New Seeds of Contemplation

Rating:
Summary: New Life In Christ, In Contemplation
Review: "Every moment and every event of every man's life plants something in his soul ... each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity and love."

That is a difficult passage, and it is quitessential Merton. This book is somewhat of a losing proposition in that Merton seeks to define what, he admits, is truly indefinable. Merton takes a pretty good stab at it in this book, however.

And so "contemplation" is as follows:

"Contemplative prayer is a deep and simplified spiritual activity in which the mind and will rest in a unified and simple concentration upon God, turned to Him, intent upon Him and absorbed in His own light, with a simple gaze which is perfect adoration because it silently tells God that we have left everything else and desire even to leave our own selves for His sake, and that He alone is important to us, He alone is our desire and our Life, and nothing else can give us any joy."

That quote frames the whole book. We must rid ourselves of every material and spiritual attachment. In so doing, we will be able to rest completely in the love of God. That is the crux of Merton's argument.

Do not be mislead, Merton is not saying that we need to rid ourselves of spirituality or material goods. Merton's point is that it is our attachment to these things that hinder our contemplation of God.

Merton also provides some practical advice on the Christian walk. For example, Merton speaks of responsibility for wealth as follows:

"If you have money, consider that perhaps the only reason God allowed it to fall into your hands was in order that you might find joy and perfection by giving it all away."

I found Merton's chapters on the "The Moral Theology of the Devil" and "The Woman Clothed with the Sun" most interesting. Merton uses Mary as an example of perfect contemplation.

Mary's greatest glory, argues Merton, is simply the glory of God in her; that she has nothing which she has not received from Christ. Having nothing of her own, retaining nothing of a "self" that can glory in anything for her own sake, Mary placed no obstacle to the Mercy of God and did not resist his Will. And that, in a few sentences, is the Catholic conception of Mary.

This book will challenge you. If you are like me, you will be humbled by this book. It is difficult reading, however, so be forewarned. The effort is worth it. May this book bless you.

Rating:
Summary: New Life In Christ, In Contemplation
Review: "Every moment and every event of every man's life plants something in his soul ... each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity and love."

That is a difficult passage, and it is quitessential Merton. This book is somewhat of a losing proposition in that Merton seeks to define what, he admits, is truly indefinable. Merton takes a pretty good stab at it in this book, however.

And so "contemplation" is as follows:

"Contemplative prayer is a deep and simplified spiritual activity in which the mind and will rest in a unified and simple concentration upon God, turned to Him, intent upon Him and absorbed in His own light, with a simple gaze which is perfect adoration because it silently tells God that we have left everything else and desire even to leave our own selves for His sake, and that He alone is important to us, He alone is our desire and our Life, and nothing else can give us any joy."

That quote frames the whole book. We must rid ourselves of every material and spiritual attachment. In so doing, we will be able to rest completely in the love of God. That is the crux of Merton's argument.

Do not be mislead, Merton is not saying that we need to rid ourselves of spirituality or material goods. Merton's point is that it is our attachment to these things that hinder our contemplation of God.

Merton also provides some practical advice on the Christian walk. For example, Merton speaks of responsibility for wealth as follows:

"If you have money, consider that perhaps the only reason God allowed it to fall into your hands was in order that you might find joy and perfection by giving it all away."

I found Merton's chapters on the "The Moral Theology of the Devil" and "The Woman Clothed with the Sun" most interesting. Merton uses Mary as an example of perfect contemplation.

Mary's greatest glory, argues Merton, is simply the glory of God in her; that she has nothing which she has not received from Christ. Having nothing of her own, retaining nothing of a "self" that can glory in anything for her own sake, Mary placed no obstacle to the Mercy of God and did not resist his Will. And that, in a few sentences, is the Catholic conception of Mary.

This book will challenge you. If you are like me, you will be humbled by this book. It is difficult reading, however, so be forewarned. The effort is worth it. May this book bless you.

Rating:
Summary: Freedom
Review: "In order to become myself I must cease to be what I always thought I wanted to be, and in order to find myself I must go out of myself, and in order to live I have to die." (Chapter 7)

As the world moves into a new century, these earnest, seeking, searching, truthful words of Thomas Merton still have the power to make folks examine themselves.

"New Seeds of Contemplation" is one heck of a book. I have yet to encounter a better book on the subject of confronting our false selves--our impostors. Each chapter is absolutely loaded with food for thought; and more than thought...contemplative prayer:

"I wonder if the are twenty men alive in the world now who see things as they really are. That would mean that there were twenty men who were free, who were not dominated or even influenced by any attachment to any created thing or to their own selves or to any gift of God, even to the highest, the most supernaturally pure of His graces. I don't believe there are twenty such men alive in the world. But there must be one or two. They are the ones who are holding everything together and keeping the universe from falling apart." (Chapter 28)

The world (and eternity for that matter) will only be changed as people like those described in the passage above increasingly take their focus off the visible and seek instead the invisible, yet more real, kingdom.

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36)

"New Seeds of Contemplation" Is humbling to read. I've spent some time with it now (books like this demand more time than others). It will change those who are willing to interact with the author's Creator while prayerfully reading it. I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful introduction into contemplation of absolute truths
Review: A nonconfrontational look at contemplation. As is explained, this is not an apologetic on Christianity, but a notebook of thoughts about being a contemplative/mystic; do not assume that upon compleation of reading this, you will be either; but a dozen readings my provide you with enough insight to begin your own contempletive journey into absolute truth, life and God. While the casual contemplative may enjoy this book; it is designed for those who truly recognize the joy to be attained through contemplation.

Rating:
Summary: A classic of Christian spirituality
Review: A wonderful book for anyone involved in contemplative spiritual practice. A collection of brief, well-crafted reflections on the contemplative life, by a 20th-century Trappist monk. I return to this book regularly.

Note that this book may not be for you if you aren't engaged in contemplative practice. Buddhist meditators are more likely to appreciate it than are Christian non-meditators.

If you're looking for a beginning "how to" book on contemplative prayer, try "The Cloud of Unknowing" or Thomas Keating's "Open Mind, Open Heart."

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps, THE definitive book on contemplative prayer.
Review: Anyone interested in truly seeking the inner-self (and all its facets) and an adult connection to God need look no further. Merton, often difficult to read and more often difficult to understand, clearly shows the reader how to search for truth and salvation by looking deep inside himself. Straight forward, frank, and breath-takingly honest, Merton shows the reader that the truest way to ecstacy of oneness with the Creator occurs only after he has trugged his way up from pits of despair (and back again and again). While the spiritual novice may find it hard to connect with this book, it might just become the essential guide for those who seek self-truth above all else. This is Merton at his absolute best.

Rating:
Summary: Questions that give birth to faith and hope
Review: As has been noted, this book is an apologia for Christian liberty. But it is also a gentle apologia for certain aspects of Christian tradition. We note chapter 20, "Tradition and Revolution," a chapter which many of Merton's admirers might deem uncharacteristic. In it, Merton states that for him and for many others, an adherence to Catholic dogma does not prove obstacular to contemplation or to spiritual freedom, but rather makes it possible.

It is sometimes possible to forget, in the light of some passages in his other books which might be construed as antinomian, or anti-authoritarian, that Thomas Merton was a Cistercian monk of the Catholic Church, who lived under abbatial authority and the Rule of Saint Benedict. To be sure, he often complained in his later years of the rigors of his chosen life; but he never abandoned it.

Other chapters of especial interest to this reader were "Sentences," "Freedom under Obedience," "What is Liberty," "The Woman Cloth!ed with the Sun," and "The General Dance." In chapter 22, "Life in Christ," we have a metaphor worthy of a Metaphysical poet, and an admonition:

"Souls are like wax waiting for a seal [...] The wax that has melted in God's will can easily receive the stamp of its identity, the truth of what it was meant to be. But the wax that is hard and dry and brittle and without love will not take the seal: for the hard seal, descending upon it, grinds it to powder" (p. 161).

We are indebted to "New Seeds of Contemplation" for shedding new light on the spiritual life, and for demonstrating that discipline can facilitate freedom, that law is not an antonym of love. In one or two places, we might quibble with what seems a misplaced emphasis, or a conclusion that is more sure-of-itself than sure, but we do not doubt this book's ability to give birth to questions that give birth in turn to faith and Christian hope.

Rating:
Summary: Tremendous explication of monastic contemplation
Review: Based on his original 'Seeds of Contemplation' it is reviewed with an eye to greater humility. There is more about Contemplation itself, and less about 'saving the world through prayer'. Truly excellent, as are all Merton books.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring Book
Review: Beautiful thought provoking book- difficult reading that forces you into deep thinking and prayer. It is the kind of book you definitely will read more than once-

Rating:
Summary: A quiet book for these troubled times.
Review: For me, Thomas Merton is the Thoreau of the interior world. I return to this spiritual classic whenever the outer world is too much with me, and I feel the need for sanity and solitude. First published in 1961, his book "was written in a kind of isolation," in which Merton was close to his own experience with the contemplative life (p. ix). Like WALDEN, such books can be written best only in solitude. In this book, you will experience the quiet writings of a Trappist monk, trying to work out his own salvation through contemplative prayer, desiring to find God, to see Him and to love Him as if it is the only thing that matters. He writes, "contemplative prayer is a deep and simplified spiritual activity in which the mind and will rest in a unified and simple concentration upon God, turned to Him, intent upon Him and absorbed in His own light, with a simple gaze which is perfect adoration because it silently tells God that we have left everything else and desire even to leave our own selves for His sake, and that He alone is important to us, He alone is our desire and our life, and nothing else can give us any joy" (p. 243). "Contemplation is the highest expression of man's intellectual and spiritual life," he writes. "It is that life itself, fully awake, fully alive, fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual wonder" (p. 1).

Father Merton tells us that "every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul" (p. 14). Pale dogwood flowers, for instance, and little yellow flowers that nobody notices by the side of the road "are saints looking up into the face of God." "The leaf has its own texture and its own pattern of veins and its own holy shape" (p. 30). Working out our own salvation "demands close attention to reality at every moment, and great fidelity to God as He reveals Himself, obscurely, in the mystery of each new situation" (p. 32). "Our vocation is not simply to be," Merton writes, "but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny" (p. 32).

This book offers us words to live by. "Do everything you can," he advises us, "to avoid the noise and the business of men. Keep as far away as you can from the places they gather to cheat and insult one another, to exploit one another, to laugh at one another, or to mock one another with their false gestures of friendship. Be glad if you can keep beyond the reach of their radios. Do not bother with their unearthly songs. Do not read their advertisements" (p. 84). "If you have to live in a city and work among machines and ride in subways and eat in a place where the radio makes you deaf with spurious news and where the food destroys your life and the sentiments of those around you poison your heart with boredom, do not be impatient, but accept it as the love of God and as a seed of solitude planted in your soul" (pp. 86-7).

Merton knows God's mysterious ways like Thoreau knows Walden Pond. For those who want to experience "the joy of the cosmic dance which is always there" (p. 297), away from the sadness, absurdity, and despair of the world, I highly recommend this book.

G. Merritt