Parting the veil : the illusion of separation from God -- The wild hawk of the mind -- The body's call to prayer -- The three doorways of the present moment : the way of the prayer word -- The riddles of distraction -- From victim to witness : practicing with affliction -- The liturgy of our wounds : temptation, humility and failure -- Epilogue : who am I? : a tale of monastic failure.
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Sitting in stillness, the practice of meditation, and the cultivation of awareness are commonly thought to be the preserves of Hindus and Buddhists. Martin Laird shows that the Christian tradition of contemplation has its own refined teachings on using a prayer word to focus the mind, working with the breath to cultivate stillness, and the practice of inner vigilance or awareness. But this book is not a mere historical survey of these teachings. In Into the Silent Land, we see the ancient wisdom of both the Christian East and West brought sharply to bear on the modern-day longing for radical openness to God in the depths of the heart.