Cynthia Bourgeault - Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening

Cowley Publications is a ministry of the brothers of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, a monastic order in the Episcopal Church. Our mission is to provide books and resources for those seeking spiritual and theological formation. Cowley Publications is committed to developing a new generation of writers and teachers who will encourage people to think and pray in new ways about spirituality, reconciliation, and the future.

Cynthia Bourgeault

Foreword by Thomas Keating

2004 Cynthia Bourgeault

All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Bourgeault, Cynthia.

Centering prayer and inner awakening / Cynthia Bourgeault ; foreword by Thomas Keating.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 10: 1-56101-262-9 ISBN 13: 978-1-56101-262-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Contemplation. I. Title.

BV5091.C7B68 2004

248.3dc22

2004008477

Quotation from Living Presence by Kabir Edmund Helminski, copyright 1992 by Kabir Edmund Helminski. Used by permission of Jeremy P. Tarcher, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Cover design: Gary Ragaglia

This book was printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper.

by Thomas Keating

Foreword

Cynthia Bourgeault has absorbed the principles of the Christian contemplative tradition in such a way as to make them inspiring to contemporary seekers of deep prayer and union with God. Her masterful use of words enables each person to feel personally addressed and invited by the divine Spirit into the spiritual journey, and to the practice of Centering Prayer in particular.

Her focus in this book is the contribution she perceives that Centering Prayer can make to the renewal and appropriate adaptation of the Christian contemplative heritage to the circumstances of our time. She applies her singular grasp of the Centering Prayer practice to the needs both of beginners and of those who are advancing in faith and love toward the experience of divine union to which the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the integral practice of the Christian religion relentlessly invite us.

There are a significant number of excellent distinctions and clarifications in this book. These will help those in the spiritual network hosted by Contemplative Outreach to strengthen their commitment to the practice of Centering Prayer and to deepen their understanding of its theological and spiritual roots.

Here are a few of those major points:

The distinction between cataphatic and apophatic contemplation (), and particularly the description of the difficulties that may ensue when one attempts to practice apophatic prayer with a cataphatic mindset.

Lectio divina () as a necessary companion, along with appropriate communal prayer and rituals, to the inner solitude and silence cultivated in Centering Prayer.

The kenotic character of Centering Prayer () that participates in the primordial movement of love within the Trinity, expressed through the emptying of the Father into the Son and the emptying of the Son into all creation through the incarnation.

Attention of the heart (), where the author distinguishes between the basic receptivity of Centering Prayer and the concentrative character of mindfulness practices in other spiritual traditions, both Eastern and Western. The clarity of mind that the latter normally seek is an excellent preparation for contemplative prayer (or meditation in the terms of the Eastern religions). Centering Prayer, inspired by the tradition of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, emphasizes purity of heart, which is a disposition of humility and pure love leading to total self-surrender. Indeed, to distinguish Centering Prayer from practices of concentrative attention, we might call it heartfulness practice. I especially appreciated the introduction of an element of Eastern Orthodox spirituality that throws powerful light on the issue.

The inner observer () as a bridge from interior silence to the blooming of the True Self in which the unity and diversity of God and each person of the Trinity can be lived and manifested in daily life and in all circumstances.

The Welcoming Prayer () as a practical way of self-surrender in daily life and in the present moment and which complements the passive letting go of all perceptions in Centering Prayer, leading to interior silence and to the prayer in secret so highly recommended by Jesus himself (Matthew 6:6).

Cynthias outstanding treatment of the subtleties of Centering Prayer invites the reflection of qualified practitioners and meditators. These are areas that need to be illumined by the experience and insight of long-term practitioners as Contemplative Outreach reaches its twentieth birthday and knocks on the doors of seminaries and postgraduate institutions of all kinds.

The work that I have done has been addressed primarily to beginners seeking a serious Christian practice which is not only oriented to the grace of divine union but can also provide inspiration and support for the demanding ministries of service that are multiplying in our time. Centering Prayer is aimed at healing the violence in ourselves and purifying the unconscious of its hidden and flawed motivation that reduces and can even cancel out the effectiveness of the external works of mercy, justice, and peace.

My special and heartfelt thanks to Cynthia for her monumental contribution to the better understanding of the Centering Prayer practice and its immediate conceptual background, thus making it more accessible to the ever-growing number of seekers of our time.

Thomas Keating

Acknowledgments and Dedication

This book is the product of many hearts and minds and would never have come into being apart from that collaboration. My thanks go first and foremost to Margaret Haines and Sandy Gordon, founding matriarch and patriarch of The Contemplative Society in Victoria, British Columbia, whose strength, wisdom, and Scottish tenacity have sustained me through thick and thin as together we birthed a new organization and grew deeper in our understanding and practice of the Centering Prayer.

To Heather Page, administrative assistant of the Contemplative Society, who has been my right-hand person at every step of the way, and whose gracious presence and impeccable organizational skills have so supported the flourishing of Centering Prayer in this corner of Canada.

To the many laborers in the vineyard who have taught workshops, facilitated groups, or supported retreats from the command post in the kitchen: especially Anita Boyd, Christopher Page, Brian Mitchell, Flo Masson, Bronwen Boddington, Glenna Tiedje, Katherine Jarrett, and Suzanne Manley; and to the many, many others who have attended these events over the years and through their keen presence and deep, questing spirits have encouraged my own emerging voice as a teacher and writer.