Centering prayer is the path to a wonderful and radical new way of seeing the world. It is not, as is sometimes thought, simply an act of devotional piety, nor is it a Christianized form of other meditation methods. Cynthia Bourgeault here cuts through the misconceptions to show that centering prayer is in fact a pioneering development within the Christian contemplative tradition.

The enlightenment you seek in other religions has been present in Christianity from the beginning. Richard Rohr, a global leader in spiritual awakening, helps you recognize the forces (such as ego resistance and dual thinking) that separate you from your deeper self. Then, drawing from Gospels and the greatest Christian contemplatives, he shows you what it means to be spiritually awake. You will learn why your ego resists change and growth, what is useful about popular ideas such as the law of attraction, what Jesus, the first mythical leader in the West, can teach you.

"The Cloud of Unknowing" is one of Christianity's enduring mysteries, a meditative state where God is experienced on the deepest interior level. To move beyond thoughts and feelings and into the arms of the divine spirit, we have been given the gift of contemplative prayer.

Drawing upon the teachings of seven spiritual doctors of the church, Ralph Martin presents an in-depth study of the journey to God. This book provides encouragement and direction for the pilgrim who desires to know, love, and serve our Lord.

The Gnostic Gospels provides engaging listening for those seeking a broader perspective on the early development of Christianity. Author and noted scholar Elaine Pagels suggests that Christianity could have developed quite differently if Gnostic texts had become part of the Christian canon.

We often think of saints as rare individuals whose gifts far exceed our own, and St. Francis is no exception. But for Fr. Richard Rohr, a prolific author and renowned speaker, the life and teachings of this beloved figure offer an authentic spirituality we can all embody.

The 13th-century mystic Meister Eckhart was the most brilliant Christian scholar of his day, but he was also legendary for the way that he opened listeners to the direct experience of God during his public talks. Today, his written wisdom remains alive as ever, ready to illuminate us. With Meister Eckhart's Living Wisdom, James Finley, one of today's best-known teachers of the Christian contemplative tradition, invites us into Eckhart's insights in the same way that this luminary teacher delighted in sharing them.

First presented at a series of popular retreats, this full audio program takes a participatory approach to Merton's most useful teachings, helping us to discover our true self...to disappear into God; to be submerged into his peace; to be lost in the secret of his face, as Merton said, through daily practices including contemplation, prayer, and faith. In the end we find ourselves in what the Taoist sage Chuang Tzu called the Palace of Nowhere, where all the many things are one.

With an original music score by composer Stefano Mainetti (Abba Pater), feature-film quality sound effects, and compelling narration by Michael York and the work of over 500 actors, the The Word of Promise Audio Bible will immerse listeners in the dramatic reality of the scriptures as never before. Each beloved book of the Bible comes to life with outstanding performances by Jim Caviezel as Jesus, Richard Dreyfuss as Moses, Gary Sinise as David, Jason Alexander as Joseph, Marisa Tomei as Mary Magdalene, Stacy Keach as Paul, Louis Gossett, Jr. as John...

It’s no wonder that The Power of Now has sold over 16 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 30 foreign languages. Much more than simple principles and platitudes, the book takes readers on an inspiring spiritual journey to find their true and deepest self and reach the ultimate in personal growth and spirituality: the discovery of truth and light. In the first chapter, Tolle introduces listeners to enlightenment and its natural enemy, the mind.

At the center of The Dark Night of the Soul (La noche oscura del alma) is a poem written by the 16th century Spanish poet and mystic St John of the Cross. Consisting of eight stanzas, each of five lines, the poem outlines the journey in pursuit of divine union, within which the only source of light comes from the soul. This recording in English includes the poem itself and St John's two accompanying treatises (1584-1585), essentially commentaries, which offer line-by-line explanations of the poem. Many modern listeners have found guidance and consolation in this work.

Neville Goddard: The Complete Reader, Includes all 10 of Neville Goddard's Spiritual Classics: At Your Command, Awakened Imagination & the Search, Feeling is the Secret, Freedom For All, Out of This World, Prayer, The Art of Believing, Seedtime and Harvest, The Law and The Promise, The Power of Awareness, and Your Faith Is Your Fortune. If you are familiar with the great American mystic, this will be a goldmine of wisdom in one book. If you are new to his work, you are in for a spiritual journey.

The saints, the heroes of the Roman Catholic faith, lived lives of holiness, dedicated to serving God. The saints lived at different times in different places throughout history, but they all shared a love of God that has been documented through the teachings of the Church. Today, the saints serve as examples for all Catholics, showing the believers how to lead a more spiritual life. Catholic devotions are particular customs, rituals and practices of worship or in honour of the saints that are in addition to the liturgy of the Catholic Church.

A Course in Miracles (ACIM) - the self-study spiritual-thought system that teaches the way to love and forgiveness - has captivated the minds and captured the hearts of millions of people. Delivering inner peace where fear and pain once prevailed, its universal message is unsurpassed in its power to heal. Yet many students report that they have difficulty grasping the principles or keeping up with the lessons. So even while they yearn for the spiritual freedom the course offers, they put the book aside, hoping to get to it one day.

During a train trip from Chicago to Texas in the late 1940s, A.W. Tozer began to write The Pursuit of God. He wrote all night, and when the train arrived at his destination, the rough draft was done. The depth of this book has made it an enduring favorite.

Since it was first published in its pocket-size 1692 edition, Brother Lawrence's spiritual classic has remained in print, beloved by people of varying spiritual paths and religious traditions. With this new translation, award-winning translator Carmen Acevedo Butcher frees it from its centuries-long prison of dogmatic, binary language and brings fresh, inclusive treatment that listeners are sure to find transformational.

In the middle ages, Christianity shared much with Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies. Listen to learn how Christian mystics came to the same conclusions as those from very different faiths. This edition has been adapted from the 1923 version into modern English to make the ideas more accessible to today's listener, the Cloud of Unknowing distills a complex mystical epistemology and discipline into engaging, understandable prose.

Centering prayer is the path to a wonderful and radical new way of seeing the world. It is not, as is sometimes thought, simply an act of devotional piety, nor is it a Christianized form of other meditation methods. Cynthia Bourgeault here cuts through the misconceptions to show that centering prayer is in fact a pioneering development within the Christian contemplative tradition.

"The Cloud of Unknowing" is a spiritual guide on contemplative prayer in the late Middle Ages. The underlying message of this work suggests that the way to know God is to abandon consideration of God's particular activities and attributes, and be courageous enough to surrender one's mind and ego to the realm of "unknowing", at which point one may begin to glimpse the nature of God. The text is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century.

A seminal work of Spanish mysticism, Teresa of Avila's The Way of Perfection describes the practices and qualities of a prayerful life devoted to Christ. Although it was written over 500 years ago solely for the nuns of her convent, her devotion continues to instruct and inspire believers today.

"I remained, lost in oblivion; My face I reclined on the Beloved. All ceased and I abandoned myself, Leaving my cares forgotten among the lillies." Thus writes 16th century Spanish poet and mystic, St. John of the Cross. In this, his third work, the author reflects on the nature of a personal union with Christ, found in the abandonment of self.

The mystics show us the deepest recesses of the human spirit. Now, this remarkable series gives you the rare opportunity to take one of the world's leading experts on mysticism as your personal guide. Boston College's Fr. Harvey Egan draws on 50 years of teaching the Christian mystics. Brilliantly taught, his lectures are filled with faithful insights. Under his guidance, you will explore the mystical life by focusing upon 11 significant figures. You will begin with Ignatius of Loyola and his finding of God in all things.

No other book in history has done more to clarify the esoteric, mystical, and occult traditions of the world than Manly P. Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Ages. Now, historian Mitch Horowitz provides the first companion work to Hall's opus. The Seeker's Guide to The Secret Teachings of All Ages helps 21st-century audiences enter and experience (or reexperience) Hall's hallowed pages and also clarifies and expands on some of the book's key themes and topics.

Written in the 14th century by an anonymous English monk, The Cloud of Unknowing explores human interaction with the divine, offering guidance on prayer and achieving unity with God. At the core of the book is the assertion that God is unreachable through cerebral means and only through the power of love. One must abandon the intellect, putting a ‘cloud of forgetting’ beneath oneself, hiding the world and all its concerns, and focus as much as possible on God, who exists behind a cloud of unknowing, which can only be approached through a love that transcends all conceptual thought

In the first four decades of his life as a Trappist monk, Thomas Keating created a comprehensive, unified psychospiritual pathway leading from healing to holiness and from contemporary psychological wellness to classic mystical sanctity and beatitude. As one of the key innovators of the meditative practice of Centering Prayer, he fashioned a powerful on-ramp to the Christian contemplative tradition. Yet, as beloved author and Keating disciple Cynthia Bourgeault shows, that was not the end of Keating’s story.

Introducing a new translation of Laozi’s classic work that makes the intimidating approachable and the complex comprehensible. Translated by best-selling author Ken Liu and read by acclaimed actor B.D. Wong, this new take on the Dao De Jing speaks directly to the sensibilities of a modern audience. Liu dispenses with footnotes and the granular details of academic debate in favor of presenting Laozi’s invaluable writing as clearly and colorfully as possible.

Practitioners of Centering Prayer are known for the great enthusiasm they bring to the practice of this ancient discipline. Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening is a complete guidebook for all who wish to know the practice of Centering Prayer. Cynthia Bourgeault goes further than offering an introduction, however. She examines how the practice is related to the classic tradition of Christian contemplation, looks at the distinct nuances of its method, and explores its revolutionary potential to transform Christian life.

Exploring the relationship between Christianity and Zen, especially through his dialogue with the great Zen teacher D.T. Suzuki, the book makes an excellent introduction to a comparative study of these two traditions, as well as giving the listener a strong taste of the mature Merton. Never does one feel him losing his own faith; rather, one feels that faith getting deeply clarified and affirmed. Just as the body of "Zen" cannot be found by the scavengers, so too, Merton suggests, with the eternal truth of Christ.

In his best-selling book Falling Upward, Richard Rohr talked about ego (or the False Self) and how it gets in the way of spiritual maturity. But if there's a False Self, is there also a True Self? What is it? How is it found? This book likens True Self to a diamond, buried deep within us, formed under the intense pressure of our lives, that must be searched for, uncovered, separated from all the debris of ego that surrounds it. In a sense True Self must, like Jesus, be resurrected, and that process is not resuscitation but transformation.

The little family of mystical treatises that is known to students as “the Cloud of Unknowing group” deserves more attention than it has hitherto received from English lovers of mysticism, for it represents the first expression in our own tongue of that great mystic tradition of the Christian Neoplatonists that gathered up, remade, and “salted with Christ's salt” all that was best in the spiritual wisdom of the ancient world.