Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Thomas Keating (American Trappist Monk)

Thomas Keating (1923–2018,) born Joseph Parker Kirlin Keating, was an American Catholic monk and priest of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (also known as Trappists.) He was a pioneer in the Christian Contemplative Prayer Movement, which encourages a method of silent centering prayer that allows one to “rest in the presence of God.”

Born to an affluent family in Manhattan, New York City, Keating discovered a keen interest in the contemplation of the Gospels during college at Yale. He was drawn to the mystics and transferred from Yale to an accelerated program at the Jesuit-run Fordham University in the Bronx.

Keating graduated in 1943 and entered the strict Cistercian Monastery Our Lady of the Valley in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. He was ordained a priest in 1949, and moved to St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, where he served as abbot 1961–81.

In response to the Second Vatican Council’s call to renew the Christian contemplative tradition, Keating developed the practice of centering prayer in 1971. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he developed an interest in Eastern religions, organized conferences with representatives of other faiths, and found interrelate contemplation and meditation practices across religions.

Keating’s notable works on spiritual contemplation include Crisis of Faith (1979,) Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension (1986,) The Mystery of Christ (1987,) Invitation to Love: The Way of Christian Contemplation (1992,) and Divine Therapy and Addiction (2009.)

A nephew made the biopic Thomas Keating: A Rising Tide of Silence (2014.)

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Thomas Keating

In a crisis of choice when you are perplexed and do not know which way to go, it might be good to consult several persons.
Thomas Keating
Topics: Knowledge, Information

For human beings, the most daunting challenge is to become fully human. For to become fully human is to become fully divine.
Thomas Keating

Perhaps 90 percent of its desires, psychologists say, are unconscious; in other words, many of our deepest commitments to symbols of security, power, and affection in the culture are rooted in desires that are absolutely impossible to achieve.
Thomas Keating

Silence is God’s first language; everything else is a poor translation.
Thomas Keating

Only when we can accept God as he is can we give up the desire for spiritual experiences that we can feel.
Thomas Keating

God will bring people and events into our lives, and whatever we may think about them, they are designed for the evolution of His life in us.
Thomas Keating

Nothing is more helpful to reduce pride than the actual experience of self-knowledge. If we are discouraged by it, we have misunderstood its meaning.
Thomas Keating

Little by little we are able to hear the still small voice in the hurricane, the earthquake, or the fire. God is hidden in difficulties. If we can find him there, we will never lose him. Without difficulties, we do not know the power of God’s mercy and the incredible destiny he has for each of us. We must be patient with our failures. There is always another opportunity unless we just go ashore and stay there.
Thomas Keating

When the presence of God emerges from our inmost being into our faculties, whether we walk down the street or drink a cup of soup, divine life is pouring into the world.
Thomas Keating

The great treasure that interreligious dialogue among the world religions could unlock is to enable people to get to know and love other religions and the people who practice them. The
Thomas Keating

The fact that we experience anxiety and annoyance is the certain sign that, in the unconscious, there is an emotional program for happiness that has just been frustrated.
Thomas Keating

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