Thoughts In Solitude

Author: Thomas Merton
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 1429944072
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 147

Book Description
Thoughtful and eloquent, as timely (or timeless) now as when it was originally published in 1956, Thoughts in Solitude addresses the pleasure of a solitary life, as well as the necessity for quiet reflection in an age when so little is private. Thomas Merton writes: "When society is made up of men who know no interior solitude it can no longer be held together by love: and consequently it is held together by a violent and abusive authority. But when men are violently deprived of the solitude and freedom which are their due, the society in which they live becomes putrid, it festers with servility, resentment and hate." Thoughts in Solitude stands alongside The Seven Storey Mountain as one of Merton's most uring and popular works. Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, is perhaps the foremost spiritual thinker of the twentiethcentury. His diaries, social commentary, and spiritual writings continue to be widely read after his untimely death in 1968.

The Invention of Solitude

Author: Paul Auster
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0571266746
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Book Description
'One day there is life . . . and then, suddenly, it happens there is death.' So begins Paul Auster's moving and personal meditation on fatherhood. The first section, 'Portrait of an Invisible Man', reveals Auster's memories and feelings after the death of his father. In 'The Book of Memory' the perspective shifts to Auster's role as a father. The narrator, 'A', contemplates his separation from his son, his dying grandfather and the solitary nature of writing and story-telling.

No Man is an Island

Author: Thomas Merton
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1590302532
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
This volume is a stimulating series of spiritual reflections which will prove helpful for all struggling to find the meaning of human existence and to live the richest, fullest and noblest life. --Chicago Tribune

Invitation to Solitude and Silence

Author: Ruth Haley Barton
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830875751
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 167

Book Description
Much of our faith and practice is about words—preaching, teaching, talking with others. Yet all of these words are not enough to take us into the real presence of God. This book is an invitation to meet God deeply and fully through solitude and silence. This expanded edition includes a guide for groups to use for both discussion and practice.

Too Loud a Solitude

Author: Bohumil Hrabal
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0547545886
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 83

Book Description
A fable about the power of books and knowledge, “finely balanced between pathos and comedy,” from one of Czechoslovakia’s most popular authors (Los Angeles Times). A New York Times Notable Book Haňtá has been compacting trash for thirty-five years. Every evening, he rescues books from the jaws of his hydraulic press, carries them home, and fills his house with them. Haňtá may be an idiot, as his boss calls him, but he is an idiot with a difference—the ability to quote the Talmud, Hegel, and Lao-Tzu. In this “irresistibly eccentric romp,” the author Milan Kundera has called “our very best writer today” celebrates the power and the indestructibility of the written word (The New York Times Book Review).

Solitude

Author: Robert Kull
Publisher: New World Library
ISBN: 1577317726
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 388

Book Description
Years after losing his lower right leg in a motorcycle crash, Robert Kull traveled to a remote island in Patagonia's coastal wilderness with equipment and supplies to live alone for a year. He sought to explore the effects of deep solitude on the body and mind and to find the spiritual answers he'd been seeking all his life. With only a cat and his thoughts as companions, he wrestled with inner storms while the wild forces of nature raged around him. The physical challenges were immense, but the struggles of mind and spirit pushed him even further. Solitude: Seeking Wisdom in Extremes is the diary of Kull's tumultuous year. Chronicling a life distilled to its essence, Solitude is also a philosophical meditation on the tensions between nature and technology, isolation and society. With humor and brutal honesty, Kull explores the pain and longing we typically avoid in our frantically busy lives as well as the peace and wonder that arise once we strip away our distractions. He describes the enormous Patagonia wilderness with poetic attention, transporting the reader directly into both his inner and outer experiences.

The Seven Storey Mountain

Author: Thomas Merton
Publisher: Christian Large Print
ISBN: 9780802724977
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 770

Book Description
One man's search to find his role in the world is revealed in the writer's portrait of his youthful political activism and entry into a Trappist monastery

Thomas Merton

Author: Thomas Merton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 200

Book Description
"With a substantial introduction Thomas Merton includes a broad range of Merton's writings, including his letters, and highlights his threefold call: to prayer, to compassion, and to unity. It offers the essential writings of one of the greatest spiritual teachers of our time."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The Art of Solitude

Author: Stephen Batchelor
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300252277
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 198

Book Description
In a time of social distancing and isolation, a meditation on the beauty of solitude from renowned Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor “Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it. A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.”—Kirkus Reviews “Elegant and formally ingenious.”—Geoff Wisner, Wall Street Journal When world renowned Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor turned sixty, he took a sabbatical from his teaching and turned his attention to solitude, a practice integral to the meditative traditions he has long studied and taught. He aimed to venture more deeply into solitude, discovering its full extent and depth. This beautiful literary collage documents his multifaceted explorations. Spending time in remote places, appreciating and making art, practicing meditation and participating in retreats, drinking peyote and ayahuasca, and training himself to keep an open, questioning mind have all contributed to Batchelor’s ability to be simultaneously alone and at ease. Mixed in with his personal narrative are inspiring stories from solitude’s devoted practitioners, from the Buddha to Montaigne, from Vermeer to Agnes Martin. In a hyperconnected world that is at the same time plagued by social isolation, this book shows how to enjoy the inescapable solitude that is at the heart of human life.

A Year with Thomas Merton

Author: Thomas Merton
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061757675
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 675

Book Description
A 365 daily with inspirational and provocative selections from the journals of Thomas Merton combined with drawings and photographs by Merton. This volume of daily inspiration from Thomas Merton draws from Merton's journals and papers to present, each day, a seasonally appropriate and thought-provoking insight or observation. Each month will begin with one of Merton's delightful pen-and-ink drawings or one of his elegant black-and-white photographs.