Begun five years after he entered the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, The Sign of Jonas is an extraordinary view of Merton's life in a Trappist monastery, and it serves also as a spiritual log recording the deep meaning and increasing sureness he felt in his vocation: the growth of a mind that finds in its contracted physical world new intellectual and spiritual dimensions.
From the best-selling author of The Seven Storey Mountain, essential listening for Christians, Catholics, and all wisdom seekers.
A leading Christian intellectual and a global citizen, Thomas Merton was known for his mission to understand and learn from other cultures’ worldviews and philosophies. Now, as you listen to these nine captivating talks on Chinese and Greek philosophy, your own interest in these ancient schools of thought, Eastern and Western, will be ignited.
Merton delivered these erudite yet down-to-earth lectures to the novices at the Abbey of Gethsemani. Through these expertly remastered audio tracks, you can join his classroom, learning about Chinese and Greek philosophy both individually and in intersection.
Merton addresses Greek tragedy and Chinese thought at length, as well as the Chinese symbol Chung and Chinese landscape painting.
These lectures are part of the archive of nearly 1,000 talks that Merton gave at Gethsemani and throughout the world. Recorded during the last six years of his life, they capture Merton at the height of his wisdom.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
From the best-selling author of The Seven Storey Mountain, profound listening for Christians, Catholics, and all wisdom seekers.
Christian theology may not believe in Marxism, and Marxism may think that God is dead, but the two ideologies still have much to say to one another. Thomas Merton, one of the world’s greatest modern Christian intellectuals, was fascinated by the dialogue between Marxists and Christians. Now, by listening to these nine masterful talks, which Merton delivered to the novices at the Abbey of Gethsemani in 1965 and 1966, you can join in these conversations.
Among the compelling issues Merton considers are the technological revolution; Hromadka, the Christian theologian who argued for dialogue between Christians and Marxists; Church decrees on Marxism, and Hegel’s criticism of the interiority that is central to faith.
These expertly remastered lectures are part of the archive of nearly 1,000 talks that Merton gave at Gethsemani and throughout the world. Recorded during the last six years of his life, they capture Merton at the height of his wisdom.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
New Seeds of Contemplation is one of Thomas Merton's most widely read and best-loved books. Christians and non-Christians alike have joined in praising it as a notable successor in the meditative tradition of St. John of the Cross, The Cloud of Unknowing, and the medieval mystics, while others have compared Merton's reflections with those of Thoreau.
New Seeds of Contemplation seeks to awaken the dormant inner depths of the spirit so long neglected by Western culture, to nurture a deeply contemplative and mystical dimension in our lives. For Merton, “ Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul. Just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with 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 soil of freedom, spontaneity, and love.'
The personal tones of the translations, the blend of reverence and humor so characteristic of him, show how deeply Merton identified with the legendary authors of these sayings and parables, the fourth-century Christian Fathers who sought solitude and contemplation in the deserts of the Near East. The hermits of Screte who turned their backs on a corrupt society remarkably like our own had much in common with the Zen masters of China and Japan, and Father Merton made his selection from them with an eye to the kind of impact produced by the Zen mondo.
'Zen enriches no one,' Thomas Merton provocatively writes in his opening statement to Zen and the Birds of Appetite—one of the last books to be published before his death in 1968. 'There is no body to be found. The birds may come and circle for a while... but they soon go elsewhere. When they are gone, the 'nothing,' the 'no-body' that was there, suddenly appears. That is Zen. It was there all the time but the scavengers missed it, because it was not their kind of prey.' This gets at the humor, paradox, and joy that one feels in Merton's discoveries of Zen during the last years of his life, a joy very much present in this collection of essays. Exploring the relationship between Christianity and Zen, especially through his dialogue with the great Zen teacher D.T. Suzuki, the book makes an excellent introduction to a comparative study of these two traditions, as well as giving the reader a strong taste of the mature Merton. Never does one feel him losing his own faith in these pages; rather one feels that faith getting deeply clarified and affirmed. Just as the body of 'Zen' cannot be found by the scavengers, so too, Merton suggests, with the eternal truth of Christ.
What is the function of the contemplative in the modern world?
This question lies at the root of Thomas Merton’s extended contemplation of Franz Kafka’s dystopian novel, The Castle. A hugely influential writer from the 20th century, Kafka (1883 - 1924) was a German-speaking Jew born in Prague. His fiction - especially his 1915 novella The Metamorphosis, in which the protagonist finds himself transformed into an insect - is so well known for its absurd and existential themes that the style has become synonymous with his name: Kafkaesque.
Now, you have the rare opportunity to hear Merton - the English professor-turned-monk and a literary genius in his own right - discuss The Castle as a metaphor for the monastic life. Originally recorded in 1967 and newly remastered to enhance your listening experience, this audio set collects four talks on Kafka that Merton delivered during the month of June.
Ranging from essayistic reflections on The Castle to more off-the-cuff discussions of Albert Camus’s The Plague, these archival recordings are a mixture of spoken journal entries and other trains of thought. Each talk invites you into Merton’s close confidence.
You will also hear Merton develop fascinating arguments around Brian Wicker’s 1966 “Secular Christianity”, Interreligious dialogue and monastic reform, The idea of being “imprisoned”, Virginity, Existentialism with respect to faith, and Kafka’s rejection of Jewish law
Bookworms and fans of Merton alike will find that Merton can zap the stalest subjects into the most erudite discourses. Hear one great literary mind on another.
Renew your faith as you learn about the founding fathers of Christian theology with Thomas Merton.
Three men laid the groundwork for Christianity’s philosophy, theology, and learning. Seventeen centuries later, a spiritual visionary taught gripping classes on these Church Fathers.
Why study the foundational texts of Christian thought? Merton prefaces his talks by answering this question. The foundational texts form the basis of the contemplative and learned life. The same holds true for anyone who wants to seriously explore the big questions of meaning, purpose, and values.
You will begin with an introduction to the foremost philosopher of Christian antiquity—Saint Augustine—and his classic On Christian Doctrine. Parsing Augustine’s profound theology into accessible talks, Merton shows you his core ideas. Before taking a deeper dive into Augustine, you will turn to the mystical humanism of Saint Ambrose. Next, you will examine St. Jerome’s letters, which rank among the most important Christian texts.
As entertaining as he is knowledgeable, Merton connects with students through humorous anecdotes. His passionate teaching will both inform you and instill passion for deep learning.
New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Storey Mountain and New Seeds of Contemplation invites you to explore great literature.
How can poetry help us understand the world? Thomas Merton's life and works are the stuff of legend. A modern-day Augustine, he left behind his life as a worldly intellectual to join a Trappist monastery. There, he made a name for himself as a best-selling spiritual writer and social activist.
This set of six talks reveals a lesser-known side of Thomas Merton: an eminent critic and teacher of literature. His dual identity as a monk and literati make him the premier guide to poetic expression. As you listen along, you will enjoy moments of penetrating insight and reflection as often as moments of levity and laughter.
At the center of the talks lies the concept of classical literature: prose and poetry in the tradition of writers like Virgil and Homer. In particular, you will look at the classical consciousness of 20th-century poets T. S. Eliot and Edwin Muir.
An all-around literary genius and prolific poet in his own right, Merton reaches the height of his passion and wisdom when he speaks about John Milton in the second half of the series. By tying together an array of writers-from a budding rock star to an epic English poet-you will journey to the heart of the poetic imagination.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
William Faulkner was undoubtedly one of the greatest American writers. Now, you can take Thomas Merton as your personal guide in discovering the literary and spiritual genius of Faulkner's works.
Awarded both the Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes, William Cuthbert Faulkner (1897-1962) was a multi-talented writer who wrote such beloved classics as The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying. In this series, you will join renowned mystic and writer Thomas Merton on an extraordinary course on Faulkner and classicism in literature. An English professor before becoming a monk, Merton continued to teach literature courses to the monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani. These lectures were originally recorded by Merton in the 1960s and are remastered to enhance your listening experience.
First, you will look at the concept of the classical in literature by exploring the poetry of John Milton and T.S. Eliot before looking specifically at Faulkner's works. Merton demonstrates that Faulkner is a mythological rather than sociological writer; he uses the particular setting of the American South to tell stories of universal significance. His works embody the great classic truths of literature: love, honor, pride, compassion, and sacrifice.
Under Merton's guidance, you will see how Faulkner was a sapiential, or visionary, writer. Merton will also guide you through the deeper spiritual undercurrent of Faulkner's writings, which illustrate the biblical themes of redemption, the fall, and the resurrection.
Join Thomas Merton today with this brilliant course on Faulkner.
This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
Join Thomas Merton in exploring life's great questions.
In this audio program, Merton will challenge you with questions about man's individual destiny, the human condition, prayer, and the nature of time. Originally delivered in 1965, these timeless lectures have been remastered and released as a set for your enjoyment. Delivered with wit and profound insight, these recordings will transport you into the abbey where Merton taught and imparted his spiritual wisdom.
In the first part, you will look at Greek tragedy and Chinese philosophy, both or which rose to prominence in the fifth and sixth centuries BC. The wisdom in Greek tragedy and Chinese thought is linked to that of the Scriptures, and in them we discover similar developments of thought. We see man acquiring a sense of identity and destiny as he comes to terms with freedom and responsibility.
In the second half, you will look at the concept of time and how it relates to prayer. The monastic life that Merton lived was one of constant prayer, in which time is experienced differently. Merton looks at such great literary works as Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time and William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury to explore the concept of time in our lives.
Journey with Thomas Merton with these erudite and essential lectures today.
Photograph of Thomas Merton by Sibylle Akers. Used with permission of the Merton Legacy Trust and the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University. This course is part of the Learn25 collection.
