On Happiness

Matthew Reid - Happiness: Contemplative Influence on Contemporary Culture 

The Christian life is implicitly a life a radical simplicity. It is a calling that is often vastly different than the way of the world. Happiness is not a worldly goal, but an internal striving to live with humility and love. This striving is an internal conversion and a life-long commitment made at baptism--to live in the world, but not be of the world.

-Matthew Reid

Recorded from the 2021 ITMS biennial conference - June 24th, 2021

ITMS Conference 2021

The International Thomas Merton Society

2021 Emerging Scholar: Matthew Reid

Founder of a charity working with the poor in the Southwest, Matthew Reid has given lectures across the United States, he speaks a universal message of prayer and the importance of a meditative life. 

2013 Daggy Scholar

2018/2019 Shannon Fellowship Scholar

Matthew Reid - Happiness: Contemplative Influence on Contemporary Culture 

The Christian life is implicitly a life a radical simplicity. It is a calling that is often vastly different than the way of the world. Happiness is not a worldly goal, but an internal striving to live with humility and love. This striving is an internal conversion and a life-long commitment made at baptism--to live in the world, but not be of the world.

-Matthew Reid

Presenter at the 2021 International Thomas Merton Society Conference. Conference runs from June 23rd, 2021 - June 26th, 2021. Matthew's presentation will be on Thursday, June 24th, 2021 at 1pm EST. 

For more information please visit Merton.org

Promise

Spoken

Talks

GRATITUDE, HUMILITY & FORGIVENESS
WITH MATTHEW REID

​

December 13

7:30pm-9pm

Gratitude dwells in a heart that is humble and loving. It expands the daily focal point beyond the realm of the self. Allowing gratitude to dwell within, alters how the world is perceived. This is the beginning stages of pure love.

Moving beyond gratitude, is forgiveness. It is in forgiving that love may grow within, and it is in forgiving that we may experience forgiveness. Both gratitude and forgiveness imply the need for a truly humble heart.

This talk will discuss the importance of gratitude. In doing so, the levels of forgiveness will be discussed along with the underlying foundation of humility, on which both gratitude and forgiveness must be built.

Author, illustrator and modern-monastic Matthew Reid is currently working on his third and fourth publications. As a spiritual speaker, Matthew has traveled the United States, he speaks a universal message of prayer and the importance of a meditative life. Matthew’s example works to slow down daily pace, while re-introducing the concept of love in moment to moment processes; where failure is equally important to success, and joy can be made from both.

www.SamudraYogaGC.com

el jardín

And the King will answer and say to them,‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
Matthew 25:40

To grow in love for all, this is an underlying purpose to life. It is helpful to learn to see the reflection of all humanity within each person. The simplicity of the message is without exception. To create the space for selfless love, the self must become less. As the self becomes less, the greater the love for all beings. As the self diminishes, selflessness expands, as by definition it is without self. Love exists naturally as emptiness. The products of selfishness most often sit in the place which should remain emptied.

All beings are from one Creator, and as God loves everyone. It is necessary to love, as love has been the example in creation. All beings are capable of this love. To have such love shown in a relationship of mother to child, or otherwise, is to know that it is possible—possible to forgive, understand and show compassion. These blessed relationships provide the strength to then generalize that love to all others—to see others with an open and compassionate heart—to see the oneness within the separateness.

To speak of this oneness thus implies that all beings are treated with this high standard of love and respect. Presupposing the innate understanding of what love is, self-love is also not to be neglected.

Love is simple. Love is free of attachment, desire and agenda. Love is emptiness. Love is stillness, and stillness is that which unites all beings. Love is God and God is love.

talks

Author, illustrator and speaker Matthew Reid visits The Blue Room on Wednesday, October 2nd, to discuss the simplicity of developing a meditative life. This workshop will consist of a discourse of mediation, Q&A and book signing. 

This event is donation based, and all are welcome!

A Short Discourse on Meditation

Wednesday, October 2

7PM

135 Flamingo Street

Atlantic Beach, NY 

11509

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