Brother Lawrence: A Christian Zen Master
5/5
()
About this ebook
Brother Lawrence’s famous work, The Practice of the Presence of God, is broken into bite-size pieces and paired with the writings of some of the greatest Zen teachers, from the Buddha to the Dalai Lama. The result sheds new light on this great Christian classic, offering profoundly practical insights for the spiritual life.
Related to Brother Lawrence
Related ebooks
Living Zen, Loving God Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit: The Place of Zen in Christian Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBuddhist Christianity: A Passionate Openness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWithout Buddha I Could Not be a Christian Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eastern Light: Awakening To Presence In Zen, Quakerism, and Christianity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cloud of Unknowing, Distilled Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsResurrecting Jesus: Embodying the Spirit of a Revolutionary Mystic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Christian Meditation: Experiencing the Presence of God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Silent Compassion: Finding God in Contemplation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Le Point Vierge: Meditations on the Mystery of Presence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCome into the Silence: 30 Days with Thomas Merton Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Springs of Contemplation: A Retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Way to God: Thomas Merton's Creation Spirituality Journey Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meditations with Meister Eckhart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thomas Merton's Dark Path: The Inner Experience of a Contemplative Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dancing in the Water of Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dialogues with Silence: Prayers & Drawings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Year with Thomas Merton: Daily Meditations from His Journals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Zen for Christians: A Beginner's Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What I Am Living For: Lessons from the Life and Writings of Thomas Merton Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMerton's Palace of Nowhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mysticism, Christian and Buddhist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Ground of Love: Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ending the Pursuit of Happiness: A Zen Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Christian Mystics: 365 Readings and Meditations Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Path of Joy: Popping into Freedom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorld Without End Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meister Eckhart's Book of Secrets: Meditations on Letting Go and Finding True Freedom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Christianity For You
Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: Creating a Marriage That's Both Holy and Hot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Brain's Not Broken: Strategies for Navigating Your Emotions and Life with ADHD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Holy Bible (World English Bible, Easy Navigation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table: It's Time to Win the Battle of Your Mind... Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Lead When You're Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Less Fret, More Faith: An 11-Week Action Plan to Overcome Anxiety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries with Kids: How Healthy Choices Grow Healthy Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Brother Lawrence
2 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Brother Lawrence - Anamchara Books
Brother Lawrence
A Christian Zen Master
Anamchara Books
***
978-1-933630-12-0
Published by Anamchara Books at Smashwords
Copyright © 2011 by Anamchara Books, a Division of Harding House Publishing Service, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.
***
Contents
Introduction
God’s Presence
Surrender
Self-Awareness
Spiritual Practice
Mindfulness
Mistakes, Doubts, & Worries
Work
Direction
Religion
Love
Notes on the Buddhist Teachers
***
Introduction
Brother Lawrence was a Carmelite monk born in France in the early years of the seventeenth century. He was no great intellectual, and he left behind neither a detailed biography nor any great theological treatise. In fact, we know only a handful of personal facts about the man: he felt guilty for failures he never described; he considered himself to be clumsy and awkward; and for all his ordinariness and humility, something about his life attracted the attention of others.
He began life as Nicholas Herman, an ordinary young man whose poverty drove him to join the army, where he received his meals and a small stipend. He soon had to leave the army, however, because of an injury (one that may have left him with a limp for the rest of his life). Eventually, he entered the Carmelite monastery in Paris as Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection.
There he complied with his superiors’ instructions regarding prayer time; he read the spiritual books he was told to read. Neither activity brought him as great an awareness of God as had the stark branches of a tree in winter that had brought about his conversion. The world of the intellect had little interest for him, and he was not much concerned with theology or doctrine.
Brother Lawrence worked in the monastery’s kitchen, however, and there, in the midst of the most ordinary and menial responsibilities, he developed an unusual and practical ability to focus himself on the presence of God. His simple awareness of the Divine Presence changed him. He was no longer overwhelmed with shame and self-loathing. Instead, he lived a life of such serenity and joy that others wanted to know his secret. He even attracted the attention of a cardinal.
The cardinal sent his envoy, the Abbe de Beaufort, to interview Brother Lawrence. Afterward, the abbe wrote a terse summary of Brother Lawrence’s responses to his questions. This record, a few notes referred to as maxims, and a handful of letters were all Brother Lawrence left behind when he died at the age of eighty.
These sparse paragraphs were put together and became The Practice of the Presence of God, a small inspirational book that would continue to be read over the next three hundred years. Today, in the twenty-first century, it continues to challenge readers to understand the spiritual life in a new way.
More than eleven centuries before Brother Lawrence, another monk named Bodhidharma had developed a way of life that was not so different from that practiced by the Carmelite monk. Bodhidharma, however, was a Buddhist monk from India. He traveled through Southeast Asia and into China,