"The New Man" shows Thomas Merton at the height of his powers and has as its theme the question of spiritual identity. What must we do to recover possession of our true selves? By way of an answer, Merton discusses how we have become strangers to ourselves by our depence on outward identity and success, while our real need is for a concern with the image of God in ourselves. At a time of retrieval of our religious traditions, Merton's voice is both intelligent and spiritually compelling.Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, is perhaps the foremost spiritual thinker of the twentiethcentury. His diaries, social commentary, and spiritual writings continue to be widely read after his untimely death in 1968.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is one of the foremost spiritual thinkers of the twentieth century. Though he lived a mostly solitary existence as a Trappist monk, he had a dynamic impact on world affairs through his writing. An outspoken proponent of the antiwar and civil rights movements, he was both hailed as a prophet and castigated for his social criticism. He was also unique among religious leaders in his embrace of Eastern mysticism, positing it as complementary to the Western sacred tradition. Merton is the author of over forty books of poetry, essays, and religious writing, including "Mystics and Zen Masters," and "The Seven Story Mountain," for which he is best known. His work continues to be widely read to this day.
Through an exploration of spiritual identity, "The New Man" showcases Thomas Merton's theological philosophies at their most insightful. Merton asks: What must we do to recover possession of our true character? By way of an answer, he discusses how we have become strangers to ourselves through our dependence on outward identity and success, all the while overlooking our real need: a concern with the image of God within ourselves. At a time when the secular world is increasingly suffused with spiritual sentiment, Thomas Merton remains required reading for the pursuit of personal enlightenment.
"To those who shrink from the usual sort of 'spiritual reading, ' Thomas Merton's book may be recommended. They will be confronted by a vigorous, questioning mind that again and again anticipates an objection, a doubt, even a disgust."--"The Times Literary Supplement"
