Centering Prayer

Centering Prayer , centering prayer or prayer of the collection is called a contemplative prayer as Christian or meditation form that strongly emphasizes the inner peace. The origins of the Centering Prayer in today's Christianity and American Catholicism , because it's in the 1970s with the monks of the Trappist monastery of St. Joseph in Spencer ( Massachusetts the books published about it originated).

Emergence

When Thomas Keating was abbot in the Trappist monastery in the 1960s and 1970s , there was a Buddhist center nearby that was very popular. When some young visitors to the meditation center happened to come to the abbey, he told them about the tradition of Christian contemplation. Many were Catholics, but practiced Eastern forms of meditation. When he realized in the course of these encounters that none of them knew Christian contemplation, he tried to conceive a contemporary form of contemplation and so the Centering Prayer was born . It is a form of one-word meditation. In 1984, Keating founded the Contemplative Outreach Ltd. network . , with which the Centering Prayer became more widespread. There are now 120 outreach chapters in 39 countries and a total of 800 prayer groups.

practice

Although a “holy word” is used in the gathering prayer , Thomas Keating repeatedly emphasizes that the practice of centering prayer is to become aware of God's presence and actions.

Basil Pennigton gives the following guidelines for gathering prayer:

1. Choose a “holy word” that will best help you understand God's presence; B. Jesus , God, Christ , Savior , Father, Peace, Spirit, Love.
2. Sit down with your eyes closed, relax and collect yourself and feel yourself in the love of God by silently repeating the word as a symbol of God's presence within you.
3. When your mind becomes distracted, gently return to the holy word.
4. At the end of the prayer time, spend a few minutes in silence with your eyes closed.

The gathering prayer should be practiced twice a day for at least 20 minutes each.

Essence

The prayer of the collection thus resembles the prayer of the rosary and the lectio divina and is in a certain way related to the hesychasm or the Jesus prayer . The difference, however, is that with the centering prayer, unlike the rosary, images are not "viewed" internally and the goal is not to see the Tabor light , as with the Jesus prayer.

The Sermon on the Mount is the basis of the centering prayer , especially Mt 6,6. It is inspired by Johannes Cassian , Franz von Sales , Therese von Lisieux , Johannes von Kreuz , Theresa von Avila , Thomas Merton and especially from the spiritual classic The Cloud of Not-Knowing .

The prayer of the collection shows psychological details that, similar to the Jesus prayer and in particular The Cloud of Ignorance , have a certain structural analogy to Asian forms of contemplation, especially to Zen Buddhism . For this reason, the Centering Prayer is criticized by some theologians. a. it is claimed to be very similar to Transcendental Meditation .

distribution

In the United States, the prayer of the collection has found widespread use by the Trappist Abbey in Spencer, particularly Basil Pennigton, Thomas Keating, and William Meninger.

In Germany, which is centering prayer become apparent only in recent times, mainly in Catholic circles who practice the contemplative life. It is taught in Benedictine monasteries and also by some diocesan clergymen. The book by Jens Söring in particular contributed to the spread of the Centering Prayer , especially since the fate of Söring is seen by many as an authentic testimony to how people can be supported by prayer.

Health aspects

Studies have shown that the practice of gathering prayer can be helpful in women undergoing chemotherapy . In addition, believers can experience an intensification of their relationship with God through the Centering Prayer and reduce or reduce stress .

See also

• Rest prayer
• Sabine Bobert
• Cynthia Bourgeault

literature

• Jens Soering: Silently repeat a word. Paths to Inner Freedom. Gütersloh 2009, ISBN 978-3-579-06999-9 .
• Thomas Keating : The Prayer of Gathering - Introduction and Accompaniment of Contemplative Prayer. Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach, ISBN 978-3-89680-474-7 .

Web links

• Centering Prayer
• Brief description (PDF; 177 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Thomas Keating: In response to then Cardinal Ratzinger's 1989 "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Christian Meditation." Contemplative Outreach, Ltd., accessed April 2, 2018 (in response to a letter from Cardinal Ratzinger and questions related to meditative prayer). 
2. ↑ See also on the following Karl Baier: Reading as a spiritual practice of contemporary literature. In: Hans Gerald Hödl, Veronica Futterknecht (Hrsg.): Religions after secularization. Festschrift for Johann Figl on his 65th birthday. Münster 2011, pp. 243–278, here p. 248.
3. ↑ See also the leaflet by Thomas Keating: The method of centering prayer ( memento of the original from October 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 177 kB) 
4. ↑ Cf. Centering Prayer: Catholic Meditation or Occult Meditation? Internet: Our Lady's Warriors
5. ↑ See Anne Feaster: A closer look at Centering Prayer. Is it really Christian contemplation or a step into Hindu prayer? (PDF file; 303 kB)
6. ↑ See archived copy ( memento of the original from September 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Mary E. Johnson, Ann M. Dose, Teri Britt Pipe, Wesley O. Petersen, Mashele Huschka, Mary M. Gallenberg, Prema Peethambaram, Jeff Sloan & Marlene H. Frost: Centering prayer for women receiving chemotherapy for recurrent ovarian cancer: A pilot study . In: Oncology Nursing Forum . 36, No. 4, 2009, ISSN  0190-535X , pp. 421-428. doi : 10.1188 / 09.ONF.421-428 . PMID 19581232 .
8. ↑ Jane K. Ferguson, Eleanor W. Willemsen & MayLynn V. Castañeto: Centering Prayer as a healing response to everyday stress: A psychological and spiritual process . In: Pastoral Psychology . 59, No. 3, 2010, ISSN  0031-2789 , pp. 305-329. doi : 10.1007 / s11089-009-0225-7 .