Overview

"The Fons Vitae publishing project for the study of world religions through the lens of Thomas Merton's life and writings brings Merton's timeless vision of all persons united in a 'hidden ground of Love' to a contemporary audience. The previous six volumes in our series - Merton and Sufism, Merton and Buddhism, Merton and Judaism, Merton and Taoism, Merton and the Protestant Tradition, Merton and Hesychasm feature essays by international scholars that assess the value of Merton's contributions to inter-religious dialogue. This seventh volume in our series, Merton and Indigenous Wisdom, gathers reflections that expose Merton's appreciation for the spiritual and religious genius of American and Canadian indigenous peoples. A new translation of his 'Preface for Latin American Readers' is a significant manifesto of Merton's universality and 'catholic' approach to the phenomenon of seeking God and the Sacred in all the world's cultures. The essays included are replete with passages from Merton's writings and transcriptions from his recovered weekly talks to the novices at the monastery of Gethsemani, where he lived until his untimely death in 1968. ""We owe an enormous debt to the Indians, and we should begin by recognizing the spiritual richness of the Indian religious genius. There is great hope for the world in the spiritual emancipation of the Indians."" - Thomas Merton, The Courage for Truth Letter to Pablo Antonio Cuadra, 1958 ""I have a clear obligation to participate, as long as I can, and to the extent of my abilities, in every effort to help a spiritual and cultural renewal of our time. To emphasize and clarify the living content of spiritual traditions by entering deeply into their disciplines and experiences, not for myself only but for all my contemporaries. This for the restoration of man's sanity and balance, that he may return to the ways of freedom and peace, if not in my time, at least some day soon."" - Turning Toward the World: The Pivotal Years.The Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 4, 1960-1963"

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9781891785993

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Jonathan Montaldo is the recently retired Director of Bethany Spring, the Merton Institute for Contemplative Living's Retreat Center in New Haven, Kentucky. He has edited numerous volumes of Thomas Merton's writing including The Intimate Merton, Dialogues with Silence, A Year With Thomas Merton, Choosing to Love the World: Thomas Merton on Contemplation, and Bridges to Contemplative Living with Thomas Merton (nine volumes). With V. Gray Henry, the publisher, he is the co-general editor of the Fons Vitae Thomas Merton Series that examines Merton's interests in Sufism, Hesychasm, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism with forthcoming books: Merton and the Protestant Tradition, Merton and the Indigenous World, and Merton and Hinduism. Peter Savastano holds a Ph.D. and M.Phil. in Religion and Society from Drew University. Dr. Savastano is an anthropologist of religion, consciousness, and sexuality and gender.He studies the relationship between extra-normal states of consciousness, religion and healing, ritual and devotional practices within the context of Christian mysticism with a special focus on Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox mystics and mystical practice as well as within Islamic mysticism (Sufism) and Buddhism, with a particular focus on Vajrayana (Tibetan) and Zen traditions. More recently, Dr. Savastano has been exploring extraordinary states of consciousness in various forms of indigenous healing traditions. For many years, Dr. Savastano has had a scholarly (and personal) interest in interreligious or comparative theology and practice drawing deeply on the works of the Roman Catholic mystics and interreligionists Thomas Merton, Dom Bede Griffiths and Henri Le Saux (aka Swami Abhishiktananda). Peter Savastano has published essays in various edited collections and academic journals including Italian Folk-Vernacular Culture in Italian American Lives; Gay Religion; Theology and Sexuality; Transformations, The Journal of Inclusive Pedagogy, the on-line journals Religion Dispatches and e-misferica and in the Rutgers University Law School's Women's Rights Law Reporter. He is currently completing a book entitled The Book of St. Gerard of Newark. Dr. Savastano is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Seton Hall University.

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