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Title: Mystics and Zen Masters by Thomas Merton ISBN: 0-374-52001-1 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 29 November, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Valuable for students of Asian religion and mysticism
Comment: Although this book is a collection of essays over a range of subjects, and therefore not a continuous work, it is a very valuable work for understanding Chinese religion, Zen, and European mysticism (the main topics it addresses). The essays are classicaly Merton, although they are written in a more academic style -- and perhaps this is why the book has drawn criticism from the other reviewers. In other words, this book is less for learning about prayer and contemplation for one's own daily practice, and more for delving a bit deeper into some of the technical and historical aspects of Zen and Christian mysticism. For those interested in the latter, however, Merton does a very good job. His understanding of Zen is remarkable for someone who did not engage in it firsthand and who (I assume) learned about it primarily from reading while he was in the monastery. The first essay (with the same title as the book) gives a very interesting and understandable account of the break between the Northern and Southern schools, and the Zen of Hui-neng vs. the Zen of Hsen-hsiu.
So, although this book may not be for everyone, it is still a very fine work and will be very beneficial for many readers.
Rating: 3
Summary: This book is all over the place...
Comment: Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a Roman Catholic monk who frequently wrote on religious topics. This particular book, however, is quite scattered. The format is a collection of essays and articles with no seeming link, paper to paper. Some of the better essays are: "Classic Chinese Thought" "From Pilgrimage to Crusade" "The Jesuits in China" "Pleasant Hill"
Merton states his goal in these terms, "All these studies are united by one central concern: to understand various ways in which men of different traditions have conceived the meaning and method of the 'way' which leads to the highest levels of religious or of metaphysical awareness."
Some of his essays (notably "The English Mystics," and, "Russian Mystics,") are so detailed (and obtuse) that I understood little of what he was talking about. I wondered at this point what Merton's intended audience was... Obviously, someone who has a fairly solid working knowledge of monasticism and mysticism. However, the detail he goes into quickly becomes difficult (and even boring) for the uninitiated.
"Classic Chinese Thought," is an exposition of ancient Chinese thought and is definitely the most clear and accessible piece in the whole book, in my opinion. "From Pilgrimage to Crusade," traces the original idea of being a pilgrim (i.e. an act of penance for serious sins) to the frankly military enterprise which captured Jerusalem in 1099 A.D. "The Jesuits in China," was also a very interesting study in missions; the Jesuits did not import their European heritage initially when they came to China. They slowly became Chinese (inasmuch as this is possible for Westerners) and thus were better able to conduct evangelism. Though this essay was somewhat unorthodox in some areas, I found it to be new perspective on missions. "Pleasant Hill," describes an American group known as Shakers (they were something of a cross between Mennonites and Pentecostals); they existed from the American Revolution to about 1850. They really personified the idea of the Protestant work ethic and I found the group very interesting. It is unfortunate that the Industrial Revolution (which made their hand made goods obsolete, to oversimplify) and their celibacy (they lived in isolated communities and refused to marry and have children; so unless new people joined the order, it was only a matter of time before it collapsed) slowly eliminated them.
Merton's pluralism is very problematic, to say the least. He takes those oft quoted words from Vatican II, "The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions," and stretches them. I personally hold that the Holy Spirit is active in other (i.e. non-Christian) religions to prepare them for Christian evangelism, I still maintain that salvation is only to be found in Christ (i.e. John 14:6. Acts 4:12. 1 Timothy 2:5). Merton castigates his fellow Catholics for dismissing Eastern Religions; I agree that to properly to show the insufficiency of non-Christian religions, one must have some knowledge of them
To end on a positive note, I think Merton does an admirable attempt to provide something of a definition for that ever-illusive way of the East, Zen Buddhism. At one point, he describes Zen Buddhism as the religious existentialism of the East; this is one of the briefest definitions I have yet come across.
Overall, I would *not* recommend this book.
Rating: 3
Summary: Mystics and Zen Masters-a review
Comment: Thomas Merton researched this book thoroughly by pouring through obscure and not-so-obscure texts in many classifications and countries. The book is a tracing of the development of each of the religions throughout their known records, with comparisons to major ideologies. English and Russian Mystics are delved into, as well as religion in China, early Buddhism, the Tao and the Jesuit's presence there. Christianity's high points are scanned. Monasticism is explored in both Protestantism and Zen Buddhism. Although it reads like a PhD. dissertation, Mystics and Zen Masters comes to some valuable conclusions about the evolution and the future to come of some of our world religions.
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Title: Zen and the Birds of Appetite. by Thomas, Merton ISBN: 081120104X Publisher: New Directions Publishing Pub. Date: February, 1988 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton by Thomas Merton, Patrick Hart, Naomi B. Stone ISBN: 0811205703 Publisher: New Directions Publishing Pub. Date: February, 1988 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton, Edgar Neville ISBN: 0811201031 Publisher: New Directions Publishing Pub. Date: March, 1988 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton ISBN: 081120099X Publisher: New Directions Publishing Pub. Date: November, 1974 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Sign of Jonas by Thomas Merton ISBN: 015602800X Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 18 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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