Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, has millions of copies and has been translated into over fifteen languages. He wrote over sixty other books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence, and the nuclear arms race.
After a rambunctious youth and adolescence, Merton converted to Roman Catholicism and entered the Abbey of Gethsemani, a community of monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), the most ascetic Roman Catholic monastic order.
The twenty-seven years he spent in Gethsemani brought about profound changes in his self-understanding. This ongoing conversion impelled him into the political arena, where he became, according to Daniel Berrigan, the conscience of the peace movement of the 1960's. Referring to race and peace as the two most urgent issues of our time, Merton was a strong supporter of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which he called "certainly the greatest example of Christian faith in action in the social history of the United States." For his social activism Merton endured severe criticism, from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who assailed his political writings as unbecoming of a monk.
During his last years, he became deeply interested in Asian religions, particularly Zen Buddhism, and in promoting East-West dialogue. After several meetings with Merton during the American monk's trip to the Far East in 1968, the Dali Lama praised him as having a more profound understanding of Buddhism than any other Christian he had known. It was during this trip to a conference on East-West monastic dialogue that Merton died, in Bangkok on December 10, 1968, the victim of an accidental electrocution. The date marked the twenty-seventh anniversary of his entrance to Gethsemani.
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This review is from: An Introduction to Christian Mysticism: Initiation Into the Monastic Tradition, 3 (Monastic Wisdom series) (Bk. 3) (Paperback)
This is a historical textbook of monasticism. I love Thomas Merton, but this was a dry read. I did find a few helpful facts though.
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interior castle, théologie mystique, late medieval mysticism, fourth mansion, fifth mansion, living flame, mystical theology, vie spirituelle, les leçons, symbolic theology, theoria physike, mysticism page, passive recollection, passive purification, infused contemplation, popular mysticism, apophatic mysticism, mystica theologia, monastic theology, speculative mysticism, mystical prayer, mystical life Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Christian Mysticism, New York, Holy Spirit, John of the Cross, Complete Works of Saint Teresa, Gregory of Nyssa, Western Mysticism, Histoire de Spiritualité, Opera Omnia, Third Spiritual Alphabet, Middle Ages, Six Centuries, God Himself, Kephalaia Gnostica, Liturgie Cosmique, Direction Spirituelle, Thomas Merton, Dark Night, Son of God, Sens Spirituels, Theologia Germanica, Albert the Great, Jesus Christ, Holy Ghost, Cistercian Publications Browse Sample Pages:
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