Editing Thomas Merton (section)

==Spirituality beyond Catholicism==
===Eastern religions===
Merton was first exposed to and became interested in [[Eastern religions]] when he read [[Aldous Huxley]]'s ''[[Ends and Means]]'' in 1937, the year before his conversion to [[Catholicism]].<ref>''Solitary Explorer: Thomas Merton's Transforming Journey'' p.100.</ref> Throughout his life, he studied [[Buddhism]], [[Confucianism]], [[Taoism]], [[Hinduism]], [[Sikhism]], [[Jainism]], and [[Sufism]] in addition to his academic and monastic studies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/merton.htm|title=Thomas Merton|website=lighthousetrailsresearch.com|access-date=May 31, 2024|archive-date=February 27, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227173425/https://lighthousetrailsresearch.com/merton.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

While Merton was not interested in what these traditions had to offer as doctrines and institutions, he was deeply interested in what each said of the depth of human experience. He believed that for the most part, Christianity had forsaken its mystical tradition in favor of [[Cartesian dualism|Cartesian]] emphasis on "the reification of concepts, idolization of the reflexive consciousness, flight from being into verbalism, mathematics, and rationalization."<ref>''Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander'' p. 285.</ref>

Merton was perhaps most interested in—and, of all of the Eastern traditions, wrote the most about—[[Zen]]. Having studied the [[Desert Fathers]] and other Christian mystics as part of his monastic vocation, Merton had a deep understanding of what it was those men sought and experienced in their seeking. He found many parallels between the language of these Christian mystics and the language of Zen philosophy.<ref name="Solitary Explorer p.105"/>

In 1959, Merton began a dialogue with [[D.&nbsp;T. Suzuki]] which was published nearly ten years later in Merton's ''Zen and the Birds of Appetite'' as "Wisdom in Emptiness". Merton wrote then that "any attempt to handle Zen in theological language is bound to miss the point," calling his final statements "an example of how not to approach Zen."<ref>''Zen and the Birds of Appetite'' p. 139.</ref> Merton struggled to reconcile the Western and Christian impulse to catalog and put into words with the ideas of Christian [[apophatic theology]] and the unspeakable nature of the Zen experience. Zhong Fushi mentions having met Merton, who allegedly said to him  '''“'''Zen, is a way of perceiving the substantial reality of all things—their goodness, their beauty, and their oneness (ichinyo). Zhong interpreted this as Merton aligning Zen Buddhism with an enlightment of the Aristotelean-Thomistic transcendentals common to everything that has or is or will exist.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fashi |first=Zhong |date=2024-01-01 |title=The Zen Letters |url=https://www.academia.edu/125077462 |journal=Private}}</ref>

In keeping with his idea that non-Christian faiths had much to offer Christianity in experience and perspective and little or nothing in terms of doctrine, Merton distinguished between Zen Buddhism, an expression of history and culture, and Zen.<ref name="Solitary Explorer p.105">''Solitary Explorer: Thomas Merton's Transforming Journey'' p. 105.</ref> By Zen, Merton meant something not bound by culture, religion or belief. Merton was influenced by Aelred Graham's book ''Zen Catholicism'' of 1963.<ref>''Solitary Explorer: Thomas Merton's Transforming Journey'' p. 106.</ref><ref group="note">"Can a philosophy of life which originated in India centuries before Christ—still accepted as valid, in one or other of its many variants, by several hundred millions of our contemporaries—be of service to Catholics, or those interested in Catholicism, in elucidating certain aspects of the Church's own message? The possibility cannot be ruled out. To the point is [[St. Ambrose|St.{{space|thin}}Ambrose]]'s well-known dictum, endorsed by [[St. Thomas Aquinas|St.{{space|thin}}Thomas Aquinas]], being a gloss on {{bibleverse-lb|1|Corinthians|12:3|KJV}}, 'All that is true, ''by whomsoever it has been said'', is from the Holy Ghost.{{' "}} {{cite book |last=Graham |first=Aelred |title=Zen Catholicism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nnzXAAAAMAAJ |date=1963 |location=San Diego, CA |publisher=Harcourt, Brace & World |series=Harvest book |volume=118 |page=10 |isbn=978-0-15-699960-1 |access-date=July 20, 2019 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126021327/https://books.google.com/books?id=nnzXAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===American Indian spirituality===
Merton also explored [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] spirituality. He wrote a series of articles on American Indian history and spirituality for ''The Catholic Worker'', ''The Center Magazine'', ''Theoria to Theory'', and ''Unicorn Journal''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Merton|first=Thomas|title=Ishi Means Man|year=1976|publisher=Unicorn Press|url=http://merton.org/Research/Manuscripts/manu.aspx?id=3921|access-date=September 25, 2015|archive-date=September 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926000451/http://merton.org/Research/Manuscripts/manu.aspx?id=3921|url-status=live}}</ref> He explored themes such as American Indian [[fasting]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Merton|first=Thomas|title=Ishi Means Man|year=1976|publisher=Unicorn Press|page=17|url=http://merton.org/Research/Manuscripts/manu.aspx?id=3921|access-date=September 25, 2015|archive-date=September 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926000451/http://merton.org/Research/Manuscripts/manu.aspx?id=3921|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[missionary]] work.<ref>{{cite book|last=Merton|first=Thomas|title=Ishi Means Man|year=1976|publisher=Unicorn Press|page=37|url=http://merton.org/Research/Manuscripts/manu.aspx?id=3921|access-date=September 25, 2015|archive-date=September 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926000451/http://merton.org/Research/Manuscripts/manu.aspx?id=3921|url-status=live}}</ref>