Consciousness Centred In The Heart Space.
"That’s what the anonymous author
of the fourteenth-century classic
The Cloud of Unknowing
may have had in mind when he wrote,
“God may be reached
and held close by means of love,
but by means of thought never.”
“Love” is this author’s word for that open, diffuse awareness which gradually allows another and deeper way of knowing to pervade one’s entire being.
Out of my own four decades of experience in Centering Prayer, I believe that this “love” indeed has nothing to do with emotions or feelings in the usual sense. It is rather the author’s nearest equivalent term to describe what we would nowadays call nondual perception anchored in the heart.
And he is indeed correct in calling it “love” because the energetic bandwidth in which the heart works is intimacy, the capacity to perceive things from the inside by coming into sympathetic resonance with them. Imagine! Centuries ahead of his time, the author is reaching for metaphors to describe an entirely different mode of perceptivity."
Out of my own four decades of experience in Centering Prayer, I believe that this “love” indeed has nothing to do with emotions or feelings in the usual sense. It is rather the author’s nearest equivalent term to describe what we would nowadays call nondual perception anchored in the heart.
And he is indeed correct in calling it “love” because the energetic bandwidth in which the heart works is intimacy, the capacity to perceive things from the inside by coming into sympathetic resonance with them. Imagine! Centuries ahead of his time, the author is reaching for metaphors to describe an entirely different mode of perceptivity."
Cynthia Bourgeault
Contemplative Practices
Drumming: Practicing surrendering the mind and attuning the body through rhythm
Walking Meditation: Taking slow, mindful steps
Ecstatic Dance: Moving freely to music
Chanting: Singing with intention
Centering Prayer: Observing and letting go of all thoughts without judgment during a period of silence
Lectio Divina: Reading short passages of text in a contemplative way
Welcoming Prayer: Welcoming any feeling, sensation, or emotion that arises in the midst of your day
YHWH Prayer: Consciously saying God’s name through each breath
Pranayama: Breathing mindfully
Loving Kindness Meditation: Recognizing your inner source of loving kindness and sending love to others
