“Thomas merton’s best-selling spiritual autobiography, the seven storey mountain, was one of the most influential books of the twentieth century. the original (1948) hardback edition sold 600,000 copies and by 1984 paperback sales had exceeded 3m. it has been translated into 15 languages and remains in print today. the 2015 centenary of merton s birth provides an opportunity to reconsider both his international reputation and his startling relevance in today’s world. merton was a trappist monk, writer, contemplative, social critic, pacifist, jazz lover and (in the context of world faiths) ecumenist whose sudden, premature death in unexplained circumstances prompted a further surge of interest in the man and his work. his extensive writings, many only recently available, provide the basis for a fresh examination of his story, permitting merton to speak for himself whenever possible, but enabling also an analysis of his abiding fascination and the discontents human and divine that dominated so much of his life. the author inspires us to look again at our preconceived ideas about the natural world, the prevailing culture, abuses of power, questions of war and peace, contemplation and action, institutions and the freedom of the individual and the search for god. nb the international thomas merton society has 40 chapters in the us alone, overseas chapters in argentina, australia (2), france, japan, new zealand and russia, and affiliated organisations in 11 further countries (belgium & the netherlands, brazil, canada, england, germany, ireland, italy, korea, poland, spain and sweden).”

“Este artículo explora la revista argentina eco contemporáneo¸ publicación fundada y dirigida por miguel grinberg, con trece números aparecidos entre 1961 y 1969. el objetivo es detectar si en las contribuciones del estadounidense thomas merton, amigo y maestro de grinberg, y en parte del corpus epistolar mertoniano, se advierten líneas directamente compartidas con el programa ideológico y cultural de eco. de esta manera, se contribuirá al estudio de las redes conformadas por estos dos actores culturales de los años 60’, que en conjunto con otros escritores e intelectuales norte y sudamericanos llevaron a cabo encuentros, publicaciones y proyectos que modularon el imaginario americano de la década en cuestión desde lo literario, cultural, político e ideológico.”

“In this third and final of three successive essays, the author argues that thomas merton suffered from narcissistic personality disorder in conjunction with his melancholic condition. the author argues that contemplative prayer disabled merton from working through his melancholic condition. finally, the author argues that merton’s melancholia, coupled with his heightened identity conflicts lead him to kill himself. © springer science+business media, llc 2006.”

“In 1968 thomas merton, a trappist monk, made a journey to the far east to study eastern monastic religions. merton’s contemplative prayer life was enhanced by his literary imagination, which was fueled by the reading of a broad spectrum of novelists and poets. during his trip eastward, thomas merton read three hermann hesse novels and recorded notes in his journal regarding two of them: journey to the east and steppenwolf. this essay examines thomas merton’s enigmatic quotations and observations about the two aforementioned novels within the context of each of the respective volumes. further clarif.ication of merton’s notes is rendered through a presentation in parallel fashion of other journal entries and recorded conferences made by the monk primarily during his eastward journey. the discussion of journey to the east reflects thomas merton’s own spiritual quest as he traveled to asia revealing his attraction to the gfeminine mystiqueh as well as his sharing of both hesse’s disdain for the herd instinct of illusory communities and his alternative portrayal of enlightened communes seeking aesthetic excellence. as merton read steppenwolf, he identif.ied with harry haller’s propensity for self-contradiction and a tendency to vacillate between the polarities of holding the bourgeoisie at arm’s length and his eventual compromise with the conventions of the bourgeois society.”

“Certainly no discussion of kierkegaard’s reception by twentieth-century angloamerican theologians would be complete without examining his reception by thomas merton (1915-68). as a monastic of the order of cistercians of strict observance (o.c.s.o.), merton made his debut as a writer with the publication of his autobiography, the seven storey mountain (1948).1 yet he resisted the stereotype of the monk as an individual who is socially withdrawn and secluded from culture within the monastery. instead, he deliberately engaged it.2 the restless alienation that characterized the zeitgeist of american culture after world war ii, sometimes referred to as the ‘kierkegaardian age of anxiety,’ is a theme that stretches throughout his literary corpus.3 as a scholar, he undoubtedly read kierkegaard alongside, and not merely through, the lenses of albert camus (1913-60), jean-paul sartre (1905-80), 1 thomas merton, the seven storey mountain, new york: harcourt court brace jovanovich 1948. 2 his specifically autobiographical works include not only his infamous the seven storey mountain but also the sign of jonas, new york: houghton mifflin harcourt 2002 [1953]; conjectures of a guilty bystander, garden city, new york: doubleday 1966; the asian journal of thomas merton, edited from merton’s notebooks by naomi burton, brother patrick hart, and james laughlin, new york: new directions 1975 [1974]; also included in this number is his lesser known the secular journal of thomas merton, new york: farrar, straus & cudhay 1959; and day of a stranger, with introduction by robert e. daggy, salt lake city, utah: gibbs m. smith 1981. not to be missed in conjunction with his autobiographical works are the journals of thomas merton, vols. 1-7, ed. by patrick hart et al., san francisco: harper 1995-99. a number of excellent biographies of merton’s life are available, but of particular value and comprehensiveness is that of michael mott, the seven mountains of thomas merton, boston: houghton mifflin 1984, and a slightly less dense but more intimate, jim forest, living with wisdom: a life of thomas merton, 2nd ed., maryknoll, new york: orbis 2008 [1991]. in addition, victor a. kramer, thomas merton, boston: twayne publishers 1984 provides an excellent overview of merton’s published works as a whole. to these works i refer the reader for a more comprehensive bibliography of books and articles by (and about) thomas merton. 3 george kotkin observes that kierkegaard’s popularity, not onl…”

“This essay examines the relationship between the christian tradition of contemplation and social action. it takes as its paradigm the life and writings of thomas merton (fr louis), an american cistercian monk at the abbey of gethsemani, kentucky, who became one of the most widely-read and influential spiritual writers as well as christian social commentators of the mid-twentieth century. merton, who often wrote through an autobiographical medium, gradually moved away from an early emphasis on contemplative withdrawal to a belief that the monastic life is a form of counter-cultural solidarity with those who struggle for social transformation and justice. the essay more broadly explores the theological basis for a coherence of mysticism and action in contrast to some misinterpretations of the christian language of interiority it concludes with an exploration of the relationship between contemplation and politics in a number of twentieth and twenty-first century theologians, both catholic and protestant.”

“An important personality of the catholic space of the 20th century and, at the same time, of the ecumenical and the inter-religious, thomas merton (1915–1968) is one of the most important authors of spiritual autobiographies in the christian space. knowing this and the fact that from other points of view, his work has been investigated by different researchers from all around the world, we will try to present the aspects of the political theology which can be found in works such as: the seven storey mountain (1948), the sign of jonas (1953), among others, which he wrote and which contain passages of spiritual autobiographies. these works emphasise aspects such as his attitude towards racism (a problem which he encountered in the america of the 1960s), war or communism (because of the fact that before he studied at columbia university, but also during this period, he also sympathised with the communists). the author will therefore try to present some practical aspects of his works, and show how they can be used to create bridges between society and church; the answer he gives to the challenges of his time.”

“The year 2015 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of thomas merton who was born on 31 january 1915. his writings cover diverse themes, which are of value to a myriad of faith traditions. this article will trace his understanding of holiness and the way in which merton emphasised participation in the transformation of the world. it commences with a biographical overview of merton and then merton’s understanding of ‘holiness’ as growth of the ‘true self’ in god is discussed. his work as social critic is outlined and the article ends with a reflection of merton’s understanding of ‘love’ and ‘compassion’-a life before god.”

“Recording the crisis-ridden biography of thomas merton we explore the connection of crises and fundamentalistic reactions by means of the theory of j.w. fowler and other psychological analyses of religion. through the biography of merton it will also be traced which resources within religion can help to abandon fundamentalistic perspectives. finally the article takes the contribution of religious education in consideration.”

“During his address to the us congress in 2015, pope francis lifted up the trappist monk and famed spiritual writer thomas merton as one of four ‘great’ americans who ‘offer us a way of seeing and interpreting reality’ that is life-giving and brings hope. drawing from merton and gesturing to pope francis’s 2015 encyclical laudato si’, the author explores the epistemological roots of the environmental crisis, arguing that while intellectual conversion to the crisis is crucial, merton’s witness suggests a deeper kind of transformation is required. reading merton schools the imagination in the way of wisdom, or sapientia, a contemplative disposition that senses its kinship with earth through the eyes of the heart, illuminating what pope francis has called ‘an integral ecology.’ the author considers the impact of two major influences on merton’s thought: the russian wisdom school of theology, or sophiology, and french theologian jacques ellul, whose 1964 book ‘the technological society’ raises prescient questions about the role of technology in education and spiritual formation. arguing that our present crisis is both technological and spiritual, epistemological and metaphysical, the author foregrounds merton’s contributions to a sapiential theology and theopoetics while asking how the sciences and humanities might work together more intentionally toward the transformation of the personal and collective human heart.”

“According to one influential narrative, a significant root of our ecological crisis is to be found in the christian appropriation of teleology, undergirding the anthropocentrism endemic to western thought. this article challenges this argument in three steps. first, i present the aristotelian understanding of teleology, which is intrinsic to living organisms, and which has been suggested as a resource for ecological ethics. second, i argue that the rejection of intrinsic teleology in favour of an extrinsic teleology first occurs with modern philosophy, in tandem with a new pragmatic conception of knowledge. third, i provide an alternative construal of the early christian understanding of teleology, through the figure of maximus the confessor, arguing that his understanding of the contemplation of nature is a key resource to be recovered for ecological ethics. i end with a sketch of such a recovery, as articulated by thomas merton.”