THOMAS MERTON New Seeds of Contemplation I ' 1 " I i RELIGION --TWENty -SEVENTH PRINTIN G THOMAS MERTON New Seeds of Contemplation This 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 trans­ lated 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 Cro ss, The Cloud of Unknowing, and the medi­ eval mystics, while others have compared Merton's reflections with those of Thoreau. New Seeds of Contemplation seeks to awaken the dormant in­ ner depths of the spirit so long neglected by W estern 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 arc not pre­ pared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity and love." , ''. . , destined to go down as one of the great spiritual classics of our century," -Francine du Plessix Gray, New Republic A NEW DIRECTIONS PAPERBOOK NDP337 ISBN D-8112-DD99-X www.nd publishing.com 51295> $12.95 USA $18.99 CAN 9 780811 200998 NEW SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION By Thomas Merton THE ASIAN JOURNAL BREAD IN THE WILDERNESS THE COLLECTED POEMS EIGHTEEN POEMS GANDHI ON NON-VIOLENCE THE GEOGRAPHY OF LOGRAIRE THE LITERARY ESSAYS MY ARGUMENT WITH THE GESTAPO NEW SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION RAIDS ON THE UNSPEAKABLE SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION SELECTED POEMS THOMAS MERTON IN ALASKA THOUGHTS ON THE EAST THE WAY OF CHUANG TZU THE WISDOM OF THE DESERT ZEN AND THE BIRDSOF APPETITE About Thomas Merton WORDS AND SILENCE: ON THE POETRY OF THOMAS MERTON by Sister Therese Lentfoehr Published by New Directions New Seeds of Contemplation Thomas Merton A NEW DIRECTIONS BOOK Copyright © I 96 I by the Abbey of Gethsemani, Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-17869 (ISBN: 0-8112-0099-x) All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in a news­ paper, magazine, radio, or television review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any infor­ mation storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher. First published clothbound in 1962 First published as New Directions Paperbook 337 in 1972 Published simultaneously in Canada by Penguin Books Canada Limited Manufactured in the United States of America New Directions books are printed on acid-free paper New Directions Books are published for James Laughlin by New Directions Publishing Corporation, 80 Eighth Avenue New York 1001 I Nihil obstat James F. Rigney, S.T.D. Censor Librorum Imprimatur Francis Cardinal Spellman Archbishop of New York EX PARTE ORDINIS Nihil obstat Fr. M. Paul Bourne, O.C.S.O. Fr. M. Thomas Aquinas Porter, O.C.S.O. Imprimi Potest Fr. M. Gabriel Sortais Abbot General April 10, 1961 TWENTY-SEVENTH PRINTING TlX QUI SEDES 10J TENEBRIS SPE TllA GAUDE: OB··.f".\. STELLA I\fATtrrINA Contents PREFACE IX AUTHOR'S NOTE XIII I WHAT Is CONTEMPLATION? 2 6 WHAT CONTEMPLATION Is NOT 3 SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION 14 4 EVERYTHING THAT Is, Is HOLY 21 5 THINGS IN THEIR IDENTITY 29 6 PRAY FOR YOUR OWN DISCOVERY 37 7 UNION AND DIVISION 47 8 SOLITUDE Is NOT SEPARATION 52 9 WE ARE ONE MAN 64 10 A BODY OF BROKEN BONES 7° 80 I I LEARN To BE ALONE 12 THE PURE HEART 84 13 THE MORAL THEOLOGY OF THE DEVIL 9° 14 INTEGRITY 98 15 SENTENCES 1°4 16 THE ROOT OF WAR Is FEAR 112 17 HELL AS HATRED 123 18 FAITH 126 19 FROM FAITH TO WISDOM 131 20 TRADITION AND REVOLUTION 142 21 THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST 15° 22 LIFE IN CHRIST 158 23 THE WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN 167 24 I-IE WHO Is NOT WITH ME IsAGAINST ME 176 25 HUMILITY AGAINST DESPAIR 180 26 FREEDOM UNDER OBEDIENCE 191 27 WHAT Is LIBERTY? 199 28 DETACHMENT 2°3 29 MENTAL PRAYER 21 4 3° DISTRACTIONS 221 31 THE GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING 225 32 THE NIGHT OF THE SENSES 233 33 JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS 239 34 THE WRONG FLAME 245 35 RENUNCIAnON 25° 36 INWARD DESTITUTION 262 37 SHARING THE FRUITS OF CONTEMPLATION 268 38 PURE LOVE 275 39 THE GENERAL DANCE 29° Preface THIS is not merely a new edition of an old book. It is in many ways a completely new book. The full substance of the former work has been retained, only a sentence here and there has been discarded. Minor corrections have been made in the original text, and there have been very numerous additions. Almost every chapter has been considerably expanded and several completely new chapters have been added. The purpose of this revision was not simply to make a larger book out of a small one, but to say many new things that could profitably be added to the old. And there was very good reason for saying these new things within the context of what was said before, in a different way. More than twelve years have passed between the first and second redactions of this text. When the book was first written, the author had no experience in confronting the needs and problems of other men. The book was written in a kind of isolation, in which the author was alone with his own experience of the contemplative life. And such a book can be written best, perhaps only, in solitude. The second writing has been no less solitary than the first: but the author's solitude has been modified . lX