A
Ahimsa
Guest
Interesting website.
- Status
R
reen12
Guest
Hi, Ahimsa,
Now that is very funny! I devoted quite a bit of time
years ago, reading Merton. I summarized my thoughts
on him in another thread.
What I didn’t say there was, that in the writings of
John Climacus, Climacus makes reference to that
time of day when a monk of the desert feels that he
can deepen his spirituality by wandering off from his
desert monastic setting…and that this was to be
considered a temptation like any other temptation to
the monastic life.
The first time I read that, guess who I thought of:
Thomas Merton.
I have a sense of compassion for Merton and am
in hopes that God has given him rest in peace.
[you’ve seen posts from me that detail my own
struggle and the years I’ve spent reading Buddhist
thought.]
Merton never struck me as having a highly
developed sense of Western logic, which perhaps
is the reason the East called so strongly to him.
Good for the other monk. To quote from an old
Charlie Chan movie: Truth speaks from any chair.
Be well, Ahimsa,
Maureen [reen12]
Now that is very funny! I devoted quite a bit of time
years ago, reading Merton. I summarized my thoughts
on him in another thread.
What I didn’t say there was, that in the writings of
John Climacus, Climacus makes reference to that
time of day when a monk of the desert feels that he
can deepen his spirituality by wandering off from his
desert monastic setting…and that this was to be
considered a temptation like any other temptation to
the monastic life.
The first time I read that, guess who I thought of:
Thomas Merton.
I have a sense of compassion for Merton and am
in hopes that God has given him rest in peace.
[you’ve seen posts from me that detail my own
struggle and the years I’ve spent reading Buddhist
thought.]
Merton never struck me as having a highly
developed sense of Western logic, which perhaps
is the reason the East called so strongly to him.
Good for the other monk. To quote from an old
Charlie Chan movie: Truth speaks from any chair.
Be well, Ahimsa,
Maureen [reen12]
S
social_concern
Guest
ov course he was a liberal. he was all about giving things to poor poeple and having a direct relationshp with god. he spoak about sharing and caring. he lovesa ll. there is nothing conservative there
V
Veritas
Guest
From the website:
“Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!”
I concur. Jesus loves us all.
Would Jesus be a liberal (of the current crop)?
A
Ahimsa
Guest
Hi Reen,
I’m reading The Seven Storey Mountain right now. (That’s where the quote came from.)
I’m reading The Seven Storey Mountain right now. (That’s where the quote came from.)
A
Ahimsa
Guest
Speaking of “the East”, the Catholic Church has apparently canonized the Buddha (under the name “Josaphat”):
Barlaam & Josaphat (Joasaph)
** The story relates that Josaphat (Joseph) was the son of an Indian king, who kept the young man confined in close quarters to prevent him from becoming a Christian. He was nevertheless converted by an ascetic named Barlaam, who disguised himself as a merchant and converted the boy. Eventually Josaphat resigned his throne to become a hermit with Barlaam.
**
Their names suggest that Barlaam and Josaphat came from the Far East, which indeed they did. Their story is a fable containing the entire text of the apologia for Christianity of the 2nd-century Saint Aristides the Athenian, which may otherwise have been lost. The present text of the story was included as a moral tale in Gesta Romanorum, traditionally assigned to Saint John Damascene and repeated by the wandering monks. It is a version of the legend of Siddhartha Buddha.
[Even though they are based on the Buddha story, Barlaam and Josaphat are really] fictional characters. How should we understand the mythical saints? Puritanical people sometimes become indignant over them, but these fabulous saints have a profound significance. They are the nursery tales of the Church, they testify to its antiquity, and to the wonderful creative power which can take the old, deep things of human nature and consecrate them. “For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” They are the heirlooms of the Church, like the vestments which were once no stranger than the everyday clothing of a Roman gentleman.
Barlaam & Josaphat (Joasaph)
** The story relates that Josaphat (Joseph) was the son of an Indian king, who kept the young man confined in close quarters to prevent him from becoming a Christian. He was nevertheless converted by an ascetic named Barlaam, who disguised himself as a merchant and converted the boy. Eventually Josaphat resigned his throne to become a hermit with Barlaam.
**
Their names suggest that Barlaam and Josaphat came from the Far East, which indeed they did. Their story is a fable containing the entire text of the apologia for Christianity of the 2nd-century Saint Aristides the Athenian, which may otherwise have been lost. The present text of the story was included as a moral tale in Gesta Romanorum, traditionally assigned to Saint John Damascene and repeated by the wandering monks. It is a version of the legend of Siddhartha Buddha.
[Even though they are based on the Buddha story, Barlaam and Josaphat are really] fictional characters. How should we understand the mythical saints? Puritanical people sometimes become indignant over them, but these fabulous saints have a profound significance. They are the nursery tales of the Church, they testify to its antiquity, and to the wonderful creative power which can take the old, deep things of human nature and consecrate them. “For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” They are the heirlooms of the Church, like the vestments which were once no stranger than the everyday clothing of a Roman gentleman.
R
reen12
Guest
Hello, Ahimsa,
Will be interested to know what you think of Merton
and his writings at some point.
Maureen [reen12]
Will be interested to know what you think of Merton
and his writings at some point.
Maureen [reen12]
- Status