This 24-hour teaching series was recorded live at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. Father Thomas Keating is a member of the Cistercian order in the Benedictine tradition. Over the years through his books and retreats he has developed "Centering Prayer," a cornerstone of Christian contemplative practice. This form of "divine therapy" grows out of a close relationship with God resulting in mystical union. Centering Prayer involves setting aside the false self system with its illusory emotional programs for happiness.
Like the early Desert Fathers, many of us seek increased devotion to God and service of others. Like St. Thomas Aquinas, we yearn for the "still point" of resting in God. And Like St. Anthony, we must square off against temptations. The fruits of Centering Prayer are freedom from self-centered motivation, action in service of others, a sense of interconnectedness with all creation, humility, and an appreciation of our basic goodness and capacity for union with God.
Keating salutes the four elements of spiritual health — solitude, silence, simplicity, and discipline — and sheds light on the practices of lectio divina, guarding the heart, and the sacred glance. The Contemplative Journey: Volume I & Volume II is a great teaching tool. It is accompanied by two 32-page study guides containing Father Keating's magisterial overview.