Mystics and Zen Masters [Paperback]

Thomas Merton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 1999

Thomas Merton was recognized as one of those rare Western minds that are entirely at home with the Zen experience. In this collection, he discusses diverse religious concepts-early monasticism, Russian Orthodox spirituality, the Shakers, and Zen Buddhism-with characteristic Western directness. Merton not only studied these religions from the outside but grasped them by empathy and living participation from within. "All these studies," wrote Merton, "are united by one central concern: to understand various ways in which men of different traditions have conceived the meaning and method of the 'way' which leads to the highest levels of religious or of metaphysical awareness."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (November 29, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374520011
• ISBN-13: 978-0374520014
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Other Practices > Mysticism

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable for students of Asian religion and mysticism, February 6, 2004

By 

Nessander - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mystics and Zen Masters (Paperback)

Although this book is a collection of essays over a range of subjects, and therefore not a continuous work, it is a very valuable work for understanding Chinese religion, Zen, and European mysticism (the main topics it addresses). The essays are classicaly Merton, although they are written in a more academic style -- and perhaps this is why the book has drawn criticism from the other reviewers. In other words, this book is less for learning about prayer and contemplation for one's own daily practice, and more for delving a bit deeper into some of the technical and historical aspects of Zen and Christian mysticism. For those interested in the latter, however, Merton does a very good job. His understanding of Zen is remarkable for someone who did not engage in it firsthand and who (I assume) learned about it primarily from reading while he was in the monastery. The first essay (with the same title as the book) gives a very interesting and understandable account of the break between the Northern and Southern schools, and the Zen of Hui-neng vs. the Zen of Hsen-hsiu.

So, although this book may not be for everyone, it is still a very fine work and will be very beneficial for many readers.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Varieties of Contemplative Experience, February 16, 2006

By 

Crazy Fox (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mystics and Zen Masters (Paperback)

This book consists of a number of essays written at different times, and though the range of topics seem quite varied at first (which isn't necessarily a bad thing--we call it the "spice of life" after all), a little thought will show the unifying theme to be the contemplative traditions within the world religions, principally Buddhism and Christianity. It is also apparent that several of the essays were originally book reviews, but Merton's incredible writing style and deep spirituality transform this usually cut-and-dried format into an art in itself.

It was also salutary to see a Catholic actually take Vatican II's directions on other religious traditions seriously, instead of rationalizing this away in favor of one's own arrogant sense of religious superiority (which bears a family resemblance to the pride of Satan). Even more salutary to see a Catholic able to do so with a firm, solid, secure sense of his own religious identity and spiritual tradition (there is no mishmash of "all religions are the same" here).

Since the essays were originaly written in the 1960's, some of the characterizations of Zen Buddhism are a bit dated, which isn't Merton's fault but the reader should still be alert to this fact. His discussions on this subject also owe much to D.T. Suzuki's eccentric, unorthodox formulations of Zen and so end up a bit skewed in spots, and Suzuki may also be a baneful influence in Merton's uncharacteristic use of cliched stereotypes of "the Eastern Mind" and "the Western Mind"--as seen especially in the essay "The Zen Koan". Still, overall Merton's presentation of Zen is reliable and "sympathetically objective" (as he puts it) and his own monastic experience doubtlessly gives him a realistic grounding when approaching the subject.

41 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mystics and Zen Masters-a review, July 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mystics and Zen Masters (Paperback)

Thomas Merton researched this book thoroughly by pouring through obscure and not-so-obscure texts in many classifications and countries. The book is a tracing of the development of each of the religions throughout their known records, with comparisons to major ideologies. English and Russian Mystics are delved into, as well as religion in China, early Buddhism, the Tao and the Jesuit's presence there. Christianity's high points are scanned. Monasticism is explored in both Protestantism and Zen Buddhism. Although it reads like a PhD. dissertation, Mystics and Zen Masters comes to some valuable conclusions about the evolution and the future to come of some of our world religions.