A clinical psychologist in private practice and a popular retreat leader, James Finley is also the author of The Contemplative Heart. This paperback is the 25th anniversary edition of his classic book on Thomas Merton's view of the false self and the true calling of each person to be a son or daughter of God. Finley lived, prayed, and studied with Merton at the Abbey of Gethsemani in the 1960s.

Merton once wrote: "Contemplation is the highest and most paradoxical form of self-realization, attained by apparent self-annihilation." The ardent Trappist monk learned this truth through practicing silence and solitude. He would also note: "Let no one hope to find in contemplation an escape from conflict, from anguish, or from doubt. On the contrary, the deep inexpressible certitude of the contemplative experience awakens a tragic anguish and opens many questions in the depth of the heart like wounds that cannot stop bleeding."

One of Finley's most important contributions to the understanding of Merton's values and visions is his treatment of the complex subject of the false self. For this monk, sin is not essentially an action but rather an identity. The false self is a capitulation to our egocentric desires to have it our way. Merton, like many Buddhist sages, was wise enough to see that the false self has no qualms about even making spiritual practice into a selfish and self-centered project. In his book Mystics and Zen Masters, he shares this teaching story:

"A master saw a disciple who was very zealous in meditation.

"The master said: 'Virtuous one, what is your aim in practicing Zazen (meditation)?'

The disciple said: 'My aim is to become a Buddha.'

Then the master picked up a tile and began polishing it on a stone in front of the hermitage.

"The disciple said: 'What is the Master doing?'

"The master said: ' I am polishing this tile to make it a mirror.'

"The disciple said: 'How can you make a mirror by polishing a tile?'

"The master replied: 'How can you make a Buddha by practicing Zazen?' "

Far too often, we miss the mark by putting self above everything else. Finley further comments: "We can get a spiritual hernia from polishing bricks. God's fire never leaps forth from our rubbing thought against thought."

Throughout this book, the author emphasizes that Merton's understanding of human nature held that we are both nothing and everything at the same time. He wrote: "We cannot arrive at the perfect possession of God in this life, and that is why we are travelling and in darkness. But we already possess Him by grace, and therefore in that sense we have arrived and are dwelling in the light." Holding this paradox lightly, we walk the contemplative path of personal renewal. Merton's Palace of Nowhere by James Finley is an essential volume for the spiritual seeker's library.