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The spiritual and psychological insights of these essays were nurtured in a monastic milieu, but their issues are universally human. Thomas Merton lays a foundation for personal growth and transformation through fidelity to "our own truth and inner being." His main focus is our desire and need to attain "a fully human and personal identity." This classic is a newly restored and corrected edition and the inaugural volume of Gethsemani Studies in Psychological and Religious Anthropology, a series of books that explores, through the twin perspectives of psychology and religion, the dynamics and depths of being fully human. "When I speak of the contemplative life I do not mean the institutional, cloistered life, . . . I am talking about a special dimension of inner discipline and experience, a certain integrity and fullness of personal development . . . . Discovering the contemplative life is a new self-discovery. One might say it is the flowering of a deeper identity on an entirely different plane . . ." --Thomas Merton, from the book
"Merton was one of the most important spiritual writers of the century, a monk and writer widely acknowledged as . . . one who has deep and intuitive wisdom about the ways of the spiritual life." —Anne Carr
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani for twenty-seven years, serving as Novice Master for over a decade. A prolific writer, his works include Faith and Violence, which is also published by the University of Notre Dame Press.