Q: I would like to ask about the connection between Centering Prayer and Yoga Nidra. I once went on a three-day silent retreat where we did Centering Prayer three times a […]
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The Agnesian Creed
by Tom Agness New York, USA My thanks to Richard Rohr, one of my hero theologians, who has suggested we all develop our own personal creed. This is mine. […]
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A Meditation on Centering Prayer and Poverty of Spirit
Fr. Keating recommends studying the beatitudes. The beatitudes, especially poverty of spirit, seem to stand out in the heart of his writing. It seems to me I can take […]
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Centering Prayer & the Process of Transformation
I often think about these words from Jesus, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them. For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such […]
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Centering Prayer, Distractions and Discouragement
Q: I’ve been practising Centering Prayer for many years now and I still get very distracted and my mind is very busy and I rarely feel rested at the […]
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Centering Prayer and Mental Health Challenges
Q: A very seminal moment/question for me. I have been in contemplative prayer practice daily for almost 10 years. I understand the “falling away” of the false self with devotion […]
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Protestant Barriers to Contemplative Prayer
I am an ordained Protestant minister who has benefited greatly from contemplative prayer. I speak from experience with a way of being open to contemplative prayer called Centering Prayer. I […]
Cultivating a ‘Contemplative Life’
by Sue Fox McGovern The members of a Centering Prayer group in Park Ridge, Illinois, USA say they have never felt closer to one another. Perhaps it’s because some […]
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1968: St. Joseph’s Abbey, Conversations with Fr. Thomas and My Near Death Experience
by Richard M. Dell’Orfano, California, USA Excerpt from Book 1, Chapter 27: Regarding my arrival in 1968 at St Joseph’s Abbey, meeting Fr Thomas, and my near-death experience. Route 9 […]
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Why is 20 Minutes Recommended for Centering Prayer?
Q: Why is 20 minutes the suggested time for contemplation? Historically has that always been the length? Any particular reason for 20 minutes? Can it be shorter? A: I answer […]
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Can I Practice More Than One Form of Meditative Prayer?
Q: I’ve been meditating for about 10 years every day three or four times for about 30 minutes each. I’ve practiced mantra and just sitting or Shikantaza, Later on I’ve […]
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Q&A with Fr. Carl J. Arico Archive: Related to Centering Prayer
On or related to Centering Prayer Q: I started doing Centering Prayer about a year and a half ago. I was quite strict about two 20 minute periods a day at the […]
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Praying with the Eyes of the Heart
Minnesota Contemplative Outreach sponsored an event called “Praying with the Eyes of the Heart.” We gathered at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and began with Centering Prayer and then […]
Centering Prayer and Depression
Some of us are blessed with good health, relative prosperity and long lives. But in even the most charmed life, there are times when things do not go as […]
Each Hour a Miracle
a reflection on the 2023 United in Prayer Day event by Sue Kenney, California, USA Each hour a miracle. A miracle of technology and of silent prayer. Together they create […]
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Struggling to Practice Centering Prayer
Q: I am 83. At the age of about 70 I began practicing Centering Prayer. To my great surprise, I found it easy. I say this because previous attempts […]
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Falling Asleep during Centering Prayer
Q: I am having a problem falling asleep during Centering Prayer. It may be attributable to age, but I am almost always dozing off, even in the mornings after […]
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How Zen Contemplation Relates to Centering Prayer
Q: I’ve been practicing Zen meditation with a Christian group for 18 years. What is your view with respect to how Zen contemplation relates to Centering Prayer? The principles […]
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Our God Within
Toward Perfection
OUR GOD WITHIN TOWARD PERFECTION January, 2023 Message Ruby M. Shelton 01/27/23 In the book, “The Power of Now,” p. 01, Eckhart Tolle quotes Russell E. Dicarlo, […]
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Toward Perfection
Centering Prayer Mentoring in a Monastery
By Benedicte Vibe Christensen In June 2018 Pat Johnston, the interim administrator of Contemplative Outreach, asked me to mentor Brother Columba, a young monk (then 26) in a monastery in […]
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“Deliberately dismantle the emotional programming of the false self”
by Cherry Haisten member of Welcoming Prayer service team At the end of early editions of Open Mind, Open Heart appears a list Thomas Keating calls “Means of Extending the […]
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Dealing with the Unloading of Trauma and Grief
Q: Over the last few months I’ve been experiencing a lot of deep grief during Centering Prayer periods followed by understandings outside of prayer into trauma that occurred when […]
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The Original Blessing
Q: My grandchildren are being raised Baptist Faith. When I asked what made them want to be baptized by full immersion, I fully expected them to say “because they […]
Practicing from a sacred space within
Q: Prior to discovering Centering Prayer I practiced meditation using a mantra. Somewhere along the way I found myself inside a space like the cleft of a rock, which I […]
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Sounds of Nature and Centering Prayer
Q: There is a small creek in our backyard and I enjoy practicing Centering Prayer while sitting on the back porch or opening a window so I can hear […]
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