Reflections on the Unknowable

by Thomas Keating

A distillation of over seventy years as a monastic and more than three decades of writing on centering prayer, Reflections on the Unknowable is Fr. Thomas Keating’s latest volume on how we might develop our intimacy with God and our experience of the Christian contemplative tradition. The first part of the book consists of a long interview with Fr. Thomas, in which he examines concepts of the divine‐including the astonishments, playfulness, and transformation available to the individual willing to open the door to God. The second section consists of thirty-one brief homilies, which range over topics as diverse as the Trinity and the message of Epiphany, spiritual evolution and cultivating interior silence, and the treasure of spiritual poverty and the beauty of chaos.

Genres: Spirituality

179 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2014

About the author

Keating entered the Cistercian Order in Valley Falls, Rhode Island in January, 1944. He was appointed Superior of St. Benedict's Monastery, Snowmass, Colorado in 1958, and was elected abbot of St. Joseph's Abbey, Spencer, Massachusetts in 1961. He returned to Snowmass after retiring as abbot of Spencer in 1981, where he established a program of ten-day intensive retreats in the practice of Centering Prayer, a contemporary form of the Christian contemplative tradition.

He is one of three architects of Centering Prayer, a contemporary method of contemplative prayer, that emerged from St. Joseph's Abbey in 1975. Frs. William Menninger and Basil Pennington, also Cistercian monks, were the other architects.
n 1984, Fr. Thomas Keating along with Gustave Reininger and Edward Bednar, co-founded Contemplative Outreach, Ltd., an international, ecumenical spiritual network that teaches the practice of Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina, a method of prayer drawn from the Christian contemplative tradition. Contemplative Outreach provides a support system for those on the contemplative path through a wide variety of resources, workshops, and retreats.
Fr. Keating currently lives at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cynthia Bourgeault lifts up Thomas Keating as a modern-day mystic, pointing especially to his later writings as examples of nondual thought and higher-level consciousness. Since I've mostly studied Keating's earlier work, I was curious. Indeed; Keating is exceedingly wise here, and challenging. Powerlessness, our call to become God, Jesus becoming sin, the near impossibility of mortal sin, the path of humility... These teachings draw from a profound inner experience of the Christian tradition, and so are largely inaccessible without experiential knowledge (mostly gleaned from time in prayer) of the terrain. "God looks for experiencers more than theorists," Keating quips. So much to grow into here....

[Gwendolyn Plano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas Keating writes from the heart of his experience with the Divine. As a Trappist monk, he spent his life in meditation and offers his hard-earned wisdom through this book and others. I often refer back to his words. Loving, uplifting, and instructive, I highly recommend this book to all who appreciate contemplation.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mystical, yet alluring in its practicality

This is a book about contemplation. The language is allusive. But it is the language of love and acceptance, and a challenge to full surrender to God in order to be transformed into . . . . God.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fr Keating’s spiritual direction feels true and life-filled.

[Jeanne Lambrianou · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Great Love

This teaching is a great love, not only by Thomas Keating, as he himself would tell you, but by God Himself THROUGH Thomas Keating.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who follow Fr. Thomas Keating and Centering Prayer, this is a great addition to their devotional readings. I read a chapter a day and felt good with every chapter.

[John Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amen, is all I can really say. Keating gives voice to a mysterious, unknowable God that is still playful, substantial, and life-giving. These reflections are worth reflecting on.

[Helen Kosmo · Rating 5 out of 5]

🩷

Father Thomas is such a gift to our world! I am so grateful for his wisdom and insight! Must read for all!

[Priscilla Lotfy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the interview format of the first part of this book which gets directly to some of the more pressing questions regarding spirituality and contemplative prayer. Thomas Keating is his usual kind yet direct presence, imparting to us his wisdom on a variety of god-related topics. As always, I find his explanations more understandable than any other spiritual teachings I have read.
The remainder of the book consists of homilies on various topics, also very revealing and helpful.

These are a few quotes that I found most helpful:

Keating speaks of the need for religion to take into account a "new cosmology" based on scientific developments.
"The main thing is to have a big idea of God --- huge!"

In The Science of Love . . .
"Divine love attracts all to itself. It is irresistible"
"Wisdom entails dropping all efforts to fix anything, including ourselves"
"The divine energies are rushing past us every nanosecond of time. Why not reach out and catch them by continuing acts of self-surrender and trust in God?"
"Inner freedom is the source of the greatest creativity"

Regarding spiritual poverty he quotes Saint Therese of Lisieux
"We must cultivate God by caresses, that is little sacrifices" e.g. Letting go of efforts at self-justification, needless criticism of others, and refusing to judge anyone."
Addressing the awareness of God's presence in our lives:
"To say, "I am unworthy of God's love," Is not a true statement. More accurate would be, "Although God created me with inconceivable beauty, I have made myself unworthy."

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found some of this nearly incomprehensible, other parts enlightening. These seem to be his reflections over a period of years. Here are a few quotes worth further reflection:

"Wisdom entails dropping all efforts to fix anything including ourselves. The Spirit will do the changing. Efforts to make our self acceptable to God will not succeed."

"God is everything. Call him 'Butch' if you like."

"one of the great things to learn is that the game of life is designed for us to enjoy fun, not to accomplish anything."

"This is creation: endless, delightful, unpredictable, unbelievable; just is-ness playing with goodness, beauty, and truth; without purpose, without plan, without judgment; in perfect peace in the midst of activity and no activity."

"This is what transformation or enlightenment really is. Our human personality, capabilities, faults, even our sins are being consumed and transformed into divine life by this extraordinary transformative process. This is what we call in the Christian tradition the process of contemplation.
"So be yummy! That is to say, really surrender to God!. Turn your life over completely to love and see what remains--hopefully nothing but God."

[Frank F. Baugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those unfamiliar with contemplative prayer, and that of the contemplative prayer movement as promoted by Fr. Thomas Keating, this will be a difficult read. For those who are familiar with the concepts of contemplative prayer as promoted by Fr. Keating this will be a very enlightening book! This book really flashes out much of the thought behind contemplative prayer. If You are wishing to know much more about contemplative prayer, this book will bring much enlightenment. I highly recommend it!