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The Better Part

Stages of Contemplative Living

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The Better Part

Written by: Thomas Keating O.C.S.O.
Narrated by: Chris Courtenay
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Bloomsbury presents The Better Part by Thomas Keating O.C.S.O., read by Chris Courtenay.

Thomas Keating was a Cistercian monk who founded the worldwide 'Contemplative Outreach', teaching people the art of meditation. Father Keating’s enlightening commentary on the contemplative meaning of the gospel, particularly the story of the siblings from Bethany, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, fits into the great monastic tradition of Christian teaching.

The talks on which this book was based were given at the John Main Seminar in 1998, the annual international event of the World Community for Christian Meditation. Previous presenters have included the Dalai Lama, Jean Vanier, Bede Griffiths, and William Johnston.

A monk reflects on Scripture in the light of experience. He or she utters a word that startles his listeners into realizing that tradition is not a matter of second-hand experience but the living and human self-transmission of Christ to his disciples.©2003 Thomas Keating (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Catholicism Christian Living Christianity Prayer Spirituality
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Critic Reviews

Reviewed in Catholic Library World, March 2001 Highlights: "This book is easy and enjoyable to read. Those who are interested in "the better part" will be pleased and encouraged to find ways to help themselves along the path."
"The Better Part is a modest volume in size but capacious in its wisdom and common (spiritual) sense. [...] It would be wonderful for someone to interview Keating at length and publish the results as a book. His capacity to say profound things in a relatively brief space is pure gift. The final 27 pages of Q&A are worth the price of the book. I wished only for more."--Lawrence S. Cunningham, Commonweal, November 9, 2001
"Any meditator using any method of wordless, imageless prayer will find this book a rich source of wisdom and very practical advice."--Betty Fricke, Monos, 2001
The "better part," of course, is that chosen by the introspective Mary of Bethany in the New Testament story, whose experience has long been taken by the contemplative religious. Father Keating, leader of the Centering Prayer movement, understands the contemplative and prayerful life as a form of participation in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and his book is both a graceful description of that life and a how-to. For most collections.
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