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Thomas Merton was a well-known 20th century Trappist monk from The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani near Bardstown, Kentucky, the Cistercian monastery where he lived from 1941 to 1968. Merton rose to distinction in 1948 with the publication of his popular book The Seven Storey Mountain—an early autobiography that takes its name from Dante's "Purgatory" in the Divine Comedy, documenting Merton's conversion to Catholicism. Because Merton longed for both solitude and social engagement, biographers have often observed that his life was one of paradox and contradiction. During his years at Gethsemani, Merton published thirty-six books, hundreds of essays and poems, several thousand letters, and some seven volumes of personal journal entries. As a vocal critic of the Vietnam War and the ills of racism, he was an active member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Before his untimely death in 1968, Merton had been working on bridging the gap between Catholicism and other religions.

Biography

My mother was informing me, by mail, that she was about to die, and would never see me again...It had something of the heavy perplexity and gloom of adult grief, and was therefore all the more of a burden because it was, to that extent, unnatural.

Thomas Merton
(The Seven Storey Mountain), p. 14.

Thomas Merton was born in Prades, France, on January 31, 1915, the son of Owen Merton and Ruth Jenkins. His father was a struggling painter from New Zealand, and his mother was a Quaker from the United States. Merton's family moved into Ruths' parent's home in New York City in August of 1915, then settled into their own home in Flushing, New York two years later. Merton's only sibling, John Paul, was born in 1918. It was in New York that Ruth Jenkins died of stomach cancer in 1921, when Merton was six years old.[1] In the introduction to her book In The Dark Before Dawn: New Selected Poems of Thomas Merton, writer Lynn Szabo writes, "Her loss would retain its unimaginable impact throughout his life, particularly recorded in his many dreamscapes where the feminine presents itself in the form of a dark-eyed Jewish girl named Proverb, as Hagia Sophia—the feminine wisdom of God—and as a nurse with special healing powers."[2]

While at Clare College, in 1933, Merton fathered an illegitimate son with a young woman.[3] Tom Bennett—Tom's legal guardian—paid the girl off, and Merton returned to New York City to live with his mother's family in Long Island.[4] His child, and the mother, were both killed in the London Blitz during World War II.[5]

Gethsemani

The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani

Merton began his monastic journey at The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani on December 10, 1941. He spent his first three days in the monastery guest house—where he awaited admittance into the cloister—finally being accepted as a postulant by Dom Frederic Dunne on December 13 (St. Lucy's Day).[1] He became a Trappist novice on February 21, 1942, receiving the name Brother Mary Louis (Latin: Prater Maria Ludovicus).[6] In those days, Gethsemani followed a daily schedule in observation of the Liturgy of Hours—beginning with a Matins service at 2 a.m. and concluding with Compline before retiring for the day. Meals were strictly vegetarian at the monastery, with meat reserved only for the sick and elderly.[1]

He was ordained a deacon on March 19 of 1949—becoming a priest of the Cistercian order on May 26 of that same year.[6]

Merton's writings on war and peace were in part informed by his attachment to what he called Christian humanism.[7]

In 1953 Dom James Fox gave Merton permission to use an old tool shed in the woods at Gethsemani for several hours each day. Merton named his little hermitage Saint Anne's, writing notes in his journal there from 1953 to 1954 (later published as Thoughts in Solitude).[8]

Eastern religion

  • Merton has often been criticized for his open admiration of Eastern religions (namely Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism), which some critics believed had undermined the integrity of his Catholic devotion. But, to Merton, this admiration was always viewed through the lens of his own tradition. Throughout his writings he makes clear that his Eastern studies were carried out with the intent of deepening his own experiences and understanding of Christian monasticism.[1]


  • Among Merton's many correspondences were his exchanges with the notable Zen scholar D.T. Suzuki, which started in 1959 after Merton had read some of Suzukis' works—having drawn some comparisons between Zen Buddhism and his own monastic tradition.[9] Suzuki, in turn, believed that Merton had a particularly apt understanding of Eastern philosophy, and some of their correspondences have been included in Merton's Book Zen and the Birds of Appetite.[10] The two men first met in New York City in June of 1964, Merton having received permission to travel there for two days from Dom James Fox (under invitation from Suzuki). It was the first time he had been to the city since having entered Gethsemani decades before. They discussed Christian mysticism and Zen on the trip, and Merton later wrote of their encounter, "I had a renewed sense of being 'situated' in this world. This is a legitimate consolation."[1]


  • The Way of Chuang Tzu is Merton's favorite project, which he described as, "not attempts at faithful reproduction but ventures in personal and spiritual interpretation."[11]


  • On May 26, 1966, Merton met the renowned Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh at Gethsemani, a meeting arranged by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (which both men belonged to).[12] Though this would be the only time the two men would be in the presence of one another, a real bond was made during their encounter. Merton spoke of Nhat Hanh as his brother, and Nhat Hanh would come to write a poem titled "Thomas Merton is My Brother."[13][14]


  • Merton left Gethsemani for East Asia on September 10, 1968 in order to attend a meeting of the worlds' religions—to be held in Bangkok, Thailand that December.[15]


  • In November of 1968, shortly before his own death in Thailand, Merton met with the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. The two discussed spiritual matters with one another, and Merton expressed an interest in the Bodhisattva ideal and Tantrism while there. This meeting left an indelible mark on Tibet's exiled leader, who referred to Merton as a 'Catholic geshe'. He has since said of their encounter, "...I have come across others with similar qualities, but it was Merton who introduced me to the real meaning of the word 'Christian'."[16]

Notable correspondences

Bibliography

By Merton

About Merton

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Cunningham (Thomas Merton and the Monastic Vision), 1-15, 22, 116-119
  2. ^ Szabo, xxv
  3. ^ Martin, 61
  4. ^ House, 61
  5. ^ Sheldrake, 185
  6. ^ a b Watson, 3-4
  7. ^ Labrie
  8. ^ Shannon, 90
  9. ^ King, 107—108
  10. ^ Merton (Asian Journal), xxvii
  11. ^ Merton (New Man), 181
  12. ^ King, 9
  13. ^ Fasching, 155
  14. ^ Oldmeadow, 379
  15. ^ Cunningham (Thomas Merton, Spiritual Master), 60
  16. ^ Dalai Lama XIV, 189

References

  • Cunningham, Lawrence (1999). Thomas Merton and the Monastic Vision. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 0802802222. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Labrie, Ross (Summer 2007). "CHRISTIAN HUMANISM AND THE ROOTS OF PEACE IN THOMAS MERTON". Renascence. 59 (4): 295–309. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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