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 […]
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 […]
A Sacred Pause Silent Wisdom Retreat: A Curated Retreat for Contemplatives Under 50
In a society bombarded with the allure of external validation and perpetual striving, we often find ourselves caught in the relentless pursuit of relevance, accomplishment, and fleeting happiness. Yet, amidst […]
Communion to Community: “That We May Be One”
Reflecting on the teachings of Fr. Thomas Keating and Beatrice Bruteau, Colleen Thomas will lead us in exploring the heart of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel of John 17. In […]
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 […]
Summer Centering Prayer retreat: Awakening to Oneness
This retreat will include teachings on Oneness and Unitive Consciousness from Father Thomas Keating and Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault along with multiple daily periods of silence in Centering Prayer as a […]
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 […]
Centering Prayer Intensive Retreat
This 7 days / 6 night Centering Prayer retreat provides an opportunity to deepen one’s established Centering Prayer practice by building to 4 1/2 hours of prayer time at mid […]
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 […]
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 […]
Lectio Divina and the Four Senses of Scripture
This Praying Holy Scripture retreat offers presentations based upon Fr. Thomas Keating’s teachings on the deepening levels of faith: the Four Senses of Scripture – literal, allegorical, behavioral/moral, and unitive […]
The Healing Power of Centering Prayer
Led by The Rev. Tim Grayson “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” – St. Augustine Thomas Keating, one […]
Thomas Keating’s Call to Wisdom
“ May the next years see the increase of Centering Prayer, and the creative addition of other Wisdom aspects that might enhance what we are doing, or at least […]
Centering Prayer and Arising Energies
Q: I have been practicing Centering Prayer for some time. Around two months ago during this prayer I had a strange experience. I felt some powerful force/energy entering my […]
“Invitation from God” Reawakening to the Contemplative Dimension of Life
In “Invitation from God” Thomas Keating is interviewed by Marie Louise Lefèvre, a Danish journalist, about contemplation and the spiritual journey and its implications for personal and global freedom. Thomas Keating explains how […]
Centering Prayer Silent Weekend Retreat
This silent/contemplative retreat is designed to deepen the practice of Centering Prayer. Come and enter the inner room where “interior silence strengthens and affirms the human experience” (T. Keating, Open […]
Guard of the Heart – via Zoom
“One practice to bring the effects of contemplative prayer into daily life is traditionally known as “Guard of the Heart.” This consists of letting go of every emotional disturbance as […]
Is Centering Prayer for the Non-Religious?
Q: I’m a practitioner of “A Course in Miracles” and other non-religious pathways. Can I or anyone that is not a traditional Christian practice Centering Prayer? Is Centering Prayer for […]
Introduction to Lectio Divina (part two) – via Zoom
The Lectio Divina Service Team will present an Introduction to Monastic Lectio Divina. This workshop will teach you how to pray with Scripture, be open to the promptings of the […]
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 […]
Introduction to Lectio Divina via Zoom (part one)
The Lectio Divina Service Team will present an Introduction to Monastic Lectio Divina. This two part workshop will teach you how to pray with Scripture, be open to the promptings […]
Six-Day Centering Prayer Retreat: Intensive & Post-Intensive
The retreat will provide an opportunity to deepen one’s practice of Centering Prayer in an atmosphere of profound silence and community support. All participants observe silence from the opening to […]
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 […]
“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 […]