Table of Contents

1. The History of Contemplative Prayer in the Christian Tradition
2. First Steps in Centering Prayer
3. The Sacred Word as Symbol
4. The Wanderings of the Imagination
5. The Birth of Spiritual Attentiveness
6. More Subtle Kinds of Thought
7. Unloading the Unconscious
8. Summary of the Centering Prayer Method
9. The Intensive Centering Prayer Experience
10. What Contemplation Is Not
11. Dimensions of Contemplative Prayer
12. Methods of Extending the Effects of Centering Prayer into Daily Life
13. Guidelines for Christian Life, Growth and Transformation
Appendices

Promotional Information

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.

About the Author

Father Thomas Keating was known throughout the world as an exponent, teacher, and writer on contemplative prayer. A Cistercian (Trappist) monk of St. Benedict's Monastery, Snowmass, Colorado, he was a founder of the Centering Prayer Movement and of Contemplative Outreach. He authored numerous books, particularly of the trilogy Open Mind, Open Heart; Invitation to Love; and The Mystery of Christ. Among his books is The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living, compiled by S. Stephanie Iachetta.

Reviews

"The leader within the Catholic world in the task of recovering our Christian contemplative heritage." --Ewert Cousins, General Editor, World Spirituality: An Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest

"We started going to St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass when I was 7 years old. Several years later, Keating became a St. Benedict's monk. He developed centering prayer, which is a lot like meditation and what this book is about. He says that meditation (or centering prayer) is a way of reducing the obstacles to the development of grace. I can sit for only five to ten minutes. It's very hard for me. Still, when I get in trouble, it shifts my perspective. As they say, we don't pray to change our circumstances; we pray to change ourselves."- Books from O, the Oprah Magazine, May 2005