The Heart of Centering Prayer: Nondual Christianity in Theory and Practice

Synopsis

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 Prayer: 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--back Cover. Getting (re)oriented -- Intention Is Everything -- Choosing A Sacred Word -- Mechanics Of Sitting -- Putting It All Together -- Handling Thoughts During Centering Prayer -- Putting On The Mind Of Christ -- Fruits Of Centering Prayer -- What Is Nonduality? -- Way Of The Heart -- Centering Prayer And Attention Of The Heart -- Centering Prayer As Witnessing Practice -- Further To Simeon The New Theolgian -- Centering Prayer : Perspectives From The Neurosciences -- Cloud Of Unknowing Revisited (centering Into The Cloud ; Objectless Awareness ; Nothing But God (cloud 3) -- Heart Of The Cloud (cloud 5 And 6) -- Jousting With Thoughts (cloud 7) -- Art Of Contemplation (cloud 8) -- Mystery Of Love (cloud 13 -23) -- Sorrow Of Being (cloud 43-44) -- Elastic Universe (cloud 4) Cynthia Bourgeault. Includes Bibliographical References ([209]-225) And Index.