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Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Prayer of the Heart



Prayer of the Heart in Christian and Sufi Mysticism by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee is the book I started to write about yesterday but had to stop and so now I will tell you a bit about this little book that had been on my bookshelf and I had been using before I became ill last year. My copy is a second printing, 2013. It was first published in the United States in 2012 by The Golden Sufi Center. The Foreword is by Cynthia Bourgeault and she speaks of another of Vaughan-Lee's books, The Bond with The Beloved and quotes from it. I think it made her realize how prayer is so important for the very life of our planet. I have ordered a second-hand copy of that book as I love the one I am reading now; I am really praying over parts of it rather then reading. Actually, the book spends time with the four stages of prayer of St. Theresa of Avila: recollection, quiet, union and ecstasy. I began marking passages as I read the second chapter and found myself stopping to pray. I have not read the rest of the book but find very helpful what I have read. The Chapter Headings are: 1. Prayer and Listening; 2. Stages of Prayer; 3. The Jesus Prayer and the DHIKR; 4. The Circle of Love; 5. The Heart Prays; 6. Prayer for the Earth; 7. Personal Prayer.

1 comment:

Victor S E Moubarak said...

Prayers are what the world needs right now.

God bless.