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The Christian Contemplative Tradition

Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have a long tradition of teaching contemplation or nondual consciousness. But its systematic teaching was primarily held in the Eastern “Greek” church; the Western “Latin” church was more extroverted and aligned with empires. Serious contemplative teaching—very upfront in the desert fathers and mothers—is surely found in Celtic Christianity (outside of empire), and is continued by leaders of many monasteries, for example, by John Cassian (360–435 CE), Pseudo-Dionysius (5th–6th centuries), and Hugh

Rowan Williams Promoting the Jesus Prayer as Answer to Modern Angst

By Dr. Rowan Williams Dr. Rowan Williams, who recently retired as Archbishop of Canterbury, was one of a group asked by the New Statesman to respond to the topic, “After God: How do we fill the faith-shaped hole in modern life?” Here is his response. The Physicality of Prayer The Christianity I was originally formed in was not very ritual-minded: it was both intellectually alert and emotionally intense – the best of a style of