Author: Thomas Merton; Publisher: Image ISBN: 9780307589538 Category: Religion Page: 128 View: 8427 DOWNLOAD NOW » In this classic text, Thomas Merton offers valuable guidance for prayer. One of its main proponents for many years was the Catholic monk, Thomas Merton, who was very pluralistic in his worldview. The reader gets to overhear this advice and decide how it may or may not apply to the life of the novice.
He brings together a wealth of meditative and mystical influences–from John of the Cross to Eastern desert monasticism–to create a spiritual path for today. Thomas Merton approaches the topic of contemplative prayer from a devotional and practical point of view, steering the believer in the direction of understanding the greatness of God and the needfulness of humans. For instance, he asserted, “I see no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity…I intend to become as good a Buddhist as […] We do not reason about dogmas of faith, or the "mysteries". In this series, I’d like to post some excerpts from Merton’s Contemplative Prayer. Recently I’ve been re-reading some Thomas Merton. In a moving and profound introduction, Thich Nhat Hanh offers his personal recollections of Merton and compares the contemplative traditions of East and West. Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was an American Trappist, scholar of comparative religion, priest, poet, mystic and author of more than seventy books, including The Seven Story Mountain, that aroused an enormous new interest in contemplative prayer .. Contemplation …
G racious God, you called your monk Thomas Merton to proclaim your justice out of silence, and moved him in his contemplative writings to perceive and value Christ at work in the faiths of others: Keep us, like him, steadfast in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.
In a moving and profound introduction, Thich Nhat Hanh offers his personal recollections of Merton and compares the contemplative traditions of East and West. Merton is an author who I feel differently about depending on which of his works I’m reading. Thomas Merton was one of the great spiritual masters: a Trappist monk, profound mystic, and brilliant writer. nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. This form of meditation, recently known as ‘Centering Prayer’ (from a text of Thomas Merton) can be traced from and through the earliest centuries of Christianity. Contemplative Prayer Guide offers resources and experiences for people who want to learn more about the ancient Christian practice of contemplative prayer and other ancient Christian spiritual practices. There is an undeniable link between far eastern religions and the contemplative prayer movement. The prayer came to be known as Centering Prayer in reference to Thomas Merton’s description of contemplative prayer as prayer that is “centered entirely on the presence of God.” The monks offered Centering Prayer workshops and retreats to both clergy members and laypeople. He wrote extensively on this subject, in books such as Seeds of Contemplation, What is Contemplation, Tears of the Blind Lion, The Inner Experience, Zen and the Birds of Appetite, and others.
Perhaps Thomas Merton’s greatest gift to us, through his writings, is his insight on contemplative living in a world filled with chaos and distraction. There is an undeniable link between far eastern religions and the contemplative prayer movement.
As Henri Nouwen claims, “the great power of Merton as a writer still remains in his ability to comment on the concrete happenings of the day, and to do this out of a contemplative silence.” Nouwen goes on to articulate how Merton’s vision was profoundly shaped by his life of prayer: “Prayer makes men contemplative and attentive.