Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening
by Cynthia Bourgeault · Cynthia Bourgeault
Episcopal priest Cynthia Bourgeault's guide to Centering Prayer, explaining its method, its roots in the Christian contemplative tradition, and its psychological effects. Readers come away able to practice it and to understand it as a path of inner transformation, alongside the related Welcoming Prayer.
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More resources on Contemplative Practices
greatergood.berkeley.edu
From UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, this site offers science-based articles, videos, podcasts, quizzes, and practical guides on social and emotional well-being. It covers empathy, compassion, mindfulness, resilience, and emotional intelligence with actionable tips for daily life.
mindful.org
Mindful.org is a resource hub offering practical guidance on mindfulness and meditation, with articles, expert tips, guided meditations, videos, and science-backed insights to help integrate mindful practices into daily life.
Center for Action and Contemplation
Nonprofit founded by Franciscan friar Richard Rohr in Albuquerque. It publishes free daily meditations, podcasts, and teaching on Christian contemplative practice, helping readers build a regular contemplative habit and connect prayer with social action.
Contemplative Outreach
Organization founded by Thomas Keating to teach Centering Prayer. Its site offers free method guides, introductory videos, prayer-group listings, and material on Lectio Divina, so readers can learn the practice's steps and sustain a daily silent-prayer routine.
contemplativemind.org
Contemplative Mind is a resource hub for contemplative practice and mysticism, offering articles, guides, and resources on meditation, mindfulness, and spiritual traditions to deepen inner awareness.
The Cloud of Unknowing
Anonymous 14th-century English treatise of spiritual guidance on contemplative prayer. It teaches the reader to set aside concepts under a 'cloud of forgetting' and reach toward God through love alone, foundational for Centering Prayer and apophatic Christian mysticism.