In his sequel to the best-selling Into the Silent Land, Laird guides the reader more deeply into the sanctuary of Christian meditation. He focuses here on negotiating key moments of difficulty on the contemplative path, showing how the struggles we resist become vehicles of the healing silence we seek.

• Introduction ONE Standing at the Gate of the Heart: On the Practice of Contemplation TWO Our Collection of Videos THREE The Open Porches of the Mind: On Silence and Noise FOUR A Sunlit Absence: The Light of Awareness FIVE Sifted by Boredom SIX Creative Disintegration: Depression, Panic, and Awareness SEVEN Sharp Trials in the Intellect EIGHT "It Don't Work for Me": Prayer of Petition and other Practical Problems Notes

Martin Laird is Associate Professor of Theology at Villanova University. He has extensive training in contemplative disciplines and gives retreats throughout the United States and Great Britain. He is the author of Gregory of Nyssa and the Grasp of Faith and Into the Silent Land (both by OUP).