What is the differnce in the two? I had a priest recommend that I learn about comtemplative prayer. He also suggested that my dreams maybe telling me something. Does anyone know of any Catholic authors that have written on these subjects?
Centering Prayer has become something of a cottage industry presided over by two Trappist monks, Thomas Keating and Basil Pennington through an organization known as Contemplative Outreach.
Both Pennington and Keating have published several books and articles on the subject. Try your public library.
I prefer not to think in terms of contemplative VERSUS centering prayer. They are not necessarily two different things. One area of confusion is with those of a Carmelite bent who use the word “contemplation” almost exclusively to mean “infused” contemplation. The Centering Prayer people use the word “contemplation” in the wider sense of approaching God in a meditative way that leads into a deeply quiet apprehension of the divine presence.
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