Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam, was a monk at the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, California, where he served as prior of the community until January 2024. An internationally known performer, recording artist, and composer, he has numerous collections of original sacred, world, and liturgical music to his credit. A student of the world’s spiritual traditions, Consiglio has offered retreats and conferences around the world and authored articles for several books and periodicals. He is the author of Prayer in the Cave of the Heart: The Universal Call to Contemplation, published by Liturgical Press.
Prayer in the Cave of the Heart is a resource of tremendous
potential for spiritual directors of various traditions, people
interested in contemplative prayer, and anyone who seeks to grasp
deep truths about prayer. I have read from it as I facilitate a
centering prayer group and have recommended it to several people
with whom I meet as a spiritual director.Greg Richardson, Presence:
An International Journal of Spiritual Direction
An accomplished musician who writes, performs, and records music
using texts drawn from various sacred traditions, Fr. Cyprian has a
conversational writing style that makes his book extremely
accessible for those who want to deepen their understanding of
contemplative prayer but tend to shy away from more scholarly
approaches. ‘I like to think of myself as someone who took really
good notes in class and is sharing them with all his friends,’ he
says in the preface to his book (vii). Readers who want to bone up
on how other traditions can help strengthen the contemplative
dimension of their own faith are fortunate to have such a
classmate.Trish Day, Cistercian Studies Quarterly
This book is a veritable education in the Christian tradition of
contemplative prayer. Readers with a more conventional background
in Christianity will find both a refreshing perspective on their
tradition along with meaty excerpts from the eastern religions to
enrich their journey to the cave of the heart. Pastoral Music
Cyprian Consiglio is a very contemporary monk, who believes that
the call to contemplation is universal and sees the current
interest in Eastern spirituality as an incentive to seek the way of
interiority within the Christian tradition. This approach must be
greeted with delight, particularly as he brings with him the words
of such as Origen, Bede Griffiths, Sri Aurobindo, Swami
Abhishiktananda, and Simone Weil, and supports his arguments with
wisdom from the Fourth Gospel, the Upanishads, Buddhism, and
Taoism. A cornucopia of richness and delight and a fitting book for
our time.Shirley du Boulay
Author of Beyond the Darkness: A Biography of Bede Griffiths and
The Cave of the Heart: The Life of Swami Abhishiktananda
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