New Seeds of Contemplation Audiobook By Thomas Merton cover art

New Seeds of Contemplation

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New Seeds of Contemplation

By: Thomas Merton
Narrated by: Jonathan Montaldo
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One of the best-loved books by one of the great spiritual authors of our time, with a new introduction by best-selling author Sue Monk Kidd.

New Seeds of Contemplation is one of Thomas Merton's most widely known and best-loved books. Christians and non-Christians alike have joined in praising it as a notable successor in the meditative tradition of St. John of the Cross, The Cloud of Unknowing, and the medieval mystics, while others have compared Merton's reflections with those of Thoreau. New Seeds of Contemplation seeks to awaken the dormant inner depths of the spirit so long neglected by Western man, to nurture a deeply contemplative and mystical dimension in our lives.

For Merton, "Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the soil of freedom, spontaneity and love."

©1961, 2007 The Abbey of Gethsemani, Inc.; Sue Monk Kidd (P)2023 New Directions Publishing Corp. Christian Living Christianity Philosophy Spiritual Growth
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The importance of separation, from so many competitive passions and choices, to achieve all that contemplation delivers, is well described.

The book sets a high but simple standard for the definition of contemplation.

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This was the second Merton book for me. It was awesome and changed my life. Please read

This book is life changing

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wow, I know that when this work was introduced to me it might be something that would take me deeper than I could have imagined and thought boy was that an understatement. Thomas Merton through years of study prayer and understanding of taking me to a place and I never imagined truly existed. it showed me a place of God that I knew was there but at the same time couldn't imagine it being there. it has helped me start on a journey I'm learning more about myself and God within me. I enjoyed this reading or rather it being read to me.

Becoming nothing and everthing

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I think if I had listened to this book at most any other time in my life, it would not have made much of an impact but I was going through a bought of moderately bad anxiety and was seeking help. I was also fatigued and emotionally weak so I was probably more open than usual.

I’m not Catholic and when I mentioned to a Catholic friend that I was reading his book, he advised me not to because it would confused me. And there is a modest amount of Catholic jargon in the book that I don’t have a clue about but it wasn’t so much that I couldn’t understand the majority of the book.

The curious thing is, even while the author is probably more humble than I am, he still has an arrogance that *he* is a contemplator! I see this in most every spiritual book but I guess it’s normal.

TL; DR — If you are on a spiritual journey and are going through a rough time, this may just be the perfect book.

Must read for those on a spiritual journey

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This booked opened my heart in a way it was not open before. God came through this book and touched my spirit.

A gift to my soul

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Highly recommended for anyone who is interested in exploring the deeper meaning of life in God.

Profound

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Thomas Merton is a fantastic author and a very thoughtful man. I found this book on Contemplation extremely interesting.

Beautiful book.

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Sacred text, insightful compelling information, mechanically read, mind numbing to listen to. Had to give up on it.

Poorly read.

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