Thomas Merton

A posthumously published collection of Merton's essays and meditations centering on the need for love in learning to live. "Love is the revelation of our deepest personal meaning, value, and identity." Edited by Naomi Burton Stone and Brother Patrick Hart.

Charged with training young monks at Gethsemani Abbey, Thomas Merton combined his literary genius and his love of the monastic tradition to produce Monastic Orientation Notes as the bases of his classes. In this volume, he treats the many and varied forms of monastic life which preceded, and helped to form, the Rule of Saint Benedict.

Violence, war, and terrorism fill our televisions, newspapers, and websites. To meet the great need for nonviolent wisdom in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, Crossroad presents this new and re-edited version of Thomas Merton's Passion for Peace. The book, never before available in an attractive trade edition, presents Merton's most important insights into themes such as the nature of violence, armed conflict, Christian responsibility, and the individual in the state.

ÖVER HELA VÄRLDEN har den amerikanske trappistmunken Thomas Mertons själv-biografi lästs och diskuterats. Nu ges den på nytt ut på svenska. I Kallad till tystnad tecknas porträttet av en ung amerikansk student, som steg för steg till sin egen förvåning drivs fram mot beslutet att bli katolik. Om den katolska tron har han ursprungligen inga begrepp alls snarast inger den honom en instinktiv känsla av obehag. Men han möter den katolska kyrkokonsten och den katolska filosofin, och en dag slår den idén ned i honom, att han skall bli munk. Detta går nu inte att realisera i en handvändning. Han får kämpa och tveka i många år och göra många fruktlösa ansatser, innan han till sist inträder i trappistklostret Our Lady of Gethsemani. Trappistorden anses vara den strängaste av ordnarna och det är t.ex. inte tillåtet att tala. I en tid då intresset för religion överallt tilltar i intensitet, bör denna bok av en livsbejakande, högintelligent ung amerikan med utpräglad litterär begåvning, som ändå väljer att avstå från världen, kunna intressera många. Kallad till tystnad är inte bara ett ytterst intressant religionspsykologiskt dokument utan kanske främst en fängslande skildring av en ung mans väg till Gud.

A new, broad, comprehensive view of the innovative poetry of the late, great Trappist monk and religious philosopher Thomas Merton. Poet, Trappist monk, religious philosopher, translator, social criticthe late Thomas Merton was all these things. Until now, no selection from his great body of poetry has afforded a comprehensive view of his varied and largely innovative work. In the Dark Before Dawn: New Selected Poems of Thomas Merton is not only double the size of Merton's earlier Selected Poems (1967), it also arranges his poetry thematically and chronologically, so that readers can follow the poet's multifarious interrelated lines of thought as well as his poetic development over the decades, from his college days in the 1930s to his untimely accidental death in Bangkok in 1968 during his personal Eastern pilgrimage. The selections are grouped under eight thematic headings"Geography's Landscapes," "Poems from the Monastery," "Poems of the Sacred," "Songs of Contemplation," "History's Voices: Past and Present," "Engaging the World," "On Being Human," "Merton and Other Languages."

Thomas Mertonâ??s classic study of monastic prayer and contemplation brings a tradition of spirituality alive for the present day. But, as A. M. Allchin points out in his Introduction to this new edition, Contemplative Prayer also shows us the present day in a new perspective, because we see it in the light of a long and living tradition.

Daily reflections from the one of the most influential spiritual writers of the past century Thomas Merton is widely acclaimed as one of the most influential American spiritual writers of the past century. This volume of daily reflections draws from Merton's journals and papers to present, each day, a seasonally appropriate and thought-provoking insight or observation. Each month begins with one of Merton's delightful Zen-style pen-and-ink or black and white photographs.

A 365 daily devotional from one of the most influential and spiritual writers of modern times - The perfect companion for daily gratitude, prayer, and reflection. From the author of The Seven Storey Mountain comes engaging journal entries guaranteed to inspire, motivate, and facilitate self-reflection and spiritual guidance. Thomas Merton's words touch the soul and spark the mind and can be read all at once or in parts, year-after-year. Packed with Merton's delightful pen-and-ink drawings and elegant black-and-white photographs, this is the perfect gift for any spiritual seeker and gratitude manifester in your life. If you struggle to stay in--and enjoy--the present moment, or simply need some extra encouragement to slow down, this guide is for you. Oftentimes, the joy and hope we seek is very much alive in our lives, we just need a little help uncovering it. Allow Merton's affirmations to aide, provoke, and comfort your daily and spiritual journey--one essay, and day, at a time.

Cassian and the Fathers is the initial volume in the series of Novitiate Conferences of Thomas Merton, the classes he presented to young men beginning their monastic life at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. They contain Merton's insights on important Patristic and monastic figures preceding the time of St. Benedict, above all John Cassian, the most significant bridge between the early desert fathers and the development of monastic life in the West, and they reveal the continuing relevance of their teachings for contemporary monastics and other Christians. Much of the value and interest of Cassian and the Fathers, as of the novitiate conferences in general, lies in the light it casts on Merton himself as teacher, novice master and monk. These notes provide a privileged standpoint for observing Merton functioning as an integral and important member of his monastic community. The 'public' Merton has long been visible in his works written for publication, and has more recently been complemented by the 'interpersonal' Merton disclosed in his correspondence and the 'intimate' Merton revealed in his complete journals. While the novitiate conferences may not equal in significance these other sources, they do allow access to yet another stratum of Merton's wide-ranging and immensely productive engagement with his world from the distinctive standpoint he had chosen within a tradition dating back more than sixteen centuries. While these lectures need to be used critically and carefully in evaluating Merton's own perspectives and commitments, nevertheless they do need to be used. The dialectical relationship between Merton's private and more public statements, including those made to his novice classes, makes possible a more complex and thus a richer picture of his monastic identity and so of his personal identity. In learning about Cassian and the Fathers from Merton, one learns as well about Merton as monk, as heir to the great monastic teachers, and as teacher of a new generation of monks, an easily overlooked and undervalued, yet integral, even central component of his vocation for more than half his monastic life. Thus the publication of the novitiate conferences will fill a significant lacuna in Merton studies and contribute to a balanced, holistic comprehension and appreciation of Thomas Merton's life and work. This edition includes an extensive introduction situating these conferences and Merton's years as novice master in the context of his broader life as monk and writer, an extensively annotated edition of the text of the conferences based on Merton's own typescript, and helpful appendices indicating changes Merton made to his text, correlating the written text with taped versions of the actual classes, and providing suggestions for further reading both in Merton's other works and in more recent studies of the figures he discusses here.

Writing at the height of the Cold War, Merton issued this passionate challenge to the idea that unthinkable violence can be squared with the Gospel of Christ. Censors of Merton's order blocked publication of this work, but forty years later if you substitute 'war on terrorism' for 'war on communism' Merton's message remains eerily topical.

A final work by the late Trappist monk and civil activist draws connections between his earlier and later writings while drawing on Christian and Eastern traditions to consider the meaning of daily contemplation and the heart of monastic and religious experience. Reprint.

The Private MertonThis intensely personal book from the ultimate spiritual writer of our time shows his contemplative and devotional side through his prayers and rarely seen drawings. Capturing the quiet epiphanies in the life of a Trappist monk who was a celebrated writer and activist, this volume offers a glimpse into a lesser-known side of this timeless explorer of the life of the soul.

"The New Man" shows Thomas Merton at the height of his powers and has as its theme the question of spiritual identity. What must we do to recover possession of our true selves? By way of an answer, Merton discusses how we have become strangers to ourselves by our depence on outward identity and success, while our real need is for a concern with the image of God in ourselves. At a time of retrieval of our religious traditions, Merton's voice is both intelligent and spiritually compelling. Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, is perhaps the foremost spiritual thinker of the twentiethcentury. His diaries, social commentary, and spiritual writings continue to be widely read after his untimely death in 1968.

Orginally published: New York: Harper & Row, 1963.

Merton defines Christian mysticism, especially as expressed by the Spanish Carmelite St. John of the Cross, and he offers the contemplative experience as an answer to the irreligion and barbarism of our times. "For those...curious about mysticism...this is an excellent book" (Catholic World).

Thomas Merton is often considered the most prominent Christian contemplative of the twentieth century, but he was also a political activist, social visionary, and literary figure whose writings combine the candor of Thoreau and the moral vision of Gandhi. Here is a remarkably accessible introduction to his work: a collection of a short, vivid excerpts arranged in four parts so as to parallel the journey of a seeking soul in the modern world. - "Real and False Selves" distinguishes between our real selves, a deep religious mystery known entirely only to God, and the identities we take on in order to function in society. - "The World We Live In" provides a spiritual context to modern life, moving from a stark rejection of its empty promises to a deep compassion for its tragic limitations. - "Antidotes to Illusion" reflects on contemplative practices that can serve as the allies of our "real selves" in the battle against illusion: silence, solitude, meditation, prayer, charity, and faith. - "Love in Action" explores the role of the contemplative in the modern age and the challenges and pitfalls of living a life of active love. Merton's startling critique of a society driven by technology and rampant acquisition, the politics of "good versus evil," and the self-deluding complacency of the spiritual "lifestyle" demonstrate beyond doubt that his writings are as urgent today as they were in his lifetime.