Clyfford Still

http://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/310

http://www.clyffordstill.net/art/art.html

http://www.sfmoma.org/artists/881/artwork?artwork=310

"I am not interested in illustrating my time. A man's "time" limits him, it does not truly liberate him. Our age - it is one of science, of mechanism, of power and death. I see no point in adding to its mechanism of power and death. I see no point in adding to its mammoth arrogrance the compliment of a graphic homage."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyfford_Still

Robert Ryman

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sokref1/315265997/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sokref1/315266241/

http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/2874-robert-ryman/

http://www.pbs.org/art21/slideshow/popup.php?slide=4321
http://www.pbs.org/art21/slideshow/?slide=4321&artindex=186

http://www.pbs.org/art21/slideshow/popup.php?slide=4307
http://www.pbs.org/art21/slideshow/?slide=4307&artindex=186

Ryman's most famous quote is "There is never any question of what to paint only how to paint."

He has stated that his paintings' titles are meaningless, and that they only exist as a form of identification. Ryman actually prefers the term of "name" for a painting instead of a title because he is not creating a picture or making reference to anything except the paint and the materials. The "names" of paintings often come from the names of art supplies, companies, or are just general words that do not carry much connotation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ryman

Centering Prayer

http://www.livingrosaries.org/interview.htm

http://www.centeringprayer.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centering_Prayer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Keating

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing

Hesychasm

Based on Christ's injunction in the Gospel of Matthew to "go into your closet to pray",[2] hesychasm in tradition has been the process of retiring inward by ceasing to register the senses, in order to achieve an experiential knowledge of God.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesychasm

Via Negativa

Apophatic theology—also known as Negative theology or Via Negativa (Latin for "Negative Way")—is a theology that attempts to describe God, the Divine Good, by negation, to speak only in terms of what may not be said about the perfect goodness that is God. It stands in contrast with Cataphatic theology.

In negative theology, it is accepted that the Divine is ineffable, an abstract experience that can only be recognized or remembered—that is, human beings cannot describe in words the essence of the perfect good that is unique to the individual, nor can they define the Divine, in its immense complexity, related to the entire field of reality, and therefore all descriptions if attempted will be ultimately false and conceptualization should be avoided; in effect, it eludes definition by definition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_negativa

The Cloud of Unknowing

"Our intense need to understand will always be a powerful stumbling block to our attempts to reach God in simple love [...] and must always be overcome. For if you do not overcome this need to understand, it will undermine your quest. It will replace the darkness which you have pierced to reach God with clear images of something which, however good, however beautiful, however Godlike, is not God."

"And so I urge you, go after experience rather than knowledge. On account of pride, knowledge may often deceive you, but this gentle, loving affection will not deceive you. Knowledge tends to breed conceit, but love builds. Knowledge is full of labor, but love, full of rest."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing