Father Thomas Keating Centering Prayer at The Crossings

[RobertWeigel]

Thank you!

[jhgosnell]

it's natural that people have worries about it. it's seems new, but really it's ancient. centering prayer...the main point is "consenting to God's presence and action within." what could be more biblical than that? there is a line in the bible, "be still and know I am God." that is centering prayer. any talk about "method" is simply to help you do that since our habit is to run from that stillness...God.

[ztstar]

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

1 Timothy 4:1-3

[ztstar]

@LifterWill

What scriptures do you cite that support this? I used the word demonic because it applies in this case as The Bible states:

[ztstar]

This is totally demonic. Catholics need to involve themselves in this practice because they do not have a personal relationship with GOD because they reject Salvation by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in CHRIST alone! Those who believe this, are according to Papal authority, Council of Trent, anathema, i.e. cursed. Catholics believe in works, 'all the we can do' for Salvation. So how can they be saved? Witness to them, they are a great mission field

[LifterWill]

@ztstar Many scriptures (as well as centuries old tradition and sound reason) support this "demonic" discipline, ztstar. I am amazed at how recklessly and thoughtlessly some of you use that word "demonic" and other similar words about things you don't understand.

[cez618]

@ztstar if you think you are in the light, why is your life filled with judgment?

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618

"I will be exalted in the earth," among all people, whatever may have been their wickedness or their degradation. Either by terror or love God will subdue all hearts to himself. The whole round earth shall yet reflect the light of his majesty. All the more because of the sin, and obstinacy, and pride of man shall God be glorified when grace reigns unto eternal life in all corners of the world.

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618

"I will be exalted among the heathen." They forget God, they worship idols, but Jehovah will yet be honoured by them. Reader, the prospects of missions are bright, bright as the promises of God. Let no man's heart fail him; the solemn declarations of this verse must be fulfilled.

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618 "Be still, and know that I am God." Hold off your hands, ye enemies! Sit down and wait in patience, ye believers! Acknowledge that Jehovah is God, ye who feel the terrors of his wrath! Adore him, and him only, ye who partake in the protections of his grace. Since none can worthily proclaim his nature, let "expressive silence muse his praise." The boasts of the ungodly and the timorous forebodings of the saints should certainly be hushed by a sight of what the Lord has done in past ages.

[jhgosnell]

@GODSWORDTANDP I am still new to it, but I'll try to say something about it. Centering prayer is one way to consent to God's presence and action within: as is communion, song, deep study of scripture, etc. If one doesn't care for the idea of a "technique", perhaps they can just dismiss the idea of "centering prayer" and simply consent to God's presence and action within...no method is needed, just our sincerity. A method is simply useful.

Kind regards.

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618 It is clear when the passage is read, i.e the entire chapter (because you just can't take Scripture out of context!) you find that this doesn't even come close to what proponents of CPCP state. I consulted several (a good number actually) commentaries and didn't find one inference which suggests that this verse is used in the context of a method of prayer to GOD. They all pretty much concur with the following, a commentary on the verse by Charles H. Spurgeon from The Treasury of David

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618 The word 'still' doesn't mean to just sit, and be quiet. 'Still' is the Hebrew word 'râphâh רפה pronounced raw-faw' Strong's H7503A primitive root; to slacken (in many applications, literally or figuratively): - abate, cease, consume, draw [toward evening], fail, (be) faint, be (wax) feeble, forsake, idle, leave, let alone (go, down), (be) slack, stay, be still, be slothful, (be) weak (-en).

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618 Psalm 46:10 is taken out of context to push and support this form of prayer. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalms 46:10 Those advocating CPCP only quote the first part of the verse. If you read the entire chapter, the verse, let alone the chapter isn't speaking in no way to sit still before The LORD in silence. Careful exegesis of the verse reveals this.

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618 Jhgosnell, Contemplative Prayer / Centering prayer aka CP/CP is wrong because GOD never in HIS word commanded it.

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618 All of the cez618, is a gift from GOD, no one comes to GOD on his or her own. That person is drawn to JESUS by first, opening the eyes of that person to believe in GOD in the first place by The HOLY SPIRIT, followed by convicting that individual of their sins where they realize that their sins, that they have committed, they did so against GOD. But HE is Love, therefore HE forgives, HE is patient, and forgives, and HE is also righteous and Holy and can in no way tolerate sins.

[jhgosnell]

@GODSWORDTANDP Having viewed many comments from all over you tube, I suspect now that centering prayer is not right for many people. I don't know why, but it seems that for many it is not the right approach. Perhaps the more common practices of verbal prayer, song, and reading the bible deeply are more suitable. I respect and enjoy these practices as well.

Blessings & Godspeed!

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618 Now, in order to come to GOD to be heard by HIM, and when I say ‘come’ to GOD I mean to say that HE is acknowledged for who HE is, as GOD, The Creator of all things, Sovereign, and King, and we must accept JESUS as both LORD, surrendering to HIM in that capacity, and Savior, who died on the Cross for us, and has forgiven us of our sins, for all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of GOD. Romans 3:23

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618 But billions of Catholics call priests ‘father’, why? Rebellion, not wanting to acknowledge that this is what JESUS commanded. But more specifically, Catholicism and employed non-biblical theology such as their take on salvation, and purgatory. You can just ‘change’ what GOD has established and commands. GOD’s word is the final authority, however the Vatican has established that their tradition carries more weight, which is why most Catholics don’t read their bibles.

[NilDesperandum777]

@GODSWORDTANDP When The Lord said to call no man, "Father", He wasn't saying to cease calling a person's father,by the appropriate descriptor, to do so, would A) Literally make no sense, given various parable including the teachable "father", and B) Counter the commandment to honour one's parents. Catholics call priests "Father" as an identification of spiritual parentage in knowledge. Letters between Timothy, "son" and Paul indicate the early comfort/understanding of this obvious address.

[NilDesperandum777]

@GODSWORDTANDP By claiming The Vatican has sweepingly changed Sacred Scripture, that belies the fact that the deposit of faith was given to The Catholic Church, and in the Christ's Church, 2 Tim 3:16, Sacred Scripture was identified,selected and compiled according to Christ's will. Catholics not only have read their Bibles, but were responsible for it's maintenance. The truth of interpretation lies in the threefold approach of Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium, not in Sola Scriptura.

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618 The Truth part means that we believe everything GOD has said about who HE is, and we must come to HIM in that way and no other. We cannot make up, or deviated from what HE says is truth, but people do. For example and I due to space I won’t get into a lenghthy discussion but JESUS said: Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Matthew 23:9 NKJV

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618 Now, Our LORD told us: “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” John 4:23 NKJV Thing means coming to GOD in the way HE requires. Spirit, i.e. the persons spirit, not The HOLY SPIRIT, and that persons spirit ‘being changed’ to accept the things of The Spirit of GOD, which is the New Birth.

[GODSWORDTANDP]

To cez618 & jhgosnell,

Hi, cez618, I’m not sure what you mean when you refer to judgment? If your statement is in reply to the comment I made regarding Catholicism, I assure you it is Biblical. GOD does not ‘hear’ people that sin, and anyone who has rejected HIS witness about HIS Son.  And GOD’s witness about HIS Son in the true and only witness that matters. People do ‘theorectically’ believe in JESUS but, only GOD knows a person’s heart, in that what that person truly believes.

[GODSWORDTANDP]

@cez618 and jhgosnell

ztstar is responding to you under GODSWORDTANDP

[jhgosnell]

@GODSWORDTANDP Thanks for your feedback. Yes, to me, the stillness in an inner stillness. The body may not be still, but it can be ideal to allow the body to be relatively still. Sometimes laying in bed I feel this kind of stillness within, but I am not doing centering prayer or any technique. That inner stillness is also God indwelling. There is no technique required for this...should I avoid inner stillness during these times since it resembles "centering prayer?"

[bazzmangrieshop]

who is the picture of?

[lenolas33]

@ Exastrologer. (2nd comment) my concern with your statement "biblical meditation is pondering ... memorizing God's word" is that those are all mental processes. The human mind is completely fallible, perfectly untrustworthy. The experience of Divinity is so far beyond human understanding that... it is pointless to say more. But the experience is the revelation. The experience of the Christ cannot contradict itself.

[lenolas33]

@TheExastrologer - you presume to know what Jesus meant? With your 15 years of investigation, you know better than Fr. Keating? I don't get it. I don't understand how you can be so dismissive with such arrogance. I wonder of your experience with Buddhism and your relationship with the Living Christ instead of with the Bible. As first a Christian, then a Taoist and a New Ager and a Gnostic, and now as a Christian again, I must humbly agree with Jesus..."the Kingdom of God is within you."

[scottspradlin]

I've read many of Fr. Keating's books. This is a treasure to have on Youtube. Thanks for posting.

[LifterWill]

@scottspradlin Wonderful books, aren't they Scott? They are books to be read again and again .. word by word and paragraph by paragraph. We would do well in seeking to be saturated with this teaching of divine relationship.

[scottspradlin]

I've read many of Fr. Keating's books. This is a treasure to have on Youtube. Thanks for posting.

[TheExastrologer]

These techniques are not Christian. They are from Eastern meditation, mostly Buddhist. This is not what Jesus meant by the inner room - he simply meant go to a private place; he did not mean go into silence or to go within. Keating completely distorts the scripture. Having practiced Buddhist meditation before I was a Christian, I recognize the Buddhist influence here, which I don't think Keating would deny.

[Chunsol70]

@TheExastrologer

Like you, I have experience with Buddhist meditation and I can see how you would see how meditation has no place in the Christian tradition. But I would suggest that you read the works of Christian mystics works like the Desert Fathers of early Christianity, Augustine, St. John of the Cross and other medival Christian mystics, or the works of Thomas Merton, or a whole host of works written by countless priests from the Eastern Orthodox Church such as the philokalia.

[TheExastrologer]

@Chunsol70 I don't go by the Desert Fathers as a standard. Biblical meditation is pondering, thinking about, understanding, and memorizing God's word. This is an area I've investigated and read on and written for over 15 yrs.

[paranormalvl]

Each time I go to myself within I get goose bumps and am cloaked in the holy spirit as I pray.

[Osmun79]

Wonderful lecture.. Contemplative Prayer can be an amazing experience.

[cheesemonkey1990]

Heck yeah! try using a rosary as a centering prayer: don't worry about the mysteries at this point, let it be the word that you use to bring yourself into His prescence. meditating on mysteries is another way to use a rosary but this is the highest form of prayer.

[sentryclothes]

i thought the mass is the highest form of prayer.

[cheesemonkey1990]

it is the most perfect prayer, but the highest form of prayer is contemplation, but you are right the Mass is the most perfect prayer. as far as grades of prayer goes: the Mass is verbal and a prayer of action.

[THEGR8BIGM0UTH]

Inspiring!

Namaste!

[MyBabyReads]

Beautifully articulated, relaxed and comfortably takes the guess work out of centering prayer and the contemplative exchange btwn God and you.

[davis2pa]

thank you! this is the deepest meditation. I have tried many. I am filled with the holy spirit using this type of prayer.

[teresitacrespi]

Agradezco a You Tube por la oportunidad de aprender como orar, con un maestro tan santo como el Father Keating.

Teresita.

[frenchdenis]

Thank you so much for posting this! I truly loved it and deeply admire Father Thomas Keating's work.