Contemplative Prayer
by Teresa Ramsey
Centering prayer (also called contemplative prayer or silent meditation) is the key part of my spiritual practice today. I wish that I had understood years ago the power of this way of connecting with the Divine.
Centering prayer is a method of meditation used by Christians that places a strong emphasis on interior silence. The name is taken from Thomas Merton’s description of contemplative prayer in Thoughts on Solitude as prayer that is centered entirely on the presence of God: “When I am liberated by silence, when I am no longer involved in the measurement of life, but in the living of it, I can discover a form of prayer in which there is effectively no distraction. My whole life becomes a prayer. My whole silence is full of prayer. The world of silence in which I am immersed contributes to my prayer.”
Another Christian contemplative, Thomas Keating, describes the centering prayer process as totally receptive. In Reflections on the Unknowable, he writes, “It is a chance just to be with God alone and to say ‘Here I am, dear Lord, at your disposal. Please heal my faults when you see that I am willing to let go of them.’ ”
During these quarantine times, I have been reading Merton, Keating, and Richard Rohr, author of The Universal Christ and Breathing Under Water, among many other books. I’m intrigued by the value each of these writers places on spending time with God in silence, allowing for the communication to take place at an unconscious level. In The Universal Christ, for example, Rohr writes, “Foundationally, we must find a prayer form that actually invades our unconscious, or nothing changes at any depth. Usually this will be some form of centering prayer, walking meditation, inner practices of letting go, shadow work, or deliberately undergoing a longer period of silence …”
Keating recommends 20 minutes twice a day of this practice. So I began incorporating contemplative prayer into my morning spiritual discipline.
Here’s what I do, if you would like to try this practice yourself:
Sit quietly and do some spiritual reading and perhaps journaling before entering the silence.
Set a timer for 25 minutes, as it takes about 5 minutes to sufficiently quiet the busy mind. (My mind wants to chatter at me; it took me almost a full year of almost daily practice to reach silence. What a relief!)
To get to silence, sit quietly and take a few deep breaths in through the nose and out of the mouth. Close your eyes and focus on the sounds within the room for a few minutes. Then focus your attention on the sounds farther away.
Do a mental scan of your body from head to toe, noting briefly what you feel. Then focus on the rhythm of your breath. Sometimes you might count each breath, one count in and out, then a second, then a third, up to a count of ten. Then start over.
When your mind wanders, gently note that and call it back to silence with one word – perhaps a one-syllable word such as yes, peace, or joy.
Near the start of this process, invite the Holy Mystery to allow you to draw near and to listen. Invite this Mystery to enter your life in some specific way. In my practice, I ask God to heal me, remove my defects of character, and communicate with me according to their will.
When the timer goes off, sit quietly for a few more minutes before moving around.
Say a prayer of gratitude.
The benefits I’ve experienced as a direct result of this practice are striking: increased calm, a sense of healing, and an increased awareness of the presence of the Divine in every part of creation. I have experienced God’s love as well as awe.
I have gradually been able to digest the unprocessed emotional material of a lifetime.
Contemplative prayer offers universal healing. I hope my simple description may bring this healing to others.
Listen to Teresa speak about her contemplative prayer practice:
Teresa Ramsey is a life-long spiritual seeker and a member of Seekers Church in Takoma Park, MD. She is in the last third of her life and focusing on self-assessment, prayer, and meditation. Teresa enjoys reading, gardening, playing with her grandchildren, her church and 12-step communities, and writing.
