Q: Can fears, anxiety etc. occur during sleep or just during the sit time? I have been practicing Centering Prayer about two years. I often wake in the middle […]
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Opening to the Heartbreak of the World: An Experiment in Expanding Practice
by Mary Jane Yates, Alberta, Canada I have heard from those who knew him that Fr. Thomas was fond of using the word “experiment” when it came to discerning […]
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Introductory Day to Centering Prayer in the Capuchin Friars Monastery in Bratislava on United in Prayer Saturday 2024
by Teresie Viera Hašanová, CO Czechia-Slovakia I think there was no better way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Contemplative Outreach community and honour Fr. Thomas Keating´s birthday (March 7) […]
The Meeting of Meditation Traditions
Q: I read of your retreat at Garrison Institute, which I have also visited and it is wonderful. The struggle that I have is, as a Christian, the large […]
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An Insight
by Martina Weber Echzell, Germany Six years ago I read a lot about the Welcoming Prayer and tried to integrate it into my then beginning Centering Prayer practice. It […]
Q&A Contributors
Fr. Carl J. Arico is a founding member of Contemplative Outreach, and honored to have known Fr. Keating since 1969. He was present for the first intensive Centering Prayer retreat that Fr. […]
Logging
by Bob Brown Thousand Oaks, California, USA For the past 73 years, I’ve been a participant in the human condition, both as recipient and contributor. In 1997, a woman […]
Choosing a Sacred Word
Q: For my sacred word is it okay to use the four words QUE QUE SERA QUORA? This has helped me get through many confusing stresses and uncertainty. I […]
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Message from the Board Team
by the Contemplative Outreach Board As members of the Contemplative Outreach Board, we are volunteers who offer our time and service in an effort to support and advocate for […]
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A Prayer Shawl: March 8-9, 2024
by Susan Kenney Sacramento, California, USA It is a prayer shawl, created in 23 hours. Each hour new threads are added. Each of different color and texture. Each with its […]
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“Bless Them and Change Me”
Q: This question is in reference to the proper procedure for a group doing Centering Prayer. Our leader starts out by going around the circle and checking in with […]
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Service Teams Can Assist You with Practice, Programs and Training
Coordinator of Volunteers: In August 2016, Marie Howard was invited by the Governing Board of CO to serve on the staff for CO to empower and support the volunteer leaders […]
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I wonder why so many clergy are not aware of contemplative prayer?
Q: I wonder why so many clergy are not aware of contemplative prayer? Even if they are, why don’t they share it with their congregations? A: There is any number […]
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My Experience with the Practice of Utmost Charity
When I saw the notice for the course “Utmost Charity: A Call to Deeper Love,” although I had many previous commitments on my calendar, I was immediately drawn to […]
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The Path of Centering Prayer and Welcoming Prayer
Q: I have been in recovery for 19 years from 35 long painful years of addictions and have meditated for as long. I have followed nondual teaching of resting […]
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Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of Centering Prayer in Poland
offered by Tomek Jelinski At the end of September, Contemplative Outreach celebrated 10 years of its presence in Poland. To mark the occasion, a weekend meeting of members and supporters […]
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About the Intensive Retreat
This article contains information about the Centering Prayer Intensive Retreat format, which is also one of the requirements of the commissioning process to become a Centering Prayer Presenter. Thomas Keating […]
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A Message for the New Year
from the Governing Board of Contemplative Outreach It is a new year – a time for celebration, for looking back at the highs and lows of the previous year, […]
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About the Contemplative Walk
Q: Our group has been doing a contemplative walk before meetings. Do you have any information about this practice? A: The contemplative walk is a time of mindful walking sometimes […]
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False self, Centering Prayer and Welcoming Prayer
Q: I have been practicing Centering Prayer for many years, although it doesn’t fall easy for me. One thing I have kept being frustrated about is how to view the […]
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Letting Go of All Ideas About God
Q: The inevitable end of the letting go process requires one to let go of all ideas about God, including belief in God. So one is presented with a paradox […]
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Choosing a Centering Prayer Retreat
Q: I have had a committed, active Centering Prayer practice for many years. I would like to go on a retreat and was wondering if you could advise me […]
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Making Centering Prayer Available to Everyone
The practice of Centering Prayer deepens our awareness of the Oneness of all creation and our compassion for the whole human family. – Theological Principle #12 At a recent […]
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Length of an Intensive Retreat
Q: I’m exploring how/if I can organize my life for an intensive retreat. As I look there seems to be a standard of a nine-day retreat and then some […]
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What are we Welcoming?
Q: Our Centering Prayer group in Ireland has been using the Welcoming prayer practice for a number of weeks after our period of Centering Prayer. There seems to be […]
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