Hi Folks,
can anyone recommend good written texts (preferably modern) that talk about mystic/contempative prayer practices?
Hi Pog.
I can tell you what I have read, but I can’t promise it would be your cup o’ tea. And, the good ones are not modern.
MYSTICISM: The Nature and Development of Spiritual Consciousness by Evelyn Underhill. This may be the definitive Christian work on the subject. It was written in 1911 and it is a HARD read. But it is great and comprehensive. It doesn’t outline practice per se, but it is a who’s who and a what’s what of Christian mysticism.
Meister Eckhart From Whom God Hid Nothing. Sermons writings and sayings, good stuff, simple.
The Cloud of Unknowing (unknown)
The Dark night of the Soul, St. John of the Cross
I also have a few books by Bernadette Roberts I have been trying to get through for the past year. What is Self and The Path to No Self. Hard reads, dry but well respected even by those outside of Christianity.
Interesting how much of the Mystical works are written by Catholics.
Also, Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence is a good and practical book.
That oughta get you started!
Sass
Hi Sass!!! And Pog (even though WE have never talked),
I agree whole-heartedly with you Sass … Brother Lawrence’s book is MOST excellent, in fact, I read portions of it every night!! Practicing the Presence of God. It was written back in the sixteen hundreds I believe but well worth the read. And Sass, YOU are a better person than I as I have never been able to get through the other books you mentioned, God knows I’ve tried… And Pog, like Sass said this book I’m about to mention may NOT be what you are looking for but I have a suggestion for you, a book that I thoroughly enjoy. It was given to me ten years ago by my cousin who is a minister and has two Master’s in theology. I couldn’t get into it at the time, but NOW, I’m ready and boy has it proved to bless me many times over. It was written (by a Catholic, like Sass says) by Wayne Teasdale, The Mystic Heart, Discovering A Universal Spirituality In The World’s Religions. A wonderful book and a wonderful read…I didn’t know you were interested in this stuff Sass?? WOW, that is so cool. I think you both would enjoy this book, I can’t say enough good about it, however, I DO think one has to be in the right frame of mind… I sure wasn’t ten years ago when I was first introduce to UR. But now, I’m loving it. Good to see you Sass, my friend!!! Hope this helps Pog.
blessings,
Bret
Hey Bret! So good to hear from you! Mysticism? Yes. When I found UR the joy was rather short-lived. I knew that the Bible could be interpreted in at least 3 ways as to the eternal fate of unbelievers, ECT, annihilation and of course UR. Which one? How could I KNOW? Well I figured that God had to reveal it to me, hence my interest in mysticism. Well, I’ve still not been told, 
BUT I’m growing learning and my view of God just gets bigger and bigger. I love mystical writings but they are a double edged sword. They give you so much hope that you can really, really have mystical experiences, a dynamic relationship with God, but, it can be very discouraging when they don’t happen for you. So, I try not to take it too seriously anymore. Anyway, Practicing the Presence. I read it many, many years ago when I was a pretty young Christian. I need to get my hands on it again, I’d love to see what I think of it now. 
Sass
I love Practicing the Presence of God too. Wonderful book. And mysticism isn’t that mysterious, really. I think the reason many people feel they have trouble hearing from God is that they expect it to be hard, or expect Him to speak to them in some sort of a definitive way. Mostly it’s just conversation between friends. I have some posts on it if anyone’s interested, though I don’t purport to be an expert by any means. I (and all of us) can certainly hear wrong from time to time!
Thanks for the posts folks!
Yeah, I read Underhill’s Mysticism - I know what you mean by a hard read! I’m not sure I understood all that much of it, but it was interesting 
. I’ve also read Dark Night, but not Brother Lawrence so I’ll be giving that a go soon. By modern stuff, I kinda meant like Rohr or Keating etc- the modern stuff is much easier to read IMHO.
Sass, I know what you mean about getting exasperated by trying to sort through different biblical/ theological interpretations and systems and the hope that clearer knowledge may come through direct experience - that’s one of the reasons why I’ve been experimenting with the mystical path for the past six months (and hence this post).
I’m not sure there’s a perfect answer, but I like Wesley’s idea that we should work to harmonise bible, reason and experience ( along with Christology and tradition), any one on its own would lead to lack of balance. I guess mysticism is one of the major ways I’m trying to fill out the ‘experience’ part of that group.