
Fetters and freedom: on Thomas Merton’s vision of transcendence through faith - lermontov
http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Fetters---freedom-8504
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pmoriarty
_" Each day consisted of the same routines: He chanted the Divine Offices in
the monastery’s church with his brothers, prayed in solitude at various points
in the day, and worked on the monastery’s grounds scrubbing floors, chopping
wood, and engaging in other tasks. He lived in an austere cell; ate plain
meals..."_

Recently a documentary was made about the daily life in another monastery.
It's called _" Into Great Silence"_,[1] and I recommend it for a glimpse in to
this sort of life.

I've long been interested in trying to live such a simple existence, but I'm
afraid I don't know of any such places that aren't religious in some way,
which is a real pity.

[1] -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_Great_Silence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_Great_Silence)

~~~
nsomaru
[http://www.vedantaworld.org](http://www.vedantaworld.org) ; depends what you
mean by religion. If you mean rituals, chanting, singing and livery, sure
there's some of that. But it's the most non-secular approach to 'rejoining
with the source' (religion = re-ligare) that I could find, as a previously
confirmed and staunch atheist.

The daily schedule involves a relatively austere but comfortable routine,
which is supported by a strong questioning and reasoning regime. The entire
living experience speaks to and reinforces the knowledge imparted.

I don't believe in God, now. But perhaps been purged of the arrogance that the
equipments I have are capable of knowing everything.

Edit: there's a retreat in India in December, here's a link to the invite:
[http://vedanta.org.za/media/pdf/2016_Vedanta_International_R...](http://vedanta.org.za/media/pdf/2016_Vedanta_International_Retreat.pdf)

Disclaimer: alumnus of the Vedanta Academy and Vedanta teacher for 3 years in
South Africa.

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cpr
My father visited Merton several times at the monastery in the early 60's (on
his own way in to the Catholic church, as an Episcopal clergyman), and found
him a most gracious man, giving the clear impression of timeless availability,
coupled with fervent interest in my father's situation.

A truly holy man.

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mockturtle
I found it pretty odd that in an article about Thomas Merton, there wasn't a
single reference to Jesus Christ.

~~~
throwanem
Need there be? I don't see where the lack harms the article.

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brooklyndude
Thomas Merton is pretty far out. Some amazing souls have walked the earth. Get
away from your screen someday, and you mind may be blow, like really blown far
away.

Add to your list to explore: Dorothy Day Allan Watts Ram Das Krishnamurti

Should keep you busy, for a few decades.

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somberi
"A wounded man is not an agnostic - he just has different questions, arising
out of his wound." \- Merton.

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Animats
Well, if you're going to OD on religion, that's one of the better ways to do
it.

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prefect42
I've never studied Zen Buddhism, but Thomas Merton's message seems (to me) to
be inspired by the Bhagavad Gita. I like a guy who extols the virtues of
meditation.

~~~
fitzwatermellow
A fine "beat" poet as well ;)

[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-
poets/poets/detai...](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-
poets/poets/detail/thomas-james-merton)

Had he come of political consciousness during the Digital Age, rather than the
Cold War, his message would be exactly the same.

Any technological advancements that take us further away from the Mysterious
Unity, the Mother of All, will necessarily bind us in webs of illusion and
ultimately lead to disunity and strife.

~~~
trhway
>Any technological advancements that take us further away from the Mysterious
Unity, the Mother of All, will necessarily bind us in webs of illusion and
ultimately lead to disunity and strife.

i find that blaming of technology is kind of like cheating, kind of easy
scapegoating. Emergence of eukaryotes was a great bio-hack by the life back
then and that bio-hack directly led to separate organisms as we exist now thus
to disunity and strife. I guess we should instead have stayed as simple
molecules happily floating in the primordinary soup, in full nirvana and
mysterious unity.

~~~
eli_gottlieb
Look, if you're expecting terms like "Mysterious Unity" and "Mother of All",
complete with Capital Letters for Extra Cosmic Importance, _to actually mean
anything_ , you're expecting too much.

