Today is Thomas Merton’s birthday anniversary (1915-1968). Merton was a monk, writer, photographer, social activist, intellectual and priest. He was also an early proponent of interreligious dialog and had a strong interest in Buddhism. He lived at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, a Catholic monastery in Trappist KY.
In 1970 at age 20 I had dropped out of college and was seeing a psychiatrist in Lexington KY, a 90 minute drive from Trappist. My psychiatrist invited me to go with him on an unstructured weekend retreat at the monastery. I went. Once at the monastery we went our separate ways. I spent my time attending pre-dawn services with the monks from a balcony, hiking the foothills around the Abbey, practicing meditation which the psychiatrist had taught me, and reading. I was reading G.I. Gurdjieff’s book “Meetings with Remarkable Men”. Little did I know that a remarkable man named Merton who died an accidental death two years earlier would come to meaningfully impact my life, as it has for many.
At the time of the retreat, the first I’d experienced, I didn’t know Thomas Merton from Thomas Mann. It was only 25 years later in mid-life that I discovered Merton’s writings. They supported significant mid-life changes that I was undergoing. As the Chinese book of wisdom the I-Ching puts it - “there are forces in the world bringing people together who need to be together”. I’d also add books and places to the mix. Thank you Thomas Merton and those mysterious “forces”….
In 1970 at age 20 I had dropped out of college and was seeing a psychiatrist in Lexington KY, a 90 minute drive from Trappist. My psychiatrist invited me to go with him on an unstructured weekend retreat at the monastery. I went. Once at the monastery we went our separate ways. I spent my time attending pre-dawn services with the monks from a balcony, hiking the foothills around the Abbey, practicing meditation which the psychiatrist had taught me, and reading. I was reading G.I. Gurdjieff’s book “Meetings with Remarkable Men”. Little did I know that a remarkable man named Merton who died an accidental death two years earlier would come to meaningfully impact my life, as it has for many.
At the time of the retreat, the first I’d experienced, I didn’t know Thomas Merton from Thomas Mann. It was only 25 years later in mid-life that I discovered Merton’s writings. They supported significant mid-life changes that I was undergoing. As the Chinese book of wisdom the I-Ching puts it - “there are forces in the world bringing people together who need to be together”. I’d also add books and places to the mix. Thank you Thomas Merton and those mysterious “forces”….