Breathed by the Spirit
By Fr. Thomas Keating
Jesus breathed on his disciples on the evening of his resurrection saying;Receive the Holy Spirit. There
is thus no doubt of Jesus intent and ardent desire to communicate the Holy Spirit to us. Earlier Jesus
had taught, How much more (than ordinary parents who give good gifts to their children) will the Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him (Lk.11:13). Thus there is no doubt regarding the intent and
ardent desire of the Father to impart the Spirit to us.
The traditional liturgical hymn to the Holy Spirit prays, “Come Holy Spirit!”—Veni Sancte Spiritus! Hence
there can be no doubt of the Spirit’s intent and ardent desire to be poured into the Body of Christ and
into each one of Christ’s members. Let every breath then be a cry for the coming of the Holy Spirit, the
supreme Gift of the Father and the Son.
Let breathing be a way of participating in healing the sickness of the world paralyzed by selfishness,
exhaling the saving power of the Spirit into the abyss of darkness that surrounds the earth’s
atmosphere—the result of Milena of human brutality, violence, malice, indifference, and injustice.
Be effortlessly aware of the Ground of Being from which all things arise at each nanosecond of time and
which might be described as ever-present Awareness keeping silent watch. It is nonjudgmental simple,
penetrating all reality; the backdrop, background, and source of everything, and the eternal Now
beneath the apparent movement of time.
In Centering Prayer we do not try to reflect, analyze, or understand. We invite the Spirit to take over our
mental faculties—memory, intellect, and will. We disregard all sense impressions and our emotional
reactions. We remain inwardly and outwardly silent and still, with no attention to external stimuli or
particular movements of the mind. We cultivate consciousness without any particular content. Our
intention is to rest in God and to be united with everything that exists in the Source of all that is.
Ever-present Awareness does not do anything. It just is and sustains all that exists, letting all things
follow their innate nature and fulfill their created purpose. We do not need to make acts of knowledge or
will to be in God’s presence. At a certain point in contemplative prayer, to do so introduces a sense of
separation from God or a certain uneasiness. Once God’s abiding presence is stabilized, we might even
feel as if we were withdrawing from oneness with the divine by such acts. Ever-present Awareness is not
looking at us, but at Itself in us
We may notice in everyday life an increase of mental, physical, and spiritual energy, and a certain quiet
joy without knowing where it comes from. We feel detached from everything even while functioning in our
customary ways. The past becomes inconsequential along with its contents, and the future is of no
importance if we think of it at all. A sense of peace, freedom, spaciousness, and general well-being
predominates.
In this context, we see that to seek rewards from God is a misunderstanding because we already have
what is better than any reward. We are right now all that we can ever want or desire to be. We just think
it isn’t so. Stop thinking that thought and see what remains. Relax into the all-embracing and boundless
Presence of God which is beyond time, conceptual thinking, words, and actions but present in
everything that exists and containing everything that exists.
Rest in the divine Trinity, in the bosom of the Father, in the heart of the Eternal Word, and in the infinite
love of the Holy Spirit. This is the doctrine and experience of the Divine Indwelling, the most fundamental
basis of our relationship with God.
_____________
1 Cf. Ken Wilber, Eye of the Spirit, Shambala, Boston, 1997, Chapter 12
Contemplative Outreach News
Volume 23, Number 1 · December 2007