Here are a number of videos from various sources relating to Centering Prayer. The two important ones for learning the method are those showing the Guidelines Parts 1 and 2 by Fr Thomas Keating - see first row.
These videos are not local to the EasterSpirit site. (If you are looking for the EasterSpirit videos instead, please go here.) They are rather linked and embedded here from other sites. Click on a video to watch it here. A technical note is at the bottm of this page.
CENTERING PRAYER Links
Contemplative Outreach is a supportive and resourceful spiritual network that serves as the "home".
Workshops, Retreats, Prayer groups: see the Contemplative Outreach main site.
Centering Prayer and the 12-step addiction recovery program: Contemplative Outreach writes: Whether you have been in recovery for a long time
or are just beginning, you probably have
experienced a lot of frustrated feelings that didn’t
just go away when you got abstinent or
sober…problems with relationships, work, anxiety,
depression, or feelings of emptiness. These
feelings are natural for us no matter what our
addiction and the amount of time in recovery we
have. But we don’t have to let them rule our lives.
The 11th Step offers us a solution! Dowload PDF leaflet on CP and the 12 step program here: http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/private/882/field-file/cp_12-step_outreach_brochure.pdf
Technical Note:
This page may take some time to load if your computer is low on RAM memory. Most videos can be downloaded to your computer. Unless you convert them to MPEG4 or AVI or another common format, you will need a Flash Player to play them on your computer later. We thank the producers and webmasters concerned. Videos' titles have been added here when there was none on the original site. Top
In Centering Prayer, I centre in God by returning, when engaged in any thought, to my chosen
special word, or "sacred word" that, for me, is a sign of my consent to God's presence and action in me. Fr Thomas explains that this intention of openness and availability is essential to this method.
Download a Leaflet/brochure with the guidelines explained. SeeLinks to Contemplative Outreach and other sites.
Reaching Out to the World: Contemplative Outreach and their work on Centering Prayer - new, recommended - from the Contemplative Outreach site
CENTERING PRAYER - Guidelines Part 1
- Fr Thomas Keating, Trappist monk
CENTERING PRAYER Guidelines Part 2
- Fr Thomas Keating ocso, Trappist monk
The two Guidelines videos above tell you what you need to know, if you are interested in practising Centering Prayer. For more information, go to Contemplative Outreach, and buy the book Open Mind, Open Heart- the contemplative dimension o fthe Gospel, by Fr Thomas Keating ocso on Alibris, Play.com, or Amazon or elsewhere.
Faith; the separate self; love; and the crucial importance of contemplative practice in human development - Fr Thomas Keating with philosopher Ken Wilber
Centering Prayer - a brief introduction by
Fr Jim Martin
An Introduction to Centering Prayer
by an Episcopal priest, Fr Matthew Moretz
Celtic Christianity Today #1 - Rev George Cairns
Celtic Christianity Today #12 - Rev George Cairns
Celtic Christianity Today #3 - Rev George Cairns
Baptist Rev Cairns,
a professor with the Chicago Theological Seminary,
is a teacher of Centering Prayer licensed by Contemplative Outreach, taught by Fr Thomas Keating. See his links here.
The videos were recorded on
recorded on November 9, 2007 in Munising Michigan. Thank you, Rev Cairns.
Centering Prayer - Fr Thomas Keating, at the Crossings
You and the Other (with a capital O) - a clip from One, the Movie
The Roman Catholic Church opening up to other religions - Fr Thomas Keating ocso
Fr Thomas Keating - the Garrison Institute Interview, Part 1
Fr Thomas Keating - the Garrison Institute Interview, Part 2
Fr Thomas Keating - the Garrison Institute Interview, Part 3
"Father Thomas Keating is the animator of Centering Prayer and of Contemplative Outreach. A Trappist monk for 65 years, he is a retired abbot, author of a dozen
books and a major voice in inter-religious dialogue. In the 1970s, he was one of three Trappist monks who studied ancient Christian contemplative practices which were largely lost after the Reformation, and distilled them into a simple, accessible method known as Centering Prayer. He is interviewed by Jonathan F.P. Rose, Chairman of the Garrison Institute." Thank you, Garrison Institute for the videos and for this description.
Oneness and the Heart of the World - Fr Thomas Keating
How do I practice CENTERING PRAYER? "CP is much espoused by the Carmelites..." Fr Joe McCloskey
Fr Thomas Keating seems at first to be simply speculating on theology, but he is really talking about contemplative experiences. Among other things
he talks about the senses, or their mystical analogues, in the context of contemplative prayer; the attraction to silence; faith or trust as the third eye; humans and the realisation of oneness; "not this, not that"; collective and individual human transformation; and other themes.