Thomas Merton Life Stories, Books, & Links


	Thomas Merton - Life Stories, Books, and Links ť Biographical Information ť Stories about Thomas Merton ť Selected works by this author ť Selected books about / related to this author ť Recommended links

Thomas Merton (1915 - 1968)

Category: American Literature

Born: January 31, 1915
Prades, France

Died: December 10, 1968
Bangkok, Thailand

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12/10/1941		Thomas Merton, Monk and Mountain On this day in 1941 twenty-six-year-old Thomas Merton entered the Abbey of Gethsemani, a Trappist Order near Bardstown, Kentucky; and on this day in 1968 the fifty-three-year-old Merton died in Bangkok, Thailand, from accidental electrocution. In between, Merton wrote the best-selling The Seven Storey Mountain (as well as a mountain of other journalism, journal-writing and poetry) and came to embody, for many, " the quest for God and for human solidarity."

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Contemplative Prayer religion & spirituality
New Seeds of Contemplation religion & spirituality
Seeds religion & spirituality
Spiritual Direction and Meditation religion & spirituality
The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton by Thomas Merton, Patrick Hart (Editor), Naomi B. Stone (Editor) journal
The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton poetry
The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation religion & spirituality
The Intimate Merton: His Life from His Journals journals, memoirs
The New Man religion & spirituality
The Seven Storey Mountain religion & spirituality
Thomas Merton, Spiritual Master: The Essential Writings by Lawrence S. Cunningham (Editor), Thomas Merton anthology
Way of Chuang Tzu religion & spirituality
When Prophecy Still Had a Voice: The Letters of Thomas Merton and Robert Lax by Thomas Merton, Robert Lax, Arthur W. Biddle (Editor) correspondence
Wisdom of the Desert religion & spirituality

FIND BOOKS BY THOMAS MERTON AT Powell's Books
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Merton & Judaism: Recognition, Repentence, and Renewal: Holiness in Words by Beatrice Bruteau, Victor A. Kramer analysis and criticism
Merton and Hesychasm by Jonathan Montaldo (Editor), Bernadette Dieker (Editor) analysis and criticism
Reading Thomas Merton: A Guide to His Life and Work by John Laughlin guide, biography
Something of a Rebel: Thomas Merton His Life and Works: An Introduction by William H. Shannon biography
The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia by William H. Shannon, Christine M. Bochen, Patrick F. O'Connell reference
The Vision of Thomas Merton by Patrick F. O'Connell (Editor), Patrick Hart biography, memoirs
Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh: Engaged Spirituality in an Age of Globalization by Robert Harlen King religion & spirituality

FIND BOOKS BY THOMAS MERTON AT Powell's Books
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Abbey of Gethsemani
This website produced by the abbey where Merton lived offers a short biography, a description of a monk's day, and a short history of early monasticism, the Cistercians, and the Gethsemani abbey.

"... Merton wrote prolifically on a vast range of topics, including the contemplative life, prayer, and religious biographies. His writings would later take up controversial issues (e.g., social problems and Christian responsibility: race relations, violence, nuclear war, and economic injustice) and a developing ecumenical concern. He was one of the first Catholics to commend the great religions of the East to Roman Catholic Christians in the West."

Essay: "Thomas Merton's Monastic Reading of the Bible"
Read a short scholarly essay which examines Merton's views on the divide between religion and the literary arts:

"Merton's central point is this: the Scriptures are not primarily concerned with history or literature, though they contain both; they are centrally concerned with the spiritual experience of the presence of the Holy Spirit which flows from an authentic reading of the great Christian texts of both the Liturgy and the Scriptures. Such reading, however, assumes that we have experienced ourselves as 'summoned to a deeper spiritual awareness, far beyond the level of subject and object.' At no point is a Christian justified in considering his or her tradition as the sole source of effective symbols...."

Firewatch
Find articles and links on contemplation and monasticism. Also offers a bibliography and essays from the journal Research on the Contemplative Life: An Electronic Quarterly which include such titles as:

"The Meaning of the Contemplative Life According to Thomas Merton"

"Thomas Merton: The Rediscovered Geography of an American Mystic"

"Thomas Merton's Poetry: Emblems of a Sacret Season"

Thomas Merton Society of Great Britain and Ireland
This scholarly website offers little in the way of online resources, but is a useful starting point for locating academic papers and dissertations about Merton.

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