Interview with Brother David Steindl-Rast/1

A passionate conversation with the Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast, whom Roberto Ferrari met at the conference "Science and Spirituality" in Cortona. Starting from the practictice of now-ness and gratitude which he proposed, Brother David speaks about facing science, about the new idea of a "God of the future" and about this dimension of the divine. Starting from the standpoint that things are given to us as a gift, he offers his reflection on Heidegger's expressions "thrownness" and "self-abandonment". In the final part, Brother David emphasizes the importance of peak experiences, those experiences that have inspired and transformed the lives of great men.

"Everything is a celebration of the nothing that supports it."

Here you can find the Part 2 of the interview. 

David Steindl-Rast (Vienna, 1926) is a Benedictine monk. After his PhD in experimental psychology obtained in Vienna, in 1953 he moved to the United States, where he stand out in the inter-religious dialogue with exponents of Zen Buddhism (which he studied with well-known teachers such as Haku'un Yasutani, Soen Nakagawa, and Shunryu Suzuki) and in his work on the interaction between scientific thought and spiritual paths.
Since the '70s, along with other religious figures like Thomas Merton, he has promoted a deep renewal of the American spiritual life, alternating periods of study and retreat with lectures and seminars at universities, conferences, spiritual centers, churches and temples of different religions.
He wrote many books and publications and he is co-founder of an organization called "A Network for Grateful Living", which proposes gratitude as a transforming force in both individual and social levels. 

For further information about Brother David Steindl-Rast, please click here. 

Here you can find the Italian version. 

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