GOD-centric Interior Spiritual Disciplines:
To live in a good and fair God of love
Ch. 3 Exercise: Contemplative Prayer
"Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.” ~ Voltaire (Deist)
Spirituality is the lived encounter or existential experience of God, not your idea of God. To know God is not to know about God. Meditation, centering prayer, and contemplative prayer are interior spiritual disciplines involving retreat, silence, solitude, and listening in preparation for the direct and transformative presence of God. These interior spiritual disciplines practiced in many religions, Eastern and Western, enable us to slow down, quiet our minds, and make room for experiencing God in a deeper way. As we are drawn in deeper and deeper, we may experience mystical union and ecstasy. The authenticity of a mystical experience is expressed in personal transformation and the living out of God's love, goodness, and fairness in the world. Please refer to the many books on these practices but do not become bogged down with detail and procedure. Choose a lovely, calming location. Quiet your brain by focusing on your breath or a sacred object or a piece of music or a centering word or phrase. Errant thoughts will likely enter your monkey mind, just acknowledge them non-judgmentally and let them go. Once in a receptive place of stillness, listen and experience. The direct and transformative presence of God is ineffable but I am writing a book so words are necessary. What follows are GOD-centric prayers from Buddhist, Eastern Orthodox, Hindu, Muslim, Roman Catholic, Sikh, Taoist, Theistic Existentialist, and Theosophist traditions that attempt to express the inexpressible experience of our loving God.
Bou Ali and the Old Woman ~ Farid ud-Din Attar
Intoxicated by the Wine of Love ~ Farid ud-Din Attar
The Triumph of the Soul ~ Farid ud-Din Attar
Universal Invocation ~ Annie Besant
Silently and Serenely ~ Hung-chih Cheng-chueh
Early Documents 44 ~ St. Clare of Assisi
One Thing Alone I Crave ~ Dame Catherine Gascoigne
In Your Midst ~ Hildegard von Bingen
The Sum of Perfection ~ St. John of the Cross
For Inward Peace ~ Soren Kierkegaard
O Infinite Consciousness ~ Lalleshwari
Effortlessly ~ Mechthild of Magdeburg
Flowing Light of the Godhead ~ Mechthild of Magdeburg
Though He Has No Form ~ Muktabai
Beloved, What Do You Want Of Me ~ Marguerite Porete
Only Breath ~ Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi
Now Comes the Final Merging ~ Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi
Within This Body ~ Tulsi Sahib
No Tongue Can Tell Your Secret ~ Hakim Sanai
Until You Are Complete ~ Hakim Sanai
He Who Is Stricken By Love ~ Abdullah Shah
Watching the Moon ~ Izumi Shikibu
How Is It I Can Love You ~ Symeon the New Theologian
Awesome Mystery ~ Symeon the New Theologian
Glimpse of the Invisible ~ Tulsidas
REMBRANDT Philosopher in Meditation
| Thinking a Thought Whole |
| My Catholic Imagination |
| My Catholic Questions |
| The Nicene Creed |
| Religious Traditions |
| Philosophy of Religion |
| Social Sciences & Religion |
| Stages of Faith |
| The Lazarus Life |
| No Golden Fleece |
| Judaism |
| Eastern Orthodoxy |
| Protestantism |
| Islam |
| Hinduism |
| Buddhism |
| Taoism |
| Baha'i |
| Unitarian (& Quaker) Universalism |
| Liberal Christianity |
| New Age, New Thought, New Anything |
| Perennial Philosophy |
| Arguments for God’s Existence |
| Qualities of God |
| Wagers: Aurelius vs. Pascal |
| Faith & Reason |
| The Problem of Evil |
| Process Theology & Theistic Existentialism |
| Non-God Statement |
| GOD-centric Statement |
| Are you really GOD-centric? |
| Intra-Religious Conversation |
| Conversation with the Non GOD-centric |
| Rules of Inter-Religious Conversation |
| Inter-Religious Conversation |
| The Eternal Question of God |
| The Eternal Question of Humanity |
| The Eternal Question of Life |
| Ending with a Bang, Not a Whimper |
| Closing Thoughts |
| The GOD-centric Process in 10 Easy Steps |
| Preface |
| Ch. 1 Music & Arts |
| Ch. 2 Praying the Hours |
| Ch. 3 Contemplative Prayer |
| Ch. 4 Prayers & Poetry |
| Ch. 5 Lectio Divina |
| Ch. 6 Reading for Study |
| Music |
| Arts |
| Prayers of Adoration |
| Prayers of Petition |
| Prayers of Intercession |
| Prayers of Thanksgiving |
| Preface |
| Introduction |
| Ch. 1 Simplicity |
| Ch. 2 Service |
| Ch. 3 Stewardship |
| Ch. 4 Celebration |
| Epilogue |
| From GOD-centric to GOOD-centric |
| From Panendeist to De Facto Atheist |
| A Note to Non-GOD-centric Christian Believers |
| GOOD-centric Statement: Upon This Rock I Stand |
| Freedom from Complexity |
| Absence of Luxury, Pretentiousness, Ornament |
| GOOD-centric Guiding Principles: Simplicity |
| Education |
| Economics |
| GOOD-centric Guiding Principles: Service |
| Fairness in Education |
| Goodness in Education |
| Love in Education |
| Fairness in Economics |
| Goodness in Economics |
| Love in Economics |
| Environment |
| Animal Welfare |
| GOOD-centric Guiding Principles Stewardship |
| Fairness for the Environment |
| Goodness for the Environment |
| Love for the Environment |
| Fairness for Animals |
| Goodness for Animals |
| Love for Animals |
| GOD-centric to GOOD-centric |
| GOD-centric vs. GOOD-centric |
| GOD-centric & GOOD-centric |
| Devotional |
| UnDevotional |
| January |
| February |
| March |
| April |
| May |
| June |
| July |
| August |
| September |
| October |
| November |
| December |
| UnJanuary |
| UnFebruary |
| UnMarch |
| UnApril |
| UnMay |
| UnJune |
| UnJuly |
| UnAugust |
| UnSeptember |
| UnOctober |
| UnNovember |
| UnDecember |