In That We May Be One: Christian Non-Duality by Thomas Keating points to the ultimate destination of the spiritual journey.
One of the chief architects of the Centering Prayer movement, Keating has guided countless people of all walks on the contemplative path toward wholeness. He speaks to the inner transformation experienced through daily silent meditation practice:
Centering Prayer establishes the letting go of self, making room for the gradual development of consciousness beyond rational thought
and into what some spiritual traditions call non-duality.
Keating reflects on Eastern philosophies of enlightenment and awakening as he presents core teachings of mystical Christianity. Drawing parallels to advances in science and technology, as well as to teachings found in the Gospel of John and the letters of Paul,
Keating invites us to become who we already are:
It is a simple program, but hard to do. All you have to do is do nothing. It does not mean that you actually do nothing...Emptiness is not nothingness,
but emptiness with an openness to becoming everything.
Beloved Trappist monk Thomas Keating is best known as one of the primary founders of the Centering Prayer movement, which made the contemplative dimension of Christianity accessible through a simple method of silent, still meditation. He is also known as the convener of the Snowmass Interreligious Conference, which helped spawn the global Interspiritual movement. Keating's open invitation to people of all walks to embark on a spiritual journey, coupled with his emphasis on the oneness of all creation, made him a 20th-century harbinger of 21st-century ideals.
This is the 20th anniversary edition of Continuum's best-selling spiritual classic, which has sold over half a million in the English language and has appeared in 10 foreign-language editions (Croatian, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesia, Italian, Korean, Polish, and Portuguese). The new edition consists of a substantial new preface, an expanded glossary, some changes in terminology, and a reordering of several chapters.
The spiritual journey, writes Thomas Keating, is not a career or a success story. It is a series of humiliations of the false self that becomes more and more profound. These make room inside us for the Holy Spirit to come in and heal. What prevents us from being available to God is gradually evacuated. We keep getting closer and closer to our center. Every now and then God lifts a corner of the veil and enters into our awareness through various channels, as if to say, 'Here I am. Where are you? Come and join me.'
Father Keating writes with the simplicity and depth that emerges from more than fifty years of practicing to become a 'friend of God'--in this case as a Cistercian monk, abbot, and spiritual advisor... Those of us who learn from him are grateful for--and blessed by--his gifts.
--Elaine Pagels
In an era when the commodification of spirituality in America seems inescapable, his presence and message [are] genuinely inspiring.
--Ronald F. Thiemann
The spiritual journey, says Thomas Keating, is a journey of self-discovery, since the encounter with God is also an encounter with one's deepest self. As we come closer to God, we encounter the wellsprings of our own makeup, the hidden chambers of our personality and behavior. God calls us to live in a real world as mature people. And so, growing in God's grace is a gradual process of stepping into the light, of owning up to ourselves and becoming fully human.
To insulate themselves against the pain of living, many people--including many Christians --develop homemade selves where they feel protected. But this behavior is radically challenged by Christ, who calls people to repent and reclaim their true selves, bestowed on them by their creator.
The practice of contemplative prayer assists in this process. But contemplative prayer can also be a dangerous place where primitive emotions are let loose. For this reason, those who desire a profound relationship with God would do well to seek the guidance of a loving companion who can journey with them and bring them to a place of healing and mature life.
--Harold W. Wit, Harvard University, 1998
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Heartfulness: Transformation in Christ condenses the accumulated wisdom of Fr. Thomas Keating's many years of teaching and practice into nine essential areas for study, reflection, and spiritual growth for our time.
The interviewer, Betty Sue Flowers, draws out of Fr. Thomas the importance of silence and contemplative practice as a means of opening the mind and heart and one's whole being to God, or the Ultimate Reality.
Captured over a two-day period and in nine hours of interview sessions, Fr. Thomas guides the listener toward an understanding of the contemplative dimension of the Gospel and its extraordinary implications and applications for personal freedom and global peace. He explains that the inherent human quest for happiness is itself the greatest proof of God's existence.
A poetic and accessible introduction to the method of Centering Prayer, this guide explains its origins, theological basis, and psychology by drawing on the writings of important Catholic figures, such as St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, and significant texts, such as The Cloud of Unknowing. Describing the theological basis for the Centering Prayer while staying rooted in the heart of a practice that is very personal and intimate, the study explores how harmful attitudes and beliefs about God can distort a positive relationship with the divine. With a careful balance of both Christian and Buddhist philosophy, the volume also discusses the psychological barriers and levels of resistance that contemplatives must face and bolsters seekers with supportive practices like Lectio Divina (holy reading) and praying the rosary. Updated to include a new foreword, this revised edition of a much loved classic is sure to inspire a deeply intimate experience with God.
This work brings together for each day of the year three prayer practices for contemplative living: first, a brief active prayer; second, spiritual reading; and, third, Lectio Divina. The brief introductory prayer sentences are from various sources - the Bible and traditional prayers of the church or of well-known spiritual writers. The spiritual readings come from eleven of Father Keatings books and one audiotape, with a month's worth of readings derived from each work. Each day's entry concludes with a brief selection from the Bible, or Lectio Divina.
Following upon Open Mind, Open Heart, which presents a profound formation in Christian prayer, this book demonstrates the contemplative dimension of Christian worship. Here Father Keating recovers the deeper sense of the liturgical year and shares a theological and mystical perspective on the major feasts of the annual cycle. The reader is immersed in the wonder of faith in the mystery of Christ and of the unique nature of God's action and presence in and through the liturgy of our lives.
This book, with its ecumenical group of contributors, celebrates Centering Prayer as a common ground for Christian unity. It marks the first time that people other than William Meninger, Basil Pennington, and Thomas Keating (the three Trappist monks who distilled Centering Prayer from the Christian contmeplative heritage) have written in depth on Centering Prayer, its benefits and effects in daily life and ministry. There are pieces by Thomas R. Ward, Jr., Gustave Reininger, Thomas Neenan, David Walton Miller, Paul Lawson, Sarah Butler, David Forbes Morgan, Sandra Casey-Martus, and Jim Clark.
This is the Spanish translation of Father Keating's Open Mind, Open Heart, the best-selling book of the Centering Prayer movement, with sales of over 100,000 copies. It joins Continuum's two other books in Spanish by Father Keating, El Misterio del Cristo and Invitacin a Amar, and Sister Margaret Mary Funk's El Coraz n en Paz (Thoughts Matter).Keating gives an overview of the history of contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition, and step-by-step guidance in the method of centering prayer. This book is designed to initiate the reader into a deep, living relationship with God.
The talks on which this book was based were given at the John Main Seminar in 1998, the annual international event of the World Community for Christian Meditaion. Previous presenters have included the Dalai Lama, Jean Vanier, Bede Griffi ths, and William Johnston. Father Keating's enlightening commentary on the contemplative meaning of the gospel, particularly the story of the siblings from Bethany, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, fi ts into the great monstic tradition of Christian teaching. A monk refl ects on Scripture in the light of experience. He or she utters a word that startles his listeners into realizing that tradition is not a matter of secondhand experience but the living and human self-transmission of Christ to his disciples.