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, […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“The Greatest Experience of God is No Experience”
Q: I heard you share this quote: “The greatest experience of God is no experience of God” (Thomas Keating). This saying has me very confused. My life has been filled […]
The Cross of Uncle Raymond
by Tom Agness Rochester, New York, USA I have never liked crucifixes. For years, the emphasis on the bloody death of Jesus Christ, his anguished face, without the corresponding […]
Using the Sacred Glance in Centering Prayer
Q: Can someone explain using the sacred glance in Centering Prayer, instead of the sacred word? A: The sacred glance in Centering Prayer is a beautiful symbol of our consent […]
Body Sensations and Unloading
Q: I haven’t been a practitioner of Centering Prayer very long; or rather, I haven’t been as disciplined as I sometimes desire. However, I want to ask about my body’s […]
Transitioning from Mindfulness to Centering Prayer
Q: I’ve been practicing mindfulness for many years. A carryover from this practice is the tendency for a beautiful pulsating image to manifest in the area between my eyebrows a […]
Digging A Well of Presence in the Parish
by Amber Sturgess Recent years have brought about major paradigm shifts in our institutions, including our churches. During the pandemic many of our parishes had to close to the public, […]