KMT 2016 nr 1 Download PDF

Mariusz Maciak

Receptive meaning of Chinese and Far East spirituality in Thomas Merton’s meditation.

Cite: Mariusz Maciak, Recepcja duchowości Indii i Dalekiego Wschodu w medytacji Thomasa Mertona, "Kultura - Media - Teologia", 2016( 24) nr 1, s. 100-111.

DOI: 10.21697/kmt.24.7

This article is dedicated to the issues of theology, spirituality and theology of religion in the context of the meeting of Christianity with the great Asian religions, especially Buddhism and Taoism. The person of Thomas Merton – one of the greatest precursors of monastic interreligious dialogue will be taken into consideration. American Trappist’s attempts to analyze the experience of the Buddhist “ emptiness” ( sunyata), the Taoist principles of inaction (wu wei) and the Taoist contemplation of nature by Chuang Tzu in comparison with the apophatic theology of the Church Fathers and Catholic Mystics such as St. Francis of Assisi, Meister Eckhart and John of the Cross . The aim of his mystic (meditation and contemplative ) as well as journalistic aspirations was to create a new synthesis of Christian spirituality – taking into account Asian thought while preserving its Catholic identity.

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mgr lic. Mariusz Maciak

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