In the teachings of Jesus, there are prayers, and then there is prayer—the silent, loving communion with the divine, beyond words or ritual. With Father Thomas Keating’s book Open Mind, Open Heart, hundreds of thousands discovered the transformative power of Centering Prayer as a form of Christian meditation. Now, with The Path of Centering Prayer, Keating’s senior student, friend, and advisor David Frenette reveals the profound depths of this practice, making it easier for meditators to deepen their connection with God. Beginning and experienced practitioners alike will benefit from this fresh voice, at once eloquent and clear, as they explore: • The key insights and principles of Centering Prayer • Guided instruction in the sacred word, sacred breath, and sacred glance practices • Gentleness and openness: the way of letting go and letting be • Experiencing a deeper sense of God in meditation and in everyday life • Many other contemplative practices and teachings founded upon the wisdom of Fathers Thomas Keating and Thomas Merton Has your spiritual path grown routine or unfulfilling, or is it at a crossroads for new discovery? For all Christians who seek to move closer into the presence of the divine, The Path of Centering Prayer offers guidance in this rewarding and time-honored meditation practice, to help break through obstacles and illuminate the way. David Frenette is a leader and senior teacher in the Centering Prayer movement, and a friend and advisor of Father Thomas Keating for 30 years. He co-created and co-led a contemplative retreat community for 10 years, has an MA in transpersonal counseling psychology, and is an adjunct faculty member of Naropa University. He is a spiritual director at the Center for Contemplative Living in Denver, Colorado, as well as for clients worldwide. Contents Part I: Deepening Your Centering Prayer Practice in the Light of Contemplation Chapter One: Understanding Christian Contemplation and Getting Started in Centering Prayer Chapter Two: Renewing Your Practice of Centering Prayer Chapter Three: Deepening the Sacred Word Chapter Four: Deepening the Sacred Breath Chapter Five: Deepening the Sacred Glance Chapter Six: Nothing buy God’s Silence, Stillness, and Spaciousness Chapter Seven: The Sacred Nothingness and the Trinity Chapter Eight: Dancing in the Center of God Part II: Contemplative Attitudes Chapter Nine: Consent and Giving God Consent to Act in You Chapter Ten: Opening and Recognizing Chapter Eleven: Simplicity and Awakening in God Chapter Twelve: Gentleness and Effortlessness Chapter Thirteen: Letting Go and Letting Be Chapter Fourteen: Resting and Being Chapter Fifteen: Embracing and Being Embraced Chapter Sixteen: Integrating in Life and Emerging in God Excerpt This book is a complete handbook to Christian contemplation and the practice of centering prayer. A contemplative practice like centering prayer opens you to experiencing God. This book shows you how to journey on the path of centering prayer, a path leading to interior union with Christ and increasing unity with all of life as it is found emerging in God. Although designed to show advanced practitioners how to deepen their centering prayer practice, The Path of Centering Prayer can also be used by beginners looking to establish such a practice. Christian Contemplative Practice and Centering Prayer Similar in many ways to meditation in other spiritual traditions, centering prayer is a method of silent, wordless prayer that comes out of the Christian contemplative tradition. Different contemplative practices have always existed in Christianity. Practices like the Jesus Prayer in the Orthodox Christian tradition, lectio divia—the “divine reading” of scripture—in the Roman Catholic tradition, and the silent worship of some Quaker and Protestant churches—have provided means for experiencing the contemplative dimension of the Gospel. The practice of centering prayer is primarily based on the teaching of a classic spiritual text from the fourteenth century, The Cloud of Unknowing. These and every specific form of Christian contemplative practice are rooted in the teachings of Jesus and his resurrected presence as the Christ. While rooted in Christ’s eternal presence and Jesus’ historical teachings, each of these forms of Christian contemplative prayer practice, like centering prayer, arose and were developed within the cultural conditions of the time.