What is Contemplative Education?
Contemplative education teaches people how to take charge of their psychological and spiritual development.
Our life experiences contain the ingredients for our own psychological and spiritual maturation. However, most people never learn to take advantage of these possibilities.
Rather, we remain ensnared in the difficulties of life, and let them get the better of us. When we are ensnared in this way, we often harm ourselves and others.
When we learn to grow psychologically and spiritually, we can respond to the difficulties of life with greater resilience, clarity, and wisdom. Rather than being reactive and destructive, we can respond to difficulties in ways that promote the well-being of ourselves and others.
Contemplative education can also be called developmental education for psychological and spiritual growth.
This educational approach introduces people to the maturational goals and contemplative practices of the spiritual traditions, and teaches them to use these practices as a resource for resilience, well-being, and peace-promoting responses to conflict.