Download or read book The Merton Annual written by Victor A. Kramer and published by Fons Vitae. This book was released on 2007-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Merton Annual began in 1998 as a vehicle for publishing extended monographs related to Thomas Merton, including his contributions to letters; his monastic, ecumenical, and social concerns; and his importance as a writer, artist, and monk. This gathering of articles illustrates the relationships between liturgical art and monasticism, Merton's influence upon other artists, and his own sustained poetic development--where his cultural interests melded into a global appreciation.
Download or read book New Seeds of Contemplation written by Thomas Merton and published by Shambhala Publications. This book was released on 2003 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of thirty-nine short essays in which Thomas Merton examines what true contemplation is and how it can impact one's spirituality.
Download or read book The Seven Storey Mountain written by Thomas Merton and published by Christian Large Print. This book was released on 1985 with total page 770 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One man's search to find his role in the world is revealed in the writer's portrait of his youthful political activism and entry into a Trappist monastery
Download or read book Man of Dialogue written by Gregory K. Hillis and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2021-11-15 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How Catholic was Thomas Merton? Since his death in 1968, Merton’s Catholic identity has been regularly questioned, both by those who doubt the authenticity of his Catholicism given his commitment to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue and by those who admire Merton as a thinker but see him as an aberration who rebelled against his Catholicism to articulate ideas that went against the church. In this book, Gregory K. Hillis illustrates that Merton’s thought was intertwined with his identity as a Catholic priest and emerged out of a thorough immersion in the church’s liturgical, theological, and spiritual tradition. In addition to providing a substantive introduction to Merton’s life and thought, this book illustrates that Merton was fundamentally shaped by his identity as a Roman Catholic.
Download or read book The Environmental Vision of Thomas Merton written by Monica Weis and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2011-05-01 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nature was always vital in Thomas Merton’s life, from the long hours he spent as a child watching his father paint landscapes in the fresh air, to his final years of solitude in the hermitage at Our Lady of Gethsemani, where he contemplated and wrote about the beauty of his surroundings. Throughout his life, Merton’s study of the natural world shaped his spirituality in profound ways, and he was one of the first writers to raise concern about ecological issues that have become critical in recent years. In The Environmental Vision of Thomas Merton, author Monica Weis suggests that Merton’s interest in nature, which developed significantly during his years at the Abbey of Gethsemani, laid the foundation for his growing environmental consciousness. Tracing Merton’s awareness of the natural world from his childhood to the final years of his life, Weis explores his deepening sense of place and desire for solitude, his love and responsibility for all living things, and his evolving ecological awareness.
Download or read book The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton written by Thomas Merton and published by New Directions Publishing. This book was released on 1977 with total page 1086 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "With the [publication of this book], an ever-wider audience may more fully appreciate the ... range of the poet's technique, the scope of his concerns, and the humaneness of his vision"--Back cover.
Download or read book Pursuing the Spiritual Roots of Protest written by Gordon Oyer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2014-02-28 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the fall of 1964, Trappist monk Thomas Merton prepared to host an unprecedented gathering of peace activists. "About all we have is a great need for roots," he observed, "but to know this is already something." His remark anticipated their agenda--a search for spiritual roots to nurture sound motives for "protest." This event's originality lay in the varied religious commitments present. Convened in an era of well-kept faith boundaries, members of Catholic (lay and clergy), mainline Protestant, historic peace church, and Unitarian traditions participated. Ages also varied, ranging from twenty-three to seventy-nine. Several among the fourteen who gathered are well known today among faith-based peace advocates: the Berrigan brothers, Jim Forest, Tom Cornell, John Howard Yoder, A. J. Muste, and Merton himself. During their three days together, insights and wisdom from these traditions would intersect and nourish each other. By the time they parted, their effort had set down solid roots and modeled interreligious collaboration for peace work that would blossom in coming decades. Here for the first time, the details of those vital discussions have been reconstructed and made accessible to again inspire and challenge followers of Christ to confront the powers and injustices of today.
Download or read book The Seeker and the Monk written by Scott Sophfronia and published by Broadleaf Books. This book was released on 2021-03-16 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What if we truly belong to each other? What if we are all walking around shining like the sun? Mystic, monk, and activist Thomas Merton asked those questions in the twentieth century. Writer Sophfronia Scott is asking them today. In The Seeker and the Monk, Scott mines the extensive private journals of one of the most influential contemplative thinkers of the past for guidance on how to live in these fraught times. As a Black woman who is not Catholic, Scott both learns from and pushes back against Merton, holding spirited, and intimate conversations on race, ambition, faith, activism, nature, prayer, friendship, and love. She asks: What is the connection between contemplation and action? Is there ever such a thing as a wrong answer to a spiritual question? How do we care about the brutality in the world while not becoming overwhelmed by it? By engaging in this lively discourse, readers will gain a steady sense of how to dwell more deeply within--and even to love--this despairing and radiant world.
Download or read book When the Trees Say Nothing written by Thomas Merton and published by Ave Maria Press. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 2003 and now available in paperback to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of Thomas Merton's birth, When the Trees Say Nothing has sold more than 60,000 copies and continually inspires readers with its unique collection of Merton's luminous writings on nature, arranged for reflection and meditation. Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk, author, poet, social commentator, and perhaps the most influential and widely published spiritual writer of the twentieth century. In When the Trees Say Nothing, editor Kathleen Deignan sheds new light on Merton by focusing on a neglected theme of his writing: the natural world as a manifestation of the divine. Drawing from Merton's voluminous writing on nature, Deignan has thematically assembled a collection of lucid, poetic reflections. Chapters on the four elements, the seasons, the Earth and its creatures, and the sun, moon, and stars provide brief passages from his diverse works that reveal the presence of God in creation.
Download or read book Woods Shore Desert written by Thomas Merton and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This, the last journal-writing Thomas Merton ever approved for publication, details his departure from the Trappist Abbey at Gethsemani in 1968, and his subsequent journey through the American West. As The Seven Storey Mountain detailed the thoughts and fears of an aspirant to the monastic life, the never-before-published Woods, Shore, Desert is almost a canticle of a mature Religious, remarkable in its frankness and self-questioning. Recalling sources as diverse as Hegel, Unamuno, and the Astavakra Gita, Merton magically weaves his impressions of the rare and the mundane. And throughout the book, his thoughts are preoccupied by the lovely and vibrant land about him... I dream every night of the West"--Back cover.
Download or read book Merton s Palace of Nowhere written by James Finley and published by Ave Maria Press. This book was released on 2018-02-02 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For forty years, James Finley’s Merton's Palace of Nowhere has been the standard text for exploring, reflecting on, and understanding the rich vein of Thomas Merton's thought. Spiritual identity is the quest to know who we are, to find meaning, to overcome that sense of “Is this all there is?” Merton’s message cuts to the heart of this universal quest, and Finley illuminates that message as no one else can. As a young man of eighteen, Finley left home for an unlikely destination: the Abbey of Gethsemani, where Thomas Merton lived as a contemplative. Finley stayed at the monastery for six maturing years and later wrote this Merton’s Palace of Nowhere in order to share a taste of what he had learned on his spiritual journey under the guidance of one of the great religious figures of our time. At the heart of the quest for spiritual identity are Merton's illuminating insights—leading from an awareness of the false and illusory self to a realization of the true self. Dog-eared, tattered, underlined copies of this book are found on the bookshelves of retreat centers, parish libraries, and the homes of spiritual seekers everywhere. This anniversary edition brings a classic to a new generation and includes a new preface by Finley.
Download or read book Thomas Merton s Encounter with Buddhism and Beyond written by Jaechan Anselmo Park and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2019-03-07 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thomas Merton recognized the value and possibility of contemplative dialogue between monastics and contemplatives of other religious traditions and hoped that, through such dialogue, monastics would strive for ‘inter-monastic communion’ and a bonding of the broader ‘spiritual family.’ He held out hope that this bond would demonstrate the fundamental unity of humanity to a world that was becoming ever more materialistic and divided. Among other themes and topics, this book explores Thomas Merton’s role as a pioneer of Buddhist-Christian dialogue and monastic interreligious dialogue. It delves into the process of Merton’s self-transformation through contemplative experiences, explores his encounter with Zen and Tibetan Buddhists and his pioneering engagements in Buddhist-Christian dialogue, and presents and responds to the criticisms of those who raise questions about Merton’s understanding of Buddhism. Fr. Jaechan Anselmo Park, OSB, articulates and analyzes the influences of Buddhist theory and practice on Thomas Merton’s contemplative spirituality and shows how Merton’s legacy has influenced and continues to inspire interreligious and inter-monastic dialogue, particularly in an Asian monastic context.
Download or read book Zen and the Birds of Appetite written by Thomas Merton and published by New Directions Publishing. This book was released on 2010-07-27 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Merton, one of the rare Western thinkers able to feel at home in the philosophies of the East, made the wisdom of Asia available to Westerners. "Zen enriches no one," Thomas Merton provocatively writes in his opening statement to Zen and the Birds of Appetite—one of the last books to be published before his death in 1968. "There is no body to be found. The birds may come and circle for a while... but they soon go elsewhere. When they are gone, the 'nothing,' the 'no-body' that was there, suddenly appears. That is Zen. It was there all the time but the scavengers missed it, because it was not their kind of prey." This gets at the humor, paradox, and joy that one feels in Merton's discoveries of Zen during the last years of his life, a joy very much present in this collection of essays. Exploring the relationship between Christianity and Zen, especially through his dialogue with the great Zen teacher D.T. Suzuki, the book makes an excellent introduction to a comparative study of these two traditions, as well as giving the reader a strong taste of the mature Merton. Never does one feel him losing his own faith in these pages; rather one feels that faith getting deeply clarified and affirmed. Just as the body of "Zen" cannot be found by the scavengers, so too, Merton suggests, with the eternal truth of Christ.
Download or read book Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander written by Thomas Merton and published by Image. This book was released on 2009-11-17 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this series of notes, opinions, experiences, and reflections, Thomas Merton examines some of the most urgent questions of our age. With his characteristic forcefulness and candor, he brings the reader face-to-face with such provocative and controversial issues as the “death of God,” politics, modern life and values, and racial strife–issues that are as relevant today as they were fifty years ago. Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander is Merton at his best–detached but not unpassionate, humorous yet sensitive, at all times alive and searching, with a gift for language which has made him one of the most widely read and influential spiritual writers of our time.
Download or read book Thomas Merton A Life in Letters written by Thomas Merton and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2008-10-07 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was one of the most influential spiritual writers of modern times. A Trappist monk, peace and civil rights activist, and widely-praised literary figure, Merton was renowned for his pioneering work in contemplative spirituality, his quest to understand Eastern thought and integrate it with Western spirituality, and his firm belief in Christian activism. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, is the defining spiritual memoir of its time, selling over one million copies and translating into over fifteen languages. Merton was also one of the most prolific and provocative letter writers of the twentieth century. His letters (those written both by him and to him), archived at the Thomas Merton Studies Center at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, number more than ten thousand. For Merton, letters were not just a vehicle for exchanging information, but his primary means for initiating, maintaining, and deepening relationships. Letter-writing was a personal act of self-revelation and communication. His letters offer a unique lens through which we relive the spiritual and social upheavals of the twentieth century, while offering wisdom that is still relevant for our world today.
Download or read book The Martyrdom of Thomas Merton written by Hugh Turley and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-03-07 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seldom can one predict that a book will have an effect on history, but this is such a work. Merton's many biographers and the American press now say unanimously that he died from accidental electrocution. From a careful examination of the official record, including crime scene photographs that the authors have found that the investigating police in Thailand never saw, and from reading the letters of witnesses, they have discovered that the accidental electrocution conclusion is totally false. The widely repeated story that Merton had taken a shower and was therefore wet when he touched a lethal faulty fan was made up several years after the event and is completely contradicted by the evidence. Hugh Turley and David Martin identify four individuals as the primary promoters of the false accidental electrocution narrative. Another person, they show, should have been treated as a murder suspect. The most likely suspect in plotting Merton's murder, a man who was a much stronger force for peace than most people realize, they identify as the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States government. Thomas Merton was the most important Roman Catholic spiritual and anti-warfare-state writer of the 20th century. To date, he has been the subject of 28 biographies and numerous other books. Remarkably, up to now no one has looked critically at the mysterious circumstances surrounding his sudden death in Thailand. From its publication date in the 50th anniversary of his death, into the foreseeable future, this carefully researched work will be the definitive, authoritative book on how Thomas Merton died.
Download or read book Soul Searching written by Morgan Atkinson and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning producer Morgan Atkinson's documentary and the companion book of the same title come together for the first time in Soul Searching: The Journey of Thomas Merton book with DVD. The documentary DVD, which is scheduled to air on US PBS stations this December, is included in the inside back cover of this new hardcover edition of the companion book.
