{"id":2499,"date":"2007-10-30T06:42:45","date_gmt":"2007-10-30T10:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=2499"},"modified":"2026-07-19T14:16:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T21:16:34","slug":"contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Contemplative Terms – The “Inside” Language of the Contemplative Prayer Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recognize these terms? They are part of the “inside language” of contemplative spirituality and all point to one thing … eastern mysticism<\/p>\n

Labyrinths
\nEnneagrams
\nPrayer Stations
\nBreath Prayers
\nJesus Candles
\nThe Jesus Prayer
\nLectio Divina
\nTaize
\nPalms Up, Palms Down
\nYoga
\nThe Silence
\nSacred Space
\nAncient Prayer Practices
\nA Thin Place
\nDivine Mystery
\nSpiritual Direction
\nIgnation Contemplation
\nIgnatius Exercises
\nContemplative
\nCentering
\nCentering prayer
\nPrayer of the Heart
\nDark night of the soul
\nPracticing the Presence
\nDivine Center
\nInner light
\nMantra
\nAwareness of Being
\nSlow Prayer
\nBeing in the Present Moment
\nBeyond Words
\nSpiritual Disciplines
\nSpiritual Formation<\/p>\n

Many of these terms are considered “inside” terms according to many contemplatives, such as Youth Specialties writer, Michael Perschon. On April 16th, 2006, Youth Specialties issued an article<\/span><\/strong><\/a> by Perschon that illustrates the very thing we are saying here:<\/p>\n

“Fitness buffs have an inside language. The really serious ones like to use proper anatomy terms, like gluteus maximus instead of bum. They still mean bum but, like most experts, enjoy having some special knowledge others don’t have. People who practice contemplative prayer are often no different. Like any other practice, contemplative prayer has its own inside language, which is clear to the initiated but means little to outsiders. Much of the writing on contemplative prayer uses this inside language.” -Michael Perschon, “Contemplative Prayer Practices”<\/p>\n

Click here for definitions of the above terms and for a Printer Friendly Version<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recognize these terms? They are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[167],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contemplative-denominations","wpcat-167-id"],"yoast_head":"\nContemplative Terms - The "Inside" Language of the Contemplative Prayer Movement - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Contemplative Terms - The "Inside" Language of the Contemplative Prayer Movement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recognize these terms? They are...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-10-30T10:42:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-19T21:16:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5\"},\"headline\":\"Contemplative Terms – The “Inside” Language of the Contemplative Prayer Movement\",\"datePublished\":\"2007-10-30T10:42:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-19T21:16:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":243,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Contemplative Denominations\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\\\/\",\"name\":\"Contemplative Terms - The \\\"Inside\\\" Language of the Contemplative Prayer Movement - From the Lighthouse\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-10-30T10:42:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-19T21:16:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Contemplative Terms – The “Inside” Language of the Contemplative Prayer Movement\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"From the Lighthouse\",\"description\":\""A Light Shining in the Darkness"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5\",\"name\":\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5b0734c3bb2300379e17b3ec5e7fd8bf9b7ce024b5c81e38e411fc7b63e9b332?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5b0734c3bb2300379e17b3ec5e7fd8bf9b7ce024b5c81e38e411fc7b63e9b332?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5b0734c3bb2300379e17b3ec5e7fd8bf9b7ce024b5c81e38e411fc7b63e9b332?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/lighthouse-trails-editors\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Contemplative Terms - The \"Inside\" Language of the Contemplative Prayer Movement - From the Lighthouse","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Contemplative Terms - The \"Inside\" Language of the Contemplative Prayer Movement","og_description":"Recognize these terms? They are...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/","og_site_name":"From the Lighthouse","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch","article_published_time":"2007-10-30T10:42:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-19T21:16:34+00:00","author":"Lighthouse Trails Editors","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@LTrails","twitter_site":"@LTrails","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lighthouse Trails Editors","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/"},"author":{"name":"Lighthouse Trails Editors","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5"},"headline":"Contemplative Terms – The “Inside” Language of the Contemplative Prayer Movement","datePublished":"2007-10-30T10:42:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-19T21:16:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/"},"wordCount":243,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Contemplative Denominations"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/","name":"Contemplative Terms - The \"Inside\" Language of the Contemplative Prayer Movement - From the Lighthouse","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-10-30T10:42:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-19T21:16:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/contemplative-terms-the-inside-language-of-the-contemplative-prayer-movement\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Contemplative Terms – The “Inside” Language of the Contemplative Prayer Movement"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/","name":"From the Lighthouse","description":""A Light Shining in the Darkness"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5","name":"Lighthouse Trails Editors","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b0734c3bb2300379e17b3ec5e7fd8bf9b7ce024b5c81e38e411fc7b63e9b332?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b0734c3bb2300379e17b3ec5e7fd8bf9b7ce024b5c81e38e411fc7b63e9b332?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b0734c3bb2300379e17b3ec5e7fd8bf9b7ce024b5c81e38e411fc7b63e9b332?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Lighthouse Trails Editors"},"url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/author\/lighthouse-trails-editors\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2499"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49181,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499\/revisions\/49181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}