Notes on ‘New Seeds of Contemplation’
Merton’s Key Points
“Contemplation is a vivid realization of the fact that life and being in us proceed from an invisible, transcendent and infinitely abundant Source.” p. 1
“Contemplation is an awareness of our contingent reality as received, as a present from God, a pure gift of love.” p.3
“All sin starts from the assumption that my false self, the self that exists only in my own egocentric desires is the fundamental reality of life to which everything else in the universe is ordered.” p.35
“The only one who can teach me to find God is God, Himself, Alone.” p. 36
“To seek God perfectly is to: put away heavy loads of judgment and censorship and criticism and the whole burden of opinions that I have no obligation to carry.” p. 46
“The saints are what they are, not because their sanctity makes them admirable to others, but because the gift of sainthood makes it possible for them to admire everybody else.”
“To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love.” p.60
“No despair of ours can alter the reality of things, or stain the joy of the cosmic dance which is always there. Indeed, we are in the midst of it, and it is in the midst of us, for it beats in our very blood, whether we want it to or not.” p.297
The fact remains that we are invited to forget ourselves on purpose, cast our awful solemnity to the wind and join in the general dance.” p. 297
