Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating 13
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations and paraphrases from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5 – [From an early age] our self-image, self-worth, begins to be identified with the false self that arises from our complicated emotional development. Our false self develops from […]
Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating 12
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations and paraphrases from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5 – The False Self System consists of the instinctual need for security that the infant has, and the instinctual need for pleasure and for independence, in some degree, […]
Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating 11
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations and paraphrases from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5 – Now the practice of this tradition which we call Centering Prayer consists, oddly enough, in taking a vacation from ourselves. If you go to Miami or Alaska […]
Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating 10
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations and paraphrases from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5 – Let us now turn your attention to the value of contemplative prayer and practice as an indispensable means for developing the contemplative dimension of the Gospel and […]
Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating 9
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations and paraphrases from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5: An attitude toward God that is very easily communicated to the child who can’t make a lot of distinctions is that God is a judge, with his gavel […]
Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating 8
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations and paraphrases from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5: We can’t just blame our religious educators [rewards in this life and the life to come for doing the right thing]. They received their information from a previous […]
Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating 7
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations and paraphrases from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5: In The Western Model of God [God outside of self and self outside of God], we even had the idea that God must reward us now. And this […]
Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating 6
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations and paraphrases from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5: In fairness to the Western Model of God [God outside of self and self outside of God], there was a certain abstract recognition of the importance of the […]
Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating 5
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations and paraphrases from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5. Who initiates good works? In the “Western Model,” it was the self-outside-of-God. In the “Scriptural Model,” it’s the self-in-God and the Spirit of God in us [who initiates […]
Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating 4
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations and paraphrases from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5. OK, now let’s look at the “Scriptural Model” [as opposed to the Western Model that we have explored the last three weeks]. Now the Scriptural Model which was […]
Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating 3
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations and paraphrases from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5. The Western Model of God [self-outside-of-God and God-outside-of-self] espoused the idea of external works and piling up certain merits in order to require God, it would seem, to […]
Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating 2
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations and paraphrases from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5. The Western Model of God [self-outside-of-God and God-outside-of-self] would suggest to someone engaged in trying to be united to God, or make oneself pleasing to him, that this […]
Holistic Vision of Thomas Keating
In the next several newsletters, I will share quotations from one of my root teachers, Thomas Keating, whose approach is at the heart of RCMR5. Prior to Vatican II, the general sense or environment in which religious education was communicated seems to have been more of a philosophical model stemming from Descartes, with his dualistic […]
Song to The Creator by Hildegard of Bingen
You, all-accomplishingWord of Godare the light of primordialdaybreak over the spheres.You, the foreknowingmind of divinity,foresaw all your worksas you willed them,your presence hiddenin the heart of your power,your power like a wheel around the world,whose circling never beganand never slides to an end. -Hildegard of Bingen Sounds True has titles by teachers and authors such […]
A Version of The Lord’s Prayer from the New Zealand Prayer Book
Eternal Spirit,Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,Source of all that is and that shall be,Father and Mother of us all,Loving God, in whom is heaven: The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!Your commonwealth of peace and […]
Favorite Verse of Barbara Brown Taylor
May we make bread or love, dig in the earth, feed an animal or cook for a stranger—these activities require no extensive commentary, no lucid theology. All they require is someone willing to bend, reach, chop, stir. Most of these tasks are so full of pleasure that there is no need to complicate things by […]
Favorite Quotations from the Spiritual Classic, The Interior Castle, by Teresa of Avila – June 16th, 2019
Now let us return to our beautiful and charming interior castle and discover how to enter it. This appears incongruous: if this castle is the soul, clearly no one can have to enter it, for it is the person himself: one might as well tell some one to go into a room he is already […]
Favorite Quotations from the Spiritual Classic, New Seeds of Contemplation, by Thomas Merton (2)
The problem of sanctity and salvation is in the problem of finding out who I am and of discovering my true self. (pg. 31) We do not know clearly beforehand what the result of this work (the work of our calling) will be. The secret of my full identity is hidden in God. God alone […]
Cyril of Alexandria and Severus of Antioch: Root Theologians of The Jesus Paradox
Cyril of Alexandria (378-444) and Severus of Antioch (465-542) were the primary defenders of the non-dual theology of Jesus known as Miaphysite (The Jesus Paradox). As Cyril wrote, “Jesus is ‘at once’ God and human.” In other words, Jesus is paradoxically Creator and creature, Divine and human, infinite and finite, absolute and relative, immortal and […]
Thomas Keating, 21st Century Apostle of Centering Prayer
Thomas Keating (1923-2018) was a Trappist monk known as one of the principal developers of Centering Prayer, a contemporary method of contemplative prayer that emerged from Saint Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts. Keating, along with Basil Pennington and William Meninger, consulted the root text of Christian Contemplative Tradition, The Cloud of Unknowing, in order to make […]