Critical Questions in Christian Contemplative Practice

The stories, discussions and short essays you will encounter here can at first glance appear bewildering. What does talk about everything from the psychological unconscious to strange energy movements in the body that the Hindus called kundalini have to do with the Christian life of prayer and contemplation? But the wide-ranging debates found here are the result of the Christian mystical tradition trying to wake up and throw off the torpor of a sleep that has lasted more than 300 years. And the most amazing thing about these discussions is that they are taking place in a new context which is not a theoretical theological analysis of the spiritual life, but among people who are concerned with how one would go about living the contemplative life day by day, and who are actually trying to do it. In short, we face the first sustained practical interest in contemplation since the end of the 17th century, but already this enthusiasm has raised critical questions that need to be addressed.