Father Thomas Keating is the founder of the Centering Prayer movement, based on the retreat into the "inner room" mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 6:6, where the individual is able to meet God. From the book Manifesting God, Father Keating explains the process of divine therapy and the process of purification in contemplative prayer.

"All spiritual traditions have a wisdom literature. Alcoholics Anonymous is a spiritual tradition. Its influence and spread in the present century is going to depend on how well each generation of those in recovery assimilate and interiorize the basic wisdom that is enshrined in the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions." --Thomas Keating In this major new work, Father Thomas Keating reflects on the wisdom and legacy of the Alcoholics Anonymous Twelve-Step Method and its connections to, and similarities with, the Christian mystical traditions of centering prayer and Lectio Divina. In conversation with a long-time member of AA meetings, Father Thomas talks insightfully about surrendering to one's Higher Power and the journey that must be undertaken for the healing of the soul to begin.

We live in an 'age of anxiety'. The loss of serious interest in religion has deprived people of the help of ministers, priests and rabbis. But to the Bah ' , all true healing comes from God. This collection of quotations from the Bah ' Sacred Writings offers vital help for emotional and spiritual healing. Grouped in three main sections, 'Coping with Stress', 'Orientation to the Divine' and 'Developing Helpful Attitudes', these 'pearls of wisdom' from the extensive literature of the Bah ' Faith concentrate on common problems and their solution, and will be of comfort and value to many.

The best-selling author of The Wisdom Jesus and The Meaning of Mary Magdalene demystifies the popular Christian meditation method rooted in contemplative prayer Centering Prayer is the path to a wonderful and radical new way of seeing the world. It is not, as is sometimes thought, simply an act of devotional piety, nor is it simply a Christianized form of other meditation methods. Cynthia Bourgeault here cuts through the misconceptions to show that Centering Prayer is in fact a pioneering development within the Christian contemplative tradition. She provides a practical, complete course in the practice and then goes deeper to analyze what actually happens in Centering Prayer: the mind effectively switches to a new operating system that makes possible the perception of nonduality. With this understanding in place, she then takes us on a journey through one of the sources of the practice, the Christian contemplative classic The Cloud of Unknowing, revealing it to be among the earliest Christian explorations of the phenomenology of consciousness. Cynthia Bourgeault’s illumination of the Centering Prayer path provides compelling evidence of how important the practice has become in the half-century since it first arose among American Trappist monks, and of its maturation and refinement over the ensuing years of sincere study and practice. It will resonate with beginners on the Centering Prayer path as well as with seasoned practitioners.

Thomas Keating has spent more than fifty years in sustained practice and devotion to the spiritual life. The results of this creative, humble activity are now summarized in this remarkable book, Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit. As Father Keating says, the spiritual journey is a gradual process of enlarging our emotional, mental, and physical relationship with the divine reality that is present in us, but one not ordinarily accessible to our emotions or concepts. The spiritual journey teaches us, first, to believe in the Divine Indwelling within us, fully present and energizing every level of our being; second, to recognize that this energy is benign, healing, and transforming; and third, to enjoy its gradual unfolding step-by-step both in prayer and action.

Keating discusses the principles of contemplative prayer--the retreat into the "inner room" mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 6:6. In the inner room, God acts as a divine therapist, healing us and forcing us to recognize how many barriers we put up between ourselves and God. Steiner Books

Combining exciting developments in brain science and ancient contemplative tradition, spiritual director Caroline Oakes offers new perspectives on the revolutionary potential of Jesus's contemplative practice, demonstrating how engaging these practices can rewire our brains to be less reactive, more self-aware, and more compassionate.