CENTERING PRAYER AND THE SHADOW

And what of Centering Prayer, does this heal the Shadow and enable us to become whole?  Ironically enough Ken Wilber claims that meditation can be a means of avoiding and thus of further burying Shadow.  He adds that many seasoned meditators have lots of Shadow. [1]  I would imagine that the same can be said of many devotional practices.  You and I both know people, perhaps we are among them, who follow all the rules of the church, are ardent at prayer and yet seem not to know themselves and appear to be driven by Shadow.

 Is Centering Prayer any different?  Keating maintains that avoidance of the Shadow is less likely to be the case with a receptive meditation practice like that of Centering Prayer, particularly, he adds, when you combine this with Centering Prayer’s companion practice the Welcoming Prayer. [2]

 Notice that Keating’s claim re Centering Prayer is tied to the receptivity of the method.  We have to follow the method – the method is one of openness and of consent.  However some people do not follow the method.  They use the Sacred Word like a hammer to keep out thoughts and so block the rising of the unconscious and the release of Shadow.

 We build up the Shadow and we keep it in place as the result of an attitude of defensiveness.  We deny, reject and repress.  Centering Prayer and the Welcoming Prayer bring about a fundamental shift of attitude from defensiveness to open receptivity.  Our point of reference is no longer the external environment but God Himself present in the very depth of our Being.  We move towards alignment with His Will.