Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
for
The Contemplative Life Program

Updated November 24, 2006

Yes, it is useful to have a Centering Prayer practice. The CLP is not an introductory workshop or training on Centering Prayer or on any of the other contemplative practices included in the program, especially those practices in Year One. However, if you are beginning your contemplative journey, this program could be very useful in supporting your desire to be a regular practitioner.

What is the point of the program?
If I’m already a practicing contemplative, why do I need it?

The Contemplative Life Program has several objectives. There is a definite, pervasive hunger for something meaningful in everyday life. A personal relationship with God is the only real answer. Many people do want to go deeper in their relationship with God and don’t have a local faith community that supports them. Some find there is a need for more support at home or at work, in the midst of the ordinary routines of life. Over 1400 people have participated in The Contemplative Life Program each year from all over the world, indicating the pervasive desire to focus more on God in the midst of everyday life, and for support and connection with others of like intention.

If you are already a practitioner, this program provides further focus and support for your current way of living the contemplative dimension of the Gospel in everyday life. The program will provide daily reminders, readings and mini-practices to support your deepening relationship with God. In addition, the combined intention and attention of all of those participating in the program around the world seems to magnify one’s experience. As many of us know, there is a great depth and power in sitting in silence together, or working in unison on a project, or praying prayers of intercession together.

The program can take as much or as little time as you would like to give it. It is all about your commitment to your spiritual journey. Your intention and your desire for relationship with God will determine the length of time you spend with the materials each day. It could be 10 minutes or it could be an hour or more. It provides an opportunity to recapture an ‘interior retreat atmosphere’ and move through each day reflective and recollected.

There are three different versions of the CLP – Year One, Year Two and Year Three. It is recommended you begin with Year One. Please see the CLP web page for a complete description of each Year - http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/clp.htm. Abbreviated samples of some of the booklets are also available for viewing.

The Contemplative Life Program is professionally produced and managed. There are many steps in the process, from developing the initial ideas to the final practice materials arriving in your mailbox. Writing, design, images, printing, binding, shipping, assembly, mailing, order entry, tracking, customer service - and more – are all expenses associated with the development and delivery of this program to subscribers.

Yes! Due to the generosity of large and small donors alike who have found great value in their own participation in the CLP, scholarships are now available. To request an application, please email or call +1-973-838-8899.

The Contemplative Outreach international office does not have the resources to facilitate and track payment plans. If making smaller payments on the $140 program cost would be beneficial to you, it is recommended you apply for a partial scholarship and then send in your payments voluntarily after that. You may receive a scholarship application by emailing or by calling +1-973-838-8899.

People living outside of the U.S. or Canada have two options. You can either participate in the regular program and receive the hard-copy booklets for $140 USD (for Year One and Two) or you may receive an electronic version of the program for $70 USD. The electronic version includes a link to a special web page which includes PDF formats of the booklets, which can be downloaded and printed locally. This is a good option where mail delivery is unreliable.

Year One of the program is currently being translated into Spanish. For more information on the Spanish-language CLP, please contact Ilse Reissner at .

The program is primarily designed for individual, in-home, daily use. However, more and more Centering Prayer group members are using the CLP as part of their group focus. In fact, it was part of the original conception of the CLP that it might be the focus of a group or community for an entire year, as it has great potential to build connection, belonging and spiritual deepening in a group setting. For suggestions on how to use the CLP in a group setting, please email .

You can subscribe and start the program at any time.

The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living, compiled by Stephanie Iachetta, is a book which includes daily readings excerpted from Fr. Thomas Keating’s teachings. The Daily Reader – though referenced in the materials - is NOT a requirement for the program; it is only a suggestion for daily reading. The idea is to read and reflect on some 'spiritual food' as a daily practice - so it could be anything - a passage from one of Fr. Thomas' books, a reading from scripture, or a passage from other contemplative teachers.

The Daily Reader was picked as a good overview of Fr. Thomas' teachings, as there may be some subscribers who are not familiar with all of his books or who do not have a daily, sacred reading practice. So, it's up to you how you want to approach it. This book is just one option for you.

The first two booklets of the Year One program are more unstructured. Starting with the Lectio Divina praxis, the program will have more daily structure.

We recommend that you tailor the program to fit your particular spiritual needs. Some subscribers read a few pages of the booklet each day as a “doorway” into their Centering Prayer period. Others read the booklet over and over in its entirety throughout the 40 days, seeking to let the words penetrate them as they allow the essence of the practice penetrate them. Experienced practitioners might pick just one or two of the suggested practices found in the back of the booklet and focus on them, in solidarity with other newer practitioners who are just beginning the process. You might want to read some of the subscribers experiences with Year One to get some ideas on how to engage the Centering Prayer and Welcoming Prayer praxis booklets. See CLP Experiences.

The program is designed to meet the needs of busy people in the modern world. One of the biggest concerns for many is “will I have time for this?” The program offers a range of options to practice or read, depending on your available time.

Most importantly, contemplative practices are not about ‘doing’ or intellectual efforts. The best ‘effort’ we can make in relation to any contemplative practice is to remain open to the experience of God’s presence in all that surrounds us, moment by moment. We bring our receptivity and curiosity to our participation in programs and practices. We use our intellect to learn and discern. We surrender our normal patterns, preferences and behaviors to the grace of the Indwelling Spirit.

We fully participate in our relationship with God, in whatever the form it takes. The Contemplative Life Program helps us to participate in a specific way in solidarity with others, knowing in faith that God is the one directing it all!

Articles are also published in each issue of the Contemplative Outreach newsletter and feedback and experiences from subscribers are posted to the CLP web page. Group teleconferences on each of the praxis booklets have been recorded and are available on the CO online bookstore. Live teleconferences are held occasionally that focus on one of the praxis booklets. Notices of these live teleconferences are posted on the front page of the CO web site.

We will continue to work on ways to build world-wide community connections and communication with subscribers.

For long-time practitioners, the intention behind the program is to build up the Body of Christ. This is an intangible outcome of participation in the program - beyond the physical form of the materials or suggested practices.  We can join in solidarity with one another in the struggle to remember and live a contemplative life in the marketplace. We join hands and hearts as a contemplative global community, with the desire to allow Divine Love to flow through us into the world.

It is also an opportunity for long-time practitioners to make fresh commitments to their practices that might have grown stale, habitual or that have been inadvertently set aside. It is a chance to deepen relationship with God – to surrender more deeply within each practice. What does my current participation in relationship to the Body of Christ look like? Where am I out of relationship with God? What new nourishment can my existing practices reveal to me? What do I wish to know or understand by my participation in this program? How does the fruit of my contemplative commitment support my service to others? How do I apply the contemplative dimension of the Gospel to family, business and social concerns?

As the modules progress in Year One, there are many practices with which you may not be familiar. Year One begins with Centering Prayer, the Welcoming Prayer and Lectio Divina because they are the fundamental practices offered by Contemplative Outreach. We are confident you will find new, interesting and perhaps challenging ‘spiritual food’ coming to you through The Contemplative Life Program as it progresses through Year One and then moves deeper through the offerings of Year Two and Three.

What if I have questions or comments about the program?

We welcome the chance to hear from you. Please direct your questions and comments – and especially your experiences with the program – to .