I have been re-reading some of Thomas Merton’s journals in order to write a paper I promised I would write. As a Trappist monk, Merton had a fairly rigorous daily schedule. The monastery in Kentucky where he resided had the monks showing up for their first worship of the day at 3:15am. This was the first of seven times they would show up. Some of the times were rather brief---fifteen minutes or so. But they still showed up. Besides that, every monk had a particular job or responsibility.
Among other things, Merton was assigned to teaches the novices. A novice is a person who has just entered the monastery. A significant aspect of the novice life is spiritual formation. Basically, you have to live the monastic life long enough to get an idea whether you wanted to make a lifetime commitment. And you would need to learn some history and other basics of monastic life. In monastic language, you needed to be there to discern whether God is calling you to that way of life. In effect, Merton would be a mentor to these mostly young men.
He would lecture to them. And he would meet weekly with each one individually. These one-on-one meetings would be a form of spiritual direction or guidance. Merton’s job was to help the young novice “hear” what God might be saying. In Quaker language, Merton’s job was to help the younger men get “clear” whether the monastery was the place they were to live out their spiritual commitment and discipleship. I have always suspected that Merton was doing in the monastery what I so often am doing in a college classroom.
Merton also was a copious writer. The abbot basically assigned writing to be the work of Thomas Merton. He was a voracious reader. In truth it is amazing to see how much he managed to produce in what feels like a limited amount of time. And sadly, he suddenly and tragically died at the young age of 53. He was speaking at an inter-monastic conference in Thailand when he died.
One of the things I have been reading is his journal from his last year. His last journal entry is November 8, 1968 while he was at the conference in Bangkok. Even though I have read this journal before, I was surprised to get new things as I read it this time. One of the surprises was a very short entry which he wrote on November 3, 1968. Interestingly, this is the day before he met the Dalai Lama in northern India. During the previous two months of travel in Asia, Merton had been reading spiritual literature from Hinduism, Buddhism and Zen. In fact, the November entry is a rather long one in which he is working with this literature.
And then he writes a very cryptic, but amazing, piece. Merton writes, “The three poisons: craving, hatred, ignorance.” I was intrigued by this, but don’t recall ever seeing it when I read this journal in an earlier sitting. There is much to like and be instructed by this, so let me unpack it a bit.
I understand these three characteristics are poisonous. It makes sense to me that they do poison our system. They do not lead to good outcomes. They can be both psychological and spiritual. They are destructive, not constructive. Let’s look at each one in order.
First comes craving. Craving is crucial in the Buddhist spirituality. Craving is the problem that is addressed in the Four Noble Truths, the core Buddhist teaching. Perhaps in our Christian, more Western tradition, we get at the meaning of craving when we think about attachments. For example, I might be attached to my own ego desires. Anyone who is selfish is attached to a particular image of self. Basic to any spirituality is to recognize and detach ourselves from that which we crave. It is easy to understand that our cravings can enslave us. If we are attached (or even addicted), we have no freedom. We are stuck.
The second poison is hatred. This requires much less commentary. Hatred also is a form of prison. Hate is a poisoned relationship. Although we never think about it, hate destroys us as well as our intended destruction of the other. It is a lose-lose situation. No one in a hate situation is whole or healthy. I am sure this is why Jesus spends so much time on love and forgiveness. Those are the antidotes to hate and the way to spiritual wholeness.
The third poison Merton identifies does not seem quite as strong. Ignorance might be a more benign poison---it won’t kill our spirits quickly! But if ignorance reigns, we will never grow or make any progress. It also is a form of stuck-ness. Ignorance also imprisons us. Of three poisons, ignorance may be the easiest to address.
The way to treat these poisons is obvious. Knowledge takes care of ignorance. Love erases the spirit of hate. And detachment fixes the craving problem. This sounds simple---and it is. But it is not always easy. The key is to recognize this and to spend time in wholesome, healthy spiritual exercises. It is the way to truth and this leads to life.
Among other things, Merton was assigned to teaches the novices. A novice is a person who has just entered the monastery. A significant aspect of the novice life is spiritual formation. Basically, you have to live the monastic life long enough to get an idea whether you wanted to make a lifetime commitment. And you would need to learn some history and other basics of monastic life. In monastic language, you needed to be there to discern whether God is calling you to that way of life. In effect, Merton would be a mentor to these mostly young men.
He would lecture to them. And he would meet weekly with each one individually. These one-on-one meetings would be a form of spiritual direction or guidance. Merton’s job was to help the young novice “hear” what God might be saying. In Quaker language, Merton’s job was to help the younger men get “clear” whether the monastery was the place they were to live out their spiritual commitment and discipleship. I have always suspected that Merton was doing in the monastery what I so often am doing in a college classroom.
Merton also was a copious writer. The abbot basically assigned writing to be the work of Thomas Merton. He was a voracious reader. In truth it is amazing to see how much he managed to produce in what feels like a limited amount of time. And sadly, he suddenly and tragically died at the young age of 53. He was speaking at an inter-monastic conference in Thailand when he died.
One of the things I have been reading is his journal from his last year. His last journal entry is November 8, 1968 while he was at the conference in Bangkok. Even though I have read this journal before, I was surprised to get new things as I read it this time. One of the surprises was a very short entry which he wrote on November 3, 1968. Interestingly, this is the day before he met the Dalai Lama in northern India. During the previous two months of travel in Asia, Merton had been reading spiritual literature from Hinduism, Buddhism and Zen. In fact, the November entry is a rather long one in which he is working with this literature.
And then he writes a very cryptic, but amazing, piece. Merton writes, “The three poisons: craving, hatred, ignorance.” I was intrigued by this, but don’t recall ever seeing it when I read this journal in an earlier sitting. There is much to like and be instructed by this, so let me unpack it a bit.
I understand these three characteristics are poisonous. It makes sense to me that they do poison our system. They do not lead to good outcomes. They can be both psychological and spiritual. They are destructive, not constructive. Let’s look at each one in order.
First comes craving. Craving is crucial in the Buddhist spirituality. Craving is the problem that is addressed in the Four Noble Truths, the core Buddhist teaching. Perhaps in our Christian, more Western tradition, we get at the meaning of craving when we think about attachments. For example, I might be attached to my own ego desires. Anyone who is selfish is attached to a particular image of self. Basic to any spirituality is to recognize and detach ourselves from that which we crave. It is easy to understand that our cravings can enslave us. If we are attached (or even addicted), we have no freedom. We are stuck.
The second poison is hatred. This requires much less commentary. Hatred also is a form of prison. Hate is a poisoned relationship. Although we never think about it, hate destroys us as well as our intended destruction of the other. It is a lose-lose situation. No one in a hate situation is whole or healthy. I am sure this is why Jesus spends so much time on love and forgiveness. Those are the antidotes to hate and the way to spiritual wholeness.
The third poison Merton identifies does not seem quite as strong. Ignorance might be a more benign poison---it won’t kill our spirits quickly! But if ignorance reigns, we will never grow or make any progress. It also is a form of stuck-ness. Ignorance also imprisons us. Of three poisons, ignorance may be the easiest to address.
The way to treat these poisons is obvious. Knowledge takes care of ignorance. Love erases the spirit of hate. And detachment fixes the craving problem. This sounds simple---and it is. But it is not always easy. The key is to recognize this and to spend time in wholesome, healthy spiritual exercises. It is the way to truth and this leads to life.
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