Open Mind, Open Heart by Fr. Thomas Keating, OSCO
First published in 1986 and in print--and immensely popular--ever since, Open Mind, Open Heart, by the Trappist Monk Thomas Keating, remains one of the best introductions to a specifically Christian form of meditation. Father Keating gives the reader an overview of what contemplative prayer both is and isn't; he discusses the history of contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition and then explores step by step the process of Centering Prayer, briefly exploring its origins in the ancient church and then demonstrating its use as "a sign of one's intention" to surrender to God. Each chapter concludes with questions and answers that provide useful information in an informal context. Here in particular we get a sense of Keating's clarity--and his sense of humor. For example, in response to a question about the sudden experience of happiness in prayer, Keating responds, "You should not take prayer too seriously. There is something playful about God. You only have to look at a penguin ... to realize that He likes to play little jokes on creatures." --Doug Thorpe Excerpted from Amazon
The Loving Search for God by Fr. William Meninger, OSCO
Easy to read. Easy to understand. It demonstrates God's love and grace thru the gift of contemplative prayer.
A must read for anyone starting the journey. Of course everyone is in one of the 'stages' of the loving search: a "beginner, only a beginner, or just a beginner".
Provides examples on understanding Scripture at the allegorical level.
Warm, friendly, loving. Much more effective than 'great' theological dissertations. Excerpted from Amazon.
A must read for anyone starting the journey. Of course everyone is in one of the 'stages' of the loving search: a "beginner, only a beginner, or just a beginner".
Provides examples on understanding Scripture at the allegorical level.
Warm, friendly, loving. Much more effective than 'great' theological dissertations. Excerpted from Amazon.
The Path of Centering Prayer: Deepening Your Experience of God
by David Frenette
In the teachings of Jesus, there are prayers, and then there is prayer-the silent, loving communion with the divine beyond words or ritual. Now, with The Path of Centering Prayer, Father Thomas Keating's senior student, friend, and advisor David Frenette reveals the more profound depths of this practice, making it easier for meditators to deepen their connection with God.
Beginning and experienced practitioners alike will benefit from this fresh writing voice, at once eloquent and clear, as they explore:
. The key insights and principles of Centering Prayer
. Guided instruction in the sacred word, sacred breath, and sacred glance practices
. Gentleness and openness: the way of letting go and letting be
. Welcoming stillness and spaciousness into ordinary activities
. Many other immersive contemplations and teachings founded upon the wisdom of Fathers Thomas Keating and Thomas Merton.
"Has my spiritual path grown routine or unfulfilling?" For the millions of Christians who seek to move closer into the presence of the divine, The Path of Centering Prayer offers guidance in this rewarding and time-honored meditation practice, to help break through obstacles and illuminate the way.
Excerpted from Amazon.
Beginning and experienced practitioners alike will benefit from this fresh writing voice, at once eloquent and clear, as they explore:
. The key insights and principles of Centering Prayer
. Guided instruction in the sacred word, sacred breath, and sacred glance practices
. Gentleness and openness: the way of letting go and letting be
. Welcoming stillness and spaciousness into ordinary activities
. Many other immersive contemplations and teachings founded upon the wisdom of Fathers Thomas Keating and Thomas Merton.
"Has my spiritual path grown routine or unfulfilling?" For the millions of Christians who seek to move closer into the presence of the divine, The Path of Centering Prayer offers guidance in this rewarding and time-honored meditation practice, to help break through obstacles and illuminate the way.
Excerpted from Amazon.
Into the Silent Land by Martin Laird
Sitting in stillness, the practice of meditation, and the cultivation of awareness are commonly thought to be the preserves of Hindus and Buddhists. Martin Laird shows that the Christian tradition of contemplation has its own refined teachings on using a prayer word to focus the mind, working with the breath to cultivate stillness, and the practice of inner vigilance or awareness. But this book is not a mere historical survey of these teachings. In Into the Silent Land, we see the ancient wisdom of both the Christian East and West brought sharply to bear on the modern-day longing for radical openness to God in the depths of the heart.
Laird's book is not like the many presentations for beginners. While useful for those just starting out, this book serves especially as a guide for those who desire to journey yet deeper into the silence of God. The heart of the book focuses on negotiating key moments of struggle on the contemplative path, when the whirlwind of distractions or the brick wall of boredom makes it difficult to continue. Laird shows that these inner struggles, even wounds, that any person of prayer must face, are like riddles, trying to draw out of us our own inner silence. Ultimately Laird shows how the wounds we loathe become vehicles of the healing silence we seek, beyond technique and achievement.
Throughout the language is fresh, direct, and focused on real-life examples of people whose lives are incomparably enriched by the practice of contemplation. Excerpted from Amazon.
Laird's book is not like the many presentations for beginners. While useful for those just starting out, this book serves especially as a guide for those who desire to journey yet deeper into the silence of God. The heart of the book focuses on negotiating key moments of struggle on the contemplative path, when the whirlwind of distractions or the brick wall of boredom makes it difficult to continue. Laird shows that these inner struggles, even wounds, that any person of prayer must face, are like riddles, trying to draw out of us our own inner silence. Ultimately Laird shows how the wounds we loathe become vehicles of the healing silence we seek, beyond technique and achievement.
Throughout the language is fresh, direct, and focused on real-life examples of people whose lives are incomparably enriched by the practice of contemplation. Excerpted from Amazon.
Poustinia: Encountering God in Silence, Solitude and Prayer
by Catherine Doherty
Poustinia -- The modern spiritual classic for those seeking the open heart and listening soul of a silent contemplation.
Poustinia, a Russian word, means 'desert', a place to meet Christ in silence, solitude and prayer. Catherine Doherty combines her insights into the great spiritual traditions of the Russian Church with her very personal experience of life with Christ.
Men and women who desire communion with God can discover how the poustinia powerfully fulfills their yearning. Readers are invited to leave the noise and harried pace of daily life to enter a place of silence and solitude. Catherine writes from her own experience with refreshing and startling Christian authenticity and a strong personal sense of spiritual authority.
Catherine emphasizes 'poustinia of the heart,' an interiorized poustinia, a silent chamber carried always and everywhere in which to contemplate God within. Learn how our desert can be in the marketplace, in the midst of countless conferences, traffic jams, bus trips--or a hospital ward. Written by one who knows by experience, Poustinia brings consolation with its vision of a personal desert that can bloom in simple, profound prayer.
A timeless best-seller, published in 16 foreign editions around the world, the experience of poustinia has become a worldwide phenomenon following its publicity through this popular book.
Excerpted from Amazon
Poustinia, a Russian word, means 'desert', a place to meet Christ in silence, solitude and prayer. Catherine Doherty combines her insights into the great spiritual traditions of the Russian Church with her very personal experience of life with Christ.
Men and women who desire communion with God can discover how the poustinia powerfully fulfills their yearning. Readers are invited to leave the noise and harried pace of daily life to enter a place of silence and solitude. Catherine writes from her own experience with refreshing and startling Christian authenticity and a strong personal sense of spiritual authority.
Catherine emphasizes 'poustinia of the heart,' an interiorized poustinia, a silent chamber carried always and everywhere in which to contemplate God within. Learn how our desert can be in the marketplace, in the midst of countless conferences, traffic jams, bus trips--or a hospital ward. Written by one who knows by experience, Poustinia brings consolation with its vision of a personal desert that can bloom in simple, profound prayer.
A timeless best-seller, published in 16 foreign editions around the world, the experience of poustinia has become a worldwide phenomenon following its publicity through this popular book.
Excerpted from Amazon
Interior Castle Explored: St. Teresa's Teaching on the Life of Deep Union With God by Ruth Burrows
INTERIOR CASTLE EXPLORED is a penetrating interpretation of St. Teresa of Avila's central teaching on prayer. But it is more than a contemporary Carmelite commentary on the 16th-century Carmelite classic; it is also, in its own right, a guide to the life of deep union with God.
Excerpted from Amazon.
Excerpted from Amazon.
Centering Prayer: An Inner Awakening by Cynthia Bourgeault
Practitioners of Centering Prayer are known for the great enthusiasm they bring to the practice of this ancient discipline. Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening is a complete guidebook for all who wish to know the practice of Centering Prayer. Cynthia Bourgeault goes further than offering an introduction, however. She examines how the practice is related to the classic tradition of Christian contemplation, looks at the distinct nuances of its method, and explores its revolutionary potential to transform Christian life. The book encourages dialogue between Centering Prayer enthusiasts and those classic institutions of Christian nurture—churches, seminaries, and schools of theology—that have yet to accept real ownership of the practice and its potential. Excerpted from Amazon.
You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hahn
Reviewed by Ethel Fraga
In You Are Here, Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, speaks to people of all faiths and no faith about the value of being present. His integrative and deeply ecumenical approach affirms Fr. Bede Griffiths’(1906 – 1993) idea that all of the world’s religions come together in their contemplative dimension which guide people to become one with the Sacred Dimension of life. Thich Nhat Hahn calls this Sacred Dimension of life The Kingdom of God within, in Christian terms, and the Pure Land in Buddhist terms. He helps all of us understand the breath as a tool for prayer, presence and surrender into unitive living.
This book appears to be simple, but teaches profoundly about the power of the simple practice of using the breath to stay in touch with the present moment – about the fact that being present enables us to be present to the Presence, one with Ultimate, one with the Divine.
Early in the book, he says that when we return to the breath we are practicing Resurrection. We rise from the suffering of daily life and touch the Kingdom of God, the Pure Land within us. All it takes is one mindful breath to surrender ourselves into the Divine Healing Presence, to that place within where we are always whole and at peace.
This habit of being present to the Ultimate Presence is not escape. It is done with grateful awareness of what is pleasant and with compassionate awareness of what is unpleasant in our lives, consciously softening around all of life just as it is and using the breath to surrender all into the Kingdom of God, the Pure Land within.
Thai, (Beloved Teacher), says, elsewhere in his work, that Buddhism is not so much a religion as a philosophy, a wisdom tradition which offers us life skills for reducing human suffering and working toward enlightenment. This tool of using the breath to center, helps us to “change the direction in which we look for happiness” - borrowing words from Thomas Keating, guiding and beloved teacher of the Centering Prayer movement.
In many deceptively simple ways, the author reinforces the profound truth that Happiness is always available to us if we but allow ourselves to be present to It.
One breath, one mindful step can connect us to that place within - that place at the Center where we are always whole and at peace – the Kingdom of God, the Pure Land within. Yes, we have messiness in our lives, and we get distracted. But, we hold all of this in compassionate, nonjudgmental awareness and allow ourselves to touch the Divine within and around us with something as easily available as the breath which enables us to drop down to the center where we encounter our True Selves.
Thai also reminds us of the 4 Noble Truths:
1. Suffering exists.
2. Suffering comes from craving and its opposite, aversion.
3. Suffering can end.
4. Right intention, right effort, right view, right livelihood, and mindful awareness lead to the end of suffering – to Resurrection here in this life.
And of course, he touches as always, on “inter being” – “interconnectedness” – the very concept that made Jesus say, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, that you do unto me”; “I and the Father are one”; “you in me and I in you”
The 3 Jewels mentioned- the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha translate to the teacher, the teachings, and the community of friends with whom we walk the journey. Happy are we who live and study the contemplative life together with our Centering Prayer Groups.
In his Epilogue, Thai refers to the 5 Mindfulness Trainings: to live compassionately, to cultivate Loving Kindness toward all of creation, to express our sexuality responsibly, to speak and to listen lovingly, and to consume only that which helps us to “preserve peace, well being and joy”.
I am old enough to remember that some in the Christian Churches were cautious and even fearful of the Eastern teachers who impacted on our culture in the 6o’s -teaching people meditation tools that were not available in Christian churches. Thich Nhat Hanh’s deep penetration of the universality of the human search for the Sacred Dimension of life, his clear and simple teachings on being present to the Presence, and his deep respect for the Christian contemplative worldview made this book very precious to me and to my companions on the journey. This kind of integrative thinking is the fulfillment of the hope expressed by Fr. Bede Griffiths that the contemplative dimension of world’s religions would lead people to join together in creating a critical mass of people in search of the Divine through mindful and contemplative living.
Together on the journey …
Ethel Fraga
Centering Prayer Presenter
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Instructor
[email protected]
In You Are Here, Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, speaks to people of all faiths and no faith about the value of being present. His integrative and deeply ecumenical approach affirms Fr. Bede Griffiths’(1906 – 1993) idea that all of the world’s religions come together in their contemplative dimension which guide people to become one with the Sacred Dimension of life. Thich Nhat Hahn calls this Sacred Dimension of life The Kingdom of God within, in Christian terms, and the Pure Land in Buddhist terms. He helps all of us understand the breath as a tool for prayer, presence and surrender into unitive living.
This book appears to be simple, but teaches profoundly about the power of the simple practice of using the breath to stay in touch with the present moment – about the fact that being present enables us to be present to the Presence, one with Ultimate, one with the Divine.
Early in the book, he says that when we return to the breath we are practicing Resurrection. We rise from the suffering of daily life and touch the Kingdom of God, the Pure Land within us. All it takes is one mindful breath to surrender ourselves into the Divine Healing Presence, to that place within where we are always whole and at peace.
This habit of being present to the Ultimate Presence is not escape. It is done with grateful awareness of what is pleasant and with compassionate awareness of what is unpleasant in our lives, consciously softening around all of life just as it is and using the breath to surrender all into the Kingdom of God, the Pure Land within.
Thai, (Beloved Teacher), says, elsewhere in his work, that Buddhism is not so much a religion as a philosophy, a wisdom tradition which offers us life skills for reducing human suffering and working toward enlightenment. This tool of using the breath to center, helps us to “change the direction in which we look for happiness” - borrowing words from Thomas Keating, guiding and beloved teacher of the Centering Prayer movement.
In many deceptively simple ways, the author reinforces the profound truth that Happiness is always available to us if we but allow ourselves to be present to It.
One breath, one mindful step can connect us to that place within - that place at the Center where we are always whole and at peace – the Kingdom of God, the Pure Land within. Yes, we have messiness in our lives, and we get distracted. But, we hold all of this in compassionate, nonjudgmental awareness and allow ourselves to touch the Divine within and around us with something as easily available as the breath which enables us to drop down to the center where we encounter our True Selves.
Thai also reminds us of the 4 Noble Truths:
1. Suffering exists.
2. Suffering comes from craving and its opposite, aversion.
3. Suffering can end.
4. Right intention, right effort, right view, right livelihood, and mindful awareness lead to the end of suffering – to Resurrection here in this life.
And of course, he touches as always, on “inter being” – “interconnectedness” – the very concept that made Jesus say, “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, that you do unto me”; “I and the Father are one”; “you in me and I in you”
The 3 Jewels mentioned- the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha translate to the teacher, the teachings, and the community of friends with whom we walk the journey. Happy are we who live and study the contemplative life together with our Centering Prayer Groups.
In his Epilogue, Thai refers to the 5 Mindfulness Trainings: to live compassionately, to cultivate Loving Kindness toward all of creation, to express our sexuality responsibly, to speak and to listen lovingly, and to consume only that which helps us to “preserve peace, well being and joy”.
I am old enough to remember that some in the Christian Churches were cautious and even fearful of the Eastern teachers who impacted on our culture in the 6o’s -teaching people meditation tools that were not available in Christian churches. Thich Nhat Hanh’s deep penetration of the universality of the human search for the Sacred Dimension of life, his clear and simple teachings on being present to the Presence, and his deep respect for the Christian contemplative worldview made this book very precious to me and to my companions on the journey. This kind of integrative thinking is the fulfillment of the hope expressed by Fr. Bede Griffiths that the contemplative dimension of world’s religions would lead people to join together in creating a critical mass of people in search of the Divine through mindful and contemplative living.
Together on the journey …
Ethel Fraga
Centering Prayer Presenter
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Instructor
[email protected]
Teresa of Avila by Rowan Williams
Archbishop Rowan Williams's study of Teresa of Avila exemplifies his own deep spiritual theology.
Together with her contemporary and friend, St. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila stands at the highest point of Catholic spiritual writing in the troubled age of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. She is also one of the founding figures of modern Spanish literature. Teresa's vivid descriptions of her experiences in prayer have long made her an object of intense interest to psychologists of religion.
This book makes use of recent historical research on Teresa and her society and provides a full introduction to all her major works. It shows Teresa as more than just a chronicler of paranormal states of consciousness. She emerges as a genuine theologian in her own right, with a powerful contribution to make to contemporary understanding of God. Excerpted from Amazon.
Together with her contemporary and friend, St. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila stands at the highest point of Catholic spiritual writing in the troubled age of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. She is also one of the founding figures of modern Spanish literature. Teresa's vivid descriptions of her experiences in prayer have long made her an object of intense interest to psychologists of religion.
This book makes use of recent historical research on Teresa and her society and provides a full introduction to all her major works. It shows Teresa as more than just a chronicler of paranormal states of consciousness. She emerges as a genuine theologian in her own right, with a powerful contribution to make to contemporary understanding of God. Excerpted from Amazon.
