Amazon.com: Zen and the Birds of Appetite (9780811201049): Thomas Merton: Books
Merton, one of the rare Western thinkers able to feel at home in the philosophies of the East, made the wisdom of Asia available to Westerners.
"Zen enriches no one," Thomas Merton provocatively writes in his opening statement to Zen and the Birds of Appetite―one of the last books to be published before his death in 1968. "There is no body to be found. The birds may come and circle for a while... but they soon go elsewhere. When they are gone, the 'nothing,' the 'no-body' that was there, suddenly appears. That is Zen.
It was there all the time but the scavengers missed it, because it was not their kind of prey." This gets at the humor, paradox, and joy that one feels in Merton's discoveries of Zen during the last years of his life, a joy very much present in this collection of essays.
Exploring the relationship between Christianity and Zen, especially through his dialogue with the great Zen teacher D.T. Suzuki, the book makes an excellent introduction to a comparative study of these two traditions, as well as giving the reader a strong taste of the mature Merton. Never does one feel him losing his own faith in these pages; rather one feels that faith getting deeply clarified and affirmed. Just as the body of "Zen" cannot be found by the scavengers, so too, Merton suggests, with the eternal truth of Christ.----------------
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Thomas Merton
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7
The Art of Thomas Merton: A Divine Passion in Word and Vision
R--------------------
Amazon.com Review
"Zen enriches no one," Thomas Merton provocatively writes in his opening statement to Zen and the Birds of Appetite--one of the last books to be published before his death in 1968. "There is no body to be found. The birds may come and circle for a while... but they soon go elsewhere. When they are gone, the 'nothing,' the 'no-body' that was there, suddenly appears. That is Zen. It was there all the time but the scavengers missed it, because it was not their kind of prey." This gets at the humor, paradox, and joy that one feels in Merton's discoveries of Zen during the last years of his life, a joy very much present in this collection of essays. Exploring the relationship between Christianity and Zen, especially through his dialogue with the great Zen teacher D.T. Suzuki (included as part 2 of this volume), the book makes an excellent introduction to a comparative study of these two traditions, as well as giving the reader a strong taste of the mature Merton. Never does one feel him losing his own faith in these pages; rather one feels that faith getting deeply clarified and affirmed. Just as the body of "Zen" cannot be found by the scavengers, so too, Merton suggests, with the eternal truth of Christ. "It was there all the time but the scavengers missed it...." --Doug Thorpe
From the Back Cover
In this collection of essays Merton wrote about complex Asian concepts with a Western directness.
About the Author
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) entered the Cistercian Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, following his conversion to Catholicism and was ordained Father M. Louis in 1949. During the 1960s, he was increasingly drawn into a dialogue between Eastern and Western religions and domestic issues of war and racism. In 1968, the Dalai Lama praised Merton for having a more profound knowledge of Buddhism than any other Christian he had known. Thomas Merton is the author of the beloved classic The Seven Storey Mountain.Return to Product Overview
Product details
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: New Directions (January 17, 1968)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 081120104X
ISBN-13: 978-0811201049
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars 51 customer reviews
A
Follow
Biography
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, has millions of copies and has been translated into over fifteen languages. He wrote over sixty other books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence, and the nuclear arms race.
After a rambunctious youth and adolescence, Merton converted to Roman Catholicism and entered the Abbey of Gethsemani, a community of monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), the most ascetic Roman Catholic monastic order.
The twenty-seven years he spent in Gethsemani brought about profound changes in his self-understanding. This ongoing conversion impelled him into the political arena, where he became, according to Daniel Berrigan, the conscience of the peace movement of the 1960's. Referring to race and peace as the two most urgent issues of our time, Merton was a strong supporter of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which he called "certainly the greatest example of Christian faith in action in the social history of the United States." For his social activism Merton endured severe criticism, from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who assailed his political writings as unbecoming of a monk.
During his last years, he became deeply interested in Asian religions, particularly Zen Buddhism, and in promoting East-West dialogue. After several meetings with Merton during the American monk's trip to the Far East in 1968, the Dali Lama praised him as having a more profound understanding of Buddhism than any other Christian he had known. It was during this trip to a conference on East-West monastic dialogue that Merton died, in Bangkok on December 10, 1968, the victim of an accidental electrocution. The date marked the twenty-seventh anniversary of his entrance to Gethsemani.
------------------------
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inch worm
3.0 out of 5 starsCourageous and insightfulFebruary 29, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Thomas Merton here takes on the difficult task of finding common ground between the tenets of Zen Buddhism and the Christian monastic tradition. Speaking personally as a practising Zen Buddhist I found it more illuminating with regard the similarities of the Christian tradition. I
learnt a good deal about the ins and outs of what Merton would probably not see as mysticism but nevertheless the aspects of
Christian worship which is often kept from the lay people and is more profound fare for the consumption of the monks. This is an honest book and more of such searching for common ground between the religions can only be a good thing in my view.
I feel that the penetration of the depths of Zen Buddhism and in particular the purpose behind much of the deliberately illogical and obtuse aspects of it was only patchily understood but nevertheless it is a rewarding and interesting read if a little wordy and intellectual.
8 people found this helpful
Helpful|Comment|Report abuse
heypancho
5.0 out of 5 starsAre Christianity and Zen Incompatible?March 20, 2014
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
If one is speaking of Christianity and Zen Buddhism at the core, Merton says, yes, they are incompatible. Buddhism would deny that there is value in the personality, that it must be deconstructed and absorbed into the One, while Christianity says the purpose of the Incarnation was to take down only what was false in man and give new life to his original design, his core being. Christian unity with God is not personal dissolution but the removal of all barriers between knowing and being known. (To be fair, not all Zen masters agree with the above classical Buddhist outlook-- D.T. Suzuki, for example.)
When separated from Buddhism and seen as a discipline and a way of perceiving, Zen can be extremely useful to anyone who is seeking to know God and the true soul/spirit beneath the false self or the "old man", whichever you prefer. The world we live in (and the self that perceives it) really is one of pretense and illusion-- even in religion-- and the more tools we have to remove the masks and facades, the better. Merton's book is very helpful in removing some common fears and misconceptions about using these tools, and in increasing communication between people and cultures who use different words to describe a common goal.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful|Comment|Report abuse
Benjamin Vineyard
4.0 out of 5 starsHow does Merton connect Zen (distinct from Buddhism) to the story of Jesus?April 19, 2013
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
Zen and the Birds of Appetite (Thomas Merton)
April 8, 2013
Book Reaction
Initial Question:
How does Merton connect Zen (distinct from Buddhism) to the story of Jesus? What's "broken" and how does Merton suggest redemption and repair?
Musings Influenced by the Book:
Zen is not a thing; it's more of an absence. Within the Christian experience, it is the absence of resistance to Christ living in us and through us. Zen is not an obedience, but an alive-ness to what is, an absence of the question - it simply is.
Stripped of its Buddhist story, Zen as a reality fits within the Christian experience. Zen is the experienced reality of St. Paul's phrase, "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me." The ancient Christians referred to this as "union" with God - an expression of life that lived from the core of the human person and seen from within as an inability to discern the origin of action: was it God or me who did this? This blur, this lack of question, and this free expression of what is (without resistance) is living "Zen."
My favorite quote:
"...liberation from his inordinate self-consciousness, his monumental self-awareness, his obsession with self-affirmation, so that he may enjoy the freedom from concern that goes with being simply what he is and accepting things as they are in order to work with them as he can." *Zen and the Birds of Appetite* p. 31
The general take away:
Awakening is the goal. This is something Christians have always talked about. The Christian sense of awakening differs from the traditional Buddhist story with regards to what one awakens to.
For the Christian, awakening is coming to the sense of the Father's divine love and present care and seeing all things that would flounder that reality purge away. It is in the life of Christ living in us that we come to see this love and have it live through us.
For the Buddhist, the awakening is more of a coming to see that all things are life and that there is no individual "me" - I am the Life, you are the Life, and all things that exist are life in this moment.
Read less
8 people found this helpful
Helpful|Comment|Report abuse
James Kenney
4.0 out of 5 stars
Follow the Author
Thomas Merton
3.9 out of 5 stars 51 customer reviews
See all 5 formats and editions
Kindle
$9.33Read with Our Free App
Paperback
from $2.64102 Used from $2.6454 New from $9.001 Collectible from $18.00
+
+
Total price: $33.62
Add all three to CartAdd all three to List
Buy the selected items together
This item:Zen and the Birds of Appetite by Thomas Merton Paperback $11.94
The Way of Chuang Tzu (Second Edition) by Thomas Merton Paperback $12.22
The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton Paperback $9.46
Customers who bought this item also bought
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4.5 out of 5 stars 94
Paperback
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Next
7
The Art of Thomas Merton: A Divine Passion in Word and Vision
R--------------------
Amazon.com Review
"Zen enriches no one," Thomas Merton provocatively writes in his opening statement to Zen and the Birds of Appetite--one of the last books to be published before his death in 1968. "There is no body to be found. The birds may come and circle for a while... but they soon go elsewhere. When they are gone, the 'nothing,' the 'no-body' that was there, suddenly appears. That is Zen. It was there all the time but the scavengers missed it, because it was not their kind of prey." This gets at the humor, paradox, and joy that one feels in Merton's discoveries of Zen during the last years of his life, a joy very much present in this collection of essays. Exploring the relationship between Christianity and Zen, especially through his dialogue with the great Zen teacher D.T. Suzuki (included as part 2 of this volume), the book makes an excellent introduction to a comparative study of these two traditions, as well as giving the reader a strong taste of the mature Merton. Never does one feel him losing his own faith in these pages; rather one feels that faith getting deeply clarified and affirmed. Just as the body of "Zen" cannot be found by the scavengers, so too, Merton suggests, with the eternal truth of Christ. "It was there all the time but the scavengers missed it...." --Doug Thorpe
From the Back Cover
In this collection of essays Merton wrote about complex Asian concepts with a Western directness.
About the Author
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) entered the Cistercian Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky, following his conversion to Catholicism and was ordained Father M. Louis in 1949. During the 1960s, he was increasingly drawn into a dialogue between Eastern and Western religions and domestic issues of war and racism. In 1968, the Dalai Lama praised Merton for having a more profound knowledge of Buddhism than any other Christian he had known. Thomas Merton is the author of the beloved classic The Seven Storey Mountain.Return to Product Overview
Product details
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: New Directions (January 17, 1968)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 081120104X
ISBN-13: 978-0811201049
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.5 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars 51 customer reviews
A
Follow
Biography
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, has millions of copies and has been translated into over fifteen languages. He wrote over sixty other books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence, and the nuclear arms race.
After a rambunctious youth and adolescence, Merton converted to Roman Catholicism and entered the Abbey of Gethsemani, a community of monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), the most ascetic Roman Catholic monastic order.
The twenty-seven years he spent in Gethsemani brought about profound changes in his self-understanding. This ongoing conversion impelled him into the political arena, where he became, according to Daniel Berrigan, the conscience of the peace movement of the 1960's. Referring to race and peace as the two most urgent issues of our time, Merton was a strong supporter of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which he called "certainly the greatest example of Christian faith in action in the social history of the United States." For his social activism Merton endured severe criticism, from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who assailed his political writings as unbecoming of a monk.
During his last years, he became deeply interested in Asian religions, particularly Zen Buddhism, and in promoting East-West dialogue. After several meetings with Merton during the American monk's trip to the Far East in 1968, the Dali Lama praised him as having a more profound understanding of Buddhism than any other Christian he had known. It was during this trip to a conference on East-West monastic dialogue that Merton died, in Bangkok on December 10, 1968, the victim of an accidental electrocution. The date marked the twenty-seventh anniversary of his entrance to Gethsemani.
------------------------
-------------
Customer Reviews
3.9 out of 5 stars
51
3.9 out of 5 stars
5 star 47%
4 star 31%
3 star 6%
2 star 8%
1 star 8%
Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer reviewSee all 51 customer reviews
Rated by customers interested in
What's this?
Religion & Spirituality Books
4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5 stars
Buddhism Books
3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5 stars
Philosophy Books
4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5 stars
Is this feature helpful? Yes No
------------------------------------
Top customer reviews
inch worm
3.0 out of 5 starsCourageous and insightfulFebruary 29, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Thomas Merton here takes on the difficult task of finding common ground between the tenets of Zen Buddhism and the Christian monastic tradition. Speaking personally as a practising Zen Buddhist I found it more illuminating with regard the similarities of the Christian tradition. I
learnt a good deal about the ins and outs of what Merton would probably not see as mysticism but nevertheless the aspects of
Christian worship which is often kept from the lay people and is more profound fare for the consumption of the monks. This is an honest book and more of such searching for common ground between the religions can only be a good thing in my view.
I feel that the penetration of the depths of Zen Buddhism and in particular the purpose behind much of the deliberately illogical and obtuse aspects of it was only patchily understood but nevertheless it is a rewarding and interesting read if a little wordy and intellectual.
8 people found this helpful
Helpful|Comment|Report abuse
heypancho
5.0 out of 5 starsAre Christianity and Zen Incompatible?March 20, 2014
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
If one is speaking of Christianity and Zen Buddhism at the core, Merton says, yes, they are incompatible. Buddhism would deny that there is value in the personality, that it must be deconstructed and absorbed into the One, while Christianity says the purpose of the Incarnation was to take down only what was false in man and give new life to his original design, his core being. Christian unity with God is not personal dissolution but the removal of all barriers between knowing and being known. (To be fair, not all Zen masters agree with the above classical Buddhist outlook-- D.T. Suzuki, for example.)
When separated from Buddhism and seen as a discipline and a way of perceiving, Zen can be extremely useful to anyone who is seeking to know God and the true soul/spirit beneath the false self or the "old man", whichever you prefer. The world we live in (and the self that perceives it) really is one of pretense and illusion-- even in religion-- and the more tools we have to remove the masks and facades, the better. Merton's book is very helpful in removing some common fears and misconceptions about using these tools, and in increasing communication between people and cultures who use different words to describe a common goal.
6 people found this helpful
Helpful|Comment|Report abuse
Benjamin Vineyard
4.0 out of 5 starsHow does Merton connect Zen (distinct from Buddhism) to the story of Jesus?April 19, 2013
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
Zen and the Birds of Appetite (Thomas Merton)
April 8, 2013
Book Reaction
Initial Question:
How does Merton connect Zen (distinct from Buddhism) to the story of Jesus? What's "broken" and how does Merton suggest redemption and repair?
Musings Influenced by the Book:
Zen is not a thing; it's more of an absence. Within the Christian experience, it is the absence of resistance to Christ living in us and through us. Zen is not an obedience, but an alive-ness to what is, an absence of the question - it simply is.
Stripped of its Buddhist story, Zen as a reality fits within the Christian experience. Zen is the experienced reality of St. Paul's phrase, "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me." The ancient Christians referred to this as "union" with God - an expression of life that lived from the core of the human person and seen from within as an inability to discern the origin of action: was it God or me who did this? This blur, this lack of question, and this free expression of what is (without resistance) is living "Zen."
My favorite quote:
"...liberation from his inordinate self-consciousness, his monumental self-awareness, his obsession with self-affirmation, so that he may enjoy the freedom from concern that goes with being simply what he is and accepting things as they are in order to work with them as he can." *Zen and the Birds of Appetite* p. 31
The general take away:
Awakening is the goal. This is something Christians have always talked about. The Christian sense of awakening differs from the traditional Buddhist story with regards to what one awakens to.
For the Christian, awakening is coming to the sense of the Father's divine love and present care and seeing all things that would flounder that reality purge away. It is in the life of Christ living in us that we come to see this love and have it live through us.
For the Buddhist, the awakening is more of a coming to see that all things are life and that there is no individual "me" - I am the Life, you are the Life, and all things that exist are life in this moment.
Read less
8 people found this helpful
Helpful|Comment|Report abuse
James Kenney
4.0 out of 5 stars
There is an innocence, almost a naivete, to this book that helps convey the ineffable essence of the mystical experience
March 5, 2018
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
A difficult but intriguing book, by a famously open minded explorer of Christianity and the Eastern way of finding "salvation" in the here and now, via Zen meditation. Thomas Merton's prose is tangled, so the book is harder to read than it needed to be, however, discussions of mysticism both East and West are notoriously hard to follow and understand.
What comes through most clearly is Thomas Merton himself: his sincerity, gentleness and genuine desire to understand, and to share that understanding, of the nature of this peculiar experience we call "life." There is an innocence, almost a naivete, to this book that helps convey the ineffable essence of the mystical experience, and its life consequences for those struck by its lightning.
Helpful|Comment|Report abuse
Bro. John
5.0 out of 5 starsAn Important CollectionJune 5, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
This is a collection of essays published over the years dealing with Thomas Merton's great interest in Eastern Religion, especially Buddhism and more precisely Zen Buddhism. Merton had perhaps one of the clearest understanding of Zen, and in the ways which it came close to touching western mysticism in some of the Rhenish Mystics (Ekhart and Ruysbroek) and even St. John of the Cross. The final Essay is a dialogue between Merton and the great Japanese Zen Master D. T. Suzuki, a treasure of a document. Two of the greatest minds of the twentieth century coming together from totally different cultures and meeting in the harmonious atmosphere as two monks having tea together. A wonderful read.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful|Comment|Report abuse
See all 51 reviews
-------------
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
A difficult but intriguing book, by a famously open minded explorer of Christianity and the Eastern way of finding "salvation" in the here and now, via Zen meditation. Thomas Merton's prose is tangled, so the book is harder to read than it needed to be, however, discussions of mysticism both East and West are notoriously hard to follow and understand.
What comes through most clearly is Thomas Merton himself: his sincerity, gentleness and genuine desire to understand, and to share that understanding, of the nature of this peculiar experience we call "life." There is an innocence, almost a naivete, to this book that helps convey the ineffable essence of the mystical experience, and its life consequences for those struck by its lightning.
Helpful|Comment|Report abuse
Bro. John
5.0 out of 5 starsAn Important CollectionJune 5, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
This is a collection of essays published over the years dealing with Thomas Merton's great interest in Eastern Religion, especially Buddhism and more precisely Zen Buddhism. Merton had perhaps one of the clearest understanding of Zen, and in the ways which it came close to touching western mysticism in some of the Rhenish Mystics (Ekhart and Ruysbroek) and even St. John of the Cross. The final Essay is a dialogue between Merton and the great Japanese Zen Master D. T. Suzuki, a treasure of a document. Two of the greatest minds of the twentieth century coming together from totally different cultures and meeting in the harmonious atmosphere as two monks having tea together. A wonderful read.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful|Comment|Report abuse
See all 51 reviews
-------------
