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Permalink Reply by Betsy Packard on 12th mo. 24, 2011 at 8:56pm

This isn't SPECIFICALLY about Quaker silence, but I found it incredibly helpful for me.  THE SILENT LIFE by the Trappist monk, Thomas Merton.  I'm usually a really fast reader, but I read this in "small bites," taking time to contemplate what Merton was saying about the way of silence, and I found it to be a wonderful guide and inspiration. 

 

Permalink Reply by Jim Wilson on 12th mo. 26, 2011 at 10:54am

Friend Margaret:

 

Since discovering Quaker Quietism I have found myself deeply attracted to it.  It is the period of Quietism which most resonates with my Quaker Faith and Practice.  The best book I have found on Qietism that is specifically Quaker is "A Guide to True Peace".  This is a manual of practice focusing on the prayer of inward silence.  It is rooted in the Quietist tradition as a whole, but has a particular Quaker take on Quietism.  I recommend the reprint of this work by Nabu Reprints.  It is available at Amazon.  The ISBN is:9781178700794.  There are other editions, but I have found this is the one that is least tampered with.

 

Also, William Shewen's "Counsel to the Christian Traveller".  There is a new edition of this work published by Inner Light Press, a Quaker publishing company.  The 'Counsel' is also included in the 'Guide' in the Nabu edition I mentioned, as a kind of appendix.

 

For the roots of Quietism I particularly recommend Madam Guyon's "A Short Method of Prayer".  I like the edition published by Hendrickson in their Christian Classics series.  It is cheap, well printed, and well bound.  The ISBN is 1565639413.

 

One of the interesting thing about Quietism that I have noticed is that most of their works tend to be short.  These are not works of theology with endless hairsplitting and category chopping.  They are practical guides to the inner silence and inner light.  

 

Best wishes,

 

Thy Friend Jim

 

Permalink Reply by Margaret Banford on 12th mo. 26, 2011 at 12:33pm

Thank you for the recommendations, friends.

Margaret.