Seeking the Soul: Henry Schoenfield

By Associate Director, Rev. Michael Reed

“When we walk into a room and forget why we’re there, we’ve lost presence. When we’re in the middle of a conversation and suddenly realize that we’ve lost the thread, we’ve lost presence… When we are driven by like and dislike or react in exactly the same way to similar stimuli – it’s all going to sleep – losing presence.”

So says Henry Schoenfield, our guest for this month’s “Seeking the Soul” interview. Each month, Michael Reed, our Associate Director, shares in-depth conversations with our Rolling Ridge program leaders. In today’s interview, Henry shares with us how to remain present, embodied prayer practices to help us move and feel, and the deep power of mystical hope. Don’t miss his insights below, as well as his upcoming Day Apart retreat with us on Oct. 15, “Ways of Praying for Deeper Knowing.”

Questions from Michael Reed are in bold, and Henry Schoenfield's answers follow in plain text.
 

You are a person of many talents: spiritual director, teacher, pastor, personal coach, writer, and amateur photographer. How would you introduce yourself to those who might not know you?

The common thread in all of the work that I have done begins with who I am: a seeker. The search for something greater — a search for the Divine, connection to other people, to nature, to life, this inner quest — for understanding who I am, how I am embedded in relationships, and what is mine to do in the world drives it all. It’s all urged on by a deeper desire to plumb the Mystery of God that is in all.

You’ve led a number of different retreats and programs here at Rolling Ridge. Can you tell us about a few of your favorites—and why they stand out to you?

A few programs come to mind right away. I led a retreat a few years ago called ‘Praying with Jesus,’ which was an exploration of the Aramaic prayer of Jesus, commonly called the Lord’s Prayer. It’s a program that I’ve had the great privilege to present a number of times in different formats, though in the beginning, it leaned heavily on the intellectual center of understanding. 

However, in the presentation at Rolling Ridge, movements, chanting, teaching, and silence were integrated with the material for the first time. Another retreat, the Three-Centered Living program, was similar in a way — I’ve worked with the three centers of intelligence (intellectual, feeling, moving) for a while now. But the three-part series at Rolling Ridge was the first time that I brought them together and led the presentation of the centers through spiritual practices. Especially liberal Protestants, we live too much in our heads. Learning to embody our spiritual practices — moving beyond the intellectual centers of understanding — that makes all the difference.
 

One of the ideas you’re passionate about is that most people live their lives in a state of unconsciousness. They’re “sleepwalking” through life. Can you explain what you mean by that? And can you give us an example of what that has looked like for you?

Sleepwalking… going on automatic… even being a machine… these are all ways of talking about the same phenomena. It’s a teaching at the core of many religious and spiritual traditions. Whether it’s called awakening or enlightenment, what it really points to is a loss of presence. 

This may not be an easy idea to define, but it is an easy one to taste. When we walk into a room and forget why we’re there, we’ve lost presence. When we’re in the middle of a conversation and suddenly realize that we’ve lost the thread, we’ve lost presence. Beyond these – when we are driven by like and dislike or react in exactly the same way to similar stimuli – it’s all going to sleep – losing presence. However, rather than simply allowing these moments to come and go – or even worse, rather than judging ourselves for them, when we are aware of losing presence, there is also an opportunity to awaken in a new way.

Along those lines, I do a lot of work with “inner tasks.” These are ways of being present to our inner life as we move through the world. They have helped me become more aware of some of the automatic ways of being that are operative in my life. And in becoming more aware of these automatic ways of being, I’ve also become aware of times that I have had, and do have a choice to do something different – and even more, to be somebody different in the world.

William James, the great American philosopher of religion, said that prayer is “the very soul and essence of religion.” Would you agree? And why?

Such a rich question! Let me start by saying a bit about what I understand by “prayer” and “religion.” 

Prayer, as I have come to understand it, goes well beyond supplication — making a request to God/Source/Higher Power — however we might name the reality that is greater than ourselves. Prayer is a surrendering: an opening, emptying, creating space. This is where the practice of Centering Prayer comes into play, inculcating the posture over and over of letting go of our small self into something much greater. This action is captured simply in the words of a chant that goes: ‘Fall fearless into Love.’

Likewise, what I understand by religion goes beyond the sectarian beliefs or practices of any group of people. As many have pointed out, the English word religion comes from the Latin word religare, meaning “to bind together.” 

Now, we can already see a deep relationship between surrendering, falling fearless into love — and being bound together by something larger. And really, perhaps that something larger is Love.

Something tells me that this might not have been what William James understood in his assertion, nevertheless, from this perspective, I couldn’t agree more.
 

Most of us think of prayer as asking God for what we want. But of course, there are other ways of praying—as your upcoming retreat this fall demonstrates! Can you tell us more about ways of praying? Perhaps what they are, and why we should practice them?

There’s a saying in Christian mysticism that goes: “As above, so below; as within, so without.” Prayer can be asking consciously and receiving consciously. Prayer can also be resting and tuning our instrument so that our action and our work in the world are in harmony with the action and presence of God. This last part — the harmonizing part — is one of the chief aims of the Christian Wisdom tradition. As Cynthia Bourgeault says, ”Wisdom isn’t about knowing more, but knowing with more of us.”

The fall retreat on October 15th — Ways of Praying for Deeper Knowing — is really about prayer as a practice of cultivating wisdom. This is an extension of the theme for the year at Rolling Ridge — Being Wholly Present. The day will start with some of the foundational aspects of this Christian Wisdom tradition. The balance of the day will be an exploration of three particular practices that help us cultivate wisdom: chanting, sacred movement, and centering prayer. In a way, the whole Day Apart retreat is an introduction, an opportunity for folks to experience these different ways of praying and to have an experience of deeper knowing at the same time.
 

Which spiritual practices do you find most life-giving in this chapter of your life? What rhythms or habits do you find yourself returning to most?

In my early life prayer was, as it is for many people, prayer was simply the practice of making a request to God. This could have been a request for myself or for a member of my family. In fact, night-time prayers as a child were a list of people!

My view on prayer has deepened over time. And I use the word deepened here intentionally because nothing has been left behind. These days, in addition to Centering Prayer and its companion practices — which after seminary have taken primacy in my life — I work a lot with embodied ways of praying through gesture and movement. What I have learned is there are many ways of coming into presence — many ways of preparing the ground for contemplation. And, at the end of the day, contemplation remains a gift. One that we can be ready to receive, but that comes from beyond us.

Can you tell us about an “aha” moment you witnessed or were part of through your work at Rolling Ridge, or as a spiritual director and coach? When did you see someone “get it,” and what happened as a result?

One of my long-term clients comes to mind. When we first started working together, this client could not shift perspective easily. They came in with similar issues that they would describe in a similar way. Their facial expressions and bodily posture went along with their perspectives. However, over time, I witness them sitting up straight more often – and sitting with an open chest (and heart) more often. They still come in with difficult issues. Nevertheless, even with the most difficult issues that they bring today, there is also less tension, less contraction around these issues. It’s truly a miracle and joy to behold.

What is a favorite quote that you find yourself returning to again and again?

There are a couple of teaching stories from Theravada Buddhism that I learned when I was living in New York City that come to mind, but the one that rises to the top is the story of one of the Buddha’s teachers who approached him saying: “Teacher! I’ve come to discover that the common life is half of the holy life.” The Buddha responded, “No. The common life is the whole of the holy life.”

So often, it seems like we are alone in our endeavors. It’s easy to think that we’re alone – and that we have to do whatever it is that we are doing on our own. The reality is we’re never alone. Many of the great traditions – and I’m thinking especially of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, will tell us that there is only one reality – there is only one God, to use religious language – and that we are all whole beings within this greater wholeness. The phrase from Sufism, “Everywhere I look is the face of God” comes to mind.

Nevertheless, it’s challenging to know the depths of this unity when we are ignoring this common life. And I say this as one who has, at times, discounted the impact that I have on the greater whole – so it’s something real that lives in me – and in all of us.
 

You’re also one of the leaders for our Way of the Heart program. Can you tell us about what that program is? How does it help us live more spiritual and centered lives in times that are often characterized by anxiety, uncertainty, or pessimism?

Way of the Heart is an introduction to contemplative living. And delightfully, it’s the sort of introduction that is appropriate for beginners of all levels. I believe that it helps people live more centered, more grounded lives in several ways. First, by introducing and working with different spiritual practices, participants are able to expand the tools in their contemplative tool belts. Practices such as pausing, savoring, attending… they all help us to slow down and return to the living moment again and again.

Way of the Heart also helps people cultivate a deeper center of gravity by helping them to find themselves in the midst of a lineage. We are not alone. This is what the idea of the “communion of Saints” can teach us – others have come before us, those that we know as well as those that we don’t know. We can learn from the lineage of which we are a part – especially when we begin to be more consciously aware of being in this lineage. Another way of saying this is that there is help that is ready to come to our aid when we know how to open to this help.

Finally, the most important way that I think Way of the Heart helps folks to find deeper ground is through the cohort itself – through the community that develops. Again, as the Buddha reminds us, the common life is the holy life. This is particularly true for those who are sensing a “call to the deep” as we might put it. The contemplative life is counter-cultural – almost by definition. And so, helping people to connect with fellow companions is one of the most important aspects of Way of the Heart.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Way of the Heart begins in February 2025, but you can get a "Taste of" Way of the Heart ONLINE on Thursday, November 14th from 7-8 pm eastern.]

What gives you hope for the future?

It might be helpful to say how I understand the word ‘hope.’ I do not mean the positive feelings that come with thinking that tomorrow is going to bring a better outcome. It might. And right now, I do think that a better tomorrow is possible. However, real hope, Mystical Hope, according to Cynthia Bourgeault, goes much deeper. This hope is characterized by presence – by, “the unbearable lightness of being.” Scripture gives witness to this through characters such as Habakkuk and Job. This is the hope that tells us that, “whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”

The very fact that people are hungry and searching for deeper grounding fills me with this sort of hope. There is a shift in consciousness that is afoot. And out of this shift of consciousness, something new, something of an altogether different quality is bound to arise. And… even if there are no new outcomes, the cultivation of this kind of hope itself gives me hope. 
 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Want to learn more or connect with Henry? As well as his upcoming retreat at Rolling Ridge, be sure to visit his website: henryschoenfield.com.