Voices of the Community

Voices of the Community

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Voices of the Community

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  I left the bedroom at 1:43 am, confident my congested, snoring wife would happily sleep away the night on her own. I made for the guest room and quiet. [...]

Read More... from Some Teeny Centering in the Tiny Hours

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Voices of the Community

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  When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will cause your life [...]

Read More... from What Goes On in the Inner Room?

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Voices of the Community

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  Few go willingly into the desert. It is a harsh life, more about survival than comfort. The silence can blister like the noonday sun. But harsh does not mean [...]

Read More... from Finding Wonders in the Desert

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Voices of the Community

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  The fifteen years since my conversion have found me testing and confirming Fr. Thomas Keating’s assertion that, “the false-self accompanies us, implacably, into whatever lifestyle we choose” (1).  Raised [...]

Read More... from Going Inside: An Elder Brother Learns the Father’s Embrace

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Voices of the Community

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  Meister Eckhart was a Dominican friar who lived in fourteenth-century Germany. He was a contemplative engaged in preaching and teaching.  When he preached, his sermons were subtle and sublime.  [...]

Read More... from Brief Contemplative Lessons from Meister Eckhart

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Voices of the Community

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  I enter what enters me, Reaching a place in me, yet not in me, Releasing me to extend beyond The sensed boundaries Of my being alone in the world. [...]

Read More... from The Nameless Place

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Voices of the Community

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  I cannot imagine a better start to each day than a silent sit. When I practice Centering Prayer, I respond to God’s question, “Will you sit with me (Matthew [...]

Read More... from Silence is Not Empty: It is Filled with God

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Voices of the Community

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  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 [...]

Read More... from Contemplative Tattooing

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Voices of the Community

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“this really happened” by Julie Shelton Snyder When it was time to exhibit the wood block prints that came out of her residency at the foot of Mt. Fuji in [...]

Read More... from A Lenten Visio Divina at Gallery W83 in NYC

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Voices of the Community

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If we take time to look and listen, nature provides space and oxygen to breathe, salve for our souls and encouragement for our spirits.  However, to access that bounty, there [...]

Read More... from Tuning-in to Nature

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Voices of the Community

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At the end of October 2018, we attended the first retreat at Snowmass after the passing of Fr. Thomas Keating and Abbot Joseph Boyle. The retreat began just five days [...]

Read More... from Introducing Centering Prayer and the Practice of Silence to Young Adults

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Voices of the Community

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In our lives and in our prayer practice, we often unconsciously live out two different types of spirituality: 1) A spirituality of duty is focused on following the desire of [...]

Read More... from Desire and Everyday Mysticism

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Voices of the Community

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Welcoming the Body, Stilling the Mind, Opening the Heart Incarnating Breath, Gesture, Chant   “The contemplative dimension is the heart and soul of every religion. It initiates the movement into [...]

Read More... from Sacred Pathways Into Centering Prayer

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Voices of the Community

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Our founder was Winnie Young, and in 1995 Fr Carl Arico (on his first of 4 visits) helped her establish an ad-hoc national committee. This was replaced in 1997 by [...]

Read More... from How Contemplative Outreach of South Africa came into being

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Voices of the Community

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I first met that Irish monk years ago on the sidewalk. I was alone, hesitant, looking for belonging It was just the two of us standing there before Mass when [...]

Read More... from The Wind Beneath Our Wings

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Voices of the Community

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Well done,my good and faithful servant.Come, share my joy. – Matthew 25:21 As we mourn the passing of our beloved teacher, Fr. Thomas Keating, let us reflect on all that [...]

Read More... from Remembering Our Beloved

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Voices of the Community

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As Pat Johnson prepares to retire from her role as administrator of Contemplative Outreach Ltd. at the end of 2018, the governing board agreed by consensus to appoint her to [...]

Read More... from Governing Board Updates

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Voices of the Community

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Centering Prayer – I think it’s increasing, it’s burgeoning, and I think after my demise it’s likely to grow significantly, even more. I don’t know why, it’s just the nature [...]

Read More... from Who Will Replace Thomas Keating?

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Voices of the Community

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Here is a letter that Ken Wilber sent to Father Thomas shortly before he passed: Dearest Father Thomas, I’ve been following your illness as it progresses, and, with so many [...]

Read More... from Letter to Fr. Thomas from Ken Wilber

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Voices of the Community

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My relationship with Fr. Thomas Keating has not been lengthy in terms of time but has been lasting in support for my practice and ministry and is embedded in my body as [...]

Read More... from Feeling Into the Great Love and Spaciousness That Is the Being of Father Thomas Keating