As an introduction to contemplative spirituality, I’ve included quotes, websites, articles, video links, and recommended books from three of the most well-known teachers on contemplative spirituality: Thomas Merton, Fr. Thomas Keating and Henri Nouwen. Although all three come from a Christian tradition, I believe that their wisdom is universally relevant.
Contemplative Spirituality is a way of focusing one’s life completely on God and awakening to the presence of God in the human heart and in the universe which is around us.
I. Thomas Merton
“How mistaken I was to make contemplation only a part of life. For a contemplative, his whole life is contemplation.”
“Contemplation is the perfection of love and knowledge.”
“Contemplation goes beyond concepts and apprehends God not as a separate object but as the Reality within our reality, the Being within our being, the life of our life.”
“Contemplation is a mystery in which God reveals Himself as the very center of our own inmost self.”
“Contemplation is the highest and most paradoxical form of self-realization, attained by apparent self-annihilation.”
The Merton Institute for Contemplative Living
The Meaning of the Contemplative Life According to Thomas Merton
Best Books about Contemplative Spirituality
II. Father Thomas Keating
“Finally, there is a place beyond every tradition where I think every human being has the potential to meet. It’s that place of unity and oneness to which all traditions are pointing that suggests there is something so deep in human nature that it can be awakened and addressed regardless of religion or no religion.”
“You don’t have to do anything to earn God’s Grace, all you have to do is not run away from it.”
Who is Father Thomas Keating? (Integral Institute)
Resources: Articles/Audio/Video
Video: Religious, but Not Spiritual? with Ken Wilber
Video: Centering Prayer – The Guidelines
Best Books about Contemplative Spirituality
III. Henri Nouwen
“We are the Beloved. We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children and friends loved or wounded us. That’s the truth of our lives. That’s the truth I want you to claim for yourself. That’s the truth spoken by the voice that says, ‘You are my Beloved.’ Listening to that voice with great inner attentiveness, I hear at my center [God's] words that say: ‘I have called you by name, from the very beginning. You are mine and I am yours. You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests. I have molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother’s womb. I have carved you in the palms of my hands and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child. I have counted every hair on your head and guided you at every step. Wherever you go, I go with you, and wherever you rest, I keep watch. I will give you food that will satisfy all your hunger and drink that will quench all your thirst. I will not hide my face from you. You know me as your own as I know you as my own. You belong to me. I am your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your lover and your spouse…yes, even your child … wherever you are I will be. Nothing will ever separate us. We are one.’”
“Solitude, Community & Ministry: Three Ways to Create Space for God”
Video Clips: Journey of the Heart – the life of Henri Nouwen is a powerful 60 minute film on the life of Henri Nouwen produced by Windborne Productions in 2003.
Best Books about Contemplative Spirituality
The Karma Yogini Journals explores contemplative service (aka karma yoga, seva, engaged spirituality) from an interspiritual perspective.
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