Author Guide · Christian Contemplation
Books Written by
In January 1944, aged 20, Thomas Keating left Fordham University and entered a Trappist monastery in Valley Falls, Rhode Island. He became abbot of St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, in 1961 and stayed for twenty years. There, in the 1970s, he and two fellow monks, William Meninger and Basil Pennington, worked out Centering Prayer: a simple method of silent prayer drawn from older Christian sources such as The Cloud of Unknowing, meant for people outside the monastery. In 1981 he moved to St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado, co-founded the network Contemplative Outreach in 1984, and wrote nearly three dozen books before his death in 2018. This guide covers his 11 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 11 key books · 1986–2017 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Thomas Keating’s best-known books are Open Mind, Open Heart (1986), the standard guide to Centering Prayer, Invitation to Love (1992) and Intimacy with God (1994). Start with Open Mind, Open Heart; the books after it explain what the practice does to a person over time, and how Keating read the Christian tradition behind it.
Where to Start with Thomas Keating
If you want to learn Centering Prayer
→ Open Mind, Open Heart (1986) — the method, step by step.
If you want to know where the practice leads
→ Invitation to Love (1992) — the false self and the “divine therapy”.
If you want the history behind the method
→ Intimacy with God (1994) — an introduction that also tells how it began.
If you are in recovery
→ Divine Therapy and Addiction (2009) — Centering Prayer alongside the Twelve Steps.
11 Thomas Keating Books, in Order
Open Mind, Open Heart
The book in which Keating set out Centering Prayer in full: choosing a sacred word as a sign of consent to God’s presence, sitting in silence, and returning gently to the word when thoughts take over. He also describes what tends to happen during regular practice, including the surfacing of buried emotional material. A 20th-anniversary edition appeared in 2006, and it remains the most widely read of his books.
The Mystery of Christ
His book on the Christian liturgy, approached, as the subtitle says, as spiritual experience. It appeared the year after Open Mind, Open Heart.
Invitation to Love
Written in answer to questions from his workshops and retreats, it is meant as a road map for the journey that begins once Centering Prayer is taken up seriously. Keating describes the “false self” as the main obstacle and presents regular contemplative prayer as “the divine therapy”, drawing on John S. Dunne, the temptations of St. Anthony, St. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila and the Beatitudes.
Intimacy with God
An introduction to Centering Prayer that also traces its roots in the Christian contemplative tradition. Keating explains what he calls the four moments of the practice — the sacred word, rest, unloading and evacuation — and discusses grace, silence, the dark night of the soul and companion practices such as Lectio Divina.
The Human Condition
A short book based on the Harold M. Wit Lectures he gave at Harvard Divinity School. It condenses his account of why people seek happiness in the wrong places and how contemplation slowly changes that.
Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit
Brief reflections on the fruits and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Christian tradition, read as signs of the change contemplative practice brings about. The National Catholic Reporter counted it among his bestsellers.
The Transformation of Suffering
Written after the attacks of 11 September 2001, it sets that suffering beside the Gospel story of the wedding at Cana, where water is turned into wine, and asks how suffering can be transformed rather than only endured.
Manifesting God
Built around the “inner room” Jesus speaks of in Matthew 6:6, where a person can meet God. Keating describes that inner space as the place where God, like a divine therapist, removes the burdens and false self-images that shape a life; he explains the guidelines of Centering Prayer and gives advice on deepening the relationship with God.
Divine Therapy and Addiction
Keating reflects on the Twelve-Step method of Alcoholics Anonymous and compares it with Christian contemplative practices such as Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina. Much of it is a conversation with a longtime AA member about surrendering to a Higher Power and the healing of the soul.
Reflections on the Unknowable
A late book, published when he was 91, in two parts: a long interview examining ideas of the divine, followed by thirty-one short homilies on subjects including the Trinity, the Epiphany, interior silence, spiritual poverty and chaos.
World Without End
Conversations transcribed from interviews with the writer Lucette Verboven, plus a separate interview with the Catholic philosopher Joseph Boyle. They cover his spiritual journey, Centering Prayer, happiness and suffering, death and life after death, and the history of the monastery.
In What Order to Read Thomas Keating
Keating’s books are not a series, but the first three on prayer build on each other. Open Mind, Open Heart teaches the method, Invitation to Love explains the inner process it sets off, and Intimacy with God places both in the history of Christian contemplation. Reading them in that order follows the way he taught.
Most of the later books are shorter: reflections, lectures and conversations that return to the same ideas from different angles. Pick them by subject — suffering, addiction, the liturgy — once the first book has given you the vocabulary.
A reading path
1. Open Mind, Open Heart (1986)
2. Invitation to Love (1992)
3. Intimacy with God (1994)
4. The Human Condition (1999)
5. Divine Therapy and Addiction (2009)
Everything Else Thomas Keating Published
Beyond the 11 key books: 11 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Early books and Gospel reflections
6
6 books · 1979–1992
- 1979Crisis of Faithan early book, later expanded as Crisis of Faith, Crisis of Love (1995)
- 1979Finding Grace at the Centeron the beginnings of Centering Prayer
- 1981The Heart of the Worlda spiritual catechism
- 1982And the Word Was Made Fleshreflections on the Incarnation
- 1990Awakeningsreflections on Gospel passages
- 1992Reawakeningsa companion to Awakenings
Later books and collections
5
5 books · 1997–2003
- 1997Active Meditations for Contemplative Prayerpractices for daily life
- 1997The Kingdom of God Is Like…reflections on the parables
- 2000The Better Partstages of contemplative living
- 2000St. Thérèse of Lisieux: A Transformation in Christon the Carmelite saint
- 2003The Daily Reader for Contemplative Livingexcerpts for every day of the year
The years · 1923–2018
Quick facts about Thomas Keating
- Known for
- Thomas Keating is known as one of the three Trappist monks who developed Centering Prayer and as the teacher who carried it far beyond the monastery through Contemplative Outreach.
- 1923
- Born in New York City
- 1944
- Enters the Trappists in Valley Falls, Rhode Island
- 1961
- Elected abbot of St. Joseph’s, Spencer
- 1981
- Moves to St. Benedict’s, Snowmass
- 2018
- Dies at Spencer, aged 95
- Born
- 7 March 1923, New York City
- Education
- Yale University, then Fordham University, graduating in December 1943
- Order
- Trappist (O.C.S.O.); entered January 1944, ordained priest in 1949
- Abbot
- St. Joseph’s Abbey, Spencer, Massachusetts, 1961–1981
- Founded
- Contemplative Outreach (1984), with Gustave Reininger and Edward Bednar
- Interfaith work
- Started the Snowmass Interreligious Conference in 1983
- Died
- 25 October 2018, St. Joseph’s Abbey, Spencer, Massachusetts
The red mark is 1986: Open Mind, Open Heart, the book that set out Centering Prayer.
How Thomas Keating Writes: A Teacher’s Voice
Most of Keating’s books grew out of teaching. Invitation to Love began as answers to the questions people asked at his workshops and retreats, and several later titles are edited lectures, retreat talks or conversations. The prose is plain and direct, with practical instructions sitting next to theology, because it was written for lay people who had already started to pray this way and wanted to know what was happening to them.
He combines two vocabularies. One is the Christian contemplative tradition — the Desert Fathers, The Cloud of Unknowing, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross. The other is modern psychology: the “false self”, the emotional programmes people build in childhood, and the idea that silent prayer lets buried material surface and be released, which he called “the divine therapy”.
Thomas Merton had used the term “centering prayer” before the Spencer monks took it up, and it has been suggested that the name comes from him. For the monk whose writing shaped that whole generation, see Books by Thomas Merton.
Watch
Thomas Keating on Contemplative Prayer
Father Thomas Keating, Trappist monk and a founder of Contemplative Outreach, presents his views on contemplative prayer and then answers questions in a live video session. From the official Stanford Contemplation by Design channel.
Frequently asked questions about Thomas Keating’s books
How many books has Thomas Keating written?
Nearly three dozen, according to his obituary in the National Catholic Reporter. This page covers 11 key books, from Open Mind, Open Heart (1986) to World Without End (2017), and lists 11 more below them; the rest include retreat recordings and co-edited collections.
What are Thomas Keating’s books in order?
The key books are Open Mind, Open Heart (1986), The Mystery of Christ (1987), Invitation to Love (1992), Intimacy with God (1994), The Human Condition (1999), Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit (2000), The Transformation of Suffering (2002), Manifesting God (2005), Divine Therapy and Addiction (2009), Reflections on the Unknowable (2014) and World Without End (2017).
Where should I start with Thomas Keating?
With Open Mind, Open Heart (1986), which teaches Centering Prayer step by step. Follow it with Invitation to Love (1992) and Intimacy with God (1994).
What is Thomas Keating’s most famous book?
Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel (1986), the standard introduction to Centering Prayer. A 20th-anniversary edition was published in 2006.
What is Centering Prayer?
A method of silent Christian prayer. Contemplative Outreach gives four guidelines: choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within; sit comfortably with eyes closed and silently introduce the word; when engaged with thoughts, return ever so gently to the word; and at the end, remain in silence for a couple of minutes.
Did Thomas Keating invent Centering Prayer?
Not alone. It was developed in the 1970s at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, by Keating and two fellow Trappists, William Meninger and Basil Pennington. Meninger had been teaching a method based on The Cloud of Unknowing, and the name echoes Thomas Merton.
Why is Centering Prayer controversial among some Catholics?
Some Catholic writers, including Connie Rossini, Dan Burke and Dan DeCelles, argue that it resembles the Eastern-influenced methods cautioned against in a 1989 letter on Christian meditation from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Keating said the letter did not apply to Centering Prayer, and its practitioners point out that the letter names neither the method nor Keating.
What is Contemplative Outreach?
The international, ecumenical network Keating co-founded in 1984 with Gustave Reininger and Edward Bednar to teach Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina. He was its president from 1985 to 1999.
Is Thomas Keating still alive?
No. He died on 25 October 2018, aged 95, at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, where he had been abbot from 1961 to 1981. He had lived at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado, for nearly four decades before moving back to Spencer for end-of-life care.
Was Thomas Keating involved in interfaith dialogue?
Yes. In 1983 he started the Snowmass Interreligious Conference, which met yearly for three decades, and he served as president of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue and of the Temple of Understanding.
Footnotes
- Thomas Keating — Wikipedia
- Centering prayer — Wikipedia
- Thomas Keating, pioneer in centering prayer, interfaith dialogue, dies at 95 — National Catholic Reporter, 2018
- Father Thomas Keating — Contemplative Outreach
- Thomas Keating, who developed centering prayer, dies at 95 — The Christian Century, 2018
- Thomas Keating: books — Spirituality & Practice
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“I am at the point where I do not want to do anything except God’s will, and that may be nothing.”
— Thomas Keating, in the God Is Love video series, as quoted by The Christian Century (2018)
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