The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation

by Merton, Thomas; Shannon, William Henry

• ISBN13: 9780060570606
• ISBN10: 0060570601
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-05-01
• Publisher: Harpercollins

Summary

"Thomas Merton's final book explores the meaning and daily practice of contemplation - the heart of monastic and religious experience. This is his most comprehensive work on the subject. And now, the Merton Legacy Trust has decided to produce this expertly edited treatment, which Merton was finishing at the time of his death. The Inner Experience is a major addition to the Merton canon." "Faithfully edited by Merton scholar William H. Shannon, The Inner Experience bridges Merton's early, thoroughly Catholic works on contemplation with his later, wide-ranging writings This book signals his growing interest in Eastern, especially Buddhist, traditions of meditation and spirituality, which would significantly influence his thinking and writing in the last decade of his life."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

Introduction
A Preliminary Warning	p. 1
The Awakening of the Inner Self	p. 6
Society and the Inner Self	p. 19
Christian Contemplation	p. 35
Kinds of Contemplation	p. 57
Infused Contemplation	p. 71
Five Texts on Contemplative Prayer	p. 80
The Paradox of the Illuminative Way	p. 89
What to Do: The Teaching of St. John of the Cross	p. 95
Some Dangers	p. 101
Contemplation and Neurosis	p. 110
The Desire of Contemplation	p. 115
The Sense of Sin	p. 118
Problems of the Contemplative Life	p. 123
Prospects and Conclusions	p. 142
References to 'The Inner Experience'	p. 155
Tables of Contents: A Comparison	p. 157
Notes	p. 159
Index	p. 173
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