The influence of the Benedictine monk John Main, who helped the church rediscover its contemplative roots, continues unabated more than 25 years after his death. The spiritual family of groups he founded, united in their daily practice of meditative prayer, consists of over 110,000 members in more than 100 countries.

Each year, many gather at the John Main Seminar, a major conference that promotes his vision and teaching.The 2007 conference hosted some outstanding speakers and their talks are collected here in this new volume.

They include: Charles Taylor, the leading contemporary philosopher, who considers the place of religion and spirituality in human society, Laurence Freeman, John Main’s successor, who reflects on spirituality in a globalised world, Sarah Bachelard, and Anglican priest and lecturer in theology in Australia, on the contemplative dimension in theology, Yvon Theroux, Professor of Religion in Montreal, who asks whether John Main is a prophet for our times. Together, these and the other essays clearly demonstrate the breadth and depth of John Main’s thought, and its increasing relevance in our world today.