New Seeds of ContemplationThis edition is a much-enlarged and revised version of Seeds of Contemplation, one of the late Father Thomas Merton's most widely read and best-loved works. In its original form, the book was reprinted ten times in this country alone, and has been translated into more than a dozen languages, including Chinese and Japanese. Christians and non-Christians alike have joined in praising it as a notable successor in the meditative tradition of St. John of the Cross, The Cloud of Unknowing, and the medieval mystics, while others have compared Merton's reflections with those of Thoreau. New Seeds of Contemplation seeks to awaken the dormant inner depths of the spirit so long neglected by Western man, to nurture a deeply contemplative and mystical dimension in our spiritual lives. For Father Merton, "Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so 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." |
Contents
WHAT IS CONTEMPLATION? I | 1 |
WHAT CONTEMPLATION IS NOT | 6 |
SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION | 14 |
EVERYTHING THAT IS IS HOLY | 21 |
THINGS IN THEIR IDENTITY | 29 |
PRAY FOR YOUR OWN DISCOVERY | 37 |
UNION AND DIVISION | 47 |
SOLITUDE IS NOT SEPARATION | 52 |
LEARN TO BE ALONE | 80 |
THE PURE HEART | 84 |
THE MORAL THEOLOGY OF THE DEVIL | 90 |
INTEGRITY | 98 |
SENTENCES | 104 |
THE ROOT OF WAR IS FEAR | 112 |
HELL AS HATRED | 123 |
FAITH | 126 |
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Common terms and phrases
able accept activity aware become begin believe body bring Christ Church comes completely concept contemplation created darkness death deep depends depths desire divine efforts emptiness enter everything evil existence experience eyes fact faith false feel freedom fully gift give glory God's grace happiness hate heart hidden holy hope human humility idea identity imagination important infinite interior keep kind less light live longer matter means merely mind mystery mystical nature never object obscure ourselves pain peace perfect perhaps person pleasure Poems possess poverty pray prayer presence pure reach reality realize reason receive remain rest saints sanctity secret seek seems selfishness sense share simply solitude sometimes soul speak spiritual suffering theology things thought tion true truth turn understand union whole