Customer Reviews

Thoughts on the East (A New Directions Bibelot)

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This brief (84pp) book, pieces together a few writings from Thomas Merton with introduction by George Woodcock. This is not Merton systematically writing and rather uneven. Sometimes it seems shallow ("My opinion is you never find happiness till you stop looking for it"). I think it is best when Merton contrasts the Eastern religion with his own Christian experience as a monk, especially in the chapter on Zen. He contrasts Zen's lack of categorization with Jesus "Judge not and be not judged", and contrasted study of Zen with Meister Eckhart "The shell must be cracked apart ... for if you want the kernel you must break the shell". Readers of this would enjoy "Zen and the birds of appetite". On Hinduism he contrasts the song of Bhagavad-Gita with Song of Solomon, and refers to Jesus as "Conditioned brahman". The conversations with Tibetan lay monk is intriguing, when the Tibetan suggest he find a Tibetan Guru Merton responds "he asked me if I were willing to risk it and I said why not?", and also "He said he had meditated in solitude for thirty years or more and had not attained to perfect emptiness and I said I hadn't either".

This little book was very interesting, but it lacked depth. Merton lets us in on some very surprising information, for example, he was planning to take a Tibetan guru to learn Tibetan Buddhist Tantric meditation techniques. he comments on Sufiem, Zen, Taoism, Hindooism, and Buddhism with great eloquence, although his style is a bit dull. Even so, it is a wonder that he wasn't excommunicated for his ecumenicism. Few Christians that I know of would be so willing to look with an open heart and mind into the world of eastern mystical practices without being superior or condemning. He looks upon these practices with reverence and respect. Still, it is hard to get much out of such a small book, and little is really said, either about his own personal struggles or the religions in question. A nice addition includes his interviews with Llamo Thondup, the 14th Dalai Llama. If you're into Merton, this is a nice book, but it is not really for everyone.