“Take thee a little word of but one syllable, for so it is better than of two…
With this word thy shall smite down all manner of thought…”
The Cloud of Unknowing,
by an anonymous mystic in the 14th century
With the cross-pollination of different spiritual traditions, some prayer practices blend into others. For instance, Centering Prayer is described as a method of silent Christian prayer to deepen our relationship with God… ”prayer in which we experience God’s presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself.” It is described as both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship. It is a receptive prayer of resting in God. And it is the same method as Transcendental Meditation (TM) (see the TM blog).
Centering Prayer began in 1974 when two Trappist monks, Fathers Menninger and Pennington, responded to a challenge by the abbot, Father Thomas Keating. Keating wanted to revive the contemplative practices of his tradition – to create a practice that put the Christian mystic’s tradition into an “accessible” form. His hope was the young people who had been instructed in Eastern meditation techniques might be inspired to return to the Church. Keating invited Eastern teachers to dialog with his fellow monks, who then sampled Buddhist forms of meditation, including Transcendental Meditation (TM).
The two monks combined the instructions in The Cloud of Unknowing with their experience of Eastern methods. In 1976, Keating met Gus, an investment banker and TM teacher, who was exploring the links between Vedanta and his Catholic roots.The two men collaborated to adapt TM for a Catholic setting.
They adapted the TM language and procedures for a Catholic audience. For instance, “pure consciousness” became “resting in God”. In place of a “mantra”, the student would choose “a sacred word”. They conducted retreats teaching the technique, which were successful. So they began offering workshops, which were hugely successful. In 1984, they formed a non profit, Contemplative Outreach, to train teachers, and the practice
expanded.
REFLECT:
How do you feel about combining Christian and Eastern methodologies?
Father Keating has been criticized from all sides on the issue of Centering Prayer. TM practitioners accuse him of “ripping off” TM without giving credit. Conservative Christians say he is “contaminated by Paganism” and out of line with biblical precepts.
Nonetheless, the practice continues to grow, along with the trend of blending Eastern and Western philosophy. Some examples are:
* “Christian Meditation” has over one half million internet listings
* There are popular retreats such as “Buddha’s Four Noble Truths for Christians”
* Yogananda , founder of Self Realization Fellowship (SRF), wrote “The Second Coming of Christ”
* Father Keating offers a DVD and booklet, “That We May Be One: Christian Non-Duality”
APPLY:
Practice Centering Prayer for 21 days.
Centering Prayer
1. Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within.
2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, silently introduce the sacred word.
3. When engaged with your thoughts, return ever-so-gently to the sacred word.
4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.
You Tube: The Spiritual Journey with Father Thomas Keating
www.contemplativeoutreach.org
