book The Healing Secrets of the Ages, Catherine Ponder writes: “Bless the world around you unselfishly with divine order. As you do so, you release the power of order into the atmosphere to do its perfect work. Look for, expect and give thanks for divine order, often. By doing so, you release…

The Gentle Inward Gaze

Gentle inward gaze

That so gifted, sensitive Irish writer John O’Donohue once wrote this moving statement: “Let there be gentleness in your gaze when you look within”. So many of us can sometimes be so tough with ourselves. Yet the incredible, divine, unconditionally loving Being which runs this amazing show called “the universe” of which we are in…

Blessing adapted from Andrew Harvey

July blog

Guest blogger: Andrew Harvey Andrew Harvey is one of the great spiritual teachers of today who has inspired thousands all round the world to turn their spirituality into the real power behind their lives rather than icing on the cake. For instance, it is all too easy to make (create, utter, send out) a nice blessing…