Centering prayer


Centering Prayer is a method of meditation used by Christians placing a strong emphasis on interior silence.
The modern Centering Prayer movement in 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. The name was taken from Thomas Merton's description of contemplative prayer as prayer that is "centered entirely on the presence of God". In his book Contemplative Prayer, Merton writes “Monastic prayer begins not so much with “considerations” as with a “return to the heart,” finding one's deepest center, awakening the profound depths of our being”.
The creators of the Centering Prayer movement claim to trace their 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. Advocates of Centering Prayer say it does not replace other prayer but encourages silence and deeper connection to God. Also advocates of Centering Prayer say it helps people be more present and open to God. Father Thomas Keating has promoted both Lectio Divina and Centering Prayer.
However, some people consider Centering Prayer controversial. Some authors argue that Centering Prayer contradicts the teachings of the Carmelite saints. Others also argue that Centering Prayer is a distortion of the teachings of the Desert Fathers and The Cloud of Unknowing, and is in contradiction to Lectio Divina. Some consider it to fall afoul of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's caution against similar prayer forms in their Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Christian Meditation.

History

Claimed origins

Seeds of what would become known as contemplation, for which the Greek term θεωρία theoria is also used, were sown early in the Christian era.
The earliest Christian writings that clearly speak of contemplative prayer come from the 4th-century monk St. John Cassian, who wrote of a practice he learned from the Desert Fathers. Cassian's writings remained influential until the medieval era when monastic practice shifted from a mystical orientation to Scholasticism. During the 16th century, Carmelite saints Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross wrote and taught about advanced Christian prayer, which was given the name infused contemplation.
The 20th century Trappist monk and writer Thomas Merton was influenced by Buddhist meditation, particularly as found in Zen. He was a lifetime friend of Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh, praised Chogyam Trungpa who founded Shambhala Buddhism in the United States and was also an acquaintance of the current Dalai Lama. His theology attempted to unify existentialism with the tenets of the Roman Catholic faith. 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.

Development

monk Father Thomas Keating, a founder of Centering Prayer, was abbot all through the 60s and 70s at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts. This area is thick with religious retreat centres, including the well-known Theravada Buddhist centre, Insight Meditation Society. Fr. Keating tells of meeting many young people, some who stumbled on St. Joseph's by accident, many of them born Catholic, who had turned to Eastern practices for contemplative work. He found many of them had no knowledge of the contemplative traditions within Christianity and set out to present those practices in a more accessible way. The result was the practice now called Centering Prayer.

Practice

Fr. M. Basil Pennington suggests these steps for practicing Centering Prayer:
  1. Sit comfortably with your eyes closed, relax, and quiet yourself. Be in love and faith to God.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Whenever you become aware of anything, simply return to your sacred word, your anchor.
In addition, Fr. Keating writes,
In centering prayer, the participant seeks the presence of God directly and explicitly rejects discursive thoughts and imagined scenes. The participant's aim is to be present to the Lord, to "consent to God's presence and action during the time of prayer." Centering Prayer advocates link the practice to traditional forms of Christian meditation, such as on the rosary, or Lectio Divina.
Although the practice makes use of a "sacred word," Thomas Keating emphasizes that Centering Prayer is not an exercise in concentrating, or focusing one's attention on something, but rather is concerned with intention and consent.
In practice, the "sacred word" can integrate with breathing in and out. Thus, rather than being a tool to quiet the mind, consent to the presence and action of God within and "just be" with God, it can become too prevalent during the practice of Centering Prayer.

Reception

From other Catholics

Critics note that traditional prayers such as the Holy Rosary and Lectio Divina engage the heart and mind with Sacred Scripture, while Centering Prayer is "devoid of content". The Holy Rosary and Lectio Divina, in contrast, have some contemplative goal in mind: with the Rosary, the Mysteries of the Rosary are contemplated; with Lectio Divina, the practitioner thinks about the Scripture reading, sometimes even visualizing it.
Critics also dispute the claim that Centering Prayer is in the tradition of the Desert Fathers and Carmelite saints, saying that traditional Catholic contemplative prayer is not so much a method of prayer as a stage of prayer in which God's action predominates. They cite the Catechism of the Catholic Church as evidence that meditation and contemplation are two different expressions of prayer.

From the Holy See

In 1989, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger issued Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Christian Meditation. The letter addresses problematic elements found in some modern prayer methods, many of which have been influenced by Eastern religions and the New Age movement. Contemplative Outreach, which was founded by Fr. Keating and others to promote Centering Prayer, denies that this letter applies to Centering Prayer and states that Centering Prayer is connected to the Holy Spirit. Opponents of the method, however, point to similarities between the teaching of Fr. Keating and his colleagues and specific criticisms made by the CDF.
In 2003, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the Pontifical Council for Culture published Jesus Christ, The Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the "New Age". Critics of Centering Prayer once again say their concerns were addressed in this document. Centering Prayer practitioners respond that Bearer of the Water of Life does not have doctrinal authority, and neither Vatican document mentions Centering Prayer, Contemplative Outreach, or Fr. Keating by name.
Pope Francis has not commented on Centering Prayer directly but has spoken very highly of Thomas Merton. Thomas Merton described contemplative prayer as prayer "centered entirely on the presence of God." Pope Francis listed Thomas Merton as one of four great Americans in a speech before the U.S. Congress in September 2015 and encouraged sowing dialogue and peace in "the contemplative style of Thomas Merton."

Research

Research has been conducted on the Centering Prayer program, indicating that it may be helpful for women receiving chemotherapy,
and that it may help congregants experience a more collaborative relationship with God, as well as reduced stress.
Andrew B. Newberg explained one study that examined the brains of nuns who engaged in Centering Prayer, which is meant to create a feeling of oneness with God. The nuns' brain scans showed similarities to people who use drugs like psilocybin mushrooms, Newberg said, and both experiences "tend to result in very permanent changes in the way in which the brain works."