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The Heart of Centering Prayer: Nondual Christianity in Theory and Practice
The best-selling author of The Wisdom Jesus and The Meaning of Mary Magdalene demystifies the popular Christian meditation method rooted in contemplative prayer
Centering Prayer is the path to a wonderful and radical new way of seeing the world. It is not, as is sometimes thought, simply an act of devotional piety, nor is it simply a Christianized form of other meditation methods. Cynthia Bourgeault here cuts through the misconceptions to show that Centering Prayer is in fact a pioneering development within the Christian contemplative tradition. She provides a practical, complete course in the practice and then goes deeper to analyze what actually happens in Centering the mind effectively switches to a new operating system that makes possible the perception of nonduality. With this understanding in place, she then takes us on a journey through one of the sources of the practice, the Christian contemplative classic The Cloud of Unknowing , revealing it to be among the earliest Christian explorations of the phenomenology of consciousness.
Cynthia Bourgeault’s illumination of the Centering Prayer path provides compelling evidence of how important the practice has become in the half-century since it first arose among American Trappist monks, and of its maturation and refinement over the ensuing years of sincere study and practice. It will resonate with beginners on the Centering Prayer path as well as with seasoned practitioners.
Centering Prayer is the path to a wonderful and radical new way of seeing the world. It is not, as is sometimes thought, simply an act of devotional piety, nor is it simply a Christianized form of other meditation methods. Cynthia Bourgeault here cuts through the misconceptions to show that Centering Prayer is in fact a pioneering development within the Christian contemplative tradition. She provides a practical, complete course in the practice and then goes deeper to analyze what actually happens in Centering the mind effectively switches to a new operating system that makes possible the perception of nonduality. With this understanding in place, she then takes us on a journey through one of the sources of the practice, the Christian contemplative classic The Cloud of Unknowing , revealing it to be among the earliest Christian explorations of the phenomenology of consciousness.
Cynthia Bourgeault’s illumination of the Centering Prayer path provides compelling evidence of how important the practice has become in the half-century since it first arose among American Trappist monks, and of its maturation and refinement over the ensuing years of sincere study and practice. It will resonate with beginners on the Centering Prayer path as well as with seasoned practitioners.
239 pages, Paperback
Published December 27, 2016
376 people are currently reading
630 people want to read
About the author
Cynthia Bourgeault
55 books357 followersModern day mystic, Episcopal priest, writer, and internationally known retreat leader, Cynthia Bourgeault divides her time between solitude at her seaside hermitage in Maine, and a demanding schedule traveling globally to teach and spread the recovery of the Christian contemplative and Wisdom path.
She has been a long-time advocate of the meditative practice of Centering Prayer and has worked closely with fellow teachers and colleagues including Thomas Keating, Bruno Barnhart, and Richard Rohr. Cynthia has actively participated in numerous inter-spiritual dialogues and events with luminaries and leaders such as A.H. Almaas, Kabir Helminski, Swami Atmarupananda, and Rami Shapiro.
Cynthia is a member of the GPIW (Global Peace Initiative for Women) Contemplative Council and recipient of the 2014 Contemplative Voices award from Shalem Institute. She is a founding Director of both The Contemplative Society and the Aspen Wisdom School. She continues to contribute to The Contemplative Society in her role as Principal Teacher and advisor.
Cynthia is the author of eight books: The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three, The Meaning of Mary Magdalene, The Wisdom Jesus, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, Mystical Hope, The Wisdom Way of Knowing, Chanting the Psalms, and Love is Stronger than Death. She has also authored or contributed to numerous articles on the Christian Wisdom path in publications such as Parabola Magazine, Gnosis Magazine, and Sewanee Theological Review.
Cynthia Bourgeault is currently one of the core faculty members at The Living School for Action and Contemplation.
from http://www.contemplative.org/cynthia-...
She has been a long-time advocate of the meditative practice of Centering Prayer and has worked closely with fellow teachers and colleagues including Thomas Keating, Bruno Barnhart, and Richard Rohr. Cynthia has actively participated in numerous inter-spiritual dialogues and events with luminaries and leaders such as A.H. Almaas, Kabir Helminski, Swami Atmarupananda, and Rami Shapiro.
Cynthia is a member of the GPIW (Global Peace Initiative for Women) Contemplative Council and recipient of the 2014 Contemplative Voices award from Shalem Institute. She is a founding Director of both The Contemplative Society and the Aspen Wisdom School. She continues to contribute to The Contemplative Society in her role as Principal Teacher and advisor.
Cynthia is the author of eight books: The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three, The Meaning of Mary Magdalene, The Wisdom Jesus, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, Mystical Hope, The Wisdom Way of Knowing, Chanting the Psalms, and Love is Stronger than Death. She has also authored or contributed to numerous articles on the Christian Wisdom path in publications such as Parabola Magazine, Gnosis Magazine, and Sewanee Theological Review.
Cynthia Bourgeault is currently one of the core faculty members at The Living School for Action and Contemplation.
from http://www.contemplative.org/cynthia-...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
February 9, 2017
I LOVED this book.. Fair warning; I'm a huge fan of Cynthia's work and teaching and have read most of her books. This is one of her best. It combines practical instruction on Centering Prayer, her deep erudition in contemplative Christianity and her lived experience of non-dual states. Not many can say that.
In this book, she points to how Centring Prayer can lead that no-thought arising, deeply surrendered, cloud of unknowing, open to spiritual source place. buddhist traditions also describe this, and prescribe their own paths. Cynthia's gift is to be able to make cross-cultural connections, based not on theory or commentary but on lived experience.
Highly recommended.
In this book, she points to how Centring Prayer can lead that no-thought arising, deeply surrendered, cloud of unknowing, open to spiritual source place. buddhist traditions also describe this, and prescribe their own paths. Cynthia's gift is to be able to make cross-cultural connections, based not on theory or commentary but on lived experience.
Highly recommended.
May 2, 2017
I found Centering Prayer about 17 years ago but only in the past four years have practiced seriously. Both my introduction to this Christian contemplative practice and my reintroduction I owe to Cynthia Bourgeault. I've long had the hunch that Christianity's rapid decline in the West is due to the church's inability to bridge what Cynthia calls "external observances" with "conscious interiority." Thank goodness for the work of Thomas Keating, Contemplative Outreach, Cynthia, and many others who are revitalizing Christianity's foundational meaning and practice.
While Cynthia addresses newcomers to CP in this book, it's really for those with some experience wanting to move deeper. I especially appreciate Cynthia's directions for the next generation of CP teachers--to further embody this practice, to release even the breath, and to embrace nondual consciousness more overtly. Check out Cynthia's succinct and very helpful explanation of CP:
"The intent of Centering Prayer is not to “access” God thru contemplative stillness or mystical experience, but to teach its practitioners how to spontaneously align with Jesus’s own continuously creative and enfolding presence thru emulating his kenotic practice in all life situations."
While Cynthia addresses newcomers to CP in this book, it's really for those with some experience wanting to move deeper. I especially appreciate Cynthia's directions for the next generation of CP teachers--to further embody this practice, to release even the breath, and to embrace nondual consciousness more overtly. Check out Cynthia's succinct and very helpful explanation of CP:
"The intent of Centering Prayer is not to “access” God thru contemplative stillness or mystical experience, but to teach its practitioners how to spontaneously align with Jesus’s own continuously creative and enfolding presence thru emulating his kenotic practice in all life situations."
June 11, 2017
Cynthia’s book begins with, “It’s been more than a decade now since I wrote Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening. During those years, Centering Prayer has continued to be the mainstay of my spiritual practice, and my thinking on it has continued to evolve. The book you’re now holding in your hands is really the paper trail of that evolution.”
My practice also has evolved. I have been at it much less in duration, just short of three years, but I too have noticed that my thinking has continued to evolve. Along the way, I will share some of my evolution in this review.
Book Overview:
The Heart of Centering Prayer discusses both theory and practice and is nicely divided into three parts:
Part One: A Short Course on Centering Prayer
Part Two: The Way of the Heart (Nonduality will be discussed.)
Part Three – The Cloud of Unknowing Revisited
(Father William Meninger located a paragraph within The Cloud of Unknowing that became the cornerstone for the method of Centering Prayer.)
Let me share five key takeaways from this wonderful book.
Spaces Between My Thoughts
“It's in these gaps that Centering Prayer does its real transformative work.”
“....bit by bit you'll discover that this inner spaciousness is no longer “a place you go to” but “a place you come from.” It begins to offer itself as a new home for your deepest sense of self hood.”
“In the nano second between the cessation of one thought and the arising of the next, there is a moment of pure consciousness where subject and object poles drop out and you're simply there. For a nano second, there's no “you” and no God. No experience and no experiencer. There’s simply a direct, undivided, sensate awareness of a single, unified field of being perceived from a far deeper place of aliveness.”
I call it the spaces between my thoughts. I enter them during my silent sit. Sometimes they are short. Other times they are longer in duration. I seem to emerge from my sit a new creation. I arise from my sit calm, peaceful, energized and excited to live life. I find I am very productive after my sit. I often discover solutions to problems that seemed to previously elude and hide from me.
Nonduality
“In those deeper waters of Centering Prayer, you are slowly acclimating to a whole new operating system: one that does not need to split the perceptual field in order to perceive. Think of it as an upgrade for your brain, if you like, but one way or another it will gradually help lay the physiological foundations for what's known as nondual (or unitive) consciousness.”
“But there comes a time when the ego translator drops out, and we are simply there, hearing in responding directly in the native language of being. There is oneness. And that is fundamentally what is meant by nondual consciousness. Then this “inner wellspring” is no longer place you go to; it's a place you come from. It's a whole new structure of consciousness that can perceive without first splitting the field.”
This is one of the best definitions of nonduality that I have come across. It is a new operating system. I can access it by the entry into Centering Prayer. I arise from my sit better prepared to just let things “be”. I do not need to split the field so to speak. I am simply “there” during centering prayer.
I can learn to also just be “there” during my non- centering times. I am more present. I see things I did not notice before. I enjoy life and better accept my present circumstances and surroundings. I am more alive. I am whole.
Kenosis
“It was ten years into my practice before I realized that the feel theological basis for Centering Prayer lies in the principle of kenosis, Jesus’s self-emptying love that forms the core of his own self-understanding and life practice.”
“…in fact, the gospels themselves make clear that he is specifically inviting us to this journey and modeling how to do it. Once you see this, it's the touchtone throughout all his teaching. Lets go! Don’t cling! Don't hoard! Don’t assert your importance! Don't fret. “Do not be afraid, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom!”
The letting go gesture during centering prayer helps us bring this same gesture into our daily life. When I am worried, I can let it go. When I am anxious, I can let it go. When I receive an abundance, I can share it. I am not my job title, or other accomplishments. If I can let go of all of these things, I will truly have the kingdom.
Blessed Are The Pure In Heart
“Every heart is already a perfect holograph of the divine heart, carrying within itself full access to the information of the whole. But it does need to be purified, as Jesus himself observed.”
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8
During Centering Prayer I am purified. As I purify my heart I begin to see God! I put on the mind of Christ. I become a walking Jesus who is inclusive and full of compassion and empathy. I will admit that I am work in progress! That is why I return each day to my Centering Prayer practice.
Silence Teaches Us Who We Are
“Like most beginners, I thought that the aim in Centering Prayer was to let go of thoughts so that God could “fill” me with his presence. One day I suddenly realized that the God story was the sideshow and the letting go was the main event. That was when the practice flipped for me, as I recognized that thoughts were not the obstacle; they were the raw material, as every opportunity to practice releasing that focal point for attention deepened the reservoir of “free attention” within me and strengthened the signal of the homing beacon of my heart.”
I too used to believe that I entered Centering Prayer to be filled with God. I now know that this is no longer true. I do not need to be filled with God. God never stopped being in me. I now realize that this is a place I come from. Centering prayer teaches me who I am. I am unconditionally loved by the Divine! Centering prayer teaches me how to live.
Next Steps
"The intent of Centering Prayer is not to “access” God through contemplative stillness or mystical experience, but to teach its practitioners how to spontaneously align with Jesus’s own continuously creative and enfolding presence through emulating his kenotic practice in all life situations."
"Instead, it is found in the gradual but steady capacity to go to conform a person to “the mind of Christ”, and the life attitudes of compassion, generosity, and freedom that flow from this gesture."
Centering Prayer is not a race. It is a marathon. A daily, weekly, monthly and yearly practice will transform you! It has transformed me!
Rich Lewis
www.SilenceTeaches.com
My practice also has evolved. I have been at it much less in duration, just short of three years, but I too have noticed that my thinking has continued to evolve. Along the way, I will share some of my evolution in this review.
Book Overview:
The Heart of Centering Prayer discusses both theory and practice and is nicely divided into three parts:
Part One: A Short Course on Centering Prayer
Part Two: The Way of the Heart (Nonduality will be discussed.)
Part Three – The Cloud of Unknowing Revisited
(Father William Meninger located a paragraph within The Cloud of Unknowing that became the cornerstone for the method of Centering Prayer.)
Let me share five key takeaways from this wonderful book.
Spaces Between My Thoughts
“It's in these gaps that Centering Prayer does its real transformative work.”
“....bit by bit you'll discover that this inner spaciousness is no longer “a place you go to” but “a place you come from.” It begins to offer itself as a new home for your deepest sense of self hood.”
“In the nano second between the cessation of one thought and the arising of the next, there is a moment of pure consciousness where subject and object poles drop out and you're simply there. For a nano second, there's no “you” and no God. No experience and no experiencer. There’s simply a direct, undivided, sensate awareness of a single, unified field of being perceived from a far deeper place of aliveness.”
I call it the spaces between my thoughts. I enter them during my silent sit. Sometimes they are short. Other times they are longer in duration. I seem to emerge from my sit a new creation. I arise from my sit calm, peaceful, energized and excited to live life. I find I am very productive after my sit. I often discover solutions to problems that seemed to previously elude and hide from me.
Nonduality
“In those deeper waters of Centering Prayer, you are slowly acclimating to a whole new operating system: one that does not need to split the perceptual field in order to perceive. Think of it as an upgrade for your brain, if you like, but one way or another it will gradually help lay the physiological foundations for what's known as nondual (or unitive) consciousness.”
“But there comes a time when the ego translator drops out, and we are simply there, hearing in responding directly in the native language of being. There is oneness. And that is fundamentally what is meant by nondual consciousness. Then this “inner wellspring” is no longer place you go to; it's a place you come from. It's a whole new structure of consciousness that can perceive without first splitting the field.”
This is one of the best definitions of nonduality that I have come across. It is a new operating system. I can access it by the entry into Centering Prayer. I arise from my sit better prepared to just let things “be”. I do not need to split the field so to speak. I am simply “there” during centering prayer.
I can learn to also just be “there” during my non- centering times. I am more present. I see things I did not notice before. I enjoy life and better accept my present circumstances and surroundings. I am more alive. I am whole.
Kenosis
“It was ten years into my practice before I realized that the feel theological basis for Centering Prayer lies in the principle of kenosis, Jesus’s self-emptying love that forms the core of his own self-understanding and life practice.”
“…in fact, the gospels themselves make clear that he is specifically inviting us to this journey and modeling how to do it. Once you see this, it's the touchtone throughout all his teaching. Lets go! Don’t cling! Don't hoard! Don’t assert your importance! Don't fret. “Do not be afraid, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom!”
The letting go gesture during centering prayer helps us bring this same gesture into our daily life. When I am worried, I can let it go. When I am anxious, I can let it go. When I receive an abundance, I can share it. I am not my job title, or other accomplishments. If I can let go of all of these things, I will truly have the kingdom.
Blessed Are The Pure In Heart
“Every heart is already a perfect holograph of the divine heart, carrying within itself full access to the information of the whole. But it does need to be purified, as Jesus himself observed.”
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8
During Centering Prayer I am purified. As I purify my heart I begin to see God! I put on the mind of Christ. I become a walking Jesus who is inclusive and full of compassion and empathy. I will admit that I am work in progress! That is why I return each day to my Centering Prayer practice.
Silence Teaches Us Who We Are
“Like most beginners, I thought that the aim in Centering Prayer was to let go of thoughts so that God could “fill” me with his presence. One day I suddenly realized that the God story was the sideshow and the letting go was the main event. That was when the practice flipped for me, as I recognized that thoughts were not the obstacle; they were the raw material, as every opportunity to practice releasing that focal point for attention deepened the reservoir of “free attention” within me and strengthened the signal of the homing beacon of my heart.”
I too used to believe that I entered Centering Prayer to be filled with God. I now know that this is no longer true. I do not need to be filled with God. God never stopped being in me. I now realize that this is a place I come from. Centering prayer teaches me who I am. I am unconditionally loved by the Divine! Centering prayer teaches me how to live.
Next Steps
"The intent of Centering Prayer is not to “access” God through contemplative stillness or mystical experience, but to teach its practitioners how to spontaneously align with Jesus’s own continuously creative and enfolding presence through emulating his kenotic practice in all life situations."
"Instead, it is found in the gradual but steady capacity to go to conform a person to “the mind of Christ”, and the life attitudes of compassion, generosity, and freedom that flow from this gesture."
Centering Prayer is not a race. It is a marathon. A daily, weekly, monthly and yearly practice will transform you! It has transformed me!
Rich Lewis
www.SilenceTeaches.com
February 3, 2017
The book gave me a much better understanding of the lineage, practice, and counterintuitiveness of Centering prayer. I'm sure it will help to deepen my practice. Burgeault is a master at clearly interpreting and communicating some difficult stuff. And it helps that she's a seasoned practitioner who remains faithful to the Christian mystical tradition while demonstrating an openness to the Mystery.
November 14, 2020
There is a good section on the practice of Centering Prayer with tips on some common misunderstandings which I know, because I have misunderstood. Most of the book is about the real purpose for doing Centering Prayer which is not what we normally consider reasons for meditation. The author has practiced this form for many years and has a lot to say about nondual perception. She has a large section on The Cloud of Unknowing with some commentary on different translations which she can do since she has a background in the language of the period when the book was written. Combining this with her own experience of Centering Prayer, she gives deep insights. Some of the material I grasped and some I will assume I am too much a newbie to Centering Prayer to have a real good idea of what she is saying. No matter. I got enough from the book to keep on the path of Centering Prayer and see what I see.
Read
March 13, 2021Reviews and more on my blog: Entering the Enchanted Castle
After Bourgeault's Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, this was another very thoughtful and thorough exploration of the simple, yet profound practice of Centering Prayer. The book brings together three different types of presentation, from an introductory workshop to an in-depth analysis of the foundational medieval text The Cloud of Unknowing, but all are clearly related to the central theme.
After several decades of this practice developing as a recovery of the contemplative tradition for the Western Christian world, it is time to take stock and consider how to bring it further into the future. The author has some strong opinions and some reservations about some points of view that muddle or weaken the practice, and she does a good job of conveying these in an objective way.
After Bourgeault's Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, this was another very thoughtful and thorough exploration of the simple, yet profound practice of Centering Prayer. The book brings together three different types of presentation, from an introductory workshop to an in-depth analysis of the foundational medieval text The Cloud of Unknowing, but all are clearly related to the central theme.
After several decades of this practice developing as a recovery of the contemplative tradition for the Western Christian world, it is time to take stock and consider how to bring it further into the future. The author has some strong opinions and some reservations about some points of view that muddle or weaken the practice, and she does a good job of conveying these in an objective way.
December 28, 2025
What a wonderful book! Another gem I found accidentally found in my sacred goodwill store. Crazy how i just come upon the wildest types of books in there. This one as the title states talks about the heart of centering prayer. It also gives the instructions on how to practice centering prayer which I am now using as my main practice for the time being. As she described, upon initial appraisal of the practice, one might find it to be similar to mindfulness meditation, and mantra based meditations like TM, which I did notice, but she goes further to describe how to it is quite different and in its own league of practice. That has to do with its subtleties, involving what we do with the sacred word, how we orient ourselves, how our attention is not focused as it is in concentrative practices but rather objectless, as in a developing of an objectless awareness/attention. This involves a shifting in how we perceive, shifting from our usual subject/object cognitive mind to that objectless attention, which is a shifting to the heart as the center of attention, the center of cognition. In a way it is a bringing down the mind to the heart, and not an attention on the heart but an attention in the heart, an attention that is not on anything in particular but is resting, objectless, and all encompassing, “quivering like a drop of mercury.” This centering prayer practice helps one cultivate that different mode/stage of consciousness known as nondual consciousness in which that objectless awareness resides within us as the default mode of experiencing, a certain kind of oneness is felt and seen constantly, instead of a temporary state of mystical experience, it is consistent and throughout daily life. It is hard to pinpoint and explain in words especially for me who is inexperienced in explaining such things but it is real. Centering Prayer helps us get there. She also uses the medieval text “The Cloud of Unknowing” as a source of some of these teachings, this text is enlightening itself as well. The very metaphor “cloud of unknowing” describes well what this nondual consciousness might be like. Some really superb and life changing stuff right here in this book, especially considering it extends further into what i just read, what Richard Rohr was speaking of in his “Immortal Diamond” about the true self, this goes further into that, explains it in a different, clear light, and shows you how to get there and live there and what it all really means in a phenomenological, experiential sense. Read it if you dare! 😏
April 25, 2022
It's hard to know what to say about this book. At first I expected a guide to meditation similar to Richard Rohr's "A Spring within Us".It is rather, about the practice of a very unfamiliar form of meditation, centering prayer. Bourgeault focuses on a study of The Cloud of Unknowing, written in the Middle Ages. It was fascinating and challenging, but not what I had expected, a bit of a mind bender, really.
Bourgeault holds that the writer of CLOUDS was describing a method which is now discussed in current times in both Christian and non Christian contemplative practice.
Centering prayer is new to me and probably beyond me at this point.
Bourgeault holds that the writer of CLOUDS was describing a method which is now discussed in current times in both Christian and non Christian contemplative practice.
Centering prayer is new to me and probably beyond me at this point.
November 4, 2023
Wow. I loved this book. It was fascinating and well-planned out by chapter. This is such trippy spirituality and it's right down my alley. Some of my favorite parts: the concept of "kenosis" (letting go), nonduality, Welcoming prayer, meekness, and Mary Magdalene as the example to follow.
"Welcoming" prayer when something happens unexpected:
The first step, “focus (or sink in)," anchors you solidly in the realm of sensation. The instructions are very clear that, when knocked off course by an emotional or physical upset, you immediately become present to the upset as physical sensation in your body. There are no stories and commentaries and no instructions (at this point) to shift the physical energy, only to stay present to it. This all-important first step ensures that there will be no mental dissociation-one piece of the mind commenting on another, the usual bệte noire of witnessing, The attention shifts lower in the body and is carried by sensation, the true seat of inner witnessing. In the second step - welcoming- you unconditionally accept the reality of this sensation sharing the Now with you: be it physical pain, mental pain, emotional distress, or giddy self-satisfaction. It is always the sensation you are accepting the emotional signature of the fear, pain, joy, anger--and never the external situation itself. This is the reason I prefer for people to name the sensation lightly- "Welcome, fear," "Welcome, pain," and so forth--rather than merely saying "Welcome," which all too often leads to the impression that one is welcoming the outer circumstances rather than the inner ones. In this alignment - grounded in sensation, unconditionally present to the energetic disturbance in your field of consciousness - you have "backed" into witnessing consciousness in a full and authentic way. "You'" as pure consciousness have trumped you" as the victim of any story or situation. And in this pure witnessing position, connected to sensation but separated from the story, the inner shift can be extremely powerful. Sometimes you can literally feel the energy that was bound up in identification break free and reconfigure itself as pure spondic energy, exactly as described by Beatrice Bruteau a few pages ago. (One of my students likened it to opening the cap on a vacuum-sealed container.) In that moment an infusion of pure being energy floods your body, and your ability to "coincide with the subjective act of being conscious" is incrementally reinforced.[Then the final step: say] “By the power of the Divine Indwelling active within me, I unconditionally embrace this moment, no matter its physical or psychological content." And by this same indwelling strength, once inner wholeness is restored, I then choose how to deal with the outer situation, be it by acceptance or by spirited resistance. If the latter course is chosen, the actions taken - reflecting that higher coherence of witnessing presence have a greater effectiveness, bearing the right force and appropriate timing that Buddhist teaching classically designates as "skillful means."
Oneness/nonduality:
For a while, yes, our ego-self does indeed appear to be the stable operator. We draw our water from the spiritual well and then bring it home to translate into all the benefits it confers on our daily lives. From there we translate our thanks back to God in the form of wordless or spoken prayer. But there comes a time when the ego translator drops out, and we are simply there, hearing and responding directly in the native language of being. There is oneness. And that is fundamentally what is meant by nondual consciousness. Then this "inner wellspring" is no longer a place you go to; it's a place you come from. It's a whole new structure of consciousness that can perceive with out first splitting the field.
Meekness:
For a while, yes, our ego-self does indeed appear to be the stable operator. We draw our water from the spiritual well and then bring it home to translate into all the benefits it confers on our daily lives. From there we translate our thanks back to God in the form of wordless or spoken prayer. But there comes a time when the ego translator drops out, and we are simply there, hearing and responding directly in the native language of being. There is oneness. And that is fundamentally what is meant by nondual consciousness. Then this "inner wellspring" is no longer a place you go to; it's a place you come from. It's a whole new structure of consciousness that can perceive with out first
Meekness-or humility, if you prefer--is, accordıng to our author, primarily about self-knowledge. “Meekness in itself is nothing else but a true knowing and feeling of a man's self as he is," he explains (I3-2). It is not about external behaviors definitely not about obsequious or self-deprecating mannerisms, It is quintessentially an inner orientation, the inevitable fruit of having come into relationship with the true north of one's selfhood. Beyond ego neediness and ego inflation is simply the naked ground of being" the root of the root of yourself," in the words of the poet Rumi-and when one breaks into this primordial ground, all pretension simply drops away. There are two ways of cultivating this meekness, according to our author. Both are good and necessary, but they belong to completely different orders of reality.
The second kind of meekness, which he calls "perfect," emerges from a different source altogether. It comes from suddenly grasping the true scale of things, from a felt sense of the immensity of the cosmos and the vastness of divine love, against which all our human dramas and strivings become merely dust specks in the beholding of which all nature quakes, all scholars are fools, and all saints and angels are blind," as he picturesquely puts it (Cloud 13-2). It is the heart aching with the power of the infinite, recognizing that it is I myself-that slender veil of my created selfhood--that hides the paradise I seek. A good example of perfect meekness (which our author, however, does not mention) can be seen in the final chapters of the book of Job. Throughout the entire preceding ordeal, Job has staunchly maintained his innocence and God has staunchly maintained his silence. Finally God speaks, and his response is a stunning vindication of Job's integrity. But it is not a judicial kind of vindication, a "well done, thou good and faithful servant." Rather, God figuratively sweeps Job up on eagles' wings and gives him a personal tour of the vastness of the cosmos and the bottomless depths of divine creativity. Job is introduced to the true scale of things; his response-1 had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes"is a paradigmatic expression of perfect meekness.
Oneness:
ccording to this way of looking at things, the lower levels of consciousness (first and second tiers on Wilber's maps, up to and including the integral level) all work with increasingly sophisticated refinement of the classic binary hardwiring-"perception through differentiation." The brain sets up the perceptual field with an implicit inside" and outside (with one's innermost sense of identity squarely at the center of the inside, holding down the post of "I") The world swirling around outside is then navigated by breaking it up into finite bits (known as “descriptors," or individual characteristics), which are then manipulated through a set of standard binary operations"more/less," "better/worse," "good/ bad," and so on. In this operating system identity is conferred by what differentiates you from everything else, and to be "self-aware means to be able to stand outside yourself and reflect back on yourself, or to be able to navigate your way forward or backward along the arrow of time through your memory and imagination. This is the fabled self-reflexive consciousness," the mind that has brought the Western world into existence-the "I think, therefore I am" mind upon which the foundations of modern civilization rest. And it is, to be sure, a wonder, an extraordinary evolutionary breakthrough. But it is not all there is, nor is it even remotely the endpoint. Imagine that there might be a different way of structuring the field of perception, an alternative way of wiring the brain that did not depend on that initial bifurcation of the perceptual feld into inside and outside, subject and object. Instead, one would grasp the entire pattern asa whole--holographically- through a perceptual modality quantitatively more immediate and sensate, working on vibrational resonance rather than mental abstraction. Then one would indeed experience that signature sense of oneness-not, however, because one had broken into a whole new realm of spiritual experience, but because that tedious, “translator" mechanism of the self reflective brain has finally been superseded. You see oneness because you see from oneness.
"Welcoming" prayer when something happens unexpected:
The first step, “focus (or sink in)," anchors you solidly in the realm of sensation. The instructions are very clear that, when knocked off course by an emotional or physical upset, you immediately become present to the upset as physical sensation in your body. There are no stories and commentaries and no instructions (at this point) to shift the physical energy, only to stay present to it. This all-important first step ensures that there will be no mental dissociation-one piece of the mind commenting on another, the usual bệte noire of witnessing, The attention shifts lower in the body and is carried by sensation, the true seat of inner witnessing. In the second step - welcoming- you unconditionally accept the reality of this sensation sharing the Now with you: be it physical pain, mental pain, emotional distress, or giddy self-satisfaction. It is always the sensation you are accepting the emotional signature of the fear, pain, joy, anger--and never the external situation itself. This is the reason I prefer for people to name the sensation lightly- "Welcome, fear," "Welcome, pain," and so forth--rather than merely saying "Welcome," which all too often leads to the impression that one is welcoming the outer circumstances rather than the inner ones. In this alignment - grounded in sensation, unconditionally present to the energetic disturbance in your field of consciousness - you have "backed" into witnessing consciousness in a full and authentic way. "You'" as pure consciousness have trumped you" as the victim of any story or situation. And in this pure witnessing position, connected to sensation but separated from the story, the inner shift can be extremely powerful. Sometimes you can literally feel the energy that was bound up in identification break free and reconfigure itself as pure spondic energy, exactly as described by Beatrice Bruteau a few pages ago. (One of my students likened it to opening the cap on a vacuum-sealed container.) In that moment an infusion of pure being energy floods your body, and your ability to "coincide with the subjective act of being conscious" is incrementally reinforced.[Then the final step: say] “By the power of the Divine Indwelling active within me, I unconditionally embrace this moment, no matter its physical or psychological content." And by this same indwelling strength, once inner wholeness is restored, I then choose how to deal with the outer situation, be it by acceptance or by spirited resistance. If the latter course is chosen, the actions taken - reflecting that higher coherence of witnessing presence have a greater effectiveness, bearing the right force and appropriate timing that Buddhist teaching classically designates as "skillful means."
Oneness/nonduality:
For a while, yes, our ego-self does indeed appear to be the stable operator. We draw our water from the spiritual well and then bring it home to translate into all the benefits it confers on our daily lives. From there we translate our thanks back to God in the form of wordless or spoken prayer. But there comes a time when the ego translator drops out, and we are simply there, hearing and responding directly in the native language of being. There is oneness. And that is fundamentally what is meant by nondual consciousness. Then this "inner wellspring" is no longer a place you go to; it's a place you come from. It's a whole new structure of consciousness that can perceive with out first splitting the field.
Meekness:
For a while, yes, our ego-self does indeed appear to be the stable operator. We draw our water from the spiritual well and then bring it home to translate into all the benefits it confers on our daily lives. From there we translate our thanks back to God in the form of wordless or spoken prayer. But there comes a time when the ego translator drops out, and we are simply there, hearing and responding directly in the native language of being. There is oneness. And that is fundamentally what is meant by nondual consciousness. Then this "inner wellspring" is no longer a place you go to; it's a place you come from. It's a whole new structure of consciousness that can perceive with out first
Meekness-or humility, if you prefer--is, accordıng to our author, primarily about self-knowledge. “Meekness in itself is nothing else but a true knowing and feeling of a man's self as he is," he explains (I3-2). It is not about external behaviors definitely not about obsequious or self-deprecating mannerisms, It is quintessentially an inner orientation, the inevitable fruit of having come into relationship with the true north of one's selfhood. Beyond ego neediness and ego inflation is simply the naked ground of being" the root of the root of yourself," in the words of the poet Rumi-and when one breaks into this primordial ground, all pretension simply drops away. There are two ways of cultivating this meekness, according to our author. Both are good and necessary, but they belong to completely different orders of reality.
The second kind of meekness, which he calls "perfect," emerges from a different source altogether. It comes from suddenly grasping the true scale of things, from a felt sense of the immensity of the cosmos and the vastness of divine love, against which all our human dramas and strivings become merely dust specks in the beholding of which all nature quakes, all scholars are fools, and all saints and angels are blind," as he picturesquely puts it (Cloud 13-2). It is the heart aching with the power of the infinite, recognizing that it is I myself-that slender veil of my created selfhood--that hides the paradise I seek. A good example of perfect meekness (which our author, however, does not mention) can be seen in the final chapters of the book of Job. Throughout the entire preceding ordeal, Job has staunchly maintained his innocence and God has staunchly maintained his silence. Finally God speaks, and his response is a stunning vindication of Job's integrity. But it is not a judicial kind of vindication, a "well done, thou good and faithful servant." Rather, God figuratively sweeps Job up on eagles' wings and gives him a personal tour of the vastness of the cosmos and the bottomless depths of divine creativity. Job is introduced to the true scale of things; his response-1 had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes"is a paradigmatic expression of perfect meekness.
Oneness:
ccording to this way of looking at things, the lower levels of consciousness (first and second tiers on Wilber's maps, up to and including the integral level) all work with increasingly sophisticated refinement of the classic binary hardwiring-"perception through differentiation." The brain sets up the perceptual field with an implicit inside" and outside (with one's innermost sense of identity squarely at the center of the inside, holding down the post of "I") The world swirling around outside is then navigated by breaking it up into finite bits (known as “descriptors," or individual characteristics), which are then manipulated through a set of standard binary operations"more/less," "better/worse," "good/ bad," and so on. In this operating system identity is conferred by what differentiates you from everything else, and to be "self-aware means to be able to stand outside yourself and reflect back on yourself, or to be able to navigate your way forward or backward along the arrow of time through your memory and imagination. This is the fabled self-reflexive consciousness," the mind that has brought the Western world into existence-the "I think, therefore I am" mind upon which the foundations of modern civilization rest. And it is, to be sure, a wonder, an extraordinary evolutionary breakthrough. But it is not all there is, nor is it even remotely the endpoint. Imagine that there might be a different way of structuring the field of perception, an alternative way of wiring the brain that did not depend on that initial bifurcation of the perceptual feld into inside and outside, subject and object. Instead, one would grasp the entire pattern asa whole--holographically- through a perceptual modality quantitatively more immediate and sensate, working on vibrational resonance rather than mental abstraction. Then one would indeed experience that signature sense of oneness-not, however, because one had broken into a whole new realm of spiritual experience, but because that tedious, “translator" mechanism of the self reflective brain has finally been superseded. You see oneness because you see from oneness.
June 4, 2017
Love this book. Helps me immensely in my own centering prayer journey. Deep respect for Cynthia Bourgeault and appreciation for her willingness to share what she's experienced.
April 14, 2021
Maybe upon a second listen, I'll upgrade to four stars, but this first time through...
Theory is right—chapters are the neuroscience and the intellectual language is difficult to understand with terms like holographic resonance (common when talking about non-duality, but not standard in Christian contemplative prayer and also not in standard dictionaries which only define holographic in terms of 3-D light projections).
This book is directed less towards the average practitioner of centering prayer unless well-read and intellectual. Bourgeault's book, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, is more approachable and helpful in the practice of CP.
I listened to the audio version which is well-read, though I found it easy to tune out because of the language. Part One “A Short Course on Centering Prayer” and chapter 11 “Jousting with Thoughts” are fairly straightforward and instructive. The last section on The Cloud of Unknowing, which provides insight into the Cloud and makes a case for non-duality in it, thus providing a connecting historic thread, inspires me to read Butcher and/or Progoff translation.
Theory is right—chapters are the neuroscience and the intellectual language is difficult to understand with terms like holographic resonance (common when talking about non-duality, but not standard in Christian contemplative prayer and also not in standard dictionaries which only define holographic in terms of 3-D light projections).
This book is directed less towards the average practitioner of centering prayer unless well-read and intellectual. Bourgeault's book, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, is more approachable and helpful in the practice of CP.
I listened to the audio version which is well-read, though I found it easy to tune out because of the language. Part One “A Short Course on Centering Prayer” and chapter 11 “Jousting with Thoughts” are fairly straightforward and instructive. The last section on The Cloud of Unknowing, which provides insight into the Cloud and makes a case for non-duality in it, thus providing a connecting historic thread, inspires me to read Butcher and/or Progoff translation.
November 22, 2020
Centering Prayer is an endeavor of heart cognition; it's not mind-centered or affective.
***
This is pretty certainly a text book on Centering Prayer and nondual Christianity. At first it was tough to get into, but once I did it opened up a lot of language and understanding for some of the things I've been wrestling with around what it means to grow into the likeness of Jesus. The author lays out a way of understanding the discipline of Centering Prayer as being about "emptying" -- as Paul in Philippians says Jesus did in his humiliation. When cultivated in the daily discipline of Centering Prayer, emptying can become a way of life, as we lose ourselves that we might connect more fully with the Divine.
***
This is pretty certainly a text book on Centering Prayer and nondual Christianity. At first it was tough to get into, but once I did it opened up a lot of language and understanding for some of the things I've been wrestling with around what it means to grow into the likeness of Jesus. The author lays out a way of understanding the discipline of Centering Prayer as being about "emptying" -- as Paul in Philippians says Jesus did in his humiliation. When cultivated in the daily discipline of Centering Prayer, emptying can become a way of life, as we lose ourselves that we might connect more fully with the Divine.
May 12, 2017
The first half was great and had lots of practical application. The 2nd half lost me some. She analyzes Cloud of Knowing which must be an important text on centering prayer but I knew nothing about it. Still would recommend Andrew Neuburg's How God Changes Your Brain along with the Liturgist's meditations free on Spotify or YouTube to get started. I have personally found Centering Prayer life changing and I'm a huge fan.
December 31, 2019
My first Bourgeault, and not my last. I am a centering prayer novice and came away from this book with a much better understanding of its phenomenological underpinnings, how it is a way to practice Kenosis or the self-emptying that Christ demonstrated. I was not expecting to also come away from this book with a much clearer concept of nondual consciousness. I appreciated Bourgeault's academic perspective and linear train of thought (relative to her colleague Rochard Rohr).
December 17, 2017
The ideas were fascinating, but I feel like this is a book I will need to return to again as my practice develops in order to reach its depths. I found listening to the podcast on the Center for Action and Contemplation soundcloud -- an interview with Cynthia Bourgeault-- helped me more fully understand the significance of what the book was saying, particularly around yearning and letting go.
February 17, 2021
This book is probably great if you already practice meditation or centering prayer and you are looking to level up. If you are a tired, busy, over-worked mom with too many people at your house, take a hard pass and come back to this book later in life.
August 14, 2024
Solid introduction as well as deepening on centering prayer. If you've never heard of or read about or practiced centering prayer, you can learn what it's about and why you might want to do it here. Granted, it's probably best to get the basics of the practice elsewhere because Bourgeault's books is more about the spiritual, psychological, and traditional foundations of centering prayer, but the basics are still present.
If you have read about or practiced centering prayer previously, this is definitely a book for you. Indeed, Bourgeault tries to dig into the 'heart' of centering prayer: not just how to do it and a simple explanation on why, but a full treatment of the practice. She includes lessons from her own extensive experience, research from the field of psychology, learning from the East-West spiritual dichotomy, and finishes with an exploration of The Cloud of Unknowing, a classical text of mystic spirituality.
Some of the content may seem a bit advanced for a common reader but, generally, Bourgeault does a good job explaining in basic terms and then summarizing the essence.
I've read a lot of Thomas Keating (the progenitor, you could say, of modern centering prayer practice) and been practicing centering prayer for about three years, and I got a lot out of this book.
If you have read about or practiced centering prayer previously, this is definitely a book for you. Indeed, Bourgeault tries to dig into the 'heart' of centering prayer: not just how to do it and a simple explanation on why, but a full treatment of the practice. She includes lessons from her own extensive experience, research from the field of psychology, learning from the East-West spiritual dichotomy, and finishes with an exploration of The Cloud of Unknowing, a classical text of mystic spirituality.
Some of the content may seem a bit advanced for a common reader but, generally, Bourgeault does a good job explaining in basic terms and then summarizing the essence.
I've read a lot of Thomas Keating (the progenitor, you could say, of modern centering prayer practice) and been practicing centering prayer for about three years, and I got a lot out of this book.
January 27, 2018
Cynthia Bourgeault provides a focused contribution from Simeon The New Theologian's Cloud of Unknowing. While the Cloud is from the first half of the 14th century, the insights to Centering Prayer and nondual Christianity is very important. Her contribution from the field of modern neurological test are interesting, but too early in development to provide meaningful contributions.
This is an excellent read - study really - that is well worth the time and energy. Suggest having a copy of Butcher's translation of The Cloud of Unknowing as a reference - as Bourgeault notes, this is by far the best translation of the Cloud.
This is an excellent read - study really - that is well worth the time and energy. Suggest having a copy of Butcher's translation of The Cloud of Unknowing as a reference - as Bourgeault notes, this is by far the best translation of the Cloud.
August 23, 2018
Great contemporary take on the Cloud of Unknowing and Centering Prayer
I liked the way she explores the Cloud and contemporary practice as ways to describe the process of Centering Prayer. As always, I have a nagging concern about prayer as being better the less embodied it is, but perhaps we just need a new language that respects the value of fleshly things like affectivity. In this regard, I fight with her sterilized notion of love even while I am intrigued by her explorations of it.
I liked the way she explores the Cloud and contemporary practice as ways to describe the process of Centering Prayer. As always, I have a nagging concern about prayer as being better the less embodied it is, but perhaps we just need a new language that respects the value of fleshly things like affectivity. In this regard, I fight with her sterilized notion of love even while I am intrigued by her explorations of it.
December 28, 2019
Bourgeault takes her reader into a rarified space where Christian mysticism and objectless awareness become one. She has an amazing gift for seeing and addressing the many ways that Christian mysticism is usually framed as an affective ego experience. On the other side, she is clear that Centering Prayer is different from the eastern emptiness traditions.
The end of her exploration of the Cloud of Unknowing and Centering Prayer practice leads us to a letting go in which the ego and the heart are surrendered into a luminous love.
The end of her exploration of the Cloud of Unknowing and Centering Prayer practice leads us to a letting go in which the ego and the heart are surrendered into a luminous love.
June 12, 2021
Truly excellent, very thorough explanation about Centering prayer from someone who speaks from a 30 year practice. This is powerful, profound, world changing work and I just wish more people were happy to engage with it.
It has given me a peace which the world cannot give.
I enjoyed her description of the Cloud of Unknowing and I read the Carmen Acevedo Butcher translation alongside this book, a good companion I found.
It has given me a peace which the world cannot give.
I enjoyed her description of the Cloud of Unknowing and I read the Carmen Acevedo Butcher translation alongside this book, a good companion I found.
January 17, 2025
2016. 3 and a half stars really. There is a lot of good stuff in here, but the author really thinks that her way is best, that Christianity has all anybody needs and other religions don't. But if you also think Christianity is best, this book has a lot to offer. It is the first Christian book I've come across that shows how to get to non-dual Reality within the Christian context. But, in my opinion, her critique of Eastern religions comes from not really understanding them.
June 21, 2017
Uneven. There are parts where Cynthia B is full Zen, free of needing true stories. Then she slips into Christian voice that stains and struggles to present objectless awareness translated from the culture and language of a brilliant and no doubt fully realized being from the early church. I'd choose to stick with Zen.
May 23, 2020
Helpful introduction and going deeper guide in one. At times clarity is sacrificed on what can appear like an attempt to provide greater weight of psychology/spirituality. That’s a shame as it’s not altogether necessary. The content itself is helpful and insightful and I genuinely found it added to my own understanding and practice of prayer.
January 9, 2018
Searching for a way. to combine my Christianity with a newly developed meditative practice, I found Centering Prayer. This book is a primer for the establishment of a Centering Prayer practice yet delves into the basis, the theology, and the outcomes.
May 31, 2021
Cynthia Bourgeault foreshadows the renewal of Christian devotion
A veritable roadmap to reverie, restoration, and reparation toward recovery of the lost heart and soul of Christianity. A book to be revisited again and again
A veritable roadmap to reverie, restoration, and reparation toward recovery of the lost heart and soul of Christianity. A book to be revisited again and again
January 19, 2023
Wonderful insight into the practice of centering prayer and The Cloud of Unknowing.
Although Bourgeault’ writing is somewhat academic and always deep, it is very accessible and kept my attention.
Highly recommend for anyone interested in learning more about venting prayer.
Although Bourgeault’ writing is somewhat academic and always deep, it is very accessible and kept my attention.
Highly recommend for anyone interested in learning more about venting prayer.
August 13, 2017
Putting on the mind of Christ.
August 15, 2017
This was a powerful and insightful read and one that upon finishing it, I thought "I want to read this again. It really describes accurately the twice daily experience of meditation/centering prayer.
April 3, 2018
It was a hard read for me. In the end, though, I better understood Centering Prayer.
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