[PDF] Zen And The Birds Of Appetite eBook

Author : Thomas Merton
Publisher : New Directions Publishing
Page : 164 pages
File Size : 36,97 MB
Release : 2010-07-27
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0811219720

GET BOOK

Merton, one of the rare Western thinkers able to feel at home in the philosophies of the East, made the wisdom of Asia available to Westerners. "Zen enriches no one," Thomas Merton provocatively writes in his opening statement to Zen and the Birds of Appetite—one of the last books to be published before his death in 1968. "There is no body to be found. The birds may come and circle for a while... but they soon go elsewhere. When they are gone, the 'nothing,' the 'no-body' that was there, suddenly appears. That is Zen. It was there all the time but the scavengers missed it, because it was not their kind of prey." This gets at the humor, paradox, and joy that one feels in Merton's discoveries of Zen during the last years of his life, a joy very much present in this collection of essays. Exploring the relationship between Christianity and Zen, especially through his dialogue with the great Zen teacher D.T. Suzuki, the book makes an excellent introduction to a comparative study of these two traditions, as well as giving the reader a strong taste of the mature Merton. Never does one feel him losing his own faith in these pages; rather one feels that faith getting deeply clarified and affirmed. Just as the body of "Zen" cannot be found by the scavengers, so too, Merton suggests, with the eternal truth of Christ.

Author : Thomas Merton
Publisher : New Directions Publishing
Page : 164 pages
File Size : 15,53 MB
Release : 1968
Category : Education
ISBN : 9780811201049

GET BOOK

Merton, one of the rare Western thinkers able to feel at home in the philosophies of the East, made the wisdom of Asia available to Westerners.

Author : Thomas Merton
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Page : 323 pages
File Size : 23,45 MB
Release : 1999-11-29
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 1429944005

GET BOOK

Thomas Merton was recognized as one of those rare Western minds that are entirely at home with the Zen experience. In this collection, he discusses diverse religious concepts-early monasticism, Russian Orthodox spirituality, the Shakers, and Zen Buddhism-with characteristic Western directness. Merton not only studied these religions from the outside but grasped them by empathy and living participation from within. "All these studies," wrote Merton, "are united by one central concern: to understand various ways in which men of different traditions have conceived the meaning and method of the 'way' which leads to the highest levels of religious or of metaphysical awareness."

Author : Thomas Merton
Publisher : New Directions Publishing
Page : 51 pages
File Size : 16,13 MB
Release : 2012-06-20
Category : Religion
ISBN : 081121995X

GET BOOK

A great introduction to the religions of the East by a monk from the West. Merton’s biographer, George Woodcock, once wrote that “almost from the beginning of his monastic career, Thomas Merton tentatively began to discover the great Asian religions of Buddhism and Taoism.” Merton, a longtime social justice advocate, first approached Eastern theology as an admirer of Gandhi’s beliefs on non-violence. Through Gandhi, Merton came to know the great Hindu text the Bhagavad Gita and in time came to have dialogues with the Dalai Lama and Taoist leader D. T. Suzuki. Merton then became deeply interested in Chuang Tzu and Zen thought. On Eastern Meditation, edited by Bonnie Thurston (author of Merton and Buddhism), gathers the best of his Eastern theological writings into a gorgeously designed gift book edition.

Author : Aelred Graham
Publisher : Gracewing Publishing
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 20,40 MB
Release : 1994
Category : Zen Buddhism
ISBN : 9780852442722

GET BOOK

The author's reflection upon Zen Buddhism and Catholicism has shown many points of contact between them, in spite of their divergent rituals and philosophies. Although he warns against the weaknesses of Zen, he urges Westerners in general, and Catholics in particular, to draw from its strengths, suggesting that the harmony Zen points to at the heart of religion could bring the West freedom from unnecessary anxiety and a new awareness of the peace of God.

Author : Thomas Merton
Publisher : New Directions Publishing
Page : 100 pages
File Size : 41,79 MB
Release : 1995
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780811212939

GET BOOK

An ecumenical anthology, Thoughts on the East gathers Merton's essential definitions of the religions that so much interested him - Taoism, Buddhism (in many forms, but especially Zen), Sufism, and Hinduism. Unified by Merton's belief that East and West share "a unity of outlook and purpose, a common spiritual climate", this eclectic selection also offers a fascinating introduction by the late George Woodcock, author of the acclaimed critical study, Thomas Merton: Monk and Poet.

Author : Zhuangzi
Publisher : New Directions Publishing
Page : 164 pages
File Size : 43,53 MB
Release : 1965
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780811201032

GET BOOK

Free renderings of selections from the works of Chuang-tzŭ, taken from various translations.

Author : Thomas Merton
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Page : 1085 pages
File Size : 13,87 MB
Release : 2011-04-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1429966769

GET BOOK

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is the most admired of all American Catholic writers. His journals have recently been published to wide acclaim. The collection of Merton's letters in The Hidden Ground of Love were selected and edited by William H. Shannon.

Author : Thomas Merton
Publisher : New Directions Publishing
Page : 484 pages
File Size : 26,13 MB
Release : 1975
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780811205702

GET BOOK

"This is quintessential Merton."--The Catholic Review.

Author : Thomas Merton
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 194 pages
File Size : 17,56 MB
Release : 2012-09-11
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0062245082

GET BOOK

Now in paperback, revised and redesigned: This is Thomas Merton's last book, in which he draws on both Eastern and Western traditions to explore the hot topic of contemplation/meditation in depth and to show how we can practice true contemplation in everyday life. Never before published except as a series of articles (one per chapter) in an academic journal, this book on contemplation was revised by Merton shortly before his untimely death. The material bridges Merton's early work on Catholic monasticism, mysticism, and contemplation with his later writing on Eastern, especially Buddhist, traditions of meditation and spirituality. This book thus provides a comprehensive understanding of contemplation that draws on the best of Western and Eastern traditions. Merton was still tinkering with this book when he died; it was the book he struggled with most during his career as a writer. But now the Merton Legacy Trust and experts have determined that the book makes such a valuable contribution as his major comprehensive presentation of contemplation that they have allowed its publication.