83: The Light Within with Laurence Freeman

83: The Light Within with Laurence Freeman

From The Leader’s Way by Berkeley Divinity School at Yale

March 30, 2026 · 53 min · Episode 84

About this episode

Father Laurence Freeman shares his journey into monastic life and the impact of meditation on spirituality.

By his own admission, Father Laurence Freeman came into the monastic life "kicking and screaming.” In this lively episode, host Brandon Nappi asks Fr. Freeman to share the story of his journey into the monastery, about his relationship with the incredible meditation teacher, John Main, and the profound ways meditation shapes our experience of the world. Father Freeman is a monk of the Benedictine Congregation of Monte Oliveto Maggiore. He is the director and spiritual guide of the World Community for Christian Meditation. John Main was his teacher and Fr. Laurence assisted him in establishing the foundations of the Community. Fr. Laurence is the author of a number of books on Christian Meditation including Light Within: The Inner Path of Meditation and Jesus: The Teacher Within. He travels extensively giving presentations and leading Christian Meditation Retreats. Before entering monastic life, Fr. Laurence worked with the United Nations in New York, in Banking and Journalism. Host: Brandon Nappi Guest: Laurence Freeman Instagram: @theleadersway.podcast berkeleydivinity.yale.edu/podcast You can support our work at https://tinyurl.com/support-transforming-leaders

People in this episode

Host: Brandon Nappi

Guest: Laurence Freeman

Topics covered

  • Christian meditation
  • monastic life
  • spiritual journey
  • meditation teacher
  • Benedictine spirituality

Keywords

  • Christian meditation
  • Laurence Freeman
  • John Main
  • monastic life
  • spirituality
  • meditation retreats
  • Benedictine

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: World Community for Christian Meditation, Benedictine Congregation of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Berkeley Divinity School at Yale

More episodes of The Leader’s Way

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Leader’s Way podcast page.