GIA is a religious music publisher, but they also have audio tapes and CDs, most notably the Taize tapes which are Christian mantras.

In contemplating the sacred work before each one of us, we cannot help but think that there is no better way of setting our intention than through the power of Taizé, and its expression of prayer ... silent, spoken, sung, written, given and received. Taizé allows us all to open our hearts and let go into the mystery.

We invite you to join us the first and third Friday of each month this year for Taizé services. As we continue in the practice together, we deepen the experience for one another and build a sacred consciousness around our experience. How can we not be liberated from that which has held us back when we give ourselves this gift?

We used to have whole services with just Taize music and it was fantastic. You come to a sort of meditative state which you don't get (well I don't) in ordinary church services. The church I go to now is planning a Taize evening in the New Year so I hope it is as good as the ones I have been to before.

"You repeat it over and over again and it becomes more and more relaxing," says Casey Barton. "And you go from very... whatever your state of consciousness is... to a much more relaxed state of consciousness."

Not everyone is familiar with the benefits that are available from the combination of prayer and meditation. If you have never attempted this, fear not. This technique is for anyone who wishes to listen to the inner self and connect with higher powers. To enter into a meditative state. . .

I remember a young Japanese intellectual who came to Paris to write a thesis. His subject was Nicolas Berdyaev and the Russian intellectuals of the beginning of this century who had been followers of Marxism but who had finally changed their position. I asked him why he had chosen this theme, and he replied, "I used to be a Marxist too, but not any longer." We talked, and I asked him this question, "And has this led you to a deeper kind of Buddhism or Shintoism?" And he answered, "No, that does not interest me. What interests me is a Christianity like that of Berdyaev, a Christianity which allows one both to have a profound spiritual experience and to be open to the world in a creative manner."

This link between a deep spiritual experience and a creative opening to the world is at the heart of the meetings at Taizé, which have been centered for many years on the theme "inner life and human solidarity."

But what I need to verify is that however radical evil may be, it is not as deep as goodness. And if religion, if religions have a meaning, it is to liberate that core of goodness in human beings, to go looking for it where it has been completely buried. Now here in Taizé I see goodness breaking through, in the community life of the brothers, in their calm and discreet hospitality, and in the prayer. I see thousands of young people who do not express a conceptual articulation of good and evil, of God, of grace, of Jesus Christ, but who have a fundamental tropism towards goodness.

Short songs, repeated again and again, give it a meditative character. Using just a few words they express a basic reality of faith, quickly grasped by the mind. As the words are sung over many times, this reality gradually penetrates the whole being. Meditative singing thus becomes a way of listening to God.

These songs also sustain personal prayer. Through them, little by little, our being finds an inner unity in God.

The "songs of Taizé" published in different languages are simple, but preparation is required to use them in prayer. This preparation should take place before the prayer itself, so that once it begins the atmosphere remains meditative.

Although God never stops trying to communicate with us, this is never in order to impose. The voice of God is often heard only in a whisper, in a breath of silence. Remaining in silence in God’s presence, open to the Holy Spirit, is already prayer.

The road to contemplation is not one of achieving inner silence at all costs by following some technique that creates a kind of emptiness within. If, instead, with a childlike trust we let Christ pray silently within us, then one day we shall discover that the depths of our being are inhabited by a Presence.

Like the satisfied child who has stopped crying and is in its mother’s arms, so can "my soul be with me" in the presence of God. Prayer then needs no words, maybe not even thoughts.

How is it possible to reach inner silence? Sometimes we are apparently silent, and yet we have great discussions within, struggling with imaginary partners or with ourselves. Calming our souls requires a kind of simplicity: "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me."

Centering Prayer facilitates the movement from more active modes of prayer — verbal, mental or affective prayer — into a receptive prayer of resting in God. It emphasizes prayer as a personal relationship with God. At the same time, it is a discipline to foster and serve this relationship by a regular, daily practice of prayer. It is Trinitarian in its source, Christ-centered in its focus, and ecclesial in its effects; that is, it builds communities of faith.

For the Church's first sixteen centuries Contemplative Prayer was the goal of Christian spirituality. After the Reformation, this living tradition was virtually lost. Today, with cross-cultural dialogue and historical research, the recovery of the Christian contemplative heritage has begun. The method of Centering Prayer, in the tradition of Lectio Divina (praying the scriptures) is contributing to this renewal.

The Practice of Contemplative Prayer

Although the entry into contemplative prayer can take many forms, it usually involves:

* A quiet place, a place of quiet away from distractions and interruptions. Silence has a quietening effect on the total person.

* An appropriate posture, commonly sitting in such a way as to be comfortable, usually with the back straight, on a chair or on the floor.

* An appropriate breathing pattern, an easy, steady and regular pattern of breathing conducive to contemplation; our breathing stills the mind and body as it aligns with the basic rhythms within.

* A short word or syllable, commonly suggested by teachers that is repeated within the pattern of breathing. As almost all teachers of the method insist, you must not reflect on the word's meaning.

* Time, commonly two half hour periods each day at the start of the day and prior to the evening meal. The time soon becomes 'acceptable' as the practice continues and the prayer in time will not be restricted to the formal times but will accompany the person throughout their daily activities.

One day I decided to lock myself in my office and not come out until I knew I had met God. I took from my shelf a book by Richard Foster called Celebration of Discipline. I had briefly read it years before but did not give much attention to its practical application. Now, as I began to read, I was intrigued by the freshness of Foster's approach. It seemed so freeing to come before God and just empty me of myself. I knew God could not fill me if self was in the way.

I laid the book on the floor and got on my knees. I began to step through Foster's teachings of how to come before God. I emptied my mind of all thought and began to repeat sacred words that brought praise to God. I found myself repeating the same words over and over. After a period of about two hours, I began to feel a release from all my cares. As contrary as it seems, my body began to feel an energy that was both exciting and relaxing. My mind was at peace and my spirit open to any experience that God would share with me. I began to slip into a euphoric, mystical state. Suddenly, I was struck by five powerful words that penetrated every sense of my existence. The words were firm but loving. My inner spirit had never heard such clarity. The five words were, "This is not from Me!"

Immediately upon hearing these words, I began to grieve at all that I was doing, and I repented - feeling polluted and foolish. I quickly realized I had not been enjoying God but had opened my mind and heart to a seducing spirit. God ended this episode by confirming in my spirit I needed to stay alert and discerning for deceptive spirits that were amazingly good at emulating the Spirit of God and masquerading as angels of light.

Ray Yungen has written a very valuable book exposing the encroachment of New Age mysticism upon the evangelical church. Through the porthole of "contemplative prayer" numerous Christian leaders (e.g. Richard Foster, Brennan Manning, Henri Nouwen, etc.) are calling us back to the desert Catholic mystics of the Middle Ages for a deeper level of spirituality. These leaders seem unaware or unconcerned that the Catholic mystics drew deeply from the well of Eastern Mysticism. As a result, unsuspecting Christians are being served a casserole of Eastern Mysticism, occultism and mystical Christianity all under the guise of deeper spiritual living and prayer.

Contemplative prayer is not biblical prayer, no matter how spiritual it may sound. Contemplative prayer, rather, is turning our minds off—putting it into neutral, in order to experience silence, at which point we somehow encounter God. All New Agers, occultist and Eastern Mystics teach this type of praying, along with certain individuals within Christianity, both in the past and now. But the Scriptures teach no such prayer methodology. Paul said, "I shall pray with the spirit and I shall pray with the mind also" (I Corinthians 14:15). He does not say that he will pray with the spirit or the mind, but with the spirit and the mind. Throwing our minds out of gear, and trusting God to fill it with whatever He desires, not only has no biblical warrant but is an open invitation to spiritual deception.

Yungen has done his homework. He documents and traces the source of this modern movement within evangelicalism to people like Thomas Merton and Alice Bailey, who greatly influenced men such as Foster and Manning, who in turn are influencing ministries such as Youth Specialties and leaders such as Larry Crabb, who in turn are infiltrating the Christian ranks. This New Age form of Christianity is not coming, it is here, and we need to be aware of the dangers.

Every Christian leader should read this book.