Centering Prayer is a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God's presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship.
Centering prayer is "the opening of mind and heart - our whole being - to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond thoughts, words, and emotions." So, it is a non thinking, emptying of the mind that seeks to find God in a way that is "closer than consciousness itself."2 Why? Because, according to the contemplative mystics, absolute truth is unknowable just as God is mystically unknowable. Sure, they know that they can know things in truthful ways, but ultimate truth is not perceivable via the senses and mind. Experiencing God is through silence, emptying of self through contemplation in the quiet of the mind and soul.
guidelines for centering prayer:
- Sit comfortably with your eyes closed, relax, and quiet yourself. Be in love and faith to God.
- Choose a sacred word that best supports your sincere intention to be in the Lord's presence and open to His divine action within you (i.e. "Jesus", "Lord," "God," "Savior," "Abba," "Divine," "Shalom," "Spirit," "Love," etc.).
- Let that word be gently present as your symbol of your sincere intention to be in the Lord's presence and open to His divine action within you.
- Whenever you become aware of anything (thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, associations, etc.), simply return to your sacred word, your anchor.
- Ideally, the prayer will reach the point where the person is not engaged in their thoughts as they arrive on their stream of consciousness. This is the "unknowing" referenced in the 14th century book.
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