Centering Prayer ?

[superblue]

On C.A.F centering prayer is frowned upon an I think the topic is frowned upon also, my question is why. I don't understand what it is, and or why it should not be practiced. I bring it up because just a moment ago I was reading up on how to practice the Lectio Divina and a priest had suggested centering prayer before praying the L.D /  is there any official response by the Vatican on this subject.

[KnightofChrist]

Centering prayer is a mixture of Buddhism and Hinduism forms of worship of the self, or inward being. Which is why it is likely frowned upon by C.A.F. I'm not sure about any official response.

[KnightofChrist]

The Danger of Centering Prayer

by Rev. John D. Dreher

In the mid-seventies, Trappist Abbot Thomas Keating asked the monks, "'Could we put the Christian tradition into a form that would be accessible to people ... who have been instructed in an Eastern technique and might be inspired to return to their Christian roots if they knew there was something similar in the Christian tradition?"' (Intimacy with God, 15). Frs. William Menniger and M. Basil Pennington took up the challenge, and centering prayer is the result. In a few short years it has spread all over the world.

Centering prayer originated in St. Joseph's Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Spencer, Massachusetts. During the twenty years (1961-1981) when Keating was abbot, St. Joseph's held dialogues with Buddhist and Hindu representatives, and a Zen master gave a week-long retreat to the monks. A former Trappist monk who had become a Transcendental Meditation teacher also gave a session to the monks.

Many people assume centering prayer is compatible with Catholic tradition, but in fact the techniques of centering prayer are neither Christian nor prayer. They are at the level of human faculties and as such are an operation of man, not of God. The deception and dangers can be grave.

Centering prayer differs from Christian prayer in that the intent of the technique is to bring the practitioner to the center of his own being. There he is, supposedly, to experience the presence of the God who indwells him. Christian prayer, on the contrary, centers upon God in a relational way, as someone apart from oneself. The Christian knows a God who is personal, yet who, as Creator, infinitely transcends his creature. God is wholly other than man. It is also crucial to Christian prayer that God engages man's whole being in response, not just his interior life. In the view of centering prayer, the immanence of God somehow makes the transcendence of God available to human techniques and experience.

Continue reading: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=234

[Gabriela]

Pope Benedict XVI talks about this in the book-length interview he gave to a German journalist. (Is it called "Light of the World"?) He says that there is such a thing as Christian centering prayer, but it's distinct from Buddhist centering prayer in that it does not seek to "empty the mind" in order to reach "one's center". Our center is Christ. So in Christian centering prayer, we focus very quietly and calmly on Christ (by looking at an icon, or some other holy object, or possibly a flame) in order to be filled with Him, rather than "emptied".

The intention is what makes the difference.

[KnightofChrist]

Pope Benedict XVI talks about this in the book-length interview he gave to a German journalist. (Is it called "Light of the World"?) He says that there is such a thing as Christian centering prayer, but it's distinct from Buddhist centering prayer in that it does not seek to "empty the mind" in order to reach "one's center". Our center is Christ. So in Christian centering prayer, we focus very quietly and calmly on Christ (by looking at an icon, or some other holy object, or possibly a flame) in order to be filled with Him, rather than "emptied".

The intention is what makes the difference.

​I'm not sure he actually legitimized centering prayer, even when it was focused on Christ. Anyway I'd like to see his quote in context.

What I could find was this, from the CDF (source: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19891015_meditazione-cristiana_en.html) It doesn't seem like he's endorsing centering prayer.

12. 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 1st, 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. Any method of prayer is valid insofar as it is inspired by Christ and leads to Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life (cf. Jn 14:6)." See: Homilia Abulae habita in honorem Sanctae Teresiae: AAS 75 (1983), 256-257.

[Gabriela]

 

​I'm not sure he actually legitimized centering prayer, even when it was focused on Christ. Anyway I'd like to see his quote in context.

What I could find was this, from the CDF (source: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19891015_meditazione-cristiana_en.html) It doesn't seem like he's endorsing centering prayer.

​Centering prayer is a type of apophatic prayer (as contrasted with kataphatic prayer, which is Ignatian-style imaginative prayer). Whatever you call apophatic prayer, the idea is the same: It doesn't use words or images in the mind to pray. So, nuns call it "contemplative prayer" or simply "listening", but the idea behind it is the same as apophatic/(Christian) centering prayer.

There are a ton of terms used to describe the same basic behaviors used in various types of prayer, and it's especially confusing when people of different denominations and religions use the same word for different behaviors, or different words for the same behavior. Catholics seem to have gotten their panties all in a wad over "centering prayer", but that's because they think that term refers only to Buddhist-style prayer. It doesn't. Lots of Christians use it in Christian ways.

I think it matters less what we call it and more what we do. If you're "emptying your mind" to try to "reach your center", you're not engaging in Christian prayer. If you're "emptying your mind" of words and images and other distractions in order to try to better hear Christ speaking to you, then that's pretty Christian.

The only terms commonly agreed on are "apophatic" and "kataphatic". So I stick with these. But what people do under either of these categories displays enormous variance, and so anytime someone tells you they're doing "X" kind of prayer, it's best to ask them what exactly they're doing, behaviorally, before condemning their behavior as unchristian.

[truthfinder]

Gabriela's post is a good description of the difference.  I would highlight though, that although we talk of contemplative prayer as Catholics it's a state we believe that only God can bring us to.  We cannot achieve contemplation on our own - and I think that's one of the major dangers of centering prayer, a sense that it is possible to do on your own.  

[Gabriela]

Gabriela's post is a good description of the difference.  I would highlight though, that although we talk of contemplative prayer as Catholics it's a state we believe that only God can bring us to.  We cannot achieve contemplation on our own - and I think that's one of the major dangers of centering prayer, a sense that it is possible to do on your own.  

​You make a good point. I think this is one of the fundamental differences between Christian prayer and all other sorts of prayer/meditation: We believe the ability to pray is a gift. Coming to prayer without that orientation is basically unchristian (although I think many Christians do come to prayer "by their own power", just because they don't realize God helps us even to pray!).

[dUSt]

What is C.A.F.?

[Ice_nine]

I think it's shorthand for cafeteria

[Ark]

On C.A.F centering prayer is frowned upon an I think the topic is frowned upon also, my question is why. I don't understand what it is, and or why it should not be practiced. I bring it up because just a moment ago I was reading up on how to practice the Lectio Divina and a priest had suggested centering prayer before praying the L.D /  is there any official response by the Vatican on this subject.

​Peace be with you Superblue,

The error lies in the fundamental principle of what we are. The Catholic teaching which is the teaching of Scripture and Tradition as recognized by the Father and Doctors is that we are real creatures, made of spirit and flesh, in the image of God and in His likeness if we possess sanctifying grace. We live in God, existing contingently being preserved by God. Our relationship with God is one of communion, the highest union being one with the Divine Will. 

The contrary to this is pantheism which has been adopted by many religious systems, including Hindusim, Sufism, and Gnosticism. These systems team that we are not creatures but rather manifestations in the Divine mind. The idea that we actually exist, that the "I" or ego is real, is an illusion we con ourselves into believing. In this paradigm, enlightenment consists of annihilation of the ego, where one is believed to be God. If you look into "centering prayer" it essentially follows this paradigm, suggesting that our being is essentially Divine, and object is to destroy our "false self." Sadly you can find even priests and monks promoting this heretical doctrine which is nothing short of Gnosticism or Buddhism hiding under Catholic images.

The particular danger is that some aspects of the practice are true, in that the Catholic endeavor to union one's will with the Divine will can take similar characteristics to the Pagan endeavor of attempting to annihilate the ego. But the end results are completely different, and whereas these Pagans think they have reached an "enlightened" stated believing themselves to be Divine, they have sadly duped themselves. We are creatures and will always remain creatures. Union we can achieve with God is rather remarkable and unbelievable at times, but never do we ourselves become God. The only Person that can rightfully call himself God and man is our blessed Lord. 

Perhaps the last time Catholics were seriously infected with this error was in the Medieval period, when southern France adopted Albigensianism which was really just Gnosticism rehashed. The so called "enlghtened" who reached their Divine state believed they were beyond the moral order, and any acts they committed, even objectively sinful of the mortal nature, where perfectly ok. Such is the Satanic deception of such thinking. Unfortunately in our times the institutional Church which was created to safegaurd teaching has essentially collapsed, and many a heretic roam preaching doctrines that tickle people's ears. Be weary, stick with tradition.

 

[veritasluxmea]

What is C.A.F.?

​Catholic Answers Forum 

[superblue]

ty for the answers peeps, I didn't realize there were two versions, ( I am not interested in either ) but I was curious as to what the humbug was. an I get it now.