Keating, Thomas

Open Mind Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel

Intimacy With God: An Introduction to Centering Prayer

An introduction to centering prayer.

The Human Condition: Contemplation and Transformation (Wit Lectures.)

One of the founders of the Centering Prayer movement, Thomas Keating offers a reflection on contemplative prayer, the human search for happiness and our need to explore the inner world. The spiritual search for God, he says, is also the search for ourselves. Drawing from Christian mystical tradition, Eastern and Orthodox religions, contemporary psychology, and the recovery model, Keating shows how the practice of contemplation can become a process of psychological and spiritual transformation. And as we move into a global culture, this process is of greater importance than ever.

He begins with the great questions of self-knowledge: "Who are you? Where are you hiding?" The seemingly fruitless search for human happiness hinges on the answers to these: "Where am I in relation to God, myself and others?" and "Whoever I think I am, I am not." The contemplative journey is "divine therapy" for the illness of the human condition, a way to open up gradually to our own wounded unconscious. It is an excuse in letting go of the false self, which is the only self we know, and in realizing that God is the only true security. Divine love is the full affirmation of who we are.

Writing with simplicity and depth, Keating brings common sense, extraordinary enlightenment, and fifty years of experience to the topic and the practice of discovering the presence of God.

Invitation to Love: The Way of Christian Contemplation

Centering Prayer in Daily Life and Ministry

The Inner Journey: Views from the Christian Tradition (PARABOLA Anthology Series)

The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living: Excerpts from the Works of Father Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O. : Sacred Scripture, and Other Spiritual Writings

This work brings together for each day of the year three prayer practices for contemplative living: first, a brief "active prayer"; second, spiritual reading; and, third, Lectio Divina. The brief introductory prayer sentences are from various sources - the Bible and traditional prayers of the church or of well-known spiritual writers. The spiritual readings come from eleven of Father Keating's books and one audiotape, with a month's worth of readings derived from each work. Each day's entry concludes with a brief selection from the Bible, or Lectio Divina.

Foundations for Centering Prayer and the Christian Contemplative Life: Open Mind, Open Heart, Invitation to Love, Mystery of Christ

Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel

First published in 1986 and in print--and immensely popular--ever since, Open Mind, Open Heart, by the Trappist Monk Thomas Keating, remains one of the best introductions to a specifically Christian form of meditation. Father Keating gives the reader an overview of what contemplative prayer both is and isn't; he discusses the history of contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition and then explores step by step the process of Centering Prayer, briefly exploring its origins in the ancient church and then demonstrating its use as "a sign of one's intention" to surrender to God. Each chapter concludes with questions and answers that provide useful information in an informal context. Here in particular we get a sense of Keating's clarity--and his sense of humor. For example, in response to a question about the sudden experience of happiness in prayer, Keating responds, "You should not take prayer too seriously. There is something playful about God. You only have to look at a penguin ... to realize that He likes to play little jokes on creatures." --Doug Thorpe

Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit

Thomas Keating has spent more than fifty years in sustained practice and devotion to the spiritual life. The results of this creative, humble activity are now summarized in this remarkable book, Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit.

As Father Keating says, the spiritual journey is a gradual process of enlarging our emotional, mental, and physical relationship with the divine reality that is present in us, but one not ordinarily accessible to our emotions or concepts. The spiritual journey teaches us, first, to believe in the Divine Indwelling within us, fully present and energizing every level of our being; second, to recognize that this energy is benign, healing, and transforming; and third, to enjoy its gradual unfolding, step-by-step, both in prayer and in action.