(Munising, Michigan) Rev. Dr. George Cairns of Chesterton, Indiana discusses Centering Prayer and the environmental crisis facing the human race in this series of videos recorded on November 9, 2007 in Munising Michigan.
Centering Prayer, Contemplative Prayer and Silent Prayer are basically the same thing with very subtle differences, Cairns explained.
A licensed centering prayer instructor, Rev. Cairns learned his techniques from the world's foremost expert on centering prayer, Dr. Thomas Keating.
A professor with the Chicago Theological Seminary, Rev. Cairns encourages everyone to experience the benefits of Centering Prayer, and for those who are afraid they won't do it right, he says it's impossible not to do this (Centering Prayer) right.
There is no such thing as a bad period of Centering Prayer said Cairns adding one of the difficulties of achieving Centering Prayer is allowing oneself to be distracted by other thoughts.
Centering Prayer is very gentle,very quiet, very simple and very difficult, Cairns said.
The Scotland-based Iona community is a good example of a group of people "who are unified by a covenant, worship together and who engage in very effective political action to change structural evil."
Rev. Cairns said "centering prayer" and "participative consciousness" are techniques of deep meditation he learned from Father Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk and teacher. (Trappist refers to a branch of the Cistercian order of monks known for an austere rule including a vow of silence.)
"Silent meditation is a powerful tool to open ourselves to one another and to all creation which is what this participative consciousness is all about," said Cairns, TIP co-founder and board president.
Cairns said the intense form of meditation helps eliminate the "internal dialogue" or "chatter that's going on all the time" in people's minds.
"I found out how much of my life was consumed by internal dialogue," said Cairns, research professor of theology at the Chicago Theological Seminary.
Centering prayer allows "us to open our hearts to a deeper relationship with God and an increased openness to the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives," said Rev. Cairns, admitting it's an easier technique to teach than for people to learn and practice.
"The technique to doing it - is simply to rest with God. It's not easy to do, it's easy to teach, but very difficult to do," Cairns said.
In fighting the world's evil, Cairns said "we can't get their with just our hearts - we need our heads and something more."
Related websites and information:
Celtic Christianity Today
http://www.celticchristianitytoday.org
Celtic Christianity Today youtube & bliptv:
http://celticchristianity.blip.tv
http://www.youtube.com/celticchristianity
Rev. George Cairns on Spirit Cafe blog, United Church of Christ
http://i.ucc.org/FeedYourSpirit/SpiritCafe/CafeBlog/tabid/83/Default.aspx
Iona Community, Scotland
http://www.iona.org.uk
http://www.isle-of-iona.com
Iona Community New World Foundation: Iona associates, friends in U.S.
http://www.iona-nwf.org/links.htm
Turtle Island Project
http://www.TurtleIslandProject.org
Union Community Church, Valparaiso, IN
http://unioncommunitychurchucc.blogspot.com
Rev. Gregory Jones, Theology Department at Valparaiso University
http://www.valpo.edu/theology/faculty/gregoryjones.php
Turtle Island TV (blipTV & youtube)
http://turtleislandtv.blip.tv
http://www.youtube.com/MunisingWhiteHorse
email:
TurtleIslandProject@charter.net
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Centering prayer/contemplative prayer & Father Thomas Keating:
Photos of Father Thomas Keating in Texas by Marion E. Melchiorre aka marimelch on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marionmelchiorre/1540058606
Marion E. Melchiorre is an artist, living in Los Angeles, who gave Celtic Christianity Today permission to use her photos.
http://artist.melchiorre.com
Contemplative Prayer/Centering Prayer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemplative_prayer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centering_prayer
http://www.contemplativeprayer.net
http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_practices...
Photos of Father Thomas Keating in Texas by Marion Melchiorre on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marionmelchiorre/1540058606
Rev. Dr. George Cairns at Sept. 2007 Conference on Centering Prayer in Munising, MI:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ3tLA_so_I
http://www.gather.com/viewVideo.action?id=11821949021854789
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@weirdschool This is an interesting vid,
watch?v=ChLldrAMSgo
yippitydodah 1 day ago
@NidzoBanana The Celtic Church didn't join Rome ti'l 1066 when the Normans invaded. Until then, the Celtic Church sided with the [Eastern] Orthodox Church
weirdschool 8 months ago
the celtic church has been one of the earliest independent or autocephal full christian and orthodox katholic churches 'till the great schism 1054. rome seperated from the one,holy,apostolic and (orthodox) catholic church.(catholic from greek: katholikos means universal)therefore after the seperation 1054 the church of rome has not the right to call itself catholic.the celtic form of christianity keeps the roots of the true apostolic and christian church.
NidzoBanana 10 months ago
@JoeJacari The Irish and Ireland are the keepers of Christinaity. If you read enough you would find it so. Ireland was the shelter for all scripters and writting of Christianity. Constantine had no effect what so ever over the Irish. That honor and glory is to none other then St. Patrick. Why a week from now 70 million people will be celebrating in his honor.
LordHannigan 10 months ago
@JoeJacari
Christ preached Peace, not Power.
MarijuanaSamadhi 10 months ago
Thank God for the Crusades and Constantine's battle. For from this conflict came Christian civilization.
More battles are to come. Get used to it.
Christianity is peace and sometimes war. It is love and sometimes hate. It is the history, her story, our story.
It's lightness and dark. Heaven and hell and everything in between.
UFMD1 can rage against the history, tradition, saints, sinners, popes, priests and Bible all he wants. He's not the first or last.
We rule.
JoeJacari 1 year ago
Is Christianity and politics the reason for are tribal separation from are brothers from across the water? Are we not the same people? The bible is Bullshit.
ArFeeDee 1 year ago
@KakkoiGuy1 follow Constantine and his Roman agenda, or Paul and his...or follow the original teaching, your choice. But what you are promoting is even more modern than all of these, and it is vile, dark and very misleading. But if you are interested in Truth, you can look deeper on your own, if Truth is meant for you, or if you even care about that. I think you care more about our brainwashing and your ego. It would hurt you too much to admit you've been lied to. Agree does not = follow, btw.
UFMD1 1 year ago
@KakkoiGuy1 "Christ" is founded on the concept of the divine presence of God in all human beings. In theological contexts, "Christ" is more specialized, referring to this same presence of God (Holy Spirit), along with the messianic title, in particular within the 1st century person "Jesus" .
UFMD1 1 year ago
@KakkoiGuy1 Christians since the 4th CENTURY have promoted the view that this divine "presence" was not altogether an identical presence of God as found in all beings, but a special union such that God and Jesus together with the Holy Spirit form one being in "The Christ" (Nicene Creed).
UFMD1 1 year ago