Books written by Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton - Spiritual Direction and Meditation

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
Ascent To Truth

Showing that the summit of ultimate truth is reached in contemplation, this book offers an exposition of the doctrines of St John of the Cross. The expositions and meditations are nourishment for the spirit journeying towards truth.
Thoughts On The East

His participation in a monastic conference in Asia led to his premature, accidental death. He discoursed on equal terms with the Dalai Lama, and extracts from their interviews appear in this book.
The Way of Chuang-Tzŭ

Free renderings of selections from the works of Chuang-tzŭ, taken from various translations.
On Christian Contemplation

With poems, reflections, and social commentary, this is the perfect book to nurture the spirit of faith and duty guided by one of the twentieth century’s leading voices of theology and social justice.
The Sign of Jonas

Begun five years after he entered the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, The Sign of Jonas is an extraordinary view of Merton’s life in a Trappist monastery, and it serves also as a spiritual log recording the deep meaning and increasing ...
The Hidden Ground of Love: Letters

His journals have recently been published to wide acclaim. The collection of Merton's letters in The Hidden Ground of Love were selected and edited by William H. Shannon.
Survival or Prophecy?: The Letters of Thomas Merton and Jean LeClercq

Thomas Merton, the American Trappist monk who wrote The Seven Storey Mountain, spent his entire literary career (1948- 68) in a cloistered monastery in Kentucky.
New Seeds of Contemplation

Compiles the trappist monk's meditations and reflections on Christ, self, love, and life
Love and Living

Reprint. Originally published: New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, c1979.
Lent and Holy Week

The series has also been warmly accepted among members of ecumenical traditions.
In the Dark Before Dawn: New Selected Poems of Thomas Merton

In the Dark Before Dawn: New Selected Poems is not only a gathering double the size of Merton's earlier Selected Poems (1967), it also arranges his poetry both thematically and chronologically, so that readers can follow the poet's many ...
Raids on the Unspeakable

Essays, meditations, parables, and verse offer insights into the absurdities and disorders of the modern world, the human crisis, and the benefits of Christian hope
A Book of Hours

For the first time, some of Merton's most lyrical and prayerful writings have been arranged into this rich resource for daily prayer and contemplation that imitates the increasingly popular ancient monastic practice of "praying the hours."
Learning To Love: Exploring Solitude and Freedom

This astonishing volume traces Merton's struggle to reconcile his unexpected love with his sacred vows while continuing to grapple with the burning social issues of the day—including racial conflicts, the war in Vietnam, and the Arab ...
Entering the School of Your Experience

Entering the School of Your Experience helps readers explore what we mean by contemplative living and contemplative dialogue. The eight-part process moves one forward on the journey toward spiritual transformation.
Intimate Merton: His Life from His Journals

Perhaps the Book of Life, in the end, is the book one has lived. If one has lived nothing, one is not in the Book of Life. I have always wanted to write about everything.
Dialogues with Silence: Prayers & Drawings

There is no other Merton devotional like this, and the paperback edition will be elegantly designed and packaged.
Seeds of Destruction

Merton is the author of over forty books of poetry, essays, and religious writing, including Mystics and Zen Masters, and The Seven Story Mountain, for which he is best known. His work continues to be widely read to this day.
Run to the Mountain: The Story of a VocationThe Journal of Thomas Merton, Volume 1: 1939-1941

As Brother Patrick Hart, general editor of the series notes, "Perhaps his best writing can be found in the journals, where he was expressing what was deepest in his heart with no thought of censorship.