Thomas Merton may not need an introduction, but the editor of this book, David Odorisio, offers a good twenty pages about the Catholic monk and interspiritual pioneer. Merton died in 1968 while on pilgrimage in Asia, and Odorisio reveals links between what the famous writer said in these talks and where his life ended as a pilgrim to the East later that same year.
Before traveling to Asia in November, in May and October of 1968 (that terrible year of Vietnam, revolution in Europe, and the assassinations of Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy) Merton spent time at a women’s Cistercian abbey — Our Lady of the Redwoods — offering two conferences. This book, for the first time, makes those conferences available in transcription form. They are easy to read and important to digest, for Merton enthusiasts but also for anyone passionate about interfaith and interspiritual learning and discovery today.
Merton was talking to Christians at Our Lady of the Redwoods Abbey about ecology and consciousness, yoga and Hinduism, Native American and Sufi spirituality, and Zen and non-violence. He was so far ahead of his time. One sign of the prescience of these contents is the simple fact, explained here, that a young contemplative monk named Brother David Steindl-Rast, who is now 97 years old and still writing, was present in California to hear Merton that year. In many ways, Steindl-Rast picked up Merton’s mantle after he died.
This book is not inexpensive, but it should be noted that it’s 450 pages are beautifully typeset and designed with striking, well-chosen black-and-white photographs and illustrations.
Go Deeper:
Thomas Merton's Abiding Legacy: An E-Course reviewing Merton's key teachings on the contemplative life and their continuing relevance to contemporary life.
