Q: On a recent Contemplative Outreach silent retreat I had my first encounter with the theme of contrition. I felt a little tickled because I knew that I was being […]
Centering Prayer and Speaking in Tongues
Q: Please help me understand how Centering Prayer and the charismatic or Pentecostal belief in speaking in tongues as a sign on baptism in the Spirit are related? Can they […]
False Self and Personality
Q: I read the other day about a study of the prophets in the Old Testament, where one of the conclusions was that in their contact with God, they never […]
A State of Contemplation?
Q: I’ve been practicing Centering Prayer for a while now, and also sometimes practice Lectio Divina either on its own, or after my Centering Prayer time in the morning, but […]
Unloading and Evacuation of Emotions
Q: There is a female inmate in a weekly Centering Prayer group I facilitate who is afraid of doing Centering Prayer on a daily basis because she believes she would […]
On the Method of Centering Prayer
Q: I am an Episcopalian practicing Christian meditation, and find myself agonizing about technique, being somewhere between Father Keating and John Main. As I am disabled, I meditate lying down, […]
Is a Centering Prayer support group needed?
Q: I have a long practice of Centering Prayer, having begun sometime in the late 1980s with a group that met weekly for about 12 years when our facilitator, a […]
The Role of Purgatory
Q: I have a question on Purgatory……my hope has always been that to suffer here and experience death is enough … however our Church teaches differently. I would like to […]
Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity
Q: I have just turned 73 and for most of 50 years I have practiced Buddhism ‚Äì Zen, later Vajrayana, and more recently Theravada (Vipassana meditation), although I was briefly […]
Centering Prayer and Brainwave Entrainment Products
Q: For the past 6 months I have been using a brainwave entrainment product (developed by people associated with the Integral Movement and Ken Wilber) with my Centering Prayer practice. […]
What is “My Shadow Self”
Q. I am quite new to practicing Centering Prayer and entering into the contemplative life, and I am craving it more and more. I am an avid reader and have […]
Restlessness During Centering Prayer
Q: I do Centering Prayer two times a day, first thing in the morning and then as the last thing at night. During my evening prayer I get very restless […]
Panentheism
Q: Is panentheism the theology being taught by contemplative prayer? A: I refer you to an article written by Thomas Keating on ‚ÄúClarifications regarding Centering Prayer‚Äù: ‚ÄúPantheism is usually defined […]
Finding a Quiet Place
Q: My mother is 92, lives with us and has for the last 5 years. This is during the time when I also started Centering Prayer. It is so hard […]
Breath Prayer
Q: In The Contemplative Outreach News, December 2009, you had an article entitled, ‚ÄúReflections on the beginning: 1983.‚Äù In it, you mentioned Fr. Keating recommending four spiritual exercises; one of […]
The Dark Nights, Who Does It Affect?
Q: I wonder, can one experience the dark nights, if one is not practicing centering or contemplative prayer, but is just a devoted Christian? I somehow get the impression that […]
Restlessness During Centering Prayer
Q: I was a regular practitioner of Centering Prayer in the 1990’s. For the last few years, however, I make time for it in the mornings after reading some Scripture, […]
Is “God is All, in All” a way of saying that God’s immanent?
Q: I see the title of the new DVD in your store, ‚ÄúGod is All, in All‚Äù, and it makes me wonder about the transcendent nature of God. Is God […]
Does God Judge?
Q: My small groups was watching the Heartfulness DVD series with Thomas Keating and Betty Sue Flowers, in particular, the section on sin. At the end, we were discussing the […]
Music During Centering Prayer
Q: I once asked my prayer group if it was permissible to have a melody running through one’s head while centering, and their answer was no. Often I have a […]
God’s Unconditional Love and the Last Judgment
Q: As a practising contemplative/meditator for many years and a more recent follower of Father Thomas Keating’s spiritual advice and direction, I do have one “very spiritually perplexing question” that […]
Crisis of Faith During Troubles
Q: I have been practicing CP for over two years and have noticeably experienced positive change and what I consider a deepening of faith and openness to the work of […]
When you are in pain…
Q. When you are in pain, can you still practice the Welcoming Prayer if you take pain pills and/or tranquilizers? A. Prayer is a relationship. In any intimate relationship, one […]
Centering Prayer During Times of Unrest
Q: Extreme injustices and inflicted cruelty are buried in people’s lives. When these experiences arise (often unexpectedly) as a response to the asking participation in one’s own spiritual journey, it […]
The Welcoming Prayer and “letting go of the desire for security, affection, and control.”
Q: I have a question about the Welcoming Prayer, related to “letting go of the desire for security, affection, and control.” I say the prayer often during my daily encounters […]