<DIV>This text relates to the practice of Centering Prayer - which involves the daily practice of meditative prayer to enhance one's spiritual life - to different religious practices and the various conceptual backgrounds out of which Centering Prayer has arisen. It explores the historical aspects of Centering Prayer and the Christian contemplative tradition and how Centering Prayer has been used with other disciplines, such as psychology. The contributors to this volume in the Centering Prayer series are Cynthia Bourgeault, George F. Cairns, Thomas Keating OCSO, Ernest E. Larkin OCarm, Kay Lindahl, M. Basil Pennington OCSO, Gustave Reininger, Eugene Taylor Sutton, and Lyla Yastion.</DIV>