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A Thomas Merton Reader
A Thomas Merton Reader provides a complete view of Merton, in all his contemplative, spiritual writer, poet, peacemaker, and social critic. In this closely knit volume are significant selections not only from his major works but from some lesser-known, yet equally valuable, writings as well. Presented here is a living Thomas Merton, expounding through prose and poetry on an abundance of important themes -- war, love, peace, Eastern thought and spirituality, monastic life, art, contemplation, and solitude.
M. Scott Peck puts the writings included here into the context of Merton's life.
M. Scott Peck puts the writings included here into the context of Merton's life.
516 pages, Paperback
First published August 13, 1974
36 people are currently reading
741 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 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 13, 2013
If you haven't come in contact with Merton's writings, this is an excellent – albeit, daunting – place to start. This thick volume, specifically named by the author as a "reader" rather than an anthology, is a wonderful place to begin your acquaintance with this man of many hats: Trappist Monk, sometime-hermit, world traveler, author, peace activist, philosopher, poet, mystic, and eternal discontent-ist.
There is too much, too wide a range of topics covered within these pages to adequately describe what you're "in for", too many passages have been underlined to pick any to use as an accurate example of the contents. But if you desire honest, thought-provoking writing from a man who used his immense learning and towering spiritual experience to help is brothers and sisters – within the monastery and without – then I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Read it. Scan it. Pick and choose your essays. Just interact with it on some level.
There is too much, too wide a range of topics covered within these pages to adequately describe what you're "in for", too many passages have been underlined to pick any to use as an accurate example of the contents. But if you desire honest, thought-provoking writing from a man who used his immense learning and towering spiritual experience to help is brothers and sisters – within the monastery and without – then I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Read it. Scan it. Pick and choose your essays. Just interact with it on some level.
June 20, 2019
This volume is a collection of pieces from Thomas Merton's many books. In the beginning, it interweaves sections from his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, with poetry and other essays. As it passes the halfway mark, the material becomes more difficult; the last 25% is so deep and beautiful. I love having these pieces in one volume to spur me on to reading the full books referenced. I had never read any of his poetry before. The book is arranged in sections that are semi-chronological, and you see the movement in it as you read.
All in all, I connected with about 90% of the book, which isn't bad! ha. Some passages will absolutely take your breath away ("Fire Watch, July 4, 1952" ... oh my). Merton challenges me to live with detachment, to know my place in God's love, to hunger for more of a relationship with God. This is 500 pages chock full of wonder - read it and be stretched and changed.
All in all, I connected with about 90% of the book, which isn't bad! ha. Some passages will absolutely take your breath away ("Fire Watch, July 4, 1952" ... oh my). Merton challenges me to live with detachment, to know my place in God's love, to hunger for more of a relationship with God. This is 500 pages chock full of wonder - read it and be stretched and changed.
May 4, 2021
Pretty well every page of prose has some profound insight to offer. Merton's an exemplary Catholic thinker in that his firm allegiance to church doctrine and teaching is actually a source of profound curiosity and creativity. He writes beautifully throughout this anthology, enlivening the tradition from within while engaging non-Catholic spiritual traditions with real sincerity. This is as good an introduction to his thought as you're likely to come by. I'm of the (probably unpopular) opinion that Merton's acclaimed autobiography Seven Story Mountain is a book that's better in its abridged form. I liked the snippets the editor chose to include here, and found it heightened by its juxtaposition with other writings, which include memoirs, letters, and book reviews. I haven't found my way into Merton's poetry yet, but there are some gems among the poems here, too. This book reads well from cover to cover, but it would also reward dipping in and out more casually.
January 11, 2012
Inspirational and enlightening. His poems and short stories hold deep.
January 31, 2023
Firm 9/10. Merton may now easily be the Christian thinker I enjoy the words of most, and insofar as all sorts of instinctive ways I remain influenced: downright ascendent, though a substantial portion of the fun comes with applying critical lens, sometimes to realise deeper meaning. Elucidating flaws can be done with throwing together all sorts of calculated words, but he best expresses his own warnings in the preface that become clear upon returning. Together with those doubts is hoping this book merely to be on the whole representative, an insightful start, and simply include the same divine mercy he has felt - each of which I believe successful, even if I can only guess the numerical fraction included of the implied preferences and intentions cast over so many years of conceptual observation.
Merton has a profound affection for transcendence that allows serious contemplation and denies mere formalism- partially. As with Thomas Mann, my reading has still come with accruing subtle doubts that each then admit to sharing with me, though the conclusions still... they're murky in deciphering, and I hope to read his later works in full as themselves someday. Reflecting ten years later before a segment containing an essay of 1948, Merton admits and aptly describes the faults in a related prior misconception of non-existent conflict, illusory crude division between aesthetic "action" and spiritual "contemplation". Still, among others, the worst my mind lingers on as meaning nothing worthwhile to me is surprisingly a submission to the American Benedictine Review that's among the more 'recent,' containing his complaints against 'magic' in creativity, but seems fundamentally mistaken as to the methodology of such wizardry.
His own writing is if anything at its most meaningful to me where the phrasing feels quite deserving of being described as magic, while elsewhere in absence of the meticulous risks naivete, certainly in earlier (chronologically, as the sections themselves are kind of scrambled, arranged simply by subject) fragments. My favorite segments to now recommend (of which there are more than I ought to list or quote from) are generally those taken from No Man is an Island, New Seeds of Contemplation, Good Samaritan (his latest, published early before some revision here), or specifically the dramatically insightful comparison of the 'crime' by Prometheus and the lesser-known, first sin of Cain (taken from The Behavior of Titans).
Merton has a profound affection for transcendence that allows serious contemplation and denies mere formalism- partially. As with Thomas Mann, my reading has still come with accruing subtle doubts that each then admit to sharing with me, though the conclusions still... they're murky in deciphering, and I hope to read his later works in full as themselves someday. Reflecting ten years later before a segment containing an essay of 1948, Merton admits and aptly describes the faults in a related prior misconception of non-existent conflict, illusory crude division between aesthetic "action" and spiritual "contemplation". Still, among others, the worst my mind lingers on as meaning nothing worthwhile to me is surprisingly a submission to the American Benedictine Review that's among the more 'recent,' containing his complaints against 'magic' in creativity, but seems fundamentally mistaken as to the methodology of such wizardry.
His own writing is if anything at its most meaningful to me where the phrasing feels quite deserving of being described as magic, while elsewhere in absence of the meticulous risks naivete, certainly in earlier (chronologically, as the sections themselves are kind of scrambled, arranged simply by subject) fragments. My favorite segments to now recommend (of which there are more than I ought to list or quote from) are generally those taken from No Man is an Island, New Seeds of Contemplation, Good Samaritan (his latest, published early before some revision here), or specifically the dramatically insightful comparison of the 'crime' by Prometheus and the lesser-known, first sin of Cain (taken from The Behavior of Titans).
December 23, 2025
Had run across so many references to Thomas Merton, his books and quotes by him that resonated with me, I thought this would be a good introduction. The Introduction by M. Scott Peck in this 1996 edition offers a good overview of Merton' life. An American Trappist monk (Catholic) at a monastery in Kentucky, Merton wrote many books about spirituality, pacifism and other social issues. He also pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian thinkers (Suzuki, Tich Nhat Han, and the Dali Lamma) and wrote about the relationship between Christianity and Zen Buddhism, Taoism and other traditions. This reader includes many essays and excerpts including from his international best-seller from 1948 The Seven Story Mountain. This has me eager to read more by Merton.
February 1, 2021
Sorry; DNF. Someone I admired recommended this if you were looking to feel grounded in your religion. Some guy wandering around assorted colleges and cathedrals didn’t really interest me.
October 6, 2022
A good selection of his thoughts and writings. Most come from The Seven Story Mountain, so a newcomer to Merton may want to read that first, and fill in the gaps here.
March 9, 2021
I gave it 100 pages, probably 95 too many. Just could not get into it.
February 23, 2024
Made my way through grandfather’s copy on that lonely winter in that mountain cabin, woods country. Could not imagine a better place to encounter Merton. This is an eminently serviceable one-stop shop for his writings – interpolating spiritual musings, political homilies, and poetry into lengthy autobiographical sections that detail his journey from Columbia undergrad to Trappist monk. Some lines:
Thomas Merton sees a lost world which might only be set right through spiritual contemplation. At times I find myself agreeing, but at others I can’t help but think that modernity has simply dispelled the illusions of a path – stripped it all bare down to what it always was. And that the real tragedy is that there will be no saving us for we were never found. Still, I have been surprised to find myself leaning on some his wisdom over the past few years. Reminding myself to be “in the world but not of the world.” Attempting to practice a love that “grows by self-sacrifice and becomes mighty by throwing itself away.” Perhaps there is a spark alive in me yet.
Ultimately, though, I am but flesh with little faith. This collection becomes less personal and more abstract as it goes on. While I appreciated his syncretic impulses and the veins of inquiry he’d chosen to tap, Merton’s conclusions rely upon an aseity I am unable to just passively accept – ecumenical tautologies tacitly baked into his chains of esoteric mysticism thereby shattering any hope of internal consistency, transforming them, instead – to me at least – into little more than erudite glossolalia. Those steeped in a similar mental tradition will likely find energy in these portions of text; I, however, mostly yearned for a return to the passages in which he wrote like a normal person. More grounded. More Seven Storey Mountain, basically.
My mother kept asking me if I’d gained further insight into my grandfather as I read: if there were any marginalia, any lines of text that offered up clues about his personality. I wanted so desperately to find a detail or two for her to grab ahold of. Visions of burning up in a plane crash on the return trip west, this book’s closing words about finding the “solitude you have so long desired” still bathing me in absolution. My grandmother kept asking me what I was going to have for my “last supper.” Over and over again. What a lovely narrative we might construct from my final moments, reading Thomas Merton on that lonely winter in that mountain cabin, woods country. Made whole at last. It’s so damn sad to admit that in truth I felt next to nothing. And that grandfather likely never even made it through the first chapter before he passed. There were only a couple of errant markings around page twenty and no creases in the spine. As Merton might say, my window is so streaked with dirt that it’s hard to imagine any of god’s light could be let inside.
In order to ‘see’ our minds seize upon the movement around them and within them, and reduce it to immobility. If it were possible for them to fulfill their deepest wish, our minds would in fact impose on the dynamism of the cosmos a paralysis willed by our own compulsiveness and prejudice: and this would ruin the world.
The ‘many’ are complacently willing to be deluded by ‘polymathy’ – the ‘learning of things’ – the constant succession of novel ‘truths,’ new opinions, new doctrines and interpretations, fresh observations and tabulations of phenomena. This multiplicity beguiles the popular mind with a vain appearance of wisdom. But in reality it is nothing but intellectual and spiritual ‘sleep’ which deadens all capacity for the flash of mighty intuition by which multiplicity is suddenly comprehended as basically one-penetrated through and through by the logos, the divine fire.
If you try to escape from this world merely by leaving the city and hiding yourself in solitude, you will only take the city with you into solitude; and yet you can be entirely out of the world while remaining in the midst of it.
Although there is nothing new under the sun, each new generation of mankind is condemned by nature to wear itself out in the pursuit of novelties that do not exist.
In an age of science and technology, in which man finds himself bewildered and disoriented by the fabulous versatility of the machines he has created, we live precipitated outside ourselves at every moment, interiorly empty, spiritually lost, seeking at all costs to forget our own emptiness, and ready to alienate ourselves completely in the name of any ‘cause’ that comes along.
In an age where there is much talk about ‘being yourself’ I reserve to myself the right to forget about being myself, since in any case there is very little chance of my being anybody else… rather it seems to me that when one is too intent on ‘being himself’ he runs the risk of impersonating a shadow.
Thomas Merton sees a lost world which might only be set right through spiritual contemplation. At times I find myself agreeing, but at others I can’t help but think that modernity has simply dispelled the illusions of a path – stripped it all bare down to what it always was. And that the real tragedy is that there will be no saving us for we were never found. Still, I have been surprised to find myself leaning on some his wisdom over the past few years. Reminding myself to be “in the world but not of the world.” Attempting to practice a love that “grows by self-sacrifice and becomes mighty by throwing itself away.” Perhaps there is a spark alive in me yet.
Ultimately, though, I am but flesh with little faith. This collection becomes less personal and more abstract as it goes on. While I appreciated his syncretic impulses and the veins of inquiry he’d chosen to tap, Merton’s conclusions rely upon an aseity I am unable to just passively accept – ecumenical tautologies tacitly baked into his chains of esoteric mysticism thereby shattering any hope of internal consistency, transforming them, instead – to me at least – into little more than erudite glossolalia. Those steeped in a similar mental tradition will likely find energy in these portions of text; I, however, mostly yearned for a return to the passages in which he wrote like a normal person. More grounded. More Seven Storey Mountain, basically.
My mother kept asking me if I’d gained further insight into my grandfather as I read: if there were any marginalia, any lines of text that offered up clues about his personality. I wanted so desperately to find a detail or two for her to grab ahold of. Visions of burning up in a plane crash on the return trip west, this book’s closing words about finding the “solitude you have so long desired” still bathing me in absolution. My grandmother kept asking me what I was going to have for my “last supper.” Over and over again. What a lovely narrative we might construct from my final moments, reading Thomas Merton on that lonely winter in that mountain cabin, woods country. Made whole at last. It’s so damn sad to admit that in truth I felt next to nothing. And that grandfather likely never even made it through the first chapter before he passed. There were only a couple of errant markings around page twenty and no creases in the spine. As Merton might say, my window is so streaked with dirt that it’s hard to imagine any of god’s light could be let inside.
July 27, 2020
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was extraordinary. Raised non-religious, Merton was drawn to Christianity in his early 20’s, and converted to Roman Catholicism. Never one to do anything by half-measures, he became a Trappist Priest. The Trappists (Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance) are a contemplative order, living in community under vows of stability, fidelity to monastic life, and obedience, as well as poverty and silence. Merton’s first published book, The Seven Story Mountain (1948), is an autobiography of his search for faith, of his conversion, and of his early years in the monastery.
In addition to being a monk, a teacher, a theologian, a spiritual advisor, a scholar, an ecumenist, and a social activist, Merton was also a talented and prolific writer. Among his works are eleven volumes of poetry, six autobiographies and biographies, nine volumes on contemplation and meditation, three on eastern thought, fifteen on monastic and spiritual life, as well as books an articles on social issues and justice. His journals have also been published.
A Thomas Merton Reader is a compilation of selections written over 25 years from this corpus; Merton himself helped select and edit the texts, and wrote a preface and epilogue.
Reading the book I was at times impressed, inspired, frustrated, challenged, angry, in awe, sad, and joyful. I was most drawn to the autobiographical selections and to those on contemplation (mysticism). Christian mysticism is a recent interest of mine and the selections on this in the collection were insightful and helpful to me as I try in my own way to better understand it. I have to confess that I did not connect with Merton’s poetry, but truth be told,I don’t connect with much poetry.
Merton’s thought was open and wide-ranging — except when it came to Church dogma; at the end of the day he was an orthodox Roman Catholic. For instance, although he encouraged engagement with Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions, he wrote that while we should try to understand these religions, our study should begin and end with acceptance that these other religions are wrong.
In addition to being a monk, a teacher, a theologian, a spiritual advisor, a scholar, an ecumenist, and a social activist, Merton was also a talented and prolific writer. Among his works are eleven volumes of poetry, six autobiographies and biographies, nine volumes on contemplation and meditation, three on eastern thought, fifteen on monastic and spiritual life, as well as books an articles on social issues and justice. His journals have also been published.
A Thomas Merton Reader is a compilation of selections written over 25 years from this corpus; Merton himself helped select and edit the texts, and wrote a preface and epilogue.
Reading the book I was at times impressed, inspired, frustrated, challenged, angry, in awe, sad, and joyful. I was most drawn to the autobiographical selections and to those on contemplation (mysticism). Christian mysticism is a recent interest of mine and the selections on this in the collection were insightful and helpful to me as I try in my own way to better understand it. I have to confess that I did not connect with Merton’s poetry, but truth be told,I don’t connect with much poetry.
Merton’s thought was open and wide-ranging — except when it came to Church dogma; at the end of the day he was an orthodox Roman Catholic. For instance, although he encouraged engagement with Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions, he wrote that while we should try to understand these religions, our study should begin and end with acceptance that these other religions are wrong.
February 12, 2013
Favorite passage so far: p. 59, Columbia: October is a fine and dangerous season in America. I ti dry and cool and the land is wild with red and gold and crimson, and all the lassitudes of August have seeped out of your blood, and you are full of ambition. It is a wonderful time to begin anything at all. You go to college, and every course in the catalog looks wonderful. The names of the subjects all seem to lay open the way to a new world. Your arms are full of new, clean notebooks, waiting to be filled. You pass through the doors of the library, and the smell of thousands of well-kept books makes your head swim with a clean and subtle pleasure. you have anew hat, a new sweater perhaps, or a whole new suit. Even the nickels and the quartersin your pocket fell new, and the buildings shine in the glorious sun.
July 3, 2019
Thomas P. McDonnell does an exceptional job of weaving together the elements of one of the most brilliant and profoundly inspiring spiritual teachers, authors, peacemakers and activists of the 20th century, in this useful and broad scoped compendium.
Definitely on my highly recommended list!
Definitely on my highly recommended list!
May 3, 2015
My introduction to a great thinker. Discovered it at a weekend retreat at Mepkin Abbey and it changed me for the better. More accurately, it reminded me of the wisdom of children and looking at the world through fresh eyes.
March 4, 2011
A very good overview Merton's thought and writings.
September 20, 2012
The fascinating life and thought of an academic, activist, poet, and Trappist monk
August 15, 2014
Great introduction to Merton, his writing and his mind. We lost him way too soon.
January 10, 2015
A great book to have along when traveling or keep by the bed. An anthology of selections from all Merton's many books, mostly essays and poetry. Very enjoyable and easy to pick up and put down.
Want to read
May 20, 2014Author recommended by Roland Merullo 5/14.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews