Thomas Merton's "Woods, Shore, Desert with photographs by author"
February 4, 2011 By Shadi Mogadine
“Whether he lives a life of action or withdraws from the world, the ignorant man does not find spiritual peace.” – Ashtavakra Gita as quoted by Thomas Merton
Thomas MertonWhile in retreat, it is both inspiring and soothing to take in the words of those who have traveled the path before us. Mystics put into words the experiences of life, the mind and the divine, which are often indescribable in any language or religion. Realizations that we have glimpses of while in retreat are brought into greater clarity by their shared contemplations.
Thomas Merton, a favorite retreat mystic with many of the Awakening Journal team, is a modern mystic who fulfills this role often by raising questions without attempting to answer them directly. The writer of the book’s foreword, Brother Patrick Hart says, “He believed that we are better known by the questions we ask than by the ready answers we often give.”
Like many other mystics, Merton sees beyond the codification of the human and divine experience that is religion and openly integrates teachings of many paths. His teachers included Christian Desert Fathers, Taoist philosophers, Buddhist Zen Masters and Lamas, Hindu Sadhus and Jewish Hasids.
Merton was born in France in 1915 to an American mother and New Zealand father, both of whom were artists. His mother died when he was six and he spent the years before his fathers’ death, when he was 16 years old, traveling with him or being shuttled between relatives. In 1934, he arrived in the U.S to live with relatives, while he completed his B.A. and M.A. in English Literature at Columbia University. In 1941, he took a train to Kentucky and disappeared behind the walls of a Trappist monastery, the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani. He spent the next 27 years living there under a strict rule of silence.
During this time, he wrote more than 50 books, essays, journals, biographies and poetry. His writing came to international attention and like many past masters he began to draw students and seekers. As a result, in 1968, he asked for and was granted permission to find a more isolated place for his hermitage. The light of this motivation illuminates all of “Woods, Shore, Desert,” giving deeper meaning to the journal entries. This journal of his quest to find a greater solitude has special significance for those interested in the path of retreat. It can brighten one’s life in retreat or spiritual life in the world.