The Psychological Experience of Centering Prayer - Part 3, with Thomas Keating

Fr. Thomas Keating uses the image of a spiral to discuss the psychological experience of what St. John of the Cross refers to as the Night of Sense and the Night of Spirit. Descending into a felt sense of God’s absence can lead a person beyond ordinary awareness into spiritual awareness. This movement diminishes the ego and allows for the manifestation of the Gifts of the Spirit. The letting go involved in this spiraling process is accompanied by an upward spiral of transformation, a deeper capacity to love and to suffer.

This is one video in a series of 31 hour-long talks by Thomas Keating that make up his foundational video teachings, “The Spiritual Journey with Fr. Thomas Keating.” All of these talks are now available on YouTube, and are listed below with links. Fr. Thomas was an internationally renowned theologian, speaker and author of dozens of books including “Open Mind, Open Heart.”

To access condensed highlights of this video series plus more recent series by Fr. Thomas as part of a free online course, go to https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org... for the complete course, or to    • The Spiritual Journey - Formation in ...   for just the videos.

Fr. Thomas co-founded Contemplative Outreach, which offers this series and supports Centering Prayer. Along with Fr. William Meninger and Fr. Basil Pennington, Fr. Thomas began the Centering Prayer movement in the 1970’s to renew the Christian tradition of contemplation. An overview of Contemplative Outreach is at    • Contemplative Outreach - Celebrating ...  .

Go to http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org for more information on Centering Prayer, including retreats and local chapters that offer support to practitioners at all levels in the U.S. and around the world. An online store offers books, streaming and downloadable videos and mp3 audios, DVDs, and CDs. An online course, “The Spiritual Journey – Formation in the Christian Contemplative Life,” draws upon the series of talks offered here and also includes newer teachings of Fr. Thomas, within a year-long curriculum.

“The Spiritual Journey with Fr. Thomas Keating” consists of a Prologue and five parts. Each part has up to six talks in it. Each talk has a separate video for the first half (a) and the second half (b).

Prologue
   • Prologue to The Spiritual Journey:  C...  
(A basic introduction to Centering Prayer)
• The Method of Centering Prayer (2 videos)
• The Psychological Experience of Centering Prayer (3 videos)

Part One: Developing Centering Prayer
   • Part 1 of The Spiritual Journey:  Dev...  
(Centering Prayer grows out of a prayerful relationship with God that ideally includes prayerful reading of Scripture - the practice of Lectio Divina)
0a & 0b. Introduction
1a & 1b. Prayer as Relating to God
2a & 2b. Four Levels of Scriptural Experience
3a & 3b. Toward Resting in God
4a & 4b. Centering Prayer as Method
5a & 5b. Progress in Centering Prayer

Part Two: Model of the Human Condition
   • Part 2 of The Spiritual Journey:  Mod...  
(The heart of the teaching on the practice of Centering Prayer)
6a & 6b. The Human Condition: The Evolutionary Model
7a & 7b. Formation of the Homemade Self: The Existential Model
8a & 8b. The Pre-Rational Energy Centers
9a & 9b. Frustrations Caused by the Emotional Programs
10a & 10b. Dismantling the Emotional Programs  
11a & 11b. The False Self in Action

Part Three: Paradigms of the Spiritual Journey
   • Part 3 of The Spiritual Journey:  Par...  
(Practical examples of Centering Prayer in daily life)
12a & 12b. The Four Consents
13a & 13b. The Human Condition: The Philosophical Model
14a & 14b. Anthony as a Paradigm of the Spiritual Journey
15a & 15b. Liberation from the False Self System
16a & 16b. Liberation from Cultural Conditioning
17a & 17b. Spirituality in Everyday Life

Part Four: Contemplation: The Divine Therapy
   • Part 4 of The Spiritual Journey:  Con...  
(The Christian contemplative roots for Centering Prayer)
18a & 18b. Night of Sense: The Biblical Desert
19a & 19b. Night of Spirit: Toward Transformation
20a & 20b. The Beatitudes: Healing the Emotional Programs
21a & 21b. The Spiritual Senses
22a & 22b. What Contemplation is Not
23a & 23b. From Contemplation to Action

Part Five: Divine Love: The Heart of the Christian Spiritual Journey
   • Part 5 of The Spiritual Journey:  Div...  
(The fruits of the Centering Prayer practice)
24a & 24b. The Most Excellent Path
25a & 25b. The Divine Banquet an Dance
26a & 26b. Prayer in Secret: Matthew 6:6
27a & 27b. What is the Divine Therapy?
28a & 28b. Contemplative Outreach: A Response to the Divine Invitation