In The Selfless Self, the Benedictine monk and teacher Laurence Freeman describes the essential dynamic of contemplative prayer. This kind of prayer, he says, is like exploring a sea-cave discovered in the holidays of childhood. Though its recesses may seem dark and deep, something calls to our spirit of adventure and entices us inward to find a hidden treasure. Meditation is the spiritual journey into the cave of the heart, which has its own hidden and unlit places. Though we are entering the unknown, each successive step of faith brings light into our darkness and dispels our primal fears. Then the journey becomes a two-way process: with enlightened vision, we return to the world with renewed understanding of our place in it and our responsibilities towards it. We are better able to resist its illusory attractions and to discover instead its true joys.

Silence, stillness and simplicity are the keys that open the cave of heart. Laurence Freeman is a universal guide with whom anyone can discover the world-transforming power of meditation.