A number of years ago I practiced mindfulness meditation and found it to be helpful but perhaps a bit self-focused. Later on, I discovered Centering Prayer in my own faith and subsequently switched. This practice has opened me in love and service but I feel I have not cultivated a strong awareness though mindfulness practice. Both methods seem to have an important emphasis. Do you think overtime these practices may converge and open out together? I often wonder how Jesus practiced, he seemed to have both a strong awareness and presence of heart. Blessings and Peace be with you. — Ken Hasle, Orange Park, Florida

Yes I think awareness practice and centering prayer do converge. With awareness practice we focus at first on sensations, feelings, thoughts. We feel as if we are observing our experience. This awareness is developed more and more as we practice. We see and sense more about our lives - how our mind and heart works. We gain access to our intuition and the processes of our conditioning.

But as we continue to develop this awareness we begin to see that as long as we are observing we are still somewhat separate from our experience. Eventually awareness of something becomes simply awareness. It converges with being itself, so there's no sense of someone there observing and something to be observed.

This kind of practice is characteristic of Zen sitting, which emphasizes just being present. It's the practice of just sitting with a metaphysical flavor implied in the word just. Absolute sitting. In other words, it is the practice of absolute presence.

I think that centering prayer is almost the same as this, although if you are a Christian you would call it, and would feel it as, the presence of God.