Father Thomas Keating: Inviting the Presence of the Divine, Part One
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Tami Simon speaks with Father Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk in the Cistercian Order who has served as abbot of Saint Joseph’s Abbey Monastery in Spencer, MA, for 20 years. He now resides at Saint Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, CO. He is the author 20 books, as well as the Sounds True audio-learning course The Contemplative Journey. Father Keating is one of the architects of the contemporary Centering Prayer movement. In the first of a two-part series, Father Keating discusses his personal monastic path, prayer, doubt, and how he has dealt with both little deaths and big deaths in his own life. (28 minutes)
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Father Keating,
Thank you for sharing your story as abbot during changing times in church history. This required a surrender of any mental constructs you may have had in efforts to help the community evolve. While it was a “no win” situation at the time, looking back, it is certainly in compliance with human evolution. All that is of the natural world changes and grows, dies and re-emerges. Perhaps your calling was to become “the bridge over troubled water” — i.e., to hold firm to the “what” of community life while the “how” of it changed. This had to be the most difficult leadership experience yet it was an essential one.
Comment by Jo-Ann Triner — December 17, 2009 @ 2:11 am
When I turned on my iPod and found that the most recent interview was with Fr. Keating I was thrilled and surprised. Just two days ago I was thinking I wish Tami would interview Thomas Keating, and there he was.
I was fortunate enough to attend one of his workshops in San Francisco in June of 2006 and although I do not know him personally, I consider him a beloved teacher. It used to be difficult for me to understand how Krishna Das and Ram Dass could be so in love with their guru Neem Karoli Baba (sp?), but now I can relate to those feelings, and I can only imagine what it would be like to spend a lot of time in person with a teacher you love and admire. How fortunate.
Now I am anxiously waiting for the online course that I enrolled in a few weeks ago to begin.
Comment by anna maria — December 17, 2009 @ 11:30 pm
Thanks for sharing this beautiful interview with Father Thomas. He’s a truly remarkable being. May his life and wisdom inspire many people, both within Christianity and other religions.
Comment by JP — December 18, 2009 @ 11:43 am
Father Keating recognises that behind the motive for an over hard disciplined Spiritual life could be ego. The contemplative life is a gife to all humans. Silence and solitiude are needed as is a willingness to be humble and insignificant. Thank you for your wise and mature teachings kind father.
Comment by Stan — January 11, 2010 @ 10:30 am
Father teaches us that it does not matter what role we play as long as we are willing to relinquish it at God’s request and are yet fully commited at the same time. We must be always willing to give up what we love most for the love of God. Divine therapy brings us to give up our roles, let go, and let God do with us as He will. The Christian term for enlightenment is transforming union. Let us continually die and rise again.
Comment by Stan — January 12, 2010 @ 11:10 am
I liked the way you had this conversation full of harmony, love and wisdom!
Comment by Laila — February 24, 2010 @ 5:48 am
I have been in a 12 step reovery program for 33 years now. Father Keating reaffirmed for me that “every thing” is a means to an end and even the “end” remains above a definitive definition…for me life has been an ongoing process of “letting go of old ideas”…
Thank-you Father
Comment by Nena — May 8, 2010 @ 2:26 pm
Sounds True
It would be wonderful if you would have a recorded conversation made between Father Keating and Eckhart Tolle sometime soon.
Be Well
EdS
Comment by Ed Schulte — May 2, 2011 @ 4:06 pm