New Camaldoli Hermitage is a community of Roman Catholic monks whose life is dedicated to contemplation and prayer. We are a worshiping community, celebrating with our friends and guests the Liturgy of the Hours and the Holy Eucharist. Our monastic fellowship extends beyond the walls of this hermitage and embraces a large and inclusive community of oblates, persons of different walks of life who live the grace of their baptism in spiritual communion with the monks. This page offers a brief history of the monastic men and women whose life and teachings have inspired the Camaldolese Benedictines to this day.

Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam.:

is a Camaldolese monk, musician, composer, author, and teacher. A native of Illinois, he spent his young adult years mostly in Arizona working as a professional musician. He joined the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, California in 1992. After his initial years of formation there, and solemn vows and ordination, he lived in a hermitage near Santa Cruz, California for ten years, spending about half his time at home, and half his time traveling, performing and teaching, working extensively in interreligious dialogue, music, and meditation. Much of both his music and his teaching revolve around the Universal Call to Contemplation through spirituality and the arts. He has six collections of original music recorded and published through OCP Publications, and several independent releases, including those with his longtime collaborator, percussionist John Pennington. A student of the writings of Bede Griffiths and Abhishiktananda, Cyprian has a great love for comparative religion and has published two books based on wisdom culled from what he has gained from his studies, and numerous articles on spirituality as well as on music and liturgy. He has been to India numerous times as well as other countries in Europe, Asia, and the Mideast, performing as well as studying and teaching. Returning to New Camaldoli in 2012, he was elected prior of the community in 2013.

A Ruff Transcript of my Conversation:

Hello, I am here with Father Cyprien. Thank you. Listen on thank you very much for meeting with me. I really appreciate it. And we’re at great New Camaldoli Hermitage Big Sur. Okay, and so I’m just going to jump into the question because the storms Outside are calling me to get on the road. Okay pretty quick here.

The first question is why meditate?

Which is a great question as I mentioned you before.  These four principles that great teacher looked Anandi taught the four principles for meditation. He thought the most basic thing was every time you sit down to meditate. You should ask yourself why we’re meditating and I suppose every one of the Traditions will tell you in a different way. But I would say from the Christian perspective. There’s a great Lane line from st. Paul’s letter to the Romans. Where he says the love of God is poured into our hearts by the spirit living in us. So the most mystical understanding of the Christian dispensation is that. God dwells within us as the Holy Spirit God is Not Just in celeb Heaven light years away. The very ground of our being the ground of our Consciousness and the source of our life is the Divine who we call God who we call the Holy Spirit by the power of the spirit. So I would say from a Christian perspective. I meditate about the facial 12 steps to have conscious contact with that with the ground of my being with the ground of my Consciousness. Who is the Divine the love of God poured into my heart the spirit living in the great I can add Alleluia on the back? Yeah. The next question is what is your definition of mindfulness? And what does it look like to live a mindful life? Okay,