Thomas Merton, Buddhism and Centering Prayer

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po18guy said:
I note here that it was fellow Trappist monk Thomas Merton who was first ordered by his Bishop to engage with Buddhism, and then quite possibly was seduced by Buddhism.

Isn’t Christ the “center” of our faith? Is He not the source and summit of our belief? Centering on the self? Ugh. This makes me uncomfortable, since it is all so subtle, and the devil is the most subtle of all creatures.
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Aspersions such as this against an ordained religious who died in good standing with the Church, faithful to his vocation are sad to see.

Christ is indeed the center of our belief and our life and there are many ways to him. Anything that helps us come to a more contemplative moment closer to him ought to be welcomed. I think I have done a labyrinth only once or twice. While walking it, one can do many things including stations of the cross, rosary, Divine Office, etc.
 
Michael_Mayo said:
Yes “aspersions”. The article is a perfect example.
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Was Merton infallible in his writings? And, where is the clergy immune from brotherly correction if it is believed that they might be straying?

Are you judging the many who urge caution in Merton’s writings as being disobedient, sinful, hard-hearted, heterodox or worse?
 
Benedictine and Cistercian Christians monastics have discovered many of the same things that Buddhist monastics have discovered in their respective searches for God. They are both contemplatives. Buddhists had climbed the mountains and established monasteries 800 years before the first followers of Jesus walked off into the deserts of Southern Egypt. Both understand the need for silence, solitude, penance and community in their own unique way. Both Buddhists and Benedictines, especially the Cistercians, have learned much from each other.

What is good for a highly experienced and strictly supervised contemplative Cistercian monastic isn’t necessarily good for the average Catholic in the pew and most of the people who comment about Cistercian associations with Eastern spirituality really have no idea who Cistercians are. I have spent time with Cistercians and even lived with them for a week. We are commenting from our own perspective in the western world but they are unlike anyone else I have ever met. We should learn about them before we condemn their practices.

People who comment on Merton should read his work, especially his autobiography Seven Storey Mountain.

The Cistercian Way by Andre Louf is the best book on Cistercian spirituality for anyone who would like to learn.

littlerockscripture.org/covers/0879079762.jpg

To keep it on topic, I thought labyrinths were an Anglican thing?

-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
Benedictine and Cistercian Christians monastics have discovered many of the same things that Buddhist monastics have discovered in their respective searches for God. They are both contemplatives. Buddhists had climbed the mountains and established monasteries 800 years before the first followers of Jesus walked off into the deserts of Southern Egypt. Both understand the need for silence, solitude, penance and community in their own unique way. Both Buddhists and Benedictines, especially the Cistercians, have learned much from each other.

What is good for a highly experienced and strictly supervised contemplative Cistercian monastic isn’t necessarily good for the average Catholic in the pew and most of the people who comment about Cistercian associations with Eastern spirituality really have no idea who Cistercians are. I have spent time with Cistercians and even lived with them for a week. We are commenting from our own perspective in the western world but they are unlike anyone else I have ever met. We should learn about them before we condemn their practices.

People who comment on Merton should read his work, especially his autobiography Seven Storey Mountain.

The Cistercian Way by Andre Louf is the best book on Cistercian spirituality for anyone who would like to learn.

littlerockscripture.org/covers/0879079762.jpg

To keep it on topic, I thought labyrinths were an Anglican thing?

-Tim-
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Well stated, there is something to be said for the universality of truth (God is truth after all) for those who honestly seek it.

The idea of the Christ being the Center pops up in many areas of Catholicism. For example in writings of exorcists, who point out the need to understand the importance of the Centrality of Christ in their profession.
 
po18guy said:
Was Merton infallible in his writings? And, where is the clergy immune from brotherly correction if it is believed that they might be straying?

Are you judging the many who urge caution in Merton’s writings as being disobedient, sinful, hard-hearted, heterodox or worse?
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Infallible? :confused:
Who’s job is it to decide if correction is needed and to correct? On the contrary, the man was encourage to write and write more.

I guess I am one of the many who “have found that through Merton’s writings, they have grown to more fully love and serve Christ.” So a comment such as, “quite possibly seduced by Buddhism” seems an over simplistic mischaracterization that does indeed detract from this man’s faithfulness.

The article you posted starts out, “With respect to Thomas Merton, there has been no official concern specifically expressed about his writings that I am aware of.”

Then goes on to say, " The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton, 1973: Here we find his final writings, and they are full of cathartic angst. At the end of this journal, one senses that Merton has knowingly wandered from clear Church teaching."

One senses that Merton has knowingly wandered from clear Church teaching?

I doubt there is agreement on such an uncharitable statement.
Certainly no official concern specifically expressed.

But this is not a thread on Thomas Merton. Sorry I butted in.
 
TimothyH said:
I have spent time with Cistercians and even lived with them for a week.
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Was that with the monks in Iowa? I spent a month with them about 25 years ago. Farm work and prayer. What a wonderful place and yet as a life style, every day, every week, every month, every year…that takes a call from God. But what a great way to spend a vacation for the rest of us.
 
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