Free Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension Of The Gospel Ebooks Online
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.">
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Continuum (1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0826406963
ISBN-13: 978-0826406965
Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 6.2 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (171 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #80,864 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #8 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Catholicism > Theology #150 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Worship & Devotion > Meditations #268 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Worship & Devotion > Meditations
I have a checkered spiritual past. Like many people of my generation, I have always felt that modern life was going in the wrong direction, and that the traditional answers we were getting from the government and institutionalized religion just weren't quenching the spiritual drought in the contemporary world. So I went east, to Buddhism, the Sufis, Hinduism, looking for something that might help me fill the void I felt. Then I stumbled upon the Centering Prayer movement. Little did I know that the Christian tradition that I grew up in, would hold the secret to what I was looking for.Centering Prayer is based squarely in the Christian tradition. It is based on forms of prayer that have roots in the earliest Christian monesteries of the 4th century. There are even tantalizing glimpses of it in the writings of St. Paul and even the Gospels, though not spelled out in so many words (which is probably what gives literalists conniptions.) It existed in the Benedictine monasteries of medieval Europe, in the Cloud of Unknowing, the 14th century manual of prayer, and in the writings of St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. It is not, I repeat, NOT a "new age" spirituality, unless one thinks that all of Christian Spirituality is new age (and the case could be made that it is.) Centering Prayer is a simple method of prayer that is designed to help us consent to the presence and action of God in our lives. Through quite simple guildelines and a few adjustments of attitudes, Centering Prayer helps us to let go of our own ego and expectations and just "wait upon the Lord". For me, it has been key to reawakening my Christian faith.Having been a practicing Buddhist for many years, I can say that readers who equate Centering Prayer with Buddhist practice are mistaken.
Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel Haiku Mind: 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart Open Heart, Clear Mind: An Introduction to the Buddha's Teachings Chakra Foods for Optimum Health: A Guide to the Foods That Can Improve Your Energy, Inspire Creative Changes, Open Your Heart, and Heal Body, Mind, and Spirit Experiential Worship: Encountering God with Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength (Quiet Times for the Heart) Slow Stitch: Mindful and Contemplative Textile Art Radical Presence: Teaching as Contemplative Practice Contemplative Practices in Higher Education: Powerful Methods to Transform Teaching and Learning Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End-of-Life Care The Contemplative Life, Giants and Selections (Classics of Western Spirituality) Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge (Columbia Series in Science and Religion) The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer Contemplative Prayer (Image Classics) The New Monasticism: An Interspiritual Manifesto for Contemplative Living New Monasticism: An Interspiritual Manifesto for Contemplative Living Daily Reader for Contemplative Living: Excerpts from the Works of Father Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O The Hidden Dimension (Anchor Books a Doubleday Anchor Book) Human Dimension & Interior Space: A Source Book of Design Reference Standards Supernatural Transportation: Moving Through Space, Time and Dimension for the Kingdom of Heaven
