Merton warns against the activities that "anesthetize" individuals and keep them from ever moving beyond the illusions and fictions that abound on the surface of life and present themselves as counterfeit reality. Such "distractions" keep individuals from experiencing the deeper realities of self, other, and God.

Christine M. Bochen, The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia by William H. Shannon, editor, Christine M. Bochen, editor, Patrick F. O'Connell, editor