{Product Review} Centering Prayer by Thomas Keating

A Course in Centering Prayer in Convenient Box Form

If you are interested in centering prayer and looking for a more multimedia introduction into the practice then this is a product you may be interested in.

What you receive is:

A relatively small spiral bound book which provides introductions, summaries and guides you through the other materials in the course.

A set of 6 DVDs with lectures from the likes of Fr. Thomas Keating, Gail Fitzpatrick-Hopler and Fr. Carl Arico about centering prayer.

Two audio CDs with tracks for introducing you to and taking you through a centering prayer session.

And a set of prayer cards to help assist you with entering the quiet time of reflection prior to centering prayer.

As has been mentioned by others the book is not super thorough, it serves as more of a guide to the course then a full text on the subject of centering prayer. I suggest if you are completely new to the concept of Centering prayer you may want to bundle this set with Fr. Thomas Keating’s book “Open Mind Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel,” which is a very complete take on centering prayer.

The DVDs too are nothing spectacular but are just video sessions of lectures that are given at Introduction to Centering Prayer retreats. They are not exciting or adrenaline pumping, but then if that is what you are looking for, I think you have the wrong practice.

I don’t think it is my role to appraise the practice of centering prayer but rather offer insight on this introductive course, which I find to be very complete and helpful to a beginner who just doesn’t know where to start or what to do. I believe short of taking a course in centering prayer in person at a seminar this is the next best thing you could use to introduce you to the practice of centering prayer. I found it complete, thorough and helpful; and if this is a subject you are interested in I think you may find it helpful too.