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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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. […]
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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“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 […]
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Contemplative Group Spiritual Direction via Zoom
by Carol Fryer Editor’s note: Many Centering Prayer group participants experience the organic nature of ongoing soul-friending, a deep witnessing of each other’s journeys during a time of sacred sharing and […]
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Contemplative Tattooing
Many years of meditation have given me the time to develop a relationship with the Divine in silence and solitude. This ever-deepening relationship has conditioned me to bring contemplative […]
Prayer of Diminishment
Each day, Oh Lord,May I offerless to You;Each day to be diminished,Until I am so decreasedby Your Hand and your loveso grown in meThat I become totalemptinessfor You to fillor […]
A Poem
The reptile’s top priorities are few Full tummy, sunny rock, and babies new Its consciousness is narrow as its tail Survival pure and simple will prevail Our human brain includes […]
My Journey with Centering Prayer
“Slow down, you move too fast.” These are lyrics that I grew up on. I really did not fully understand what they meant until about five years ago when I […]
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 […]
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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 […]
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Tears During Centering Prayer II
Q: I have been practicing Centering Prayer off and on for several years, last year almost everyday. I have recently been experiencing tears/crying for no apparent reason. Please advise. […]
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 […]
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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 […]
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