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Modern Spiritual Masters
Thomas Merton: Essential Writings
Thomas Mertron (1951-1968), the Trappist monk and author, remains one of the most influential spiritual guides of the twentieth century. Beginning with his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, and scores of other books, Merton's work reflects a living encounter between the traditions of Christian wisdom and the burning questions of the modern world: war and peace, the quest for meaning in the face of absurdity, and the need for dialogue with religious traditions of the East. This volume includes a broad range of Merton's writings, including his letters, and highlights his threefold call: to prayer, to compassion, and to unity.
191 pages, Paperback
First published December 29, 2000
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388 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Merton
554 books1,901 followersThomas Merton, religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. In December 1941 he entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani and in May 1949 he was ordained to priesthood. He was a member of the convent of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 14, 2019
A well-rounded curation of Thomas Merton’s writings. This collection includes a diverse array of some of the best-known passages from Merton’s books, letters, writings, and journals, as well as lesser known selections that round out his teachings, beliefs, and philosophies. Merton scholar Christine M. Bochen provides an introduction with an excellent biographical sketch of Merton, and commentary throughout the book that gives helpful insights to the various selections. Merton can be dry at times, but overall, his writing is approachable and enlightening. I wish more of his everyday journal writings could’ve been included, to show the warmth and beauty of his descriptive writing, but that is perhaps beyond the scope of this book, as the published journals stand on their own. Readers both new to Merton as well as those familiar with his writings will enjoy and gain new insights from reading this collection.
August 15, 2025
Merton points out the obvious that for some reason were never so explicit. Think you’ve thought about the incarnation? Nature? Relationships? Merton gives a refreshing spiritual perspective from The East on the most important topics. A new understanding of “the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands” Highly recommend.
February 25, 2020
Thoughts on Thomas Merton – Essential Writings
“Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity, and love”.
Thomas Merton was a trappist monk from Kentucky. Originally from France, he emigrated to the U.S. with his family as a child and in 1941 found himself in Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky where he lived and practiced as a catholic monk, spent years in the hermitage, and wrote countless books, poems, letters, and essays. I first discovered Merton through the 2017 film First Reformed (P. Schrader). The main character in the film, a reverend in a small protestant church in upstate New York with virtually no members, has good intentions as a man of god. Despite this, he is haunted by the past relationships, the death of his son in war, alcoholism, and physical ailments that he refuses to get treated. In the film, the reverend makes references to Merton and Merton’s books can be seen throughout his austere apartment on the church grounds. If the backstory and subtext of such a deeply disturbed but relatable character is intertwined with the writings of a particular author, I cannot help but be drawn to those writings.
After I decided I wanted to read Merton, I chose this small volume as an introduction to his work in hopes that I would find other works that I wanted to pursue. I thought of starting with his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, but opted for this instead and I can say that I am more than glad that I did. Although it was a very, very quick read at only around 190 pages, it was nevertheless a great introduction to Merton’s writing and I did indeed come out on the other side with a long list of further reading. As I was reading, I found it fascinating that I would forget that I was reading the religious writings of a catholic. Being far from a catholic myself, I half expected to be turned off by ethical ramblings in line with what I have always perceived as conservative catholic elitism and exclusivity. I can gladly say that this was not the case at all. I found in his writing a welcoming, progressive philosophy which, in many cases, was even critical of the catholic church and its rigid protocols. While not an official ecumenist, Merton’s words seemed to welcome other religions into the discussion and considered points of view outside of catholicism as vital to improving the world.
Merton was very vocal about world affairs and wrote constantly about war and peace, genocide, racism, imperialism, and violence. From what I read, his observations on this topic were reasonable and very eloquently stated. In contrast to being outspoken about broad political issues, Merton wrote extensively on the personal, simple, and contemplative way of life. Being a monk, he naturally spent years cloistered away, fasting, praying, and meditating. I have always been drawn to asceticism, self-denial, mindfulness, and meditation; both reading about the topic and recently in personal practice. Though I may not subscribe to all the religiosity that is often invoked by the topic of spirituality in general, I can say that Merton’s writing on the subject resonated with me greatly. One passage in particular, among many that I have saved, resonated with me on a level that I have not felt in some time, to the extent in which I have called into question some of my own views on spirituality and what it means to lead a contemplative life. I can’t help but to take the time to type it out here and share it with my few friends who might read this:
"In the theology of the new testament, particularly in that of Paul and John, the ‘new being’ of the Christian, his ‘new creation’, is the effect of an inner revolution which, in its ultimate and most radical significance, implies complete self-transcendence and transcendence of the norms and attitudes of any given culture, any merely human society. This includes transcendence even of religious practices.
There is in the depths of man’s heart a voice which says, ‘you must be born again’. It is the obscure but insistent demand of his own nature to transcend itself in the freedom of a fully integrated, autonomous, personal identity […] To be ‘born again’ is more than a matter of good moral resolutions, of self-discipline, of adjustment to the social demands and requirements, of finding oneself a respected and worthwhile role in society. The summons to be ‘born again’ does indeed make itself heard in our hearts, but it does not always have the same meaning, because we are not always capable of interpreting it in its true depth. Sometimes it is little more than an expression of weakness, a sense of failure, and awareness of wrong, a half-hopeless wish that one might get another chance, a fresh start. One desires to begin a new life because the burden of the old has now become an unbearable accumulation of fatigue, mistakes, betrayals, evasions, disappointments. One longs for a new life because the old life is stale, unworthy, uninteresting, cheap. One looks for a new way because the old familiar ways are a dead end.
Unfortunately, this weariness with the old, this longing for the new, is often just another trap of nature, another variation in the imprisonment we would like to escape. It may inspire us with bright hopes, and it may induce us to believe we have found a new answer: but then, after a while, the same despair regains possession of our heart. Or else we simply fall back into the same routine. Modern commercial society is built largely on the exploitation of this deep need for ‘new life’ in the heart of man. But by exploiting this need, manipulating and intensifying it, the marketing society also aggravates and corrupts it at the same time. The need for ‘the new’ becomes meretricious and false. It is at the same time insatiable and deceptive. It is tantalized and kept in a state of excitement by all kinds of clever techniques, and it never receives anything but pseudo-satisfactions. Man has more and more needs, more and more hopes, and yet he has become more and more suspicious, less and less able to bear the burden of anxieties and half-truths he carries about in this heart. He feels himself a prisoner in himself, depressed and weighed down by the falsity and illusion of his own life. He known he needs more desperately than ever to be ‘a new man’ and yet he has lost all the real hope of renewal. When he reaches out in desperation for something that promises to renew his jaded existence, he finds himself betrayed again. In the end, he takes to the easier forms of escape. He tries to evade the summons he still hears, however faintly, within his heart.
There is in us an instinct for newness, for renewal, for a liberation of creative power. We seek to awaken in ourselves a force which really changes out lives from within. And yet the same instinct tells us that this change is a recovery of that which is the deepest, most original, most personal in ourselves. To be born again is not to become somebody else, but to become ourselves. The deepest spiritual instinct in man is that urge of inner truth which demands that he be faithful to himself: to his deepest and most original potentialities. Yet at the same time, in order to become oneself, one must die. That is to say that in order to become one’s true self, the false self must die. In order for the inner self to appear, the outer self must disappear or at least become secondary […]
The first birth, of the body, is a preparation for the second birth, the spiritual awakening of mind and heart. This is not to be confused with the awakening of rational consciousness which makes a human being responsible for his actions as an individual. It is a deep spiritual consciousness which takes man beyond the level of his individual ego. This deep consciousness, to which we are initiated by spiritual rebirth, is an awareness that we are not merely our everyday selves, but we are also one with that which is beyond all human and individual self-limitation."
I could try to dissect this passage in an attempt to extract what exactly Merton was getting at here but I won’t. For one, I lack the frame of reference as it pertains to Merton’s body of work in a more complete sense. That is to say, I cannot wait to re-contextualize this passage once I read more of Merton’s work. That being said, If you take the words on their face you can see that anyone who has ever felt existentially restless or unfulfilled, as in how virtually every 20-something year old has felt at some point in their lives, can relate to it in some way. I like how even if you remove the religious aspects from the passage, which are admittedly very subtle coming from a catholic monk, Merton would still be making a very poignant observation on spiritual and contemplative life.
Overall, I found this an excellent introduction into Merton’s vast body of work and I will be reading more soon. I also found the introduction by curator to be a nice way of becoming familiar with the man Merton himself. That being said, this could have been a much longer book considering how much Merton wrote in his lifetime.
“Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity, and love”.
Thomas Merton was a trappist monk from Kentucky. Originally from France, he emigrated to the U.S. with his family as a child and in 1941 found himself in Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky where he lived and practiced as a catholic monk, spent years in the hermitage, and wrote countless books, poems, letters, and essays. I first discovered Merton through the 2017 film First Reformed (P. Schrader). The main character in the film, a reverend in a small protestant church in upstate New York with virtually no members, has good intentions as a man of god. Despite this, he is haunted by the past relationships, the death of his son in war, alcoholism, and physical ailments that he refuses to get treated. In the film, the reverend makes references to Merton and Merton’s books can be seen throughout his austere apartment on the church grounds. If the backstory and subtext of such a deeply disturbed but relatable character is intertwined with the writings of a particular author, I cannot help but be drawn to those writings.
After I decided I wanted to read Merton, I chose this small volume as an introduction to his work in hopes that I would find other works that I wanted to pursue. I thought of starting with his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, but opted for this instead and I can say that I am more than glad that I did. Although it was a very, very quick read at only around 190 pages, it was nevertheless a great introduction to Merton’s writing and I did indeed come out on the other side with a long list of further reading. As I was reading, I found it fascinating that I would forget that I was reading the religious writings of a catholic. Being far from a catholic myself, I half expected to be turned off by ethical ramblings in line with what I have always perceived as conservative catholic elitism and exclusivity. I can gladly say that this was not the case at all. I found in his writing a welcoming, progressive philosophy which, in many cases, was even critical of the catholic church and its rigid protocols. While not an official ecumenist, Merton’s words seemed to welcome other religions into the discussion and considered points of view outside of catholicism as vital to improving the world.
Merton was very vocal about world affairs and wrote constantly about war and peace, genocide, racism, imperialism, and violence. From what I read, his observations on this topic were reasonable and very eloquently stated. In contrast to being outspoken about broad political issues, Merton wrote extensively on the personal, simple, and contemplative way of life. Being a monk, he naturally spent years cloistered away, fasting, praying, and meditating. I have always been drawn to asceticism, self-denial, mindfulness, and meditation; both reading about the topic and recently in personal practice. Though I may not subscribe to all the religiosity that is often invoked by the topic of spirituality in general, I can say that Merton’s writing on the subject resonated with me greatly. One passage in particular, among many that I have saved, resonated with me on a level that I have not felt in some time, to the extent in which I have called into question some of my own views on spirituality and what it means to lead a contemplative life. I can’t help but to take the time to type it out here and share it with my few friends who might read this:
"In the theology of the new testament, particularly in that of Paul and John, the ‘new being’ of the Christian, his ‘new creation’, is the effect of an inner revolution which, in its ultimate and most radical significance, implies complete self-transcendence and transcendence of the norms and attitudes of any given culture, any merely human society. This includes transcendence even of religious practices.
There is in the depths of man’s heart a voice which says, ‘you must be born again’. It is the obscure but insistent demand of his own nature to transcend itself in the freedom of a fully integrated, autonomous, personal identity […] To be ‘born again’ is more than a matter of good moral resolutions, of self-discipline, of adjustment to the social demands and requirements, of finding oneself a respected and worthwhile role in society. The summons to be ‘born again’ does indeed make itself heard in our hearts, but it does not always have the same meaning, because we are not always capable of interpreting it in its true depth. Sometimes it is little more than an expression of weakness, a sense of failure, and awareness of wrong, a half-hopeless wish that one might get another chance, a fresh start. One desires to begin a new life because the burden of the old has now become an unbearable accumulation of fatigue, mistakes, betrayals, evasions, disappointments. One longs for a new life because the old life is stale, unworthy, uninteresting, cheap. One looks for a new way because the old familiar ways are a dead end.
Unfortunately, this weariness with the old, this longing for the new, is often just another trap of nature, another variation in the imprisonment we would like to escape. It may inspire us with bright hopes, and it may induce us to believe we have found a new answer: but then, after a while, the same despair regains possession of our heart. Or else we simply fall back into the same routine. Modern commercial society is built largely on the exploitation of this deep need for ‘new life’ in the heart of man. But by exploiting this need, manipulating and intensifying it, the marketing society also aggravates and corrupts it at the same time. The need for ‘the new’ becomes meretricious and false. It is at the same time insatiable and deceptive. It is tantalized and kept in a state of excitement by all kinds of clever techniques, and it never receives anything but pseudo-satisfactions. Man has more and more needs, more and more hopes, and yet he has become more and more suspicious, less and less able to bear the burden of anxieties and half-truths he carries about in this heart. He feels himself a prisoner in himself, depressed and weighed down by the falsity and illusion of his own life. He known he needs more desperately than ever to be ‘a new man’ and yet he has lost all the real hope of renewal. When he reaches out in desperation for something that promises to renew his jaded existence, he finds himself betrayed again. In the end, he takes to the easier forms of escape. He tries to evade the summons he still hears, however faintly, within his heart.
There is in us an instinct for newness, for renewal, for a liberation of creative power. We seek to awaken in ourselves a force which really changes out lives from within. And yet the same instinct tells us that this change is a recovery of that which is the deepest, most original, most personal in ourselves. To be born again is not to become somebody else, but to become ourselves. The deepest spiritual instinct in man is that urge of inner truth which demands that he be faithful to himself: to his deepest and most original potentialities. Yet at the same time, in order to become oneself, one must die. That is to say that in order to become one’s true self, the false self must die. In order for the inner self to appear, the outer self must disappear or at least become secondary […]
The first birth, of the body, is a preparation for the second birth, the spiritual awakening of mind and heart. This is not to be confused with the awakening of rational consciousness which makes a human being responsible for his actions as an individual. It is a deep spiritual consciousness which takes man beyond the level of his individual ego. This deep consciousness, to which we are initiated by spiritual rebirth, is an awareness that we are not merely our everyday selves, but we are also one with that which is beyond all human and individual self-limitation."
I could try to dissect this passage in an attempt to extract what exactly Merton was getting at here but I won’t. For one, I lack the frame of reference as it pertains to Merton’s body of work in a more complete sense. That is to say, I cannot wait to re-contextualize this passage once I read more of Merton’s work. That being said, If you take the words on their face you can see that anyone who has ever felt existentially restless or unfulfilled, as in how virtually every 20-something year old has felt at some point in their lives, can relate to it in some way. I like how even if you remove the religious aspects from the passage, which are admittedly very subtle coming from a catholic monk, Merton would still be making a very poignant observation on spiritual and contemplative life.
Overall, I found this an excellent introduction into Merton’s vast body of work and I will be reading more soon. I also found the introduction by curator to be a nice way of becoming familiar with the man Merton himself. That being said, this could have been a much longer book considering how much Merton wrote in his lifetime.
February 22, 2023
"The risen life is not easy; it is a dying life." This paradox reads like something from Richard Rohr, who was obviously heavily influenced by T. Merton. I've always been fascinated by Merton. So much of his life was a contradiction. I know he really wrestled with his faith. I especially enjoyed his explanation of the importance of silence and contemplation (monastic life) to a life of action. I've certainly stressed the importance of Christ in action, but Christ in action needs clear purpose and direction--that's how the life of prayer must happen first, and during, and after. What most surprised me is how funny Merton could be. I look forward to reading "Seeds of Contemplation"--I most enjoyed excerpts from that book. Some of his writings are difficult to understand, but his wisdom has influenced a lot of Christians in action that I admire. I'm glad to learn more about what made him tick.
August 19, 2020
I had tried to read this book a few years ago, but shelved it after a brief time. This time it resonated with me and I was able to appreciate Thomas Merton. It seems to me that he was a prophet and so very wise. One of my favorite quotes is “every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul.” He also talks about how he is a progressive with a great love and respect for tradition, like Pope John. He also talks about the extreme progressives and extreme conservatives. He thinks they are both off the mark, but he notes that the extreme conservatives often have a chilling malice and meanness in them. I am glad I own this book because I will read it again.
December 27, 2023
How can one realize and even cultivate an interior life? In the age of attention grabbing and clout chasing on social media, Thomas Merton's "seeds" of contemplation seem like they're meant for foreign soil—where we must learn to uproot the performative mask of our false self and nurture our spirit through reflection. This volume was my first introduction to Merton and while he is more prescriptive than I would have expected, his words express many thoughts/feelings that I've rarely seen articulated, giving breadth (and breath) to the necessary silences and less visible forms of love that a contemplative practice must wrestle with.
October 1, 2019
Thomas Merton is an amazing writer. I just wish this collection had included more of his spiritual musings and less of his political / activist writings. But if that's what you're into, you'll like this book for sure.
September 20, 2017
A fascinating introduction to Merton which makes me want to dive deeper.
February 23, 2018
I think I could read this 50 more times and get something new out of it every single time.
April 10, 2020
Meditative pocket companion
June 5, 2020
I'm not religious, but I found in this book concepts and wisdom which far exceed the boundaries of Christian experience.
October 11, 2022
Thomas Merton is my hero
April 16, 2025
I think I needed to read the larger works before going into the highlights version, so that’s on me.
August 4, 2011
A great introduction to Merton, but not very in-depth. I'm currently reading another book of his collected works which gives a much better background to his life and conversion. Also, the passages in this book tend to be too short. Awesome, though, if you're looking for a very short introduction to Merton and his writings.
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July 20, 2015Good abridged perspective of writings and ideas.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews