I have found "centering prayer" to be of great benefit in my spiritual life.
Fr. Thomas Keating has spearheaded the movement to introduce more contemplative prayer into the Christian community.
In centering prayer, one maintains presence with the Absolute. All thoughts are viewed as essentially neutral projections, which one releases into the river of life. Keating greatly humanizes the process of climbing the ladder of contemplation.
-->Choose a simple word that will act to focus the self on the divine, though the importance of the word fades as the prayer occurs.
-->Let the word enter, without effort, into the recesses of the unconscious mind and heart.
-->As thoughts arise, you do not embrace them, but instead let them slip away.
-->Gradually, this type of relationship with God draws us deeper into love and we begin to pray contemplatively at all times, a highly desirable development in the spiritual life!
Centering prayer is not really a "technique;" it is a way to draw us into union with the loving Spirit.
