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Silent Compassion: Finding God in Contemplation
Richard Rohr was selected as one of a small group of “world renowned experts on contemplative practice and compassion” to speak at the “Sacred Silence: Pathway to Compassion” event in Louisville, Ky., in mid-May 2013, that featured His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Franciscan friar served as the principle Christian presence—others represented Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism—to speak on the search for God in contemplation, which leads to action that benefits humanity. His role as the founding director of the Center for Action and Contemplation made him a fitting and powerful speaker on the subject.
In Silent Compassion: Finding God in Contemplation, Rohr focuses on finding God in the depths of silence, and shares that the divine silence is more than the absence of noise. That silence has a life of its own, in which we are invited into its living presence, wholeness of being, and peace it brings. This silence can absorb paradoxes, contradictions, and the challenges of life, he says, connecting us with the great chain of being. Rohr adds that while different faiths use different languages and different words, all major religions have come at the mystery of God as a dynamic flow—God as communion, God as relationships. Silence then becomes that common place for all.
This book will inspire you and show that the peace of contemplation is not something just for monks, mystics, and those divorced from the worries of the world, but rather for all people who can quiet their own mind to listen in the silence.
In Silent Compassion: Finding God in Contemplation, Rohr focuses on finding God in the depths of silence, and shares that the divine silence is more than the absence of noise. That silence has a life of its own, in which we are invited into its living presence, wholeness of being, and peace it brings. This silence can absorb paradoxes, contradictions, and the challenges of life, he says, connecting us with the great chain of being. Rohr adds that while different faiths use different languages and different words, all major religions have come at the mystery of God as a dynamic flow—God as communion, God as relationships. Silence then becomes that common place for all.
This book will inspire you and show that the peace of contemplation is not something just for monks, mystics, and those divorced from the worries of the world, but rather for all people who can quiet their own mind to listen in the silence.
96 pages, Paperback
Published January 22, 2014
93 people are currently reading
642 people want to read
About the author
Richard Rohr
247 books2,340 followersFr. Richard Rohr is a globally recognized ecumenical teacher bearing witness to the universal awakening within Christian mysticism and the Perennial Tradition. He is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fr. Richard's teaching is grounded in the Franciscan alternative orthodoxy—practices of contemplation and expressing itself in radical compassion, particularly for the socially marginalized.
Fr. Richard is author of numerous books, including Everything Belongs, Adam’s Return, The Naked Now, Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, Eager to Love, and The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (with Mike Morrell).
Fr. Richard is academic Dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation. Drawing upon Christianity's place within the Perennial Tradition, the mission of the Living School is to produce compassionate and powerfully learned individuals who will work for positive change in the world based on awareness of our common union with God and all beings. Visit cac.org for more information.
Fr. Richard is author of numerous books, including Everything Belongs, Adam’s Return, The Naked Now, Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, Eager to Love, and The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (with Mike Morrell).
Fr. Richard is academic Dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation. Drawing upon Christianity's place within the Perennial Tradition, the mission of the Living School is to produce compassionate and powerfully learned individuals who will work for positive change in the world based on awareness of our common union with God and all beings. Visit cac.org for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
September 30, 2021
I’ve read a lot of Richard Rohr quotes, but I’ve never read a book of his before. This was based on a talk he gave about contemplation. His thoughts were a great reminder that without silence and mystery, we’re missing out on some important aspects of Christian truth. I’ll definitely read him again.
September 25, 2018
Very short but some of it was super difficult for me to follow because I've only been exposed to modern, western protestantism. Other christians may be able to follow it easier. I loved it, though. It may change my life if I let it. So much richness from thousands of years of European and North African Christianity that I thought only Buddhists understood.
May be a revolution in my heart and mind that will change my daily life, marriage, parenting, the way I can love and serve my enemies. What??!
May be a revolution in my heart and mind that will change my daily life, marriage, parenting, the way I can love and serve my enemies. What??!
May 31, 2015
I don't have many words to describe this great text, except for: hope, kindness, truth, honesty, light.
Rohr has a divine way with words. While this is a short text, it is packed and accessible to anyone interested in the depth housed in silence, contemplation, and spiritual fulfillment.
Rohr has a divine way with words. While this is a short text, it is packed and accessible to anyone interested in the depth housed in silence, contemplation, and spiritual fulfillment.
February 23, 2019
With the dualistic view of ‘us vs them’ that permeates the church today, Richard Rohr masterfully outlines the need for engaging the mystery of God in our faith through the lost practice silence and contemplation.
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December 27, 2024I'm trying so hard to learn about contemplative Christianity from it's actual practitioners but I'm now 3 books in and while I've enjoyed their perspectives, I'm no closer to an understanding of WHAT IT IS!
Seriously, I loved Rohr's tone and what he had to say about silence and the limitations of doctrine resonated with me I was really hoping for an understanding of his basic philosophy. This wasn't that.
Seriously, I loved Rohr's tone and what he had to say about silence and the limitations of doctrine resonated with me I was really hoping for an understanding of his basic philosophy. This wasn't that.
August 19, 2020
Richard Rohr shares his thoughts on the practice of seeking God in silent meditation in this little book that builds unity among the world's religions. Rohr emphasizes the difficulties of finding God in a noisy religious world, and draws upon centuries-old practices helping seekers to each recognize one's unity with a three-in-one God.
October 18, 2014
This is a well worn book in my devotional stack.
October 15, 2023
Wow. This book is only 70 pages but it is full of depth, compassion, and love…and so immersed in a true understanding of God and our relationship with Him, along for the need for silence and contemplation. I wrote down some of my favorite quotes, but at one point in time I realized I just wanted to copy the whole book down which kinda defeats the purpose of highlighting a few quotes. I’ll be purchasing this one for my own shelves, rereading it, and really thinking about this book I’m the days, weeks, and months to come. Sooo good and thought provoking.
________
Some of the quotes that gave me most pause and room to ponder:
We are not necessarily the best culture or the greatest, although I know Americans are trained to think that way. It is only easy to think that way if you have never been outside of America. We surely have some wonderful aspects to our society, and some very unhealthy aspects, too, including that we would not see silence as anything attractive or useful or necessary or important or even good. In time, we become more a shell with less and less inside or in the depths of things — where all the vitality is to be found. (P. 3)
The ego loves something it can take sides on. And true interior silence really does not allow you to take sides. […] Now you can see how someone who lives in a capitalist culture like we do, where everything is about competing and comparing and winning, will find silence counterintuitive. (P. 7)
If you can see silence as the ground of all words and the birth of all words, then you will find that when you speak, your words will be more well-chosen and calm. (P. 8)
I think that when you recognize something as beautiful in your life, it partly emerges from the silence around it. It may be why we are quiet in art galleries. If something is not surrounded by the vastness of silence and space, it is hard to appreciate something as singular and beautiful. (P. 8)
When you put knowing together with not knowing, and even become willing not to know, you have this marvelous phenomenon called faith, which allows you to keep an open horizon, an open field. You can thus remain in a humble and wondrous beginner’s mind, even as you grow older, maybe even more so. (P. 12)
We all have rehearsed an upcoming argument in our heads. […] But when we do that, notice we use the words that are going to win our case, to defeat the other side. We are not, if we are honest with ourselves, really searching for truth, but rather searching to look good, to look right, to keep the job, to keep our marriage, or whatever it might be. […] But the contemplative mind moves beyond that to read reality at a different level than either/or. (P. 18-19)
We forget too often that the only possible language of religion is metaphor. It comes as a great shock to most Christians that every word we use is metaphorical: it is like, it is like, it is like. If we as a Christian community would have been more honest and accepted the Jewish commandment that any name for God is in vain and is not a perfect or adequate description, we would have developed much more humility around words — and around religion itself. (P. 32)
It is that overemphasis on Jesus and less on relationship which also had the consequence of setting us in competition with other world religions. We have to prove Jesus all the time, and in contradistinction to Buddha, Allah, Hindu Gods, or even the God of Israel. In doing so, we pulled the Christ out of the very Union that he talked about that he enjoyed, and invited us into. An honest trinitarianism actually opens up interfaith dialogue and respect, because now we can admit that God is also total mystery and inner aliveness, and not Jesus apart from these. (P. 32)
It is surely hard for outsiders to take us seriously, since each group claims it is the only one that Jesus loves and is following him correctly, and we reveal little of the mystical, dynamic, Trinitarian flow of life and life between us, within us, or toward others. (P. 38)
Rigid religion and compulsive religiosity, all unloving religion, is a rather clear sign that you have not met God! (P. 50)
All that organized religion can do is to hold you inside the boxing ring long enough so you can begin to ask good questions and expect bigger answers. But it seldom teaches you how to really box with the mystery itself. Organized religion does not tend to cook you! It just keeps you on a low, half-cold simmer. It doesn’t teach you how to expect the mystery to show itself at any profound level. It tends, and I don’t mean to be unkind, to make you codependent upon its own ministry, instead of leading you to know something for yourself, which is really the whole point. (P. 52)
________
Some of the quotes that gave me most pause and room to ponder:
We are not necessarily the best culture or the greatest, although I know Americans are trained to think that way. It is only easy to think that way if you have never been outside of America. We surely have some wonderful aspects to our society, and some very unhealthy aspects, too, including that we would not see silence as anything attractive or useful or necessary or important or even good. In time, we become more a shell with less and less inside or in the depths of things — where all the vitality is to be found. (P. 3)
The ego loves something it can take sides on. And true interior silence really does not allow you to take sides. […] Now you can see how someone who lives in a capitalist culture like we do, where everything is about competing and comparing and winning, will find silence counterintuitive. (P. 7)
If you can see silence as the ground of all words and the birth of all words, then you will find that when you speak, your words will be more well-chosen and calm. (P. 8)
I think that when you recognize something as beautiful in your life, it partly emerges from the silence around it. It may be why we are quiet in art galleries. If something is not surrounded by the vastness of silence and space, it is hard to appreciate something as singular and beautiful. (P. 8)
When you put knowing together with not knowing, and even become willing not to know, you have this marvelous phenomenon called faith, which allows you to keep an open horizon, an open field. You can thus remain in a humble and wondrous beginner’s mind, even as you grow older, maybe even more so. (P. 12)
We all have rehearsed an upcoming argument in our heads. […] But when we do that, notice we use the words that are going to win our case, to defeat the other side. We are not, if we are honest with ourselves, really searching for truth, but rather searching to look good, to look right, to keep the job, to keep our marriage, or whatever it might be. […] But the contemplative mind moves beyond that to read reality at a different level than either/or. (P. 18-19)
We forget too often that the only possible language of religion is metaphor. It comes as a great shock to most Christians that every word we use is metaphorical: it is like, it is like, it is like. If we as a Christian community would have been more honest and accepted the Jewish commandment that any name for God is in vain and is not a perfect or adequate description, we would have developed much more humility around words — and around religion itself. (P. 32)
It is that overemphasis on Jesus and less on relationship which also had the consequence of setting us in competition with other world religions. We have to prove Jesus all the time, and in contradistinction to Buddha, Allah, Hindu Gods, or even the God of Israel. In doing so, we pulled the Christ out of the very Union that he talked about that he enjoyed, and invited us into. An honest trinitarianism actually opens up interfaith dialogue and respect, because now we can admit that God is also total mystery and inner aliveness, and not Jesus apart from these. (P. 32)
It is surely hard for outsiders to take us seriously, since each group claims it is the only one that Jesus loves and is following him correctly, and we reveal little of the mystical, dynamic, Trinitarian flow of life and life between us, within us, or toward others. (P. 38)
Rigid religion and compulsive religiosity, all unloving religion, is a rather clear sign that you have not met God! (P. 50)
All that organized religion can do is to hold you inside the boxing ring long enough so you can begin to ask good questions and expect bigger answers. But it seldom teaches you how to really box with the mystery itself. Organized religion does not tend to cook you! It just keeps you on a low, half-cold simmer. It doesn’t teach you how to expect the mystery to show itself at any profound level. It tends, and I don’t mean to be unkind, to make you codependent upon its own ministry, instead of leading you to know something for yourself, which is really the whole point. (P. 52)
March 29, 2023
Short, sweet, and to the point. Richard Rohr is an anomaly especially amongst Catholics in his ability to separate rules/religion and look more inward towards contemplation. For someone who often fears silence (it me)- I found a lot of joy the way Rohr describes the necessity of it. “Without silence, we do not really experience or experiences.. without it, we just react. The opposite of contemplation is not action, it’s reaction.”
QOTB: “Silence precedes, undergirds, and grounds everything. We cannot just see it as an accident, or as something unnecessary. But unless we learn
how to live there, go there, abide in this different phenomenon, the rest of things--words, events, relationships, identities--all become rather superfi-
cial, without depth or context. They lose meaning. All we search for is a life of more events, more situations which have to increasingly contain ever-higher stimulation, more excitement, and more color, to add vital signs to our inherently bored and boring existence. It really is the most simple and stripped down things that ironically have the power to give us the greatest
happiness- ifwe respect them as such. Silence is the essence of simple and stripped down”
QOTB: “Silence precedes, undergirds, and grounds everything. We cannot just see it as an accident, or as something unnecessary. But unless we learn
how to live there, go there, abide in this different phenomenon, the rest of things--words, events, relationships, identities--all become rather superfi-
cial, without depth or context. They lose meaning. All we search for is a life of more events, more situations which have to increasingly contain ever-higher stimulation, more excitement, and more color, to add vital signs to our inherently bored and boring existence. It really is the most simple and stripped down things that ironically have the power to give us the greatest
happiness- ifwe respect them as such. Silence is the essence of simple and stripped down”
January 12, 2024
Short but sweet. A good introduction to the history and practice of contemplative prayer and why it’s so important to our lives. I appreciate that Father Richard really sees the goodness in all forms of worship and religion and wants us to appreciate and incorporate those ideas that are valuable no matter where they come from; not to get stuck in the rut that much of Christianity and organized religion in general is, in thinking their team has all the answers. Humility and compassion, rather than inward and self-focused thinking, are keys to the better world that Christ’s followers are meant to be creating.
October 9, 2020
This is more of a pamphlet, and expansion of a forum/panel Rohr participated in with a rabbi, Muslim, and Buddhist. Rohr's words are very dense in this work and thus difficult to understand (which is funny despite the brevity of this book)! The message I take away is that, in order to hear and listen to God, we must allow for silence in our lives, a concept I wholeheartedly agree with. When we stop the chatter and distractions, we can be in the presence of God.
October 1, 2022
Thank you , Richard
As a life long Catholic , I feel slightly uncomfortable calling a priest by any name but Father, let alone just his first name. Every time I read something he has written, I am so taken in by the influx of knowledge that he imparts that I can't help but think of him as a friend. I have gained a way to live and grow in my faith that has taken it out of the doors of the church and into the seeking of Truth in all the days of my life.
As a life long Catholic , I feel slightly uncomfortable calling a priest by any name but Father, let alone just his first name. Every time I read something he has written, I am so taken in by the influx of knowledge that he imparts that I can't help but think of him as a friend. I have gained a way to live and grow in my faith that has taken it out of the doors of the church and into the seeking of Truth in all the days of my life.
October 24, 2022
In this gem of a book, Richard Rohr challenges organized religion and its participants without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The importance of silence in our spiritual life goes against the grain of organized religion and social prayer but it opens the door for a connection to God beyond that of Creator, Omniscient Being and petitioner to a unity and oneness that is beyond space, time and identity. It's a tiny book with the potential of life changing impact.
September 4, 2018
Short, but just as long as it needs to be. What a beautiful book! Kind of an abrupt ending, but the seeds of laying out a meditative, interfaith, healing church are laid within, with a tight focus on orthopraxy (right behavior) as opposed to right belief, with a lot of Kenotic and apophatic theology within, which are my two favorites.
January 31, 2021
Not really about silent compassion, and kind of rambling, but there were one or two quotes that rest stuck with me.
“Without silence, we do not really experience our experiences. We have many experiences, but they do not have the power to change us, to awaken us, to give us that joy that the world cannot give, as Jesus says.”
“Without silence, we do not really experience our experiences. We have many experiences, but they do not have the power to change us, to awaken us, to give us that joy that the world cannot give, as Jesus says.”
March 15, 2022
Richard Rohr always has something new to say about allowing God to inhabit your life. Here, among other things, he emphasises that Christianity is not a competition to prove it is the true religion. It is about finding what God is and where He is and what He wants. Most meaningful to me is that Rohr characterizes God is closer to yourself than you are.
January 4, 2023
If like me you are constantly yearning to deepen your relationship with God but find it challenging to do so due to the hypocrisies and incongruence you might experience from some people in the Catholic church, this book is for you! Richard Rohr has a simple and divine way of reminding us of the simplicity of Jesus’s teachings and how loved we are!
March 27, 2024
In Summary:
- Silence is peace (...🤔...silence is also violence and silence is also very complacent...)
- The Reformation was good because it removed the monopoly the catholic church had on Christianity.
- The Reformation was bad because, along with the printing press, it made everyone too rational.
- Silence is peace (...🤔...silence is also violence and silence is also very complacent...)
- The Reformation was good because it removed the monopoly the catholic church had on Christianity.
- The Reformation was bad because, along with the printing press, it made everyone too rational.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2025
It’s a great short book about why contemplation is important and why so much of Christianity hates it, avoids it, or ignores it. But it doesn’t really get into HOW to do it or HOW to find God in contemplation.
A little disappointing on that front, but Rohr says some much needed things and as always challenges the status quo.
A little disappointing on that front, but Rohr says some much needed things and as always challenges the status quo.
December 9, 2025
“If you stay silent for a while, it will not be hard to write a poem”. I loved Richard Rohr’s sometimes humorous style as he imparted wisdom on every page of this concise but profound little book about silent contemplation. He not only describes but also demonstrates how time in silent attention can create a heart of compassion and caring even In a world that can seem broken beyond repair.
January 30, 2018
For seekers, doubters and believers
Quick and easy but chock full of wisdom. Read excerpts for morning meditation, or cover to cover for some history. Great book for folks searching for deeper meaning of life and church .
Quick and easy but chock full of wisdom. Read excerpts for morning meditation, or cover to cover for some history. Great book for folks searching for deeper meaning of life and church .
April 29, 2021
I just finished the book, so I definitely need to sit with it a bit. But Rohr really spoke to me and and although I couldn’t completely follow him at the beginning, he put into words some thoughts I was having and clarified some others. Lots to chew on!
July 8, 2025
This is the talk that Franciscan Fr. Richard Rohr gave at The Festival of Faiths here in Louisville in 2013. It also includes some responses from other religions. He basically says that we find God in silence.
August 24, 2017
This is an excellent book on a way of thinking that most of us do not even know exists. It's about getting beyond critical thinking to examining things from a non-judgmental perspective.
November 22, 2018
I really enjoyed and appreciated the time reading and pondering this book
March 9, 2020
I enjoyed his commentary on silence and contemplation.
April 5, 2020
Challenges usual church practices in coming to know God. Presents contemplation and silence as a way to truly know God and self.
November 24, 2020
People writing books about contemplation. So interesting.
January 2, 2023
Now that I’ve read this book, the real challenge will be not forgetting what I’ve read.
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January 7, 2023Weird
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews