Centering prayer

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Centering prayer is a popular method of contemplative prayer, placing a strong emphasis on interior silence.

Though most authors trace its roots to the contemplative prayer of the Desert Fathers of early Christian monasticism, to the Lectio Divina tradition of Benedictine monasticism, and to works like The Cloud of Unknowing and the writings of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, its origins as part of the "Centering Prayer" movement in modern Catholicism and Christianity can be traced to several books published by three Trappist monks of St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts in the 1970s: Fr. William Meninger, Fr. M. Basil Pennington and Abbot Thomas Keating.^[1]

1 History
2 Practice
3 Footnotes
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

What is known of medieval contemplative prayer is mostly filtered through the small 14th century book The Cloud of Unknowing, a unique book of its time because it stood in direct contrast to the scholastic movement in Christian monasticism of the day (some commentators have speculated that the book was written as a repudiation of scholasticism as a whole). In this book, the anonymous author postulates a theology in which it is denied that God may be understood through systematic reason — Via Negativa. Rather, God must be "felt" as a living presence in the heart, and this is possible only when the mind ceases its otherwise irrepressible ratiocination. Consequently, the ideal means of communing with God are through a cessation of the thought process and any rational, conscious, or systematic attempt to encompass God within the sphere of the intellectual mind. Because it is a state of communion, this state is considered the object of all prayer. Because it involves direct awareness (devoid of rational analysis) of God's being, it is contemplative.

Aside from this anonymous author, seeds of what would become known as contemplation where sown early in the Christian era. The first appearance of something approximating contemplative prayer arises in the 4th century writings of the monk St. John Cassian, who wrote of a practice he learned from the Desert Fathers (specifically from Isaac). Cassian's writings remained influential until the medieval era, when monastic practice shifted from a mystical orientation to Scholasticism. Thus it can be plausibly argued that contemplation was (one of) the earliest meditational and/or devotional practice of Christian monasticism, being later supplanted in dominance by the scholastic theologians, with only a minimal interest in contemplation.

The Trappist monk and influential theologian Thomas Merton was strongly influenced by Buddhist meditation, particularly as found in Zen — he was a lifetime friend of Buddhist meditation master and Vietnamese monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh, and was also an acquaintance of the current Dalai Lama. His theology attempted to unify existentialism with the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith, a unique undertaking — Christian existentialism is usually regarded as a feature of Protestant theology. As such he was also an advocate of the non-rational meditation of contemplative prayer, which he saw as a direct confrontation of finite and irrational man with his ground of being.

[edit] Practice

The actual practice of centering prayer is not entirely alien, at least to Catholics, who are advised to meditate in some form daily — usually on the rosary or on the more structured practice of lectio divina. It is essentially identical to the practice of hesychasm as understood in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Basil Pennington, one of the best known proponents of the centering prayer technique, has delineated the guidelines for centering prayer:^[2]

Sit comfortably with your eyes closed, relax, and quiet yourself. Be in love and faith to God.
Choose a sacred word that best supports your sincere intention to be in the Lord's presence and open to His divine action within you (i.e. "Jesus," "Lord," "God," "Savior," "Abba," "Divine," "Shalom," "Spirit," "Love," etc.).
Let that word be gently present as your symbol of your sincere intention to be in the Lord's presence and open to His divine action within you.
Whenever you become aware of anything (thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, associations, etc.), simply return to your sacred word, your anchor.

Ideally, the prayer will reach the point where the person is not engaged in their thoughts as they arrive on their stream of consciousness. This is the "unknowing" referenced in the 14th century book.

[edit] Footnotes

^ Centering Prayer Overview. Contemplative Outreach Ltd.. Retrieved on 16 November 2006.
^ M. Basil Pennington (1986), "Centering Prayer: Refining the Rules," "Review for Religious," 46:3, 386-393.