Open Geest, Open Hart

by Thomas Keating

Dit boek van trappist Thomas Keating is uitgegroeid tot een basiswerk over meditatie. (1/2 miljoen verkochte exemplaren) Hij verwierf bekendheid in Amerika als grondlegger van 'Centaring Prayer', een hedendaagse manier om de christelijke mystiek toegankelijk te maken. Het spirituele netwerk hierbij, 'Contemplative Outreach', bereikt momenteel tienduizenden mensen en dit in wel 40 landen.

Genres: Spirituality, Christianity, Prayer, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1994

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

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book and Centering Prayer are changing - and saving - my life right now. (and I'm sure the rest of my life as well.)

I took so many pages of notes. highlighted and wrote in the margins. this is a book I will be coming back to over and over.

what a gift.

Summer Bingo - originally published in the 20th century.

[Sadie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found the introduction/first chapter a little difficult to get into. Especially when he started using psychology words in a way that I deemed “arm chair psychology” which is a no no for someone trained in empiricism. The middle of the book was a bit repetitive. I liked his suggestion for letting go of tough emotions. His point that holding on to any thoughts is possessive and possessive of God at that was mind blowing. I found the second part of the book most helpful. The history of contemplative prayer was interesting. I want to revisit and revisit the guidelines for Christian life growth and transformation. Even the appendices were helpful especially the welcoming prayer. I think I understood the book as much as I could before really practicing centering prayer which sounds like goes beyond words anyway. I’ll just trust that what stuck is what should have and what is yet to be gained will be.

p.s. right now I’m reading a biography of Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat and that book talks a lot about Jansenism and in the history of contemplation section Keating also talks about its influences still felt today- love a good crossover!

[Robert Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, easy to follow.

[William Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A manual for practicioners, a well rounded exposition of a particular contemplative activity. Solid wisdom, fruit of profound experience and insight.

[Peggy Stoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book for those who want to begin this practice.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. A simple yet powerful treatise on centering and contemplative prayer.