Open Mind, Open Heart 20th Anniversary Edition

Description

This book is designed to initiate the reader into a deep, living relationship with God. Written by an acknowledged spiritual master, the book moves beyond "discursive meditation and particular acts to the intuitive level of contemplation." 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. The book ends with an explicit treatment of the contemplative dimension of the gospel. Open Mind, Open Heart will take readers into a world where God can do anything, into a realm of the greatest adventure--"Where one is open to the Infinite and hence to infinite possibilities."

Father Thomas Keating was known throughout the world as an exponent, teacher, and writer on contemplative prayer. A Cistercian (Trappist) monk of St. Benedict's Monastery, Snowmass, Colorado, he was a founder of the Centering Prayer Movement and of Contemplative Outreach. He authored numerous books, particularly of the trilogy Open Mind, Open Heart; Invitation to Love; and The Mystery of Christ. Among his books is The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living, compiled by S. Stephanie Iachetta.

"The leader within the Catholic world in the task of recovering our Christian contemplative heritage." --Ewert Cousins, General Editor, World Spirituality: An Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest "We started going to St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass when I was 7 years old. Several years later, Keating became a St. Benedict's monk. He developed centering prayer, which is a lot like meditation and what this book is about. He says that meditation (or centering prayer) is a way of reducing the obstacles to the development of grace. I can sit for only five to ten minutes. It's very hard for me. Still, when I get in trouble, it shifts my perspective. As they say, we don't pray to change our circumstances; we pray to change ourselves."- Books from O, the Oprah Magazine, May 2005