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Pray Without Ceasing
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Pray Without Ceasing: The Way of Invocation in World Religions
Pray Without Ceasing: The Way of Invocation in World Religions
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Author(s): 
Subjects(s): 
Comparative Religion

Price:  $19.95

ISBN:  1-933316-14-4
Book Size:  6 × 9
# of Pages:  240
Language:  English



Description

Why and how should one pray? This anthology is an attempt at answering this question in the most essential and direct way. The treasury of spiritual texts that have been collected in this volume is focused on the way of the invocation of divine Names, or sacred formulae. Its main objective is to suggest how this universal way, beyond the diversity of its modalities throughout the great religions, is both a quintessence of religious virtues and ritual practices, and a spiritual path that responds to the particular needs and conditions of our time.

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Detailed Description of Pray Without Ceasing

The anthology is divided into three parts. The first part includes excerpts from major classics of spirituality that introduce the foundations of the way of the invocation in various traditions. With these texts the reader is provided with an entry into some of the most celebrated sacred sources that have quenched the spiritual thirst of generations of faithful. A second part consists of doctrinal essays by contemporary scholars who have been expositors of the principles of the way of the invocation. It is hoped that this series of texts will help elucidate, in a contemporary conceptual idiom, all that may have remained obscure, elliptical or implicit in foundational classics. In conclusion, the final section of this volume is focused on contemporary testimonies by spiritual and literary figures from various traditions who have taught, advocated or simply illustrated the path of the invocation. In giving the final word to these voices of sages and saintly or literary figures the editor wishes to provide the reader with an opportunity to taste of the spiritual flavor and inspiration of the invocatory path while suggesting the relevance, actuality and accessibility of this way in the modern world.


About the Author(s)

Patrick Laude

Patrick Laude is a writer, editor, professor, and researcher in the fields of language, literature, symbolism, and mysticism. He is a professor at Georgetown University, currently at their School of Foreign Service in Qatar. Laude's writings have been published in the US and Europe in numerous journals. Dr. Laude's extensive contributions to World Wisdom include:

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Reviews of Pray Without Ceasing

"Patrick Laude edits Pray Without Ceasing: The Way of Invocation in World Religions an anthology covering invocatory prayer and its fundamentals across religions. Centering prayer has been a long traditional practice of invocatory prayer, but rarely has received the depth and insight it deserves. Scholars provide analysis of key texts such as the Bhagavad Gita, pairing these classic writings with contemporary texts and insights. From the symbolism in Christian communion to historical inconsistencies in analysis and interpretation of the texts, Pray Without Ceasing holds wisdom from Gandhi, Gao Xingjian, Ramakrishna and more."

California Bookwatch




"How does one travel from the abstract to the concrete in religion, assimilate spiritually that which is conceived mentally, render intimate and transformative that which appears to be remote and inaccessible? Pray Without Ceasing gives us a resounding answer, a veritable symphony of voices from a dazzling variety of religious traditions, proclaiming in harmonious unity: the perpetual invocation of the Name of the Absolute."

Reza Shah-Kazemi, Institute of Ismaili Studies, London



"Patrick Laude has provided a rich resource that is at once spiritual and scholarly. Extraordinary foundational texts on the unceasing invocation of the divine name are complemented by illuminating analytical essays on the remembrance of God. Pray without Ceasing is a wonderful introduction to the experience of prayer; it also comprises an initiation into the world of prayer itself. Whether the reader is seeking silent inspiration or pursuing academic aspirations, this book is a powerful reminder that 'praying is like breathing' (Gregory Nazianzus) and that 'the Spirit blows where it wills' (John 3.8)."

John Chryssavgis, author of In the Heart of the Desert




"Patrick Laude has given us here a superb anthology where prayer is the human condition's focal point. Through a wide array of texts across traditions, prayer shines as a most desired and most innate act. Its transformative light restores dignity to human beings who glow in its dwellings. All religions seem to agree that to pray is to reside in the Divine Name that is none other than the Divine Presence itself."

Amira El-Zein, Director of the Arabic Program Tufts University




Pray Without Ceasing by Patrick Laude is for anyone seeking inner union with the Divine. A name of God, Divinely revealed, legitimately bestowed by a proper spiritual authority and frequently invoked, reconsecrates the altar of the temple, or the heart of the believer, and functions in a direct way to reanimate the Holy Spirit or latent Divine breath within.
When the finite and temporal human heart is rhythmically impressed with a Divine name, which by its very nature participates in the infinite and the eternal, the heart cannot resist and invariably recalls theomorphic essence.”

Gray Henry, Fons Vitae




"The common ground of the spirit is more than a concept. It is realised through the experience of deep prayer and spiritual practice that radiates through every page of Patrick Laude’s immensely interesting and valuable book on a universal tradition of. important potential for creating unity in our divided world.

Simplicity and depth. These qualities of the spiritual journey fill the pages of Patrick Laude’s rich and inspiring pilgrimage through the centuries and cultures of the human search for God. He shows us how our own practice connects us with this great living tradition. "

Laurence Freeman OSB, Georgetown University



"Patrick Laude, a professor of religion at Georgetown University, collects twenty-four prayers from the world’s religions, and accompanying essays, in his splendid anthology, Pray Without Ceasing: The Way of Invocation in World’s Religions."

ForeWord Reviews






Table of Contents for Pray Without Ceasing

Patrick Laude introduction vii
I. FOUNDATIONAL TEXTS
Bhagavad Gita He who thinks of me constantly
Chaitanya I shall repeat thy name
Kabir Recite the name of the Lord
Mirabai I am fascinated by Thy name
Tulsidas Comfort in this world and the next
Sukhavativyuha Glorify the name of the lord Amitabha
Honen The Buddha of boundless light & taking refuge in the right practice
Shinran Passages on the pure land way
Zohar The holy one speaks his name
Abraham Abulafi A the light of the intellect & the question of prophecy
Rabbi Isaac of Akko Gazing at the letters & climbing the ladder
Philokalia St. Philotheos of Sinai, Ilias the Presbyter, St. Symeon the new theologian, & St. Gregory of Sinai
The Way of a Pilgrim Unceasing interior prayer
The Cloud of Unknowing Strike down every kind of thought
St. Bernardino of Siena The sermon for Palm Sunday
St. Jean Eudes The name admirable above all names
Jean-Pierre de Caussade The sacrament of the present moment
Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah Al-Iskandari The key to salvation
II. CONTEMPORARY DOCTRINAL ESSAYS
Frithjof Schuon Modes of prayer & communion and invocation
Titus Burckhardt Rites
Martin Lings The Method
Leo Schaya The Great Name of God
Marco Pallis Nembutsu as remembrance
D.T. Suzuki The Shin teaching of Buddhism
Archimandrite Lev Gillet On the practical use of the Jesus Prayer
Mir Valiuddin Some important dhikrs
III. CONTEMPORARY TESTIMONIES
Thomas Yellowtail Always praying and thinking of god
Sri Ramakrishna Pray to god with a yearning heart
Swami Ramdas Constant repetition of the divine name
Mahatma Gandhi Prayer
Vandana Mataji Japa-sâdhanâ
Ramana Maharshi Advaita and Japa
Swami Abhishiktananda (Henri Le Saux) The prayer of the name
Gojun Shichiri Sayings on tariki
Gao Xingjian Namo amitofu
William Johnston Breathing and rhythm in Christian and Buddhist prayer
Father Lorenzo Sales The unceasing act of love of Sister Mary Consolata
Shaykh Ahmad Al-‘Alawi Treatise on the invocation of the divine name
Simone Weil The love of religious practices
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Biographical Note
Index



Excerpts from Pray Without Ceasing

“It is widely recognized in all religious worlds that nothing is more important than prayer, since prayer involves a direct relationship between the Divine and the human. Nothing can be deemed more spiritually necessary than prayer since among all possible actions none engages as direct a communication with the Great Mystery. A work of charity, for example, could be considered prima facie as important as prayer, or it could be viewed as an extension and a consequence of prayer inasmuch as it is centered on a consciousness of the Divine; but it is nevertheless contingent upon circumstances and particular needs, whereas prayer as such is totally unconditioned since it expresses the very essence of the human station before the One.”
Patrick Laude


Selection from our Library about Pray Without Ceasing
 TitleSourceAuthor 1Author 2Subject WW HTMLWW PDFExternal Link
Treatise on the Invocation of the Divine NamePray without Ceasing: The Way of the Invocation in World ReligionAl-'Alawi, Shaykh Ahmad Islam
The Great Name of GodPray Without Ceasing: The Way of the Invocation in World ReligionSchaya, Leo Judaism
"The Method" by Martin Lings appears in Pray Without Ceasing: The Way of the Invocation in World Religion edited by Patrick Laude, published by World Wisdom. This excerpt addresses the central spiritual method of Sufism: the invocation of the Divine Name, "Allah," as well as the many extensions of that invocation, such as the repetition of the testimony of faith, etc. Lings explains how this method is effective in reversing the balance of the soul's attraction to the outward things of the world rather than the inner life of unbroken communion with the Divine.
The MethodPray Without Ceasing: The Way of the Invocation in World ReligionLings, Martin Sufism
The Question of ProphecyPray Without Ceasing: The Way of the Invocation in World ReligionAbulafia, Abraham Judaism
The Light of the IntellectPray Without Ceasing: The Way of the Invocation in World ReligionAbulafia, Abraham Judaism
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