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Striving Towards Being: The Letters of Thomas Merton and Czeslaw Milosz
In a selection from their ten-year correspondence from 1958 to 1968, the Trappist monk and the Polish writer debate the role of communism in the Cold War era, share advice about literature, and exchange contrasting views on the natural world.
177 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1996
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About the author
Thomas Merton
752Ìýbooks1,840ÌýfollowersThomas Merton, religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. In December 1941 he entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani and in May 1949 he was ordained to priesthood. He was a member of the convent of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 24, 2012
There is a strange combination of exhilaration and disappointment when two of one's heroes conduct a correspondence. Will the veil of the temple be rent? Will a breakthrough resulting from the greatness of the individuals involved result in new modes of thought? Well, yes and no. Thomas Merton was a French-born Trappist monk who wrote books of poetry, religion, and assorted other subjects. Czeslaw Milosz, on the other hand, was a Lithuanian-born poet who lived much of his life in Poland before coming to the United States to teach at Berkeley. He is a Nobel Prize winner; in my opinion, Merton should also have been so honored.
Both men were Catholics -- Milosz in an anguished and alienated Eastern European sense, and Merton, having bought the farm, so to speak, on an eternal pendulum between the institution of Catholicism and its occasional banality. Yet, both writers come alive, particularly in the earlier letters. Here is Merton writing some words about his belief in God that would never receive an imprimatur from a Catholic censor:
Milosz writes from a different point a view, as a man who has learned to distrust ideologies because he lived where they were so frequently manipulated. One disagreement between the two was over the issue of peace movements. Merton was very involved, while Milosz hung back:
This collection of letters does touch upon greatness at times, but it also shows how events such as the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley and Merton's continuing interest in Catholic liturgy affected their friendship. During that time, they met face to face only twice. Would that I were a fly on the wall for either of these meetings!
Both men were Catholics -- Milosz in an anguished and alienated Eastern European sense, and Merton, having bought the farm, so to speak, on an eternal pendulum between the institution of Catholicism and its occasional banality. Yet, both writers come alive, particularly in the earlier letters. Here is Merton writing some words about his belief in God that would never receive an imprimatur from a Catholic censor:
his is the thing that finally hit me. My darkness was very tolerable when it was only dark night, something spiritually approved. But it is rapidly becoming “exterior� darkness. A nothingness in oneself into which one is pressed down further and further, until one is inferior to the whole human race and hates the inferiority. Yet clings to it as the only thing one has. Then the problem is that perhaps here in this nothingness is infinite preciousness, the presence of the God Who is not an answer, the God of Job, to Whom we must be faithful above all, beyond all. But the terrible thing is that He is not known to others, is incommunicable.Here in one paragraph is my own religious credo, which I have never seen better expressed. Toward the end of the correspondence, the two drifted further apart, with Merton hectoring Milosz for unpublished poems from Polish poets to appear in one of the many journals with which he was associated.
Milosz writes from a different point a view, as a man who has learned to distrust ideologies because he lived where they were so frequently manipulated. One disagreement between the two was over the issue of peace movements. Merton was very involved, while Milosz hung back:
As to the efficacy of calls for peace, picketing etc., they probably rather increase the danger, as I said, 1) by exasperation and polarization of opinion into two hostile camps, which is a boon for right[wing] radicals; 2) by a possible miscalculation over there, in the Kremlin, a possibility of making one step too far in the blackmail.The letters span a ten year period during the Cold War between 1958 and 1968, when Thomas Merton died of a heart attack in Bangkok while conferring with Asian religious leaders. Milosz died in 2004.
This collection of letters does touch upon greatness at times, but it also shows how events such as the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley and Merton's continuing interest in Catholic liturgy affected their friendship. During that time, they met face to face only twice. Would that I were a fly on the wall for either of these meetings!
October 2, 2017
I went to the library to get Merton's CONJECTURES OF A GUILTY BYSTANDER, but then this was on the shelf next to it looking much newer and shorter and more optimistic. On December 6 1958, Thomas Merton (an American monk) wrote an earnest and admiring letter to Czeslaw Milosz (a Polish poet) after reading a book of his, and they wrote to each other back and forth for ten years. I read their letters in bed before sleeping, and for several nights it was a great comfort to be reminded that humans are capable of being thoughtful, capable of wanting to be wise, of trying to learn how to live. In their examinations and critiques of their own and each others views on Catholicism, philosophy, politics, writing, and activism, it occurred to me that although they clearly like and are curious about each other, their relationship seemed to be more about mutual respect than mutual affection. I operate almost entirely on affection; I can think of two people who I sometimes see in real life who I could admit that I respect, and maybe a few, like, writers. But my affection feels infinitely deeper and wider and stronger. Merton and Milosz met each other twice, and I think I wish they hadn't. Their letters continued after the first meeting, but less and less consistently, until years go by with no correspondence and all they can give by then is information, updates, stilted attempts at the former connection. Their early correspondence helped me remember that I want to be wise and calm and strong and brave, and that it is possible to be those things, but the last few letters left me feeling me sad and fragile; I hate when friendships fade, but I know that almost all of them do.
October 18, 2014
The five star rating is for those who have a preexisting interest in Merton and Milosz. It's about as interesting a conversation as I can imagine on the challenges facing a Catholic writer/intellectual in the mid-20th century. The correspondence begins in 1958 against the backdrop of the Cold War; Milosz is in exile from Poland where he's lived through the worst of Stalinism; from his vantage point at the Gethsemane Monastery, Merton is horrified by the spiritual vacuum of nuclear-obsessed America. It concludes in 1968 (but is mostly over by 1965) when Merton has become more active in the broader life of the American peace movement (broadly construed) and Milosz has been teaching at Berkeley during the Free Speech Movement and the rise of the counterculture. Both are grounded in the Catholic church, though neither accepts it at anything like face value. (At one point, Milosz speculates that Pope John XXIII may be the anti-christ.) Both are primarily concerned with the problem of living a life of artistic, intellectual and spiritual integrity in a world that presents competing solutions that are equally vacuous. I read this in psychic dialog with the letters of Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg; and those of Denise Levertov and Robert Duncan.
If you don't already know Merton and Milosz this is not the place to start.
If you don't already know Merton and Milosz this is not the place to start.
March 10, 2012
The great thing about reading any correspondence is the opportunity to see a noted figure/artist as he really is in unguarded, even intimate, discourse. With this book you get wonderful insight into two great minds. Both Merton and Milosz, who obviously had great respect and affection for each other, voice their big concerns about religion, art and society but you also get to hear about their frustrations, ambitions and insecurities. Milosz's complaints about the amount of television his children watched (in the late 50s/early 60s) is especially amusing. Which just goes to show you--the more things change, the more they stay the same! I'm also curious about many of the authors Merton and Milosz discussed (Simone Weil, Jerzy Andrzejewski) and plan to look a few up. At times the text slowed and became dense with political discourse, but stick with it. Milosz's comments about the peace movement in the 60s would be a good prism through which to view the movements going on today.
March 8, 2018
At once a stirring meditation on the intersection of spirituality, identity, creativity, and existence, this record of Milosz and Merton's decade-long correspondence serves as a fascinating insight into the lives of two individuals attempting to thoughtfully engage with the tumultuous currents of the global climate of the 1960s. The juxtaposition of lives of these two men, as expressed through their letters, reveals a kinship of souls and a desire to be heard and to listen, to learn and to grow together.
Whether probing into the nature of the cultural impact of television's ascension in America, or discussing the role of thoughtful activism amidst the ideological and military conflicts of their day, they persist in their mutual pursuit of an examined life deeply engaged with both the temporal and the eternal. Through it all, they demonstrate a considered and compelling "striving towards being" by which I found myself inspired and convicted.
Whether probing into the nature of the cultural impact of television's ascension in America, or discussing the role of thoughtful activism amidst the ideological and military conflicts of their day, they persist in their mutual pursuit of an examined life deeply engaged with both the temporal and the eternal. Through it all, they demonstrate a considered and compelling "striving towards being" by which I found myself inspired and convicted.
August 8, 2016
What a shame that this book is out of print. I stumbled on it at the Book Barn in Niantic CT, and I am so glad I did.
In the late fifties, Thomas Merton wrote a letter to Czeslaw Milosz and it began a correspondance, and then a friendship, that lasted until Merton's death in 1968. I knew both men from their writings. These letters show a more personal side, and also document the landscape of a friendship. Some of their social critiques read as though they were written last week. Though they came from different backgrounds and, in some ways, had different aims, they shared a deep faith, both in God and in humanity.
At the close of the first letter, Merton writes: "Is there anything I can do for you? It seems to me that the most obvious thing I can give you is the deep and friendly interest of a kindred mind and a will disposed for receptiveness and collaboration. And of course, my prayers.
In the late fifties, Thomas Merton wrote a letter to Czeslaw Milosz and it began a correspondance, and then a friendship, that lasted until Merton's death in 1968. I knew both men from their writings. These letters show a more personal side, and also document the landscape of a friendship. Some of their social critiques read as though they were written last week. Though they came from different backgrounds and, in some ways, had different aims, they shared a deep faith, both in God and in humanity.
At the close of the first letter, Merton writes: "Is there anything I can do for you? It seems to me that the most obvious thing I can give you is the deep and friendly interest of a kindred mind and a will disposed for receptiveness and collaboration. And of course, my prayers.
December 11, 2007
A great little book to read if you like either Merton or Milosz. It provides a very intimate look into the lives of both men, you get to see their minds at work, unpolished, confused. I especially liked following their decade-long dialogue about the relationship between religion and art, the challenge of leading a pious life as well as a life of active creation. It is also very interesting to read Milosz's reaction to the peace movement that he encountered upon moving to Berkeley (to teach Polish literature at the University) in the mid 1960's after having lived through hell on earth in nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.
March 16, 2007
merton is a french-american beat-turned-catholic-monk in kentucky. milosz is an exiled polish hero/national poet doing a professorship at berkley. merton writes milosz to compliment him on a book of his he's read, and they begin a 10 year correspondence (until merton's death), a beautiful correspondence that touches on everything from father zosima to liturgy to authoritarian rule to how television causes ADD to simon weil and camus and to readings of job.
April 14, 2010
Fascinating...
March 4, 2012
Being allowed to look in on this correspondence is a great gift.
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