Centering Prayer

[AlanFromWichita]

Some points then:

1. If you don’t have a great SD you might consider getting one. If you have had one in the past then I don’t have to tell you anything.
2. Do not fail to look toward contemplative prayer forms if you haven’t done so, according to your own preferences or direction as far as which ones. Maybe any given SD would advise CP for a particular advisee, or maybe Lectio, or maybe preparing toward contemplation. The CCC clearly shows that prayer should include all forms, including contemplative.
3. Contemplative prayer is a gift from God and is not accomplished, or done. There is no method that “brings” contemplation. One can simply invite contemplation by a willingness of the heart. There are methods intended to help with that, but contemplative prayer per se is direct communication from the Holy Spirit which occurs if, when, and at what rate, God wills for you.

Alan

 

[Joysong]

Dear Buzzcut,

Dave asked you in his post #28 to point out where Cardinal Ratzinger was speaking, albeit implicitly, about CP. I also looked at your reference to pararagraph 12, but it did not seem that he was approving the practice, but rather focusing on the dangers of it.

1. With the present diffusion of eastern methods of meditation in the Christian world and in ecclesial communities, we find ourselves faced with a pointed renewal of an attempt, which is not free from dangers and errors, “to fuse Christian meditation with that which is non-Christian.” Proposals in this direction are numerous and radical to a greater or lesser extent. Some use eastern methods solely as a psycho-physical preparation for a truly Christian contemplation; others go further and, using different techniques, try to generate spiritual experiences similar to those described in the writings of certain Catholic mystics. Still others do not hesitate to place that absolute without image or concepts, which is proper to Buddhist theory, on the same level as the majesty of God revealed in Christ, which towers above finite reality. To this end, they make use of a “negative theology,” which transcends every affirmation seeking to express what God is, and denies that the things of this world can offer traces of the infinity of God. Thus they propose abandoning not only meditation on the salvific works accomplished in history by the God of the Old and New Covenant, but also the very idea of the One and Triune God, who is Love, in favor of an immersion “in the indeterminate abyss of the divinity.” These and similar proposals to harmonize Christian meditation with eastern techniques need to have their contents and methods ever subjected to a thorough-going examination so as to avoid the danger of falling into syncretism.

To back up paragraph 12, the footnote states:

1. Pope John Paul II has pointed out to the whole Church the example and the doctrine of St. Teresa of Avila who in her life had to reject the temptation of certain methods which proposed a leaving aside of the humanity of Christ in favor of a vague self-immersion in the abyss of the divinity. In a homily given on November 1, 1982, he said that the call of Teresa of Jesus advocating a prayer completely centered on Christ "is valid, even in our day, against some methods of prayer which are not inspired by the Gospel and which in practice tend to set Christ aside in preference for a mental void which makes no sense in Christianity.

There is much discussion in these threads that equates the practice described in the Cloud with CP, yet the danger is so clearly spelled out in this book’s Chapters 51-52 that I have real problems wondering how on earth anyone fails to consider the whole of this author’s writings.

Ch. 51: A young disciple in God’s school who has only recently forsaken the world, thinks that since he has given himself to prayer and penance for a short while under the guidance of his spiritual father, he is then ready to begin contemplation. --snip-- So off he goes and, incited by boldness and presumtion, leaves humble prayer and spiritual discipline too soon and begins (as he supposes) the work of contemplation. If he persists in this, his work is neither human nor divine, but to put it bluntly, something unnatural, instigated and directed by the devil. It is a straight path to the death of body and soul, for it is an aberration leading to insanity. Yet he does not realize this and, foolishly thinking he can possess God with his intellect, forces his mind to concentrate on nothing except God.

Ch. 52: In like manner he abuses all his senses and emotions. Thus he does violence to his nature and drives his imagination so mercilessly with this stupidity that eventually his mind snaps. --snip-- Yet unfortunately, the poor fool is deluded by these wiles and believes that he has achieved a peaceful contemplation of God beyond all temptation to vain thoughts. That same fiend, who would harass him with temptations if he were engaged in genuine prayer, is the very one directing this pseudo-work and he is not so stupid as to hinder his own work with the obvious. Cleverly he leaves the fool he has trapped with lovely thoughts about God, so that his evil hand will not be detected.

My only continual complaint is that those who are not spiritually ready, are taught to begin contemplation too soon, with all the attendant dangers mentioned above, and those spoken of elsewhere by this author.

We need to absorb his complete work, where he stresses so often the importance and necessity of previous preparations (see Ch. 35) and the help of a wise spiritual director who gives approval to safely leave it for the more perfect work of contemplation.

http://forum.catholic.com/images/smilies/smile.gif Carole

 

[buzzcut]

Hi, Dave, Hi, Carole, the difficulty I have with this letter is that I’m not sure if para 12 is really about CP, or about something else. For example, is CP an attempt “to fuse Christian meditation with that which is non-Christian”? It’s not clear to me that it is. And to “try to generate spiritual experiences” is definitely not CP. But in any case, as I said previously, all this para ends up calling for is an “examination”.

Yes, I agree with you that the chapters you quote from the Cloud point out the dangers of premature or misconceived attempts at contemplative prayer.