What Is Contemplation?

2013 Reprint of 1948 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Contemplation is a word that Thomas Merton used again and again in his writings. It is a theme that he spent much of his life exploring. About contemplation he wrote Contemplation is the highest expression of mans intellectual and spiritual life. It is that life itself fully awake fully active fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual wonder. It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness of life of being. It is a vivid realization of the fact that life and being in us proceed from an invisible transcendent and infinitely abundant source. Contemplation is above all awareness of the reality of that source. It knows the Source obscurely inexplicably but with a certitude that goes beyond reason and beyond simple faith...It is a more profound depth of faith a knowledge too deep to be grasped in images in words or even in clear concepts... This short pamphlet is a good introduction to this important topic in the overall work of Thomas Merton.