Contemplative Prayer: Traditional Christian Meditations for Opening to Divine Union

In the darkest hour of the darkest age, Christian monks developed a meditation tradition unique in the Western world. A 14th-century author described their profound mystical experience as entering “the cloud of unknowing.” Yet during the 500 years after this great monastic flowering, this precious tradition – and the direct path to union with God it described – was virtually lost. For decades, Father Thomas Keating, together with other monks, examined this great question: could anyone enter “the cloud of unknowing” through a prayer practice specifically created to attain it? On The Contemplative Journey, Father Keating shares the authentic tradition of Christian contemplation that emerged from his spiritual search.