Merton Thomas - Contemplative Prayer

Copyright 1969 by The Merton Legacy Trust
Introduction copyright 1996 by Image Books, an imprint of the
Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC
Study guide copyright 2014 by Image Books, an imprint of the
Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Image, an imprint of
the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC,
a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com

IMAGE is a registered trademark and the I colophon is a trademark of
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Originally published as Climate of Monastic Prayer and Contemplative Prayer by Cistercian Publications and Herder & Herder in 1969. First Image Books edition published in 1971. Subsequent Image Books edition published with new introduction in 1996.
This edition published by arrangement with Cistercian Publications.

Ecclesiastical approval to publish this book was received from Ignace Gillet, Abbot General of the Cistercian order, and Bernard Flanagan, Bishop of Worcester, October 30, 1968.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-0-385-09219-7
eBook ISBN 978-0-307-58953-8

2014 Image Edition

v3.0_r1

Louis Thomas Merton
19151968

I first met Thomas Merton in 1966. It is hard to describe his face in words, to write down exactly what he was like. He was filled with human warmth. Conversation with him was so easy. When we talked, I told him a few things, and he immediately understood the things I didnt tell him as well. He was open to everything, constantly asking questions and listening deeply. I told him about my life as a Buddhist novice in Vietnam, and he wanted to know more and more.

Our approach to prayer in Buddhism is a little different from that of Christianity. We practice silent meditation, and we try to practice mindfulness in everything we do, to awaken to what is going on inside us and all around us in each moment. The Buddha taught: If you are standing on one shore and want to cross over to the other shore, you have to use a boat or swim across. You cannot just pray, Oh, other shore, please come over here for me to step across! To a Buddhist, praying without also practicing is not real prayer.

In a real prayer, you ask only for the things you really need, things that are necessary for your well-being, such as peace, solidity, and freedomfreedom from anger, fear, and craving. Happiness and well-being are not possible without peace, solidity, and freedom. Most of our desires are not for our peace, solidity, and freedom. While you pray, you are deeply aware of what you really need and what is just the object of your desire. This kind of prayer is the light of God that shines upon you, telling you which way to go in order to obtain peace, solidity, and freedom. In a real prayer, you also touch the wholesome seeds in your consciousness and water them. These are seeds of compassion, love, understanding, forgiveness, and joy. If while praying you can recognize these seeds in you and help them grow, your prayer is already a deep practice. Following, for instance, is a Buddhist prayer for love that is practiced by all schools of Buddhism. Our Christian brothers and sisters know that God is love. This prayer is a practice to help us touch love and bring it into our daily life:

May I be peaceful, happy, and light in body and spirit. May he/she be peaceful, happy, and light in body and spirit.

May they be peaceful, happy, and light in body and spirit.

May I be free from injury. May I live in safety.

May he/she be free from injury. May he/she live in safety.

May they be free from injury. May they live in safety.

May I be free from disturbance, fear, anxiety, and worry.

May he/she be free from disturbance, fear, anxiety, and worry.

May they be free from disturbance, fear, anxiety, and worry.

May I learn to look at myself with the eyes of understanding and love.

May he/she learn to look at him/herself with the eyes of understanding and love.

May they learn to look at themselves with the eyes of understanding and love.

May I be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in myself.

May he/she be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in him/herself.

May they be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in themselves.

May I learn to identify and see the sources of anger, craving, and delusion in myself.

May he/she learn to identify and see the sources of anger, craving, and delusion in him/herself.

May they learn to identify and see the sources of anger, craving, and delusion in themselves.

May I know how to nourish the seeds of joy in myself every day.

May he/she know how to nourish the seeds of joy in him/herself every day.

May they know how to nourish the seeds of joy in themselves every day.

May I be able to live fresh, solid, and free.

May he/she be able to live fresh, solid, and free.

May they be able to live fresh, solid, and free.

May I be free from attachment and aversion, but not be indifferent.

May he/she be free from attachment and aversion, but not be indifferent.

May they be free from attachment and aversion, but not be indifferent.

This kind of prayer is also contemplation, meditation, and practice. It generates spirituality in every moment of our daily life.

In this wonderful book, Contemplative Prayer, Thomas Merton shares with us his own deep and nondualistic understanding of prayer and meditation. Like their Buddhist counterparts, many Christian practitioners refrain from excessive analytical scrutiny of the Scriptures. The Desert Father St. Macarius said, It is not necessary to use many words. Only stretch out your arms and say, Lord, have pity on me as you desire and as you well know how. And if the enemy presses you hard, say, Lord, come to my aid. Other early Christian monks also urged people to use short, simple prayers drawn from the Psalms. The most frequently used was O God, come to my aid (Deus in adjutorium meum intende).

Christians also practice calling the holy name of Jesus Christ. St. Macarius said, There is no other perfect meditation than the saving and blessed name of our Lord Jesus Christ dwelling without interruption in you. This practice is called interior recollection, abandoning distracting thoughts and humbly invoking the name of Jesus with all your heart. Merton writes, This simple practice is considered to be of crucial importance in the monastic prayer of the Eastern Church, since the sacramental power of the name of Jesus is believed to bring the Holy Spirit into the heart of the praying monk.

For monks of old, the secret of success in the practice was to keep the name of Jesus always in mind. The name of Jesus brings the energy of God, namely the Holy Spirit, into your own being. When the monk was able to do this, he could live his daily life in the presence of God. Buddhists in the Pure Land tradition practice similarly. They know that what is most essential is to maintain true concentration while reciting the name of Buddha, just as Christians know that they have to practice with their hearts and not call the Lords name in vain. Christian meditators do also take scripture as their subject,