Centering Prayer and Three-Centered Knowing: A Silent Centering Prayer Wisdom Retreat

“Centering Prayer … is the opening of mind and heart, body and emotions–our whole being–to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond words, thoughts, and emotions.”  —Thomas Keating, in Open Mind Open Heart            

In Centering Prayer we practice letting go to the Divine Indwelling, building up a muscle of release, of consent to the presence and action of the Ultimate Mystery in our lives. Our Centering Prayer deepens further when we engage with our whole being: mind and heart, body and emotions, as Thomas Keating urges us. In this retreat we will explore Centering Prayer as a practice, in a way suitable for those new to it, as well as for those who have been practicing for a long time. Along with this, we will explore three-centered knowing, not just with our heads but with our entire physical, emotional, and intellectual being. In The Wisdom Jesus, when Cynthia Bourgeault talks about tuning into Jesus as a living being here with us now she says, “It’s not knowing something more, like a new fact or piece of esoteric information; it’s knowing deeper, knowing with more and more of your being engaged.”

Join us in person at Mercy Center, Burlingame, CA where we will gather together and practice silence, Centering Prayer, and wisdom practices of chanting and movement that will help to engage our whole being. There will be some group sharing during teaching sessions, but you are welcome to stay silent at those times too. This retreat follows on the material in our Centering Prayer and Wisdom Introductory Practice Series, but that series is not a prerequisite.

 “May the next years see the increase of Centering Prayer, and the creative addition of other wisdom aspects that might enhance what we are doing, or at least help us to do what we have learned out of our tradition, with complete commitment.”  —Thomas Keating, in A Life Surrendered to Love

*For more information on the Christian Wisdom Path, see Cynthia Bourgeault’s book: The Wisdom Way of Knowing: Reclaiming an Ancient Tradition to Awaken the Heart. If you have not read this book you are encouraged to do so before the retreat, but it is not a prerequisite.