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The Foundations for Centering Prayer and the Christian Contemplative Life: Open Mind, Open Heart; Invitation to Love; The Mystery of Christ
An indispensable anthology of three of Father KeatingÆs most inspirational works. Open Mind, Open Heart is a classic best-seller. It initiates the reader into a deep, living relationship with God. Keating gives an overview of the history of contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition, and step-by-step guidance in the method of centering prayer. Special attention is paid to the role of the Sacred Word, Christian growth and transformation, and active prayer. Invitation to The Way of Christian Contemplation is the natural next step. In Open Mind, Open Heart, Father Keating presents the beginning of a process of spiritual growth. In this book, he outlines and explains the actual stages of this process, tackling questions such How will it affect my life? Where does it lead us spiritually? What obstacles will I encounter along the way? Why is it necessary? How does it work? Also following upon Open Mind, Open Heart, presenting a profound formation in Christian prayer, Mystery of Christ demonstrates the contemplative dimension of Christian worship. Here Father Keating recovers the deeper sense of the liturgical year and shares a theological and mystical perspective on the major feasts of the annual cycle. The reader is immersed in the wonder of faith in the mystery of Christ and of the unique nature of God's action and presence in and through the liturgy of our lives.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2002
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About the author
Thomas Keating
122 books171 followersKeating entered the Cistercian Order in Valley Falls, Rhode Island in January, 1944. He was appointed Superior of St. Benedict's Monastery, Snowmass, Colorado in 1958, and was elected abbot of St. Joseph's Abbey, Spencer, Massachusetts in 1961. He returned to Snowmass after retiring as abbot of Spencer in 1981, where he established a program of ten-day intensive retreats in the practice of Centering Prayer, a contemporary form of the Christian contemplative tradition.
He is one of three architects of Centering Prayer, a contemporary method of contemplative prayer, that emerged from St. Joseph's Abbey in 1975. Frs. William Menninger and Basil Pennington, also Cistercian monks, were the other architects.
n 1984, Fr. Thomas Keating along with Gustave Reininger and Edward Bednar, co-founded Contemplative Outreach, Ltd., an international, ecumenical spiritual network that teaches the practice of Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina, a method of prayer drawn from the Christian contemplative tradition. Contemplative Outreach provides a support system for those on the contemplative path through a wide variety of resources, workshops, and retreats.
Fr. Keating currently lives at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado.
He is one of three architects of Centering Prayer, a contemporary method of contemplative prayer, that emerged from St. Joseph's Abbey in 1975. Frs. William Menninger and Basil Pennington, also Cistercian monks, were the other architects.
n 1984, Fr. Thomas Keating along with Gustave Reininger and Edward Bednar, co-founded Contemplative Outreach, Ltd., an international, ecumenical spiritual network that teaches the practice of Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina, a method of prayer drawn from the Christian contemplative tradition. Contemplative Outreach provides a support system for those on the contemplative path through a wide variety of resources, workshops, and retreats.
Fr. Keating currently lives at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 4, 2017
First read and finished reading: February 13, 2016 –
This book is a deal: 3 books in 1 -
1) Open Mind, Open Heart, 2) Invitation to Love, and 3) The Mystery of Christ.
I learned the first Intensive Centering Prayer Retreat was held in 1983 at the Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, NM.
The best part of the book was realizing this: The clarity with which we see other people's needs and respond to them is in direct proportion to our interior freedom.
No commandment says we have to upset by the way other people treat us. The reason we are upset is because we have an emotional program that says, "If someone is nasty to me, I cannot be happy or feel good about myself." It is true that there is psychological and sometimes physical pain involved in not being treated as a human being. In such situations, we have every right to be indignant and to take steps to remedy them. But apart from such circumstances, instead of reacting compulsively and retaliating, we could enjoy our freedom as human beings and refuse to be upset.
Notes from Tue, 4 Jul 2017
Practice unconditional acceptance of others. This practice is powerful in quieting the emotions of the utility appetite: fear, anger, courage, hope, and despair. By accepting other people unconditionally, you discipline the emotions that want to get even with others or to get away from them. You allow people to be who they are with all their idiosyncrasies and with the particular behavior that is disturbing you. The situation gets more complicated when you feel an obligation to correct someone. If you correct someone when you are upset, you are certain to get nowhere. This arouses the defenses of others and gives them a handle for blaming the situation on you. Wait 'til you have calmed down and then offer correction out of genuine concern for them.
Progress in the spiritual journey is manifested by the unconditional acceptance of other people, beginning with those with whom we live.
Regular periods of silence and solitude quiet the psyche, foster interior silence, and initiate the dynamic of self-knowledge.
Divine love is compassionate, tender, luminous, totally self-giving, seeking no reward, unifying everything.
Solitude is not primarily a place but an attitude of total commitment to God. When one belongs completely to God, the sharing of one's life and gifts continually increases.
Jesus proposed to his disciples the Way: the forgiveness of everything and everyone and the service of others in their needs: Love one another as I have loved you.
For us to be habitually happy, nobody has to change except ourselves. The effort to change is called the practice of virtue.
Love makes us vulnerable. The love of another person reduces our defense mechanisms. As soon as we trust somebody, we no longer have to be self-protective in their presence, and our defenses diminish.
Once we learn to accept failure, love grows.
Join me in raising the consciousness of the world.
This book is a deal: 3 books in 1 -
1) Open Mind, Open Heart, 2) Invitation to Love, and 3) The Mystery of Christ.
I learned the first Intensive Centering Prayer Retreat was held in 1983 at the Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, NM.
The best part of the book was realizing this: The clarity with which we see other people's needs and respond to them is in direct proportion to our interior freedom.
No commandment says we have to upset by the way other people treat us. The reason we are upset is because we have an emotional program that says, "If someone is nasty to me, I cannot be happy or feel good about myself." It is true that there is psychological and sometimes physical pain involved in not being treated as a human being. In such situations, we have every right to be indignant and to take steps to remedy them. But apart from such circumstances, instead of reacting compulsively and retaliating, we could enjoy our freedom as human beings and refuse to be upset.
Notes from Tue, 4 Jul 2017
Practice unconditional acceptance of others. This practice is powerful in quieting the emotions of the utility appetite: fear, anger, courage, hope, and despair. By accepting other people unconditionally, you discipline the emotions that want to get even with others or to get away from them. You allow people to be who they are with all their idiosyncrasies and with the particular behavior that is disturbing you. The situation gets more complicated when you feel an obligation to correct someone. If you correct someone when you are upset, you are certain to get nowhere. This arouses the defenses of others and gives them a handle for blaming the situation on you. Wait 'til you have calmed down and then offer correction out of genuine concern for them.
Progress in the spiritual journey is manifested by the unconditional acceptance of other people, beginning with those with whom we live.
Regular periods of silence and solitude quiet the psyche, foster interior silence, and initiate the dynamic of self-knowledge.
Divine love is compassionate, tender, luminous, totally self-giving, seeking no reward, unifying everything.
Solitude is not primarily a place but an attitude of total commitment to God. When one belongs completely to God, the sharing of one's life and gifts continually increases.
Jesus proposed to his disciples the Way: the forgiveness of everything and everyone and the service of others in their needs: Love one another as I have loved you.
For us to be habitually happy, nobody has to change except ourselves. The effort to change is called the practice of virtue.
Love makes us vulnerable. The love of another person reduces our defense mechanisms. As soon as we trust somebody, we no longer have to be self-protective in their presence, and our defenses diminish.
Once we learn to accept failure, love grows.
Join me in raising the consciousness of the world.
July 5, 2013
A compilation of Keating's best books on the contemplative life.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews