[DUE TO TODAY'S NOR'EASTER, DAVID FRENETTE'S FLIGHT HAS BEEN ALTERED. THE THURSDAY EVENT IS CANCELLED, BUT THE REST OF THE WEEKEND'S EVENTS CONTINUE. Please come instead to the workshop, "Practicing Centering Prayer with the Sacred Breath" during the day on Friday at General Theological, the dialogue on Buddhist and Christian Meditation on Sunday at Grace Church in Brooklyn and the talk on Saturday morning in Armonk about his new book.]
This book, in my view, is the best, most comprehensive and most practical book on Centering Prayer. – Father Thomas Keating
David Frenette has taught Centering Prayer under the guidance of Father Thomas Keating since 1984. He lives in Boulder, CO, but in November will be visiting the New York area to talk about his new book, The Path of Centering Prayer; Deepening Your Experience of God. David has spent much of the past 25 years in retreat and contemplative practice, including 10 years as a leader of a lay monastic community. He teaches and offers spiritual direction at the Center for Contemplative Living in Denver, is an Adjunct Faculty in the Religious Studies Department at Naropa University, and has an M.A. in Counseling Psychology.
Copies of The Path of Centering Prayer; Deepening Your Experience of God will be available for purchase at all of the events listed below.
Practicing Centering Prayer with the Sacred Breath — A Workshop with David Frenette
Friday, November 9th, 1pm to 5pm
General Theological Seminary’s Seabury Auditorium
440 West 21st Street, New York, NY 10011
Co-sponsored by General Theological Seminary’s Center for Christian Spirituality and Contemplative Outreach of New York
$50
While the basic teaching on Centering Prayer generally focuses on the use of the sacred word, it is also possible to practice Centering Prayer with other sacred symbols. In this afternoon retreat-like workshop, you will explore the sacred breath as a way of deepening your own practice of Centering Prayer.
In the workshop, David Frenette will teach how the practice of Centering Prayer with the sacred breath may be particularly appropriate at certain seasons of the spiritual journey. He’ll also reveal how this contemplative practice may help you to realize that God, like the breath, is always within you.
The workshop, appropriate for both experienced practitioners and beginners, will include:
- new teachings on how to practice Centering Prayer with the sacred breath
- discussion of how contemplative attitudes may be brought into all aspects of life
- extended practice of Centering Prayer.
To register go to http://centeringprayer-gts.eventbrite.com/
An Introduction to Buddhist and Christian Meditation, with Dialogue, with David Frenette and Robert Gunn
Sunday November 11th, 2pm to 4pm
Grace Church Brooklyn
254 Hicks Street, Brooklyn NY 11201
Co-sponsored by Contemplative Outreach of New York
Donations gratefully accepted
Receive instruction in meditation practice from two traditions: Christian centering prayer and Zen meditation. This workshop will provide an opportunity to practice both methods of meditation, followed by a dialogue about their differences and points of intersection.
Zen meditation will be introduced by Robert Gunn, a Soto Zen priest at the Village Zendo, pastor in the United Church of Christ, psychotherapist, and Lecturer at Union Theological Seminary. Centering prayer will be introduced by David Frenette who has practiced centering prayer under the guidance of Father Thomas Keating for almost 30 years and is a spiritual director and Adjunct Professor at Naropa University.
Copies of Robert Gunn’s book Journeys into Emptiness: Dogen, Merton and Jung and the Quest for Transformation and David Frenette’s The Path of Centering Prayer; Deepening Your Experience of God will be available for purchase.
In addition to those two events sponsored by Contemplative Outreach of New York, David Frenette will be doing these two others in the area:
[DUE TO TODAY'S NOR'EASTER, DAVID FRENETTE'S TRAVEL PLANS HAVE BEEN ALTERED. THE THURSDAY EVENT IS CANCELLED.]
Sacred Attention & Contemplative Living — An Evening of Learning & Practice with David Frenette
Thursday, November 8th, 7pm
General Theological Seminary’s Seabury Auditorium
440 West 21st Street, New York, NY 10011
Sponsored by General Seminary’s Wellness Program in Partnership with the Center for Christian Spirituality
Free and open to the public
We live in a world of complexity, fragmentation, noise, and haste. The sheer quantity of tasks, appointments, and commitments can be overwhelming. How can we experience God in the midst of the busyness, responsibilities, and activities of our daily lives? By practice. By living more in the present moment. By practicing the presence of God in the present moment.
We can abide in this Presence as we prepare dinner, help our children with their homework, take a phone call, go shopping in the local mall, attend a contentious business meeting, or walk down the street. The practice is surprisingly simple: Pay attention to what you are doing and do it for the love of God.
This evening presentation will help you with your practice of sacred attention.
To register for complimentary admission, go to http://sacredattention-gts.eventbrite.com/
A Talk by David Frenette From His New Book The Path of Centering Prayer; Deepening Your Experience of God
Saturday, November 10th, 9am to 1pm
St. Patrick’s Church, 29 Cox Avenue, Armonk, NY 10504
Sponsored by Contemplative Outreach of Westchester
Suggested donation $20
David’s new teachings in this book are meant to assist long time contemplative practitioners along the journey to union with God, along with providing newcomers a fresh introduction to the path of Centering Prayer, a Christian form of meditation. Come learn, renew or deepen your Centering Prayer practice. For more information call 914.478.7801
The Path of Centering Prayer; Deepening Your Experience of God is a guide to centering prayer for beginners and experienced practitioners alike. David Frenette has a great gift for describing the subtle interior experience of centering prayer. Thomas Keating in his classic Open Mind Open Heart mentions that centering prayer may be practiced using several different forms of the sacred symbol: the sacred word, the sacred breath, the sacred glance, or the sacred nothingness. David expands in very practical detail on the use of each of these sacred symbols, discussing how each may be suited for different people at different seasons of the spiritual journey. He also looks at eight contemplative attitudes: receiving, consent, simplicity, gentleness, letting go, resting, embracing, and integrating and describes how these attitudes represent subtly different ways of being in the prayer that allow one to relate to the sacred symbol more and more deeply.