Divine Therapy is Nearer than Breathing

Listen to the Silence and let Love Alone Speak

photo by Kristina Flour @ Unsplash

Silence is God's first language; everything else is a poor translation. Whatever we say about God is more unlike God than saying nothing. If we do say something, it can only be a pointer toward the mystery that can never be articulated in words. Let love alone speak.

~ Thomas Keating

Is God absent? Distant? A fairy tale? Or even nearer than breathing? Fr. Thomas Keating, founder of Contemplative Outreach, suggests that God is a “nickname” for a force that is beyond our comprehension and yet as intimate as our innermost selves. Portraying God as charming and adventurous, one who invites us into deeper intimacy, Fr. Thomas draws from the ancient Christian monastic tradition to share with the modern world a perennial truth: we can access an unconditionally loving God within us quite naturally when we open to God’s presence in silence. 

Exposure to silence on a regular basis offers a kind of universal healing for everybody no matter what their religion--or if they are of no religion.~  Thomas Keating

Fr. Thomas shared a simple method of silent listening called Centering Prayer. With consistent practice of Centering Prayer, we can cultivate a quiet inner state wherein a unique relationship with God unfolds organically. Interior silence may seem unachievable or like an unfriendly abyss, but if God’s primary language is silence, then it is in silence that we can know God as closer than breathing. It is in silence that we can consent to being gracefully healed from past hurts. It is in silence that we can gradually be freed from the strain of looking outside of ourselves for happiness and instead look to the source of unconditional love that lies buried deeply within us. 

To live in the presence of God on a continuous basis can become a kind of fourth dimension to our three-dimensional world, forming an invisible but real background to everything that we do or that happens in our lives. ~ Thomas Keating

In religious myths, God is seldom portrayed as a charming or invitational figure. Instead God is typically described as a stern father figure or harsh and punitive judge that we must fear or petition to gain favor or mercy. These stories are the product of human understanding at the time the stories were written, and tell us more about human nature than about the true nature of God. Imagining God as a fierce and omnipotent figure separate from human affairs reflects a primitive grasp on a profound truth which is knowable only by experience. Through prayer and meditation, mystics both ancient and modern experience the presence of God in a visceral, embodied way. To know and interpret God’s transmissions directly, without human intermediary, a mystic awakens and develops his intuitive capacity for processing non-physical information. For one who has learned how to listen intuitively, God is perceptible in silence, and so close as to be nearer than breathing. 

In the Christian tradition for the first sixteen centuries, the classical meaning of contemplative prayer was ‘Resting in God.’ ~ Thomas Keating

As we connect to the source of life flowing within us, we are invited to be transformed by that source and shed anything that obscures its flow in us and through us. When we consent to the transformation process, over time, we naturally become ever more transparent to divine energy. Unlike the type of prayer we are used to wherein we ask for something we want, Centering Prayer is receptive. We initiate no action, and simply rest in God. We silently attend to an energy that is both within us and beyond us, which Fr. Thomas refers to as the Divine Therapist, due to the inherently therapeutic nature of contemplative prayer.

The Centering Prayer Guidelines

1.  Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within. 

• The sacred word is sacred not because of its inherent meaning, but because of the meaning we give it as the expression of our intention to consent.

• Use a word of one or two syllables, such as: Love, Yes, Listen, Peace, Mercy, Let Go, Silence, Stillness, Faith, Trust, Thank You, Shalom

• A simple inward glance toward the Divine Presence, or noticing one’s breath can be used instead of a sacred word if you prefer.

2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within.

• Sit comfortably with the back straight and eyes closed to let go of what is going on around you.

• Breathe in a relaxed way as you coordinate the sacred word with your breath with minimal effort.

• The sacred word may drift off or become vague.

3. When engaged with your thoughts,* return ever-so-gently to the sacred word.

• Thoughts are an inevitable, integral and normal part of Centering Prayer.

• The only activity we initiate during the time of Centering Prayer is “returning ever-so-gently to the sacred word” where a minimum of effort is indicated. 

• At the end of the 20-minute prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes. Ideally, practice Centering Prayer on an empty stomach first thing in the morning and before your evening meal.
  

*thoughts include body sensations, feelings, images, and reflections

Benefits of Centering Prayer

The positive effects of the prayer are experienced in daily life and not necessarily during the prayer period itself:

• We enhance our ability to “Let Go and Let God.”

• We develop a nonjudgmental attitude of ourselves and others.

• We become more comfortable in our own skin.

• We grow in our capacity to listen and serve others.

• We nurture our ability to live in the present moment.

If you want to be free, if you want to heal your relationship with God, with others and yourself, enter your inner room, the office where the Divine Therapy takes place.  Close the door so you don’t run away.  Quiet your interior dialogue so you can  listen to what the Spirit is saying to you. ~ Thomas Keating