BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic University’s Peace Studies Program in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters hosts Thomas Merton scholar James Finley with the lecture “Compassion as a Path to Spiritual Awakening and Inner Peace” Thursday, October 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the University Theatre on FAU’s Boca Raton campus. Tickets are $15; $10 for FAU alumni, faculty and staff, and students are free with ID. To purchase tickets, call 1-800-564-9539 or visit www.fauevents.com.
Finley became a monk at the age of 18 at the cloistered Trappist monastery of the Abbey of Gethsemani where the world-renowned monk and author Thomas Merton was his spiritual director. Merton studied Eastern meditation techniques and is credited with reviving an interest in Christian meditation. After six years, Finley left the monastery and went on to earn degrees from the University of Akron, Saint John College and the Fuller Theological Seminary.
Finley now leads retreats and workshops throughout the United States and Canada. He speaks to people from all religious traditions who seek a way to have a more peaceful mind and heart. He is also a clinical psychologist in private practice.
During his lecture, Finley will emphasize the use of mystical compassion in our own lives and in our interaction with others. He will cite passages from The Bhagavad Gita, Christian mystics, The Upanishads, Kabbalah and Tao te Ching. Finley will also talk about the use of meditation. Time will be provided for questions and discussion of the themes presented.
For more information about FAU’s Peace Studies Program, call 561-297-2337