On Centering Prayer
John Michael Talbot

Centering Prayer is fine when practiced against the backdrop of Orthodox Catholic Christianity. It can be a helpful tool in entering into contemplative prayer as properly understood in the best Catholic Christian tradition of the mystics and the saints.

The letting go of self through centering is helpful in realizing many aspects of Christian morality and faith, however, it does not cover every aspect of the Church's objective teaching in these areas. Centering disposes one's interior soul to accept the teaching of the Church, even when it may seem difficult to a particular person or group. It gets us free of the attachment to the fallen self that leads to anger and bitterness and the like, that so often cloud the mind and heart from clear discernmnet and percepetion. It can be a great tool in entering into the Cross and Reserrection of Jesus, who both complements and fulfills the best traditions of the mystics of all the world's religions.

The problem arises when a person tries to enter the more developed approach to contemplative prayer before they have a good groundwork of the teaching of the Church regarding faith and morality in the Christian lives. Then it can be dangerous. It is like swimming in the deep end of the pool before you have learned how to swim by practicing in the shallow end for a while.

The use of a good spiritual director can be very helpful in discerning this journey with you. They can help you know both the time and the way to use these tools in a way that will really be constructive for your Christian life in the Church. Make sure the spiritual director is both orthodox in Catholicism, and experienced in the contemplative way. There are not many who really qualify in today's enviroment, but they DO exist out there. As the saints say," Better no spiritual director than a bad one." But they also insist on the need for one if at all possible. Otherwise, read the REAL writings of the saints and masters. But it is not enough to just dally around with them. You must read them seriously.

I have a new book on Christian meditation coming out next year that discusses some of these issues, based solidly on Catholic teaching on contemplative prayer and Interfaith dialogue.

John Michael Talbot